Posts Tagged spinach

VeganMoFo: Semi-Wordless Wednesday II

September 25, 2013 at 9:04 pm · Filed under Food, vegan ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Last week’s Semi-Wordless Wednesday turned out pretty well, so here’s another random assortment of things I have made!

Pad Thai Salad with kelp noodles, adapted from Appetite for Reduction, and orange-glazed tempeh

Avocado Cream Soup (better than it looks) and Zucchini Spaghetti alla Marinara (best raw marinara ever) from Practically Raw

Oh She Glows’ Strawberry Lemonade

Thai Veggie Burgers from Peas & Thank You, topped with pineapple and sriracha mayo

Moroccan Chickpea & Lentil Soup and Cheese Herb Corn Muffins fro Vegan Soups & Hearty Stews for All Seasons

roasted tofu and dry-sauteed cabbage

Reuben salad with roasted chickpeas, sauerkraut, pickles, and Healthy Thousand Island Dressings from Eat to Live

Southwestern Black Bean & Corn Chowder from Vegan on the Cheap

Almond Butter Sesame Kelp Noodles from Practically Raw with Sesame Garlic Marinated Tempeh.  Loved the noodles, not so much the tempeh.

Baigan Bharta and Quick Indian-Style Spinach & Chickpeas

Green bean, tempeh & mushrooms stir fry with brown rice

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VeganMoFo: Squashes, Pumpkins and Other Things Autumnal

November 1, 2010 at 9:22 am · Filed under Food, vegan ·Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Welcome to Vegan Month of Food!  If you missed my last post with my plans for VeganMoFo 2010, check it out.  I’m starting out by catching up on some stuff that’s been going on recently.  To get into the spirit of Fall, I’ve been eating as many Autumnal flavors as possible!


This is autumn millet, tempeh, roasted brussels sprouts and toasted pepitas.  I don’t know if I can adequately express my love for roasted brussels sprouts.  I could eat at least three times the amount pictured here in one sitting.  Love!  For the millet, I was inspired by Lilveggiepatch’s Autumn Millet.  I’ve never been a huge fan of millet, because I had never figured out how to cook it correctly, and now I think I’ve found the formula.  Some people say to use 2 cups water to 1 cup millet, which I think turns out underdone and crunchy, and some people say to use 3 cups water to 1 cup millet, which I think turns out wet and squishy.  So, I compromised and used 2 1/2 cups water to 1 cup millet and the texture was perfectly light and fluffy.  I also toasted the millet very well in a dry pan before adding the water, which I think is key.  The tempeh was simmered then quickly marinated in orange juice, soy sauce, olive oil, cumin and coriander.  The toasted pepitas totally sealed the deal on this dinner.

When I first saw the frittata recipe from the VeganizeIt! column in the May/June issue of VegNews, I knew I would love it.  The description promised an eggy texture and taste from chickpea flour and kala namak, and while it didn’t seem extremely eggy to me, I did like it a lot.

I served the frittata with roasted pumpkin, cooked in coconut oil and spiced with garam masala and coriander.  I used leek in the frittata instead of the onion which was called for, just because I had a leek in the fridge.  I also reduced the amount of margarine from 1/4 cup to 2 Tbs, because I just didn’t see the need for that much margarine.  The frittata didn’t feel low fat even with the reduced amount, and I was particularly happy with the calorie count – under 150 calories for 1/6 of the whole pie!

I bought a block of Galaxy Vegan Cheddar to try out on some chili, and when I came across (never home) maker’s Smoked Pumpkin Chili I thought it would pair perfectly.  Verdict on the cheese:  It’s…okay.  It’s not better or worse than Daiya or Teese, just different, and I guess I would buy it again if I needed some cheese and it was available.  It did shred very easily, so that’s a plus.

Verdict on the chili:  Delicious!  The pumpkin puree made the broth wonderfully thick, and the smoked paprika gave it a great smoky flavor.  I added a few dashes of cayenne pepper, because my chili has to be spicy.  My only complaint is that the recipe didn’t include any actual chili powder, which to me is an essential ingredient.  I hope to make this soup again sooner than later, and I will probably add a tablespoon of chili powder when I do.

