Finally...

...I made time to tell you about the yumminess that's been going down in my kitchen lately!

Kim's recipe for Coconut- and Almond- Crusted Tofu with Spicy Mango Chutney was to die for.

It took all the restraint I had to not eat the entire pound of tofu! And the chutney- oh the chutney! The recipe made more than I used, which allowed me to put the chutney on toast for breakfast over the next few days.

Tip: When measuring out the almond meal, cocunut milk, panko breadcrums, and flour for the tufu cut Kim's measurements in half. I found that I had so much left over that I had to dump much of it out. I was not a fan of wasting that much food.

Peanut Pasta Salad with Fried Tempeh Bits was on the menu for my Super Bowl Sunday at the begining of February. The recipe had me blanching veggies for the first time in my life. I have no idea how I got away with not learning how to blanch a vegetable before, but I'm soooooo glad I have now. It may be my favorite way to cook/eat them! I loved how crunchy the veggies were, while still tasting cooked.

The peanut dressing was simple to make and can easily be whipped up for another salad or dressing for stir fry.

Is there anything that cures winter blues like a big bowl of soup? Nope. Especially if that soup is Curried Sweet Potato and Parsnip Soup! This soup was simply delicious. I have no other way to describe it. It was just one my favorite spices paired with great winter veggies- simplicity at it's finest. This soup will easily become a staple in my fall and winter must-haves.

Coconut Banana French Toast

Today was the start of The Skinny Bitch Project!

Breakfast is by far my favorite meal of the day. So naturally, the first recipe I tried was from the breakfast section of the book- Coconut Banana French Toast! Let me tell you, it was good. The batter was very simple to make with a very light texture to it. I am also happy to report that even though the recipe says it serves six, there was enough batter left over to refrigerate and make again!

It was a slight struggle to keep the bread from sticking to the bottom of the pan, however. I found I had to use far more Earth Balance in the pan than the recipe called for (approx. 2-4 Tbsp more!). Unfortunately, I think all the extra Earth Balance added an unintended buttery flavor to the toast. It could have simply been that the cast iron skillet wasn't the best choice for the recipe and that's what caused to sticking. I think I'll try using a griddle next time I make this.

Kim definately did good with this recipe though! I had three delicious pieces covered in banana slices and maple flavored agave nectar :)

The Julie & Julia Project, Vegan Style

Summer of 2009, I dropped a then barely five-month-old Eleanor Rigby off for her very first grooming appointment. I had no idea that it would take nearly five hours, but I'm glad it did.

In the time I waited for her to be returned to me a clean puppy, I browsed a bookstore, grabbed some coffee, and found myself sitting in the warm summer sun with a copy of Skinny Bitch in my hands. By the time I picked my pooch up, I had devoured the book and made the decision to adopt a healthy vegan diet.

The decision came fairly easy since I gave up red meat in high school, ate vegetarian majority of the time, and avoided dairy as much as possible. I cleaned out my fridge, marched myself down to the local health food store, and began learning how to be vegan.

In the process I fell in love with cooking.

My mother studied culinary arts and is an amazing cook. Growing up, I was the lucky kid who had hot off the griddle chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast and came home to some amazing dinner that would put Donna Reed to shame. Honestly, ever since moving out after high school, I had been missing big, delicious meals. I certainly wasn't going to start living off salads just because I was becoming vegan! I still wanted to experience pot pies, fresh waffles, stir fries, homemade breads, and baked goods- oh my goodness, I couldn't be vegan if I couldn't have baked goods! I had to learn how to be a vegan chef.

Good news though- there's this little section in your local bookstores that houses vegan cookbooks. Did you know that was there? Neither did I until two years ago. Crazy.

I have now discovered beautiful things like Ener-G Egg Replacer, vegan butter, vegan cheeses, and several ways to make tofu seem like the most delectable thing you've ever put in your mouth.

I am over the top infatuated with vegan cooking. So much so, that I was inspired to start my own little cooking project right here on Tea & Audrey!

Remember in Julia & Julia when Paul asks Julia what it is that she really loves to do? She laughs and exclaims, "Eat!"

And do you remember the part where Julie says, "I'm not a real cook like Mario Batali or Julia Child"? Her husband responds, "Julia Child wasn't always Julia Child."

Well, I may not be Mario Batali or Julia Child either, but I do love to eat like her. I may have those incidents like at this recent Thanksgiving when my vegan pumpkin pie wouldn't set properly (even though two weeks earlier I made the same recipe and the pie turned out perfectly, of course). Or occasionally get so frustrated with myself for not adding enough water to the skillet and have to spend extra time scraping charred tofu off the bottom.

But I am a cook.

To prove it to myself, I'm starting my own Julie & Julia project.

Kim Barnouin co-authored Skinny Bitch and recently came out with her own cookbook, Skinny Bitch, Ultimate Everyday Cookbook. I was delighted when I flipped through her book to discover that it was unlike any other vegan cookbook I owned. I have some wonderful cookbooks too- three great vegan baking cookbooks, a book on Latin vegan food, vegan entertaining, vegan brunches, and more.

But Kim's book is different. It's my mother's cooking veganized. It's literally the everyday cookbook. And starting February 1st, I'm going to cook and blog my way through it. It's not as ambitious as blogging through Mastering the Art of French Cooking (there aren't even 200 recipes in Skinny Bitch), but I'm giving myself until the end of the year to finish the project.

I hope you'll join me for this crazy ride!

Best. Quote. Ever.

"Carnivores just love to take pity on vegans. They assume that because we don't chow down on meat or dairy, we are missing out on life. But we do just fine. Actually, we do more than fine. We are freakin' dandy. Though it comes as a raging surprise to some, we do the same things meat-eaters do. We love a hot shower. We watch funny movies and laugh. And sometimes, we even forget to return our library books. Crazy, huh?"

-Kim Barnouin

(Skinny Bitch: Ultimate Everyday Cookbook, page 37)