Vegetable Barley Stew

We were recently on a trip, which I'll be blogging about in a few days, and I had the most amazing barley stew ever! Ok, it was in an Irish pub and it was called a mulligatawny, but still.....it was awesome! And I knew I had to try and reproduce it. So I did, with a few more vegetables :) So for those of you who are still in winter temperatures, this will really warm you up!

Vegetable Barley Stew:

1 1/2 cups hulled barley (aka hulless barley, NOT pearl)
4 cups vegetable broth


1 TB minced garlic
1 yellow onion, chopped
4-5 carrots, sliced
4 stalks celery, chopped
1 TB dried jalapenos
1/2 head cauliflower, broken into bite-sized pieces
1/2 zucchini, cubed
1/3 cabbage head, sliced into small pieces (not shredded, that's too small)
8 cups vegetable broth

To cook the barley, put the barley and broth into a pot and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 1 1/4 hours or so, until cooked, but still chewy. 


While the barley is cooking, add the garlic, onion, carrots, and celery to a large stockpot, along with 1/4 cup water. Heat on medium until onions are soft.  Add the broth, jalapenos, and cauliflower. Turn up the heat and bring to a boil, covered. Then turn it down to medium-low and add the zucchini. Let slowly boil (covered) for 5-10 minutes until the vegetables are mostly cooked, but not mushy. Add the cabbage and cook for another 3 minutes. Salt to taste. Spoon into a bowl and top with a large spoonful of barley.


*Note-you can use pearled barley, but it will take less time to cook (follow directions on the package).


Enjoy! I still have leftovers and will be eating them for dinner tonight, even though it's 80 degrees outside.


Eat smart,
T.

Winner of my $65 CSN giveaway!!

First, a little recipe.  I made this a while ago....and then I made it again recently, replacing some items.  Did not come out quite as good the second time, so I'm going to stick with my original!  The second time around, I didn't have enough queso, and so I used 1 cup of almond milk and some nutritional yeast. NOPE.  The casserole didn't hold together.  So make sure you use ALL queso and make sure it's thick enough, otherwise it won't hold together very well :)

Cheeezy Broccoli Rice Casserole:

3 stalks celery, chopped or sliced
1/2 yellow onion, chopped

3-4 cups chopped broccoli (small florets plus chopped stems)
1 green pepper, chopped
2 large tomatoes, chopped
5 cups cooked brown rice
2 cups of my vegan queso (or any thick queso)
salt to taste
water for saute pan

In large saute pan (make sure it's deep enough...all of the ingredients are going in there), add 1/4 cup water, celery, and onion.  Cook until soft.  Add the broccoli, pepper and tomatoes. Cook an additional 5 minutes. (If you're going to bake this, there's no need to cook until soft. If you're not baking this, but eating  right out of the pan, cook them until desired softness) Add more water as needed, so it doesn't stick to the pan. Add the brown rice and mix it up.  Add in the queso and mix until well-combined.  Add salt as desired. Spread in a greased/oiled 9x11 baking pan and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, until the top is browned and a bit crisp.  OR eat once combined, without baking!


Remember that awesome soup I made the other day?? Here's a picture. It doesn't do it justice, but I made it twice and it's sooooo good :)

I guess that's it........HAHAHAHA just kidding!

The winner of my CSN Stores giveaway is......

Lindsay: "I follow you on twitter" 

Congratulations!!! 

Ok, NOW that's all....

Eat smart,

T.

Post Birthday Post

So yesterday was my birthday!  Ok, it wasn't really all that exciting...got in some good walking and a good workout session.  Made myself a cake and we went out to Houston's for lunch.  I got the veggie burger sans bun and sans cheese.  It's REALLY good!  And I got a side of wilted spinach sans oil and cheese....topped my burger with it.  Good stuff! Unfortunately, they don't offer soymilk for coffee or any vegan dessert, so I had to wait until I made my cake :)

It's the Simplest Rich Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting from Sweet Utopia.  You can see my review of the book here. The cake was really good. I used whole wheat flour instead of all-purpose, and I cut down the oil to 1/3 cup instead of 1/2 cup.  I also used almond milk instead of soymilk.  It was a tad dry, but still very chocolatey and tasty!  I added some coffee to the frosting for a mocha flavor, since I always have some sort of coffee frosting on my birthday cake.  Didn't have raspberry jam to put in the middle this time, so I just used the frosting, which was barely enough!

After dinner, I opened up the fridge and found a birthday card under my cake, along with some birthday beer from S.  Thank you :)

Saturday's market: brown rice, shiitake mushrooms, zucchini, cucumbers, turnips, mustard greens, tomatoes, sprouts, arugula/mizuna mix, peaches, eggplants, jalapenos, okra, and sweet potatoes.

