Stewed Tomatoes and Okra

It's the second day of Vegan MoFo 2011 and I've got a new easy recipe for you!

Stewed Tomatoes and Okra

3 very large tomatoes, cut into 1/8ths
1 lb okra, washed, trimmed, and sliced thickly
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, cut into medium sized pieces
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp sugar
2 TB arrowroot mixed with 2 TB water
salt to taste (or use Creole Seasoning for a spicier version)


Saute the onion in 1/4 cup water until soft. Add the tomatoes. Cover and cook on med-low for about 10 minutes. Add the okra, peppers, garlic, and sugar. Cook , covered, for another 25-30 minutes. Mix in the arrowroot (mixed with water) and stir well. Cook for another 2 minutes or so, until thick. Salt to taste. Eat as is, or serve over brown rice or other grain of your choice!

The peppers, okra, and tomatoes all came from our local farmer's market! The tomatoes help to keep the okra from becoming too "slimy" (in case you are scared of the okra like I used to be).

This was the box from that market. Yes, it came with a big ol' piece of sugar cane. It does grow locally here! (so does that rice that you see) How long does sugar cane last anyway? I STILL haven't done anything with it. Could it still be good? What happens if I just peel it and put it in a food processor and use it like regular sugar? Sprinkled into my oatmeal..??

It is finally "cool" here for a few days! 73 degrees right now and perfectly sunny. It was 65 this morning. Loved it :) Do you have the typical Fall weather where you live already?

Eat smart,
T.

Book Review: Asian Fusion

Thanks again to Book Publishing Company for sending me a review copy of "Asian Fusion: A Culinary Odyssey of Vegan Recipes". If you want to win some awesome books during their Live Delicious, Eat Vegan campaign, click here!

The Book: "Asian Fusion: A Culinary Odyssey of Vegan Recipes" by Chat Mingkwan.

What a great idea for a book! I love Asian food, and often, it can be veganized easily. This book covers various parts of Asia, from Burma to Vietnam:

Burma
China
India
Indonesia
Japan
Korea
Laos
Malaysia
Philippines
Singapore
Sri Lanka
Thailand
Vietnam

The first part of the book explains all the "special ingredients" used, like bean sauce/paste, herbs like galangal and fenugreek, Asian vegetables, and rices. Once again, you really need to have access to an Asian supermarket if you're going to follow these recipes exactly. I did, however, leave some out, as I just didn't have them.

The first recipe I made was the Tomato Salad, which was delicious! Very refreshing on a hot summer day (ok, it's already hot down here where I live) and I actually had all of the ingredients. Here is the recipe, with permission from Book Publishing Company:

Tomato Salad
Chung Sik Faan ke Sa Leut (from China)

3 large, rip tomatoes
3 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion, both green and white parts
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon sugar, more or less to taste
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

Slice the tomatoes thinly and arrange them on a serving platter. Refrigerate to chill.

To make the dressing, combine the remaining ingredients in a bowl and stir to mix well. To serve, sprinkle the dressing evenly over the tomatoes.

The next recipe I made was also from China: Fried Rice with Vegetable Fu Yang. I always have cooked brown rice around, so this was a great way to use it.I left out vegetables I didn't have and added others I did have. And it seemed to call for this "vegetarian stir fry sauce" but I just couldn't get myself to buy the stuff at the grocery store. There were just too many ingredients and it just didn't look healthy.  So I added in some extra soy sauce. It was very good though and I'd make it again. Pretty simple dish to make.

And the last recipe I made was the Sweet and Sour Plate from Singapore. I happened to have some leftover pineapple so this worked out great. I cut down on the sugar and added too much Sambal Oelek! It was quite spicy, so I had to serve it over brown rice. S didn't like all the pineapple (but he really doesn't like this kind of "sweet and sour" dish). So maybe next time I'll puree the pineapple first, so you don't get all the extra sweetness in each bite. Again, I added the vegetables I had and omitted the ones I didn't have.

