Aromatic Kidney Bean Stew and Dessert-a-licious Smoothie

An extreme close up, thank you iPhone : )

Aromatic Kidney Bean Stew
Serves 2
Quantity can be increased by adding mild-flavored vegetables like zucchini, chayote, or celery.
Excellent served over red quinoa that has been rinsed, soaked, rinsed again, and cooked

Ingredients
1 15 oz. can of kidney beans
1 box (4 cups) vegetable broth
1 red onion, diced
5-6 small roasting potatoes, quartered (or 1 large potato cut into bite-sized pieces)
1/2 cup chopped mushrooms (I used king trumpets--I like their chewy texture, but they didn't add much flavor)
1-2 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon coriander powder
1/4 teaspoon tarragon
1/4 teaspoon cumin whole seeds or powder
tiny sprinkling of asefotida (optional)
black pepper
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
tamari sauce to taste

Method
Healthy saute onions and add potatoes and bay leaves after a few minutes.  Cook 5-10 more minutes, adding broth when pan runs dry, until potatoes just start to become tender.  Add mushrooms, remaining broth, and spices.  Simmer for 20-30 minutes until the aroma becomes thick and savory (when it is still not ready it smells more raw and tangy--I don't know how to describe it).  The smell will transition from cool to warm.  Once warm scented, add nutritional yeast and tamari.  If the flavor is too bright, take some liquid from the stew and whisk in a tablespoon or so of rice flour (or flour of choice) and then mix that into the stew.

Comments
I loved this soup but didn't try it on my husband as he wasn't home.  It was very fragrant and could be adapted in almost any direction (add leafy greens, tomato paste, garbanzo beans, garlic, or summer squash).  It was sort of an experiment because I don't really know how to use tarragon but I would say it was a success. I venture to guess that the tarragon made the bay leaves' flavors pop because this really stood out despite the fact that there were only two.  The soup will have a warmer feel if you use another variety of mushrooms.  The king trumpets are not very flavorful and if you want a fuller bodied soup I would use creminis or shitakes.  Kidney beans and I have a bitter-sweet history, so if you try this soup and love it, or not, do let me know.

I will be making it again!  (Read: 4 stars!)

Thanks again, iPhone.

Dessert-a-licious Smoothie
Serves 2

Ingredients
3 dates
5 dried figs
5 frozen cherries
nuts equivalent to 3/4 cup (I used almonds, cashews, and walnuts)
water to process

Method
Blend in Vita-mix until very smooth.

Comments
Very sweet but just sweet enough!  I had to omit the strawberry ice cream from tonight's menu.  I added regular oats and flax seed to the leftovers of this smoothie and set in fridge overnight to make overnight oats.  I just love having breakfast ready in the morning.

Another iPhone shot, this time with professional lighting.  Well, not professional.  It's backlit by my fishtank : )

Kale Salad

Just wanted to post a photo of the delicious green salad that I bragged about the other day.  I loved it so much that I made it again for a quick five minute lunch!  (Ingredients: rubbed kale leaves, chopped sun dried tomatoes, pine nuts, roasted butternut squash, olive oil and white wine vinegar).

It's so easy being vegan!!!

**Good night, healthy friends**

Indian Spiced Creamy Broccoli Risotto

Does that sound like the last thing you want on your dinner menu?

I loved it, and more importantly for many readers, my husband loved it (as a side to his turkey burger *gags in disgust*).

When I saw this Saffron Risotto with Broccoli recipe on Vegetarian Times, it reminded me of Angela's delicious Spicy Broccoli Dal (that turned out surprisingly good).  And throw a little inspiration from Ali's Barley Risotto on top, and you have this beautiful and healthy meal in a dish.  And plus, I felt I owed you a healthy recipe after fried food day yesterday (which, by the way, I felt fine today...last time I ate that much fried food I thought I came down with the flu).

I am actually very proud of this dish for it's delicious flavor, it's smooth and creamy risotto-like texture, and it's healthful-ness.

