More GF / Vegan Goodies

Granola -Take Two
I've been reading a lot of granola recipes trying to come up with the perfect healthy granola. Sorry to those who received my first batch. This one was much better!
Preheat oven to 320 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a big bowl mix the wet ingredients:
3/4 c pumpkin purée
2 TBS apple sauce
1/2 c date sugar
1 TBS vanilla
2 tsp. pumpkin spice
Then add dry ingredients:
3 c GF oats
1 c pistachios
1 c walnuts
Mix well and spread on baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes stirring once.
Add 1-2 c of dried fruit, I uses raisins and cranberries. Bake for another 5-10 minutes. Let cool and put in an air tight container!

Brownie Bites

I made these wonderful no bake brownies - to me, they seemed more like truffles.  They do call for honey, but you can use brown rice syrup instead to make them vegan.  My omnivore friends  loved these as much as I did!  Super easy to make.

http://www.mnn.com/food/recipes/stories/gluten-free-no-bake-brownie-balls

Best meal I have ever made myself!

Well, not sure if my family agreed, but I loved every bite.  And, unfortunately the final meal's photos were somehow deleted from my iphone.  My best creation ever - all proof GONE.  I do not understand how things disappear from my phone, my computer and my saved blog file.  But I do have one lonely photo of the tofu before it went into the oven!

 

On to the meal:
Spicy Orange Greens
This recipe is from a new cookbook Everyday Happy Herbivore.  And the recipe is found in a downloadable pdf with several of her recipes.  Here is the link:
http://www.forksoverknives.com/sample-recipes-from-everyday-happy-herbivore/

I will not write out the recipe, because I really want you to check out the pdf, it has several great recipes.  For my spicy greens, I could not find an orange marmalade without corn syrup, so I used apricot preserves.  For my greens, I used kale.  This recipe was AMAZING.  I wish I still had my beautiful picture.


Orange Beets
I bought the prepackaged, already cooked beets from Trader Joes.  Yes, I would prefer to buy them from the Farmers Market, but sometimes I use short cuts.  I emptied the beets in a dish and poured a little balsamic vinegar and orange over them.  No precise measure, just enough to give flavor.  I served these cold. 

Tofu
My description of this tofu is simply - AWESOME.  I sliced the tofu (extra firm) and pressed the water out.  (This is key to the final tofu not being soggy)  I wrap mine in a dish towel and put a heavy dish on top while I prepare the marinade and crust.  Pre-heat the oven to 350.
Marinade:
2TBS Tahini
2 TBS Water
1 tsp GF Tamari
whisk these together, and spread on the top and bottom of the tofu (I put little slits in my tofu, so the marinade will soak through the middle).  Do not use all marinade, save half for later.
Put tofu on baking dish and roast at 350 for 12 minutes.
Crust:
In my Vitamix, I combined
1/4 cup pistachios
1/4 cup walnuts (You can use any nuts that you like, I try to incorporate walnuts for the Omega 3)
2 tsp cornmeal (makes this recipe gluten free!)
1/4 tsp cumin
2 TBS cilantro
turn vitamix on low - medium for a few minutes
Take tofu out of the oven, put more marinade on, and pour the crust on top (I did not use all of the crust). Place back in the oven for 10 more minutes.  I broiled mine at the end to make the tofu a little more brown, but watch it carefully. 

Omnivore hint - I saved some of the marinade and crust for Chad to use on his grilled chicken!  He loved the kale as well.  He is not a beet fan.  The girls enjoyed the kale, tofu and chicken.  Not the beets.  Which just meant more beets for me.

Dinner tonight

Colleen's chick pea burgers:
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2011/10/colleens-chickpea-burgers-with-tahini-sauce.html
So incredibly easy - I actually made the patties yesterday and put them in the frig last night.  I cooked them in a pan for dinner tonight.

Sides:

1. Served the burgers with Trader Joe vegan sour cream
2. Trader Joe frozen fajita peppers and onions - stir fried with a little low sodium veggie broth
3. Spinach, cucumber, and hemp seed salad with a no fat raspberry vinaigrette
4. Sliced new potatoes, with a little olive oil spray and sea salt - baked at 400 for about 15 minutes, then roasted them  - I did have to keep an eye on these

All I have to say is that EVERYONE LOVED their dinner tonight.  

