Showing posts with label Gluten-free. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gluten-free. Show all posts

Tuesday, September 24, 2013

My Favorite Cooked Veggie: Roasted Cauliflower

I love raw veggies, but I also love having cooked veggies and my favorite is this roasted cauliflower. It's easy to make and super delicious!

Roasted Cauliflower 

Ingredients:

  • 1 head cauliflower, cut into florets 
  • 1/2 yellow or white onion, diced
  • 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 3 tbsp vinegar (I used red wine)
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Cut and prepare all veggies and mince garlic. Mix veggies with vinegar and add salt and pepper to taste. 


2. Roast in oven at 400 degrees until soft and starts to get crispy about 30-40 minutes. 


3. Serve and enjoy! 

My favorite way to enjoy this is with tahini sauce, although it tastes great by itself as well! 


Happy Tuesday! I hope you eat some great veggies today!

Thursday, September 19, 2013

A Review: Chipotle Sofritas

Yesterday I had the chance to try out Chipotle Mexican Grill's new vegan addition, Sofritas!! I first heard about this new, tofu based option when it was reviewed on Our Hen House and I was excited to try it! 

I first of course had to figure out exactly what it was made of and if it had any corn or gluten ingredients. While the ingredients for this option are not listed on the online menu, when I emailed asking about the ingredients they happily provided them to me.

Sofritas are described as "shredded organic tofu braised with chipotle chilis, roasted poblanos and a blend of aromatic spices" which actually pretty accurately describes the ingredients!

Here is the ingredient list I was provided:

Organic Tofu
Rice Bran Oil (for frying)
Sofrito:
Onions
Green pepper
Adobo*
Tomato paste
Poblano peppers
Red wine vinegar
Water
Kosher salt
Minced garlic
Ground toasted cumin
Dried oregano
Roasted Tomatoes

* Chipotle’s Adobo contains:
Black Pepper
Chipotle Chile (Dry Ground)
Cumin
Garlic
Oregano
Rice Bran Oil
Water

I tried the new Sofritas as a bowl with brown rice, black beans, fresh tomato salsa, guacamole, and lettuce and I thought it was great!



The Sofritas were relatively spicy so I was glad to have the guacamole to balance it out. It had a texture really reminiscent of a few soy chorizo crumbles I have had before, so very similar to ground beef or turkey (except totally animal free!).

I was also extremely happy that I did not have any adverse reactions after my meal, meaning all the ingredient lists I had been provided with were most likely accurate and certainly corn-free! So, not only did I have an easy and delicious meal but it was one free of allergic reactions. Sounds like a win to me!

I'm really happy to know there's a quick and tasty meal that I can enjoy at a really common restaurant chain, I'm sure I'll be eating more burrito bowls with Sofritas in the future!

Currently I think Sofritas are only available at West Coast Chipotle locations, however they will hopefully be everywhere soon!

Have you tried the new Sofritas yet? If so what did you think?

Tuesday, September 17, 2013

What I ate Wednesday #2

Hello! I am back again with another What I ate Wednesday post, the first of which I published last Wednesday!

Today, I'm sharing with you what I ate yesterday, I hope you enjoy!

After getting up I wasn't feeling the need for a full breakfast right away so I instead enjoyed an apple and a cup of decaf green tea.





















I later used some more of this green tea in my breakfast to make a green tea mango berry smoothie!





For lunch I had a large salad with a spicy mustard dressing along with a Cheezy Twice Baked Potato.

Yummy yummy!

Later in the afternoon I enjoyed a snack of Beanfields sea salt chips and WayFare's Hickory Cheddar Spread, my favorite vegan snack food!



I also had some delicious kombucha. I tried the cranberry flavor, a new one to me, and really enjoyed it!

For dinner I was feeling like doing some more snacking and more chips and cheddar spread sounded like the perfect thing! I forgot to snap a picture (although you already have a visual from above) but did get some of the roasted cauliflower I enjoyed afterwards! 



I enjoyed my cauliflower with some tahini sauce, one of my new favorite veggie dishes! 

Throughout the day I also enjoyed many cups of tea, my go to beverage when I'm wanting something a bit more interesting than water!

Well there you have it, my day's worth of food! I hope you all eat some tasty meals this Wednesday!

Cheezy Twice Baked Potato

The first night of my trip, my roommates' mom made me a delicious twice baked potato which inspired me to take my own crack at it!

Here's my version of a twice baked potato, cheezy style!

