Red Velvet Mole

So, I know I made it a goal to make at least one recipe from every cookbook I have for the year. Hmm...how am I doing? Not great. Especially since I went out and bought Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. You see, I am a member of a Yahoo group called Healthy Cheap Cooking. And the leader, Pat, never steers me wrong on a cookbook. We have similar eating styles. She highly recommended this book (and Martha Rose Shulman's book, which I have yet to purchase). In any event, Isa's books have never been a disappointment, though I have to admit that Veganomicon is intimidating. I have cooked a couple of things from it however!

This is recipe # 1 from this book, and it was delicious. I decreased the cocoa (hubby hates chocolate). He said it tasted good, but when he first walked in the door after work said "what smells like chocolate?" And I decreased the spice (chili powder) by half. I am a bit leery of the spice in vegan cooking, because my son can't handle it. I needn't have worried. Cutting the spice in half meant it wasn't spicy at all. Next time, I'll try 3/4. I used pinto beans instead of black beans, and I served it over brown rice. Isa recommends sweet potatoes, steamed plantains...something sweet. Though it was fine over brown rice, I agree that a bit of sweetness would have helped (that and the extra spice).

I'm not posting the recipe here. Probably illegal, certainly unethical, since the only thing I did is decrease 2 ingredients and sub sugar for agave syrup. I recommend buying/ checking out the book from the library though! I'll let you know how other recipes come out.