Appetite for Reduction Blitz

Anyone who's ever read my blog knows that I am quite fond of Isa Chandra Moskowitz's Appetite for Reduction. I have tried 79 recipes (and counting!!) from this cookbook, and it's the one that I reach for when I want something quick, healthy, and filling. Here are some things from AFR that I've made recently:

Tamarind Quinoa (left) and Curried Chickpeas & Greens:

Quinoa Puttanesca, arugula & tomato salad with white balsamic vinaigrette, and garlic bread:

Portobello Pepper Steak Stew, served over a baked sweet potato:

I substituted tempeh for the seitan, white onion for the red onion, and omitted the red pepper flakes. I wouldn't really call it a stew per se...it was more like what goes into a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich. No matter, it was still tasty! Next time I'm going to add some banana peppers, Daiya mozzarella, and a torpedo roll and make a vegan Philly Cheez!

Finally, this was a dish I wanted to love, but it fell a little flat for me. This is Pasta de los Angeles (with brown rice penne instead of whole wheat angel hair pasta):

It's fresh jalapeno, garlic, tomatoes, spinach, black beans, shallots, lime zest, and lime juice tossed with pasta. It's supposed to have 1 cup of fresh cilantro in there, too, but I didn't have any on hand. Maybe that would have made the difference?? I don't know. I mean, I love Mexican flavors, and I love pasta, but I didn't love them together. Oh well. My hubby and son seemed to like it, though. And besides, there was bound to be a recipe or two that I wasn't crazy about!

If you have AFR, what are some of your favorite dishes?

Eggplant-Chickpea Curry with Cranberry-Cashew Biryani

Nothing beats a good curry. I love how they can be packed with different spices, veggies, and proteins (beans and lentils are my faves), and they match beautifully with grains such as rice, couscous, or quinoa. A curry dish is often a complete meal for me, hitting all of my nutritional bases (fats, carbs, proteins, veggies) in one pot.

I was looking for some curry inspiration and came across the Eggplant-Chickpea Curry recipe in Appetite for Reduction. It just so happened that I had some eggplant in my fridge, so it seemed like destiny.

In the recipe notes, Isa says that this dish pairs well with the Cranberry-Cashew Biryani in AFR, so I looked to see if I had those ingredients as well. Turns out I did, and the result was a plate of divine Indian flavors.

The curry features eggplant cooked low and slow until it breaks down and gets silky. There is also some fresh tomatoes, ginger, onions, garlic, chickpeas, and cilantro in there, too.

To start the biryani, you heat some oil in a pan and then toast some cumin seeds and mustard seeds until they start to pop and become fragrant. Then you add in some garlic, carrots, spices, and basmati rice and let it cook for while. Finally, you add in some dried cranberries, cashews, and frozen peas. The cranberries give it a great burst of flavor.

I had some agave-sweetened ginger ale to round out the meal. Yum!

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 :)

Tofu Dill Salad Sammiches and a Smoothie Recipe

When I'm in a cooking rut, or an I-just-don't-feel-like-cooking kind of funk, I look for quick and easy recipes. I mean, you gotta eat, right? But even when I'm not feeling inspired in the kitchen, I'm still too stubborn (and cheap) to call for take-out. Besides, being vegan in a small town, it's not like there are a ton of take-out options for me. I don't exactly get psyched about spending $20 on a take-out pizza that has no cheese on it. It also seems like when I ask for no cheese, they also take it to mean no toppings, too. I mean, throw a vegan girl a bone, would ya? I'm saving you the cost of the cheese, so could ya pleaaase put some more veggies on there so I don't starve? Thank you.

Okay, enough about that. So, yesterday, I didn't feel like cooking. Enter the most perfect, quick, no-cooking-and-very-minimal-chopping-type-recipe I could think of: Tofu Dill Salad Sammiches from Vegan with a Vengeance.

