Who wants pizza?

Over the past few months, there have been a few nights when I was just too tired to cook. So, S bought a couple of Amy's pizzas to keep in the freezer. I'd never had them before, as we don't often buy this type of thing. Here are my thoughts:

The first one we tried was the Amy's Roasted Vegetable Pizza-

I've gotta say, this was really delicious! I loved the flavor of the caramelized onions. Who needs vegan cheese? This was great without it. It was good and filling....we each ate half.

The second one we tried was Amy's Rice Crust Spinach Pizza:

Hmmmm, this one didn't quite do it for me. The crust was really "buttery" and flaky, not what I like in a pizza. This one was more like a rich quiche. So if you're in the mood for that, go for it! But if you really want pizza, I don't recommend it. The cheese didn't really melt. I put it under the broiler for a few minutes after it baked, just to try and melt the cheese. It helped some, but mostly just browned it. It didn't look like the picture on the  box! But it was pretty good....just not very pizza-like.

If you really want great pizza, you should try my own recipe :)

Have any of you tried Amy's vegan pizzas? Or any other frozen vegan pizza?

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.

Vegan Pizza Day is coming up!

Happy New Year everybody!!!

Vegan Pizza Day is coming up on January 29th. For more info on it and where to find vegan pizza in your area, click here. And it would be really helpful if you know of a place that has vegan pizza to add it to the list!! At home here, I'll have to make my own, but that's ok. I've got a great recipe! If you DO make your own, both Daiya and Teese work very well and melt nicely.

Don't forget to enter my Tasty Bite giveaway!! You have until tomorrow at noon CST. Hurry up!

Other things I've been eating:

Tempeh sauteed with spices and sauerkraut with homemade "thousand island" dressing.

Raw fudge from Rawmazing. Yum!

Nut Nog from Raw on $10 a Day. Good stuff!

Mexi-Millet! Always good.

A great combination!!

Upcoming posts: whole grain bagel recipe and a Bobs Red Mill Giveaway (3 winners)!!!

(my bagel teaser)

Eat smart,

T.

Butternut Squash "Risotto" and Tortilla Pizzas!

Boy do I feel lazy.  Haven't felt like posting a whole lot.  But I keep taking pictures of the stuff I make....and they pile up!  So here we are...lots of pictures ahead.

But first, don't forget to enter my Bloggiversary Giveaway! Win Dr. Neal Barnard's "The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook". Click here to enter.

Farmer's market purchases: tomatoes, turnips (with greens), mustard greens, brown rice, limes, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, okra, peaches, white button mushrooms, and fresh basil.

I made some Butternut Squash Barley "Risotto" the other day. It was really good and so here's the recipe:

Butternut Squash Barley "Risotto":

1 cup hulled barley (you can use pearled, but the cooking time will be shorter)
3 cups water/vegetable broth
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed
3/4 cup onion, chopped
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
1/8 cup almond milk, unsweetened
4 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp sage
1 tbsp curry powder
salt/pepper

Steam the cubed squash for about 30-45 minutes, or until soft. Set aside.


On medium heat, saute the onion & garlic in a little water until translucent.  Add wine and cook ~5 minutes.  Add the barley & water/broth. Bring to boil. Cover and simmer for 1-1 1/4 hours until the barley is mostly soft (still chewy).  

Mash up the steamed squash with: almond milk, 2 tbsp nutritional yeast, sage, curry & nutmeg. When almost all the water is absorbed by the barley (there can still be some left, it will make it creamier), add the mashed squash & tomatoes, and mix well.  Add 2 tbsp more nutritional yeast and salt/pepper to taste. Cook another 5 minutes.


Yesterday, we wanted pizza and I wanted to use up these awesome sprouted grain tortillas we had (you should freeze them if you're not going to use them within a couple of days):

So I laid out 2 tortillas on parchment paper on a baking sheet and spread some of my tomato sauce on it (pureed tomatoes, minced garlic, onion powder, oregano, salt, and red pepper flakes), followed by sliced peppers, mushrooms, onions and fresh basil & chard. I sprinkled on some Daiya mozzarella shreds and topped with a little more sauce.  Put them in the oven for about 10 minutes on 375 or so.  They do get a bit soggy in the middle, whereas the outer edges are VERY crispy.  You could try spraying the bottom of the tortillas with oil before you put it on the parchment paper (I didn't).  They were pretty darn good!

