Summer Recap

Somehow another month has passed without a blog post or recipe to share with you, but I'm going to try to make it up with some new recipes starting next week! I made a big batch of soup this week that I'll be sharing here soon, and I hope to start making some pumpkin treats this weekend too!

In the meantime, I thought I would do a post about what I've been eating over the summer - even though I didn't spend as much time cooking or developing my own recipes, I still enjoyed lots of good food!

A lot of my meals were super simple dinners that I could throw together quickly as I was so busy working on my dissertation. I ate a lot of toast with various toppings like avocado or sliced radishes with butter or hummus, and I loved eating fresh tomato and basil sandwiches. I also added a cob of corn to my meals whenever I found local corn at the grocery store!

Near the beginning of the summer, I made a big batch of veggie burgers at my parents' house so that I could pull one out of the freezer any time I was there for dinner and needed a vegetarian option. I loved the flavour and texture of these BBQ chickpea burgers from Oh She Glows, and they made the perfect summer meal with a side of potato or pasta salad!

I always love eating panzanella in the summertime. I usually stick to traditional combinations of ingredients like tomatoes, cucumber, basil and sometimes cheese, but I really liked this fruity variation with strawberries and cantaloupe that I threw together!

On the right is a pasta salad that I made twice this summer - it's a variation of this recipe from the blog archives, but with some changes to the veggies (like corn instead of peas and extra zucchini and cucumber) and I left out the tofu and walnuts. My favourite part of this salad is the creamy lemony basil dressing!

For other quick and easy meals, I made pasta with avocado sauce (pictured on the right), following this recipe from Oh She Glows, and zucchini noodles with a sauce I whipped together using hummus (on the left). I didn't use my spiralizer as much this summer compared to last year, but I still love "zoodles"!

For Canada Day in July, I brought these red and white cream cheese-stuffed strawberries to a party and while they got pretty messy on the trip there, they were still a hit! I can't remember the exact recipe I followed, but this one from The Comfort of Cooking is a good example!

I managed to break out my ice cream maker once over the summer to make this chocolate stout ice cream. I followed a recipe from The Beeroness, but with a few minor changes (I reduced the sugar, left out the toasted coconut, and added a bit of arrowroot powder to thicken it). I thought it had just the right balance of chocolate and beer flavours, and I loved how it stayed creamy rather than turning icy in the freezer like other vegan ice creams tend to do.

Other than my homemade ice cream, I ate a lot of delicious ice cream treats over the summer, from countless bowls of self-serve frozen yogurt, to an amazing lemon meringue pie cone, to a couple of treats that I haven't had in ages - a cookies and cream milkshake and an ice cream float!

I also visited food trucks a few times over the summer, as my city has developed a pretty good food truck culture over the past couple of years. It's usually hard to find vegetarian options, but I loved this kale salad and flatbread with brie and peach chutney!

Finally, I also enjoyed many meals out at restaurants over the summer. Our patio weather seemed a bit limited this year, but I still tried to enjoy eating out on patios as much as I could!  Pictured above clockwise is some halloumi and fried zucchini crostini, caramelized onion grilled cheese, a tofu sofritas burrito bowl from my very first visit to Chipotle, and more Mexican food with tacos, chips, and guacamole.


Hope you all had nice relaxing summers and are ready for all the exciting things that come with fall, like pumpkin, soups, and Thanksgiving food!  Personally, I wouldn't mind a few more weeks of sunshine and warm weather though ;)

Tofu Sunshine Burgers

I hear a lot in the blogosphere about the quest for "the perfect veggie burger". It seems like standards are much higher for veggie burgers than regular beef or turkey burgers - they have to have the perfect texture (firm with a bit of crunch to them), hold together well, and have lots of flavour.

I guess I would have to say that while I've made lots of different kinds of veggie burgers, I'm still on my quest for one that meets those high standards! Usually my veggie burgers get good marks on flavour, but they barely pass on the texture and holding together well tests. Somehow I always seem to end up with burgers that taste good but are a bit on the mushy side and crumble easily.

Luckily, I've figured out a couple of tricks to improve on those two veggie burger flaws, and my latest attempt - these tofu sunshine burgers - have both great texture and hold together really well!

