I got a great book for Christmas that is all about green smoothies (Green Smoothie Revolution: The Radical Leap Toward Natural Health) and have been on a smoothie kick lately.  I try to have one quart of green smoothie per day and I also make sure to rotate my greens for maximum nutritional benefit.  For example, if one week is kale week, the next week is chard week (or spinach or collard greens).  Any kind of dark leafy green is perfect for smoothie making.  When combined with yummy, sweet fruits, the “green” taste of the vegetable can’t be tasted at all.  Really, give it a try!

When making smoothies, I like to add in a couple superfoods.  To expand my knowledge, I decided to read Superfoods: The Food and Medicine of the Future by David Wolfe.  His book is very informative, but also easy to read and it contains several recipes for each superfood.  I highly recommend it and it’s only $10 on Amazon (or check your library to see if they have it).  For this post, I will focus on the superfoods that I use most (there are 10 outlined in the book).  If you want more information on superfoods, I guess you’ll just have to read the book.  Here are a couple of videos I was able to find where he is discussing superfoods and how awesome they are (I couldn’t find Part 3):

Part I

Part II

Superfoods are something that you should try to eat a little of every day (thus adding them to a daily smoothie is a great way to make sure that you do).

Goji Berries

Goji berries look like fiery red raisins.  To me, they taste sort of like a dried apricot, but are much smaller.  Goji berries can be eaten straight up, but I prefer to add a handful to my smoothies.  My blender is not fancy and it is able to blend them just fine.  When buying goji berries, or any superfood for that matter, go for the organic and Raw option.  They are superior in quality and nutrition.  Goji berries are a complete protein source, containing 19 different amino acids and all 8 essential amino acids.  They typically contain 2-4 times the amount of antioxidants found in blueberries.  Goji berries also boost the immune system, support adrenal glands, improve eyesight and deliver anti-aging compounds.

Cacao (Raw Chocolate)

When you hear about the antioxidant properties of chocolate, this is what they’re talking about!  Not Hershey or Ghirardelli or some other chocolate that has been roasted and combined with tons of sugar and sometimes dairy.  Just so we’re clear that processed chocolate really has no nutritional benefit.

Raw chocolate, cacao, on the other hand does!  It contains the highest concentrations of antioxidants of any food in the world.  It’s also high in minerals and contains Omega-6 fatty acids.  Be sure to buy cacao that is Fair Trade or that is labeled as not being harvested by slave labor.  Nibble on a handful, or add some to a smoothie.

Hemp Seeds

I add at least 2 TB to a quart of smoothie.  Sometimes I add a little more if I’m planning to share the smoothie with someone else.  Hempseeds are one of the best sources of plant protein and fat.  They contain significant amounts of Omega 3 (ALA) and Omega 6 fatty acids, as well as a variety of vitamins and minerals.  If you’re currently using flax seeds in your smoothies, I suggest switching to hemp; likewise if you are using flax oil.

Coconuts

Most pe0ple avoid coconut products because they are high in saturated fat.  Yes, they are, but their kind of saturated fat is good for you.  Unlike saturated fat from animals, coconuts are comprised primarily of medium chain fatty acids which help to protect against heart disease.  Medium-chain fatty acids=good.  Saturated fats from animals=very, very bad.  According to the American Heart Association, saturated fat is the main dietary cause of high blood cholesterol.

Interestingly, coconut water is nearly identical to blood plasma. During World War II, it was used as a substitute for intravenous plasma.

In smoothie making, you can crack open a young coconut (pictured above; the ones you can purchase at the store generally shaved down like the white one on the bottom right) and add the water to your smoothie.  You can also add the flesh, if you want.  Blending the flesh together with the water to produce a “milk” would be tasty and would produce a creamier smoothie.  Please note that I am not referring to any kind of canned or otherwise preserved and pasteurized coconut product.  Something that is processed and canned does not have the same nutritional benefits of fresh, living foods.  The brown mature coconuts are good too, but the flesh is tougher and not as digestible.  The many benefits of coconuts are listed here.

