Strawberry Cream Cheeze Pie (vegan)

Okay, it tastes way way better than it looks - I'm not the greatest at cutting pies to make them look pretty...

Today I made strawberry cream cheeze pie, based on my mom's recipe. It was a really sunny day and I went swimming with some friends, and then we came home and ate some pie. Yum. My mom is a genius when it comes to making pies. Apple, blueberry, rhubarb, strawberry-rhubarb, strawberry cream cheese....and best of all, her crust recipe has always been vegan and it's really easy! Here is her white pie crust recipe, followed by a whole-wheat adaptation by myself:


Mom's Cold-Water Pie Crust

1 cup + 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup oil (scant)
2 tbsp cold water

Mix the dry ingredients together, then add the oil and water. Mix well, then roll out or press onto a pie plate as with any other pie crust recipe. makes 1 crust


Angela's Whole Wheat Pie Crust

2/3 cup white flour
2/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup oil
2 tbsp cold water

Mix the dry ingredients together, then add the oil and water. Mix well, then roll out or press onto a pie plate as with any other pie crust recipe. makes 1 crust


And now for the purpose of making the pie crust: Strawberry Cream Cheeze Pie!


Strawberry Cream Cheeze Pie

Filling:
1 pkg. (8 oz) tofutti plain cream cheeze
4 tbsp icing sugar
2 tbsp soymilk

Strawberry Glaze:
3 cups of strawberries, washed and hulled
1/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp cornstarch
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup water

1 pie crust recipe (above)

Bake the pie crust in the oven at 350 degrees until slightly golden, about 15-20 minutes. Let cool. Meanwhile, blend the filling ingredients together and then spread over the cooled pie crust. Place about 20 strawberries on the cream cheeze layer with the tips pointing up, and set aside. For the glaze, combine the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a large saucepan. Add the water and stir. Add the rest of the strawberries and cook at medium-low heat, stirring and mashing the berries as they cook (I use a potato masher). Bring to a slow boil, stirring constantly, and boil for about 3 minutes, until it starts to thicken. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Pour over the whole berries & cream cheeze layer (be careful not to let it overflow!). Then chill for at least 1 hour (preferably overnight). Makes 1 pie

Strawberries on the cream cheeze layer

All finished!

And now the strawberries are all gone: (

More Vegan Recipes Coming Soon...

In case I forget, here are some recipes I hope to be posting (along with photos) in the near future:

-strawberry cream cheeze pie (veganized version of my mom's recipe)
-strawberry almond cake
-coconut french toast
-almond creme brulee
-vegan cream puffs (I first made non-vegan ones when I was 11)
-Wooden Monkey copycat rice bowl
-adzuki bean stir-fry

Expect another strawberry recipe later this week, I still have 1 pint of strawberries left to use up...

First Post: a Fancy Vegan Sunday Brunch

A couple of friends came over for brunch today. Since it's strawberry season and my mom just gave me 4 pints of strawberries, I wanted to use them in the brunch and decided to make coconut french toast with strawberry sauce, accompanied by some scrambled tofu. Yum!


Unforunately it didn't occur to me to take pictures (this blogging thing is new to me) until people started getting seconds, so the pictures aren't as pretty as they could be. Oh well. The french toast was topped with the strawberry sauce (made from strawberries blended with some maple syrup), sliced strawberries, and toasted shredded coconut. So tasty. I made the coconut french toast by modifying a regular french toast recipe I already had, but I wasn't completely happy with it. I will try to make it better, and when I do, I shall post the recipe (along with some better pictures).

The scrambled tofu recipe, however, is my own creation. I have made it many times and can post with confidence. Here it is:


Angela's Scrambled Tofu with Mushrooms and Spinach

1 block (approx 16 oz.) firm or extra-firm tofu
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 cup of mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp* red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp* turmeric
1/2 tsp* paprika
2 tsp* cumin
1/2 tsp* curry powder (optional)
1/2 tsp salt, or 1 tbsp braggs
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 to 1 cup of baby spinach or chopped spinach
salt & pepper, to taste

*I usually don't use measurements, so these are just approximations - add a bit less than these amounts at first, maybe, and then judge by looking/tasting and adjusting accordingly

In a frying pan on medium heat, saute the onions in the olive oil for about 2 minutes. Add the garlic and mushrooms, cooking until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms soft (about 4 minutes). Crumble the tofu (for the best texture, I squeeze it through my fist) and add it to the pan, followed by the spices, salt and tomato. Stir. Turn up the heat and cook until most of the liquid is gone, stirring occasionally. Add the spinach and cook for a couple of minutes, then season with salt and pepper, and eat - but let it cool down a bit first!
Serves 4


I went to the (fairly) new Asian grocery near my apartment last week and was very excited to discover that they sell tofu by the bucket for $2.30! Before that, I was biking 40 minutes every couple of weeks to this other Asian grocery to get buckets of tofu because it was the only place I knew of that sold them. Yay buckets of tofu at the Asian grocery! They are so cheap and fresh and good (not organic, but I can't usually afford that). I read about them in the tofu section of the Cooking by Kittee website (awesome website!). Anyway, the point of this rant is that I used this tofu to make the scrambled tofu today.