Indian Spiced Creamy Broccoli Risotto

serves 3-4

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of brown rice (I used brown basmati)

1 medium broccoli stalk, plus the stem of another (peel stalk and dice everything but not too small)

1 red onion

1 cup (about a handful) of shitake mushrooms

1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds (optional)

3-4 kale leaves (I used crinkly purple kale)

1 box of vegetable stock (roughly 4 cups)

extra water (roughly 4 more cups...I actually saved the boiling water from some chard I had boiled for another dish)

spice mixture (combine in small bowl and set aside for end): 

-1/2 teaspoon tumeric

-1/2 teaspoon coriander powder

-scant 1 teaspoon curry spice blend

-few grinds of black pepper

-1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika

-2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

Method:

Rinse rice well and place in a shallow pan (I used a saucier).  Add enough broth to cover rice.  Bring to just boiling (medium or medium-high).  Optionally, in a separate pot, simmer broth while it is waiting to go into the rice.  While waiting for broth to boil, dice broccoli stems and florets and red onion and place into pot with the rice along with the fenu greek seeds.  Once rice absorbs most of the liquid, add more broth and continue to stir in broad strokes to avoid sticking, adding more broth each time the rice has absorbed most of it.  When the broth runs out, begin to add water (you can simmer this as well in the broth pot).  

[Now, I have to warn you that at this point it's not going to fill your kitchen with a delicious aroma.  It's broccoli, onion, and brown rice, so there's going to be a broccoli-onion-and-brown-rice smell.  Just keep on cooking and don't worry.  Know that you'll have a delicious and healthy vegan gourmet dish waiting for you at the end.]

When the rice is almost the consistency that you want, add chopped shitakes (you can do this earlier in the process, too, but I wanted the mushrooms' flavor to stand out more).  Continue stirring and adding water or broth.  Once the rice is at the right consistency (up to 30 or more minutes later), stir in the spice mixture.  Mix well.  Then throw chopped kale leaves right on top and then cover and turn off heat.  Let sit for 10-15 minutes until kale leaves are wilted but not overdone.  

I'm really proud of this recipe : )

***

Have you had your 9 servings for fruits and veggies today?  Here's me:

Breakfast: 5 frozen peach slices, 1 banana, 1/2 cup blueberries, 3 dried dates

Lunch: 3 carrots, 1 banana

Dinner: broccoli and a few pieces of kale from our dish above, 1/4 cup collard greens, 1/8 cup raisins

Night time snack: (below) 6 strawberries, 1 banana

Total: too much fruit and not enough vegetables.

And geez, I guess I had enough bananas today.  I took that magnesium-potassium supplement for nothing.  I could have just eaten some chocolate and it's a done deal.

***

After a long day of house-cleaning, fish tank drama (still in progress--I'm praying they maintain their life force!), a long hike with the hubby and dogs, and cooking dinner/cleaning the kitchen, I deserve this strawberry ice cream*, right?  I'm eating it while I blog.  But it's too cold...I can't finish it.  Want the rest? (Haha, gross, I hate sharing stuff like that).

*6 frozen strawberries, 1 frozen banana, 4 pecans, and 1/4 cup water [yields enough for two]

***

And a little glimpse of our hike (the reservoir there in the background).  These two collapsed when we got home!

Mushroom Calamari and Kale Salad

At the time I made these I was in such a hurry to eat that I didn't take pictures.  I just was not planning on blogging about my food tonight.  But now that I am, I regret not taking a picture!

I wanted to use my kale while it was still very fresh so I made something similar to this Mediterranean Kale Salad:

I sliced dino kale very thin and squeezed and rubbed the kale ribbons as she did in the video (I love her trick about rolling the leaves to chiffonade).  My method:

Green Kale SuperWoman Salad
Serves 1.  Adjust quantities accordingly.

Ingredients:
5-10 dino kale leaves (mine were very small so I used 10)
dash of salt (1/8 tsp or less)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon white wine vinegar
1 tablespoon pine nuts
1 piece sundried tomato, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup baked and cubed buttnernut squash (optional)

Chiffonade enough kale leaves to your preference.  I did very thin slices across the stalk because I don't mind the crunchy part.  Add salt, olive oil, and white wine vinegar.  Massage the kale with your hands, squeezing and rubbing, until the kale becomes soft and juicy, at least 3-5 minutes.  Place in serving bowls, and add pine nuts, sundried tomato pieces, and squash.  Enjoy!

