VeggieBean

If you're still following this, please check out my new site at www.veggiebean.com

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Evolution

For a little while now, I've been contemplating taking my blog in another direction. While there are a few great resources detailing the specifically vegetarian and vegan dining options there are in Boston, I feel like the web lacks in having something to tell the veggie world what a wide array of options they have available to them outside of the 10 or so all veg restaurants. So, maybe I should attempt to provide that. Key word: ATTEMPT.

I have come to realize that one of my biggest pet peeves is having people say "what DO you eat?", or "I dont know how you do it" when the topic of being a vegetarian/vegan comes up. I think the reason I get so frustrated is that I feel like there are SO many options, and it's really easy to do. Mostly just because I WANT to do it (if you dont want to eat something, you just don't eat it, right?), but these days, being a vegan or vegetarian is extremely easy (I say that like I was around when it wasn't easy...), and so many places are vegan/vegetarian friendly or accommodating. I want to document that.

So... veggiebean.com is born. I'm really hoping that it will be beneficial for people. I want to have an extensive list of restaurants, links, menu options, "reviews", and who knows what. It will be a work in progress. Suggestions are always welcome and appreciated.

here we go!

Shout out to Vegan Dad!

Tonight's dinner consisted of my c-tsar salad, and Vegan Dad's Broccoli Risotto. Matt did a fantastic job cooking the risotto. It was super creamy and reminded me of broccoli cheese soup.

I can't believe I hadn't heard of Vegan Dad before this weekend. I'm so impressed by the wide array of recipes he has. All of the food looks and sounds amazing and I'm really looking forward to making more. He officially won me over when I saw his post about having a "Harry Potter" themed new years celebration with his children. Those kids are some lucky ducks.

What the... what?

Came across this today.

Really? C'mon...

Home Sick

I've been eye-balling this recipe for a few months now. Black Bean Brownies? REALLY??! We'll see about this...

I'm home from work today (as you might be able to tell from my post-a-thon) and figured I would quit my headache whining, get in the kitchen, and make Matt a treat to come home to.

Might I quickly mention that I have the best husband ever? He takes such good care of me when I'm a grouchy migrane-ridden poop head.

Ok, so to be honest... although an odd concept (not for me, but probably for the non-vegan masses), these are incredibly yummy!! I urge anyone that might be looking for a healthy alternative to brownies to give this a try. So easy, and very satisfying!

While we're on the topic of treats...

I was very saddened to recently find out that my favorite non-guilty, guilty pleasure "Cashewtopia" (raw, vegan gelato) is no longer available at the Framingham Whole Foods. I imagine that a scoop would be delicious paired with one of these brownies. Sigh...

Sauteed tomato, mushroom, and bok choy with brown rice

Taken from: this/next month's issue of Vegetarian Times. I couldn't find the recipe online, so I'm not going to post it for fear of (not) giving proper credit.

This was great! The recipe called for bulgur and I couldn't find any at the store, so I substituted brown rice. I think it worked just fine. Everything was very light and fresh and cooking the rice with mushroom broth made a HUGE, tasty difference.

A favorite...

On my cheat days, this is at the top of my craving-list. I'd held onto the recipe for quite some time, as the crust requires an entire stick of earth balance (...for two people. *cough* *cough*). However, when I got some adorable purple baking dishes that were clearly born for pot-pies from my in-laws for Christmas, it was time to give in to temptation. Nothing running an extra mile can't take care of the next day!

Here's the recipe, along with a much better picture. I use whole-wheat flour and it comes out just as amazing.

Honey Lime Chili Grilled Veggies

Last weekend brought some pretty fantastic weather... FINALLY!

With warm weather comes the desire to play outside, cook outside, and eat outside. I'm very happy to report that Matt and I started to build the raised-beds for our garden (yes, this is what I consider "playing"), and I'm so anxious to get planting! Soon enough I'll be writing posts such as this one, and the veggies will be home grown. We've been waiting to be able to do this for a long time and I'm so glad we finally own a spot to get started. But enough about that...

Usually, when we grill I make sure to have a hoard of awesome grilled veggies to go along with whatever tofu/veggie burgers/etc. I am grilling as a main course. Most of the time the veggies end up taking over, and that was definitely the case with these.

In a small bowl, combine:

Zest of one lime (save for juice required below!)

