Monthly Archives: March 2012

Mar 11 2012
3 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes

No rise pizza crust… this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship!

Pizza crust is one of the easiest things to make. Just know that you’ll make something better (and better for you) than any greasy pizza place can put on your plate. Your family will love it, your kids can help and you’ll serve it with a clean conscience. The picture below is Brent, making his “this tastes sooo good” face.


2 cups flour (I use Bob’s Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten Free)
2/3 cup water
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp molasses or whatever sugar you prefer
1 tbsp Italian seasoning

optional (any or all)

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tbsp garlic powder

1 tbsp onion powder

1/2 tsp chili powder

2 tbsp flax meal

Put everything except the baking soda in a bowl and mix thoroughly. This is a great job for kids, but personally I put this task to my favorite set of big strong man hands. The dough should separate from the sides of the bowl and form a ball easily. At this point, mix in the baking soda.

Use your hands to work it into the metal pizza dish or a lightly oiled metal baking pan.

You might need a little more flour to form it into a nice ball and get it into the pan. Cook at 400F/200C for 10 minutes or until the crust begins to brown.

We added peppers, soy sausage, mushrooms and fresh basil over pasta sauce with Daiya mozzarella on top.

Add toppings and cook another 20 minutes until the ‘cheese’ melts. Try not to add too much topping or the crust won’t cook all the way through.

This should make your friends, family and you happy. Use whatever toppings you like and enjoy!

This is Christie and Brent, signing off.

Tagged , , , , , , ,
Mar 09 2012
4 Comments
Recipes, Snacks

Cooking Challenge: Buffalo (Chicken) Dip

I must confess that:

  • I was never a fan of Buffalo anything.
  • I never tried Buffalo Chicken Dip until last New Year’s weekend aka My Weekend of Debauchery.
  • I kind of forced my sister to take part in this cooking challenge and now we have a crapload of leftover Buffalo Chicken Dip.
  • there is no more vegan Buffalo (Chicken) Dip left. I ate it all. /burp
  • my loneliness is killing me now don’t you know I still believe that you will be here and give me a sign… hit me baby one more time.

I don’t know where my sudden craving for buffalo chicken dip came from. All I know is that I had to have it this past weekend. As a bonus, it would be a good vegan vs. traditional cooking challenge. I found a lot of vegan recipes online and liked spabettie’s the best (check out her blog for amazing recipes that I can’t wait to try). I didn’t have soy curls, which probably would have taken this to another level, so this is what I ended up using:

Vegan Buffalo Dip

1/2 cup Franks Buffalo Sauce
8 ounces Tofutti cream cheese
1/3 cup Tofutti sour cream
1 cup vegan cheddar, grated (use Daiya if you’ve got it)
5 stalks celery, diced

Combine all the ingredients in an oven-safe bowl or dish. I used two small bowls. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, covering with foil at the 20 minute mark. Serve with celery, tortilla chips, eat it with a spoon… whatever tickles your fancy. The dip might seem soupy but don’t worry: it’ll have a good dipping texture to it after it cools off a bit. I got so excited while making this and then stuffing my face with it that I didn’t get any good photos. I suppose I could make some more this weekend, but having “everything in moderation” still applies to vegan junk/snack foods.

This dip is totally potluck-worthy. I don’t think non-vegans would be able to tell the difference, but you should caution anyone you serve it to in case they have a soy allergy, which my sister has. This is something that should be shared and not completely devoured by oneself while in the midst of a stress/PMS-induced craving attack. Trust me: you might regret it, even though the dip is delicious.

Let me know if you try this out with soy curls. And be sure to check out spabettie.com! xoxo… Melissa

Tagged , , , , , , ,
Mar 08 2012
11 Comments
Dining Out, Thoughts

Being Vegan in Public

Today I will recount the painful tale of my worst experience being a vegan in public. This story is meant as a cautionary tale to vegans and non-vegans alike that there’s nothing wrong with having one eating habit or another and to emphasize the importance of being a good host and a good guest.

I went to a surprise 30th birthday party at a friend’s Mom’s house. I called the week before to RSVP and warned her mom that I’m vegan and gluten free, knowing that the cake was from Rachel’s (name changed to protect the innocent) favorite Cheesecake Factory and ice cream. Her Mom sort of hemmed and hawed until I offered, “I’ll eat beforehand and bring a snack.” She seemed enthused about this compromise so I proceeded as normal.

