Rainbow Heaven Salad

Being a vegan, it goes without saying that I love a good salad!  There is nothing better than a heaping salad full of my favorite veggies and covered in a tasty dressing.  If I don't eat salad regularly, I begin to crave it more than sweets or caffeine!  I need my fresh food fix!  It has been warming up lately here on the island and it is the perfect weather to eat fresh salads and enjoy the sunshine.  This one is my favorite because it looks so pretty and you can put anything you like into it.  Just make sure to use as many colors as possible to ensure a wide variety of different vitamins, minerals, and phytonutrients!  Here is my Rainbow Heaven Salad:

To make Rainbow Heaven Salad:

Ingredients:

4 cups Romaine (organic, rinsed, and torn by hand into bite size pieces)

2 large leaves kale of any kind (if using curly green kale, give it a few squeezes to crinkle and soften - this help to decrease bitterness and allow for absorption of salad dressing.) Tear into bite size pieces.

2 red beets (if using raw then shred, if cooking, chop)

2 carrots shredded

1/4 cup corn (always, always, always buy certified organic corn to ensure it is not GMO)

1/4 alfalfa sprouts

1/4 mung bean sprouts

2 tbsp raw sunflower seeds

2 tbsp raw papita seeds

1/4 cup cherry tomatoes halved

1 avocado diced

1 cucumber diced (organic so that we can leave the skin on - that's where the nutrients are jam packed)

1 heart of palm (from a jar) sliced

1/2 cup broccoli florets (more or less depending on the size of your dish since these will garnish the edge)

1 tbsp chiffonade basil  (simply roll the leaves into a little taco and then slice thinly to chiffonade)

1 tbsp chopped cilantro

basil and cilantro to garnish

1. First create the bed of lettuce with the romaine and the dino kale.  You can use a bowl, I've used a glass loaf pan simply because it makes the rainbow effect much simpler.  Pack the leafy greens into the dish and create a flat even surface on top.

2. Add each veggie according to color.  Here I've done: beets, tomato, carrot, corn, alfalfa sprouts, avocado, mung bean sprouts, sunflower seeds, cucumber, heart of palm, and papitas. 

3.  Reserve the chopped herbs for after the salad has been plated.  Garnish with the sprigs of basil and cilantro.

4. Break off individual broccoli florets and tuck into the ege of the dish to create a pretty and edible border for the salad.  

5.  Dress with Goddess Glow Dressing and enjoy!

✌ YUM

Dark Greens Lentil Salad

Dark Greens Lentil Salad is my ultimate go-to dish for making lentils.  You can really use any dark leafy green with this but I ♥ kale and rainbow chard the best.  Therefore, this dish calls for both of these nutrient dense, calcium rich dark leafy greens.

Yields 4 servings
Ingredients
2 cups lentils (Green work best. Rinse well and drain to remove any debris)
4 cups filtered water
2 cups dark leafy greens (about 3 large leaves)
1/4 Red Bell Pepper
1 tbsp fresh basil (you can use cilantro or parsley)
1/4 cup balsamic
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp olive oil or coconut oil for sauté
2 pinches salt and pepper or to taste

1. In a medium sauce pan, add water and lentils, bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, cover and allow to simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until water is absorbed and lentils are tender.

2.  In the meantime, roughly chop dark greens, julienne the bell pepper and chiffonade the basil.  In a pan, heat oil over medium heat and add dark greens to sauté.  Cook very quickly just to soften the greens, about 3 to 5 minutes.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3.  In a bowl, add olive oil and balsamic.  Whisk together to emulsify.  Add bell pepper and basil and toss well.  Add lentils and dark greens.  Toss.  Serve warm.  Garnish with julienned red bell peppers.

I've served my Dark Greens Lentil Salad alongside my Apricot Quinoa Amaranth Timbale!! Enjoy!

✌ YUM

Apricot Quinoa Amaranth Timbale

Apricot Quinoa Amaranth Timables will blow your mind!  They are so easy and delicious and packed with flavor - unique flavor to boot!  You will need a mold of any kind to make your timbale shape.  Quinoa and amaranth mold extremely well and these shapes will easily hold.  I've used a small glass bowl to make my mold but be creative and see what your kitchen has to use!!

Makes 1 large timbale or up to 5 small timbales

Ingredients:

1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed well and drained

1/4 cup amaranth

1 tbsp olive oil (organic and expeller pressed is best or you can use coconut oil with this dish)

1/2 a small onion, finely diced

1/2 tsp cumin

2 pinches salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp chopped raw almond slivers

5 dried apricots, diced

1 orange - zest and juice

1. Since we are zesting, make sure to use an organic orange and wash very well.  Zest orange and set aside the zest.  Juice orange into a measuring cup.  Add to your juice enough water to make 1 1/2 cups.  Set this aside.

