Whole Grain Grub

sorry the pesto isn't on better display

Pesto is soooooooo easy. All you need is basil, olive oil, nuts (I use almonds because it’s all I have. Lost of people use pine nuts) and garlic.

For this recipe I used about 3/4 cups of EVOO, a handful of almonds (I chop them into three parts first to give the food processor a break), a cup or so of fresh basil and 3 (ish) cloves of garlic. If you are worried about garlic breath (which this recipe is sure to cause) use less garlic. For non-vegan pesto you would add maybe 3 tablespoons of parmesan cheese. You can also add salt and pepper to taste.

Next you chop this up in the food processor for a couple minutes and you have yourself some pesto.

And if you want to make sandwiches, buy a fresh baguette, toast it and spread the pesto on each slice. Then add whatever you want inbetween (I used avocado, tomato and basil). Great picnic food.

A couple of weeks ago I went to a cooking demonstration by Chef Mu. One of the dishes he prepared was a sesame cabbage saute with garlic and ginger. I tried making this the other day.  It was so yums that I had to make it again to go with my Miso Soup – and post, of course! I don’t have his exact recipe, but this is my take. Seriously you guys, this is SO easy and SO good. Make it!

colors!

Here’s what you need:

• Cabbage or carrots
• Garlic
• Ginger
• Sesame Oil
• Canola Oil
• Salt and pepper

Here’s what you do:

• Shred cabbage. Chef Mu used 1/2 a head of red cabbage and 1/2 a head of green cabbage (I used carrots instead of the 1/2 a head of green cabbage)
• Chop 3 or 4 cloves of garlic
• Chop 2 tablespoons of fresh ginger
• I forget what Chef Mu did here, but I heated the garlic and ginger with a tablespoon or two of canola oil. He may have just cooked the whole dish in the sesame oil, but it’s expensive so I needed to conserve my bottle.
• Once that started to cook I added the cabbage and carrots. I cooked that until it was soft but still crunchy. Then I added the sesame oil (2 to 3 tablespoons) in the last minute or so, and stirred it to make sure it coated all of the cabbage.
• Add salt and pepper to taste.

Cabbage and carrots before cooking. I was in a rush, but if I had more time I would make the slices thinner.

No disrespect, but this is kinda the best Miso Soup I’ve ever had. I went to the farmer’s market this weekend and brought back fresh kale and homemade tofu. Instead of doing the usual garlic saute I thought I’d try something different.

me so hungry (get it me so = miso. ha!)

What you need:

• 7 to 10 cups of vegetable broth/stock or water. Use low sodium broth if you can. (I used 4 cups of veggie broth and 4 cups of water…maybe more)
• 5 green onions (use the light green and white part)
• 5 tablespoons of Miso (you can get it at your neighborhood grocery store)
• 2 tablespoons of fresh ginger (I grated)
• 3 cloves of fresh thinly sliced garlic (or chopped)
• 1 head of kale. chopped.
• 1 block of tofu chopped into 1/2 inch cubes
• 4 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce

What you do:

• Bring broth/stock/water to boil
• Add green onions, ginger and garlic. Reduce to simmer. Let sit for 5 minutes.
• Add Miso (stir until it dissolves).
• Add soy sauce, tofu and kale. Let simmer for 5 minutes. Not too long because you want the kale to stay a tad crunchy.
• Eat the amazingness

adding tofu and kale to soup base

this carton was 3.99 probably overpriced. but it will last a while.

One word: MASTERPIECE! So freaking good! Foolproof too.

steaming veggies

baked tofu

Finished product. I get a C on the presentation but I was SO hungry I couldn't play around.

Here’s what you need:

• extra firm tofu
• a bunch of fresh basil
• 3 tbs fresh ginger
• a bunch of fresh mint
• 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce
• 2-3 tbs olive oil
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 head of brocoli
• 5 carrots
• 1 onion

Here’s what I did:

• chop tofu into small cubes
• chop basil and ginger
• marinate in fridge in 1/4 cup of soy sauce for 30 + minutes
• cook brown rice (two cups of rice in four cups of water). Follow package.
• steam chopped veggies on medium in 1/4 cup of water for about  5 minutes. You don’t want them soft. Keep a lil’ crunch!
• on a frying pan, or whatever you got, add 2 to 3 tbs of olive oil and 1/4 cup soy sauce (more if you want)
• stir fry on medium heat for about 5 to 10 minutes. The idea is to make the rice crispy. Just play it by ear until it looks BOMB and starts smelling real nice. Add chopped mint in the last 2 minutes.

