Comfort Foods

Some days you just need a hug.

Some days your tummy just needs a hug, too.

Here are some of my recent tummy-huggers :)

Soft Broccoli Polenta from Appetite for Reduction...it's warm, creamy, and oh-so-comforting:

Sometimes I like it along with a bowl of soup, like this Monkey Minestrone from Eat, Drink & Be Vegan:

Other days, comfort comes in the form of a bunch of healthy, raw ingredients I can just toss in the Vita-Mix, like Kristen Suzanne's Raw Moroccan Gazpacho:

Along with the soup, I served a quick Moroccan Raw Carrot Salad from Olive Trees & Honey:

A few days ago, I cooked some Lemon Chickpea Lentil Soup (also from ED&BV), steamed broccoli, and Chickpea Pancake with Rosemary from 1,000 Vegan Recipes.

This "pancake" is actually socca, a savory flatbread made with chickpea flour. The unleavened batter is poured into a preheated cast-iron skillet and baked in a hot oven for about 15 minutes. It has a delightfully crispy-yet-soft texture that satisfies your craving for salty carbs :)

Finally, here's a big steaming bowl of Chickpea Rice Soup with Cabbage from the PPK. It's loaded with super nutritious foods (cabbage, carrots, chickpeas, onions, garlic) and it's a breeze to whip up.

I think I learned some lessons from this post:

Soup comforts me.
Chickpeas comfort me.

I think I'll go hug a chickpea today :)

Chickpea Piccata and Mashed Potatoes

I have recently discovered the fabulousness that is Chickpea Piccata from Appetite for Reduction. I made chicken piccata once, back in 2001. I was a newlywed living in Germany with no job, no friends, and NO cooking skills whatsoever. Pretty much every meal I made came out of a can, a box, or the freezer, so I must have been feeling really industrious to tackle chicken piccata. Or maybe I was just embracing my inner domestic goddess. Who knows. I never made it again, by the way. I didn't want my new hubby to get used to real, from-scratch cooking when there was a whole pantry of boxed mashed potatoes and canned carrots waiting for him.

But anyway...I never forgot about that luscious, lemony, caper-studded sauce. The chicken I could totally do without. That's what chickpeas are for! Not to mention, hello, chickpeas are so much easier. Who wants to pound out chicken breasts, flour them, fry them, and all that jazz? Not me. No thank you. This piccata comes together in less than 30 minutes, and that includes making REAL mashed potatoes, FROM SCRATCH!! I'm proud to say that I've been boxed-potato-free since 2003.

The piccata is silky and delicious, flavored with shallots, white wine, and capers. My mashed potatoes are simply peeled, diced, and boiled yukon golds, mashed and flavored with just some salt, veggie broth, and a mere tablespoon of Earth Balance. They are so creamy and buttery, you'd swear they were loaded with butter and milk - but they're not!

The mashed potatoes are served on top of a pile of baby arugula, which wilts beautifully underneath. A pile of steamed broccoli finishes off the dish, because everything is better with steamed broccoli, n'est-ce pas?

Trust me - I'm not waiting another 11 years to make this!

Vegan MoFo Day 14: Veni, Vidi, Venice!

There are several places in the world I'd love to revisit, but none perhaps more so than the enchanting and mysterious (and sinking) city of Venice, Italy.

Venice is a place you just have to see for yourself. It is truly unique and a feast for the eyes, from the grand Gothic architecture of the palazzos, to the beautiful sweeping piazzas, to the miles and miles of canals that wend their way throughout the city. And, of course, you can't even talk about Venice without mentioning the iconic gondolas that pepper the waterways.

No Hondas here. Just park your dinghy next to your front door!

Basilica di San Marco (St. Mark's Basilica) is a truly spectacular sight. I could just sit and study it for hours!

I'm not sure why I took a picture of my hubby standing with a bunch of pigeons. I mean, I could have taken some pictures of the Grand Canal, or the Rialto Bridge, or the newly reconstructed La Fenice opera house. But no. Pigeons. At least they were in Piazza San Marco. That must have been my angle.

I'm also not sure of the significance of this clock tower. But it's pretty cool how you can take a gondola right up to it! (We didn't take any gondola rides, by the way....it's so expensive!!)

