Sweet Potato Curry with Spinach and Chickpeas and Basmati Rice (vegan)

The following serves 4 hungry souls ... :)

Sweet Potato Curry with Spinach and Chickpeas

Ingredients:
1 yellow onion, sliced in thin strips
1-2 tablespoons canola oil
1 - 1 1/2 tablespoons curry powder (I use medium hot madras style curry)
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
10 oz fresh baby spinach
3 medium size sweet potatoes
1 (14oz) can chickpeas
1/2 cup water
2 cans (14oz each) diced tomatoes
1 bunch fresh cilantro leaves for garnish
Optional: I like to serve my curry with Tofutti brand vegan tofu sour cream

Method:
Peel and dice sweet potatoes into about 3/4 inch cubes. Steam sweet potatoes until just tender. Meanwhile, heat oil over medium heat and add onions. Saute onions until translucent and tender. Add spices and stir to coat onions evenly. Stir in the tomatoes and their juices and the chickpeas. Simmer this mixture for a couple minutes. Add the spinach, a couple handfuls at a time, and stir to coat with the cooking juices. Cover and simmer on low heat until just wilted. Stir in the cooked sweet potatoes. Simmer for another 5 minutes to allow the flavors to come together.
Serve over basmati rice and garnish with chopped cilantro leaves. Serve with a scoop of Tofutti vegan tofu sour cream, if desired.

Basmati Rice

Ingredients:
2 cups dry Basmati rice
7 whole cloves
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon cumin
3 cups water
canola oil
a few thin slices of onion

Method:
Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat and add the onion slices when hot. Saute onion until translucent and soft. Stir in dry rice and spices. Stir for about 30 seconds so that the rice is coated with the oil. Add the water. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and cover. Let cook for exactly 15 minutes with no peeking! After the 15 minutes are up, turn off the heat. Enjoy!

Vegan Chocolate Eggnog Martini

My doggie Jacques knows a good martini when he sees one!

Ingredients:
1 shot vodka
3 shots Silk brand vegan eggnog
1 spoonful of cocoa powder
1 cinnamon stick

Shake ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a martini glass and garnish with a cinnamon stick. Mmm mmm. Good.

Jacques continues to be too cute for words. <3


I went to Arizona for Christmas. It was warm and I was very, very happy. :)


More pictures from our trip to Arizona and the insane effects of the recent snowstorm in NYC here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=312770&id=514802173&l=0189fd10b0

The Martini Series

The Cosmopolitan


Fa la la, la la, la la, la la ... I'm on vacation!

Thus, there will be a martini series! I'm working on perfecting a cosmo recipe.
Today's try was too tart, perhaps too much lime juice this time.
I'll post an update when I get it just right. ;)

EDIT: Cosmopolitan Martini success ...

Ingredients:
1-2 shots vodka
2 shots cranberry
1/2 shot fresh lime juice
1/2 shot Patron brand Citronge liqueur

Shake all ingredients in a cocktail shaker over ice. Strain into a martini glass. Enjoy!

Stay tuned for a vegan chocolate martini and a sangria-tini.
Oh la la!

---

Old Bay Baked Sweet Potato Fries

These are simple, but delicious! Cut sweet potatoes in wedges (I like to de-skin mine first, but do as you please) ... spray a cookie sheet with olive oil cooking spray ... throw wedges onto sheet ... coat top of wedges with more spray ... sprinkle liberally with Old Bay seasoning. Bake at 400F for about 20-30 minutes or until the amount of browning appears that you like. Enjoy!

Vegan Thanksgiving!

Lucas and I decided to have a "warm-up" Thanksgiving yesterday. ;)
Tofurky, Cranberry Sauce, Sage Mashed Sweet Potatoes, and Celery Root Slaw (recipe for slaw in entry below) ... yum!

Basic Cranberry Sauce

3/4 cup sugar
1 cup water
12 oz bag fresh cranberries
1 medium orange

Zest the orange, squeeze, set aside.
Mix sugar and water in medium saucepan, stir to dissolve sugar. Bring to boil. Add cranberries. Return to boil. Reduce heat. Simmer 10 mins. Stir occasionally. Stir in orange zest and juice. Cook 2-3 minutes more.

