Spicy Pineapple Cashew Rice

I am now on day three of having no budget for groceries. I have to say I am really luck that I seem to hoard non-perishable food. I have lots of dried herbs and lots of canned and frozen vegetables. It is truly saving my life this week.

I made this recipe sort of loosely based on chicken and rice. It was something that I lived on while when I was traveling in Thailand. At the time, I was a little scared of spicy food and a little scared of anything that I didn't know. Chicken and Cashew was this one dish that was everywhere. On every menu at restaurants and sometimes on food carts and stands. It had a little spice, but nothing crazy. It was filling and most of all, tasted really good. I decided to veganize this... but my version is very, very loosely based on this Thai version. What you get in Thailand is usually very simple. I am not sure how they are cooking the rice, but it seems flavours. Mine, however, is a pretty much a dump of all sorts of stuff I had in my fridge with a base of rice and cashew... anyways, both are good, but this version has not meat making it even better.

Spicy Pineapple Cashew Rice
*Serves 2-3, about 30 minutes to cook if rice is pre-made.

Ingredients:

Many Ingredients not pictured. I sort of built
this as I cooked.

• 1 1/2 cups of cooked rice
• 1 can of pineapple, drain and reserve the juice
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 of a package of firm tofu, pressed and diced
• 1 Tbsp oil (I used canola)
• 1/2 cup of toasted cashews
• 1/2 cup of frozen (or fresh, I don't have any) spinach, chopped
• 1/4 cup frozen corn
• 1/4 cup frozen peas
• 2 tsp red chili flakes
• 1/2 tsp ginger powder
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 green onion, chopped
• 2 Tbsp toasted coconut

First, drain the pineapple and reserve the liquid in a bowl. Add to it the soy sauce and the tofu and let it marinate for at least 20 minutes, but can go as long as a couple hours if you want.

Prepping for marinade - Very important when dealing with tofu.
Marinated is always better

If you have this meal planned out, do this the day before. It can
soak for up to 8 hours.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the tofu to the skillet and cook for about 5-6 min a side or until it is golden brown. Add the cashews and the pineapple and cook another 5 minutes or so. Now add all the other ingredients (except the reserve liquid and the green onion). Stir fry this for at least 5-6 minutes or until everything is well heated through. If things are sticking, add some of the reserve liquid, about a table spoon at a time. I ended up used 3-4 table spoons. if you like a little crunch, turn the heat up for a couple minutes and stir fry on high to crisp up the rice.

Building the dish.. I started with tofu

Added my other base ingredients

Then really, I just kept adding until this is what I had!
One pot/one bowl meal.

Now when this is done or close to done, toast some coconut. Get your unsweetened shredded coconut and add it to a dry pan on low-medium heat. Toast for about 3-4 minutes. Watch it really closely and remove from heat as soon as it browns. Add it to the rice bowl with the green onion prior to serving.

The final result - Sweet, spicy, filling. Good.

For a dish that is essentially a basic grain and left over and frozen foods.. I cannot believe how good this tasted. It was nice to start this week of being on a zero budget with something good. It made me feel like I might actually be able to pull this off. The toughest part for me is that I have no fresh fruit for snacks and I have no popcorn... I have been relying on these for snack foods and without them, cravings have gone from strong to intense.

Just four more days to get through.... Not going to be easy!

Oreo Stuffed Cookies

One of the happiest days of being vegan was the day that I learned Oreo's contained no dairy. What does that say about them? Well for one, there is not much natural to them... definitely would not consider these a health food! It also says to me, that once in a while it's a perfect treat for me. I have no control when it comes to Oreo's, and really most cookies. I generally keep them out of my house because if they are here, I eat them until they are gone and never feel good after.

Not long ago, my boyfriend, Tony, sent me a picture... See below. I took it as a challenge and I am pretty sure it was meant to be interpreted that way. Really, how could I not try to make these knowing that they were vegan and knowing that I am a self-proclaimed cookie master! Tony did a little research for me by tasting different cookies with Oreo's and we determined that, yes, chocolate chip is the way to go. Lucky for me, I make a mean chocolate chip cookie... so why not put them on cookie steroids by stuffing another yummy cookie inside!