[Since the image is missing, imagine a dark green and shiny leafy salad, the kale cut into delicate strips, accented with bright red and yellow and orange from the toppings]

Comments: Eats light, takes a while to eat since there's a lot to chew, and is filling but only for about an hour.  I will absolutely, definitely make this again because it was so easy, healthy, and delicious.

Second dinner was inspired by my favorite dish at my favorite restaurant.   Well anyway if you read my blog you most likely won't make the Mushroom Sesame Calamari from The Artful Vegan Cookbook as it requires frying.  I do love fried food but don't eat it for obvious reasons.  I will make an occasional exception, however, like tonight.  Since I don't personally own the cookbook I hoped that this blogger gave me the right instructions.

credit

The recipe calls for oyster mushrooms (they have that chewy oyster-y consistency), but I used white royal trumpets since that is what came in my CSA box.  (Have you noticed that my whole world revolves around what comes in my CSA box?)  I also experimented with shitake mushrooms, but they got too slippery and the breading slid right off.  Plus, the flavoring was just not right.  I have a feeling that re-hydrated shitakes or whatever else would have a great consistency but I doubt I'll experiment with that since I have my 2011 fried food fix.

I needed a sauce to go with it and used a smoky hollandaise-like sauce that I made yesterday just because it was ready. 

Does the fact that I munched on three nantes carrots (my favorite!) while I deep fried my calamari make a difference?  How much healthy do I have to eat to get my equilibrium back?

As you may know from this morning's post, this has been a very sleepy house today.  To attest to this, here are a couple of photos that I just took with my phone (and edited just a bit, lol):

Dexter in "his" spot (between our pillows, or on them as it were)

Mitch, dreaming of belly rubs

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

A Pleasant Reunion

It's been several weeks since I've gotten any green dino kale in my CSA box.  I've gotten purple crinkly kale and lots of collard greens and chard, but no green dino kale.  Yesterday was my lucky day : )

And now I'm curled up with my green kale smoothie (only after finishing half a pot of coffee).  It's cold this morning and I couldn't resist going back to bed.

Here she is on my over-crowded nightstand.

Green Drink

6 or so small dino kale leaves

1 frozen banana

3 dates

1/4 cup walnuts

water to process

That would be today's recommended allowance for vitamin A and K.  Plus 88% of today's vitamin C.  Anything as brightly colored as that kale smoothie must be loaded with nutrients.

Check this out for the rest of the nutritional value of kale.

I wonder how much of those nutrients I actually absorb into my system?

I'm not the only one who wanted to go back to bed.

Ramblings

***
My favorite soup is in the crock pot, patiently waiting to undergo a metamorphosis into tomorrow's lunch.  I'm so excited.  Every time I make that soup, I open the crock pot often just to take a whiff.
***

I think my B vitamins are keeping me awake at night.  

***

So, this...

turned into this...

Misshapen gnocchi.  "Misshapen" is awfully close to the word "mishap" so I won't share my "recipe".  If you find yourself with a spare roasted sweet potato with nothing to do, experiment on your own (if you need guidance, go to Healthy Bitch Daily and Vegan Yum Yum).  Yes, they are as overcooked as they appear to be in the photo.

But do you see the handle protruding from behind the plate?  That is the handle to my favorite new griddle.  Tortillas were never easier since the death of my tawa, which was neglected for too long and got rusty.

And did you notice an orange binder just to the right of that handle?  That is my collection of recipes, sorted into various categories.  I just started collecting hard copies a few months ago, and it's bursting full of vegan recipes.  I even have a section for my favorite things that I use often (tonight's soup, for example).  Maybe some day that list can be it's very own post.  In the front of the binder there is an empty sheet protector so when I use a recipe, I cover it, use it, wipe it off, and it's clean enough to put back into the binder.

***

Tonight's dessert (I've had frozen fruit desserts almost every night this week) is frozen strawberries and peaches with young coconut milk and meat.  It's so good!  And kind of extremely filling... I feel like I have a rubber tire in my stomach (couldn't be the gnocchi).  The vegan miniature chocolate chips snuck back into my diet (they are such opportunists!) and I'm trying to bid them adieu.  Who'd have thought a vegan fruit smoothie could have so much fat and sugar?

