"crave eat heal" + giveaway

Annie Oliverio of Virtual Vegan Potluck and An Unrefined Vegan blog,  has finally published her long-awaited cookbook, Crave Eat Heal! This is one of the most anticipated cookbooks of 2015 and I am excited to be part of her blog tour. 

Crave Eat Heal (Amazon, B&N) is a bit different from other cookbooks out there in the sense that the chapters and the premise are unlike any I've yet come across. The book is based on satisfying cravings we all have from time to time and doing it using unprocessed, whole foods with no refined sugars and low oil. The book is hard cover with beautiful full-color photos and thick, sturdy pages. A gorgeous book to own!

Annie breaks the book into chapters titled: Carbs, Chocolate, Comfort, Cool, Creamy, Crunchy, Green, Junk, Salty, Spicy, Sweet, Tart and Warm. As you can imagine, recipes in Carbs would help to satisfy those pesky carb cravings with recipes such as "Cocoa-Cinnamon French Toast" or "Whole Wheat Peach Pancakes." 

Annie manages to whip up recipes that please our senses and appetite and are tasty and still healthful. You will find gluten-free, low-oil, unprocessed, raw and delicious dishes in this book! Many are easy to make, but all are outstanding.

Before I get into the recipes I've made from the book (so far), don't forget to snag the recipe at the end of the post from the Cool chapter, Butter Lettuce Wedges with Sunflower Seed Dressing, Pears, and Tempeh Bacon. 

At the end, there is also a giveaway for Crave Eat Heal, courtesy of Cedar Fort, Inc., for one US winner and a giveaway for one international winner of the e-book, Crave Eat Heal. Outtakes. The two are separate giveaways so please enter to win the physical copy only if you are a US resident. Contest ends June 1. 

As anyone who knows me, knows that I love gyros with a passion. I love the savory protein and the creamy, tangy tzaziki sauce. When I saw Annie's version of gyro, I had to try it. And it was delicious! You can find the Tofu Gyro with Tzaziki in the Salty chapter, on page 234.

When I was craving something fresh and crunchy, I picked up Annie's book and stumbled on Chopped Vegetable Salad with Ginger-Tahini Dressing. And I was very pleasantly delighted by this easy recipe. And Annie is right: marinating the vegetables for a bit allows them to absorb the dressing even more. Find this recipe in the Crunchy chapter, page 172.

I love the Junk chapter! It's almost cheating calling it junk, though, as the recipes are still so healthful! Nevertheless, you can find recipes such as Butternut Squash Queso, Coconut-Lime Mini Doughnuts with Coconut-Lime Glaze, or this Iced Maple Latte Shake, page 210. Malty, iced coffee shake: yum!

Now for a freebie recipe from Crave Eat Heal from the Cool chapter: The recipe and photo below are by Annie Oliverio and they are courtesy of Cedar Fort, Inc, Front Table Books. Make sure to catch, or catch-up on, the rest of the blog tour HERE. And if you, like me, love Annie's recipes, subscribe to her blog HERE. Annie is also on Pinterest HERE. You can add Annie to your circle on Google+ HERE.

This take on a classic salad reminds me of many family dinners eaten out at The Brown Derby: a big, crunchy wedge of lettuce topped with a creamy dressing and sprinkled with salty bacon. My version subs tempeh for bacon and adds a little sweetness with fresh pears.

Gluten-free, Raw Option, Oil-free, Quick, Easy

BUTTER LETTUCE WEDGES WITH SUNFLOWER SEED DRESSING, PEARS & TEMPEH BACON

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS

Dressing

1/2 cup raw sunflower seeds

1/2 cup non-dairy milk

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 clove garlic

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

1/4 tsp. ground black pepper

Pinch sea salt

1 tsp. dried chives, or 1 Tbsp. fresh chives, chopped

1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped

Salad

2 large heads butter lettuce, cut into quarters

2 ripe pears, cored and thinly sliced

Tempeh bacon, crumbled or chopped (exclude if going for 100% raw)

DIRECTIONS

Add the sunflower seeds through the salt in a high-speed or regular blender and process until very smooth.  Add the chives and parsley and pulse a few times to incorporate.  Set aside.