2. In a medium sauce pan, heat oil.  Sauté onion over medium heat for approx 5 minutes or until tender.  Do not let your onion brown as this will bitter the flavor.  Add to the onion the water/organge juice mixture, salt and bring to boil.  Once at a rapid boil, remove from heat and slowly stir in the amaranth.  Add the quinoa, return to heat, bring to boil, reduce heat to low, cover and allow to simmer until all of the liquid has been absorbed, about 25 mintues.

3. When the grains are cooked, they will be tender.  Remove from heat and add the remaining ingredients.  Stir well.

4.  Take your mold (small bowl, container, etc.) and grease with a little oil.  Fill with the quinoa mixture  and pack well.  Then immediately flip the mold onto a flat surface or plate and tap the bottom of mold to release the timbale.  Garnish with a sprinkle of cinnamon and dried apricot.

I've served up my Apricot Quinoa Amaranth with a side of Dark Greens Lentil salad and a fresh sprouted sunflower salad.  Enjoy!

✌ YUM

Lentil Banana Salad

Ok For Real this tastes like heaven in your mouth.  The combination of banana and lentil is unique, exotic and provides a savory sensory taste bud drenching experience.  Traditionally, this is a Congolese dish which I once made for a dear friend of mine before he left for the Congo to help build schools in impoverished areas.  During my search to find vegan Congolese recipes, I found many treasures. This gem is one such treasure and is very simple to make.

Ingredients:
2 cups lentils (green are best but you can use brown or yellow as well)
4 cups water
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil (organic cold pressed/expeller pressed is best)
2 bananas (sliced thick)
1/2 diced red bell pepper
2 tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste

1. In a sauce pan, add lentils (rinse and drain first) and water.  Bring to a boil, reduce to low heat, cover and allow to simmer for 15-20 minutes or until all the water is absorbed.  Keep an eye on them and remove from heat once the water is absorbed and lentils are soft.  If left over a hot burner, the lentils will continue to cook and can lose their color.  Set aside and allow to cool to room temperature.

2. In a small bowl, add the balsamic vinegar, oil, and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Whisk together to emulsify.  Add the bananas and bell pepper and toss to coat.  Add the lentils and the cilantro then toss well.  This can be eaten immediately or left in the fridge up to 4 hours to develop flavor.

I've served up my Lentil Banana Salad my vegan soy free quiche and a tasty sprout salad.

✌ YUM

Vegan Soy-Free Quiche

Don't get me wrong, I love tofu.  It's delicious, versatile and will adopt any flavor/texture you assign to it.  However, with soy being added to so many foods these days, being a popular GMO crop (so make sure to only eat certified organic soy) and so many people having soy allergies, I decided to make a soy- free vegan quiche!  This was no easy task.  As of now, my recipe is in the works.  Here is my first quiche:

It was delicious but I used a combination of flax meal, chia meal, and quinoa flour mixed with nutritional yeast and veggie stock to work as the filler.  It tasted great but took on a very flax color which made it look like an earth pie and not so much a quiche.  So, this tasty treat is still in the works :)

Sprouted Mung Beans

2 cups dry Mung Beans   Soak 8hrs  Sprout time: 3 days

Mung Beans are commonly used in Chinese cuisine and I was first introduced to them in the form of glass house noodles.  These clear noodles are made from mung bean starch and are very popular in Asian dishes.  When I was living abroad in Brisbane, Australia, my housemates were from Malaysia and they not only taught me how to cook, but they introduced me to new types of food I had never had before.  As a veg, I was little freaked out to find a whole eel in the freezer but cultural differences will always exist.  They were a great group of girls and I owe my love of mung beans to them.

Sprouting mung beans allows you to eat them raw and indulge in all of the wonderful enzymes they have to offer.  When sprouted, mung beans are considered a superfood bountiful with densely packed nutrients.  1 cup of sprouted mung beans contain:

31 calories
3 g protein
43% RDV Vitamin K
23% RDV Vitamin C
16% RDV Folate
10% RDV Manganese

While they are not a complete protein in of themselves, sprouted mung beans are a great addition to a vegan diet.  Plus, spouting is fun!  The Chinese would sprout mung beans during long sea voyages when obtaining fresh produce was not possible.  Even back in the day, these sailors knew how to eat their greens!

To Sprout:

2 cups dry mung beans (which you can buy in the bulk section of Whole Foods, Sprouts, Central Market)
Soak your dry mung beans for 8 hours away from direct sunlight.

It is very easy to soak them overnight for the 8 hours.  Then rinse your soaked mung beans and put back in a dark and cool place.  If left in the light, they will get mouldy.  An empty cupboard works well.  I transfer my soaked beans to a mason jar with a sprouting lid for easy rinsing.  If you don't have a sprouting lid you can use cheesecloth and a rubber band or a fine mesh strainer.  Rinse your mung beans two times daily with filtered water.  Don't let them sit in water, avoid this by placing your sprouting jar at an angle in a bowl, cup or on a dish rack.  If you only have counter space available, cover your beans with a cloth to keep them dark.  Do this for two days and on the third day you will have sprouts!

