A couple days ago I purchased my first table. Buying furniture makes me feel like such an adult. I love it. To celebrate, I put together a beautiful fall-inspired centerpiece.

Later that night, I cooked a delicious dinner for a date, although I was having such a good time I forgot to take a picture. I made pumpkin risotto (which I plan on making again next week, and I will definitely share the recipe), which I served inside of a roasted pie pumpkin and topped with a few thin strips of romano cheese. I served a Caesar salad alongside of it, and for dessert served up some pumpkin cheesecake from Trader Joe’s. 

Tonight was a more subtly awesome dinner. I bought some Kimchi rice from Trader Joe’s, and then made miso-roasted Brussels sprouts to go with it, along with a (rather ugly) fried egg. I added sliced red bell pepper to the Brussels sprouts, which was a great addition. The whole meal was really fancy, and much healthier than takeout. 

My goal for this coming week is to be mindful of portion control. It’s my largest nutritional problem. Even healthy meals can become unhealthy when you eat too much of it at once. Wish me luck!

Saag paneer is also known as palak paneer, and is a traditional dish of India and Pakistan. Saag simply refers to greens, although spinach seems to be the most popular choice. Next time I make this dish, I’m going to try using kale. Although paneer is cheese, firm tofu makes a great substitution.  This dish is typically eaten with roti or rice, but I chose to serve it with quinoa, mainly for its health benefits (protein, calcium, iron, and fiber, to name just a few) and because I’d been craving it lately.

If you search the internet, you’ll find thousands of slightly different variations of this dish, including hundreds of specifically vegan recipes. I’m sure many of them are delicious, but I do recommend the Elizavegan recipe, mainly because the curry and nutritional yeast-crusted fried tofu is a delicious addition and goes so well with the spinach and coconut milk.

I also made one of my favorite snacks: roasted chickpeas. I like my snacks to be savory and salty rather than sweet, and chickpeas are much healthier than the potato chips or bread I would otherwise reach for. Versatility is the best part of snacking on roasted chickpeas – you can literally season them in hundreds of different ways. The recipe I’m sharing for you today is my favorite.

Savory Mushroomy Chickpea Snacks

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp mushroom seasoning (I used Lunds & Byerlys, which I couldn’t find online, but FungusAmongUs is great too)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Pinch of paprika
1/4-1/2 tsp salt (Truffle salt would be great here
1 tsp white truffle oil, plus more to finish

Preheat oven to 425. Line a pizza pan or baking dish with parchment.

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and toss until the chickpeas are coated thoroughly. Spread in a single layer on the parchment. Bake for 15 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.

When chickpeas are nice and golden, and slightly crisp, remove from oven and allow to cool a bit. Add truffle oil to taste.

And try not to eat them all at once!

Other than cooking, today has been  a very calm day. My boyfriend has recently gotten me into video games and lent me his PSP to play Final Fantasy Tactics, so my goal for today is to play games and eat delicious food. Sounds like a great time, right?

So, my thanksgiving lunch:

Macaroni noodles with doctored-up Manwich sauce. I sauteed some onion and garlic, and added cumin and Adobo seasoning. I also added some Mexican-style hot sauce. Not at all Thanksgiving-y, but it was edible. Poverty diet prevails!

I also made Chocolate Covered Katie‘s No-Bake Coconut Crack Bars. I was searching through a bunch of recipes I’ve been saving, and realized I had all the ingredients. I love coconut, and these were delicious. I ended up with eight bite-sized bars, and I ate two for my lunch dessert. I love Katie’s recipes, mainly because they’re healthier than your typical desserts, but also because her recipes aren’t overly sweet.

What are you eating today?

Who doesn’t love cookies?!

I’m starting Ahimsa up again with delicious winter cookies! These are the Sell Your Soul Pumpkin Cookies  from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. I made them for a friend’s birthday picnic today. They aren’t the sweetest treats in the world, but with all the cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves, they are perfect for this cold mountain weather.

I’ve been going crazy over all the pumpkin flavored food and drink that appears this time of year, particularly beer. What’s your favorite seasonal pumpkin goody?

Breakfast was grits (with vegan butter), roasted potatoes (made with extra virgin olive oil and garlic salt), and the tempeh white bean sausage patties from Vegan with a Vengeance.  Although the sausage patties were definitely tasty, I still prefer seitan-style versions, like those in Vegan Diner.

