strawberry-avocado green salad with chickpea relish and fresh basil.

do you ever have one of those dinners where you realize you are shoveling your food frantically into your mouth as though you’ll never eat again? that’s what happened to me tonight. i had to stop myself, put my fork down, and breathe a little. i think this was a combination of not having eaten since my morning smoothie and my meal being mouthgasmic.

one of the big perks of my co-op job is that there’s often produce that can’t be sold for whatever reason and is free for employees to take. sometimes they really are past their prime, but most often you can either work around a bruised spot, or it is simply a perfectly ripe vegetable ready to be eaten within a day or three. a couple of days ago i got a free pint of strawberries, and today i unburied a few avocados and a bunch of cilantro. when i have strawberries and avocado, i think of them as perfect mates for a green salad, rather than separating them for sweet and savory individual purposes. a sprinkling of fresh basil and a sudden inspiration to use my recently soaked and cooked chickpeas as well made for a giant salad perfect for one person’s dinner, or two as a considerable side salad.

strawberry-avocado green salad with chickpea relish and fresh basil (serves 1 as a meal, 2 as a side):

1/2 head red romaine, chopped
6 strawberries, hulled and sliced
1/2 avocado, sliced
1/2 c chickpeas
2 tbsp red onion, diced
1 tbsp olive oil
splash white balsamic vinegar
splash lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
4-5 leaves basil, shredded or cut into chiffonade
dressing of choice (optional – i used goddess dressing)

place romaine on a plate or in a wide shallow bowl. top with sliced strawberries and avocado (you can sprinkle a little lemon juice on the avocado to prevent browning). make the chickpea relish by combining the chickpeas, red onion, olive oil, balsamic, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a small bowl, tossing to coat. sprinkle over the salad and top with basil leaves. serve as is or with optional dressing.

the second half of my meal was inspired by pondering cauliflower. i’d thought about making a raw coconut cauliflower “rice” dish with green peas, or a soup, or just roasting it. today ended up being rather dreary and gray, and crispy roasted cauliflower sounded just right. but not just with olive oil and a couple of spices. i wanted something spicy, flavorful, and different. how about chilies? how about cilantro? how about chocolate? yes. chocolate. mole-roasted cauliflower it was.

i’m certainly not a mole expert; i’ve had it a few times to varying degrees of likeability. one of the world’s “master sauces,” i read somewhere that authentic mole uses 100 ingredients and a bit of time to prepare. but since my cauliflower didn’t need a thick sauce for roasting, i improvised more of a simple marinade. it’s far from 100 ingredients (and probably authenticity), but full of flavor and a nice kick from the cayenne. go ahead and make your roasted cauliflower a little sexy.

mole-roasted cauliflower (serves 2-4):

1 head cauliflower, cut into florets
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp epazote or oregano
1 tsp sesame seeds
1/8 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cumin
2 tsp cocoa powder
2 cloves garlic
3 tbp canola oil
1-2 tsp lime juice
salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
chopped fresh cilantro to garnish

preheat oven to 425F. in a medium mixing bowl, whisk together all ingredients except cauliflower and cilantro. add cauliflower and toss well to coat, then place in a wide, oven-safe dish. roast for 25-35 minutes until edges are crispy, and sprinkle with chopped cilantro. serve hot. (you could also use any leftovers pureed with vegetable stock for a quick and easy soup.)

i was generously awarded the excellent award blog awhile back by lisa of show me vegan.  i am meant to award this to five other bloggers whom i find excellent, but this task overhwhelms me as i feel there are so many amazing blogs out there(and i know i only know a small fraction of them) and i have seen this award floating around on several within the past few months.  i try very hard to keep up with all the blogs on my blogroll as well as a handful of others, but i’m not always a visible visitor (i don’t comment very often).  therefore, in order to prevent double-awarding/repeats (which i was guilty of causing with my last meme), i am forgoing passing this award on to only five blogs, and going to leave comments on the blogs i visit regularly instead of being shy.  and again, if you have a blog or know of a blog i don’t have listed here, please let me know!