✌

Place sprouts in sunlight for about 15 mins to activate the chlorophyll.  Remember, cooking heat will kill the chlorophyll so I suggest consuming them raw.  Sprouts will keep in the fridge for about 3 days.

Spicy Peanut Sauce

This can be used as a sauce or a dressing.  Control the consistency with the amount of water added.  More for thin dressing, less for a thick dressing.

Ingredients
3 tbsp organic creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup water
1 minced garlic clove
1/2 to1 fresh chili OR 2 1/4 tsp chili sauce
2 tbsp raw apple cider vinegar or rice vinegar
1 tbsp honey (some vegan omit honey but I eat it if it's local)
1 tbsp soy sauce OR 1/2 tsp sesame oil  (I like to limit salt and soy so I use the sesame oil)
1 tbsp raw white sesame seeds (optional)
1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro (optional)

In a small bowl, add peanut butter and water and whisk well.  Add remaining ingredients and whisk again.  Garnish for serving bowl with fresh sesame seed and cilantro.

Fresh Rolls

The beauty of these rolls is not merely the ease of making them, their delicate flavor or professional presentation BUT the true beauty is the abundant varieties of fillings you can put inside.  I've used tofu, glass house noodles, soy chicken, even strawberries with jasmine rice!  These rolls are made with tons of live enzymes from my freshly sprouted mung beans!

The skins for the wraps are made out of tapioca flour and come in hard disks that easily soften when submerged in water.  They are incredibly cheap.  I've paid $1.29 for this package.    

Available in the Asian food isle of most grocery stores from Albertsons, to Whole Foods, to specialty Asian markets.  Super easy to find :)

Once you have the wraps, you need to slice up some filling to go inside.  Today, I've julienned some red bell pepper, sweet Persian cucumber, carrot, shredded romaine lettuce, cilantro, and sprouted mung beans.

Prepare your filling on a separate plate because once your wrap is wet, you want to fill it and wrap it fairly quickly otherwise it will get sticky and become difficult to handle.  Take a plate or large bowl and fill with warm water.  You will need to pass each spring roll wrapper though warm water, let it sit in water for about 30 seconds to 60 seconds until it softens.  Then place your soft, slightly wet, wrap onto a flat surface, fill, and roll.  It's that easy.  Just make sure to roll the wrap tightly, like sushi, to get a good secure wrap that it tight and not messy.

Serve it with my spicy peanut dipping sauce for an amazing vegan food experience!!  So Yum!  Fresh rolls travel really well and make for a great to-go lunch!!

✌ YUM

Strawberry Quinoa Salad

This salad is PERFECT for breakfast, lunch or dinner!  Serve warm, room temperature, or cold it is great any old time.  I've added it to a lunch alongside my quinoa wrap and citrus kale salad.  Incredibly easy to make, incredibly good for you, and colorful to look at!

Ingredients:

Makes 2 side servings or 1 entrée serving

1/2 cup cooked quinoa

1 half an apple, chopped (if organic, chop unpeeled)
4 strawberries, chopped (reserve one for garnish)
2 tbsp raw cashews, chopped
2 basil leaves, chiffonade
Dressing:
Juice of 1 lemon approx. 2 tbsp
1 tsp honey (some people consider honey to be nonvegan, it is a personal choice, I eat local honey)
1 pinch cinnamon
1 pinch black pepper


To cook quinoa:  add 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa to pot with 1 cup filtered water.  Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and let cook 10-15 minutes until water is absorbed.
To chiffonade basil:

In a small bowl, add lemon juice, honey, cinnamon and pepper.  Whisk together.  Add apples and coat them to prevent browning.  Add quinoa (cooled for salad or warm for breakfast) and toss.  Add remaining ingredients and toss.  I always add a little extra pinch of cinnamon and pepper here for added flavor but it's up to you.  Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes to let the flavor develop.Garnish with more basil on top and a fresh sliced whole strawberry.  Then enjoy.  I've packed mine into a lunch:

✌ YUM

* Don't feel bound to the recipe.  It is incredibly flexible and you can use your favorite herbs or nuts. Try Mint instead of Basil or  Almonds instead of Cashews.  You could also use sunflower seeds for a nut free option.

Quinoa Wrap

Quinoa was once referred to as the "Mother Grain" by the Incas and when mixed with fat and rolled into a powerful little ball was known to the Incan Army as "war balls."  It is no wonder this little seed (often mistaken for a grain) is considered a superfood.  Luckily for us, it is cheap and can be bought at almost any store, including my beloved Whole Foods and Central Market.  Quinoa comes in different colors and can be cooked, eaten raw when soaked, sprouted, and easily grown in the garden.  Therefore, I have a love affair with quinoa.  What's best about this light, fluffy and nutty flavored little seed is that it brings with it a taste of the exotic and hint of history.  Biting into a mouthful of this superseed invokes images of the Incas and a time when food was valued, worshiped even, for it's mystical medicinal and powerful healing abilities.  Eat quinoa and you will feel more beautiful, more energetic, and more akin to an Incan warrior than ever before!  Unless you plan on some human sacrifice or brutal warrior induced bloodshed, Quinoa will give you the energy needed to power though a modern day, a warrior-esque yoga session, or can simply be enjoyed for its YUM factor.  Try this wrap for a quick and easy lunch.

