Vegetable Frittata

Soup is one of my favorite cheap, comfort food meals. It's a "chop and drop" kind of meal. By "chop and drop" I mean you chop up whatever vegetables you have in the fridge and drop it into the pot. I have now discovered that frittata is a great "chop and drop" meal too. What is frittata? I suppose it's like a crustless quiche that's cooked mostly on the stove. Here's my recipe.

Vegetable Frittata

• 4 tablespoons olive oil


• 1 potato, peeled and diced


• 1/2 onion, chopped


• 2 garlic cloves, minced


• salt and pepper


• 6 eggs


• 1/4 cup milk


• 1/4 cup grated parmesan


• 2 tablespoons chopped basil


• 2 morning star italian sausages (optional)


• 1 cup frozen mixed veggies
  

Heat oil in a heavy skillet on medium heat. Add potato, onion, mixed vegetables, sausage, and garlic. Season with salt and pepper. Saute until potato is golden and crisp (about 7-10 minutes). Preheat broiler. Whisk eggs, milk, parmesan, and basil in a bowl. Stir the egg mixture into the veggie mixture. Cook until egg mixture is almost set. Place the skillet under the broiler for about 4 minutes, until the top is golden.

A few tips about this recipe:

• Frittata is good for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.
• Use my recipe as a base. Experiment. Throw in whatever vegetables, fake meat, or cheese that you have in the fridge.
• Make sure whatever pan or skillet you use doesn't have plastic on the handle because it will melt under the broiler.
  
  

Debut: Vegan Carrot Cake

It took me a while to think of what dessert would be worthy enough to become my first post. Finally it hit me: mom's carrot cake! But of course, I had to change it a little. I decided to make it vegan. It was super easy to veganize this recipe because the only non-vegan ingredient in the cake was eggs. I had to do some reading on vegan egg replacers, so I went here: http://theppk.com/veganbaking.html. I decided on Ener-G Egg Replacer for this recipe and it worked great.

Pineapple Carrot Cake

For the cake:

• 1 cup vegetable oil


• 2 cups flour


• 2 teaspoons baking soda


• 1 teaspoon baking powder


• 1 teaspoon salt


• 2 teaspoons cinnamon


• 3 eggs (Ener-G Egg replacer equivalent: 4 1/2 teaspoons of replacer mixed with 6 tablespoons of warm water)


• 1 teaspoon vanilla


• 2 cups shredded carrot


• 1 8 ounce can crushed pineapple


• 1 3/4 cups brown sugar


• 3/4 cup flaked coconut

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 13x9x2 pan. Dust with flour. Sift flour/soda/powder/salt/cinnamon. Make well in center, add in order: sugar, oil, eggs/egg replacer, vanilla. Beat with wooden spoon until smooth. Stir in carrots, coconut, and pineapple. Blend well. Pour into pan. Bake for 45 minutes until center springs back. Cool in pan.

For the frosting:

• 3 ounces cream cheese (I used Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese)


• 1/4 cup softened butter (I used Earth Balance vegan margarine)


• 2 cups powdered sugar


• 2 teaspoons milk (obviously, soy/rice/almond is ok here)


• 1 teaspoon of vanilla

Beat cheese with the butter. Beat in sugar and vanilla. Add milk if necessary to make spreadable.

A few tips about this recipe:

• Now, I have a friend who doesn't like pineapple in her carrot cake. In this recipe the pineapple is essential in keeping the cake moist. However, if you really really really really really don't want to use pineapple subsitute unsweetened apple sauce instead.
• This is for all cakes in general. If you noticed in the picture the frosting doesn't look quite set up. That's because I was really hungry and frosted the cake while it was still warm. Of course, the cake was extremely tasty still hot from the oven but the frosting will not set. You can decide whether or not you're ok with that.

Introduction

My name is Blake and I like to bake. And as a recent vegetarian I love experimenting with recipes that can satisfy omnivores, vegetarians, and vegans all at once. I am no chef so I like for my recipes to be as easy as possible. And perhaps most importantly, I'm a college student, so cooking on a budget is essential. All of the recipes can be recreated by omnivores and vegetarians and I'll try my hardest to make every recipe vegan friendly. Hopefully I can inspire you to get in the kitchen and make some delicious and wallet friendly meals and desserts.