another leftovers day… i finished off the torta toppings with some spinach as a salad of sorts, which was mighty tasty but not very picturesque.  i also have nearly finished the second half of my fruit tart (yum!), and otherwise have been snacking on crisps and drinking lots of water (it’s hot, and i’m sweating).  it’s odd; i’ve been waking up with a sleepy face/head, but once i’m up i feel like my heart is beating hard and i have all this energy while working.  maybe i’m just trying to work hard as a distraction though, because when i get home and sit down, i really just want to stay there and rub some ice cubes on my neck and lazily though addictively search apartment listings on craigslist.

in homemade, but not edible, developments, i bought a book about making your own non-toxic cleaning products.  we’ve already been buying stuff from the co-op for awhile, but store-bought is expensive as you probably already know.  armed with dr. bronner’s, baking soda, vinegar, and some essential oils, i started scrubbing the bathroom last night, and some more today.  i had also hoped that this internal cleanse would inspire me to do a thorough apartment cleansing, but i haven’t found too much time or motivation until now.

i’m thinking that tomorrow will be my last day of the “ultra-raw,” and i’ll start incorporating some non-raw food back in starting saturday.  i don’t really miss cooked food that much, just the ease of familiar (and quicker!) recipes.  above all i find myself really wanting some well-prepared tempeh, which isn’t that weird considering my fondness for it - still, not quite what i was anticipating my “cooked craving” to be.  but i’m definitely going to keep up with the smoothies and juices and fresh fruits and veggies (oh, the crunch of a carrot!) as much as i can.  that last slice of tart awaits me now, however, and i’m going to go greet it with a fork.

raw banana-blueberry buckwheat pancakes with strawberry-raspberry date syrup

today i made a realization about eating raw…it’s really hard to do social things with friends and be able to eat.  unless you bring your own food.  which, silly me, i neglected to do.  so i sat drinking hot herbal tea (which i’m allowing myself) and later caved in for an izze pomegranate soda (which i’m not) while my best friend had iced, caffeinated tea and later a piece of rhubarb poundcake.

luckily, i’d filled myself earlier with a green smoothie made from a banana, a pear, the juice of half a lemon, the juice of one orange, two leaves of kale, a few big handfuls of baby spinach, and some homemade vanilla almond milk.  actually, it made so much, i had two of these mason jars filled to the brim:

we rode a good few miles on our bikes to northeast minneapolis to look for vintage clothes and go to crafty planet, so when i got home, i was really hungry, and i went straight for the leftover zucchini linguini.  today it was not as good, but that’s probably at least partially my fault for storing the ingredients together in one container rather than separately (i’m trying to save on my dish duties).  it was a bit soggy from the mushroom marinade.

however, it was rectified shortly after by dinner, which consisted of what i’d hoped to have for breakfast - blueberry buckwheat pancakes with summer berry syrup - except i didn’t realize that they took five hours to dehydrate!  actually, i ended up dehydrating mine even longer, as i may have made the pancakes a bit big.  i’m really glad i made a half batch, not because they weren’t delicious, but because my modest food processor could barely handle that much (4 bananas in my half-batch versus 10 in a full, for a start)!

i’m going to take the liberty of changing the title of this dish to banana-blueberry buckwheat pancakes, since the banana flavor was more pronounced that the blueberries (4 bananas in 5 cd-sized pancakes!).  i used dates and water as the sweetener rather than agave for the summer berry syrup, because they’re cheaper and i like their flavor so much.  i’m not sure how to describe these - when i flipped them they looked amazingly like traditional pancakes, but they were very soft and creamy inside rather than light and fluffy (no leaveners, obviously).  other than being slightly weirded out by being room-temperature, though, i really enjoyed them, and they are easier to eat than the ani phyo version, which can get really filling in a short time.  and i’ve got leftovers for a day or two!

finally tonight my rosemary crisps also finished dehydrating.  i think i’ve had the dehydrator almost constantly on since saturday at 545am when i first made some buckwheat crispies.  but, as a result, i have buckwheat crispies, a cheescake/pie crust, pancakes, and these delicious and savory rosemary crisps (another recipe from living cuisine):

i had these as a snack with some of the leftover alfredo sauce from the zucchini dish (i found the amount of sauce to be a bit much for my taste).  there are so many flavors going on, but they come together really nicely, especially with the rosemary.  i got to use the homogenizing feature of my juicer to grind up the walnuts, sunflower seeds, cashews, tomatoes, celery, garlic, red onion, and dried rosemary.  then they were mixed with ground flax seed and salt.  i’m glad that, with the amount of work involved in making them, i’ve got three dehydrator trays’ worth, plus a pizza crust that i made on a whim.