I'm excited to try some of the other recipes in this book. I do see that it does call for a lot of sugar and that "vegetarian stir fry sauce". I'll probably end up omitting the latter and really cutting down on the sugar part. I will have to see what I can get at my Asian supermarket. Not sure they have kaffir lime leaves, fresh curry leaves, abalone and oyster mushrooms, or fresh lemongrass.......

Overall, it's a great book if you want to cook up some good Asian food, vegan style. There are tons of different types of recipes to choose from. On the other hand, I'm pretty sure 90% of the recipes call for sugar. But, you can probably leave it out or replace it with something else. So go on over to Book Publishing Company and order yourself a copy! And don't forget to enter to win some cool free books too :)

......On another note, I still need your help on my upcoming trip. I need as many suggestions (foodwise) as you can give me, either on the places I'm going, or stuff to bring with me, so please check out my trip post and help a girl out!

Eat smart,
T.

Brownies and Roasted Tomatoes, etc.

I've been so behind.  I'm really trying to catch up, but work was so busy for a while and now I finally have some time off to catch up on everything, from cleaning up, to taxes, to my beer blog, to this blog....it never ends!

They look good, don't they? They are! I got the recipe here. Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies! I changed it up just a bit by using whole wheat flour, MUCH less sugar, and more applesauce with just a little oil. To me, this was more like half blondie, half brownie because the cookie part was so thick.  Maybe I should've added more liquid so that I could've spread it more easily on top.  Nonetheless, still delicious :) I highly recommend it for that special once-in-a-while dessert (I can't make stuff like this very often, unless I want to put all my weight back on!).

I slow roasted tomatoes! Yup....so easy and so tasty.  Never done that before.  Here's how:

Take a pound or two of roma tomatoes and slice them in half.  Spray two cookie sheets (or however many you need) with some oil and lay the tomatoes on them, cut side down.  Put a few cloves of garlic in between them and cook in the oven on 250 degrees for around 2 to 2 1/2 hours.  Watch them and make sure they don't burn.  They are absolutely amazing done this way!

They go in like this:

And come out like this:

I had some with a few other roasted veggies alongside this Lemony Yellow Split Pea dish. The split peas were awesome....I cooked them a bit longer, because I like them soft and mushy. But maybe that's just me :) But I actually got the idea from this blog....

Other stuff I've eaten recently.....

Raw Marinara with zucchini/carrot spirals:

A sandwich of my own sprouts, salad, and kale, with sweet pickles and Vegenaise on sprouted grain bread:

Hey, does anyone know of a good "standalone" vegan cheese? One you can just eat a piece of by itself? I like to put Dr. Cow on crackers...I don't think I could eat it by itself though. And I use Daiya, Teese, and Rice Vegan slices to melt onto things.  But I've got nothing to just eat plain, or in a sandwich. Any ideas?

And don't forget to give me your travel ideas on my last blog post!! It's very important.

On another note, if you love beer, please let me know if you'd be interested in this book at all. I'm trying to decide if I should do a giveaway on my beer blog.....if there are enough people that want it.

Eat smart,
T.

Spicy Pea Stew, Stuffed Tomatoes, and A Smoothie

I got a TON of pink-eyed peas from the farmer's market this week and last week, so I decided to go ahead and finally cook them!  Boiled them for about 1 hour.  Drain and done.

This week's market: pink-eyed peas, lima beans, baby shiitakes, peaches, nectarines, plums, fresh oregano, cucumbers, butternut squash, little eggplants, tomatoes, and bell peppers.

And that leads me to today's lunch!

