Staying in Japan like I am now, it is often hard to find the ingredients that you would hope to find for curry (like coconut milk, chickpeas, or cauliflower). So you have to improvise a little bit. Luckily, curry powder isn’t a problem.

Anyway, here’s what I came up with for a very simple curry recipe (I didn’t measure any of the ingredients):

• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Broccoli
• Onions
• Curry Powder
• Tomatoes (whole or pre-diced) for the base

The basic cooking instructions are similar to most curries. Sauté your onions, put in your tomato base and your dice veggies, bring to a boil, and leave covered for an hour or so (until the veggies are all thoroughly cooked). And there you have it, tasty curry without needing to know what you are doing.

Related posts:

1. Vegan Vegetable Curry (and Vegan People, too!)
2. Curry: The Best Thing Ever Injected Into Bread
3. Roasted Sweet Potato and Corn Chowder

The most difficult part of being vegan in Japan is that even the most innocent, vegan things you can think of are topping with, friend in, or souped (for lack of a better word) in something that is not vegan.

However, when you are cooking for yourself you have the option of putting your udon or salad or whatever in whatever you like. In this case, it is ajipon.

Don’t ask me what Ajipon means, something like “flavour pon” but it is vegan and it’s pretty good. It takes a bit of getting used to but not in the “this tastes so bad you’ll eventually kill your taste buds way,” more in the “Western cooking doesn’t use these sorts of flavours so it tastes different” way.

Anyway, ajipon is meant as a sort of all purpose flavouring, so you can use it on anything from yasai itame (something like stripped, stir-fried veggies) to udon, soba, chanpon, or salad.

Related posts:

1. Japan Vegan: Trials and Tribulations
2. I’m in Love (with Apple Pie Larabars)
3. Vegan at the Ritz-Carlton (Room Service and Catering)

This recipe really makes me wish I knew how to take a food picture. Sometimes it’s hard to believe how bad I am at it. Let complaining about that be a clue as to how much I like this recipe which I modified from “The New Vegan Cookbook.”

Ingredients

• 2 medium sweet potatoes
• 2 tablespoons corn oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 pound of corn kernels
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup diced red onion
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1 baking potato

Directions

Oil a large roasting pan and preheat oven to 425F. Dice sweet potatoes and place in the roasting pan. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of oil and add salt and pepper to the sweet potatoes to taste. Then place the pan in the over for 20 minutes, tossing the sweet potatoes at 10 minutes.

Set aside 1 cup of corn. Puree the rest of the kernels in a blender until smooth.

Dice the onion and add the last tablespoon of corn oil. Heat in a large pot until the onions are soft. Then add tomato paste, broth, pureed corn, salt, and pepper. Once boiling, add the diced potato and cover. Simmer for 30 minutes until the potato is soft.

Add the corn kernels and chowder to the diced sweet potatoes and heat until you are ready to eat.

Overall impressions

This is a great recipe. It takes a little while to make (about an hour), but there are tons of leftovers and the ingredients are fairly inexpensive. Give it a try if you’re up to it!

Related posts:

1. Vegan Lentil Soup (Is Mental Fruit)
2. Aloo Gobi: An Indian delight
3. Easy, Moist Scones

As I write, I am eating the leftovers of some good Vegetable Curry that I made today. Normally I wouldn’t make something that takes as much time as curry (even though I love it), because, frankly, I’m pretty lazy when it comes to cooking for myself. However, I heard through the grapevine that there was a ‘12 (freshwoman) who wanted to meet me to talk about vegan activism on campus or something like that, so I decided to do something a little less boring.

The girl, it turned out, was a rather interesting raw vegan who is very much into the nutrition scene. While I know a lot about it, I wouldn’t exactly say I’m the healthiest eater in the world. While I doubt you’ll see me going raw anytime soon (this curry is just too good), I may pick up some of these crazy health nut tendencies, so I apologize.

Anyway, I don’t want to blather on, so here’s the recipe I made up for the curry. My roommate (from India) told me is wasn’t quite Indian, even if it was good, so take that how you will. I don’t have all the right spices though, so what can you do?

