Cold Sesame Cucumber Noodles and Love and Lemons Cookbook GIVEAWAY

Some unfortunate circumstances have forced me to take it easy. Rest, all day rest, is not something that comes naturally to me. However, yesterday the sun was bright, the air was warm, the birds were chirping and the chipmunks and squirrels ran around my backyard. The barking dog scaring the squirrel was not so peaceful, but it was an excellent environment for relaxing.

My garden has been filled with a few plants courtesy of my mom – red rhubarb, chives and garlic chives but I am still antsy to fill it up with more. I think it would be fun to work with perennials all in one garden, so asparagus will fit right in.

Green and White Chili Bowl + Vegan Bowls cookbook GIVEAWAY

While I have never eaten a white chili, this definitely reminded me of my time in Houston.

This chili has no red in sight. No tomatoes. No red chiles. No red kidney beans.

Instead, we use all the white and green counterparts: green Anaheim peppers. White kidney beans and even some chickpeas. Spinach adds another punch of green. And corn, technically yellow, is almost white. The original recipe called for hominy, which is actually white, so I was the one deviating from the white/green template.

Jerk Tofu and Fried Plantains with Quinoa and Avocado

A few weeks ago, Rob told me he was taking Friday off of work.

He couldn’t bear to have a full 5-day work week.

I finally was able to join the 4-day workweek for the last few weeks as Rob and I headed out for the weekend to see friends and family via a fun roadtrip. 

BBQ Roasted Chickpea Summer Salad + Abundance Diet GIVEAWAY

As the hot summer persists, let us marry the perfect summer eats. BBQ and salads. And for those without a BBQ, have no fear, this one is for you.

No BBQ needed, the BBQ flavour is completely from the roasted chickpeas. A bit more complex than my bacon-flavoured chickpea croutons, but definitely not any harder than pulling out a few more bottles, these roasted chickpeas are awesome. Smoky, savoury and delicious. You could just eat them with your hand (totally guilty) or add them to a salad for a more complete meal. Here I paired it with salad with mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, purple cabbage, shredded carrots and avocado with a splash of lemon juice. Mix it all together for a fabulous meal.

The smoky roasted chickpeas comes from Somer McCowan’s new cookbook, The Abundance Diet. Somer blogs at Vedged Out and is the originator behind the vegan extra sharp cheese ball and fresh vegan moxarella (a revised version of the mock mozzarella is in her book). The cookbook was borne out of her previous Green Smoothie Challenge. 

I am always anxious of leafing through cookbooks marked with words such as ‘diet’, ‘detox’, or the like, but I have no reservations about this cookbook. Somer’s recipes are all gluten-free, plant-based vegan recipes and also, to the astute eye, also free of oil and refined sugars. (The tip-off are the lack of oil in the soups and stews, as I am accustomed to sautéing my onions in oil). Otherwise, the recipes are filled with an abundance of vegetables for creative meals that are relatively easy to make, too.

The recipes span the entire day (breakfast to lunch to dinner including snacks) because there are meal plans that span 28-days (they can be found here if you want a preview). She includes recipes for 26 salads and dressing.  The Lentil taco salad was fabulous (even without the roasted red pepper dressing) and her Ultimate Lentil Salad reminds me of my own 11-Spice Lentil Salad with Capers and Currants (and always a hit). Her soups are equally enticing, with meal-type soups like Quinoa Minestrone and her Smoky Split Pea Soup. Others are more vegetable-based which are more suitable as appetizer.

I enjoyed her Moroccan Lentil Soup even though I substituted a handful of fresh dill for the parsley/cilantro. She also has a main dish section with recipes I have been eyeing, such as Chiles Rellenos Casserole Bake with Smoky Chipotle Enchilada Sauce and Homestyle Mexican Casserole. Green smoothies, juices, snacks, dips and desserts round out the cookbook to keep you full throughout the day.

I remember when cookbooks were mostly text, but it is so nice to see excellent photography. Ann Oliverio photographed most of the recipes and they are a treat throughout the cookbook. Just look at the delicious cover photography highlighting the Funeral Potatoes. A funeral for your fat?

Of note, while this is a diet based on vegan abundance, Somer’s narrative highlights the potential ways to expedite weight loss. Some people may not like this tone and I suggest simply enjoying the recipes. Not a fan of stevia? (Me, neither). Simply substitute dates instead for the smoothies or all coconut sugar in other desserts. Or in my case, add some beans to the vegetable-centric meals. In all, the recipes look great and only on closer inspection do they jump out as diet food.

Want your own copy?

