Double Chocolate Muffins

Dear 15-year-old Abbi,
Hi.  It's me, your 12-year older counterpart.  You don't know me, but I am intimately acquainted with you.  When you're 27, you are going to do things you never thought possible.  You're going to be married to a man (with facial hair!  And chest hair!  A real manly dude!) who encourages you to learn Spanish and gets you to eat mushrooms with gusto.  You will eat out at restaurants where you willingly order braised goat and boar jowl.  You will give up bacon and brie for an entire year, subsisting on tofu, tempeh, and kale juice (among other things).
One day, you will come across a double chocolate muffin recipe that requires no butter or eggs, instead using coconut oil and beets (yes, beets), and you will think to yourself, "I want to make these for myself and my bearded husband."  You will bake these with your own baby next to you in a high chair, giggling at the pink veggies being pureed.  You'll eat 4 in one sitting while that baby blissfully naps for a few minutes next to you.
I know you're shaking your head right now, but I know this for a fact.  You will use 'vegan' and 'delicious' and 'chocolate' in the same sentence.  I promise.

Double Chocolate Muffins (with Beets!) via Minimalist Baker
2 flax eggs (2 Tbsp. flaxseed meal and 5 Tbsp water)
1 c. beet puree or applesauce (for beet puree, just toss 4-5 small roasted beets into a food processor and pulse until smooth)
1/4 c. agave syrup
1/3 c. brown sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 c. melted coconut oil
1/4 c. almond milk
1/2 c. unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/3 c. flour
1/3 vegan chocolate chips (I found some great ones at Target!)

1. Preheat oven to 375 and line 12-muffin tin with paper liners.
2. Prepare flax eggs in a large mixing bowl and let rest for 5 minutes.
3. Add pureed beets (or applesauce), oil, agave, sugar, baking soda, salt, and whisk for 45 seconds.
4. Stir in almond milk and whisk until smooth.
5. Add cocoa powder and flours and stir with spoon until just combined.  Batter will be scoopable, not pourable.  If it's getting too thick, add more milk.
6. Stir in chocolate chips.
7. Scoop batter into tins (should make 10-12 muffins) and bake 17-22 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean.  Let cool, then remove from muffin tin, and enjoy!

Beet and Citrus Salad

It's getting to be that time of year, when we have to balance our treats (Halloween candy, chocolate chai lattes, caramel apples) with our veggies.  But why should that have to be boring?  This beautiful  salad is the perfect combination of flavors to keep your tastebuds, and tummy, happy!  Think salty pistachios, tangy citrus, sweet beets, and a bright dijon vinaigrette to finish it off. 

JP and I had this for dinner on Halloween night, as I figured we would want to eat light with all our yummy candies waiting for neighborhood kids...and us.  The original recipe for this beet and citrus salad can be found here, though I made a few minor changes for this recipe.  With winter coming up, the best citrus will be here; enjoy this by itself, or the perfect side for a protein!

Beet and Citrus Salad (from Snixy Kitchen)
5-6 beets, peeled, sliced, and roasted (I used a pre-steamed package from Trader Joe's)
1 Valencia orange, peeled and sliced into rounds
1 ruby red grapefruit, peeled and segmented (I didn't do this, but will next time!)
1 fennel bulb, shaved
2-3 Tbsp. pistachios
4-5 c. spring mix
1 recipe of Martha Stewart's dijon vinaigrette (recipe here)

Layer salad with spring mix on bottom, topped with fennel, citrus, and beets.  Sprinkle pistachios on top, and dress with vinaigrette to taste.  Enjoy!

Tucson Tempeh Pasta

Life these days is pretty suburban: I drive a station wagon (seriously), iron the sheets for the master bedroom (they feel divine), and help organize events in the social committee for my homeowners' association.  Good gracious, just typing that stuff out makes me feel like I should be on Wisteria Lane.  Needless to say, the days could use some hard edges sometimes to keep it from going stale. 

Enter Thug Kitchen.  Have y'all been keeping up with this Tumblr?  I've been a huge fan for months, if only because a) I do have a bit of a potty mouth, b) it's so wonderful to find a website devoted to vegan food that isn't self-righteous, and c) the creators of it have an awesome sense of humor.  Oh, and the recipes are legit delicious.  I wanted to pass on one of their photos from the site, but just scrolled through every one of them and there's an F-bomb on it.  Take my word for it. 