And here is an easy way to open coconuts:

The most interesting part of this book, for me, is that several of these superfoods support and help restore thyroid function.  I have been on thyroid medication for almost half of my life to treat my hypothyroidism.  (Interesting tidbit:  fluoride is thought to impair thyroid function, which is why I really want a water filter that removes fluoride from my drinking water.)  I have thought many times of trying to get off of the medication (seriously, who wants to take medication for something that can be fixed through a natural means… okay, nearly all Americans do, but that’s not the point).  For the remainder of 2010, I’m going to thoroughly research this topic and talk to my doctor about it.  I may even seek the advice of a naturopathic doctor.  Then next year, if I feel that I can successfully do it and if my doctor is behind me, I’m going to attempt to come off my medication.  I do not recommend this for everyone and I’m not a doctor or nutritionist, but I do firmly believe that most medical conditions can be improved or cured through a plant-based diet.  If you are tired of taking medications for all that ails you, start researching.  I was thinking the other day that I don’t know anyone in my parents generation or older who is not medicated for something.  When Emma is my age, I hope that my husband and I are two people she knows who don’t need medication for everything under the sun.  I guess that would be another blog topic for another day, though.

Here are some tips for yummy smoothies:

• If you are new to smoothie making, try using juice as a base (or half juice, half water) since it does produce a sweeter smoothie.  I only use fresh squeezed and find this to be a good tactic to getting Emma to drink the smoothie too.  When I’m making a smoothie just for me, I generally just use water.
• Add the liquid first, then add the goji berries on top of that while you are preparing or adding the other ingredients.  This gives your goji berries some time to soften up a bit, making it easier for your blender to blend them smooth.
• Use frozen fruit and/or add ice.  Cold smoothies always taste better.
• Bananas are the best fruit I’ve found to use in green smoothies.  Their sweetness masks the bitter “green” taste from the leafy greens.  If you make a smoothie and find that it is too “green” tasting or not sweet enough, add some ripe banana.

You’re going to take one look at this recipe and think I’ve lost my mind.  I thought for a minute tonight that maybe I was crazy for adding beet greens to fajitas… but my dinner turned out awesome, so I guess that means I’m a genius! 

The Back story:  I bought a bunch of organic golden beets today.  I always buy them with the greens attached thinking that I’ll do something great with the greens.  I think to myself, I’ll cook ‘em up, juice ‘em, something awesome.  It never happens and they always turn to something that looks and smells like seaweed before I have the chance/ambition to do something great with them.  But Not Tonight (hey, isn’t that a Depeche Mode song?).

Funky Fajitas

Since I didn’t measure anything, I will describe how I made these.

1. Thoroughly wash your beat greens.  They are usually very sandy so take an extra minute to clean them well.  If you don’t have beat greens or don’t want to use them here, use kale, chard, spinach, or other green of your choice.
2. Remove the big stems from the greens (save them for juicing, if you’re into that sort of thing).
3. Roughly chop the greens and add them to a preheated skillet that has a little oil in it (if you are using spinach, don’t do this yet– you will want to add that last since it takes no time at all to cook).  Your skillet should be fairly hot.
4. Add half an onion that has been sliced.
5. Add 2 small carrots that have been peeled and chopped.
6. Cook a few minutes using tongs to move the veggies around, like you were stir-frying.
7. Add 2 small zucchini that have been sliced or chopped.
8. Continue to stir fry.
9. Add some beans if you want.  I had leftover black and pinto so that’s what I used (maybe a cup total).
10. Add spices– I used (maybe a TB of each) chili powder and cumin; about 1 tsp dried oregano.  S&P to taste.

Yummy additions:  cooked potatoes, mushrooms (if you like them, that is… I don’t), bell peppers…

I made a chunky guacamole to top them with and it was delicious!  Confession:  I also used the chunky guac as dressing for our side salad.

On the side, I sauteed up some plantains.  They were good, but super sweet.  I had bought them last week with the intention of using them in a recipe that I never got around to making.  Soooo… after sitting in the hot kitchen for a week, they are getting nice and black.  Anyway, I think I may try making plantain pancakes, waffles or muffins one day this week since they’re now too sweet for eating straight up, IMO.

Any ideas for using up 2 large plantains that are now at the very sweet, almost rotten stage? 