Place two butter lettuce wedges each in four bowls.  Divide the pear slices, the tempeh bacon and the dressing between the bowls.  Serve.

Total Time: 15 minutes

Suggestions:

If the dressing is too thick, add water, a little bit at at time, to get the consistency you like.

Recipe reprinted with permission from Ann Oliverio and Front Table Books.

If you haven't entered to win "The Good Karma Diet," get to it HERE. Contest ends May 18 at midnight!

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farmer's market salad with eggplant vinaigrette

As many people are want to do weekly, we headed to the Farmer's Market on Sunday. It is amazing how Farmer's Markets have changed over the past few decades - completely aside from the fact that there are so many more than there used to be.

They have grown not only in numbers but in scope as well. I remember them being small events consisting of produce vendors, the occasional jewelry stand and a few scout groups selling their ware. Nowadays, it is full of organic produce, music, flowers, artisan foods of jams, cookies, tamales, baskets, pottery - you name it, chances are, whether it be food related or not, you'll find them at your nearest market. Here is a great site for locating a Farmer's Market: Local Harvest.

I could do without the animal body parts, which are also quite common these days, but overall, I'm very happy with how far things have come and am looking forward to seeing more support for the markets and, hence, even more progress.

In addition to going to the market for fresh produce, I also go for inspiration. You'll never know what special herb, or common one for that matter, will be the trigger for your next dish. For me, it was grape tomatoes and garlic chives.

Since I also subscribe to our local CSA box, I had an eggplant hanging around that needed to be cooked. That's when things really took off.

I cooked the whole eggplant in a skillet until tender - reminiscent of Baba Ghanoush, where the eggplant is roasted whole, thereby imparting a smoky flavor. I chopped the cauliflower into pieces about the size of rice and sauteed it with garlic, I sauteed the green beans and tomatoes with lemon juice and, finally, I made the eggplant into a vinaigrette.

Sounds like a mouthful, but everything balanced out beautifully and it was a perfect, post-Farmer's Market meal. As a bonus, the remaining vinaigrette (which only contains a few tablespoons of oil) serves as a wonderful dip for raw veggies.

The best thing about this salad was that most of the ingredients went from ground to plate in twenty-four hours - almost as good as having my very own garden in the backyard.

FARMER'S MARKET SALAD PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

Farmer's Market Salad with Eggplant Vinaigrette

Serves 4

1 tablespoon neutral oil, divided

1 medium eggplant, about 1 pound

1 medium cauliflower, coarsely chopped

5 garlic cloves, halved, plus 2 teaspoons minced, divided

Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper

8 ounces green beans, trimmed

1 cup grape tomatoes

1 teaspoon plus 2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, divided

¼ cup vegetable broth

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon tahini

2 teaspoons chipotle in adobo

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

6 cups fresh spinach

1. Coat the eggplant with the oil. Heat a skillet over medium heat. Add the whole eggplant and cover the skillet with a stainless steel bowl. This will create smoke; use a kitchen fan to keep the air clean. Turn the eggplant a quarter turn when the bottom is charred. Turn as needed until the eggplant is tender. Cool the eggplant and peel. Set aside.

2. Pulse the cauliflower in a food processor until the size of grains of rice. Heat 1 teaspoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the cauliflower, the halved garlic cloves, season with salt and black pepper, and stir and cook until golden, about 7 minutes. Set aside.

3. Toss the green beans, tomatoes, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1 teaspoon oil, minced garlic and season with salt and black pepper. Heat a grill pan or skillet over medium heat and cook the green beans until charred and crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Set aside. Add the tomatoes to the grill pan and cook only until lightly charred, about 1 minutes. Set aside.

