Monday, March 7, 2011

Deceptively Delicious Part Two PLUS Chocolate Muffins!

Continuing on, trying out recipes from Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious...

(You can read about my veganized Blueberry (Squash) Lemon Muffins and Bean (Squash, Carrot) Baked Tortillas in my last post.)

I made a version of her Spaghetti Pie one night. I used Whole Wheat Angel Hair. I mixed 2 cups of Marinara Sauce with 1 cup steamed carrot puree. My 5 year old loves raw carrots but won't normally eat cooked carrots. (That's where the "deceptive" part comes in.)

I poured it into two pie plates, topped it with Daiya and my own version of meatballs, then baked it at 350 until it seemed ready. It was "delicious" with 10 thumbs up!


Pardon me while I waste time play around on Picnik for awhile:
1)pureed broccoli and seitan, 2) rolled up into balls, and 3) after they had baked

We loved these Broccoli Seitan Meatballs I created, based on the meatball recipe from Deceptively Delicious. As usual, I'm sure the rest of you will have better ideas about how to spice these up.

I used:
1 1/2 cups slightly steamed pureed broccoli
1 package of seitan
enough bread crumbs to help form balls
and a sprinkling of garlic salt

I pureed the broccoli with the seitan and garlic, then stirred in the bread crumbs before forming the balls and baking until slightly firm & browned.

Although it wasn't quite "pie-like" the first night (because we ate it hot from the oven), it definitely was the next day for leftovers. It cut very nicely into slices.


In other news:
I tried out the Chocolate Fudge Muffin recipe from Little House of Veggies. You might have seen it on her blog. Or you may remember drooling over its sister recipe, Chocolate Nutty Brownies, on Shenandoah Vegan's blog every few days for a week...or four.

This picture doesn't really do them justice. (Morgan's picture with the recipe is super yummy-looking.) These are the changes I made: I eliminated the oil (It only calls for 1 teaspoon to begin with - one major reason to love this recipe.), and I cut the sugar in half. The chocolate chips are what make the recipe, anyway.

Unless you're only baking for one, don't even bother making these unless you're going to double the recipe. Otherwise, you'll just feel angry and bewildered that you're out of these decadent little creatures so soon. Seriously, all five of us were talking about how much we loved these the entire time we were sitting at the table, eating them. There was a lot of "mmm"ing involved.

14 comments:

  1. Radical post! Green Meatballs! You were so brave to totally eliminate the oil & halve the sugar in the muffins.

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  2. thanks for the link to the muffin recipe and your revisions. I know someone who would love these!

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  3. Those cupcakes look right up my alley. Yummy! I might make them this weekend. You should serve Matt those "meatballs" next time we're together. He'd probably have plenty to say...

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  4. I'm drooling over here!!! I forgot that we all LOVE spaghetti pie! I would've never thought to veganize it!!! Sounds like dinner tomorrow! Thanks for your meatball recipe! And, those cupcakes! Are you kidding me?!?!? I'm on a cupcake kick as of late and those look AMAZING!!!

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  5. OMG loving those broccoli & seitan balls. YUM. What a fantastic idea. I bet they'd be great "burgers" too. Hope you are doing well!!

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  6. Green meatballs! That's awesome. I have yet to find a "meatball" recipe that stays together and is tasty...using ground up seitan is a great idea! I love the pasta pie too, totally cute and yummy looking.

    And, what can I say, those muffins speak for themselves, so moist and chocolately, and your Picnik pics are awesome too. :)

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  7. Spaghetti Pie?? How did that ever hold together, even on the second day?? Wild.
    And you know, I made tomato sauce recently - apparently a lot of recipes call for pureed carrots in the sauce, which I never would have thought!
    If I were a kid, I'd have less of a problem with carrots than with those green meatballs! They look a little bizarre, but that's an interesting idea to puree seitan! You should serve them again for St. Patrick's Day!

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  8. I'm intrigued and a little put off by the green meatballs. Actually, I love broccoli with tomato sauce and pasta, so this sounds like a great dish.

    Those chocolate muffins look great, too. Cutting oil and sugar sounds good, especially with choco chips already in there, I should start trying that, especially in recipes that only make a small batch (just in case, you know).

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  9. I like the idea of green "meat" balls. I sneak greens into my burgers and such too. I like the taste of green sometimes, but if you can get more, why not? The carrot sauce on spaghetti sounds good too.

    I love the cupcake holders. Very cute.

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  10. I'm so glad you're trying out Seinfeld's cookbook for me. :-) Now, when I pull it off the shelf, I'll know what's proven to be kid-friendly so far.

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  11. Green meatballs.... just in time for St Patricks day. :o)
    I printed the recipe for those muffins a while back, but haven't made them yet. They sure are making their way around the blogs. You have me wanting to make them very soon...that's for sure!

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  12. Thanks, everyone! And just a reminder, these weren't even cupcakes - they were merely MUFFINS, and they were THAT GOOD.

    Funny that the green meatballs caused controversy. It didn't occur to me that green meatballs would look weird or that my kids wouldn't eat them. I think it's because they really like broccoli, anyway. I thought about making them for St. Patrick's Day last night, but I didn't. I will next year because it's harder to come up with a green protein. I guess there's also edamame.

    Yes, Jessica, I usually start out by cutting out a little sugar or oil, then try to take even more the next time. Inevitably, I always end up taking it just a little too far...

    For example, I made these muffins again by cutting the sugar, eliminating the oil, AND replacing some of the flour with hemp protein powder. They worked out just fine, and we ate them all - but they tasted "healthier."

    I don't know how the spaghetti pie held together, but I think it's just because of the stickiness of leftover spaghetti. And also the melted Daiya helped.

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  13. you got an email from vincent!!

    i love this meatball idea, im going to do it!!

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  14. Nothing like a vegan chocolate muffins to start the week!

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