The Power of Pizza

I always feel like it's a cop out when I make pizza (I like a challenge, vegan mushroon stroganoff? Without using any soy or pre-made products? Bring it on!) But they can be an easy way to eat a variety of veggies, use up odds and ends of things, and make great easy leftovers to bring to school or work the next day.
Finding a vegan pizza dough hasn't been much of a challenge for me, some of the larger grocery stores pre-made pizza doughs, usually found in a bag in the deli section, are vegan. If that doesn't seem to be the case where you live, don't fear. You don't have to spend a ton of time on dough for it to turn out great, as proven time and time again by all the wonderful no-knead dough recipes out there. If even that seems like too much to take on, just put your ingredients on a pita, or some focaccia bread and heat it all up, you don't even really need a cheese-y ingredient to make it all come together. Told you it was easy!

Mexican-Explosion  Pizza

Ingredients:

3 Tbs olive oil
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
1 1/2 Tbs minched garlic
1 bell pepper, sliced, your color of choice, I like yellow or red the best.
2 tsp chili  powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tomato, cubed
1 Tbs sliced jalapenos (I used canned)
1/2 14 oz can black beans (a little less than a cup)
1/2  14 oz can refried breans
1 avocado, cubed and sprinkled with 2 Tbs lime juice and a bit of salt
Pizza dough
Cilantro and red pepper flakes if you roll like that, add when you top the pizza
Other ideas: summer squash or zucchini (saute first,) vegan cheese, seitan

Directions:

1. Pre-heat your oven according to your pizza doughs instructions
2. Saute the onion and garlic over medium until translucent
3. Add the pepper, chili powder, and cumin and continue sauteing until the pepper's soft
4. Shape your dough, and spread the refried beans on first, top with everything else except the avocados, again, do NOT cook the avocados!
5. Cook the pizza according to your doughs directions
6. Let it cool a few minutes and top with avocado before serving.

 

See how easy that was? Perfect for a quick weeknight dinner, and you're eating a really balanced meal even if you just eat the pizza without any salad or sides.

Roasted Veggie and Herb Pizza

Ingredients :

1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
1 green bell pepper, sliced
1 medium red onion, sliced
1 small eggplant, cubed, salted, drained and rinsed
3 Tbs minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
(the above makes enough topping for two, to save you from all those half-veggies, but you could pile it all on one if you wanted!)
olive oil
1 tbs dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp fresh rosemary
1 tbs dried chives
1/8 cup sun dried tomatoes (the kind that come in oil)
1/4 cup chickpeas
4 artichoke hearts, chopped
2 Tbs olives, sliced
Herbed pizza dough

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 f
2. Toss peppers, onion, garlic and eggplant with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle with salt, spread on one or two lined baking sheets in a thin layer.
3. Roast veggies stirring every ten minutes for 30 minutes to an hour, depending on how spaced out your veggies are. They're done when the eggplant is soft and the edges of the peppers are getting crisp.
4. Set oven to temperature required for your dough
5. Shape dough and drizzle with 2-3 tbs olive oil and top with basil, oregano, rosemary and chives, spread into an even coating
6. Spread roasted veggies, sun dried tomatoes, chickpeas, artichoke hearts and olives on the pizza
7. Cooking according to the doughs directions.
8. Enjoy! 

If you find you have too many roasted veggies left over, use them to top salads, or do one of my favorite things and combine them with other leftovers like rice or quinoa and put them in a wrap.

Chewy Chocolate Walnut Cookies

mmm, cookies!
I can usually down half a batch of these by myself, but I don't recommend any of you do that, these are best enjoyed when shared with loved ones, friends, and strangers alike.  You'll put a smile on their face, and your stomach will thank you later, I speak from experience.

Nutty Choco-Cookies

Adapted from PPK
These are great to make ice cream sandwiches with homemade ice cream or to dunk in your sunday morning coffee or almond milk. They're done when the edges start to look dry, be careful, vegan cookies are easy to over-bake, especially when they're dark to begin with so you can't really see them browning. I say err on the side of caution and under-bake when in doubt, after all there's no egg in them, and I for one love a good gooey cookie.

