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Broiled Blackened Tofu w/ Jerk Asparagus – Appetite for Reduction

Here’s another meal from Appetite for Reduction that we really enjoyed. I took Isa’s suggestion and served it with jerk asparagus, but skipped the butternut coconut rice, and served it with some simple mashed acorn squash instead. I toasted up the squash seeds in a skillet to use as a garnish.

Roasted Acorn Squash Mash & Toasted Seeds

1 medium acorn squash, cut down the middle, seeds removed and reserved

desired seasonings (I used a pinch of ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt & pepper)

sprinkle of sea salt

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350*F. Prepare a roasting pan or cookie sheet, and place squash halves face down. Bake for about 45 minutes, or until a fork pierces the skin easily. Remove from oven and allow to cool. When cool enough to handle, scoop out the flesh, mash, and add seasonings to taste.

2. Meanwhile, place rinsed squash seeds and a small sprinkle of salt in a small skillet, and heat to low-medium heat, shaking occasionally until all are toasted and dry.

going in

coming out

I usually cheat and buy the sprouted, pre-pressed tofu, but they were out!

seasonings for blackened tofu

tofu heading in to broil

Mmm, jerk asparagus

made for a pretty plate!

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Categories food pix, food tips, recipe review

Brunch @ Ethos Vegan Kitchen- Orlando, Fl

13 Mar

We met up with Jeremy Sunday morning at Ethos for brunch. I’ve dined at Ethos before with mixed reviews, but if there’s one thing they do extremely well, it’s brunch! Seriously, I don’t think there’s a bad thing on their brunch menu, and you could tell I wasn’t the only one who thought that because it was absolutely slammed when we got there. The line to the register was wrapped around and lengthy, but it went quick.

The weather had dropped 20 degrees over night, so we opted to sit in the less crowded patio to enjoy the brisk weather. They had a DJ out there playing some chill records.

Jeremy’s breakfast burrito came smothered in gravy and stuffed with tofu scramble and other goodies.

I ordered vegan pancakes with agave syrup (maple available too!), some grits and a fruit cup. This made me very, very happy. The grits were even better with some of my extra agave. Mmmmm!

Thomas got the tofu scramble, which I’d had before and knew was good, and some grits too. The scramble and potatoes were exactly the right texture and perfectly seasoned, and he thought the grits were especially good too. Win!

Impression:

If it’s Sunday, and you’re in Orlando, there is absolutely no reason why you should not get your butt over here right now!

Ethos Vegan Kitchen is located near the antiques district at 1235 N Orange Ave Ste 101 (at Virginia Ave), Orlando, Fl 32804. 407-228-3898. Open Mon-Sat 11am-10pm, Sun 10am-3pm.

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Categories food pix, restaurant review

Veggie Potpie Soup

12 Mar

Since I was SO behind on posts, I’m going to pepper in a few cooking posts with the restaurant reviews from our recent travels. A few weeks ago I had Thomas pick out a few meals from Appetite for Reduction. Around the same time we also found a cheap bag of TSP (TVP chunks) at WF that we couldn’t resist buying. The two meetup in this adapted version of Isa‘s Veggie Potpie Stew from AFR. The TSP chunks taste even better the next day after soaking up all the flavors. Speaking of the next day, I added 3 cups of water to it on day 2 (it thickens up a lot!), along with half a bag of frozen, chopped spinach to give it a delicious little makeover as a second dinner. I served it with my drop biscuits for a warm, comforting, healthy dinner. Enjoy!

Veggie Potpie Soup

olive oil for misting

1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1.5 tsp. dried sage
1/2 tsp. salt
fresh ground pepper

1/2 c. split peas
6 c. filtered water + 2 bouillon cubes
1 c. TSP chunks, optional

3 small potatoes, cut into small pieces
1/2 lbs carrots, cut into 1/2″ chunks
3 small zucchini, chopped

1 tbsp. dried thyme
1 c. filtered water
1/4 c. flour
1 c. frozen peas

Directions:

1. Mist a 4-5 qt pot lightly with olive oil, add onions, and raise to low-medium heat. Cook until translucent. Add garlic, sage, salt & pepper, and cook another minute.

2. Add split peas, water and bouillon, and raise to a boil. After 5 minutes, add potatoes, carrots, zucchini, and TSP chunks (if using). Cover and simmer 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Whisk the flour into the cup of water, to dissolve it fully, and add it to the pot along with the last of the thyme and frozen peas. Simmer, uncovered, for about 10 more minutes. It thickens up quite a bit, and even more so overnight.

