Category Archives: food tips

Spicy Kale Salad with Raw Ginger Miso Dressing

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I’m writing this to you as I sit and eat out of the giant bowl pictured above. I had a tremendously large bunch of kale that I rinsed, cut up, and left to dry this morning. The challenge was finding a suitable dressing for it. Grocery trips were definitely off limits as tropical storm/hurricane Isaac has still been sending us squalls all day, and I’ve been catching up on laundry and watching the True Blood finale.

My first thought was doing something like this avocado miso dressing, but alas, neither of my avocados were ripe yet. So I threw one in a bag with my ripening bananas, and moved on. Then I found this recipe. If you read it through, you’ll see that it makes 3-5 times the amount called for, so I decided to scale it way down, change the proportions, ditch the tamari, sub seeds for tahini, and use the baby bowl of my food processor to get the job done. What you get is just enough dressing for a light coating. If you want this to be well dressed, you’ll probably want to use a heavier hand with everything depending on your amount of kale. While sometimes I DO use a tiny bit of leftover dressings, mostly they just end up sitting in the back of the fridge until I remember to throw them out weeks later. And who wants to waste good ingredients?

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Raw Miso Ginger Dressing
Makes scant 1/2 cup

1/4 c. of seeds (I used about 2/3 sesame seeds* and 1/3 pumpkin seeds)
2 tbsp. white miso
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. raw agave
1/2 tbsp. of prepared minced ginger
+/- 1/4 c. filtered water (start with this amount and add more by the tbsp. if necessary)

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a small food processor, food processor fitted with a smaller bowl, or high speed blender, and blend until well combined. There will still be texture to your dressing.

OR

For smoother dressing, process or blend seeds first and add all other ingredients. Blend until smooth and well combined.

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Spicy Miso Ginger Kale Salad
Serves 1-2 as main, 3-4 as a side

1 Recipe for Miso Ginger Dressing, above

1  large bunch of chopped kale
3-4 medium carrots, shredded by my food processor (you’re going to dirty it anyway, and it makes this take all of 15 seconds!)

Seasonings to taste:

shake of dulse
fresh ground black pepper (I used a few grinds of smoked)
pinch of cayenne
raw pumpkin seeds
pine nuts

Directions:

Toss everything in a very large bowl until well coated. Allow to sit and wilt, if desired or serve immediately.

Impression:

I decided to go the spicy route since *the sesame seeds I used were saved from the bottom of two bags of kale chips I had eaten this week. So they were already flavored with chile lime and barbeque, respectively. I debated about throwing in a clove of raw garlic or onion to give it a little bite, but ended up going the spice route and I think it was best. No lingering garlic breath! ; )

This was a bit of a departure for me as I usually combine sweet ingredients like raisins or apples into my salad, but this hearty, spicy salad made for a really delicious and filling main! Enjoy!

Zona Fresca, Fort Lauderdale, Fl – Veggie Taco Plate

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Top secret menu item at Zona Fresca that you can ask for… Grilled Veggie Taco Combo Plate! It’s totally cheap and delicious and filling, and you even get some chips with that!

That’s right.

It’s not on the menu, but you can ask for it, and it’s even cheaper than the meat ones, which are still under $6!

Sorry this picture is missing a taco. and some beans. :)

Ok, go!

Curried Split Pea & Lentil Soup – Orange & Purple Variation

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As I’ve alluded to, since we moved to Fort Laudy, I’ve been slacking completely in the kitchen. With the exception of a couple Appetite for Reduction cooking kicks, it’s pretty much been non-existent. We’ve been mostly subsisting on mexican food, so not all that expensive, but after some unexpected car expenses this week, I figured I should probably get back in cooking mode, and try to stick to economical meals.

Yesterday was a rainy, gray day, and perfectly suited for a bowl of hot soup and straight outta the oven biscuits. Here I did a variation on two of my recipes: Curried Split Pea & Lentil Soup & Drop Biscuits. I adapted my soup to the veggies that needed using, and modified the flavor profile on my standard biscuits to match. It ended up being an orange & purple variation, using carrots, a tiny bit of sweet potato, purple potatoes, and sweet red onion, which was divine in this version. The biscuits got a cheezy flavor from the addition of nutritional yeast and thyme.