Ingredients:

1 1/4 Tbs ground flax meal
1/2 cup almond milk
1 1/2 cups white flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup white sugar
1 cup (packed) brown Sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups walnut pieces (or whatever nut you want, you could definitely use chocolate chips too, just reduce the amount to about a cup)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 f
2. Mix flax meal and almond milk together, set aside
3. In a medium bowl whisk together flours, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt
4. In a large bowl combine oil and sugars, mix until combined
5. Add the almond milk mixture to the oil and sugar, mix well, add vanilla and almond extracts
6. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, mixing as you go until a dough forms, it'll be a bit sticky, and you may have to use your hands near the end
7. Add walnuts or addition of your choice, mix with your hands
8. Form dough into 1 in balls, flatten into cookie shapes (they won't flatten much on their own like most cookies,) and place spaced apart a little on an ungreased baking sheet.
9. Bake for 10-15 minutes, cool on a cookie rack.

Eat a Rainbow! Wait...What?

No, seriously;

Eat a Rainbow! 

If that sounds like an insult or a convoluted comment on Oz, check out this site. Since a foods color (natural, whole foods; skittles and other dye laden concoctions don’t count) is generally indicative of the types of nutrients they have, the larger variety of colors you eat, the better.  While you can judge how broad a spectrum you’re getting just by looking at your plate, there are some great lists out there to help you analyze your diet, and make it easier to find foods that will fill in your color gaps. This site lists food in each color, and links to info on how to choose and store the fruit or vegetable in question, definitely a great resource for taking the fear factor out of trying new or unfamiliar produce.

The meal in the previous post has a lot of beige in it, but little in the way of simple refined carbohydrates. If you’ve ever heard people hating on beige foods (Jamie Oliver comes to mind) they’re usually talking about the fried foods, refined, processed flour and sugar that tend to make up a lot of the American diet, not beige whole foods. 

The beige refined carbohydrates are broken down by the body quickly, causing a spike in blood sugar and energy, followed by a crash in both. Over consumption of these carbs is "associated with a higher incidence of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and even breast cancer. According to the World Health Organization, sugars and other simple carbohydrates are a leading factor in the worldwide obesity epidemic." (How To Think Thin) The refined simple carbohydrates we're talking about shouldn't be confused with good simple carbs though, which are naturally found in fruits and some vegetables. In this form, the simple carbs come with lots of fiber, which slows digestion, and all the nutrients (think vitamin C in oranges or potassium in bananas) found in the fruit.

Complex carbohydrates are mostly in whole grains, beans, seeds, nuts and starchy vegetables (they're also found in fruits and other vegetables along side their simpler sibling). They take longer for your body to break down which keeps blood sugars stable, they provide the energy your body and brain needs to function, and keep you feeling satisfied after you've eaten.

If you need even more persuading, here’s the nutritional shortlist for the main ingredients in Aloo Tikki with Nut Cream and Sweet & Sour Cabbage. 

Chickpeas pack copper, folate (vitamin B9), manganese, calcium, iron, and protein into each and every bean. 

Cabbage rocks vitamin C, vitamin K, folate (vitamin B9), potassium, manganese, vitamin A, pyridoxine (vitamin B6), thiamin (vitamin B1), calcium, iron and magnesium. 

Potatoes have vitamin C, pyridoxine (vitamin B6), iron, potassium, copper, and manganese. 

Almonds contribute protein, calcium, iron, riboflavin (vitamin B2), magnesium, manganese, and are a very good source of vitamin E. 

Cashews round out the bunch with protein, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, copper and manganese. 

(It should be noted that, as plant-based foods, they all contribute dietary fiber, which helps regulate blood sugar, makes you feel fuller, lowers cholesterol, aids in the absorption of some vitamins and minerals, may reduce risk of colorectal cancer, and as we all know.... speeds foods passage through the colon keepin' you on schedule.)

This isn’t as well rounded a meal as it should be, or as I thought it was when I started looking all that up… had I thought this through I might have saved the rainbow rant for another meal, but it’s half written, too late! Now you probably see why eating by color makes sense, those beige foods share a lot of nutrients. While the idea dairy and meat are the only/best sources of calcium and iron (as well as protein, but that one's getting old and I'm sick of talking about it) is a common misconception*, it’s still important to be conscious of what you eat, and how balanced your diet is. This is where those beige foods shine. They're often rich sources of complex carbohydrates, iron, calcium, potassium, and allicin (the compound in garlic that has gotten all sorts of hype) making them an important part of your diet.

So really...

