Juice Head

I am proud to say we are a bunch juice heads. Thank you to my brother in law for suggesting the movie Fat Sick and Nearly Dead. It' a great little documentary that shows you how beneficial a juicer can be. Ok the movie is so much more than that. An Australian come to America and begins a journey eating only fruit and vegetable juices for 60 days in hopes of getting off his prescription medication and achieve a balanced lifestyle. Its motivational, emotional and a great feel good movie. Better yet, I immediately went out and bought his juicer. Granted I have no desire to do a drastic juice cleanse at the moment, even though my liver is probably in need of one. But I've been supplementing a meal a day with a big huge glass (or more) of juice. It's the ultimate energy drink to have before a run!
The possibilities are endless!! Carrots, kale, spinach, beets, bell peppers, celery, cucumbers, grapefruits, pears, apples, lemon, kiwi, ginger to name a few. I haven't tried a bad combination yet. And my kids are such suckers! Here Annie and Nichol, do you want juice? You do? Little do you know it has about 4 vegetables and 4 fruits alone in that one glass!! HAH!! Point for me...

Best. Salad. Ever.

Well, I've done it. It's done. You don't have to look any farther. Below is the recipe for the best salad ever. Who would have thought... I'm proud to share it with you.

This is based off a grilled portobello salad from a cookbook called Veganomicon. It's freezing outside and a great night to make the kitchen smell like roasted mushrooms. I threw some chickpeas onto the pan to get them nutty and crispy and paired it with a grapefruit vinaigrette. It's rich and bright, it's crunchy and filling and full of flavor. I love mushrooms!! They can be so decadent, especially when roasted.

Roasted Mushroom and Chickpea Salad

 

Half head of romaine lettuce

A couple handfuls of spinach

Handful of sliced red onion

Handful of dried cranberries

Handful of pecans

Half of a red pepper, sliced

1 avocado sliced

3 portobello mushrooms, sliced thickly

1 lb of assorted mushrooms (oyster and shitake are great, white and baby bella good too)
1 Tbls garlic minced
Half can of chick peas
Plenty of good olive oil

Grapefruit Vinaigrette

1 small clove garlic, finely minced
1 big fat Tbls of mustard, whole grain or dijon

Juice from half of grapefruit

Juice from half of lemon

Shy of a quarter cup of olive oil
Fat pinch of salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 425 and lay out mushrooms and chickpeas on a cookie sheet. Leave the smaller mushrooms whole since they cook down. Mushrooms are like sponges! Don't rinse them in water, brush with a towel. Add oil and some salt right before they go into the oven because it will seep right into the mushroom. You want them to roast, not steam, which is why you have to be careful about not overcrowding the pan and not rinsing in water. Roast for about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile assemble the salad. Combine lettuce, spinach, cranberries, pecans, red pepper, red onion and avocado. Toss with dressing and put into bowls. Once mushroom and beans are roasted add on top of salad. Hope you like this winter salad as much as we did!

Capellini with Chick Peas and Zucchini

I've been pleasantly surprised at how accommodating people have been who have courageously invited us over to eat. I assumed people would be too intimidated to try to come up with something to eat that would please everybody. We always get the same questions...What are you guys eating these days? Is seafood considered a meat? No cheese? No butter!? What the heck do you eat then?
My brilliant friend had us over for dinner and served a pasta dish that was vegan with a side of grilled sausages for themselves. The pasta was amazing and my favorite part was it had toasted breadcrumbs on top!  I decided to add some chickpeas for extra protein.

1 large zucchini julienned (the more the better, they wilt down to nothing)
2 cloves garlic minced
1 can chickpeas
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon of chili flakes
1 cup of toasted garlic breadcrumbs (recipe below)
half box of capellini or angel hair
parsley

Saute garlic and chili flakes for a few minutes with two big glugs of olive oil.Add zucchini and saute for about 5 until soft. Season with salt and pepper. Add chickpeas and saute for another 5-10 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil and salt water for the pasta. This thin pasta only takes about 4 minutes to cook. Reserve a cup of cooking liquid. Once the pasta is al dente add it to the pan with the zucchini and then add reserved cooking liquid and lemon juice. Toss everything together and serve with toasted garlic breadcrumbs  and an extra drizzle of olive oil to finish!

