Feeling Like a Goddess (Salad)

Well, it's not like I was feeling like a goddess - rather, I was feeling like having a Goddess Nicoise salad for dinner. With Green Goddess Garlic Dressing. But since I was eating like a goddess, I thought I should take a picture of me with my fresh and (temporarily) blown-out new 'do:

Normally my hair has springy, corkscrew-style curls, but I just went to see my good friend Debbie at Divinity Salon this afternoon. My hubby came home early from work, so I went to get my hair cut and blown-out. I tell you, I've been getting hair cuts my whole life (duh), but it was only 6 months ago that I started having a friend cut my hair. What a difference! She knows me, she knows my lifestyle, and she knows exactly how to cut and style my hair. She's amazing! If you live in RI, I highly recommend visiting her salon!!

So, yeah, maybe I'm feeling a little goddess-y with my straight locks. In a couple of days, my hair will be curly again and I'll be back to my normal, stay-at-home-mommy self :)

Anyway, back to the food...it was hot and humid as all get-out today, so it was the perfect day to have a big, hearty main-dish salad for dinner. Enter the Goddess Nicoise salad (with Green Goddess Garlic Dressing) from Appetite for Reduction:

Steamed potatoes & green beans, kalamata olives, sliced red onions, cherry tomatoes, chickpeas, capers, and baby romaine lettuce, drizzled with a zesty, herby dressing. I loved it, my hubby loved it, and my son ate most of his portion. I'm sure I'll be making this a lot this summer!

Raw Wraps and Juice

Oy, I have not been a good blogger lately. I am so behind on my posts. I have been eating, rest assured, but my meals are waiting patiently on my computer to be shared with the world (and by world, I mean the 3 people out there that read my blog :) 

Let's recap Monday's eats....

I started the day with some yoga, then I chugged choked down this green juice:

Believe me when I tell you, I was singing the "Well, you're not hard core...." song in my head the whole time I was drinking this. Apparently, using 15 or so leftover collard stems makes your juice really spicy. There was also some celery, carrot, lemon juice, cucumber, romaine lettuce, and ginger in here, not that it mattered. All I could taste was really spicy collard stems. It took me two sittings to get this down! I really earned that Carrot-Ginger Smoothie later in the morning!!

For dinner, we noshed on Gena's Indian Wraps, which totally rawk, by the way. I slow roasted my veggies instead of dehydrating them, though, because I'm a lazy bugger. I really hate cleaning my dehydrator!

I credit Gena with giving me the courage to try raw collard wraps. I always thought they would be really chewy and kind of gross, but turns out, I love them!!

Here's the assembly line: de-stemmed collard leaf, topped with Gena's Curried Cashew Spread...

 ...some julienned carrots....

 ...and some slow roasted veggies. I used red bell pepper, eggplant, zucchini, and carrots.

 Roll them up, stick some toothpicks in them, and call it a day.

 Well, it's a day after I added some steamed green beans and some chickpeas :)

These wraps are so good. They're perfect anytime, but especially during this warmer weather!

Guacamame, I Think I Love You

I know it doesn't have the same ring as "Holy guacamole," but I'm going to say it anyway.

Holy Guacamame.

Tonight I made the Big Fat Taco Salad from Appetite for Reduction. The Big Fat Taco Salad includes two other AFR recipes, Fresh Tomato Salsa Dressing and Guacamame. And Guacamame is where it's at, folks. Now, I love me some avocados. I eat several a week. I love avocado sandwiches, avocados on salads, avocados in raw soups, and avocados on toast. I do not fear the avocado and its "scary" fat content. Avocado is so good for you, and the fat is such healthy fat, that it doesn't phase me one bit. However, as much as I love my avocados, it is really, really easy to eat a whole lot of avocado in one sitting if it is presented as regular, straight-up guacamole. And no matter how healthy avocado is for you, it's not exactly healthy to eat 2-3 avocados in one sitting. Enter the beauty of Guacamame! Isa's recipe combines one avocado with edamame, some tomato, red onion, cilantro, lime juice, a bit of water, and salt. You puree it until it becomes a voluminous bowl of the yummy green stuff. I stared at this bowl and couldn't believe that there was only one avocado in there!! Now, it's hard to tell, but this is a fairly large pyrex bowl!