What you will need:

1 large leafed green - I've used swiss chard with the lower stem removed

1/2 cooked quinoa

1 carrot - shredded and tossed in lime juice

1/4 red bell pepper - julienned

1 julienned Persian cucumber (use organic and leave the skin on - there are many nutrients in the skin)

1/2 tsp chia seed

1 tsp raw sunflower seeds

1/2 tsp nutritional yeast (for the flavor and the B12)

1 tbsp organic hummus (or your favorite flavor of hummus or tahini)

Your julienned peppers should look like this is similar in size.  If they are slicked to large, it will be difficult to roll the wrap.

To cook quinoa: add to pot 1:2 ratio of quinoa to water.  This recipe calls for 1/2 cup cooked quinoa.  The quinoa will expand in size when cooked so I kept the leftover for a side salad.  To the pot 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa and 1 cup filtered water.  Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover, and let cook 10 to 15 minutes or until the water is absorbed. Fluff with fork.  LET COOL before adding to your wrap or your dark greens will get mushy.

Lay your large piece of swiss chard on a flat surface, spread hummus and then lay your ingredients along the middle of the leaf similar to preparing a sushi roll.  Something like this:

then ROLL TIGHTLY, this takes practice and you will get better each time!  Just remember to be gentle with your wrap otherwise it might form a small rip/hole/break.

Once you have your roll, slice down the middle for a nice lunch wrap or cut in thin slices for pinwheels to share!  Then enjoy!!

✌ YUM

My love affair with peanut butter continues ♡´ ¸.✿´´¯`•.¸¸. ི♥ྀ

 Vegan Peanut Butter Filled Chocolate Cookies


Makes about two dozen cookies.  In () are the amounts to use if you wish to cut the sugar/oil content of your cookies (I do!).

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup margarine  (2 tbsp coconut oil, 2 tbsp margarine)
1/2 cup sugar  (1/4 cup sugar)*
1/2 cup brown sugar  (1/4 cup brown sugar)
1/4 cup almond milk*
1/2 cup powdered sugar (2 tbsp powdered sugar)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup chocolate chips (optional)

* animal bones can be used in the bleaching process for white sugar so make sure it says vegan on the label.

* I like to use almond milk instead of soy to cut down on the amount of soy in my diet.

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• In a medium bowl, mix the flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda.
• In a separate bowl, cream together the margarine (coconut oil), sugar, and brown sugar. When the sugar has been well combined and the margarine (coconut oil) is evenly mixed, add the almond milk and mix.
• Add the wet ingredients into the dry and mix.
• In a small bowl, mix the peanut butter and powdered sugar using a spoon.  If desired, add chocolate chips and mix.
• Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Take a small amount of the chocolate dough and roll into a ball about the size of a golf ball. Flatten the ball onto the palm of your hand using your thumb.  It doesn't have to be perfectly flat.  Take a pinch of the peanut butter mixture and place it in the center of your chocolate dough. Fold the outer edges of your cookie dough up to the center and seal the edges.  If your cookie looks funny, just give it a gentle shaping before putting it on the cookie sheet.
• Bake for 8-12 minutes, remove from oven and let cool on a cookie rack before enjoying.

                                             ✌

Pineapple Curry

Weather forecast for today... rain, rain, rain ☁ and chance of rain ☂!
If I'm stuck inside then I want something full of color to fill my kitchen! Curry!!!
The local store (and by local, I mean the biggest store close to the island) here is called Central Market and it is heaven.  

   
Really, I could live there.  Always rows and rows of the freshest most beautiful flowers and plants line the outside and entry to this marvelous place.  Central Market is  a blissful combination of all grocery stores combined.

Here I can buy my eco friendly, cruelty free bath products, I can buy fresh sushi, pick up sacks of dirt for the garden, kombucha, and beer.  They have everything and it's one big warehouse of all things I might need.  For many reasons, I love it here.  Since Washington state has heaps of local farmers and the Kitsap region in particular has a good amount of organic farms, buying what I need in terms of local organic produce isway easier here than it was in LA.  However, one thing that is not local (cry) is tropical fruit.  I love pineapple and wish that the aforementioned pineapples would reconsider their homes in Hawaii/Costa Rica and relocate to the gardens of the Pacific Northwest.  But no, this isn't going to happen.   So I head over to the well stocked produce area with the biggest selection of organic produce I have ever seen (♥) and buy my imported (yet still organic) pineapple and hurry home to make:

Pineapple Curry

Curry is simple, full of exotic flavor, and really really forgiving in terms of ingredients and expertise.  My usual go to curry is yellow curry with potato, carrot, peas, and tofu but today, I've made pineapple curry :)

An excellent curry powder

Cinnamon, cloves and fennel are a must for a nice sweet curry spice blend.