Vegan Vegetable Curry

• 2 cups basmati rice
• 1 medium onion
• 2 medium potatoes
• 1 can coconut milk
• 2 carrots
• some amount of broccoli
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon curry powder

Basmati rice can be a pain to cook, so I just borrowed my roommates rice cooker. I really suggest everyone get one, because they can be a lifesaver if you’re trying to cook lots of stuff all at once. Anyway, just make sure you wash the rice first since it can be a little crunchy if you don’t!

For the curry, I use a wok I bought because it seems to cook nicely and can hold a lot of stuff, unlike many skillets or what have you. First, dice and sautee the onion in some oil, then add your curry powder and sautee it a bit more. From there, add in everything else and cook on a low boil until the potatoes are soft. This took a little over and hour, but the result was pretty good.

The thing I like most about this recipe is that you can substitute the veggies rather freely depending on what you have/want to eat.

Note: That picture is of part of my forehead and the raw girl, I can’t find my camera so that’s the best you get!

Related posts:

1. Easy Vegetable Curry Cooking on the Go
2. Vegan Lentil Soup (Is Mental Fruit)
3. Roasted Sweet Potato and Corn Chowder

Anyway, this idea comes from here, and I’d like to say thanks to the creator/editor!

The Vegan’s Hundred

Your mission, should you choose to accept it:

1) Copy this list into your own blog, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Post a comment here once you’ve finished and link your post back to this one.
5) Pass it on!

1. Natto (next time I’m in Japan)
2. Green Smoothie
3. Tofu Scramble
4. Haggis
5. Mangosteen
6. Creme brulee
7. Fondue
8. Marmite/Vegemite
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Nachos
12. Authentic soba noodles
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Taco from a street cart
16. Boba Tea
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Gyoza (a chinese dumpling, but the author used the japanese name)
20. Vanilla ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Ceviche
24. Rice and beans
25. Knish
26. Raw scotch bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Caviar (vegan caviar?)
29. Baklava
30. Pate
31. Wasabi peas
32. Chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Mango lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Mulled cider
37. Scones with buttery spread and jam
38. Vodka jelly
39. Gumbo
40. Fast food french fries
41. Raw Brownies
42. Fresh Garbanzo Beans
43. Dahl
44. Homemade Soymilk
45. Wine from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Stroopwafle
47. Samosas
48. Vegetable Sushi (as japanese will tell you, if it’s just veggies, it’s not sushi)
49. Glazed doughnut
50. Seaweed
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi (beware, it’s potent)
53. Tofurkey
54. Sheese
55. Cotton candy
56. Gnocchi (I’m seriously about to cook this for dinner as I write)
57. Piña colada
58. Birch beer
59. Scrapple
60. Carob chips (barf)
61. S’mores
62. Soy curls
63. Chickpea cutlets
64. Curry
65. Durian
66. Homemade Sausages
67. Churros, elephant ears, or funnel cake
68. Smoked tofu
69. Fried plantain
70. Mochi
71. Gazpacho
72. Warm chocolate chip cookies
73. Absinthe
74. Corn on the cob
75. Whipped cream, straight from the can
76. Pomegranate
77. Fauxstess Cupcake
78. Mashed potatoes with gravy
79. Jerky
80. Croissants
81. French onion soup
82. Savory crepes
83. Tings
84. A meal at Candle 79
85. Moussaka
86. Sprouted grains or seeds
87. Macaroni and “cheese”
88. Flowers
89. Matzoh ball soup
90. White chocolate
91. Seitan
92. Kimchi
93. Butterscotch chips
94. Yellow watermelon
95. Chili with chocolate
96. Bagel and Tofutti (I hate tofutti)
97. Potato milk
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Raw cookie dough

I’m kinda picky and don’t drink, . Hopefully I can update this from time to time with links to recipes I post. I should probably make it a page so it stays visible. Anyway, it seems fun!

Related posts:

1. Unhealthy, Late-night Study Food
2. Vegan Potluck: Success!
3. The vegan bible: Vegan Planet

I hope most vegans aren’t up at 2am making biscuits, but last night, that’s exactly what I was doing. I could apologize for myself, but I really wanted to try modifying my mom’s old biscuits recipe and whipping it up myself. Luckily, it was very easy to do and I ended up with some delicious biscuits for today’s early morning.