1 tbsp chili powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Set aside.

For the veggies:

2 large yellow summer squash, washed and sliced halfway, then lengthwise

2 large zucchini, washed and sliced halfway, then lengthwise

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp fresh lime juice

salt and pepper, to taste

Whisk lime juice and honey together, then pour over veggies. Toss to ensure veggies are coated, then lightly sprinkle with salt and some pepper.

Grill the veggies over med-high heat for about 3 minutes on each side, or until slightly charred. Once plated, sprinkle with lime-chili powder mixture and devour.

*Note: I'm almost positive the lime-chili powder mixture goes well with any grilled veggies. I got the idea from a Bobby Flay recipe I had made for grilled sweet potatoes a while back and they were SOOOO good. I thought the honey would make a nice, subtle, sweet addition instead of tossing the veggies with oil of any sort.

Pizza Party!

(this doesn't look as appetizing as it actually was. next time I'll add some greens to the top for appeal...)

Sadly, I made a grave error when making tonight's dinner... WAY too much oil, and I've got quite the belly ache to show for it. BUT, I feel like the recipe was decent otherwise... so it's not a total loss! I've altered the oil below to what I think would be appropriate. I used the Field Roast Smoked Apple Sage sausages and they (per usual) were superb. By far my favorite faux meat product.

1 package whole wheat pizza dough (I used Trader Joes)

4 tbsp grape seed oil, plus 1 tsp

2 large cloves garlic

2 tbsp fresh sage

2 fresh thyme

2 "sausage" links

4 shallots

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 cup non-dairy mozzarella

Let pizza dough sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.

In a small saucepan, heat 4 tbsp of oil over low heat. Add garlic, sage, and thyme, and infuse until oil is fragrant- about 15-20 minutes.

Slice shallots into 1/8 inch rounds and saute over low heat with the remaining 1 tsp oil for about 15 minutes. Once shallots are soft, add a pinch of salt and balsamic. Stir until combined.

Slice sausages into 1/4 inch rounds. Saute over medium heat until golden brown.

Lightly flour a pizza stone, and roll dough into a 12" circle. Brush infused oil, along with garlic, sage, and thyme over pizza dough. Add shallots, sausage, and non-dairy cheese. Per usual, I used Daiya, but use whatever you prefer.

Spinach Lasagna and C-tsar salad

Hello...
Hello...?
Is this thing still on? Can everybody hear me? Hi, OK. YEP, still alive and kicking! Sorry for my lack of posts. I have no excuses other than sheer lack of creativity lately. I just haven't put my brain to much use.

Moving on... Can I tell you how fantastic this dinner was? I'm so very happy there are leftovers. Here's what you'll need:

Salad
1 head romaine lettuce, chopped
10 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half

Croutons
3 slices of whole grain bread, cubed
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tbsp grape seed oil
salt and pepper

To make the croutons, pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Spread bread cubes on a cookie sheet and drizzle with oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning, then bake for about 12-15 minutes.

C-tsar Dressing
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp grape seed oil
1 tsp vegan worcestershire sauce

Whisk all ingredients together, pour over salad, and add a little bit of vegan parmesan if you have it!

Spinach Lasagna

1 box whole wheat lasagna
1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce (I used Trader Joe's basil and garlic)
1 package extra firm tofu
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 bag frozen spinach, thawed and drained
2 tbsp fresh thyme
2 tbsp fresh sage
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
salt and pepper, to taste
1tbsp grape seed oil
handful of Daiya mozzarella cheese

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Bring a pot of water to a boil and add pasta to salted, boiling water. Cook per package instructions.

In a saute pan, heat oil on medium heat and add 1 clove of garlic, sage, and thyme. Saute for about a minute, then add spinach. Keep spinach in pan over low-medium heat, stirring occasionally.

Add tofu, lemon juice, 2 cloves garlic, nutritional yeast, Italian seasoning, and salt and pepper to a food processor. Blend until smooth.

Add tofu mixture to spinach and stir until combined.

Once the pasta is cooked, set aside and start assembly. I start with a layer of sauce, then pasta, then tofu-spinach mixture, then repeat. I make sure to end with noodles, then some sauce, then the Daiya.

Bake covered for about 30 minutes, then uncovered for 10. Let sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.

A guest baker- Matty!