VWAV is Isa Chandra Moskowitz's first cookbook, and I'd be willing to bet it's in almost every vegan's kitchen. VWAV is legendary! And this sandwich is one of my faves from the book. It's so easy to make, and it's rescued me on many a nights when I just didn't feel like cooking. It's simply tofu, fresh dill, red onion, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, vegan mayo, and salt & pepper, all mashed together. I served it on some oatmeal bread with some sliced Roma tomatoes and baby spinach.

We had some tater tots, baby carrots, and cucumber sticks on the side, along with our favorite dips: organic ketchup for the tots, and Grey Poupon for the veggies. I'm positively addicted to veggies dipped in GP!

Earlier in the day, I decided to make a spin on my Pumpkin Pie Smoothie, using actual pumpkin this time. I had a bunch of leftover canned pumpkin in my fridge, and I didn't want it to go to waste! I made a simplified version of my usual smoothie, and it came out quite delicious! There are no measurements (other than the coconut milk) because I just dumped stuff into the blender, so feel free to go with your instincts here!

Pumpkin Pie a la Mode Smoothie 
Makes 1 large serving / 2 small servings

1 1/2 cups coconut milk (I used So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk)
1 large frozen banana
canned pumpkin (I probably used about 1 1/4 cups?)
few shakes of cinnamon
quick shake of nutmeg
Sweetener, to taste (I used about 1 teaspoon of maple-flavored agave syrup and a about 1/2 teaspoon of blackstrap molasses)
5-6 ice cubes

Blend on high until smooth and creamy!

I found this version to be a bit thicker and creamier than my usual version. I might even like this version better!

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!

Simple Pleasures

In spite of having been a Mommy for almost two years now (May 8 is the day my son officially came home - we adopted him and he came home when he was 11 weeks old), there is one thing I've only recently started to do: take a nap while my son is napping. When he was an infant and I resembled something from The Night of the Living Dead, people always used to tell me, "Sleep when he sleeps! Nap when he naps!" But I used to just shake my head and wonder, But when else am I going to get X, Y, and Z done?!?! However, that mindset changed several weeks ago when my husband attended a 5-week work training session in Georgia, and my son and I tagged along to keep him company and enjoy (endure) some time in a hotel. All of a sudden, I had a WEALTH of time on my hands and not a lot of ways to spend it. I mean, our hotel room was approximately the size of my kitchen. We got tired of it pretty quickly and it's not like I had to clean it, vacuum it, or wash the floors! I also didn't have to cook everyday, so there wasn't meal prep and planning to occupy some of my time. So, my son and I spent a lot of time walking or running around the hotel, the parking lot, the adjacent mall, and the playground. All that running out in the sunshine left us both pretty tired by noon, so when my son laid down for his nap, I laid down with him. And you know what? I slept! Many days I slept for an hour and a half to 2 hours. It was great. It was blissful. Our hotel bed felt like a cloud and I was happy to just sink in and rest (especially because my son woke us up 2-3 times most nights, since apparently HE didn't enjoy sleeping in a hotel!) We've been home for a couple of weeks now, but I realized that napping with my son was something that we both enjoyed, so I've continued the tradition at least once a week. Today was one such day. My hubby had to leave for work at 6 this morning, and I decided to get up at 5 so I could sneak in a run before he left. After a morning full of errands and playtime in the yard, I was pretty tired by noon and decided it would be a great day for my son and I to share an afternoon siesta :) There's something so sweet about lying next to your child and listening to them sleep...I wish I hadn't waited so long to enjoy this!

Anyway, now we're both up and out in the yard playing. Well, he's playing and I'm sitting in a camping chair watching him while I blog :) I promised some pictures of last night's delicious raw tortilla soup, so without further ado....

This soup is so amazing - it's from one of my favorite bloggers, Gena from Choosing Raw. I make it pretty much exactly as directed, except I omit the fresh garlic and I always add a chopped medium zucchini to the blender. I like how it adds yet another veggie and also thickens the soup up nicely. After it gets blenderized...

