Snobby Joes
I’m not sure how I have lived so long without these…they are definitely a keeper! Another goodie from Isa Chandra…these “snobby joes” are certain to please both vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. We ate them on buns with organic ketchup (way better tasting than regular!), mustard, and pickles. If you wanted to omit the bread, you could serve them in lettuce wraps. These were SO TASTY. Wow.
I tweaked the original recipe a bit…up the chili powder if you like it spicier!
Ingredients
1 cup uncooked lentils
4 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced small
1 green pepper, diced small (optional)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 – 1 Tablespoons chili powder (orig. recipe called for 3!)
1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
1 teaspoon salt
8 oz can tomato sauce
1/4 cup tomato paste
3 tablespoons maple syrup
1-2 tablespoons yellow mustard (wet mustard)
4 to 6 kaiser rolls or sesame buns
Directions
Put the lentils in a small sauce pot and pour in 4 cups water. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, until lentils are soft. Drain and set aside.
About 10 minutes before the lentils are done boiling, preheat a medium soup pot over medium heat. Saute the onion and pepper in the oil for about 7 minutes, until softened. Add the garlic and saute a minute more.
Add the cooked lentils, the chili powder, oregano and salt and mix. Add the tomato sauce and tomato paste. Cook for about 10 minutes. Add the maple syrup and mustard and heat through.
Turn the heat off and let sit for about 10 minutes, so that the flavors can meld, or go ahead and eat immediately if you can’t wait. I like to serve these open faced, with a scoop of snobby joe on each slice of the bun. 
Beautiful Beets
My midwife, Rebecca, encouraged me to eat beets during my pregnancy…so I promptly went to the coop and bought 2 different varieties, but they sat uneaten in the back of my fridge for weeks. Finally, upon seeing them, I had a craving and decided to cook them up. I do love beets…I grew up eating them fresh from my parent’s garden, but I didn’t know of (or care about) the awesome health benefits back then! 🙂
Beets are super high in folate, which is essential when you’re growing a baby! It also has a decent level of iron and tons of other nutrients. There are several different ways to eat beets:
- Roast or boil until tender…season with lemon juice, olive oil, herbs, etc.
- Grate raw beets over your salads (I love this!)
- Juice them!
- Marinate/steam the greens just like you would with mustard or collard greens.
This particular variety of beets has a striped pink and white flesh and is called a “chioggia” beet. Aren’t they so beautiful? It was such a surprise when I cut into it! It’s a pre-1840 Italian heirloom garden beet and I had never seen it before. But the coop had a bunch of kinds, so I thought I should mix it up! I will definitely be buying more. Yum.
Lindsay’s Garden Chowder
I saw this recipe on Lindsay’s blog, Passionate Homemaking…and I knew I had to try it! I did tweak her original recipe a bit for our tastes … and it was soooooo yummy (the recipe below is the way we made it). We all LOVED it. I made the agave vegan cornbread muffins to go with it…a perfect pairing. This will definitely be going into our regular rotation. It made enough for the three of us to have it for supper and lunch the next day.
Lindsay’s Garden Chowder
1 medium onion, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
1/4 cup butter or Earth Balance
1 1/2 cups potato, diced
2 cups cauliflower, chopped
1-2 carrots, sliced
2 cups broccoli, chopped
6 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon salt (more to taste)
3 garlic cloves
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 cup flour or arrowroot powder (optional)
1 – 1 1/2 cups unsweetened soy or almond milk
1 T minced fresh parsley (optional)
1/4 t paprika
1/4 t coriander
1/4 t ground mustard (increase as desired)
1 cup shredded cheese (stir in 1/2 cup just before serving, and top with the remainder)
In a Dutch oven or large pot, saute green pepper, onion and butter until tender. Add vegetables, water, bouillon, salt and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Combine flour and milk until smooth; stir into pan. Allow to thicken at a low temperature. Add the parsley and other spices and allow to simmer for 5 more minutes. Just before serving, stir in the cheese until melted. Yield: 6-8 servings.
