Cold Cucumber Soup, Raw Butternut Squash, and Brownies!

Wow was it hot today.  96 degrees with a heat index of 107.  Tried to walk as much as I could, considering.  Drank lots of water.  I think it's going to be the same tomorrow, but at least tomorrow is technically my "day off" but I'll be doing weights instead of cardio. Bought myself some heavier weights, thanks to Averie's post and I'm looking forward to it, although I know my muscles will be burning for a while afterwards :)

It was so hot, I needed to make something cold for dinner.  Here's my recipe for cucumber soup.

Tanya's Cold Cucumber Soup
(serves 2, medium bowls or 1 large)

2 large cucumbers, peeled & cut into chunks (you can leave in the seeds!)
3 tbsp vegan sour cream (or you could use yogurt)
Juice of 1 1/2 lemons
1 tbsp dried dill plus a little extra for garnish
1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

Blend all ingredients together until creamy.  Pour into bowls and top with extra dill. (If your ingredients are not cold, you may want to chill this before serving)

The other day I wanted a recipe using butternut squash, since I'd gotten one at the farmer's market.  It really wasn't big enough to put into an oven to bake and for some reason, baking/roasting squash/eggplant, etc, annoys me.  Hahaha....I don't know why.  Anyway, I found a recipe using raw butternut squash! I didn't even know you could eat it raw.....and it was really good (except next time I would use half the salt...seemed quite salty to me).  Thank you, Ani Phyo.  It's the Walnut Cranberry Squash "Rice" recipe from her book "Ani's Raw Food Kitchen". I just keep finding amazing recipes in the two books I have of hers.

BROWNIES! They have to be my absolute favorite dessert.  And last night, I just needed some.  I know they're not the healthiest dessert in the world, but I've been doing pretty well as far as that goes.  So I thought I'd splurge.  I made the Double Chocolate Brownies from Robin Robertson's "1,000 Vegan Recipes".  I used mostly spelt flour, with a little whole wheat thrown in (ran out of spelt), cut down the sugar to just under 1 cup and ended up adding a good amount of extra water.  They were really tasty.  Perhaps a tad dry, only because I used whole grain flour, but still really good and cured my craving.  Thank you, Robin!

Today was market day: watermelon, peaches, golden zucchini, shiitakes, bell peppers, tomato, herbs, lima beans, limes, cucumber, baby eggplant, sprouts, and rice.

My indoor gardens: mizuna and swiss chard!

GIVEAWAY!!!
Don't forget to enter my $40 CSN Stores gift card GIVEAWAY!!! You only have a few days left and so far, your chances are lookin' pretty darn good.

Eat smart,
T.

Road Trip Pics, Part 2

I think my husband is getting annoyed with me.  I research health food stores like crazy and I want to try ALL of them!!  Is that so wrong?  Ok, he hates shopping, so I guess that's understandable.  Sorry S.  Thanks for putting up with me :)

I've found some really cool stores on our travels though.

Knoxville, TN: Three Rivers Market.  Awesome store.  They have TONS of vegan stuff, including Daiya cheese, several different yoghurts and non-dairy milks.  They also carry bulk grains, although the one grain I wanted, they didn't carry....sniff.....my whole oat groats.

Cool stuff I got:

Cincinnati, OH: I stopped at Jungle Jim's.  I LOVE that place.  I used to shop there regularly when we lived there.  I so miss it.  Their beer selection is to die for.  I picked up several.....Wheach (a peach wheat from the St. Louis area), BBC Nut Brown Ale, and several others in single bottles.  They have a huge selection of natural/vegetarian foods as well as international foods galore.  This store is measured in acres...

One of the beer's I purchased...it even says it's vegan friendly on the back! A bit too sweet, but not bad:

A farmer's market in an undisclosed location:

They even had a table with tons of vegan goodies (I had to try them!)

(fresh pickles out of the barrel, broccoli, peaches, blueberries & vegan baked goods...all local!)

An awesome natural food store in an undisclosed location:

Falafel chips...amazing!