On the day of the party, I showed up, did the surprise and entertainment business and mingled with mutual friends. Finally it was cake time and I sat down with a plastic baggie of trail mix and a bottle of tea and began to contentedly munch away. Her mom made a bee line for me, locking onto my non-cheesecake, non-ice cream and non-soda snack and asked what I was doing and wasn’t I going to have any cake.

Me: (confused) I called you ahead and told you I’m vegan and gluten-intolerant.

Her: That’s just one of those weird fad diets. You’re not even fat. It’s okay just to cheat this once.

Me: No, I’m afraid it’s not.

Her: Don’t you know it’s bad luck if you don’t eat birthday cake?

Me: It’s bad luck for me to eat gluten, dairy, and eggs.

Her: Come on, it’s a special occasion.

Me: No, thank-you.

Her: Seriously, you’re not going to have any cheesecake.

Me: No, thank-you.

Her: Well, please put your junk food away. You’re making a scene.

The entire room was completely silent and everyone was looking at us. The birthday girl, sitting adjacent to me was bright red having heard the entire conversation. I put my snack in my bag and fought back tears. Rachel excused herself, grabbed her bag and LEFT the party. Her mother shot lightning bolts from her eyeballs at me once more, heaved and exasperated sigh, reminiscent of distant thunder and left to serve herself a generous slice of cookies n’ cream cheesecake. I started worrying that I had upset my good friend and ruined her very special day. Fellow uncomfortable party goers tried to smooth things over, asking me questions like, “Can’t you have the soda?”, “Why don’t you just eat the top part of the cheesecake?” “Ice cream isn’t dairy, is it?”  and so forth.By this time my appetite was completely gone and I had actually begun to feel sick.

About 15 minutes later, the birthday girl reappeared. She dug into the depths of her handbag and handed me a pint of Luna & Larry’s Coconut Bliss ice cream. I gave her a huge hug and thanked her and apologized for making so much trouble. She apologized for her mother who openly admonished Rachel for apologizing, leaving the party and letting her guests [me] make a scene. I felt slightly less small but knew I would never forget that day.

I suspect most vegans will have a story like mine or this one. I hope that you can use your experience to strengthen your resolve and stick by your decision. If you’re depressed after reading this, feel free to check out defensive omnivore bingo . This is a game that can make just about any party or family gathering bearable.

This is Christie, signing off.

Mar 07 2012
9 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes

Pad Thai, oh my!

Pad Thai is something that I routinely order at Thai restaurants because if you ask them to omit the egg it’s vegan and gluten-free. Tofu or tempeh also makes a nice addition to the meal. If you’re on a budget or want to make this classic a little healthier you should make it at home. Brent and I took some tips from Vegan Black Metal Chef and made this our own with some substitutions. To prepare this dish we assembled the following ingredients.
1 package of brown rice noodles (use 8oz for 3 people)
1 bell pepper, cut into bite sized pieces
1/3 head of cabbage cut into ribbons (we couldn’t find mung bean sprouts)
1 tomato, diced
1 package of Chinese style water packed tofu
1/4 cup crushed peanuts
6 cloves of garlic, minced
ginger, we used a piece about the size of half a big toe
1 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1-2 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (or to taste)
3-4oz. tamarind (frozen, soup base, or powdered)
2-4 tbsp molasses
1 lime, sliced for a garnish
olive oil
water
salt to taste

Before you do anything, break the noodles in half and place them in a large bowl of warm water to soak.

Cut the tofu into bite sized pieces. Place the tofu on a paper towel and stack 2 paper towels on top and put a pan or a bowl on top to help drain the moisture from the tofu. This will help keep it from falling apart when you cook it later.

Also cut your veggies into bite sized pieces and set them aside.

Put the peanuts, garlic, ginger, crushed pepper, peanut butter, and most of the cilantro (save some for a garnish) into a bowl and cover with 1-2 cups of water. This next part is tricky because it’s about your taste and type of ingredients. I add 3-4 ounces of frozen tamarind paste.

