Blog » VeggieGirl

What I Ate Wednesday

Happy May Day! And happy Wednesday! Since I’ve already shown off what I eat I eat in a typical day, and there weren’t any special occasions in the past week, I’m just going to show some random meals for this week’s What I Ate Wednesday. These are just a few photograph worthy things that I’ve eaten over the course of the past week.

One day Dennis woke up saying he felt like having a big brunch, so I headed into the kitchen and made us a big brunchy feast with a tofu frittata, hashbrowns and sautéed greens. It was super yum and I was full for most of the day!

Whole Grain Vegan Baking by Celine Steen and Tamasin Noyes recently arrived, and I immediately ran into the kitchen and whipped up some Lemony Spelt Scones. These were great because they weren’t too sweet and didn’t contain any white flour.

I rarely make the same meal twice, but I just can’t get enough of the Szechuan Stir-Fry with Fiery Peanut Sauce from Robin Robertson’s Nut Butter Universe, so I’ve been making it every few weeks. Fortunately there were leftovers so I was able to have it for two meals last week!

The owners of Rutherford Pancake House just opened Maywood Pancake House in Maywood, NJ, so we headed over for breakfast one day. I had the Roman tofu scramble with home fries.

After the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale, I was exhausted and hungry, so we went to Veggie Heaven in Montclair. I got a dish I’ve never had before, and I’m not sure if it was called Crispy Almond Tofu or Crispy Tofu and Almonds, but you get the point – it was tofu and almonds with a bunch of veggies.

There may have been a giant Whole Foods pizza at some point over the last week too. (Hey, sometimes a girl just wants a pizza!)

Like what you’re reading? Follow me on Facebook!

Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale Final Tally

Montclair Vegans participated in the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale over the weekend, raising… drumroll please… $1,148.27 for Homeless Animal Lifeline. (There was also a nice donation of cat food and pet supplies!) We chose HAL as our beneficiary this year because of the tireless work they have been doing for animals who were displaced by Superstorm Sandy last year. The storm may no longer be nation-wide headline news, but there are many, many families and animals still suffering from the effects of the storm here in NJ.

HAL is a volunteer run organization, and it takes several thousand dollars per month to run their rescue efforts. The majority of the funds comes out of the pockets of volunteers who pay vet bills, food, litter, supplies, gas, etc. If you missed the bake sale, you can still donate! Just go to their website and click the donate button.

We’ve always had really successful bake sales outside Go Lightly in Montclair, but sadly, they closed their doors last year. I was worried that we were now homeless, but Lisa from Culture Couture generously allowed us to set up outside her store, and the space couldn’t be more perfect. We had a nice wide area of sidewalk on a busy corner across from a Starbucks. We had a really talented group of bakers donate yummy baked goods, and several businesses donated treats too, including Sweet Avenue Bake Shop, Killer Vegan and Pink Frosting Bakery. A few people from the local chapter of Mercy of for Animals handed out vegan brochures and directed people our way. It was a beautiful day, and we were all really pleased with how well we did.

I made cookies and cream cupcakes which always sell well.

Pink Frosting Bakery donated dozens and dozens of cake balls. The lemon ones were my favorite. (They were actually the only treats I ate!)

Sweet Avenue also donated cake balls. (You can never have too many cake balls!)

Killer Vegan donated maple pecan and peanut butter and chocolate mini cupcakes. These didn’t last long.

Jenna from Good Good Things made her famous double chocolate brownies.

We had tons more treats, including dozens and dozens of cookies, gingerbread cupcakes, gluten-free mini pizzas, chocolate muffins and even doggie biscuits.

Vegan bake sales are great way to help out charities in need in the community, gather friends and show people that vegan treats taste great. If you’ve never hosted a bake sale before but you want to start one, check out my bake sale tips on Chic Vegan: http://chicvegan.com/how-to-host-a-successful-vegan-bake-sale/

Like what you’re reading? Follow me! Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest

Pasta with Beans and Greens with Creamy Cashew Sauce

After being asked where I get my protein, I’m usually asked where vegans get their calcium. From beans and greens, of course! This recipe fits my at-least-4-colors at every meal rule (green kale, brown mushrooms, white shallots, red sun-dried tomatoes, and black olives), but it also follows Dr Fuhrman’s G-BOMBS plan (greens, beans, onions mushrooms – berries and seeds will have to wait for another meal). I didn’t make it with any plan in mind though – I just knew the combination would taste good!

