Vegan Yum Yum

Hot blogger Lauren Ulm, whose Vegan Yum Yum blog won the 2008 VegNews magazine Veggie Award, and the 2008 Veg Blog Award, now collected the recipes the appeared there and more into a cookbook, Vegan Yum Yum: Decadent (But Doable) Animal-Free Recipes for Entertaining and Everyday.

Product Description

Put the yum into your meals with more than 85 mouthwatering vegan recipes!

When Lauren Ulm went vegan, she faced the typical onslaught of questions from acquaintances and more than the occasional wince from unsuspecting dinner guests. Vowing to prove that vegan food can be decadent and delicious—and not a bland stand-in for 'normal' food—she created a blog, veganyumyum.com. What began as a hobby became an obsession, winning her not only legions of vegan and non-vegan foodie fans, but also the 2008 Best Veggie Blog Award from VegNews magazine.

Here in her debut cookbook, Lauren shows that vegan food is anything but dull, with her creative and quirky twists on everything from crowd-pleasing appetizers to indulgent desserts, from easy weekend breakfasts to speedy weeknight dinners, plus holiday- and company-worthy fare you can serve with pride.

With most ingredients both readily available and budget-friendly, Vegan Yum Yum shows anyone how to go gourmet the vegan way.

About the AuthorLauren Ulm, "Lolo," is a vegan foodie and founder of veganyumyum.com who lives in Boston with her husband and two cats. She is not a chef, has never been to culinary school, and she's not a professional photographer (but she has fun pretending!) When she went vegan in 2002, the kitchen became her favorite room in the house, and still is today. She has appeared on The Martha Stewart Show and has been featured in Vegetarian Times.

Health Communications Inc
290 pages paperback
List price; $18.95

There's a press release as well, one that gives recipes. Press releases are fair game, so I'm copying the recipes here for you.

Hurry Up Alfredo

One day I came home from running errands and I was starving. I felt like pasta with a creamy sauce, but I didn't have the patience to make a roux. I decided to make a blender Alfredo because I was so hungry that I didn't care how it turned out. Not only was it delicious, my husband and I now make it on a regular basis. It's fast and easy, and you probably already have all of the ingredients. It's a great compromise between "I don't feel like cooking" and "I don't want to eat toast for dinner."

While I like to use the wide fettucini-style rice noodles, whatever pasta shape you have will work wonderfully. You don't even need pasta to enjoy the sauce: You can pour it over a huge bowl of steamed organic broccoli and it will be divine.

2 or 3 servings

3 cups of any small pasta shape

Sauce
2 tablespoons Earth Balance
1 cup soymilk
2 teaspoons Dijon or stone-ground mustard
3 tablespoons low-sodium tamari or soy sauce
1 tablespoon tahini
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 rounded cup raw, unsalted cashews
2 to 4 garlic cloves (optional)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 pinch nutmeg
1 pinch salt
black pepper, to taste

Optional Add-Ins
2 tablespoons of fresh herbs (your favorite)
2 cups steamed broccoli florets or any other veggie

Bring a pot of salted water to boil and add the noodles. Cook until tender but not mushy, about 5 to 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, combine all of the sauce ingredients together in a blender and blend on high until very smooth. If your blender is having issues with grinding the nuts smoothly, you can strain the sauce. (Or you can keep them as is and pretend it's a "textural feature".)

When the noodles are finished cooking, drain them well. Add the noodles back to the (now empty but still hot) pot and pour as much sauce as you want over them. Turn the heat on and gently stir until the noodles are piping hot, adding in your optional veggies or herbs if you're using them. Serve immediately.

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Cannellini Bean Soup with Pan Fried Croutons

I created this soup after I had a similar one in a restaurant in my neighborhood. I couldn't stop thinking about it, so I deconstructed it and recreated it in my own kitchen. It's very simple and fresh, but bursting with flavor. Crispy fried croutons pair perfectly with soft beans and tender kale, while little grape tomatoes give bursts of sweetness. This is definitely one of my all-time favorite soups, and you can prepare the croutons for any recipe you like.

