New Year's Eve Cocktail Appetizers

Well, I didn't win one of the three prizes from the VegNews Holiday Cookie Contest, but I'm still very proud to have made the top ten. Congrats to the winners!

My second article has been published over at This Dish is Veg. This week's piece is a last minute holiday menu. Here at Season of The Vegan, I wanted to share the appetizer recipes from that menu and a few more that will be perfect for a New Year's Eve Cocktail Party.

Meatless Meatballs

1 tube Gimmie Lean Sausage
1 cup cooked Brown Rice
2 cups Spicy BBQ Sauce
2 cloves minced Garlic

Preheat oven to 350. Mix together sausage, rice, 1 1/2 cups of the BBQ sauce, and the garlic. Form the mixture into 1 inch balls and place on a greased cookie sheet. Drizzle the remaining sauce over the meatballs and bake for 20 to 30 minutes. Serve hot.

Stuffed Mushrooms
2 8oz packages of Button or Baby Bella Mushrooms stems removed and saved
4 tbsp Olive Oil
2 cloves minced Garlic
2 tbsp Tomato Paste
1/8 cup favorite Vegan Cheddar style chreeze shreds (I love Daiya for this recipe.)

Preheat oven to 350. On a greased cookie sheet, place the mushroom tops, divot side up. Mince 1/2 the mushroom stems, save the rest to add to soup or rice at a later date. Mix the stems, garlic, tomato paste and chreeze in a small bowl. Stuff each mushroom cap with this mixture and then drizzle them with olive oil. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes.

Wondrous White Bean Dip

1 can white beans drained and rinsed

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tbsp Braggs

1 tbsp Paprika

1 tsp Garlic Powder

1 tsp Onion Powder

1/2 tsp Fennel Seed

1 tsp Dried Dill

Blend it all up in your food processor and enjoy with toasted pita bread and veggies.

Baked Spicy Spinach & Artichoke Dip

8 oz Frozen Spinach, thawed with the extra moisture squeezed out
10 oz jar Artichoke Hearts drained
4 oz can chopped Green Chilies drained
2-3 cloves minced Garlic
1 tsp Garlic Powder
1 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Ground Black Pepper
8 oz container Vegan Cream Cheese
8 oz container Vegan Sour Cream

Preheat oven to 350. Blend the ingredients in a food processor until just combined. Place in a 9 x 9 baking dish and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until lightly brown and bubbly. Serve with toasted pita bread.

Peanut Pumpkin Dip

1 cup Pumpkin Puree
1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter
1/2 cup Maple Syrup
1 tsp Nutmeg
1 tsp Cinnamon

Stir together all the ingredients and serve with apple slices and graham crackers.

You could also serve the Spiced Nuts from my Snack Time post, as well as some Herb Marinated Olives.

I wish you all a joyous holiday season!

Vanilla Rum Banana Bread

Its been quite the busy week, what with the up coming holiday and all. I'm still trying to reach the winner of the Holiday Cookie Contest. Kenny, are you out there? I believe I promised you all some new recipes in my last post, and I shan't disappoint!

Vanilla Rum Banana Bread

6 very ripe Bananas mashed
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
1 cup Cane Sugar
1 cup packed Dark Brown Sugar
4 cup All Purpose Flour
2 tsp Salt
2 tsp Baking Soda
1 tbsp Vanilla Extract
1 tbsp Rum

Preheat oven to 375 and prepare two loaf pans with oil and flour. In a large bowl cream together mashed banana, oil, and sugars. Blend in the vanilla and rum. In a separate bowl sift together flour, salt, and baking powder. Beat dry ingredients into wet 1/4 cup at a time until well incorporated. Split the dough between the two pans and bake 30 to 40 minutes or until well browned and a tooth pick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

I plan to post some last minute holiday appetizer ideas on Tuesday. I hope everyone has a wonderful next few days.

And the Winner is.....

The winner of my Holiday Cookie Contest is Kenny! Please contact me at seasonofthevegan at gmail.com so I can get your address and send you some tasty vegan cookies! Congrats!