spinach salad with baked tofu, red bell peppers, sunflower seeds, and papaya poppyseed dressing

my regimen of not taking medication isn’t really working out for me. i feel worse today than i have so far, i think. but i’m trying to eat some healthy foods in the meantime (and sucking on some olga’s herbal pastilles for my throat). above was lunch before work today, and dinner consisted of my attempt to include ramps* in a pasta dish. however, i was having a bit of a battle with the ezekiel sprouted pasta. it states clearly in bold type (twice) not to overcook the pasta, which i didn’t do to my knowledge. however, most of it ended up clumped together and grossly chewy (and not very photogenic), which i suspect is partially just a characteristic of sprouted grain pasta. however, i’m taking a well-advised tip from katie about not showing a picture of this dish just because i made it. the gummy pasta really detracted from the otherwise delicious flavors going on.

what i did in shorthand is: tossed a drained can of chickpeas and a bunch of ramp bulbs and stems in olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper and roasted them at 400 until browned. i made the ill-fated pasta while sauteeing cremini mushrooms in a cast iron pan until brown and juicy, then threw in the ramp greens and a large handful of spinach to wilt. i tossed it all together, added a little more salt and pepper, and put a few drops of white truffle oil on my serving (seriously, is there anything truffle oil can’t make extra-wonderful?) along with a chiffonade of fresh basil.

so, for lack of a finished product, here is a picture of the chickpeas and ramps before going into the oven:

*what the heck is a ramp? it’s also known as a wild leek in the midwest, where it’s just come into season. tasting somewhat like a cross between garlic and onions, the roasting really toned down the pungency of this little woodland treasure. (last year i tried them for the first time and i think i let them sit around too long before throwing them into a stir-fry… kissing was not a top priority after that experience!) many places, especially in the south, have huge ramp festivals in the spring! a majority of traditional recipes are also laden with dairy and meat, so i had to go with my own concoction. hooray for wild vegetables

**i have TWO upcoming bread-type experiments fermenting right now that i hope will work out…one for a whole wheat/spelt herbed pizza crust, the other for a traditional swedish all-rye bread. wish me baker’s luck!

vegan bun: vietnamese noodle salad with fresh veggies, ezekiel sprouted grain linguine, cilantro-habanero-almond sauce, and sunflower-pecan nutmeat, garnished with basil and cilantro

no, it’s not that kind of bun. the baked roll-thing, i mean.

i’m deeply considering a raw fast this summer for the 10 days a is away on tour. so while looking for recipe-contenders for meal-planning (i need this kind of structure for that kind of dedication), i found a website called gone raw, with member-posted recipes. i have been drooling over the creations and feeling inspired to start incorporating some raw meals more frequently. what i came up with for dinner tonight isn’t entirely raw because of the sprouted pasta, tamari, and toasted sesame oil i used, but still ended up a fresh-ful and satisfying meal. so many textures, colors, and flavors! i highly recommend making some version of this meal (the nutmeat topping could be made from tofu or mushrooms, you could spiral-slice some zucchini or daikon as noodles, and possibly add some bean sprouts like i forgot to buy) to celebrate warmer weather.

bun (which refers also to a style of rice noodle) is a vietnamese dish generally consisting of room temperature noodles, large amounts of cool vegetable garnishes, and small servings of warm meat (usually beef) or stir-fried vegetables with a sweet and spicy fish-sauce and chili dressing. i strayed from a lot of these traditions in the necessity of making it vegan; also, mine was a chilled, mostly raw salad. you can use a less fiery pepper than habanero (or omit it completely) if you’re not a big fan of spice. there might be a few leftover vegetables depending on the size and how much you use in your salad - the measurements i am including are rough estimates. and feel free to switch up the vegetables; my choices reflect what i had on hand.

vegan bun (vietnamese noodle salad) (serves 2-3):

1/2 lb. wide pasta/noodles

1/2 c (raw) pecans (soaked if desired)
1/2 c (raw) sunflower seeds (soaked if desired)
1 garlic clove
3 tbsp (or more) tamari or shoyu
1 tbsp sesame oil

