Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup with Baby Spinach

Soup is one of the best winter meals, and during those cold months I try to have soup on the table at least once a week. Sweet Potato and Peanut Soup with Baby Spinach {page 158} was this week's pick.

The soup is very easy to put together, uses standard ingredients that are affordable {and that many may already have in their pantries}, and is hearty and delicious without being overly-indulgent. It packs protein from the peanut butter, and lots of vitamins and minerals from the sweet potato and the spinach. Aside from being healthful, easy, and affordable, the soup was delicious!

A little kick from the cayenne, and plenty of flavor make this simple dish a winner!

-- Your Friendly Neighborhood Batgirl

Chocolate Swirl Tofu Cheesecake

I have been absent for so long, I feel guilty! After shopping at Macy's on a Saturday a couple of weeks ago, I went to my favorite coffee shop and treated myself to a piece of peanut butter cheesecake. Because Macy's Herald Square during holidays is surely one of the circles of hell- maybe the one where they send obnoxious tourists? The cheesecake was delicious and I immediately decided I had to make my own. After all, an entire cheesecake at $6 a slice would be too expensive. At first I was going to adapt a different cheesecake recipe to a peanut butt version, but then I remembered the Chocolate Swirl Tofu Cheesecake page 454.

I love making cookie crumb crusts after the success of my pumpkin cheesecake. This one is made from chocolate cookies- I used Newman's Own chocolate alphabet cookies. I ended up using a little bit more cookie crumbs and margarine than the recipe called for, but I couldn't tell you how much more- I went by eye. The filling was easy to whip up in my trusty food processor and was ready quickly. And scraping the filling off the sides of the processor bowl was a delicious preview of the finished product. The funnest part was pouring in the melted chocolate and swirling it into the cheesecake. I felt like an artist! Or at least like a kid fingerpainting (with a knife, but let's not get technical). My oven is a bit wonky so I had to bake it a bit longer-I'd say an extra ten minutes. The worst part was that I made this late. I had it out of the oven at 11:30. Then it had to cool on the counter; then be refrigerated for four hours. So no cheesecake last night. No matter- cheesecake is a perfectly acceptable breakfast- especially when it has peanut butter and banana in it.

I really like the finished cheesecake, but it tastes more like banana than peanut butter. Next time I will use cornstarch instead and up the peanut butter. I'll also substitute maple syrup for some of the sugar for added moisture. It is also pretty to look at, at least before I cut into it. Now I'm off to eat another piece!

--vegankitty

Peanut Butter-Ice Cream Pie

Okay, really now. When you look at the title of this dessert, how can you go wrong? It's peanut butter, and it's ice cream, and it's PIE. What's not to love? Well I am delighted to inform you that the Peanut Butter-Ice Cream Pie (p468) is a little round chunk of luscious peanut buttery ice creamy love.

Despite its simplicity, I did end up with a few changes. One by design, the other two by necessity. The recipe calls for "vegan chocolate cookie crumbs," but when I went to purchase these I realized I didn't exactly know what that was. Graham cracker crumbs, even vegan ones, are widely available, but I've never seen chocolate cookie crumbs. Can't exactly say I've ever sought them out, but this time I did, and there were none. I considered getting some plain chocolate cookies (such as Cat Cookies from Trader Joe's) and processing them into crumbs, but I wasn't at TJ's and couldn't find a comparable substitute. Then I came across a Wholly Wholesome Chocolate Pie Crust and decided to go with that. The other changes came about because the store was out of plain vanilla ice cream, so I went with one pint of Turtle Mountain/Purely Decadent's Dulce de Leche and one pint of their coconut milk vanilla bean. This worked out fine and did not impart a coconut flavor that I could detect. But even if it had, that wouldn't have been a bad thing.

I cannot adequately explain how easy this is to put together. No one could mess it up! And imagine how impressed your friends and family will be when you serve them ICE CREAM PIE. You've baked nothing, you've mixed a few things, and you have an impressive decadent dessert that your guests will think took far more time and effort. So take a few minutes to make it, serve, enjoy your accolades, and figure out whether a spoon or fork works best.

