Smoky Corn Chowder + Vegan Bowl Attack GIVEAWAY

It is local corn season!

This baby business has had me cooped up most of the spring and summer and it is nice to finally feel like the early hazy days have lifted somewhat. It only took 9 weeks. One problem with having a preemie is that his newborn period runs longer.  We have to wait for his corrected age for him to develop his milestones. So no, he isn’t sleeping through the night just yet. Not even close.

But, it was nice to wake up while corn season is in full force. Rob can grill the corn pretty quickly and if you have any leftover, or can spare a handful of cobs, this is a fantastic soup.

Pumpkin Hummus + Easy Vegan Cookbook GIVEAWAY

You have probably noticed I have been struggling with the blog lately. I am barely eking out a post per week. It is a combination of a few things: less time spent cooking and less time to blog about it. It certainly isn’t that I have stopped eating (HA!) but I found myself nodding when I read Ginny’s latest post about Vegan Food for People Who Don’t Cook. Combined with quite a few batches of my Easy Vegan Lasagna, and incessant snacking on hummus and crackers, it feels like I have been eating hummus non-stop. And no, I wasn’t even making it myself, the bulk of it came from store-bought varieties. Not sorry.

Rustic White Bean Soup with Cabbage

If I do any editing of my photos for the blog, it is usually to remove dust and scratches from my table. However, because I have deemed this a “rustic” soup, perhaps the scratches are apropos. Or, I simply became overwhelmed by the sheer number of scratches that appeared with this photo.

Slow Cooker Chana Masala (Oil-free, Vegan)

I hope you don’t mind me sharing recipes from my newest favourite kitchen gadget. Rob bought me an Instapot and we’ve been slowly exploring it – both with the slow cooker and pressure cooker functions (I will be waiting a while to try the yogurt function unless someone can point me in the right direction for something easy).

Jamaican Spiced Plantain and Tofu Skewers

We finally branched out from our standard veggie burger and grilled vegetable routine.

A delicious routine but still a new routine.

Except, I still grilled some vegetables. They were on a skewer, though.. which makes it somewhat different, right? In this case, they were smothered in a jerk-inspired (but not too spicy) spice rub. I also slathered it on top of some extra-firm tofu.

I used sweet red peppers and a sweet plantain which contrasted with the spice rub incredibly well along with some zucchini, because zucchini grills so very well. In fact, I dare say the plantain was the highlight of the meal. I picked a very black plantain and figured I had nothing to lose, as I wasn’t sure how it would grill, but it was wonderfully sweet and smoky. The only problem? I cut the pieces a bit too small and they were more fragile than the other vegetables. I think Rob lost a few while grilling. I suspect fresh pineapple would be a fabulous substitute for the plantain.

I served this to guests and they raved about it. I hope you like it, too.

Enjoy!

Other Jamaican Jerk inspired recipes shared previously:

Caribbean Soy Curled Sloppy Joes with Creamed Spinach

Cocoa jerk tofu tacos

Jamaican jerk and plantain soup

Jamaican Jerk tempeh wraps

I am sharing this with Meat Free Mondays, No Waste Challenge and Vegetable Palette for reds.

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.

Butter Lettuce Wedge Salad with Creamy Peppercorn Dressing + Cookbook Giveaway

What a weekend, guys! Rob always complains the May long weekend is fraught with rain but this year, the rain was pushed away by all the sun. (We even managed to dry some clothes outside!)

It was a glorious long weekend and it was nice that my body was as eager to move around too. Rob and I spent a lot of time visiting family and friends, and the majority were stopping by our friends unannounced simply because we were in the neighbourhood. The stars were aligned because someone was always home for our impromptu visits. Score!

I finally have my cooking mojo back although my blogging mojo is still lagging behind. With the nice weather, I am drawn more to walking in my ‘hood instead of sitting in front of my computer. One thing that has helped to get me cooking again is the multitude of fabulous vegan cookbooks hitting the shelves. One of them is Annie Oliverio’s new cookbook, Crave, Eat, Heal. You have probably met Annie through her blog at An Unrefined Vegan where we she shares plant-based recipes without refined ingredients. Her cookbook has the same philosophy and aims to show that there should be no deprivation. All of your cravings are answered.

