East Meets West Veg

I was originally going to make a nice, hearty stew today because we've had some chilly nights (and days), but then I checked the weather and saw that it was going to be 97 degrees F (36 C)!! In three short days the high temperature will be 60 F (15.5C) with a low of 46F (8 C). This is Michigan for you, I guess. Anyway, it was WAY too hot for me to cook or eat hot food today so I had to find a no cook dinner.

I decided to make some super easy burritos with salsa verde. I've never made anything with tomatillos before so I didn't even know if I'd like it, but I thought it tasted fresh and delicious. Alone, I thought it could use some more salt, but it was perfect with the chips.


This Salsa Verde recipe is from Food Network. It is very easy and requires only a few ingredients. There were two versions on the show, but I made the raw version. I just put these items in the blender, then mixed it with chopped onion and salt. Click here for the recipe.


To make the meal complete (though I really could have eaten just the salsa verde and tortilla chips), I put together some simple burritos.

Based on the popularity of my first Grocery Shopping 101 post, I decided I need to post some 101 type meal ideas. Sometimes it can seem overwhelming transitioning to a more plant-based diet or it might seem like you need to make long, complicated recipes. The truth is that you can eat very simple, healthy foods that take little or no prep time.

Not too long ago, we had a get-together with a mixed group of meat-eaters and non meat-eaters. We made a do-it-yourself wrap bar and everyone loaded up on what they liked. Here's my wrap.

Throughout my life, there have been many times I eliminated or tried to minimize my processed sugar intake and I've been mostly successful. I find that it makes my body feel better and my mind feel like I am doing something good. However, last fall was a different story.

In late 2012, my dad died unexpectedly and I was deep in grief in a way I never imagined I could be. It seemed to me like an adult shouldn't be so devastated by her dad dying, even if he was young and it was unexpected (though not from unnatural causes). I hardly felt like eating. All I wanted to do was sleep and cry. It's weird that I am willing to admit this because I always try to hide my crying from people and act as if I am fine. I guess admitting it is different than actually breaking down in front of someone. After the initial shock wore off, the whole thing really debilitated me. If I ate something - anything, I considered that a success. And I felt strangely drawn back to my sometimes friend, sometimes foe - sugar. I was craving sugar all the time. I tell people that I was on a vegan ice cream and french fries diet for a while.

So, it's been a few months now. . . They say that grief gets better in time and I honestly did not see how that was possible a few months ago. I wanted to believe it, but I could not see the light at the end of the tunnel. I can tell you that it HAS gotten better. It is still difficult. I still cry almost every day. I still miss my dad. I still think of him all the time. I still think of how things could have been different. But things are getting better. I am awake for more than 8 hours a day! Yay! Little by little, I am starting to enjoy things again. I see a little glimmer of hope on the horizon.

But the nasty sugar addiction I picked up along the way is still hanging on. And I can remember how good it feels to be free from that addiction! I'm not eliminating sugar right now, but I am trying to reduce my dependence on it. As I found myself jonesing for cookies the other day (after indulging myself several days in a row), I decided it was time to try out a healthy alternative. So, working with what I had in the house, I came up with something that combined the sweetness (fruit) I was looking for with a rich taste (from the avocado & coconut milk). Now I know it's not hot out of the oven, but it did help me boost my willpower and I was able to skip the cookies that night!


Ingredients:
1 cup frozen blueberries
1 ripe banana
1/2 large avocado or 1 small avocado
3/4 cup coconut, almond or other non-dairy milk
1/2 cup tart cherry juice - actual juice, not the concentrated kind (or any juice you like)

Method:
Put it all together and blend, adding more juice or non-dairy milk if required for your blender. Enjoy! 

Over the summer we always get a share from a local CSA and the produce is absolutely divine! In fact, the vegetables are usually so good that I don't want to cook them. I feel like they are absolute perfection on their own and that if I change the flavor at all, I will be missing out on the veggies' natural goodness. In addition to eating the veggies raw, I usually come up with some interesting salads as well. This is often just a way for me to incorporate beans or lentils into my summer diet when all I want to do is eat fresh fruit & veggies.

Many of the fabulous salads we devour all summer long are just not the same in winter because the vegetables (even organic) from the grocery stores here in Michigan are . . . shall I say, lacking that special something you get when they're vine-ripened and fresh picked by your local farmer. I do still enjoy a nice salad in the winter, even when the pickings are slim. This salad is a great one for winter because you only need a few ingredients which are easily accessible all year round.

They just put in a Trader Joe's by my house and I actually found tasty cucumbers and tomatoes there last week. In fact, they were so good that when I made this, I wanted to just keep eating it all day. I thought I should mix it up a little so I came up with two other versions. This would be a great way to pack three different light and healthy lunches for work. You could certainly add more veggies or herbs, but this is one of those things that I throw together when I'm really hungry and don't have a lot of time for washing & chopping. It's SO EASY! You can whip it up in a jiffy and the results are delicious and nutritious!

