You probably already know the importance of a good stock or broth when called for. I, on the other hand, just couldn’t get myself to believe it. Now that I know how easy it is to prepare and store homemade stock I just had to share this with you. Continue reading Stocking Up for the New Year
My last post, Lettuce Start the Day, described how to prepare lettuce and greens to easily pull together a meal. Today I thought I would share this quick salad with you. We love having fresh salsa on hand and it is refreshing and filling over a big bed of lettuce.
For me, this recipe comes together quickly because we always have washed and chopped lettuce in the refrigerator, frozen beans (cooked from dry), and corn in the freezer. To use the frozen beans I cover the amount I need in cold water and let them sit for a minute then I put them in a strainer to drain the water or if you have enough time you could simply defrost the beans in the refrigerator. If I don’t have fresh corn I use a cup of frozen corn and place it on a dry pan over medium heat until it starts to turn golden brown. Continue reading Salsa Salad
I buy an assortment of mushrooms every time I visit the market. When I saw some rather large button mushrooms I just knew I had to stuff them. Before changing to a vegan diet I didn’t really care for mushrooms. Now knowing how delicious and nutritious they are I just can’t get enough of them. I like to think of them as mother nature’s meat. Get it, ground meat! Check out this awesome video explaining how mushrooms grow from howgrow.org.
Thank you Nicole Cotroneo Jolly and Mark Jolly, founders of How Does it Grow? for reminding me of the wondrous nature of the whole foods I use to fuel my body. Continue reading Stuffing Mother Nature’s Ground Meat
Raw Cucumber Soup
I was filled with hope and pride when five cucumber plants sprouted from seed in our tiny garden. I had big plans. I was thinking about all the things I could do when I was inundated with a healthy harvest of cucumbers all at once. Recently, I acquired a bunch of cucumbers from a garden, but the garden wasn’t ours, which is perfectly fine. When we went away this summer we forgot to hook up the drip irrigation system for our planters resulting in the slow and painful (to watch) death of some of our plants. Our neighbor stopped by the other day with two bags of cucumbers and a cantaloupe so I still got that healthy harvest I was so focused upon. Thank you! Continue reading Raw Cucumber Soup
I It’s Friday, I’m in Love with this Rad-ish Flatbread
My taste buds were so happy that this idea panned out! This flatbread has a wonderful vegan tzatziki inspired sauce, caramelized onions, sautéed radishes, radish greens, green bell pepper, and habanero.
The first step is to get the dough rolling. Then start on the oh so easy and delicious sauce. Continue reading A Rad-ish Flatbread
A refreshing roasted corn-off-the cob chilled soup
Corn on the cob is one of my favorite summertime foods. It’s such a fun food to eat. How many ways can you get around the cob? There’s the typewriter, which requires the sound effect, “Bing”, when you get to the end and then a roll back to the beginning of the next line. Then there is the traditional merry-go-round that requires merely rotating the cob clock-wise between fore fingers and thumbs, chomping all the while. And my new favorite passed down by my father-in-law this summer, the spiral. The name explains it all. Not only does the spiral look cool, it’s quite effective and has become part of my routine. So maybe I like corn on the cob so much because it is so fun to eat. Okay, Okay, I also like it because it is sweet! Continue reading Chilled Roasted Corn Soup
Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Dessert Smoothie
This is a video I made showing you how to make my Peanut Butter chocolate Chip Dessert Smoothie. It’s about 220 calories. I came up with this recipe while visiting my parents. They love when I make vegan dishes for them, but my dad always wants dessert. Since Gabe and I rarely eat sweets I don’t have a huge repertoire of desserts. Don’t get me wrong we like our sugar in the form of beer, wine or bread. Our pallet is usually more on the savory side. I do however, love a good smoothie and I wanted my dad to be able to enjoy a sweet treat without the added calories from lots of refined sugar and fat. Continue reading Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Dessert Smoothie
Gonzo Flatbread
An Out of This World Hummus, No Dipping Required, Fork and Knife Suggested
A love of hummus and a deadline inspired this delicious flatbread. I had an hour and a half before Gabe came home for lunch. I looked around the kitchen to see what I could make. When I saw garbanzo beans and some vine ripe tomatoes I started to form a plan. I knew I could pull this off in the allotted time frame if I started on the dough right away. Gabe, a self-proclaimed glutton for gluten, would be very happy, indeed. He never knows what he’ll come home to. On a good day, for him, that’s falafel or soy curl surprise, on a bad day it’s a big bowl of kale and quinoa. He is always willing to try what I make so I am happy to indulge him with treats like this. For our sans gluten friends out there, try topping a gluten-free crust the same way. Continue reading Gonzo Flatbread
Wakame Up Miso Soup
A hearty version of miso soup with an abundance of vegetables. Served with soba noodles it’s a lovely, filling meal.
Loading up miso soup with an abundance of vegetables is an easy and enjoyable way for me to take in lots of nutrients at one time. Miso soup is generally miso paste added to dashi, which is a soup stock made of kelp and dried fish, scallions, and tofu. Here I add tamari and seaweed in my stock along with miso paste, mushrooms, sweet potato, radishes, celery, baby bok choy, and radish greens. Continue reading Wakame Up Miso Soup
Mandarin Orange Soy Curl Spinach Salad
My husband loves Butler Soy Curls. I can tell him we are having soy curls surprise and he is psyched. Basically that means I get to prepare the soy curls anyway I want and he will gladly eat them. Soy curls are actually growing on me, well, not actually growing, but you get the point! These are so easy to use and the package I have reads, “NON-GMO grown without chemical pesticides”, “contains the whole bean”, and my favorite, “100% natural no additives or preservatives”. The label does not sport a USDA organic symbol, but I’m ok with that because what can I say, I believe the label claims and the only ingredient listed is “textured whole soy beans”. Once these soy curls are rehydrated they don’t have much taste on their own, however, they will suck up the flavor of a marinade or cooking liquid. Continue reading Mandarin Orange Soy Curl Spinach Salad
