Let me tell you, it is INCONCEIVABLE that there is anything better than lazing around with some Potentially Vegan Apple Crumble and "The Princess Bride."
I have a sweet tooth. It's probably an understatement to call it a sweet tooth, it's more of a sweet FANG. It's difficult for me to pass up any sugar, as anyone who's known me for a couple of days can attest (especially if those couple of days happen to be spent in the vicinity of a candy shop/sweets cart/dessert table). It's something that I've tried to curb by eating lots of fruit, but sometimes there's nothing better than a good pile of ice cream on a slice of pumpkin pie.
I've given up trying to stave off the sweet fang's sweet urgings, so I'm instead trying to reconfigure my cravings so that when I'm eating sweets, they're both delicious AND (relatively) healthy. Instead of processed sugar, I use organic, raw sugar (which probably doesn't actually make much of a difference in the likelihood of staving off diabetes, but it at least makes me FEEL like I'm doing something right), and add as much fruit and honey as possible in place of other sweeteners.
What really was a lifesaver now that I'm cutting out dairy and eggs is the Post Punk Kitchen's dessert webpage. Everything I've made so far from this website (mostly during my time working in a vegan kitchen) was ABSOLUTELY delicious! These prove that vegan cooking doesn't have to be boring or bland, a misconception that until very recently, I also held. (It only takes one instance of hellishly dry vegan chocolate chip cookies to make anyone into a skeptic.) Even further, the Post Punk Kitchen is a great resource for non-vegans who don't have any eggs or butter around the house, but are in the mood to bake. Indeed, I think it's invaluable to learn how to substitute for eggs, milk, and butter in recipes in general; it's very useful when you suddenly find yourself a couple of eggs short when you're right in the middle of mixing together your wet ingredients.
ANYWAY, my current favorite is the apple crumble. I have to be honest and say that the past couple of times I've made it, it hasn't been completely vegan; as I've just moved into a new place and wasn't sure what core ingredients were around, I neglected to buy baking powder and instead have been using 1/4 tsp baking soda plus some lowfat vanilla yogurt. However, I'm sure that the dish is JUST as delicious without the non-vegan addition (and I even wonder if soy yogurt would work as well). Try it, and your belly will thank you
I have the same cholesterol as you-it's a genetic curse- but i don't think I have the strength to go vegan. really...is that apple crumble any good?
ReplyDeletemy friend Amber made me vegan choc chip cookies and they were very good- i was surprised...but they weren't as good (to me) as the ones with two sticks of butter in them! =)
Ah, genetics. I've been asking my mom about who in the family has high cholesterol, and to save time, we had to change the question to: "OK, well, who DOESN'T have high cholesterol?"
ReplyDeleteVegan cookies are hard, because, try as the vegetable oil might, it doesn't quite have the same taste as a couple of sticks of delicious butter. For vegans who haven't touched a milk product in years, though, there's little difference.
This crumble, though, is fantastic. I would make it in place of a non-vegan crumble any day. It's very, very sweet, thanks to the almost two cups of sugar in the crust and filling. (As a side note: if you make it, I highly recommend getting raw sugar instead of white sugar. It works the same, but it has a slightly richer flavor, like a really, really light brown sugar.) There's no dryness, thanks to the apples. You won't even miss the butter! Even my very butter/egg-loving friends came back for seconds.