Thursday, March 3, 2011
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Vegan MoFo - Day 2
Pretty rockin' cruelty-free day! Today's line-up was easy vegan fare that can be created quickly and easily at home.
Breakfast: Hummus with vegetables
While it may sound weird to people around the world who aren't used to it, hummus is a breakfast food. It can be eaten any time of day, of course, but we Israelis are fairly fond of it in the early hours of the day (let's be honest - all hours of the day).
Today's breakfast was quick and easy, mostly because I started with a pre-made hummus that I purchased from Whole Foods (I'm in Arkansas right now). I find (if you don't have time or a good food processor) that it is easy to start with a decent pre-made hummus and flavor it up a bit on your own for a tastier meal.
So, I slapped some hummus into a bowl, added about 1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to improve the consistency, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice for flavor, and stirred. Then I sprinkled a bit of salt on top and got eating!
Instead of bread for this meal, as I didn't have any vegan bread in the house, I went with cut veggies: sliced cucumber, purple onion, grape tomatoes, and broccoli (all raw, washed, and dried). Just dip them in the hummus and enjoy! Choose whatever vegetables you like; I especially like bell peppers with it.
This meal is great any time of day and would also be a great afternoon snack. Hummus stays fresh in the fridge for about a week (add a bit of olive oil if it dries out). Don't keep hummus longer than one or two weeks, though, as it can make you ill. And, keep it refrigerated when you're not eating it.
Lunch: Bean Burritos
Bean burritos are simple to make, freeze well, and reheat easily. I use whole wheat tortillas and, today, pre-made vegetarian refried beans. I prefer to make my own refried beans, but canned ones are a big time saver. My favorite thing to do is take some time on a weekend and cook up a big batch of my own bean burrito filling, wrap them up, and freeze them individually, to be eaten for lunches or whenever I don't have time to cook. When reheating, warm them in the oven or microwave and throw on your favorite salsa when they are almost hot enough. Below is my filling recipe. Warning: if you don't know how to wrap a burrito, click here for a quick, but shirtless demonstration by some random guy on youtube. Improperly wrapped burritos will make a mess when reheated.
Burrito filling with canned refried beans
3 cans vegetarian refried beans (check the label to make sure)
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 can diced green chilies with juice
1 whole onion, diced
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
Cilantro (to taste)
Lime juice (to taste)
Stir all ingredients together and cook on low heat on the stove for about 10 minutes, or until mixture starts to pop frequently - stir frequently during this process to avoid burning. Remove from heat. If your tortillas are stiff, microwave them for 15 seconds with a damp paper towel over them - this should soften them up. When the filling and tortillas are ready, Place about 3/4 cup filling in each tortilla and roll (this will vary by the size of the tortilla). I recommend then wrapping each burrito in wax paper if you are going to be freezing them and placing them all in an air-tight container to freeze. If you're eating them immediately, then just go ahead and throw some salsa on top and enjoy!
That's the second day of November in food. I'm invited out for dinner tonight, so hopefully the vegan challenge will still be met. We'll see...
Breakfast: Hummus with vegetables
While it may sound weird to people around the world who aren't used to it, hummus is a breakfast food. It can be eaten any time of day, of course, but we Israelis are fairly fond of it in the early hours of the day (let's be honest - all hours of the day).
Today's breakfast was quick and easy, mostly because I started with a pre-made hummus that I purchased from Whole Foods (I'm in Arkansas right now). I find (if you don't have time or a good food processor) that it is easy to start with a decent pre-made hummus and flavor it up a bit on your own for a tastier meal.
So, I slapped some hummus into a bowl, added about 1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil to improve the consistency, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice for flavor, and stirred. Then I sprinkled a bit of salt on top and got eating!
Instead of bread for this meal, as I didn't have any vegan bread in the house, I went with cut veggies: sliced cucumber, purple onion, grape tomatoes, and broccoli (all raw, washed, and dried). Just dip them in the hummus and enjoy! Choose whatever vegetables you like; I especially like bell peppers with it.
This meal is great any time of day and would also be a great afternoon snack. Hummus stays fresh in the fridge for about a week (add a bit of olive oil if it dries out). Don't keep hummus longer than one or two weeks, though, as it can make you ill. And, keep it refrigerated when you're not eating it.
