I'm Still Here....

...but Vegan MoFo nearly killed me.

Well, not really. But it sure did make me want to take a blogging break!

I've still been cooking, baking, and trying new recipes. I just haven't been motivated to blog about them :) But here is a sample of what I've been cooking lately:

Apple-Cinnamon Pancakes from Peas and Thank You:

Blueberry Carob Pancakes from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan:

Mini Tofu Frittatas, also from Peas and Thank You:

Sweet Potato Lentil Chili and Cornmeal-Crusted Plantains, both also from EDBV:

Spinach Salad with Persimmons and Spiced Pecans in Shallot Lemon Dressing, with a side of steamed mixed veggies, from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen:

Two Step Southwestern Stew from Vegetarian Times:

...along with some Cowgirl Cornbread from Peas and Thank You:

More cornbread-y goodness: Fresh Corn & Scallion Cornbread from Appetite for Reduction:

Classic Black Bean & Veggie Chili, also from AFR:

A Vegan Bowl from AFR - quinoa, baked tofu, carrots, red pepper, steamed broccoli, and Caesar Chavez dressing:

Portobello Salad with Spicy Mustard Dressing from Veganomicon:

Perhaps I will be getting my blogging mojo back soon. It is fall, after all, and that means lots of yummy breads, soups, and pumpkin-y foods for me. I definitely need to up my pumpkin consumption!

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!

A Cauliflower, Jar of Relish, and Tomato Walk into a Bar...

Remember this post, when I mentioned my love of cauliflower sandwiches? Well, turns out, writing about shopping for cauliflower made me realize just how long it's been since I've made these sandwiches. Long ago, I used to make them once or twice a month. It even became a running joke when I used to work at TradeSource...the joke being, "Hey, Bethany, have you had any cauliflower sandwiches lately? Guffaw guffaw guffaw!" I, of course, had a laugh right along with them and always made it a point to tell my boss whenever I was having them for lunch. Hey, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, right? Secretly, I think he coveted my cauliflower sandwich as he microwaved yet another Lean Pocket for lunch :)

So...cauliflower sandwiches. Sounds weird, right? Well, of course it does! I can't deny that. And, yet, somehow, this somewhat bland crucifer becomes magically transformed into a filling, tangy, and and healthy sandwich spread. Who knew?!

First, I assembled the ingredients: a gigantic head of cauliflower, a jar of sweet pickle relish, Vegenaise, dijon mustard, and a couple of Roma tomatoes.

I washed the cauliflower and chopped it up into smallish chunks:

Then I added the cauliflower to a pot of boiling water and cooked for about 8 minutes or so, until soft but not mushy. I drained the water and then mashed it up right in the pan:

I mixed it up with some Vegenaise, dijon mustard, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, then I was ready to start the sandwich assembly line. First, toast your bread, then pile on a bunch of the cauliflower filling:

Now, the best part: slather on some sweet green pickle relish. Just trust me on this one.

Then top with a few slices of tomato:

Then top with the other slice of toast and eat! We had our sandwiches with salad. When my hubby came home from work and saw what we were having for dinner, he was very happy. No, really. We scarfed down our sandwiches and wondered why I hadn't made them in so long. My son, on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with it and refused to even take a bite. Cauli-hater!


If you are feeling bold enough to try these sandwiches, the recipe can be found here. I just omit the optional onion slice and add pickle relish, because pickle relish is awesome.

This morning, I woke up and did the core synergistics P90X DVD. I haven't done this in quite a while and was definitely feeling the burn! After my workout, I decided a Chocolate Cherry Smoothie was in order, heavy on the protein powder (to build up my muscles, ha!). Guess what else is in there?

Can't see anything, can you? There's a HUGE leaf of raw kale in there, blended and blitzed into oblivion. Stealth nutrition! Kale is a nutrition powerhouse. I try to sneak as many raw greens into my diet as possible. If that means I have to hide them in my chocolate smoothies, then that's what I'll do, gosh darn it! With my Vita-Mix, you can't taste or detect the greens in my smoothies at all. That's why I love my Vita-Mix so much *swoon*

This morning, after music class, my son came home and ran right to his train table to play. I decided to see how much dinner prep I could get done while he was blissfully occupied. My menu plan called for a dinner I've made many times before, Polenta with Mushroom Ragout and a Wilted Spinach Salad with Marinated Onions in Mustard Seed Dressing, both from Ani Phyo's Ani's Raw Food Kitchen.

Now, the polenta recipe in the book is a raw recipe. You process a couple of ears of fresh corn along with some garlic, salt, pepper, cashews, lemon juice, and onion. It becomes a creamy, fresh-tasting bowl of corny goodness. However, you will not be finding fresh corn in Rhode Island during the first week of May. So, when I get the hankering for this dish in the cooler months, I simply make some cooked polenta and top it with the raw mushroom ragout. It's still really delicious and satisfying, and when it's fresh corn season, I enjoy the raw polenta.