For the texture issue, I've discovered that brown rice makes a great addition to veggie burgers to add bits of chewiness throughout.  The first time I tried using brown rice in a patty was when I made The Vegan Chickpea's Sunshine Burgers.  I loved how crunchy they were from the rice and sunflower seeds, so I used her recipe as a guide for these burgers.

I combined that recipe with one from Canadian Living for carrot, tahini and tofu burgers. A lot of veggie burgers use an egg to bind the ingredients, but in this vegan recipe, the thick tahini and blended tofu help to act as glue to hold everything together, making for a firm burger that's more similar to a storebought patty than the crumbly, mushy homemade ones that I'm used to.

And last but not least, these veggie burgers also have lots of flavour! The spices really come through, especially the curry powder, and the parsley, garlic and tahini add a Mediterranean flair. These work well on a bun or in a pita with lettuce and a creamy spread like hummus, tzatziki, or a tahini-yogurt sauce (which is what I made for mine, shown in the photos).

And if you want even more veggie burger inspiration, Courtney from The Fig Tree recently did a round-up of 25 veggie burger recipes, so you can find some more ideas on her list!  I've already tried out one of the methods of wrapping the burger in lettuce leaves instead of using a bun with my leftovers of these burgers - a fresh and tasty way to eat them!

Tofu Sunshine Burgers
Adapted from Canadian Living and The Vegan Chickpea

1/4 cup dry brown rice

1/2 tbsp olive oil

1 large clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup shredded carrot

1/4 tsp cumin

Dash of cayenne

175g firm tofu (Soyganic sells a package this size, or just use half of a regular sized package)

1.5 tbsp tahini

2 tbsp packed chopped parsley

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 tsp salt

Ground pepper

1/2 tsp curry powder (optional)

2 tbsp raw sunflower seeds

Preheat oven to 400°F and spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Cook rice according to package directions. Set aside.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, stirring. Add the carrot, cumin, and cayenne and cook for another 1-2 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and set aside.

Drain the tofu and place in the bowl of a food processor. Add tahini, parsley, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and curry powder (if using). Process just until everything is mixed together. Add the carrot mixture and sunflower seeds and process again briefly. Add the cooked rice and pulse a few times until the rice is mixed in.

Form mixture into five equal patties, pressing down so that they are evenly flat. Place on prepared baking sheet and bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, flipping once halfway through, until lightly browned and firm on the outside.

Serve warm, with buns, pitas, or lettuce wraps and desired toppings (e.g. hummus, tzatziki, lettuce, cucumber, tomato, sprouts).

Makes 5 patties.

Recipe Round Up: Recipes I've Tried Lately

Before I get too caught up in posting Spring inspired recipes, I wanted to pause and do another post about recipes that I've tried from other blogs lately.

As I've mentioned before, I'm constantly bookmarking new recipes to try, and while I don't actually make nearly as many of them as I'd like to, I do try to devote a portion of my kitchen time to trying out recipes from blogs that I like without adapting the recipe to make my own.

This round-up has a variety of recipes from main dishes to an appetizer, snacks, breakfast and dessert! Hopefully you find at least one new recipe or blog here to inspire you too!

(Note: All photos are my own; please click through to see the original recipe)

Brown Rice Sunshine Burgers from The Vegan Chickpea

I've never had the original Sunshine Burger - a veggie burger made of brown rice, sunflower seeds, carrots and spices, but now that I've got Caitlin's easy and tasty recipe for a homemade version, that's all I need! I loved the texture of these burgers with the chewy rice that crisped up on the outside after baking in the oven. I think I ended up with slightly smaller burgers than I should have because I couldn't stop eating the unbaked burger mixture!


Carrot Soup with Tahini and Crisped Chickpeas from Smitten Kitchen

This recipe has been pretty popular in the blogosphere since it was posted in January, so I decided to try it for myself. Now I see why everyone who tries it raves about it! The soup itself, made from carrots, onion, garlic, and spices, is delicious but the garnishes really make it special. Crunchy roasted chickpeas add texture and substance, and the creamy lemon-tahini dollop blended in so well. Definitely a soup I will make again in the fall!


