Tag Archives: gluten-free

Feb 11 2012
9 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes

Vegan alfredo!

A few days ago, LuminousVegans posted a creamy alfredo recipe and reminded me how delicious creamy pasta sauces are. I’m making my own soy-based creamy alfredo which can be made nut free for those of you with nut allergies. If you’re sensitive to soy (or even if you’re not), definitely try LuminousVegan’s alfredo recipe. Her recipes are amazing!

The ingredients are as follows:
1 12 oz. box silken tofu (I like MoriNu)
1-2 tbsp Italian seasoning
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1-2 tbsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 pinch nutmeg
soy or almond milk as needed
garlic or sea salt and crushed red pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients in a food processor or blender, adding soy or almond milk as necessary until you get a rich creamy sauce. That’s it, you’re done making high protein, low-fat, low-calorie alfredo sauce. I do recommend heating it either by microwaving or in a skillet with some white wine but this isn’t necessary, it just helps to marry the flavors.

I tossed it with hot pasta and a sliced soy sausage that I browned with some garlic.

I also added some raw red and yellow bell pepper. I tore up some more fresh basil for presentation but it wasn’t pretty for long because I ate it.

I love the sienna with the red and yellow on the creamy backdrop and vivid green. I’m a sucker for food that’s beautiful as well as delicious and good for you. Food should nourish your mind and your body. I love the sweetness of the pepper, the spice of the soy sausage with the creamy tofu and savory nutritional yeast and pasta.

If you want creamy pesto instead, add a generous handful of raw basil, a dash of lemon juice and about half a bulb of garlic.

This is Christie, signing off!

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Feb 10 2012
5 Comments
Cooking, Recipes, Snacks

Has everybody gone crackers?

I like to make juice. Like… serious health conscious vegetable juice. If that’s your bag, this post is for you.

Tonight I made some juice from 6 carrots, 1 apple, 1 peeled lemon, one beet and a generous chunk of fresh ginger. In the early days of enjoying my frosty beverages I was thinking of things to do with the leftover pulp.

What’s leftover after you juice the veggies and fruits is a lot of soluble and insoluble fiber and nutrients that didn’t get mooshed out in the juicing. I hate wasting things. It’s partly my inner hippie, my years of farm living, and some personal issues I can’t get into on the internet. Anyways, this is what I use to make my home-made crackers. As far as I know, pretty much any fruits and veggies will do except for cucumber, sorry. Just think about the combo and how it will taste when paired with hummus or whatever. This recipe is for carrot sesame crackers.

Take the pulp and pick out any large chunks. To the pulp, add the following (amounts don’t need to be exact)

1 heaping tbsp tahini (this is where the sesame comes from)

2 heaping tbsp flax meal

a few dashes of tamari or soy sauce (or just regular salt if you’re soy-free)

Moosh it with your hands until you can mold it into a ball that’s at least somewhat doughy. Spread it out into your food dehydrator on one of the plastic sheets intended for fruit leather and such and dry overnight. My dehydrator doesn’t have heat settings or a timer so I can’t be more specific than that. It works, that’s all I know. You can also spread it out on a wax paper lined baking sheet and covered in tin foil. Bake them at 200F/90C for 30-45 minutes, depending on the thickness of the dough. Check it frequently to be sure it doesn’t burn.

The rich color and sweetness comes from the carrots and beets, slightly savory from the soy and nutty from the tahini and flax. You might also get some bite from the ginger! They’re great with home-made hummus, soy or nut cheese, salsa, cheesy bean dip, spinach artichoke dip, guacamole or whatever it is that blows your skirt up.

Here are my finished crackers: low calorie, preservative free, low glycemic index due to no added sugar or processed flour, high flavor and incredibly filling (remember… lots of soluble and insoluble fiber.) You can also customize them adding whatever your heart desires. Pulp from spinach mango juice makes great spinach sun dried tomato crackers: it’s a favorite when mango comes into season here in Florida in the spring. I’ve also been known to make spinach pizza crust. They will keep in a plastic baggie in your fridge for 3-4 days.

This is Christie, signing off… to finish off last night’s hummus with my fresh crackers.

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Feb 09 2012
8 Comments
Recipes, Snacks, Thoughts

Beans, beans, the musical, magical fruit! … and hummus.

People often tell me that being vegan is too expensive or they can’t fit it in their budget. Being vegan can be really expensive if you eat a lot of prepared foods but cooking from scratch makes vegan meals cheaper and healthier. I’ve recently been converted to dry beans. These are the reasons why.


1. Dry beans are cheaper. A 1 pound bag of beans costs about as much as 1 can of beans and makes 3-4 cans volume of beans. I pay $0.79-$2.79 for a 1 pound bag and $0.89-$3.19 for a can. Jeepers H Crackers, that’s ridiculous! You can’t even get chicken that cheap. Check out my before (above) and after (below) pictures of some soaked chickpeas.


