My "CSA" Salad

Several years ago, we purchased a share in a local CSA. I think CSA's are fantastic, and they can be wonderful if they are run well. Unfortunately, our experience was not so wonderful. I won't go into details, but let's just say the farm didn't treat its subscribers very well (lack of communication, small quantities of food, extremely small variety of vegetables, and poor quality were my main gripes). It didn't surprise me when the farm went out of business a couple of years ago.

Nevertheless, I did learn many things during my CSA summer. One of them was how to take a random assortment of veggies (turnip, beets, fennel) and turn it into a kick-booty salad.

I call this a CSA Salad, and I posted the recipe on VegWeb. It has a base of steamed bulgur, which is then tossed with a variety of raw, chopped veggies, toasted walnuts, and vinaigrette. My favorite veggies to use include beets, carrots, celery, cucumber, fennel, turnip, spinach, and scallions, but you can use whatever you have on hand. The vinaigrette takes two minutes to whip up, and in no time, you have a crunchy, tangy, vitamin-loaded plate of goodness.

Sometimes I'll add a can of chickpeas in there, but it doesn't even really need it. I've also had success substituting millet for the bulgur to make it gluten-free, but I prefer it with the bulgur. It tastes great freshly made and even better the next day.

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 :)

Ginger Peanut Soup and Coconut Bread

Another day, another batch of bad food porn. *Sigh* I will get around to reading my camera manual....I will get around to reading my camera manual...


I bought a really big head of cauliflower last week. I used about half of it in the 2nd Avenue Vegetable Korma, but I still had a good amount left over. I decided to put it to good use and make a special dinner my hubby really enjoys - Ginger Peanut Soup from How It All Vegan! and Luscious Coconut Bread from VegWeb. I know I've said it before, but I still feel the need to apologize for the bad pictures!

The soup is dynamite - it's really so, so easy to make, and it has a ton of good-for-you stuff in it, like broccoli, cauliflower, ginger, onion, garlic, tomatoes, and peanut butter. Sometimes I'll also add some chickpeas or tofu to the pot, but this was just the regular, straight-up version. I love to top our soups with some shredded coconut and chopped peanuts. It just adds that little somethin' somethin.'

The soup was murderously hot and we were starving, so I put some frozen spinach at the bottom of our bowls and added the hot soup on top. This is one of my favorite tricks - you cool your soup down AND add some more veggies! I do this with my son's hot foods all the time, usually with frozen peas :)

Of course, no soup is complete without a great bread alongside. The Luscious Coconut Bread is, indeed, luscious! It's sweet and moist and utterly delicious.

Soup and bread is one of our favorite combinations in the fall and winter, so you'll be seeing lots more over the coming months!

Thai Chickpea Pizza

There is nothing better than kicking your weekend off with a pizza, right? Pizza just makes me happy. I love making all different kinds of pizza, too. Tonight it was an old favorite, Thai Chickpea Pizza. The recipe is a hodgepodge of different recipes, but it's largely based on the Simple Thai Pizza from VegWeb.com. A homemade crust is brushed with a delectable ginger-sesame oil mixture, par-baked, and then topped with a homemade peanut-lime sauce, chickpeas, scallions, carrot, pineapple, crushed peanuts, and cilantro. I often add a chopped bell pepper to the mix, too, but I didn't have any tonight (or cilantro, for that matter). No matter - it was still delicious!

Here's the par-baked crust, topped with the peanut-lime sauce and chickpeas:

Then it's covered with shredded carrot and sliced pineapple:

And finally topped with the scallions and peanuts:

It's an awesome blend of flavors and textures!

Question: What's your favorite pizza combo?

Roasted Beet and Cashew Goat Cheez Salad (and Bread and Pancakes)

I don't know what's gotten into me, but I have been on a baking tear this last week or so. I think I've done more baking in the last 7 days than I've done in the last 7 years. No kidding! I've always found baking to be somewhat frustrating in its precision - just the right amount of wet, just the right amount of dry, chemical reactions, humidity, blah blah blah. I've already lost interest just talking about it. But I've been feeling inspired to bake more things to stick in my freezer - waffles, quick breads, cookies, and today - pancakes!

Today's specimen: Pumpkin Pancakes from Vegan Brunch. I've only made these once before, but I still remember it like it was yesterday: warm, fragrant, autumnal flapjacks, topped with a delicious ginger-cranberry sauce. Mmmm.