Mostly, we just spent our time walking around and gazing at the beautiful architecture, enjoying the sights and sounds of this hypnotic and romantic city of water.

Even if my hair was no match for the searing September heat and humidity.

Did you need to zoom out so far in order to get all my hair in the shot, my dear?

Yeah, even I know this hat is atrocious.

Still, I'd love to go back to Venice. I feel like there is so much still to see. I'd get a cappuccino, find some vegan tiramisu, and just sit in a piazza and take it all in. But if you want to get a feel for Venice without having to leave your house, I highly suggest reading The City of Falling Angels, John Berendt's mesmerizing book about Venice and the investigation into the devastating fire at La Fenice opera house. I read this book several months ago, and I felt like I was transported back to Venice. He does an amazing job painting visual pictures of the city!

In honor of my trip to Venice, I wanted to make a simple Italian dish, similar to one I would have eaten in one of the city's trattorias. I chose Chickpea Piccata from Appetite for Reduction, served over some brown rice penne. A side of broccoli rabe, sauteed in a little olive oil and garlic, was a perfect accompaniment.

The piccata was deceptively simple to make - it's just shallots, garlic, bread crumbs, broth, white wine, chickpeas, capers, and lemon juice. So easy! Much easier (and cheaper, and tastier, and healthier) than making chicken or veal piccata, IMHO. I did make chicken piccata once. I think it took me all afternoon to make. This took me about 30 minutes!

 Ciao my friends!

Three S's: Soup, Salad, and Snacks

How did it get to be Thursday again already? Where does the time go! I feel like I've been a whirlwind of activity lately. Today alone I did the following: woke up and went for a run; came home and made breakfast for my son and got my hubby's lunch together; stretched and made a smoothie; did two loads of laundry; mowed my lawn (half-acre!); brought in all the toys/lawn stuff in advance of the hurricane; cooked soup, made salad, made salad dressing, and made roasted chickpeas; went to the chiropractor; vacuumed the downstairs; dumped an entire ice-cube tray full of water inside my freezer; mopped up the water that landed on every conceivable surface of my freezer; cleaned my bathroom floor approximately 27 times due to errant aim on my son's part; shopped online for sunscreen; and ate copius amounts of bananas, both in smoothie form and also just in its frozen-deliciousness-form, in order to fuel all these activities. It's now 8 pm and I'm tired!!

I haven't been posting for two main reasons: one, I've been super busy lately, and two, I've been eating a lot of meals I've already blogged about. But tonight, I have three (count 'em, three!) new foods to share with you!

Yesterday, my son and I went to visit my parents. Not only did we get to have fun with them, but we also got to go home with a bunch of free food (yes!!!) One of my Dad's coworkers has had a bumper crop of yellow squash, so my Dad sent me home with a whole bag of 'em! Aren't they cute??

My Mom's friend Linda also gave her an enormous bag of fresh basil, an enormous bag of fresh parsley (which I forgot to photograph - sorry!), and some gorgeous tomatoes. I was super impressed with the quality and size of both the basil leaves and the tomatoes - nice job, Linda!

I was not about to let this beautiful FREE food go to waste! I knew just what I wanted to make.

First, that huge bag of basil was just begging to be made into a summery salad dressing. I immediately thought of the Creamy Basil Dressing from Eat, Drink & Be Vegan. I've made this dressing several times before, and it is such a great use of fresh basil. It's also easy as 1-2-3.

I put all the ingredients into an old almond butter jar that I've cleaned and repurposed.

I use my immersion blender and whiz it up until it's creamy and emulsified.

Then I pop the lid on and stick it in the fridge until I'm ready to dress the salads.

I kept the salad simple so the dressing would be the star. This is baby spinach, cucumber, scallion, and fresh tomato.

 And here it is with the Creamy Basil Dressing. Yum.

As for the yellow squash, I wanted to make Sunny Summer Squash Soup from Susan Voisin's blog, Fat Free Vegan Kitchen. I'd made it years ago and absolutely loved it. I knew it would be the perfect way to use up a ton of that beautiful squash!

Yellow squash, potatoes, onions, celery, and spices are simmered together until the potatoes and squash get nice and soft.

Then you puree it up with an immersion blender so the soup gets nice and creamy. At this point, you also stir in a little bit of tahini and nooch to add some extra creaminess and body to the soup.