4. Add the peeled eggplant, vegetable broth, olive oil, tahini, chipotle, 2 tablespoons lemon juice, and any garlic you can pick out of the cauliflower saute to a personal blender. Blend until smooth. Season with salt and black pepper and stir in the chives.

5. Toss the spinach with about ¼ cup  of the vinaigrette and serve with the cauliflower, green beans and tomatoes.

© Copyright 2014. All rights reserved.

I am linking to these recipe parties: Healthy Vegan Fridays, What I Ate Wednesday and Virtual Vegan Linky Potluck. 

 

     

blt salad with quick croutons

(Vegan) bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches are a staple in our home. In fact, it never fails: while making the weekly menu and calling out for requests, someone will unfailingly offer BLT as an option. Making vegan bacon at home is a snap (and the recipe in my upcoming cookbook, Everyday Vegan Eats, is a great one), but unlike the rest of my family, I like new and varied things to eat.

To satisfy the BLT-lovers at home and my need for variety, I came up with a BLT Salad. In this dish the “B” stands for Beans. Before I lose your interest, the beans are prepared in much the same way that vegan bacon is prepared, with smoke, salt and sass. Since I chose to use beans instead of vegan bacon, and while the smoke and salt was satisfying as far as flavor goes, replacing the crunch that a crispy vegan bacon offers, was in order.

And that crunch is contributed by croutons. Not only are croutons made from bread (replacing the sandwich component), but since they are sautéed, they are ready quickly and offer the much needed crunch.

The rest was easy: tomato, lettuce and a quick mayo-based dressing.

Let me end this post by saying that the perfect BLT bite of this salad contains lettuce, tomato, crouton and smoky beans. Just like a wonderful BLT.

I couldn't resist posting another picture from my upcoming cookbook Everyday Vegan Eats.

This is one of my all-time favorite meals: Pasta Primavera with Alfredo Sauce. Creamy sauce tossed with spring and summer veggies and pasta. I've loved this dish since the first time my brother made it for me when he was executive chef at a quaint restaurant in southern Florida. That wasn't vegan, but this one is, and still just as delectable.

I’ve decided to submit this dish to What I Ate Wednesday hosted by Peas and Crayons since, well, it will be Wednesday soon enough!

greek chopped salad + pickled onions and creamy dressing

GREEK CHOPPED SALAD PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

Creamy Greek Dressing Recipe

The beauty of a chopped salad is that you get to have everything that is in the salad in every single bite. And the joy of a chopped salad is that you personally prepare every single of those bites as you dice all of the ingredients. 

A bowl of love. 

The roasted pepper here is freshly roasted. I love the aroma the house assumes as a fresh pepper is being charred. And really, it is so easy. This recipe calls for a roasted red pepper. You can use jarred, but the time it takes from stove-top burner to bowl is just enough time to cook the pepper yourself.

 Roast the pepper on your burner, turning it a few times until it is charred, throw it into a bowl, cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and allow it to steam for 15 minutes. Remove wrap, place pepper on wrap and, using your hands, peel and seed. Place pepper in the now empty bowl. Head to the sink to wash your hands (not the pepper!), return to the plastic wrap, fold it over a few times and toss. Chop pepper.

 See how simple? 

That gorgeous pink-ish red onion on top of the salad is quickly pickled, thereby removing the "bite" of a raw onion, and is ready by the time your salad and pepper is also done, around 30 minutes.

The dressing here is a cross between creamy-style and a vinaigrette --- really the best of both kinds of dressings.

The "feta" is homemade. It is turning out better and better each time I make it, so look for the recipe real soon. Incidentally, it is raw, using the same technique that rejuvelac-inspired raw cheeses are based on, so just use one of those raw cheeses (or any creamy cheese - diced Daiya Wedges would be great!) as your feta replacement.

The salad is packed with protein, including beans and kale, in addition to cucumbers, olives, tomatoes, romaine and carrots.

We loved this salad!