To find a CSA or Farmer's Market in the United States, go to: http://www.localharvest.org/

Here's the simplest version, your base recipe.
VERSION 1:

INGREDIENTS:
1 can chickpeas/garbanzo beans
1 beefsteak tomato (or 2 roma or 1 pack cherry or grape tomatoes)
1 cucumber
your favorite salad dressing (middle eastern or italian are great choices)
salt & pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. Drain and rinse the chickpeas
2. Chop the tomato and cucumber
3. Put it all in a bowl, sprinkle on your favorite dressing, and mix!
4. Add salt & pepper to taste (optional)



VERSION 2:

Put some of the version 1 Chickpea Salad over your favorite greens. (It tastes great on romaine)
You may need to add more dressing.


VERSION 3:

Boil some quinoa and/or rice (or your favorite grain). You could also use a pre-cooked packet. My quinoa-loving, meat-eating cousin just told me that he eats quinoa and brown rice packets from Costco for his lunch at work.

After it cools, mix with some of the version 1 Chickpea Salad. You may need to add more dressing and/or salt & pepper.

A few years ago, my husband's cousin was left to spend her college's winter break all alone in Denver because her boyfriend went to India to see his family. Being the caring guy that he is, he decided to buy her a plane ticket to Detroit to spend the holidays with us! Hooray! Since we had a guest from out of town, my days of sitting at home watching the ball drop with Dick Clark were over (well, not so over, I did it again the next year)!

We didn't want to go to the annual New Year's Eve party with my relatives because they lived too far away and we wanted to enjoy food we actually liked and could eat instead of their usual ring bologna, stinky fish, and crackers and cheese. So we found that a local Vegetarian group was having a New Year's potluck and decided to take a risk - not knowing anyone who would be there! We had a fabulous time! Everyone was so welcoming and interesting - and the food! The food was out of this world - especially the chocolate pie. We thought we died and went to heaven as the chocolatey goodness melted in our mouths! We went back for seconds but there was none left. Word spreads fast!

After some investigation, we finally found the piemaker and told her how much we loved her creation. She laughed and told us that she is not a cook and that she'd have to tell her sister that people were complimenting something she made. She told us that the recipe was so easy that someone who doesn't cook can make it and we committed the recipe to memory on the spot. I have since made my ever so slight variation to the recipe. Don't worry, it's still simple and delicious!

I often make this when there is a potluck or party where I have to bring something and it's been a big hit. I have made the addition of the fresh fruit on top. It's certainly not necessary, but I find that strawberries or raspberries taste great with chocolate. People often ask for the recipe and I've searched for this recipe online so that I could send them a link, but I never found it exactly. The woman I met at the party did not know where it came from. It had been just passed around to her. So, I decided to put it up so that others could enjoy it and I can stop sending individual emails of the recipe! Enjoy!

I was never really a big ice cream person.  I liked ice cream from time to time, but I don't remember having many cravings for it really.  However, when I became vegan I probably actually started liking ice cream more.  There were so many delicious flavors to try and it seemed to taste better when made with coconut milk, rice milk or soy milk.  Perhaps I was just excited to find out that despite what I had previously believed, there was an easy and delicious substitution. 

But, again, sadly I had to try to eliminate the packaged vegan ice cream from my diet when I decided to attempt to cut out sugar. :-(  That's probably when I really began wanting ice cream, knowing that I couldn't have it.  Much to my surprise, however, I found an ice cream I could eat at a local raw restaurant and I fell in love.  Now, if only I could recreate it (or something like it) at home. . . then one day, hurray! I found a recipe on the Whole Foods Market website.  I know that this is slightly different than the one at the local raw restaurant, but it is so delicious, I can have it in an instant (even when they are closed!) and it's cheap to make.  Plus, it puts those over ripe bananas to good use.

Whole Foods put a nice how-to video on youtube too. :-) When I watched this video, I thought that the 'nice cream' seemed a little too liquidy for my liking, so I put less non-dairy milk and an extra frozen banana (what would I do with that one lonely, left out banana anyway!?)
Since I made this, I have been craving it EVERY DAY - seriously.  I even ran into a psychic yesterday and she said she saw ice cream all around me.  She said, in fact, that she saw me dipped in ice cream.  I almost burst out laughing.  I had been thinking about this ice cream just before she said it.

So here's the recipe.  Feel free to play around with it.  Try almond milk, coconut milk for a super rich treat or any other non-dairy milk.  And, my advice is to add the non-dairy milk a little at a time to get your desired consistency.


Recipe:
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2739