It’s a good thing I made such a healthy soup though, because we ate 7 of the 8 biscuits that I made. I said to Thomas “this is why we were fat when I was cooking all the time!” (In my reality being fat is keeping 2-3 pounds heavier, so don’t mind me!) Tonight I’ll reinvent it with some extra water/broth (it thickens tremendously overnight!), pearled barley and spinach.

Curried Split Pea & Lentil Soup – Red Onion & Purple Potato Variation

3 c. split peas and/or lentils, picked through & rinsed
(I used half green split peas and half red lentils)
12 c. of filtered water
2 – 3″ pieces of kombu (seaweed)

extra virgin olive oil for misting pan
1 medium red onion, roughly chopped
4 small carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
4-6 purple fingerling potatoes, peeled and cut in half
1 small sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks

2 tbsp. good curry powder
pinch of garam masala
pinch of cumin
2 tsp. sea salt
Braggs or shoyu or tamari or red. sodium soy sauce, to taste (optional)
fresh ground pepper

Directions:

1. In a large dutch oven (5.5qt) or stock pot, bring 12 c. of water, seaweed, and peas/lentils up to a boil over high heat. Skim off any foam, cover, and lower heat to simmer for 1 hour.

2. Meanwhile, prepare other ingredients. You can either chop them all very finely or pulse in a food processor. Mist a large skillet with olive oil, and raise to medium heat. Add veggies, and saute, stirring often, until they begin to soften, about 5-10 minutes. Sprinkle mixture with half of the salt, cover and sweat at low heat for 10-15 minutes.

3. Add remaining seasonings and vegetable mixture to simmering soup. After initial hour, taste and adjust seasoning & cooking time if necessary.

Veggies that needed using! Purple potatoes, carrots, sweet potato and red onion.

Prepped for the processor!

After.

In the pan. Color coordinated.

We have soup!

Cheezy Drop Biscuits

2 c. flour of your choice (I used bread flour and thus skipped the optional gluten)
1 tbsp. vital wheat gluten, optional (extra protein, and added gluten for whole wheat flour)
1 tbsp. baking powder
1 tsp. of salt
1/4 c. nutritional yeast
pinch of thyme
fresh ground pepper

3 tbsp. non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening
1 c. of non-dairy milk

Makes 8-10 biscuits!

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450*F. Prepare cookie sheet.

1. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Add shortening and cut in with a pastry blender or crumble with fingers until dough looks like fine crumbls.

2. Slowly stir in milk until combined. If dough seems too dry,  add a tablespoon of water. Drop dough into evenly sized balls on prepared cookie sheet. Bake for about 10-12 minutes. They will be slightly golden on top.

BISCUITS!!!!!!

Reuniting in Winter Haven, Citricos @ The Grand Floridian, Pecos Bill Cafe, & other Disney goodness

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This year a few things decided to coincide into one weekend. Thomas’ high school reunion in Winter Haven, Star Wars weekends at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, and GayDays at Disney. While Star Wars weekends actually go on for several weeks, we decided that this was a good, festive opportunity to hit all events. Since the high school reunion was Saturday, we didn’t hit Disney until Sunday. The Gay Days main event is Saturday at the Magic Kingdom, so the Sunday Epcot day didn’t prove quite as spectacular as the main event, but it was still fun “drinking around the world” and beating the heat with ice-cold libations.

And now I take you on a very picture filled post journey into our weekend…

Here we are at the reunion.

On the monorail on our way to Epcot!

Did you notice my Star Wars trilogy shirt?

Drinking a fiesta margarita that we picked up in Mexico about to get on the Maelstrom ride in Norway.

I should mention that I picked up some edamame at a kiosk in China. Thomas got an Oktoberfest beer and a large pretzel in Germany too. : )

Here we are drinking beer at the Rose & Crown Pub in England. That’s a Bass in my hand.

Here I am, waiting in line for the Star Tours ride at Hollywood Studios. C3PO!

Eventually we got hungry. This is the veggie burger from the Pecos Bill Cafe in Frontierland in the Magic Kingdom. They now have a vegan multigrain bun! Yay! Apple slices for the win.

I smothered it with yummies from the toppings bar.

