Puréed Asparagus and Potato Soup

My friend Leah surprised me with a new cookbook a few moons ago and I finally whipped something up from it in honor of SPRING! The cookbook is Local Bounty and it credits the perks of eating simply, seasonally and of course, vegan. First up - asparagus! and potato. Potatoes are not my favorite member of the vegetable kingdom but the author did an excellent job of convincing me that they can be healthy. The aroma that filled the air was reminiscent of my grandma's kitchen... <3 (minus the meat!)

2 quarts unsalted vegetable stock or water (I used stock)

4 medium potatoes (any kind but russets), quartered (I chose small red potatoes)

1 bunch asparagus (about 1 pound), trimmed and cut into 2-inch pieces

1 leek, cut lengthwise, cleaned well, and cut into 2-inch pieces

1 parsnip, peeled, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces (I used 2 carrots instead!)

1 tbsp thyme

4 cloves garlic, peeled

1 tsp salt (didn't use because I used veg. stock)

Freshly ground black pepper (LOTS!)

Juice of 1 lemon

1. Bring the stock to a boil in a medium soup pot. Once boiling add everything.

2. Bring the mixture back to a boil and cook on medium-low heat for 30 mins.

3. Strain the vegetables and set aside the stock. Blend the veggies in batches adding some of the stock as needed to facilitate processing. OR if you have an immersion blender, as I do, your life will be much easier and you can keep everything in the pot to blend! Less dishes!

4. Stir the blended veggies into the remaining stock and add the lemon juice. Taste and add more seasonings to your liking. Serve.

Being that I cook for my solo self I have a TON of leftovers. I've been sick this weekend and unable to stomach anything but finally had some soup and I must say the flavors mingled nicely while in the fridge. I like it better now than when I first made it three days ago. It has a bit of a kick that you wouldn't expect from an asparagus and potato soup. Freezed well, too!

Guacamame and taco salad!

When I heard that Isa was up to another cookbook I immediately made my way to that waiting list and had it shipped out to me the day it dropped. Dedication? I think so. Appetite for Reduction is fun and full of healthy meals! In the past Isa feared away from getting into low-cal/low-fat recipes specifically so I am glad that she's crossed over due to demand. Although "diet" is a word that no longer has room in my vocabulary as a verb I have "diet" enthusiasts to thank for this, I'm sure.

Anyhow, I just had my second round of taco salad this week, as inspired by this book, and I have to say the second was better than the first so here I am to procrastinate and share this yummy discovery with you!

Naturally the first recipe to make my shopping and to-do lists enlisted avocado and cayenne as ingredients. This is a "mock" guacamole and it is a tricky concoction indeed!

Guacamame

4 oz avocado (this is roughly 1/2 a cup; I used 1/2 of a medium hass)

1 cup frozen shelled edamame, thawed (I didn't prep ahead and defrosted in the micro although I try not to use it I was impatient! Next time I will thaw ahead!)

1/4 cup water

some dashes of sea salt

juice of 1 lime (I forgot this at the store and I doubt finding limes in Brattleboro is very easy right now! I used lemon instead but I'm sure I'd prefer lime)

1 plum tomato (I didn't use plum; I think medium sized is the key here)

2 tbsp chopped red onion ( I probably used more like 3)

1/4 cup cilantro leaves

cayenne and black pepper to taste

In reference to the tomato, onion, cilantro and peppers I think it is really up to your taste and preference when it comes to guac!

For the mixing Isa requires a food processor. I do not have a food processor so I used my hand blender and it worked out perfectly! First pulse or blend edamame and avocado until well chopped/mixed. Add water, salt, and citrus and blend until smooth. Add remaining ingredients until fully incorporated and a smooth consistency. Taste and season as desired. **Next time I will add a clove of garlic.** This makes more than you'd think! My roommate helped me eat it and it's still been in the fridge since Sunday afternoon. To keep it as leftovers I suggest putting the avo pit in the mix and closely covering it with plastic wrap. Because it has more edamame than avocado it keeps really well!

