Raw collard taquitos... Asian style.

This super simple recipe came out great! I know, I know... the name is a slaughtering of traditions and heritage. I'll have to come up with something better later. Tonight for dinner, I was lazy and sauteed some veggies with some spicy simmer sauce over rice. So, to compensate, I wanted to make some raw salad rolls. I also still have a huge stack of collard leaves in the fridge, so I wanted to use them as well. I will definitely be wrapping these up again!

The peanut sauce was from the Live! Recipe Book. I would highly recommend this cook book to anyone wishing to dabble in raw food. Everything I've made is delicious! The sauce is a combination of ginger, miso, vinegar, tahini (I used peanut butter), agave, soy sauce/nama soya and black pepper.

Makes 2-4 servings

Ingredients:
6 small to medium size collard leaves
1/2 head cauliflower, rinsed and leaves removed
2 cloves garlic
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp miso
1 lime, squeezed
1 avocado
1/4 cup white onion, chopped
salt and pepper
 

Directions:
To prepare collard leaves, trim thick portions and excess length. Next, marinate the collard leaves for an hour or so in half of the lime juice, 1 Tbsp olive oil and a dash of salt and pepper. (Marinating is optional, but suggested) If you marinate the leaves, they are a little easier on the stomach and softer to chew, but a little messier. If you don't marinate the leaves, they are a little tougher (still tasty), but stay together much better. 'Massage' the collards for a minute or two to make sure everything is fully mixed.

Next, prepare your filling. In a food processor, add cauliflower in large pieces (stems don't need to be trimmed), garlic, olive oil, and miso. Pulse until consistency of rice. Stir in a dash of salt and pepper and set aside. Next, prepare your avocado my removing skin and pit, and mashing with a fork. Stir in lime juice and set aside.

To make the wraps:
I chose to do little skinny taquito wraps, but you can also do classic burrito style. Just remember, portions might need to be modified to accomodate different leaf sizes. Add about 2 heaping Tbsp of cauliflower mixture to the center of the wrap. Top with 1 Tbsp avocado and a sprinkling of onion. Wrap them up and set them on a plate! Serve with peanut sauce.

Easy Chunky Beet Soup

I had leftover veggie broth from the spicy tempeh I made last night and also had beets in the fridge. So... it was only natural that I combine the two and make some beet soup! This soup is very easy, but hearty and delicious.

Makes 2-3 servings.

Ingredients:

2 cups veggie broth
3 small or 2 large beets with greens
3 cloves garlic
1/2 medium red onion
4 or 5 collard or kale stems (leaves removed)
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp agave nectar or maple syrup
1/4 tsp salt
dash of cayenne

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Prepare veggies: Wash beets and greens thouroughly. Remove the top of the beet where it meets the stems and discard. Slice beets in 1/4in thick pieces. Slice greens and stems in about 1 in pieces. Peel the red onion and slice into large, 1/2in chuncks. Peel garlic. Chop collard stems in 1 in pieces.

Add all veggies to a medium sized baking dish. Add spices, oil, vinegar and agave. Toss all ingredients to coat.

Cover and bake for 30-45 minutes... until beets are soft in the center.

In a blender, add veggie broth and the roasted veggies. Puree for 1 minute or until a consistent texture is achieved. If desired, top with some sour cream (or vegan substitute)and chives. Serve with a toasted piece of crusty bread!

Mini vegan feast: Spicy cajun tempeh

Tonight, I made dinner for dad and Jen. Cajun spiced tempeh (protein), sweet collards with raisins (green leafy veggie and fruit), whipped sweet potatoes (veggie) and southwest orzo pasta (grain). I've been trying to include a little bit of everything when I'm planning dinner.

The tempeh and collards are both from Vegan Soul Kitchen by Bryant Terry. This cookbook is amazing. Being (mostly) vegan/vegetarian AND from the South, I have definitely felt a void of these types of recipes for a few years now. Bryant speaks in simple terms about each recipe, gives a brief background of their origin and even gives you a suggested soundtrack to listen to while cooking them! In his recipes, Bryant tries to waste as little as possible... using even the rinds of watermelon! He also talks about eating and cooking seasonally. Who would have thought! His delicious tempeh recipe is below. Some other great recipes you'll find in the cookbook: succotash soup with garlicky cornbread croutons, baked bbq black eyed peas, upper Caribbean creamy grits with roasted plantain pieces, and many more. If you enjoy the recipe, I highly suggest his cookbook! You can find it for only $8 on Amazon.

Cajun-creole-spiced tempeh pieces:

Ingredients:
1 8oz. package tempeh
2 cups veggie stock
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp white pepper
 olive oil for frying

Directions:
Cut tempeh into 1/2-in cubes.


In a medium saucepan, heat veggie stock to a boil. Add tempeh pieces and bring back to a boil. Cover and lower to medium-high heat. Simmer for 25 minutes. Remove from the head and drain the tempeh in a colander (reserve stock for future use!), and let pieces dry out on a paper towel for for about 30 minutes.

