Category — Vegan

Monday, Monday.  Hope you all had a good weekend and are revved up for what the week brings . . . for us, it’s the last week of school, which makes L. very sad . . . yes, my girl LOVES school.  If you have kids, this is a CRAZY-making time.  There are so many end-of-year events/gifts/tributes/cards/etc. it can make your head spin.  I’ve said it before, but I’m gonna say it again, when times get tough, it’s even more important to eat well and take care of your body.  Whether you have kids or not, if you’re under stress and start shoveling too much junk in your face, you’re going to succumb to sickness.  Trust me on this one.  Garbage in, garbage out.  Eat those greens, friends!  [Read more →]

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This spring and summer, I have the pleasure of being part of the Picadilly Farm CSA.  Each week, I get to pick up a box of goodies, grown organically in New Hampshire.  This past Wednesday was my first pickup, and the box was packed with salad greens, radishes, hakurei turnips, cilantro, bok choy, pea tendrils and some lovely red Russian kale. 

I started getting creative from day one – I love the challenge of being presented with ingredients and having to dream up recipes.  I had a rotisserie chicken in the fridge and so we had whole wheat rollups with lettuce, cilantro, chicken, grated sharp cheddar and enchilada sauce.  The next night was steamed tofu with bok choy and pea tendrils over rice, with a sauce made from low-sodium soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, tabasco and chopped cilantro.  It was tasty, and it was pretty:

Saturday night, I sauteed the kale and added spicy Italian chicken sausages, tomatoes and garlic and served that over whole wheat penne with Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.  Delicious comfort food – and the kale was tender and sweet.

And last night, it was giant salads.  Red leaf lettuce topped with halved cherry tomatoes, sliced radishes and salad turnips.  I added some buffalo chicken meatballs from Trader Joe’s (pretty good and heat ‘n’ eat to boot!) and this delicious ranch dressing, inspired by a recipe in Eating Well magazine:

Combine all those in a jar and shake it up – preferably a little bit before dinner so that the flavors have some time to mesh . . . it’s creamy, tangy and a great compliment to the spicy meatballs and crisp lettuce.  Here’s what the final creation looked like:

 So hearty, and healthy . . . and once you start making your own ranch dressing, you’ll never long to go lookin’ for that hidden valley again!

Eating veggies this fresh spoils a girl . . . even for premium produce the likes of Whole Foods’.  There is just no substitute.  I’ll keep filling you in on what I’m doing, and for even more inspiration, check out this great blog, A Bushel of What? 

Do you belong to a CSA?  What’re you whipping up from your spring share?

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Hey friends, remember me?  Despite what you might think, I haven’t forgotten about the blog . . . truth be told, I’m actually beginning to miss blogging.  I miss interacting with people about food.  Lately I’ve been interacting with people about floor refinishing, wall-painting, hauling our crap from one house to another, end-of-year teacher gifts, etc.  etc. etc.  All good, but as you know, food’s my real passion.   [Read more →]

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Oh friends, today’s recipe’s a treat.  A healthy, tasty treat brought to you by another blogger I follow.  Her real name’s Dara Michalski, but she goes by the moniker “Cookin’ Canuck” – she’s originally from Canada, you see.

Dara adopted this from Deborah Madison’s bible Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone and I tweaked Dara’s take yet again.  Serve this flavorful pilaf alongside a nice piece of broiled fish (brush it with olive oil and dust it with cumin and salt and pepper too, if you like) or a piece of grilled chicken.  Just be forewarned – the side dish might steal the show at supper.

Spiced Bulgur Pilaf With Dried Cherries & Pine Nuts (adapted from the Cookin’ Cunuck’s recipe)

Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over low heat.  Add the onion, garlic, coriander, cumin and a sprinkle of salt.  Sauté until the onion is translucent.  Add the bulgur and the broth, turn the heat up to medium-high, and bring to a boil.  Lower the heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the liquid is absorbed.  Remove from the heat and mix in the cherries.  Let stand for 5 minutes.  Just before serving, stir in the green onions and pine nuts, fluffing the pilaf as you go.

Serves 4.

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This is a great little recipe.  It may be quite different from what you’re cranking out on a typical weeknight, but it won’t be much more difficult.  Don’t be afraid of the chopping – that’s almost the entire time-cost of preparing this dish – so really, in just 30 minutes, you can serve your family a healthful meal that is high protein, low calorie, tasty and fun.  Keep a fork handy – because although you’re supposed to eat these with your hands, they can get a little messy.  And put a bottle of sriracha on the table, so those who like heat can spice things up!

Thai Turkey Cabbage Rollups (adapted from Cooking Light)

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the ginger and turkey to the skillet and cook, breaking up the turkey, until the meat is no longer pink.  Place the turkey in a large bowl.  Add the remaining ingredients and stir well.  Spoon turkey mixture into cabbage leaves, roll up, and enjoy!

Serves 4.  I served this with Chinese noodles dressed with some sesame oil and soy sauce (one of L’s favorite comfort foods) and some Asian Slaw on the side.

To make this vegetarian/vegan, sub in vegetarian fish sauce (although Cooking Light says you can omit the sauce, I think it’s essential to the flavor of the dish) and crumbled tofu instead of turkey. 

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On Saturday morning, I headed out in the chilly rain to gather some appetizers to take to our friends’ house that evening.  In old-world-style, I made a couple of stops – collecting my favorites from Sevan Bakery(Watertown) and Eastern Lamejun (Belmont).  At Sevan, I got some hummus (theirs is the only purchased hummus L. will deign to eat), some whipped feta spread (really, you’ve GOT to try this – whipped feta and red peppers – so yummy I want to put my face in it), and some muhammara (Aleppo pepper, walnuts, pomegranate molasses – rich and a deep rich flavor unlike any other – great as a dip or slather it on baked chicken or fish). At Eastern Lamejun, I bought ½ dozen meat lamejunwith garlic and a bunch of house-made pita chips. 