Fresh Tomato Salsa Dressing (recipe downsized for one person/one salad servingz)

1 large tomato

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

1 chopped garlic clove

1-1.5 tsp red wine vinegar (I used Bragg's apple cider vinegar and just filled up the cap and dumped it in-worked deliciously)

.5 tsp. cayenne hot sauce ( I just sprinkled cayenne powder- probably the equivalent of a tsp.)

Freshly ground pepper and a sprinkle of sea salt (to taste)

Chop up tomato rather small. Add all of the ingredients and mesh them together with fingers to release and mix up the flavors. Let sit for a minute and then mix it with a taco salad and then top with guacamame!

The taco salad I threw together consisted of chopped romaine, kidney beans, and blue chip crumbs from the bottom of a bag :). Oh and as an afterthought I added some protein by warming up one of these in a pan. Oh, have I mentioned that my house is quite possibly the worst place for photography? Ugh. :(

and the guacamame...

Vegan Survival:Superbowl Sunday Edition

I gave myself permission to eat crap (not even really crap by crap standards) and made myself some organic frozen tots and Gardein crispy tenders complemented by my childhood sweetheart, ketchup who has also turned organic in the maturation process. While this was definitely not the most colorful meal I've ever had something about eating it while everyone else chowed down on buffalo wings felt very satisfying!

B'fast Sammich!

When I was a growing kid my mom's go-to meals, on the off-chance that she was not working until midnight, were some sort of pasta, usually ravioli, or bagel burgers with a can of corn or green beans. She comes from a lovely line of kitchen mavens but she never quite gave herself the time to explore her cooking/baking talents. A few weeks ago I found myself craving a bagel burger. It's been a solid 10 years since I've had one and they are really not that inspiring- throw a veggie burger (Morningstar Grillers as a kid, not vegan) on a toasted onion bagel, add BBQ sauce, swiss cheese and voila. Well, I no longer eat Grillers nor swiss cheese so I doubted my ability to mimic and satisfy my craving. Instead I bought a bagel, which I never have on hand on account of the caloric content, and let it sit for a day until I felt inspired to make use of it. The next morning this was born:

Let me continue by first saying, I wish I hadn't because I have wanted to make/eat one of these nearly every day since its initial creation but let me move onto how it came to be...

I had tofu in the fridge, I had daiya cheddar in the fridge, I had a leftover sliced tomato in the fridge and I had a few pieces of baby spinach. I sliced 3 pieces of tofu from the block and fried them sans oil in a pan. While I let that fry I sliced and toasted the bagel, garlic in this case. When the tofu was to my desired state of crispy I topped the pieces with daiya, turned off the heat and covered the pan for approx. 1 minute until the cheese melted. The bagel popped up, I spread ketchup on one side (because I am addicted to condiments), and then assembled all of the above. Behold a cheesy breakfast sandwich! no fancy sausage necessary! Sooooo easy... and too good. I HAD to share and bestow it onto you so that I may detach myself... if only a little bit.

Until next time... Happy cooking AND eating!

~Bailey

Afterthought: Actually, I have thought of this but just remembered. To make this much healthier in terms of calories, the rest isn't too bad, skip the bagel in exchange for an english muffin or some hearty toast. Now that the hankering is gone I shall practice what I preach next time. :)

Veggie and Dal Soup-back in the Brat!

So, I have been away from my home base of Brattleboro,VT for nearly a month and a half with the exception of 5 days in between Portland and NYC (blog to come; see previous post for Portland). During those 5 days I was in class, and avoiding snow. Groceries were out of the question due to snow but also because I was getting ready to leave... again. Today I am back, though! I will be around for less than 2 weeks but who's counting? I decided I should probably not spend much money this month and it'd be a bonus to lose some weight that I've most likely gained from all of this running around (or lack there-of, rather). After being inspired by a photo post by SusanV (of FatFree Vegan-for some reason it won't let me link her here) on facebook I made a soup with an inexpensive list of ingredients all from my pantry and from a trip to the co-op that I was able to visit today because the roads were clear and the sun was out. WOOOHOOO!!! The recipe is not on SusanV's blog and to be honest I pretty much changed a lot so I'm just gonna go ahead and write it out how I did it. BTW-red lentils cook SO fast so do not be discouraged to use them in this or any recipe.

