Spring Rolls

soak the rice wraps individually in warm water

spread on a clean towel & fill with rice noodles & whatever else you like (we did tofu, carrots, cucumber, mint & basil)

get an assembly line of friends to fill & wrap (note home made peanut sauce for dipping)

Voila--spring rolls! Dip, eat, repeat.

I've heard these called spring and summer rolls...but whatever they're called, they're easy & AMAZING! Our friends Annie & Steve showed up with many of the fixins and showed us how to do it. We got a little assembly line going, disproving the "too many cooks spoils the broth" theory and demonstrating that group cooking is lots of fun! We made 2 big batches of these babies. Not the best photos but we were too busy to be artsy.

Thai Yellow Curry

The Mae Ploy yellow curry paste is vegan (watch out for the other ones--they have shrimp paste!) We got the paste at the local Asian market, mixed with coconut milk according to directions, and used local sweet potato & basil with onions, regular potato, tofu and bok choy for our veggies. Served over jasmine rice. Nice.

Chocolate Mousse Pie, Part 3

Yup, another version of our chocolate pie. You can never get enough chocolate pie. Notice the fresh chocolate mint, from our yard.

Baby Pies

No, not pies of babies! Just little versions of the big ol' chocolate tofu pie we always make. Aren't they just cute enough to eat?

Chocolate Mousse Pie

Between baking cookies for my students and making this pie for a Belle Brunch over the weekend, there has been a lot of chocolate in our house lately. Who said there's no such thing as a fat vegan?

This pie is our standard party hit. It takes:
1 block of silky soft tofu
1 bag of semi-sweet chocolate chips (check ingredients to make sure there's no whey in them)
1 dollop of maple syrup
1 graham cracker crust (if buying a pre-made one, check to make sure it's without honey)

This recipe's all in the timing. Melt chocolate chips in a microwave while blending the soft tofu 'til smooth in a blender. Quickly add melted chips to blender and blend before they cool (otherwise they'll harden and you'll get lumpy pie...or a broken blender). Add a dollop of maple syrup (Grade B for higher nutritional value) and blend some more. Pour into pie crust. Bake for 5 minutes at 325. Put in the 'fridge or freezer to cool for hours before serving. It should have a chocolate mousse or cheesecake consistency when done. Add your favorite fruit or nuts to the top. Amaze your friends and family. Don't tell them there's tofu in it until they ask you for the recipe--many people are prejudiced against tofu & have no idea it can taste this good.