Slow Cooker Creamy Coconut Lentils

I have scaled down the number of blogs I read. My RSS feeder is still full yet I rarely open it. My friends shared Lindsay and Bjork’s post from Pinch of Yum where they shared openly about the death of their son born at 23 weeks gestation. Twenty five weeks is usually the point where a baby might survive. This hit me dear to my heart as I went into labour at 26 weeks. Thankfully, I was able to keep my guy cooking for another 7 weeks, but they experienced my worst fears.

Coconut Bacon and Coco-BLT (BMT) + Baconish cookbook review

Rob and I have been plowing through our tomato stash. Mostly me, since Rob doesn’t like them raw. Slow and steady it built up, as we waited for the green tomatoes to ripen on our windowsill. We had to pick them early, otherwise the rodents would take off with them. I blame the squirrels. Or maybe it is raccoons? I thought there were telltale teeth marks but my mom assured me the culprit (in that case) were earwigs. I know earwigs cannot lift a tomato on top of the fence, so I have multiple foes. I am surprised any rodent could lift them because some of the tomatoes are huge. One tomato I found on the plant that was turning red was 540g! Over a pound!

Sundried Tomato & Coconut Quinoa Burgers + Superfoods 24/7 cookbook GIVEAWAY

There is something about pregnancy and being a new mama that makes you want to kick your lifestyle up a notch. When I could finally stomach something other than this easy lasagna, I was excited to incorporate more vegetables, more protein and more nutritious foods into my diet. This is why I was so happy it timed perfectly with the release of Jess Nadel’s second cookbook, Superfoods 24/7.

Coconut Sweet Potato Pie + True to Your Roots cookbook GIVEAWAY

I scouted out white sweet potatoes for this recipe, but I think it would have been even better with purple sweet potatoes. Purple sweet potatoes are taking over the blogosphere! In any case, without the typical orange hue, you may have a hard time believing this is a sweet potato pie but it is.

Chewy Lemon-Coconut Granola Bars

Tis the season for snack bars.

The summer is when I typically make my snack bars, aligning with my cycling adventures. However since I broke my ankle last year, I haven’t been cycling the long distances. I still cycle to work with is a very manageable 16 km, round-trip. Lately, I have a few extra meetings downtown, though, which has added an extra 18 km to my commute a few times each week. By the third day in a row, my legs can feel it! Having these extra snacks on hand have been very helpful.

Vegan Creme Caramel with a Blueberry Chia Compote

Apparently, it isn’t a party unless there is dessert and as such, throughout the summer, I have been working on the perfect make-ahead dessert.

No oven needed, just a bit of stovetop whisking. Let it chill in the fridge and the dessert is ready when you are.

Vegan creme caramel.

Peach Chia Crumble with an Almond-Coconut Topping

If I had to pick the best time to be in Ontario, it would be late summer.

The temperatures are warm and pleasant. The local produce is at its peak. Bursting with fresh tomatoes, zucchini, and corn. I love earlier fruits (strawberries, raspberries and blueberries) but fresh warm peaches are where I am focusing right now.

With the earlier tropical heat wave, I had a hankering for a good ginger-peach crumble with an almond-coconut topping. I didn’t want a soupy bottom, so I figured chia seeds would be the perfect antidote.

Sadly, by adding a mere 1 tbsp of grated ginger, I could not taste it at all. Next time, I would add more and have noted this below. So, it is a peach crumble.

Secondly, the chia seeds sopped up a lot of the released peach juice and this was more pronounced when I ate the leftovers. Different than a traditional crumble and worth a try. I also might try grinding my chia seeds in advance to avoid lumpy chia seeds.

Happy peaching!

Other crips/crumbles you may enjoy:

Blueberry Peach Raspberry Crumbles

Rhubarb Blueberry Cranberry Crisp with a Pistachio Crust

Raw Mixed Berry Crisp

Apple Cranberry Oat Crumble

Kale Fennel Salad with Grapefruit Vinaigrette

Life would be boring is I only ate the same thing everyday.

Except if it for a few days thanks to leftovers. That’s how I roll.

I used to eat a grapefruit every.single.morning. Now, I can’t even remember the last time I ate a grapefruit. Perhaps in Houston. Suffice it to say, it has been a while.