...I always top the soup with some chopped avocado, tomato, scallions, corn, and cilantro. Then, the best part....I eat the soup like a taco dip and scoop up big mouthfuls with some blue corn tortilla chips! Ohhhh it tastes so naughty but it's so good for you! I like to use Guiltless Gourmet's Blue Corn Chips because they're pretty innocent as far as tortilla chips go, plus, they taste doggone delicious and I can always score a bag for $2 at Ocean State Job Lot. Score! I always make salad to go along with my raw soups, and last night's salad was baby romaine, tomato, avocado, corn, cucumber, and celery topped with some fresh lime juice, Bragg Liquid Aminos, olive oil, and a few shakes of dulse granules. This is one of my favorite dinners and it's super filling, but of course, that didn't stop me from making some popcorn later in the evening :) What can I say, I love to eat popcorn while I watch my TV shows!

After my run this morning, I had my absolute, hands-down favorite smoothie in the whole-wide world...Chocolate Cherry!

*Sigh* It is perfection in a pint glass. It makes me so happy! It's a spin on Kristen Suzanne's Chocolate Cherry Bomb Shake. Here's my version:

Chocolate Cherry Smoothie
Makes 1 large serving (or 2 small servings)

1 cup frozen dark sweet cherries
1 large frozen banana
1 1/2 cups water
1 heaping tablespoon raw cacao powder (I use Navitas Naturals brand)
3 tablespoons raw hemp protein powder (I use Nutiva brand)
3-4 drops chocolate liquid stevia (I use SweetLeaf brand)
6-7 ice cubes

I use a Vita-Mix blender, which is super high-powered and blends my smoothie into submission. It gets sooo creamy, sooo chocolatey-cherry, and sooooo delicious :) And, seriously, it's like having a milkshake for breakfast except there's nutrition here!! Cherries and cacao are full of antioxidants, and the hemp powder has tons of fiber and protein, as well as Omega-3, Omega-6, and Omega-9 fatty acids. Bananas have fiber, potassium, and vitamin C, and the liquid stevia is a natural, calorie-free way to add some sweetness. Now come on, wouldn't you rather have this than a Pop Tart??

After my smoothie, I shared some oatmeal with my son. I think he loves it as much as I do :) Today's bowl was simply oats, raisins, walnuts, cinnamon, and some coconut milk. Yum!

Lunch was leftover raw tortilla soup, salad, and more tortilla chips :) After lunch, I took a nice afternoon siesta with my son. After we woke up, I had a carrot smoothie:

Carrot and Greens Smoothie
Makes 1 large serving (or 2 small servings)

2 cups carrot juice
large hunk of fresh ginger, peeled
1 large frozen banana
1 huge handful baby spinach
few shakes of cinnamon
6-7 ice cubes

Blend on high until smooth.

While my son noshed on a CB&J wrap:

The "CB" is cashew butter and the "J" was some black currant jam. I spread both on a whole wheat tortilla, wrapped it up like a burrito, and cut it in half. My son loves these and I love to make them - they're quick, they're not messy, and they're nutritious and filling.

Tonight I'm experimenting in the kitchen. I loooove the Asparagus Quiche with Tomatoes and Tarragon from Veganomicon, but they didn't have any of the pre-made frozen quiche crusts I like at Whole Foods, so I decided to deconstruct it and make a big dinner salad instead. We'll see how it comes out!

Well You're Not Hard Core...

There's something so inherently...wrong about saying "Happy Monday!" I mean, is anyone REALLY happy that it's Monday? Monday to me means grocery shopping, laundry, and hubby going back to work :( None of these things make me happy!!