Easy Vegan Biscuits

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup shortening (I use Earth Balance)
• 3/4 cup soymilk

First, mix all the dry ingredients together, then cut the shortening into small bits and smush it in to get a cornbread-like consistency. Then pour in the soymilk and mix thoroughly. When mixed, roll out onto a lightly floured surface and flatten to about 1/2″ thick. From there, get your biscuit cutter, cut it up, and pop the biscuits into the over for 10-12 minutes at 450.

Happy baking!

Related posts:

1. Easy, Moist Scones
2. San Francisco Vegan: Coffee to the People
3. Disgustingly Good Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

I just got out of school recently and just now I’ve been going through some of the recipes that I’ve got sitting around and either have fond memories of, can’t wait to make again, or can’t wait to make the original chef make again. The first thing I’ve come across is a cake and icing recipe given to me by a school administrator. One day she made these cupcakes for a potluck and I feel like I’d been hit in the face with deliciousness. Of course, I need to find a special occasion before I can go out and make them again, but this recipe definitely should’ve been shared ages ago!

I don’t really know where this recipe comes from, but if you recognize it let me know so I can give due credit!

Now, keep in mind that the recipe is actually for cake, but these definitely will always be made as cupcakes as long as I’m involved.

Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache Frosting

• 1 cup unbleached white flour
• 1 cup pastry flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 teaspoons baking sode
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup raw sugar
• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 cup maple syrup (this must be why I like them so much)
• 1/2 cup safflower oil
• 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Ganache Frosting

• 4 cups vegan chocolate chips
• 1 cup vanilla soy milk
• 1 tablespoon brewed coffee
• 1/4 cup maple syrup

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Mix dry and wet ingredients separately, then mix together.
3. Pour batter into cupcake pan and bake for 35 minutes or until the “toothpick test” comes out good.
4. Mix icing ingredients in a double boiler until chocolate chips are melted, then let cool, blend, and stick in the fridge for an hour.
5. Ice away and enjoy

I hope you all like this as much as I do!
Image: twid

Related posts:

1. Ben’s Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Banana Cookies
2. Vegan Chocolate Pudding
3. Easy, Moist Scones

Now, I love this song, but I don’t recommend it for those faint of heart around explicit lyrics. That said, I think this is the only rap tune I’ve heard to date advocating a healthy life based around vegan eating. Also, this song (“Be Healthy” by Dead Prez) is the reason I went ahead and made this lentil soup, so it deserves a lot of credit for some of the best food I’ve had in a while.Anyway, on to the good stuff! I made a date with the girls in the apartment upstairs to cook this past Thursday, and for lack of time to think of anything special to make we pretty much patched a meal together. Lentil soup was suggested by one of the girls and while at the local co-op we decided to make some chocolate chip cookies and pick up some bread from a local bakery…little did we know it would come out so well!

Here’s the quick-and-dirty of what we ended up making (recipe from about with many adjustments):

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 carrot sliced
• 1 potato, diced
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 cup dry lentils
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1/4 tsp dried thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• dash salt
• 1 tbsp curry powder
• 3 cloves garlic

Preparation:
Sautee the onions in the vegetable oil until they turn clear (just a few minutes), then add the vegetable broth, lentils, potato, carrot, pepper, thyme, bay leaves, curry powder, garlic and salt. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until lentils are soft, about 45 minutes. Remove bay leaves before serving.

Nutrition Facts (from about, so may be a bit different with my substitutions):
Calories: 230, Calories from Fat: 27
Total Fat: 3.0g, 5% Saturated Fat: 0.7g, 3%
Cholesterol: 0mg, 0%
Sodium: 852mg, 36%
Total Carbohydrates: 33.0g, 11%
Dietary Fiber: 15.6g, 62%
Sugars: 4.6g
Protein: 18.7g
Vitamin A 37%, Vitamin C 12%, Calcium 5%, Iron 28%, Based on a 2000 calorie diet

Gotta love the protein in lentils. We used green lentils because they are even more protein dense than the average lentil. You may think the garlic and curry powder a bit odd, but it happened on the fly and ended up giving the soup a very strong, interesting flavor. When served up with some fresh potato bread and topped off with some cookies, it made for a great meal and a calming study break.