Lentil Nut Pate from The Lunchbox Bunch

While I loved both of the previous recipes, this one may be my favourite of this post because it surprised me in how good it turned out! It's a vegan pate made from soaked cashews and walnuts, cooked lentils, nutritional yeast, peppercorns, and a few other flavouring ingredients, topped with seeds (I used sunflower seeds instead of the recommended pumpkin seeds). After baking for two hours, you end up with a firm yet creamy and spreadable pate that smells and tastes amazing. 

I served this on Easter with mini melba toasts and a baguette, and enjoyed the leftovers on toast the next day. It's been a long time since I've had the non-veg kind of pate, but everyone who tried this gave it good reviews and commented that it not only looked just like the real thing, but it tasted even better and is much healthier too!

Carrot Cake Chickpea Bites from Kiss my Broccoli

I had some leftover chickpeas sitting in my fridge last week and looked through my bookmarked recipes for some kind of treat or snack that I could use them in. After a failed attempt to make a chickpea based coffee cake (no matter how long I left it in the oven, it refused to cook and ended up in the garbage), I came across these carrot cake chickpea hummus bites and made them instead. They have a soft texture inside that reminded me of a similar chickpea recipe that I love, these rosemary apricot tahini bites, but with ingredients like carrots, raisins, and coconut to resemble carrot cake. 

I used shredded raw carrot instead of cooking the carrots first, and next time I would use the full amount of sweetener, but I liked these as a healthy afternoon snack! 

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Bites from Minimalist Baker

I have so many healthy banana cookie recipes bookmarked, but this was the latest one that I tried. These are a soft cakey cookie (more like a mini muffin) that really does taste like banana bread with the addition of almond butter, oats, and chocolate chips. Mine were a little on the plain side because I didn't have enough chocolate chips, but if you follow the recipe exactly and you love banana bread, then you won't be disappointed with these!

Raw Coconut Caramel Date Bars from Be Well by Jess

I made these as a treat to bring home to my parents recently but I ended up eating a lot of them myself because I liked them so much! The base of these bars is a raw "cookie" made of almonds, oats, coconut and dates. Next you spread on a thin layer of coconut "caramel" made from dates, almond butter and maple syrup with more coconut, and finally they're topped with a layer of chocolate (I covered them completely with chocolate rather than doing a drizzle like the original recipe).

I thought these tasted like a decadent chocolate bar, but I loved that they were actually pretty healthy! And of course, I love any dessert that has coconut!


Coffee Cacao Nib Scones from The First Mess

I don't make scones often, but I made a small batch of these for my Dad and I for breakfast as a treat when I was home recently. Instead of using espresso powder and dark chocolate, I used instant coffee and raw cacao nibs, and irish cream flavoured agave nectar since I happened to have some in the cupboard. Mine came out a bit too undercooked inside, which was too bad because they were really good otherwise - they were still a bit soft and not too dry or crumbly, and I loved the addition of crunchy cacao nibs and the hint of coffee flavour.

I love finding vegan scone recipes that actually turn out flaky and buttery tasting like real scones, so I will keep this recipe for future use and maybe try it with some other flavour combinations!l


That's all for this round-up! Have a great weekend and I'll be back with a new recipe next week!

Round Up: End-of-Summer Eats

Before summer officially ends and I start posting about Fall goodies like pumpkin, apples, cinnamon and chai, I thought I would do one more round-up of summer recipes that I've tried lately, to follow up on my "summer eats so far" post from a couple months ago!

I'll start with two things that I've been eating a LOT of over the last month: corn on the cob and fresh tomato-basil sandwiches.  This has been my go-to meal when I don't have any other ideas prepared for dinner, or I don't feel like cooking.

It's super simple, but often that's the best way to highlight end-of-summer produce! Even though I feel like I've eaten too many tomato sandwiches and corn on the cobs to count lately, I never got sick of them!

Another fresh corn dish that appeared on the blog Five and Spice recently and I bookmarked immediately was a raw corn polenta topped with broccoli pesto.  All you do is grate the raw kernels off a cob of corn and cook them in a pan until you get a nice thick, creamy mixture with a consistency like polenta.