If you’ve got a small army to feed (or if you just want to have leftovers for the next week), then do I have a recipe for you!  I originally set out to make enchiladas, but when my dry tortillas started falling apart and when my bowl of filling started overflowing, I decided to throw it all into the baking dish and call it a day.  And, it worked out really well.  This dish has actually been better as leftovers, so I would recommend baking it in advance (if you can) and then reheating it when you’re ready to serve it– like make it on a weekend when you have extra time to serve at some point during the week.  If you don’t have time to make it ahead, no worries!  It’s delicious any way you want to eat it.

Feel free to mix up the veggies here.  I would think that mushrooms would be a nice addition, but I don’t particularly like them and don’t use them often.  Eggplant may also be interesting.

Enchilada Lasagna

(serves an army of hungry vegans)

1 onion, chopped

1 tsp cumin

1 TB chili powder

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp seasoned salt (or regular salt)

1/4 tsp pepper

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1 generous handful of baby spinach

1 cup broccoli florets

1 cup cauliflower florets

1 zucchini, chopped

3 small potatoes, boiled and cubed (they’ll need to be mostly cooked)

1 cup pinto beans

1 cup black beans

1 package corn tortillas

2 cups enchilada sauce

2 cups marinara sauce

1 small can black olives

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Spray a 9 x 13 baking dish or cake pan with non-stick spray.  Line the bottom of the pan with one layer of corn tortillas and set aside.

Saute the onion in a little bit of oil and add all of the spices (everything through the pepper).  Cook until onion is tender then add to a mixing bowl with all of the other veggies and the beans.  Mix well and pour on top of the tortillas in the pan.  Add another single layer of tortillas (you’ll probably need 12 or so total).  Mix together the enchilada and marinara sauces and pour over the top.  Top with olives and bake (uncovered) for 45 minutes to an hour.

We had ours topped with some guacamole and some avocado slices.  Have I mentioned how good this is?  You should make some tonight!

Finally!  A post about food I made, not about eating out!  Sorry for my absence lately.  I’ve been super busy with getting my bakery up and running, fulfilling orders that have come in, and life in general.  I have to admit that I sort of enjoyed the break from blogging– it’s nice to just eat a meal without first taking a bunch of photos.  Anyway, I’m back but still a little overwhelmed, so I can’t guarantee how often I’ll be blogging about yummy vegan food.

I cooked last night for the first time in a while.  Cooked as in something a little more complicated than pasta with sauce from a jar.  I was really craving burritos and I had some potatoes that needed cooking, so I thought I’d make a spicy potato to put in the burrito.  I’m sorry to say that I didn’t actually measure anything that I put in, but I can sort of estimate and describe how I made them.  They were really good– in fact, I’m eating some right now for breakfast!

Start off by first washing and chopping your potatoes.  I used about 2 pounds of red and baby yukon golds.  Put into a pot of cold water and bring to a boil, semi-covered.  Cook until fork tender.  Meanwhile, sautee half of a small onion in some olive oil.  When potatoes have finished cooking, drain them and add them to the sauteed onion.  Here’s where you’ll have to figure things out for yourself… I spiced them up with cumin (about a tsp), chili powder (about a TB), dried oregano (about 1/2 tsp) and S&P (to taste).  While these were spicy, they were not hot.  If you want more heat, add some cayenne.  My hubby doesn’t like things as spicy as I do, so I had to go easy with the heat.

And here they are in my burrito with refried black beans, vegan sour cream, lettuce, tomato, black olives and hot sauce.  These came together really quickly (probably less than 30 minutes total kitchen time) and were really tasty and filling.

Last night, I suddenly realized that it was dinner time and I needed to whip something up quick.  The fridge was running on empty and I still had half of the 6-pound zucchini to use.  Pretty much the only dinner item in the fridge was some tofu, which made me think of VeganDad’s Memphis BBQ Tofu.  And if I was going to go to the trouble of grilling the tofu, why not grill the zucchini too?!  Oh, and speaking of VeganDad, he’s hosting a “guess the gadget” giveaway which runs until July 6.  You could win a copy of his cookbook.

Back to the food…  The tofu was freakin’ awesome!  Like seriously, seriously good.  Even a non-tofu lover would like this stuff.  I used super firm tofu, put on the dry rub, then grilled it on my indoor grill.  After it was grilled on both sides, I coated it very generously with BBQ sauce (Bull’s Eye brand… sorry, but I love it and am too lazy to make my own  from scratch), then put it in a baking dish in a 300 degree oven while I grilled the zucchini.  I had the leftovers on top of a salad for dinner tonight and it was unbelievably good!