Thankfully, the publisher allowed me to giveaway the cookbook to a reader living in the US. To be entered in the random draw for the book, please leave a comment below telling me what you like to eat in abundance. The winner will be selected at random on August 7, 2015. Good luck!

Recipes from The Abundance Diet spotted elsewhere:

Apple Pie Green Smoothie

Cheesy Cauliflower and Potato Bake

Cherry and Chocolate Soft-Serve Ice Cream

Moroccan Lentil Soup

No-Bake Cookie Bites

Raw Cashew Horchata

Raw Pad Thai

Rawkin Rainbow Kale Salad

Tomato Basil Bisque

I am sharing this with Meat Free Mondays.

Slivered Veggie and Soba Salad with Maple Tofu

I don’t know about you guys, but where I am, it is H.O.T. We’ve done pretty well for not using the air conditioner during the days but we closed our windows and turned it on yesterday. To think all my friends in Houston are always 10 degrees hotter (and humid) and positively melting. That is possibly the one thing I do not envy because we loved living in Houston.

Here is a fun pasta dish which adds layers of veggies to your meal. Carrots and cucumber are spiralized into thin noodle shapes and thinly sliced red peppers add some crunch, too. The maple sweetened tofu is unique with a salty/peppery bight and makes this a complete meal. Avocado rounds this out as a fabulous fat and feast for your eyes.

Enjoy!

Recipes from The Sprouted Kitchen Bowl + Spoon spotted elsewhere:

Baked eggs with barley creamed greens and mustardy bread
Cacao nib pavlovas with mixed berries
California quinoa
Chickpea deli salad
Chunky Mediterranean eggplant dip
Coconut sorbet with strawberry rhubarb sauce
Curried sweet potato soup with crispy black lentils
Golden quinoa breakfast bowl
Hippie bowl with tahini citrus miso dressing and spiced sunflower seeds
Kale Caesar salad with cornbread bits
Marrakesh carrot salad
Roasted asparagus salad
Roasted zucchini and quinoa bowls with cilantro pepita pesto
Smoky tortilla soup
Strawberry millet tabbouleh
Tahini kale slaw with roasted tamari portobello bowl
Tropical smoothie bowl
Winter fruit salad in a ginger-lime syrup

I am sharing this with Meat Free Mondays, ExtraVeg and Pasta Please.

Balsamic Asparagus Quinoa Salad with Baked Tofu

This is totally the Vegan Green Power Bowl.  Let us count the green ingredients: spinach, cucumber, asparagus and avocado. Balsamic baked tofu and cooked quinoa round this out as a hearty salad. I drizzled some mosto cotto overtop as a quasi-dressing. With its sweetness, it balanced the rest of the bowl perfectly.

Posts will be a bit sporadic over the next few weeks. Rob and I are moving across town and work has been keeping me hopping, so I have barely had enough time to squeeze in cooking, let alone blogging.

While I realize it is likely too late to grow anything at our new place (heck, we don’t even have a garden dug out yet), I am still dreaming of what to plant. I am going to try to my hardest to get an asparagus plant going. They are perennials and can live for over 50 years. It takes a few years until they are productive, so we will be patient. We plan to settle for down for many years. For the last five years, Rob and I have moved every.single.year. It will be nice to unpack our boxes for the last time.

Which vegetable do you like the most in your garden? Do you have any asparagus?

 

I am sharing this with Meat Free Mondays.

Avocado Chimichurri

This is another great dish to come out of our cottage escapades.

It was a true pleasure to know that I did not have to worry about vegan options. I brought a few veggie burgers for the grill, but otherwise, the vegetables were plentiful. And avocados. All avocados at the cottage. When you get tired of guacamole (is that possible??), this is a fun dish.

I had been thinking of trying to make chimichurri for a while but hesitant with the amount of parsley in most recipes. Parsley is possibly my least favourite flavour, right up there with celery which is slightly more tolerable. This was great, though. A nice amount of spice that was not overrun by herbs. Chuimichurri is a green typically used for grilled meats but here, the chunks of avocado substituted to make a fabulous dip. The original recipe suggests using it as a bruschetta topping but everyone simply lapped it up by the spoonful. Because it is simple to prepare the chimichurri sauce in advance, this is a fancy looking dip but also very portable and simple to make. I can see this becoming a staple around the barbecue this summer. Enjoy!

What do you like to make with avocado?