Tanya's Spicy Pea Stew

1 1/2 cups cooked pink-eyed peas (or black-eyed)
1 cup strained tomatoes
1 cup corn kernels 
1 large bell pepper (any color), chopped
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium/large tomato, chopped
1 tsp cumin
2 tbsp Creole seasoning (or a mix of cayenne & other peppers)
1 tsp salt
garlic powder & crushed red pepper flakes


Saute the onion in 1/4 cup water.  Add water as needed, so it doesn't stick.  When soft, add the celery and peppers.  Cook on medium for 2-3 minutes.  Add the corn and a little more water and cover.  Let steam for 2-3 minutes.  Add the peas and all spices, except the salt.  Stir and add the strained tomatoes.  Add in the chopped tomato and cook for another few minutes.  Just before serving, add the salt and stir.  Serve over couscous or brown rice.

I served mine over Near East couscous, as they were kind enough to send me a few boxes. I haven't had couscous in a while and it was very tasty :)

Speaking of couscous, they also sent me their Toasted Pine Nut flavored couscous, which went really well in the Sicilian Stuffed Tomatoes I made from Robin Robertson's 1,000 Vegan Recipes.

Some with a little Daiya on top, and some without:

One of the blog's I read is Mama Pea's Peas and Thank You blog.  You should check it out, especially if you have kids (her girls are so cute!).  And I've probably bookmarked a billion of her recipes by now.....so I decided I should finally make one. I made her Simple Black Beans and Corn and Millet Pudding. The only problem I had was that the millet would NOT grind up.  I still put it in, but I added in a few spoons of cornmeal to help.  Not sure why the millet wouldn't grind up in my food processor.  Maybe it would have, in the Vita-Mix?? Anyway, it was all delicious!  Now I have a ton of beans....I froze most of them :)

On to another smoothie recipe:

The "what do I call it?":

1/2 banana
1 peach, pitted
2 carrots
1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup water


Blend. I think ginger might go nicely in there, but I haven't tried it yet.

Stevia:
Have any of you tried Stevia? I tried it (and spent a lot of money for the little container) and can't stand it.  I do love licorice flavor, but that was just toooooo much. Bleh.  I bought the powdered stevia extract.  But I also tried my mom's regular stevia powder (not extract) and still didn't like it.....I tried both in my oatmeal.  Maybe it's better in a smoothie?? Any other suggestions?

Other stuff I've eaten:

Nori rolls with Ani Phyo's "Sushi" Rice made from jicama:

My friend's eggplant dip:

Ok, that's all for today.  Glad we didn't get a tropical storm this week after all :)

Giveaway:

LeslieLovesVeggies is giving away 2 copies of "The 30-Minute Vegan's Taste of the East" cookbook!

Look for a post Monday or Tuesday about my giveaway!!

Eat smart,
T.

The test results are in.

First of all, I'm sorry for not blogging much this week....I've been really busy with work and my husband was sick with a really high fever. I'll try to do better next week.

So most of you know I've been talking about Vitamin D a lot lately. (Check out my original post about it)  Well I finally got my blood test results from the doctor and yup, I'm low too.  BUT....I was slightly higher than my husband (maybe because my skin is a little lighter??).  The number the doctor gave me was 15.  I guess it should be above 20 or 30? So I picked up my prescription of 50,000 Units.  I tried to find out what kind of D it was....and it said the company that made it was Pliva.  You can see it here.  It says that it's similar to Drisdol, which is a brand name for D2, so I'm going to assume that my prescription is indeed D2.  Although I haven't taken it yet....

My B12 was normal!!!

On to the others.  I don't know if any of you know, but I've been trying to lose more weight these past several months.  That's why I started this way of eating in the first place.....sort of a Vegan/McDougall/Low fat way of eating.  I've been able to lose about 24 pounds in the last 6-7 months, so I'm happy about that.  I'm now in a healthy weight range AND.......my cholesterol number was under 180!  I have to tell you I didn't think that would've ever been possible.  This was my last effort to try to lower it.  I had lost about 60 pounds a few years ago and my cholesterol only came down 10 points!  My doctor was surprised as well.  It definitely runs in my family, so that makes it even harder.  But with this new way of eating, it's brought it into the healthy range, FINALLY :)  And without the help of medication.