--The Divine Miss V

Panko-Fried Green Tomatoes with Peanut Sauce

Having procured some green tomatoes at a farmers market I stumbled upon, it was only natural that I go straight for the Panko-Fried Green Tomatoes with Peanut Sauce (page 386). There's peanut butter involved, how could I even consider passing that up?

The fried tomatoes didn't quite work as I imagined. Either my panko pieces were too big or my tomatoes not wet enough to coat entirely, and what coating I did get on partially fell off into the skillet during turning. It may've also been due to the thickness of the slices: half of an inch seems a mighty big piece, but I followed the recipe. Next time I'll try slicing them much thinner. Still, anything coated in breadcrumbs and fried in oil is perfectly acceptable, and my underwhelmed opinion of the tomatoes didn't much matter once the sauce came into play. Suddenly, everything was gold.

The sauce. Is. Brilliant. If I died smothered in it, it would be a sweet sweet death – well, more like a sour-tart death, which would make it aaaaall the better. It's peanutty, it's tart with a hint of sweet, it's ace, der Hammer, fantastisch, très bon, all that. I'm keeping this one for smothering any sort of anything in, especially more breadcrumb-coated things. It really doesn't matter what's carrying it to my mouth as long as there's enough surface area.

(Note: It's wonderfully tart, which is right up my alley, but the intensity can be adjusted with more water or more sugar; just taste and stir.)

- - Ulpia, peanut sauce fiend extraordinaire - -

Peanut Butter and Banana-Stuffed French Toast

Sunday mornings are not my favorite, but with a nomilicious breakfast like Peanut Butter and Banana-Stuffed French Toast {page 520}, this morning wasn't half bad!

The filling was a creamy sweet montage of banana, peanut butter, and maple. The batter coated the bread perfectly, and cooked up on the griddle to a crisp golden brown. Each bite was a little crunch, followed by the smoothness of the bread and the sweet decadence of the filling. Served with sliced fresh bananas and pure maple syrup on top, this french toast was a force to be reckoned with.

Four thumbs {from the Ninjahusband and I} and several fingers {from the Supertoddler} way, way up. I will be repeating this on a regular basis, I'm sure.

-- Your Friendly Neighborhood Batgirl

Some-Kinda-Nut Burgers

I've found my favorite recipe so far. I made the Some-Kinda-Nut Burgers (page 120). They're some-kinda-gone, because they were all-kindsa-awesome. I'm kinda in awe of them right now, so suffice to say that these will be in my dreams for weeks to come.

I skipped the whole bun affair, the recipe header suggesting that they'd do well served cutlet-style too. I used canola oil instead of olive, almonds instead of mixed nuts, and fresh parsley. As the patties sizzled away in my beloved cast iron skillet, my kitchen was filled with a mouth-watering smell that continues to linger long after they've all gone.

I wasn't sure what to expect, having never made any outright cutlets before. Upon taking my first bite, I nearly fainted, Southern-Belle-style. These are a million times better than any patty/cutlet I've ever had, and I'm all about going on vegan food safaris. The nutty flavor, the rich sweetness of the peanut butter mingled with the savoriness of the onion and carrot and fresh parsley – this is definitely my kinda burger!

Honestly, I was going to make a side and a chutney, but then I tasted them... and I decided there was no side and chutney in the world that could keep me from these a moment longer.

They're also marked “f” for “fast” – so make them. Make them now, thank me later. In fact, make extra and send me some.

- - Ulpia - -

PB&J Muffins

Tonight's recipe was PB&J Muffins (page 409). Again, I wanted something I could make with pantry staples. And who doesn't like peanut butter and jelly? I made them with Peanut Butter and Co. Mighty Maple peanut butter and with Trader Joe's Superfruit Spread for the jelly. I substituted almond milk for soy milk. They were easy to put together and baked up nicely. Once again I didn't get twelve muffins, but nine. These ones are much bigger than the chive flecked potato ones though. I probably could have gotten twelve if I had made them smaller. They also look very pretty with the dot of jelly in the center.

These muffins are delicious! They have finely chopped peanuts on top. (I chopped them in my food processor.) I ate mine while it was still warm. They have a hint of maple too, probably enhanced in this case because I used the maple peanut butter I'm going to have another one with a tall glass of chocolate soymilk.

These muffins are going to be my breakfast tomorrow morning. Make them!

--vegankitty