Green Salad with Golden Beets and Raw Pumpkin Seeds

This salad is perfect for a hot summer day.  I got the beets at the Farmer's Market, and they were deeeelicoius!

Green Salad with Golden Beets and Raw Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients:

1 head Romaine lettuce, chopped
8 small or 4 medium to large golden beets
1 - 15oz. can garbanzo beans, drained
2 green onions, sliced
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds

Directions:

Peel and quarter the beets, and boil for ten minutes.  Rinse under cold water, and slice into bite-sized pieces.  Add the lettuce, beets and rest of the ingredients into a large serving bowl.  Add your favorite vegan salad dressing.  Feeds five hungry vegans.  Simple and scrumptious!

Three-Layer Neapolitan Cake and SR's 16th Birthday

Back on July 20th, SR celebrated her 16th birthday!  It was a great day, and I threw her a surprise birthday party.  My parents were gracious enough to let me use their home for SR and her friends.  SR thought we were just going over to Grannyma and Poppy's to drop off JK, so she could have a teen rollerskating party.  So, she was more confused than surprised when she saw her friends; she told me later she stood there wondering for a moment if we were picking them up from there to take them to the rink.  Anyways, we had a lot of fun, a lot of behind-the-scenes planning and baking, and a great, wonderful cake!  Now, this is definitely a sugar-filled cake.  I am going to dabble with other ways of sweetening, but I didn't want to practice on her cake.  So, be prepared: sugar!  I used my White Cake recipe for the white layer, and a double portion of the White Butter Cream Frosting that I made with it to frost the entire cake.  I adjusted my Big and Little Pink Strawberry Cakes, Naturally recipe for the pink layer.  I'm still working on creating the perfect natural pink color, so you'll see what I did below to achieve this pink look.  It was very good, but it's still a work in progress.  And for the chocolate layer, I used my Dark Chocolate Mini Cupcakes recipe .  I think the end result came out beautifully visually and taste-wise.  Let me know what you think!

Three-Layer Neapolitan Cake

 

The cake layers are cooling on my mom's counter.  

 

Stacked and ready for the outer layer of frosting.  The lighting here makes them look yellow, but look below to see their real colors in natural light.

 

Cake all finished and waiting to be devoured.

 Another shot of sacrificial cake.

 

I had to show a shot of one of the games I planned.  I asked each guest and SR if they wanted to either be a "thrower" or a "lander."  I gave them no other clues.  SR chose to be a lander, and her friend and teammate Brandon was the thrower.  Landers had to wear shower caps while throwers covered their heads with shaving cream then threw popcorn at the piles of cream.  The team with the most popcorn stuck won.  By the way, little JK played all the games too; he wasn't left out.  :-)  This is one of my favorite photos of the whole day.  I love the smiles!

 SR blowing out her candles.

 

SR enjoying her cake.

 A shot of the cake with vegan Neapolitan ice cream.

Three-Layer Neapolitan Cake

Ingredients:

For the White Layer:

2 and 1/2 cups flour
1 and 1/2 cups vegan sugar
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shortening
2 cups soy milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbs. EnerG Egg Replacer
4 Tbs. water

For the Pink Layer:

2 and 1/2 cups flour
1 and 1/2 cups vegan sugar
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup shortening
1 cup soy milk
Juice from one can of beets, about one cup
3 Tbs. strawberry extract
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 Tbs. EnerG Egg Replacer
4 Tbs. water

For the Chocolate Layer:

Non-stick spray
A little flour for dusting
2 cups vegan sugar
1 and 3/4 cup flour
3/4 cup dark cocoa
1 and 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 and 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 Tbs. EnerG Egg Replacer
4 Tbs. water
1 cup soy milk
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup boiling water

For the Frosting:

1 cup vegan margarine, room temperature
1/4 tsp. salt
7and 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 tsp. vanilla extract
6 Tbs. soy milk

Directions:

For the White Layer:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12x9 inch cake pan with an oil spray, and lightly flour its bottom. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, cream the shortening to soften it completely. In a small bowl or mug, whisk together the Egg Replacer and water. Alternate the flour mixture and the milk into the shortening, beating with a mixer on medium speed. With the last addition of milk, add the Egg Replacer mixture and the vanilla extract. Beat for three minutes, until completely smooth. Pour batter into prepared cake pan and bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for fifteen minutes in its pan on a cooling rack. Then carefully invert the cake out onto the rack to finish cooling.