Matt made these delicious lemon-poppy muffins from Vegan Brunch on Tuesday night. We both got home from work and decided we wanted to be in the kitchen. I made dinner, but he was itching to bake something. Since we had most of the ingredients for these, it was an easy decision.

My sister in-law got me the Vegan Brunch cookbook for my birthday (it should be quite obvious now that getting me cookbooks for presents is a safe bet!!) and since brunch is one of my favorite concepts, I use this book quite frequently. It goes without saying that Isa Chandra Moskowitz partially reigns the vegan cooking community. I find her recipes to be incredibly creative, and easy to understand & execute. Three cheers for Isa!

On another note, damn I love to have me a husband who enjoys baking.

I'll throw in a recipe review for good measure

I've got to make this one quick because my lunch hour is almost up (this is what happens when you have no computer at home anymore... sad face.).

Last night, I made this recipe from one of my previously mentioned favorite cookbooks, Vegan Yum Yum. HOT DAMN, it was so good! The cous cous had the perfect amount of lemon flavor, without being too overbearing. The almonds and tamari added to the kale gave it a superb crunch and a flavor that blended so well with the marmalade marinated tofu.

Please make this. You will not regret it.

Product reviews? Sure, why not.

What's that saying, "opinions are like assho... err, bellybuttons, everyone has one"?

Obviously I am not a classically trained chef, nor do I have any kind of "professional" opinion towards food. But I do have opinions. Might as well share them, right?

My niece, Olive, got me a subscription to Vegetarian Times and VegNews for my birthday last year. Only 3 months old and she knew her Aunty so well! I've been receiving them now for a few months and I keep noticing ads for Tofurkey Pizza. I've been a fan of mostly everything the brand has done and as far as "faux" products are concerned, if I had a top "5" list, they'd certainly be on it. So, I'm not going to lie, I got a little excited at the prospect of a decent new pizza to try.

So far, Matt and I have tried the Italian Sausage & Fire Roasted Veggie, as well as the Cheese. Not bad. I suppose that's a little lackluster sounding, but it IS frozen pizza, after all. I give major kudos for using Daiya, which I am obviously a fan of (as you can tell from my other blog posts). The crust is whole-wheat and surprisingly flavorful. The Italian S&V was a little light on the cheese, but didn't stray too far from the picture portrayal on the box. There were plenty of veggies, which were seemingly fire roasted, as well as their Italian sausage. I liked the Cheese much better... it had a lot of flavor a good amount of "cheesy" coverage. There wasnt a lot of sauce on either, but I imagine that with a crust so thin, it's hard to pile it on. On that note, these are small and if you're super hungry, I imagine you'll eat the whole thing... which would set you back about 800+ calories. I suppose it's better than a small pizza from Dominoes to your onesie, but if I was going to indulge in an 800 calorie meal, it wouldn't be this.

If I had to rate them overall, I'd give a 6.5 out of 10. I'm pretty sure these will make their way into our lunch routine again!

An ode to Kim and Lauren

Hi friends,

I apologize for the lack of posts lately. Life threw me a few curve balls recently and haven't been doing as much on the creative cooking side of things. So, I figure this is a good time to tell you about a couple of the cook books I've been adoring. As I think anyone should, I have a small plethora of cook books (vegan and vegetarian, even some non-veggie) piling up in my dining room closet, and I try to use them as much as possible to keep things exciting. However, I've been using these two on an almost daily basis lately.

Skinny Bitch by Kim Barnouin:

I absolutely love this cookbook. My sister got it for me for my Birthday in December and I plan at least one meal a week out of it. I've never read any of the Skinny Bitch books, but after reading through this cookbook, I really appreciate the approach they've taken to spreading the word on veganism and will completely reconsider. Plus, she's damn funny.


Vegan Yum Yum by Lauren Ulm:

I swear that our taste buds are twins. I love the personal touch she gives to the book and I would be lying if I said that she wasn't a motivation to me starting my own cooking blog. She hasn't had a new post in a while, but check out veganyumyum. All the dishes I've made from this book/blog are fantastic and there are pictures of almost everything (taken by her, of course...), to boot! I love a good picture of some grub.

Cooking with beer!

This was good, but I definitely don't feel as if it deserves a recipe post. Yet. In theory, it sounds fantastic... a thick, pureed soup with roasted garlic, roasted butternut squash, fingerling potatoes, onions sauteed with fresh sage, then reduced with Sierra Nevada Porter? I'm drooling...