Get the buckouttahere with that mess! Really, America? We have sunk to a new low. How is this being accepted as a sandwich? Looking at this thing makes me want to hurl. The sad fact of the matter is that in order for a new food product (and I use the term loosely) to enter the market, food companies have to do a bunch of different steps, including:

1. noticing a void in the market for something
2. creation of a concept
3. research and development
4. development of a prototype
5. sample market test (inc. focus groups to get product feedback)
6. more research and dev
7. market test in Columbus, Ohio (Ohio is thought to be representative of the rest of the US, so companies test new food product there.)
8. product launch

My problem is that this has obviously been tested on a portion of the population, and that portion of the population gave it the thumbs up. Folks have to know this is a ticket to diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Plus, that can’t taste good. There’s no way.

KFC is actually the reason I became a vegetarian. My brother used to work there and bring fried chicken home everyday. It was a family staple. I remember taking a family trip to Lake Tahoe when I was 12 and we brought a bucket of KFC with us to the beach (gotta love Black folks). I literally was having trouble stomaching it and I couldn’t finish my boneless breast. (It’s traumatic even thinking about it.)

At the time, I thought I was a freak. I never liked meat. I didn’t like the way it tasted; I didn’t like the way it made me feel; I didn’t like the idea of eating animals. I would always pick around the fat until there was nothing left (“DAD…you cut me a piece of fat with meat around it!”). But it wasn’t until a couple weeks later, when we went to visit my other (even older) brother and his vegetarian girlfriend, that I realized there was actually a name for people who didn’t eat meat. AND… that you didn’t need to eat meat to survive. My first experience with a veggie burger was love at first bite.

After that trip, I made an announcement to my parents that I would no longer be consuming meat. And I never did.

Seeing this picture of this absolutely disgusting KFC burger reminds me how much I hate meat and that I definitely made the right decision 15 years ago. Just to be clear, I don’t think there is anything wrong with eating meat (if that is something you enjoy). But there is a right way (free range, grass fed, no hormones or antibiotics…if you can) and a wrong way. This, my friends, is the WORST way.

They say the way to a man’s heart is through the kitchen (or whatever), well same thing goes for my friends. If you know how to cook, I will be your BFF for life! This weekend we had a potluck/surprise birthday party for my girl. Everyone brought amazing healthy food (mostly vegan, all gluten free). I’m getting hungry just looking at the pics.

Here’s what we had:

• BAKED plantains (what a concept! All she did was chop them and toss them in the oven.)
• Steamed shrimp with bomb seasoning (still waiting for that recipe…)
• Cilantro rice (I brought that one. Recipe here.)
• Grilled veggies (me again thanks to my new cast iron grill.)
• Garbanzo bean salad (recipe below)
• Corn Tortillas (we used them as shells for the grilled veggies. Instead of frying them she heated them up in a saucepan – they browned without any oil.)
• Another veggie dish (first photo)
• Candy via a pinata (Yippie!)
• Wine!

Garbanzo Bean Recipe via my girl MOPLX

• 1 Can of Garbanzo Beans
• a couple spoonfuls from TJ’s “Corn and Chile, Tomatoless Salsa”
• chopped red onions
• chopped orange bell pepper
• some chopped cilantro
• a squirt of half a lime
• a squirt of canola oil (EVOO would prob be better but I ran out)
• a squirt of apple cider vinegar
• a sprinkle of ground black pepper
• a sprinkle of curry powder

To. Die. For.

You just got home from work. You’re broke and there isn’t much going on in you’re fridge. What do you do? Refer to 30 second meals! This couscous recipe is ready in under three minutes (give or take 5) and the beans require almost no effort and are fantastical!