Cost Breakdown

lettuce, kale: $3

cuke, tomato, onion, carrot: $3

dressing: $1

beans: $2

olives: $.50

Total to make 6 servings:

$9.50

applebee's make over

Applebee's is another of those casual-dining chain restaurants. Very much like Chili's, T.G.I.F and The Cheesecake Factory. Applebee's was among my first make overs in my first year of MoFo. That time I recreated their Oriental Chicken Salad and Ribs. This time around I took up the challenge of Grilled Shrimp 'n Spinach Salad. This salad tosses shrimp, peppers, onions and spinach in a hot bacon vinaigrette. 

Bacon and shrimp are the problem children here. I could have replaced the shrimp with tofu or seitan (more cost effective), but I decided on hearts of palm. I marinated the palm with a little dulse, a seaweed, and used Bac'uns for the bacon. Typically tvp doesn't stand up to cooking in liquid because it looses the crunch, but because this was a hot dressing, I cooked the Bac'uns in the oil before adding the vinegar. This worked out perfectly.

After the hearts of palm marinated, I sauteed them to a golden brown.

Disclaimer. The result was not shrimp. But it was delicious. The palm was a bit vinegary because it is pickled and the dressing was smoky and the bac'un in it crispy. The almonds add another crunch to the dish and the veggies are just right. Nothing is overwhelming and there is a hint of the taste of the sea. 

Applebee's charges $10.99 for a serving.

Cost Breakdown

spinach: $3
hearts of palm: $8
tomato, pepper, onion: $3
almonds, dulse: $1
spices, oil, vinegar, Bac'uns: $2
mustard, smoke, sugar: $1
Total for 4 servings:
$18.00

Their charge per Serving: $10.99

Make-Over cost per Serving: $4.50

GRILLED HEARTS OF PALM AND SPINACH SALAD PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE

chili's (MoFo 23)

Chili's was started in Dallas in 1975 as basically a hamburger place. It was bought by Norman Brinker in 1983, by which time it had expanded to thirty stores. After Norman acquired the place, he added Fajitas to the menu, a finger food of southwestern-marinated and grilled meats served sizzling on a cast-iron skillet. The meat and vegetables are arranged in a soft flour tortilla or corn tortilla, with the addition of pico de gallo, sour cream, cheese or guacamole. Most people have by now heard of or have eaten fajitas, thanks in large part to Chili's who made it part of our culture. 

I have made my fajitas with tofu, seitan and portobellos, but, really, any combination of delicious vegetables will work wonderfully, including squash, other mushrooms, cauliflower, broccoli and carrots. Skip potatoes in this. It is too starchy.

Along with burgers, fajitas, soups and pastas, salads are a large part of Chili's - in this generation, any way. One of their best selling salad is the Caribbean Salad, a melange of greens, onion, pineapple, dried cherries and Honey-Lime Dressing, topped with marinated, grilled meat. It isn't difficult at all to substitute the honey with maple syrup in the dressing and use grilled tofu or grilled seitan for the chicken. 

Lastly, I replicated their Chicken Enchilada Soup, which uses masa harina as the thickener and has a few ounces short of a ton of cheese. Substituting the chicken is easy - I used chickpeas, but omitting it totally is great as well, or using tofu cubes or seitan. As for the cheese, you need something creamy and tangy - I used Better Than Cream Cheese and Better Than Sour Cream. Not too much, but just enough to take it into Chili's realm. This was a winner by a mile and I encourage you to try it - it is super easy and quick - on top of being delicious.

Enchilada Soup

Caribbean Salad

Enchilada Soup

muffoletta salad

Central Grocery store in New Orleans is the site of the first Muffoletta sandwich, said to have been invented by Salvatore Lupo, a Sicilian immigrant. In the late 1800's there was an influx of Italian immigrants who found their homes in New Orleans and became sort of Creole-Italians. This sandwich is mainly known for its olive salad, but the bread the sandwich is traditionally served on is itself also known as a mufuletta, a close cousin of the focacccia bread. 

Legend has it that Salvatore's grocery customers would buy some meats, cheeses, olive salad and bread and eat them individually, the ingredients balancing perilously on their knees. Salvatore offered to slice the bread and layer everything into it. And so was born the Muffoletta Sandwich. 