Eat a Rainbow (+ beige)

*So you know: broccoli has more calcium per calorie than milk, and none of the fat that can inhibit absorption, and a cup of cooked spinach has as much iron (or more if you’re a good vegan and cook in cast iron) as 3 oz of beef. Non-heme iron, the form found in vegetables isn’t as easy to absorb as heme iron, the kind in meat, so eat it along with foods rich in vitamin C to increase absorption.

Aloo Tikki with Nut Cream and Sweet & Sour Cabbage

Sometimes, weird food combinations work. Sometimes...they don't.

Learn from my mistakes and don't make these two dishes together. The Aloo Tikki would be better complimented by a leafy green dish (think kale or spinach), and the cabbage would work well with Chinese food, or something kind of heavy and savory. Together they're not awful, but the combo doesn't really do either justice.

Sweet & Sour Cabbage Wedges

(adapted from Everyday Food, March 2008)

Ingredients:

olive oil

1/2 a head green cabbage

1/3 cup cider vinegar

3 Tbs sugar (or sugar substitute of your choice)

1 1/2-2 cups water

Salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Quarter the cabbage (so each wedge is 1/8 a head) keeping the core intact to hold the wedges together.
2. Heat 2-3 Tbs olive oil in a medium skillet, over medium heat.
3. Add the cabbage and cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes a side.
4. Add the vinegar, sugar, and 1 1/2 cups water.
5. Bring the liquid to a boil, and turn down to a simmer, cover and cook 10-15 minutes, until cabbage is tender (test it with a fork or sharp knife) you may need to add a bit more water near the end.
6. Remove from the liquid, salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

I'll admit it; I don't think I like cabbage. I’d never really had it before, so I figured I’d give it a shot. I make an effort to try everything once, and I'll try it a few more times prepared different ways, because I really want to like cabbage. It’s super cheap! It's so good for you! Seriously, I really REALLY want to like it, but it might not be in the cards for me. If you have a cabbage recipe that can change my mind, I would love to check it out.

Aloo Tikki 

These would also make a great appetizer if you don't mind greasy fingers.

(adapted from VegNews, February 2009)

Ingredients:

1 russet or all purpose potato, baked

1 15 oz can of chickpeas or 1 3/4 cups cooked chickpeas

1/8-1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, adjusted to your spice tolerance

3 tsp dried cilantro

1 Tbs grated ginger or ginger puree

1 Tbs lemon juice

1 tsp fine sea salt or table salt

1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground if you've got it

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/4 cup all purpose flour (wheat should work fine, but I haven't tried it)

1/4 cup canola oil for frying

Directions:

1. Remove and discard the skin from the potato,  mash the chickpeas and potato together in a medium bowl.
2. Add the red pepper flakes, cilantro, ginger, lemon juice, salt, pepper, coriander, cumin, and flour, mix well.
3. Shape the mixture into small compressed patties.
4. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
5. Add the pattie and cook until golden brown, turning once. 
6. Serve hot with nut cream or vegan yogurt and any chutneys or relishes you like.

Nut Cream

Ingredients:

1/4 cup sliced or slivered almonds (you could use whole almonds if you have a powerful blender)

1/4 cup cashews

1/4-1/2 cup almond milk (Almond Breeze original unsweetened works the best)

2 Tbs almond butter, salted (or add a dash of salt to the mixture)

agave syrup to taste

salt to taste

You can also add other spices or flavorings, like cayenne and cumin for a dip similar to spiced yogurt.

Note: I like the flavor of toasted nuts in this, but if you want it to be a more bland cream, or to use it as a base for something with subtle flavors, go for raw nuts.

Directions:

1. Combine the almonds, cashews, almond butter, and 1/4 cup almond milk in a blender or in the cup that goes with your immersion blender.
2. Beginning on a low speed, run the blender for short bursts to break up the nuts. This step is more important if you're using a less powerful or immersion blender. If you rock out with a vita-mix, just go for it.
3. Continue blending until smooth, adding almond milk if the mixture gets too thick. Add it sparingly, a tablespoon or two at a time.
4. Once your cream is as thick/thin as you want it, add salt and a touch of agave to taste for something that would work well in place of a mayo, or just agave for something more reminiscent of yogurt.