I only had one cob of corn to work with, so my portion ended up a bit small (I would recommend two cobs for a meal).  Since I was a bit short on time, I skipped the pesto and just topped mine with finely chopped raw broccoli, tomatoes, and basil.  This was such a delicious and fresh summer meal, and I loved the texture and the sweet, pure taste of the corn.  I'll have to make more versions of this next summer with different toppings!


Here are a couple of other simple but delicious appetizers that I've enjoyed at family gatherings in the last month:

First is this bruschetta with brie and peach salsa that I adapted from In Good Taste. The bread gets toasted with a piece of brie on top so that the cheese is slightly melted, and then each piece is topped with a generous helping of fresh peach salsa.

I changed the salsa a bit by adding some diced cherry tomatoes and leaving out the cilantro as I was serving this to a couple of cilantro haters.  I made this as an appetizer for a dinner we hosted for some out-of-town guests, and everyone loved it!

Besides the crostini, I also made another simple appetizer based on an idea I had seen on other blogs.  All you do is cut thick slices of cucumber, scoop out some of the middle, and fill it with a dip.

I decided to use a tzatziki as my filling, which I mixed with a bit of fresh dill, and I also topped them with halved cherry tomatoes. These were a big hit and disappeared quickly!  So if you're looking for an easy idea to bring to potlucks but want something a bit more creative than just veggies and dip, give these a try!

Then last weekend, my parents were bottling wine, which is part of their annual early September tradition.  Since they were spending a long day working outside, my sister made up this beautiful fruit and cheese plate for us all to enjoy as a break.  You can't go wrong with crackers, fruit, and good quality cheese!

When it comes to summer meals, one option that I rely on a lot is veggie burgers.  I tend to try a new recipe every time I make them, and I usually have a few patties stored in my freezer for a quick dinner.

Here are two versions that I've made recently and would recommend: First is this falafel burger from Edible Perspective.  The burger was really savory from all the spices and herbs, and nice and hearty from the addition of both chickpeas and quinoa.  It did remind of me falafels, and it went really well with a yogurt sauce on a bun.

Next was a rather unique veggie burger made with broccoli, chickpeas and tahini from Peachy Palate. I doubled the recipe to make two burgers, and I thought they were perfectly moist and really flavourful, not to mention really pretty with all the specks of green!

The only issue I had with them was that my broccoli must have been slightly past its prime, because it gave off a bit of an unpleasant smell once it was cooked.  So even though my breath suffered from eating these, my tastebuds were happy!

I couldn't do a post about my summer eats without including my favourite meal from last summer - this roasted summer panzanella. I made it again the other week and was reminded why I loved it so much the first time - warm roasted summer veggies at their prime, combined with toasted bread and fresh basil, and soaked in a simple oil and vinegar dressing.

This time, I left out the cheese and used zucchini instead of summer squash.  I also tried it with balsamic vinegar and I think I might prefer that over the red wine vinegar that I used last time - although any kind of vinegar would work in this dish!

And finally, I thought I would end this round-up with a couple of my summer recipes that didn't quite work out.

I bought some fresh apricots from the market a few weeks ago and looked through my cookbooks for ideas on what to make with them.  I found a recipe for vegan apricot oatbran scones that sounded good, but they didn't turn out how I was hoping.

As you can probably tell, they came out of the oven really dark, and I had to try to scrape a layer of crispy burnt crumbs off the bottom.  The insides weren't much better - they were a bit too dry for my tastes. I'm not sure what I did wrong, but luckily I only made a half batch so they weren't too much of a waste!

Another recipe that came close to being blog-worthy but still needs some more tweaking was my attempt at making savory muffins.  I thought a combination of fresh corn, zucchini and herbs would make a nice muffin to go with summer soups and salads, and I also added some cornmeal for texture and nutritional yeast for some cheesy flavour.

I loved the taste of these muffins and the chunks of corn kernels in them, but I couldn't get the texture right after two attempts.  Both times, they would seem okay fresh out of the oven, but after that they became way too crumbly to eat properly. I guess this is another recipe that I'll have to revisit next summer, because they at least had good potential!


So there you have a little taste of what I've been making and eating lately!  I'll be sad to see summer tomatoes and corn go, but I'm getting excited to start cooking with some new seasonal ingredients, and to try some of the Fall recipes that are already popping up on some of my favourite blogs!