These cookies are monsters. Basically, consider one cookie, three cookies. Yummy chocolate chip cookie on the outside and warm Oreo in the middle. I can't think of something better to have after a long day...

How did I make these? It's actually pretty easy. You can take any chocolate cookie recipe you have on hand.. just remember that it will really only make half the number of cookies, so double if you want lots, but these cookies are pretty filling. I don't think I would recommend eating more than one in a sitting.

I used my chocolate cookie recipe found here

Now, when you have your dough ready, make each cookie dough into a ball. Press down with your hand or a spoon and then place an Oreo on top. Now take a second cookie and place on top. Make sure the cookies are large enough that they wider than the Oreo. Next, grab the dough and press the edges together to they are sealed.

Make your cookie dough, place an Oreo on the dough..

Place the second cookie dough on top and seal.

Pre-heat your oven to 375 F (Or if using a different recipe, just follow their cooking instructions). Bake the cookies to the recipe, mine took about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on them for when the edges go golden brown... That means they're ready. Also, space the cookies out well, they can spread a bit.

Let them cook on a rack for about 5-10 minutes and then transfer to a plate.

there is an Oreo hiding in that cookie!!

Let me just say, oh man are these amazing. I wasn't too sure about the combo at first, but who ever came up with this Picture Tony send, they are genius. I am so glad Tony sent these to me now. He is finally coming up to brave Canadian winter and see me on my birthday... maybe he'll luck out and I'll make these for him so he has a snack for when he gets off the plane. He is the best for coming all this way just to celebrate my big 3-0, I should return the favour. What better way than a double threat cookie!

This recipe got me thinking... what else could you stuff inside a cookie? Fruit, obviously. I did that once with a sugar cookie and strawberries... they were good. What about peanut butter? Jam? Icing? Pumpkin? My brain is going a mile a minute.. mostly because I just test tasted these cookies and I am on an obvious sugar high... I think this will not be the last of stuffing food into cookies.... But what to try next?

Bannock and Babysitting

Last night I didn't blog. I didn't blog because I was tired after doing some baby sitting at my sister's. Not that it was difficult, her kids were pretty well behaved for toddler/baby. Really I have done much more strenuous things and not felt as tired... Maybe her kids are energy suckers, I don't know. Luckily for me, she made some vegan dinner so I would not starve while hanging with her kids. She had a veggie chili which once day I will get the recipe for. It is a black bean, corn, tomato mix. Really good, kind of more sweet than chili flavoured actually, but it really tastes great.

Kind of random, but with this she served up some Bannock... vegan bannock to be exact. I actually looked this up and it seems most bannock recipes are vegan. How awesome is that? I love when something just is and always was vegan. Makes my like easier. I assume it at some point was made in animal fat, but really veggie fat is just as good if not better.

 I have had bannock before. It is an awesome, sweet, filling bread that is native american. I have a grandma recipe for bannock and I have had it at a restaurant before... and I have to say in my limited experience... you need a little old lady to make this to really perfect the recipe. That said, my sister made an attempt.. and she did good.. like REAL good. This was the lightest bannock I have ever tried. I don't know if that is because of the switch for vegan ingredients.. or the fact that this recipe happens to have a lot of baking powder... Probably a bit of both. You must give this recipe a try.

I apologize, but no pictures right now. At the time, I didn't realize I would be blogging about this. I am hoping to try this recipe for myself and maybe reduce someone the sugar in it ... I will post pictures if I do.

Laura's Vegan Bannock
*Recipe from some dad from daycare. Thanks!

