January 24th, 2012
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During my trip to Toronto last summer I excitedly picked up some kelp noodles at Panacea (the vegan store). But then they just languished in my fridge for months. I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with them and I had to wait until I was having dinner on my own because, although Dave is good about trying new things, I knew kelp noodles were way too hippie for him.
So finally, a few weeks ago, Dave had to help his parents move and I was looking in the fridge for something quick and easy to have for dinner. I opened up the noodles and rinsed them off. My first taste was really disappointing. They were quite crunchy, pleasantly crunchy, but not at all like ‘real’ noodles. But then I read online that they soften up a lot if you soak them in a liquid that has some acid in it. So I whipped up a super simple almond butter sauce, poured it over the noodles and let them soak for about 5 minutes. After soaking they had visibly shrunken down quite a bit so I was excited to taste them. And sure enough they were much softer and had a remarkable resemblance to regular noodles. They were really yummy!
I should also note that I really don’t like seaweed and I didn’t find these had a sea taste at all. So don’t let that scare you off!
I’m pretty sure that I have seen these in Ottawa now. I think at either Market Organics or Herb and Spice on Bank.
Almond Butter Kelp Noodles
2 tbs rice vinegar
2 tbs almond butter
1 tbs tamari or soy sauce
1 tsp agave syrup
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 package kelp noodles
some steamed veggies (bell pepper, cabbage, broccoli and kale would all be great)
Rise the kelp noodles and cut into bite sized pieces. Mix the sauce ingredients together and pour over noodles. Let sit for 5 minutes while you steam your other veggies. Add veggies to noodles, toss it all together and enjoy!
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November 22nd, 2011
Apple Butter Chia Seed Pudding (using white chia seeds)
A few people have asked me about chia seeds lately. They know that chia seeds are super healthy but just aren’t sure how to eat them. So I though I would share how I’ve been loving my chia seeds for the past few months.
For those who don’t know, chia seeds are packed with omega 3 fatty acids, calcium and iron. And yes, they are the same seeds that grew hair on our Chia Pets when we were kids!
I’m a huge chia pudding fan. It’s quick and easy to make, yummy, and incredibly healthy. There are two main ways to make chia pudding, blended and unblended. I used to be all about blended chocolate chia puddings but lately I’ve been making a plain chia pudding in the morning and stirring in different mix-ins based on what I’m in the mood for that day. I find this is faster to make and I don’t have to struggle to clean stuck on chia seeds out of my blender! The consistency of an unblended chia pudding is similar to tapicoa pudding.
For the basic chia seed pudding, put 2 tbs of chia seeds in a bowl or container. Add 1 cup of non-dairy milk and give it a good stir with a fork. If you use unsweetened milk, add a bit of sweetener. I use 2 drops of liquid stevia. Let it sit for 5-10 minutes and then give it another really good stir with the fork and break up and clumps. Ideally, let it sit for at least another hour before you plan to eat it. I make it in the morning before school and bring it with me for my afternoon snack.
Now it’s time to choose a mix-in. If you use a good quality non-dairy milk, the pudding will be yummy on it’s own, but it’s always more yummy with a mix-in! Here are some things that I like to mix in:
- 100% fruit jam
- left over cranberry sauce
- apple butter
- chocolate almond butter sauce
- chopped up fruit (peaches, frozen berries, bananas)
- chocolate chips or cocoa nibs
The options are really endless! I guess I sort of treat it like a plain yogurt.
Do you guys have any other mix-in ideas?
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October 23rd, 2011
The Vegan MoFo Iron Chef ingredient for this weekend is coconut. This worked out great because I just discovered that my coconut butter expired in May…yes May. It still tasted fine and I think we can all agree that coconut butter is simply too delicious and too expensive to throw out, so I needed to use it up asap!
One of my favorite things to make with coconut butter is raw fudge, but I don’t really like making it as a brick of fudge because it can be pain to find the right size container and then it can be hard to get out. So I decided to make truffles!
Now, these are seriously decadent truffles, not just health food shaped into a ball and called a ‘truffle’. They can easily hold there own against their dairy filled counterparts. They are incredibly rich and chocolaty and melt in your mouth, and they couldn’t be easier to make!