You know why pureed soups are great? Because you can get your picky toddler to eat a TON and not realize how many veggies are hidden in there :) He also had his first real salad tonight, and I'm proud to report that he ate several bites! I gave him exactly what my hubby and I had - spinach, cuke, tomato, and the creamy basil dressing. I chopped everything up into small pieces and also added some shredded carrot.

Finally, we noshed on some Lemon Rosemary-Roasted Chickpeas from Peas and Thank You. Chickpeas, lemon juice, olive oil, rosemary, salt and pepper. So simple, so good.

I love to snack on roasted chickpeas - in fact, all three of us do! They're a great, handy little protein-packed snack.

Okay, now that I'm caught up on my blog, I'm off to watch Top Chef: Just Desserts. I taped it last night and I can't wait to watch it! Yes, I said taped. On my VCR. Stop snickering.

Back in the Kitchen

Wow, I can't believe it's Thursday already! This week has FLOWN by. I'm already getting excited for the weekend!

It's been a busy week. On Monday, my son woke up with a bad cold and it also rained over 5 inches (!!) in my town, so we decided to just stay inside all day and snuggle in my chair. We read books, watched Cars, played with some toys, and were just cuddle bunnies all day :) My son is just the sweetest little thing and it makes me sad to see him sick. But it was good to just take a day and rest. It was not, however, a good day for me and my juicer. Apparently, even some juices are a little too hardcore for me.

I didn't have cucumber, lemon juice, fruit, or anything else to make this taste better. It was straight up collard leaves, celery, ginger, carrot, and romaine. It was not good. I consoled myself with a delicious carrot-ginger smoothie afterward.

On Tuesday, he was feeling a little better, so we made a quick run to BJ's to stock up on the essentials. In my house, the essentials are: 6 cartons of Silk soymilk, 1 large bottle of carrot juice, 2 English cucumbers, 1 lb of baby spinach, 9 lbs of bananas (hey, those smoothies don't make themselves!), a 4-lb bag of raisins, a gallon of Almond Breeze almond milk, and Megamind. (Okay, Megamind isn't technically an essential, but it's very funny...and it was on sale :)

Yesterday, my hubby surprised me by coming home from work at 9:30 in the morning and announcing that he had taken the rest of the day off. This was indeed surprising, as he's only taken one day off this entire year! I was totally psyched. My son seemed to be feeling better, too, so we decided to pack up and head to the beach. I grew up in Newport, RI, and my parents still live there, so we headed on down to their house so we could hit the beach with my Mom.

He could spend hours playing this game: "Where's my foot? Where's my foot? There it is!"

I think he had a little too much fun at the beach, though, because he woke up feeling warm this morning :( So, another day in the house was called for. My son actually asked to cook something with me this morning (*swoon*), so I decided we should make some snacky food. I thought it would be fun to try something out of Peas and Thank You, since I hadn't made anything out of the cookbook yet.

First up: Pumpkin Spice-Roasted Chickpeas (recipe here). Chickpeas, maple syrup, canola oil, cider vinegar, salt, nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon are tossed together and roasted until they become crispy. Here are the chickpeas, fresh out of the toaster oven:

 I put them in a little container in the fridge for easy snackin':

We also made Chewy Energy bars (recipe similar to the one here). Maybe these will help me kick my Larabar habit.

After these were done, my poor little guy was needing a nap, so I put him to bed and then came downstairs, pondering what to make for lunch. I was feeling like chickpea salad, so I started grabbing some stuff out of the fridge and pantry, and in 5 minutes flat, I had a tasty lunch ready!

Speedy Chickpea Salad
Serves 4

1 15-oz can organic chickpeas, rinsed and drained
2 tablespoons Vegenaise
1 tablespoon capers plus 2 teaspoons brine
2 medium stalks celery, finely chopped
1 scallion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon dulse granules (can substitute sea salt, to taste)

Mash chickpeas in a sturdy bowl with a potato masher. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine.

I decided to use it in some collard wraps. I destemmed a large collard leaf, then added some romaine lettuce and a big scoop of my chickpea salad.

I topped this with some sliced grape tomatoes...

And then rolled it up like a burrito.

I also had some stuffed into some little romaine leaves. I actually preferred these to the collard wrap!

I was pretty happy with how my quick 'n easy lunch turned out!

