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Iron Chef Challenge #4

Iron Chef Challenge #4

It’s the last Iron Chef Challenge of MoFo, are you guys pumped? If not, go listen to Eye of the Tiger and then come back to make sure you’re in the right frame of mind. We’re going for a combo again!

A quick review of our few simple rules/guidelines:

1. Whatever you come up with has to be new, nothing from a cookbook or a blog, not something you posted last week that happens to involve the secret ingredient. It’s fine to use a recipe for a jump-off point, but make it your own!
2. Entries are due at 3 pm CST on Sunday (but it takes me awhile to read all of the entries so if you’re a little late it’s no big).
3. Have fun and be creative!

And the secret ingredients are…

CARROTS AND OATS!

Carrots paired with oats still isn’t too difficult, but hopefully I will not be doing an Iron Chef Carrot Muffin Round-up on Sunday! Both ingredients are so easy to make either sweet or savory, so you can really do almost anything. Put on your thinking caps and bring it!

Allez Végétalien Cuisine!

Iron Chef #3 Roundup: Coconut

Iron Chef #3 Roundup: Coconut

Here’s your Iron Chef Roundup! Thanks to everyone who participated, all of the recipes look truly amazing, and many people mentioned how much they love coconut. And don’t forget to check back Friday, when the last challenge of MoFo will be posted!

Are all of the chocolate giveaways this weekend making you drool? Go over to Don’t Fear The Vegan and try out these Coconut White Chocolate Pumpkin Truffles.

To change up your breakfast a bit, but without a lot of effort, try Tiffany’s Coconut Hashbrowns.

JL used the new So Delicious Coconut Nog to make Eggnog Bread! This recipe will come in handy when i’ve bought three cartons of nog on sale and can only drink the first two.

Mandy made a dessert called Coconut Slice, I had to look up what a slice is because i’ve never heard the term before. Learning is delicious!

Zuckerbaby made Monte Carlo Ice Cream, inspired by a famous Australian biscuit. Note to self, go to Australia.

For something a little lighter and to get Jimmy Buffet stuck in your head, try Easy Vegan’s “Put the Lime in the Coconut” Salad Dressing…or try her second entry, Chocolate Chip Brownies with Coconut Buttercream Frosting.

There aren’t any non-dairy replacements for alcoholic beverages on the market (and now i’m wondering why not), but you can make your own Cheatin’ Baileys at home in minutes, via Tea and Sympatico.

Vegtastic updated a classic kids treat by making Coconut Chai Rice Krispy Treats.

Poobee took some failed fritters and turned them into quesadilla filling, to dip into their Chocolate Coconut Sauce.

Lisa made Red Coconut Curry Spring Rolls with Peanut-Coconut Dipping Sauce, she says she’ll post the recipe later and we are going to hold her to that!

Individual Sweet Potato Casserole, where all you need is a microwave and a spoon? Yes and thank you, Rachael!

Ashley kicks a basic recipe up a notch with Coconut and Cranberry Johnny Cakes.

In addition to a recipe for Coconut Almond Rum Balls, you can learn about a great dog rescue at Hobby and More.

Go over to The Flaming Apron for an Almond Joyeux Latte and a reminder why cow’s milk is scary.

Cara brings us a very tropical recipe from Germany with this Banana Mango Cake with Mango Coconut Cream.

Justbloggs made their very first homemade Green Curry without even referencing a recipe, even making the paste from scratch!

Katie made some seriously amazing looking Raw Chocolate Coconut Truffles, clearly not for the faint of heart.

And the made-up award for ‘recipe I most wish came with a demonstrative video goes to Bad Little Spice for her Monkey See, Monkey Do Coco-Choco-Loco-Nana Ice Cream.

Clare made Courgette Curry in Coconut Sauce (courgette = zucchini), this looks just like a curry I had for lunch last week!

If you are lucky enough to find vegan shrimp in your area, try Kathy’s Vegan Coconut Shrimp! I love it when people put in a recipe, “I try X but it didn’t work” because it’s helpful to know if what seems like an easier way won’t even work.

Steph and Jennifer made a Coconut Spiced Kugel.

Kelly tried to make coconut brittle and it didn’t turn out (I would love to see it anyway!), but she promises to post a coconut cream pie before the day is out, so check back on that entry later.

Do you miss white chocolate, and can’t get vegan white chocolate chips in your area? Then go over to Allysia’s for White Hot Chocolate (and bring me back a mug).

If you’re bookmarking US Thanksgiving recipes, you will definitely want to see Lisa’s no-bake, easy-peasy Coconut Cranberry Tart.

Iron Chef Challenge #3

Iron Chef Challenge #3

Last week was kind of hard, so this week we’re going with something a little easier.

A quick review of our few simple rules/guidelines:

1. Whatever you come up with has to be new, nothing from a cookbook or a blog, not something you posted last week that happens to involve the secret ingredient. It’s fine to use a recipe for a jump-off point, but make it your own!
2. Entries are due at 3 pm CST on Sunday (but it takes me awhile to read all of the entries so if you’re a little late it’s no big).
3. Have fun and be creative!