1 carrot, julienned
1/2 cucumber, quartered lengthwise and sliced thinly
1/2 c tomato, diced
1 c green cabbage, thinly sliced
1/4 bell pepper, julienned
2 tbsp green or spring onion, sliced thinly

1/4 c cilantro, loosely packed
2 tbsp fresh basil
1 garlic clove
2 tsp lemongrass, finely chopped
1/2-1 habanero pepper, seeded and chopped
2 tbsp (raw) almond butter
1/4 c (or more) water

lettuce leaves for lining plates
fresh basil and cilantro leaves for garnish (optional)

cook noodles according to package directions, then rinse with cold water and set aside. prepare your vegetables, placing them on a large plate (this makes it easier to keep them separate and not crowd your cutting board). in a food processor, pulse cilantro, basil, lemongrass, and chili pepper until finely chopped. add almond butter and enough water to thin the sauce to your liking and process until smooth. toss with cooled noodles and clean out your food processor for making the nutmeat. pulse garlic until chopped fine, then add the sunflower seeds and pecans and process to a coarse meal. add the sesame oil and tamari and process until well blended. taste and season with more tamari or salt as necessary.

line wide bowls with leaf lettuce, then pile on the dressed noodles and vegetables. garnish with fresh basil leaves and cilantro, and serve.

close-up on those crispy vegetables, creamy noodles, and scrumptious ground nut topping

baby romaine with sliced bartlett pears, carrots, radishes, and sahale soccoro blend nut and fruit mix with annie’s papaya poppy seed dressing

i started going to yoga classes this week, and after an intensive and really good class, i went across the street to the coop and picked up a couple of things to make a giant salad.  i used:

1/2 bag organic baby romaine
1 large carrot, sliced
1/2 bartlett pear, sliced
3 radishes, sliced
1 handful sahale soccoro blend (macadamias, hazelnuts, papaya, and mango with chipotle)
a good drizzling of annie’s papaya poppy seed dressing

so simple and good!  it was fun to make the salad pretty, though i do apologize for the lack of natural light, which would have made it even more scrumptious-looking.

i also recently made the maple pecan cookies from extraveganza…highly recommended!  behold how beautifully crinkled their texture is:

fresh out of the oven, they were soft and chewy and just subtly sweet.  i had some wine and passed out for the night (oops), so i neglected to put them in a bag which i think dried them out a bit the next day.  but they are still tasty when crispy!  i’ve eaten ridiculous amounts of them already (and the recipe made 30).  it’s a good thing i’ve got that yoga thing going on.

that’s a pretty fancy title…for a fancy-lookin’ meal!

i finished up the last of the asian-style seitan i’d made by pairing it with a a spicy raw vegetables and rice salad. this was a time when i really really wish i’d written down what i did because it was divine! so i only have my memory to serve me.

spicy thai-style rice salad (serves 4):

1 c brown basmati rice
2 c water

2 tbsp cilantro, minced
1 tbsp fresh garlic, grated (or 2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed)
5 scallions, sliced
4-5 mint leaves, minced
1 bunch radishes, sliced thinly
1-2 c sugar snap or snow peas, trimmed
3 carrots, sliced thinly
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp tamari or bragg’s
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp red thai curry paste

mint leaves and lime slices for garnish

cook rice. meanwhile, chop the vegetables and prepare the marinade. place all the vegetables in a bowl (cilantro through carrots) and whisk marinade ingredients (lime juice through curry paste) together and set aside. when the rice is done, let it cool slightly or all the way (depending on whether you’d like your salad warm or chilled) and mix it with the vegetables. pour the marinade over the mixture and toss well. garnish individual servings with a lime slice and fresh mint leaves, if desired.