No-fat Hummus (that's hard to find....it's just like I make it at home!):

And other stuff I made:

Cold Cucumber soup (cucumbers, coconut milk yoghurt, lemon juice, salt, and dill):

Cold pasta with peanut sauce (a little peanut butter, agave, apple cider vinegar, ginger, soy sauce, & water):

In Cincinnati at the hotel restaurant (a vegetarian special, couscous with tomatoes, basil and balsamic glaze):

Cincinnati, OH: Emanu, an East African restaurant.  Excellent! The veg. combo has no dairy or animal fats and the injera is awesome :)

Ok, that's about it for part 2.  Stay tuned for part 3.....

Eat smart,
T.

Catching up and lots of pics

Hey everyone! So sorry for not having posted in over a week.  And just to let you know, there won't be much posting over the next month.....but hopefully I'll be able to at least post some pics from various travels and eats.

First let's start off with the latest produce from the farmer's market: pattypan squash, peaches, blueberries, yellow grape tomatoes, corn, tomatoes, potatoes, green beans, hot peppers, horticulture beans (cranberry, maybe??), cucumbers, golden zucchini, yellow crookneck squash, fairytale eggplant, and green peppers.

I was a bit angry, as I noticed that the poster for my blog had been taken down at the market.  Grrrrr......not too happy about that. At first, I gave them several copies, to put on the table so people could just take them.  They decided it would be better to hang just ONE on the wall. I didn't think so....who's gonna remember the website? Anyway, now there's nothing and I know they still have several copies, unless they threw them away.  I don't think I'll say anything though......usually I would, but since I shop there every week....probably not the best idea. What do you think?

I made some of the pattypan squash from the previous week into that stuffed pattypan I'd made before.  You can find it here.  This time I used up the rest of my Teese mozzarella. Didn't melt as well on top, but melted really nicely when mixed into the hot stuffing. Still tasty though :)

Still have a ton of yellow crookneck squash, even though I've tried to sneak it into whatever I can (husband doesn't like it).  Can I puree it and freeze it? Maybe to make salad dressing out of it later? Any ideas?

Chocolate spread on matzoh! When you're craving sweets, you gotta do whatcha gotta do! Take a handful or more of vegan chocolate chips and put them in a bowl, into the microwave.  Heat them on high for 30 seconds at a time, mixing after each.  Add in a few drops of non-dairy milk and nuke another 30 seconds.  Make sure it's nice and smooth.  Work quickly and spread it onto your matzoh.  Put it in the fridge for several minutes to let the chocolate harden and there you have a nice quick dessert!

Cucumber noodles with raw marinara (my husband preferred the zucchini, but I found cucumber pretty refreshing):

I made Averie's Raw Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Balls, although to me they were more like oatmeal chocolate chip.  They are incredible!  I made them twice and the second time, I actually did 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup cashews and only about 1 Tbsp of sweetener.  Still incredible! Thanks, Averie :)

I made some Golden Zucchini Bread again. See my original post about it here. This time I added raisins, used all spelt flour, and it was REALLY good!

Here's a picture of my new steamer that I got for over 50% off at Dillards! And of course, a picture of my colorful steamed vegetables :)

Made some guacamole: 2 avocados, 1 chopped tomato, some cilantro, salt, and lemon juice, all mashed up together.

My guacamole, mixed with cooked brown rice, taco seasoning, and broccoli slaw for a great cold power lunch:

Made Choosing Raw's Zucchini Dressing (with golden zukes, since that's all I had) and it's really delicious! (her Tomato Curry Dressing is great too)

Cooked up some red quinoa and mixed it with a ton of chopped vegetables, added some balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, and garlic for a great dressing.

And last, but not least, I made up some of that great Tempeh Barbecue (used shiitakes this time):

Ok, I think I'm mostly caught up. It's been really hot here...in the mid 90's with high humidity.  Still trying to get my walking in, though.

Still contemplating the blender vs. food processor situation.  But...I think I've decided to wait on the Vita-Mix because it's so dang expensive.  I'm going to get a large food processor and get some sort of small cheaper blender. Any suggestions? Something good for salad dressings, smoothies (that can handle frozen fruit) and sauces.

Blogger of the Week: FatFreeVegan.  She's got TONS of recipes that are right up my alley: fat free (or lowfat) and vegan, yay! Check her out. This was one of the first blogs I ever started following.

Giveaway: CSN stores $40 gift card giveaway at OperaSingerInTheKitchen!