I was hesitant to try it, because I was like, oh come on, it's going to taste like watered down guacamole. But you know what?? It didn't taste watered down. It tasted delicious. I had to stop myself from scooping up half the bowl with the salsa verde tortilla chips I had just opened!

Here's the assembled salad: shredded romaine lettuce, the Fresh Tomato Salsa Dressing, black beans, cilantro, crushed salsa verde tortilla chips, and the piece de resistance, the Guacamame.

This made a huge salad, and I was delighted. I love taco salad!!

There will be much more Guacamame in my future, I can guarantee you!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Wow, life has been crazy lately! With the long holiday weekend, my hubby's birthday, music class, mom's group outings, and other things going on, I've been super busy and haven't had a chance to blog. Truthfully, I've also had several nights lately where I've eaten some "repeats" and thus didn't feel the need to blog about them. But here are some of the yummy things I have had lately...

Green juice with celery, cucumber, ginger, carrot, spinach, and lemon juice:

Creamy Asian Pear and Tempeh Salad with Wasabi Dressing from Veganomicon, seaweed & wasabi rice crackers, and an Asian salad (not pictured):

And, for my hubby's birthday, a special dinner and birthday treat. He requested the Chile Cornmeal-Crusted Tofu Po'Boys from Veganomicon:

This sandwich is the bomb-diggity. For realz. The tofu is mega-delicious and almost sort of catfish-like:

The tofu is baked and served on a crusty baguette with some cholula-spiked Vegenaise, cabbage slaw, and pickles. I had some extra cornmeal mixture left, so I decided to toss some chickpeas in it and roast them. They were really good - all 3 of us loved them!!

For his birthday dessert, he chose something new to try, the Toasted Coconut Cupcakes with Coffee Buttercream Frosting from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World. I did not let my lack of on-hand ingredients deter me - off to Whole Foods I went to get the necessary coffee extract, coconut extract, and vegan shortening. My hubby is an amazing man and I was happy to bake him something special for his birthday! The cupcakes, by the way, were A-MAZING. And I am no baker, believe me!

My son was excited to try one of Daddy's birthday "pupcakes" -- too cute! He liked it, although I replaced his frosting with some coconut butter, which he loves anyway. I wasn't risking a big sugar-high right before bedtime!!

Finally, I hosted my mother's group at my home yesterday. I planned a scavenger hunt/nature hike-themed outing and thought that "ants-on-a-log" would make a fun snack:

It's just sunflower seed butter, raisins, and organic celery. Easy-peasy!

Soup, Salads, and Breads

I have a new Thin Mint Smoothie addiction. I think I have had 5 in the last three days! :) What can I say, I love smoothies. There are worse things in life.

I got the urge to bake the other night, which is odd, because I don't fancy myself a baker. I don't like the precision that baking requires. When I do bake, I often curse. A lot. I don't curse much in regular life. But when I bake, I become this whole other person. Unhappy baking lady. It's not pretty.

So, yes, I was surprised I got the baking bug. I wanted to make some cornbread and some pumpkin muffins for the freezer. I actually prefer the cornbread when it's frozen - not sure why, but I do love the frosty texture!

My favorite recipe is Grandma's Cornbread Made Vegan from VegWeb.com. I have doctored this recipe a dozen different ways, and somehow, it always comes out delicious. It's truly idiot-proof. I always sub ground flax for the egg replacer, agave and maple syrup for the white sugar, and whole-wheat pastry flour for the white flour. I have served this "healthy" cornbread to countless people (omnis and vegans alike), and everyone loves it. It is fab-u-lous!!

I also baked up a dozen Pumpkin Spice Muffins. I substitute agave for the sugar, but otherwise follow as directed. These are quick and easy to make, and my hubby and son both love them!