But no such sauce today. Today's work was just about making pancakes for the freezer. I decided to make a double batch, since it really wasn't much more work to do so. I'm glad I did. If I have to get so many dishes dirty, it may as well be worth it!

Here's the first batch, getting all cozy and warm on the griddler:

They came out delightfully thin and soft.

Once they cooled, I stacked them all up. I just thought it would be fun to make a gigantic stack and pretend I was going to eat it like a giant.

But then I came to my senses and stuck them in a freezer bag. I'll be so glad to pull these out of the freezer whenever I need a quick breakfast or snack for my son! Or me.

Since I opened a gigantic can of canned pumpkin, I still had a whole lot of it left. Fortunately, I knew just what to do with it. It's called Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread.

But you know what's better than one big loaf of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread?

Yeaaaah. Three mini loaves of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Bread. Holla!

I've been making this bread for a couple of years. It's awesome. I've doctored the recipe up a million different ways, and it always comes out great. Today, I made a healthier version, substituting white whole wheat flour, agave syrup, maple syrup, applesauce, and flax "eggs"for the white flour, white sugar, margarine, and egg substitute, respectively. I also used 1/2 cup of chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of chopped pecans instead of 1 full cup of chocolate chips. Normally I do the full cup of chocolate chips, and it is decadently delicious. I decided to show a little restraint today. These babies, too, are going in the freezer. This bread freezes unbelievably well and makes a perfect packable snack for road trips. Or for just eating by yourself, standing in front of your kitchen sink while your son is napping. Ahem.

But even with all this baking, I figured I still needed to make something, you know, respectable and vegetable-y for dinner. I mean, there was pumpkin in the pancakes and the quick bread, but let's be serious.

I had some softball-sized beets hanging out in my crisper drawer, so I thought it would be a perfect night to have a Roast Beet, Goat Cheez, and Spinach Salad from Choosing Raw.

This is easily one of our favorite main-dish salads, if not one of our favorite meals, entirely. My hubby ALWAYS tells me what a nice surprise it is to have this for dinner! There are a few steps involved, but it's really not too bad to put together. The cashew goat cheez is amazing. I don't actually make Gena's version of goat cheez, but I do something similar. I soak some cashews and then food process them along with some miso, lemon juice, salt, water, basil, pepper, agave, and white balsamic vinegar. It's tangy and succulent and super-delish!

Other than that, it's just roasting some beets and whisking together a simple lemon-dijon vinaigrette. Aren't those beets gorgeous? Served over a bed of baby romaine and baby spinach, it's a great summer (or winter) salad. Some raw chopped walnuts add some crunch and earthy flavor.

I'm always looking for ideas for more vegan main-dish salads. What are your favorites?

Lentils and (Lots of) Rice

So.....not a lot of posts this week. I have been feeling sick (in some way, shape, or form) for the last 5 days. One day it was vomiting, another day it was...something else, every day it's been a headache and nausea, and every night has been poor sleep. You could say I'm not feeling my best :) As such, the meals I've been making have been simple - rice and tempeh, grilled cheez, quinoa salad. I've been cooking for my hubby and son because, thankfully, they both feel fine and want to subsist on more than just liquids and rice (unlike me). My stomach is not even letting me enjoy my beloved smoothies. In fact, the only thing I've been able to tolerate is rice...brown rice pasta, rice crackers, plain ole brown rice, etc. I decided to make some more rice tonight for myself and also make something more substantial for the boys.

When you haven't been to the grocery store in a week, and you're feeling pretty tired, Enjedra is your friend. Enjedra is a variation of mujaddara, a Middle Eastern dish of spiced lentils, rice, and caramelized onions. Really, it's just lentils, onions, cumin, and salt. Let them simmer together for an hour or so until it gets all fragrant and soft and squishy. Serve on top of some brown rice, and top it off with some frozen collard greens. A well-balanced, hearty, nutritious meal that costs about $2 and takes a minimum of effort.

Bonus? The lentils and rice are really sticky and easy for a toddler to spoon up. They're also really good at hiding the collard greens you just know he likes but pretends not to :)

This is a great pantry meal when you have nothing else to make, or when you're just too doggone tired to make anything involving a lot of chopping, stirring, or fussing. You get your proteins, carbs, fiber, greens, and lots of A and B vitamins. Much better than calling for take-out!

But It's Not Quite 450 Degrees In My HOUSE....Yet!

For the love of Pete, I have no clue why I thought it would be a good idea to turn my oven up to 450 degrees and bake a pizza on the hottest day of the year. Perhaps the heat addled my brain a bit. But I'm stubborn like that - I had planned to make pizza for dinner, and doggone it, face-melting heat and humidity would not stop me!