Veggie and Dal Soup

1 small onion, diced
1 tsp fennel seeds(see below)

1.5 tsp ground cumin (Susan used 2 tsp. panch phoran for this and the fennel- I couldn't find it)
2 teaspoons grated ginger
6 cups hot water (I'm estimating. Original recipe called for 4 and I decided it wasn't enough and didn't measure what I threw in on a whim)
3 vegetable bouillon cubes
1 package frozen vegetables-carrot, cauliflower, broccoli blend (I used Cascade Organics)
1.5 cup masoor dal or red lentils (orig. recipe only called for 1/2 cup... I wanted much more!)
2 cups baby spinach (Ooops! Just realized I forgot to throw this in although I bought it. Will be in the leftovers!)
1 teaspoon garam masala (I may have put more; orig. recipe only asked for .5 tsp)

hot sauce (Sriracha) to taste

Saute the onion in a non-stick pot until it begins to brown. Add panch phoran and cook 1 more minute. Add the ginger and cook another minute. Add water, bouillon, and frozen vegetables. Bring to a boil and add the dal. Turn heat very low and cover loosely. Cook for 15 minutes or until lentils are very tender. Sir in spinach and cook until wilted. Add garam masala and salt (if you must-I didn't and rarely do) and hot sauce to taste. Eat!

This is my photo-sans spinach! Luckily I have leftovers for that.

Destination: Portland, OR

In mid-January I attended a conference in Portland, OR. You may find information about said conference here. While I don't like to miss any opportunity to get info out/spread awareness about what I'm most passionate about i.e. veganism, the trend called "green", abolition of sexual exploitation/slavery, etc this blog is about the former so there's my plug on human trafficking awareness, for now. :)

Anyhoo, conveniently enough one of my best friends lives in Portland so it made the trip that much more exciting! Upon getting my luggage at PDX I boarded the MAX and followed my BFF's directions to some stop where she was nice enough to meet me and take me to a restaurant on her agenda, especially for my visit. I was hungry from a day of traveling and lack of nutritious sustenance so anything sounded pretty delicious! I was in for a treat--

Nicholas Restaurant is on an unassuming strand of SE Grand Ave and is a rather dinky place that serves up authentic Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, Lebanese grub and I mean grub as in it is superbly grubbin'! (did I just make that up?... I swear I've heard/used such a word before...hmm) The place was packed with hipster types, non-hipster types, and well, us. We were very lucky and seated immediately in the corner at a table for two. It was warm and bright and within a minute of sitting down our waitress plopped this HUGE and I mean HUUUUUUUUGE, delicious, toasty piece of bread. I am unsure of what they call it specifically but based on my taste buds and eyesight it was the spawn of pita and naan but triple in both of their sizes. We almost filled up but luckily we didn't. The menu is divided up and vegan things are clearly marked. In typical vegan fashion, when given options, I was overwhelmed and couldn't make up my mind but eventually I convinced myself the mezza platter to be a "mix of everything" and settled for it. And now... I present to you... the Vegan Mezza Platter... hummus, falafel, taboulu, mjadra, AND a garbanzo plate!

We overdid it on the bread, oops but even so there's no way this wasn't going home for leftovers! It was a great lunch the next day and breakfast the day after that. Apparently there are TWO more locations in Portland. I had no idea until I checked out the website here. My friend and I can only speak to the SE Grand location, though! Seriously one of the best/authentic med-meals I've had in the states and definitely the least expensive, no doubt.

My friend is so thoughtful and planned all of my free time for the weekend around vegan food! Aww. She is not a vegan although she is a tried and failed vegetarian but she has lots of veggie friends and an absurd hatred for cheese she developed in her childhood that she has no intention of leaving behind, so she knows what's up!