 

Other dishes avocado fans will love:

Guaca-Chi (Guacamole with Kimchi)

Green Velvet Guacamole (aka Guacamame or Edamame Guacamole)

Pineapple and Cucumber Guacamole (Guacamole Con Piña y Pepino)

Tofu Avocado Salad

Cucumber Avocado Sandwiches With Dill and Mint

Avo-Kraut Toast

Long time no chat. I feel like I have been revived back to life. Those past few weeks seemingly lost into the neverlands. Of course it was all in the name of recovery, but I am at a loss for words as to how I spent my days. I certainly wasn’t at work. There was barely any blogging. I aimed for a short walk a day, usually to the nearby grocery store although sometimes just around the block. And eventually I started feeding myself.

At risk of sharing TMI, bear with me. While most suggestions after bowel surgery is to eat a high fibre diet, I found I needed to scale back my typical fibre rich meals. This was one meal that was very easy to make and worked well. I figured the sauerkraut would be good for adding probiotics after a long stretch of antibiotics but I also really liked this with some smoked tofu. I told Rob the smoked tofu reminded me of cheese although he denied it vehemently. He agreed it looked like cheese but it did not taste like it.

Avocado toast is definitely the sandwich du jour, but it wasn’t until we travelled through Guatemala and Honduras that I truly appreciated its versatility. There was a stretch where I had avocado toast (with refried beans and fried plantains) for both breakfast and dinner. It was just too good. Here is Rob’s play with refried for one of our snacks. Enjoy!

Have you ever had a rough recovery from surgery?

I am sharing this with Souper Sundays, Meat Free Mondays, Eat Your Greens, Credit Crunch Munch and ExtraVeg.

Southwestern Avocado Scramble Salad + wedding photos

Long time no write!

My longest blog hiatus is definitely worthy of a wedding and honeymoon. I know a few were interested in photos and here are a few teasers from our fabulous photographer, Gabe McClintock.

View this post on Instagram

…i'm listening. i will always be listening. whisper to me ~ tyler knott gregson . . #wedding #makeportraits #chasinglight #destination #sunset #honduras

A post shared by Gabe McClintock (@gabemcclintock) on Mar 23, 2015 at 7:22am PDT

View this post on Instagram

…let the waters settle you will see stars and moon mirrored in your being ~ rumi . . #wedding #makeportraits #chasinglight #lastlight #subjectlight #sunset #honduras

A post shared by Gabe McClintock (@gabemcclintock) on Mar 26, 2015 at 7:10am PDT

In case the embedded photos don’t work, the original posts are here and here.

After a partial whirlwind through Honduras and Guatemala following our wedding, we returned to Toronto earlier this week. I was hoping to bring a bit of spring and summer back with me, but Toronto is still fairly cold with (freezing) rain this week. Channeling my continuance of all things avocado (albeit of the Mexican variety), I could not resist them at the grocer. I still managed to stock up with lots of vegetables and then threw together this quick and easy salad.

Consider it a chunky avocado dressing, or an avocado scramble salad, the flavours are bright and flexible. The different veggies conferred different textures while enveloped by the creamy lime avocado mash with a hint of cheeziness from the nooch. The black beans help to make this a filling complete meal salad. It was excellent and I recommend eating it at once as the leftovers were not as vibrant. Alternatively, sprinkle with a touch more lime juice when reserving. While not necessary, I added the salad on top of leafy greens. I have a bad habit of buying leafy greens and then not eating them. Here’s to eating more greens. And warmer weather.

What are you wishing for lately?

I am sharing this with Eat Your Greens, No Croutons Required, My Legume Love Affair, The Spice Trail and ExtraVeg.

Shaved Brussels Sprout Salad with Hemp and Orange + Greens 24/7 Review + Giveaway

Wowzers, have you ever seen such a pretty salad before?? Filled with all things green (spinach, arugula, Brussels sprouts, avocado and hemp seeds), you feel almost virtuous for eating it, too.

The salad is courtesy of Jessica’s new cookbook, Greens 24/7. As a fellow Canadian, I have been following her blog, Cupcakes and Kale, for years. I highly recommend her High Protein Creamy Cauliflower Alfredo Pasta and was eager to eat my way through her cookbook.

All her recipes include something green. Lots of leafy greens, but also cucumbers, avocado, broccoli, zucchini, nori, spirulina,and celery. They span the gamut from drinks (Cherry Kale Quencher Smoothie), breakfast (Green Goddess Granola), sides (Cool Ranch Kale Chips), soups (Lemony Miso Soup with Chinese Broccoli), salads (Mediterranean Broccoli and Barley Salad), green mains (Ginger Bok Choy and Sweet Peas with Miso-Glazed Tofu, Samosa Burritos with Peas) and the ultra creative green desserts (Brownies with Spinach, Spinach Ginger Cookies, Lemon and Parsley Olive Oil Cake and Cabbage Strudel).

