More Big-Ass Salads

I tried to think of a more delicate title to this post, but let's call a spade a spade, shall we? These are some big-ass salads!

Baby romaine, chopped cucumber, celery, and tomato, drizzled with Jalapeno-Tahini Dressing from Ani's Raw Food Essentials. This dressing was kick-ass...fresh jalapeno, fresh garlic, tahini, lemon juice, and Braggs. The jalapeno was making my lips tingle!

This salad accompanied a bowl of Smoked Tomato and Jalapeno Soup, because, you know, I just can't get enough of that soup. This dinner was muy caliente!

This salad happened completely by accident...

It was 5:30 and I had no plan for dinner. Time was ticking away. Desperate, I started rooting around in my pantry and grabbed some canned lentils. I threw them in a pot and added a bunch of seasonings - cumin, chili powder, coriander, pepper, etc...

Then I opened the crisper and grabbed whatever was there. Luckily, I had some cucumber, avocado, and scallions in there, along with a couple of tomatoes from the kitchen counter. Chop, chop, chop!

I had the dregs of some baby romaine in the fridge, as well as an unopened container of Tofutti sour cream that had been sitting there since approximately April :) Aha, I'll make a Mexican salad! I tossed everything - lentils, veggies, sour cream - over the lettuce. It was a little bit lacking in salt, so I ended up crumbling some tortilla chips on top and drizzling it with lots of Cholula Chipotle hot sauce. Much better!

Finally, I was craving some Fig & Pistachio Salad from Choosing Raw and made some big bowls to enjoy. I also baked 4 softball-sized beets that had been lurking in the crisper for about a week. Then I added some cannellini beans, and finally some frozen broccoli for my broccoli-loving son. It was a totally random assortment of stuff, but it was good, and filling!

Summer may be almost over, but that doesn't mean I won't be eating more big-ass salads! I'll eat them even when it's 20 degrees out and snowing. My love for salad knows no season!

Indian, Mexican, Asian, and American!

No theme today, just a roundup of some yummy foods I've eaten recently!

Indian-Spiced Lentils with Spinach and Rhubarb from Vegetarian Times, served over some brown basmati rice. I had such high hopes for this dish, but I was a little underwhelmed. You would think that a dish with rhubarb, raisins, and ginger would be exploding with flavor, but I thought this was rather bland. I think it needed some lemon juice. I also would add the raisins later in the cooking process so they maintain some of their sweetness. My hubby really liked it, though.

Clockwise, from top: Hearts of Palm and Jicama Salad from Southern Living magazine; Mexican Millet from Veganomicon; and frozen roasted corn from Trader Joe's. This plate was a pleasing melange of textures, flavors, and temperature (cold salad; hot millet; warm corn). Yumbles.

Spring Vegetable Stew with Soft Polenta from Vegetarian Times. You can't see the polenta because it's buried underneath the veggies, but trust me, it's there. I've made this recipe before and loved it, but this time I had to make a bunch of substitutions - frozen leeks instead of fresh leeks; zucchini instead of yellow squash; yellow pepper instead of mushrooms; and canned whole tomatoes instead of chopped tomatoes. It definitely tastes better when you make it according to the recipe! I also think it needs way more salt, IMHO. Still, it's pretty tasty and nutritious.

Clockwise, from top: homemade coleslaw (I tried to replicate the awesome spicy coleslaw from Sweet Tomatoes, but I missed the mark); Marinated Asian Tofu from Veganomicon; frozen broccoli; and millet. Yup, I love me some millet!

Forty-Clove Chickpeas & Broccoli from Appetite for Reduction. Mushy, garlicky goodness!

Masala Baked Tempeh from Appetite for Reduction and Purple Kale Salad with Creamy Apricot Ginger Dressing from Choosing Raw. I loved the contrast of the spicy, crusty tempeh and the soft, sweet kale salad. Great combination!

Another favorite from Choosing Raw, the Sweet Potato and Black Bean Enchiladas with Tomatillo Sauce. This dish is a hit in my family! The creamy bean-and-mashed-sweet-potato filling rocks my socks and I love the slightly spicy tomatillo sauce. A little melted Daiya Pepperjack cheese on top doesn't hurt, either :)

Have a wonderful day!

Raw Soup, Raw Soup, and More Raw Soup

I have a strange relationship with raw soups. When they are good, they are soooo good. And when they're bad, they are soooo bad. I'll never forget the raw cauliflower soup I made a couple of years ago. It was so horrible. I still have nightmares about that soup. It was also the soup that wouldn't die. It just so happened that the recipe made a huge quantity, so I was stuck with tons of this leftover vomit soup. I ended up freezing it in a large ziploc bag, and every now and again I would break off a hunk, defrost it, gag it down, and wish I had no tastebuds. (The question I ask myself now is: why? Why did I make myself keep eating this? I know you don't like to waste food, but you could have made an exception, just this once!!) Ahem. Anyway, this post is not about the cauliflower soup. 

It's about some raw soups that I love, like Gena's Raw Tortilla Soup.

I love raw soup-and-salad combos in the summer months. It made for a wonderful dinner al fresco!

This is another raw soup I enjoyed recently - Red Pepper and Tomato Bisque from Eat Raw, Eat Well:

I know, it doesn't look that attractive (at all), but it was mighty tasty, and easy to make, too. Just throw everything (red peppers, tomatoes, avocado, EVOO, seasonings) in the Vita-Mix and pulverize!