(4. The next day I added 3 c. of filtered water & half a bag of frozen, chopped spinach.)

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Categories food pix, food tips, recipe review, recipes

Babycakes Downtown Disney – Lake Buena Vista, Fl

11 Mar

On our way over to Orlando from Winter Haven, I decided making a pit stop at Downtown Disney would be a good idea, so we could check out Babycakes, and Thomas agreed, since he wanted to check out the Disney stores for Star Wars and Nightmare before Christmas merch. ; )

Since our phones had not yet recovered from their battery death, I brought the ipad in with us, so I wouldn’t have to give you another picture-less post. (Points to Thomas for that one!)

As a new vegan, I had eaten some cupcakes and pumpkin bread at the New York location which I really enjoyed, but today I was on a mission for vegan doughnuts. Under the doughnuts, however, was a whole batch of cornbread, and we’re both really big suckers for cornbread, so I picked up 2 slices of that as well as a cinnamon sugar doughnut and a vanilla cookie crunch doughnut.

Impression:

The doughnuts were both good, with the cookie crunch one being my favorite of the two. They had seams as if they had been baked in a pan, but I’m not sure of their method. The cornbread was a bit of a let down, cakey and a little bit too crumbly. It was also way too salty, so I would say skip it. If you’re already in the area, and looking for a vegan doughnut, definitely go check them out, but if you’re in Orlando, I don’t think it’s worth the drive simply to come here, but that’s just me.

Heads up! Babycakes is located inside of the Pollo Campero (chicken place) pavillion, tucked away in the corner, but as long as you know that, it will be easy to find. There’s a little kiosk to the left that sells juice, coffee & tea that you can buy to accompany your baked goods.

(And yes, that kid totally opened up the umbrella.)

And here is Thomas gleefully showing you how it looks from outside.

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Categories food pix, restaurant review

Consciousness-Blossoms Palm Harbor, Fl

7 Mar

Thomas' barbeque tofu sandwich with slaw. This was very good.

So in case you’ve been wondering where the heck I’ve been, I will tell you! We’ve spent the last two weekends in central Florida. The previous weekend we were in Clearwater and Palm Harbor, visiting Kass, and we spent this past weekend in Winter Haven and Orlando.

Here’s some proof:

Thomas & I showing our vampire skin off briefly in day light.

Me & Kass!

I was thrilled when a happycow.net search turned out a place for us to go and get some Sunday brunch. Consciousness-Blossoms had me at vegan pancakes. (I love happy cow. I even have the app on my phone!) This place is vegetarian, but has plenty of vegan goodness to go around.

The sign is easy to spot; a good thing in a strip mall location.

They have a section of books and cards with a spiritual theme.

The women all wear saris and it's very, very pastel.

There is a little bit of seating outside too, but this place got slammed shortly after we got there. The counter filled up, and people were waiting for tables in no time!

Thomas' barbeque tofu sandwich with slaw, which was very good.

Kassidy's tofu scramble with potatoes, toast and a side of hummus. The tofu scramble was well seasoned, just a little greasy. The potatoes were delicious, and we really liked the hummus. It had an unusual taste in there that we couldn't figure out, but we liked it a whole bunch.

For some reason I didn’t take a picture of my pancake.

I think it’s because I was waiting for my tempeh reuben to come out. I ordered the “one large pancake” with bananas and walnuts, but it wasn’t until I dug in that I found out where they were hiding the bananas and walnuts. It was truly spectacular, and very big, and the sweet, cooked bananas contrasted ever so nicely with the crunch of walnuts.

When my reuben came out, I could tell that even though I had requested it vegan it was covered in melty swiss cheese, and the waitress confirmed it, so back it went. After I finished my pancake I was pretty full, but I felt bad cancelling it at that point, so we waited. At this point the restaurant was in full swing, with quite a number of people waiting for tables. Then my reuben arrived…

Vegan Tempeh Reuben with slaw.

I wasn’t crazy about the reuben at this point, but that’s probably because I was already full, and because it came after we were all done eating. I also think I’m kind of over vegan cheese, but oh well, the last part’s not their fault. I scraped the vegan cheese aside, and picked at the sandwich until most of it magically disappeared.