***
The Vegan Project--He came home from yoga class tonight with a grocery bag with eggs and bread to supplement the dinner I made for him.  It really hurts my feelings that he thinks my dinners aren't enough to satiate his cravings.  It makes me feel like an incompetent spouse even though I know that what I put into our meals is more than sufficient to sustain his good health.  *Going to my happy place* he is nice, cute, nicotine-free (today), and hell, I have a husband who likes to go to yoga.
***
I gave my dogs flea medicine today.  I hate poisoning my dogs.  I hate fleas.
***
Did I tell you I made a commitment to vegan footwear?  I've actually found some really cute and comfortable vegan shoes.  I'll probably continue to wear my two pairs of Uggs until the souls wear through because they are just warm and comfortable and already part of my wardrobe.  I just won't buy any more.  If you are an animal-conscious vegan, is there an online shoe store that you like?
***
Vegan out!

Vegan Enchiladas

What's the point in labelling them vegan? Everything on here is vegan.  Plus, I've posted enchiladas before so wth?

These are different.  So I'm posting this version, too.  I apologize because I hate long-winded instructions, and these are long-winded.  Anyway, you know what to do.  This is just in case you don't : )

These can be refrigerated overnight and baked the next day and they will be delicious.  Just save the sauce on the side and when you are ready to bake, spread it over the enchiladas.  Then bake at 350 for about 35-40 minutes.

These are very easy although there are many steps.  I mean, if you weren't vegan or health-conscious, you could just go buy some lard tortillas, preservative-enriched sauce, casein- and fat-loaded cheese, and throw some cooked potatoes and frozen spinach in there and toss that bad boy in the oven.  But y'all are my health-conscious peeps and know betters : )

(Ugh, the thought of all the cheese--and cholesterol-- that comes on the enchiladas I used to eat at the restaurants...those things should come with free angioplasty services or at least a warning label).

Think healthy thoughts...think healthy thoughts...

I opened this to show you what's inside...no I wasn't licking the plate right there in the middle, even though I wanted to!

-----
Stephanie's Healthy Girl Enchiladas

This yields 6-8 enchilada rolly things.  Have either a 9x13 pan or two smaller baking dishes ready with a light coating of oil (or not...I did to be safe).

INGREDIENTS

Tortillas
Enough ingredients to make about 6-8 large tortillas (that would be around 3 cups flour to start, I think?)
This recipe assumes you have a tortilla recipe that you follow or you are using store bought.
I mean, if you want to be hardcore you could make these things with collard wraps.

"Cheese" Filling
4-5 small potatoes
Silken tofu, half a block
1/4 cup cashew cream (optional)
1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Veggies
3 zucchini
1 onion
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed well
(Many varieties of veggies would work here, this just happens to be what I had.  Spinach and potatoes, green bell peppers with tomatoes and zucchini, butternut squash with mushrooms and rice)

Enchi Sauce
1 large can of tomatoes (not 15 oz but the next one up); or use tomato paste+broth+something to zest it up like vinegar or lemon
a whole lot of chili powder (keep adding it to taste, start with one tablespoon)
1/4 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne powder
cumin, seeds or powder depending on your blender's grinding ability
salt and pepper to taste
boullion (optional, I used it because I'm an addict)
flour or other thickener

METHOD

Start out by baking the potatoes at 400 for about 25-30 minutes, until fork tender.

Next, make your tortilla dough so it can sit while you prep the veggies.

Chop and saute veggies (all together) until softish.  When softish, add beans, cover, and reduce heat to low.  Set aside (the veggies will soften from the steam by the time you need them).

Turn on your tortilla skillet but keep checking the potatoes while you roll your tortillas.  If you make them a little thicker they will withstand the moisture from the veggies and sauces, but this is not critical (I like thin tortillas myself, so I can eat more of them!).

By the way, when the potatoes are done, take them out but leave the oven on (turn down to 350).

When you have completed the tortillas, plunge your potatoes into cold water and then peel the skins with a towel or right in the bowl of water (this is way easier than peeling them with a peeler beforehand!).  Don't worry about getting every last piece of peel, just get most of it.  Throw the peeled potatoes into the food processor with the half block of tofu and cashew cream if you are using that.  Also add onion powder and salt, and then process.  The consistency is that of thick sour cream, not crumbly like ricotta.