It was actually terrific and had all kinds of roasted veggies in it like corn, carrots and possibly broccoli?

After this we were able to wander around the Magic Kingdom for awhile before hitting Space Mountain, and then having just enough time to haul it over to the super swanky Grand Floridian for our dinner reservation. Thomas even brought jeans in his backpack for the occassion.

I probably should have taken some pictures of the resort and restaurant, but at this point we were pretty beat up from hitting three parks under the blazing Florida sun. So you can just click the link!

Citricos – The Grand Floridian

Citricos has plenty of vegetarian options to start with, so I figured my vegan presence would go over fairly well here. The fact that they had a delicious sounding seared tofu entree helped too! Like last time, once we were seated the waitress came over to discuss my food allergies with me. (I put them on my reservation when I booked it online.) She laughed once I told her that I was actually vegan, and only allergic to mushrooms. Then the chef came over and assured me that he could make the entree without mushrooms easily, and that both of their table breads were vegan too; and I love bread.

Multigrain and seed bread, and kalamata olive bread! YUM!

My wonderful tofu dish with zucchini, lentils, and greens. Bursting with fresh flavors and veggies!

Unfortunately none of their regular dessert options were vegan. I had doubts about the gelato, but the sorbet was off limits too. So they offered what the restaurant at the Polynesian had offered me last time, which as it turns out is a pretty great alternative, and only $5!

Tofutti vanilla ice cream and fresh berries. Thomas remarked that the ice cream tasted just like whipped cream. I had to agree!

The happiest place on earth continues to impress me with their ever increasing vegan friendliness. We had a really wonderful weekend. I would DEFINITELY recommend Citricos if you feel like doing some fine dining in the resort.

Crispers – Winter Haven, Fl

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We spent the Mother’s Day weekend in Winter Haven this year, to see Thomas’ mom. Winter Haven is southern feeling town in between Orlando and Tampa, and now home to newest park in the area, LegoLand. It is also a town where you’re likely to find a lot of barbeque, and not a whole lot of people who even know what vegan means. Which is fine, unless you need to eat something.

Being that it was Mother’s Day, I had a couple of factors against me about getting a decent lunch. First, there was a good chance the ladies of honor were not going to pick a vegan friendly establishment, and I could get stuck eating french fries, so I needed a pre-lunch, lunch. Second, because of the holiday, the independently owned safe options were closed.

Our hunt for a chain restaurant that would work landed us at Crispers. They had some vegetarian dishes clearly marked, but I decided to Pick a Pair, and just veganize their Southwest Salad, as their menu “We can make practically any salad meat-free. Just Ask!” encouraged. I chose this one, so I could get some protein from the black beans.

Sidenote: Dear salad places/restaurants, if you’re going to make a vegetarian salad, could you include some protein please? We need it too. Chickpeas, black beans, white beans, lentils, quinoa, etc. would be most appreciated. Kale would be great too. Thanks very much.

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Southwest Salad -no chicken, no cheese, no tortilla strips, no ranch, & a cup of Vegetarian Vegetable that came served with saltines, also vegan.

I dressed my salad with some pepper and some lemon juice I squeezed from the lemons at the drink station! And we even got a free fountain drink with my check-in on Foursquare.

I actually ended up having plenty of lunch in the end. We ended up going to Chili’s, where I had a cup of black beans, and some awesome guacamole, along with some free chips & salsa from our check-in on Foursquare. So yah, sometimes you just have to get creative.

Appetite for Reduction’s Chili-Lime-Rubbed Tofu, Mashed Yuca & Kale Salad

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Well, by the end of this past weekend I finally had unpacked and organized all of my remaining kitchen items. (A few things had to be returned to their owners or donated.) I made out a meal plan for the week, for what seemed like the first time in ages, and headed to the store. I’ve been favoring AFR lately in an attempt to make my cooking life a little simpler and leaner. And I even managed to make a couple of dishes from it in the midst of being half unpacked the last few weeks.

This ended up being 3 courses of mixed latin fusion inspired goodness.