I really liked the Caesar salad recipe I made recently from Appetite for Reduction, so I made that for dinner the other night, topped with some Basic Baked Tofu, also from AFR. Basic baked tofu is as easy as:

Step 1 - Press your tofu in the morning while you're making your breakfast smoothie:

Step 2 - Slice your tofu, then marinate it all day:

Step 3 - Bake your tofu while you're drinking your afternoon smoothie :) Then slice it into strips and adorn your beautiful salad at dinner time:

Some steamed cauliflower rounded out the meal. I put some salt and nooch on my cauli.

Last night, I made Gena's Moroccan Spiced Carrot Soup for dinner, along with some salad. Moroccan food is perhaps my favorite ethnic food - I just love it. The spices, the flavors, the veggies, everything. Love it, love it, love it. I hope to visit Morocco some day - it's probably number one on my bucket list. But anyway, back to the soup. I've been making this soup for over a year now, and I've always liked it. But I've been on a recipe-tweaking-kick lately, so I decided to make a few changes to the soup. I added a chopped zucchini, a couple of scallions, a little knob of ginger, and some cilantro to the mix. I also topped the finished soup with a smattering of raisins and pumpkin seeds. I think the raisins were a great touch, because I always love having raisins or dates in my Moroccan stews and tagines. The zucchini also added some thickness to the soup, which was cool. I think I'll make it this way from now on!

Finally, tonight I made one of our favorite raw salads, a raw taco salad using two recipes from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen. I make the Taco Nut Meat and the Red Pepper Corn Salsa, then add both to the top of some raw greens (I used spinach tonight) and cucumber slices. The Taco Nut Meat takes literally 3 minutes to make, and it is incredible how you can blend up walnuts, almonds, cumin, coriander, salt, olive oil, and Bragg's, and have it taste like taco meat, but it does. Ani is a genius! The Red Pepper Corn Salsa is also really easy to make. I think this entire meal takes me less than 30 minutes to make.

Here's a close-up of the salsa:

Doesn't that look delish? It's so fresh-tasting. It has tomatoes, bell pepper, cilantro, scallions, salt, garlic, and corn in it. So simple, but so good. That's why I'm such a big fan of simple raw foods recipes - I have a dehydrator but I hardly ever use it. I prefer simple blended soups and salads like these. They don't take a lot of time to make and they are healthy and filling. With the warmer weather approaching, it's a good time to incorporate more raw foods into your diet. Check out your local farmer's market and get inspired!

Try Something New!

I am very much a creature of habit. I suspect some of that has to do with my predisposition toward anxiety - I often get nervous in the face of unfamiliarity. However, I've been making great strides in trying to reduce my anxiety by forcing myself to try new things and shake up my routines. One area where my anxiety tends to manifest itself is in my cooking and eating habits. If I like something, I tend to stick with it...for weeks, months, even years! I tend to follow recipes to the letter, and if I like it, I'm often resistant to changing it or trying new variations. But since I'm trying to not be so rigid with my eats, I decided to change up a favorite recipe for yesterday's dinner. The result, I'm tickled to say, was a recipe that I like even better than the original!

Since it was Monday, I was in the mood for a raw soup and salad kind of dinner. However, I desperately needed to go grocery shopping first, as my produce bin yielded only a small head of romaine lettuce, a half-used bunch of cilantro, a shriveled up bunch of celery, and a knob of ginger. Yeah, that was it. Sad. I had to forgo my usual Monday morning fresh juice due to lack of supplies. Fortunately, there were some frozen cherries in my freezer, so I had a Chocolate-Cherry Smoothie to cheer myself up after yoga :)

But back to my soup and salad....