Wow!  Almost ready!

Throw in all of your enchi sauce ingredients in the blender and blend.  Then cook over medium, stirring frequently so it doesn't bubble and burn).    Use a whisk if you need to, and add chili powder until it tastes right.

Okay, time for the fun part.  Spread the white sauce on the tortillas and fill with veggies (they should be steamed soft by now).  Roll and place into baking dish.  Do this until you have a full dish of rolls.

Slather with enchi sauce!  Don't be shy!  You have plenty!  If you save a little sauce, you can cleverly swirl it onto the plate before plopping the roll on it to serve.

At this point you can eat them without baking (but don't forget to turn off the oven) since there is no cheese to melt.  However I suggest that you bake them for 30-35 minutes (uncovered) to set the sauce and seal the deal.  Just check once halfway through to make sure the sauce isn't burning around the edges too much (burning a little is okay, blackish, not so much).

When they are done, use a spatula to remove one roll at a time and serve on a plate.  Garnish with fresh cilantro.

-----

Chocolate Shake--NOT!

I tried to use the macro setting on my camera to blur out the background, but, er, I guess everyone already knows I live in a preschool house?

Ridiculously Healthy and a Little Too Rich NOT Chocolate Smoothie

Ingredients:

4 leaves purple kale

2 leaves swiss chard

one regular banana

one frozen banana

1/4 cup frozen blueberries

1/4 cup cashew cream (I was hoping it would make a white background for the purple kale and purple blueberries, but it did not.)

4 frozen strawberries

2 teapoons chia seeds

6 (six!) dates

dash of cinnamon

You and I both know that if you are a green-smoothie-head like me, you aren't gonna go to your blender and follow the directions to make this RHLTRNC Smoothie : )  But when you post your smoothie photos, I wanna know what's in it, so that's why I'm sharing.  I think the purple kale put some hair on my chest this morning.

(So that's how Dexter's chest got so hairy...)

The day Dexter took over the kids' couch.

Vegan Highlights from the Week

With my recent commitment to my preschool blogging, I have put my vegan blogging on the back burner.  I wish I could spend the whole day doing both because I so enjoy it, but I'm short on time these days.  So this week, after a successful three posts on my work blog, I give you an overview of what emerged from my kitchen this week.

Remember my cold last week?  This orange juice smoothie helped me kick that cold's butt!  Contains oranges, lemons, a grapefruit, some garlic (wait, did I already blog about this one?).  Okay then here's another one I've had on my to-blog-about list:

Apple Pie Smoothie.  Apples, oats, cinnamon, ginger, almond milk.  Maybe a dollop of maple syrup.

Collards, fennel bulb and squash in cheezy cashew cream sauce (cashew cream, apple cider vinegar, onion powder, black pepper, mustard, miso) topped with pine nuts.  My husband's was topped with veggie bacon.  Served over brown rice.

Add some olives and call it a salad for lunch tomorrow.

Risotto Style Barley from Vegan Epicurean

This was delicious and inspired the following day's rice method.

Trader Joe's Cuban Black Beans (one of the few pre-prepped foods I eat and they are a treat!) and Brown Rice, Risotto style (it was so good, next time I'll post the recipe if I can remember how I made it...the creamy addition at the end was cooked down cashew cream from the above cheezy cashew cream sauce, plus I spread this concoction on the flatbread).   This meal was my favorite this week.

Wholesome veggie soup.  Thin sliced carrots, celery, crimini mushrooms, chayote, onions and garlic with a little bullion and tomato paste.  At the end I added potato gnocchi (I lied about the beans being the only pre-prepped thing I eat...I had store-bought gnocchi this week!).  It was so good, I had dinner, went out for the night, and came back and had it for a second dinner!  Tristan loved this soup.

Desperate to find a use for two weeks' worth of radicchio from my CSA box, I ate almost a whole head of the stuff in this recipe.  Sure, his dish looks better, liquidier, better color, more balanced.  But mine tasted great.

