Tomato Hummus, Sweet Rice patties, and upcoming giveaways

Sitting here with some coffee and freshly baked whole wheat oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, I'm ready to write a post.  And on top of that, it's 78 degrees outside!

Just got back from a friend's birthday lunch (Happy Birthday, Dave!!) at Emeril's.  Will be posting about that in the next day or two.  Back to work tomorrow, for a few days before we are officially off for the holidays.  My goal for this break is to get back to sprouting.  I know, it's a small goal....baby steps......

I had a coupon for an Eden product, and so I bought a can of garbanzo beans in the store the other day (I tend not to buy cans anymore, but these are BPA free).  So I thought I'd make some hummus, and as I was making it, I realized I wanted to make it more interesting than plain ol' hummus.  Here's a recipe I came up with (for some reason, it DOES taste like there are olives in it, but I still like it-I hate olives-S also thought there were olives in it!) Weird.

Tomato Hummus:


1 can garbanzo beans (chickpeas)
1/2 tomato
2 tbsp tahini
juice of 1 1/2 lemons
1 tsp of minced garlic

1 tsp Creole Seasoning (or cayenne pepper, black pepper, plus salt)
2 tbsp sundried tomatoes (soaked for about 10 minutes)
1 tsp olive oil (optional)
1/2 cup chopped/sliced zucchini (optional, but I like it!)
1/4+ cup water for creamier texture


Put everything but the water in a food processor and blend well. You still may have little bits of sundried tomato in there, but that's ok.  Add the water as necessary for creaminess and blend.


I'd like to talk a little more about coffee on my blog, because I love the stuff (as I do beer).  While in Atlanta earlier in the year, I went to Trader Joe's and found this:

It's REALLY good!  I love it...not too strong (I'm not so into French Roast). It's a nice breakfast coffee. And I'm almost out. Booooo. Hey TJ, wanna send me some more?

On another note, I won some great stuff from Lindsay over at CookVeganLover blog during her 12 days of giveaways.  Thanks!! Can't wait to try all this stuff from Lucini:

Speaking of giveaways...I will be doing a Tasty Bite giveaway very soon! That will be a whole box of goodies (yes, they sent me two by mistake, so I'm giving one to you!).  AND....I've contacted Bob's Red Mill and asked if they'd like to do a giveaway (this is my first inquiry to a company about this kind of thing) and they agreed! They're a great company and I just made an order there for my oat groats, whole wheat flour, etc...so check them out, because there will be THREE winners for that one :)

Stuff I've been eating:

(Roasted potato wedges with rosemary and Creole Seasoning)

(one of my Indian dishes, you can find them here)

(this morning's all whole wheat oatmeal choc chip cookies)

(Sweet Brown Rice patties with edamame)

Recipe:

Leftover sweet brown rice (seasoned with Seasoned Rice Vinegar) and Vegan Furikake. 

Mix together and form into patties. Brush on soy sauce.  Fry up in a skillet.

Will be crispy on the outside, but still soft and sticky on the inside.

I think that's it.  I need to go enjoy the warm weather and do more walking, although I'm pretty sore from yesterday's lower body workout! Oh, and of course I need to finish my cup of coffee and cookies first :)

Eat smart,

T.

Book Review: Speed Vegan and other things

So the folks at Book Publishing Company were kind enough to send me a few books for review, and the first one is Speed Vegan: Quick, Easy Recipes with a Gourmet Twist by Alan Roettinger.

In the beginning of the book, Roettinger explains what kinds of appliances and kitchen gadgets you really need and what you could possibly do without, but would make things easier.  Then he goes on to tell you what you should keep in your vegan pantry (if only I had an actual pantry....). And the recipes are divided into the following:

Jumpstarts (purees, pastes, and sauces)
Snacks
Soups
Salads
Pasta and Grains
Vegetables and Legumes
Sweets

He lists a few online stores in the back of the book, but there are several vegan stores online he does not mention unfortunately.  He's got a couple of nice color photos in the middle of the book, but again, I really prefer to have lots of color pictures. Somehow, it makes the recipe seem easier and I can see what it's supposed to look like when I'm done.  I've tabbed several recipes to try, including White Bean Soup with Tuscan Kale, Grape Tomato and Garbanzo Salad, Asparagus with Sesame Seeds, and Miso and Garlic Mashed Potatoes.  They all seem to use items that I'd have on hand without having to make a special trip to the store for special ingredients.  I made the Quick Beet Slaw, which, as it turned out, was not quite as quick as I'd hoped.  It took me forever to grate the beets by hand, as well as the carrots and turnips (I used turnip, since I didn't have radishes).  And boy, was it messy!  Next time I will use the food processor, even though it doesn't have a grater attachment.....it will just be easier.  But, it was a delicious salad! I love the raw veggies and the dressing was excellent. Great for a summer day. Here's the recipe (with permission from the publisher), and you'll see my adjustments in parentheses:

Quick Beet Slaw
from Speed Vegan


Makes 4 servings


1 medium-size beet, scrubbed or peeled and grated
1 carrot, grated
1 roasted red pepper, quartered and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
1/2 red onion, quartered and thinly sliced (I left it out)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro (I only had freeze-dried)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
2 radishes, grated (I used 1 large turnip instead)
1/2 cup flax oil (I used water)
2 tablespoons brown rice vinegar
Grated zest of 1 lime (I used lemon)
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice (I used lemon)
4 cloves peeled garlic
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


Combine the beets, carrots, red pepper, and onion in a large bowl. Add 1/4 cup of the cilantro, 1/4 cup of the basil, and all of the celery and radishes.


Put the flax oil, vinegar, lime zest, lime juice, garlic, mustard, salt, and pepper in a blender. Process until smooth. Pour over the vegetable mixture. Toss well. Eat.