(i served this with seitan that i sliced into medallions and seared in a pan with garlic, tamari, and a little sesame oil.)

you’re probably sick of seeing these things, aren’t you? well i’m sorry, i just can’t get sick of making them. another breakfast cake, this time with a raspberry-tangerine syrup a la the strawberry-tangerine recipe. and served with a big mug of vanilla almond mylk from ani’s book.

that tasty lunch i was promising…

clockwise from top right: spinach salad with raw parm, rosemary potatoes with onions and jalapenos, grilled marinated tempeh with cashew-shallot-dill gravy, and grilled zucchini.

i hurriedly signed up to be a tester for mattye lee’s frugal raw cookbook… a cookbook idea very appealing to me. she comes up with really amazing raw meals (raw indian?!?) and i am excited to try out more soon. i used her raw parm recipe for topping my salad:

grilled zucchini: simple, straightforward. just olive oil, zucchini, and finished with salt and pepper.

i don’t have a closeup of the rosemary potatoes because they weren’t as pretty as i wanted them to be… i’ve got a recipe idea brewing but it needs some tweaking (as well as me not using store-bought rosemary oven potatoes). i keep wanting to recapture the glory that was my hangover tempeh “steak” but somehow i haven’t been able to do that. this was pretty good, however. i marinated tempeh in red wine, bragg’s, garlic, thyme, vegetable stock, white pepper, dijon, and nutritional yeast (my staple marinade). then i grilled it alongside the zucchini while i made a gravy out of shallots sauteed in earth balance, thyme, fresh dill, salt, pepper, vegetable stock, cashew butter, hazelnut milk, and a splash of vegan worcestershire. creamy and delicious! there is definitely no need for dairy in gravy, and i’m saying that as a former dairy addict (with a very unhappy tummy). believe the hype.

after a spicy garbanzo and tomato couscous dinner (sadly not documented), i made myself some spiced coffee with almond mylk. it reminds me of the ethiopian-style coffee i get at the blue nile sometimes, but as i just threw a couple spices in (and have no idea if they’re harar-style or not), i don’t think i can really say that this is ethiopian-style coffee. but it is good. simmer equal parts mylk and coffee (or whatever ratio you desire) with a couple shakes of cardamom and cinnamon and a pinch of cloves. serve warm. the owl mug brings happiness, though not necessarily more tastiness.

japanese miso-shiitake soup (ani phyo) and red cabbage-kale salad with walnuts and a tangy citrus dressing

i’d wanted to make this yesterday, since i’d started the day out with another coconut-flax breakfast cake, but instead was invited to an impromptu vegan taco party (which was definitely delicious). i can’t call this a raw day, since i had a cup of coffee at 630 this morning, and will be headed to an ethiopian dinner later on, BUT, it was a pretty raw middle of the day for me. i got a beta blast after work (carrot, beet, and celery juice), and headed home to make the japanese miso shiitake soup and some kind of salad.

this soup was good, but really rich, and i couldn’t entirely finish my portion. i don’t think my body’s used to consuming large, uncooked, albeit flavored and diluted, amounts of olive oil. i also don’t think i really like the texture of large pieces of raw mushrooms either, particularly shiitake. (i was really digging the portabellas in the risotto, though.) the scallions were a nice contrast to the creaminess, but if i were to make it again i might add more vegetables with crunch to up that contrast.

today, apparently, the natural lighting gods were not with me, so the focus of my pictures is rather blurred. this salad i was more afraid to try, because while i love kale, i have never found myself loving it in raw form. it is bitter, fibrous, and, even cooked and smothered in oils and spices, it can be a lot to masticate. (i really like the word masticate in a creepy way.) this salad proved for me that there are ways around that: 1)make a flavorful vinaigrette, 2)use dinosaur/lacinato kale, and 3)slice it very thinly and let it marinate a little bit. i didn’t write it down, but it went something like this:

red cabbage and kale salad with walnuts and tangy citrus vinaigrette (serves 1):

2 large or 4 small leaves dinosaur kale, destemmed and sliced thinly
1 1/2 c red cabbage, sliced thinly
small handful raw walnut pieces
1 clementine, peeled and seeded
1-2 tbsp lime juice
splash apple cider vinegar
1 tsp ginger, grated
1 clove garlic, minced
2-3 tbsp flax seed oil
1/4 tsp sea salt
dash cayenne

place kale, cabbage, and walnuts in a small mixing bowl. put remaining ingredients into a blender and process until smooth. pour over vegetable mixture and toss to coat thoroughly. let stand 10 minutes to marinade before serving.