This whole awful combo came about because I usually try to balance my meals, some protein, some carbs, some fats, that kind of thing. I figure the more variety, the more balanced your diet is, since every food has it's strengths and weaknesses. Not only did this end up being a super beige meal (in color department, not in the taste department) because, well, I didn't finish my cabbage, (I followed my moms three bite rule, but I just couldn't do it, sorry cabbage fans... Wait, are there cabbage fans out there? Does such a thing even exist?) but my balancing act didn't take into account how awesome the nut cream would be since I made it on the fly, more as an experiment to guide future trials than the perfect condiment for the Aloo Tikki, so I packed a double whammy in the fat department. Live and learn though, right? Right.

Roasted Broccoli and Beyond

There's something comforting about a traditional-looking plate, you know, the protein (in the non-veg world: meat) surrounded by sides, or topped with sauces, served up hot, by mom of course.

Well, mom lives a couple hundred miles away, and you won't find meat anywhere near my plate, but this roasted broccoli, chickpea cutlet and mushroom gravy dinner has me thinking I should ask to be excused from the table when I'm finished to go watch an hour of educational television before bed. Plus, I didn't even have to make it this time, my lovely roomie did all the work, and I got to sit back and enjoy the fruits (rather veggies and legumes) of her labor.

The chickpea cutlets and mushroom gravy are from Veganomicon, a brainchild of Isa and Terry over at the Post Punk Kitchen. If you haven't tried any of their recipes or books, you should. Seriously, these ladies know how to craft some delicious vegan eats.

That leaves us with the side to end all sides...

Roasted Broccoli

Ingredients:

Broccoli (1 medium crown per person)

Olive oil

Sea salt

Optional: lemon juice, garlic, nutritional yeast

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 425
2. Cut the broccoli into bite size florets
3. Put the broccoli on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil (you don’t HAVE to do this, but clean up from roasting broccoli can be a pretty tough task without it.) and drizzle with olive oil, tossing a little to distribute it.
4. Add salt to taste (err on the side of caution here, you can always add more later, and well done broccoli is pretty flavorful and a little salty all on it’s own.)
5. Spread out broccoli so it’s not crowded (if it’s packed into the sheet it’ll end up steaming more than roasting. Use more than one pan if you need to.)
6. Roast in the oven for 15 minutes, stir and roast an additional 15-20 minutes. It’s done when the edges are a little blackened. If you want a boost of B vitamins or a little bit of a cheezy taste toss with nutritional yeast when it’s done. Serve immediately.

Optional: After adding the olive oil, for lemony roasted broccoli sprinkle with lemon juice, for garlicy broccoli toss with minced garlic.

Be sure to let this cook all the way. You’re probably going to want to take it out when the edges just start to get golden but trust me, let them get pretty dark (figure ¼-1/3 should be dark brown or black) to really bring out the flavor. The broccoli in the picture probably could have used a bit more time in the oven, but we were hungry!

Even if you don’t think you like broccoli, if you haven’t had it roasted before try it, it may just change your mind.

Breakfast in a Jar: Fruit Salad

When I was a kid my mom used to buy those huge jugs of fruit salad at BJ's, she and my dad would eat fruit salad with yogurt for what seemed like a month. While I don't think I could stand eating the same thing every breakfast for that long, it's nice to have something healthy and easy to grab in the morning, and the home made version doesn't have all the preservatives often found in the prepackaged varieties. I like to make two or three breakfasts worth of fruit salad at a time, put it in a clean jar and just dump out however much I’m using and top it with some granola. 

Fruit Salad (and how to save some for later)

Adjust portions to your taste/what you have on hand

Ingredients:

1 Apple

1 Banana

1 Orange

1/8 scant cup Orange juice

1 Tbs Lemon juice

(Other fruits that work well: strawberries, blueberries, kiwi, cantaloupe and other melons)

An easy way to gauge how much you're making; If you would eat about 1 piece of fruit for breakfast, then a salad with 3 pieces will last you 2-3 days. I don't recommend making more than a couple of days worth at a time, particularly when using fruits that brown, and especially when using bananas.

Directions:

1. Peel and slice the banana, Place in a medium bowl
2. Wash, core and cube the apple into bite sized pieces (leave the skin on, that’s where most of the nutrients are,) add to the banana.
3. Sprinkle half the lemon juice over the apples and oranges, stir and sprinkle the second half over them.
4. Peel, separate, and slice orange width-wise, and add to the bowl.
5. Prep any other fruits you want to use and add them (if using pears or other fruit that browns quickly add before you sprinkle with lemon juice.)
6. Pour the juice over the fruit and stir to coat.