For the Pink Layer:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 12x9 inch cake pan with an oil spray, and lightly flour its bottom. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, cream the shortening to soften it completely. In a small bowl, whisk together the Egg Replacer and water. Alternate beating the flour mixture and the soy milk into the shortening, beating with a mixer on medium speed. At the end, add the beet juice, strawberry extract, Egg Replacer mixture, and vanilla extract. Beat for three minutes, until completely smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Cool for fifteen minutes in its pan on a cooling rack. Then carefully invert the cake out onto the rack to finish cooling.

For the Chocolate Layer:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 12x9 inch cake pan with an oil spray, and lightly flour its bottom. Set aside.  In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt.  In a mug, whisk together the Egg Replacer and the water.  Pour that mixture and the soy milk, oil, and vanilla extract into the large bowl with the dry ingredients.  Mix with an electric blender on medium speed for two minutes.  Pour in the boiling water and mix on low, until the water is blended in.  Batter will be thinner than you might expect, but it's okay.  Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Cool for fifteen minutes in its pan on a cooling rack. Then carefully invert the cake out onto the rack to finish cooling.

For the Frosting: 

When the cakes have completely cooled, prepare the frosting. In a large bowl, cream together the margarine and salt. Starting on low speed and working up to medium, beat in the powdered sugar. Add the vanilla extract and the soy milk, and beat on medium speed for three to five minutes, until the mixture is creamy and smooth. Makes enough frosting for a giant triple-layered cake. Feeds lots of people, including five hungry vegans at one big party or for several regular days.  Recommend to serve with vegan Neapolitan ice cream.  So good!

Raw Sweet Potato, Beet and Coconut Salad

Do you ever nibble on vegetables that you've only experienced in cooked form - roots or otherwise - to see how they taste?  I've been doing that more and more the last year or so, and I've discovered some wonders!  Raw sweet potato and beets are very good!  I've known this for a few months but didn't know what to do with that information, until I thought of pairing them together.  Adding some sweetened coconut adds just the right amount of sweetness to make this a delicious salad with no dressing at all.  I grated them to make it easier to chew and to be more appealing to my Blessings.  Also, with the coconut, it makes for a nice, uniform appearance.  I knew my girls would eat it because it was dinner, but the big test would be JK.  I put some on a spoon, and he gingerly stuck his top lip out to take the minutest taste.  Then he came back for more and more.  I served him some with dinner, and he ate it all up.  Everyone was surprised that they liked this (except for me: I knew I would), and this will definitely stay on my list of salads to make.

Raw Sweet Potato, Beet and Coconut Salad

Ingredients:

2 cups grated sweet potato (approximately one medium sweet potato)
2 cups grated beet (about two medium ones or one large one)
2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, packed

Directions:

Make sure you trim the ends and peel the sweet potato and beet before grating.  I used my grater blade in the food processor; it made for a quick job.  Rinse the sweet potato shreds in a colander to get rid of any starch that might brown them.  Rinse the beet shreds in a colander to get rid of any loose juice, so the whole salad doesn't turn beet color.  You won't be able to get rid of all the beet juice, but you want to be able to enjoy this colorful salad's beauty.  Add the sweet potato shreds, the beet shreds and the coconut in a large bowl and stir.  Can chill or serve right away.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Glorious Green Salad

