Spinach Hummus

So if you know anything about me, then you probably know I like hummus. A lot. About a year ago I made a blog on Tumblr devoted to posting pictures only of hummus (you can check it out here!), and I was shocked how quickly it became popular. It was really nice knowing I'm not the only one with a love for hummus. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to make my own very often, since my blender was rubbish and I didn't have a food processor. But now that I have a food processor, you can expect many hummus recipes in the future!  

You should be able to throw all the ingredients in at once and have a perfectly good hummus, but I've learned to use a specific order that seems to make it the smoothest. First, blend the tahini and lemon juice; then add olive oil, water, garlic, and salt and blend; next, add and blend garbanzo beans; and finally, blend in spinach (or roasted red peppers or whatever extra flavor you choose).

Spinach Hummus

• 1 (14.5 oz) can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/3 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 olive oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 2 cups fresh spinach

In a food processor, blend all ingredients until smooth. Refrigerate before serving. 

Makes about 2 cups

Christmas 2012

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas! I had such a nice day.

On Christmas Eve, after church, we drove through the neighborhood to look at the luminaries. I went on a walk later to take some pictures. My neighborhood is the only one in my town that has luminaries, and it's always been one of my favorite things about this holiday. Ever since I was little, the first thing I'd do when I woke up on Christmas morning was look out the window to see the dim lights of the remaining luminaries (of course, I couldn't do that this year because it snowed overnight, but that's okay because snow is even prettier).

Christmas at my house is always very relaxed. Basically, we get up whenever we feel like it (9:30 this year!), and start the morning off with coffee, cinnamon rolls, and opening stockings. We didn't have stockings this year, since we now have cats who I'm sure would have loved to have pulled them down from the mantel. But we did have what may be the greatest cinnamon rolls! I used this recipe, and really, it was great. There's only a few changes I'd suggest. Don't use nearly as much margarine as it calls for in the filling and the pan sauce, because that's really disgusting and it doesn't need it at all. When you roll out the dough, it's going to be pretty huge (I don't have the measurements), but don't worry that you did something wrong. Roll it up so that's it's long, not short (I can't think of a better way to explain what I'm trying to say…..), and cut it into what looks like mini rolls. They will expand plenty once they rise and bake, and you should be able to get about 14 decent sized rolls from it.  I'd also really recommend baking them in a springform pan, if you have one, because that way you can pop the sides off and drizzle on the icing and have a very nice arrangement.

We got a Christmas present for our cats - a shelf for the window. Needless to say, they spent the entire day there, birdwatching.

After we ate our breakfasts, we spent most of our day sitting in front of the fire, opening presents, and eating snack food. We always keep out tray of crackers and cheese (and Daiya cheese), dips, and veggies, plus a pot of soup with some bread, to snack on all day, and I really like it so much more than planning a huge meal. It's such a relaxing day! We used this recipe for a spinach artichoke dip, and it was way better than I had expected it to be; even my brother (an omnivore) liked it! We also made a potato soup that was pretty fantastic.

I don't normally like to brag about what I got for Christmas, but I am going to mention that with a couple new vegan cookbooks plus a brand new food processor (!!!), you can expect some fabulous recipes in the near future.

Anyway, I hope you had a wonderful holiday, and that 2013 is a great year for you! :-)

Cinnamon Roll Recipe

Spinach Artichoke Dip Recipe

VeganMoFo Days 19, 20, and 21: Spinach Tofu Frittata

I'm very disappointed in myself for going several days without posting here (and for my last several posts being incredibly lame). I am so busy, it's not even funny anymore. I cannot wait for this month to be over and for things to start calming down again! Today was the first time I had the opportunity to cook an actual meal, with a side dish and everything, in what feels like forever. I made stuffed peppers using this recipe, only I used barley instead of rice, and dried herbs instead of fresh (fresh herbs are one thing I really miss about summer); I added some diced onions to the filling too. As a side dish, I made this frittata, mostly because I was looking for a creative way to add protein to my meal. I used Isa's recipe for Asparagus and Sun-dried Tomato Frittata from her book Vegan With A Vengeance as a general guideline, but I changed it enough that I feel okay posting it online. It was absolutely wonderful. I'd never had a frittata before I was vegan, so I'm not sure how close this is to the real thing, but even if it's not, it's still a great dish. It works well as a side, but I could imagine it'd be good for breakfast too.

Spinach Tofu Frittata

• 1 package firm or extra firm tofu (about 14 oz), drained and pressed
• 3/4 tbsp soy sauce, tamari, or Bragg's
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 2 1/2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 package frozen spinach (about 5 oz), defrosted with excess liquid drained
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp olive oil

1) Preheat oven to 400°F.

2) In a large bowl, crumble tofu with your fingers, squishing it until it looks sort of like ricotta cheese. Add soy sauce, mustard, and nutritional yeast and mix well.

3) In a non-stick skillet (if you have an 8-inch oven safe skillet, use that! If not, that's fine), heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until onions are soft and slightly transparent.

4) Add spinach and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in thyme, turmeric, and lemon juice and remove from heat.

5) Add onion mixture to tofu and stir to combine.

6) If you used an oven-safe skillet, then place tofu in the skillet and firmly mash it down. If you used a regular pan, then place the tofu in a pie dish and firmly mash it down.

7) Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes. Set oven to broil setting and bake for another 2 to 3 minutes. Serve warm.

Serves 4

And here is a photo of my kitten Boo, because he is cute.