Vegan Agave Cornbread Muffins
I had another pantry success tonight and just had to share a new recipe. I had some butternut squash in the freezer from some time ago and also some apples (that were not really tasty raw because they were getting old, but cook for cooking). My family LOVES the Sweet Potato, Squash, and Apple Soup that I’ve posted about before, and it’s a great pantry recipe. I didn’t have any sweet potatoes, but I just adjusted the recipe accordingly.
The new recipe comes via the delicious cornbread muffins I made to go with it. Oh my yumminess. Now, I’ve made lots different cornbread muffins in the past, but I’ve never had one that I loved. They were always a bit too dry for me. But this one has applesauce in it and that did the trick. They are super moist and perfect. I found this recipe on the All Recipes site. Sorry, no photos this time. I was going to take some, but then my pregnancy appetite and forgetfulness kicked in and I ate them too fast while forgetting that I even wanted to take photos in the first place.
Check it out and enjoy!
Vegan Agave Cornbread Muffins
This recipe makes about 9 small muffins. Great for the 3 of us, but those of you with larger families will probably need to double it.
- 1/2 cup cornmeal
- 1/2 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1/2 cup soy, almond, rice, or hemp milk
- 1/4 cup agave nectar or maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Lightly grease a muffin pan.
- Combine the cornmeal, flour, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl; stir in the applesauce, soy milk, and agave nectar. Slowly add the oil while stirring. Pour the mixture into the muffin pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick or small knife inserted in the crown of a muffin comes out clean, 15 to 20 minutes.
Something From Nothing
We’ve been working on our budget for 2009…and we’re going back to my favorite method. Cash budget! Using cash only really helps me when I’m at the grocery store. I pay MUCH closer attention to what I’m putting in my cart, I look for the specials, menu plan ahead of time, etc. Love it. I’m always up for a good challenge, and when I know that I only have X amount in my wallet, I’m thrilled when I don’t spend it all 🙂
With that said, I’ve been taking inventory of my pantry to see how long we could go without going on a major grocery run. I made a big list of all the ingredients I had on hand and also all the meals I could make. I came up with 9 meals out of “nothing”! Yay! One of the meals I came up with is the one you see above.
Here are the things I had to work with:
- A big bag of quinoa: I love quinoa because it cooks so much faster than brown rice and it has such a high protein level. I made twice as much as I needed and then put the rest in the fridge for another day.
- Broccoli (I found a big Costco bag of it in the bag of the fridge…sometimes I get a little over zealous and think that we will eat it all, but we never do. So even though some of it was getting mushy, most of it was good. I picked out enough for this meal and then put the rest of it into freezer bags for other meals.
- Snap peas: I used some of this bag of peas for something quite awhile ago, but amazingly, they were still totally fresh and yummy. I love snap peas, so I was thrilled.
So, I have these ingredients, and I decide to whip up some stir-fry. I like my stir fry to have a little kick, so I Googled a sauce recipe to loosely follow and oh my…it was delish. I squeezed some fresh orange juice from some OLD (but apparently still good) oranges in the pantry, added some fresh ginger, garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce…and poured it on top of the veggies while it sauteed. Healthy, tasty…cheap!
Normally, I would have added tofu to this and probably some shitake mushrooms as well. But because I had taken inventory of what I had, I knew I wanted to keep those things for my miso soup recipe later. Being that the quinoa is so high in protein, it was a well-rounded meal without those things.
Here are more of my favorite “something from nothing” pantry meals:
- Pancakes: I always make my own (basic vegan recipe from “How it all Vegan”) and love to top it with whatever I have on hand. My favorite is peanut butter, bananas, and pure maple syrup. If we have have blueberries on hand, I will mix those into the batter…but you could also use thawed frozen berries as well. More topping ideas: walnuts, applesauce, any nut butters, the possibilites are endless.
- Eggs: If you’re not vegan…eggs are a great cheap option for quick protein. We LOVE hard boiled eggs, but often make egg sandwiches or just scramble them.
- Beans and Rice: Can’t forget this pantry staple. You can dress this up in so many ways it’s ridiculous. Put it into a tortilla, or top it with veggies, add some sweet thai chili sauce…yum.
- Curries: I try to keep several cans of coconut milk on hand…and as long as I have some rice, curry powder or paste, and frozen veggies, I have a meal.
- Baked potatoes: Bake a bunch of taters and top them with shredded cheese, beans, salsa…whatever you have on hand.