• 3 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup sugar - (Note from Laura - I'm SURE you could reduce. The last bannock recipe I made had 1 tbsp, haha. 1/4 would be fine I bet)
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup raisins (optional) - I bet blueberries would be good (Laura did not put these in, but agree with her comment!)
• 3/4 cup shortening
• 2 cup water

Pre-heat your oven to 400 F. Mix dry ingredients. Add shortening, mix with hands till texture is like large oatmeal (also seen described as wet sand). Now put 2 cups cold water in a bowl on the side and make a well in the flour mixture. Pour in 1/4 cup of the water into the well. Swirl in center till it forms a soft ball. Place on an un-greased baking sheet and keep repeating until the flour is gone. Make sure the dough is not sticky after you may the ball. If it is, add some more flour

Pat down dough in the pan and square off with a knife. Poke two holes in the centre of each square.

Bake for about 35 minutes

Laura - Thank your day care buddy for this recipe. It was so good. I am craving more now and if I had enough shortening, I would be in the kitchen making it!!

Hopefully will be back cooking things on my own tomorrow. I have some stuff ready to go, just not enough time to make it happen. It has been a busy week. This weekend could not come soon enough. 

Slow Cooker Burrito

I have been thinking about slow cooking for a while now. Every spring summer I get to the point where I never want to touch a slow cooker again and I put it away for the summer... every fall, I start feeling the urge to slow cook again. I am not sure if it is the temperature drop or the hibernation factor and I think it is likely a bit of both... slow cooking just seems like a must.

Yes, this was done in a slow cooker... Super easy

I decided to stay away from the usual slow cooker meals and try something a little different... how about slow cook burritos? I came up with this from looking through some old cook books and I came across a few recipes that were rice and beans of some sort. Every time I saw it, I kept thinking how much I would love a burrito... So why not just cook all the filling at once and then it would be ready made meal? Seems like a good idea, so I am giving it a go.

I think the nicest thing about this dish is that I can have it as a burrito, or on its own or with nachos. It is kind of like 3 different meals packed into one recipe.

I used a lot of basic tex-mex type veggies in this dish, but as I was adding ingredients, I came across a stray Anaheim pepper in my fridge. Anaheim is such a good match with this, I needed to included it, but decided to roast it first. I have never roasted my own peppers before. It was always something I figured you needed a gas stove to do it best. However, I felt like since I was not sauteing any vegetables in advance that I needed to have this in my recipe.

Turns out, roasting peppers is so easy! I can't believe I used to buy these jarred for 3-4 times the price of doing it myself. It took little time and no effort. Next time you are using peppers, try roasting!

Roasting Peppers
15 minutes

Ingredients:

• Peppers (Anaheim, Jalapeno, Bell etc)
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Set your oven to broil and put the rask to the top setting. Now, place the peppers on a cookie sheet. take the olive oil and spread and rub over the peppers.

Put it in the oven and cook about 10-15 minutes. Check them and turn them often. Once they are all blistered and/or blackened, they are ready. Remove from the oven and let cool. Once they are cool enough to handle, peel the skin off, remove the seeds and slice.

Ready to use or serve. Try them in sandwiches, stir fries and basically any dish you normally put peppers in.

Pepper - Oil it up

Roast for 10-15 minutes

Peel the skin and ready to use

So, now that we have roasted peppers, time to make some slow cooker burrito filling

Slow Cooker Burritos

5 hours, 10 minutes prep

• Dice the following:
• 1 green pepper
• 1 onion
• 1-2 ribs of celery
• 2-3 tomatoes (about a cup)
• 1 roasted anaheim pepper
• 1 can of red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 cup of rice
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 1/3 cup green onion chopped
• 2 tsp cilantro, chopped
• Lime juice I Used a lot... but probably a tablespoon for those that are not lime crazy

Combine everything up to the rice (Don't put the rice in yet!) Stir it and cook on high for 4- 4 1/2 hours. Stir in the rice and cook for another 45 minutes or until the rice is tender. Finally add the remaining ingredients and you are ready! 

Dump everything into your slow cooker...

Let is simmer.... and then add the rice..

let is simmer.... wait wait wait...

I think the nicest thing about this is that I didn't have to cook things really before slow cooking. I know it helps with flavour, but I really hate messing up more than one pot! When you are the dishwasher and the cook.... you look for any way to spare dirtying a pan.

