Vegan Cheesecake á la Ala (with bonus vegan whipped cream!)

So, my coworker-slash-friend is a bit of a fitness fan. She's tiny but can probably break me in half. She's known for finding ways to sneak good for you things into stuff that's typically not so good for you. Anyway, today's recipe is brought to you by her. I made this the other day for a vegan potluck and it was gone before I could get a picture. I'm hoping to make it again soon because it was pretty damn tasty and tis the season for eating ALL THE BERRIES. So, once I have a pic I'll add it here. 

Edit: I've now made this a couple of times, and I've changed the recipe to reflect my tweaks. Mostly just adding more fruit.

Vegan Lemon-Berry Cheesecake á la Ala

• 1 graham cracker pie crust (store bought or home-made)
• 1.5 cup silken tofu (because I like to fill that crust ALL the way up)
• 1.5 cups strawberries, fresh or thawed frozen
• 1 cup mixed berries (I used blueberries and raspberries)
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons lemon extract
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. In a food processor, combine silken tofu, mixed berries and strawberries. Process until smooth. Scrape down the sides a few times to make sure everything is combined.

2) Add cornstarch and lemon extract, then blend until smooth. 

3) Pour in the sugar and combine until smooth.

4) Pour the tofu/berry mixture into the pie crust. Put the pie into the heated oven and bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle. 

5) Chill for at least 5 hours, then slice and serve! Feel free to garnish with vegan whipped cream.

Vegan Whipped Cream

Take a can of coconut milk (full fat) and put it in the fridge overnight or the freezer for an hour (try not to shake it up before that if you can avoid it) and then open it and just use the top layer. It should be pretty separated and you don't want the watery part. Use an electric mixer to whip it until it's fluffy. Add any flavor extracts or some powdered sugar, or just use as is.

Our CSA is BACK! (aka Thai Chicken over salad with Pea Shoots)

Hurray and huzzah! Our CSA is back in action. It being early yet, we mostly got greens, but you all know how I feel about greens. :) Carrying on with the trend of getting at least one thing I'm confused about each time, I have now made the acquaintance of pea tendrils aka pea shoots. They sound tiny like sprouts, but they're more like a bunch of spinach. The internet tells me you can eat them raw or cooked and that they're delicious. The internet never lies, obviously, so they were definitely meeting their demise in dinner the very night we received them. Struggles and I had a thing to go to, and my errands took longer than expected, so rather than the elaborate thai chicken stir fry over mixed sautéed greens I had planned on, I opted for this quick and dirty salad version. This time the only thing I used from the CSA was the pea shoots but I'm thinking about all those greens languishing in the fridge for dinner later...

Not my best photo but it's all I got.

Thai Chicken over salad with Pea Shoots

• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into strips
• 3 tablespoons thai chili sauce
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 3 tablespoons canola oil 
• 1 heart of romaine, rough chopped
• small handful pea shoots/tendrils, rough chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, rough chopped
• 2-3 mushrooms, sliced
• 1 bunch green onions, diced

(in retrospect, the bottom of the salad was a tiny bit dry, so I would probably mix up a little more of the sauce I used for the chicken as a dressing.)

1) Mix chili sauce, lime juice, garlic, ginger, and canola oil in medium bowl til well blended. Drop in chicken strips and stir until it they're coated. Let marinate for 10-15 minutes.

2) In the meantime, prep your salad bowls. I put romaine in the bottom first. Then I put the chopped peppers and mushrooms around the sides. Pile the pea shoots in the middle.

3) Heat up a medium sized skillet over medium high heat. Add chicken and cook until done but still juicy. This took 10-15 minutes-ish.

4) Arrange the chicken on top of the pea shoots and sprinkle the green onions on top. Eat it way too fast.