If you’re omitting oranges, don’t like citrus, or don’t have OJ any somewhat acidic juice will work, as long as the flavors complimentary to the fruits you used.

Don’t leave out the lemon juice, or your apples and bananas will start to oxidize and turn brown. If you don’t have lemon juice, the brown fruit won’t hurt you, but it will get mushy faster if you don’t eat it right away, negating the whole saving it for later bit.

Soy-Free Homemade Vegan Ice Cream!

So this is by no means a health food, but it's a little healthier than dairy ice cream, and relatively easy to make, since most of the time is inactive or just giving it the occasional stir/churn/whirl. One of the big differences between making smooth coconut based ice creams and smooth almond, soy, or rice milk based ones is that you have to heat it first. Coconut oil (the fat that gives this ice cream a creamier mouth-feel than most nut milk varieties) is solid at room temperature, as you'll see when you open your can of coconut milk. You're still going to get a less than commercially 'perfect' consistency (a rant on the value placed on cosmetically perfect manufactured foods as perpetuated by food marketing may come another day,) but melting it first allows you to blend the oil into the rest of the ingredients easily.

Basic Coconut-Based Vegan Ice Cream

Ingredients:

1 (15 oz) can Coconut Cream (a Goya invention as far as I know, it's sweetened)

-OR- 

1 (15 oz) can Coconut Milk (the higher the fat content the better)

Sugar, ONLY if using coconut milk, 1/4-1/2 cup to taste

1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Almond milk (the kind that's refrigerated in the store is the best for this, it's a little thicker)

Optional additions (don't go overboard):

1 1/2-3 tbs cocoa powder

2-3 tbs high quality vegan chocolate, diced or shaved

1-2 tsp instant coffee 

Whatever else you want in your ice cream!

Directions:

1. Empty the can of coconut milk/cream into a small pot or microwave safe bowl, heat on low or in a microwave, stirring frequently until the oil is melted. 
2. If you're using cocoa powder mix it with enough almond milk to wet it all, you'll probably need to use a fork or small whisk. If you're adding instant coffee, dissolve it as much as you can in a few tbs of heated almond milk or hot water.
3. Whisk the coconut milk/cream, sugar if needed, vanilla, and any additions together. If you're using coconut cream and it's too sweet, slowly add almond milk to taste. 
4. Whisk the mixture every 5-15 minutes (use your best judgment,) until cooled to keep the fats from solidifying together. DON'T put it in the fridge.  ~You can skip this step if you want, but it will take your ice cream a little longer to set up, and if your ice cream maker is the kind with the bowl you freeze first, the bowl may heat up too much initially for the ice cream to set.~
5. Follow the instructions on your ice cream maker.** You may need to stir or churn more frequently than they tell you to, especially if you skipped step 4, since coconut oil solidifies at higher temperatures than the fat in dairy and you want to keep the oil from forming chunks (or, more accurately: large globules.)

It's done whenever you want it to be, and you can let it solidify more on it's own after it's thickened considerably as long as you've stirred it continuously to keep the ice crystals from getting too big, but it's not going to be as creamy as dairy ice cream and will eventually harden into a pretty solid block if you're not careful. That's also why this recipe is only for about a pint, it's best eaten the night it's made.

**If you don't have a little ice cream maker, there are a lot of alternatives, I'll do my best to describe a few. 

If you have an immersion blender: put the liquid ice cream mixture into a glass baking pan and pop it in the freezer. Once crystals start to form at the edges/on the bottom use a rubber spatula to scrape off the pan. Blend the mixture being careful not to splash/fling partially frozen ice cream all over the place, smooth the mixture in the pan. Repeat this process every 5-15 minutes (depending on your freezer, how big your pan is, the fat/water ratio of your mixture, and how much you're willing to work for smooth ice cream.) Until it's the consistency you want.

If you have a regular blender: This is a bit more time consuming, and I haven't personally tried using one to make ice cream, but you have two options. 

