Happy Hanukkah!! Kale and Carrot Salad Recipe

HAPPY HANUKKAH!!!

 I can't believe it's so early this year...and right after Thanksgiving.  Phew.  Well, I won't be making too much in the way of "Hanukkah" food.

But I did want to give you that recipe for the salad I made at Thanksgiving, so here it is:

Kale and Carrot Salad
(makes 4 small sides or 2 large servings)


1 large bunch of curly kale
2 carrots, sliced
1/4 cup chopped, dried cranberries
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
*1 TB olive oil (optional)


Wash kale and remove the thick stems. Chiffonade the kale, so it's in thin strips.  Steam in a steam-bag in the microwave for one minute only (you're welcome to steam on the stove, I just prefer the microwave for smaller amounts).  Remove and put in a medium sized salad bowl.  Steam the carrots the same way, for only one minute.  Remove from bag and slice into thin strips.  Add to the kale.  Mix in the cranberries, walnuts, and balsamic vinegar (and oil, if using). Put in fridge to cool for at least two hours.  Mix and serve!

And on another note, today I made the most amazing butternut squash soup ever! It's from Lindsay's new e-cookbook.  You should definitely check it out. (I'd post a picture, but my computer is busy trying to sync/update my ipod, which is taking forever).

Coming up: A recipe for Cheeezy Broccoli Rice Casserole!

Don't forget to enter my $65 CSN Store giveaway....time's running out!

Eat smart,
T.

Barley "Risotto" with Kale & Tomatoes

Ok, since I have the time, why not have two posts in one day??  And since this recipe is almost a week old by now....I thought I better post it already!

Tanya's Barley "Risotto" with Kale & Tomatoes:


1 cup hulled barley (rinsed)
3 cups broth (or water w/bouillion)
1 large tomato, chopped
1 cup packed kale
3 slices Teese mozzarella
garlic powder, black pepper


Put barley and liquid in a pot and bring to boil.  Turn to low, cover, and simmer about 1-1 1/4 hours.  Hulled barley takes longer to cook than pearl barley....keep this in mind if you're going to use pearl instead.  When the water is absorbed, mix in tomatoes, kale, and spices.  Let heat through for a few minutes, then mix in the Teese well until it's melted. Serve! 

Easy, no?

I recently read that hulled barley is better for you than pearl barley.....as in, it still has it's outer layer, or bran? I guess pearl barley is more like white rice and hulled is like brown? Is that right?  Anyway, it still tastes good, but it does take a lot longer to cook. But so does brown rice, etc....

Other things I've been eating:

Broccoli & Carrot salad with balsamic vinegar, garlic powder, & salt:

Pizza Potatoes (baked potatoes with Teese mozz & my red sauce: strained tomatoes, oregano, tomato paste, & salt):

Roasted asparagus with salt & pepper (roasted 15 min and added lemon juice when done):

That's it for today......

Eat smart,
T.

Tomato Chickpea Soup and Raw Cauliflower Salad

So yesterday I made two recipes, neither of which were my own, but both were delicious.

First, I made a Raw Cauliflower Salad with Orange Vinaigrette.  I came across it on a raw food blog.  You should really check it out! The only thing I did differently, was I left out the asparagus (I didn't have any), I used the purple raisins instead of the golden (didn't have any of those either), and I replaced the oil in the dressing with water.  It was a perfect recipe for yesterday's weather, which was around 70 degrees.  A perfect summer salad, if there ever was one :)

To go with the salad, I made VeganYumYum's Spicy Tomato Chickpea Soup.  I don't have a blender, so blending it wasn't an option.  I did however puree the chickpeas in my little food processor before putting them into the pan.  I also used crushed tomatoes instead of diced. Tossed in a bit extra turmeric...it's good for you! And once again, I  left out the oil....didn't need it.  I saute everything in water these days.  It was quite nice and spicy.....thumbs up.

And I also just wanted to say...I LOVE KALE AND BROCCOLI!!! I really do.  I think I'm addicted to them now.  I buy it up at the farmer's market, but I always run out in a couple of days (kale)....I'm almost out of it now and should've gone to the market (yup, they're open on Tuesday afternoons now too) to get some.  Too tired.  They haven't had any broccoli in a while, so I buy that at the supermarket, but we eat it practically every day.  Is there such a thing as overdosing on green stuff????  Jeez, I hope our blood doesn't just run out of us if we get cut, LOL!

Next post will be that FL trip post (Disney)....coming soon.  I've got the pictures all ready to go :)

Eat smart,
T.

Mediterranean Veggie Burgers and Help for Haiti

Ok, I finally made those mediterranean veggie burgers I've been talking about.  The only problem was that they tended to want to fall apart a little when eaten as a sandwich.  My husband ate them with a knife and fork, only because he didn't want the bread.  The flavor is really good though!