My lunch today was a bit unusual in that it was an incredibly high-fat meal. I tend to eat something small, but I felt adventurous and wanted something fancy. I started with a marinated kale salad using Gena’s incredible Smoky Avocado and Cumin Dressing. I actually made the salad last night for dinner, but marinated salads keep well, and letting the salad marinate overnight really increased the great flavor the dressing gave the kale. I threw some diced roasted red pepper into the salad for a little more flavor and color.

I also made the unique pizza you see above. It’s unique because it was never in the oven – I made this pizza using a frying pan on the stove, which is considerably faster than using the oven, and the crust gets nice and crispy but remains chewy. I topped the pizza with a simple home-made cashew cheese (cashews, sunflower seeds, nooch, salt, water, and turmeric for color) and caramelized onions tossed with chopped fresh chives and white truffle oil. I topped it with a sprinkle of hickory smoked salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Yesterday afternoon I was craving a little chocolate in my life, so I made the banana split pudding brownies from Vegan with a Vengeance. Banana and chocolate always pair well, so obviously these were great. My brother also approved, and lamented that he wouldn’t have sweets around the house once I’m back in Asheville.

Oh! That reminds me – my awesome vegan friend Carol and I got approved for a great apartment close to downtown Asheville. I’ll be back in Asheville soon, and that makes me unbelievably happy!

Something else I’m excited about is that there is now an Instagram app for Android. Finally!

I have to admit, I have a great view while I work, even on a stormy day. However, because I’ve been incredibly busy lately both with working and trying to get things straight to move back to my beloved Asheville, I haven’t had a lot of time to devote to prepping and cooking food. So here is a bit of what I’ve been eating over the past week.

Peanut butter tofu with veggies and brown rice. This dish (and a bunch of variations on it) has been in regular rotation for me for a long time. I can’t share a recipe, because I always wing it and use what I have laying around. Generally though, I dry-fry tofu until it’s golden brown (I used frozen and thawed tofu for this version, and it worked great), and then set aside. Then I add canola oil, and saute vegetables. Most of the time I use frozen vegetables because there is no prep involved and you can get a nice variety for really cheap. After the vegetables are cooked, I add the tofu back into the pan. In a small bowl, I combine peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sriacha or chili-garlic sauce, crushed garlic, minced ginger, and water, and then whisk. I pour this over the vegetables and tofu, and toss to coat. Turn off the heat, and serve.

One great tip for being able to throw together quick meals is to always keep extra cooked grains on hand. For example, any time I make brown rice, I make at least four cups of it. It lasts up to a week in the fridge, and you don’t have to worry about having a healthy, filling base for a weeknight meal.

Black beans with Salsa. This is so ridiculously easy: saute aromatics (garlic, onion), add 1 can of drained and rinsed beans, and about half a jar of really chunky salsa. Serve with rice. I also had some orange baked tofu.

Cajun-Creole-Spiced Tempeh Pieces with Creamy Grits from Vegan Soul Kitchen by Bryant Terry. Ok, so this wasn’t exactly a quick meal, but it was fucking delicious. The tempeh is tossed with a ton of spices in this recipe, and the flavors are so vibrant. And spicy! I’ve always loved grits, but I’ve never had them with almond milk and creamed cashews, which made them so creamy and rich-tasting. I also thought the cherry tomato/green onion (I didn’t have the leeks called for in the recipe, so I used a large scallion) went really well with the tempeh and grits. This recipe made me really sad that I haven’t made very much from this cookbook. Now I’ve got several pages marked so I can try more in the future. I also love that every recipe comes with a song suggestion!

I’ve also been eating meals out of Student’s Go Vegan Cookbook by Carole Raymond. I received this cookbook as a Christmas present from my cousins, and it’s been a great help to me. Sometimes I come home and don’t feel like being creative, so I just want a cookbook I can rely on that doesn’t have ingredient lists a mile long, and with recipes that are truly quick. So far, I’ve made several recipes from this book, and they have all proved simple yet flavorful. The Chinese Vegetable Lo Mein with Tofu, the Barbecued Beans, Caramelized Onion, Walnut, and Sage Pizza, and the Crusty Tempeh Cutlets are all particularly awesome.

What are your favorite quick weeknight meals?

I was playing around in the kitchen for lunch last week when I came up with this delicious recipe. It feels really decadent and will definitely satisfy you. I started off with some cashews I had soaked, and added ingredients that reminded me of alfredo sauce. I’m sure it doesn’t taste anything like real alfredo, but it’s close enough! I served this over zucchini noodles that I made using a vegetable peeler.

If you don’t like nutmeg, feel free to leave it out. I happen to love it, so I added a lot more than I wrote in the recipe below. You can use ground nutmeg, but I used freshly grated.