this was, as you might imagine, pretty tart. i’d probably up the sweet end of the citrus, or maybe add a splash of agave nectar nectar, though it was certainly edible. it’s not a perfect recipe, but the good news after having made it is that i can EAT RAW KALE AND CABBAGE. well, the second part i knew, but it’s good to know that i can achieve the first, maintaining those healthy nutrients that cooking lessens. hooray! now i just need to get a good vinaigrette going and i’ll be eating raw kale and cabbage salads all the time. now, if only i can get motivated to have regular exercise when there are sub-freezing temperatures to contend with…

i might be reconsidering some of the raw food stuff now that i don’t have such an elitist and complicated un-cookbook. i bought ani phyo’s ani’s raw food kitchen while i was picking up a salad the other day at ecopolitan, and most of the recipes only require a knife, a food processor, and/or a blender. not that i want to go raw or no longer think there are classist issues at hand in raw foodism, but it’s given me some good ideas, and most of the meals don’t take, say 24 hours. more like 5 minutes.  i also really like that there are ideas and reasons for living less wastefully and more resourcefully, which i’m really trying to be better about.

first i tried the coconut breakfast cakes. i only have refined coconut oil at home, so they probably weren’t as coconutty as they should have been, but they were still really tasty! i topped them with raspberry puree and sliced bananas:

i wanted to share the tastiness with my lady this morning, but i didn’t pre-grind the whole flax seeds i got after work last night, thinking they’d just get pulverized with the other ingredients. not so much. i also added some medjool dates and walnuts, and what do you know, i ended up with a flax cake that turned into “oat”meal (with sunburst tangerines):

it was really quite good! but filling in that kind of when-will-this-banana-be-over kind of way. i’m sure i’ll be pretty omega 3′d and regular though, which is nice. the crunchiness of the flax was a nice touch. i think i’m into the idea of eating raw breakfasts on my non-630am workdays.

for dinner last night i wanted something tasty but different. a has a recipe for a really delicious corn bean and rice salad, and then with buckwheat on my mind from reading about the buckwheat crispies in ani’s book, i decided to cook some up in the rice cooker. so fresh-tasting, and the earthy flavor of the buckwheat was a nice change from rice. i omitted the garlic and changed up some of the spices too.

buckwheat with avocado, tomatoes, scallions, serrano chili, corn, black beans, cumin, epazote, paprika, and lime juice:

the reason for the lime juice above was because i brought home four limes from work in hopes of creating a vegan key lime pie to bring in for sampling to work. i based it off of, surprisingly considering my rant about it, the raw food real world recipe for lime mousse tart, but i switched some ingredients up knowing i couldn’t really bring that particular recipe into work (i think my manager would have a heart attack at using agave nectar as an ingredient). i also baked the graham cracker crust instead of making some kind of nut crust. AND i also made them into some cuppies (like cupcake only pie) instead of a big pie.

the flavor is kind of amazing. now, my disclaimer is that i don’t think i ever really had a key lime pie before going vegan, and the closest i’ve ever gotten to it is a key lime tofutti cutie. but this is so rich and tart and sweet in just the right way! i don’t know how it will go over at work, but i guess we’ll find out soon enough. also, i was worried from reading the recipe that the filling would discolor but so far it still looks fresh and green. perhaps i picked the avocados at just the right ripeness (and by pick i mean at the store, not from my avocado grove in the front yard). photo evidence:

after a long week of fridge terrors and joys (fridge death, new fridge, power outage, then joy), i finally got to cook food again.  a has been on me to bring her tasty tofu sandwiches from work but i always forget to.  so i made some homemade ones to snack on before we went to a movie last night.

first, the italian marinated tofu from vwav.  it took two hours to make with all the pressing and marinating, but damn worth it.  i grilled it, then used the grill-pan to toast the sandwich made from whole wheat bread, basil-walnut pesto, dirty girl tomatoes, spinach, grilled onions, and tofu.  i was in a hurry to catch the bus so i forgot to take a picture, but they were well received (even though a normally gets them with provolone and loves the cheese).  later on, though, i made a salad for our scrabble match, with a lot of the same ingredients:

then today, i finally got around to veganizing my great aunt betty’s oatmeal bundt cake.  the only thing i had to switch out was 4 eggs, which i did using applesauce.