2. It saves space. A bag of dried beans take up less room in your kitchen than the 3-4 cans of beans you might otherwise purchase. They’re also lighter to carry around and won’t hurt if you drop the bag on your foot or head from a high shelf. (I’m a klutz… don’t judge me.) This is a pound of beans beside a can of beans.


3. It also saves space in landfills and energy costs for transportation. The empty plastic bag from beans versus 3-4 BPA-plastic lined tin cans with paper labels means less energy allocated to transporting and recycling and less space in garbage dumps.
4. There’s WAY more variety in the dried beans section of my supermarket than the canned beans section. I like variety.
5. Dried beans don’t contain preservatives or salt. You can also control what you add to the beans. I use distilled water but only because I’m not sure if my municipality uses hexafluorosilicic acid (an industrial waste derived from the production of aluminum metal and phosphoric acid) to fluoridate local tap water. I’d rather not add diluted industrial waste to my food. Yeah, I’m weird like that.
6. Dried beans taste better and aren’t as mooshy as canned. I find I have to add canned beans last in chili recipes because they fall apart when you stir them. Dried beans are firm enough to stand up to vigorous mixing and haven’t lost their flavor to the liquid they’re canned in.
7. There’s also more control with cooking. If I’m only going to be cooking for a couple of people and still want to use 3 different kinds of beans, that’s all I’ll have to prepare. No opened tins with plastic over them in my fridge potentially waiting to spoil and be wasted. 1 cup of dried beans translates to about 1 can.
8. Dried beans are incredibly easy to prepare. There’s no can opener and no sharp edges on the lid or can for you, your little ones or your family pet (who inevitably will get into your garbage pail…) to cut themselves on. I set them in a bowl in my kitchen sink the night before. I see the bowl when I put my dishes from breakfast in the sink the next morning. I am then reminded to fill the bowl with water, cover it and go to work. When I get home, my beans are ready to start cooking. What I’m saying is. if you can put water into a bowl, you can use dried beans.

So you might be wondering what I’m going to do with that HUGE bowl of chickpeas. This post is really about hummus. All you need is the following:
1 cup of dry chickpeas, soaked OR 1 can of drained chickpeas (save some of the liquid from soaking or the can)
juice from 1 lemon
3-8 garlic cloves
1 heaping tbsp tahini (optional but recommended)

I’m adding a generous handful of fresh basil and sundried tomato… for fun. You can add anything: roasted red peppers, olives, artichoke hearts, cucumber and dill… whatever.

Put it all in your blender or food processor and blend until you like the texture. If you need more liquid, add some of the liquor from the soaking or from the can. Voila! Hummus. I sprinkle mine with some smoked paprika powder and ate it with my own sesame ginger carrot crackers. Yeah, I make my own crackers.  Wanna learn how to make those too?  Some day… some day.

I wish you could taste how delicious this hummus is. The spicy basil and garlic are amazing with the mellow sundried tomato on the backdrop of creamy chickpeas and tahini. Let me know what combo you dream up for hummus and tell me how you like it. I want to make MOAR!

This is Christie, signing off.

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Feb 07 2012
2 Comments
Snacks

Adventures in fruit: sapote say what?

This is another local favorite. It’s called sapote.

It’s got the texture of a Bartlett pear and tastes like honey soaked Asian pear. I’ll definitely get this one again. It’s a great snack: it fits in your bag (about the size of a chicken egg), it fits in your hand, it fits in your mouth. What’s not to like? The flavor is unique. I imagine that this variety of sapote might make a great sorbet… note to self: learn to make sorbet. NOM!

This is Christie, signing off!

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Feb 06 2012
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Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes, Snacks

Kale and White Bean Soup! It’s what’s for lunch.

Kale is so awesome that it might overshadow the white beans in this particular dish but white beans (also called navy beans or Northern beans) a’re a standout food on their own. Kale is full of vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, calcium along with a number of other micronutrients like lutein and zeaxanthin (both important for vision) that are all really important for a healthy body and immune system. It’s low in calories and loaded with fiber to help you feel fuller faster and longer. So how can white beans possible compete? They offer a different variety of nutrients that complement those present in the kale: calcium, iron, and other micronutrients like coumarin and ferulin which are currently under scientific investigation for their activity as antioxidants.

Oh right, soup. Gather together the following.

12-16oz bag of dry white beans

1 bunch of kale, rinsed and cut into ribbons

1 tomato, diced

6 cloves of garlic, minced

1 cube of bouillon a pinch of cumin seeds (optional)

1.5 L water (does NOT include water for soaking the beans)

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

To prepare, I recommend soaking the beans overnight (or at least 4 hours) to reduce the cook time of your soup. Cover the beans completely with water plus another inch or so. The beans should about double in size. Don’t be alarmed. It’s normal. I like dry beans because it’s cheaper but if soaking dry beans isn’t your thing, 2-3 tins of white beans works great and will reduce your prep time considerably.