Rockin’ Raw-fredo Sauce (serves 1-2)

1 cup raw cashews, soaked
Juice of 1 lemon
1 clove garlic
1 1/2 Tbs stone-ground mustard
2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
1/8-1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp nutmeg
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 Tbs fresh chives, minced
2 Tbs chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1-2 zucchini, made into noodles using a vegetable peeler

In a blender or food processor, blend the cashews, lemon juice, garlic, mustard, oil, water, nutmeg, salt and pepper until smooth. Season to taste. Add chives and sun-dried tomatoes, and pulse to incorporate into the sauce, but don’t blend all the way.

Toss with zucchini noodles, and then devour.

I woke up feeling sluggish yesterday, so I wanted a hearty breakfast. I made Ricki’s chickpea flour scramble, which reminds me of eggs even more than a tofu scramble. I’ve tried the recipe once before, but I ended up burning the chickpea flour. This time I kept the heat on medium-low and it cooked perfectly. I didn’t have tahini so I left that ingredient out, and the texture and flavor were still fine. I also added spinach, fresh chives, and a little black salt.

The sausage was delicious. I had a coupon for Gimme Lean Sausage, so I had bought some, but I wanted to do something more exciting with it than the usual light frying. I added some Dijon mustard and spices to it, and it turned out great.

Rosemary-Mustard Sausage (makes 4 patties)

1 cup Gimme Lean sausage
1 1/2 Tbs Dijon or stone-ground mustard
1 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion salt (or 1/4 tsp onion powder + 1/4 tsp salt)
White pepper, to taste
2 tsp vegetable oil, for frying

In a frying pan over medium-high heat, heat the vegetable oil. In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together. Mash together with a fork, and once everything is well-incorporated, shape into four equal-sized patties.

Once the oil is hot, fry the patties for 2-3 minutes per side, until browned. Serve.

I also made these awesome gluten-free veggie burgers for dinner last night. The recipe is from Meghan Telpner’s Making Love in the Kitchen, which is a blog I’ve recently fallen in love with. There’s a lot of great information and recipes for healthy eating.

Most of the veggie burgers I’ve made in the past were bean or vital wheat gluten based, but these ones were made of tempeh and veggies, including broccoli stalk! (I’m always searching for a great way to use those up.) I used chickpea flour rather than spelt or  brown rice because it was the only gluten-free flour I had on hand, but you couldn’t taste the flour anyway. I also added some chipotle powder and red chili flakes to give it a nice kick.

I had no idea that chia seeds would be such a great binder! These burgers held together better than many I’ve made in the past.

I served my burger on sprouted Ezekiel bread (not gluten-free, I know, but it was all I had) with Vegenaise, dill pickle, spicy brown mustard, and alfalfa sprouts. And of course, I had tater tots on the side.

Oh, and taking a break from food talk, republican representative Steve King of Iowa, said this during a meeting of the House Agriculture Committee:

I’m here to tell you I’m a committed carnivore. I like meat. I sit on the Ag Committee and we had a hearing before the Ag Committee when we invited in the president of the Humane Society of the United States, HSUS, President Wayne Pacelle. And we had one or two other witnesses from the anti-meat crowd or anti-animal husbandry crowd. PETA was there and one other animal activist group. So we just asked them, under oath, “are you a vegetarian?” And they confessed they were vegetarians, all of them. Well there they are with an agenda for our diets.

Um, really?  Vegetarians and vegans don’t have to “confess,” we usually make our diets well-known. And sure, treating animals in factory farms better and getting Americans eating healthier might be an agenda, but it’s a hell of a lot better than the agendas of Big Ag.

I’ve long been interested in gluten-free cooking, but gluten-free baking almost scares me. I don’t want to have to run out and buy a bunch of crazy bean or nut flours, new starches, etc. When I move back to Asheville I’ll stock up on all of those things if I find them cheap at Amazing Savings, but for now I want to keep my gluten-free cooking simple.

When I saw this recipe for a chickpea flour based gluten-free crust from Meghan Telpner, I got excited. I love the flavor of chickpea flour, so it’s the one non-all-purpose flour I buy regularly. Although the dough seemed way too wet after mixing the ingredients, after baking it transformed into an awesomely crispy thin pizza crust. And the best part was that there is absolutely no rising time! I made the entire pizza in half an hour. As I continue to eat healthier and consume less wheat and sugar, this will undoubtedly be my go-to pizza crust.

I topped the pizza with homemade pesto (fresh basil, chives, spinach, cashews, oil, salt, garlic, and lemon), sun-dried tomatoes, broccoli, and balsamic glaze. I love balsamic glaze on pizza, and I know a lot of other people do too. I’ve been out with so many people who get super excited when a pizza place offers it. Luckily, it’s super easy to make.