Mexican Pie

 

Are you looking for a super easy, delicious meal?  I have one that passed all four taste test - mine, omnivore Chad, picky Ry, and veggin lovin S.  I found this recipe in the companion Forks Over Knives Book - The recipe is actually by Karen Campbell, of the The Campbell Family - The China Study.  The recipe is called Polenta with Rice and Beans, it is found on page 143.   I made modifications and will share how I prepared it.

(my family calls it mexican pie!)

Ingredients (I found all ingredients at Trader Joes):

One tube of organic polenta

1/2 cup of low sodium, no fat veggie broth

1 can of Trader Joes' fire roasted tomatoes

1 cup of Trader Joes' frozen organic brown rice

1 tablespoon chili powder

1 can organic black beans drained

1/2 cup fat free, low sodium salsa (I used TJ's green salsa)

• I evenly, yet thinly sliced the polenta and laid the rounds flat in a pie dish.  You want to create an even layer of polenta to serve as the crust.  So, I used my fingers and mashed the polenta together.  Very fun!
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• In a large sauce pan, I combined all of the ingredients EXCEPT for the salsa and black beans.  I stirred and let this simmer until the rice was fully thawed.  The recipe says to let all of this cook for about 45 minutes until the liquid is gone.  I did not have time for that, so  I added the black beans, let it cook for awhile longer, then drained the liquid.  
• I poured the rice and black bean mixture over the polenta, then layered the salsa on top.
• Stick the whole pie in the oven for 30 minutes.
• 
  After it cools a few minutes slice, and top with avocado or vegan sour cream.

There are many variations to this dish, dont be afraid to add your favorite veggies, more spices and try out different salsas.

This pie made enough for one dinner for the four of us, S's lunch the next day and my lunch the next two days.  (S and I even ate it cold!)

Black Bean Chilli for the Vegan and the Meateater

The most recent McDougall newsletter hit my inbox a week ago when the temperature dropped in Atlanta.  Perfect timing to try out a new chilli -

Another Mary McDougall recipe from her and John's September newsletter:
http://www.drmcdougall.com/misc/2011nl/sep/recipes.htm

From newsletter:
Preparation Time:  10 minutes
Cooking Time:  30 minutes
Servings: 4
½ cup vegetable broth
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped (red or green)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1   4-ounce can chopped green chilies
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon oregano
2  15-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1  15-ounce can fire-roasted chopped tomatoes
1 cup chunked, cooked yams
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
dash salt
Options:  baked tortilla chips
Chili Cream Sauce (recipe above)
Salsa (purchased)
Place the vegetable broth in a large pot.  Add onion, bell pepper and garlic.  Cook and stir frequently for 3 minutes.  Add green chilies, chili powder, cumin, and oregano.  Cook and stir for 2 minutes.  Add beans, tomatoes, and yams.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.  Uncover and cook for 15 minutes, adding a bit more vegetable broth if the chili is too thick at this point.  Stir in cilantro and salt to taste.  Add optional toppings as desired.

My modifications:  I did not have any yams, and Chad does not like them anyways, so I left those out.  I used only one clove of garlic and added more veggie broth.  I used the Trader Joe's fire roasted tomatoes in a can.  I put Toffuti vegan sour cream on top.

Chad's Chilli - Mine did not photograph as well!

Chad's modifications: - he crumbled Frito's on top with a dollop of real sour cream and a sliced chicken breast.  (If only I could find healthy Frito's - I was a bit jealous of his addition)

We both enjoyed this recipe.  S did try it and enjoyed it, but Ry did not try it - it would have been too spicy for her.  She had her left over lunch for dinner!

Thursday Lentils!

Well - home late after the girls' guitar and piano  classes, they are "starving". I am determined to make KP's lentils. But I dont have time to find the recipe. Off the top of my head, and lots of Trader Joe's ingredients, I actually prepared a dish that 3/4 of us liked.

