Roasted Portobello Mushrooms and Cuban Style Roasted Sweet Potatoes

Tonight, I had four different cookbooks on the go. I made one main dish, a side and a dessert. It looked like a hurricane hit my kitchen!
First, I took a recipe from Veganomicon for roasted Portobello mushrooms. You marinate the mushroom caps in a mixture of cooking wine, balsamic vinegar, soy sauce and garlic. They get roasted in the oven and you serve them in-between a bun. The Cuban Style Roasted Sweet Potatoes were from a recipe in the Kind Diet. All you have to do is chop up the potatoes, toss them with some oil and bake them for 30 minutes. After they’re done you throw on some lime juice, parsley and garlic…YUM.

I wasn’t a huge fan of the roasted mushrooms. The marinating sauce was a bit strong for me, and I found the mushrooms too mushy. I needed something more substantial between that hamburger bun! I know there are lots of recipes out there that treat Portobello mushrooms like a burger patty, so maybe they keep their shape better on the BBQ.

I wanted to make some gingerbread from the Babycakes recipe book, but I didn’t have all the necessary ingredients. So, I decided to make some pumpkin bread from American’s Test Kitchen Cookbook (now you can see where all the books came into play). I have never made pumpkin bread before and all I had to do was use some egg replacer powder and some vegan butter (Earth balance). I just tried some bread right now (still warm). I’m not gonna lie to you, it’s a bit bland. It’s super moist though…but I think I need some more sugar or cinnamon or something! Maybe I'll top a piece with strawberries and soy ice-cream to give it some kick! I have to say—I like my banana chocolate chip bread a lot better ;)

I did use the Babycakes recipe book for some vanilla icing though. I failed miserably at this last time because my coconut oil didn’t melt all the way. And, I haven’t tried again (since now) because coconut oil is pretty darn expensive! So, I only made half a batch this time and I was very careful with my measurements. I know it looks a lot more like frosting this time but, I won’t be sure if it turned out or not for another few hours. When you make this, you have to let it sit in the fridge for at least 6 hours for the coconut oil to solidify again. But, if it does turn out, this icing keeps in the fridge for a month! Bonus :)