Garlic Breadcrumbs

2 cloves minced garlic
1 cup fresh breadcrumbs

Put about 2 tbls of olive oil in a pan and saute garlic and breadcrumbs over a medium to low heat until brown.
This recipe is carb crazy but so good!!

Taco Night!

My favorite night of the week and always has been! Tacos are my all-time favorite food. This is the first thing I had to adapt when we stopped eating so much meat.  I have an issue with eating things like Smart Ground, or any of the processed "fake" meats. Not for nutritional reasons but because it looks really gross. Tofu is too soft and tempeh is disgusting. (My vegan captor loves it but I refuse to eat it). The taco filling I use is actually a very obvious choice...beans!! Yummy delicious beans. You can make beans do anything you want. In this recipe, I use always use two kinds. So far my favorite combos are red kidney/black bean and red kidney/pinto. No, I don't miss the cheese on my tacos because I make sure I include avocado in the topping list. Also, I use the Tofutti sour cream and it's actually pretty good. My kids love these tacos and I don't add oil or fat at any point which I like. These tacos are as true to my taco night growing up but with just a few tweaks.

I've got the best trick. If you ever bring home your hard shell taco pack and some shells are broken, call the company! I saved the box for the info and called Old El Paso to complain. They sent me a bunch of coupons that I'm still using. Now if I could only find them after the move...

Oh and if you are worried about having gas from eating all the beans, take a spoonful of apple cider vinegar.



(I ripped off this photo from Cooking Light. I feel so cheap!)

Serves 2 adults and 2 kids

2 cans of beans (mix and match if you want) My favorite combos are above
1/2 package of taco seasoning
1 teaspoon of cumin
juice of a lime'
Clove of garlic minced
1/2 cup of water
Package of hard shell taco shells

Topping Ideas
Savoy Cabbage (healthier and more durable than lettuce when it hits the warm beans)
Tomatoes
Onion
Avocado
Salsa
Sour Cream (Give Toffuti a try)
Grated Carrot

Add rinsed beans, garlic and water to saucepan and simmer for about 15 minutes covered. Add about half the package of taco seasoning, cumin and lime. Mash about half the beans with a fork so it looks like chunky refried beans.Check seasoning.

Heat taco shells and fill them so they are overflowing with all the great toppings!

When my kids eat these, I fill their shells while the beans are still hot and set them aside to cool. This softens the shells and makes them easier for the kids to chew.
Love to eat with Zatarains Spanish Rice. Not sure if it's vegan but it has a lot less sodium then some other brands.

Back from Hiatus

I've been offline for a few weeks while we have been very busy moving! As exciting as moving is, I had no idea how crazy and busy it can be. The packing was the easy part and the unpacking has just been awful. Cooking has been the last thing on my mind.We have eaten out so much which means everyone has been eating like crap. A couple night ago I made my lentil soup and the world seems right again.

Lentil Soup



I tried making lentil soup about 6 year ago when I first really got into cooking. I used a ham bone because my mom always did but other than that I had no idea what I was doing. It tasted like a bowl of dirt. Awful. Once we started eating Vegan the majority of the time I got into cooking with lentils again. What's the key to lentils not tasting like dirt? WASH THEM!! Really wash them. This simple step and lentils are my new favorite protein source. This recipe doesn't use a ham bone but I found that tomato paste gives it a smokey flavor so I don't really miss it.
I used two different types of lentils for this recipe. (Like always) The red for thickness and the green for texture. If you want a thicker soup, add more red lentils as you go and simmer until soft. (About 15 min) The last time I made this I added some yellow split peas as well. It was awesome. If you have some in the pantry, add them with the green lentils.