Full disclosure: I had already pre-made some of the pizza toppings the day before, so I was somewhat forced to go through with said pizza-making. The truth was, I just wanted to drink some carrot juice and eat frozen bananas for dinner.

Feast your eyes on this deliciousness: Amazing Caramelized Red Pepper & Vegan Feta Pizza from VegWeb:

Did that grab your attention?

This pizza takes a little bit of work. There are several steps involved, and things that need to be done ahead of time, so it's definitely not a pizza you can make on the fly. But with a little advanced prep, you can assemble this pizza rather easily and throw it in the oven without too much fuss.

Here's what I did:

Step 1: early in the day (or even the day before, like I did), roast your peppers and onions.

It's amazing how much they shrink!

Step 2: prepare the red pepper jam, then set aside to cool.

Step 3: cube your tofu, prepare your marinade, and place in the fridge so it can get all tangy and feta-like:

These are the two steps I did the day before. These are also the two most time-consuming elements of the process, so putting the pizza together was actually a breeze. I made a quick pizza crust (whole wheat flour, salt, baking powder, spices, olive oil, and water), topped it with some quick pizza sauce (canned tomato sauce, garlic, basil, and oregano), the pepper jam and feta, and baked it for 8 minutes:

Then I pulled it out of the oven, topped it with some steamed baby spinach and sun-dried tomatoes, and baked it another 2 minutes:

Here's my plate all loaded up:

This is probably my hubby's favorite pizza. It has a great medley of flavors...tangy faux feta, sweet pepper jam, garlicky sauce, zesty sun-dried tomatoes...a veritable symphony of flavors exploding in your mouth.

I think I just used up my quota of adjectives for the day.

Perfect Potluck Pasta Salad

Ahh, summertime...there are so many things I love about it. I love the fact that it is light outside at 5:30 in the morning. I love that it is still light outside at 7:30 at night. I love the warm weather, I love being outdoors, I love growing my herb garden, and I love eating al fresco. Especially when I get invited to a fun cookout with friends!!

On Saturday evening, my friend Allison and her husband hosted us and some other friends for a fun, casual cookout/potluck on their backyard deck. Their deck overlooks a gorgeous yard, and the weather was simply delightful. It was a fantastic evening!

I brought my favorite summer potluck dish to share - my very own chickpea-veggie-pasta salad that is always a hit with everyone, vegans and omnis alike! It's also a recipe I'm very proud of, because it is one of the first recipes I ever created and posted on VegWeb. I'm so happy I was able to take a previously seafood & mayo-laden dish and transform it into a vegan, veggie-laden dish that is truly healthy and hearty!

It's pasta (I use Trader Joe's brown rice rotini), veggies, and mashed chickpeas, tossed with a light Italian dressing spiked with a little bit of Vegenaise, dill, mustard, salt, and pepper. It's so easy to put together and it's something I can make a meal out of if there are no other vegan options available.

Here's the recipe!

Main Dish Delish Summer Pasta Salad
Serves 4 as an entree, 6-8 as a side dish

1 box (13-16 oz) of pasta of choice (I prefer brown rice rotini or whole wheat rotini)
1/2 small onion, finely chopped (white or red onion)
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 bell pepper (any color), chopped
1 medium cucumber, cut into quarters and chopped
1 large tomato, chopped (grape tomatoes also work well)
1 cup vegan Italian dressing
1/4 cup Vegenaise
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
freshly cracked pepper, to taste
1 16-oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

Cook pasta according to box. While the pasta is cooking, finely mince the onion and wash and chop the celery, pepper, cucumber, and tomato. You want nice chunks of the veggies. Add veggies to a large bowl.

After the pasta is done cooking, drain and rinse under cold water to cool the pasta. Add cooled pasta to the veggies.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the Italian dressing, Vegenaise, dijon mustard, dill weed, salt, and pepper until smooth. Add to pasta and veggies.

Finally, add the chickpeas to the medium bowl and mash with a potato masher until crumbly. Add chickpeas to the veggies and pasta and mix well. Serve immediately or chill if desired.

You know why this recipe is so great? Let me count the ways:
1) It makes a ton.
2) It only takes about 30 minutes to make.
3) It's loaded with fresh, raw veggies.
4) It doesn't make a lot of dirty dishes.
5) You can make it ahead of time - in fact, it tastes even better the longer it sits!

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!