i will post the recipe later, as it was dense, moist, and tasty!  here is a slice that i ate:

following a severe drought over much of the region, minnesota and wisconsin were just hit by torrential rains that caused massive flooding and several deaths. this also, sadly, disproportionately affected many of the organic farmers which supply the produce to my and several other local food coops. many of the farms have reported several hundred thousand dollars worth of damage and loss, and are in great need of support to have a chance at financial survival.

i decided that tonight i was going to buy local produce where i could to create a “flood relief meal,” in addition to using some of the veggies i picked from my own garden. i’m only one person, but i hope that enough people remember that being one person as part of an army of many can be a very powerful and influential force. my shopping basket ended up with featherstone organic farms cherry tomatoes, and organic yukon gold potatoes and organic red torpedo onions from avalanche organics. along with fresh corn, jalapenos, and basil from my garden, and a few other items, i really went all out and made this for dinner:

spinach and watercress salad with cherry tomatoes, cranberries, and sunflower seeds; zesty bourbon bbq ribz; spicy garden corn chowder; and a bottle of summit epa (brewed across the river in st. paul). it’s a good thing i like spicy food! i was sweating by the end of this meal.

spinach and watercress salad

roughly equal portions of spinach and watercress, topped with cherry tomatoes, dried cranberries, red torpedo onions, sunflower seeds, and a lemon-balsamic-flax vinaigrette.

this was my first experience buying watercress. upon trying it i remember reading people’s comments about it being peppery and crisp-tasting, a bit like a zestier version of radicchio, which i like sauteed with kale. so i am thinking of using the remaining watercress in some kind of stir-fry this weekend, although i’m still trying to decide what else to put in there.

fatfreevegan’s seitan ribz with zesty bourbon bbq sauce

i followed susan’s recipe for the seitan (omitting the liquid smoke), and made a southern-style bourbon bbq sauce from scratch, roughly following this recipe. however i added some blackstrap molasses, increased my lack of tomato paste with some fresh tomatoes, used regular paprika because i didn’t have smoked, and sub’d powdered onion and garlic because i used all the fresh i had in the other recipes. it was pretty intense; i think because i’m not a whiskey drinker really, but i really liked it (the ribz are pretty plain and dry-ish before the sauce), and can only imagine it would be far better with the full amount of tomato paste and fresh garlic and onion to keep it thicker.

spicy garden corn chowder

this was definitely the winner out of all the dishes, in my opinion. it was rich and creamy, tangy and flavorful, and had the crispiness of fresh corn kernels in it. i have definitely been inspired to make corn chowder by all the tester food porn on the ppk for lolo’s chipotle basil corn chowder, as well as having my own crop of “silver queen” corn growing in the garden.

this recipe will serve 4-6, so feel free to reduce it if you want.

2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 c leeks, rinsed and sliced thinly
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
2 celery stalks, diced
2 jalapeno peppers, diced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 c Yukon gold potatoes, diced
about 3 c fresh corn, 1 cup reserved (i used 5 ears of corn)
1 c dry white wine
3 tbsp cashew butter
2 c ricemilk
1 tsp turmeric (optional, i used this for color since i had white corn)
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste
small handful fresh basil leaves, chopped

heat vegetable oil in a large soup pot. add leeks and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. add bell pepper, celery, jalapenos, garlic, and potatoes, and cook over low-medium heat, covered, until potatoes are soft. add 2 cups of corn, white wine, cashew butter, ricemilk, turmeric, thyme, paprika, and salt and pepper. stir, cover, and simmer about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. add fresh basil leaves and remove from heat. puree using an immersion or regular blender to desired consistency. return to pot and add remaining 1 cup of corn. simmer an additional 5-10 minutes. serve hot, topped with toasted corn and/or fresh basil as garnish.