California Dreamin'...about Pizza #5!

We have a confession to make: We have NEVER been to the Vegan paradise that is California. The place that is teeming with vegan bakeries, restaurants, ice cream parlors, and food trucks. The place known for it's fresh produce. The place that is the home of Veg News! Don't worry...we will make our way to The Golden State eventually (after all, it's on KT's bucket list), but until then, this undeniably delicious pizza pie, topped with fresh California avacados will do.

Fifty Nifty Pizzas of America

#5 - California!

Pizza Crust

1/2 cup Pizza Sauce

1/2 Green Bell Pepper, cut into strips

1/2 Red Bell Pepper, cut into strips

Gardein Chik'n Strips

Sundried Tomatoes

Daiya Mozarella Cheese

Vegan Parmesean

1 Avacado, cubed (for garnish)

Cilantro, chopped (for garnish)

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Spread sauce onto crust. Top with Chik'n strips, Bell Peppers, Sundried Tomatoes, Daiya Mozarella, and Vegan Parmesean. Garnish with freshly ground Black Pepper or Italian Seasonings, if desired.

3. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes on the middle rack, then 8-10 minutes on the bottom rack for our signature crispy crust!

4. Garnish your personal pieces with as many avacado chunks and sprinkles of cilantro as you desire! The more the merrier!

5. Sing "California Girls" at the top of your lungs while dancing around the kitchen and chowing down.

This pie tastes like a sunny day spent by the beach. Or like a long hike beneath towering Sequoia trees. Or maybe it just tastes like pizza covered with avacados. No matter what, you should probably make it, and keep on dreaming about the California sunshine.

Make sure to check out the Alabama, and Arizona pizzas!

Peace, Love, and Surfer Dudes

Pam and KT

Veggie-rific Scramble Bake

We've all been there. The moment you look into your fridge, seeing too many veggies and not enough pizza dough. What are you supposed to do with all that beautiful produce!! As vegans, it's our DUTY to not let any neglected veggies go to waste...after all, we're supposed to eat five fruits and vegetables a DAY! So what do we do? We get creative!We're calling this dish a "Scramble Bake" because it is like a tofu scramble and a casserole all rolled into one. The different textures really make this dish special -- the crunchy carrots, the chewy mushrooms, and the creamy tofu come together fantastically! And it has five...count them FIVE different vegetables.

Veggie-rific Scramble Bake

2 Packages of Extra Firm Tofu, drained and pressed

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 cup Nutritional Yeast

1/2 cup fresh Parsley, chopped

1 cup Carrots, chopped

1 cup Peas

1 cup Green Bell Peppers, chopped

1 cup Red Bell Peppers, chopped

1 cup Mushrooms, sliced

2 tbsp minced Garlic

1/4 cup Soy Sauce or Tamari

Hot Sauce, to your desired spice level

Salt and Pepper, to taste
Bread Crumbs, for garnish

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare an 8x8 baking dish.

2. In a mixing bowl, crumble Tofu and mix with Nutritional Yeast, EVOO, Parsley, and S&P to taste. Set aside.

3. In another mixing bowl, mix together Veggies, Soy Sauce, Hot Sauce, and S&P to taste.
4. Layer Tofu mixture, followed by the Veggie mixture. Top with Bread Crumbs.

5. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until the Bread Crumbs have started to brown. Dig in!

This dish is extremely versatile! KT ate it accompanied with crispy flatbreads. Pam ate it on a bun, like an egg-salad sandwich. We also think it would be delectable stuffed in a pita. Or maybe wrapped in a tortilla like a breakfast burrito! Now isn't this a great way to get your daily intake?
Peace, Love, and Scrambies
Pam and KT

Nuts for Olive-Nut Spread!

We've gone nutty. The latest obsession in the VegBergers house seems to be vegan cream cheese. Ever since our trip to New York, where bagel shops have as many as THREE deliciously creamy versions of the good stuff, we haven't been able to get enough. It's all we think about! KT has started bringing her own personal container to work with her. We're even adding it to desserts (cheesecake brownies, anyone??), and we've decided that the good folks at Follow Your Heart have started slipping something addictive into their products. And so, we bring you our latest creation:

This creamy spread is inspired by a similar, yet non-vegan, version from one of our favorite local coffee shops: Third Street Stuff.

