Tag Archives: healthy

May 25 2012
5 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Thoughts

WTFennel!?

Fennel is something I periodically see at my farmer’s market and when I made daikon a week or so ago, I mused about adding the anise flavors in fennel to the turmeric and paprika infused radish. Well, I went and did it.

We separated the bulbs, stems and leaves. I froze the leaves for later and put the stems and bulbs into a bamboo steamer.

I cooked my daikon as before, adding a few chopped leaves to  the reduction I made while deglazing the pan with a crisp pinot gris diluted.with water. This works without the wine too but I dig wine. I poured it over the fennel before serving it.

We also steamed some rutabaga. When it was soft we mashed it and mixed in some Daiya and Earth Balance buttery spread. I would do it again, It was a weird alternative to mashed potato. I like weird, especially when it involves buttery dairy-free cheese. Next time that I mash rutabaga I plan to make 2 changes: substitute nutmeg for Daiya and use a food processor instead of my favorite mashing man for a more even texture. They’re kind of fibrous.

This was definitely an experiment. Overall I was pleased with how it worked out, especially using so many ingredients that aren’t common in my kitchen.

This is Christie and Brent, signing off!

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May 11 2012
10 Comments
Cooking, Recipes

Pumpkin Lentil Lower Carb Burritos!

This is one of the easier things Brent and I have made in a while, all we needed was the following:

1 head of cabbage, raw

1 14.5 oz tin of pumpkin

1 cup of dry lentils

1 cube of veggie bouillon

1 tsp coriander

1 tsp cumin

1 jalapeño (optional)

chili powder or chili paste and salt to taste

Start by cooking the lentils. Combine them with 2 cups of water and your bouillon cubes and microwave at 2 minute intervals until all the liquid is absorbed. You can also cook them on your stove at low heat until the liquid is absorbed.

Now put them into a sauce pan with the pumpkin and spices. Heat until it’s all steamy. Adjust the seasonings as necessary. You can also add a can of diced tomato and a diced onion but this recipe is designed to accommodate a friends with tomato and onion allergies, respectively. It’s delicious and filling just as I’ve written it.

Now carefully remove a cabbage leaf, add a scoop or two of your burrito filling and whatever other things you like (we’re adding cilantro and Daiya cheddar cheese).

Roll them up and insert into your face.You might not even realize you’re eating a cabbage leaf. This is a great way to have a low carb, low calorie wrap for your sandwich or burrito and doesn’t cost a whole lot. I hope you like it!

 

This is Brent and Christie, signing off.

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Apr 28 2012
1 Comment
Cooking, Recipes

Tahini Lemon Cauliflower

Simple, easy, delicious. That’s what I strive for. Here’s what you need:

One head cauliflower, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp tahini
2 tsp lemon juice
4 tbsp water
salt
olive oil

Put some olive oil in a pan, add the cauliflower and some salt, and brown the cauliflower. You can add a bit of water for a more “steamed” vegetable… I did not. Remove the cauliflower from the pan and set aside.

I didn’t take any photos of this next step, but add some more olive oil to the same pan, and then brown the garlic a bit. Add the tahini, lemon juice, and water. Add a bit more salt if you’d like. Let it simmer for a few minutes, stirring often, and then turn off the heat. Add the cauliflower back to the pan and coat it with the sauce.

Sprinkle some parsley on the cauliflower and serve. I’m betting that mint would be a great garnish for this dish as well. Experiment!

Happy veggie eating… Melissa

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Apr 23 2012
7 Comments
Lazy Vegan

The Lazy (and lucky) Vegan: Gardein and Surprises

Have I mentioned yet that I love love love Gardein products? I had heard of them long before I turned veganese because one of my favorite hangouts, The Yard House, serves their products. They have a Thai Chicken (or rather, Gardein) Noodle Salad and I fell in love with the ‘chicken.’ It was almost unbelievable how much it seemed like real chicken. Also great is their Firecracker Gardein ‘wings,’ which could probably fool a lot of carnivores.

The best part about Gardein is that I can find a variety of their products in just about any grocery store. WIN! At any given moment, I am sure to have Gardein something or other in my freezer. It’s perfect to have on a day like today when I don’t have any leftovers, I’m too lazy too cook, I’m low on ingredients, and I am too exhausted to stop anywhere after work. Gardein to the rescue!

These crispy tenders are AWESOME. I had three left in the bag, so I threw them in my toaster oven to cook.

 

Meanwhile, I chopped some tomato, cucumber, and green onion to make a salad. To spice it up, I finely chopped a pickled chili pepper. I finished off the salad with about a tablespoon of olive oil and some salt.

Then, my bro showed up with some Korean food. The spiced up cucumber is my favorite, but it is unfortunately not pictured because it went right into my belly. But I still had oh-so-yummy soy bean sprouts, a spiced up pepper, brocolli, and shredded asparagus, all seasoned very deliciously. Thanks, bro! You made my pathetic dinner super duper awesome!

