Vegan Knitting...and then some

Homemade Hummus

It's been quite hot here lately, and my appetite has been small.  I'm also trying to eat as many meals that are close to the Eat to Live diet as possible (which means mostly beans and vegetables with some nuts/seeds) and in his hot weather, that means a lot of raw veggies and salads for me.

Today I made hummus for the first time in my wonderful KitchenAid blender, using the basic Hummus recipe from Veganomicon.  I used canned chickpeas for convenience but made a roasted sesame version by adding some roasted sesame oil (about 1 TB).  I also used a bit more lemon juice.  Served here with olive oil and smoked paprika on top.

I think this is a great basic recipe and I will be making it often this summer with different additions.

Cranberry Orange Nut Muffins

Another muffin recipe from Vegan Brunch.  Another success, this time even more so than the blueberry muffins.  These light, fluffy muffins are soy-free, using no nondairy milks; instead using orange juice for liquid and flavor, along with some orange zest for pep, and almond extract to blend well with the cranberry flavor.

I'm allergic to the pecans in the recipe, so I substituted sliced almonds.  There aren't fresh cranberries available now, so I subbed frozen berries.  Last, I subbed whole wheat pastry flour for about 1/2 of the regular flour.  These changes all worked very well, and you couldn't tell there was any WW flour before.

These are currently my favorite muffins besides pumpkin, so I can't wait to make them again.