Happy Earth Day 2014...

Tuesday was Earth Day, and Earth Day is one of my favorite non-holiday-holiday’s! Each year I celebrate by making a tasty meal, and then my husband and I go and see the latest Disney Nature Earth Day film - proceeds of which go to benefit things like ocean conservation, the national parks, Chimpanzee’s etc... whatever the year’s film happens to be about.

This year my dinner was a little lower-key then dinners past because I’ve been so burned out on food lately, but that doesn’t mean we didn’t have some delicious fun.

I started by making a delicious batch of Summer Strawberry and Mango Guacamole from Angela Liddon’s wonderful new book “The Oh She Glows Cookbook.” Now, you might not think that mangos and strawberries belong in a Guac recipe, and I’ll admit I was a bit skeptical at first, but this guac was so good! Seriously, all the flavors mingled so well, and I absolutely loved the combination of buttery avocados, with tart strawberries, and sweet mangos. A perfect marriage of the three - we ate this up like ravenous dogs, with a bag of Organic Blue Corn Tortilla Chips.

For our meal I decided to make Brian Patton’s Meatball Parmesan Burgers from the August 2013 Issue of VegNews Magazine. I remember being particularly excited about this issue because of the exquisite burger recipes, but as often happens I never actually got around to trying any of the recipes until now. These burgers were pretty easy to make, however they did require a few steps. First you need to make the patty which is a mixture of tempeh, walnuts, vegetables, spices and wheat gluten. Then you make the Garlicky Mozzarella Sauce which is a creamy cashew based cheese sauce, then you make a batch of the Basil Macadamia Pesto. I also decided to make my own burger buns since I didn’t have any buns on hand. I used the recipe for Rustica Buns in Joni Marie Newman’s wonderful book “The Best Veggie Burgers on the Planet.” Since the buns have chopped up pieced of sun-dried tomatoes in them I thought they would be a perfect fit for a meatball burger and boy was I right. These buns were super awesome, and I would definitely make them again.

The only significant change to the recipe is that I decided to make them sliders instead of full burgers. I thought they would be cuter that way, and of course making a smaller burger - and a smaller bun - decreases cooking time. Honestly, in the end I wasn’t sure how I’d like the burgers but they ended up being one of the best home-made veggie burgers I’ve made - and I’ve made a lot. They weren’t overly gluten-tasting which I really appreciate, and they weren’t mushy either. I think they’d probably stand up well to a grill. They were particularly amazing when all the components were brought together, the bun, the burger, the sauce, the pesto, and the marinara. Both the cheese cause and pesto were excellent. I’ve made a lot of vegan pesto in my time but never one using macadamia nuts. It was a really nice surprise flavor wise.

To accompany our burgers I decided to go with another one of Brian Patton’s recipes. This time I chose The Green Bean Fries from his book “The Sexy Vegan’s Happy Hour At Home” These tasted a lot more like green bean tempura then french fries but they were delicious nonetheless. The beans were tossed in arrowroot powder, then bathed in a batter mix of flour, beer and spices then deep fried.  To serve you make a really delicious tahini dipping sauce that tasted so amazing with the beans.

Since we’re pretty burnt out on sweets I opted not to make dessert for once, but we didn’t miss it. We stuffed ourselves silly, and were quite happy there wasn’t anything else that needed eating. After filling our bellies and cleaning up we went for a nice walk. The weather was nice, sunny and mostly warm with a breeze. Then as stated earlier, we saw the new Earth Day film "Bears" which really tugs at the heartstrings. If you're as into Nature Films, Nature Documentaries, or Animal Documentaries as much as I am, you'll love it - for the amazing close-up footage alone.

Hope you all had a happy Earth Day.

Loaded Taco Salad....