Cheezy Twice Baked Potato

Ingredients:

  • Russet potato
  • 1/4 cup non-dairy milk (I used soy)
  • 1/4-1/2 cup chopped yellow/white onion
  • 2 TBSP nutritional yeast
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions: 

1. Bake potato until fork tender. (I usually bake mine in the microwave by poking fork holes and heating for 8-10 minutes)
2. Cut baked potato in half and scoop out insides into a bowl, making sure to save the skins in their original shape. 
3. Mix potato insides with non-dairy milk, onion, and nutritional yeast, adding salt and pepper until you get your desired taste. (You definitely want to add the salt and pepper, I'm sure other seasonings would be great too)


4. Bake in oven at 400 degrees until nice and hot, about 10-15 minutes. (I baked mine wrapped in tin foil)


5. Enjoy!


Yummy yummy! I can already tell I'll be making this a lot in the coming months! 

Happy Tuesday!


Wednesday, September 11, 2013

A Glimpse at My Food!

Today I thought I would participate in "What I ate Wednesday" where bloggers post what they ate throughout the day (or the preceding day). I got this idea when I read a post this morning by Carrie at Carrie on Vegan. So here we go!

This morning I started out with some Teeccino and a mango berry smoothie!


This is the Mocha variety, apparently when you brew the regular, barley containing variety of Teeccino, it is actually gluten-free. Awesome!


Here in Seattle, our Septembers are normally when we have the hottest weather and this September is no exception! Today temperatures reached over 90 degrees (I believe 93) and so when the heat drove me out of my third floor apartment, I enjoyed lunch outside! 


For my impromptu picnic today I enjoyed a baked potato and a nice salad! Delicious!


A baked potato with organic ketchup, Dijon mustard, green onions, and Himalayan pink salt.


Today my salad featured romaine, spinach, green cabbage, broccoli slaw, cucumber slices, and white beans topped with flax oil and a tahini-nutritional yeast dressing. 

Before having lunch I also visited my University's bookstore and lo and behold found that they carry bags and wallets by Big Buddha! Earlier this week I just got my first Big Buddha bag and so I thought I would get a wallet to match! I'm just so pleased!

Adorable!!!

I had a great afternoon hanging out outside with my picnic and new Big Budda bag and wallet and also had a chance to debut my new Our Hen House tote bag!


Onto dinner! I currently have the Forks Over Knives Cookbook out from the library so today I tried the recipe for Penne with Tomato "Alfredo" Sauce and it was pretty good! I added some kale for a little leafy green kick and had a great dinner! 

I love me some pasta!

I may also enjoy some form of dessert later this evening, perhaps some tea and fruit, but I wanted to get this published before it got way too late!

Well, with that I have a pile of dishes to do! I enjoyed documenting my food and think I may continue participating in "What I ate Wednesday!"

Happy Wednesday!

Monday, September 9, 2013

My Favorite Blogs Part One: Oh She Glows

Happy Monday!

This may or may not be clear from the recipes I have shared thus far for VeganMofo, but I am not a chef or recipe creator. In fact, the recipes I have been sharing this past week I can easily say are the first recipes I have really "created." I certainly cook all the time, and like to create new food concoctions for myself, but as I learned last week, recipe creation is something entirely different!

Most of my cooking is taken either directly from some of my favorite blogs, or is at least inspired by some of these blogs. As such, I thought one thing I would do this month is share some of these blogs and my favorite things I have made and learned from them!

Oh She Glows

This was the very first blog that I really started to follow. I found Angela Liddon at Oh She Glows even before I went vegan and I can honestly say, she is one of the reasons why I was able to go vegan so easily. Even before I cut all animal products out of my diet, I knew that there was amazing, delicious, and easy to make vegan food and that being vegan was in no way about deprivation.

This is also the blog where I send my non-vegan friends and family if they are interested in making a vegan dish. I can really honestly say that I personally have never made something I haven't liked from her and everything I have made for, or with, non-vegans has been well received!

Here are just a few of my favorite recipes by her!

(Please note all of the pictures I share here are from Oh She Glows and are not taken by me. You can right click each image to reach its source)

Homemade Almond Milk:

I very much enjoy store-bought almond milk, but it really just doesn't compare to its homemade counterpart. Unfortunately for me, when I make homemade almond milk it is just so good that I drink it about five times faster than I would normally, and have to make it all the time! Thus, out of practicality, I make this as a treat for myself, and a very good one at that!



I have also successfully combined Angela's Almond Milk recipe with her Oat Milk recipe to make a delicious combo.

Overnight Oats:

This breakfast is amazing. As I mentioned in an earlier post, smoothies used to be my go to breakfast and I loved a smoothie in the morning (and still do) but overnight oats were what got me to switch it up! I love making overnight oats because it takes about 3 minutes once you know what you're doing, you can do it the night before, and when I'm rushing out the door grabbing my jar of oats to eat on the way to class is a life-saver!