You can also use 1 tbsp tamarind paste or soup base. This is what gives the dish it’s tartness so add it slowly, tasting it until it’s ‘right’. I add about 2 tablespoons of molasses but I don’t like it particularly sweet. Stir it all together and just keep tasting it until you like the flavor of the sauce.

Put a little olive oil, maybe a teaspoon or two, in a large pan and add the tomato. Heat it for about a minute.

Then add the shredded cabbage or bean sprouts and stir the for 3-4 minutes. Drain the water from and add the noodles, they don’t have to be too dry. A little liquid is fine.

Add the tofu, broccoli, bell pepper and the sauce and stir it all together. Keep stirring on medium high heat for another 6-10 minutes or until the noodles are soft and have absorbed the sauce.

Serve sprinkled with fresh cilantro, crushed peanuts and a lime wedge.

Extra vegetables you can add: 1 bunch scallions cut into 1 inch pieces, broccoli florets, 1 small head of bok choy chopped into ribbons instead of or in addition to bean sprouts or cabbage. I hope you get to try this delicious dish.

Until then, this is Christie and Brent, signing off.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Mar 06 2012
4 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes, Thoughts

Squash “ribs”, green beans, and cilantro lime quinoa!

People often cite being vegan as being too difficult as a reason for continuing to eat meat, dairy and eggs. I was ruminating on this idea, this afternoon as I was thinking of what I would prepare for dinner this evening. I picked a handful of ingredients: green beans, butternut squash and cilantro. These were left over from other things I’d prepared this past week.

I sliced up the squash, leaving the skin on, sprayed it lightly with olive oil and sprinkled it with sea salt. I put it into the oven on a tinfoil lined baking dish and set the timer for 30 minutes at 350F/175C. I also put the seeds from my squash onto another piece of tinfoil with a light sprinkling of garlic salt and checked every few minutes or so until they were crispy and delicious. You can do this with pumpkin seeds or the seeds from spaghetti squash as well. I snacked on these while I was tending the rest of the meal.

While that was happening I washed my green beans and snapped the ends off each one. I put them in a covered steamer and waited until they were BRIGHT green. This takes 8-12 minutes, because I like mine crispy and green. As soon as they got really bright green, I took the lid off the beans and took them off the heat.

While I was waiting for that to happen I put collected the following:

1/2 cup red quinoa (any sort of quinoa will do)

1 cup of water

1 cube of bouillon

1/2 onion, chopped

3-4 sun dried tomatoes, sliced into strips (optional)

1/4 cup of cilantro leaves

juice from 1/2 lime

I put the quinoa and water into a microwave safe bowl and microwaved it for a minute. I stirred it and added the bouillon cube and microwaved for another minute. I stirred it and added the sun dried tomato and microwaved for a minute. I stirred it and added the onion and microwaved it for a minute. I microwaved for another minute and then all of the liquid was absorbed and I stirred in the cilantro. I squeezed some lime over it before serving.

I placed the green beans on the plate and sprinkled some almond slivers over them (omit these if you’ve got a nut allergy and use the baked squash seeds instead). I ended up drizzling some balsamic vinegar on them too but that’s not in the picture. I was starting to check that the squash was tender with a fork at this point and as soon as it was ready, I put the squash on the plate with everything else and because I didn’t take off the skin, I ate them like they were ribs… except there was no hunks of fat or gristle to get in the way of my eating pleasure. As I ate, I thought about how I made something really healthful, beautiful, fragrant and tasty in 40 minutes. As far as I’m concerned, the best food nourishes your mind and your body.

This is Christie, signing off.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Mar 04 2012
4 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes

Mushroom and Tofu Tacos

I love mushrooms. I love tofu. I also hate both of them a little. There’s something about how mushrooms lose all their water and shrink when you cook them that bugs me. I also sometimes dislike how that mushroom flavor gets permeated into everything mushrooms are cooked with. As for tofu, I sometimes can’t stand that ‘tofu’ taste, like no matter what I do, I can still taste that it’s tofu. (Yes, I know I’m being silly.) Today, the only vegan thing in the fridge was mushrooms and tofu sauteed in garlic. I got so depressed at the idea of eating it. Then, I saw them: tortillas. Beautiful corn tortillas. I also had avocado, cilantro, lime, and tomatoes. So, I gave the mushroom/tofu dish a makeover:

First, I made some taco seasoning by mixing together the following:

3/4 tsp ancho chili powder
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cumin

Then, I browned the the mushrooms/tofu in some garlic and then added the taco seasoning. When everything was just about heated through, I threw in some sliced onion, mixed everything around (this is where I would flip the stuff in the air if I were someone who could do that without getting food everywhere), and removed from heat.