In a medium-sized paper bag, combine the rest of the spices. Shake to combine and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat 1-2 Tbsp oil over medium-high heat. Add tempeh pieces. Cook for about 10 minutes, turning every few minutes to brown evenly. Remove tempeh from pan and immediately transfer to paper bag of spices. Close bad and shake vigorously until all pieces are coated well with the seasoning, about 1 minute. That's it!

I'm a Florida driver!

So I am officially a Florida resident... complete with voluntary organ donation, voter registration and drivers license. Woot!

I also bought a car! It's an Acura RSX-S. The tag office had a ton of cute tags to choose from, but I went with one that had a clown fish on it to supprt Florida aquaculture. Finally, I'm completely free and mobile again! <3

What's up with bee pollen? And a recipe to incorporate.

I've had this stuff on top of a delicious vegan shake before, but I never really knew what it was all about. While visiting our downtown farmer's market this weekend, I came across a bag of the stuff. The local bee keeper told me about some of the benefits of honey and the pollen, so I figured I'd give it a try.

Bee pollen has been considered a 'superfood' for many years, and even spoken about in ancient Chinese and Egyptian texts. To find out what I learned about in my research, and an easy recipe to incorporate bee pollen into your diet, click Read More!

Kopi Luwak: priciest coffee on Earth

I was watching Modern Marvels and I just wanted to share about something I learned. The episode was all about coffee, and I had great fun watching it. One thing I just couldn't go without sharing is a little tidbit mentioned about the most expensive coffee on Earth. The coffee sells for about $100 to $600 per pound.

What makes this coffee so expensive you might ask? The beans are actually eaten and passed through the digestion system of an Asian Palm Civet, a cat-like critter. Unbelievably, the beans pass through, undigested. So there you have it.

Raw dinner: kale bites with tomatoes and spicy carrot filling.

Tonight I decided to do a raw dish for dinner. I had leftover pulp from juicing some carrots and other veggies, so I wanted that to be my base. I knew about what type of flavors I wanted, and the result was pretty delicious!! These would also be a great appetizer if you wrap the kale like a little taco with a toothpick. Here is the recipe.

Spicy carrot 'meat' filling


Ingredients:
1 cup veggie pulp (mine was from 2 carrots, half a cucumber and a pear)
1 Tbsp ground flax seed
2 Tbsp walnuts
2 Tbsp nama shoyu or soy sauce
3 scallions, mostly white parts
2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice (about half of a large lemon)
1 tsp raw agave
1/2 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp cumin
dash of salt and pepper
1/2 tsp mustard seed (optional)

Directions:
 Add all ingredients to a food processor or blender. Blend until nice and smooth. Add an additional tbsp olive oil or water if your blender/food processor is struggling.

For the raw kale bites:

Take 2 or 3 stalks of kale and wash. Remove leaves from stems in large, but bite-sized pieces. Pat dry and put in a bowl. Add a few Tbsps of olive oil, juice of 1/2 lemon, and a light sprinkling of salt. Massage with your hands until all of the leaves are fully coated in the marinade.

On a plate, lay out a piece of kale, about 1 tsp of the filling, and a slice of fresh tomato or sundried tomato.

Eat them up!

Roasted butternut squash, stuffed with veggies and quinoa, along side a vegan caesar salad.

Tonight, I made dinner for dad and I! It's been a little while since we've had dinner together, so I wanted to fix up something tasty! We had a butternut squash left over from Christmas dinner, so I know I wanted to use that. Here is dad, posing with the grub!

For easy roasted butternut squash, mix up this savory/sweet marinade!

2 Tbsp maple syrup or dark agave
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp olive oil
1 tsp, each, fresh chopped oregano and thyme
1/4 tsp salt

Whisk all ingredients together in a small bowl, adding olive oil last.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Slice squash in half and scoop out seeds. In a baking dish large enough to accomodate both halves, pour 1/4 cup water. Add squash, flesh side up. Brush on marinade and cover with foil. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, or until all flesh is tender.

While squash is cooking, prepare filling.

Other ingredients:
quinoa (red or white)
veggie boullion cube
red onion
1 large carrot
olive oil
vinegar
chopped walnuts or pine nuts

In a small saucepan, add 2 cups water, 1 cup quinoa, and a veggie boullion cube. Bring to a boil, and then turn down to simmer and cover. Quinoa is done with liquid is evaporated.

While quinoa is cooking, dice two cloves of garlic and chop 1/4 red onion and 1 large carrot. Heat 2 tsp olive oil to a saute pan over medium/high heat. Add veggies. Saute until soft (about 5 minutes). Season with salt and pepper and a dash of rice wine or red wine vinegar. Cover and keep on low.

When squash is done, sprinkle with pepper and place on plate. Combine the cooked quinoa, veggies and leftover marinade from the squash baking dish. Add 1/4 cup nuts to the mixture. Mix together and fill each half of squash with the mixture!

 Easy vegan ceasar dressing...

Ingredients:
2 Tbsp Vegannaise
1 Tbsp dijon mustard
1 clove garlic, roughly chopped
juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp fresh or dried italian herbs
1 Tbsp olive oil
Dash of salt and pepper 
1 tsp ground flax seed (optional)

Add all ingredients to a food processor, except oil. Blend together. When ready to use, blend in olive oil. Chop fresh Romaine lettuce and coat with dressing. Add an avocado for extra creaminess!