1 cinnamon stick 10 cloves 1 tsp fennel seeds2 tbsp turmeric powder1 tbsp whole coriander seeds 2 tsp cumin seeds 1 tsp whole black peppercorns 1 tsp fenugreek seeds 1 tsp cayenne pepper (or if you are sensitive to spice cut this in half)1/2 tsp ginger powder 1. In a frying pan, toss the whole seeds in, turn to medium heat and toss gently every few minutes.  Break up the cinnamon stick and add this as well.   This will start to smell amazing and fragrant in no time at all. When you can smell all the spices, you know they've developed. 2. Transfer the spices to a grinder.  A clean and very dry (if wet at all the spice will stick) coffee grinder will do the trick.  Grind the spices very well into a powder. 3. Place freshly ground spices into a bowl and mix with the other spices.  This mixture will keep for several weeks in a dark and cool pantry or cupboard. * if you don't have all of these spices on hand or if you want to buy them all then a premade curry mixture works just fine.  I just think it's fun to blend spices ;) The Basics: coconut milk, veggies, rice - yes, it's that simple. 1/2 cup coconut milk  1/4 cup water or veggie stock if you have it on hand 4 cloves garlic 1/2 cup coarsely chopped onion (I like mine to be fairly big pieces) 1 medium russet potato cut in cubes 2 tomato cut into wedges 1 cup diced fresh pineapple 1 red bell pepper chopped roughly (remove seeds) 1/4 cup chopped cilantro 1 tbsp curry powder 1.  In a skillet bring a small amount of coconut oil to medium heat (you can use olive oil but coconut is best not only for flavor but coconut oil handles high heat beautifully).  Add potato and garlic.  Let cook for two minutes and remember to stir occasionally so that the potato does not stick.  Add 1 tbsp of water and cover.  The water will help the potato to steam and cook faster without browning.  Reduce heat to medium low and leave covered for 2 to 3 minutes adding water as needed. 2.  Add coconut milk, curry powder and vegetables (except the cilantro).  Bring to medium high heat and stir well.  If you like it HOT then add a dash of cayenne powder to the mix.  When the coconut milk begins to bubble lightly, reduce to low heat and cover.  Add the water as desired for the thickness of curry you prefer.  I add all the water. 3.  When you can slip a fork easily into the pieces of potato, then your curry is done.  Mix in the chopped cilantro and toss.  Serve with brown rice and enjoy!                                                      yum yum  ✌

Vegfest

Seattle's Vegfest 2012

With so many recent news headlines eschewing the consumption of meat, it’s no wonder the majority of visitors to Vegfest 2012 were new to the world of vegetarianism.  Seattle’s popular Vegfest was held over the weekend at Seattle Center’s Exhibition Hall and was presented by the Vegetarians of Washington.  Offering up free food sampling from over 500 vendors, the delightful smells wafting from Vegfest’s sample room surely enticed omnivores and vegetarians alike.

Vegetarian and vegan food vendors were present and loaded with samples galore of mouthwatering vegetarian fare.  The Canadian cheese substitute company (which I loooove), Daiya was a popular booth with samples of their much anticipated cheese wedges in havarti, cheddar, and jack flavors.  Vegfest visitors could sample a wide range of different tofu, spreads, crackers, chips, smoothies, teas, juice, coconut waters, and of course, plenty of vegan desserts.  Seattle’s famous Mighty-O’s doughnuts was handing out samples of their exquisite vegan doughnuts and local un-baker from Greenlake, Jodee’s Desserts was handing out samples of their fresh blended vegan cheesecake in double chocolate, key lime, and mocha flavors.  

For anyone looking to walk away well equipped with the knowledge to eat more vegetarian fare in their home, Vegfest had a large selection of guest speakers including the well known Neal Barnard, M.D. (The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook) and Ellen Jaffe Jones (Eat Vegan on $4 a Day).  The local Seattle based PCC Market was not only a key sponsor for the event but had organized a series of cooking demo’s for Vegfest guests.  As if tasty treats and health talks weren’t enough to entice the everyday omnivore to eat more vegetables, visitors could take one of the many health checks available.  You could check your cholesterol level, blood pressure, or antioxidant levels and chat with plenty of health and nutrition experts about your results.  One look at my blood pressure and cholesterol and everyone knew I was vegan!