Mediterranean Veggie Burgers:

1 15 oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 jarred roasted red pepper
2/3 cup artichoke pieces
1/3 cup sunflower seeds, soaked for at least 3 hours
1 cup cooked millet
1/4 cup breadcrumbs
1 tomato, chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
Italian seasoning (oregano, basil, etc.)
garlic powder
salt & pepper


Put the chickpeas in a food processor and process just until still a little chunky.  Put aside in a medium bowl.  Put the roasted pepper, sunflower seeds, and artichokes in the food processor and puree until pretty smooth. Add to the chickpeas.  Then add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. The mixture will be pretty wet.  Put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.  Shape into patties and fry until browned on both sides.  Makes 6-8 burgers.

I had mine on sprouted grain bread with kale, tomato, and some Vegenaise.  Tasty! If you want, you could try brown rice instead of the millet.....it might help it keep its shape better when cooked.  I'll probably try that next time.....and maybe more breadcrumbs?  The artichokes, tomato, and roasted pepper are pretty moist ingredients, so you need something to dry it out. Any ideas?

UPDATE: I just had them as leftovers (no bread) with some brown mustard and they are delicious! If you make sure you brown them almost until burnt on both sides, they'll mostly stay together.  I ate them tonight with kale chips...great combination :) I LOVE KALE!!!

UPDATE #2: So I just had the last of the leftover burgers.  I added some whole brown rice (cold from fridge) and baked them.  I could've baked them a little longer.  They did turn out a bit crispier because of the rice, which was nice.  So you could try replacing the millet with whole rice and bake them about 12 minutes on each side on 375.

On to dessert! I made some tasty vegan brownies.  You can find the original recipe here.
My changes: I replaced the oil with water, I used 1 cup of whole wheat flour and 1 cup of oats (I ran them through the food processor first), I used 1 1/2 cups of turbinado sugar,  and I didn't add nuts.  So this is my fat free version I guess.  They didn't rise very well, probably because I left out the oil.  Perhaps I could've added in a banana to help?  But they are still really good.  Next time I might try them  in an 8x8 pan.

And of course I went to the market this morning in freezing cold weather.  It was 40 degrees! Brrrrr.  The wind chill was around 33 or so.......so cold.  This is what I got: meyer lemons, grapefruit, oranges, kale, collard greens, mizuna, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, tomatoes, turnips, rice, white button mushrooms, and strawberries.

How YOU can help Haiti:

Check out the list of vegan bake sales going on around the country. There's probably one near you.  There's even one here in New Orleans on February 6th near the uptown Whole Foods on Magazine Street from 11-3 pm. I'll update this info as I get it.UPDATE: the vegan bake sale will be rescheduled due to Mardi Gras and the SuperBowl....stay tuned for a new date!

There will be a concert here in New Orleans to benefit Haiti as well.  Click here for info.

And you can always text "Haiti" to 90999 to donate $10 to the Red Cross.  The charge will be on your next cell phone bill.

Eat smart and stay warm,
T.

Sweet Potato Kale Balls

I found a recipe online the other day that used up my sweet potatoes and kale, so yay!  It was from Cupcake Punk's blog: Sweet Potato Kale Balls.

I had 2 white sweet potatoes, so that's what I used.  I don't think I really caramelized the onions, since I didn't use any oil, but that's ok.  I also added about 1/2 cup diced tomatoes (could've used even more).  At first, after I baked the sweet potatoes, I thought it would be really difficult to mash them up.  Might've been easier if I'd boiled them.  But maybe it's a specific texture you're supposed to have...a little crunchiness here and there, from the crispy outsides.  It did take some effort though.  It was easier once I added the tomatoes, because of the liquid.  The flavors mixed really nicely.  It reminded me of my Mix N' Mashed Potatoes.  They were very good....we ate them alone.  Maybe they'd be better atop some pasta, but I'm trying to avoid as much flour as possible!  I'm eating very little pasta these days....although that was one of my favorite foods up until recently....so it's difficult.

Tonight is Mediterranean Veggie Burger night....so look for my blog post tomorrow! And.....I will be posting ways YOU can help Haiti.

And guess what? Yup, I bought dried beans today: garbanzo, black, and kidney.  Wish me luck on cooking them....I'd like to get away from buying cans whenever possible. (will be difficult because I love my canned tomatoes....I use them everyday) Here's a good recent post on chickpeas. That should help me get started.

Until tomorrow...
Eat smart,
T.

Greens Stew and Pasta w/Alfredo

Yay, two meals in one day for the blog!  That's cuz I finally had a day off. Another day off tomorrow, but we're going to a pizza place for our friend, Dave's birthday.