As soon as it is done, you can start making your burritos... add any other ingredient you want... vegan sour cream, guac, cilantro, whatever you want. You could also use this to make chips... add some salsa, guac and vegan shredded cheese. I am seeing maybe a layered dip in my future with this filling. I think that would be amazing.. I guarantee no one will be wondering where the meat is... these rice and beans hold their own!

Scoop and serve - Could use in a layered dip, nacho, burrito or
Quesadilla filling

I made my burrito with some jalapenos and cilantro and really nothing else. The filling was so packed with flavour that I didn't even think about the fact that I didn't have any cheese. I am planning to freeze some of this off for a rainy day... Going to be great to be able to have this hidden away for a quick dinner or snack.

Peanut Butter Whiskey Cookies

I did not have the best day today... things at work are not going exactly to plan, my meeting ran long and had to skip the gym and as usual, I forgot about after work commitments which kills almost all of my time for cooking and relaxing after work.

After a long day, I really want to have a decent meal and if that can't be had, at least a good snack. I remembered when I first moved out on my own making peanut butter cookies quite a bit. Mostly because they only required a couple ingredients and took no kitchen appliances or time to make. Today, I decided these were a must... Even though these are good enough to stand on their own, I thought maybe I could do something to make them a little different than the basic recipe... What else goes good after a long day at work? Whiskey!

With very little additional work, I jazzed up this super easy recipe and turned it from an after school snack, to an after work snack. You could swap out the whiskey for other alcohols... spiced rum I think would be very good here. I origianlly  planned to have some chopped pecans on top, but I didn't have any on hand.. I instead used some apple slices. Apple and whiskey go, apple and peanut butter go, so I can only assume that Apple, peanut butter and whiskey all go perfect together.

Here we go with the recipe. The basic recipe is just the peanut butter, sugar and chia egg. From there, you can add things as you like. Just remember to balance the wet and dry ingredients. If the batter is too wet, the cookies will be flat and crunchy. If the batter is too dry, they will get cakey.

Peanut Butter-Apple Whiskey Cookies
*Makes 15 cookies, 20 minutes
Ingredients:

• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup sugar (I used brown, but white works too)
• 1 chia egg (1 tsp ground chia seeds whisked with two Tbsp water)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp whiskey (I admit, I free poured... )
• 1/4 tsp instant espresso (optional.. this is my secret ingredient in most baked goods)
• 2 Tbsp Flour (Again this is an estimate depending on how cakey you want the cookies. Add by the table spoon)
• 1 apple, peeled and sliced thin

Very easy to make. Pre-heat the over to 325 F. In a bowl mix the peanut butter, sugar chia egg, salt whiskey and instant espresso. Once everything in combined, add a Tbsp of flour and mix. Does it look like cookie dough? If it is too thin, add another tablespoon of flour. I would not go beyond 4 tablespoons though.

The ingredients... looks kind of gross, but thinking these are going to taste great!

I wanted a crispier cookie, so I only added a little flour.

Now, take a spoonful of dough and roll it into a ball and place it on an un-greased cookie sheet. Press each cook dough ball down with a fork until flat. Top with apple slices and some extra sugar. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Keep a close eye on them, you don't want to over cook!

Roll into a ball and flatten with a fork.
This will make the cookie, look like a cookie

Ready for the oven!

And.. the result? Well, first I wish I hadn't eaten half the apple and put slices on all the cookies. As you can see above, I ran short and figured sugar was enough. It was good, but the apples make it so much better.

The apple looks good and tastes even better!

These cookies are pretty boozey, if you are not into boozey cookies, use vanilla instead of the whiskey. or cut the alcohol in half. Me personally? I can't wait to eat these with a glass of whiskey on the rocks for dunking ;)

Sushi Time!

