Fresh Avocado Dressing

I've been eating salad lately with my new favorite dressing. It's sooooo good! And guess what? It's easy! Ok, so maybe I can't really call it a recipe, but still.....

(source: www.bigoven.com)

Fresh Avocado Dressing:
(enough for 2 large personal salads)


1 Hass Avocado
2 TB lemon juice
1/2 cup cold, filtered water
1/2 cucumber, peeled
handful of fresh basil leaves
salt to taste


Scoop the avocado out of its flesh into a small blender or food processor, minus the pit, obviously. Add the lemon juice, water, cucumber, and basil. Blend until very creamy. Add salt to taste. Feel free to double or triple the recipe.


You may want to massage the dressing into your greens (kale, lettuce, etc.) first, then add the other salad ingredients. 

This is a pretty popular type of dressing. I used to just put avocado and lemon juice into my bowl of kale and massage it in to mix it. But I kind of like the idea of a pre-mixed dressing to pour on....

What are YOU doing to celebrate Fall? I'd really like some Pumpkin Ale. I did just buy some spaghetti squash though...yay! And I planted some broccoli and cauliflower....hopefully they won't die.

Eat smart,
T.

There's Vegan Food in New Orleans??

There are vegan things happening in New Orleans. Who knew? Well I certainly didn't, until recently. John Morales has been cooking up a vegan storm. A couple of weeks ago, I was able to attend one of the weekly Sunday Brunches (O! Vegasm) he runs over at Grits Bar. Ok, the area is a bit suspicious, but the food is amazing! It's actually a pretty large space and they reserved the whole back section (which was also smoke-free) for the brunch folks. We got there and O'shea Cleveland was our server. Very nice lady. We had seen her previously at the Hollygrove Farmer's Market, which I will also post about. We got our menus (although they really only serve two things and you get them BOTH!).

You wouldn't believe how much food it is. I would've been satisfied with just one of the options. It's like you get two meals for $15! Now I have to tell you I don't eat like this normally, so I can't go every weekend, or I'd gain a million pounds. But, I do have to say that it wasn't all that heavy in my stomach when I finished :)

Here's the Tofu Benedict, which was so delicious...loved that sauce and potatoes..everything:

The other part was the Pumpkin French Toast stuffed with a cashew cream cheese:

(here you can see the cream cheese. I LOVED it!)

Pssst, John, still waiting for your secret about that.

I didn't order the coffee, because they only had almond milk, which I'm not a fan of in my coffee. I'm pretty partial to soy milk or soy creamer in my coffee, though I love almond milk for other things. There's also a full bar, though the beer selection isn't very good. If you're ever in New Orleans on a Sunday, you must try it!!

I was at the Hollygrove farmer's market a few weeks ago on a Saturday when O'Shea was serving some vegan food, so we decided to have our lunch there. Now, I'm not sure if she cooked it or if John did....but anyway, it was delicious. Again, not what I'd eat everyday, but still. I HAD to try it at least :)  

There were two options, so we each had one. Here's the Fried Chik'n with whole wheat biscuit:

(very good. The biscuit wasn't as salty as they usually are and it was excellent! S said it tasted like a real fried chicken patty, but seriously, what does he know? It's been years since either of us has tasted real chicken.)

And here's the Broccoli Quiche. Also delicious.

So as you can see, there seems to be a vegan community hiding here in New Orleans.

On a similar note, John Morales also makes baked goods, I hear,  for Hey Cafe and a few other places. Unfortunately for me, none of these places are near where I live :( But I will make the occasional trip into town for a Sunday Brunch. There is also a Vegan Drinks New Orleans, which I've not made it to yet. But alas, it's also at Grits Bar. And since I'm partial to good beer, and they don't really have much, I'm not sure I'll make it. Oh yeah, and I'm also not sure I want to go into that neighborhood at night. But we'll see.

You should check out O! Vegasm's Facebook page, as well as Vegan New Orleans for more info!

I still wish there were a health food store somewhere near me.....that wasn't a Whole Foods. Well, we can't have everything. How about a Trader Joe's?? I'll take one of those please. 

Eat smart,

T.

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.

Vegan MoFo 2011 and World Vegetarian Day

Today is World Vegetarian Day, and....the beginning of Vegan MoFo 2011! Yup, a whole month dedicated to vegan food. Oh wait, I already sort of do that. But this is going to get me off my butt and posting more :)

I'm back at work and busier than usual, but I do have a few days off coming up, so I can try to write up several posts at once, to schedule them for later in the week/month. 

A few things I'll be mentioning this month:

Robert Cheeke's Vegan Bodybuilding book

Vegan Care Package Swap sponsored by Cook.Vegan.Lover.

Our local Vegan Brunch here in NOLA, by O! Vegasm

Eating less sugar

Vitamin D and B12

And other good things!

I still have some recipes to post, as I'm a little behind in that department. I also need to finish up this care package already! (Sorry, Ashley....I promise to get it out soon) I'm in my 8th week of p90x and I'm definitely feeling stronger. 5 more weeks! Today is yoga day once again (1 1/2 hours of torture). Not a fan.  Maybe once I'm done with the first round of p90x, I'll try and find another yoga video to replace it for the next round(s). Any suggestions? I prefer something that's under 1 hour.  And cheap. Maybe even an iPad app that has good yoga videos....?

Today it actually feels like Fall. It was 65 this morning. This is only going to last for a few days, but I went for a walk to soak it up. It's been 91 the past several days and I'm sick of it. I want colored leaves (won't get that here), open windows, and a sweater please.

Tonight I have the second performance of Mahler's First Symphony, and Gabriela Montero is playing a piano concerto. She's great! Then a few days off....yay!

Who's doing Vegan MoFo too? You can follow the whole list of Vegan MoFo Tweeters here. You can also check out the entire blogroll of all bloggers involved here. This is going to be exciting :)

Eat smart,

T.