Balsamic Glaze

1 cup balsamic vinegar

In a small saucepan over high heat, bring the balsamic vinegar to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat and simmer 15-20 minutes. The liquid will reduce in volume and become syrupy. You’ll end up with 1/4 cup or so.

That’s it! Now you can make it at home and drizzle it over everything like I do. It keeps for a ridiculously long time in the fridge, but I usually finish it off fairly quickly because it tastes so damn good.

I love eating raw foods, but during the winter months I tend to stay away from them. The quality of raw meals are based on the quality of the ingredients you use because you’re not cooking anything. Luckily, as spring continues onward, supermarkets are getting better fruits and vegetables.

Raw foods make me feel clear-headed and focused, and I love finishing a meal and not feeling weighed down by the things I just ate. I also love being able to taste every component of a recipe. Raw meals can be as simple or as complicated as you want, and you don’t need a Vita-Mix or Excalibur Dehydrator to make varied and delicious raw recipes. The food I made today was super easy.

Breakfast – Orange Carob Chia Pudding 

Chia pudding is hard to make pretty.

Originally, I had planned on having a carob-orange smoothie for breakfast, but as crazy as it sounds, there are no ice cube trays in this apartment. Also, I couldn’t figure out how to use my brother’s crazy blender. So I made my idea into chia pudding! And it was great and satisfying.

Chia seeds are an amazing superfood, full of minerals and nutrients our bodies need. Chia also contains a ridiculous amount of protein. Most health-food stores now carry chia seeds, and you can also order them from numerous places online. I love chia for breakfast because of how filling it is (one small bowl and I’m great until lunch), and if you google chia seed recipes you’ll find hundreds. Here’s mine:

Carob-Orange Chia Seed Pudding (serves 1)
1/4 cup walnuts, soaked for at least 1 hour
2 Tbs chia seeds
1 orange, peeled and cut into segments
1 Tbs raw carob powder
1/2 Tbs agave nectar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup water

Drain the walnuts.  Place all the ingredients in a blender or food processor, and blend on high until creamy. Top with fresh fruit.

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Lunch – Mango Mayo Wrap and Kale Chips

Lunch was raw except for the baked kale chips, but who cares? The wrap was a variation of this recipe from Megan Elizabeth. I didn’t have any fresh herbs on hand, so I left those out, but I did add some curry powder to the “mayo”. Inside the wrap I used alfalfa sprouts, red pepper, and carrot shavings (made with a vegetable peeler). Megan used tomato in her wrap, but since I was having tomato for dinner, I left it out. I’ve found that because of their acidity, my body can’t handle more than one tomato every couple days.

The great thing about this recipe is that it’s low-fat. I ended up eating 3 collard wraps (my leaves were small), and along with the kale chips, I ended up satisfied without being full.  Oh, and if you’d like a tutorial on rolling up collard wraps, there’s a great one over at Choosing Raw.

The wraps were really tasty, and you guys already know how much I love mango.

I don’t have a dehydrator, so I baked my kale chips, but I don’t really think it’s that big of a deal. They were delicious. I wanted something other than the salt and vinegar style chips I usually make, so I came up with the following recipe. You can add soaked cashews if you want for a creamier texture, but I wanted to keep it lower in fat. The flavor the herbs gave to the dressing reminded me a little of Ranch, but much thinner.

Ranchy Kale Chips
2 cups kale, washed and de-stemmed
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 Tbs apple cider vinegar
1 garlic clove, skin removed
1/4 tsp onion powder
1 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp lemon pepper
2 tsp nutritional yeast

Preheat oven to 300. Combine all the ingredients (except kale) in a blender. Blend until smooth.

Toss kale with the dressing, and then lay on a cookie sheet in a single layer. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until crispy. Enjoy immediately.

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Dinner: Zucchini Noodles with Raw Vodka Sauce, and Salad

Dinner was so yummy! The recipe for the zucchini noodles with raw “vodka” sauce is from Bonzai Aphrodite. The sauce was so good I wanted to eat it with a spoon as if it were soup! I had a perfectly ripe tomato to work with, and along with the sun-dried tomatoes, the flavor was so vibrant. The cashews added the creaminess.

I ate it alongside a very simple baby green and sprout salad.

(The picture sucks because I had already started eating it before I remembered to take a picture. I was really hungry!)

Overall, it was a great day filled with delicious fresh-tasting food. I feel great! What are your thoughts on raw food?