Eat smart,
T.

Pizza! Pizza!

I did it!  I finally made that pizza I was talking about.  And was it good!!!

I used the Daiya Shredded Italian "Cheese" and it was very good.  Melted nicely and had a good flavor.  I'll definitely be using that stuff again! Thumbs up!!

So here's my pizza dough recipe for a bread machine (mine can make 2 lbs):

Tanya's Whole Wheat Vegan Pizza (for bread machine, based on the Zojirushi):


For crust:
1 1/2 cups water
drop of olive oil
1 TB agave nectar
3 3/4 cups whole wheat flour (I used ww "bread" flour), minus 2 TB vital wheat gluten
-----so measure the 3 3/4 cups including the 2 TB of gluten.
1 1/2 tsp salt
Italian Seasonings (oregano, basil, etc.)
garlic powder
1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (I bought bread machine yeast)

For sauce:
1 large jar pureed/crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder (or minced garlic)
hot pepper flakes (if you like it spicy)
salt & pepper to taste

Toppings:
green peppers, sauteed onions, sliced mushrooms, etc.
Daiya mozzarella (shredded)

Add ingredients based on your machine's instructions.  Use basic dough cycle. I added 1-2 TB of water during the first kneading cycle, because it seemed just a little dry.  When mine was done, I divided it into 2 and froze half the dough for next time.  For thin crust, the whole amount is good for 2 pizzas.  I made one last night (thus the freezing of the other half).  I think the dough would only last about 2-3 days in the fridge.

I didn't have a rolling pin, so I used an empty wine bottle, with a paper towel around it (thanks Lea!).  For thin crust, you really need to roll it out.  And I happened to have some old foil pizza pans, so I used that.  Maybe one day I'll get a real pizza pan and a pizza stone.  Fit the crust onto your pan, with a bit extra at the edges to keep in the filling.  I think next time I'll try baking the crust first for 5 minutes or so, because it wasn't so crispy in the middle*.  Then put your sauce on top.  Sprinkle your cheese on it (I used the Daiya vegan cheese).  I didn't use a ton....don't like that much cheese on my pizza.  But it's up to you!  Layer your toppings. I used green pepper (from csa), cooked onions (I find cooked onions work much better than raw), and mushrooms.  Then I dabbed a little more sauce on top and sprinkled a little more cheese over the whole thing.  I baked it in a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.  Done!!

*UPDATE: After spreading the dough onto your pan (pref. a pizza pan with holes in it), prick it all over with a fork and bake in your 400 degree oven for 5 minutes, then take out and add sauce, toppings, etc.) This will give you a crispy crust!



On another note, I made cabbage salad the other day with that huge cabbage we got at the farmer's market.  It's so easy, it doesn't really require a recipe!  Actually, I got it from my mom....she used to make the best cabbage salad ever.  Of course, I left out the oil.

Shredded cabbage, lemon juice, garlic powder, and salt.  There.  Easy, huh?  We'll call it Laura's Cabbage Salad.  Use a lot of lemon juice (pref from a real lemon, not the bottled stuff).  P.S.-notice the cute little snail I found on the cabbage before taking it apart....

Oh, and speaking of simple salads.  I made a great snack last night after 3 1/2 hours of opera rehearsing.  Cucumber salad: sliced cucumbers, lots of lemon juice, garlic powder.  Sooooo good! Do try it!

Eat smart,
T.

A Vegan Roll

Wow! I have to tell you, this is one of the most amazing dishes ever! It's really high on my list to make again and again. This is the 2nd time I've made it and I'm getting better at it.

Today for lunch we had the "Carpe

Diem Carrot Almond Pate Nori Rolls" from Vegan Fusion World Cuisine. I'm not going to post the recipe, just some of the ingredients that I used. The ginger, fresh dill, and lemon juice in

the almond pate give it such a zing! The flavors are really creative.

The vegetables I used in the rolls (you can pretty

much use any you want) were: carrots,

cucumbers, sprouts, and avocado. The key is rolling them up really tightly, otherwise stuff will

just fall out after you cut them. And use a sharp knife to cut them.

And so there you have it! The amazing vegan rolls of the day! You HAVE to try them.

See you for dinner :)

Eat smart,

T.