During a night out she took me to The Bye and Bye, a bar/lounge/eatery in Northeast Portland. In addition to the signature drink, served up in a mason jar (I find mason jar drinks REALLY fun and Portland serves them up like no other) I ordered this:

What is it? You ask. Well a meatball sub and brussel sprouts... duuuuh! You have got to a take a look at their menu. More overload for a vegan. Luckily I happened to "check-in" via Yelp and a friend on facebook, who happens to be a former Portlander, saw it and demanded I get the meatball sub so she essentially made the decision for me. Where else can I get one of these bad-boys after 10 pm? and with a side of brussel sprouts? Maybe my kitchen but most of the time these ingredients are not handy and chances are if I'm cooking in my kitchen at such hours something like this would end up looking... well, even messier. I'm sold! If ever in Portland you must say "Hello and Hello" to The Bye and Bye. I haven't said much about the rest of the bar but hey, this blog is about food! P.S. The bread is AMAZING... it's from a local bakery but of course the name of it has slipped my mind and the meatballs tasted like the ones from Trader Joe's.

It's possible that no other meal on earth excites me as much as the possibility of a vegan breakfast/brunch. Interestingly I was never the type of person who was very excited about going out to breakfast. As a kid, in the rare case that we would accompany friends or family to diners such as IHOP or Denny's (eww) I would be dragged kicking and screaming (OK, not really that dramatic) because the idea of eating a pancake was like the idea of climbing a mountain and I mean that almost literally. I could NEVER finish a pancake. I would order them, eat a few bites and then ask if we could go home. I only ate waffles at my cousins' house because they made them belgian style with chocolate chips and I much preferred breakfast burritos with Morningstar Farms' sausage links (mmmm, seriously the thing I miss most from my ovo-lacto life!) and cereal in the comfort of my own home. I was a vegetarian child, mind you. I haven't been an egg-eater for any of my adult life so breakfast out with friends has always left much to be desired. I don't kick and scream anymore but I do find dry toast and fruit bowls rather drab when surrounded by eggs benedict, banana pancakes, and the like. Now that I'm an adult the prospect of going out to breakfast/brunch after a night out is VERY enticing. Can you say mimosas or bloody Mary's (hold the anchovies, please)? I knew Portland wouldn't disappoint. BTW-as a sidenote, veganism has enabled me to finish a pancake, multiple ones at that, haha. In case you were wondering! ;) So here is a photo of my El Paso scramble from Jam On Hawthorne a few Sundays past... oh, and a Bloody Mary w/ rosemary-infused vodka that I requested to be made vegan. I really indulged myself in Portland (eek!) but you would, and should, too! Oh, and I had these leftovers before my east coast bound trip at the bright and not-so-shining hour of 5 am the next morning. I was very grateful for them... and ketchup.

So, pretty much what I'm trying to say is that while Portland may not be a paradise in many regards it is in one- it's definitely one of the few vegan paradises of this country, let alone the world. If you feel inclined to plan a trip now just be sure to invite me :D.

Peeeeeas,

Bailey

Creamy Chickpea and Tahini Casserole

DISCLOSURE: The photo below will NOT do this recipe justice!

OK, so thanks to Facebook I recently discovered that a friend from high school has adopted a cruelty-free diet! LOVES IT! So, I have been stalking her cooking pursuits (well, maybe we both have) and a few months ago she caught my eye with the words "Chickpea" and "Tahini" in a caption on one of her photos. I have since made this dish THRICE times and have changed it up each time to make it even more delicious than the last. The original recipe is here and my friend's new, fancy-schmancy blog is here, so check it out!

*** Perfections to the recipe ***

-2 cups instead of 3-4 cups rice (I cook mine in a rice maker)

-double all the spices

-mix in cayenne pepper ( I like it HOT!)

-28 oz can diced tomatoes PLUS a 15 oz can (leftovers keep better w/ the extra moisture)

-Smother the top with Daiya brand cheddar cheese (I almost wish I didn't experiment with this because it definitely upped the calorie factor and now it tastes too amazing to skip!)

-Tastes better at room temp, and the next day, than it does fresh out the oven!

-If you're especially daring, I mixed some sliced jalapeños into my bowl ;)

I promise to take a real picture next time!