Here’s an closeup of the Gardein crispy tenders. It’s also a closeup of my bright orange fingernail. I am in dire need of a manicure. What do you think of that color? I was trying it on so it’s only on my thumb. I’m thinking it’s a little too crazy for me. Oh, wait. Wrong blog. Sorry. Ahem.

Gardein products contain soy and gluten, which really sucks because some of my favorite people won’t be able to tolerate it. It is such amazing stuff that has saved me a couple times when I almost cracked under the pressure of a chicken wing craving.

Happy Monday Evening! And remember… Turning Veganese loves you. –Melissa

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Apr 22 2012
2 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes

Who needs beef stroganoff? Not this girl.

This sauce is really my interpretation of beef stroganoff. Stroganoff is a Russian dish of sauteed beef served with sour cream. I’m not a fan of beef and dairy and nor is my digestive tract so I’m using mushrooms and tofu for a light version that’s loaded with protein and flavor. I particularly like this recipe with sweet potato or squash gnocchi, but it’s great with regular pasta or over a burger for a new twist on sandwich time. You’ll need the following:

2 tablespoons olive oil
4-6 scallions, chopped
2 cups chopped mushrooms (any kind will do)
1 tablespoon herbes de provence
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/3 cup white wine (recommended)
1 tofu sausage, chopped (optional)
1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
1 box of Mori-nu soft silken tofu
soy milk

Put the tofu into a blender and blend it until it’s smooth, scraping down the sides as necessary.

Put the olive oil into a large fry-pan. Add the scallion, wine and herbs; saute for 7-8 minutes until the onion is soft.

Add the mushrooms. We actually used dried mushrooms because they were around: reconstituting them with distilled water in the microwave.

Add the sausage [if you’re using it.I actually find it boring against the other flavors… and that’s saying something] and the blended tofu. Add soy milk to adjust the texture.

While I was doing that, Brent was making the rice pasta. I imagine serving this over braised seitan would be fabulous!

Apologies for those of you who know I say this just about every time I cook with wine: I often see people using ‘spoiled’ wine for cooking. Those flavors will end up in your food so I can’t recommend cooking with wine you wouldn’t drink: buy a fresh bottle and try it to see if you like it. If you’re not much for wine, this recipe is definitely delicious with just a mushroom herb sauce but I do love the flavors it brings out in the herbs and mushrooms. If you do leave out the wine, I’d add a medium diced onion and 3-4 minced cloves of garlic.

This recipe is a decadent creamy high protein sauce that’s great over vegetables, pasta, on bread or whatever. We like it because it takes so little time to prepare for how delicious it is. Brent even licked the spoon. We hope you get to try it and love it as much as we do.

This is Christie and Brent, signing off.

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Apr 21 2012
6 Comments
Cooking

Tofucino: Kid-Approved!

Tocino is a really quick and easy Filipino recipe. The vegan version is even easier… and healthier and less gross. Pork is used in traditional Filipino-style tocino. It’s a perfect sweet and savory blend that has a red/pink glow from the annatto. Thankfully, the key to tocino lies more in the spices than in the meat fat/flavor, so I knew it would work well with tofu.

Only two ingredients were needed for this recipe: extra firm tofu and Mama Sita’s Tocino marinating mix. Guys, Mama Sita is Filipino food gospel. You do need a bit of oil for frying, so I guess three ingredients are needed.

After slicing and drying out my tofu, I covered it with the tocino mix and let it sit for about 10 minutes while I cut up some tomatoes.

I fried the tofu in some safflower oil until cooked.

My niece was over and was adventurous enough to try it. She liked it! “It’s kind of like eggs,” she said. She even asked for more. Thankfully, the three slices along with some rice and tomatoes were enough to fill both our tummies.

Have a great weekend! –Melissa

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Apr 09 2012
2 Comments
Lazy Vegan

The Lazy Vegan: Veggie Burgers!

A couple months ago, I had an awesome veggie burger at a Josh’s, a fast food restaurant near where I work. It tasted great and fresh, but what I loved most about it was that it was, well… different. It wasn’t a completely bean- or soy-based veggie patty. Furthermore, I was able to identify chunks of actual vegetables in it. So I was pretty excited when I saw Don Lee Farms Veggie Patties at good old Costco.

Unfortunately, Don Lee Farms is a wholesale seller, so these patties aren’t available in your neighborhood grocery store. Even more unfortunate is that the company isn’t vegetarian and sells meat products as well. All that aside, this is one tasty veggie patty. It has a nice texture and the vegetables in the burger can easily be identified and tasted.

It was seasoned nicely with a perfect little kick to it. It’s mostly a softer texture, but it contains whole sunflower seeds that are both tasty and give it a nice crunch. It’s also pretty filling.

One patty is surprisingly only 160 calories. I wish it had more protein. The sodium content is fine; it helps that it’s tasty enough that no other spice is really needed. Zero cholesterol! Click the photo for a closer look at the nutrition facts and ingredients.

Homemade is best, but it’s great when I discover good pre-made or pre-packaged products. What are your favorites? Let us know! –Melissa

 

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Mar 25 2012
2 Comments
Main Dishes, Recipes

Easy Enchilada Casserole is on a ROLL!