Lunch: Bean Burritos
Bean burritos are simple to make, freeze well, and reheat easily. I use whole wheat tortillas and, today, pre-made vegetarian refried beans. I prefer to make my own refried beans, but canned ones are a big time saver. My favorite thing to do is take some time on a weekend and cook up a big batch of my own bean burrito filling, wrap them up, and freeze them individually, to be eaten for lunches or whenever I don't have time to cook. When reheating, warm them in the oven or microwave and throw on your favorite salsa when they are almost hot enough. Below is my filling recipe. Warning: if you don't know how to wrap a burrito, click here for a quick, but shirtless demonstration by some random guy on youtube. Improperly wrapped burritos will make a mess when reheated.
Burrito filling with canned refried beans
3 cans vegetarian refried beans (check the label to make sure)
1 can diced tomatoes, drained
1 can diced green chilies with juice
1 whole onion, diced
Salt (to taste)
Pepper (to taste)
Cilantro (to taste)
Lime juice (to taste)
Stir all ingredients together and cook on low heat on the stove for about 10 minutes, or until mixture starts to pop frequently - stir frequently during this process to avoid burning. Remove from heat. If your tortillas are stiff, microwave them for 15 seconds with a damp paper towel over them - this should soften them up. When the filling and tortillas are ready, Place about 3/4 cup filling in each tortilla and roll (this will vary by the size of the tortilla). I recommend then wrapping each burrito in wax paper if you are going to be freezing them and placing them all in an air-tight container to freeze. If you're eating them immediately, then just go ahead and throw some salsa on top and enjoy!
That's the second day of November in food. I'm invited out for dinner tonight, so hopefully the vegan challenge will still be met. We'll see...
Recipes from Day 1 of Vegan MoFo
November 1 = Day 1 of Vegan MoFo
I was vegan most of the day, until I attended a party where most of the food was dairy (and the rest was meat). Clearly, I'm going to have to prepare for parties if I want this vegan thing to stick. That all said, I did enjoy some yummy vegan meals yesterday, so thought I'd tell you about them.
For breakfast, I enjoyed a wonderful smoothie, the recipe of which came from the lovely Emily Segal. Don't know if she's posted the recipe and I'm not going to give it away (since it's not mine), but do check out her great blog at http://www.emilysegal.blogspot.com/.
Although I'm not posting that recipe, now is a wonderful time to tell everyone about my favorite things to add to smoothies. I've learned that you can pretty much throw whatever you want in a quality blender, blend it up, and drink it. It is not too time consuming and can be super tasty if you combine the right stuff. The base I use for most of my smoothies is a banana or two, soymilk, and some ice cubes. Then I add whatever fruit I have on hand, spinach, and flax seeds. Also, cucumbers and carrots are great veggie additions. If I want something more filling, I add tofu or tahina or peanut butter. Basically, I just toss in whatever sounds good, add a bit more soy milk if it's too thick, and enjoy. I do differ from many smoothie makers in that I like to throw in unsoaked, raw almonds. I enjoy the tiny little crunchy bits this adds. You are welcome to soak your almonds, but I'll keep skipping that step.
For lunch, I made a super easy veggie chili. Recipe is below, but you can totally switch out any ingredients you either can't find or don't like for something else. And, if you don't like canned stuff, don't use it - it's your choice. Like I said, it's super easy.
Super Easy Veggie Chili
2 cans diced tomatoes with their juice
1 can tomato paste
1 can black beans with juice
1 can red beans with juice
1 can white beans with juice
1 can corn, drained
1 can green chilies with juice
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced bell pepper
1 head diced garlic
Throw all the above ingredients into a big pot or crock pot, stir together, heat on medium. Then add spices, to taste, as below.
Salt
Pepper
Chili powder
Cumin
Ginger
Oregano
Cilantro
Stir whatever spices you choose to add into your big bowl of yummy chili. Place the lid on the pot and let it cook for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. After that time, taste the chili and adjust the spices accordingly. Then, reduce the heat to low, cover again, and leave the chili to simmer for at least 30 more minutes. The longer it cooks, the richer the flavor. Make sure you continue to stir occasionally and adjust spices as needed. At that point, when you are ready to eat, the chili is ready to eat. I recommend serving it up and sprinkling some raw sunflower and flax seeds on top, to add crunch. Then, of course, enjoy! This chili makes great leftovers, refrigerated, for about 1 week.
And that's all for Day 1 of Vegan MoFo. More recipes to follow for Day 2. :-)
I was vegan most of the day, until I attended a party where most of the food was dairy (and the rest was meat). Clearly, I'm going to have to prepare for parties if I want this vegan thing to stick. That all said, I did enjoy some yummy vegan meals yesterday, so thought I'd tell you about them.