In a huge pot, add the olive oil and coriander seeds and wait until the seeds start to sputter. Add the tomato and garlic and stir a few times.

Add the beans and stir until they’re coated with the tomato and olive oil. Add 1 liter of water and the bouillon. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 1.5 hours (longer depending on how dry they are, just keep testing them to see when they start to get tender). Start to stir in the kale a handful at a time when the beans start to soften.

Add more water until you reach the desired consistency. Remove the bay leaves. Bring to a boil before serving.

Other things you can add to this traditional favorite include: sliced vegan chorizo or soy sausage, pasta, and sun dried tomato. Add the chorizo or soy sausage right after the kale so it doesn’t fall apart, you can also brown it lightly in a fry pan first. If you add sun dried tomato, add it with the regular tomato. I like this soup for lunch. It’s inexpensive, highly nutritious and delicious.

This is Christie, signing off.

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Feb 05 2012
2 Comments
Recipes, Snacks

Cheesy Bean Dip, Or, How I Learned to Make Nachos in a Bowl

Today is Superbowl Sunday here in the USA. While I am not a football fan, I am a fan of cheesy bean dip.

Growing up, Superbowl Sunday was a bit of a holiday for my family. It would consist of non-stop, all-day snacking, and the highlight of which was my Mom’s cheesy bean dip. It would consist of Velveeta, cream cheese, beans and salsa. Today, I am going to show you how to make this without risking the structural integrity of your cardiovascular system.

The Players :
Tortilla Chips (Duh)
Daiya (1 pack, or half of two packages)
Salsa (Pace’s Thick and Chunky is my jam)
Black Beans (One can, drained)
OPTIONAL :
Hot Sauce (Tapatio, take me away)
Olives
Peppers, diced
Anything Else You Would Put Into Nachos

First, put a layer of Daiya at the bottom of a microwavable container that is large enough to accommodate all of your ingredients. Drop your black beans on top of that layer and cover it with more Daiya. Pour some salsa on top of that layer (I used 12oz for this experiment), and smother it all in Daiya.

Pop all of this into your microwave and cook for 2 minutes. Stir. Repeat until all the Daiya has melted (Should take 6-8 minutes cooking). The end result is a creamy dip for your tortilla chips that has a lot of flavor without loads of cholesterol and saturated fat. For added spice, drop in some Tapatio (or your favorite hot sauce) to taste.

Since this takes all of 10-15 minutes to make, it’s great for parties in a pinch. Or, for our inner lazy bachelors/bachelorettes it can be drizzled on top of a plate of chips and you have simple nachos. For easier clean up, say ‘Screw it’ to the plate of chips and just dip your chips into the bowl.

Experiment and find what works best for you. This can be refrigerated and reheated, so if you don’t finish it all, it’s not a complete waste.

Enjoy your flavor explosion, gang!

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Feb 03 2012
5 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes

Almond crusted tofu and saffron cardamom rice!

Kinda like a party in your mouth. Of course, everything’s a party in your mouth when you’re vegan. My sense of smell and taste got a lot more sensitive after I stopped eating animal products, particularly dairy. The fat in cheese, cream and butter really numbed my tastebuds. I find I like subtler flavors these days and think everything is too sweet. Who knows. I was feeling ambitious tonight.

I threw a good pinch of saffron and a couple of green cardamom pods. I’m showing you brown cardamom too… but it’s not right for pairing with saffron. The flavor for brown cardamom is WAY more intense. Good saffron has gold tips and deep red ocher coloring. Sometimes it’s dyed with turmeric or other things… EEK! You can tell if it’s it has been dyed if the saffron is uniform in color.

I prepared my brown rice in the microwave because it’s easy and I’m a little lazy. Is that going to be a problem? Lazy or not, I do recommend removing the cardamom pods before serving the rice. Leaving it in risks you or someone else biting into it and tasting how I imagine lemon cleaning solution would taste. Meanwhile I combined in a bowl:

1 cup of almond meal

3-4 tablespoons of arrowroot starch (any starch will do)

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

salt to taste

I chopped up my tofu and ‘breaded’ it. I spread it out on a foil lined pan that I sprayed with olive oil and threw a handful of slivered almonds onto it to keep the tofu from sticking.

I baked it at 350F/175C for 15 minutes covered in tinfoil and took it off for the last 10 minutes. The last 10 minutes browned the edges and made it pretty. I sliced up some avocado because I had a ripe one and kind of liked how the beige, yellow and pale green looked together. Everything got a light dusting of sea salt, I drizzled some balsamic vinegar on the avocado and then I ate it. The end.

