*Compensated affiliate links used where possible at zero cost to you. No posts are ever sponsored or paid.*
I have lots of fun stuff for you today!
Still cooking. Still doing dishes. I had fallen into a pandemic rut with all the cooking, and had been eating the same things every week, so I decided to bust out of that this week and try a dairy free version of a vegetable and goat cheese tart that used to be one of my favorite dishes. And holy cow! (See what I did there?) With the exception of Miyoko's butter in recipes, this is the very first recipe I've tried dairy free that was JUST as good in every way as the original recipe! No matter what anyone says, there IS no vegan mac and cheese that's worth the effort. And some other things fall short as well. But the combo I used in this recipe is a winner, so stay tuned at the end of this post for the recipe.
I have started mitigating the pandemic dish disaster with some small takeout containers from Webstaurant store for the fridge, and that is saving a little work. You have to buy these in bulk, so I shared some with my sister - so maybe split some with a family member. I like that the lids are vented so that moisture doesn't collect inside. That's the same company we all bought those mini coffee cups and lids from that we all made cute little gifts out of back in the day.
A quest of mine for a long time has been small scale paint pouring for cardmakers. I simply don't have the room for traditional paint pours, but I love the look, and wanted to be able to incorporate it into cardmaking. I also didn't want to mix the pouring mediums myself or store all those things I'd need to do so. So I was super excited when Arteza came out with pre-mixed pouring paints, because I knew I could use those in a smaller footprint project. The set I got has 32 paint colors in it, including metallics. I also got the wood slices they sell, with pre-drilled holes, and I tried a few things on those, including watercolor! But today, I used them for pours. So cute. I do have a coupon code below that's good site wide at Arteza until July 31st!
So the first one I want to show you is the wood slice, because it came out so cute. I used this adorable birthday set for all my projects today, and I did almost no coloring on the images, because the backgrounds are so vivid, but on this one, I found the Karin neons exactly matched the paints, so I colored the little bunny's present. I'm sending this to a friend with a birthday soon. I just need to find the right cord to hang it. (I have a Karin coupon code below as well - also good sitewide.)
Now I never come to you with a success without a LOT of fails, so the next projects are no exception.
I wanted to get the beautiful, marbled look of paint pours on my Gel Press. You'll see how trying to pull a print went - while it's not ugly, it's not what I wanted. So I went back to the drawing board with another angle, as you'll see in the video, and I had success. I captured those magical patterns exactly as I wanted to. The shiny gold parts top center and bottom right are from these gilding flakes. The sweet critter from this set is adorable with no coloring at all.
Now as you'll see in the video, while I was creating the pour look on top of my Gel Press, I realized I could get a twofer by setting the plate down into pools of paint that dripped off my plate onto my craft mat and got a wispier, more ethereal look. I also added the gilding flakes. That's what you see on those textured bit. The little bear is busy stuffing his face with cake - please don't bother him.
Finally - I took the two teeny edge pieces from the real pour in the first card, and knitted theme together by filling the open spaces with gilding flakes. All of these pieces were adhered down to the card fronts with gloss medium. This last one has a little chonky bear with a cupcake.
Want to do small scale paint pours yourself? Check out the video HERE or below, and then come back for my amazing tart recipe and coupon codes!
|
Okay - so you can't fool me with dairy free recipes. I can't tell you how many "THE BEST" "THE ONE AND ONLY" etc. mac & cheese recipes I've tried them all. I'm done.
Pizza is also a no-go. There's nothing like cheese on a pizza. And even the best vegan cheese has a weird texture that sticks to your teeth, and there's no stringy, melty anything - and at the end of the day - those foods aren't good, whole foods. I'm only willing to eat a processed food as a substitute if it's REALLY good (like Miyoko's butter). Otherwise, I just go on about my dairy-free life.
But there are exceptions. Treeline soft cheese is one of them. It is DIVINE. I use it in lasagne and anything that calls for goat cheese. And cashew sour cream - which I make myself - it's just great. Perfect sub for sour cream in sweet or savory dishes. But I saw Forager sour cream on Instacart last week and decided to try it. To break out of my rut, I made one of my favorite foods - my veggie tart - in a new dairy-free incarnation. And MAN it's perfection! Absolutely as good or better than the dairy version - no sacrifice necessary.
Now when I make this tart, I do it over two days. So while I was making dinner last night, I peeled, degilled and sauteed some local portobello mushrooms with salt, pepper and Miyokos. Two portobellos is what you'll need for this recipe. I also caramelized some sweet onions - you'll need half an onion's worth - I saved the other half for today's hamburgers - I love caramelized onions and am so glad I'm not allergic to them!
I also sliced some local cherry tomatoes and squeezed the seeds and moisture out of them. I have thyme and chives in my garden, so I grabbed those. Here's the rest of the recipe. It's great if you crumble bacon on top when serving. I don't like cooking bacon into it, because I don't like chewy bacon, but you certainly can, or add ham or sausage if you'd like. I like it with just the veggies - especially asparagus, but here's exactly what I made this time.
Just as Good Dairy-Free Veggie Tart
Your favorite pie crust, at room temperature (Pillsbury is what I used.)
1 Tbs. Miyoko's butter
2 Portobello caps, peeled and de-gilled, sauteed with butter, salt and pepper
1/4 lb. Treeline Cheese - I used the Herb Garlic, but plain or scallion is great too
1/2 cup Forager sour cream
2 eggs, beaten with salt & pepper
1/2 a sweet onion, sliced and caramelized
Fresh chives, snipped small
Cherry tomatoes, sliced into rounds, squeeze out seeds and moisture.
Fresh thyme - I stripped a few sprigs - maybe a tsp. total
Chopped bacon, fried crisp (optional)
Fresh chives for garnish, snipped tiny (optional)
Bring the eggs, sour cream and cheese to room temperature. Preheat an oven to 400°F. Press pie crust into glass pie plate or a tart pan.
Line the pastry with aluminum foil and fill with pie weights (for me - pinto beans). Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the weights and foil and reduce the temperature to 375°F. Continue to bake until lightly golden, 15 to 20 minutes more.
Remove the pastry shell from the oven and set aside. Position the rack in the upper part of the oven. Leave the oven set at 375°F.
While the tart shell is resting, make the filling:
Mix cheese and sour cream with a fork very well. Add eggs and mix until totally smooth. Add herbs and mushrooms and onions.
Pour the cheese mixture into the prebaked pastry shell. Arrange tomato slices on top.
Bake on the top rack of the oven until a knife inserted into the center of the tart comes out clean, 25ish minutes - mine took 35. Remove from the oven and garnish with thyme sprigs. Cut into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature. Garnish with more chopped crispy bacon and chives.
This reheats very well! Just a foil pouch in the oven at 350 for about 18 minutes. Delicious!
Coupon codes are below along with expiration dates where applicable!
Loveyameanitbye.
CURRENT COUPON CODES
15% off anything at Marker Universe or any of their other sites - Understandblue15.
10% off the whole store at A Colorful Life Designs - LydiaFan10
15% off anything at Marker Universe or any of their other sites - Understandblue15.
10% off the whole store at A Colorful Life Designs - LydiaFan10
10% off the whole store at Arteza - Understandblue6 through July 31 at this link.
Phone stand for filming link below in the banner - 20% off sitewide with code UNDERSTANDBLUE
Phone stand for filming link below in the banner - 20% off sitewide with code UNDERSTANDBLUE