The mushroom ragout (that's "rag-ooo", people, not "rag out," like I used to think) couldn't be simpler...you toss some sliced mushrooms, olive oil, water, apple cider vinegar, garlic, and sea salt into a food processor:

...and process for a minute or so until it's smooth and creamy. This is the gravy base of the ragout.

Mmmm, looks like a chocolate smoothie!
Then you chop up some more baby bellas and a celery stalk, and add it to the gravy base along with some thyme:

Hmmm...looks kinda gross, but it tastes great! Stir everything together, and boom, your mushroom ragout is done. It took all of 10 minutes. Yay raw food!

The spinach salad is also ridiculously easy. Step one, throw a bunch of baby spinach in a large bowl:

Next, julienne a couple of carrots. Since I already had the food processor out, I just changed blades and let it do all the work. Easy peasy!

Add the carrots to the spinach. Next, thinly slice half an onion:

Add it to a small bowl, along with some apple cider vinegar, Bragg Liquid Aminos, and a little pepper:

Now watch what happens:

The vinegar and Braggs causes the onions to magically shrink! How cool is that!


Add the onions to the spinach and carrots. The last step is to make the dressing. I just reuse the same bowl because I'm lazy like that.


Stir together some agave nectar, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, mustard seeds, and sea salt.

Now whisk. Done.

Pour the dressing on the salad, then toss. I like to use my mitts because isn't that a very Earth Mother, vegan kind of thing to do?

The dressing will cause the spinach to wilt and get nice and soft. That huge pile of spinach I started with will shrink down into a delectable bowl of salady goodness. Total prep time? About 10 minutes.


Why do I love raw food so much? Because I made almost an entire dinner (save the 10 minutes I will spend making polenta later tonight) in less than half an hour. And this is all I had to clean up:

A food processor, a bowl, a knife, a measuring cup, and a cutting board. No dirty pans, burned food, or other messes to deal with. And no, that's not my Toy Story plate in the dish drain.

At dinner time, all I had to do was whip up a pot of polenta and then plate the food. I gave myself so much spinach that it started to fall off the plate! LOL

Trial and Error

Good morning! So, last night's dinner salad was a qualified success. On the one hand, it was a million times easier than making the actual quiche, since I didn't have to dirty up my food processor, wash more dishes, and bake the quiche. On the other hand, it was missing that certain je ne sais quoi that quiche has...I'm guessing it was probably the fact that I swapped out delicious flaky pastry crust and a buttery bread crumb topping for, well, raw baby spinach :) But it was decent and healthy, my hubby liked it, and my son liked the sauteed asparagus and beans, so all in all, it was a good experiment. I love to try new twists on favorite recipes, and this was a great way to simplify and "healthify" an already delicious one.

First, I broke off the tough, fibrous ends of the asparagus....

Then chopped up some shallots and garlic.

I always, always, ALWAYS take the little green center vein out of the garlic before I chop it up.

I used to have horrible acid reflux, and garlic always bothered me, whether in its raw or cooked form. Then, I read a little note in one of Ani Phyo's cookbooks that removing the center vein will help make the garlic more digestible, and that almost anybody who has trouble with garlic will benefit from this. I was curious and removed the vein the next time I made a dish with garlic, and lo and behold, Ani was right! How awesome is this! Now I eat garlic all the time and it doesn't bother me one bit. Thanks, Ani!

I sauteed the asparagus, shallots and garlic in a little bit of EVOO, salt, and pepper.

Then I turned off the heat and stirred in a can of navy beans and some chopped fresh tarragon.

Next, I whisked together a simple tarragon vinaigrette. This consisted of some fresh lemon juice, EVOO, salt, pepper, dijon mustard, and some chopped fresh tarragon. I didn't follow a recipe - I just free-formed it until it tasted good :)

Finally, I assembled my salad. I put some baby romaine and baby spinach in a bowl, then topped it with the sauteed veggies and beans, some chopped fresh tomato, some chopped walnuts, and the tarragon vinaigrette.

On retrospect, I think this salad would have been killer with some steamed bulgur or millet on top to add some texture and chewiness. Next time!

Later I snacked on some wasabi peas while I watched Glee. I just love wasabi peas...they are perfect in almost every way :) They are crunchy, spicy, and even have some nutrition (protein & fiber)! I'm big into the crunchiness factor of food. Some people love creamy textures, but I'm a big fan of the crunch.

This morning, I woke up and did the P90X shoulders & arms workout. After my workout, I enjoyed another Chocolate Cherry smoothie and shared some oatmeal with my son. Lunch was leftover salad from last night. I almost always make 4 servings of every dinner I make so that way my hubby and I can have it again for lunch the next day. I figure, why not kill two birds with one stone? I love having lunch already prepared each day!

While my son is napping, I'm going to do all the prep work for tonight's dinner, Delhi Express Soup from The Complete Book of Raw Food. Have a great afternoon!