Sage Sweet Potato Mash
I'm always looking for new ways to eat sweet potatoes!


4 sweet potatoes
3 tablespoons vegan butter
8 fresh sage leaves
4 scallions, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Boil or steam sweet potatoes until very soft. Mash once soft and transfer to a serving dish. Meanwhile, brown butter in a skillet and add the sage leaves. Fry until crisp. Transfer to a plate. (Mine didn't actually get crisp, so I recommend doing a chiffonade with the sage leaves.) Cook 4 chopped scallions with salt and pepper in the browned butter. Drizzle butter mixture over the mashed potatoes. Enjoy!

Recipe from Food Network Magazine December 2010.

Tofurky Roast!
Before and After!


1 packaged Tofuky® roast with gravy
1 onion
some carrots
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce

Preheat oven to 350F. Unwrap fully thawed Tofurky® roast and place in a dish that you've already sprayed with cooking oil spray. Surround roast with chopped onion and carrots. Mix olive oil and soy sauce in a bowl. Pour half of the olive oil and soy sauce mixture over the roast. Cover whole dish tightly with aluminum foil. Place in oven for 1 hour 15 minutes. Take out and unwrap. Pour the rest of the olive oil and soy sauce mixture over the roast. Put back in the oven for 10 more minutes. Meanwhile, heat the thawed gravy in a saucepan until warm. Remove roast from oven and enjoy sliced, with gravy on top! yum!

Celery Root Slaw (vegan)

Celery Root Slaw (quick and easy)

1 pound celery root, peeled
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons warm water
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup dijon mustard
1/4 cup tofu sour cream (I use Tofutti brand Sour Supreme® - it's an excellent substitute for dairy sour cream)
1/4 cup olive oil
pepper to taste
1/4 - 1/2 cup fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped

Coarsely grate 1 pound peeled celery root. Toss with 1 tablespoon salt and 2 tablespoons warm water in a colander; let sit 20 minutes. Rinse and drain. Whisk the juice of one lemon and 1/4 cup each dijon mustard and tofu sour cream in a bowl, then whisk in 1/4 cup olive oil. Add the celery root, 1 teaspoon salt, and pepper to taste. Chill. Add chopped parsley before serving.

Note: This is very mustardy, so if you don't like mustard, I don't recommend it! Also, I'm not the biggest fan of raisins, but I think raisins and shredded carrots would be delicious in this!
I'm now a big fan of celery root!

Info on celery root:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celeriac

P.S. I made the Blueberry Ginger Spelt Muffins from p.155 in Vegan Brunch today.

SUPER YUM!

I think this is the best cookbook I own. :o)

Moroccan Beet and Avocado Salad

This ... is super yum!

Ingredients:
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon agave nectar (or dark honey if not vegan)
1 tablespoon dijon mustard
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
salt to taste
4 medium-sized beets
1 avocado

Directions:
Roast the beets until they're tender and then peel when they've cooled. Cut beets and avocado into 1 inch chunks. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a separate bowl and pour over the avocados and beets. Enjoy!

To Roast Beets:
Seal each beet, separately, in aluminum foil (stems removed). Roast in 400F oven for about 45 minutes to one hour or until a knife slides through easily. Remove beets from oven and open foil. Let them cool until you can handle them. Remove skin by rubbing beets with a paper towel. Skin should come off easily if beets are roasted well. (You might want to wear gloves to do this or else your hands will be stained red.)

Carmelized Onion and Tofu Basil Ricotta Pintxos (Tapas)

Ingredients:

1 large onion, sliced into thin strips
agave nectar (or honey)
olive oil
a few slices of whole wheat bread (or bread of your preference - that's just what I had on hand)

Tofu Basil Ricotta (recipe from Veganomicon p.206)
1 pound extra-firm tofu
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
pinch of freshly ground black pepper
handful of basil leaves
1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Directions:
Saute the onion in a little olive oil and some agave nectar (or honey) until they start to brown.
Meanwhile, throw all the ingredients for the tofu basil ricotta into a food processor and process until smooth.
Toast bread, remove crusts, and cut into triangles.
Spread some of the tofu basil ricotta onto the bread ... then add some of the carmelized onions ... and drizzle some agave nectar on top. Yum!