I have been craving tacos something fierce lately, and it’s not just tacos. Enchiladas, fajitas, 7-Layer Dip, Nachos, re-fried beans, fresh tomatoes, and avocados, salsa, cilantro, olives, and of course salads. When summer rolls around I fall into something of a salad frenzy. For days I’ve been craving this ridiculous barrage of foods and so yesterday when lunchtime rolled around and my tummy started a grumblin’ I decided something must be done about this insatiable desire for Latin inspired food. I had everything on hand necessary to make tacos, fajitas, or enchiladas, but to do so simply for my own lunch didn’t seem worth the trouble. I considered a burrito but it just seemed lacking and so I came up with this fully loaded, and super delicious salad. I’m telling you, it really turned those taco cravings upside down, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. It’s quick, easy, and relatively low-fat. The Guac is really the only ‘fatty’ ingredient but I believe we’ve had this conversation about avocados and Guac before. Of course if you are one of those people who absolutely dreads and fears the addition of an avocado into your meal by all means opt out, use a low-fat guac, or use my Easy Lima Bean Guac instead. Trust me when I say though that this salad just wouldn’t be the same without the creamy, garlicy goodness of a good guac.

Loaded Taco Salad

1- 1 1/2 heads romaine lettuce chopped
7 oz can refried beans (or to taste)
½ cup Organic corn fresh cooked (leftover is great) or frozen (thawed) (or to taste)
1/4 red onion diced (or to taste)
½ red bell pepper diced (or to taste)
2 ½ oz can sliced black olives (or to taste)
2 Organic corn tortillas
1 medium tomato chopped (or to taste)
1 Recipe Guacamole in a pinch (recipe follows)
3-4 Tbsp your favorite Salsa (or to taste)

Additional Add-ins/Garnishes.

These things are not necessary but they are recommended if you have them. They are all delicious additions, and the micro greens are an especially pretty touch.

Finely chopped cilantro (to taste)
1-2 small handfuls Micro Greens
1/4 C sliced green onion
2 oz can diced green chilies or fresh diced jalapenos (or to taste)
1/4-1/2C Shredded non-dairy Cheddar Cheese

*** Note - This salad yields enough for one humongous salad, and when I say humongous I’m not exaggerating. However you can always split this up into two more workable salads to serve with a nice side dish at dinner or for a light lunch. You could also split this salad up even more and turn it into four small side salads. However if you split the salad into 2 or 4 I recommend adding an additional 7oz of re-fried beans, and doubling the amount of guac. I also recommend doubling your salsa, and tortillas as well as a few of the veggies to ensure that everyone gets enough. Or you can do what I did which is sit down and eat the whole damn thing in one sitting. It really is that good! ***

- Slice or chop your lettuce uniformly, and place in a large bowl.

- Cut your tortillas into strips and spread over chopped lettuce. (For an extra flavor flair you can toast your tortillas first)

- Chop Tomato, red onion, and red pepper uniformly in small dice, then sprinkle over top of salad. Then add in the corn, sliced olives, and any of the additional add-ins.

- Place re-fried beans in microwave safe container and heat for 45 seconds or until warm. You don’t want it to be too hot.

- Scoop your re-fried beans to one side of your bowl, beside it line up your guacamole and your salsa, for a lovely presentation.

*** Note - If you’re a sour cream person then by all means add in a little non-dairy sour cream next to your beans, guac and salsa. ***

- To eat mix everything thoroughly together so that all ingredients are coated with re-fried beans, guac, and salsa. Enjoy!

*** Note - Once everything is mixed together it might not be all that pretty but it sure is delicious! The great thing about this salad is that it’s so creamy and full of flavor and yet there is no dressing. No dressing is required because the beans, the guac, and the salsa serve as a dressing.***

Guacamole in a Pinch

1 Avocado
1 tbsp lime juice
garlic powder (to taste)
onion powder (to taste)
dried oregano (to taste)
black pepper (to taste)
sea salt (to taste)
A pinch of white pepper (Optional)
A dash of smoked paprika (Optional)

- When it comes to quick and easy guacamole, yielding just enough for me I like to make it with my mortar and pestle, if you don’t have a mortar and pestle you can just dump all of these ingredients into a food processor or blender and process until smooth and creamy.

- If you do have a mortar and pestle it’s very simple. Half your avocado, peel away the skin and remove the pit. Place into the mortar with your seasonings and grind with your pestle until the guac is smooth and creamy.

- Taste for seasonings and adjust as needed. I never measure how much seasoning I add into my guac, that’s what makes it quick. Generally speaking I just add a few dashes of everything, taste, and if needed I add a few more good dashes. I do however recommend airing on the side of caution at first when adding in your seasonings, as you can always add more, but once the spice has been added you can’t take it away.