And the secret ingredient is…

COCONUT!
Coconut is a fabulous ingredient because while it’s sweet, it easily translates into savory dishes. Plus, you can get it in so many ways: canned milk, shredded and dried, extract, oil, fresh, etc. Any form is welcome!

Allez Végétalien Cuisine!

Iron Chef #2 Roundup: Bananas and Coffee

Iron Chef #2 Roundup: Bananas and Coffee

I was expecting people to be turned off by the banana/coffee combo, but you guys proved me wrong! I will admit that i’m not a coffee fan, but I love all things banana so all of these look wonderful to me!

Different Shades of Green made Coco Banana Pick Me Ups, a muffin made Halloweenish with a dyed banana slice and icing on top.

Kathryn brings the xgfx power with a Gluten-Free Banana Mocha Bread.

Jenni made Coffee Banoffee Cake, and she better post the recipe after she’s made her tweaks!

Louise, owner of the best coffee mug i’ve ever seen, made a Big Banana Soy Latte. I don’t know about anyone else, but a banana flavored coffee drink didn’t even occur to me!

If we gave out awards, Cara would definitely win for most effort put into the challenge. To quote the blogger herself, “banana panna cotta tiramisu fairy cake with (halfly molten) tiramisu semifreddo and caramel sauce = pure awesomeness.” Indeed! What an amazing entry!

Over at Bad Little Spice, we get a recipe for Double Chocolate Caffeinated Monkey Pudding Cheesecake, complete with adorably illustrated instructions.

Chubby Vegan Mom’s theme dictates that she post dinners this week, so she was forced to come up with something savory, and I think it’s a good one: Coffee BBQ Baked Banana Polenta with Carrot Mash.

Kelly made Mocha Banana Bread Pudding in the slow cooker, which is always the best way to use up dry bread.

Linda made two things, first an energy-packed Mocha Banana Shake to start the day and then later, she made Red Curry with Coffee and Bananas. People doubling up for the Iron Chef challenges is a rare occurrence, but you can do it!

…and then as I go to my next tab, I see that The Veganista Mama has ALSO made two things, in two separate posts. First, the delightfully named Wake Yo Ass Up Banana Pecan Caramel Pinwheels, and then she made Piononos, a Puerto Rican dish.

The team over at Beans, Figs, and Katz (sounds like a delicious law firm) made Mexican Torta Sliders, they have coffee-infused black beans and banana-cilantro mayo.

Rachel whipped up Banana Whoopie Pies, and kept the coffee flavor as an accent by making a coffee oat crumble to sprinkle onto the unbaked cookies.

Heather (with help from Kirk) came up with a Cuban-inspired recipe: Espresso-Chili Tempeh with Grilled Bananas.

Justbloggs went for a simple Mochanana Cake, but kept things interesting but making one banana layer and one mocha layer, then checkering them together.

Lemons and Garlic put a healthy spin on her great-grandmother’s favorite dessert, Bananas and Coffee Cream.

The Flaming Apron made Bourbon BBQ Beans with Green Banana, and I have a feeling this smells strongly since part of the recipe instructions include ‘open a window’.

Tiffany was tired of eating sweets, so she came up with a Smoky Black Bean Chili, with Sweet Banana Chutney on the side.

If you agree with me that upside-down cakes are the best kind, then you will love Rithika’s Right Side Up Banana Cake with Coffee Caramel!

Kelly experienced a happy accident when she tried to make a bread and ending up with Mocha Banana Accidental Pudding “Bread”.

Coffee ice cream lovers, form a line to the left! Katie took the standard frozen banana ice cream that is so popular and added frozen coffee to make Coffee Banana Ice Cream.

And finally, we have a brave banana-hater who was willing to risk her taste buds for the sake of MoFo. From the looks of her Banana and Pomegranate Black Bean Cake with Espresso Mole Sauce, i’m glad she decided to participate!

Thanks for playing, everyone! Check back for another challenge next Friday.

Iron Chef Challenge #2

Iron Chef Challenge #2

Last week, we dipped our toe into the pool with chickpeas, a very common ingredient in vegan cooking. This week, we are shoving you in the deep end with an ingredient combination! That means you use them both together, not that you get to choose. I think this is definitely a hard one, but I know you guys can pull out some amazing stuff because you are vegan champions.

A quick review of our few simple rules/guidelines:

1. Whatever you come up with has to be new, nothing from a cookbook or a blog, not something you posted last week that happens to involve the secret ingredient. It’s fine to use a recipe for a jump-off point, but make it your own!
2. Entries are due at 3 pm on Sunday (but it takes me awhile to read all of the entries so if you’re a little late it’s no big).
3. Have fun and be creative!

And the secret ingredients are…

BANANAS AND COFFEE!

Isa came up with this combination idea. As usual, you can use any form of the ingredients that you want: banana extract, banana chips; coffee extract, espresso powder, whatever. This may seem like a dessert challenge, but I would love to see some savory applications! Bonus points if the coffee is just an accent flavor for those of us who don’t like it that much.