tomorrow i’m planning on leftover pancakes for breakfast, a nice salad for lunch, and possibly (if my wild rice is fully sprouted) a tasty-sounding torte for dinner.  sometimes this takes a lot of forethought!  but i really do feel healthier so far, and i have faith in going through with the whole week.  on the suggestion of a comment made on the previous post, i may have to check out the farmer’s market tomorrow!

zucchini linguini with marinated cremini mushrooms and alfredo cream sauce, served over spinach

well, this might only be a 3/4 raw day - i have dinner plans with my best friend, and we haven’t decided where we’re going yet.  at any rate, due to access and money considerations, my cleanse is more likely to be “very high raw” rather than 100% raw.  it’s still a lot more raw than my normal diet is, and even in just upping the amounts of raw and eating raw snacks, i’m feeling a difference.  additionally, one of my goals for the cleanse is to eat and buy as locally as i can, at least as far as produce.  i’m getting my supplies from the co-op and they, for example, don’t have technically raw cashews (a pretty common ingredient in desserts and sauces), and this also sometimes means i am choosing conventional locally grown produce over those organic ones shipped in from california or mexico.  (sometimes of course, there’s produce i want that could never grow in minnesota…)

on my early morning days (i have to be at work by 630), my breakfast has consisted of snacking on a piece of fruit or one of these 3′6′9 bars from the living cuisine book:

pumpkin, flax, and sesame seeds with dried apricots, dates, cinnamon and vanilla.

while i’m at work i usually get a fresh juice or smoothie…however, i made the mistake of getting a maple pecan shake yesterday (we use oatscream, and i request ricemilk), and after two weeks of no caffeine and cutting back on sweets a bit, i had a horrible sugar crash later that afternoon.  (think nightmares about work while napping, waking up delirious and sweating profusely and barely being able to move.)  it is possible i was also detoxing to some extent, i suppose.

on my less early days, i plan on having more substantial breakfasts, like this amazing recipe for blueberry buckwheat pancakes i found here.  i’ve been busy prepping for more labor-intensive recipes (making buckwheat cereal, sprouting wild rice, soaking, grinding, and dehydrating ingredients for rosemary crisps), and have bought all the nuts, seeds, and non-produce ingredients already (for those of you who remember me worrying about spending hundreds of dollars on these items, i can definitely say that i spent less than 60 dollars on non-produce items for way more than i’ll need in a week).

for a late lunch today, i made a half-batch of the zucchini linguini also from living cuisine.  while the sauce was nothing earth-shatteringly different than other raw nut creams i’ve tasted, the marinated crimini mushrooms are out of this world (this is coming from someone who hates raw mushrooms).  and peeling the zucchini linguini was so satisfying; it was really pleasing to scoop up with my hands, too, like the most delicate pasta ribbons my hand ever held!  this made two me-sized portions, so i’m saving the second for tomorrow.  doesn’t it look scrumptious?

i hoped to have a bigger, and better, post for you today.  but as it is, i became suddenly sick on top of it being an emotional anniversary day.  so i am taking it easy and trying to exert minimal energy if i can help it.  however, i believe a better one may soon come your way quite soon!

here are pictures of two recipes i’m testing for my wee zine - mandarin-sesame green beans (above) and maple-mustard-chili tofu (below) - which is definitely still going to happen, it’s just taking me awhile (and that’s not counting the upcoming design process!).  i’m also still learning how to use my (eep!) new camera that arrived on thursday (incidentally, also when the weather turned into a giant, gloomy rainstorm, so i haven’t had much time to practice).  hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

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

up close and personal with my breakfast: pear-kale-almond-cardamom smoothie

my friend peter brought to my notice recently that while i have been posting pretty pictures, i’ve been very lax about giving out any recipes. partially this has been a result of pondering zine contenders, but most often it is a result of cooking without recipes: then, either i can’t remember exact measurements or forget exactly what i did after a couple of hours (or days). to rectify this matter, i am now posting FOUR for you. hooray!

today i was craving vegetables and fruits: sweet, luscious pears, dark, leafy kale, and ruby-red beets. and fresh lemon juice. and bananas. i could have eaten any vegetable or fruit put in front of me. the mercury was rising today (70!), and i was ready to welcome some fresh and delicious produce.

