Vegan MoFo: Antipasto Sub (a.k.a. Sub in a Jar)

You know how sometimes you don't feel like chopping? You just want to eat salty, briny stuff from a jar? No? Just me then. But still, you'll seriously love this delicious sandwich.

Antipasto Sub

Ingredients:
4 individual sub rolls or one large French or Cuban loaf.
1 small jar of mushrooms
1 small jar of artichokes
1 small jar of roasted red peppers
1 small jar of olives
1 bunch fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup pesto (or herb spread, garlic spread, or Italian dressing) - optional

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Split bread and spread with pesto or dressing, if using. Layer veggies and top with basil leaves. Wrap in aluminum foil and cook 8 - 10 min. or until heated through. Serve hot.

Vegan MoFo: Nacho Salad

All the nacho taste, none of the bad-for-you stuff!

Mmmmm,nachos.

You love 'em, right? Everyone loves nachos. But conventional nachos don't love you back. With all that salt and fat, they're hypertension on a plate. So try this scrumptious salad for a tasty nacho flavor and crunch without the fat.

Nacho Salad

Ingredients
2-3 cups shredded romaine
1 cup shredded kale and/or spinach (I use half each)
1/3 cup diced fresh tomatoes
1/4 cup sliced black olives
1/2 cup Spanish rice (great use for leftovers!)
1/3 cup refried beans
1/4 cup taco sauce
1/4 cup crispy tortilla strips

Directions
Toss in a bowl, mix, and enjoy!

Vegan MoFo: Green Breakfast Smoothie of Champions!

Nutrition in a glass!

Awhile back, I reviewed a book on green smoothies for This Dish is Veg. I didn't realize it at the time, but I learned quite a lot from it. Chief among those things was the simple reason why blended fruit and vegetable drinks are better for you than juicing - you're not losing anything. It's whole nutrition in a cup.

The other thing I learned was the perfect ratio for taste in a green smoothie: 40% vegetables, 60% fruit. But sometimes it's hard to translate that into real terms, since we're comparing leaves to chunks, so to speak. So I find a recipe can be helpful.

This is my recipe for the ideal beginner's green smoothie. I know folks like to get fancy with it, adding everything from dandelion greens to cayenne pepper but that stuff is intimidating if all you want is a green drink that's palatable and maybe your kids would stomach.

So here is my non-vegan-kid (and husband) tested recipe for a delicious smoothie. It tastes of strawberry and banana, and that's pretty much it. It's a great place to start, or a great base to build from if you want to get adventurous.

Strawberry-Banana Green Smoothie

Ingredients:
1 large kale leaf, stemmed and torn (or two smaller ones - should equal about 2 loose cups in blender)
1/2 cup coconut water, chilled
1 small ripe banana (or half a large one)
4-5 frozen strawberries

Directions:
In a blender, add torn kale leaves and coconut water. Liquefy (about 10 seconds). Add banana and frozen strawberries and blend. Serve!

Notes:
How sweet this is will depend on the ripeness of the fruit. If it's not sweet enough for you, add 1 tsp agave.

Lazy Rotten Cheater's Mustard-Glazed Carrots

This is another one of those "I make it in the microwave at work" kind of dishes, but honestly it could make a really nice side dish too. I thought of it because my mom used to make boiled cabbage, potatoes and carrots and we'd eat them dipped in spicy mustard. I always loved carrots with mustard because of that and decided to see how they'd taste glazed in a little agave mustard dressing I had left over. The result? Yum! 

Just lightly steam some baby carrots (I use a microwave steamer, but you could do this with a regular steamer at home, or just toss a serving in a loosely covered dish with a tsp of water and microwave for 2 - 2.5 minutes). Then toss them with just enough agave mustard vinaigrette to coat. If I were at home and planning to serve them as a side dish, I'd also add a sprinkle of parsley, preferably fresh.

That's it! Easy and delicious.

Lazy Rotten Cheater's Smoky Bean & Bac'n Soup

I have made this recipe twice this week... and still haven't remembered to get a photo. Why? Because it's so good! Once you start eating it, you don't think about stopping to get the camera!

But more than tasting delicious, this soup is easy, nutritious, and packed with protein. My kids and friends from work will attest that it's loved by vegans and non-vegans alike. And it only takes 15-20 minutes from start to finish!