I thought I was going to make Gena's Carrot-Avocado Bisque for dinner. I'd made it before, and I certainly liked it. But after I got home from the store, I realized that I was craving more of a coconutty-flavor and less of a limey-flavor. I also had that cilantro and pathetic-looking celery in the fridge to use up. Could I improvise a little here? I thought so. I juiced my carrots and some ginger and then dumped the juice into my Vita-Mix along with an avocado, the celery, cilantro, and some Bragg Liquid Aminos. I blended it up until it was nice and smooth, then I poured it into my bowl and topped it with a sprinkle of cinnamon and some dried unsweetened coconut. The result? Pure, amazing, raw soup deliciousness. All because I dared to try something different! I was so worried that my tweaks would ruin an already tried-and-true recipe, but I was pleasantly surprised that it came out so well. Give it a try!

Raw Carrot-Avo-Coco Soup (inspired by this recipe)
Serves 4

4 cups fresh carrot-ginger juice (I use approximately 4 lbs of carrots and a 1/2 inch knob of ginger)
1 ripe avocado, pitted and peeled
2 tbs Bragg Liquid Aminos (can substitute tamari or soy sauce)
3 large celery stalks (including leaves), chopped
1/5 bunch of cilantro, stems and leaves
Cinnamon and dried, unsweetened coconut for topping

Blend juice, avocado, Bragg's, celery, and cilantro on high until smooth. Pour into serving bowls and top with a sprinkle of cinnamon and some coconut.

It is sooooo good! I served my soup with side salads and we all had happy tummies. My son really liked the soup and even stole some extra from my hubby's bowl! :)

Inspired by last night's success, I decided to take another chance this morning with one of my favorite smoothies, my Chocolate Mint Smoothie. Now, creature of habit that I am, I am always very, very hesitant to tinker with my "established" smoothies. There are a certain few (Chocolate Mint, Chocolate Cherry, Chocolate Ginger, Carrot Ginger) that I love just.the.way.they.are. And yet, when I opened my freezer this morning, I caught a glance of some raw cacao nibs hanging out on my freezer door. Hmm, I thought...could I improve this already-awesome smoothie?

Turns out...yes. Yes, I could.

Thin Mint Smoothie
Makes 1 large serving / 2 small servings

1 1/2 cups water
1 heaping tablespoon carob powder
1 1/2 droppersful liquid peppermint stevia
1 heaping tablespoon raw almond butter
1 tablespoon raw hemp protein powder
1 very large frozen banana
1 large handful baby spinach (optional, but it gives it a pretty, green color!)
5-6 ice cubes
1-2 tablespoons raw cacao nibs, to taste

Blend all ingredients on high until smooth. Pour into a glass and top with another drop or two of peppermint stevia and more cacao nibs, if your heart so desires. It tastes like you're drinking a glass of Thin Mints, I kid you not. The cacao nibs give the smoothie that little bit of gritty texture that makes you think there are some cookies in there. Yum!

I loved the carob in this - and the raw cacao nibs made up for the lack of caffeine :)

Breakfast for Dinner

I suppose the title of this post is a bit of a misnomer. If you've learned anything about me, you know that my breakfasts consist solely of smoothies, fresh juice, and the occasional bowl of oatmeal. That's it. I mean,  I have a smoothie for breakfast every single day - the fresh juices are added on Mondays, and the bowls of oatmeal are added after my smoothie on days when I need a little more sustenance. However, once in a blue moon, I get a craving for some "real" breakfast food - pancakes, waffles, french toast, etc. Even so, I still won't eat this for breakfast - I find it way too heavy in my tummy in the mornings. Rather, I'll make a big breakfast meal and eat it at dinner time, when I'm much more in the mood for something hearty and substantial.

Last night, I whipped up two recipes from Vegan Brunch, Isa Chandra Moskowitz's fourth cookbook and, admittedly, the one I've probably neglected the most. I cook frequently from her Appetite for Reduction and Veganomicon cookbooks; her Moroccan Vegetable Tagine from Vegan with a Vengeance is one of my favorite recipes ever; and her cookies and cupcakes from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World never fail to impress my omnivorous friends and family. But Vegan Brunch has definitely not gotten the love it deserves from me, mostly because I don't "cook" breakfast all that often. But I had been thinking about waffles all weekend, and I decided that waffles would be on the menu Sunday night. Hubby enthusiastically supported this decision :)

Since we were getting rather hungry, I asked my hubby if he'd be willing to make the Old-Fashioned Chelsea Waffles while I made the Basic Scrambled Tofu with spinach, red onion, and broccoli. Both dishes required rather close attention, so I was happy to have the extra set of hands (and eyes) on the food.