I probably should have spent more time devouring citrus while in Texas because ripe and sweet grapefruits are delicious. Sometimes you are lucky to find them in Canada, too. In this case, I went with something more unique and added it to a kale salad. I also experimented with raw fennel, which was a touch bitter for me (especially paired with the grapefruit), so add that to taste.  A bit of coconut was reminiscent of the Caribbean. The flageolet beans, perfect for adding to salads, was a way for me to make this a complete meals instead of a side salad.

Do you eat grapefruit?

I am sharing this with Bookmarked Recipes and Souper Sundays.

Raw Gingerbread Cookies with a Lucuma-Maple Frosting + Raw Cookies Cookbook Giveaway

Cookie time! Raw no-bake cookies!

A gingerbread cookie, spiced with fresh ginger, cinnamon and cloves with a touch of mesquite with a base of almonds and caramel-like dates. Topped with a lucuma-maple frosting, not too sweet, just perfect. It was uncanny how it definitely had the flavour of gingerbread (hello fresh ginger!) without any molasses.

Usually a raw cookie means ridiculously easy but I went for the more ornate cookie + frosting option. I used the tops of Mason jars as my cookie cutter to keep things simple, but feel free to cut out all the crazy shapes you desire.

The cookie comes from a new cookbook, Raw Cookies by Julia Corbett. One might think it was all about raw cookies. True, all the cookies are raw. But not vegan (there is raw butter and honey in some of the recipes) but there is quite a variety of options. The cookies are broken down into coconut-based cookies (eg, Coconut Macadamia Shortbread, Lemon Poppyseed Coconut Cream Cookies), cacao-based cookies (eg, Pecan Fudge Caramel Bites, Chocolate Thumbprint Cookies and Chocolate-Topped Crunchy Peanut Cookie Bars), nut-based cookies (eg, Hazelnut Sugar Cookies, Salted Ginger Chewies and Jungle Buckeyes), seed-based cookies (eg, Ayurvedic Sesame Treats, Pumpkin Seed Spumoni), raw butter based cookies (eg, Raw Butter Snickerdoodles), Fruit-Based Cookies (eg, Wild Berry Jam Linzer Cookies) and Frostings (eg, White and Dark Chocolate Frostings).

I will admit, I was excited to try the cocoa-based cookies first but many recipes called for cacao paste. I have some cacao butter hiding in my pantry but not cacao paste. So until I locate the paste, I settled for trying the fun raw gingerbread cookies. I changed a few things, like adding in some dates to help it stick together. Although by the time the cookies had solidified, the cookies were very firm, so I may have added the dates too prematurely. I also used fresh ginger (and lots of it) because I only stock the good stuff. I find the flavours of fresh and ground ginger to be quite different, so definitely add to taste. Apparently I have a very high tolerance for ginger. Bring it on!

I also really liked the contrast with the luscious frosting. I didn’t add any ginger to it, to counter the cookie base, but it worked out well. Mine was slightly lumpy because I mixed it by hand but it only bothered me after taking the photos, not while eating it.

 

 

Thankfully, the publisher allowed me to giveaway the cookbook to a reader living anywhere in the world. To be entered in the random draw for the book, please leave a comment below telling me about your favourite holiday dessert. The winner will be selected at random on December 22, 2014. Good luck!

Chocolate Tahini Macaroons

I see there are a lot of other coconut lovers. This quick and easy dessert is for you!

I have made raw macaroons before (raw chocolate macaroons previously, and non-traditional but lovely raw apple cinnamon macaroons), but they both used the dehydrator, which does not make them quick to make and makes them a tad unapproachable for the masses.

Thus, I was intrigued when I spotted this recipe for quick and easy raw macaroons… and also because they used tahini as the binder. Almond butter would also likely be fabulous but it was nice to switch things up a bit. The nut butter was thick enough that these macaroons held together nicely after a short chill in the fridge.

Simple and tasty, Rob declared that these could be used to woo him. Lucky for him, we’re already smitten with each other. (The wedding bells will be in a few short months!)

I am sharing this with No Waste Food Challenge.

Indian-Inspired Roasted Cauliflower & Quinoa Salad

As I write this, it is snowing outside.