Next up, a Tafajito:

Thinly slice up red & green bell peppers and onions.  Saute the onions in a pan on medium heat with a little water.  Let the water run out and continue dry-frying them.  They will start to burn. Keep mixing them every few seconds while they burn.  After doing this for a minute or two, add in a little water.  It will sizzle, so WATCH OUT!  Then add the peppers.  Do the same thing....let the water run out, dry fry them. Let them burn. As you mix, add in some cumin powder/seeds, coriander powder, chili powder, black pepper, and salt.   Finally, add in a little water and let sizzle again.  Turn off the heat.

Lay out 2 sprouted grain tortillas.  Spread guacamole on them. Then, spread on some of Ani Phyo's "Taco Nut Meat" (awesome stuff!), then the veggies.  Wrap how you want...taco style, burrito style, fajita style.....it's up to you!

Then I tried to make Ani's Basic Flax Crackers from Ani's Raw Food Essentials.  I think they were way too thick...I should've spread them on 2 baking sheets.  They never really crisped up except for a few edge pieces.  I baked them on 300 degrees for at least 45 minutes per side. Still good though.  I added garlic powder & onion powder. Note to self: buy Excalibur Dehydrator, when I can afford it and have space!

Since I still had plenty of butternut squash, I decided to make the Curried Butternut and Red Lentil Soup with Chard from Robin Robertson's "1,000 Vegan Recipes". Delicious!! I left out the oil and used pureed tomatoes from a jar, instead of the crushed.

Other stuff I've been eating:

My black bean burgers with BBQ sauce and a side of my mashed potatoes(mash up some cooked potatoes, add a little almond milk, garlic powder, black pepper, onion powder, nutritional yeast, and Creole Seasoning)

I tried a Gardein product for the first time and it was really tasty. I try not to eat/buy too much in the way of pre-packaged foods, but I had a coupon and finally broke down and went to Whole Foods:

I bought up a bunch of bulk items: oat groats, buckwheat groats, raw sunflower seeds, raw cashews, and sweet brown rice:

Also got some essential seeds: flax and hemp (plus my favorite falafel chips!)

Ok, I think that's quite enough for now, don't you? Tired of looking at millions of photos yet?

Another giveaway: Chocolate Covered Katie is giving away a TON of Larabars!!

Eat smart,
T.

Calzones and Teese! and veggie stew...

A few weeks ago, I was lucky enough to be sent a sample (a large sample!) of Chicago Soy Dairy's new recipe for their Teese Mozarella.  I got it several days ago and decided to try it in my calzones.  I was going to try it on pizza, but I'd never made calzones and thought this would be a good test.  So behold my calzone:

Tanya's Whole Wheat Calzones:
-makes 4 large calzones

1/2 of my whole wheat pizza dough, prepared in the bread machine (or by hand)
3 thin slices of Teese mozarella for each calzone (I used 2 my first time....but wanted more on my second try)
Any filling (I used sauteed kale,broccoli, and shiitake mushrooms...all from the farmer's market)
Tomato sauce (I combined strained tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, salt, and red pepper flakes)
optional: soymilk for glazing

Divide the dough in 4.  Roll each one out and spoon the veggie filling onto one side as shown in the picture.  Top with tomato sauce and then the cheese slices.  Take the empty half and pull it gently over the filling to meet with the other side of the dough.  Take the bottom edges of the dough and fold it over the top edge, pressing to seal.  (on my second try, I overfilled the calzones, so there was tomato sauce oozing out of the edges!) Take a sharp knife and slowly make three holes in the top of the calzone, for venting...evenly spaced (small holes...just as wide as the knife, but no wider).  Repeat with other calzones. You can brush with soymilk to get a nice brown glazed look if you want.  Bake at 400 degrees for 17-20 minutes.  I only baked two at a time on the middle shelf, so if you bake more, you may need to adjust the cooking time.

So I'd never had Teese before.  I tasted it right out of the package first....I really liked the taste. It was a bit salty, like normal mozarella (I think!), but it was just a tad oily.  It didn't however seem oily when baked.  I thought it worked great in the calzones....melted really nicely and had a great flavor. Thank you, Chicago Soy Dairy!! I don't know if I'll ever have access to this stuff again....hopefully I'll find it somewhere.

Meltiness:

So that's my big post for the week.  Oh wait...I better give you a summary of last week's market before I go again tomorrow:

Fava beans, shiitakes, purple top turnips, beets, brown rice, lettuce, strawberries, broccoli, kale, and sweet potatoes.

Oops, one more important food item: Bankrupt Vegan's Hearty Veggie Stew!

This stuff was so good, I made it two nights in a row.  It's really easy and really tasty :)

My changes: I didn't use oil and I used whole wheat flour.

Blogger of the Week: Bankrupt Vegan (since this soup came at the right time....while I was sick!) She's got great ideas for staying on budget while keeping a vegan diet. Check her out :)

Eat smart,

T.