Hope you all enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Vegan Vegetable Curry (and Vegan People, too!)
2. Roasted Sweet Potato and Corn Chowder
3. Easy Vegetable Curry Cooking on the Go

This is what he’d cook when he got hungry and didn’t have much time!

As I type I am preparing myself a very tasty sandwich on my roommate’s George Foreman grill. This tasty sandwich will take less than 10 minutes to prepare and will fulfill a nagging desire to eat at 11PM that only occurs when you don’t get up until after 11AM.

Everyone knows about the lean, mean, fat-reducing, grilling machine by now, I am sure. However, I never really thought about using one until my roommate brought one to college this year. At first I thought eww, most certainly from years of meat-filled infomercials where you could actually see disgusting amounts of fat draining off of that slab of junk you were supposed to be eating.

That image, coupled with the fact that I rarely eat meat substitutes prevented me from using it for a while. However, one day I remembered the vegan barbecue I put on last year and gave me a burning desire to make one of my old favorites, the chicken parm.

Read more after the jump.

So down to the local co-op I went to get my ingredients, which ended up looking like this:

• Gardenburger Chicken Patties
• Some great vegan cheese I completely forget the name of
• Rudy’s Organic Sandwich buns
• DaVinci Organics chunky marinara sauce

First I heated up the patties a bit in the microwave to defrost them, then tossed them on the grill while I melted the cheese and heated up the marinara sauce. When the patties were ready I threw the buns on the grill for a minute or so to give them a hot, toasty crisp.

Putting it all together I had one of the most surprisingly good sandwiches I’ve eaten in a while. It was great! A lot of this was due to the Cheese of the Forgotten Name (it says something like “It Really Melts!” on the package), but the whole thing was great.

These puppies take less than 10 minutes to make and are probably the most delicious thing I have ever eaten based around vegan substitutes, so I heartily advise you give it a try.

And even better, the George Foreman requires almost no clean-up!

Does anyone else use theirs to grill up tasty vegan treats?

Related posts:

1. Really Simple Vegan Beef Macaroni
2. The Best Thing About Vegan Burgers…
3. Vegan at LaVita’s Pizza in Mt Holly, NJ (my hometown)

Remember pudding from your non-vegan childhood? I sure do!

Just the other day I received this recipe via email from a reader and it sounds great, so I wanted to go ahead and share it with you all. I hope some of you have the time that I don’t to go out and try it soon! Thanks, Don.

Modified vegan chocolate pudding recipe from the daily green, a great website.

Vegan Chocolate Pudding

1 12 oz. box Silken Lite Tofu..Firm.

Two tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/3 cup of rice syrup

Put all ingredients in food processor and blend on high for about 30
seconds. Stop, scrape down sides and bottom to get things mixed
completely. Then turn back on for about one minute until smooth. Smooth
is important. If the texture seems rough give it more time. Adjust
ingredients to your taste.Does anyone else have any particularly delicious recipes to share with me?

Related posts:

1. Ben’s Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Banana Cookies
2. Disgustingly Good Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
3. The vegan bible: Vegan Planet

Have you ever wondered how to find vegan versions of some of the most standard meals?

Look no further than this book: Vegan Planet. I was given this book a while ago and I haven’t even scratched the surface. Not only are the recipes good, but there are so many of them that this book can hardly be considered anything but a standard for any vegan chef.

The book begins with your standard guide to vegan nutrition and eating, and then moves on with chapter titles like “Love at First Bite,” “Veggies in the Middle,” and “Dessert Heaven.” Opening the book at random and prodding around for a recipe you’ll come up with something delicious sounding like this: Strawberry-Topped “Cheesecake”

A great recipe and some more about the book after the jump.