Not that it will last and stay on the ground, but it definitely marks the beginning of fall. The leaves and temperatures have both fallen.

I walked to the Saturday farmer’s market this morning and they had finally moved it indoors. With everyone crammed into a smaller place, it was cramped and crowded but I still walked away with my stash of apples. Earlier, Rob and I tried to go apple picking where we had gone a few years ago. Turns out that the farm was subsequently sold and the DIY apple picking was no more. Since the farmer’s market is so close to our home, we didn’t pursue it further this year.

While we typically eat the apples as snacks and in our morning oats, this time, I added it to a savoury autumn salad. Roasted cauliflower is combined with quinoa with Indian-inspired flavours such as roasted coconut with a touch of sweetness from the apple and raisins.  I then drizzled my favourite curried maple tahini dressing, which I usually reserved for my chickpea and carrot salad with excellent results. I needed to double the dressing since this salad was so voluminous.

Did you see snow, too?

I am sharing this with No Croutons Required, ExtraVeg, Vegetable Palette, Virtual Vegan Potluck and Souper Sundays.

Chocolate Cherry Hemp Bars & YumUniverse Cookbook Giveaway

I am no stranger to Heather Crosby’s fabulous recipes (seen here previously: Peruvian Bean Bowl with Fried Plantains, Blueberry Tarragon Dressing and more recently the Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream), I was excited to be able to review her first solo cookbook creation, YumUniverse as part of the #YUBlogTour and #YUHealthyHalloween Blog Tour. 

However, it is more than a cookbook. It is a fabulously complete introduction (and then some) to eating plant-based whole foods. Her book is built in three parts: why, how and do (let’s eat). First, why eat plant-based? Heather details numerous reasons to eat your vegetables. Her second part, teaches the reader the ins-and-outs of how to cook plant-based. She addresses protein and calcium needs and how to craft a week’s worth of eats. There are tables of how to properly store fresh and pantry ingredients (fruits/vegetables, oils, nuts, spices, flours, etc; whether they go in the fridge/freezer). She explains soaking and sprouting with times for common nuts and seeds. She explains different cooking methods and even how to correct oversalting. Once you have mastered feeding yourself, she has tips for social situations. She really has left no gaps. She even explains how to get rid of pesky fruit flies.

Next, the recipes. With adventurist recipes including Mung Bean and Eggplant Curry, Jerk Lentil and Avocado Wrap, Beet, Apple and Onion Gratin and Skillet Crusted Sweet Potato Gnocchi, there are boundless possibilities. That was just in the lunch/dinner section. Heather also includes breakfasts, dressings, dips/spreads, breads, beverages, snacks and other desserts and treats.

In short, this is the cookbook I wish I had when I first began my journey becoming a vegan.

I made her Chocolate & Cherry Hemp Bars which are a spiffied rice krispy treat. Like Ange’s Glo Bars, brown rice syrup is the binder of choice but the bars are not that sweet. Calling them hemp bars is a bit of a superfood marketing ploy: they are barely detectable amidst the sunflower seeds, rolled oats and flaked coconut. Furthermore the chocolate chips melted seamlessly into the sweet binder, so the major flavour was from the tart cherries with a faint chocolate background.  Below is the photo you would actually find in the cookbook. Enjoy!

YumUniverse recipes spotted elsewhere:

Buckwheat Noodle Pad Thai
Dark Chocolate, Sweet Potato & Black Bean Brownies
Hot Fudge Sauce
Maple Spice Sandwich Cream Cookies
Orange and Pepita Granola
Roasted Butternut Squash Soup
Roasted Garlic Cauliflower Mash
Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato Bisque
Salted Caramel Sauce
Shredded Brussels Sprouts & Kale with Miso Dijon Sauce
Toasted Super Seedy Power Bread

Thankfully, the publisher allowed me to share the recipe AND giveaway the cookbook to a reader living in the United States or Canada. To be entered in the random draw for the cookbook, please leave a comment below telling me your favourite meal (no recipe required). The winner will be selected at random on November 7, 2014. Good luck!

Peacefood Cafe’s Chickpea Fries & HappyCow Cookbook Giveaway

I may not have promoted it here but I am a complete fan of Happy Cow. When travelling, I consult the reviews (and then leave my own) to find the best vegan eats around the world. Not only across Canada and the US, I chronicled my eats while travelling in Germany, Iceland, Mexico, Colombia and South Africa. Rightfully so, there are zero entries for Madagascar.