Just kidding. The buttery avocado was balanced by the balsamic vinegar. The light saffron was perfect with the avocado and with the nuttiness of the almond crusted tofu. The light lemon, floral, spice aroma from the cardamom brought out the honey and olive aromas in the saffron and tied the whole thing together… like that rug from the Big Lebowski.

This is Christie, signing off.

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Feb 02 2012
5 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes, Snacks

Experimental pho is quick and dirty photastic!

A few days ago LuminousVegans posted some Vietnamese pho that got me thinking I should try to make my own. I started by slicing up some ginger, turmeric, garlic and the end of a stick of cinnamon.

I put that in about a quart of water with some veggie beef bouillon (this particular brand is AMAZING and very “beefy”!), a dash of hoisin sauce, a dash of tamari and the ends of this lemon. I also sliced half an onion into rings and added that too.


I simmered them while I took a shower. Then I picked out the cinnamon stick and lemon peel (the ginger and turmeric should have gone too, but no matter) and then I poured it over some tofu noodles that I parboiled. These noodles are gluten-free, low calorie, and vegan. Nom? I think so.

I garnished it with some cilantro, lemon grass and chili paste after squeezing 1/4 of a lemon over it.

Next time I’ll probably add some fried tofu or soy curls. Overall it wasn’t a bad effort, especially for something quick and dirty like I made. It had the stereotypically aromatic broth, noodles, lemony goodness and spicy chili. It reminded me of some pho I had in New York City over New Year’s Eve break. Let me know if you try it and come up with some improvements.

This is Christie, signing off.

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Feb 01 2012
2 Comments
Cooking, Snacks

I’m Fallin’ For Falafel

I love me some falafel. I am so happy it’s vegan. Falafel is ground chickpeas that are seasoned, formed into balls (heehee… balls) or patties and then deep-fried. Chickpeas are yummy, versatile, and seriously nutritious. I refer to them as garbanzo beans. Growing up, garbanzos were added to some Filipino dishes such as menudo.

I had never noticed garbanzo flour in the grocery store until I sought it out after seeing (or rather, smelling) something delicious that one of my co-workers brought for lunch. I grabbed some Bob’s Red Mill Garbanzo Bean Flour, which is even more versatile than the bean itself. You can use it in place of traditional flour for baking. You can also use it to make hummus and falafel.

I decided to try making falafel patties. After all, the recipe was on the package and I had all the ingredients. So… why not? Visit their site for the recipe, which is super easy and great for experimentation. I opted to fry some of the patties in safflower oil and bake the rest. The ones in the back are fried; the ones up front that seriously look like peanut butter cookies were baked (in the toaster oven, natch’).

These were so easy to make. The fried ones had a better texture and were slightly – very slightly more delicious, but the baked ones were great, too. There’s really no way to go wrong with this recipe.

I didn’t have any pita so I ate them with white rice, which is always available in my house. We had leftover hot sauce from a pita place, which was GREAT. So what will I do differently next time? I’ll use fresh ingredients next time: parsley, cilantro, garlic. Definitely more garlic, as well as a tad more salt. And I’ll buy or make some tahini next time, too. Oh, delicious.

I can’t wait to use the garbanzo bean flour to make other foods! Yay. Happy eating, everyone… Melissa

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Jan 28 2012
8 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes, Snacks

Quesadillas… you know you want some.

Tonight I’m making quesadillas, vegan style. For the basic recipe you only need 5 things:

tortillas, corn or flour

hot sauce

onion, diced

bell pepper, diced

vegan cheese (I use Daiya pepperjack but their cheddar and mozzarella work fine too)

I’m dressing things up a little tonight and adding soy curls.

They’re a lot like chicken except that all by themselves they’ve got a nutty flavor and no gristle. I prepare mine by reconstituting in water in my microwave, draining, and spreading out on a foil lined baking sheet. I sprinkle them with a little soy sauce, flaked red pepper, nutritional yeast (optional), and a spray of olive oil. I bake them at 300F/150C for 30 minutes or until the edges start to brown. This is what they look like before baking.

Now comes is the easy part. Place a tortilla in a lightly oiled nonstick pan, add some “cheese” and a light sprinkling of  onion and bell pepper. I added a few strips of my soy curls and then put a little more cheese on top.

You don’t need a lot of cheese: just enough to get things to stick together. Add a few drips of hot sauce as your personal taste dictates.

On medium heat, wait until the cheese starts to melt (use your nose to avoid scorching), then add that second tortilla and flip. Push any fillings that fall out back into the quesadilla. The cheese will hopefully trap it as it melts.

This is such an easy meal or snack. I literally keep a container of mixed bell pepper and onion in my fridge. It looks like this.

I made some guacamole to go with it and sliced up some tomato and cilantro to go with my vegan quesadillas.

This is Christie, signing off!

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