Bean & Bac’n Soup

32 oz vegetable broth or stock (or a corresponding amount of water and veggie bouillon)
1 can each kidney, cannellini, & garbanzo beans
1 can tomato sauce
½ cup diced carrots
1 bay leaf
1 tsp salt
1 - 2 tsp “Hickory Bacon Salt” (or any vegan Bacon Salt flavor, or any seasoned salt + a dash of Liquid Smoke)

Combine all ingredients in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until beans and carrots are tender.

Enjoy!

Halvah cookies! They're gluten-free, MoFos!

One of the treats I grew up with was halvah - a delicious sesame candy that you'll most often find in Jewish delicatessens or Middle Eastern markets. To people who've never had it, I always describe it as "sesame fudge", and while that gets the point across, it's not wholly accurate. There's something totally unique about the flavor and texture. It's not really quite like anything else... until now! 

This variation on a sesame cookie (such as Whole Foods' non-vegan recipe) has more of the flavor and texture of halvah, but in convenient cookie form! Imagine a halfway point between halvah and a peanut butter cookie and you're there. 

Halvah Cookies 15 oz container of tahini
2 cups sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tbsp ground flax mixed with ¼ cup warm water
Sesame seeds for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350. Mix the flax and warm water; set aside to thicken. Mix the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients, add the flax mixture. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. 

Roll dough into 1 inch balls and place 2 inches apart on parchment paper. Press dough in a crosshatch with fork.  Bake for 10 minutes or until edges start to brown. Immediately sprinkle with sesame seeds. Cool for 10 minutes on the pan before removing.

Note: It's important to make sure the edges are starting to turn golden before removing from the oven, and to allow them to cool for the specified time, otherwise these cookies will crumble. When you take them out, they will still be very soft. They firm and solidify as they cool. If you go to remove the first cookie and it crumbles, even though you've allowed it to cool, return the cookies to the oven for 3-5 minutes and then cool again.

Whole-Wheat Croutons

It can be hard to find vegan croutons. All the prepackaged ones have Parmesan or whey for some reason. But here's a little secret I'll share with you... The prepackaged ones kind of suck anyway. Did you know that? Probably not, unless you've had fresh made croutons recently. Somehow we tend to forget. 

The beauty part about making your own - other than the fact that it's almost disgustingly easy - is that you can give them at least some redeeming nutritional value by using a good, hearty whole wheat bread. (And then slathering it with tasty fats. Hey, I said some value.)

Whole Wheat Croutons

1 garlic & herb salad dressing mix (0.75 oz)
½ cup melted Earth Balance vegan butter
¼ cup olive oil
16 slices whole wheat bread, lightly toasted

Preheat oven to 375. Lightly toast bread in toaster or oven. Discard crusts, cut into cubes. Mix other ingredients and toss with bread until well coated. Spread in single layer. Bake 12 -15 min or until outsides begin to crisp. Let cool on pans. Store in an airtight container.

While I'm at it, let me tell you what goes beautifully with these croutons: a slightly bitter salad with a sweet dressing is offset beautifully by these savory little bites. It's like the flavor trifecta. 

Here I used OrganicGirl 50/50 blend (mixed greens with 50% baby spinach), plus shaved fennel, shaved sweet onions, cherry tomatoes, and an agave mustard vinaigrette. Scrumptious!

It's Mandel Brate, MoFos!

We have one true family recipe in my house, one recipe that everyone knows and loves, handed down for generations - Great Aunt Roz's mandel brate. (Before anyone fusses, this is the way we spell it. I know it's not Wikipedia-approved.) Of course, everyone seems to have their own slightly different version: Mom's has walnuts, her brother Frank's has coconut. My sister Jenny's version is soft in the middle, where Mom likes hers cooked through. But no matter how they tinker with it, some essential part stays the same. Somehow, it always tastes like home. And for three years, I have not had a single bite of it. Until today!

Well, to be fair, I had an approximation of it yesterday. That's because my first attempt at veganizing it fell short. I took a piece to my mother - the final authority on the tradition, having received the recipe directly from the source - and she pronounced yesterday's batch "edible." Damned with faint praise.

But today's recipe? She took a bite and said, "You got it right." And a choir of angels sang! My joy knew no bounds.

