Steamed Artichokes with Cayenne Dipping Sauce

Artichokes are a strange looking vegetable and definitely fall into the category of vegetables I was scared of (at one point in my life). They are big, and spiky, and rough, and definitely don’t look edible. I wonder who was the first person to try to eat one of these things?

Noodle Salad Face Off

Don’t worry, we are still here, and we apologize for our noticeable absence over the last few months. But we are back, and we brought noodle salads!

Normally, this time of year would be perfect for a cold noodle dish, as outdoor eating would be making a comeback (Like I said. Normally.) But since that doesn’t seem to be happening for us anytime soon, let’s talk about something else. Anything else, preferably. How about how a tangy, spicy, nut-based sauce can make cold noodles and veggies taste kind of awesome? Or how easy making these sauces can be? Or how both of us made these dishes in no time at all and had tons left over for easy weekday lunches and dinners? Sound good to you? Cool. I’ll go first.

Soba Noodle Salad

Cooking and baking relax me, so it makes me so very happy to be back in the kitchen and back at the blogging. It’s been a active 2014 so far between a busy job, a broken finger and the annual Austin trip for SXSW, but I’m back home now and thankfully the finger is on the mend. I’m anxious to start Facing Off some great Vegan recipes for you, starting with this one, my Soba Noodle Salad.

Spicy Noodle Salad

So much for my resolution to get back in my kitchen. In order for this to actually happen, I would have to be somewhat close to my kitchen, which has not been the case as of late. Traveling for work, vacation, and generally being busy, while all good problems to have, has made it difficult for me to get to my happy place. I have found a few moments here and there to start to some spring cleaning in my cabinets, and found some doozies (bulk items packaged over a year ago. Whoops.), which I promptly tossed out. Now that there is less clutter, when I do find an open space in my schedule, I will be able to enjoy it rather than searching through long forgotten pasta, beans and canned items.

Green Chili Quesadilla

It’s been a very long time since I have had a quesadilla…until about a month ago when my husband picked up dinner from one of the Vegan friendly Mexican restaurants in our neighborhood. Knowing that I will eat anything, as long as it’s Vegan, Todd brought me home a Vegan quesadilla and boy was it good. This thing was so stuffed with Daiya cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, olives, beans, Upton’s Chorizo that I couldn’t even eat the other tacos he got me, I was already full halfway though the loaded quesadilla.

Tart Green Juice

I actually should name this Sarah-Mai’s Espresso as this is her version of an Espresso. This green juice is her way of waking up in the morning in place of having caffeine and it really does work. So start your year off right, replace your caffeine with fresh juice!

Kale, Celery & Carrot Juice

Juicing was a part of my weekday routine about 3 months ago; I would get up and make my green juice or smoothie every morning to start off my day. There was always bunches of kale, bags of carrots and loads of apples in my fridge and a few other random items that I would decided to throw in the juicer if the mood struck. Seeing as how life and work tend to get in the way of healthy habits , juicing slipped out of my daily routine and the juicer crept back into my cabinet and stayed there. With my 2014 resolution to get back into my kitchen more, the juicer has made a triumphant return, and is now running at 8am every morning.

Vegan Potato Leek Soup

For me leeks were one of those intimidating looking vegetables at the grocery store and as scared of Kale as I used to be, I was equally scared of leeks. I didn’t know what they tasted like, I didn’t know any recipes that called for them and I had no idea how to prepare them.

Potato Leek Soup

Because everyone is talking about how cold it is outside, I will not be talking about how cold it is… though, it’s really freaking cold outside. Instead, I will write about my resolve to actually adhere to my resolutions this year. And while most of us find resolutions to be “I will not do [insert bad habit/activity here]” I want to have a positive spin on this year, and get back to the basic things that make me happy.

Lemon Macaroons with White Chocolate Cranberry Sauce

Here we go. It’s the holidays, and I knew they were coming, but that doesn’t mean I am prepared. Looking at the calendar, my weekends are pretty much filled up until the middle of January. Holiday parties, traveling, more holiday parties, and boom. December is done and we are falling head first into January.

Vegan Pecan Crescent Cookies

These cookies are a labor of love. I used to eat these cookies at Christmas time, popping one after the other with no consideration into what sort of effort my mother put into making them. Sure the ingredient list is short and the dough comes together quickly, but I’m not going to sugar coat it for you (pun intended). Digging into the hardened dough, forming these cookies into their crescent shape, watching them bake so they don’t burn, meticulously timing how long they are out of the oven so you cover them with powdered sugar at the exact right time – not too hot, not completely cooled – if you are Type-A this recipe is right up your ally (I realize I have probably scared some of you away by now).

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Thanksgiving is just around the corner – and can you believe we have never had a Mashed Potato Face Off? In preparation for your Thanksgiving dinner we thought it would be nice to bring to you 2 unique mashed potato recipes that don’t require gravy in order to taste good.

Soyrizo Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers are a simple way to make a side dish a main entrée. People usually assume that all I can eat are side dishes because the main entrée is meat. If you are Vegan you know this is far from true, but I digress. Rice, quinoa and other grains tend to be seen as side dishes, the starchy component to accompany a meal. Vegans and Vegetarians use this starch as their main dish, stuff it into a pepper and you’ll fool any meat eater that it’s an entrée.

Vegan Apple Crisp

It’s officially fall – apples are taking over the produce section of the grocery stores and are being brought to the farmers markets by the truck load. What to do with all these apples? Bake of course. Crisps, Cobblers or Crumbles, I consider these dishes the quick and dirty pie. No rolling out dough necessary, it doesn’t have to look “pretty,” it should come together in under 15 minutes and the only real requirement is that it should taste good.

Mushroom Grits

We realized a few weeks ago that we were going to be on vacation during our Face Off week, so we thought we’d pay homage to the South as well as feed our mothers with a Grits Face Off. I’ve never made grits before, but what’s better than my first time being in the “grits famous state” of South Carolina?