firstly, i have been thinking about green smoothies a lot lately. the seed was first planted about a year ago when i was researching vitamix blenders and came across an interesting concoction involving pears and grapes and kale among many other things. but i didn’t end up shelling out for the blender in the end, and green smoothies didn’t enter my radar until a few weeks ago, when one of my coworkers was discussing his veg/raw foods period and how he and his partner drank one every morning. (he’s since gone on to cooking everything in butter, apparently, and ditching the vegetarian lifestyle … and now his partner’s cholesterol has hit 230!) and then someone on the ppk mentioned a green smoothie challenge, and it felt like a sign. there are many different possible combinations, and the one i devised uses almond milk for a protein boost on top of all that nutrient- and mineral-rich goodness.

pear-kale-almond-cardamom smoothie with a lydia’s organics raw tropical mango bar purchased from the co-op

pear-kale-almond-cardamom smoothie (makes 3 cups):

1 pear, destemmed, deseeded, and cut into chunks
1 banana, cut into chunks
2 large kale leaves, destemmed and torn
1 c baby spinach, tightly packed
juice of 1/2 lemon
6 ice cubes
1 c (or more) almond milk
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp ground cardamom

place ingredients in blender. blend for 2-3 minutes until smooth. (if it doesn’t seem to have enough liquid, add some more almond milk.

how easy could that be? this was filling, sweet, creamy, and so so good! i want to drink green smoothies every day!

simple vegan borscht topped with cashew sour cream and kale chips

the minneapolis-st. paul international film festival is going on right now, and as mn film arts members, a and i have been circling schedule times and attending as many films as we can while still maintaining our sanity. and while it feels terribly inappropriate because of the film’s subject matter, i felt an intense desire to make borscht after seeing a russian documentary on sunday afternoon.

the variety of borschts seems endless, with all sorts of vegetables and herbs and toppings possible, and traditional and non-traditional versions. i never was aware of it, but apparently some borschts don’t even have beets in them! being vegan might not make mine particularly authentic (most versions include meat and/or meat stock, sometimes butter, and often a dollop of sour cream on top), but i think that its simplicity lets the earthy-sweet beet flavor shine and really highlights that gorgeous red color. speaking of that gorgeous red color, make sure you aren’t wearing anything you don’t want stained…it can be a messy affair to peel and chop beets.

i have lately been feeling an anti-soy-based sour cream thing happening. for some reason, really hate those aseptically packaged boxes of tofu…i think it may have something to do with my early tofu experiments in college, coupled with the subtle smell that accompanies such boxes. i don’t know - i’m trying not to be a hater, but right now, i’m just more into the nut-based dairy alternatives. hence, a cashew sour cream (raw) follows the borscht recipe as a topping.

i have also been hearing a lot about kale chips. vegetable chips in general intrigue me, but kale chips?! it sounded like perfection in salted, crispy form. and what a tasty way to add complementary greens to a rich, red soup: like croutons, only better for you. they’re not particularly beautiful when done (that bright green color gets lost), but they are particularly delicious! get ready to eat a whole bunch of kale by yourself in one sitting if you’re not careful.

simple vegan borscht (serves 6-8):

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large red onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 c)
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 lbs. beets, peeled and diced (2-4 beets, depending on size)
2 large carrots, chopped
2 bay leaves
5 c vegetable broth
1 tsp marmite or yeast extract
3 tbsp red wine
1 tsp chili powder
2-3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

heat olive oil over medium heat in a large pot or saucepan. add the onions and garlic and saute for 4 to 5 minutes until soft and starting to brown. add the beets, carrots, bay leaves, broth, marmite, and red wine and bring to a boil. reduce heat and simmer 35-45 minutes, until beets are soft. remove the bay leaves and puree soup using an immersion blender, or in batches in a blender. add the chili powder, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and reheat gently. ladle into bowls and top with cashew sour cream and kale chips (or chopped fresh herbs such as chives, parsley, or dill).