For breakfast, I enjoyed a wonderful smoothie, the recipe of which came from the lovely Emily Segal. Don't know if she's posted the recipe and I'm not going to give it away (since it's not mine), but do check out her great blog at http://www.emilysegal.blogspot.com/.
Although I'm not posting that recipe, now is a wonderful time to tell everyone about my favorite things to add to smoothies. I've learned that you can pretty much throw whatever you want in a quality blender, blend it up, and drink it. It is not too time consuming and can be super tasty if you combine the right stuff. The base I use for most of my smoothies is a banana or two, soymilk, and some ice cubes. Then I add whatever fruit I have on hand, spinach, and flax seeds. Also, cucumbers and carrots are great veggie additions. If I want something more filling, I add tofu or tahina or peanut butter. Basically, I just toss in whatever sounds good, add a bit more soy milk if it's too thick, and enjoy. I do differ from many smoothie makers in that I like to throw in unsoaked, raw almonds. I enjoy the tiny little crunchy bits this adds. You are welcome to soak your almonds, but I'll keep skipping that step.
For lunch, I made a super easy veggie chili. Recipe is below, but you can totally switch out any ingredients you either can't find or don't like for something else. And, if you don't like canned stuff, don't use it - it's your choice. Like I said, it's super easy.
Super Easy Veggie Chili
2 cans diced tomatoes with their juice
1 can tomato paste
1 can black beans with juice
1 can red beans with juice
1 can white beans with juice
1 can corn, drained
1 can green chilies with juice
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced bell pepper
1 head diced garlic
Throw all the above ingredients into a big pot or crock pot, stir together, heat on medium. Then add spices, to taste, as below.
Salt
Pepper
Chili powder
Cumin
Ginger
Oregano
Cilantro
Stir whatever spices you choose to add into your big bowl of yummy chili. Place the lid on the pot and let it cook for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. After that time, taste the chili and adjust the spices accordingly. Then, reduce the heat to low, cover again, and leave the chili to simmer for at least 30 more minutes. The longer it cooks, the richer the flavor. Make sure you continue to stir occasionally and adjust spices as needed. At that point, when you are ready to eat, the chili is ready to eat. I recommend serving it up and sprinkling some raw sunflower and flax seeds on top, to add crunch. Then, of course, enjoy! This chili makes great leftovers, refrigerated, for about 1 week.
And that's all for Day 1 of Vegan MoFo. More recipes to follow for Day 2. :-)
Monday, November 1, 2010
Vegan MoFo
It's November now. Not really sure how that happened. Time passes so quickly these days. But, November brings with it the Vegan Month of Food. 2010 will be my first year to participate in this month of vegan blogging, but it's the fourth year for the campaign. If you've never heard of it and would like to know more, click on the link above or here for the history.
As an on-again, off-again vegan, I thought this would be a great time to get me back to my desired eating habits and away from excuses like "but I haven't had any of [fill in the blank] in so long." Constantly traveling and changing countries is always going to leave me with food I miss, so I need to find a way around these issues that doesn't involve just throwing out my morals for a yummy flavor. Enter Vegan MoFo, a little inspiration and, hopefully, a lot of good recipes.
Since I am a sporadic blogger, at best, don't expect lengthly daily posts. But, I'll do my best to post thoughts, ideas, hardships, and recipes on here as often as I can. I will also be tweeting about these things, so be sure to follow me, if you're interested. Comments and questions would help me be more committed, so take a few seconds and get involved. And don't forget to check out Vegan MoFo headquarters for other participants.
As an on-again, off-again vegan, I thought this would be a great time to get me back to my desired eating habits and away from excuses like "but I haven't had any of [fill in the blank] in so long." Constantly traveling and changing countries is always going to leave me with food I miss, so I need to find a way around these issues that doesn't involve just throwing out my morals for a yummy flavor. Enter Vegan MoFo, a little inspiration and, hopefully, a lot of good recipes.
Since I am a sporadic blogger, at best, don't expect lengthly daily posts. But, I'll do my best to post thoughts, ideas, hardships, and recipes on here as often as I can. I will also be tweeting about these things, so be sure to follow me, if you're interested. Comments and questions would help me be more committed, so take a few seconds and get involved. And don't forget to check out Vegan MoFo headquarters for other participants.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Wow...
It's amazing how people that you clearly think are friends can be so thoughtless and rude. I am still amazed whenever something like that happens. Perhaps I shouldn't be. Perhaps I should be more cynical by now. I continue to hold on to my faith in people, though. Thanks to all those in my life who remind me that I should.
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