I'm looking forward to trying those other recipes, especially the salads....they look like they'll be nice and refreshing for our hot weather.

Other things I've been eating:

Quick gluten free pasta mixed with Daiya shredded cheddar and a little almond milk, with garlic, salt, and pepper:

A beer sampler from the Avenue Pub:

Tex Mex rice, inspired by Bankrupt Vegan's Tex Mex Dip. Mine was a mix of brown rice, black beans, guacamole, and taco seasoning, eaten as a meal:

Mama Pea's Chocolate PB Protein Cookies (I used Sunbutter and agave and didn't have any protein powder!):

And that's it for today.  I've been walking a ton lately....and it was 88 degrees yesterday! Gotta go do my next walk of the day....

Blogger of the Week: Peas and Thank You She's always got the cutest pictures of her kids, so if you're a family person, this site's for you! And of course she always includes some great recipes with great pictures :)

Eat smart,

T.

Pumpkin Cookies, Cabbage, and Toasty Potatoes

It's been busy around here.  Lots of work and lots of cold weather.  Yes it was 28 degrees this morning!  Brrrrr......it's cold.....for here.  It makes it harder to get things done.  I just want to stay inside and stay asleep, under the covers.  Is that so wrong??

Anyway, I thought I should post something.  I did make a couple of things.  I was just too lazy to blog about it.  So here they are:

I finally got my copy of 1,000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson! So I made my first recipe out of it: German-Style Kool-Sla.  It's REALLY good.  I left out the oil and added some water instead.  As it turns out, it sure did make a lot of liquid, so I probably could've left out any added water as well. I cut down the sugar by about a third.  I think I could've cut it down even more.  It had a nice sweet and sour flavor, definitely worth making again.

It was a cold and wintery night (although there was no snow in sight) and I wanted some hot roasted potatoes.  So that's just what I did!  I added some green peppers and onions.  It was like having breakfast potatoes! They all went in the oven for about 30 minutes, with a little salt, pepper, and paprika.

Yesterday I made the most amazing Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies! You HAVE to try them. They're from HaveCakeWillTravel's blog.  Here are the changes I made:

I left out the shortening, and added that amount of water.
I used 1 cup of demerara sugar (I could've cut it down even more...they're VERY sweet)
I used 3/4 cup chocolate chips, but there were WAY too many.
I didn't cover them with plastic wrap (I didn't have any), I just laid them out on parchment paper on a cookie sheet in the fridge for about 1 1/2 hours.
They needed to bake for about 4-5 extra minutes.

They are DELICIOUS!! (I even parted with some and brought them to work today...they didn't take long to disappear.)

Well, that does it for today's post.  It's still cold, and I may not blog again until Sunday or so.  We'll see how it goes, and if I get to the market tomorrow.  They say tomorrow's "box" will be the biggest one yet, so I really should go....and there's cauliflower to be had! I must!

PS-I forgot I made a tasty bean dip: 1 cup black beans, 1/2 cup chickpeas, 1 tsp tahini, juice of 1 lemon (or more if you like it really lemony), and some salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Put it all in the food processor!

Eat smart,
T.

Food for a Hot Afternoon

Not really.....I mean, not really food for a hot afternoon, since it involved turning on a hot oven.  But it indeed was/is a hot afternoon.  Nothin' like 90 degrees......heat index of 100 to make you stay inside....and cook!

Today I made two things: a dip and cookies.  So no actual meal, but I told you the cookie recipe would be coming!

(sorry for the weird look here....I had a hard time editing this post)

Eggplant Dip (a recipe from my friend, Nadja's, father): 

1 large eggplant, roasted, peeled and drained of excess water

1/2 cup red pepper, diced

1/4 cup yellow pepper, diced

1/2 cup cucumber, diced

1/2 tsp garlic

1 tbsp parsley, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil (I usually leave it out)

2 tbsp lemon juice

pepper & salt

Combine everything (except salt) by hand OR process in a food processor (I like the 2nd way myself). Don't add the salt until you're ready to serve it.

Tanya's Whole Wheat Spelt Chocolate Chip Cookies:
(this recipe changes each time I make it)


1/3 cup Canola oil
2/3 cup agave nectar
1 egg (or egg replacer)
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup whole spelt flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1-2 tsp cinnamon 
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 cups rolled oats (I used a mix I bought of oats,barley,sunflower seeds, etc.)
1/2 cup chocolate chips
optional: nuts
a little demerara sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix the oil and agave together in a large bowl.  Beat in the egg and vanilla.  In another bowl, stir together the flours, baking soda, salt and spices. Add to egg mixture.  Stir in oats and chocolate chips.  Depending on the consistency, you may need to add a bit of water so it's not too thick to mix.  Drop them by spoonfuls on a greased (sprayed) baking sheet.  Take some demerara sugar (or whatever you have), and pour some on a small plate.  Take a glass and wet the bottom.  Then smear it onto the sugar and press down the tops of the cookies a little, putting the glass in the sugar between each cookie.  Bake for about 9 minutes if you want them still a little soft.  If you like them crispy, bake for 10 or 11 minutes.

This was the first time I used agave in them.  Again, I find that baked items are not as sweet when I use it.  Still very good, you have the chocolate chips for sweetness.  And these were maybe a bit more cake-like, since I really reduced the oil.  My original had 2/3 cup oil and 1 1/4 cups sugar.  So it's up to you.

Tomorrow's market day....yay!  And we have friends coming to visit from Germany, so I have no idea what I'll make this coming week.  I'm not used to cooking for 4!

By the way, the production of "Opus" by Southern Rep last night was absolutely wonderful!  I highly recommend the show.  It was written by Michael Hollinger, who was a violist that went to Oberlin....just like me!

Bye for now!
Eat smart,
T.