Annie’s cookbook is broken down into 13 chapters, each focusing on a different craving: carbs, chocolate, comfort, cool, creamy, crunchy, green, junk, salty, spicy, sweet, tart and warm. I am used to the traditional setup of cookbooks organized by course or season, but this was unique. Oftentimes, I do have cravings for something with chocolate, or something crunchy, and this would be a different way to find something satisfying to eat. With this warm weather, of course, I ventured into the “cool” cravings. There were coolers, smoothies and popsicles. Even a sweet potato pie and apple pie spice ice cream that looked phenomenal (and totally happening next weekend). But I decided I needed something a little more substantial and dove into the butter wedge salad.

After my surgery, I was on a liquid diet for nearly a week and when I finally improved, all I wanted was to bite into something. Here I was biting and actually cutting into my meal. It has been a long time since I actually used a knife and a fork for a meal, and of all things, it was to cut my wedge of lettuce.

Perhaps Annie missed out on potential “cut into your meal” cravings, because I could understand missing this not-so-fun meal normalcy. In any case, the knife and fork allowed me to experience every part of the salad with each bite: crisp lettuce, subtly sweet/soft pear, salty/meaty tempeh bacon, creamy avocado and a creamy/cool sunflower peppercorn dressing. I used a peppercorn dressing base which made for a very intense dressing but it was well balanced with the remainder of the salad.

The recipes in Crave, Eat, Heal span sweet and savoury and most are accompanied by Annie’s photographs. Her recipes are nearly all oil-free (not necessarily low-fat), mostly gluten-free, and without processed foods like white sugar. Her photo of the salad can be seen below.

Thankfully, the publisher allowed me to giveaway the Crave, Eat, Heal cookbook to a reader living in the United States. My international readers are eligible to win a copy of the ebook Crave. Eat. Heal. Outtakes. To be entered in the random draw for the book or ebook, please leave a comment below telling me what you crave most often (and please let me know if you are not from the US). The winners will be selected at random on May 30, 2015. Good luck!

Recipes from Crave, Eat, Heal spotted elsewhere:

Baked Almond Butter and Apricot Oatmeal

Buckwheat Noodles with Spicy Almond Sauce

Butternut Squash Queso

Carrot Cake Pudding

Carrot Ginger Turmeric Steamer

Cauliflower and Potato Wraps with Tahini Dressing

Cherry Pomegranate Refrigerator Jam

Date-Nut Truffles

Double Chocolate Berry Good Cookies

Lemon-Coconut Spirulina Balls

Lentil and Bok Choy Sweet Potato Nachos

No-Bake Breakfast Cookies

Raw/Not Raw Vegetable Barley Bowl

Roasted Garlic and Fresh Herb Cream Cheese (aka Vegan Boursin)

Zucchini, Apricot and Almond Salad

PS. There is still time to enter the giveaway for Superfood Juices here.

PPS. I am sharing this with Meat Free Mondays, Souper Sundays, No Croutons Required, Vegetable Palette and My Legume Love Affair.

Curried Tomato Spaghetti Squash & Chickpeas

Oddly enough, these last few months have been the hardest for me to blog. My new normal is scrambling the night before to cobble together a post. The recipes and photos are ready to go but I just don’t know what to say.

It isn’t that I am getting bored with my eats (I am most certainly not) but they are certainly fitting a similar theme each week. What can I say? I know what I like and I like to eat it.

Here, I took Gabby’s recipe which took an Indian-spiced tomato sauce with some (leftover, in my case) roasted spaghetti squash and cooked chickpeas. It did not disappoint in the slightest. Something a bit different than my bean-centric curries, loaded with strands of spaghetti squash. Totally a winner.

What are your oft-repeated meals?

I am sharing this with Bookmarked Recipes.

Cajun Beans and Greens

I planned on making this with grits.

Cajun beans and greens with grits. Obviously.

I even smuggled some grits home from Trader Joe’s when we left Houston.