- Soup and bread/muffins: You can make a soup from pretty much anything! I keep the all natural veggie bouillon cubes in my pantry at all times so I can have an instant broth. Add whatever veggies and beans you have on hand and some herbs voila! Soup! Throw it on the table with some homemade bread or quick corn muffins and it’s a perfect meal.
I’m sure I’m not the only one watching my budget carefully right now…what is your favorite pantry meal?
The TLT
This is my most recent love. The TLT. Tempeh Lettuce Tomato…but with a twist. The tomatoes are roasted, which gives it a deliciously sweet flavor, and the tempeh marinade is amazing. If you’ve been scared of using tempeh, this would be a great recipe to start with. You can find tempeh in the freezer or cooler at your natural foods store, or most large grocery stores. Don’t be worried when you open it and it looks “moldy”. Tempeh is fermented soybeans…hence the moldy look. It’s still good. Don’t throw it away! The best way to describe it is kind of nutty and chewy…with more of a “meat” texture for those of you who have family members who need that 😉 It’s also high in protein
Here are a few tips:
- I’ve tried marinating both for 4 hours and also overnight. The overnight marinade is MUCH tastier. Just cover it and throw it in the fridge.
- The recipe calls for just avocado as the condiment, but I REALLY like veganaise, so I added some of that too. It totally changes the flavor. LOVE it.
- You wouldn’t have to roast the tomatoes…it does add one more step, but they are super tasty.
- Some seedy whole grain bread works best.
- Although this seems like a really involved recipe just for a sandwich, it’s soooo worth it. And once you make it once, you get the hang of it and it goes super fast. I usually prepare everything the night before or the morning of and have it for lunch.
TLT Sandwich Recipe
From this amazing webiste. They update frequently…so check it out!
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup shoyu sauce (or soy sauce)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons brown sugar (or maple syrup)
3 tablespoons adobo sauce from a can of chipotle peppers (optional)
8 ounces of tempeh, cut into 1/3-inch thick strips
(I use the tempeh that is made of soybeans, brown rice, and a mixture of other grains)
1 small basket of cherry tomatoes (2 cups)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil olive oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar (or maple syrup)
scant 1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 small head of romaine lettuce, cored, then cut into 1/4-inch ribbons
1-2 large avocados, mashed with a pinch of salt just before assembling
4 or 8 extra-thin slices of hearty whole grain bread, well toasted
Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
Whisk together the 3 tablespoons of olive oil, shoyu, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar and adobo sauce. Pour 1/3 of the tempeh marinade into an 8×8 baking dish (or something comparable) – you want a dish that is just big enough to hold the tempeh in a single layer – this way it will be fully enveloped by the marinade. Pour the remaining marinade over the top of the tempeh, cover and keep in the refrigerator for a couple hours, overnight or until ready to use.
While the tempeh is marinating, go ahead and roast the tomatoes. Cut each tomato in half and arrange them in a large oven-proof baking dish. Mix together the olive oil, sugar, and salt and pour this over the tomatoes. Gently toss them a bit, making sure they all get coated, finishing with each tomato facing cut-side up. Place in the oven and bake for 45 minutes or so, until the tomatoes are shrunken and sweet.
When the tempeh is done marinating heat a large pan over medium-high heat and cook the tempeh slices for a few minutes on each side. You may need to do this in batches if you don’t have a big enough pan. Set the tempeh slices aside until you are ready to assemble the sandwiches.
To assemble each sandwich take one slice of bread and slather a generous layer of mashed avocado. Place a small helping of the shredded lettuce on top of the avocado, a few tomatoes, then a few slices of the tempeh, and more tomatoes. Enjoy either open faced or topped with another avocado-slathered bread slice.
Makes four sandwiches.
Raw Food and Pregnancy
*Edited to add: I forget that some of you may not read my other blogs, and may not even know that I’m pregnant 🙂 So…surprise! I’m pregnant! Due in late May/early June.*
Hello fellow foodies!
