1. Spicy Red Chickpeas, Collard Greens, & Corn on the Cob

    April 3, 2012 at 12:08 am by Tuxedo Cat

    A simple, yet favorite go-to meal in our house is any type of beans and greens medley. I experimented with some spices and vegetables on hand to make this chickpea dish. I was originally planning on adding hot sauce but didn’t need to because the dish was spicy enough on its own. Using a very simple collard greens recipe of only 3 ingredients, I added some wonderful greens to the mix. For another dimension of flavor, I heated up corn on the cob and viola, this meal appeared! It was healthy, hearty, packed with fiber and flavor, and gluten-free to boot!

    Spicy Red Chickpeas, Collard Greens, & Corn on the Cob

    Spicy Red Chickpeas
    3-4 cups chickpeas
    1 tablespoon olive oil
    2 tablespoons white cooking wine
    1 red pepper, diced
    1/4 cup sliced grape tomatoes
    2 green onions, sliced & diced
    2 garlic cloves, minced
    1 teaspoon chili powder
    1 teaspoon cumin powder
    1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
    salt & pepper to taste

    Heat olive oil in a large pan or pot. Add red pepper and green onions and saute until they start to soften. Add garlic and stir, sauteing for 1-2 minutes (making sure not to burn). Add grape tomatoes and stir. De-glaze the pan with the white cooking wine. Add chickpeas (either dried chickpeas that you have cooked or canned) to the vegetable mixture and stir. Add chili powder, cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper, and mix well. When completely warmed throughout, serve immediately.

    Collard Greens
    1 bunch collard greens
    2-4 tablespoons ume plum vinegar
    dash of cayenne pepper
    water as needed

    For the collard greens, chop one bunch of collards into strips and saute in a large skillet with 1/4 cup of water with the lid on. Saute until the collards become bright green. Add 2-4 tablespoons of ume plum vinegar and the cayenne pepper. Mix and allow to cook until the collards are softened enough to eat easily. Serve while hot.

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  2. Swiss Chard & Carrot Strudel

    April 2, 2012 at 11:21 pm by Tuxedo Cat

    When you are in the mood for some greens and flaky puff pastry, have no fear, Nava Atlas is here! Using her Kale and Carrot Strudel recipe from Vegan Holiday Kitchen, I replaced the kale with swiss chard. I also used Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry sheets, which are accidentally vegan. I put Daiya cheddar shreds in my strudel and omitted them for the husband’s strudel. Both were delicious with a nice balance of flaky crust with a perfectly seasoned swiss chard vegetable blend inside. I have made this before during a holiday dinner and they went fast. It’s great as a main course for 2-4 people or as a side dish for more. This is a dish to make over and over again!  Change up the ingredients to give it a new twist and delight your family and friends.

    Right out of the oven!

    Swiss Chard & Carrot Strudel

    The money shot.

    Overall, we’d rate this strudel as 4 1/2 out of 5 carrots!

    Category Dinner, Holiday Foods, Lunch | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,, | No Comments

  3. Whiskey Sour Cupcakes

    April 1, 2012 at 11:06 pm by Tuxedo Cat

    Another cupcake testing, another success! Here is the latest cupcake creation we tested for Kelly Peloza‘s upcoming dessert cookbook. This cupcake was moist, delicious, and buttery. It had a nice blend of lemon with hints of whiskey. For whiskey aficionados more could have been added, but for me the current level was fine. It was a unique blend of flavors that I’ve never had before but was glad I tried. We’d definitely make these again, especially for a special occasion or for entertaining friends.

    Whiskey Sour Cupcakes

    With a cherry on top!

    Overall, we’d rate these 4 1/2 carrots out of 5 on the veganlicious scale.

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  4. Red Quinoa-Avocado Salad with Grilled Asparagus

    March 25, 2012 at 1:40 am by Tuxedo Cat

    Last year at a work potluck, someone brought one of the most amazing salads I have ever had the pleasure of passing across my lips. I kept returning for more until it was gone and proceeded to ask the chef for her recipe. She divulged that the Red Quinoa-Avocado Salad that I feasted on came from this Wegman’s recipe. It was vegan and gluten-free to boot!

    In all of my variations of this dish, I have skipped out on buying Wegman’s Lemon Vinaigrette and just squeezed a lemon of my own, adding some olive oil and a dash of cayenne pepper with it for the dressing. The salad is refreshing, zesty, and full of mouth-watering veggies such as corn kernels, avocados, tomatoes, onions, and cilantro. You will not be disappointed.