The Kale salad was of my own invention to use up some ripe mango and avocado I got from my mother. I used kale because I’m addicted to it and crave it all the time, but I snuck in a little chiffonade of basil since I had just bought it and it smelled so good. It made for a very nice, fresh contrast. I added black beans and some super fresh corn to give it a sort of mexi vibe, and dressed it very lightly with lime juice, a tiny mist of olive oil, a pinch of salt, and some fresh ground smoked black pepper.

Mango, Avocado, Kale salad

1 bunch of kale, stems removed, ripped or chopped into tiny pieces
10 basil leaves, cut into chiffonade or chopped finely, optional
1 mango, small dice
1 avocado, small dice
1 can of black beans, well rinsed
1 tbsp. of red onion, chopped finely
fresh corn cut from one ear
lime juice, to taste
olive oil, optional
salt & pepper

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I was going to try Isa’s suggested Mashed Yuca with Cilantro & Lime, but both stores I went to were curiously out of cilantro. I was already planning on buying the Goya frozen yuca instead of buying fresh, since that’s all I’ve ever seen my family use, and it was easier. That’s what’s in that pot there below on the right, 2 small bags worth. I had a little red onion left from the salad, so that’s the pink you’ll surely notice in my final result. I used this and 2 big cloves of garlic to make a quickie mojo, because I just can’t imagine eating yuca without it. So I’ll put my little version here as well. It sure tasted good. But honestly, just the yuca straight out of the salted water tasted amazing. I love yuca. I had never made it before. I did use Isa’s suggestion for reserving a cup of the cooking water to mash with.

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So I made a double batch of the tofu, because Thomas is a tofu eating machine, and I wanted some leftovers to eat with the leftover salad for lunch the next day. (PS- I did, and they were extremely delicious together!) So that’s me putting fork holes in two bricks of sprouted, prepressed tofu. The only thing I didn’t double in the marinade was the oil. I stuck with just the 1 tsp. and I used less salt in the rub, and not quite double the chili powder.

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In the marinade…

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With their rub on…

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Baked, flipped, baked some more & outta the oven…

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Ty’s Mojo Infused Mashed Yuca

2 lbs of frozen yuca chunks (I used the Goya Brand), cooked according to package directions/taste. I like mine a bit “al dente” for lack of a better term. Yuca will get mushy, but for me the perfect texture is still firm on the inside.
1 c. of reserved cooking water
1 tbsp. finely chopped onion
2 large cloves of garlic, very thinly sliced
mist of olive oil
2 tbsp. lime juice, split

Directions:

1. In the last 5-10 minutes of yuca cooking, spray a small skillet with a little olive oil and lightly fry up onion and garlic. As it gets dryer, splash in 1 tbsp. of lime juice, and cook down.

2. Drain yuca and return to pot or to a large bowl you can mash it in. Remove the fibrous little strings in the centers of the chunks, preferably with a fork so you don’t burn your fingers. Add “mojo” mixture, additional lime juice and enough cooking water to get to your desired consistency. Mmm! This made a wonderful bed for the tofu.

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Final Thoughts…

So if you’re really cool, you could knock this out in 30 minutes flat. If you make the salad while the other 2 cook. I’m not that cool, so it took me somewhere between 45-60 minutes so that I could include dancing and beer drinking too. If you haven’t checked out Appetite for Reduction, it’s worth checking out. The recipes are a lot simpler than let’s say the Veganomicon, but still packed with plenty of flavor and guiltier items too like corn bread and onion rings, etc. I like it so much I even bought the kindle edition with the intent of selling back or giving away my hard copy, but don’t think I will after all. :)

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Broiled Blackened Tofu w/ Jerk Asparagus – Appetite for Reduction

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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! :)

Veggie Potpie Soup

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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.


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

Cafe 118 – Winter Park, Fl

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Next on the list of our surprisingly fabulous long weekend of vegan eats in Orlando is our dinner at Cafe 118. Once I found out that this restaurant was started up by Matthew Kenney (of Pure Food & Wine in NYC, and author several raw books) I was beyond excited. It’s located in the picturesque downtown Winter Park area right along with all the other fine dining.

We drove past a Shipyard Brew Pub on the way here, so knowing we were going to be doing some serious beer tasting after this, we kept our meals fairly light. Thomas is pretty sure he’s allergic to cashews now too, so the waitress was great about going over the menu with him.