I will perfect it. I will.

On a side note, that bread was amazing. I could have eaten the whole loaf. Too bad I didn't bake it.

Stewing

Wow! Three posts in one day. SOMEONE had a little catching up to do. This was actually tonight's dinner and dang, it was tasty (at least for my first attempt at "beef" stew!). I can't say I invented this one completely on my own. Since I've never made a stew before, I looked at a bunch of different recipes to see what the common factors were and went from there. It'll need some tweaking, but I'm happy with my start!

Ingredients:

1/2 leek, sliced finely

medium yellow onion, diced

4 medium size carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch slices

2 large celery stalks, sliced finely

2 large cloves garlic, minced

3 rosemary sprigs

3 bay leaves

2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and diced into 1/4 inch cubes

2 tbs flour, divided

1/2 bottle red wine

4 cups veg. stock

1 package seitan

salt and pepper, to taste

4 tbs canola oil, divided

Season seitan with salt and pepper and coat lightly with 1 tbs flour. Heat a dutch oven over medium heat and add 2 tbs oil. Add the seitan to the oil and saute until browned. Remove seitan and set aside. Add onions, celery, and leeks to the remaining 2 tbs oil and saute until golden brown. Add garlic and saute for another minute. Stir in the seitan. Cook for another two minutes, then cover with remaining flour and stir to coat. Add red wine and stir. Turn the heat to high and bring to a boil. Add vegetable stock, potatoes, carrots, bay leaves, rosemary, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil again, then reduce heat and simmer for about an hour and a half.

Remove rosemary sprigs and bay leaves before serving, kids! Enjoy!

spinach and onion scramble with home fries

I love a good tofu scramble, and this was... soooo-oh-oh-oh-oh good. At least I thought so. Matt wasn't in tip-top shape when I gave him his plate on Sunday morning, but that just meant I got to eat whatever he didn't! ...And that was a majority of his half.

With the recent ambush of snow storms, It seems I've taken to making brunch a lot. That might be apparent since this is my second brunch post in a week. I promise for more variety soon. Also, I swear I've never used this much Daiya in one week in my life... I've just had it on hand.

For the scramble:
1/2 large yellow onion cut into half-moon slices
2 cloves of garlic
two heaping cups of fresh baby spinach
1 tub lite firm tofu, crumbled
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tbs turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1tsp paprika
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tbs grapeseed oil
salt and pepper, to taste
Daiya cheddar to garnish

For the potatoes:
1/2 lb fingerling potatoes, cubed
1tbs old bay seasoning
salt and pepper, to taste
1 tbs grapeseed oil

Boil your potatoes until soft, about 15 minutes and drain. Heat oil in a cast iron skillet over medium to high heat. Add potatoes to skillet and toss until coated in oil. Add salt, pepper, and old bay seasoning. Stir occasionally so that the potatoes don't burn.

Once the potatoes are in the pan, heat 1 tbs oil over medium heat in a non-stick skillet and add the onions. Saute until the onions are translucent and add garlic. Cook for about a minute. Add the tofu and fold onions and garlic until combined. Add the spices and nutritional yeast and stir until the turmeric turns the tofu an egg-like yellow. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until well heated. Add the spinach at the end and stir until it's wilted into the mixture. Top with a bit of cheese once it's on the plate.

(I'm typing this and wishing I had leftovers.)

Mex-suey

I'm going to file this one under "stupid easy" because it was very last minute and not very well thought out. Like last week, our Monday night was a bit hectic and I was more concerned with getting grocery shopping done so that I could come home and watch "Chuck" than I was with cooking dinner. I had some Daiya cheddar left over from the strata and figured I should find a way to use it.

1 un-drained can of fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
3/4 cup uncooked pasta
1/2 a package (170 oz.) soy chorizo crumbles
1/2 cup of daiya cheddar, divided
1tbs olive oil

Cook the pasta per package instructions. While the pasta cooks, saute the pepper in the oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the diced tomatoes and soy chorizo to the pepper and cook until pasta is done. Add the pasta to the soy-rizo mixture and toss well. Add a bit of daiya before serving.

Not terrible for a 15 minute dinner...

Erik-e-strata... get it?