Olive-Nut Spread

1 8 oz. container of Vegan Cream Cheese (or crack, as we like to call it)

1/3 cup toasted and coarsely chopped Walnuts

1/3 cup pitted and sliced Olives (We recommend a combination of green and black from the olive bar, which are much better than canned olives)

1/2 tsp. dried Italian Seasoning

Combine ingredients and refrigerate for 4 or more hours so the flavors can marry. Spread the goodness on your favorite bagel, bread, or crackers. Make a sandwich! Eat it with a spoon! The possibilities are endless.

Peace, Love, and Crack...I mean Cream Cheese!

Pam and KT

Resolutions

I've decided that 2012 is going to be the best year yet. In order for this to happen...I've resolved to eat more cookies. Like these oatmeal chocolate chip monstrosities!! Stuffed with chocolate chips, toasted walnuts, and dried craberries...spiced up with cinnamon and cloves. Oh yea...it's going to be a GREAT year.
Peace, Love, and cookies.
Pam and KT

Nifty Pizza #3 - Arizona!

Fifty Nifty United Pizzas of America

3. ARIZONA

Arizona, located in the Southwest region of the country, is known for its desert landscape, big Saguaro cactuses, and of course the Grand Canyon. This pizza is deliciously spicy and loaded with healthy veggies found in the cuisine eaten beneath the huge Arizona sky.

Pizza Crust

1/2 cup Enchilada Sauce (see recipe below)

2 T extra virgin olive oil, divided

1 T Earth Balance margarine

Handful of baby bella mushrooms, sliced

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1/2 cup frozen corn kernels

Pickled jalapeno peppers, sliced

Black olives, sliced

Vegan cheddar cheese (Daiya)

Vegan parmesean cheese

Enchilada Sauce:

1 T chili powder

1 1/2 t paprika

1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t cumin

1/8 t chipotle powder

1/8 t instant espresso powder

1 1/2 T canola oil

1 T all purpose flour

1 8 oz. can tomato sauce

3/4 c vegetable broth

1. Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.

2. Mix the Enchilada Sauce spices together and set aside. Heat canola oil in medium pan over medium-high heat. Whisk in flour and stir until smooth, bubbly, and beginning to brown. Stir in the spice mixture and then add tomato sauce and vegetable broth. Bring to a bubble, cover, lower heat, and let simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and cool.

3. While sauce is simmering, heat 1 T olive oil and 1 T margarine together in skillet over medium-high heat. Toss in the sliced mushrooms and saute until browned. Remove from skillet. Add 1 T of olive oil to pan and toss in onion, bell pepper, and corn. Season with salt and pepper if desired. Saute until soft and starting to brown. Remove from heat and let cool a bit.

4. Assemble the pie by spooning about 1/2 cup of the enchilada sauce onto the crust. Top with your sauteed vegetables, and add as many jalapeno peppers and olives as you like. Cover with vegan cheddar and parmesean cheeses.

5. Bake in oven for about 10 minutes on the middle rack of your oven, then 8-10 minutes on the lower rack. Moving the pizza allows just the right amount of time for the crust to brown on the bottom without burning. Trust us!

6. Slice, plate, and fuel up for your donkey ride around the Grand Canyon.

Make sure to check out our first nifty pizza - Alabama. And if you're wondering where #2 is, don't worry! We made and ate the Alaska pie, but we can't just give the WHOLE cookbook away before it comes out, can we?!

Peace, Love, and Fajitas

Pam and KT

Bearing donuts, we travel afar...

The Christmas season is officially over. Red cups are no more at Starbucks (well, we still have holiday short cups, but who orders shorts anyway?). The decorations are coming down. It's a new year and everyone is ready to get healthy.

But before we take down the garland, we must remember that yesterday was Epiphany, the feast celebrating the three kings bringing gifts to the baby Jesus. Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh. Three awesome presents, don't get me wrong...but after giving it some thought we decided that if we had been wise-women of yore, we would have brought the Baby (capital B) something a bit more delicious. Like...DONUTS, maybe?

Yes...it's early January meaning everyone is eating small servings of steamed broccoli with brown rice and going to as many fitness classes as they can squeeze in. But for one more holiday hoorah, we made Epiphany donuts! We adapted Mama Pea's recipe for Chocolate Glazed Donuts and gave them Christmassy decorations. Luckily, these donuts are perfect all year round...and believe me, we WILL be making more.Thankfully, neither of us resolved to stop eating sweets in 2012. And we TRULY hope you didn't either.

Peace, Love, and Happy New Year!

Pam and KT