However, there was a recent raw soup fail. I couldn't manage to take a decent picture of it, which should have been my first clue. I won't say where the recipe came from, but it was supposed to be a raw curry soup. It was somewhat better the next day (as many raw soups often are), but I wouldn't make it again.

At least I didn't have to freeze any leftovers!

Summer Salad Slam!

If I had my way, I'd exist on smoothies and salads for the entire summer. I love their taste, nutrition, ease of preparation, flexibility, and portability. I also love the fact that I don't have to turn on the oven and make the kitchen any hotter than it already is!

Here are some salads I've been enjoying lately:

Roasted Portobello Salad (except I sub eggplant for the 'shrooms!) from Veganomicon, with a side of millet:

Roasted Cauliflower and Rice Salad with Dijon Vinaigrette from 1,000 Vegan Recipes:

Lightened Up Protein Power Goddess Bowl from Oh She Glows, with a side of Chickpea Pancake with Rosemary from 1,000 Vegan Recipes:

Arugula and Apple Salad with Creamy Mustard Dressing (1,000 Vegan Recipes), frozen Alexia fries, Basic Baked Tempeh (Appetite for Reduction), carrot sticks, and roasted chickpeas:

Umm...I can't remember where this recipe came from. It appears to be massaged kale, apples, carrots, and something else?? I'm sure it was tasty!

Raw Mediterranean Kale Salad from The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen:

Romaine and Grape Tomato Salad with Avocado and Baby Peas (1,000 Vegan Recipes) and Forty-Clove Chickpeas & Broccoli (Appetite for Reduction):

A completely random salad made with baby arugula, chopped tomato, chopped cucumber, celery, carrots, fava beans, roasted red peppers, nutritional yeast, chopped green olives, pine nuts, capers, olive oil, and white balsamic vinegar. Yummmm.

My new obsession - Purple Kale Salad with Creamy Apricot Ginger Dressing, Walnuts, and Apples from Choosing Raw:

I've been eating it by the boatload lately. Here it is with some brown lentils and more socca (my other new obsession):

This is the simple but tasty Chopped Salad (1,000 Vegan Recipes), served with Basic Baked Tempeh (Appetite for Reduction) and a baked potato. The romaine lettuce was fresh from a friend's garden and it was so tender and delicious!

Creamy Curry Pasta and Vegetable Salad (1,000 Vegan Recipes) with some steamed broccoli:

And, finally, another delicious smoothie creation. This one had spirulina, hemp protein powder, hemp seeds, spinach, pineapple, coconut water, and ginger. So tangy and refreshing!

What are your favorite summery salads?

Just Desserts

One of the truly fabulous things about smoothies is that they are so dessert-like. I feel like I am having a milkshake every morning for breakfast, even though my smoothies are fairly low-sugar and very nutrient-dense. Smoothies do such a great job of satisfying my sweet tooth that I rarely feel compelled to make desserts. But I am always happy to break out the whisk and baking pans for special occasions.

On the anniversary of the day my son came home, we celebrated with a Funky Monkey Pie from Peas and Thank You. Bananas, peanut butter, chocolate, and graham crackers? Sign me up! 

What, pray tell, would an avocado, cacao powder, dates, some collard ribbons (?!?), and a big blob of raspberry jam all be doing in the same food processor at the same time?!

Making Gena's Chocomole, that's what (well, the collard ribbons were my idea....obviously.) It was so creamy and naughty-tasting, and it made a fun little dessert topped with sliced bananas and some Kashi cereal.

Sometimes, I wonder if my photography skills could get any worse...

These are Black Bean Brownies from Peas and Thank You. Trust me, they tasted way more amazing than these pictures would lead you to believe.

This is Grandma's Perfect and Easy Apple Crisp from VegWeb. Easy? Yes. Perfect? Ehhh... Although I think it was my fault for not chopping the apples into smaller pieces. Oh well!

And, finally, I made Our Favorite Chocolate Cake from Vegan Express for Father's Day. I should have taken a picture of what this thing looked like after trying to remove it from the pan....let's just say, about 1/4 of the cake remained glued to the bottom. No problemo. I just scraped it up, mashed it onto a plate, and then plopped the rest of the cake on top and pressed down. My cake looked so terrible that it was actually kind of funny. Somehow that didn't stop us from shoveling this down our pie-holes :)

A Duo of Green Smoothies

I am a huuuuge fan of green smoothies. I feel virtuous throwing some greens and veggies into my Vita-Mix (along with fruit, protein powder, hemp seeds, water, Amazing Greens powder) and blending my way to a virtual salad in a glass. It sure beats a Frappuccino for breakfast, I can tell you!

Look at that gorgeous color! I don't even remember what this one was. I want to say it was mango, banana, almond milk, chard, celery, and chia seeds, but I could be wrong. It could have been kale, or spinach, or collards in there. I dunno. It was delicious, regardless!

I do know what this one was - it was Gena's Lime-in-the-Coconut Smoothie. It was a little too tangy for my palate, so I added some frozen mango in there, too. I think it helped balance the flavors for me.

I really like this smoothie because it is avocado-based and not too sweet - it made a refreshing light lunch yesterday when I wanted something quick and hydrating after mowing the lawn.

I'm looking for other avocado-smoothie ideas. Any suggestions?