Day 6 - Corn and Edamame-Sesame Salad, Roasted Portobellos, and Lower-Fat Deep Chocolate Bundt Cake

Christmas Eve with the Saines! What a treat to spend the afternoon and evening in Westchester with my dear college friend and entertainment industry mogul, Emily! First, we sneaked away to see an afternoon showing of This Is 40 (four thumbs up!). Then she brought me to Fairway Pelham (deluxe!) where we shopped for dinner. Even though the Saines are decidedly un-vegan, they were very gracious about letting me insert my vegan agenda into their dinner (as long as there was one non-vegan dish too). They are the perfect people to weigh in on SFO ratings! In attendance: Emily, husband Andy, and sons Max and Dashiell.

Corn and Edamame-Sesame Salad

I'm starting to realize that I&T are very good at quick and easy dishes that are surprisingly delicious and satisfying. This is a prime example. Six ingredients total, give some frozen vegetables a quick boil, toast some sesame seeds, throw it all together, chill, and serve. Yum! Frankly, I'm a sucker for toasted sesame oil, no matter what it's on, but this combo really does taste great. And everybody ate it! (Except for Dashiell, who had already eaten. That's him pictured with Emily.)

SFO: 10


Roasted Portobellos (Take One)

I think I'm going to have to do this one over again. We think there might have been something amiss with the temperature calibration of their oven, because these didn't cook in the way I suspect they will when I try them again. Edible? Absolutely. But the texture was weird, spongy, they didn't seem quite done. I'm going to hold off on an SFO until Take Two. Incidentally, we all ate them happily. (That's Emily again, with Dashiell on the left and Max on the right.)

Note: there is no cooking time listed for this recipe in the book, which I'm guessing it's an oversight/misprint. For the record, I would call it 65 minutes.


Lower-Fat Deep Chocolate Bundt Cake

My second foray in the vegan baking realm, and a major success! Again, I&T offer flour options, so I did my usual half all-purpose, half whole-wheat-pastry blend. And instead of using my mixer, I decided to do this one by hand, just to see how it would go. The answer is, very smoothly! It's essentially a one-bowl cake. Other than the pot you dirty to heat the coffee and the cocoa, it all happens in one big bowl. And, of course, a Bundt pan.

I looked at this recipe side by side with the Cook's Illustrated Light Chocolate Bundt Cake recipe to see how they compared. CI's recipe has more sugar, more cocoa powder (and chocolate, which I&T eschew), and more fat (more oil, plus two eggs). I&T use more flour (and they add some cornstarch), more water (in the form of coffee), and applesauce to compensate for the missing fat.  
Once again, they nailed it! This cake really works! Everyone was very impressed with the texture and the flavor. There is nothing to distinguish this cake from the naughty, full-animal-fat version. I have to confess, I did think there might have been an off smell to it, and a little bit of an aftertaste, but I was the only one. Still, small complaints for a cake that is so thoroughly satisfying. (That's Andy with the cake.)

SFO: an easy 10