I guess that's it for now.  I'll probably start taking the Vitamin D soon.

Here are a few pictures from this past week of eating:

A chocolate mousse pie (I bought the vegan crust a while ago and thought I'd use it), made with silken tofu, cocoa powder, agave, vanilla, and amaretto (which is probably not vegan).

Bruschetta made from local hydroponic tomatoes, my fresh basil, a pinch of sea salt, and just a hint of olive oil on sprouted grain bread:

Those Monterey Mushrooms and collard greens with black pepper:

And finally, don't forget to vote for the item you want me to giveaway!! I'll probably decide on the item this weekend and do the giveaway next week....be on the lookout.

And since I forgot this week's blogger of the week....here it is:

Blogger of the Week: Bronwyn Schweigerdt's BeanDiet Blog. She's a nutrionist with lots of great info on vitamins, and your diet in general.

Eat smart,

T.

Tomato Bisque and Raw Cauliflower Mash

First, if you haven't done so already, I'd really appreciate it if you'd read my previous post about Sweeteners and Vitamin D and give me any thoughts you might have about them (don't forget the polls on the right side of the page). Thanks!

I had a bunch of hydroponic tomatoes from the local farmer's market, so I decided to make a sort of tomato based soup.  I don't usually puree my soups, but I thought I'd try it (even though I only have a tiny food processor).  It worked really well, mixed with a sweet brown rice/barley mixture and topped with nutritional yeast.

Tomato Vegetable Bisque:


2 cups water
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk (or other nondairy milk)
5 tomatoes
2 parsnips, steamed
4 stalks celery
1/2 yellow/white onion, chopped
2 tsp minced garlic
1 head broccoli, cut up (incl. as much of the stem as you want)
1 roasted red bell pepper (I used a jarred pepper)
10 fresh basil leaves (torn into small pieces) 
10 leaves of flat kale, torn into bite-sized pieces (lacinato), or use spinach, collards, other kale
2 tbsp arrowroot mixed with 2 tbsp water
2 tsp cumin
2 tbsp vegan worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp tomato paste
red pepper flakes
salt/pepper to taste


Puree all the vegetables except the onion, garlic,basil, kale, and 1 tomato until smooth.  Set aside. Now puree the last tomato just a tiny bit, so it's still chunky.  Add to other vegetables.  Heat 1/4 cup water (not part of the 2 cups) in a stockpot.  Add the onions and garlic and saute until soft. Now add the pureed vegetables and stir.  Add in the water and heat on medium for 5 minutes or so.  Add in the basil, kale, spices, worcestershire sauce and tomato paste. Mix and cook for another 5 minutes.  Add in the almond milk and stir.  Then add the arrowroot/water mix and stir well.  Let it boil for a minute and then turn down and simmer for 5 minutes.  Add more salt/pepper to taste if needed.  Serve over cooked sweet brown rice (the stickiness adds to the creamy texture of the soup).

The other day, I tried another recipe from Ani's  Raw Food Kitchen: Cauliflower Miso Mash.  Very interesting.  Never made raw cauliflower like that before.  I left out the psyllium powder because I didn't have any. And of course, I left out the oil.  But the miso and lemon gave it a really nice flavor!  And it took forever in my tiny food processor. Apparently it doesn't like raw cauliflower :)

And this is just a random fried rice I made the other day:

That's it for today....another beautiful day out and the sun is shining.  Good day to get my Vitamin D!!

Eat smart,
T.

Market produce and more tacos

Wow, I'm getting behind, aren't I?  Sometimes I just don't feel like blogging....I mean I do, but I'm not in the mood to crop the pictures, etc....you know what I mean?

Anyway, here's a list of what we got at Saturday's market: purple kale, lacinato kale, mixed greens, purple top turnips, radishes, oranges, grapefruit, strawberries (let's keep those comin'), collard greens, mustard greens,  and hydroponic tomatoes.