The zucchini was a different story… the thing was just too big to be worth eating as a zucchini should be eaten.  The seeds were huge– like the size of pumpkin seeds– and the flesh was super fibrous and tough.  These big guys are best for baking, but I still ate it to set a good example.

Start to finish, this meal probably only took 15 minutes to throw together.  If I had had a larger grill, it would have taken half that.  And did I mention that the tofu was awesome?!! 

This weekend was pretty fun…  we headed to Sacramento for a family reunion (my mom’s side) and I was in charge of dessert!  Not knowing how many people would actually show up, I made a batch of strawberry cupcakes with strawberry buttercream, chocolate cupcakes with cookies & cream buttercream, and (from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World) tiramisu cupcakes.  As you may expect, there were way more cupcakes than necessary, but it allowed people to have seconds and take some home!

The tiramisu cupcakes are a vanilla cake (I used my own recipe, not the one in the book because– in my opinion– the cake recipes in the book all turn out really weird) topped with cream cheese frosting.  Before putting on the frosting, you scoop out a little well in the center of the cake and generously fill it with Kahlua and coffee.  Delicious!  I think this is my new favorite.  It would also make a really delicious layered cake.

Everyone enjoyed all three, but I think the kids (well, teenagers) really liked the chocolate with cookies & cream.  I’ve made it before, but this time I used my food processor to get the cookie chunks much smaller.  I liked that better.

Last, but not least, we have my mom’s favorite, the strawberry.  I’m really anxious to try the strawberry recipe with peaches.  Doesn’t that sound heavenly and so summery?  Peach cupcakes!  Yum!!

My dad has a garden and this year he’s planted more than just tomatoes. His tomatoes are awesome, btw. Check out these zucchini that he said “got away from him.”

The photo doesn’t really do them justice.  The larger one is about 18″ long and 15″ around. It weighs 6 pounds. That’s not much smaller than Emma when she was born. The smaller one is 15″ long, 11.5″ around and 4 pounds. I predict lots of zucchini bread and some chocolate zucchini muffins in our future.

Now for the best part. There is this billboard near our house that I see all the time. Since I’m the one driving and I almost never have my camera handy, I can never get a picture of it. Well, as we were crossing the Bay Bridge yesterday (Matt was driving), I saw the exact same one and was able to get a pic.

In case you can’t read it, it says “Be Veg!  Go Green!  Save the Planet!”  The ad is sponsored by the people that run this website.  While the website is a little strange, it does have some very interesting information on it:

• According to the UNreport “Livestock’s Long Shadow,” livestock production is the greatest contributor to global warming.
• Animal waste and feed cropland dump more pollutants into our waterways than all other human activities combined.
• Meat-based diets require 10-20 times as much land as plant-based diets – nearly half of the world’s grains & soybeans are fed to animals.

I can think of NO good reasons to eat meat, when you take into account how horribly the animals are treated, how it contributes to climate change, and it’s effects on your health.  Seriously, I’m the weirdo at a restaurant who has to pick apart a menu item to make it suitable for me, when in reality, you are the weirdo for suppoting this.  Anyway, I was really surprised that someone would pay for such an ad (happy about it, but still surprised).  I do hope there are ads elsewhere other than the Bay Area where vegetarianism is really pretty common.

I’ve made these several times and every time I make them, I can’t help but wonder why I don’t make them more often.  I mean, the last time we had these was at Christmas.  The recipe is from ED&BV and I topped them with the cranberry sauce also from that book. The filling is a mixture of white beans, walnuts, spinach, basil and roasted red peppers all wrapped up in crispy filo dough. And the cranberry sauce is just cranberries (fresh or frozen) and maple syrup. I add a little bit of arrowroot because I like it a little thicker.  So good, relatively easy to make, and so filling.  These are great for pretty much any meal too– brunch, lunch or dinner.   The best part is that the filling can be made ahead of time and kept in the fridge (no need to worry about the spinach and basil turning brown).

It’s been a long time since I’ve made stuffed peppers.  I usually make some sort of a rice mixture to stuff them with, but decided to change it up by using some orzo pasta instead.  These turned out pretty good!