Several of you have commented or emailed asking questions about the raw food diet during pregnancy and if I would continue. I have been VERY nauseous during the first trimester, and unfortunately, most raw foods made me want to run in the opposite direction! 🙂 Including green smoothies. It was very frustrating because I knew my body needed it, but it would reject it every time. Now that I’m in my 13th week…the fog has lifted a bit, and I am able to start adding back my favorite raw foods. It’s amazing to me that just a few weeks ago, a big salad turned my stomach, and today I devoured an entire head of kale. I will slowly be adding back smoothies, as my stomach allows.
I have done research on eating a completely raw diet during pregnancy, with wonderful results. If you aren’t familiar with Jinjee and her raw pregnancies, defintely check out her site/eBook. It’s well worth the read. For me personally, I’m currently eating a mostly vegan diet with as much raw as I can. When I say “mostly vegan”, I don’t mean that I’m eating meat, but that I am eating eggs and occasionally organic cheese. For milk, we use soy or almond milk. I will continue to up my greens daily…I see so much value in greens during pregnancy and know that it will keep my iron levels and energy up. My main goal is to eat a varied diet of many colors, with as much raw as possible and I am comfortable with that. I also take Rainbow Light “Complete Prenatal System” vitamins, along with fish oils, and some grapefruit seed extract for yeast prevention, etc.
This blog will naturally gravitate back towards healthy vegan/vegetarian fare, and I will post new yummy recipes as I find them 🙂 Have a Happy Foody day!
Mighty Miso Soup
Another goody from a favorite cookbook of mine, How it all Vegan by Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard. This was SO easy to make and much more tasty than I expected. If you’ve ever had miso soup when you’ve gone out for sushi…multiply the yumminess by 10 and that’s this soup. It’s got so much healthy goodness in it…and so much taste. The perfect healing soup…when I was pregnant with Bella, my midwife told me that it would be a great after-birth replenishing meal.
Here is an excerpt from the intro in the cookbook…very educational 🙂
Miso is a fermented bean/grain paste that orignated in Asia. There are 3 varieties of miso: soybean, barley, and brown rice. I like to use the brown rice miso in this recipe because I find it has the best taste. Combining miso with shitake mushrooms creates a balanced protein. Shitakes not only enhance the soup’s flavor but also contain all 8 essential amino acids the body needs. A word of caution, NEVER boil or overcook your miso; this kills all of its nutrients. Always add your miso just before removing the soup from the heat.
Mighty Miso Soup
3 1/2 cups water
1/2 cup medium or firm tofu
2 large shitake mushrooms or 1 cup frozen
3 T dried seaweed, chopped (hijiki is best)
2-3 heaping T of miso paste (more or less to taste)
3 stalks green onions, chopped
3 T spinach, chopped (or kale, bok choy, or swiss chard)
In a medium pot, add the water, tofu, mushrooms, and dried seawood and bring to a boil on medium-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 5-8 minutes, until mushrooms are tender. Remove from heat, stir in the miso, onions, and spinach, and let sit for 30 seconds. Makes 4 servings.
Sara’s Tips:
- I used the sweet white miso and it was delicious!
- The frozen shitakes worked great.
- Dissolve your miso in a little warm water first, before adding it to the soup. I didn’t do this, and ended up with giant chunks of miso in the soup.
- Enjoy!!
Oranges + Spinach = Happy
I LOVE putting oranges in my green smoothies. They just don’t taste right to me without them! And you should put some in yours too. BECAUSE…the oranges help you to absorb the iron in the spinach or other greens. Get all the iron you can and add an orange!! Yum yum.
Photo credit: Christine (Flickr)
Struggle vs. Challenge
I really liked this article on struggle vs. challenge by Dhrumil…lots of great stuff to think about.
Here is one paragraph in particular that really resonated with me::
“Yeah.” Nature continued, “And there have been times that I’ve wanted steamed vegetables since I’ve been raw and I have no problem having them. It’s not that I crave them, I just enjoy them. It may be once a week, but even if I wanted them more often I would have no problem with that either. And if I wanted anything else that’d be fine too.”
“You don’t feel bad that you’re not eating 100% raw?”, I asked.
“But that’s never been the goal for me. The goal is to have a beautiful relationship with food and feel joy. And I feel because I do, that’s why I been able to come this far without a struggle. I’m healthy and happy. Food isn’t my focus, it’s my nourishment.”
Happy Foody 