Book Report: Eat, Drink, And Be Vegan by Dreena Burton

I recently checked out “Eat, Drink, And Be Vegan” By Dreena Burton. At this point, I’ve tried several recipes and have loved them all! This book is a keeper.

Tamari rosemary roasted chickpeas on green salad..these things are addictive

“Honey” mustard salad dressing..if you loved honey mustard in your pre-vegan days you’re gonna love this dressing..made with agave, it tastes exactly like I remember honey mustard.

The eggnog ice cream pie with carmelized rum sauce..this was a big hit on Christmas day..

Banana Cocoa Muffins

So this afternoon I am hunkered down in the living room..it’s a grey day outside and I have a ton of movies out from the library including “Lost in Austen,” “American Beauty,” and a few episodes of “Battlestar Galactica.” Perfect afternoon, huh? I did make time to try out a new recipe from Chocolate-Covered Katie. I’ve been followed her “baby-making” adventures with a lot of giggles but I hadn’t made time to actually “make babies” myself..lol! So today I decided to try out her “Hot Cocoa Babies” and wow, these are amazing! I added some raw cacao nibs and some peppermint extract. I will probably try another “baby making” session sometime soon..these are delicious. Katie is offering an amazing giveaway–a Vitamix so go on over and check it out!

If you need a fuzzie fix, check out my latest post on Fuzzies and Friends about the amazing moon bear!

Vegan Hot Chocolate: Coco-cocoa!

Oh, how I HATED those 4th grade book reports. I mean, let’s just put the pretense aside, no one listened to a word of anyone else’s report and rushed out to buy the book, right??! Thank goodness book reports are a thing of the past (only to be replaced with powerpoint presentations, conference calls and software demos if you are me..ha ha ha!). Nowadays, my book “reporting” is all for pleasure..and oh yes, pleasure it is when you are reading vegan cookbooks. Yes, I really read them..the introductions are usually pretty interesting and I just love it when the authors include funny little notes or side stories about the recipes! Now I have a bit of a vegan cookbook problem..I’m addicted. I just love ‘em! So when a friend of mine mentioned that he and his wife had several mealtime successes from Dreena Burton’s Eat, Drink and Be Vegan, I thought, to the library. Which is–in my case–just a few mouse clicks away. The book arrived right before Christmas and I made the Lemon Garlic Pasta for our main course and the Egg Nog Pie with Rum Sauce for dessert. I think the pasta could have benefited from doubling the sauce (that was my fault, not the book’s) but it was still tasty. The Egg Nog Pie was a big hit though! I was a lazy blogger and didn’t take a picture but luckily my mother did:

Egg Nog Ice Cream Pie w/Rum Sauce

Next up to try was the coco-cocoa, a coconut milk hot cocoa. Absolutely delicious! Most vegan cocoas I’ve tried with almond or soy are, well, okay..but not great. The coconut milk adds a creaminess that is hard to achieve with soy or other nut or seed milks. I topped it off with a few Dandies’ vegan marshmallows that I scored from the Boston Vegetarian Festival last month. Served with a few Trader Joe’s Candy Cane Joe-Joes and what a chocolately love fest it was!

Coco-cocoa with Candy Cane Joe-Joes

Candy Cane Joe-Joes From Trader Joe's

Coco-cocoa with Dandies' Marshmallows

Since it’s going to be four degrees outside tonight and not warm up a whole lot more tomorrow, I’m planning on having another cup of coco-cocoa very soon. And yay–so can everyone else because the recipe is posted here!

Check out the TofuXpress giveaway at “I Am Gluten-Free” as well as some of her amazing recipes!