This is an easy thrown-together, fun to play around with variations on favorite in the Alldestroyers household. It’s basically decadent layers of cheese, beans, tomatoes, peppers and whatever else your heart desires baked up to bubbly perfection. Brent and I decided to start with 2 different kinds of beans: black and kidney.

We decided to make this a 2 layer casserole: cilantro lime black beans and soysausage chipotle red beans. It was that simple.

In the glass baking dish we made 2 layers of tortillas with a layer of Daiya in between to make serving easier.

We cooked the 1 cup of black beans (soaked overnight in 3 cups of water, we kept the water for this step) adding 1 minced jalapeño, juice from 1 lime, a splash of tequila and a handful of cilantro leaves.

The red beans got a similar treatment with a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, a minced soysausage and that’s all she wrote. She being me, I’ll let you in on a secret… I’m going to write some more. We simmered the beans until they were mostly dry and then it was time.

We assembled the casserole by pouring the beans into the first layer of tortillas, pouring some enchilada sauce over it. You can make your own or buy it. We were feeling lazy after being all industrious with the beans so we bought cans of sauce. We poured the next layer of beans, the rest of the sauce and smothered it with more Daiya.

Thirty minutes and 350C/180F later the saucy adultery of the casserole began.

This is a great family friendly meal. We hope you get to try it and love it as much as we do… and the leftovers. I love leftovers.

This is Christie and Brent, signing off!

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Mar 22 2012
8 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes, Snacks

Stuffed Peppers and Creamy Chipotle Sauce

Stuffed peppers or chiles rellenos are pretty popular here in South Florida but I don’t like what a lot of them are stuffed with so I’m presenting you with a light flavorful version that’s vegan and gluten-free. Recognize!


The other half of my dynamic duo sliced 3 peppers in half and removed the seeds and white ribs carefully with a sharp knife.

Meanwhile I microwaved the following in a microwave safe dish:
2 cups water
1 cup quinoa (rice is fine too but cook the rice and bouillon separately from the rest of the seasonings and combine before stuffing)
5 sun dried tomatoes, sliced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 stick of celery, diced
1/4 cup chopped cilantro or parsley
1/4 onion, diced
1 cube of veggie bouillon
1/2 cup of chopped pecans (walnuts are fine but pecans are more “Southern” and the sweetness will help balance the chipotle cream sauce. Did I mention there’s chipotle cream sauce involved in this recipe? Yeah, awesomesauce. )

Microwave, stirring between 2 minute intervals until all the water is absorbed. Taste it and add salt and pepper to taste. When it’s ready, stuff your peppers with it! Bake in a 350C/180F oven for 35 minutes.

So I really like creamy sauces but don’t like the calories or indigestion that dairy so faithfully delivers so I use silken tofu for a lot of things that should be creamy. I combined the following in my blender for a spicy sauce that compliments the savory peppers perfectly.


1 box silken tofu (I use MoriNu)
juice from 1-2 limes
1 can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (this makes it REALLY spicy, like sweating while you’re eating it spicy. Most people will like the spice that 2-3 individual peppers plus a spoon of the liquid from the can.)

I blendend it until it was smooth and creamy and then plated it with some fresh cilantro, a dash of hot sauce, some smoked paprika and one of my peppers.

This is one of those really pretty dishes that’s almost too easy to make. It’s also high in protein and low in fat, hey whatcha think about that!?

This is Brent and Christie, signing off!

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Mar 14 2012
4 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes

Eggplanitas Tacos

Eggplant has saved my life again. It’s quite nice when you can go from “Crap! What will I eat for dinner?!” to “Awww yeeeah, baby, I just had an awesome dinner!” I took inventory of what was in the fridge and decided to try something new today: Eggplant tacos!

Ingredients:
2 roasted Chinese eggplants — we roast our eggplants by sticking them under the broiler (try not to set them on fire)
3/4 tsp chipotle chili powder — use ancho chili powder if you want something less spicy
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 of a small onion, diced
olive or safflower oil

 

I took the eggplants out of the fridge chopped them into about 1 inch pieces, and then ‘shredded’ them by mashing them with a fork. It reminded me of carnitas.

I added my spices and the onion and mixed it all together. I then debated whether or not to eat it just like that. Roasted eggplant is pretty awesome when it’s cold.

I heated up some safflower oil in a pan and then added the eggplant mixture (medium heat). The eggplant is already cooked so I mixed it up in the pan until any water had dried up and the onions were translucent. It didn’t take long at all for everything to heat through.

I heated up my tortillas and then hung them up to shape. I’m sure I’m not the first person to think of this, but I feel like a genius.

My mom showed up and got all fancy by adding avocado to her tacos. Ansg thesgn I atgje shle ghoog. Oh, excuse me! I shouldn’t type with my mouth full. I made a cilantro slaw to go with the tacos:

Cilantro Slaw
1 cup shredded cabbage
juice of 1 lime
chopped cilantro (maybe 1/4-1/3 cup or so)
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

I’m so glad that I decided to get creative for dinner tonight. I am thrilled with how it turned out. Now please pardon me while I stuff my face.  —Melissa

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