 Aunt Roz's Mandel Brate - Veganized!

6 tbsp ground flax
¾ cup warm water
3 ¼ cups unsifted flour
1 cup + 1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 ¼ tsp vanilla
1 cup oil
6 oz choc chips
6 oz chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix ground flax and warm water. Set aside for 5 minutes. Combine dry ingredients (excluding chocolate and nuts). Add wet ingredients and flax mixture and stir until a soft dough forms. Fold in chocolate chips and nuts. 

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper, or spray lightly with cooking spray. Split dough in half and form into two loaves. 

Bake at 350 for 38 - 45 min, or until edges turn golden brown. Let cool for 15 min. Slice into bars.

Alternate ingredients: In place of chocolate and walnuts, try 1/2 cup diced apricots, 1/2 cup slivered almonds, and replace 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract with 1/2 tsp of almond extract. That's my variation on the original.

Enjoy the taste of tradition! 

Carrot Vegetable Soup, Lazy Rotten Cheater Style

This carrot vegetable soup looks completely awesome, right?

(Excuse the cheesy cutting board - it's in the kitchen at the office.)

It looks fresh, bright, hearty and delicious. And it is! It also takes absolutely zero work. 

This is how you make it: 

Imagine soups are my go-to lunch. You can't beat this for taste, nutrition, or cost. One box of soup and one bag of steamed vegetables will last me for three lunches -- for an approximate cost of $2.50 per serving, which is cheaper than a can of soup, and tastes so much fresher. They're also low in calories, and even adding a sprinkle of fresh ground pepper & sea salt, it's lower in sodium than most canned soups.

It's quick to make (the first day takes the longest, when you have to steam the veggies, but the next two days you just toss the leftover veggies into the soup before reheating). Plus, you can have endless variations. Today's soup was creamy carrot almond with asparagus, corn, and baby carrots. Yesterday's was creamy broccoli with peas. When I need something a little more filling, I'll just enjoy the whole bag of steamed veggies with my soup, or toss in some leftover grains - rice, bulgur, quinoa, whatever is on hand.

For quick vegan lunch at work, I think this is a terrific and healthy solution. But honestly, I wouldn't be embarrassed to put that lovely bowl on the table at dinner either! 

It's breakfast, Mo-Fo style!

Welcome to my first official Vegan MoFo post. This is actually my second year participating, but my first since starting this blog. I'm excited to try to reach the goal of a minimum of 20 posts about the wonders of vegan food during October. I hope to include lots of recipes, but a busy life has kept me from pre-planning as much on that front as I had hoped... so right now I'm winging it. Some recipes I do know for sure will be coming your way include a gingerbread chia pudding, sesame cookies, and some interesting uses for bulgur wheat. (You're intrigued now, right? Bulgur always gets 'em.)

As of this morning, I've added an index of recipes to the site, so new visitors won't miss anything I've already posted. I'm pretty pleased with how many new recipes I've created and posted in less than a year!

Now...

Let's talk about breakfast.

Frankly, I suck at breakfast. I always have. Oh, not in an "I can't cook breakfast foods" kind of way - I am a Southerner, after all, and a ridiculous breakfast spread is kind of our thing. Come a Sunday brunch-time when I have woken up slowly and have nowhere to be, I can whip up a heaping breakfast spread. No, more like "I suck at breakfast" in an "I'm not a morning person, I hate mornings, I think mornings should DIE" kind of way. I'm usually dragging myself out of bed on too little sleep, rushing to get the kid to school on time, running last minute errands, and fighting the traffic to get to work.

Before going vegan, breakfast generally consisted of one of two things: McDonald's or a chocolate chip muffin. Now, obviously, I'm trying for something a bit healthier. But my challenge is that I never know if I'm going to have time to prepare something in the morning, and honestly, I really don't care for reheated breakfast. So what can you have that's fast, hearty, and convenient?

Every Monday morning I bring a box of cereal and a container of almond milk to work and eat that for breakfast all week (taking home any leftovers on Friday). But I try sneak extra nutrition in there too. This week, I brought a bag of dried fruit bits to mix in. Some weeks, I'll bring a little container of pumpkin seeds, or slivered almonds, or grab some fresh fruit in the morning to mix in. It's not the sexiest breakfast, I know, but it does the trick.