Veggie spirals with sundried tomatoes and fresh herbs.

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I threw together this tasty and simple pasta after work today. I boiled up some tri-colored, veggie pasta. In some hot pepper olive oil, I sauteed up some chopped garlic, fresh oregano and thyme and slices of veggie Italian sausage. I threw in some julienne cut sundried tomatoes, and then added the pasta back to the pan. I let it all cook for another minute or two and then tossed on some crushed red pepper flakes.

Mmmm mmmm, good.

Happy trails.... to you...

So I'm spending the weekend in Austin. It's freezing cold here (like everywhere else in the country at the moment), so I've done very little walking around! Until today, that is. Just thought I would share my wonderful foodie experiences of the day.

I walked for a couple of blocks down Congress St in South Austin. There are about a dozen, or two, cute little shops around, featuring neat antiques, locally made goods and foods. I picked up a few little trinkets, including a great photograph of a Horny Toad, from a guy on the street! (Definitely going on the wall of the camper). The prices of most stores are surprisingly reasonable. Most places were not very touristy, which was also a plus.

After a few hours of window shopping, I wanted to look around for a place to grab a snack. Low and behold, I stumble upon a chili competition! While this doesn't exactly sound like a dream find for a vegetarian, I was in luck. The host of the competition, Jo's Coffee, cooked up a pot of veggie chili just my kind of clientele. The teller suggested I try the 'veggie chili frito pie'... and I'm so glad I did.

A 'frito pie', I found out, is a layer of frito's topped with the chili, with a few more fritos sprinkled on top. I topped with with some raw chopped red onions and fresh squeezed lime juice. Sided up with a Lone Star ("Texas born, Texas brewed"), this gem only set me back $7. The actual chili was quite flavorful, but not too spicy. They used chickpeas instead of the traditional kidney bean, which I thought was a great choice. I sat and enjoyed the atmosphere for a little while and went on with my journey.

My next sweet find of the day, was this little streamliner diner, Hey Cupcake!

Hey cupcake! just sells delicious cupcakes. They even had 3 vegan options, including chocolate peanut butter, spiced orange, and carrot cake (my obvious choice). They even have an option for a free injection of whipped cream into the middle of any cupcake you purchase! For only $2.50 a pop, I'm hoping to stop by this Streamliner every day until I leave. This is definitely a must if you are in the neighborhood.

First meal back!

Sorry this picture is kind of crappy... I was starving! This was the first really solid meal I've eaten in two days. After getting back from New Orleans, I caught a terrible stomach bug! It was no good.

So for my first meal back, I did a vegan 'steak and potatoes'. I made some quick mashed potatoes and mushroom gravy. For the tempeh, I cut it in large pieces and marinated it in some lemon juice, fresh chopped garlic, salt and pepper, a splash of olive oil and some Bragg's amino acids (I'm addicted to this stuff!).

My favorite part of the meal, however, was the roasted onions. They came out fabulously... and I would definitely make them again! I was following a recipe from Barefoot Contessa. Now, Ina Garten is one of those Food Network stars that I literally don't even give her more than 5 minutes to convince me to watch her. In my opinion, her recipes are typically very heavy, and full of butter and meat. Besides that, they never seem to be that creative or intriguing. I am really glad I ran out of stuff to watch while I was sick, though, because I ended up watching her whole episode (including this great recipe)! It was a good companion to the mashed potatoes. The recipe is below. I found that I had to make a second batch of the marinade to coat all of the onions.

Ingredients:

2 red onions

1 yellow onion

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 tablespoon minced fresh thyme leaves

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 cup good olive oil

1/2 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Remove the stem end of each onion and carefully slice off the brown part of the root end, leaving the root intact. Peel the onion. Stand each onion root end up on a cutting board and cut the onion in wedges through the root. Place the wedges in a bowl.

For the dressing, combine the lemon juice, mustard, garlic, thyme, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil. Pour the dressing over the onions and toss well.

With a slotted spoon, transfer the onions to a sheet pan, reserving the vinaigrette that remains in the bowl. Bake the onions for 30 to 45 minutes, until tender and browned. Toss the onions once during cooking. Remove from the oven, and drizzle with the reserved dressing. Sprinkle with parsley, season to taste and serve warm or at room temperature.

The broccoli must die!

New Years in New Orleans

After visiting mom in South Carolina, I headed straight down to New Orleans to celebrate New Years. It was a fantastic drive. Lots of bridges.

I got Diego a little booster seat, so he wouldn't be bugging me the whole time. He was a little apprehensive, but ended up really loving it pretty quickly! He napped most of the time.

Christmas goodies!

Mom got me a lovely herb garden for my kitchen! I can't wait for this puppies to get nice and fluffy. Yay for fresh herbs!!

chives, two types of thyme, oregano and rosemary.

She also got me a little strawberry plant. I can't wait to see some ripe berries on this one!