    For this meal, I decided I wanted some more greenery, so I grilled some thick asparagus on our gas grill (approximately 3 minutes each side). I sprayed the stalks with a light coating of olive oil and sprinkled them with Celtic sea salt and black pepper. The hubs described it as “juicy” and loved the charred flavor from grilling. This is a definite do-over for future meals and cookouts.

    Red Quinoa-Avocado Salad with Grilled Asparagus

     

    Even our tuxedo cat, Neo wanted in on this meal!

    Overall, we’d rate this meal as a solid 4 1/2 out of 5 carrots on the veganlicious scale!

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  5. Navy Bean Salad, Lemon Pepper Broccoli, & Irish Soda Bread

    March 20, 2012 at 2:08 am by Tuxedo Cat

    Buying dried beans in bulk has been a secret pleasure of mine the past few months. It is a cheaper and healthier way of getting the protein punch and helps me to become more creative with my meal planning. I usually soak the beans the night before I want to use them, cook them 1-2 hours (depending on the bean), and incorporate them into a main or side dish for the evening’s supper.

    Ever since we had a killer navy bean salad at a vegetarian wedding last fall, I’ve been craving a re-creation of it. I found this recipe from Group Recipes for navy bean salad and based my main entree on it. I added some parsley, cilantro, mint, tomato, and carrots to my version. I also omitted the red peppers because I didn’t have any on hand. It turned out to be a very flavorful, zesty, and fresh dish.

    Navy Bean Salad

    To round off the meal, I steamed a head of chopped broccoli and added only lemon pepper for flavoring at the end. It was simple, yet zesty. I also used some of the leftover whole wheat Irish Soda Bread from our St. Patty’s Day Feast slathered with a coconut oil-based spread. Simply divine!

    Navy Bean Salad, Lemon Pepper Broccoli, Irish Soda Bread


    Overall, we’d rate this a 4 out of 5 carrots on the veganlicious scale.

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  6. BBQ Tofu, Grilled Kale, & Taboule Salad

    March 20, 2012 at 1:40 am by Tuxedo Cat

     

    The weather is really starting to warm up, so some pre-summer grilling was in order. Dinner encapsulated some old and new favorites: grilled BBQ tofu, grilled kale, and a taboule salad.

    The tofu was extra firm with just a light spraying of olive oil and a moderate sprinkling of Dinosaur BBQ Cajun Foreplay Spice Rub. It was cooked on our gas grill with Dinosaur BBQ Wango Tango Habanero HOT BBQ Sauce slathered over it. This dish was so spicy, I couldn’t finish more than 3 slices, but the hubs quickly devoured my remaining slabs.

    We also made some grilled kale from our standby recipe, which is like eating a healthy green, tasty and tangy potato chip (minus the potato taste!). We used dino kale (my personal favorite) and left it on the stalk versus making kale “chips.” We ate it off the stalk to make grilling a little easier. It was a little charred in places, but still delicious.

    BBQ Tofu & Grilled Kale

    I also made a taboule salad using a recipe from the back of my Trader Joe’s whole wheat couscous box as the base and adding some extra herbs and veggies along the way. Some key ingredients included lemon juice, olive oil, tomato, white onions, green onions, parsley, mint, salt and pepper. It was simply perfection! The light, lemony taste mixed with the herbs made this side dish a highlight of the meal.

    Grilled BBQ Tofu, Grilled Kale, and Taboule Salad

    This was a light, healthy and mouth-watering meal to be repeated!

    Overall, we rate it a 4 out of 5 carrots on the veganlicious scale.

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  7. St. Patrick’s Day Vegan-Style

    March 19, 2012 at 1:12 am by Tuxedo Cat

    Finding alternatives for a meat-free St. Patrick’s Day wasn’t difficult. I was never a corned beef fan in my pre-vegan days anyway, so finding a substitute for salty beef was not necessary. I decided to stick with mostly whole foods and forgo any faux meat products for this year’s feast. While listening to Flogging Molly in the background, I concocted our Irish feast.

    The menu consisted of an Irish Carrot Soup, Kale Salad, Chickpea Shepard’s Pie, sour gherkins, castelvetrano olives, whole wheat Irish Soda Bread, Shamrock Shakes for dessert, and a veganized Bailey’s Irish Cream.