In any case, I was thrilled when I heard that Eric Brent and Glen Merzer were creating a cookbook featuring recipes from top-rated vegan restaurants, The Happy Cow Cookbook.

The neat part of this compilation was each restaurant’s profile, highlighting their popular and favourite dishes, important lessons as a restaurant owner/chef, and the future of plant-based food movement. Each restaurant shares one, two or more recipes, along with some photographs. As expected with a compilation, the recipes vary with respect to level of difficulty, recipe instructions and photographs. On the whole, the recipes seem solid. Millenium’s Pistachio-Crusted Eggplant Napoleon is way too complex for me to recreate, but makes me want to visit this San Francisco eatery.  There is also a recipe for Coconut Tofu and Blackened Tempeh with Grapefruit Yuzu (courtesy of Green in Tempe, AZ) that definitely beyond my reach. However, Lettuce Love Cafe’s Tempeh Reuben looks easy to recreate at home, as well as Netherlands’ Veggies on Fire’s Lemon Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce.

The book is ordered alphabetically, based on the name of the restaurants, which makes it difficult to find recipes. However, the breadth of recipes seems vast with little repeats (although you will certainly find many recipes for vegan cheese!). Recipes vary from Kimchi Nori Maki Rolls and Peruvian Leftovers Pie to Avocado Apple Tartare with Walnut Bonbons to Chicken Fried Tempeh and Carrot Cake with a Vegan Cream Cheese frosting. Sadly, what I was most disappointed, was the abundant use of vegan substitutes (ie vegan cream cheese, sour cream and Vegenaise), although that probably helps prep time for restaurants.

While I have never been to Peacefood Cafe, I was itching to make their “Award-Winning Chickpea Fries” which is basically an Indian-spiced baked fry made with chickpea flour. They were quite easy to make although I regret adding the bay leaf to the spice mixture. It became a predominant flavour and bothersome since I didn’t grind it to a fine powder. I didn’t make the Caesar Dipping Sauce as the recipe perplexed me. I was not sure why there was fermented bean curd in the sauce without directions to pulverize it with a blender. In any case, the recipe below is as seen in the book. Enjoy.

Thankfully, the publisher allowed me to share the recipe AND giveaway the cookbook to a reader living in the United States or Canada. To be entered in the random draw for the cookbook, please leave a comment below telling me what your favourite vegan-friendly restaurant is (and where). Bonus entry if you share your link to your review on HappyCow. The winner will be selected at random on November 7, 2014. Good luck!

PS. HappyCow Cookbook recipes spotted elsewhere:

Beet Salad with Shallot-Thyme Dressing (from Blackbird Pizzeria in Philadelphia, PA)
Cherry Royal (from Veggie Grill in Hollywood, CA)
Granada Chai (from El Piano in Malaga, Spain)
Kimchi Nori Maki Roll (from Real Food Daily in West Hollywood, CA)
Moroccan Tajine (from SunCafe Organic in Studio City, CA)
Nutloaf (from Wayward Cafe in Seattle, WA)
Pasta with Pumpkin Curry Sauce (from Counter Culture in Austin, TX)
Pickled Beets (from Zen Kitchen in Ottawa, ON)
Pistachio-Crusted Eggplant Napoleon (from Millennium Restaurant in San Francisco, CA)
Pumpkin Cheesecake with Bourbon-Brown Sugar Cream (from True Bistro in Boston, MA)
Quinoa Tabbouleh (from Chaco Canyon in Seattle, WA)
Raw Lime Parfait (from Plant in Asheville, NC)
Roasted Spaghetti Squash, Cauliflower, Garlic and Mashed Potatoes with Porcini Mushroom Gravy (from Peacefood Cafe in New York, NY)
Skillet Cornbread (from Cornbread Cafe in Eugene, OR)
Spicy Cha Cha (from The Loving Hut in Houston, TX)
Swiss Bircher Muesli (from Luna’s Living Kitchen in Charlotte, NC)

Other recipes from restaurants I have made:

Candle Cafe’s Paradise Casserole with Black Beans, Millet and Cinnamon-Miso Sweet Potato Mash
Fresh’s All-Star Salad
Fresh’s Miso Gravy
Gorilla Food’s Strawberry Bliss Up Shake
Live Organic Cafe’s Raw Pad Thai
Peacefood Cafe’s Raw Key Lime Pie

I am sharing this with the Virtual Vegan Linky Potluck.