Orzo Stuffed Peppers

(click here for a printer-friendly version)

1/4 cup orzo (dry)

2 large shallots, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 TB olive oil

1/4 cup roasted red peppers, chopped

1/4 cup artichoke hearts, chopped

1/4 cup olives, chopped (kalamata and green)

2 TB toasted pine nuts

1 TB basil, chopped

Juice and zest from one small lemon

2 bell peppers, any color

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Half and clean bell peppers, then place in a baking dish and bake in the oven while you prepare the stuffing.

In a small pot, cook the orzo in boiling water per package directions.  Meanwhile in a small skillet, sauté the shallot and garlic in the olive oil until softened.  Remove from heat and mix in the roasted red peppers, artichoke hearts, olives, pine nuts, basil and lemon juice and zest.  When orzo is fully cooked, mix that in as well.  Taste and season with S&P.  Stuff the mixture into the bell pepper halves, and then return them to the oven to finish cooking, about 10 minutes.

I’ve been trying hard lately to eat more Raw dishes; salads obviously being the easiest way to accomplish this goal.  I get tired of the same salads with the same dressing.  In fact, I find myself getting tired of salads altogether if I eat them every day.  So, I try to change it up a bit and give each it’s own uniqueness.

A few days ago, I tried this Fennel Orange Kale Salad from Kristen’s Raw.  In place of the hemp oil, I used cold-pressed organic flax oil.  I also didn’t have any kalamata olives, which was SOOOO depressing because I bet they’re awesome in this salad, so I used some cherry tomatoes.  My salad base was a mix of romaine lettuce and chopped kale.  Raw kale in a salad is a bit much for me, so I had to mix it up a bit with some crunchy lettuce.

Yesterday for lunch, I whipped up this salad using romaine lettuce, fennel, raw beets and cherry tomatoes.  I made this Sweet Dijon Dressing to go over it and it was AWESOME!  I found it to be a little thick, so I thinned it out just a tad with a TB or 2 of water.  This dressing is seriously good.  I think I’ll even try a ranch style version using the raw zucchini as a base and incorporating some of the herbs found in ranch dressing.

Today’s lunch was the same salad from yesterday, except I used a box grater to grate some carrot, beets and fennel.  Once I put the dressing on, I squeezed some fresh lemon juice over the top, which really made it super delicious.  I’ll have to remember to do that from now on.  Today, I had my salad with a banana and some coconut water.  Fresh coconut water is so delicious.  If you’ve never tried it, you’re seriously missing out.  I put mine in the fridge right when I bring them home from the store so that the water is nice and cold when I am in the mood for having some.  And, I’ve found that Asian markets have the best prices on coconuts, about 20 cents cheaper than my Whole Foods.  Be sure to buy the young coconuts (they have white all the way around).  The brown ones are older and don’t have the water inside.  Intimated about opening up a fresh coconut?  Here’s a video to help you:

We were invited to a Valentine’s Day art playgroup yesterday and I decided to take along some of Happy Herbivore’s chocolate zucchini muffins.  My love affair with kale was taken to a whole other level with these muffins.  I’ve been plotting for some time to sneak some into a baked good of some sort and I’ve finally done it successfully!  I did make a few changes to the original recipe:

1. I doubled the recipe.
2. I used half whole wheat pastry flour and half all-purpose flour.
3. I used 3 bananas instead of 2.
4. I used 3/4 cup of applesauce and 1/4 cup canola oil.
5. I grated the zucchini, then pulsed it in my food processor with 3 small kale leaves which had been finely chopped.
6. I added 1/2 – 3/4 cup vegan chocolate chips.

When I first made these, Emma didn’t care too much for them and I think it was due to the texture.  Being fat free and made with whole wheat pastry flour does give the muffins a slightly grainy texture, which is why I opted to use half a-p flour and add in a bit of fat.  The result was great– Emma ate 5 (minis) the day I made them.  All of the kids at the party loved them, so did the parents.  Success!

Another thing that probably made these go over so well with Emma is the addition of the frosting on top.  I made a very basic buttercream (Earth Balance and powdered sugar) then added in a puree of strawberries, beets and 2 TB strawberry jam.  It didn’t taste overly stawberry-y or beet-y; it just had a nice pink tint without using FD&C Red #1 or some other probably carcinogenic chemical food dye.