Thai Dinner

I gave up wine for Lent and I miss it.  Tonight's dinner would have been perfect paired with a nice glass of Pinot Grigio but, alas, I had to go without.  The meal was still quite good though--fresh tofu, snow pea pods, baby corn, mushrooms and green onions in a brown sauce, which I spooned over rice.

These crispy wonton strips are like crack.

Raw Vegan Carrot Cake

The brainchild behind this carrot cake is Russell James:  Raw Food Chef Extraordinaire!  The cake was spicy, citrus-y and satisfying.  I enjoyed it immensely but next time I make it I will add more raisins, toast my pecans and halve the nutmeg amount.

The heart shape was my own creative twist ;)

Cucumber Noodles with Mango-Tangerine Sauce

I got the idea for my lunch today from a RawSynergy video I watched.  It was as easy as blending a peeled mango and tangerine and pouring the mixture over noodle-like cucumber strips.

The cucumber's flavor and watery texture leant itself beautifully to the fruity sauce.

I will definitely make this again.  I really just wanted to drink the 'sauce'--which I may very well do with my breakfast tomorrow!

Chickpea Cutlets with Lemon-Garlic Potatoes and Roasted Asparagus

Mama delivered again!  The other night when I got home from work I was greeted with tantalizing aromas of garlic, lemon and other undistinguishable deliciousness emanating from the kitchen.  My mom was making dinner!  A girl could not ask for a better surprise :)

That night's dinner was chickpea cutlets with a spicy mustard sauce, lemon-garlic potatoes and roasted asparagus.  My mom extracted this recipe from The Bible of vegan cooking:  The Veganomicon.  I gobbled up the meal so quickly.  I was sad when it was gone :(

RECIPE: Vegan Caesar Dressing

Yesterday was kind of a blah day.  I didn't really have a taste for anything for lunch so I decided to make a salad.  While I love, love, love the maple dijon dressing I usually use on salads (made by me, of course), I wasn't feeling it yesterday so I decided to whip up more of a caesar-y dressing.  It was super easy and fast to make, but most importantly, it was DELICIOUS.


So here you go--a quick, yummy cruelty-free caesar dressing :)


Vegan Caesar Dressing

Ingredients:

-  1/2 c. raw almonds, blanched (if you can, soak them for 8-10 hours beforehand--if you don't have the time, no worries!)

-  1/4 c. water (or until desired consistency)

-  2 T. canola oil

-  Juice of one lemon

-  2-3 garlic cloves, minced (I love garlic so I used 3!!)

-  3 large basil leaves, chopped

-  1/2 tsp. sea salt, or more, to taste

-  freshly cracked black pepper

That's everything!  Just blend the S%$# out of the ingredients until you have a smooth, creamy dressing.  Pour over crispy Romaine, toss, and throw on some croutons or raw parmesan if you're feeling crazy.

Vegan Southwest Salad

Yummy is my new favorite word as of late and for that, I apologize.  This salad, though, was yummy.

Just romaine lettuce, avocado, black beans, Garden Fresh salsa (Artichoke Garlic) and HOT SAUCE!!!  I lined my salad's perimeter with tortilla chips both to make it look pretty and make my tummy happy :))  

I achieved both.

Vegan Delights

My Vegan Delights "business" is really beginning to take off, which is SO exciting!  Below are some pics from a recent order.  Even though you can't see everything, the order included:

- 12 Vegan Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
- 12 Vegan Chunky Monkey Cookies
- 12 Vegan/Gluten-Free Chocolate Peanut Butter Clusters
- 12 Vegan/Gluten-Free Peanut Butter No-Bake Corn Flakes Cookies
- 8 Vegan Brownies
- 2 Bags of Vegan/Gluten-Free Salted Caramel Corn
- 4 Vegan Cherry Chip Cookies
- 4 Raw/Vegan/Gluten-Free Lemon Cashew Cookies

PHEW!  It was a ton of work to fill this order but so incredibly satisfying!  I hope there will be many more to come!

And one of my newest concoctions is what I like to call "[Vegan] Peanut Butter Explosion Bars"!!  I brought them in to work to sell and boy, did they!  They sold like hotcakes: gone in TWO days!!!

Seriously, though.  Looking at them, how could they not sell?!  ;)

Raw Spicy Almond Noodlez

First of all, I thought the original recipe title of noodles with a "z" was just too adorable and so I kept the spelling.

Secondly, this dish was sooooooooo yummy!  I expected nothing less--all of Rawxy's recipes that I've made have been awesome and I was super excited to make this dish!  Kelp noodles are my new favorite obsession.

This dish was so easy to make too!!!  It took all of five minutes.  Being vegan or raw DOES NOT necessarily equal more work.  It can but then again, preparing a pot roast also sounds like a lot of work

: /

Feast your eyes!!!

Thanks again, Callie!! ;)

Meat Free Monday!

I got my first issue of Vegetarian Times earlier this week, and on Wednesday I made one of the recipes.  It was submitted by Sir Paul McCartney, who is a vegetarian.  He, along with his vegetarian daughter, Stella McCartney, are proponents of a campaign called "Meat Free Monday."  The campaign is intended to encourage omnivores to go without meat for just one day a week, if not for the animals' sake, then for the sake of our planet and its sustainability.  I think the campaign has a lot of potential and can be really powerful and effective if people actually try it!  After all, it's just ONE day.  People can still eat meat the other six days if they must.

Anyway, the recipe was called "Super Vegetable Salad" and it was super and it was vegetable-y.  Below are pics of my endeavor.  I was quite pleased with the turnout.

Tomorrow I'll be making another Vegetarian Times-inspired recipe so stay tuned for pictures!

My Vegan "Taco Salad"

I think today's lunch sums up perfectly what "cooking" is all about--working with what you have on hand.  What I had were leftover falafel patties, really fresh "living lettuce," some brand new Garden Fresh Artichoke Garlic Salsa (which is delicious) and, as per ALWAYS, hot sauce.

I arranged these various ingredients beautifully on a plate and called it lunch.

Easy.  Pretty.  Satisfying.  Quick to make.

Falafel Update

As I mentioned, I had a falafel wrap today.  It was absolutely heavenly.  The patties were super flavorful and cooked to perfection.  I'm loving my dehydrator.

Vegan Salsa Finta & Almond Polpetta

I found this recipe on Callie England's blog, who originally found it on Russel James' blog.  It was SOOOOO good.  I made it for me and my mom, thoroughly expecting to have leftovers, and thoroughly NOT.  I just kept eating...and eating...and eating until there was nothing left TO eat (well, there are four almond polpettta balls left).

Salsa Finta, post-blended and lookin' gaaaaaahhhhhhgeous.

The almond polpetta, in its pre-processed form.

Almond polpetta:  glamour shot.

I just really liked the colors in this mixture--the yellow of the Nutritional Yeast, the purply-fuchsia of the shallots, the green of the parsley, the ochre-y shade of the Salsa Finta...well, you get the idea.

Almond polpetta, after processing.

My little almond polpetta balls!

And here she is: dinner!  The end product!  The whole she-bang!

Yum I

Yum II

I will totally make this again.  It was really easy and quite scrumptious.  It was also incredibly comforting.  Even though the dish is pretty healthy, I felt like I was indulging myself in unhealthy decadence when I was eating it--that's not an easy thing to do!  After making this, though, I realize that I REALLY need a spiral slicer.  I'm thinking of this one.  It would also be great to own a mandoline.

In good time, in good time.