Rosemary Crackers

I saw this recipe on one of my favorite Portland vegan food blogs, Everyday Dish, which also broadcasts a vegan Internet cooking show, too! Although I've never met her, host Julie Hasson seems like a cool person and a great vegan chef. Here's how I adapted the recipe for Rosemary and Garlic Crackers that she posted on her blog Everyday Dish.

1 cup flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 large sprig of fresh rosemary, stripped and minced
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons olive oil
Coarse sea salt crystals

Preheat oven to 400°F.2. In a bowl, mix the flours, nutritional yeast, baking powder, rosemary, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Add the water and olive oil, stirring until dough comes together. Divide dough in half and roll each out very thin. Transfer to Silpat and score the crackers. Sprinkle with coarse salt, lightly pressing into the dough with a rolling pin. Bake for about 15 minutes at 400 degrees until crisp and golden. Hold in pan a bit to cool before removing.

Walnut Pesto

This recipe, adapted from Ken Charney's The Bold Vegetarian Chef, makes a great sandwich filling (especially, as Ken points out in his book, in combination with pears and roasted red peppers). It would also make a great dip.

3/4 cup walnut pieces, toasted
3 garlic cloves, peeled
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons maple syrup
freshly ground salt and pepper

Place the ingredients in a food processor and puree. Adjust for consistency and taste. Set aside for an hour before serving.

Watermelon Gazpacho

I was looking for something different to take to a potluck picnic, and the idea of a watermelon gazpacho caught my fancy. This recipe, which is a veganized adaptation from Tyler Florence's Tyler's Ultimate cookbook, seems a little lighter and more refreshing. In fact, I wonder how it would taste with just a hint of mint and a vegan creme fraiche instead of the feta cheese that he originally called for? (I did substitute my "blue cheese" but my partner and I agreed that it wasn't a good match.)

3 cups roughly chopped tomatoes
3 cups roughly chopped watermelon (seeded)
1 roughly chopped serrano chile
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 cucumber, peeled, seeded and minced
2 tablespoons fresh dill, minced
2 tablespoons red onion, minced
freshly ground salt
freshly ground black pepper

In a blender, puree the tomatoes, watermelon and chile. Add olive oil and red wine vinegar; pulse to blend. Fold in the remaining ingredients and chill. Serve in small glasses, shot glasses, or even champagne flutes.

Herbed No-Goat Cheese Bites

Food Network's Tyler Florence is a hottie, but damn if he's got meat or some animal product in probably every single recipe of his book Tyler's Ultimate: Brilliant Simple Food to Make Anytime. So, Tyler, this is for you: a veganized version of your appetizer that doesn't get my goat.

1/2 baguette (or enough for 12 thin slices)

1 to 1-1/2 tablespoons olive oil

about 1-1/2 to 2 cups of vegan "blu cheese"
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves (stems removed)

1/2 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes (12 large pieces, or an equivalent amount of smaller pieces)

12 large fresh basil leaves (or an equivalent amount of smaller leaves)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice the baguette into 12 thin slices and toss with olive oil. Press each piece into a muffin tin to create a curved crescent shape. Bake 5 to 10 minutes until lightly browned and crisp. Let cool in the muffin tin. In a bowl, combine the "blu cheese" and thyme. Top each baguette slice with a basil leaf. On top of that, add a dollop of the cheese and garnish with a sun-dried tomato.

Sushi de Calabacín (Zucchini Sushi)

I stumbled upon this recipe at CreatiVegan.net and was inspired to give it a whirl. Here's my twist:

1/2 red pepper, chopped finely
2 cups sticky rice, cooked
1 zucchini
dipping sauce(s) (I used Peanut Dipping Sauce)

Wash zucchini and cut into long thin flat slices. At one end of a slice of zucchini, place a portion of the red pepper. Cover the rest of the slice with a portion of the rice. Roll up (fasten with toothpick, etc., if necessary). Serve with dipping sauce(s).

OK, here's what really happened: I used regular big-box Minute Rice when I should have used a true sticky rice. I also had a thin zucchini, so the slices were pretty narrow. If I ever should make this again, I would definitely opt for a very sticky rice -- even one that is sweet, paired with maybe a spicy/sweet mango sauce. Maybe a wider zucchini. And maybe smaller bites or some sort of fastener. I think this is a good idea in concept, but execution leaves something to be desired.

Hummus

Still too hot to cook much, we whipped up a quick dinner of creamy, homemade hummus with whole-wheat pita bread accented with bread and butter pickles and a few kalamata olives. This hummus was adapted from Best-Ever Vegetarian edited by Linda Fraser; for a more straight-forward version, leave out the sun-dried tomatoes and liquid smoke.

1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons sun-dried tomatoes

6 tablespoons lemon juice

4 tablespoons tahini

1 drop liquid smoke

2-3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon ground cumin

freshly ground black pepper

freshly ground salt

paprika

Place the garbanzo beans in a blender and pulse to break up the beans. Then add the garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, lemon juice, tahini and liquid smoke. Process until smooth. Blend in just enough olive oil to achieve the desired consistency. Add cumin, pepper and salt to taste. Dust with paprika.