• 1 box of Trader Joe lentils (in the refrigerated section)
• 1 can roasted tomatoes
• about a cup of frozen artichoke hearts
• juice of 1/2 of a lemon
• 1/2 TBS cumin
• 1 cup of already cooked quinoa (I had this left over and threw it in)
• salt and pepper to taste

Threw all of this in one big pot at the same time, stirred and cooked until simmering.  (about 10 minutes)
I put some of the plain lentils in a separate pot for the girls.  They said they didnt want lentils and tomatoes, in fact they no longer liked lentils.  (Funny with babysitters, they love lentils)  So, I put plain lentils with salt, a sliced peach and lettuce with their favorite dressing on their plate.  I did give S some of the lentil and tomato recipe I made.  They both cleaned their plates.  Finally - Ry ate SOMETHING.  Chad loved the dish, and of course I loved it as well.  So, this is SUPER EASY, and delicious.  S asked for it in her lunchbox tomorrow.  Done!

Throw it all together??

What do I do with this?

Friday - lunchtime.  I do not plan to cook until Sunday, but I do have one roma tomato, one avocado, one zucchini, red potatoes, and a jalapeno left over from our Natures Garden Delivered box.  I really hate to see produce go to waste.  So -  I peeled and chopped the potatoes up, sliced the zucchini, and laid those out on a baking sheet with a little spray olive oil on the sheet, salt and pepper.  I baked at 400 for about 20 minutes, then roasted them for a few minutes. 
Meanwhile, chopped up the tomato and avocado and jalapeno.   I try not to use a lot of imitation products, but a little every once in awhile does help a recipe.  I put one big tablespoon of vegan sour cream, a little less than a tablespoon of lime, the minced seeded jalapeno, salt and pepper in a small bowl and mixed together for the dressing.
Once the potatoes and zuchinni came out of the oven and cooled, I put them in a bowl with the avocado, tomatoes, and mixed with the dressing.   - Throwing stuff together worked! (This time!)  Great lunch.

Baked the potatoes and zucchini

Voila!

Quick Dinner to use the my goodies from Natures Garden Delivered

 Salad

• Lettuce
• toasted almonds and sunflower seeds
• sliced peaches
• dried cranberries
• Dressing - I like just a little balsamic vinegar but you could add any light dressing - lemon, vinegar, agave - pre-made dressing, etc

 Squash Casserole

• 2 squash sliced
• 1/2 vidala onion sliced
• 1 tablespoon vegan sour cream (I used tofutti)
• salt and pepper to taste
• Gluten free bread crumbs sprinkled on top - you can buy these at Wholefoods or I made my own with Udi's GF bread

I mixed all the incredients, put in a small casserole dish and sprinkled the bread crumbs on top.  I cooked at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes.  Quick, easy, and delicious.

Both these dishes were very spur of the moment yesterday afternoon using the produce I had left in the kitchen. Because I am not cooking today!!!  Enjoy your Saturday.

Nature's Garden Delivered box came last night!

It really is fun receiving a big white box on the front porch.  Natures Garden Delivered

http://ga.naturesgardendelivered.com/ features organic and local produce.  You can specify if you want only local, only organic, etc.  Some produce is local and organic.  Last night's box was the third one I have received.  The produce is beautiful and plentiful.  You can also look online on your account and pick and choose what you want in your box.  When I first signed up, I specified all the produce we never wanted (very few on the list) and then I let it be a surprise.  This week's box contained something I had never seen or heard of before.  Purslane.  Purslane is often considered a backyard weed.  But on further investigation, I have learned it is packed with vitamin E, C and Omega 3s.  Omega 3 is great news for me, because I do not take fish oil, so it is harder to come by in my diet.  I found a recipe I am going to try tonight at http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/tomato_cucumber_purslane_salad/.  Basically, purslane, cucumbers, tomatoes, jalapeno pepper and lemon juice.  A nice mexican salad. Yum.  I am going to make that with vegan mash potatoes from the ones I received in our box and probably marinated tofu.  For the mash potatoes, I keep it simple - vegan sour cream, salt, pepper. 