Finally had a decent me weekend. After all the travel and all the time spent with other people. Friday, I came home and I actually spent my evening alone, in the dark relaxing. I didn't think about anything or anyone, just had some time to shut down. I don't know if this is a normal thing to want or not, but for me, I like to have this time. I guess it is kind of like my form of meditation. Sometimes it just feels like I can't get my thoughts together. I stop listening to myself and I go from day to day just reacting to everything. I had an overwhelming urge to make life stop for a bit.. so that is exactly what I did on Friday and it felt awesome.

Saturday, I made my swim practice (a miracle on its own for me) and I got to hang out with my olds at their garage sale. Sometimes I feel like I fit in more with them than I do with my own friends. It might be that their favourite pastimes are complaining and sitting around doing nothing. These are my kind of people. Although I was planning to avoid my family this weekend, I did make it over to my sisters and hung out with the kids. She lured me over with kale chips and homemade hummus. It was worth it.

Today, I went to yoga for the first time and it definitely felt good to stretch everything out, but the room was kind of warm and it was really hard for me to concentrate on anything other than wondering why the temperature was so high. I think with the trend of warm and hot yoga, it is easier for the studios to keep the temperate higher than room temp so they can get it to the right temperature quickly for the hot classes. I remember before hot yoga was around here that I would be really cold before class started and then feel warm when I was done. Now, I am sweating before class starts...  Maybe it is just me being completely out of shape.... but I didn't like it either way. Might be time to do these things at home instead. After yoga, I went down to Clever Rabbit, with a plan of coffee and a snack. When i showed up, they had french toast. I have been trying to get this dish there for weeks and have been unsuccessful. I had to order it. I have failed a few times at making a vegan french toast and I had to see if theirs would do the trick. So amazing.. the only words I could describe it... They have figured it out and I think now that I have tasted theirs, I have figured it out. I am hopefully going to make a new attempt at vegan french toast this week. I am so excited about it. It was curing a 3 year craving.

As excited as I was to make french toast, this was not the night for it. I had already deemed this night sushi night. At the garage sale on Saturday, I came across a sushi set. The olds let me take it for free and I felt like I needed to try it out right away, otherwise it would end up in the grave yard of the many kitchen gadgets I have bought and never bothered to try over the years.

I cannot believe I have never made sushi before. I have been eating it for years and there are so many places out there with really good veggie sushi. I was always a little scared of making my own sushi. It seems so simple, but if it was, sushi chefs wouldn't require years of training to be a professional roller, would they?

So I did lots of research (i.e. I googled it..) and now here is the story of my first attempt at sushi.

First thing that seems to be so important is the sushi rice. Everything I read said to use specifically sushi rice. This is what I bought, but it looked to me just like a short grain rice. I know that to make proper sushi, it needs to be sticky and you need a short grain for this.

Every blog and website I went on had a different way to cook the rice. Some said you want to boil it for 7 minutes so that you burn the bottom of your pan. Others said to just cook it like any other white rice, others said only cook for 10 minutes. One site said don't add the rice until the water is boiling... Honestly it was really confusing. I decided to cook it like I always cook rice. Boil the water, 15 minute simmer and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.

Sushi rice
Ingredients:

• 2 cups sushi rice
• 2 1/4 cups water
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt

Rinse the sushi really well in a sieve. You want to rinse until the water is almost clear. Once you get to that, drain the rice well and a put it in a large pot. Add the water and cover it. Have one burner on high and place the pot on it and bring the rice to a boil. While you are waiting for that to happen, put a second burner on simmer (low). When the rice comes to a full boil, move it to the other burner and cook for about 15 minutes. Take it off the heat and let it sit another 5-10 minutes.

Rinsing the rice. Very important. 

Final step, add the vinegar mixture.

Now while you are waiting again, combine the remaining ingredients into a bowl. Microwave for 35-45 seconds or until the sugar is dissolved. Move the rice to a bowl (a wooden rice bowl is recommended online, but I don't have this. I just used a plastic bowl) Add the vinegar and fold it into the rice. Now let it cool to room temperature.