Strawberry-Topped “Cheesecake”

1 ½ cups vegan graham cracker crumbs
1/3 cup soy margarine, melted
1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar or natural sweetener
Two 12-ounce packages firm silken tofu, drained
One 8-ounce package vegan cream cheese
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup fruit-sweetened strawberry spread
1 tablespoon water
2 to 3 cupped fresh strawberries, hulled

1. Bring the ingredients to room temperature. Prehead the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly oil a 9-inch springform pan.
2. In a medium-size bowl or food processor, combine the crumbs, soy margarine, and the 1 tablespoon sugar until well blended. Transfer the prepared pan and press the mixture into the bottom and side of the pan. Bake for 5 minutes, then set aside to cool.
3. In a food processor, process the tofu and vegan cream cheese until smooth. Add the 1 cup sugar and the vanilla and process again until smooth. Pour into the prepared crust and bake on the center over rack until firm, about 40 minutes. Turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake inside for 30 minutes.
4. Remove from the oven and let cool to room temperature, then refrigerate for several hours.
5. While the cake is chilling, combine the strawberry spread and water in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring until smooth. Set aside to cool.
6. Once the cake is chilled, slice the strawberries if they are large or vary greatly in size, or leave whole if they are small and uniform in size. Remove the sides of the pan. Arrange the strawberries on top of the cheesecake and brush with the strawberry glaze.

So, as you can see from this recipe alone, this is definitely a cook book worth buying. It only comes in at ~$22 and will be forever useful.

Let me know what your favorite recipe is!

Related posts:

1. Vegan Chocolate Pudding
2. Roasted Sweet Potato and Corn Chowder
3. Disgustingly Good Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes

Moist is an important quality in scones, I feel. The most common complaint about one of my most favorite foods is that they are dry and crumbly, and people just don’t like that. I can appreciate a good, dry scone every so often, but I much prefer something moist when I pick up a scone. This recipe has been one of my favorites since I began cooking, and I’ve adapted it from the non-vegan source (something my mom has made for a while, I don’t know where the original comes from).

These scones are the perfect food for almost any occasion where pastries are called for, and because they only take about 15 minutes to prepare, I often make them if I have to bake for something last minute (or just want a snack). I hope you enjoy them!

More after the break.

Easy, Moist Scones

3 cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon salt
1 ½ sticks of margarine
1 cup buttermilk
Some sugar and margarine topping the scones for baking

In a large bowl, mix the first five dry ingredients well. Then add the butter and use a fork our your hands to mash the butter into the dry ingredients until it is well-mixed (should resemble a cornmeal type mixture, to some extent). Then, for the buttermilk, take 1 tablespoon of vinegar and add it to a cup minus 1 tablespoon of soymilk and let it sit for 5 minutes. Once it’s sat you’ll have a buttermilk-like vegan concoction that works well with this recipe. Mix this in with the other ingredients until its held all the flour. Take the dough and roll it out on a floured surface and split into two equally sized balls. You don’t want to over knead, just enough so that it stays together (too much needing will make denser scones, I’ve found). Flatten these two balls until they are round and about half an inch thick. Melt some margarine and brush the tops of the two discs and then cover with sugar and slice into triangles. Arrange these on a baking sheet and bake at 425 for about 12-14 minutes (or until they get golden brown and crispy).

I hope you enjoy these scones. They are the ultimate late night snack when you’ve got the time to cook, and you’ll also wake up the next few mornings with some great scones.

Related posts:

1. Ben’s Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Banana Cookies
2. Disgustingly Good Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
3. 2am Vegan Biscuits; They’re That Easy!

So there my love affair with Indian food began. But as I grew to love it, the relationship became complicated. With love of food, for me, comes desire to cook it. Something about Indian food always scared me, even when I did it will. I don’t know if it’s the spices I don’t understand or the apparent ease that puts me on edge, but I’m always a bit nervous when I try a new Indian dish.

However, that all changed when I first made Aloo Gobi with a non-vegan friend. Neither of us was particularly experienced with Indian food, but somehow we managed to make an amazing dish. It was extremely easy, and I recommend for any social cooking or potluck occasion (it makes a lot of food).

I adapted this recipe from the amazingness of wikibooks cookbooks. Find the original here.

More after the break.

Vegan Aloo Gobi

Ingredients:
750 g tomatoes, diced or puréed
1 big cauliflower cut into chunks
4-5 potatoes, peeled, cut into cubes
1 lemon
4-5 tablespoons of olive oil (instead of ghee)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon turmeric
2 tablespoon ground coriander
1-2 tablespoon ground chilli
2-4 tablespoon garam masala
1 sprig of mint

Cooking Instructions:
1. Heat the oil in frying pan or wok
2. Add cumin seeds and wait until they turn a light brown color
3. Add the spices (except for garam masala) and the tomatoes.
4. When the mixture turns oily, add the vegetables.
5. Roast the cauliflower and the potatoes until they turn soft. Cover. Stir occasionally.
6. Add the garam masala, mint and lemon juice.