Strawberry Frozen Dessert from the Vita-Mix.  Frozen strawberries, frozen coconut milk, frozen banana, a dollop of water to process, a dash of cinnamon and a scoop of cashew cream.  Topped w/vegan chocolate chips (they were more for the picture than anything...you can't even taste them in the ice cream) and chopped pecans (now those you could taste and were good!)

I've also started taking vitamin supplements this week and they make a big difference in how I feel, not so much physically, but all-around.  Less mental tension.  Clockwise from top: Mushroom complex (for immunity), B complex, magnesium/potassium, WTCB (for immunity), zinc (for immunity).  I also have digestive enzymes, sea vegetation, calcium and vitamin D.  Although right as I typed that my vegan nutritionist friend emailed me and told me to throw all my calcium and magnesium/potassium away, so this list may be changing very soon : )

QUESTION:

Have you ever used purple kale in a smoothie?  Was it the same as green kale?  I'm going to try it tomorrow and I'll let you know how it turns out (but if you've had a smoothie fail because of purple kale, save me before it's too late!).

Alicia and Carrot

It's testimonials like these that allow me to turn a blind eye toward Alicia Silverstone for occasionally getting off the vegan diet when she goes out to restaurants with friends (whether that makes her vegan or not is up for debate).  Clearly I think I'm the vegan police!  She's making a great impact on people's lives and health, and that's very important.  Hats off, Alicia!

And lastly, Carrot (my only herbivorous housemate) would like to give you a kiss.

"Muuuaaah!"

Cinnamon Biscuit

What is that little piece of heaven right there, you ask?

Okay, it wasn't that good.  But it did satisfy the craving.

Basically, I took a cut-out biscuit recipe (you know, you cut it with empty evaporated milk can?), replaced the liquids and part of the oil with applesauce and almond milk, and I added a little cinnamon.  I won't post the recipe because it turned out just a tad dry, but maybe you can find your own to adapt accordingly. I baked these cinnamon biscuits in muffin tins. (Underneath that top part is a cupcake-shaped bottom). 


I divided the dough into eight parts for eight muffins.  Then I split each of those in half.  I put the first half into the muffin tin, then added a mixture of melted Earth Balance, turbinado sugar, and cinnamon, then put on the top half (and pushed it down), and put another little bit of the Earth Balance mixture.  Baked as directed and yum : )


You could be better off using this recipe from FatFree Vegan Kitchen, but I like the biscuit recipe because it is simple with only a few ingredients and I can use spelt flour. (We made the linked recipe with the preschoolers last week and they turned out really good, even without the soy yogurt).


But I also wanted that garbage that they put on "real" cinnamon rolls.  But I couldn't make it without powdered sugar, as far as I knew.  (Incidentally I googled "Cinnabon Frosting Recipe" and was alarmed at how much cream cheese and butter goes into that frosting--my heart and arteries said "no thank you and never please" to that).  So I mixed some cashew cream, juice from half an orange, a little agave and vanilla, and it turned out just fine.  Instead of putting it on top (since it's not really frosting), I put the cinnamon biscuit into a pool of the stuff.  It was the consistency of melted ice cream because I made a liquidier cashew cream than usual (and keep it in a tub in the fridge, of course!).  Each bite was covered in that cashew creamy goodness, making up for any dry-ness in the biscuit.


Satisfied my sugar craving, and with only a fraction of the sugar normally needed for cinnamon rolls.


I feel like I need to post a good picture to make up for that horrible one up there.  One that will add some color to this post.  Okay, here:

It just does NOT get more colorful than toddlers purposefully falling out of windows. 

It just doesn't.

Vegan Police!

I think this is why I got sick.

On New Year's Day, we met with my in-laws and my lunch and dinner consisted of almost all fried foods (it's a Japanese thing).  And a piece of chocolate.  Fried and non-vegan, and lo and behold the next day I was sick.

I'm still sick because I worked all day yesterday.  When you work with kids, I don't suggest working when you're sick. They will wear your immune system out to the point of no return.

So here I am.

My good old fashioned faux chicken (tofu) noodle soup is in order today.  Yup.

No vegan diet?  No vegan powers!

Mega-Drink

Now that we're getting our CSA boxes every Friday (one big ol' box of fruit and one big ol' box of veggies), Thursday and Friday will be our clean-up food days.  This was no big task when we were on an every other week schedule, but boy do we have lots of fruits and veggies leftover from last week.