My son's up from his nap, and he just told me "I'm upset because you're on the computer." I think it's time for me to sign off :)

Three Cheers for Chayote!

I get so excited when I try a new recipe and it becomes a runaway hit. Last night's recipe was one such gem. All three of us loved it. I mean, I got a 2-year-old to eat a dish full of squash, curry powder, coconut milk, peanut butter, chickpeas, tomatoes, spinach, and broccoli, on top of some brown basmati rice. Yeah, I'm pretty psyched about that!

The recipe? Coconut-Peanut Chickpeas and Vegetables from 1,000 Vegan Recipes. Quick aside: if you have a vegan in your life that you love and adore, and you'd like to expand your cooking repertoire, I highly, highly recommend this cookbook. I have not been disappointed by a single recipe. Most recipes require minimal ingredients which are easy to find in conventional grocery stores (ie. you don't need to drive to Whole Foods), and, hello, there are a THOUSAND recipes here so I can pretty much guarantee you will find something you like. Even if you don't personally know a vegan, be nice to yourself and try some healthy vegan recipes!!

Anyhoo...back to the food. The reason I chose this recipe in the first place is because I didn't feel like going to the grocery store, and I wanted to see what I could make for dinner with what I had in the fridge, freezer, and pantry (yet one more reason why this book rocks. And, no, I am not being paid to say this!) A quick survey of my supplies showed that I had an onion, garlic, curry powder, peanut butter, coconut milk, chickpeas, diced tomatoes, and spinach. The only thing I didn't have was a red bell pepper, but I did have that chayote squash hanging in my produce bin from last week's foray to Whole Foods. And since I still wasn't even sure what a chayote tasted like, a quick Google search revealed that it somewhat resembled summer squash when cooked. I figured that was a fair enough trade for red bell pepper, and into the pot it went. I decided to taste some before I cooked it, however, and was really pleasantly surprised. I would describe it as tasting like a cross between an apple and a cucumber. Texturally, it was very close to a seedless cucumber - mild, with a crisp snap to it. Very yummy.

I threw a pot of brown basmati rice on the stove to cook as well. In 45 minutes, dinner was served.

Doesn't that look delicious? I topped the bowls with some fresh cilantro. I used to be a complete cilantro hater ("it tastes like SOAP!!") until I finally came to my senses. Now I love it. Cilantro has so many things going for it...did you know that it actually kills salmonella and E.coli bacteria? If you know my history of salmonella poisoning, you'll understand why this fascinates me!

'Course, I'm Ms. Snacky-Face so I ate some (a lot) of wasabi peas later on when I was watching a movie with my hubby. Wasabi peas make movies taste better :)

So, this morning I woke up and went for a run. I just love running during the warmer months when it is actually light outside at 6 am. I'm so not a fan of running in the winter when it's 18 degrees and pitch-black outside. I still do it, but I'm not happy about it! But now it's a joy because I love being up early and seeing the sunrise and enjoying the cool morning air. I love running because it's my time to myself. I work through problems, sing songs in my head, pray, and get sweaty :) I just love it. I very rarely ever wake up and not want to run (unless it's 18 degrees and pitch-black outside. Ahem.) Often times when I'm running, I'm thinking about the smoothie I will be enjoying after I get back home :) Even on those 18-degree days, I still drink a frosty cold smoothie every morning. Granted, I'm often shivering for hours afterward like a naked Eskimo, but sometimes, you gotta suffer for the things that you love. Or take really hot showers. And then park yourself in front of your faux fireplace like a rotisserie chicken.

I was still feeling a little hungry after my smoothie, so I noshed on three of the raw cacao-goji energy bites I picked up from the bulk bins at Whole Foods last week.

I love these things. They are perfect for when you just want a little something extra (or three) in your tummy.

After the energy bites, it was time to hit up Stop & Shop for my weekly shopping run. Thankfully, my son was very well behaved, especially after I told him that he could pick out his own cereal at the end of the trip. His choice was Peanut Butter Puffins, which I affectionately call "Crack in a Box" due to my own inability to control myself around them. I have been known to eat half a box in one sitting. As such, I tend to not buy it since I have no willpower around it. But, loving Mommy that I am, I just couldn't deny my son the joy that is found in these little pillows of delightfulness.

I'll be back tomorrow!