NOTE: Next time, I think I'll make this with the recipe for Cashew Ricotta (also on p.206 of Veganomicon) and omit the basil.

Now, as promised, some travel photos thrown in. :)

Two of my passions in life are eating well and travel. I just got back from a, much needed, 3 week vacation in Spain. I feel refreshed and ready to start my final year of graduate school. (Ok, maybe I'd like 3 more weeks, but I digress...) :)

Unfortunately, Spain is not veggie or vegan friendly ~ at all. ugh. I knew that was going to be the case, but I really wasn't prepared for just how meat-centric it really is! I did, however, manage to find vegan yogurt and a few vegan-friendly spots.

San Sebastian was my favorite spot. I want to learn Basque and move there! :)
Enjoy!

Click here for Granada, Madrid, San Sebastian, and Sevilla Photos


Click here for Barcelona, Cordoba, Geneva, and Granada photos

Healthy Vegan Mango Lassi

photo source:http://lickmyspoon.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/mango-lassi.jpg

This is a delicious way to get your probiotics!

Ingredients:
6oz plain or vanilla soy yogurt
*Make sure your soy yogurt doesn't have any milk-derived ingredients. Sometimes they're sneaky and soy yogurt isn't vegan!
1 large ripe mango, peeled and cut into chunks
3/4 cup ice cubes

Directions:
Put all ingredients into your blender and blend until smooth.
Yum yum yum.

Spicy Cauliflower Rice (low fat, low carb, vegan)

*Recipe adapted from Michaela Hickman's recipe.

Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower
1 tsp curry powder (I use medium hot Madras curry)
2 green onions
1 tsp red pepper flake

Directions:
1. Cut cauliflower florets into small 1-2 inch pieces. Steam cauliflower for about 6 minutes or until tender.
2. While cauliflower is steaming, slice all of the green onions into small pieces.
3. Pulse cauliflower in food processor a few times until it reaches a rice-like consistency. *You might have to do this in a few small batches at a time.
4. Pour cauliflower into a bowl and sprinkle with green onions, curry, and red pepper flake. Stir to combine.
5. Enjoy!

Not so healthy, but ... Easy Sweet and Sour Crockpot Seitan (vegan)

photo from here.
(I ate it up before I remembered to take a pic! It looked just like this though!)

Ingredients:
1 lb seitan, cut into chunks (I bought two 8oz packages)
6 carrots, peeled and sliced into rounds
1 large onion, chopped
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3-4 large garlic cloves, minced
1-2 teaspoons red pepper flakes (I like it spicy; decrease amount if you don't.)
1 (20oz) can pineapple chunks, drained and juice reserved
3 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons cold water
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

How to:
1. Place seitan, carrots, and onion in crockpot.
2. In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, soy sauce, garlic, red pepper flakes, and pineapple juice until sugar is dissolved. Pour into crockpot.
3. Cook on low 8 hours.
4. 30 minutes before serving, dissolve the cornstarch in the water and add the mixture to the crockpot along with the bell peppers and pineapple chunks.
5. Turn crockpot up to high and cook for 30 minutes, until peppers are crisp-tender.
6. Serve over rice or couscous. Enjoy!

recipe adapted from:
http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Sweet-and-Sour-Crockpot-Seitan-350753

Manhattan Cocktail

Ingredients:
2 shots bourbon
1/2 shot sweet vermouth
2 splashes bitters
1 splash maraschino cherry juice (optional)
1 squeeze fresh lemon juice (optional)
1 maraschino cherry

How to:
Shake all above ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice, strain into glass.
Garnish with 1 maraschino cherry.
Enjoy!

Polenta with Roasted Tomatoes (vegan)

To Roast Tomatoes:
Cut tomatoes of your choice in half, spray cookie sheet with cooking oil, put tomatoes cut side up on sheet, spray with cooking oil, sprinkle tomatoes with pepper, oregano, garlic powder, and onion powder ... put in a 425 degree fahrenheit oven for about 25-35 minutes.