I love this post about Angela's overnight oats, basically the possibilities are endless!


My staple normally ends up being the basic overnight oats recipe with some blueberries and granola which brings me to...

Lighten Up Summer Granola:


This is my favorite granola ever. This granola has effectively ruined all store bought granola for me! Not only it is substantially healthier than almost all store bought granola, it is just so much tastier!

Overnight oats with blueberries and topped with this granola? Sounds like a good way to start the day to me!

Super Power Chia Bread:

Moving onto lunch, I also love this bread. Needing to eat both gluten-free and corn-free provides me with limited (and often expensive) bread options and so when I can make something at home, I'm all for it!


I also love chia seeds, so having them in bread is another win for me!

Cilantro Lime Chickpea Salad:

Another lunch favorite of mine, the Cilantro Lime Chickpea Salad! I love chickpeas, love them! I also love this salad! The onions and lime (as well as all the spices) give it a great bite and I also like how easy it is to make a big of a batch of this (just double or triple the recipe) and how well it keeps in the fridge. It's a great recipe for me to make over the weekend and then eat for lunch throughout the week.


Quinoa Salads:

I have made a lot of quinoa salad recipes by Angela, but my favorite and most frequently made is probably her Red Quinoa and Black Bean Vegetable Salad, which I make without the corn kernels.


Quinoa salads are another go to for lunches for me since they are easy to make and keep really well throughout the week.

Thai Cucumber Salad:

This was one of my staples this summer. I love the crunchy-ness of the cooked chickpeas and the tartness of the dressing, and just all of it! Delicious!


Veggie Summer Rolls:


I love Thai food and I love summer rolls. So this recipe is a perfect match!

Rad Rainbow Pad Thai:

Another Thai inspired recipe, this was another salad I was constantly making this summer.


I also made this with my family and they enjoyed it as well!

Creamy Avocado Pasta:

Pasta is such a college staple and so whenever I find a way to make it a bit more interesting, I'm all for it! I am also a little obsessed with avocado, so it all sounds good to me!


Grilled Tofu with Pineapple Salsa and Coconut Rice:

This was another recipe I made with my non-vegan family and they totally loved it! Before making it I had never grilled tofu before and I was somewhat skeptical, but it turned out great!


Oil-free Chocolate Zucchini Walnut Muffins:

Let's finish off with some desserts! Although I suppose you could enjoy these for breakfast, when I've made these tasty muffins I treated them more like a dessert. I've always loved carrot cakes and zucchini breads and so I also discovered through this recipe that I love zucchini muffins!


Irresistible Chewy Trail Mix Cookies:


I talked about these cookies earlier this month but they're so good that they deserve repeating! These are definitely not something I want to have around all the time, because I know a diet of only these cookies would not be a good one, but if you are looking for a special treat, these would be awesome!

Summer Stone Fruit Crisp:

Last but not least, I love this delicious fruit crisp! This was another dish I brought to a gathering with non-vegans and it was well received! One thing I really loved about this recipe was that it wasn't overpoweringly sweet. Instead, the fruit spoke for itself and was beautifully complemented by the topping!


Well, as I'm sure you can see I love a lot of Angela's recipes! Whenever I'm wanting to make a new recipe Oh She Glows is the first place I turn to, and I have yet to be disappointed!

Angela is also coming out with a cookbook next year, which I could not be more thrilled about! Amazing recipes and stunning photography? Tell me where to send my money!

Have you made any delicious recipes from Oh She Glows?

Thursday, September 5, 2013

Time for a Coffee Break!

Alright, not really. I don't actually drink coffee. I stopped drinking coffee the same time I went vegan, just over a year ago, ending a very intense and destructive love affair.

After cutting this beverage out of my life I  have discovered that I am actually surprisingly sensitive to caffeine. As of now I can't even have a piece of chocolate too close to bedtime without being up half the night! Over the last school year I even had to cut myself off of black tea because after drinking it every morning at the same time for a couple weeks I began to develop definite withdrawal headaches along with a general feeling of shakiness and heightened anxiety. Thus, caffeine and I are not the best of friends.


However, part of the reason I became so hooked on coffee was that I loved the taste! I wouldn't only drink it because I needed my pick-me-up (although that certainly was the case) but also because I genuinely enjoyed it. So, when I saw Teeccino while visiting Food Fight last weekend, I knew I had to try it!


Teeccino is an herbal coffee that is naturally caffeine free as well as non-acidic. I had heard of this product mentioned favorably by other bloggers but had yet to try it myself and let me say, I have been missing out!