I like to have a lot of fun with salads for my clan.  Sometimes, we'll have big salads on individual plates, and I'll holler from the kitchen, "Who wants carrots?  Who wants garbanzos?," and so on.  I pretty much know by now who likes what and not, but sometimes my  Blessings have changing tastes, so it's good to be reminded.  Sometimes, I'll make one huge salad that's the meal itself, with maybe crackers or something to go with it.  That's when I really load up the toppings to make the salad as varied and crunchy as possible with a symphony of flavors to tease and please younger palates.  The one I made on this night was served alongside of homemade bread sticks and dipping sauces, and everyone was well pleased and full. Below, I've listed the toppings I heaped on, just to give you a new idea or two.  Having fun with your salads is the takeaway moral of the story.

Glorious Green Salad

Ingredients:

Romaine, chopped
Canned quartered artichoke hearts in water, drained
Red onion, slice thin
Canned garbanzos, drained
Tomatoes, cut in small wedges
Fresh spinach leaves, torn if large
Jarred julienned pickled beets
Carrots, shredded
Celery, chopped
Fresh parsley, chopped
Purple cabbage, chopped small
Raw sunflower seeds
Favorite dressings and oils and vinegars on the side

Directions:

In a big bowl, layer the ingredients, except for the dressings.  I do not like to toss my salads before serving because all the goodies get hidden under the lettuce.  Instead we scoop straight down in order to get equal amounts of everything.  Drizzle your favorite dressing on top - sometimes we sprinkle a little salt and pepper on top of that - and dig in.  Served with bread sticks or crackers or toast makes for a filling meal.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Beet Feast

I've been on a beet kick lately. I tried planting my own, but only one survived the frost, and then that one was dug up by the pups. So, I've been buying them left and right at the store. When I grew up, I only knew about beets in a can, and I liked them enough. I never would have voluntarily added them on at a salad bar or chosen them as a veggie to eat, but every now and then, when Mom would pop open a can, they were okay. I was in my twenties before I saw fresh beets with their greens, and it wasn't until after I had children that I tried to make them. I never bought them with their greens attached, just the detached bulbs instead. Who knew what to do with those greens? (G, of course, loves beets, could eat them all day, and they are always the most substantial part of his salads when we go to salad bars. SR has taken right after her dad: she loves them, as well. JK has good beet days and bad beet days, you just never know. GR is usually satisfied with most things I serve - she's the easiest.) So, a couple of years ago, I tried to start cooking their greens. Still wary of most greens, if you remember my iceberg lettuce and canned spinach days I grew up with, I wasn't the best greens preparer at first. Anyhow, now I've become brave with beets and their greens. I'm experimenting with different ways of cooking them, and below is not SR's favorite way, but it is by far the easiest. However, there aren't enough beet greens with the beets to feed my family, so I supplement with other greens to make a lush dish. I find the flavors of the mixed greens blends well. There are more than just the red beets around, so I've been having fun with a small beet rainbow. Here is an example of one of our meals with beets as its centerpiece. On the plate, timidly in the background, is a scoop of great northern beans trying to assert itself.



Beet Feast

Ingredients:

6-7 Gold beets, ends trimmed, peeled and cut into wedges
6-7 Red beets, ends trimmed, peeled and cut into wedges
The attached beet greens, stripped from their stems, washed and chopped
2 bunches of kale, stripped from their stems, washed and chopped or 8-10 cups chopped kale
1-2 Tbs. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Place prepared beets in pot of water. Bring to a boil, and boil for fifteen minutes. Drain. In a large skillet, heat a tablespoon of the oil. When hot add the greens a big handful at a time. When slightly wilted, add another big handful, until all the greens are in the skillet. If the greens are drying out and not really cooking, add the second tablespoon of oil. Season with salt and pepper as desired. Greens are done when they are slightly wilted but still have a bright green color. Serve alongside of beets. Mm-mmm. Feeds five hungry vegans.