Ingredients:

12 ounces of pasta (I used Trader Joe’s gluten-free penne)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 shallot, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups button or baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 bunch kale, chopped
1 ½ cup cooked white beans such as cannellini or navy beans
½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, cut into thin strips
1 cup raw cashews, soaked for 2 hours, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 ½ cups vegetable broth or water
1 teaspoon sea salt, divided
¼ cup kalamata olives, chopped, optional

Preparation:

Cook pasta according to directions. Set aside.
Heat oil in large pan over medium high heat. Add shallots and cook for about 5 minutes, until they begin to caramelize. Add mushrooms to the pan along with half a teaspoon of salt and continue cooking for about 10 minutes, until the mushrooms are fragrant and release their liquid.
Add the sun-dried tomatoes, beans and kale to the pan and cook until the kale is wilted and slightly tender, for about 3 minutes.
While the vegetables are cooking, mix the cashews, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, broth or water and ½ teaspoon of sea salt together in a blender. Blend until smooth and creamy.
Stir the pasta, vegetables and beans and cashew cream together. Divide among plates and top with the chopped olives, if using. Enjoy!

Makes 4 – 6 servings

I’m submitting this recipe to Healthy Vegan Fridays and Gluten-Free Fridays.

Like what you’re reading? Follow me! Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest

What I Ate Wednesday – A Typical Day

In my recent What I Ate Wednesday posts, I’ve been showing off special meals, potlucks, road trips and visits to various restaurants. Today I decided to do something a little different and show what I eat in a typical weekday while I’m working from home.

On weekdays I usually start the day with something simple, like a gluten-free English muffin with sliced avocados and nutritional yeast. Sometimes I add some fruit if I have some on hand (and I remember it’s there!). Sometimes I like to start the day out with a smoothie, but lately I’ve been working out first thing in the morning, and I usually want something more substantial when I’m done.

I almost always make myself a giant salad for lunch. I like to add lots of fixin’s so that it fills me for the afternoon. This particular salad is made with romaine, pea shoots, carrot, avocado, baked tofu, chickpeas, tomatoes and pumpkin seeds and it’s topped with Victoria Moran’s Cool Dilly Tofu Dip or Dressing. (The recipe can be found in her book Main Street Vegan.)

After lunch I almost always have a few squares of dark chocolate and a Teeccino latée.

One of my favorite afternoon snacks is a sliced apple with nut butter. This particular day I reached for Jem raw nut butter. I started off with chocolate hazelnut spread, but tragically there was only a small amount left in the jar, so I had a couple of apples slices with it, and the rest had almond cinnamon spread.

Dinner is usually a wild card, and I like to get creative with my evening meal. I rarely make the same thing twice! On this particular day, I made pasta with beans, greens and mushrooms in a cashew cream sauce. The recipe will be up here on my blog tomorrow, so come back and check it out.

And that’s what a typical day is like for my belly! Come back next week to see what else I’ve been eating.

Like what you’re reading? Follow me on Facebook!

Blossom Du Jour Grand Opening

I’ve made no secret of my love for the Blossom vegan restaurant chain in New York City. Between Blossom on 9th Ave, Cafe Blossom on Carmine, Cafe Blossom Uptown and V Note, and amazingly delicious meals on the menu at each location, it’s difficult to choose a favorite.

Recently owner Pamela Elizabeth has spread Blossom’s wings even further with the addition of 3 Blossom Du Jour locations. Blossom Du Jour is “shrewd fast food”, with a menu of food and beverage choices that are both healthful and environmentally conscious as well as being quickly prepared. Blossom Du Jour‘s flagship restaurant just moved to a larger location 259 West 23rd Street (between 7th and 8th Avenues) and now has 15 seats and a larger kitchen.

I was super excited to be invited to the new location’s grand opening last week, and I got to taste some of the amazing food on their menu. I took Jenna from Good Good Things with me, because I knew that she loves Blossom as much as I do. First we sampled the Smokey Avocado Wrap, which was made with avocado, smoked tempeh, tomato, lettuce and chipotle aioli. Sometimes I’ll order sandwich from Blossom for the sole reason that it contains their chipotle aioli, because it’s THAT GOOD.

Next up was the Un-Chicken Avocado Griller. This sandwich was made with in-house grilled lemon un-chicken, avocado, pesto mayonnaise and lettuce. I loved this sandwich so much that I joked with Jenna about grabbing the whole platter and making a run for it.

We also tried some of Blossom Du Jour’s smoothies. There was the Blue Velvet which was made with acai, blueberries, strawberries, bananas and vanilla; Coconut Bliss made with peanut butter, coconut, vanilla, bananas and flax; and the Strawberry Banana Burst made with strawberries, bananas and oj. There were all so good that it’s difficult to pick a favorite.