Since this sandwich has earned quite a bit of popularity and since Tami and Celine have the sandwich world well in hand, I decided to convert this sandwich into a salad. The Olive Salad part of this salad is the main component and well made ones are sought after with gusto. My Olive Salad is bursting with green and black olives, pimientos, sun-dried tomatoes (not authentic), garlic, capers, pickled cauliflower and carrots, pepperocinis, olive oil and herbs. I couldn't let the bread just disappear; I made fresh croutons with some Italian bread, laced with plenty of garlic and oregano. 

The Muffoletta Salad is vegan cold cuts, Follow your Heart cheeses, pear tomatoes, grilled onions and the Olive Salad covering shredded lettuce. The dressing is the olive salad itself with the acid coming from the pickled fruits and the olive oil providing the body. Julienne everything, even shredding the lettuce, and you are transported to the Central Grocer, circa 1906, sitting with Salvatore, enjoying a new rendition of his now-infamous sandwich, inhaling a bit of history with each bite.  

Cost Breakdown

3/4 of olive salad: $7.50

lettuce, tomatoes: $2

FYH cheese and Yves: $4

pine nuts: $1

bread: $.50

Total to feed 6 people:

$15.00

     

cinnamon snail, BBQ portobello grillers, panzanella salad with tempeh

Tester

Since I haven't posted in a little while, I thought I would do three in one from Tami's Grills Gone Vegan testing extravaganza. Unfortunately, Blogger had my blog deleted for a little while and had me a quite nervous about it. Do the Word Press people have as much problems with their blogging servers? Blogger has many problems, times when I can't blog and now this blog deletion. I think I've had enough and I am seriously considering switching to Word Press.

Back to the food:

Can you picture a Cinnamon Roll as big as your dinner plate? 

Look here:

That is how big that Cinnamon Snail is. Don't get fooled by the name, this no small quiet, unassuming snail; this is a ginormous-feed-your-family-cinnamon roll. Divine! I love the ease and simplicity of this recipe. 

Next up is this saucy wonderfulness. BBQ Portobello Grillers. So good! If you are a mushroom fan, this is the recipe for you. You can use store-bought BBQ Sauce for this, but both Tami and I recommend you making her Simple BBQ Sauce, also in the book. It takes less time than buying it and costs a fraction with more than triple the taste-reward. Add some of her Creamy Cole Slaw and you are set. BBQ Perfection.

Last up is Panzanella Salad with Tempeh. Vegetables come here to soak up the summer. Tomatoes, zucchini, peppers, onions - plus other surprises marry in this flavorful, light (not drenched like most panzanella salads!) mingle of tastes. Summer on a plate.

So, there you have some teasers. Enjoy the pics!

7-layer mexican salad

Lunch time can be quite a fiasco at our home, especially if we don't plan the menu out properly. The kids want food they like and I want to make something that is unusual but still healthy. Clearly with all of the tumult we needed to come to a compromise. Lunch should be easy, quick and a no-brainer. Discussion should not even have to take place, and arguments should be as far removed as the moon.

To make everyone happy, including the cook, be that person child or adult, the kids and I wrote down 30 dishes they liked enough to agree to and I agreed were healthy and fast. We have put those meals on rotation during the week for lunch and it has worked beautifully. This can be an effective way to by-pass all the hastle of picking and choosing what to make for lunch for anyone, families or singles, homeschoolers or out of the home workers. It just makes sense. Since the breakfast repertoire of most folks tend to be varied between 5 to 10 kinds of dishes at the most, choosing between 30 lunch items is different enough to satisfy most people and consistent enough to make deciding lunch much simpler.