Still, I try to start my week off on a good note. For the last year or so, I've had a little Monday tradition that I enjoy. I wake up early and begin my day doing the Yoga X sequence from P90X. It's a 70-90 minute session (the DVD is 90 minutes, but I skip through a lot of the chatter and explanations of moves, and I can usually finish in about 70 minutes - score!!) After my yoga (sometimes my son joins me, which is always fun and usually funny... just imagine a 2-year-old doing downward facing dog and tree pose and you'll understand what I mean :) I make a fresh green juice:

This bad boy had organic red kale, chard, carrots, celery, ginger, cilantro, cucumber, and lemon juice. I often will add an apple to the mix but decided to be hard-core today :) On days like this, I often sing "Well you're not hard core, unless you live hard core..." If you're laughing, that means you've seen the movie School of Rock and remember Jack Black teaching this song to his students. If you're not laughing....then go see the movie cuz it's hilarious!!

After my juice, I usually wait an hour or so before I reward myself with a carrot juice smoothie. Something so simple...carrot-ginger juice, frozen banana, cinnamon, ice cubes, and some almond butter...but sooooo delicious.

After my smoothie, it was time for one of my least favorite Monday rituals...going to Stop & Shop :( I never really enjoyed grocery shopping before I had children, but now that I have a 2-year-old, there are few things more...challenging than trying to keep a spirited and energetic boy in the confines of a grocery cart seat for an hour. I try to go well-prepared...sippy cup with soymilk, snack bag with cereal and raisins, maybe a toy...in hopes that he'll be happy to just sit and eat his snacks while Mommy gets the shopping done. Some days, it's a success, other days...not so much. But, thankfully, today was a good day!

I did my menu planning yesterday while my son was napping. Yes, it takes some time to do, but I think in the long run, I end up saving time by not having to plan what to have for dinner every single night. I get a sheet of paper, write down the days of the week, and then I check the weather forecast and write down the temperatures and expected weather. That way, if it's going to be rainy/snowy/nasty on a certain day, I'll plan for something warm and comforting, like a soup or a stew. If it's going to be super hot, I'll plan for a ginormous dinner salad or a raw soup or something. I like to have fun stuff like pizza on Saturdays and soups on Sundays. Knowing this, I can plan the other days accordingly. See? There's a method to my madness!

I make sure to write down the cookbook and page number for easy reference. On Thursday, I can just open up Appetite for Reduction (AFR) to page 42, and bam, there's my recipe! I also make little notes such as how many tomatoes, peppers, avocados, etc. a recipe will require so I make sure to save enough of each during the week. Nothing worse than realizing you're out of an ingredient right when you're ready to start cooking! That makes me sooooo mad!!

After I put the groceries away, it was time for lunch. My son was happily munching on some Kashi cereal and I had some leftover Vegan Bowl from Appetite for Reduction. That's what we had for dinner last night and it was just as yummy the second time around :) What is a Vegan Bowl? Well, it is a bowl full of deliciousness and nutritiousness (yes, I made that up). See for yourself:

First, I chopped up a bunch of mushrooms, carrots, red pepper, kale, chard, and garlic, and added it all to a big skillet with some water and a teensy bit of salt.

I also had a pot of quinoa cooking on the back burner.

I baked a pound of tofu that I'd marinated in some veggie broth, tamari, balsamic vinegar, thyme, and garlic. I sliced the tofu into thin strips so they'd be bite-sized in the bowls.

Then, I assembled my bowls by putting quinoa on the bottom, then the steamed veggies, then the baked tofu, and then I topped it off with the amazing Caesar Chavez dressing, which I'd whizzed up in the food processor earlier in the day. The dressing is craaaaaazy delicious and is way better than traditional, anchovy-laden Caesar dressing, IMHO (in my humble opinion...I use IMHO often so I figured I'd better explain!) I swear, Isa Chandra Moskowitz is a genius!!

I decided it would be fun to eat the bowls with chopsticks. That's just how I roll. And my son thought eating with chopsticks was the coolest thing ever.

Tonight's dinner is one of my hubby's favorites...raw tortilla soup and salad. I mean, just look at all these veggies, which will be magically transformed by my Vita-Mix into a Tex-Mex bowl full of awesomeness.

I'll post some pictures later when we have dinner.