Pre soy-milk

I tried the Dandelion Caramel Nut flavor, one of the two gluten-free varieties available at Food Fight, and it was delicious! I could taste both the caramel and the nut (almond) and really enjoyed how reminiscent the drink was of coffee. It also felt a bit decadent due to the flavors and made me feel like I was really treating myself. Now of course I would be lying if I said it tasted exactly like coffee, because it isn't coffee, but that's something I am totally ok with!

Post soy-milk

I enjoyed my cup of Teeccino with a splash of soy-milk and a side of Green Tea Mint chocolate by Fearless, also purchased at Food Fight, and with a nectarine. It was a delightful snack!


Look at how cute the wrapping is!

The bite out of the chocolate represents how
much of the proceeds from the bar are donated!

I would recommend trying either of these products, which both made a great treat. I predict that Teeccino will hit the spot perfectly whenever I find myself longing for coffee! My one qualm with the Teeccino is that one box only comes with 10 bags. Only TEN?! I know I'm going to be needing more soon!

Have you tried Teeccino, either as an alternative to coffee or just as a delicious drink?

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Banana-free Breakfast Smoothie (and a Mention on Our Hen House!)

I have another vegan basic today, the smoothie!

I love smoothies. Up until six months ago I would have a giant smoothie for breakfast almost every morning, a practice I intend to get back to.

One limitation I encounter when making smoothies however, is my need to avoid bananas, which are a strong migraine trigger for me. This always seems to complicate my smoothie making as almost every recipe I see online or in a cookbook requires banana. So, I bring you the banana-free breakfast smoothie!

Banana-free Breakfast Smoothie


Makes 5-6 cups

Ingredients: 
  • 1 cup pineapple, frozen
  • 1 apple, diced
  • 1/2 cup mixed berries, frozen
  • 1/2 cup blueberries, frozen
  • 1 cup mango, frozen
  • 1 tbsp flax seed/flax seed meal
  • 2 tbsp chia seeds
  • 2 cups non-dairy milk (I used soy)
  • water to reach desired consistency 

Directions: 

1. Place all ingredients except water into your blender. 
2. Blend until smooth.* Your smoothie should be thick and creamy. 
3. Add water and blend to reach your desired consistency (i.e do you want to use a spoon or a straw to enjoy your smoothie?). I added 1/2 cup water to get a fluid but still thick smoothie. 

* If you are opposed to little chunks in your smoothies I would advise peeling the apple and perhaps omitting the flax and chia seeds. Alternatively, really blend it for a couple minutes if you want to make sure everything is the same texture. I for one enjoy getting the odd seed or sip of apple pulp, but I know that is not enjoyable for everyone!

Can you see the little apple flakes?! Yum yum! ;)

Also, feel free to play around with the fruit involved. Feeling like a bit more mango than berries? Go for it! I love making smoothies based on how I'm feeling in the moment and enjoy seeing what I come up with! I hope to share some more smoothie recipes throughout VeganMofo, so stay tuned! 

On a different note, did you see me mentioned on Our Hen House?! 

I just started helping out Our Hen House (OHH) by doing some transcribing work, which Jasmin talked about today on the OHH blog!! Another volunteer and I have worked on one interview thus far and we will continue to transcribe the interviews from upcoming episodes, as well as potentially some older ones. I am thrilled to be able to help this incredible organization and to be honest I'm still a little star stuck that I've been mentioned on OHH (is that really MY name?!?). 

Finally, check out the RandomMofo generator! I've already whiled away a good amount of time on this, and I know I will be spending a lot more time here throughout the month! 

Happy Wednesday, and do you have any favorite banana-free smoothie recipes? If so I would love to hear about them in the comments!  

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Peach Kale Salad with Cheezy Dijon Dressing

When watching JL Fields' video for Vegan MoFo today I learned that is the first ever International Day of Kale! So...happy kale day! I love kale, love it, and so I thought I would honor the day by making a new massaged kale salad! To learn more about massaging kale, check out my first post on this, which you can find here!

Today, I made a kale salad massaged with a cheezy dijon dressing and topped with peach slices, red onion, and almonds! More below!

Peach Kale Salad with Cheezy Dijon Dressing



Makes 1 serving

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups de-stemmed and washed kale, chopped
  • 1/4 cup red onion, diced
  • 1 peach, thinly sliced
  • 2 tbsp almonds, chopped or slivered
  • Cheezy Dijon dressing (recipe below)
  • Salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Massage kale with dressing.
2. Slice peaches, dice red onions, and prepare almonds. Place on salad.
3. Season with salt as desired and enjoy!



Post massage, it's so little!

Cheezy Dijon Dressing

Makes 1/4 cup

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
  • 3 tbsp white balsamic vinegar (I'm sure that regular balsamic would work as well)
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast


Directions:

1. Mix until smooth, pour over kale and massage!

All mixed up, so good!!