Added bonus, the girls acted as though it were Christmas, they loved opening the box and discovering what goodies it contained. 

Quick Healthy Dinner

Trader Joes seaweed snacks - I had no idea these would be such a hit in my house, but Ry can eat an entire package in one sitting!  So, last night, I prepared a healthy salad - spinach, carrots, avocado, pumpkin seeds and sprinkled the crunchy seaweed on top.   It was spicy, crunchy, and had lots of flavor.  I used a light, light lemon vinaigrette to top it off.  So healthy!  Chad did not try but S and I loved it. 

Mine and the girls dinner was super simple but good.  Brown rice, black beans, this salad and seaweed on the side.  (Chad brought home BBQ).  I promise I do try to include him in meals, sometimes though I just strike out!







Pumpkin seeds have become my new obsession.  Read what this website has to say about them "natures almost perfect food"!
http://health.learninginfo.org/herbs/pumpkin-seeds.htm

And seaweed - "all of the minerals required by humans are present" see more at:
http://health.learninginfo.org/seaweed-benefits.htm


Impressive - I want to eat perfect foods and ones that contain so many great nutrients.  And, they taste good too!

Pumpkin Seeds

Always on the quest for easy summer dinners filled with fresh veggies, but looking for a little added flavor, I have stumbled upon toasted pumpkin seeds.  Yes, my favorite lunch place, Lotta Frutta and a root canal helped me with the discovery.

I love nuts, but after an almond recently split my tooth resulting in a less than fun and incredibly expensive root canal and a crown I decided to give up nuts for awhile.  I was dining at Lotta Frutta and Myrna suggested adding toasted pumpkin seeds to my salad.  Delicious!  So, last night I whipped up a salad with lots of veggies, grilled some asparagus with seasame oil and GF soy sauce and baked polenta topped with veggies.  I threw some pumpkin seeds in a pan with a little spray olive oil and just mixed them around a bit.  They turned out perfectly.  The seeds added a smoky, crunchy lift to my salad.  And, I sprinkled them over the asparagus too.  All vegan, all GF.  Yum.  But this dinner did fail the family test.  Not one taker.

Speaking of Lotta Frutta, the girls finally got their picture posted in the restaurant.  This was a HUGE deal to the girls.  I think it might have been the best day of their short but adventure packed life.

Beyond pumpkin seeds - and on to smoothies.  I used to be intimidated by smoothies, did I need to get a recipe?  Follow it precisely?  No and No.  I am no longer afraid.  I threw in one frozen banana, one big handful of frozen strawberries, a scoop of vegan protein and about a cup of water.  Perfect afternoon snack!  Another tip I learned recently - if you are freezing fresh fruit (I am trying, trying to be that organized and proactive), cut the fruit lay it out flat on a baking sheet, and freeze them not touching one another.  After they are frozen, then throw them into your freezer container, glass or zip lock bag, and they wont stick together!

Sometimes the details escape me...

I am not a detail person.  I rarely remember to read a recipe all the way through before I start.  Sometimes this works out, but most of the time it does not.  But details, arrrghh....  I would much prefer to get the general sense of a recipe and throw it all together.  I usually glaze over words like: emulsify, fold, whisk, etc.  And, any ingredients I am not familiar with, I tend to think as optional.   

Which once again got me into trouble this weekend.  I made a quinoa dish that Chad had tasted at a dinner and loved.  I swore I followed the directions (well, at least most of them).  Chad called me out on it.  So, we made it again for a cookout we were going to on Sunday and he watched over my shoulders (and helped too).  Apparently, scallions are an important ingredient, one should measure out lime juice, not just squeeze a couple into a recipe and cumin seeds are not the same thing as ground cumin. Oh yeah, and I had to actually toast the cumin seeds.  Seriously???  Yes, indeed, the quinoa was 100% better!!  I posted the recipe in an earlier post:

Quinoa recipe in this post:
http://vegginaroundblog.blogspot.com/2011/04/spring-time-cookout.html