The latest East Bay Vegan Bakesale was last Saturday, and while I didn’t have time to bake for it, I made sure to stop buy and pick up a few goodies.  This is a pumpkin whoopie pie and a sweet potato muffin, and they were both fantastic.  I also bought a mini-banana muffin and scarfed it too quickly to photograph.  There were also brownies, giant cinnamon rolls, cookies, cupcakes and all sorts of other goodies on display, and I used my amazing skills of self-control to not buy it all.  Or, I was broke at the end of the month.  One of those…

For dinner tonight, I baked up a spaghetti squash then tossed the flesh with Vegan Dad’s Alfredo Sauce and some steamed spinach.  I’ve had some major let-downs in the alfredo department since going vegan, but this sauce did not disappoint!  I again reduced the amount of margarine called for, because I just can’t justify putting 1/2 cup of Earth Balance in something that I’ll be eating all by myself.  I can see how the sauce would be more rich with the full amount, but I don’t think it really suffered for taking out some of the fat.  I also reduced the amount of onion powder a bit, and added 2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast, because everything needs nutritional yeast.  On the side, I had some roasted beets and radishes.  Beets and radishes play surprisingly well together.

I’m so excited to read all of the upcoming VeganMoFo posts from bloggers around the world.  There are over 500 blogs signed up!  A full list will be posted here within a few days:  http://veganmofo.wordpress.com/blog-roll-2010/

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March Cleanse: Days 15 – 18 & Wrap-Up

March 21, 2010 at 9:21 pm · Filed under Food, vegan ·Tagged , , , , , ,

Well, I said that I was going to extend my cleanse until tomorrow, but I quit a bit early.  After work on Friday I was tired, stressed and hungry and I grabbed a burrito, and it was delicious.  While I enjoyed the food I had on the cleanse, it was a lot of work to prep it all every night, so I was ready to give it a rest!

Day 15:

water with lemon & chia seeds
breakfast juice:  cucumber, celery, orange, ginger, kale
green tea
snack smoothie:  banana, strawberries, hemp protein, amazing grass powder, udo’s oil, almond milk
salad:  leaf lettuce, radish, green onion, adzuki beans, mandarin orange, sesame-almond-ginger dressing
snack:  raw sprouted hummus with broccoli florets & asian pear slices
dinner:  fajita leftovers with tortilla chips, detox tea

Day 16:

water with lemon & chia seeds
breakfast juice:  cucumber, celery, carrot, apple, kale
earl grey tea
snack smoothie:  same as day 15
salad:  same as day 15, with asparagus & dulse flakes

snack:  raw sprouted hummus with broccoli florets
dinner:  white chili with potatoes & cilantro, sauteed swiss chard, detox tea

Day 17:

water with lemon & chia seeds
breakfast juice:  fennel, orange & kale
cinnamon black tea
snack smoothie:  same as day 15
lunch:  same as day 16
snack:  tortilla chips
dinner:  same as day 16, detox tea

Day 18:

water with lemon & chia seeds
breakfast juice:  fennel, carrot, green apple, kale
green tea
snack smoothie:  banana, pear, amazing grass, hemp protein powder, udo’s oil, multigrain milk
lunch:  raw cauliflower couscous, braised spinach with mustard dressing
snack:  raw sprouted hummus, broccoli florets
dinner:  same as day 16

I set out to make cauliflower “rice”, but I processed the cauliflower a little too much, and the texture was smaller than rice, so I’m calling it couscous.  The other ingredients were red bell pepper, jalapeno, carrot, lemon juice, salt, cilantro and parsley.  It was tasty but a little hard to chew all that cauliflower.

The “braised” spinach was adapted from The Raw Revolution Diet.  I didn’t have all of the ingredients for the dressing, so I changed it up a little, and also sprinkled some nutritional yeast on top.  To braise the spinach, you just mix the dressing in then massage it with your hands until it appears “cooked”.  The dressing was sweet, which was nice combined with the slightly bitter greens.

Thoughts on the cleanse:  It was relatively easy to follow.  I didn’t have a big problem eschewing gluten, sugar or coffee.  I quickly identified my vices though – tortilla chips and beer!  If there are tortilla chips around, I’ma eat ’em!  And, if it’s Saturday night, I like to have a beer or two.  I don’t think that those things destroyed the purpose of the cleanse though, as I do feel that I’ve reclaimed my appetite, and I feel a little lighter in my loafers.  The biggest pain in the butt was prepping everything the night before, and cleaning my juicer and blender every single morning.  I would definitely recommend a plan similar to this to anyone who wants to jam a whole lot of healthy foods into their body!

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