Organic Carrots, Ginger and Orange Zest

You must excuse the next few posts.  I got a new Cuisinart so everything is going to be pureed.

I ate this like a soup but  it was really better as a dip with a a baked chip.

Jicama and Orange Salad with Corn

Happy Monday!

This was much better than my first attempt where I used pineapple.  I really chopped the jicama and the flavors blended so much better.  The mint, lime, chili, and onion really give it a great kick.  I had some extra corn so I threw that into the mix.  Corn is also wonderful with lime and chili just on its own.

Couscous with Mushrooms and Artichoke Hearts

This dish looks just like my other couscous dish shown below.  It tasted very different because I didn't use wine to make it and the Italian herbs really gave this one a nice flavor.  I didn't open a bottle of artichoke hearts I painstakingly prepared 4 artichokes at Mark Bittman suggests and then dug out the hearts.  I only had about two servings of this before I got bored.  This dish is very good but how much couscous can a girl eat in a week?

Whole Wheat Couscous with Broccoli and Walnuts

I had a lot of fun making this dish.  It's Sunday, I'm listening to KCSM, Latin Jazz.  There was a giveaway for the 5th caller and I was the 5th caller.  So, this dish brought me good luck because I don't normally win anything.  I'm just generally blessed...But today, I really won.  I'm going to see a Brazilian Singer at Yoshi's.

Here is my lucky dish.  I added a little wine at the end because I thought it needed more liquid.  Now, it only tastes like wine but I think once it cools it will be really nice.

Please excuse my hand in the picture.

Vegan Check-In /Recipes this week

It's gorgeous in the Bay today.  These Peonies are blooming and I just can't get over them.

So, I have been doing this vegan thing.  I don't feel any different.  I do love what I'm doing because it helps me focus on good, wholesome, fresh, tasty things rather than the difficult parts of life.

I have had some tummy aches.  I can feel the fiber moving through my colon.  I have been advised to chew my food a little better.  This has helped.  Slow down, chew you food real good if you're going to try this. It's hard when I'm always on the run.  Multiple BM's per day are great...Enough said.

This week I'm making a couple more dishes from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.  I have so many vegetable leftovers from other dishes that I need to use up what I have before I buy a bunch more groceries.

This week:
Jicama Salad With Orange

I have never made couscous so I will start with Whole Wheat Couscous with Broccoli and Walnuts

I might make Couscous with Artichoke Hearts and Mushrooms but I may be tired of the couscous by the time I get to that dish.

Have a great week.

Jicama Salad with Pineapple and Mint

This is another recipe from Mark Bittman's, How to Cook Everything Vegetarian.  I think I cubed the jicama and pineapple rather than chop it like Bittman suggests.  I think chopping the cubes up smaller would really combine the flavors of the jicama and pineapple a little better.  With that being said, this is boomin' good.  I'm bringing it to an all meat eaters BBQ.  Think they will like it?

Corn and Avacado Salsa

I'm getting to be one of those crazy people on Facebook that photographs their every meal?  This was my Memorial Day serious grub down dish over the weekend.

The HAVE'A CORN CHIPS are terrific and complimented this dip very well.  I didn't follow Mark Bittman's recipe perfectly as I don't have a food processor.  I like my dip chunky.

20 Day Vegan Anniversary

As of tomorrow, I will have been a vegan for 20 days.  I had a little mishap today so I'm not going to lie.  Someone in my house had some Lay's potato chips and onion dip made with sour cream.  I know, I should be aSHAMEd of myself.  Well, what can I say?...one day at a time.

I do feel better but I think it's too soon to decide if this is perfectly right for me.  I think I have been busy trying all the vegan products, recipes and yum yum's that I have not slowed down enough for a real check of my mind body and spirit.

I was happy to find multiple Vegan Meetup.com groups in the Bay Area.  There are 728 members of the Berkeley meetup. Yes, I joined.  It will be nice to explore the vegan experience with other vegan's.

So far, I'm having fun exploring a new way of life.  I have roasted my first red bell peppers, created a quinoa dish that was to die for and found some great restaurants in my neck of the woods.

This week I will be trying from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Vegetarian

Crunchy Corn Guacamole pg 263

Jicama Salad with Pineapple and Mint pg 50

In addition,
I have some leftover grilled vegies and I'm going to attempt a vegan lasagna.  I have a recipe for tofu ricotta but I'm having trouble finding vegan lasagna noodles.

Have a great memorial day!

Sweet Potato and Quinoa Salad-Wow, this is a crowd pleaser

This was the first time I ever made Quinoa.  The grain itself does not overwhelm me but when you put together all the ingredients it's a taste explosion.  You get sweet from the sweet potato, the crunch from the Pepitas, the citrus from the lime, the kick from the cayenne, and it's super "de-lish-us"

I made the recipie but decided to take Mark Bittman's suggestion to give it a little more guts and go South West with this dish.  The only ingredient I could not find was Avocado.  They looked terrible in the store so I didn't get it.  It would have made this dish over the top.

Oh yes, I bought sweet potatoes and they were white.  They were still sweet but they were white.  Not sure how that happened?

Now I have to figure out how to use my camera so you can really see this picture.

Curried Brussel Sprouts with Coconut-Yummy!

I think anything is pretty good when Coconut is drenched over it.  


When I decided to make this dish I went through my spice cabinet.  Oops, I guess the only spices I have used in a while have been salt and pepper.  Most of my spices had gone bad in 2005.  So, off to the store to get fresh spices.


This was the first time I ever worked with Mustard seeds.  I think the pan was too hot because I had mustard seed pops all over my kitchen. It burned the mustard seed so I had to start all over again.  


This was served to my friend Evan and he enjoyed it over brown rice flavored with Miso.

Lemony Lentils-Pretty Terrible but transformed into great vegan burgers

I'm so not into this.  I didn't like the way the Lentil smelled while cooking with the the Bay Leaves.  Maybe if I tried tangerine instead of lemons?  I think these bad boys are going to turn into lentil burgers this week.  


How do you create a binder without an egg?  Here it is, I love the internet.

Vegan Lentil Burgers

Submitted by: DENIBREITENBACH


A tasty burger patty that's high in fiber and folate and easy to prepare. Serve on a whole wheat bun with your favorite toppings.

Number of Servings: 8

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked lentils
1 cup uncooked brown rice
1-1/2 cups carrots, finely grated
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1-1/2 cups uncooked oatmeal
1 tsp season salt
1 small onion, finely grated

I didn't have any Oatmeal or carrots so I added a vegan Teriyaki and a little whole wheat flour.  I thought the lemon/teriyaki would be a nice mix.


The transformation:  I liked it enough to make a few more patties and threw them in the freezer for a later time I'm wanting a vegan burger.

What's The Plan?

While eating vegan, I'm going to try to actually cook two new Vegan dishes per week from How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman.  In the first part of his book he says that you can choose any of the dishes and it can be served at any meal.  So, I will choose a variation of things every week.


This week


Lemony Lentil Salad pg 75 (I'm choosing this first because I'm put off my lentils and I need to give it a try)


also


Brussels Sprouts in Coconut Milk pg 274

also.
I have some Sweet Potatoes so I will try a dish with Quinoa...