This was my first time at VegFest and it was a great event.  Since it was free to the public, it really proved to be a great tool for educating non-veggies about the foods, health benefits, and ease of a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle.  My only critique would be that the sample floor had way to much tofu.  Tofu is good for you but only if it organic, non gmo, and enjoyed in small quantities.  However, there was tofu spread, tofu cheese, and about a million different brands of tofu.  There were no tempeh, seitan, or even tvp (textured vegetable protein) booths.  Also, there were many sweets available to taste alongside the tofu (most of them made with tofu) and I felt it didn't give a good example of a balanced vegan diet.  One man came up to me and said, "I'm starting to get the feeling that vegetarians all live off of dessert!"  I can see how anyone would think this when walking through a room full of cakes, ice cream, cookies, doughnuts, and chocolate.  One main complaint offered up by omnivores when discussing a vegan diet is the concern that all earthly pleasures will have to be given up and leave the near monk like individual in a life of perpetual want and desire.  Well, after walking through this sugar laden pleasure taste cloud of a sample room, no one could think twice about the sinful indulgences offered up for a vegan palate.

                                    

                                                                                

Hi guys!  Wow, it's been a long time since my last blog and I apologize.  After a car accident last February and an uprooting move from California to Washington, I've finally settled long enough to blog some more.  I left Los Angeles in search of greener (literally) pastures and have landed (for the time being) on Bainbridge Island just next door to Seattle.  Now that the Pacific Northwest is my new home, I'll find out the best of the best and all things Vegan in Seattle. Thank you for joining me on this vegan venture and I hope you enjoy the new posts!

Get Your Green On!

Mom was right.  We all need to eat our veggies.  But, I'm not talkin' 'bout those canned, aluminum saturated dead veggies that you get out of your pantry.  Save that for the food storage (hey, canned food is better than no food if the shit hits the fan).  What I'm talking about is basically putting your salad in your blender.  Sounds kind of gross but it is sooooo much better than you think.  Many raw food junkies claim that raw dark green will help fight free radicals, enhance cell regeneration and keep you lookin' smokin' hot! Plus, if you're working out, then all you need to do is remember that Popeye ate them greens too!

Super Food Smoothie #1

Easy Prep - toss in blender, blend, enjoy!!
serving size: 2

4 kale leaves (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 cup spinach
1/2 raspberries (or strawberries)
2 tbsp green super food powder
5 cups vanilla almond milk
1 banana (to emulsify)


Super Food Smoothie #2

1 cup cucumber (peeled and diced)
1 cup fresh parsley
1 avocado (to emulsify)
4 cups hemp milk
2 celery stalks chopped
2 tbsp green super food powder

Super Food Smoothie #3

2 cups spinach
1/2 cup cilantro
1 banana (to emulsify)
1/2 cup mango
5 cups original almond milk
2 tbsp green super food powder

* Green Super food powder can be bought at any health foods store like Sprouts, Whole Foods, and even Trader Joe's.  It will contain a mix of super foods such as:
Alfalfa leaf extract, barley grass juice powder, pea fiber, rice flour, apple powder, wheat grass juice powder, spirulina powder, spinach powder, green tea leaf extract, blue green algae, broccoli powder, ginko leaf powder, bilberry fruit extract.

Cheesy Onion Quesadillas, Mexican Rice, Spicy Black Beans and Tacos

Yes, I said it. Ooey, gooey, yummy cheese! But, wait.  Isn't this supposed to be vegan?  Isn't vegan food just carrot sticks and lettuce? Well, can you give me a "Hell No!!"
Vegan food is amazing and the options are as varied as any other cuisine.  Therefore, let me take you on a tour of two of my favorite Mexican dishes.

First, we have the Quesadilla.  There are, of course, a million different ways to cook a tortilla and I love me some beans and rice to go on the side of this puppy.  I know that time is always in shortage so, if you don't have time, buy premade corn tortillas.  I suggest buying organic and natural.  If you do have time, then check out my recipe for making tortillas from scratch (easier than you think!).

Cheesy Onion Quesadilla, Mexican Rice and Spicy Beans

For the Quesadilla filling:

1/2 white onion (sliced)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 ear corn
1 cup cheese (make sure that your vegan cheese is casein free)

Boil water enough to submerge the ear of corn.  Cook the corn until tender then use a knife to scrape the kernels from the cob.  In a pan heat olive oil over medium high heat, add onions and saute for 5 minutes.  Lower the heat to medium, add garlic, corn and chili powder.  Saute for an additional 5 minutes.  In the meantime, in a frying pan heat a small amount of olive oil on low heat.  Place you tortilla's in the pan for a few minutes on each side.  Add the filling and the cheese and fold over your tortilla.  Leave on heat until your cheese is melted.

Mexican Rice
1 cup organic brown rice
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 cup of tomato juice (sodium free)
1/4 cup frozen peas
1/4 cup corn (use frozen corn or use some corn from the cob in the above recipe)
1/4 cup chopped carrot

Cook your rice according to the instructions on the package.  For me, a fail safe is to bring two cups of water to a boil.  Add once cup of rice, cover and reduce heat to simmer.  Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until the rice is soft.  In the meantime, in a saucepan, saute the garlic and carrot over medium heat for ten minutes.  Keep a careful eye on your garlic, if it starts to brown, reduce your heat.  Add the peas and corn and saute for an addition two minutes.  Then add your tomato juice and spices.  Stir.  Carefully, spoon in your rice and mix in until the tomato juice is absorbed.