Last Chance...

Today's the last day to enter the Holiday Contest to receive 2 dozen homemade vegan cookies. I'll be picking the winner tonight at 9pm Central. Good luck!

On Cloud Nine...

I just received an awesome email from Jennifer Chen at VegNews. My recipe for Vanilla Boysenberry Shortbread Thumbprints is one of the top 10 finalist recipes in their Holiday Cookie Contest! They announce the 3 winners on Dec. 19th. I'm on cloud nine, just getting this far. What an amazing week it's been. Published on This Dish is Veg and making it to the top 10.

In other news, I'm working on a new Vanilla Rum Banana Bread recipe that I'll be sharing with all of you as soon as I feel its ready. I'm also working on a Vegan Holiday Menu for This Dish is Veg and also some great holiday recipes to post here later this week as well. Don't forget to enter my holiday cookie giveaway as well. You have until this Friday to leave a comment on the original post announcing the contest for your chance at 2 dozen assorted cookies from yours truly.

This Dish is Veg

So, in addition to Season of The Vegan, I am also writing for This Dish is Veg. My first article was posted today. Enjoy!

Holiday Contest!

So while I was baking away to enter the VegNews Holiday Cookie Contest I had the idea to run a holiday contest of my own. The lucky winner will receive: 2 dozen assorted cookies from yours truly. All you have to do is leave a comment at the bottom of this post and the winner will be drawn at random on Friday Dec. 16th. I'll contact said winner at that time for shipping information.

Breakfast time....

I woke up to snow on the ground and breakfast in bed. I love when Carl cooks for me. Vegan cooking is still new to him and I love the flavor combinations he comes up with. He makes hands down the best Mac & Chreeze I've ever had and his Cardamon Spiced Oatmeal is sublime. He's worked in the restaurant business for most of the last decade and is whimsical and playful when it comes to pairings. This morning he made Crispy Breakfast Potatoes with Herb Gravy and Toast. That along with a perfect cup of coffee and the light blanket of snow on the ground made for a terrific wake up call.

I'm a huge fan of breakfast food. Not just in the morning either. One of the best dinner time treats in our house is Seitan & Waffles, which is my version of the Southern favorite Chicken & Waffles.

Seitan & Waffles

For the Waffles

1 cup All-Purpose Flour
1 tbsp Baking Powder
1 tbsp Vegetable Oil
1 tbsp Maple Syrup
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup Rice Milk

Whisk together all ingredients. Follow the directions for your waffle maker to make crispy waffles. Mine requires 1/4 cup of batter per waffle.


For the Southern Fried Seitan

1 lb Seitan cut into 1" squares
1 cup All-purpose Flour
1/2 cup Nutritional Yeast
1 tsp Onion Powder
1tsp Garlic Powder
1tsp Chili Pepper Flakes
2 tbsp Baking Powder
1/4 cup Stone Ground or Spicy Mustard
1/2 cup Water
2 tbsp Braggs Amino Acids
Vegetable Oil for Frying


If you're using pre-packed seitan or you store your homemade seitan in liquid, you'll want to press as much of it out before frying as possible.

For the batter, blend together the flour, nutritional yeast, onion powder, garlic powder, and chili pepper flakes. In a separate bowl, whisk together the mustard, water, and Braggs. To the wet ingredients, add 1/3 cup of the dry ingredients and whisk until smooth. Add the baking powder to the remaining dry ingredients.

Dip the cubes of seitan in the wet ingredients and then coat them in the dry. Fry until golden brown. Don't over crowd your skillet while frying, or you'll lower the oil heat too much and end up with soggy pieces.

Assemble your Seitan and Waffles and serve with Earth Balance, maple syrup, and your favorite hot sauce.


Stay tuned for a Holiday Contest starting tomorrow morning!

Update....

My lovely friend, Anna, has agreed to do some food photography for me. Stay tuned for an updated look for Season of The Vegan. As well as a Holiday Contest, in which the winner will recieve 2 dozen cookies.