As I prepped the ingredients for this quick and easy bean skillet, I nonchalantly brought out the grits. Another 30 minutes? No way the sun would last for them, so I photographed the beans as the sun quickly faded away and then waited for quinoa. I was worried I would have to tend to the grits continuous, like polenta, so I chickened out in the end.

Next time, there will be grits.

 

Roasty Smoky Brussels Sprouts with Chickpeas

With all this talk of cold going around here, you might be reasoning it is because I forgot what winter was like while I was in Texas. I assure you, this is not the case. But it does kind of make me resent it slightly and appreciate the cold spells.

Truth be told, we have been having difficulties with our furnace. During the coldest days, it also goes on strike. I spoke about it briefly here and thought a new thermostat was going to keep us warm over the winter. Imagine my dismay as I come home after work to a frigid home… and I could not get the furnace to work. Our landlord told us to sit tight, he would get us a space heater and the repair man would arrive the next morning.

Um, yeah. Not a happy camper. I went upstairs and decided to warm up the bed. It would be a cold night.

Turns out when Rob came home, he had a bit more patience in the freezing basement and reset the furnace. We were saved!

Obviously I didn’t make this with our frigid kitchen but it would have quickly warmed it up. (I opted for a quickie rewarming of leftover broccoli dal instead). It is a rather simple combination of spices and nooch for roasted chickpeas and brussels sprouts. Easy peasy and quite delicious. Definitely give it a try and let me know what you think.

If you like this, you may also like these:

Roasted Chickpeas and Cauliflower with Dukkah

Forty Clove Roasted Chickpeas and Broccoli

Salt and Vinegar Roasted Chickpeas

I am sharing this with Extra Veg.

Cozy Red Lentil and Kale Soup

I don’t know how many of you were working last Friday. Friday, January 2nd. It was a weird sensation. Both a Monday feeling, with a mountain of work, combined with the excitement by the time it was 4:30pm and I realized the weekend was so close!

But yesterday was a brutal Monday. I missed my bus because I shovelled the snow that morning, all the time freezing in the cold gust of wintry air. Work was mostly back to usual and the gym, well, let’s say we nearly doubled our gym goers.. you know, from the regular 5 people to over 10. I had to learn to share.

Suffice it to say, I was a bit cranky by the time I returned home. Thank goodness I knew it would be a delicious week. This is another one of my new simple recipes. I figured I already have a ton of red lentil soups that I have shared, this time, I winged it with what I had in my kitchen.

I loved your encouragement to share the recipe inspirations. Unlike the last time, this time I have a recipe. Red lentils, carrot, tomatoes and kale were combined in a flavourful broth made with smoked paprika, Old Bay Seasoning and Worcestershire sauce. I don’t know what made it so flippin fantastic, but it was a nicely sweet soup (from the carrots??) that was balanced by the Worcestershire sauce and fresh garlic finish. It worked really, really well. And it was perfect to comfort me after my first day back.

Red lentil soups spotted here previously:

Red Lentil, Spinach and Lemon Soup

Red Lentil Soup with Spinach and Lime

Turkish Red Lentil Peasant Soup with Sizzling Mint

Red Lentil and Spinach Curry (Vegan Tikka Masala)

Greek Red Lentil Soup with Lemon and Rosemary

 

I am sharing this with Souper Sundays and No Croutons Required.

Simple Lentil Chilaquiles

When I said our meals have become more simple, this is probably not what you had in mind.  I had not planned on sharing this either, but the meal was delicious and I scooped together the little bits left unclaimed and snapped photos to share. I loved the meal, I loved these photos, and had to share.

In an honesty, Rob is a great cook. I merely helped to assemble the ingredients. Rob was making an off-the-cuff version of our tofu migas but as we ate it, we thought it reminded us of the chilaquiles we would devour from Radical Eats in Houston. Minus the deep-fried tortillas. Eerily enough, Erica shared her baked version of chilaquiles (recipe here with black beans and kale), which I read afterwards. Great minds think alike! We opted not to make it sopping in a tomato-broth, as we used sun-dried tomatoes to help keep the chips crispy.