Spicy Black Beans

Don't get me wrong, I love easy premade black beans but I hate that they come in a can.  There have been countless arguments over raw versus living foods and food from a can is not living.  Therefore, I recommend that you make your beans from scratch.  To do this, take your dry beans and soak them overnight.  In the morning, rinse you beans and put them in a slow cooker.  Cover adequately with water and cook for four hours on high heat.  Add 2 bunches (that's right, two bunches) of roughly chopped garlic, 1 tablespoon salt, 1 tablespoon pepper and two chopped peppers. Stir in your spices and cook until soft, stirring occasionally.  This will usually be an additional two to three hours.  Then your beans will be ready, homemade, (free of aluminum deposits), fresh and delicious!!! Plus, your house will smell amazing.  At this point, you can pour yourself a margarita and continue.

Take you beans with their liquid and transfer to a glass bowl.  To them, add a finely chopped jalapeno pepper, salt to taste and fresh cilantro.  If you like, garnish with a small amount of vegan cheese.

My Love Affair With Peanut Butter

Ah, the creamy deliciousness that is peanut butter.  I love the satisfying and indulgent flavor of peanut butter along with its versatility.  From the heavenly combination of peanut butter and chocolate, to my all time favorite peanut butter cookies and peanut thai salad, this stuff goes with many different dishes.  Plus, it's full of protein and really fixes my cravings. Today's dish is inspired by pad thai, which I love, but it's a raw pasta salad version.  Here you go:

Peanut Dressing Recipe

1/2 cup no salt added peanut butter (creamy works best)
1/4 cup white wine vinegar
1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce or Braggs Amino Acids
1 tbsp raw organic agave nectar
4 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cayenne powder
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 cloves of garlic, minced finely

whisk all ingredients together in a bowl.  I like my peanut dressing to be spicy so I add chopped jalapeno pepper if I have it on hand.  For the salad itself, this is a raw dish so the vegetables will be a mock pasta.

1 zucchini, julienne cut
5 cups of julienne cut broccoli and carrot (I like to buy the pre-cut organic Trader Joes bag)
1 bunch of cherry tomatos (you can also use roma tomato's but my garden vine tomatoes are cherry and very ripe today)
1/2 white onion, finely chopped
1 bunch cilantro to taste
3 cups shredded organic spinach

I try to always use all organic produce.  For foods like spinach and the vegetables we are using, buying organic is important.  They have no peel and the outer skin of zucchini is very thin, so these foods are quite susceptible to pesticides.  Put all of your ingredients into a bowl and toss them in the peanut dressing.  I like to garnish with fresh cilantro and chopped peanuts (but I didn't have them today) to add extra flavor.  Since I'm eating this dish for lunch, I added a top of shredded carrot in lemon juice so that it's extra light and fresh and springy tasting.  Here is the finished product:

What’s a Vegan?

Sounds simple enough, right? I guess not so much. It brings to mind that scene in “Everything is Illuminated” where Elijah Wood’s character tries to explain that he’s vegetarian so all he gets for dinner is a plain potato. People ask me all the time what exactly it means to be vegan and what the difference is between a vegan and a vegetarian. Most amusing of all, people ask me, “So, what do you eat then?” For someone who has already been through the transition, this is immensely entertaining as I once pondered these same questions myself. To keep it simple, a vegetarian is stage 1 and a vegan is stage 2. Vegetarians eat eggs, milk and cheese. Although I disagree with this, some people call themselves vegetarians even if they eat fish. I guess it’s easy for me to say this isn’t accurate because I never liked fish. But hey, a move to cut out meat is a good one and if they want to say they are vegetarian (but sometimes eat fish) then that’s fine with me. When you hear about “ovo-lacto” vegetarians, those are regular vegetarians. They eat eggs (ovo) and dairy (lacto).

I call vegans stage 2 because they take another step and eliminate all animal protein. That means no meat, no fish, no eggs, no diary, no cheese and no animal proteins. We find these sneaky animal proteins in things like chicken/fish broth, fake cheeses that have casein, and a whole slew of foods that have animal stuff in them. For instance, kimchi is made with shrimp, soups that have cream, caesar salad that is made with anchovies/anchovy paste, meat substitutes that have egg whites in them and then the ultimate sneak: Asian sauces. I was eating veggie tempura rolls at my favorite Japanese restaurant in Koreatown (yeah, I know but there is Japanese food all over LA, in Little Tokyo too) and they told me that the sauce on my sushi was eel sauce!! So, sometimes it’s hard to find out just what you are eating. When eating out at a restaurant, you can feel like a huge pain when asking the waiter, “is there chicken stock in that? You don’t know? Um, yes, please ask the chef.” However, some places here in LA – especially in West Hollywood, are used to that. My waiter gets an extra tip if they are cool with my vegan requests.