Raw Chocolate Coconut Truffles
½ cup coconut butter (not coconut oil)
¼ cup macadamia nut butter
½ cup raw cocoa powder
¼ cup raw agave nectar
2 tbs maple syrup
1 tsp alcohol-free vanilla extract
extra cocoa powder and shredded coconut for rolling
Combine all the ingredients together (except the extra cocoa powder and coconut) in a medium bowl and mix with a whisk or fork until combined. Put bowl in the fridge to firm up for an hour or two. With a spoon scoop out approximately a tablespoon worth of fudge, roll in between your hands until it is nice and round then roll in either coconut or cocoa powder. Store in the fridge.
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August 18th, 2011
My housing co-op has monthly vegetarian potlucks. It’s always a bit of a challenge to decide what to make because there are a number of people there with food allergies and I always try to make something that everyone can eat. I’ve also been on a bit of a raw kick, which worked out great because most raw foods are naturally free of major allergens (peanut, wheat, soy, etc.) except tree nuts. So I made a raw key lime pie. There are tons of recipes out there, I made my own according to what I had on hand and my taste preferences. It turned out really good and everyone seemed to like it.
Raw Key Lime Pie (Adapted from this recipe)
Crust
½ cup almonds
½ cup walnuts
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
¼ cup chopped fresh dates
1 tbs coconut oil
pinch of salt
Filling
4 medium avocados
½ cup lime juice
2 tbs packed lime zest
¼ – ½ cup agave nectar
¼ cup coconut oil
Process the nuts and coconut In a food processor with an s blade until they resemble a course flour. Add the dates and process until they are fully incorporated. Add the salt and coconut oil and pulse briefly. The dough should stick together when pinched. Press into a lightly greased 9 inch pie plate or spring form pan. Blend together all the filling ingredients except the coconut oil in a blender or food processor until completely smooth. Taste and adjust sweetness to your tastes. Add coconut oil and blend until completely combined. Pour into crust and smooth out the top with a spatula. Garnish with shredded coconut and/or lime zest. Let the pie chill in the fridge for at least 2-3 hours.
Notes: 2 tbs is a lot of zest, but trust me, this makes all the difference in the taste! I think I ended up zesting 5 limes and juicing 3 of them. The filling is fairly tart with only ¼ cup of sweetener, add more if you want a sweeter pie.
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July 27th, 2011
The picture isn't great, but the cheese is!
I’ve been eying fermented cashew cheese recipes online for a few years now. I’ve creeped a lot of other people’s blog posts on the subject but I’ve always been way too intimated to try it out. I think it’s usually the
rejuvelac that scares me away. I eventually decided that I’m never going to get around to making rejuvelac so I should just try making the cheese without it. It was so freaking easy to make, I couldn’t believe I had waited this long to try it!
I started getting excited at the tangy smell it developed as I patiently waited for it to ferment. When I finally tasted it I was really blown away. I never ate fancy cheese before I went vegan so I don’t really know if this tastes at all like real cheese. But I did serve it to some omnivores and they all really liked it. One of them who is trying to give up dairy said this was just what she needed to finally give up cheese.
After you make the base recipe you can season it any way you like. The variations are limitless! So far I’ve tried a chive and dill combination and an olive and sun dried tomato variety. Both were vary tasty but the dill and chive one was my favorite.
The only ‘weird’ ingredient here is the probiotic capsules. I use these ones. If you don’t have probiotic capsules and don’t want to buy a entire jar, I’ve heard that this will also work with an unpasteurized miso.
Basic Cashew Cheese (inspired by this post)
1 cup cashew
¼ cup water- enough to blend
2 probiotic capsules
scant ¼ tsp salt
Soak the cashews in enough water to cover for anywhere from 1 hour to overnight. When they are done soaking drain and rinse the cashes and place them in your high speed blender or food processor. You want to add just enough water to get them to blend. Start with 2 tbs and add more as needed. You want to process the cashews until they are very smooth and creamy. This will take a few minutes. Remember to scrape down the sides with a spatula regularly. Now open your probiotic capsules and add the powder to the cashew mixture (discard the capsules) and mix briefly to incorporate.
Now you want to line a fine strainer with cheese cloth (I found 2 layers worked) and get a bowl to place under the strainer. Spoon your cashew mixture into the strainer and fold the cheese cloth over it so that the mixture is completely covered.
