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2 cups cooked and drained pinto beans, or a 15-ounce can, drained and rinsed

4 cups broccoli florets

1 cup low-sodium vegetable stock

1 Lightly oil a 13- x-9-inch baking dish with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and set aside.

2 Set a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the water and then whisk 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, and the corn grits together. Whisk constantly to avoid lumps, cooking until it comes to a rolling boil.

3 Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring often, for 30 minutes.

4 Remove the cooked polenta from the heat and pour it into the oiled baking dish. Cover with a kitchen towel and set aside while you prepare the vegetables.

5 Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the skillet and sauté the onion for 2 minutes. Add the garlic and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon of the salt and sauté for 1 minute more.

6 Add the red pepper flakes and stir well. Then add the beans and broccoli and stir well to combine. Pour the vegetable stock into the skillet and cook covered for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and cook until the liquid has evaporated, about 2 minutes more.

7 To serve, spoon the polenta into individual bowls and cover with large scoops of beans and broccoli. Serve hot.

Per serving: Calories 231 (From Fat 88); Fat 10g (Saturated 1g); Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium 556mg; Carbohydrate 30g; Dietary Fiber 6g; Protein 6g.

Chapter 15

Just Desserts

In This Chapter

Baking up some sweet vegan treats like cookies and brownies

Trying some fruit-based vegan desserts

Savoring some old favorites with a vegan twist

Recipes in This Chapter

Pepper Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chick Blondies

Double Chocolate Brownies

Lime in the Coconut Ice

Fruit Kanten

Summer Smoothie-sicles

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bombs

Apple Crumble

Glazed Carrot Pineapple Cake

Silk Shake

I’ve been saving the best for last: Here’s the scoop on vegan desserts — they’re amazing! Entire cookbooks have been devoted to decadent, sweet, yummy vegan treats, so this chapter offers just a sampling of what’s possible. You don’t have to leave the realm of healthy food to enjoy desserts; you can combine great taste and good nutrition. Fruits, nuts, seeds, healthier sweeteners, and quality ingredients are important to the taste and nutrition of these dishes. Make dessert a healthy indulgence by discovering how to create creamy, rich, dense, or flaky concoctions without eggs or dairy.

A good dessert offers a variety of flavors and notes to liven up your taste buds. A little salt can make the flavors pop in either a fruit or chocolate dessert. For moist textures in cakes and pastries, fat must be used. So without the conventional aid of eggs, cream, or butter, you need to use vegan margarine or vegetable oils, such as olive, canola, or unrefined coconut, to create these vegan desserts.

When choosing flour for your baked desserts, try whole-wheat pastry flour. It’s finely ground and bakes into a light, soft texture while still offering more nutrition than white flour. You also can use unbleached white flour instead of conventional bleached white flour. The bleaching process uses harsh chemicals and removes the nutrition from the flour.

I’ve had great success working out new, vegan recipes by removing the eggs, butter, and milk from traditional recipes. If you have an old recipe for cake or cookies that you love, try your hand at veganizing it by replacing the dairy products with vegan ingredients. See Chapter 10 for information about vegan substitutions that will keep Mom’s apple pie on the vegan table.

Whipping Up Some Vegan Cookies, Brownies, and Bars

Nothing is more satisfying than baking a dense and moist dessert and eating it with your hands. That’s why cookies and bars appeal to the kid inside all of us; using your fingers instead of forks to eat dessert brings it to another level of intimacy and basic enjoyment.

Even though they’re loaded with chocolate, these recipes offer greater nutrition than more conventional