Mango Coconut Cups

Third time was a charm. Rob and I finally got our internet at home this weekend. (YES!)

We also moved all our stuff previously stored in my brother’s basement.

I can no longer find my computer, though.

I mean, I know where it is, but it blocked by too many boxes to unpack.

OMG. We have a lot of stuff. I am truly a hoarder (of sorts).

Living a year without most of the stuff will make it easy to purge. Easier, I should clarify.

I am hoping to rebuild a decluttered home, but we have many boxes ahead of us. In time.

Otherwise, here are some quick and easy desserts to try. No need to wait too long for your mango to absorb any water, just blitz away. I added a touch of lemon zest to accentuate the sweetness of the mango. The coconut makes this luscious and decadent. These are more akin to a non-chocolate truffle in their consistency. I don’t think they would work well as a ball, which is why I put them in the small cups. Another alternative would be to pour the batter into a small square container and then cut them into your preferred size. Enjoy!

Hoarder or purger? Which are you?

I will hopefully become a ruthless purger.

Curry Cashew Savory Granola & OATrageous Oatmeals Review+Giveaway

Hello again!

Sorry for the all the unanswered comments over the last month…. but thank you for hanging in there!

Usually I have this “do not mention you are going on vacation” mentality so that people come to rob my place. Although, for this special time, we had no home to rob. (Our stuff is still in a shipping cube somewhere, so please do not steal it). As we moved back to Canada, we had a very long detour. Rob and I set out for a month-long vacation in Madagascar and South Africa. We have both done extensive travelling (Rob more so than I) but we both agreed that travelling through Madagascar was the hardest we have ever travelled.

As I regroup for a daunting August (in which I start independent practice, write some exams, celebrate the arrivals of niblings (one is an expected niece, the other TBD) and somehow fit in training for Cycle Oregon. Oh, and unpack all our stuff, because it will meet us a week late), I will likely keep a slower pace for my posts.

Until then, I am thankful that Kathy has shared with me this fabulous photo and recipe from her upcoming cookbook OATrageous Oatmeals. I also reviewed Kathy’s Great Vegan Bean Book, which I really like, so I am thrilled to share her creativity with oats.

Do not be fooled, this book is way more than oatmeal. Yes, she has oatmeal recipes designed for each part of the year, including cooling summer overnight oats (Blueberry Earl Grey Overnight Refrigerator Oats ) and warming bakes for the winter like Pumpkin Oat Breakfast Cake. She also has a chapter for snacks like Peanut Butter Banana Granola Bars and later a dessert section with treats like Mini Raspberry Cakes and Chai-Spiced Oatmeal Tart with Warm Coconut-Vanilla Sauce.

However, I am most excited about experimenting with her savoury options. She has an entire chapter for soups (Scottish-Inspired Mushroom Lentil Stew, Fragrant Yellow Split Pea and Rolled Oat Dal) and another for savory options like Cauliflower Oat Pizza Crust, Indian Oats Upma, Oat Dosa, Not-from-a-Box Mac and Oat Chez and Oats-bury Steaks. And even beyond the kitchen, she has recipes for Soothing Lavender Oat Bath Soak and Oatmeal Cookie Scrub.

How do you like to use oats?

To celebrate her new cookbook, Kathy is offering a pre-order giveaway from OXO along with a copy of her cookbook. Click here to enter (open until August 4). After you pre-order the book, submit your receipt to Kathy for special recipes, coupons and your chance to win a different OXO prize.

Recipes from OATrageous Oatmeals spotted elsewhere:

Blackberry Mojito Overnight Refrigerator Oats

Coconut Oat Vanilla Nut Creamer

Mushroom Ginger Congee

Steel Cut Oat Sausage Crumbles

Oat-chata

I am sharing this with Healthy Vegan Fridays, Bookmarked Recipes, Virtual Vegan Linky Potluck and Laura’s Strange but Good.