I cannot take credit for the name of this. The lovely Kara Vicalvi was nice enough to inform me of what this dish would be considered in the culinary world, and after hearing it, Matt got the word "strata" stuck in his head. "Strata, you know, like ERIK E-STRATA!". What a gem.

The roots of this come from something that I will never eat again, but really missed. Growing up, every Christmas morning my mom would make us an egg, bread, sausage, and cheese casserole. It wasn't Christmas without it. For a while, as a vegetarian I ate eggs and cheese, so it was easy to just substitute veggie sausage. This year was our first Christmas in our new house and I felt it was necessary to make a vegan version of my mom's classic. It came out well then, but I think this one will take a few (or ten) tries to master. Here's my second:

You need to make this the night before, so plan ahead!

1 Small loaf of day-old french bread
1 cup daiya cheddar, divided
1 package vegan breakfast sausages (patties or links both work)
1 package (or 1 lb.) silken tofu
3/4 cup vegetable broth
1 tbs nature's seasons seasoning
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tbs dried rosemary
2 tbs maple syrup
1 tbs grape seed oil

Break up bread into bite-size pieces and line them onto the bottom of a 2 quart casserole dish.

Cut breakfast patties or sausages into small pieces and saute with the rosemary and oil over medium heat for about 5 minutes, or per instructions, if frozen. Coat with maple syrup and mix well. Saute for another minute and layer on top of bread.

Cover bread and sausage with 1/2 cup of daiya cheddar.

Whisk tofu until smooth, then add vegetable broth and whisk until it's as smooth as possible. Note: this might look curdled and slightly gross- It's not!! Add nutritional yeast and seasoning and whisk until combined. (Afterthought- I imagine a blender would work just as well)

Pour tofu mixture over bread, sausage, and cheese, and give the dish a little shake so that it seeps in everywhere.

Layer the remaining cheese on top.

Let set in your refrigerator overnight.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour- until the edges are brown- and let sit for about 10 minutes once out of the oven.

N-BLT's with scallion garlic nayo

Tonight presented much less time to make dinner than usual, so this wasn't too involved. I put a little extra love into it, though, so that's what matters, right?

What need for two non-BLT's:

4 Slices of bread. I used multigrain here.

3 tbs nayonaise

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1 scallion, chopped

Non-Bacon strips of sorts. I used 4 strips per sandwich, but use as many or few as you'd like.

6 Romaine lettuce leaves

1 Avocado

1 Med. Roma tomato

Combine nayo, scallions, and garlic salt in a small bowl until well mixed.

Cut the avocado in two. Pit, skin, and slice each side into about 5 slices.

Slice the tomato so that you have about 6 even slices.

Cut the lettuce leaves into bread-size pieces.

Cook your "facon" per package instructions- mine was over medium heat in a non-stick pan for about two minutes on each side.

Toast your bread, if it suits your fancy (I think you're crazy if it doesnt!). Smooth nayo onto one side of each slice of bread, then layer the yums and munch!

I apologize in advance for the picture quality. I take pictures with my iPhone... 'nuff said. I'll work on that later, I promise.

I'm very excited for tomorrow's post... snowstorm + working from home = need for an awesome breakfast. It's chilling in the fridge as we speak and waiting to be baked as soon as I wake up. Hope everyone has a safe morning!

my thoughts on blogging

Remember live journal? I just did, and I logged in to make sure mine was deleted and purged. I made the decision to do that a long, long time ago (when you're 27, 5 years is a long long time!). I woke up one day and wondered why on earth I thought it was a good idea to put my every thought on the internet for the world to see. Did I really need the attention that badly? No.

To an extent, I've found that "blogging" these days is a fairly mutated, but evolved cousin of what live journal was years ago (and could still be now, for all I know...). I love it and hate it. Some people use blogging as a way to unleash their creativity and share their ideas with the world. I love that. Some people... don't.

I won't get into the types of blogs that I hate to see, because then mine would turn into one, but I'd like to simply state that my purpose here is to share my adventures in cooking with my friends and family. Maybe I'll get some feedback. Maybe Ina Garten will read this and invite me to be a guest vegan chef on The Barefoot Contessa. Maybe not.

I'll more likely get some gross comments about how my food looks like it should be sold in the pet aisle of a grocery store... either way, this is mostly for me because I want to and I promise not to go any further than this with my thoughts on life. So there.

I hope you enjoy.