For the filling, use whatever you want really. Here is what I used:

Sushi I - Carrot, Cucumber on Aioli

• Carrots, julienned thin
• cucumber, julienned thin
• leftover aioli (vegan mayo would be good too)

Sushi II - Umeboshi-Apple

• Apple, peeled and sliced very thin
• 1 Tbsp Umeboshi plum vinegar
• 1 handful walnuts, chopped
• 1 cup sweet pea shoots
• Toasted sesame seeds

For both sushi's (maki actually), chop up the vegetables. You want them to be sort of a matchstick size. If you have mandolin, I think this would be a nice time to break it out if it has the blade for it. I don't so I have to chop by hand. For the apple, you can skin if you want, but you don't have to. I didn't... I'd say it was to get all the healthy stuff from eating the skin, but let's be honest, it was pure laziness!

Step 1 - Add rice on top of the nori

To roll the sushi, you want to get your sushi mat and cover it with plastic wrap (Not totally necessary for maki with the nori on the outside, but if you want the rice on the outside, this is a must! Cover the nori with about a cup or so of rice from the edge to about 2/3 of the way down. Put the fillings in the centre of the nori (not centre of where the rice is).

Get the toppings on it, in the centre of the nori sheet

Now the tricky part, take the sushi mat and lift it up with the nori and rice on it. Make sure that the rice sticks or else you will need to make your rice more sticky! Fold it over to where the filling in and roll it so that there is just a little nori now left.

Prepare to roll!

Lift the bamboo roller

Roll over top of the filling

Squeeze it so it sticks together

Get some grains of rice and place them on the end of the nori, it makes a glue to keep it together. if this doesn't work, you can dab the nori with a damp paper towel after you roll it. The moisture will make it stick.

Now for the second sushi roll, I attempted a reverse roll, which means the rice is on the outside and the nori is in the middle. First thing which is very important, line the sushi roller in plastic wrap. This will stop the rice from sticking to it. Now, put down the nori just like you did in the first one and cover about 2/3 of it in rice. Top the rice with toasted sesame seeds. Now take the nori and flip it over so that the rice is now face down.

Something about the seeds helps this roll stay together. I don't know
why, but seems important!

Get the fillings and start with the umeboshi plum paste and spread it down the middle of the nori. now add the sliced apples and finally the sweet pea shoots. I trimmed them so it was mostly the leaves and less of the stem.

Rice is underneath

Now just roll it the same way as the first one. Make sure to put some strength into it so the rice sticks really well.

Easy, rolled without any trouble!

So, now you have a bunch of rolls. Cutting should be easy, but you need to make sure of two things. First, get a really sharp knife. If you have a sharpener, use it before cutting. Second get a damp paper towel and before cutting, wipe the knife with it. This will help get through the nori. Try to cut straight down so the roll stays together.

Tada! Not bad for the first attempt! Looks very pretty!

That's it! Have a side of shoyu, wasabi and candied ginger. They are good just on their own too.

I can't believe how well this worked. These pictures are of my first time making sushi. I am definitely going to make this again. Sure, they aren't perfect, but they taste good and they stick together. Practice I am sure makes perfect, so keep trying if they didn't come out right the first time. Experiment with fillings too. My original plan for the first sushi was to use potatoes. It was Tony's suggestion. I unfortunately forgot to make potatoes, but I think next time, that would be kind of cool to try. I also want to try it with some tofu or tempeh..

This would be a great thing to make with a friend or date. Especially when taking pictures... trust me it is not easy to take pictures of rolling sushi on your own!

Roast beet and Fennel Soup

I have been talking for a while now about soup and slow cookers and in general, fall and winter foods. I have decided to free-hand a new soup. I was looking for something with lots of flavour and something that would be really warming on a cold day. Searching through my fridge I found beets. I had planned to roast them, but why not use them in a soup.

Beets can go with so many things, so I did a little googling and found a number of recipes that paired beets with fennel. Fennel is something I have never purchased and never used. I figured, this was a perfect opportunity to give it a try. Nice thing about roasting vegetables, it makes recipes a little more forgiving. There is so much flavour unlocked when you roast vegetables, you don't need to add a whole lot more to make a good tasting soup.