So for lunch I thought I'd try my colleague, Kate's suggestion to parboil mustard greens.  It worked!  No bitterness.  Thanks Kate!  Here's my recipe for it:

Tanya's Greens and Beans Stew:

1 large bunch of mustard greens (& any other greens you have, like kale, if you want)
1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes
1/2 cup garbanzo beans (chick peas)
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 stalk green onions, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup water
salt, pepper, creole seasoning
optional: cornstarch or arrowroot (if you want a thicker sauce)

Tear the greens into small pieces and wash.  Drain well.  Bring a pot of water to a boil, with some salt.  Once boiling, add the greens.  Boil for a few minutes until the color is brighter....my water turned green and purple!  Drain.  In a saute pan, pour in the 1/4 cup water and onions. Cook on medium heat until soft.  Add the garbanzo beans and garlic.  Cook for a few minutes, then add the tomatoes (w/liquid) and seasonings.  Add in the greens.  If there's too much liquid, go ahead and mix a little cornstarch with water, then add it to the stew. I didn't, but I probably will next time. (I feel like I"m forgetting ingredients...if I think of any, I'll add them)
Serve over brown rice, or another grain if you want. I mixed mine up in the bowl.

And now on to dinner! I thought I'd try VeganYumYum's Hurry Up Alfredo. Didn't look anything like the picture in the cookbook, but it was very good! I used almond milk instead of soy and I left out the margarine. I also thought I'd try the new Sprouted Grain Pasta I bought in Alabama the other day.  It was kind of strange, and very sticky. But oddly, it tasted pretty good.  Since I'm trying not to eat too much flour these days, it looked really interesting to me (I love pasta). It was very chewy, but again, not bad.  I've got one more box to test out :) The sauce itself was really tasty.  I added fresh basil and parsley to the past, after adding the sauce.  And I steamed broccoli to mix in.  Needed a bit of salt, but that's about it.  I prefer VYY's Creamy Tomato Pasta, but I would make this again.

We bought a great Franken wine at that health food store in Alabama.  This stuff is hard to find! It's easy to spot, because it comes in a round green wine bottle.  We've got one more bottle to go through...

Until tomorrow...
Eat smart,
T.

Spaghetti Squash & Kale Chips

I found a great recipe for Spaghetti Squash on VeganDad's blog: Spaghetti Squash with Slow Roasted Tomato Sauce. I bought a squash last week at the farmer's market, so I was looking for a great way to cook it, since I'd never cooked one before.

I did cheat, however.  I didn't slow roast tomatoes, like the recipe calls for.  Instead, I bought a large can of fire roasted tomatoes and used that.  I also left out all oil and butter. (just used a little water to saute the leeks)  I used a white riesling I had in the fridge (Clean Slate) instead of Vermouth, and I only used about 1/2 cup. And you know, the sauce was delicious!  I didn't even add salt or pepper or anything.  Leeks and white wine do go together (I used to make a Swiss dish with that combination). And my last cheat of the recipe: I used pre-minced garlic I bought from the store!

The squash was quite easy to cook.  You just prick it with a fork several times and put it in a pan.  Bake in a pre-heated oven at 375 degrees for 1 hour, or a little more, if you have a bigger squash....until soft.  And it was so easy scraping out the insides....and all it left was the shell!  There was a lot more squash than I was expecting, which is good, because it's low calorie :)

I highly recommend this recipe, cheat or no cheat.

I tested out another snack on the FatFreeVeganKitchen's blog: Kale Chips. Very easy and delicious.  Just watch out....they crumble very easily! (& of course I left out the oil)

Eat smart,
T.

World Vegan Day!!!

HAPPY WORLD VEGAN DAY!!!!

And now to the food......yes, vegan food.  Tonight I made the Creamy Sweet Potato Bake from the VeganYumYum cookbook.  A very different combination of flavors, but well worth it!  It took a bit of prep time, since I had to cook the pasta first, and cut and boil the sweet potatoes beforehand.  But bake time was only 20 minutes. I only have one medium pot to cook this stuff in, so I had to do them one after another in the same pot.  Here's what I own: 1 HUGE pot, 1 MED pot, & 1 LITTLE pot.  The medium pot is where I do all my boiling.....pasta, potatoes, etc....

Anyway,  I really liked the flavors in this.  My little chopper (mini food processor) had a bit of a melt down and started leaking all over the place (I don't have a blender), so my "alfredo" sauce was a bit soupy with little pieces of cashews in it.  Well it still tasted good!  I could've used more kale, less pasta (I used whole wheat pasta).  I left out the Earth Balance Margarine and thyme (didn't have either) too. And I did add a little tiny bit of salt onto my plate.  I'll make this dish again!

So far, except for those candied sweet potatoes, all of VeganYumYum's recipes have been great and I'd make them again and again.  

That's it folks! Still wondering what to do with all the turnips.....can you cook and mash them like potatoes???