To make Polenta:
I buy Bob's Red Mill brand "Organic Polenta Corn Grits" ... Boil 6 cups water with about 1 teaspoon salt. Gradually stir in 2 cups of the polenta ... Reduce the heat and simmer gently, stirring frequently, until mixture begins to get thick. I like to throw in some Italian spices ... red pepper flake, basil ... etc. Once mixture has thickened (about 15 minutes) shut off heat and pour into bowl to allow to cool.
(While the polenta is cooling, I like to carmelize some onions in a little olive oil and saute some black olives and garlic to mix into the polenta when serving it.)

Throw roasted tomatoes on top of polenta with some fresh chopped Italian flat-leaf parsley.
Enjoy!

Spicy Roasted Beet Salad (vegan)

Ingredients:
4 beets, roasted and diced
3 large carrots, sliced
1 large seedless cucumber, sliced
1 (15oz) can chickpeas
1 inch ginger, peeled and minced
1-2 anaheim chilis, minced
1/4 cup fresh-squeezed lemon juice
2 teaspoons vegan granulated sugar
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions:
1. Roast Beets (cut greens off beets, wrap each beet in tin foil individually, put on a cookie sheet in a 425 degree fahrenheit oven for about 45 mins or until a knife goes smoothly into the beet)
2. Once beets have cooled enough to handle, peel skin off by rubbing each beet with a paper towel (wear some disposable latex gloves or else you'll look like you murdered someone) :)
3. Dice beets
4. Throw all ingredients into a large bowl and toss. Voila!

News update...

Unfortunately, I haven't had much time lately to test out exciting new recipes to post. My current schedule of work, school, and an internship is not leaving me time for much of anything.

Good news though ... the boy and I are going to Arizona during my spring break in March for a friend's wedding. yay! I can't wait to see sun again! NYC has been so dark, cold, and gloomy for the past few weeks ...

In even better news, I think the boy and I have settled on an extended trip to Spain for three weeks in August! whoo hoo! My crazy schedule finally finishes up at the end of July. I'll then be quitting my job and going to school full-time for the last year of my Masters program. :) I decided that I had better get that trip in there while I was job-free. Who knows when the next time will be that I get to take a trip like that! :)

Moroccan Chickpeas, Couscous, and Roasted Brussels Sprouts (vegan)

This meal is quick, easy, and super yummy! Perfect for a weeknight dinner.

Moroccan-Style Chickpeas
recipe source: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-detail.asp?recipe=5113

Ingredients:
1 (15.5oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 can tomatoes with green chilies
1/2 cup diced onions
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1/2 tablespoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon ground coriander
3/4 cup vegetable broth
salt & pepper to taste (optional)

Method:
Sauté onion in olive oil until onion is translucent. Add garlic and cook until aromatic (about 1 min). Stir in cumin, ginger, and coriander and coat the onion and garlic with the spices.
Add chickpeas, veggie broth, and tomatoes and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer on low for 10 mins.
Serve with couscous.

Moroccan Spiced Couscous with Green Peas
1 box Near East plain couscous
1 cup frozen peas
Moroccan spice blend*

I just buy a brand of Near East couscous and cook the box according to its directions. When it tells you to add the couscous to the boiling water, I throw in my moroccan blend of spices for couscous. Stir, cover, and let sit 5 mins. While that's sitting, heat frozen peas in the microwave. Throw drained peas into couscous and fluff with a fork.

*Note: I was actually lucky enough to get my spice blend in Morocco, but you can also make your own, find it on the internet, or buy it here: http://www.thespicehouse.com/spices/moroccan-spice-mixture

Roasted Brussels Sprouts
about 24 sprouts
cooking oil spray (i use olive oil spray)
red pepper flake
onion powder
garlic powder
dried oregano

Method:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut bases off sprouts, remove tough outer leaves, and cut each sprout in half. Spray a cookie sheet with oil spray. Lay spouts out on cookie sheet with the cut side (flat side) down. Spray the sprouts. Sprinkle all the spices over the sprouts evenly. Put in oven and roast for 15 mins.