Mango Black Bean Salad

This fresh and delicious salad is a favorite of mine to bring to parties and potlucks. It's great for a side dish, but is also filling enough on it's own. I can never get enough mangoes, and this is a great way to use them! My mom found this recipe in a magazine years ago, and my family has made it a lot since then. The original recipe called for olive oil, but it doesn't need any - just add in some more of the salsa if you need to! We've tried this with wild rice in place of the brown rice, which is fun as well.

Mango Black Bean Salad
serves 4-6 as a side dish

1 large mango, peeled and chopped
1 C green onion - thinly sliced
3 Tbsp cilantro - finely chopped 
4 Tbsp fresh salsa
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 15oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 C brown rice, cooked


Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
Toss gently to mix, refrigerate until serving.

This dish is getting me excited for summer cookouts! What's your favorite potluck dish?

Thanks for stopping by!

Blue Moon Cupcakes with Orange Buttercream Frosting

What type of cupcakes do you make when your sister is planning a birthday party for her husband that involves beer tasting and manly mustache decorations? Beer cupcakes of course! Living in Colorado we are spoiled with some great beer, and I have learned to appreciate a good wheat beer with an orange wedge. I figured that infusing the frosting with some orange would pair perfectly with these blue moon cupcakes. After a successful attempt at champagne cupcakes, I had a feeling these beer cakes would be super tasty.

Blue Moon Cupcakes
makes 12, adapted from spoon fork bacon

1/2 C vegan butter, softened
1 1/4 C sugar
1 2/3 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
2 flax eggs (2 Tbsp flax + 6 Tbsp water)
1 tsp vanilla
1 orange, zested + extra for garnish
2/3 C Blue Moon or wheat beer
2 Tbsp almond milk



Orange Buttercream Frosting
4 oz vegan cream cheese, softened
1/2 C vegan butter, softened
2 1/2 C powdered sugar
2 Tbsp fresh squeezed orange juice

Preheat oven to 375 F. 
In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the flax eggs, vanilla, and the zest from one orange and mix well.
In another bowl sift together the flour, baking powder and salt.
In a small bowl whisk together the beer and the almond milk.
Alternatively add the flour mixture and beer mixture into the butter mixture. Stir until fully combined.
Line your muffin tin with cupcake liners and fill them 2/3 full with the cupcake batter.
Bake for 15-17 minutes, let cool completely.

To make the frosting cream the butter and cream cheese together, and then slowly add in the powdered sugar and mix. Stir in the orange juice. Pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes and top with orange zest.

These cupcakes were a big hit! The orange zest on top really gives it a pop of color and flavor that goes perfectly with the subtle taste of the wheat beer in the cupcakes. These would be perfect for those summer cookouts or for the beer lover in your life. I know it's an odd flavor for a cupcake, but it totally works.

What is the most unusual cupcake flavor you've tried?

Thanks for stopping by!

Baked Mac 'n Cheese with Spinach

Sometimes when it snows in the middle of April, the only thing that can cheer you up is a big bowl of mac 'n cheese. Sure I threw some spinach in there to make it "healthy", but this is vegan comfort food at it's finest!

Baked Man 'n Cheese with Spinach

1 lb whole wheat penne pasta
1 Tbsp vegan butter
3/4 C unsweetened almond milk
1 Tbsp arrowroot powder or cornstarch
1/4 tsp garlic powder
6 Tbsp nutritional yeast
2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 C canned pumpkin puree
salt and pepper to taste
few handfuls baby spinach
panko crumbs
optional: red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 400 F.
Cook your pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

Melt the vegan butter in a saucepan over medium heat.
In a separate bowl whisk the milk, arrowroot, and garlic powder and then add this into the pan.
Add the nutritional yeast, dijon, and salt & pepper. Continue to whisk until the sauce has thickened.
Add in the canned pumpkin and whisk until heated.

Pour the sauce over the cooked pasta and stir to combine. Add in the spinach leaves and mix again. Pour the pasta mixture into a casserole dish and top with panko crumbs. Bake for 20 to 25 min.

I love this pasta because it's so creamy and it really does remind of the mac and cheese of my early years. You can taste the pumpkin in there a little bit, but it's not too overwhelming. Give it a try and let me know how you like it!

A big thanks to the lovely Sarah from Fried Dandelions for passing on the Liebster Award to me!
It comes along with a set of questions - so here we go.

1. What is your favorite vegan dessert and why (include a link if you have one!)
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies!

