Guest Blogger: Sam QuantumVegan

Posted by:Lindsay S. Nixon Category: Guests

It wouldn't be Thursday on Happy Herbivore without a guest blogger! Today's guest blog post is by one of my twitter friends (tweeps?) Sam a.k.a. Quantum Vegan

Sam is always tweeting delicious pictures of food and today's blog post is no exception! Take it away, Sam!

Sam: I've been a big fan of HH chickpea "tuna" for ages, so when I heard there was a whole cookbook full of HH stuff coming out, of course I had to have it!  It's so hard to choose which recipes are the "best," but these are some of my favorites so far.

I must confess that, before going vegan, I ate and enjoyed a certain dubiously orange boxed mac & cheese.  My mom also made a cheese sauce of her own that we would pour over elbow noodles on a weekly basis and enjoy as a side to other non-vegan things. But vegan mac & cheese is better by far, even more so when it's as easy and delicious as this stuff!

Baked Shells and Cheese (p. 156)

I found some whole wheat pasta shells at the store and topped the whole thing with pretzel crumbs, which are from a recipe in The 30-Minute Vegan and are a great way to use up the sad broken bits that always lurk at the bottom of a pretzel bag.  They're a bit more crunchy than bread crumbs and added an extra dimension of flavor to the dish.

Mushroom Burgers & Balsamic Braised Asparagus(p. 89 and p. 171)

I will try pretty much any veggie burger recipe I come across, but the ones with easily-accessible ingredients are the best. Any excuse to use a food processor is also welcome, because I am a big food nerd and like to watch things get chopped into little bits. These come together fast, plus you get to stick your hands in the mix. What could be better? To make them "my own" I like to serve veggie burgers on toasted English muffins with some sliced tomato, Iceberg lettuce, and whatever condiment sounds good at the time.

As for the balsamic asparagus...why didn't I think of this?? Nothing about it needs to be changed.  It's perfect in its simplicity and results in brightly-colored asparagus with a slight crunch and an irresistible roasted flavor.

Cinnamon Buns (p.36)

Is it cheating to include these since my mom was the one who made them?  Because it would be wrong to leave them out.  When I was a kid, we made a ton--perhaps a literal ton!--of cinnamon rolls, usually as a side to dinner.  These are just as amazing and tasty without all the butter and refined sugar of the ones from my childhood.  Another reason I wanted to include them here is because we brought them to Easter brunch at my church, a brunch largely populated by quiche and non-vegan bread products.  People loved them!  Nobody guessed they were low fat, whole wheat, and vegan.  Though my mom made the recipe as written in the book, she's a big fan of cinnamon and said she would put even more on in the future.

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