In any case, while these were simple to make, it brought together a few components we already had. Namely, we made JL’s Lentil TVP Taco Filling earlier in the week (I changed the spices slightly) as our ground meat substitute. My cousin also gifted us some homemade tomatillo salsa. It was quite spicy but worked well when mixed directly with the other ingredients.

In short, we started by using almost stale corn tortilla chips by baking them in the oven. Rob sauteed some sweet onions (reserving some for the topping) and sprinkled them with garlic granules (too lazy to pull the real garlic from the fridge). Next, he added the Lentil-TVP taco filling, heating it up. Because we were out of plain tofu, he added 4 eggs along with some soy milk and the tomatillo salsa, scrambling all the ingredients together. Once fully cooked, he stirred in the baked tortilla chips, heating all the way through. A sprinkle of fresh lime juice and a side of tomato salsa solidified this as a perfect New Year’s Day brunch.

I am not sure if quasi-recipes like this help you. What do you think?

PS. I am sharing this with Credit Crunch Munch.

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.

Three Sisters Soup (Black Bean, Corn and Squash Soup)

Despite what you make believe, I haven’t eaten any winter squash recently. I bought a colourful carnival squash but haven’t made anything with it yet. I have this recipe I made while in Houston. The giveaway? The frozen roasted corn. I can’t say I have seen that since returning to Toronto.

This is a perfect end-of-summer, beginning of fall soup, as the last of the local corn arrives and the first winter squashes arrive. Or perfect for the dead of winter, too, using frozen corn kernels.

The Three Sisters, referring to the dietary staples of the Mesoamerican diet: corn, beans and squash. They often grow together, each plant benefitted from the others. The lankly corn husks provided a structure for the beans to latch onto. The squash covers the ground, preventing pesky weeds from appearing. And like all beans, they return nitrogen to the soil to help nearby plants. It makes sense that meals would also center around such foods, equally creating a balanced meal. This meal is simple but elevated by choice herbs and spices (cilantro, chiles, smoked paprika, garlic) with a heavy hand of lime juice. I used the full amount in the recipe and even I, the lover of all things tart, found it off-putting. Please start with less and taste as you go.

The recipe comes from a cookbook I have been meaning to write about for a while, Extraordinary Vegan. I can see Allan is a partial kindred spirit in the kitchen as he realizes a few choice ingredients can elevate meals to become extraordinary. Like I have said, some of my favourite, albeit unusual ingredients, are Aleppo chile flakes, pomegranate molasses, smoked paprika and miso. These are a few of the ingredients Allan uses to create his meals. I had a few of these in my Houston kitchen, but still piecing together my larger pantry here, and now looking forward to trying other recipes. Many recipes are simple but a few use a few hard to find ingredients. Here are a few other recipes I have spotted around the web from Extraordinary Vegan.

Chocolate Banana Mint Smoothie

A Very Different Butternut Soup

Extraordinary Balsamic Vinaigrette

Shaved Brussels Sprouts Slaw

Artichoke & Lemon Lentil Salad

Chocolate Raspberry Tart

Pears in Pomegranate Juice

 Are the squashes out in full force in your kitchen yet?

PS. I am sharing this with Shaheen’s Vegetable Palette, My Legume Love Affair and Souper Sundays.

Buffalo Hummus

Allow me to be honest with you. I may have lost my cooking mojo.

I haven’t really been too interested in cooking lately. My life has slowed down a lot (physically, mainly) and my heart no no longer sings in the kitchen. One must still eat, so I am still cooking… although finding it a challenge to continue to blog consistently.

And then I made this hummus.  I knew I had to share it right away.

I am no stranger to strange hummus concoctions but this one was really good. Spiced with sriracha with a depthness from red peppers, I really liked it. It wasn’t too spicy (for me!) so feel free to add more sriracha for your palate. I found this had a taste reminiscent of cheese but without any nooch, I think it was from the red pepper paste. This was nice and silky straight from the food processor. Sadly, it stiffened slightly as leftovers so either eat it all at once or add some more liquid as needed.

I am sharing this with My Legume Love Affair hosted by Valli and Bookmarked Recipes.