The tofu scramble was absolutely amazing - easily the best one I've ever had. It was so easy to make and the nooch really added a great flavor to the dish:

I wished I'd taken some pictures of the waffles cooking, or at least a close-up of a freshly made waffle, but you'll have to settle for a picture of my hubby's plate (before he added Earth Balance and maple-flavored agave nectar to his waffles):

Here's my plate**, complete with EB/agave on my waffles, ketchup on my scramble, and some baked garlic fries:

**Plate #1, that is. I went back for more waffles and way more scramble!!

The verdict? HOLY YUM! The waffles had some cornmeal in the batter, which gave them a crispy texture which totally rocked. The tofu scramble was sooooo good, especially when I added the ketchup (BTW I never ate ketchup with my eggs when I was an omni!) The baked fries were an easy way to add some "homefries" without having to do any work. Hubby, toddler, and I all devoured our food. I don't know why I don't make breakfast-for-dinner more often, but I am going to rectify that situation!

When an Eggplant Becomes a Mushroom

For years, I avoided mushrooms. I just couldn't bring myself to eat them. I had read something in The pH Miracle that basically said eating mushrooms was like eating a bunch of toxins, and that stuck with me. Eventually, I got over my mushroom-phobia and started eating them again. However, it was during my self-imposed mushroom exile that I got Veganomicon and was immediately (and often) drawn to the recipe for Portobello Salad with Spicy Mustard Dressing. Even though I didn't like mushrooms, the salad itself still sounded awesome - mixed greens, avocado, red onion, chickpeas, and roasted mushrooms with a maple-mustard dressing. I kept thinking, if only this salad didn't have mushrooms.... And then one day I was like, well, why don't you try it with something else? Like eggplant? Ding, ding, ding!! We have a winner! So, I did, and long story short, the salad turned out incredibly awesome and I still make it with eggplant, even though I eat mushrooms.

Slicing the eggplant...

Then marinating it in a balsamic vinegar-tamari-garlic-olive oil-cooking wine mixture:

The eggplant gets roasted and becomes silky and uber-delish:

Then I simply layer the salad: baby greens, chickpeas, red onion, avocado, eggplant, and dressing. It's so tasty and I'm so glad I didn't let a little thing like mushrooms stop me from making it! It's one of my favorite recipes out of Veganomicon and I've made it dozens of times. My hubby actually requested it this week so that's why I made it!

It's actually kind of perfect: carbs, fiber, and protein from the chickpeas; healthy fats from the avocado; and the baby greens, eggplant, and red onion provide some veggie health.

Okay, it's movie time - good night!

Getting Old??

I think I'm starting to feel my age. Either that, or I'm starting to feel the cumulative effects of a lack of sleep :) Yesterday, I wrote about how I woke up early, went for a long run, and felt wonderful and energetic. Today, I woke up and felt like a 32-year-old mother of a toddler who probably ran a little more than she should have yesterday, and didn't sleep as much as she should have, and whose back and shoulders were feeling cranky in the humidity. In short, I did not bound out of bed at 4:30 this morning. I got up at 6 and wanted desperately to just stretch out my muscles (which I did). The P90X Stretch routine was the extent of my exercise today, and only because I wanted to try and stand somewhat upright today. In that regard, I suppose it was a success :)

Since I didn't exercise, I opted for a simple Chocolate Mint Smoothie for breakfast. I added some raw spinach and hemp protein to make it a bit more filling. I also shared some oatmeal with my son later in the morning. I used to eat oatmeal every single morning for, like, 5 years in a row. Then I basically stopped eating it, cold turkey, for about a year. Now I'm eating it again. I go on weird eating benders like that. I mean, I think I've had at least one smoothie a day for 2-3 years now. I'm crazy like that! I'll also eat popcorn every night for weeks on end. It's not the most balanced way to eat, obviously, but I figure as long as I'm rotating in other healthy eats, it's all good :)