Have you ever had lamejun?  They’re delicious – a piece of very thin round dough is covered in minced meat (lamb, beef, and E.L. makes them with chicken, too) and spices.  You heat ‘em and eat ‘em.  They even freeze well.  By the way, keep this idea in your back pocket, because they’re a great summer convenience food – think 2 or so per person and whip up a nice fresh salad – stuff salad inside the lamejun, roll and eat.  Dinner, done!

Anyway – this is all a long lead-in to today’s recipe.  Because I had a minute to browse at Sevan, I sought dried bean inspiration.  I came away with a big bag of dried chickpeas, just like mama used to make.  As you know, I’m trying to eat fewer canned foods, and one of my canned-goods staples is chickpeas.  I came home and cooked up ½ the bag to use later in a recipe.  Now be forewarned – should you get bold and try to cook these at home, they take a super long time to cook – something on the order of 2 hours!  Not for the faint of heart . . . but you’ll be richly rewarded for your efforts.  Freshly cooked chickpeas are firmer and more flavorful than their canned cousins.  And much, much cheaper.

This easy Armenian recipe is not only tasty, but it’s a nutrient blast – chard, chickpeas, lycopene from the tomato paste and a little olive oil to help you absorb all the nutrients . . . do yourself a favor and serve it over brown rice, at least, to keep up the momentum!

Chard ‘n’ Chickpeas (adapted from this recipe at The Armenian Kitchen)

Heat the oil over medium heat and sauté the onions until they’re translucent.  Add the chard and sauté until it is wilted.  Add the chick peas, tomato paste, broth and a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Cover and simmer on low heat until the chard is tender, about 20-30 minutes.  If you have any Aleppo pepper on hand, it’d be awesome in this dish.  I sadly forgot to pick some up that day!

Serve over brown rice pilaf.

Serves 4.

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I came home ravenous from Pilates yesterday.  But I didn’t want to start raiding the cupboards for “whatever” – I wanted a healthful lunch.  On Sunday, I found organic pea shoots at Trader Joe’s – they come in a 4 oz. clam shell container, and if you haven’t tasted these, they taste like springtime.  That’s them up there in the picture – they’re delicate, yet crunchy, and they’re a glorious green color.  What’s more, they’re super low-cal and they pack a nutritional punch, too.  Per serving, pea shoots have 7 times more vitamin C than blueberries, 8 times more folic acid than bean sprouts, and 4 times more vitamin A than tomatoes. 

I whipped up this delicious little salad in 10 minutes, and now you can, too.

Pea Shoot & Edamame Salad

Combine the pea shoots and edamame in a large bowl.  Combine the remaining ingredients in a small bowl and pour over the pea shoots/edamame mixture.  Enjoy!

Serves 1, but could easily be scaled up.

In case you’re wondering . . . that wasn’t all I had for lunch.  I also about 3/4 c. 0% Fage yogurt topped with 1/2 c. organic blueberries, 1/2 c. All-Bran cereal, and a little agave drizzled over the top . . . .

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I know the blog’s been lean on posts lately.  Last week was “vacation” week, and then this Tuesday night L. came down with a high fever and stomach thing that threw us under the bus.  Those of you with kids know how this works . . . you lose entire days of your life tending to these poor kids.  When you can finally leave the building, it’s like being re-born, and then there is just so much to do to catch up . . . .

But enough whining.  I did cook for myself while this was going on.  A mama’s gotta keep her strength up, right?  For whatever reason, last weekend I was craving sweet mango chutney, so I was cruising the Indian foods section at Whole Foods.  While I was there, I couldn’t resist buying a 2 lb. bag of dried, split desi chickpeas, (Chana Dal); split chickpeas with the skin removed. They’re pretty and yellow and small.  They caught my eye as a legume I hadn’t yet tried, and their small size lead me to believe they’d be quick to cook.  They are, and I am hooked.

First off, though, let’s talk about the health benefits of chickpeas . . . so if you make this easy recipe, you’ll feel even better about yourself as you munch. Chickpeas are a good source of fiber, which has cholesterol-lowering benefits.  Their high fiber content also prevents blood sugar levels from rising too rapidly, so they’re an especially good choice for folks with diabetes, insulin resistance or hypoglycemia. And when combined with whole grains like rice, chickpeas provide virtually fat-free high-quality protein.  They’re cheap, too.  Really, no downside to these puppies – so eat up!

Easy Chana Dal

Rinse and pick over the dal.  Place the dal in a bowl and cover with cool water.  Let soak for 2 hours.  Drain and rinse the dal again and place it into a medium saucepan with 3 c. of water.  Bring to a boil, lower the heat and cover. Simmer for approximately 20 minutes, or until the dal is tender.  Remove from heat and drain. (Note:  you could soak & drain the dal the night before and keep the dal in the fridge to cook the next night if you want to speed this up.  You can also cook your dal in the pressure cooker – I don’t have one!)

Meanwhile, sauté the onion in the olive oil until translucent.  Set aside.

Place the dal in a large bowl.  Add the sautéed onions, garam masala, salt and pepper and mix.  Serve over rice with chutney to taste.

Serves 4.

Now – if I hadn’t been freaked that I was getting a stomach virus, I would’ve added a bunch of steamed baby spinach to this mix.  I’d steam a 5-6 oz. box of the stuff (maybe more, if you’re a spinach lover like me) and season it with salt and pepper.  I’d add it to the dal mix, and probably up the garam masala because of the added spinach.  Taste it and see what you think.  Other steamed, chopped greens would be tasty too, I’m sure.  If you fool around with this, let us know what you did and how it turned out in the comments below!

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