I thought I'd get in an order from Pangea as well, before work starts (in a week!), so I'd be here when UPS arrived.  Here are the goods:

(Primal Strips, Liz Lovely Cookies, Sweet and Sara mini marshmallows, Dr Cow cheese (incl. the new KALE flavor!), Teese (gotta make some calzones), MimicCreme, and the new Dr McDougall's Asian entrees.)

We'll be in Atlanta soon.....and I'm hoping to stop into Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe just north of Atlanta!  If you guys have suggestions for vegan/raw places to eat......let me know and post them on that post please.

And if you have NYC suggestions, please post them there too......I'm surprised nobody's posted anything yet! I know a lot of you have been to NYC and have places you love to eat. But please don't post them here. I want them all in one place, so I know where to find it.

Other stuff I've been eating:

Sweet Potato Lentil Chili:

Raw zucchini noodles with "peanut" sauce:

French Fries (cut up potatoes, put on parchment paper-no oil, sprinkle with Creole Seasoning or other favorite seasoning, put in oven for 25 minutes, turn over, bake for another 15 minutes-on 400 degrees):

More recipes coming soon: Black Bean Polenta Bake and Black Bean Dip (yes, I cooked a ton of black beans).

Upcoming post: special vegan care package swap post!!

Eat smart,
T.

Happy Bloggiversary to me!

So today is my one year bloggiversary! And I know I've been lagging in the posting department the past couple of weeks.  I hope to rectify that soon.  Today I have a post of a ton of stuff I've been eating.  I will do a second post with a special GIVEAWAY!! Yup, look for it.....it's a good one!

Let's start with last week's farmer's market: icebox melon, butternut squash, okra, shiitake mushrooms, sprouts, tarragon, peaches, tomatoes, limes, mustard greens, asian pears, and cucumbers.

Look, some of my indoor grown swiss chard:

Two weeks ago at the market (Hollygrove), someone had made some Caponata for us to try. It was delicious!  Whoever you are, thank you for the recipe.  I made it:

I served it atop some sprouted grain bread with my swiss chard on it:

Here is the recipe (& my changes):

Open-face Sandwiches with Caponata & Herb Goat Cheese

Chop up 3 small eggplant (I used 2 medium), 4 stalks celery, 1 red onion (I used yellow), 5 baby bell peppers (I used 1-2 regular), 5 cloves garlic, and saute in olive oil (I used water) in a large saucepan.  When almost cooked through, add 2 diced creole tomatoes & simmer, covered til all is cooked through (but not mushy). Add 1/2 cup sliced black olives (I omitted...I hate olives), season with salt & pepper, cayenne (I used Creole seasoning), marjoram (left out, didn't have it), oregano, red wine vinegar & basil to taste. Add chopped herbs like parsley, basil & chives to the goat cheese (I didn't use cheese, obviously) & mix well. Slice up your favorite bread, top with caponata & add the goat cheese and some greens, like arugula & spinach.  


It was really good and quite simple to make!

Then I tried to make Mama Pea's Peanut Butter Cup Shake (like a Dairy Queen Blizzard).  Mine didn't come out quite like hers.  I did replace the coconut milk with vanilla almond milk.  It was way too icy, but still good.  The peanut butter cups were awesome! ( I used Sunbutter in mine).  Maybe next time I'll try coconut milk...

I made my stuffed mushrooms again, but slightly different (always depends what's in the fridge). These were local baby portobellas, stuffed with some cooked brown rice, mixed with tomatoes, creole seasoning, some chopped walnuts, chopped celery, & various herbs (basil, parsley).

Made some Red Wine Lentil Soup from an old Parade magazine (sept 10, 2006). It's so good! And I added more veggies, of course and left out the butter. And used veggie broth instead of chicken.

Also toasted up a sprouted grain tortilla in my little toaster oven. Put it in there on about 300 degrees for 20 minutes or so, flipping it once in the middle.  Then I tore it up so I could dip them!

Sour cream & onion dip:

1/2 cup vegan sour cream
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
2 tbsp dried minced onion
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp dried chives
salt & pepper to taste


Stir all together.  You can double the recipe to make more.


Made that Raw Sunflower Seed Falafel again, but served it as mock "tuna" on top of slices of tomato and swiss chard:

Then we had guests over the next day and I served it in cucumber tubs:

After the cucumber tubs, I served my Teriyaki Udon noodles but with more vegetables.

Then a version today with no noodles! Just vegetable Teriyaki:

I think I've finally come to the end of this post.  Phew! That was a lot of pictures.

Stay tuned for the upcoming GIVEAWAY post....TODAY!!!

Eat smart,
T.

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.