2. Pick 2 foods/ingredients that you just couldn’t live without!
Avocados and Hummus 

3. What is the most important thing you’ve learned along the way about blogging?
It's easy to get sucked into the world of blogging because there is always so much more you could be doing for your blog - sharing your posts, networking, editing, redesigning...but you have to just be realistic and do your best with the time you have.

4. How long have you been a vegan (or vegetarian)?
A little over a year.

5. What is your most trusted cookbook?
Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

6. What is your #1 tip for bloggers?
Don't compare yourself to other too much - just do you and your blog will be great!

7. What tips do you have for new vegans?
Start slow if you need to. Figure out what meals you already love are actually secretly vegan. Don't worry, you'll totally be able to figure out how to dine out.

8. What is your favorite vegan comfort dish?
Anything with pasta, or black bean chili. 

9. What do you have pinned on your pinterest board that you are dying to make?
Waaay too many things. 

10. What made you want to start blogging?
To keep track of my recipes and hopefully connect with other vegans - it worked!

11. What is your favorite dish to bring to a dinner party?
I usually show up with dessert of some type - cookies or cupcakes.


 Thanks for stopping by!

Pancake Puffs

Everyone - I think I may have solved breakfast. I really love pancakes and waffles, but making them on the griddle or waffle iron is totally hit or miss for me. I don't know what skill it is that I am lacking, but I end up burning half of my pancakes, and getting my waffle batter oozing all over the place. Plus you have to make one at a time? Forget that!

I stumbled on one of those pinterest posts where you read it and think "Oh yeah right". You know, like that melted crayon art. I saw one where they made pancakes in a muffin tin and they came out all cute and perfect. I was skeptical...but look at these adorable pancake puffs! They all look great and were ready to be served at the same time. Breakfast is saved my friends.

Pancake Puffs
makes 12, adapted from this homemade life.

1 C flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 C almond milk
2 Tbsp melted vegan butter
3 Tbsp maple syrup

mix in ideas:
vegan chocolate chips
banana slices
berries
peanut butter
boca chick'n patties

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In a bowl mix together the almond milk, butter, and maple syrup. Add in the flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk until combined.

Divide the batter amongst 12 muffins tins, and add in whatever mix ins you'd like. Bake for 12-14 minutes and enjoy!

Yes, you read that right up above. I cooked a Boca vegan chick'n patty, and then cut it up and put it in my pancake batter. I was going for the "chicken and waffles" flavor combo. It was pretty awesome! Top with your favorite maple syrup and you are good to go. I really enjoyed the banana and blackberry combo, and my husband said his favorite was peanut butter with chocolate chips.

What are your favorite pancake flavor combos?

Roasted Potato & Asparagus Pizza

Something must be in the air, because I have been seeing lots of delicious looking pizza recipes popping up around the blogs lately. I'm not complaining at all, because pizza is awesome! I finally decided to try my hand at making a homemade dough too, and it came out pretty well. I used a recipe from Veggieful, and topped it with a quick pizza sauce and some sliced potatoes and garlic asparagus.

Roasted Potato & Asparagus Pizza

Dough:
I followed Veggieful's pizza dough recipe 

Sauce:

1 can (4 oz) tomato paste
1 C water
1/4 C extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
Pinch of  salt and pepper
1/2 Tbsp oregano

1/2 Tbsp basil 

1/2 Tbsp rosemary

Mix all ingredients well and let stand to let flavors blend.

Topping:

3-4 medium potatoes

olive oil

salt and pepper

rosemary

1 C asparagus, chopped

1 clove garlic

nutritional yeast

Cut the potatoes paper thin with a mandolin slicer. Toss in a large bowl with some olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary to taste. Spread out in a single layer on a baking sheet (I used a silpat non-stick mat) and bake for 10-12 min at 350 F.

Saute the asparagus with a splash of olive oil and 1 clove of garlic until just softened.


Assembly:
Once your pizza dough is ready and has pre-cooked in the oven, spread the sauce and then add a sprinkle of nutritional yeast. Layer the potato slices and top with the asparagus.
Bake the whole pizza at 400 F for 15-20 min or until edges are slightly browned and the potatoes look crisp.

Next time I will bake mine a little longer - as you can see the edges of my crust didn't quite get browned enough. I also think it might be fun to cut the dough in half and make a thin crispy pizza crust. All that said, making pizza from scratch wasn't as hard as I thought! I enjoyed the flavors of the roasted potatoes and the fresh asparagus. What is your favorite pizza topping combo?

Thanks for stopping by!