The other night, not following the directions "exactly" did work out:
I had cabbage and broccoli from my Natures Garden Delivered box that I needed to use.  My children were "starving" and I was trying to think of something fast, vegan, gluten free and tasty that I could make.  I got onto my Wholefood app on my iphone and entered cabbage, broccoli, vegan and found this recipe.  Chinese-Style Longevity Noodles-

I altered the recipe a bit and did:

For the sauce:

1/4 c veggie broth

1TB gluten free, low sodium, organic tamari

1/2 tsp sesame oil

pinch of red pepper flakes

1/2 TB grapeseed oil

tsp of garlic and tsp of grated ginger

I used a box of quinoa spiral pasta (gluten free)

about 2 cups of chopped cabbage

2 cups of broccoli

1/2 cup toasted cashews

I mixed all the sauce ingredients together, and then heated the sauce in the skillet (I later read the recipe and this is not how I was suppose to do it) but it still worked!  Then I added the cabbage, broccoli and sauteed it all together.  When the pasta was cooked, I drained and added it in, then topped it off with the cashews.  I thought it was very tasty, it was easy to fix - vegan, and gluten free.  If it were just for me and Chad I would have added more red pepper, ginger and garlic to spice it up.  One girl liked it, the other absolutely did not.  Chad said he did want chicken in his (we unfortunately had no chicken in the house).

Just to share, two more culinary mistakes I made recently - "meyers" lemons are not the same thing as a regular old lemon, nor are "preserved" lemons. 

Osteria and Doc Chey's cater to our "mixed" taste

 

Osteria in Virginia Highlands has always been a family favorite.  They are  accommodating,  have friendly service, and serve good food.  Last week was no exception.  Chad ordered chicken picata, Ry - mac and cheese and S and I deliberated about a vegan option.  S decided it would be a great idea to create our own dish.  So, our waitress with amazing patience, waited  as I went through all the vegan topping options for a pizza.  The waitress confirmed there would be no problem in creating a vegan pizza for us.  S ordered a vegan pizza with artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers and spinach for us to share.  Amazing - seriously one of the best pizzas I have ever had (including those with cheese).  And, imagine S's pride that she created her own!  Bonus-  I noticed on the specials board that they are now serving gluten free noodles.  Way to go!

Doc Chey's is another family favorite where we can all order our own thing and all leave happy.  Tonight, though I decided to really make a challenge and request vegan - gluten free.  It so happens, their special Marco Polo's sauce is gluten free!  I ordered that with rice and tofu.  Amazing!  The girls both had noodle bowls with tofu and Chad had the chicken cashew nut stir fry.  We all loved our meals.

Rich Chey - I dont know him, but from what I read about him and heard from others, he is one inspirational entrepreneur.   First, he contributes so much to our neighborhood - his philanthropy is endless.  He host dine outs at his restaurants several times a year, for not one but several local schools.  He raises money for the fire station in our neighborhood and I know he give A LOT more, but I want to write about his other attributes - to create several restaurants that cater to young professionals before kids (ie me and Chad 7 years ago), AND families (now us), and even the girls grandparents love his restaurants.  That is a hard task to accomplish.  Beyond that, he is flexible with his food and can create dishes for every type of eater - Doc Chey - gluten free vegan is hard!

Thank you Rich for what you have done for our neighborhood and my family.  We love dining at your establishments.

I promise, I am not offended when someone eats meat next to me...

Chad and I had our date night out and decided to try the new Genki in VA Highlands.  I ordered a steamed veggie bowl with glass noodles - vegan and gluten free (if I had asked for no soy sauce).  And, Chad ordered sushi and this "meat" sampler.  Not sure what all it included -

"Best Day EVER" as my youngest would say

Beautiful weather, early morning workout, husband took the girls to school, had my haircut (by an amazing hairstylist, Ritchie at Lather) and then met a friend for lunch.  Cant think of a better way to start the day.