2 servings

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 to 3 shallots, peeled and sliced
4 cups vegetable broth
2 to 3 kale leaves, torn
1/2 to 1 teaspoon salt
One 15-ounce can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
16 grape tomatoes, halved
Fresh lemon juice, for seasoning

Pan-Fried Croutons:
2 tablespoons Earth Balance
3 slices whole wheat bread, sliced into 1/2" cubes

Melt the Earth Balance in a skillet and add the bread cubes. Let the bread cook, absorbing the margarine, until golden brown. Toss and brown all sides of the bread and then remove it from the pan when it's rich brown and crispy. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a soup pot. Add the shallots and sauté until tender and lightly colored. Pour in the vegetable stock and heat until simmering. Add the kale and salt and cook, covered, until the kale is tender but still dark green. When ready to serve, turn off the heat and add the tomatoes. Let them sit in the hot soup for 1 to 3 minutes to cook slightly before serving. Check the seasoning and adjust, if desired. Add the pan-fried croutons at the last moment, with a small squeeze of lemon juice, if desired.
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Mini Baked Donuts

I set out to create a vegan doughnut recipe that didn't involve frying. All you need is a "petite doughnut pan," which should be available at kitchen stores or online. Look for something nonstick. My standard party dessert has been cupcakes up till now, but now that I know how easy doughnuts are to make, I've been converted.

Makes 20 donuts

Dry Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon (scant) nutmeg
1 tiny pinch or shake cinnamon

Wet Ingredients
1/2 cup soymilk
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Egg Replacer for 1 egg
4 tablespoons vegan margarine

Glazing
1/2 cup powdered sugar (lump free!)
1 tablespoon soymilk
Bowl full of sprinkles (1/4 to 1/2 cup)
Chocolate

Preheat the oven to 350º F

In a large bowl, combine the dry ingredients with a whisk to mix thoroughly. Combine the wet ingredients in a small sauce pan over medium low heat and mix until the margarine is melted. This mixture should not get too hot; you should be able to stick your finger in the mixture and feel slightly warm. If you burn yourself, 1) it's not my fault! and 2) it's too hot for the dough!

Add the wet ingredients to dry ones and mix until just combined. It should form a very soft dough or thick batter.

Using a tablespoon measure, scoop out the dough into your ungreased nonstick mini-donut pan. Smooth out the top of the dough with your fingers, clearing off the post in the middle of each one. This will make for more even, prettier donuts, but isn't crucial.

If you over fill, your donuts will come out looking like they have muffin tops. While not the end of the world, it's not very donut-like either.

Bake for 12 minutes until the donuts are almost browned on top, and a tester comes out clean. Invert a hot pan over a cutting board or cooling rack to release the donuts. Allow them to cool completely before decorating, with the exception of the powdered sugar donuts. If you let them cool loosely covered with plastic wrap, the donuts will stay soft and fluffy.

To Glaze with Sprinkles
Whisk the soymilk and powdered sugar together. Dip the "bottom" half of the donut (the side with the nicer shape) into the glaze, let some drip off, then dip glaze-side down into sprinkles. Transfer to a wire rack that has been set on top of some parchment paper. The excess glaze will drip through the rack onto the paper for easy cleaning later.

To Chocolate Dip
This is the easy part. Melt one bar of your favorite dark chocolate in the microwave. Remove from the microwave and stir every 15 seconds until chocolate is smooth and barely warm to the touch. I should mention that you should be very careful not to get any water in the chocolate or it could seize, and no one likes that!

Dip your donuts one-by-one into the chocolate. Place the donut on your wire rack and decorate with sprinkles, if desired.

For Striped Donuts
Dip the donuts into the powdered sugar glaze first, then drizzle with melted chocolate.

For Powdered Sugar Donuts
Roll warm donuts in a bowl of powdered sugar. Yum!