Fennel is a root vegetable used in Mediterranean cooking. it is high in vitamin C, Potassium and Folate. All good things. Beets are also a great source of folate and also manganese and fibre. On top of that, they are both loaded in phytonutrients and all sorts of antioxidants. As a someone that eats a vegan diet, I think it is really important to get a wide range of vegetables. I  can't say I am always the best at this, but i love when I can introduce something new.

Prepared for roasting. The foil helps with evening the temperature
good for things like beets when left whole

Both of these vegetables lend themselves to roasting, plus it is so easy to do.. I had to roast these before making my soup. To roast, trim the beets so the greens are removed (If you want, you can save these and use them in salad or saute them). Next toss the whole beets in olive oil and salt and pepper. Now get a large peice of tin foil and wrap the beets in it (This will help to cook evenly and prevent juices from dying the fennel red). Now get the fennel and trim it so the stalks are removed. Cut into quarters, toss in the same olive oil and salt and pepper and place on a baking sheet with the beets. Roast them at 375 F for about an hour.

Exactly one hour later. My kitchen smells so good

Now, if you want, you can just slice and eat these as is, or you can make a soup with them. I chose to make soup:

Roasted Beet and Fennel Soup
*Makes 8-10 servings, about 1 hour if the vegetables are already roasted

• 3-4 beets roasted, skins removed and quartered
• 2 fennel bulbs, roasted and quartered
• 1 white onion, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 yellow pepper diced
• 1 leek, sliced
• 1 tsp ground sage
• 1 Tsp ground thyme
• 2 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 5-6 cups vegetable stock
• 2 tsp siracha
• 1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1/4 cup milk or soy cream
• 1 tbsp fresh basil, sliced (optional)
• 2 Tbsp parsley, chopped (optional)

If you haven't done so, roast the fennel and beets as noted above and let cool. While you're waiting, chop up the other ingredients so you are ready to build the soup. Remove the beet skin and chop into quarters or smaller if you want and set aside. Heat a large soup pot over medium heat and add a little olive oil. Add the onion, carrot and celery and cook for about 5 minutes or until tender. Add the garlic and leek and cook for 3-4 more minutes. Now add the sage and thyme and cook again for another minute.

Prep done, makes building a soup a lot easier

Step one - Saute all the base vegetables 

Step two - add herbs

Add in the beets, fennel and vegetable stock. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer for about 30 minutes or so. You can go longer if you want... or do this in a slow cooker and cook on low for 4-6 hours.

Step 3 - add the stock and remaining ingredients and wait...
keep waiting...

Now, get out your immersion blender and put on an apron. Beets stain and splatter could wreck what you're wearing. Keep this in mind! Blend the soup until it is a nice cream texture. If you want some chunks, that is fine too. Do it to taste. Now stir in the siracha to taste and the red wine vinegar. I used what was listed above and it was good. Definite hit of spice though!

Before serving, add fresh basil and parsley to each bowl. You can also garnish with a little fennel leaves if you like. Drizzle in a little of the soy milk/cream

See how pretty it looks with all the garnish

Should last for about 5-7 days. If you can't finish it, freeze it!

So... the results.. this soup was a hit. It is rich and a smooth, but also has a good blend of spicy, sweetness and freshness. Really instead of beets you could use any other root vegetable here, but the colour that comes from this soup is so pretty. Somewhere between a strong magenta and a deep scarlet red. By the time I finished this, I didn't even want anything to eat, but couldn't help myself once I tasted it. I think adding the milk at the end adds a nice layer and looks nice, so try not to skip this. My sister (a non-vegan) tried it with sour cream (Toffuti makes a vegan one). Normally beets are paired with sour cream, but she said that it was a bit overpowering and that it was better alone.

The only thing I don't like about this recipe is the mess that the beets make. Roasting on foil is a smart tip I found and saved a huge amount of mess.... but my hands, some of my floor, the cutting board and Tupperware have been dyed red! I love beets, but man are they messy! Keep this on away from kids I think..