• For the Impatient-People (who like doing more dishes): Follow the instructions for the immersion blender, but scrape the mixture into the blender each time instead of blending it in the pan. Don't blend it for too long, especially if you've got a good blender, or it'll take your mixture forever to set up. Pour/dump it back into the pan, spread it out with the spatula if necessary, put it back in the freezer, and repeat until it's done. 
• For those with Time-on-Their-Hands (and an aversion to extra dishes): Put the mixture in the blender, and put the whole container portion in the freezer. Once ice crystals start to form, scrape down the sides with a rubber spatula, put the container back on the base and blend. Repeat as you see crystals form. If you blend too much/too often and your ice cream will take forever, which it's already going to do with this method since there's not as much surface area to freeze. I've never tried this, and every blender is different, so be careful and use common sense. I don't think you'll run into any problems freezing the container, just make sure the bottom is tightly on every time you put it back in the freezer. But don't come crying to me if you somehow break your blender.

With your (cold) bare hands: Pour the mixture into a heavy duty plastic zip top bag that your mixture fills about half way or less, get most of the air out (don't worry about getting it all out) and seal. Put another bag over it, so the opening of the second bag is at the bottom of the first, get most of the air out between layers and close it.  Put the bag in the freezer and take it out every 10-20 minutes after ice crystals start to form, and squish the bag around, mixing it up and crushing the ice crystals. Try to do your squishing quickly, so you're melting the ice cream as little as possible. Keep at it until your hands freeze or the ice cream reaches your desired consistency, whichever comes first.

And if the consistency doesn't come out the way you want it to? It's still going to taste delicious, worst comes to worst you get to make smoothies!

Tangy Tuscan Couscous Salad

Tuscan Couscous Salad

(Note that this makes 6 cups or so of couscous salad)

Dressing Ingredients:
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
1 tbs red wine vinegar
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
1 1/2 tbs brown sugar
2 tbs water
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs fresh or frozen basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper

Salad Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups Israeli couscous or couscous blend*
1/4 cup coarse bulgur wheat
1/2 cup quinoa
1/8 cup millet
1/3 cup pitted black olives, sliced
1/4 cup manzanilla (green) olives pitted or pitted and stuffed with pimento, sliced
3 tbs olive oil (less will work if you want)
1/2 small onion
4 artichoke hearts
1/8 cup sun dried tomatoes (the kind that come in oil)

1. Combine all the dressing ingredients in a jar or dressing bottle, shake vigorously and set aside (the dressing is better if you make it ahead of time so the flavors can meld)
2. Boil 2 1/4 cups salted water, add couscous, bulgur, quinoa, and millet, return water to a boil, immediately cover and turn down to a simmer for ten-fifteen minutes, until all the water is absorbed. Take off heat and set aside, covered.
3. Roughly chop the artichokes and sun-dried tomatoes. Dice the onion.
4. Sautee the onions and sun dried tomatoes in the oil over medium heat for 2 minutes, add the artichokes and continue sautéing until unions are slightly softened, about 3 minutes.
5. Combine the olives in a large bowl, add the onion mixture and couscous, mix to combine.
6. Drizzle the dressing over the couscous salad and stir well. Chill at least 2 hours before serving. 

I tried it with half a sliced avocado, sprinkled on a little lime juice, and added salt and pepper. (And yes, it was delicious.)

This is a HEAVILY altered rendition of Wolffie’s Pasta Salad from Sarah Kramer’s “La Dolce Vegan!”

I recommend letting your grain and pasta mixture sit for at least ten minutes after you take it off the heat so the millet will have a little more time to soften up. The pasta will get a little sticky during this time, but since the dish is heavy to begin with, and served cold I don’t think it negatively effects it. Also this would be a great addition to wraps or green salads, since you’ll probably have leftovers.

* I used the ‘Harvest Style Grain blend’ from Trader Joes for this recipe, which adds a little color as well as texture by way of orzo, baby garbanzo beans, and red quinoa (there’s not much quinoa in the blend, it’s about 90% pasta (couscous and orzo) so plain old Israeli Couscous will work about the same.)

Hot Umami Eggplant

I'm always on the lookout for new eggplant recipes. It's such a great base for a variety of flavors, way beyond the oil soaked fried variety, though that certainly has it's place in my life. This particular creation is great served with some brown basmati rice and a spinach salad with citrus dressing or oranges tossed in it. 

I know the ingredients list looks long, but it's worth it, and most of the prep work can be done as you go if you play your timing right.