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I ordered the Mexican Chopped Salad, that came with sweet corn, avocado, chili chips, and “queso blanco” which was absolutely fantastic. A little on the small side for a meal, but listed under salads with the smaller price tag of $13.

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Thomas had the entrée Taco Salad, only without the cashew based sour cream. This was outstanding, and was even better than my salad. The portion size here was also much better at $17. Although some of the ingredients were similar to mine, it had more veggies, raw “refried beans” and a couple of sauces drizzled over it, including a delicious mole sauce.

Impression:

This place is fantastic! Most raw organic places tend to be slow and pricey, but their service was comparatively fast, about that of a regular restaurant. For the quality of the food and location, I thought the price point was pretty fair, though clearly not in my budget for an all the time eatery. Regardless, if they weren’t closed on Sunday, I would have made it a point to come back and try more. I will definitely be back.

Cafe 118 is located at 153 E Morse Blvd, Winter Park, Fl 32789. 407-389-2233. Open Mon 11.30am-5pm (no dinner), Tue-Thur 11.30am-9pm, Fri & Sat 11.30am-10pm, closed Sun.

My Nature’s Delight Raw Vegan Cafe – Winter Haven, Fl

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Unfortunately, both of our phones were so dead they wouldn’t even stay on at this point, so we weren’t able to snap up any pictures of food. I tried to get Thomas to draw the dishes out for you, but he had a few other things going on this week, so I will have to give you a picture free post for now.

We started our long weekend off last Friday by heading up to Winter Haven. For those of you who aren’t sure exactly where that is, it’s about an hour west of Orlando. Winter Haven is one of those towns in the central part of Florida where the South truly begins. (South Florida is New York south, as far as people go.) And along with being friendly, and having a little drawl on their words, the inhabitants of this town are typically of the meat loving, southern food eating variety. So imagine my surprise when a happycow.net search pulled up a raw vegan cafe!

I had done searches in the area before, but this had never come up, so I was excited to go check it out. (Maybe it was recently added?) When I asked Thomas if he knew the location, he said, “Oh yeah, it’s by the barbeque place.” Which was sort of funny to me, because I think there are a lot of barbeque places in this area. It was really hard to tell by their website what kind of food they offered, and when we got there, there was woman in the cafe area asking for italian ice.

My Nature’s Delight Raw Vegan cafe has a good amount of seating, and the large space is divided up into cafe/nutrition store/grocery. They had a daily special posted and a sign for italian ice, but I still wasn’t sure what kind of food we could get, because I didn’t see a kitchen, as it’s hidden behind an office door. Then the server brought us a couple of menus. The raw vegan cafe is a bit of a misnomer, as they had a good selection of both raw & regular vegan items. I ordered a raw pizza and Thomas got a veggie burger. We also ordered guacamole and chips, but sadly, their avocados weren’t ripe enough, so they let us know they couldn’t do it.

Thomas said his burger was good. It came very plainly served on sliced, multigrain bread, with lettuce, tomato, veganaise, and he thinks there may have been a pickle. Also, a good amount of round, corn tortilla chips scattered around the perimeter of the plate.

My raw pizza was awesome! It was a large square of dehydrated onion? bread, cut down the middle to make two large triangles. It had a thin layer of raw hummus, and was covered in lots and lots of finely chopped greens (which I  was craving so badly!). Anything else that was on it escapes my memory (see lack of photos) but there may have been tomatoes. It was served with a generous portion of dehydrated slices of starfruit surrounding it, that made a lovely complement to the pizza. So much so that I kept adding them to all my pizza bites. SO good. I kept talking about it all day.

After eating we did a little shopping. The grocery and freezer section is crammed full of all kinds of vegan food & treats, some of which I had never even seen before, and that my WF does not carry. I talked to the owner, and she was super nice. Apparently they’ve been in this location since 1992, and have just kept expanding over the years. If you’re in the area this is definitely THE place to check out. 

My Natures Delight is located at: 3015 Cypress Gardens Rd. Winter Haven, Florida 33884. Store: 863-324-1778, Cafe: 863-318-8778. Open Mondays – Fridays: 8 am to 8 pm, Saturdays: 8 am to 5 pm, and Sundays: 12 noon to 5 pm.