Eat smart,
T.

Tomato Barley Risotto

I'm really enjoying my new vegan yumyum cookbook!  And I love that it has color pictures of everything too :)

Tonight I made the Creamy Tomato Barley Risotto and it was excellent! This  was my first ever recipe with nutritional yeast!  (am I too excited about that??)  The only thing I added was kale and mustard greens.  Really was just like eating risotto, except that it's barley! And like she says, you don't have to stir forever. I used unsweetened almond milk instead of the soymilk.  I also had to cook it a little longer, as the barley wasn't quite cooked all the way.  But I highly recommend this recipe and the cookbook!

Off to work I go.  Get ready, I've got several days off starting tomorrow and I hope to post quite a bit! Already excited about Saturday's market(s)!!

Eat smart,
T.

Veggie "Fries" w/Steamed Kale and Broccoli

I was browsing blogs today and found a good recipe for "Veggie Fries" here on the VeganMindedBlog site.  Looked so good, I had to try it. I also used zucchini and yellow squash.  I used only a very small amount of unsweetened almond milk and Vegenaise.  Had whole wheat breadcrumbs, which I flavored with Italian Seasonings, garlic, creole seasoning, salt, and pepper.  Was pretty good!  I served it with some steamed kale and broccoli.  Had some leftover Asian Ginger sauce from a recent Monk Bowl.

I'm not sure the 2 went together....the Italian seasoning, with the Asian.  Oh well....had to use up the sauce.  I was going to make a millet dish (I was so excited that I bought millet today!), but decided I'll do that maybe tomorrow.  I've never made millet, but I noticed so many vegan blogs use it.

I also ordered nutritional yeast!  A lot of vegans use that, and seems to add some "cheese-like" flavor to foods, so I'm excited to start using that too.  And it's an excellent source of Vitamin B-12!  Since I'm really cutting  down on my dairy consumption, I thought I could use some.  Speaking of that, the McDougall program seems to be doing the job.  If I stick with  non-oil and non-dairy foods, my weight really does go down!  Yay for rice and potatoes! :) .....and now for millet!  (although I do have quinoa, which I love too)

Tomorrow, I may go to TWO markets.  Yes, 2. We'll see how the day goes and how many vegetables I can handle.  Wish me luck!

I finally have a few days off, so I can do a little blogging.  Exciting, no?

So that's all for now....off to see a chamber music concert in a bit (Musaica).
Eat smart,
T.

Mix 'n' Mashed Potatoes

Feels good to be back on the blog....even though I'm still busy working.  Tomorrow begins the lighter days, followed by a few days off.  I sooo need it!

Today's lunch was a simple salad of: shredded cabbage, broccoli slaw, pea shoots (local), turnips (local), the last of my broccoli sprouts, celery, cucumbers (local), and fresh basil and dill.  Added juice from half a lemon, salt, and garlic powder.  As it turned out, the turnips weren't my favorite in there.  Mind you, I like turnips.....just didn't really go with the lemon juice type dressing.  Will have to use my turnips elsewhere!

Like I mentioned before, I had several sweet potatoes from my csa I needed to use.  So I decided to make mashed potatoes, using both red potatoes and sweet potatoes (thanks Lea!).  Here's my recipe:

Tanya's Mix n' Mashed Potatoes:


for the potatoes:


5-6 red potatoes, cut into smallish wedges
2 sweet potatoes, cut into smallish wedges
~1 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp onion powder
chives
salt,pepper, creole seasoning


Boil the potatoes until tender.  Drain and put into a bowl.  Mash them up with a fork (I didn't have a potato masher). Add the spices to taste.  If you like it spicy, add more creole seasoning (or paprika, cayenne pepper, etc.). Set aside.


for the sauce/gravy:


1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
3-5 cups raw kale, torn apart
1 Tb cumin seeds
1 1/2 cups canned, diced tomatoes
1/2 cup water
1 Tb cornstarch (or other thickener), plus a little water
salt, garlic powder, black pepper

Put the onions in a pot with a little water.  Cook until soft.  Add the kale (I also used market mustard greens). Cook for a couple of minutes, until wilted, stirring every so often.  Add the cumin seeds and spices.  Stir.  Then add the tomatoes and water.  Cook until bubbling.  Mix the cornstarch with a couple of spoons of water. Mix well and add to the sauce.  Simmer for 5 minutes or so.  Serve on top of mashed potatoes.


Notice I again didn't use any oil.  I almost added some almond milk to the potatoes, but then decided against it.  You can, if you want it creamier.  I like it a little chunky too!  Enjoy.  And just so you know, I still have several sweet potatoes left, so there will be another recipe some time in the near future.  Probably this weekend.  It's also time to make another dessert!  Stay tuned.

Eat smart,
T.