My eggplant came from haymarket, so it definitely needed to be salted, even if your eggplant is really fresh, salting or at least squeezing a bit of liquid out of the eggplant will help it absorb more of the flavor of the sauce.
 

Hot Umami Eggplant

Ingredients:

     1 eggplant, cubed

     1/4 cup water

     1/8 cup white vinegar

     1/8 cup rice vinegar (sub white vinegar if you don't have any, or water if you don't want it to be quite as tangy

     3 tbs sugar or equivalent of sweetener of choice

     1 tsp salt

     3/4 cup red wine (separated into fourths, roughly 3 tbs each, or you can just eye it as you go, and no need to worry about quality here, I've used box wine (we're obviously overflowing with class) and it still turns out well)

     1/2-1 tsp red pepper flakes

     6 green onions (scallions, spring onions, same deal)

     1/2 tbs crushed or pureed ginger

     2 cloves crushed garlic (minced works too)

     1/8 cup vegetable broth

     1 tbs cornstarch

Directions:

1. If the eggplant isn't the youngest finest thing, salt the cubes and let them drain in a colander for half an hour, rinse off the salt, and squeeze the excess water out of them.
2. In a small bowl wisk together the water,  1/4 of the red wine (about 3 tbs,) the vinegars, sugar and salt. Set the mixture aside.
3. Thinly slice the green onion, and separate the white and green portions.
4. Heat 1/4 of the red wine and the red pepper flakes in a large skillet or sauce pan over medium heat for a minute or so, stirring as needed.
5. Add the white part of the green onions, ginger, and garlic, cook until fragrant
6. Add the eggplant, 1/4 of the red wine, and vegetable broth, cover and cook 8-10 minutes stirring occasionally, until the eggplant is done. It will be slightly browned and soft.
7. Add the vinegar mixture, and cook and additional 2-3 minutes
8. Whisk together the cornstarch and remaining red wine.
9. Add the cornstarch mixture and green portion of the onions, stir frequently and cook until sauce has thickened, probably less than a minute.

Aren't these pretty? They're so curvy and... green. If your green onions have been living in your crisper drawer for longer then they probably should have been, remove the outer leaf and trim off the ends as far in as you need to so only firm parts are left. If you don't have green onions, you could substitute regular onion, just saute them first, but the taste will be very different.

Lessons in blogging

Notes to Self:

1) Don't be a heinous procrastinator. (Your friends, who you've expressed all of your fears to and thus goaded into encouraging you, will be sad.)

2) Don't forget to take pictures of your food. (Epic fail if you manage to take pictures of the prep, but not of the finished product. Seriously, who wants to stare at cubes of raw eggplant?)

3) Measure your spices! (How can you expect other people to make the damn thing if you can't even replicate it?)

I'm through being a blogging bum. If I write it down, so it shall be, right? Riiiiight?

Anyways, I really have been keeping track of what I've made, I've even been taking pictures of some of it. Some of it not so much, but anything worthy of posting I'll probably make again, so I'll amend photos to things eventually!

In the meantime, hopefully a picture of Nala will be enough to fill the current food porn void.

Simplicity

When I think about the best foods I've ever had, it's rarely something time consuming or complicated (aside from the Leek and Bean Cassoulet with Biscuits in Veganomicon.) More often than not the best things are simple, have only a few ingredients, or... are constructed almost entirely of leftovers.

You heard me. Leftovers.

Rice and other grains, beans, odds and ends of veggies, a dollop of baba ganoush from when you broke down and ordered Indian, that handful of salad you couldn't bring yourself to throw away, they can all be reincarnated in so many ways, but my obsession of the moment it wraps. Maybe it's the portability thing again? Or maybe it's because I hate putting dirty silverware in my lunchbox, I don't really know, but they're quick to throw together (very important for lunches, since I'm usually already running late by the time I decide I should make a lunch to bring with me,) and can serve as a base for all kinds of flavors, limited only by your culinary imagination.

The wrap that inspired this post did take a little more work, I had a bell pepper that wasn't going to be usable much longer, so I just sliced it up and sautéed it with olive oil and some red onion (leftover from another recipe, for the record.) It probably took me less than ten minutes, and I actually sautéed way more than I needed, providing me leftovers to do other things with later.

After I was done cooking the peppers, I used the same pan to heat up leftover quinoa-chickpea pilaf, enough so that some of it browned for a little added flavor. Throw those with some leftover salad on a tortilla that's been warmed up in the oven for a minute and slathered with some hummus and eggplant garlic spread (basically baba ganoush in a jar.)

