Spicy Chickpea Pasta

I've finally done it! Created a little dish of my own. Well, I can't take all the credit. I got the idea from Vegetarian Magazine, but I adapted it to fit my own taste (and what was available in my pantry at the time). However, it's so good that it just might make it to the top of my list of favorite pasta dishes (and believe me, when it comes to pasta, I love it all).

Serves 8

Ingredients:
1 lb. pasta (pictured is whole-wheat penne)
2 cans diced tomatoes with garlic and olive oil
1 cup dried chickpeas (makes 2 cups when cooked) (or you can use 2 store-bought cans if you don't have any dried chickpeas on hand)
an array of spices - I used cayenne pepper (use more or less depending on how spicy you like it), oregano, thyme, cilantro (fresh or dried), garlic powder, and black pepper

Directions:
In one pot, cook pasta.
In 2nd pot, warm or cook chickpeas.
In 3rd pot, mix canned tomatoes with spices and let come to a boil.
Once chickpeas are warm or done cooking, mix in with the tomato sauce.
Pour sauce over pasta when done.
Serve immediately, while hot, topped with cilantro for a beautiful presentation.

Egg-less Applesauce Cake and Muffins with Cream-Cheese Frosting

Every Sunday night, I go to my college pastor's house for a small group Bible study. Most of the recipes that are on this blog are treats that I've made for them. My college pastor's daughter is the sweetest little strawberry-blonde headed girl, and she is also allergic to eggs. So I'm always looking for recipes that don't have eggs in them so that the treats I make for my small group, she can eat them too! Here is an easy, healthy, and egg-less recipe that can be made as a loaf cake or as muffins!

Serves: 1 loaf or 24 muffins
Oven: 350 degrees

For Cake (or Muffins):
1/2 cup canola oil
1 cup sugar
2 cups unbleached flour
2 cups applesauce
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Mix oil and sugar well. Add applesauce and vanilla. Mix in dry ingredients. Beat until smooth.

Pour in a oiled loaf pan and bake for 55-60 minutes. Or for muffins, pour into muffin tin(s) and bake for 20-22 minutes.




For frosting:
5 oz cream cheese, softened
3 Tbs. unsalted butter, softened
1/4 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 cup confectioners (powdered) sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon

Beat cream cheese, butter, and vanilla with an electric mixer at high speed until fluffy. Sift confectioners sugar and cinnamon over cream cheese mixture, then beat at medium speed until incorporated. Spread frosting over top of cooled cake.

Cake recipe from: http://www.all-creatures.org
Frosting recipe from: http://www.gourmet.com

Fat-Free Vegan Carrot Cake

Serving Size : 10

2 cups carrots — finely grated, packed
1 1/2 cups brown sugar — packed
1 3/4 cups water
1 cup raisins — or other chopped dry fruit
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
Lemon Glaze — (or confectioners sugar)

In a saucepan, combine the carrots, brown sugar, raisins or dried fruit, and vanilla. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes, then remove from the heat, cover, and let sit for at least an hour. In a large bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, salt, baking soda, and baking powder. Whisk or stir to combine thoroughly and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 300F about 15 minutes before you are ready to mix the batter. Generously oil and flour a 10-inch bundt pan. Stir the cooled carrot mixture into the dry ingredients just until no trace of flour is left. Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake until the cake feels firm to the touch and a knife inserted into the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes on a rack, then invert onto a serving plate. Dust with confectioners’ sugar or top with our simple Lemon Glaze (recipe follows).

(NOT FATFREE Variations: Add 1 cup of chopped nuts and/or 1/2 cup of unsweetened shredded coconut to the batter.)

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Lemon Glaze

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice — (about 2 lemons)

In a small nonreactive saucepan, combine the sugar and lemon juice. Heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves. Poke holes in the cake with a toothpick or small sharp knife and slowly pour the lemon glaze over it.

Notes: For some odd reason, my oven cooks things faster than most recipes say they need to be in there. This cake cooked for only 42 minutes. So, experiment yourself to see exactly how long it really needs to cook for. I always go by the whole "when a knife/toothpick is inserted and comes out clean" motto. The picture shown above is the cake with powdered sugar. After tasting, it seemed "heavy" to me, and a bit dry, but not in a bad way. I ended up cutting the cake in half and putting the lemon glaze on one half (just to try it). It added moisture, but be careful about putting too much glaze on the cake because it can take away from the taste of the carrots, raisins, and the blended spices.

Recipe from www.fatfreevegan.com