Allez Végétalien Cuisine!

Iron Chef #1 Round-up: Chickpeas

Iron Chef #1 Round-up: Chickpeas

Thanks to everyone who entered!  First up, I want to apologize for the confusion:  the point of the Iron Chef challenge is to quickly come up with a new recipe.  Some people posted links to old blog posts that happened to contain chickpeas.  I’m sorry that I wasn’t more clear, next week I will try to write out my post a little better so there is no confusion.

Also, you do NOT have to come up with anything fancy or complicated, and if you do not want to type out a recipe and just give an outline of how you made it, that’s fine.

Onto the recipes!

Body By Chickpeas (how appropriate!) gives us a pantry-friendly ‘hot pocket’, complete with tips for making them even better.

Hobby and More made apple fries coated in chickpea batter.  Shut.  Up!

Tuxedo Cat made a colorful chickpea and red quinoa salad, with a simple dressing.

If you have trouble using up chickpea flour (I know I do!), try Passing Daises’ curried chickpea falafel.

Fattopotamus made Chiccini Canoes, or chickpeas in zucchini boats.  To be eaten in your swim trunks and your flippy-floppies, perhaps?

Little House on the Vegan Prairie decided to take all of the flavor of a chik’n patty without the breaded/fried part and made chickpea chik’n patties (eek, they’re nekkid!).

One can of chickpeas, one hour, and a vegetable napoleon that uses chickpeas three ways?  Holy crap, Go Greenly.  Hats, off.

“Where do you get your protein?”  “Chickpea peanut butter frosting.”  Thanks for giving us a new way to answer that tired old question, bad little spice!

If you don’t like/are allergic to peanut butter, Corriana, Darling had the same idea, but made a vanilla chickpea frosting.

The Vegan Apprentice modified a much-loved soup recipe to bring us this chickpea, ginger, and peanut curry.

Amy made a comforting dish of chickpeas and cauliflower to welcome her husband home from the hospital (get well, Jonny!).

Rithika brings as an authentic chana masala from South India, minus the onions and garlic, and explains a few reasons why one might not want to put those two things in their food.

Naturaliment worries that her methi malai chole isn’t very original, but i’m sure i’m not alone in thinking that the internet needs more authentic vegan Indian recipes!

If you have trouble working dark, leafy greens into your diet like I do, you’ll appreciate this swiss chard pakora from Always Autumn.

Healthy Kitschy Vegan made no-bake chocolate chip cookies, which sound great since the weather has creeped back up into the 80’s.

El Paso Veg Snob rustled around in her pantry and came away with this awesome sounding smoky tomato chickpea soup.

The Flaming Apron made a duo of hummus – smoky cayenne and tomato rosemary.  I like this serving tip, “Separate with some pita bread for those obnoxious people who don’t like their food to touch. ”

I am excited to see these gluten-free spiced chickpea crackers from West Philly Vegan, because the only good xgfx crackers I can find around here are full of sesame seeds, and sometimes you want to change things up.

Jeni wrote a really amusing entry about the ‘chickpea juju’ she experienced while making these chickpea fritters.

JustBloggs calls this soup quick spicy chickpea soup, but I think the garnishes on top make it look super fancy!

Garlic & Lemons posts a recipe for Mediterranean chickpea salad and shares why she thinks bulk bin, dried chickpeas are the best you can get.

Vgan Jar not only presents an easy, homemade  baked quesadilla, but an accidental food lesson as well!  I had never heard of Socca before this, and now i’ve learned about a new food.

You know what you can’t go wrong with?  Anything involving buffalo sauce, as shown by Suburban Vegan with these buffalo chickpea bites.

If this was a beauty contest, Kirsten would win with her chickpea frittata, gorgeous!

Over at Not Just Greens, Miss Amanda craved something hearty, so she put her spin on a classic with Single Chick’s Pea Pie.

And finally, our own Panda With Cookie discovers the joy of roasted chickpeas, which is one of the best simple ways to prepare a chickpea.

(If you submitted a recipe that was within the time frame posted, please let me know!  40 blogs is a lot to get through and i’m worried I might’ve scrolled past someone by accident.)

There will be another challenge on Friday, with TWO ingredients (meaning you use them together, not you get to choose), so I hope this was a good warm-up!

Iron Chef Challenge #1

Iron Chef Challenge #1

I usually post these on my own site, but since I have a theme this year, we’re doing this on the MoFo blog!

The VeganMoFo Iron Chef challenge is simple.  I post an ingredient or two on Friday, then on Sunday evening I will gather up the links and post them in a special round-up.  There are no winners, and the only rule is that you have to come up with an original dish, not using a recipe from a book or the internet (edited to add that you also have to make something new, not an old blog post that so happens to involve the ingredient).  Just comment on this entry with the link to your blog post by Sunday, 3 pm CST to participate.

And the secret ingredient is…

 

 

CHICKPEAS!

You can use dried, fresh, chickpea flour, you can use hummus (totally counts), whatever!  Have fun and be creative.

Allez Végétalien Cuisine!