*note: the size of your beet cubes will affect how long they take to get soft. mine were smaller than a die, and took about 40 minutes.

cashew sour cream (makes about 1 c):

1 c raw cashews, soaked in water 4-6 hours or overnight
1/4 c water
1-2 tsp apple cider vinegar
2-4 tbsp fresh lemon juice

drain the water from the cashews and place in food processor or blender with remaining ingredients. (start with 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice and increase to desired tartness.) blend for 3-5 minutes until smooth.

kale chips (serves one or two):

1 bunch kale, stems removed and torn into “chip”-size pieces
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4-1/2 tsp salt

preheat oven to 350F. whisk together the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, and salt in a bowl. add the kale and toss to coat evenly. place on parchment-lined sheet pan and bake for 10-20 minutes (time will depend on how small the pieces are) until lightly crispy.

my chimichurri seitan burger from last summer has been chosen as a contestant for best veggie burger on endless simmer. this was a big surprise to find this morning! (especially considering my entry doesn’t even have a recipe!)

go vote for your favorite burger (it doesn’t have to be mine)! i promise i’m done with exclamation points now

thanks to the commenters about my blog visual update!  i’ve been realizing, too, that my blogroll and personal bookmarks don’t really line up; this is due to general disorganization and laziness on my part.  i’ve also realized some blogs that i read are in neither place!

i’ve been a bit of a bad blogger in terms of staying up to date with everyone else’s.  life gets pretty busy sometimes, and to devote the amount of time i want to each blog can get a little overwhelming on top of that.  but i’m hoping to remedy that.

i’ve done some initial cleanup and started subscribing to blogs on google reader.  if you link here and don’t see your blog to the right, or if there are any blogs you’d like to let me in on, please leave me a comment or send me an email.  i wanna do this right!

international velvet and i go back to the days of our freshman year in college. we first met when i walked past a dorm-room where they were playing episodes of absolutely fabulous. shy as i was, i could only stand in the doorway and mutter something about britishness, but our fate together was sealed. people would whisper that jerry (as he was known at the time) and i were going to date, get married, and move to the uk. as it turns out, both of us are gay, but our friendship is strong and our mutual love of british entertainment and tasty treats continues to this very day. we also have been gardening together for the past two years.
as our garden’s growing season came to an end, there was something amazing to be made with green tomatoes before they started to turn red: mincemeat! recipes for mincemeat vary, some actually containing meat, but a lot of them are already vegan or easily veganized. it is a sweet filling used for pies and tarts and even just for eating with ice cream or a cream sauce, maybe. coupled with spices and dried fruit and almonds, the green tomatoes taste surprisingly like apples (and you can even add apples to this, or use entirely apples if you don’t have access to any green tomatoes). my garden-friend jerry came over and we made a pie, but i wasn’t happy with the dough, so i’ll just put the delicious mincemeat recipe here:

jerry’s family’s mincemeat recipe (makes about 10 c mincemeat):

approx. 11 cups green tomatoes, cut into thin strips*
1/4 c raisins
3/4 c currants
enough brandy to cover raisins and currants (about 1 c)
1 c brown sugar
1/3 c granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract
2/3 c slivered almonds
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
2 tsp cinnamon

pour brandy over raisins and currants (alternately you can use warm water), and let soak while you cut the tomatoes. place tomatoes, raisins, currants, and soaking liquid in a large pot over medium heat and add remaining ingredients. bring to a simmer and maintain over med-low heat, and cook covered until flavors absorb and tomatoes are softened and release their juices (20-30 minutes). there should be liquid in there, not like a soup, but kind of a thick sauce towards the bottom. adjust seasonings to taste (this will depend greatly on the tartness of the tomatoes and your flavor wishes).

go make pie! and watch little britain!

roasted portobella and yellow peppers, heirloom tomatoes, and basil with lemon-garlic-saffron aioli.  i had a sandwich vision at work all day.  this was my hasty (but tasty) realization.

i had a lot of the red lentil dish leftover from ethiopian, and as i was scooping some up with a piece of bread i thought, this really has the texture of bolognese.  so, the first simple reutilization, just adding some basil:

and here, with chopped parsley, diced fresh tomatoes, a hint of fennel, and a wee bit of olive oil:

i think i’m on my way to developing a red lentil-tomato pasta sauce… sometimes it’s nice to have an alternative to soy/seitan as a protein source, especially with noodle-y dishes.  the texture is really so nice!  it may take a bit longer to prepare, but sometimes you have that time.
this morning as i was laying in bed and trying to avoid getting out into the coldness that is outside of my bed, i started thinking about pancakes.  oatmeal pancakes.  the first recipe i found was from how it all vegan, so i used it and halved it.  i think next time i will veganize some other recipe.  so many oats!  i like the denseness of oatmeal pancakes but this was super heavy and it burned really easily (and the batter seemed too salty).  i am going to have oatmeal pancake bloat for the rest of the day.  oy.  but one day i shall make it something delightful that combines (quick-cooking, for sure) oats and pancakes.  whipped “cream” and maple syrup and strawberries help, though: