Raspberry Lemonade Tart with a Rosewater & Coconut Crust

So I admit I've been a little MIA lately. There has been a lot going on and to be honest -- I've fallen behind on basically everything. I mean emails, laundry, cleaning out the fridge... pretty much everything but bills*. But there have been a few really exciting things that have happened lately. To paraphrase:

1. Our book Betty Goes Vegan is finally available for pre-sale! There are all these early bird special discounts available on the amazon page -- which is cool.

2. I was able to share some of my favorite vegan baking substitutions on the kitchn. I love this blog so it was a real honor for me. Plus it was great to be able to share with a not-all-vegan community how easy it is to bake vegan. I focused on substitutions you can find in any old grocery store and was really touched by the over 600 likes!

3. The Seed - Vegan Experience conference is this weekend. I won't be able to make it unfortunately but if you're around NYC -- you should really check it out. They have a pretty impressive speaker line-up. I'm also excited because it means my buddy Michelle Schwegmann from Herbivore Clothing Company will be in town. Love that girl.

Michelle & me at The NYC Vegetarian Food Festival - photo credit : The Village Voice

4. I finally posted our photos from Belgium. We spent a few days there around the end of May and you're going to hearing a lot about this trip. I mean this is a country famous for fries, beer, chocolate and comics. What's not to love? Today's recipe is actually inspired (in part) by a tart I saw in the window of a bakery in Brussels.

We didn't glaze ours and didn't add as many raspberries in the photo so you could see the filling. We also played around a lot with some more Mediterranean summer flavors by adding rosewater to the crust. Last summer we made Rosewater Lemonade Sorbet (shaved ice) and it just wouldn't be summer with out dabbling with the rosewater some more.

I'm curious -- what flavors say "Summer" for you?

Turkish Tempeh Whole Wheat Lahmacun (kinda)

We got back from Istanbul a few weeks ago and since then it's been one project, road trip and Valentine's day after another. I've barely had a chance to catch up on my stories. Mostly I've been working on upgrading this blog into something a little fancier but I've also been baking a lot, figuring out my trip to Minnesota to visit The Betty Crocker Test Kitchen and veganizing recipes from the cookbooks we brought home from our trip.

I feel like I should tell you - I was unprepared for what an amazing city Istanbul is. I knew Turkey would be one of my favorite parts of our trip and that it would be freezing. What we didn't see coming was how we would feel when we walked into the Hagia Sofia for the first time. For a place so remarkable - there just isn't words. Here's the slideshow of the photos from the part of our trip we were in Turkey if you want to see for yourself.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

But that brings us to today and this recipe... You can find Lahmacun in shops and stands all over Istanbul.  Usually made with ground lamb meat, this portable meal is usually rolled up like a New York slice or folded like a taco and wrapped in paper. We actually didn't have one of these in Istanbul for pretty obvious reasons but we started with this recipe because we wanted an excuse to use the new spices we bought in The Grand Bazaar and I was craving pizza. That's why our Lahmacuns are more like personal pizzas you'll need a fork to eat than flatbread wraps but they're still a great dinner and an excuse to expand our spice inventory.

If you're also looking to expand your spice rack - here are the two items you'll need to locate:

• Sumak/Sumac : This is a dark red powder made from a berry sourced in Anatolia. It has a bitter flavor similar to lemons. If you can't locate it - you can replace it with Cumin or Paprika in the recipe below. 
• Green Bazilicum/Fesleğen : I hope you get a little laugh out of this - I did. Behind these foreign names, this green herb that we found in a small spice shop hidden in the winding streets of The Grand Bazaar is just a type of basil. I mean it's a different type than the one we commonly use in The US and it has a very subtle fresher flavor similar to mint but it's basil none the less. So if you can't locate this particular type of basil - I'm sure you'll be able to find a substitution.

Tomorrow there will more Betty baking but tonight we recommend making yourself something kind of different and undeniably delicious! 

The Betty Crocker Project : Rosewater Lemonade Sorbet

Honestly more of a shaved ice but whatever - I adore it!

I can't decide if the toughest thing about this recipe is the waiting or the trying to get a photo before it melts in this heat*.