At the same time, I took some leftover (read: on the verge of spoiling) rice (brown/white mix) and decided to make a really weird version of fried rice:

3 cups of rice, cooked (this will generally work better if you use leftover rice that is not heated)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup vegetable broth (I used a ‘not-chicken’ bouillon cube)
1 cup frozen corn kernels
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen lima beans
1 tsp ancho chili powder
1/2 diced onion

When that was done, I made an avocado salad of sorts to top the tacos with. Um… I was so excited to eat that I didn’t get a good photo of it:

1 ripe avocado
1/2 diced plum tomato – mine was on the verge of being ripe which was perfect because it wasn’t too soft and had a nice little crunch to it
1/4 cup frozen corn kernels
juice from 1/2 lime
salt, to taste

By now, I was beyond ready to eat, and boy did I eat. I kept eating and eating and eating!

I sprinkled some Tapatio on everything and it was so delicious. I’m so proud of this that I have to post another pic.

I love food makeovers and I love stuffing my face with delicious food. It makes me happy. I hope you get to stuff your face with delicious food today… Melissa

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , ,
Mar 02 2012
4 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes

I love food with funny names… like quiche.

I had a giant glass of carrot, lemon, kale and ginger juice and decided to use the pulp to make a quiche. Why the eff not… right? Recently LuminousVegans and FormerFishTacoFanatic had an incredible brunch featuring a vegan quiche (check it out for other idea and recipes) and I just haven’t been able to get it out of my mind.

I mixed the pulp with a generous heap of flax meal, 2 tablespoons of tahini, and a pinch of salt.

I mixed it together until it got doughy and then mixed in a generous pinch of baking soda. I mooshed it into a olive oil coated pie dish and baked it at 350F/175C for 15 minutes. It might take longer to cook depending on how thick it is. Test it to be sure it’s starting to get firm and a little crisp before you take it out. You can also use your own favorite crust recipe.

While that was happening, I sliced up some mushrooms, broccoli and tomato and sauteed them lightly and poured off the liquid. I was worried the crust might get soggy from the mushroom and tomato juice.

I put the veggies and some vegan cheddar into the pie crust and then mixed them with a tofu scramble recipe from this is my everest , I just put “egg” part into my food processor with a carton of Mori Nu soft silken tofu and a tablespoon of starch and blended it until smooth. I baked it for another 40 minutes. Cover the edges with foil if you’re worried about them burning.

I let it sit for a little while to cool… I was really worried it would fall apart when I tried to serve it. I was also worried that it might not be as delicious as the tofu scramble by itself and I would have to scrap this post and draw a picture of a giraffe instead to assuage my grief.

Not to worry, my intrepid adventurers! The crust did get a little soft in the very middle… Next time I do this I’ll probably use less gooey veggies than fresh tomato… maybe sun dried tomato. I had to take this picture before I accidentally ate the whole thing. You might notice that it’s mostly vegetables with a little tofu scramble on top… bad habit. I think more tofu scramble would have made this more quiche-like but I dig veggies. What can I say.

This is Christie, signing off.

Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Mar 01 2012
1 Comment
Desserts, Snacks

Adventures in Fruit: Mamey, Rhymes with “Hooray!”

This is one of my favorites. If I hadn’t moved to Miami I would never have never gotten to try this amazing fruit. Did I mention it’s one of my favorites?

It’s flesh is a similar texture to sweet potato but creamier. It’s flavor is like creamy honeyed banana mixed with pear. It’s awesome in flan, milkshakes or with a spoon. I ate this one with a spoon. Another favorite application is to put the flesh into the blender with almond milk and make it into popsicles. Talk about a nutritious refreshing post-work-out snack!

You’ll be able to recognize this fruit by it’s gritty brown skin and its about the size of a Nerf football. They’re ripe when they start to get wrinkly. Cut away the area around the seed and discard the skin. I hope you find one!

This is Christie, signing off.

Tagged , , , , , , ,
Newer posts →