So...

I made a mega-drink from the fruit bowl.

It almost filled the entire Vita-Mix.

And it better whack this cold out of the park.

Mega-Drink
1 mango
1 apple
1 pear
1 grapefruit
1 orange
1 banana
1 kiwi
1 clove of garlic
a scoop of chia seeds
lots of water

Why "Mega-Drink"?

Dave Chapelle on the "drink"

(contains the f-word so don't click the link if that's offensive to you or if there are kids around)

So, so, so, so, so, so, so, so good.

Corn Chowder
Inspired by "Creamy Corn Chowder" from Vegetarian Times

Ingredients:
Frozen or cooked corn, about 3 cups
1 small can of full fat coconut milk
14 to 1/2 cup cashew cream
1 large carrot
1 large celery stock
1/2 yellow onion
heaping teaspoon of Better than Bouillon (holy crap! i just looked at the ingredients of this...scary! I recommend using Rupentzel's Vegan Bouillon--two cubes--less scary).
1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
2 bay leaves
salt
few grinds of pepper
3 1/2 cups of water

Method:
I put everything into the slow cooker, but you can do this stovetop as well and saute the veggies.  I'm trying to avoid that step when I can and boy did it pay off in this recipe.  I set the cooker on high and even after about two hours it smelled delicious.  The longer it was in there, the better it smelled.

***
My co-worker who is very omni practically jumped in shock of how good it was and asked if she could take some home.  (Then proceeded to tell me it would be awesome on top of some chicken.)

The original recipe calls for silken tofu rather than the cashew cream and coconut milk.  However, I think this version is probably better.  It was very thin but if I made it again, I would use the same amount of water because the consistency was perfect for me, especially right now because I'm sort of still sick.  I prefer thinner broths when I'm sick.

On the side, I made spelt biscuits from Baby Cakes NYC (replacing half of the WW flour with Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Baking Flour and 2 teaspoons xanthan gum).  I stuffed some biscuits with Gimme Lean sausage and left some plain.  They tasted like quinoa because of the flour replacement but that's good for you so oh well : )

I think after Tristan comes home from Bikram yoga tonight he'll need some carbs and protein.  This meal should do the job!  What's missing?  Fresh veggies, hellooo!  We'll add some fresh fruits and vegges to our late night smoothies.

What can I say [pats own back] satisfying two omnivores in one day.

I'll end with something odd today.  We all have our special skills, right?  I'm a really good preschool teacher, this guy is a really good fire extinguisher.

Green Detox Smoothie

Hers and His smoothies.

In my little microcosm of the blogosphere, I've been inundated with green smoothie recipes as people try to clean up their temples after holiday splurges.  I'm right there with you, friends.

So, my cold.  I felt myself getting tired-er and goopy-er tonight.  Something had to be done.  The good news is, now that I'm vegan, I know I won't end up needing antibiotics even if no action is taken.  Praise the dairy-free diet.

I thought oranges and garlic would do the job to cleanse my system, so I googled "smoothie orange garlic" and a few entries down there was a detox smoothie recipe on ehow.com.  That one inspired this one:

Green Detox Smoothie
For the omni, this went down like a shot of twelve year old scotch.  For me, it was an extra sour green smoothie with a hot afterbite.


Mince one garlic clove.  Let it rest for a while on the cutting board.  Or get a scoop of it out of your pre-minced garlic jar.

In the meantime, put in the blender:
1 orange, peeled but left most of the white part on
1 lemon, peeled but left some of the white part on
half of a pear
two kale leaves
a handful of fresh parsley
a pinch or so of cayenne pepper
a dash of maple syrup (I've heard of a maple-cayenne-lemon cleanse so thought there might be some chemistry there)
water and a few ice cubes

Add the minced garlic clove.

Give it a whirl in the blender.

Pretend you are enjoying it while your husband guzzles his.  I enjoyed mine through a straw because I don't like the foam on top of smoothies.

Kidney Bean Soup & A Green Feel-Better Smoothie

The color of that soup right up there is quite unbecoming...half-eaten, orange-ish, ugh.