Their offerings include many more amazing sandwiches, wraps and smoothies, and they also have an extensive range of salads. Blossom Du Jour also serves up breakfast, with a menu consisting of croissants, coffee cake, a savory scramble wrap and organic coffee and tea. Starting this summer, they will add soft-serve dairy-free ice cream to their menu with flavors like butterscotch, cookie dough and chocolate.

There are two other Blossom Du Jours in New York City, located at 617 9th Avenue (between 43rd and 44th Streets) and 165 Amsterdam Avenue (between 67th and 68th Streets). Now if we could only get one in New Jersey!

Like what you’re reading? Follow me! Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest

Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale

Montclair Vegans are at it once again! Our contribution to the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale is this Saturday, April 27th. Proceeds will go to Homeless Animal Lifeline, who have been working tirelessly with animals displaced by last year’s Superstorm Sandy.

When:

Saturday, April 27th

11:00am to 4:00pm

Where:

Culture Couture

53 Church Street, Montclair, NJ

If you’d like to contribute baked goodies or paper goods, please contact me. If you’re hosting your own bake sale and need a few pointers, take a look at my article on running a successful bake sale on Chic Vegan: http://chicvegan.com/how-to-host-a-successful-vegan-bake-sale/

Like what you’re reading? Follow me on Facebook!

Celebrate Vegan Day at Williams Sonoma

Last weekend my local Williams Sonoma had a Celebrate Vegan Day, which was organized by Sally from SO Tasty Vegan and Hiral from Pink Frosting Bakery. The store was packed and it was nice to be able to enjoy the event as an “audience member” rather than a presenter.

Sally demonstrated some really delicious recipes, including sunflower fennel and citrus slaw collard green wraps, and with roasted herb infused vegetable napoleons with basil pesto and tofu ricotta. I will admit that I ate several of each. Sally posted her recipes on her blog so you can recreate the dishes at home. She’ll be doing weekly pop-up dinners in Montclair starting next week and I’m looking forward to trying more of her mouthwatering dishes!

Hiral handed out samples of Pink Frosting Bakery’s amazing vegan cakes. I sampled quite a few, and they were all really delicious.

Miss Nicky was also on hand with her vegan and gluten-free Bobbi cookies. These cookies were developed for makeup artist Bobbi Brown and can be found Mesob, one of my favorite restaurants.

Some of my friends from the local chapter of Mercy for Animals were also on hand, handing out pamphlets on veganism and directing people inside to try the tasty food.

It’s great to see veganism embraced by a large store like Williams Sonoma. I hope the trend continues!

Like what you’re reading? Follow me! Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest

Thai Coconut Tempeh with Pineapple Salsa

I live in such a large vegan bubble, that I sometimes forget that there are still meat eaters out there in the world. I’m painfully reminded of the fact when I flip through a “mainstream” magazine and see recipes for all sorts of meaty dishes. Most of the recipes seem pretty gross to me, but every once in a while a dish will stand out as something that would taste really good if it was veganized. This Thai Coconut Tempeh dish was adapted from a chicken recipe in this month’s issue of Martha Stewart Magazine. I was lured in by the words “coconut” and “pineapple”, and the recipe was easily veganized by swapping out chicken for tempeh and fish sauce for tamari. I also added some vegetables to the dish to give it a nutrient boost, and I served it with a side of sautéed kale, because every meal should contain some greens.

Ingredients:

2-8 ounce packages tempeh, cut into 1” cubes
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
2 teaspoons tamari or Braggs Liquid Aminos
1 cup coconut milk
¼ cup vegetable broth
1 ½ cups fresh pineapple, chopped, divided
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 Thai chile pepper, chopped
Pinch of sea salt
Pince of crushed red pepper, optional
3 – 4 cups cooked brown rice

Preparation:

Heat the coconut oil in a large pan or skillet over medium heat. Add the tempeh to the oil and cook for about 2 or 3 minutes per side, until each side is lightly golden. Remove the tempeh from heat and set aside.
Add the onions, and pepper to the pan and heat for about 5 minutes, until the ginger is fragrant and the onion is translucent.
While the vegetables are cooking, mix together the coconut milk, broth soy sauce, ginger, garlic and ½ cup of the pineapple in a small bowl. Set aside.
Add the tempeh back into the pan along with the coconut milk mixture a pinch of salt and the crushed red pepper, if using. Bring to a boil. Stir, reduce heat to low and partially cover. Simmer for 5 to 8 minutes, until heated throughout.
While the dish is simmering, mix together chile, scallions and remaining pineapple in a small bowl.
Divide the tempeh and vegetable mixture among serving dishes, and serve with cooked rice and pineapple salsa. Serve hot. Enjoy!