Now, tonight's dinner was another one that we eat often, and I swear I had already blogged about it before. I think Blogger is eating my posts because there are other things I thought I had blogged about. I'd like to think it's Blogger's fault and not my brain going soft :) Without further ado, I present one of our favorite meals, Tuscan White Beans and Broccoli Rabe, and Lemon-Glazed Baby Carrots with Cranberries, both from 1,000 Vegan Recipes.

Along with some garlic bread, this makes one heck of a simple, filling, nutritious, and delicious meal - my favorite kind!! The broccoli rabe is parboiled, then sauteed with some garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, rosemary, and cannellini beans. I love to top my rabe with some Cholula hot sauce, my son loves nooch on his, and my hubby adds both Cholula and nooch. I didn't even try broccoli rabe until I was, like, 30 years old or something nuts, and now I loooooove it. I could eat an entire bunch of rabe myself!

And these carrots? To die for. So easy to make, and so good. Baby carrots, agave nectar, lemon juice, dried cranberries, and some Earth Balance. Love, love, love them!

I'm almost starting to think of a meal's success (or failure) in terms of how it is received by my toddler son. Every.Single.Bite of this plate was eaten. I'd call that a successful meal!

I'm also psyched because, after nearly a month of blogging, I finally got my first comment today!! :) Unless you are a blogger yourself, you have no idea how exciting that is! I want to give a shout out to my friend and fellow blogger Jessica of The Domestic Vegan for the support and encouragement! You can click the link to check out her awesome blog, or also find it on my blogroll on the sidebar. Have a great night!!

Blessings in Disguise!

Sometimes life's unexpected hiccups end up being blessings in disguise. Last night/this morning, my son woke up a couple of times. The second (third? I lost count :) time he woke up was at 4:30. He'd gotten out of bed, turned on his light, and started crying. I think my poor baby had a nightmare because he was shaking :( I was able to calm him down, get him settled back in his bed, and give him some reassuring hugs. He fell back asleep, but I found myself completely awake and unable to go back to sleep. Instead of sulking in my bed (which I've done in the past), I decided to just get up and start my day. It's been raining the last several days, but I looked out the window and saw that the rain had let up for a bit. I decided to lace up my running shoes and head out for an early morning run. I am SO glad that I did! I love being out at dawn. I ran at a nice, leisurely pace and was able to cover just over 6 miles...before 6:15 am! It felt so great to get a workout in and spend some time outside while my hubby was getting ready for work and my son was sleeping. I felt energized and ready to tackle my day. I hadn't planned on being up so early, but it ended up being a blessing!

Last night, I made stew because it was chilly and rainy. It ended up being just what we were craving! This is the Moroccan Chickpea & Zucchini Soup from Appetite for Reduction:

Served over a bed of millet:

Close up:

I had made this dish once before, and while I liked it, I wanted to tweak it a little. This time, I added some more veggies (green beans, spinach, cilantro), some raisins, and some lemon juice. I think these few additions really elevated the dish from good to great! Traditionally, you would serve a Moroccan stew with couscous, but I love to use millet instead because it's a more nutritious choice than couscous (which is really pasta!) Plus, millet has a wonderful chewy texture which goes great with stews and tagines. My son loves chickpeas and carrots (which are both featured prominently in the stew), so he was happy to eat it. And that makes his Mommy happy!

Tonight's dinner was one of our favorites, Raw Tortilla Soup and salad. I've already featured this soup on my blog, but this time I remembered to take pictures of me eating it, nacho-style :)

I added some kidney beans to my hubby's soup to boost the protein and satiety:

And we had yummy salads on the side:

Baby lettuce, celery, cucumber, tomato, corn, avocado, olive oil, Bragg Liquid Aminos, lime juice, and dulse granules. Yum!