Suffice it to say, if you are looking for ways to eat more greens, this is your cookbook. My favourite recipe so far has been the Stuffed Baked Sweet Potatoes with Broccoli, Swiss Chard and Hummus. We also both enjoyed the Creamy Spinach Curry with Tofu Paneer. However, I had prettier photos for the salad, so that is what I am sharing today. 🙂

No stranger to raw shredded Brussels sprout salads (see this Maple-Dijon Brussels Sprouts Salad), this is yet another way for me to eat eat one of my favourite vegetables. I chose to thinly slice them instead of using the food processor which made for cute mini cabbage creations in the salad. The vinaigrette was simple and allowed the produce’s own flavours shine with a faint sweetness from the juicy clementines.

One of the great things about this cookbook, are the pretty photos of nearly every recipe.The photos were done by Jackie Sobon (check our her teaser portfolio from the cookbook here). This is the photo from the cookbook below and the Superfood Salad in the rear.

Recipes from Greens 24/7 spotted elsewhere:

Green Juice without a Juicer (with a UK giveaway)

Mediterranean Broccoli and Barley Salad (with a giveaway)

Mushroom and Spinach Galette (with a giveaway)

Shredded Rainbow Salad with Lemony Avocado Dressing

 Thankfully, the publisher allowed me to giveaway the cookbook to a reader living in the United States or Canada. To be entered in the random draw for the book, please leave a comment below telling me about your favourite green ingredient and how you prepare it. The winner will be selected at random on February 5, 2015. Good luck!

PS. I am sharing this with Souper Sundays.

PPS. Check out my giveaway for Vegan Without Borders going on now.

Mung Bean Tostadas & Lusty Vegan Cookbook Giveaway

I told you it was a good time for vegan cookbooks. Here is the latest cute offering, The Lusty Vegan. It is a cookbook focusing on relationships. Being vegan in a relationship can be a little tricky at times and there are approachable tips and delicious recipes to satisfy the most un-vegan. Trust me, there is almost nothing as sexy than a man that can cook and these recipes span the gamut of simple to complex, such that you might actually want to work together in the kitchen.

Heart of Palm Lobster Rolls, anyone? Tempeh Fries with Dill Avocado Dip? Miso-Vermouth Braised Drunken Bok Choy? Habanero Jackfruit Fajitas? Cherry Cobbler with Cocoa Nibs? These recipes are unique but I will admit, mostly on the elaborate side. They are matched by the stage of the relationship – trying to impress your partner, trying to impress the parents, classic vegan dishes and even desserts if you ever break up.

They make me want to try new dishes but let’s be honest, right now I try to keep things stress-free in the kitchen and I think that helps both Rob and I. Of course, it is natural to want to impress your partner, but it isn’t sustainable. Does that mean we’ve become a boring couple? I certainly hope not. Life just doesn’t always revolve around food. 🙂

So now, a little about these tostadas. Instead of pinto beans, mung beans substitute in the refried beans. I was curious to try them in something new, although they were a bit mealy for my liking. Although after I covered it with toppings, I barely noticed. I added cooked quinoa, cabbage and carrots, as an ode to my Lime-Spiked Black Bean and Quinoa Kale Wrap. Feel free to add whatever you have lurking in your fridge.

Recipes from The Lusty Vegan spotted elsewhere:

Cajun Tofu and Dirty Quinoa

Classic Tofu Loaf

Hearts of Baltimore Crab Cakes with Garlicky Dill Aioli

Lemon Meringue Chia Pudding

Mexican Hot Chocolate-Covered Strawberries

Sriracha Tempeh Sliders with Ranch Dressing

Thankfully, the publisher allowed me to giveaway the cookbook to a reader living in the United States. To be entered in the random draw for the book, please leave a comment below telling me whether you have found your food preferences have caused difficulties in your relationships. The winner will be selected at random on December 17, 2014. Good luck!

I am sharing this with My Legume Love Affair.

Raw Cauliflower Nigiri Sushi

I was going to write a post for Thursday but somehow after the shootings on Wednesday, I didn’t feel like blogging. Thankfully everyone I know is fine and it is mostly back to business.

These are a cute appetizer if I ever saw one. Displaying cauliflower’s prowess in the kitchen, it lends as a fun rice substitute for these mock sushi nigiri. I like parsnip’s sweet undertones for sushi (see here and here) so I used a ripe mango to offset the dish with more sweetness. Although the biggest trick for these is definitely how to keep it all together.