    We started off with some freshly baked whole wheat Irish Soda Bread (minus the raisins) from Happy Herbivore. The bread was dense, moist, and chewy. It was great with some vegan butter and dipped into our next soup course.

    Whole Wheat Irish Soda Bread

    Next we had Irish Carrot Soup from this Epicurious recipe (minus the whipping cream). The soup was described by others as tasty and “carrot-y.” I found it a tad bitter for my taste, which could have been attributed to either the lemon juice or cloves included in the ingredient mix. I would make it again in the future if I omitted one or both of those ingredients.

    Irish Carrot Soup

    The soup was followed by a nice green salad and our main course. I had previously made the kale salad numerous other times and blogged about it. I also have made the Chickpea Shepherd’s Pie before, but it came out even better this time because I used a different mixture of veggies from my first attempt. I used a mixed bag of frozen corn, peas, and carrots. I also added some nutritional yeast in the chickpea mixture as the original creator of the recipe recommended. Delish! The sour gherkins and castelvetrano olives were a nice salty side dish to the meal as well. Okay, so the olives were actually Sicilian (not Irish), but they were green and addicting.

    Chickpea Shepherd's Pie, Kale Salad, gherkins, olives, and Irish soda bread

    Beverage wise, we were delighted by some spirits that our friend Brent brought over. The men enjoyed Guinness Extra Stout, which according to Barnivore, is the only vegan Guinness beverage. Normally Guinness is made with a fining process using isinglass (from the swimbladders of fish).

    After dinner, we had a nightcap of a veganized Bailey’s Irish Cream (consisting of a coconut milk base) that was absolutely amazing. It was creamy, smooth, and sweet with just the right amount of Jameson.

    Vegan Bailey's Irish Cream

    Since it was a warm evening, I decided to make veganized Shamrock Shakes for dessert. I added a healthier version of Oreos to the mix for a cookies and cream appeal.

    Shamrock Shakes (2 servings)

    2 to 2 1/2 cups of Rice Dream vanilla ice cream
    3/4 to 1 cup of rice milk
    1/2 teaspoon mint extract
    1 cup of fresh cilantro (more or less until desired “green” color is reached)
    4-6 Oreo-style cookies (broken in half)
    Fresh mint for garnish (optional)
    Straws (optional)

    Put all of the ingredients (minus the mint and straws!) into a blender and puree until desired consistency is reached. Add more ice cream or milk depending on how thin or thick you want it. Garnish with mint and stick a straw in the glass for easier drinking.

    This was the perfect blend of mint, vanilla, and cookie-goodness! The cilantro was a nice addition and wasn’t too strong or overbearing (for those who aren’t cilantro fans).

    Vegan Shamrock Shakes

    To top of our St. Patty’s Day vegan feast, we watched the campy, cult horror film Leprechaun, featuring a young Jennifer Aniston. It was hilarious and silly and the perfect ending for a great dinner with friends. It turns out that Jennifer Aniston’s character is vegetarian in the movie, thus prepping me up for another future edition of Vegetarian Protaganists in Horror Movies. Erin go Braugh!

    Overall, I’d give this meal a 4 1/2 out of 5 carrots on the veganlicious scale!

    Category Desserts, Dinner, Film Reviews, Holiday Foods, Music | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, | 1 Comment

  8. Vegan Corn Dogs

    January 11, 2012 at 11:48 pm by Tuxedo Cat

    I have been craving vegan corn dogs for quite some time. The last time one touched my lips was in July 2010 during a 6 hour layover in Portland, OR at Hungry Tiger Too. So, so good. Watching Portlandia now, but I digress.

    I’m discovering that All American Vegan by Jennifer and Nathan Winograd is the ultimate vegan comfort food cookbook! Their corn dog recipe hit the spot. The only issue was that I used corn flour instead of the corn meal that the recipe called for, so the the batter was much thicker than I expected. Even one corn dog was quite filling, although I had to go for the gusto and eat two. I used Worthington’s Loma Linda Linkettes (the best vegan hot dogs in my opinion) and wrapped the dough around them and fried them to perfection! Even though they were cooked in oil, they did not come out greasy and were quite crispy on the outside. Imagine, a tasty hot dog surrounded by the goodness of cornbread.

    To offset the carnival-caloric feel of the corn dogs, I included a side of steamed broccoli with lemon pepper and sweet potato tots!