7-Layer Mexican Salad with Creamy Salsa Dressing. This one became a favorite after the girls had it at a sleepover on the U.S.S. Barry  (Girl Scout adventure). The key to this salad is to have the proper proportion of topping ingredients to lettuce. Too much lettuce ruins the entire experience. My salad has avocado, tomato, black beans, carrot, onion, vegan cheese, peppers. The dressing is about 2/3 vegenaise and 1/3 homemade salsa. You can use whatever topping you prefer, just make sure to keep the lettuce at bay: about one (toppings) to one (lettuce) ratio.

Cost Breakdown

avocado: $2

tomato: $2

beans: $2

carrot: $.50

lettuce: $2

cheese: $1

pepper: $1

salsa, vegenaise: $2

Total to make 6 servings:

$12.50

gazpacho salad

Gazpacho Salad. Yup. And why not? The soup it refers to is a bunch of vegetables and fruit with liquid. Replace the liquid with the salad greens and presto - Gazpacho Salad.

Here is your inspiration to convert any soup into a salad. Pretty simple idea, right? I'd love to take credit, but I believe I saw the idea while cruising through a cookbook - a Robin Robertson one, to be exact. It is the avocado that caught my eye. Throw avocado anywhere in a recipe and I'll give it grave consideration. During the summer I have to weed through all the avocado recipes, since I probably add at least three onto each week's menu. Although very healthy for the kids, I encourage them to eat as many as they would like, I'm too old to handle too many, as much as I love them.

That certainly does not mean I never eat the fruit and here it is in this salad.

There are two key components to a good salad:

The Dressing

The Size of the Veggies

I'm sure we are all aware of how important the moisture on the lettuce is - whether it is just a squeeze of lemon or a favorite dressing like Ranch - but, is it really well-known how important the cut of the veggies is?

Dice or thinly slice cucumbers, peppers, onions, tomatoes (after seeding them) and they take on

a-whole-nother appeal for the diner. Big, clunky veggies are okay, but to really get someone to dig in, consider how you cut them.

My diced veggies and fruits were tossed with a little walnut oil (which has Omega-3) and lime juice. I seasoned them with salt, pepper, garlic (minced) and cilantro and tossed them with chopped lettuce.

A bit of Summer in the middle of Winter.

Cost Breakdown

lettuce: $3

onion, pepper, cuke, tomato: $4

garlic, cilantro: $1

avocado: $2

walnut oil, lime: $1

Total for 4 large servings:

$11.00

mother's cafe and garden (MoFo 7)

Mother's Cafe and Garden is located in Austin, TX. Anyone who has traveled through the great beef state knows that Austin is the haven for vegetarians in a sea of meat-aholics. I even think they have their burgers with a side of beef.

Anyway, that is what it was like back a decade ago when we lived there. As with all places things change and there were some unfortunate turn of events concerning the veg establishments there. One was that Mother's Cafe burned down. Since then they have rebuilt, but after being open since 1985, they had to keep their doors closed for eight months during the refurbishment. Boy, we're gone for a few years and the whole place falls apart!

This was the very first place we frequented as newly indoctrinated vegans. Although the place is vegetarian, they have very strict sanitary practices regarding segregating vegetarian instruments and cooking vessels with vegan ones. Looking back now, I realize we were the 'vegan police,' and such vigilance is best reserved for omni restaurants, but for what we were looking for then, they certainly fit the bill.

They are not high end, have reasonable prices and pretty good food. So if in Texas, you know what city to aim to get to.

Starting with a drink, the Iced Hibiscus-Mint tea is a must. Hibiscus not only is reported to lower blood pressure, but tastes refreshing with the mint. No sweetener was ever required by me - the complimentary flavors of the tea were enough without having to mask it with sugar.

On to the Garden Patch Salad. This was my first taste of sunflower sprouts and it made me try to grow them myself. Not as easy to grow as alfalfa sprouts, they are worth the extra effort. Let me tell you about the Cashew Tamari dressing! I must have spent at least a pound of cashews trying to get the flavor just right so we can have it at home (we weren't exactly next to Mother's, you see). 