I also got one of their carob bliss balls to go (not pictured) which was a delicious, mostly raw snack for the ride home.

Impression:

If you’re in the area, this place is definitely worth checking out! There’s plenty to try, and it’s fairly easy to tell which are going to be the heavier dishes if you don’t want something greasy. Consciousness-Blossoms is located at 3390 Tampa Rd, Palm Harbor, Telephone 727-789-1931

Credit Cards Accepted

Breakfast & Lunch: Tue-Sun, 8am to 3pm
Dinner: Friday, 5pm to 8pm
(Closed Monday)

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Categories food pix, restaurant review

Carrot Juice in the Vitamix Blender

1 Mar

I had been really wanting to try out a raw carrot cake recipe (post to follow) and needed to come up with either 2 cups of shredded carrots or carrot juice pulp. I decided I might as well go with the juice & pulp, since I’d have 2 things to show for my efforts. Since I was using a cheesecloth to strain, I worked in 2 batches. I was able to use some of the 1st batch of juice for the 2nd batch’s wetting agent, resulting in a total of 1 cup of added filtered water to the recipe, and nice potent juice. It took 2 pounds of carrots to get 2 cups of very dense, dry pulp. I had about 28? ounces of juice that I went on to use as a base to make a nice green juice.

Carrot Juice in the Vitamix

2 lbs carrots, scrubbed and cut into 1-2″ pieces
1 cup of filtered water

Directions:

1. Add half of the carrots and 1 cup of water to the vitamix. Slowly bring the blender up to full speed, using the tamper to push carrots down, as necessary. When fully blended strain using a cheesecloth over a sieve (as pictured) or with a nut milk bag.

2. Add remaining carrots to blender with 1 cup of carrot juice. Blend & strain. Enjoy!

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Categories food pix, recipes

Coconut Red Lentil & Split Pea Soup

23 Feb

I followed a link for roasted brussel sprouts the other day, and ended up finding this soup recipe on La Petite Maison Verte. As I read further, I found it amusing that the recipe had a history. She had found it on 101 Cookbooks, who was turned on to it by her neighbor, who had adapted it from a copy of the Esalon cookbook. And now I pass it onto you, as I have made it. ; ) I had about a cup of roasted onions, carrots, and steamed collards that I used instead of fresh carrots, and though I attempted toasting the curry powder, I’m not sure that it made much of a difference. It may make more of a difference if you’re actually toasting the whole spices and grinding them yourself, as they do in traditional Indian cooking, so I just left it as an option.

This one is definitely going in my permanent rotation. It made a lovely meal on one of our last “winter” cold snaps. The pictures aren’t the greatest, but it was really delicious!

Coconut Red Lentil & Split Pea Soup

1 c. green (or yellow) split peas, rinsed
1 c. red lentils, rinsed
7 c. water
1 piece of kombu

olive oil for misting
1 medium onion, sliced thinly
1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped or sliced
3 tbsp. fresh peeled and minced ginger

2 tablespoons curry powder (optional: toasted by heating over low heat in a small skillet until fragrant)

olive oil for misting
4-5 green onions, thinly chopped cross-wise
1/3 cup raisins
1/3 cup tomato paste
1 14-ounce can [light] coconut milk
1-2 tsp. sea salt ( or low sodium soy sauce/shoyu/tamari or bragg’s, to taste )

1/2-1 c. fresh or frozen chopped greens, optional

Directions:

1. Place lentils, split peas, water and kombu in a large pot and set to boil. Meanwhile, in a medium skillet misted with olive oil, add onions and carrots and cook over low to medium heat until softened. When lentils and water boil (skim off any foam!), add onions, carrots and 2 tbsp. of the ginger. Cover and simmer 30 minutes.

2. Mist the skillet you cooked the onions and carrots in with a little more olive oil (or you can use a thin layer of water), and set to medium. Add green onions, remaining tablespoon of ginger, and raisins. Cook for 2 0r 3 minutes, stirring frequently, and add tomato paste. Cook an additional 2 or 3 minutes.

3. After soup simmers for 30 minutes, add green onion mixture, curry powder, coconut milk, salt and greens, if using. Simmer uncovered for 20 minutes. At this point you can use an immersion blender, or pour it very carefully into a blender in batches to get a wonderful, smooth consistency.

Enjoy!