1 cup green or French lentils
3/4 to 1 cup red lentils
2 celery stalks diced
1 small to medium onion
3 carrots diced
1 cup diced tomatoes
2 Tbls tomato paste
2 Tbls balsamic vinegar
1 Tbls fresh thyme
1-2 Tbls parsley
Vegetable broth

Heat stock pot over medium heat and add the onion, celery and carrots. Season with salt and pepper. Saute until soft. Add the tomato paste and work around the pan to caramelize for a couple minutes.
Wash the lentils in a fine mesh strainer and work them around with your fingers. If you are using two kinds of lentils wash them separate. I like to add the green lentils first for a couple reasons. One, they take longer to cook. And two, you have control of the soup thickness by adding the red lentils during the last 30 minutes of cooking. I like my lentil soup to be thick so I use the full cup.
Add green lentils, thyme, tomatoes and balsamic vinegar to the pan. Stir and cover with broth so the lentils are about 2-3 inches under the liquid. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to simmer for 30 minutes covered. Check the liquid amount at this point and add red lentils and more liquid if needed. Oh and stir. Simmer for another 30 minutes covered. I use the emulsion blender at this point to bring the soup together. You don't want it smooth, just incorporated.
Check the seasoning!! Add salt or pepper, more herbs or vinegar. Figure out what tastes good to you. I stir parsley in at the last minute.
Serve the soup with garlic bread for dipping! (Yes I have a great easy recipe)

Vegan Garlic Bread for 2

4 slices of you favorite toasting bread or baguette sliced through the middle (like the freezer kind)
3 large garlic cloves
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon oregano

Finely chop the garlic into a paste. Add to a bowl with the olive oil and stir. Spread over the bread and sprinkle with some salt. Cook at 400 until the bread is crispy. If using sliced bread, put in the broiler for a few minutes to crisp the top. I do not miss cheese or butter!!

New Direction

As much as I would love to post recipes that I have come up with, I have been having a lot of roadblocks.
#1: My husband won't let me buy the mini photo studio from Skymall so I can properly shoot my creations.
#2: My camera is acting really weird ever since I dumped water all over it.
#3: When the camera does work, it refuses to communicate with my computer to upload the pictures I took.

So what's a girl left to do aside from beg for a Skymall mini photo studio, new computer and new camera? I think I will rate other people's recipes for awhile. I am actually a good resource for this because I read more recipes in a day than most people do in their lifetime. I thrive on that. And because of this I am making new recipes all of the time.

A few weeks ago I was feeling really run down and tired. I knew the problem was that I wasn't eating enough fruits and vegetables. I went in search of a really hearty and nutritious, raw salad. This is actually a spin on a Whole Foods item named the Detox Salad. It's made with broccoli and cauliflower and tastes like traditional broccoli salad without the mayonnaise. The interesting thing about it is that the vegetables are pulsed in the food processor so everything is finely chopped. This is a salad that you can shovel in guilt free. The leftovers were put in things like tuna fish salad and chicken salad (not for the vegan) and the kids LOVED it. This recipe made me feel great which is exactly how I was looking to feel.

Whole Foods Detox Salad

Harvest Stuffed Mushrooms

I found a really good website. It's the site of Chef Chloe Coscarelli. She's got some great material on the site and even better recipes. Here is one that I tried last night. The filling is a mix of brown rice and lentils. I used red lentils because I like that they are creamy. But if you want more texture use green or french lentils. This works a bit easier if you have leftover brown rice since it took a good amount of prep time. I cooked 1/4 cup of brown rice and then 1/4 cup of red lentils and the ratio and amount worked well. She calls for a can of lentils but I don't think I have ever seen that and I'm not sure I would buy it either.

The tomato on top gives a subtle but needed acidity. Also, I added panko in the filling as well as on top. It makes it taste crispy and fried. Who wouldn't like that? (Do I sound like Ina Garten yet?) This is absolutely going to be the Vegan entree at Thanksgiving. Here is the link for Harvest Stuffed Mushrooms.