But it's pretty tasty.

I realized last night that I gotta get on track with this eating thing...it's back to work on Monday and if I don't eat well today, I'll be feeling lousy again tomorrow.

So before bed last night, I threw these into the slow cooker:
1 can of kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
about a can of water
2 tablespoons of tomato paste
3 bay leaves
a shy 1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/8 teaspoon tumeric
salt and black pepper
1 chopped carrot
1 chopped celery stalk
4 fingerling potatoes, chopped

10 hours later, it smelled great, but the combo of cloves, thyme, and tomato, made for a very tart/sour soup, so before serving I added a huge dollop of miso paste (enough to change the overall color) and a huge dollop of cashew cream.  I left out onions and garlic hoping to have a nice mellow stomach-repair soup.

Star Rating: 3.  Don't make this soup, but I share the contents so that you can learn from my mistake (so that I can learn from my mistake)...don't do so much tomato paste w/cloves and thyme.

Next time I'm going back to me ole favorite recipe here.

***

When I woke up this morning, I had a sore throat and felt my sinuses becoming infected (do you know the feeling I'm talking about?).  I even tasted funny inside.  I'll detail the reasons why in another post.

Is "detail" a verb?

Anywhoo, when I checked my blog feeds, I saw my friend Aimee's post right here and felt that it couldn't have come at a better time.

So as my coffee was brewing, I threw into the Vita-Mix:
a few kale leaves
an apple
a small baby banana
three dates
some chia seeds
a few frozen blueberries
a handful of fresh parsley
two peeled clementines
lots of water

Sehr Delightful!

I'm feeling better already!

Time to go buy that new coffee maker that you saw on my computer screen up there...

A bloggerrific transition into the new year...

These late night posts are always long and unedited, but I've just been thinking (the whole five minutes I've been in bed) and wanted to share my thoughts.

I've loved reading about all of my fellow bloggers' New Years resolutions (successes of 2010 and intentions for 2011).  It seems like lots of folks have had a really outstanding year in terms of reaching their 2010 goals.  Congrats : )

As for myself, I have not been so inspired as to set some for myself.  I was chatting with a friend a little while ago about not having resolutions for the new year, and how I feel like my resolution should be to not work on anything.  I'm always doing that, maybe it's time to give it a break.  My friend commented, "Yeah, let's just go back to being humans for 2011."

I've heard it said that sometimes we act like we are "humans doing" rather than "human beings."  I am a bit imbalanced toward the human-doing side.  I want to have more access to my human-being-ness amid the  constant frenzy that seems to pervade my life.  Doing, going, more.  Always running out of time, or feeling that way, anyway.

Simplicity in my dogs' lives.  

2010 was a great year for me.  Monumental things include 1. becoming vegan, which changed my entire lifestyle in the realm of health and wellness, 2. my work environment is the best its ever been, from staff to clients to kids to the spirit of the community, and 3. I'm finally open-minded to having children of my own (note: open-minded, not yet willing necessarily).

I'm okay with just riding this wave of gratitude for the wonderful year that has just ended.  I appreciate others sharing their intentions for the new year, as I think it creates a collective atmosphere of positive movement toward growth and reflection and evolvement.

Balance, centeredness, peace.  Serenity.  Love.  Soft-heartedness.

But I will probably be starting to work on my master's degree in January and and going to try to focus more on my preschool blog, so hopefully I won't fall by the wayside from my vegan blogging.  I'll try to stay...present...here, too : )

***

And to connect this post to the vegan purpose of this blog : )  tonight I made vegan panna cotta from Tal Ronnen's The Conscious Cook.  It was really good.  Vanilla bean panna cotta (made from cashew cream and almond milk) with an orange glaze and embellished with (gasp) pine nut-rosemary brittle.

Somebody blogged out the recipe here but the brittle should be clear like what you'll see here.

The panna cotta win made me want to try more of his recipes later.  I wish I had taken a picture!  The dessert was one of two desserts that followed an amazing meal created by our friends who are very accommodating to my vegan ways.  What a great way to end the year.  Food, family, friends, and now, sleep.

Happy New Year, Friends!

"Happy New Year, future me" says the Mitch from 2007.  (Wasn't he a cute puppy?!?)