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Categories recipes, food pix, recipe testing

(Raw) Vegan Milkshakes

19 Feb

Today we had a classic lunch of burgers and shakes, just done a little different. The burgers were simple enough… Gardein patties on sprouted grain bread with ketchup, mustard, and pickle relish. For dessert, we had these luscious vanilla milkshakes. (I was out greens, so no green smoothies today!) The little flecks of flax seed are reminiscent of vanilla bean. You can make these raw by using raw nut milk! You can customize these however you like by adding fruit, raw cacao, peanut butter, etc.

(Raw) Vegan Milkshakes
2-4 servings

2 large ripe bananas, frozen
3 c. of non-dairy milk
1 tbsp. vanilla extract
2 tbsp. ground flax seed, optional
2 handfuls of ice cubes
pinch of cinnamon, optional
squirt of raw agave, optional

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Adjust ice, milk or agave if necessary.

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Categories food pix, recipes

Juice Pulp Crackers – mini batch trial

14 Feb

After my green juice experiment, I had about a half a cup of juice pulp left behind. It wasn’t much, but I thought it might be fun to try a mini batch of juice pulp crackers in my toaster oven. I used the same blog post Jenna did as a guide!

Juice Pulp Crackers – Mini batch

~1/2 c. juice pulp
2 tbsp. ground flax seed
1 tbsp. nutrtional yeast
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. dehydrated minced onion
1/4 tsp. cumin
1 pinch of salt
1 grind of pepper
1 tsp. of water

Directions:

1. Turn toaster oven to warm or lowest heat setting. Put juice pulp in a medium sized bowl and add all other ingredients. Mix thoroughly with a fork, until completely combined.

2. Spread into one layer into a 8×8″ baking dish using a small rubber spatula to make it even.

3. Bake for 1 hour with toaster oven ajar. Carefully flip and bake for 20-30 more minutes, or until completely dry.

Result: These came out great! They reminded me of some kind of commercial veggie crackers I ate years ago. I ate some with avocado salsa, and plain. They were almost better plain because they were so flavorful, and even though avocado salsa makes everything amazing, it completely masked the taste.

These were also one more point for me buying a juicer & dehydrator. Though I’d just get a cheapy dehydrator, because the reviews on amazon don’t seem too bad for this model, and others have been recommending this guy for a juicer. Though, I’m thinking his half the price brother will do the job nicely. Thoughts? I have time to decide. I promised I wouldn’t buy more kitchen stuff until Seattle! (maybe!)

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Categories recipes, food pix, recipe testing

Raw Taquitos / Raw Taco Meat

13 Feb

I had seen raw tacos popping up all over the place lately ( here & here ) and decided to make my own attempt at nut/seed based raw taco meat. I used collard leaves to roll them up into cute little taquitos, but you can also use romaine leaves to eat these as raw tacos.

Raw Taquitos
3-4 servings

1 bunch of collard leaves, cut down the middle, rib removed

3/4 c. raw walnuts, soaked for 2+ hours and drained
1/4 c. raw pumpkin seeds, soaked for 2+ hours and drained

2 small carrots, cut into pieces
small shallot or about 1 tbsp. of finely chopped onion
2 sun-dried tomatoes, soaked for 10 minutes and drained

1 tbsp. taco seasoning of your preference, mine is the one from VCF

1 recipe Avocado Salsa, below

Directions:

1. Pulse pumpkin seeds and walnuts in the food processor until you get small crumbles. Scrape out into medium bowl and set aside.

2. Pulse carrots, onion, and sundried tomatoes until finely chopped. And add along with taco seasonings to nut/seed mixture. Use a fork to mix until well combined.

3. Take one half of a collard leaf (inside up) and place about 2 tablespoons each of nut meat and avocado salsa, and roll tightly. (see pix below!)

Avocado Salsa

1 or 2 ripe haas avocado
2 tbsp. of lime juice
1 medium tomato, seeded and chopped finely
2-3 tbsp. of finely chopped white onion
1 minced garlic clove
1 large handful of cilantro, chopped finely
1/4 c. of fresh or frozen corn kernels*, optional
salt & pepper, to taste
cayenne pepper or 1/2 a jalapeño, chopped finely, optional

Directions:

1. Scoop out avocado into a bowl. Add lime juice. Add all other ingredients, and mash to desired consistency. Eat fresh or chill in the fridge to let flavors combine further.

*If using frozen corn kernals, just run them under some warm water in a fine mesh sieve before adding.