The Chili Rellenos alas were filled with cheese and we never got to try them, but that is only extra impetus to make them vegan. Rellenos are poblano peppers (usually) that have been roasted, skinned and seeded. They are then stuffed with cheese, covered in an egg batter and fried. I stuffed mine with Native Chi's that I made for Native Foods menu mixed with black beans. The Native Chi's melted (yay!), but you can use Daiya or Follow Your Heart or any cheese from the Uncheese Cookbook. They will melt. I advise against using only cheese (even dairy) since it is just too much. 

The batter is really the most challenging part. It has fry light and not leave the relleno oily. My version was very good and I was very happy that we could have a relleno again. I think it does need more testing since the authentic version uses whipped eggs and just like flan or sunny side up eggs, eggs are eggs and I am not mother nature. Although, I certainly pretend to be sometimes!

Lastly, I couldn't omit my oldest daughter's favorite dish at Mother's: Sage Mashed Potatoes. Go light on the sage since it can be overpowering, but make sure not to add so little that the flavor is not evident.

Cost Breakdown:

hibiscus tea, mint: $1

Salad:

carrot, cuke, tomato, onion: $2

lettuce, purple cabbage: $3

tamari, cashew, balsamic, oil: $2

sprouts: $2

Total to make 4 servings:

$9.00

Relleno:

poblano: $4

cheese: $1

tomato, onion, garlic: $2

black beans: $2

ener-G, cashew, flour: $1.50

Total to make 4 servings:

$10.50

Potatoes, milk, sage: $4

Hibiscus-Mint Tea

Garden Patch Salad

Chili Relleno





Sage Mashed Potatoes

HIBISCUS-MINT TEAS PRINTER FRIENDLY RECIPE

GARDEN PATCH SALAD PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE



native foods (MoFo 5)

Native Foods is the brain child of Tanya Petrovna, who opened the first Native Foods in 1994. She will be opening the seventh very soon! That is impressive; a vegan restaurant that will be celebrating another grand opening. What is more impressive, though, is the food. I am literally licking the plate that I served the Azteca Ensalada on - that Mango-Lime Dressing rocks!

Another impressive feat is the preparation of her tempeh. While she actually makes the tempeh on the premises, my store-bought version did not suffer any using her technique. Delicious! If you are one of those tempeh-phobes this is the recipe for you. If after having tempeh this way you don't like it, then you never will and you may fearlessly throw in the proverbial towel. 

To the recipes...

Let's face it, nachos are good. Most any nachos. But these Native Nachos are great! Chef Tanya shares her Native Chi's recipe that go on this and the taco 'meat' is TVP. You can freely use seitan ground, however, or omit it at will and double the beans. Nothing processed. Even the cashew sour cream I have on there is very easy to make. THIS is one loaded nacho plate and go ahead and customize it to your palate.


Now for that salad I was drooling over in the beginning - assorted greens with tomato, onion, jicama or apple or asian pear, cucumbers, cilantro, mango, raisin, pumpkin seeds, quinoa (superfood!) and that outrageous Mango-Lime Dressing and you not only have a complete meal but a little piece of heaven.

The last item on our tasting menu is the Gandhi Bowl - two kinds of rice, steamed greens, curry sauce and that tempeh of hers - blackened. Cajun-meets-Asian. Another out-of-the-park dish. She is batting a thousand.

The only real criticism I have is that she is inundating the east coast with her restaurants and is leaving the mid and west coast to suffer without her culinary contributions. Pure selfishness.

Cost Breakdown:

Nachos:
chips: $3 
cheeze, cashew sour cream: $3
TVP, beans: $4
tomato, onion, olive, pepper: $3
Total to make apps for 8:
$13.00


salad:
greens: $4
Asian pear, tomato, cuke, mango: $4
mango, lime, oil, cilantro: $2
raisin, pumpkin: $1
quinoa: $1
Total to make 4 servings:
$12.00

Bowl:
rice: $1.50
curry, coconut milk: $2
tempeh: $3
greens, cauliflower: $3
Total to make 5 servings:
$9.50

Native Nachos



Ensalada Azteca



Gandhi Bowl