PART ONE: SPICY BLACK BEANS

Here’s what you need:

• 1 can of black beans
• 2-3 cloves of garlic
• 1 tbs Cajun seasoning
• 1 tbs Cayenne pepper
• 1 tbs olive oil

Here’s what you do:

• saute garlic cloves (not long, you don’t want them to burn!)
• add seasoning
• cook a bit more
• add black beans
• cook a bit more

PART TWO: COUSCOUS WITH A TWIST (recipe inspired – but highly modified – from thekitchn.com)

Here’s what you need:

• 1 cup of couscous (whole grain is best but lord knows I couldn’t afford that)
• 1.5 cups water
• 1/2 thinly sliced red onion
• 2 tbs capers
• 2 tbs raisins
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste

Here’s what you do:

• heat 1.5 cups of water
• add raisins and oil
• spray pan with Pam (or some non-sticking agent) and heat onions until cooked
• once water starts to boil add couscous (8 grams of protein by the way!)
• Cover and remove from heat, once couscous absorbs the water (should take a few minutes) add onions and capers
• add salt and pepper

Chow down!

What I Ate:
Breakfast: 1 piece of whole wheat toast with peanut butter and a sliced banana on top
Snack: Raw almonds with raisins
Lunch: SAME Italian white bean/whole wheat pasta soup with carrots, basil and celery (gag at this point)
Snack: Greek Yogurt (2%) with strawberries and raisins
Snack: One mini milky way (there are no more in the office)
Dinner: Finally changed it up and made tacos. See below*
Snack: 1 serving of pretzels
Fluids: 4, 8oz glasses of water

The workout situation: I made it to the gym today. I did 20 minutes on the treadmill. I started at level three and went up .5 every 2 minutes until I got to level 5. Then I started over again. (Intervals make a workout so much less boring.) Next I did 10 minutes on level 3 on the stair master. Oh, and I stretched at the end. Felt nice.

(Add 100 to that.)

I was so hungry that I didn’t have time to work on the presentation. Sorry about the sloppiness. Regardless, they tasted bizom. (I had to remind myself to slow down a of couple times. Those babies weren’t going anywhere.) Just in case you are interested in making some vegan tacos of your own, here’s what I did. —-> Saute garlic in olive oil and add half of a sliced red onion. Add spinach and cook until it starts to wilt. In a separate bowel, add 1 to 2 cups of black beams, fresh chopped cilantro, diced red onion, a green pepper and a little bit of lime. I also wanted to add a fruit but my mango wasn’t ripe. I added the spinach at the bottom of the taco as the filling (thanks for the idea Marly) and then used the “black bean mix” as a salsa. It would have probably been good to add some tomatoes as well. Just play around with what you have. You can’t really go wrong with veggies and tacos.

Highlight: Tacos were amazing. And I was able to make some extra and pack them for my lunch tomorrow.

Lowlight: My school gym has a “no tank top policy.” What are we six? I practically have a heat stroke working out with sleeves.

As the Bay, and the rest of the world, is becoming more anti-meat and animal products, I decided that I needed to step my vegan game up a bit. Having more close veganism-practicing friends than I ever imagined, was beginning to make it hard to have dinner parties and social events without leaving my veggie loving homies out in the cold. Especially when it came to treats.

This began my relationship with veganweb.com a network of vegans, and veggie foodies alike joining together with a purpose: sharing recipes, photos, and vegan love.

This evening I attempted (for the second time) a recipe for Banana Nut Bread Cookies (sans nuts). I like this recipe because it doesn’t have difficult, hard to find, or break the bank ingredients, and it utilizes a food that often goes to waste in my home: overly-ripe bananas.

here’s what you need:
1 old banana (2 if you got em, but 1 works fine)
1 1/4 cup flour (I used whole wheat unbleached)
1 cup sugar (anykind)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup oil (olive, veggie, shortening, butter, margarine, whatever you got)
handful nuts, chocolate/carob pieces/whatever (I had none of these)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix dry ingredients first. Mix wet (sugar, oil, banana, vanilla) seperately. Fold dry into wet. You want the mix sort of moist, so add some soy milk until you get your desired consistency. Fold in nuts, etc…

Roll 1″ balls and place on lightly greased baking sheet. Press with a fork in a criss-cross pattern, similar to peanut butter cookies. Bake for 10-15 minutes depending on power of your oven.

Let cool for 5-10 mins. Serve with cold soy milk. Enjoy!

(Note: Cookie is very light in flavor and texture. For a more BOLD cookie, use two bananas and chopped pecans, walnuts, or chocolate morsels. I didn’t mind the light fluffy cookie, but some may prefer a richer flavor. Cookie will become more dense with added bananas…)