Betty's recipe is a classic lemonade sorbet (or shaved ice) but it's rose season in Brooklyn and their feathery little pink buds and enormous golden and crimson blooms are everywhere. It's hard not to be inspired to meddle. We also live down the street from some well-stocked Asian, Caribbean and Middle Eastern markets, so it was just a matter of time before we made some rosewater lemonade.

I have to admit that exploring the markets has been one of my favorite parts of moving to the city thus far, but we're about to enter into a new phase, folks. See, yesterday I got tickets on Living Social to The John Hughes film festival at the Symphony Space for $7 for 2 people per movie**. I'll give you all a moment to recovered from that collective excited gasp. Yes, I will be seeing Matthew Brodrick dance with Frauleins on the big screen and I plan to totally get my Molly Ringwald on this summer. More importantly, this will be happening:



Yes, this will be the summer that time forgot! Finally, I'm going to see some of my favorite movies on the big screen instead of at a slumber party and drink lots and lots of rosewater lemonade. I grew up drinking this summertime treat that uses a light floral flavor to dilute some of the tartness. But if that's not really your thing, you can always use Betty's lemonade recipe instead of the rosy one. I should tell you though, once you start making your own lemonade, you won't be able to go back to that corn syrupy stuff that is basically flat soda.

Consider yourself warned.

The Betty Crocker Project : The Homemade Mediterranean Happy Hour featuring The Pita Pizza

Tabbouleh Salad and Lemon Garlic Hummus

So right now I should be telling you all about the food writer and photographer coming over to have dinner with us this weekend. I could be telling you about the dream I had last night about Lobster Killer or how I've been sick all week. But I am finding myself completely distracted. See I just found out Season 3 & 4 of Ghost Adventures is available to watch instantly through our Xbox.

Now as you may remember, I love the show Ghost Adventures. I love when they role played being Union soldiers in Gettysburg, wore Top Gun flight suits on a haunted air craft carrier and swing billy-clubs in condemned prisons to get a rise from the "ghost inmates". I really like trying to follow their "chains of evidence" and how excited they get when there's a draft. Most of all - I love their "tools of the trade". They are pure Dr.Igon Spengler Gold!

So here's what you  need to watch hours and hours of Zac, Aaron and Nick shaking their fists into the night and yelling "Bro - Did you hear that?" or maybe some big Super Bowl type of thing if you can even find something like that happening somewhere. It's the kind of spread that is perfect for marathon TV watching or a new take on The Homemade Happy Hour. This spread makes a lot of food quickly and is so super easy  that anyone can make them - even if they aren't feeling 100%.  In fact, they're so easy I feel a little guilty posting them but instead I'm just going to focus on how much I love eating these pita pizzas... really you should too. Of course, Betty's Tabbouleh and Hummus were already vegan, so we just needed to meddle with the recipes a little to make the pizzas just right. I think you'll love these.

I know we usually have Mexican Food on Friday night... but we might have to make an exception & make these again.

You're going to need to stock up on your pita bread.

The Betty Crocker Project : Chicken (or Tofu) Tagine

A long time ago, in a city far far away called Olympia, WA, I used to make a dish I called Tofu Tagine about once a month.

I had taken the Moroccan Tagine sauce in that long-lost copy of Joy of Cooking and veganized it with the help of the Westside Co-op's epic organic spice section and this dutch oven I found on a free table. It was my favorite dinner and made great leftovers. I used to look forward to making this dinner again the day after I ran out of leftovers. You can never have enough Tagine.

I've been looking forward to making Betty's Tagine since we started this project. Dan has never had Moroccan food before, because let's be honest here, it can be hard to find vegan options at Moroccan restaurants. I find this to be one of the most unfortunate and disappointing practices in international restaurants located in the US. There are so many shockingly great and vegan (intentional or not) dishes out there in the big world, but often times those dishes never really make it to American menus*. But that aside, I knew he would love it, since he really loves Middle Eastern food.

This dish was super easy to veganize, has the most remarkable warm spicy flavor, with just the right amount of citrus, and I have to admit that it's better than the Joy of Cooking version I have been using for years. Although I might just think that because this version has olives.

Whatever the reason... let's make some food!