    The money shot!

    Overall, I’d rate this version 4 out of 5 carrots on the veganlicious scale!

    Category Dinner, Lunch | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, | 1 Comment

  9. Cannellini Bean Salad with Wheatberries

    January 11, 2012 at 12:01 am by Tuxedo Cat

    I have had a love affair with both cannellini beans and wheatberries for the past year. I also was delaying going to the grocery store and decided to use what I already had in my pantry and refrigerator to create a new meal. Thus, this delightful, simple, and very healthy cannellini bean salad over wheatberries was born!

    Recipe

    3-4 cups of cooked and cooled cannellini beans (I used dried beans that I soaked and cooked, but canned will work too)
    1/2 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
    1-2 TB dehydrated tomatoes, finely chopped
    1 onion, finely diced
    2 carrots, finely chopped
    white balsamic vinegar, to taste
    salt and pepper, to taste

    1 1/2 cups of dried wheatberries
    1 vegetable bouillon cube
    3 cups water

    Using a rice cooker (set on brown rice setting) or boiling water in a pot on the stove, cook your wheatberries  with the vegetable bouillon cube until they are finished and most, or all of the water is absorbed (this could take at least 2 hours in a rice cooker).

    While your wheatberries are cooking, prep your other ingredients. Use either dried cannellini beans that you’ve rehydrated (through overnight soaking) and cooked (for at about 2 hours in water) or canned beans, rinsed, and place in a large bowl. No need to cook canned beans as they’ve already been “cooked” previously. Add parsley, tomatoes, onion, and carrots to the beans and mix gently. Add the vinegar, salt, and pepper, and mix again. Put in the refrigerator until the wheatberries are finished. Plate your meal by using the wheatberries as a base and topping with the cannellini bean salad. Viola! Instant, easy, delicious meal!

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  10. Beans & Greens with Red Quinoa

    January 7, 2012 at 11:56 pm by Tuxedo Cat

    Last year I was traveling in Nashville, TN and went to an amazing vegetarian restaurant called The Wild Cow. I ordered the memorable Beans & Greens (Buffalo-Style) dish and was inspired to re-create it, sans tofu, for tonight’s dinner.

    Recipe
    1 bunch of greens (I used collards for this recipe, but kale works too)
    1 small onion, chopped
    1 large clove of garlic, minced
    2 TB olive oil
    1-2 TB umeboshi plum vinegar (optional)
    pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)

    1 cup of uncooked red quinoa
    2 cups of water for cooking
    1 vegetable or chicken-free bouillon cube

    2 cans of beans (I used pinto and kidney beans here)
    cajun seasoning to taste

    hot sauce to taste (I prefer Frank’s Red Hot)
    Tofutti Better-Than-Sour-Cream (optional)

    Soak the dried red quinoa in a bowl of water for at least 30 minutes to help get rid of some of the bitter flavor in the coating of the quinoa. While the quinoa is soaking, start prepping your greens. Wash the greens well, then cut into 1/2 to 1 inch thick slivers. Put the olive oil in a large pan and heat. Put the chopped onion in the pan and saute until translucent. Add the chopped collards or kale to the pan, with 1/4 cup of water (or as needed) to help cook the greens and mix with the onions. Cook until the greens are wilted and bright green. Towards the end of cooking, add the garlic, vinegar, and cayenne pepper and stir to mix.

    While the greens are cooking, drain the quinoa and rinse. Put the quinoa in a pot with 2 cups of water and 1 bouillon cube and cook until boiling. Reduce heat, cover, and cook for at least 20 minutes or until the water is absorbed.

    After starting the quinoa, put beans from both cans into a pot (do not drain as the liquid is needed to help the beans cook). Add cajun seasoning and heat the beans for at least 15 minutes or more, covered, mixing occasionally.

    When the greens, beans, and quinoa are finished cooking, prepare to plate them. Put the quinoa in a large bowl or on a plate, then the greens, topped with the beans. Pour hot sauce over the beans to taste. Top with a dollop of vegan sour cream, if desired.

    I also included a side of pickled beets with tonight’s dish.

    Beans & Greens with Red Quinoa & Beets

    I love the savory flavors of the greens, nuttiness of the red quinoa, hearty taste of the beans, and spiciness of the cajun seasonings in this dish.

    Category Dinner, Gluten-free, Lunch | Tags: ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, | No Comments

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