This is a great, easy recipe. Most of the spices can be found at an Indian specialty store or in the Indian section of a store like Wegman’s or Whole Foods.

Good luck!

Related posts:

1. Vegan Vegetable Curry (and Vegan People, too!)
2. Amakusa Vegan: Baobab Cafe, Indian Food and Reggae Music
3. Roasted Sweet Potato and Corn Chowder

After my last post about the recipe exchange, I thought it would be fun to share with you all the same recipe I shared with my recipe exchangers.

This recipe holds a special place in my heart because of a few things:

• it was my first real attempt at social cooking (and it worked fantastically)

• one of the dining facilities on campus has adapted the recipe and every so often I get to see my name in front of some tasty cookies

• I get asked all the time for this recipe by non-vegans, so I know I’m doing something right

I originally found this recipe somewhere on the web, but it has changed a bit since then, so I will give you all my version as well as some notes on some of the variations that I’ve tried in the dozens of batches I’ve made.

These cookies are really good, and have a really interesting flavor. They’re not oatmeal like in the sense that you’ve probably had oatmeal raisin cookies, but there is a distinct oatmeal taste and texture. Be sure to give a bunch away when you make them, you’ll make some new friends, *wink*.

Ben & Colleen’s Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Banana Cookies

1 cup (2 sticks) margarine
2 ½ cups sugar
1 large mashed banana
(4 teaspoons vanilla)
2 tablespoons soy milk
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder (stirred into flour)
2 ½ cups rolled oats
1 10oz package chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Beat together margarine and sugar. Mash the banana completely (I do this inside the peel) and mix in. Add vanilla, then soy milk. Add the dry ingredients, in the order above by half-cup increments. If the mixture is too moist, as more flour and oats incrementally.

Bake cookies on an ungreased cookie sheet for 13-14 minutes. I usually take them out right as they get crispy, because they cool a bit softer that way.

Ingredient notes: I use Earth Balance buttery spread for vegan margarine and Sunspire vegan chocolate chips (rather then ill-flavored carob chips) for the chocolate chips. These are both great products, but if you live in the boonies they might be hard to come by, so try a co-op or health store if you can’t find any.

Good luck with the cookies! Let me know how they turn out!

Related posts:

1. Disgustingly Good Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes
2. Vegan Chocolate Pudding
3. Easy, Moist Scones

Recently I received one of the most interesting and delightful emails I’d gotten in a while. Flatteringly enough, it came from two friends nearly simultaneously; it was an invitation to participate in a holiday recipe exchange. It looked something like this:

Hey there! Happy holidays, blah blah blah.

1. My super friend
my.super.friend@dartmouth.edu
2. Oh my gosh it’s me
oh.my.gosh.its.me@dartmouth.edu

I’d like to invite you to participate in a holiday recipe exchange. So get your mind going and pick out your favorite recipe (as long as it isn’t too complicated).

To do this, address and email to the first person on this list, copy this message with my name in the first slot and yours in the second, and send it to 15 friends. You won’t be getting recipes back from your friends, but rather from friends of friends and many people you might not have met.

Thus far I have sent out my recipes and my 30 feelers to my most culinary of friends. I knew neither of the people I sent recipes to, and was overjoyed to share my favorite recipe for Ben and Colleen’s Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Banana Cookies to two new people. Hopefully I’ll get some really interesting recipes back I can try out over the next term on campus.

This exchange will work best among close communities like schools, offices, and families where you will still feel some sort of connection to the people you’re receiving recipes from. However, if you’re the really adventurous type, you could do this with just about anyone and meet a few new friends. This is a great social cooking opportunity!

If anyone’s participated in an exchange like this or does in the future, please let me know how it goes!

Related posts:

1. Ben’s Vegan Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Banana Cookies
2. Vegan Road Trip!
3. My Theory on Eating Out and Cross-Contamination