It wasn't a ton this time, but that's ok.  Not every week can overtop my box!  And can I say I think I have a problem?  I'm addicted.  Yup, addicted to kale and broccoli.  And there was no green curly kale or broccoli in this week's box....I almost panicked.  But I was able to buy a few bags of their purple kale and I got broccoli and green curly kale at the grocery store.  Phew.

I made tacos again this week, using what I had in the fridge, so here's the recipe:

Millet Tacos:


4 corn tortillas
1/2-3/4 cup cooked millet
3/4 cup cooked kidney beans, mashed up
1/2 cup chopped broccoli
1/2 yellow/white onion, chopped
2 tsp dried cilantro (or use fresh if you have it!)
1/2 cup shredded carrots
3/4 cup pureed/crushed tomatoes
chili powder
onion powder
chipotle powder
garlic
salt


Saute the onion in 1/4 cup water until soft.  Add the carrots and broccoli.  Saute another 5 minutes or so, adding water as needed so it doesn't stick to the pan.  Add the millet and mashed beans. Mix it up well and add 1 tsp of the cilantro, and the rest of the spices to taste.  It's done when it's heated through.  


For the sauce: Mix together 3/4 cup pureed/crushed tomatoes, 1 tsp cilantro, salt and chipotle powder to taste.  Heat the tortillas, fill them, and top with the sauce. Easy!

Blogger of the Week: Lindsay at CookingForAVeganLover blog.  She's got reviews, recipes, and giveaways galore!  Check her out.


Oh, and check out my little tomatoes growing! And my herbs:

Until next time....
Eat smart,
T.
PS-I was thinking: Mexican kidney bean burgers.....thoughts?

Quick Tacos

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.

More dessert balls!! And other good food...

Last night we had friends over to eat VeganYumYum's Cauliflower Bake.  I ended up adding broccoli to it because the head of cauliflower I got at the market wasn't big enough!  I also left out the tofu layer, because they didn't have any at the store.  It was still delicious!

I also made a Curried Tomato Spread I found on the fatfreevegan website.  It was really good...nice Indian flavors.  Made up some salsa too! Although the onions I used (all I had on hand) were a bit strong for it.  I put 1 big tomato in a food processor and added about 1/4 cup onion, a handful of fresh cilantro, juice from 1/2 key lime, crushed red pepper flakes, and some salt and pepper.  Process for a little bit, still leaving it a bit chunky.

And today I had to try making a new flavor of ChocolateCoveredKatie's fudge babies: Pumpkin Pie Chocolate Balls.  (I still had leftover pumpkin puree).  They're very tasty.


UPDATE: ChocolateCoveredKatie has already made pumpkin pie babies, but this is slightly different.

Pumpkin Pie Chocolate Balls:

1 cup raw cashews
8 dates, pitted
3 TB pureed pumpkin
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice (or just cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, etc...)
~1/4 cup chocolate chips or other dark chocolate (added towards the end, so there are still chunks)
A little water to help it process more easily


Mix it all up in a food processor.  Shape into balls and put in the fridge!

And finally, today's lunch was a nice spinoff of a "peanut" sauce on veggies.  I used VeganYumYum's recipe for Nearly Raw Tahini Noodles.  But I left out the noodles!!  (on purpose of course....trying not to eat so much pasta) I just shredded some cabbage and carrots and chopped up some broccoli.  Then put the sauce on top.  I doubled the sauce, and we used most of it!  It's very good.  I left out the chili sauce, because I didn't have any.  I added some crushed red pepper flakes instead.  And I added a bunch of fresh cilantro we got at the farmer's market.  Good stuff!

Off to rehearsal soon.  We have our first performance of this Tchaikowsky Sextet coming up on Thursday....then another on Sunday.   If you like classical music, I highly recommend listening to it.  It's called "Souvenir of Florence"

That's it for now.....oh, is the weekend over already??  As a musician, we never keep track, because we work weekends too.

Eat smart,
T.