The secret is psyllium. There was a time when I made microwave chocolate psyllium cakes fairly regularly (pun unintended) but mostly because they were easy and single-serve. These are a bit more labour intensive (but too cute), so I understand if you turn them into regular sushi rolls, too. I can see myself adding psyllium to raw sushi rolls next time, simply to help them keep their shape better, especially after cutting.

Are you tired of cauliflower yet? I have a lot more recipes to share. 🙂

 I am sharing this with Vegan Linky Potluck.

Roasted Cauliflower Salad with Fried Capers and Pickled Currants

Welcome to my latest obsession: fried capers.

If you have yet to try them yet, try to imagine how they would taste. Crunchy, salty little nibbles. It surprised me how much they taste like popcorn, I kid you not. Combined with the pickled currants (tart and sweet), and the avocado (creamy!), this salad was perfectly balanced. I know I say that a lot here, but this salad rises above its peers. It could possibly be my best salad of the year. I thought my Cali-Coco BLT Salad was the best so far, but this week I switched allegiances. It could possibly usurp the former champion, crowned in 2011: The New Best Salad Ever aka Roasted Garlic Tofu Salad with Cilantro Rice, Black Beans and a Mango Salsa.

I am no stranger to quick pickled dried fruits, but the benefit of pickling dried currants instead of raisins, is that you don’t get the goopy juicy raisins that don’t particularly appeal to me.

My inspiration for this fascinating combination was the ever-fabulous Deb of Smitten Kitchen, although I changed many things, including adding the much maligned leafy greens. I also chose to roast my cauliflower and added the fantastically creamy avocado. I look forward to trying her riced fresh cauliflower in the warmer months. The fried capers? Completely her idea. Her poetic prose made me stock up on capers pronto:

Crispy fried capers are one of my favorite garnishes, ever. They are way more interesting than bacon bits — yes, I said it. When you drop capers (that you’ve patted out on paper towels as best as possible) in a little puddle of oil, magical things happen — their layers curl out and crisp, like the world’s tiniest blooming onion. Like all fried, crunchy things, they don’t keep long under the weight of dressing; I recommend adding them only right before serving. I usually use brined capers for this, but both brined and salt-packed will work.

Um yeah, totally try them out. Please.

I am sharing this with Souper Sundays, Virtual Vegan Potluck and Simple and In Season.

Cali-Coco BLT Quinoa Salad

You are too nice. I ran into the same low-light problem when photographing this salad after work. I wanted my standard front view and top view, but it was too blurry and grainy to work. I suppose that is when fun filters hide photographer faults? 😉

In any case, I decided the salad was too sweet not to share. Who knows how long my avocados will keep!

My inspiration came from a meal I shared with Gabby at a hipster restaurant with a few vegan-friendly options. They veganized their Cali-Coco BLT sandwich which had a thick layer of sliced avocado, coconut bacon, tomato, arugula and vegan mayonnaise on a ciabatta bun.  Apparently, avocado + BLT = a California BLT. I also had a side of dal frites (yes a curry and fries poutine!), which was positively too much food.

I was still excited about recreating this at home, though. Unsweetened coconut chips were tricky to locate but my Mom helped locate these wonderfully shaped coconut slices. I am used to smaller coconut chips, so this was great. While I used mine with a salad, I think these bigger pieces would work better in sandwiches, too.

I used my previous recipe for coconut bacon, added half an avocado, a handful of cherry tomatoes, a mound of arugula and then fortified it with cooked quinoa and smoked tofu. Rob thinks the smoked tofu looks like cheese, but I swear it is not. Mash up the avocado with each bite but I will admit I scooped a bit of garlic-infused mayo aioli with each bite as a quasi dressing. Delicious!

Now who wants a dal frites recreation? I am trying to convince Rob to combine our favourite beer-soaked fries with dal bhat!

I am sharing this with this month’s No Croutons Required, Healthy Vegan Fridays, Souper Sundays, Virtual Vegan Linky Potluck and Elizabeth’s No Waste Challenge.

Mexican Spinach Salad with Salsa Baked Tofu Recipe

I just might need a very pretty picture to knock me out of a bloggers block. A simple recipe, I really only gave directions for the salsa baked tofu and told you what else I included in my salad. No measuring, just plating and eating.

I tried a bit harder to make this salad pretty.

It is kind of a cross between my quick and easy salsa chickpea tacos and my older Mexican salad with a creamy tomato saucy dressing with a little old school baked tofu. Yum!

I am sharing this with Bookmarked Recipes and Souper Sundays.