Lunch - one of my favorite places - Super Pan.  I so enjoy their vegan BBQ tofu sandwich on a coconut bun with cabbage and cilantro.  The BBQ sauce is out of this world, spicy with a touch of sweet, accompanied by crystallized sugar on top.  Put that together with cilantro and a soft gooey bread and you have one hell of a sandwich.  Each bite melts in your mouth with a taste that is perfectly balanced between sweet and spicy.  I ate there a couple of times but never asked if the sandwich was officially "vegan".  But I got my nerve up after starting this blog.  I had reasoned with myself, that I would enjoy and eat it either way, but it would be nice to report on my blog that it was vegan.  I almost hugged the guy who was taking my order and who informed me that it was INDEED vegan.  Sweet!  This is another place that a vegan can get an outstanding, satisfying meal and any accompanying meat eater will be equally satisfied with their meal - the rest of the menu has plenty of meat options.
http://www.superpanlatinosandwichshop.com/

After Lunch-  Atlanta Food Trucks at Sweet Auburn Curb Market (will be there every last Friday of the month).  I have been reading about the Atlanta Food Truck movement in Atlanta and could not wait to check them out.  These creative entrepreneurs are trying to bring a concept to Atlanta that many other cities already get to experience.  For some reason, our city laws are not conducive to this business.  To learn more go to http://www.atlantastreetfood.com/.  (I wont pretend to understand it.)  But in the meantime you can check these food trucks out at certain times and locations.  On to my experience - really fun, happy energy as everyone lined up to try exciting food.  The first sign I saw was inspiring, they were selling tamales, and the first type to sell out was the vegetarian.  Go veggie!

Farm Mobile was another cool concept - a truck filled with local farmer's good.  I walked into the truck to do my shopping - organic bok choy and H&F Bread company loaf of bread.
www.grassfedcow.com/farmmobile.html

One food truck I was most interested in finding was Grace's Goodness.  I stumbled upon her site and immediately was drawn to her philosophy: "Grace’s Goodness was founded on the notion that honest, healthy, local food should be accessible to all."  Love it.  And, I found her.  She was full of goodness and fun energy - she had amazing vegan hummus, and homemade pimento cheese (not vegan).  I will be tracking her down again soon to refill my mason jars.  http://www.gracesgoodness.com/  Husband and both girls enjoyed the pimento cheese.

Good Food was another truck that I cant wait to try out.  We had already eaten lunch, but I cant wait to find them again and try one of their waffle cones filled with indian fare.

BEST day EVER!!

http://goodfoodtruckatl.com/

Dessert - 2 amazing finds!

I know, I know sugar is not healthy.  But sometimes a girl needs some sugar.  (And for some of us, that means daily)  So here are two AMAZING treats I buy.  The chocolate bar is just for momma, and the ice cream is for all of us.  The girls devour it.  And BOTH are VEGAN.  Surprise!!

Both are from Trader Joes - who by the way, keeps adding new amazing vegan products
One more note, husband loves the chocolate as much as I do.

Two little cooks are born...

Continuing on with asking what the girls would like to create in the kitchen, my oldest made a delicious sandwich for her lunchbox this morning- leftover avocados mushed with a little vegan mayonnaise spread on one piece of organic whole wheat bread, on the other she spread hummus, then laid spinach on top.   My heart swelled with pride!

Involving the Girls...

The Girls' Creation!

Adult Dinner!

As a reluctant cook, it stresses me out even more to have my little ones "help".  But with my intent to make food fun, I have decided to involve the girls more.  The girls absolutely love a recipe one night, then  a week later and they hate it.  As I was thinking of what to make for dinner and they told me my idea were awful, I began to tell them about my new website - Veggin Around.  I asked if they would like to help me with the site and if they could create a recipe.  The response was an overwhelming "Yes".   My littlest immediately began:  "I would like a plate full of pasta, then lettuce on top then FRESH tomatoes."  Fresh in her definition are large red tomatoes sliced horizontally.  She doesnt know that not all tomatoes are fresh :)  I immediately began- I sauteed fresh spinach and tomatoes with a little veggie broth, salt and pepper.  Cooked up some pasta,  threw that in with the spinach and tomatoes and added some pine nuts I had laying around.  Fabulous.  For my daughters, I gave them plates of pasta, laid out the spinach and tomatoes and let them build their creation.  (They did not want their veggies cooked.)  This was a super simple recipe that EVERYONE devoured!  (My husband did add a piece of grilled chicken.)