It’s that time again! Today is the bake sale for the Pigs Peace Sanctuary, happening at their University District store. Stop in for some amazing vegan baked goods and pick up some Pigs Peace merch, vegan pet food, Teese, or if you’re jonesing for vegan Halloween candy there’s sweets galore. It’s all to benefit a truly unique animal sanctuary – so bake, buy, or donate today! There are Sparkled Ginger Cookies from yours truly if you’re in the mood for chewy, ginger, molasses yum.

Not only is it a perfect day to bake with molasses (and really, what day isn’t?), it’s also pumpkin roasting weather. We visited the pumpkin patch for one …

… and then rolled it home for a roastin’. Just cut the pumpkin in half, scoop out the seeds, and place cut side down in 1/4 inch of water. Roast for one hour in a 350 degree oven. The pumpkin is done when you can pierce the skin easily with a fork.

One medium sized pumpkin yielded 3 cups of cooked pumpkin. Hmmm, now what to make?

That’s my haul from New Roots this week. I put everything into the (freshly scrubbed) kitchen sink and fill it with cool water and a few tablespoons of baking soda. After a brief soak and rinse, everything comes out squeaky clean.

But it’s hard work chopping and spinning dry the spinach and de-veining the monster kale leaves, not to mention finding a home in the fridge or fruit bowl for all the rest of the goodies, so dinner tonight will be a favorite go-to quickie recipe from The Vegetarian Mother’s Cookbook:

Spinach, Mushrooms and Pine Nuts

2 TS olive oil

2 cloves garlic

1 C sliced mushrooms

8 C washed and chopped spinach leaves

1/4 C pine toasted pine nuts

Heat oil in skillet. Saute garlic and mushrooms until mushrooms are juicy, about 8 minutes. Toss in pine nuts to toast. Add spinach and saute until wilted. Season with salt and pepper. (Or a dash of tamari sauce – that’s how I like it!)

We eat this over basmati rice or couscous. This recipe also rocks with kale or chard, just adjust the cooking time. All told, this takes about 15 minutes to make, with the rice bubbling away at the same time.

I really need to double this recipe so there are leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I never remember to double for lunch.

This is my first ever recipe! That I wrote, that is. And it’s so easy, it practically writes and makes itself. I’m not a sushi expert, but this is how I make it and it’s fun, tasty, and quick. You will need a bamboo 9.5 x 9.5 sushi mat.

Sweetie Roll (Mango-Avocado-Tofu)

Makes 4 rolls

1 cup short-grain (japonica sushi) rice

2 cups water

1/3 cup rice vinegar

1/2 ripe avocado sliced lengthwise

1/2 ripe mango sliced lengthwise

3 oz. Teriyaki baked tofu (I looooove Wildwood) sliced lengthwise

4  sheets nori seaweed (I like Emerald Cove Organic Nori)

Soak and wash the rice until the water is clear. Transfer to saucepan and add 2 cups water. Cook until water is absorbed – rice should be tender and sticky. Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the rice vinegar. Mix well with a wooden spoon.

Lay 1 sheet of nori on the bamboo mat, making sure the perforations in the nori are lined up horizontally. Use your wooden spoon to spread a thin layer of rice on the nori covering the entire sheet edge to edge.  Make a thin line of sushi fillings an inch from the bottom edge of your nori. Don’t place too many fillings in the roll, or it will be too big and won’t roll nice and tight.

The trick is to use the sushi mat to make your roll nice and round and uniform. Roll from the bottom, going slowly, and tucking the mat in around the nori. As you continue to roll up, use the mat to tuck the roll around itself.

And there you have it! Slice the roll into 6 even pieces, and place on your favorite sushi plate. Garnish with some pickled ginger and a dab of wasabi, and hand out the chopsticks! 

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows
makes 2 dozen cookies

Chocolate dough:

1/2 cup canola oil

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

3 tablespoons non-dairy milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup unsweetened dutch processed cocoa powder

2 tablespoons black unsweetened cocoa or more dutch processed unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Filling:

3/4 cup natural salted peanut butter, crunchy or creamy style

2/3 cup confectioner’s sugar

2 to 3 tablespoons soy creamer or non-dairy milk

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a large mixing bowl combine oil, sugar, maple syrup, non-dairy milk and vanilla extract and mix until smooth. Sift in flour, cocoa powder, black cocoa if using, baking soda and salt. Mix to form a moist dough.

Make the filling. In another mixing bowl beat together peanut butter, confectioner’s sugar, 2 tablespoons of soy creamer and vanilla extract to form a moist but firm dough. If peanut butter dough is too dry (as different natural peanut butters have different moisture content), stir in remaining tablespoon of non-dairy milk. If dough is too wet knead in a little extra powdered sugar.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line bakings sheet with parchment paper.

Shape the cookies. Create the centers of the cookies by rolling the peanut butter dough into 24 balls. Scoop a generous tablespoon of chocolate dough, flatten into a disc and place a peanut butter ball in the center. Fold the sides of the chocolate dough up and around the peanut butter center and roll the chocolate ball into an smooth ball between your palms. Place on a sheet of waxed paper and repeat with remaining doughs. If desired gently flatten cookies a little, but this is not necessary.

Place dough balls on lined baking sheets about 2 inches apart and bake for 10 minutes. Remove sheet from oven and let cookies for 5 minutes before moving to a wire rack to complete cooling. Store cookies in tightly covered container. If desired warm cookies in a microwave for 10 to 12 seconds before serving.