Robin Robertson

6/27/14 Update:  THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED. THANK YOU TO ALL WHO ENTERED!

In honor of my birthday today, I’m giving YOU a gift: the gift of 150 easy and delicious recipes in the form of my latest book, More Quick-Fix Vegan.  The giveaway is for today only — so enter now!  Just leave a comment at the end of this post to enter.  I will announce a winner right back here tomorrow.

Happy Birthday to me — and good luck to you in the giveaway!

If you’re looking for a great gift for Dad this Father’s Day, how about a homemade treat?  This Blueberry-Chocolate Trail Mix Bark from my book, More Quick-Fix Vegan is super-easy to make and because it’s made with nuts, fruit, pretzels, and chocolate, it hits all the right snack buttons: a little sweet, a little salty, a little chewy, a little crunchy — this stuff has it all!  Plus, Dads love gifts that you make yourself — especially when they taste this good.  (Of course Father’s Day is only one reason to make this treat — there are 364 other reasons each year when it would also be a good idea!)

Blueberry-Chocolate Trail Mix Bark
Yield: about 30 pieces
A new spin on old-fashioned almond bark, this version is the stuff dreams are made of.  That is, if you dream about chocolate, nuts, pretzels, and blueberries! This recipe is from More Quick-Fix Vegan by Robin Robertson © 2014, Andrews McMeel Publishing. (photo by Zsu Dever)
Note: If dried blueberries are unavailable, or just for a variation, you can substituted dried cranberries, cherries, raisins, or other dried fruit in equal measure.

12 ounces vegan semisweet chocolate chips
1 1/2 cup chopped peanuts, pistachios, almonds, or a combination
1 1/2 cups thin salted pretzel sticks, coarsely chopped
1 cup chopped dried blueberries

Line a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with waxed paper.
Melt the  chocolate in a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of boiling water or in the microwave.  Stir in the remaining ingredients, then transfer the mixture to the baking dish.  Spread the mixture evenly, smoothing out the top as much as possible. Refrigerate until firm, about 20 minutes. Invert the bark onto a cutting board and peel off the waxed paper. Cut the bark into pieces.

Memorial weekend was especially memorable this year.  The weather was absolutely perfect and we got to spend time with lots of our favorite people and animal friends!  And, of course, we enjoyed lots of great food, too.  Because the weather was so great, there was lots of outdoor grilling going on.  Here is a little pictorial tour of some of the highlights, thanks to my friend Elissa, who always seems to have her camera ready to capture the moment.  (Thanks, Elissa!)  We finally got a new grill.  These spice-rubbed skewers featured Ray’s Seitan (the best seitan in the world!), fingerling potatoes, and lots of other great veggies.  The secret to getting everything to be done cooking at the same time is to partially pre-cook the harder vegetables, such as the potatoes.  I also like to partially cook the onions, since I don’t like raw-ish onion. 

The asparagus in the photo below was actually found growing wild nearby! (It was given to a friend who shared some with me.)

For dessert, we had brownie sundaes made with Amy’s vegan ice cream.  If you don’t know the story of Amy’s ice cream (and it’s origins at Plant restaurant in Asheville NC) read all about it here.

Another highlight was a visit to our friends who live nearby where she shared a great meal and visit on their lovely property.

The food was outstanding and featured a wonderful freekeh pilaf.  Freekeh is a fabulous grain that cooks up in 15 minutes and tastes so good.

And my favorite Nicoise salad:

We also enjoyed this gorgeous fruit (the berries were so sweet!) and lots of other good food.

It was also super-fun to spend some quality time with these fantastic animal friends. 

Aren’t they gorgeous?  If the rest of the summer is even a fraction as good as this past weekend, it’s going to be terrific!  Hope you all had a great weekend too!

Thanks to everyone who entered my two-book giveaway to win a copy of my new book, MORE Quick-Fix Vegan (a new book in the “quick-fix” series) as well as a copy of Everyday Vegan Eats a terrific new book by Zsu Dever.  It was fun to see  what all of your favorite “everyday” meals are! 

The winner of this giveaway, chosen at random, is Rika at Vegan Miam whose favorite go-to meals are “creamy kale salad….fried rice…[and] noodle soups!” Congratulations!!! Rika, please e-mail me with your mailing address and I’ll get these books out to you.

I’ll leave with with a super-easy recipe from More Quick-Fix Vegan that would make a great dessert over this holiday weekend.  It’s the Peanut Butter and Banana Ice Cream. With only three ingredients, no dairy, no added sugar, and no ice cream maker, this ice cream treat seems almost too good to be true — but it is. 

Peanut Butter and Banana Ice Cream

This recipe is from More Quick-Fix Vegan by Robin Robertson (c) 2014, Andrews McMeel Publishing.