Serves 4

I’m submitting this recipe to Healthy Vegan Fridays and Gluten-Free Fridays.

Like what you’re reading? Follow me! Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest

What I Ate Wednesday

It’s Wednesday, which means that it’s time to show you what I ate! This week instead of showing what I ate on a particular day, I’m going to show a bunch of random meals I’ve eaten over the past 7 days.

Some of my home cooked meals include salad (I eat a giant salad just about every day!), Tiramisu Pancakes from Chloe’s Vegan Desserts (the pancakes tasted much better than they looked!), Save the Kales’ Miso-Curry Glazed Squash, Tofu and Kale with Chickpeas, Potatoes and Pepitas and my own Thai Coconut Tempeh with Pineapple Salsa (the recipe will be here on my blog tomorrow).

Sometimes I just don’t feel like cooking, and when that happened last week I decided to try a new Daiya frozen pizza. Unfortunately my ancient oven burnt it, but it was still pretty tasty, and I’m sure it would be even better if it was cooked properly. I served it with a giant side salad.

I trekked into Manhattan one day and had lunch at Peacefood Cafe’s new downtown location with my friend Lisa. I had chickpea fries and mediterranean oven-dried seasonal vegetables sandwich, which was made with cashew cheese and pesto. I loved it so much that I want Peacefood to open a cafe in NJ so I can eat like this more often!

On Saturday night, Dennis and I went out to eat at Lalibela Ethiopian Restaurant in South Orange. We started out with Yetimatim Fitfit and then we had a vegetarian sampler with various vegetable and bean dishes. My favorite is the chickpea Shimbra Asa.

And there you have the dietary highlights of my week! Come back next week to see more of my culinary adventures.

Like what you’re reading? Follow me on Facebook!

Dreena Burton’s Sticky Almond Blondies and a Plant-Powered 15 Giveaway

When I went vegan way back when, it was difficult to find vegan cookbooks at my local bookstore (vegetarian books were easy to come by, but veganism was too “radical”). I happened upon a book by Dreena Burton one day was happy to find a cookbook full of delicious and easy to make recipes that weren’t full of hard-to-find ingredients and didn’t take hours in the kitchen to put together. So now I’m super excited to be hosting Dreena on her blog tour in support of her new Plant-Powered 15! Plant-Powered 15 is an eBook that contains (you guessed it) 15 new recipes, all of which feature whole-foods ingredients: whole grains, whole-grain flours, beans, nuts, seeds, vegetables, natural sweeteners, and no oil. The recipes include breakfast dishes, dinner entrees, soups, dressings and desserts, and Dreena throws in a few plant-powdered tips along the way. Plant-Powered 15 can be purchased on Dreena’s website, the Plant-Powered Kitchen.

From Plant-Powered 15, here’s Dreena’s Sticky Almond Blondies…

Sticky Almond Blondies

These are positively delicious. They have the dense, sticky, decadent texture and quality of a traditional blondie, yet are made with wholesome ingredients – and no flour or oil!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp ground white chia
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla
1/2 tsp blackstrap molasses
1/2 cup pitted dates, lightly packed
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 + 1/8 tsp sea salt
few pinches freshly grated nutmeg
2 1/2 cups almond meal
1/2 cup coconut sugar
2-3 tbsp nondairy chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 325°F. In mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, add ground chia, maple syrup, lemon juice, vanilla, molasses, and dates. Process on low speed to first incorporate, and then increase speed slightly to fully pulverize and smooth dates. Once smooth, turn off mixer and add baking soda, salt, and nutmeg – mix just briefly and then add almond meal, and coconut sugar. Process on low speed until mixer just comes together (do not over-mix). Transfer mixture to an 8” x 8” brownie pan, and press in with a spatula. If using chocolate chips, lightly press into top of batter. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove, let cool completely, and cut into squares. Squares can be refrigerated for a week or more (as if they’ll last)! Makes 16 blondies.

Chocolate Note: I usually make these without chocolate chips, and sometimes I’ll simply sprinkle a few chips over top of half the batch – either way, these are crazy-good!

Recipe from “Plant-Powered 15” by Dreena Burton. For more recipes and information, visit www.plantpoweredkitchen.com. Photo credit: Nicole Axworthy

Dreena is generously giving one lucky winner a free copy of Plant-Powered 15! There are three chances to win – you can do just one or all three of the following – please leave a comment letting me know that you did each one:

Leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite plant-powered dish is.
Like VeggieGirl on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VeggiegirlHHC
Like Dreena Burton on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dreena-Burton/260878040651278

The contest ends at midnight EST on Monday, April 22nd, 2013. Good luck!