*** Note- Gluten and Soy-Free if  not using non-dairy cheese or if using Gluten-Free or Soy-Free non-dairy cheese ***

Easy Low-Fat Lima Bean Guacamole...

I love a good guacamole, especially in the spring and summer months. I make it often, usually in small amounts - Since my husband doesn’t like avocados - by hand with my mortar and pestle. I love to use it on wraps, or burgers, it’s great on nachos or in a seven layer dip. It’s also great on it’s own with some tortilla or pita chips.

I know a lot of people tend to shy away from avocados because of the ‘fat’ content. Personally I think this is just plain silly. Avocados are filled with healthful nutritional benefits, and yes they contain fat, but healthful fat, and some fat in the diet is required. (Not much, but some) Honestly if you’re eating a relatively low-fat vegan diet of whole foods, it’s not the bowl of guacamole that’s going to get you. Which is why I don’t worry about it, I don’t even consider the fat content of a bowl of guacamole, I just eat it. Though I can understand the desire to eat lower fat, especially if say you want to eat a massive helping of guac particularly in a week where you may have fallen a little of the ‘health food’ wagon, or for whatever reason haven’t been exercising regularly. (You do exercise regularly right?) And so after being extremely impressed, and inspired by a low fat guac my good friend J brought to a party, I decided to try and develop my own.

This works great on two fronts - 1 it’s low-fat, and 2 my husband loves it because it’s not avocados! So if you have an avocado hater in your midst have them give this one a try and see if they don’t come around.

Easy Low-Fat Lima Bean Guacamole

12-16oz frozen lima beans (thawed) (I used roughly 12oz, you could use more but might have to adjust the seasonings)
1 medium Avocado
1 tbsp lime juice
1 handful chopped green onion (or to taste)
1 handful finely chopped cilantro (or to taste)
1 medium-large tomato diced (or more if desired)
½ Jalapeno (or more if you like heat)
1/4 C water (or more to thin)
2 Tbsp Non-dairy sour cream (I used Toffutti)
4-6 Garlic cloves or to taste
Black pepper, smoked paprika, and oregano to taste

- Place thawed lima beans, avocado, lime juice, jalapeno, non-dairy sour cream, and garlic cloves into a high-speed blender or food processor. Blend on high.

(Note this recipe makes a good deal of guac, so the 1 avocado is pretty insignificant fat wise. I used it along with the 2 tbsp of non-dairy sour cream to add more creaminess to the guac, but you can opt out of using either if you like, and use silken tofu instead for the same creamy effect)

- Because the mixture is so thick, your blender or food processor might give you a bit of trouble, you will likely need to scrape down the sides with a spatula. This is also where the water comes in. Use as little or as much as you need to get the blades of your blender/processor moving so that everything can combine easily. Remember you want the mixture to remain thick, you don’t want it to thin much, just enough to flow easily when the blender is on.

- Once everything is combined you can then choose to add your green onion and cilantro to the blender and pulse to combine it. Or if you prefer you can scrape the guacamole out of your blender and just fold in the green onions, and cilantro for a chunkier texture.

- Once everything is combined taste for flavor, and add salt and black pepper, oregano and smoked paprika to taste. You can add more jalapeno at this point or more garlic if you like.

- Once you are satisfied with the taste and texture of your guacamole scrape it into a bowl, mix in the diced tomato, and garnish with a little chopped green onion, cilantro, and even a bit of diced tomato and non-dairy cheddar if you like.

- Enjoy with good friends and Spanish music, on a sunny day, with a bowl of tortilla chips, or pita chips, and don’t forget to slather some onto a veggie burger.

Honestly I think this guacamole taste best when fresh, but it will keep over night.

P.S. Because I love fun-filled facts - Guacamole originated in Mexico and was made by the Aztecs as early as the 16^th century. After the arrival of the Spanish conquistadores in Mexico, guacamole became popular in Spain..

***Note- Soy and Gluten Free if using a Soy and/or Gluten-Free Non-Dairy Sour Cream such as Wayfair***

Happy and Healthy Eating!