If you’re starting to feel like being vegan is just too much of a pain, then let me say, just take it one step at a time. Start by cutting down on the red meat and chicken. When you start to cut back on meat and open your appetite to eating more veggie based dishes, then you start to realize how many there are. People have this misconception that vegans and vegetarians are limited in what they eat. Well, in response I have two things to say: 1. Don’t you get tired of endless hamburgers? 2. Whatever you can do with a meat dish, you can do with a vegan dish. So, give it a try. Have a vegetarian dish or if you are feeling especially giddy, try an extra special vegan dish. I really love restaurants that cater to us Veg Heads. If you’re in LA, then everyone knows about Real Food Daily – all vegan and all organic. I LOVE Japanese food and the restaurant in Little Tokyo – Shojin – is all vegan, all organic, and 100% amazing! If you’re making dinner yourself, buy veggie patties for your burgers or buy veggies for you pizza instead of meat. I guarantee that you’ll love the taste and you’ll be able to skip that heartburn medication. So, go ahead and veg out!

Greetings from the Venturing Vegan

I know what you’re thinking. “What makes you think that reading your little vegan blog is going to make me stop eating meat?” So, let me answer that for everyone right now. It won’t. That’s not my intention. I’m not the door to door white collar and tie missionary of the vegan world. I’m more like the menu option with the little green leaf next to it saying, “hey, this is a choice that is healthy but you can also order the steak on the second page.” I’m here to offer something new and it’s up to you if you want it or not. Venturing Vegan is my honest, homegrown and sometimes adventurous venture into the vegan world.

A little back-story: When I was 9 years old, I became a vegetarian. That is, I stopped eating meat (red meat, chicken and fish). A bit of a picky eater, I never liked fish so eliminating it from my diet wasn’t difficult. Strangely enough, eliminating meat was not difficult at all. I feel that our society really mislabels meat products and in the eyes of a child “meat” doesn’t necessarily equate dead animal flesh. When I discovered that my beloved chicken nuggets, hamburger and bacon were actually animals, I was a really pissed off little kid. I was angry at my parents for feeding me these poor dead animals and calling it by another name. No Juliet, this rose is not as sweet by any other name. Of course, what started it all was that infamous moment in a child’s life when they bite into a piece of chicken and see a wormy blue vein sticking out from where they just took a huge bite. Everyone I know, child and adult alike, thinks this is gross, because it is. But as a child, I was beyond grossed out. I was pissed that a piece of chicken had actually been a living breathing animal. Now, it was now dead and fried on my plate just so that I could eat it. It was at that moment I realized I didn’t want to eat meat and that I would never again be responsible for an animal dying just so that I could eat it.

Thanks to the internet, I soon realized that it wasn’t just the responsibility of death that deterred me from eating meat. PETA opened my eyes to factory farming, circus animal abuse and slaughterhouses. Suddenly the personification of animals in Orwell’s “Animal Farm” took on a much deeper meaning. I had suddenly realized that being vegetarian was much more than a preference in taste. It was a lifestyle change that resulted in the improvement of my life alongside that of animals. Luckily, my mother (the forever friendly, spiritually-chic, permahippie) was totally supportive of my newfound vegetarianism. My sister became a vegetarian too. My father however, a steak eating Texan, would only understand the benefits of this lifestyle choice some 15 years later.

The move to veganism (no animal proteins at all) came only 18 months ago. My shift to veganism was two parts. The first part was due strictly to a need to find some change. I had just been dumped, on Christmas Eve, by my boyfriend of two years that I thought could actually have been the love of my life. But no, I, like so many other people who have felt the loss of love and the strangling sense of rejection, realized that I had been wrong. So, out with the old and in with the new. Good motto. The end of the year, might I add, is a great time to be dumped. Why? Because it is a time when we naturally look to clean out the clutter, redefine ourselves and our lives. My New Years Resolution that year was to focus on me and me alone. I outlined an exercise regime (which, proudly, I still stick to two years later) and I started reading more for pleasure. One of the first books I read, a Christmas gift from my mother, was written by Christina Pirello and called, “This Crazy Vegan Life.” By the time I had finished reading it, I was convinced that cheese and all dairy had to go. I had been blissfully consuming copious amounts of cheese and dairy as a vegetarian. Of course, when you shift from eating meat to eating veggies, sometimes you feel the need for something with substance. This, I found could be provided by cheese. The ooey, gooey, stringy deliciousness that is cheese was something I ate everyday. However, I was getting fat!! I also didn’t know the evil that is this conventional substance we call cheese. I always thought that vegan were crazy extremists who pushed this diet thing a little too far. How in the world could anyone live without cheese? Without pizza? Without ice cream?!? Well, 18 months later, all I can say, is how did I ever live with it?

What I will attempt to do with this blog is to open a dialogue about the stigma, prejudice and misconceptions placed on a vegan diet. Further, I hope to answer some questions about veganism, health and maybe even life in general. For anyone who is interested in what they eat, how to eat healthier, and the how buts and whys surrounding veganism, this blog is for you.