3 to 4 very ripe bananas, peeled, cut into small chunks, and frozen
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons almond milk

Remove the frozen banana chunks from the freezer about 5 minutes before using and place them in a food processor.  Pulse to break up the bananas, then add the peanut butter and almond milk and process until well mixed, scraping down the sides of the food processor, as needed. 
Scrape the mixture into a container. If you like soft-serve ice cream, it could be eaten immediately.  If you prefer it a bit firmer, cover tightly and place in the freezer for 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how soft you like it.  For a firmer ice cream, keep in the freezer for 3 to 4 hours or longer. If it freezes longer than 4 hours, it will be quite hard, in which case it should be removed from the freezer for about 10 minutes before serving so it can temper and become slightly softened.

I hope you all have a safe and relaxing Memorial Day weekend.

5/23/14 update:  THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.  Thank you to all who entered!

I’m super-excited to be part of the blog tour for Everyday Vegan Eats by Zsu Dever, not only because Zsu is a longtime recipe tester of mine and I’m thrilled to see this talented lady’s recipes in print, but also because my husband’s company, Vegan Heritage Press published her new cookbook.  And what a great cookbook it is! 

Everyday Vegan Eats is filled with Zsu’s very own family favorite recipes – the ones she’s been making for her family for more than a dozen years that keeps them happy and healthy vegans.  The book is ideal for both beginners and longtime vegans. Some of my favorite recipes (so far) are:  Broccoli Cheese Soup, Bánh Mì Burgers (a girl after my own heart!), German Potato Salad, Maple-Chipotle Crispers, Blueberry Scones, and the Soft Pretzels.   There’s loads of other delicious comfort food recipes in the book, some of which you saw this week, if you’ve been following the blog tour.  If you haven’t had time to do so yet, here are the links to the other posts so you can catch up:   

Monday, May 12th – Canned Time
Tuesday, May 13th – VeggieGirl
Wednesday, May 14th – Cadry’s Kitchen
Thursday, May 15th – Vegan Appetite

Like the other blog tour participants, I’m also hosting a giveaway for this book (details below).  Be sure to increase your chances to win by entering all five giveaways!

The recipe from Everyday Vegan Eats that I’m sharing with you features quinoa and fresh herbs.  I love this recipe because I’m always looking for an easy and delicious way to serve this super-grain and I’m also keen on any recipes that uses more than one herb to pack a real flavor punch.

Another thing I like about this recipe is its versatility – you can add cooked (or canned) chickpeas or cannellini beans for extra protein, or even some sautéed tofu or seitan, and add in some extra veggies, if you feel like it for a fabulous one-dish meal.  It’s equally good served cold or room temperature as a salad (with a drizzle of olive oil and a little lemon juice).  Try it yourself and see what I mean.  And don’t miss Zsu’s quinoa cooking tip in the headnote!

Mediterranean Quinoa with Fresh Herbs
SERVES 4
QUICK & EASY
GLUTEN FREE
SOY-FREE
Most recipes call for cooking quinoa in a 1:2 ratio—1 cup quinoa to 2 cups liquid. This leads to soggy and over-cooked quinoa. This recipe produces fluffy, tender quinoa. If your package of quinoa doesn’t specify that it is rinsed, make sure to rinse it well in a fine mesh strainer. This recipe is from Everyday Vegan Eats by Zsu Dever © 2014, Vegan Heritage Press.

1 cup quinoa, well rinsed
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
2 garlic cloves, minced, divided
1/4 cup minced scallions or 2 tablespoons minced fresh chives
2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
2 tablespoons finely chopped basil
2 tablespoons finely chopped mint
2 tablespoons finely chopped soft sun-dried tomatoes
1 tablespoon olive oil (optional)
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons minced pistachios or other nut
salt and fresh ground black pepper

Combine the rinsed quinoa, broth, 1/4 teaspoon sea salt and 1 clove minced garlic in a medium saucepan. Bring the broth to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, remove the saucepan from the heat and set the pan aside, still covered, for another 10 minutes to steam. Fluff the quinoa with a fork. Add the scallions or chives, parsley, basil, mint, tomatoes, oil, zest, lemon juice, and nuts to the quinoa fluffing the mixture with a fork. Add additional lemon juice, salt, and black pepper to taste.

Two for One Cookbook Giveaway: Since there are already  lots of giveaways going on for this book this week, I decided to “sweeten the pot” and host a double giveaway!  One lucky winner will receive TWO books: a copy of Everyday Vegan Eats by Zsu Dever PLUS a copy of my new book, More Quick-Fix Vegan.  That’s a lot of great recipes in one prize.

To enter, leave a comment at the end of this post listing your favorite “everyday” meal.  That’s it!  A winner will be chosen on Thursday May 22 at midnight and announced on my blog on Friday morning, May 23.  Good luck!