Now just let is sit on the counter and ferment. I found that 24 hours led to the perfect tangy-ness but start tasting it after 12 hours. Once the base is fermented, add in the salt and any other seasonings that you like. You can make a cheese log by rolling the mixture into a roll with parchment paper. Or make a round by putting the mixture into a one cup measuring cup lined with plastic wrap. Let it firm up in the fridge. I found this lasts at least a week in the fridge and gets even better tasting with age.
For the Chive option, stir in 2 tbs chopped chives and 1 tbs chopped dill.
For the Sun Dried Tomato Olive option, stir in 1tbs chopped kalamata olives, 2 reconstituted and chopped sun dried tomatoes and 1 tbs chopped fresh basil (approximately 15-20 leaves).
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July 13th, 2011
I’m not really a turnip fan. I usually only eat them in the depths of winter when they are pretty much the only local produce available. And even then I hide them in soups with a lot of other veggies. So I wasn’t exactly thrilled when I started getting them in my csa box. But there they are, every single week. I let them stock pile for a few weeks until I figured out what to do with them.
After some googling, I read online that they were actually very pleasant raw, so I chopped off a piece and sure enough they are very tasty! A lot less turnip tasting than their winter counterparts. So I decided to slice them thinly and make a salad out of them. I coated them in my raw cashew poppy seed dressing. This is one of my all time favorite salad dressings! It’s perfect on a spinach fruit salad or a coleslaw and it worked really well over the spring turnips.
Spring Turnip Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing (2 large servings)
6 spring turnips
1 small bunch radishes
2-3 green onions
Cashew Poppy Seed Dressing
¼ cup cashews, soaked for at least 30 minutes
3-4 tbs water
2 heaping tsp honey, agave, or sugar
1 tbs apple cider vinegar
¼ tsp dried mustard
salt to taste
1 tsp poppy seeds
Thinly slice the turnips and radishes. The turnips are quite soft so it’s easy to get them nice and thin. Chop the green onion. Blend all the dressing ingredients except the poppy seeds until smooth and creamy and then stir in the poppy seeds. Add the dressing to the veggies right before serving otherwise it will get watery.
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March 7th, 2011
I stocked up on organic, fair trade shredded coconut a little while ago when it was on sale. But it’s just been sitting in my pantry for a few months. So I decided this weekend to make some raw macaroons. I can’t believe I’ve never made them before! I used
this recipe from
Rawmazing. These are easy to make, healthy (as far as treats go) and sooo yummy! I couldn’t decide if I wanted to make vanilla or chocolate macaroons so I made both!
Vanilla and Chocolate Macaroons
2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
½ cup almond flour (dehydrated almond pulp from making almond milk, store bought almond flour or whole almonds ground in a food processor will all work)
¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup agave (can use more maple syrup)
¼ cup coconut butter (it is expensive, but so worth it!)
small pinch of salt
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbs cocoa powder
Mix together all the ingredients except the cocoa powder. It’s best to use your hands. Make 12 tablespoon size balls and set aside. Then add cocoa powder to the remaining macaroon mix. Mix really well and make another 12 tablespoon size balls. Place the macaroons on a dehydrator sheet and dehydrate for 7-10 hours. I dehydrated mine for 7 hours and the texture was great. Firm and dry on the outside, soft and moist on the inside.
If you don’t have a dehydrator, you can just store the balls in the fridge and enjoy. They wont be quite like macaroons but they will be delicious coconut-y treats! Or, you could bake them at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Just make sure to watch them closely so they don’t burn. If you want all chocolate macaroons, add ¼ cup cocoa powder instead of the 2 tbs and add it at the beginning.
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November 5th, 2010
This is a busy week for me. I got home from school at 6:15 and had to get to a meeting for 6:30. This means a dinner smoothie was in order. When I have no time to cook or when it’s too hot to cook in the summer, I love having a big smoothie for dinner. My dinner smoothies usually contain avocado, hemp seeds and greens in order to make them filling and nutrient dense enough to replace a meal. My favorite combo is avocado lime, but I didn’t have any limes in the fridge so I had to try something new.
Mango pear avocado smoothie
Serves 3 (originally meant to serve two but it made way too much!)
1 avocado
3 cup frozen mango
2 tbs hemp seeds
2 pears
2 large handfulls of kale or spinach
2 1/2 cups water
6 Ice cubes
I originally started with only 1 cup of mango but I found it tasted too much like avocado. After adding more mango and two drops of stevia the result was an unbelievably creamy and subtly sweet smoothie that will fill you up.
 Everything in the blender |
 Yummy green smoothie |
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