Random Eats

Hey there! I think I'm finally getting over this stupid sickness. Still a bit of coughing and a runny nose, but hopefully that will subside soon enough.

And even though I haven't been blogging about it, I HAVE been cooking.  So here are some recent eats:

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (with date sugar)

Home grown arugula,greens, kale, & sprouts in my homemade bagel!

Udon noodles with Lindsay's Almond Butter Sauce & Soy Sesame broccoli (& other veg)

SO GOOD!!! (I tried to use more almond milk to replace some of the coconut milk, for less fat)

Ummm, more roasted vegetables??

Valentine's dessert: Strawberry Peach Cobbler with vegan granola.Yum.

From the Happy Herbivore Cookbook!

Hawaiian Chickpea Teriyaki. Excellent! Just needed a bit more sauce to go over the rice :)

Roasted Veggies with Lindsay's Cheddar Cheesy Sauce, although I've also made her Quick Queso Sauce (also very good and so easy to make)

Other stuff:

A broccoli rice dish....might post a recipe if I can remember it :)

My Broccoli/Cauliflower a la Lemon dish atop Trader Joe's Harvest Grains.

And there you have it.  

I'm thinking of starting a beer blog.....about beer tasting.  You know, since I drink so much of it.....and I love to try new beers all the time....might make sense.  I'm ALWAYS taking pictures of my beer, so why not?

Here's a question for you bloggers out there: Wordpress or Blogger?  Which is better and why? Which is easier to blog from the road/travel?

Eat smart,

T.

Sprouted Lentil Dip and a new cookbook

I've been sprouting lots of lentils as of late.  (I just tried chickpeas: MAJOR FAIL). They smell so bad, I'm going to throw them out.  I don't know what went wrong. They have long sprouts on them.  I wonder if I soaked them too long..the book said about 24 hours. But I'm reading around, and it says more like 8-12 hours. I rinsed them 2-3 times a day for 3 days. Maybe that's too long too. Anyone have experience with sprouting chickpeas/garbonzos?

On the other hand, my lentils are delicious! So here's a recipe for you:

Sprouted Lentil Dip:

4 cups sprouted lentils (green)
Juice from 1 lemon
1/2 tsp minced garlic
3-4 TB water (for texture)
salt to taste
dash of paprika


Blend everything in a food processor.  It may take a few tries, scraping down the sides, as the lentils like to stick to the side of the bowl. Add a little extra water if it's too thick for you. This has a very 'earthy' flavor. I find that sprouted lentils have a very different taste than cooked lentils, so try eating the sprouts first...if you like the strong flavor, you'll love this dip!


I made some raw mustard from one of my new raw books too! I can't even eat it. It's WAY too strong, like horseradish. S loves it, though.  Next time I won't let it "ferment" so long (2 days).

I recently downloaded the Happy Herbivore Cookbook for Kindle. This will be my last cookbook purchase for a while, as it's now time to save money. (if you're listening, DaCapo books or anyone else...you're welcome to send me cookbooks for review!!) Hahaha.....

Well anyway, this is a great cookbook. It's full of Fat-Free and Lowfat Vegan recipes and I've already made 3 things from it:

Red Lentil Dal:

So tasty! I served it on top of barley and kale.

5-Spice Harmony Bowl:

Wow, this sweet potato dish is delicious!! And pretty easy to make.

And for a quick dessert, Instant Cookie Dough:

Mmmm, just eat it by the spoonful!

Go get yourself this awesome new book, just released!!

And of course last Saturday was National Vegan Pizza Day, so here's what I made:

My whole grain pizza crust, made with Bob's Red Mill Whole Wheat and 10-grain flours, topped with sauce, Daiya cheese,  and onions, green peppers, and tomatoes! So good! You can find my recipe for it here.

Speaking of Bob's Red Mill, my giveaway just ended....with a surprisingly low number of entries. Nonetheless, three winners will be chosen this week, so check back often!

On another note, it's 70 degrees and pouring today. It will be 33 degrees by 4 in the morning. Major weather changes are happening. This is pretty typical for this area this time of year.

Hope you guys don't have an overload of snow and ice...

Eat smart,
T.

A different kind of falafel

I found a recipe for Sunflower Seed Falafel on Hannah Kaminsky's blog: BitterSweet.  It's incredible.  I made it today (remembering to soak my sunflower seeds last night) and served it with some collard greens.  The flavor reminds me of another spread I used to make for sushi rolls.  I ended up eating some it raw, right out of the food processor, because it was soooo good.  In fact, I may prefer it that way.  It sort of reminds me of tuna salad, even though I haven't eaten the stuff in years (so maybe my taste buds are way off).  You could just serve it raw, by the scoopful on top of a salad or something.  And I think it would be great spread on nori sheets, with vegetables on top, rolled up and cut into rolls. I think I might use it for the latter the next time around.

The way I made them only made about 14 balls, but perhaps they were bigger.  Still, we only each ate 3, and with the greens, it was the perfect lunch.

Collard Greens:

Put a little water in a saute pan and add half an onion (chopped), some minced garlic and a little salt.  Cook about 5 minutes until the onions are soft.  Add the greens (chopped) and cook another couple of minutes, adding water as necessary, if it's too dry.  Add about 2 tbsp Vegetarian Worcestershire sauce and cook another couple of minutes.  Pretty easy.


I was going to make HappyHerbivore's Black Bean Brownies today too, but I've made too many sweets this last week.  I better take a break if I want to keep losing weight :)  But, I will make them....eventually.

I realized that I now use my little food processor almost every day! I have a Cuisinart 3-cup processor, which really isn't enough.  It works great when I want to make hummus or another dip, or maybe a small amount of sauce.  But for the falafels today, I had to do it in two batches.  And I know for the black bean brownies, I'll have to do it in 2 or 3 batches.  Am I lazy?  I'd rather do it in one, if I could.  I don't have a blender either.  I'm saving up for a Vitamix.....hehehe....no, I'm kidding.  That won't happen.  And sometimes I use the food processor twice in a day and I get annoyed having to wash it out so often.  I wonder if I could just get another container and blade for it.  Or maybe I just need a bigger processor.  Ok, I've done my complaining for the day. Well, at least online :)

Eat smart,
T.

Oven baked chips and Dal

My first attempt at baking my own potato chips: 6 out of 10.  Hmmmm, perhaps next time I'll be more successful.  I tried sweet potatoes first.  They tasted great!  But maybe they were too thick?  They'd start to burn in the oven, but they weren't crispy yet.  I'd take them out, add salt, and eat them anyway....a bit soft.  Still flavorful though.  Next, 1 single red potato.  Closer!  Should have sliced them even thinner.  I even got a mandoline slicer finally, just for this!  So they were tasty, but a bit soft.  Next time: slice thinner.

On to HappyHerbivore's Red Lentil Dal.  I got this recipe from one of her e-cookbooks (look it up on my last post!).  Had some really good flavors in there.  It turned out a bit watery, more like a soup.  And that's ok.  I think perhaps next time I'll serve it over something......cooked potatoes or brown rice? Something to soak up the extra liquid.  I did have to cook it a bit longer than 15 minutes....maybe an extra 15 minutes or so, just to cook the lentils.  But I definitely give it a thumbs up for flavor!

Had my leftover vegan lasagna for lunch and will have a Monk Bowl for dinner (have leftover rice and sauce from last night's monk bowl!).

You know what's a great snack?  Cooked potato with some simple canned tomato sauce on it and a sprinkling of nutritional yeast!  Yum.

Eat smart,
T.