See? Ridiculously easy, tasty wrap that uses up the things that needed to be used before they went bad/ I was sick of eating/ there wasn't enough of to eat on it's own.

So here's a question for you guys, what's your favorite food? If you're feeling super motivated, I would also love to hear why.

Until next time,
Courtney

Banana Bread

I love bananas. 

They come pre-packed in their own carrying case, require no utensils, and taste fantastic.

They also get bonus points for being one of the few fruits that are usable even after they've passed their snacking prime. If you have bananas that are black already, but no time to make banana bread right now, no fear! Toss them in the freezer and just thaw them out when you want to make bread with them.

Bangin' Banana Nut Bread
Ingredients:

    3 to 4 ripe banana, mashed (The riper the better!)
    1/3 cup vegetable oil 
    2 tablespoon ground flax seed
    3 tablespoon water
    3/4 cup sugar
    1 teaspoon vanilla
    1/4 teaspoon cinnamon or nutmeg

    Pinch salt
    1 1/3 teaspoons baking soda
    1 cup all-purpose flour
    1/2 cup whole wheat flour
    1/4 to  2/3 cup nuts (raw unsalted is best, I like mixing half sunflower seeds, half chopped walnuts)
    Additional small handful of seeds/nuts for top of loaf

Directions:

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2) Mix ground flax and water in a small bowl, set aside. 

3) Mash bananas in a bowl, add oil and mash a bit more until well mixed. Don't worry about making it smooth, the bananas can be a little lumpy. 

4) Mix in the sugar, flax mixture, vanilla, and spices. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and stir in. 

5) Mix in flour and desired amount of nuts.

6) Grease loaf pan and pour mixture in. Add seeds/nuts to the top of the loaf. 

7) Bake for 45 minutes to and hour. Test done-ness by inserting a butter knife into the loaf. It should come out clean. Cool the bread on a rack to keep the edges from getting soft. ENJOY!

Notes:
- The sugar can be adjusted to taste pretty easily, molasses or other sweetener generally works fine in this recipe, if you're using liquid sweetener (i.e. molasses) increase the flour a little bit. The dough should be soft and sticky, but still definitely doughy.
- Chocolate chips also make a good addition to this bread, just go easy unless you dramatically reduce the sugar or have an intense sweet tooth to satisfy.

Why hello there...

So why Vegan Foodie?

So many reasons, you have no idea...

I've been a vegetarian since 1999 or 2000 and over the latter half of 2009 I started weaning myself off of all animal products. As of new years, I took the plunge and went vegan. It hasn't been easy, I won't lie, I miss cheese like no ones business, and I have food allergies that have made the transition a bit harder.

I'm allergic to peanuts, and intolerant of soy, lima beans, peas, and lentils, so you won't find any of that in my cooking. Unfortunately that also makes most readily available cheese replacements and faux meats a no go, not that I could afford to eat them very often (or would really want to, some of those ingredient lists are pretty scary if you set aside the five minutes it'll take you to read them.)

But that's why I'm here! It can be a real challenge to create a well-balanced vegan diet that doesn't rely on soy, which is pretty typical of vegan diets in the United States. But I love cooking and experimenting in the kitchen, so that's what I'm trying to do, without sacrificing flavor and variety. This also ends up meaning I eat less processed food, less salt and fat (well, in theory at least... I've been known to make some mean late night hash browns on occasion, and I don't think there's any arguing their healthy or redeeming qualities.)

Basically, I'm setting out to make delicious food that will wow even the most devout omnivore, show you how to make it, and prove (once again) that cooking awesome things doesn't have to be complicated, time consuming or hard. (Putting some extra love and time into a recipe can be really rewarding though, so from time to time I do go all out, and you'll hear about those experiences as well.)

But what would a vegan food blog be without a bit of politics and philosophy? I mean, sure, they exist, some of them are awesome, but I couldn't imagine writing about food without talking about what food means to me, to you, to our economy, to social issues like hunger and workers rights, to friendships and families, to moral and cultural obligations, and to the animals that sometimes provide it. I'll try to stand to the side of the soapbox, but excuse me if I jump up and down on it from time to time.

Because, in case you didn't figure it out already, I'm writing about food because I'm just that passionate about it.