Last Thursday, JP and I had Tucson Tempeh Pasta, the TK version of Hamburger Helper.  Full of veggies, protein-packed tempeh, and whole wheat pasta, you'll absolutely love this meal without feeling guilty about sodium levels, weird ingredients, and fat.  After one bite, I looked at my husband and said, 'I want this every week for the rest of the year.'  The man who always eats out for lunch took the leftovers with him to work.  There is no greater compliment.

Tucson Tempeh Pasta (from Thug Kitchen)

1 block tempeh (about 8 oz), crumbled

1 yellow onion, chopped

2 bell peppers, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp. olive oil

2 tsp. soy sauce

2 Tbsp. chili powder

2 tsp. dried thyme

1 tsp. dried basil (or oregano, if you have it)

1 1/2 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. liquid smoke (you can find it near the bbq sauce and it is heavenly)

14 oz. can of diced tomatoes, low sodium

1 lb. whole wheat pasta

Juice from 1 lemon

1 c. peas

Any leftover veggies you have to get rid of (I used green beans)

1. Prepare pasta, drain, and set aside. 

2. Heat oil over medium heat in a large skillet, and add tempeh, onion, peppers, and carrots. Cook until onions are softened and tempeh is golden. 

3. Add soy sauce, spices, and garlic; cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes.  Add liquid smoke and tomatoes; allow sauce to bubble.

4. Combine pasta, lemon juice, and additional veggies to the skillet.  Cook until everything is heated through and the pasta is coated in sauce.  Taste and adjust seasonings before serving!  JP thought it was a bit spicy and added some sour cream, which looked super-creamy and tasty.  

Cranberry Crumble Bars

Need an excuse to eat some more cranberries?  Look no further.  This crumble bar has it all: nuttiness, sweetness, a wonderfully messy texture.
I originally pinned this recipe from The Daily Garnish, but made a few little tweaks to punch it up a bit.  Oh, and I made it even more easy by using a store-bought cranberry sauce.  (Trader Joe's was out of fresh cranberries, and I just couldn't wait for a new shipment to come in!)  Feel free to substitute your favorite berry sauce for this, though; I think it would be superb with 2 cups of blueberry jam, a blackberry compote, or Haley's excellent homemade cranberry relish.  Substitute pecans for almonds, or add more sugar if you want it to be sweeter.  This recipe is totally open for interpretation.

Cranberry Crumble Bars (modified from The Daily Garnish)
1 15 oz. tub of cranberry sauce (or desired berry filling)
1 1/4 c. rolled oats
1 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 c. almonds
1/2 c. coconut oil
1/4 c. maple or agave syrup
1/4 c. brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Combine all ingredients except sauce in a food processor and pulse until coarsely ground.
3. Press half the crumble in an 8x8-inch pan, spread sauce on top, and press the rest of the crumble on top.  Pop in the oven for 30 minutes.
4. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes, then cut into 9 squares and serve!  (JP says they would be best served warmed with ice cream on the side- who am I to argue?)

Sushi Bowl

After a week of indulging in all-inclusive drinks and food (yummy pina coladas and tons of tortilla chips with salsa, anyone?), it was time to reset the ol' taste buds last week.  I've been eying this recipe from Super Natural Cooking for several months, and finally had an excuse to really get my vegan-ness together.

The dressing of the rice is the real star of this recipe: citrusy with some raw sugar added for sweetness.  Honestly, I wanted to pour this on everything!

It's super-customizable for the seasons (add blanched asparagus in the spring, zucchini in the midst of summer, green beans in early fall) and meat-lovers (add chicken, pork, scrambled eggs, whatever floats your boat).  You'll love it!

Crunchy snack beans

Since I've cut down on animal products, I'm always looking for ways to sneak extra protein extra protein into my diet.  I've always liked beans (especially my mom's hummus!), but it can get boring eating them in soups and dips.  When these crunchy beans came up on Hello Giggles, I knew it would be a slam dunk. 

Basically, the recipe calls for draining some canned beans (I used cannellini and garbanzo), drying them, adding some spices and roasting them until they're crunchy.  It doesn't get much easier than that.
The taste could easily change based on the spices you use; I went with the garlic, cumin and cayenne called for in the original recipe, but also threw in some sweet paprika aka pimenton for color.  This batch is earthy and pretty mild.  The white beans explode a bit in the oven, and get extra crispy, while the garbanzos hold their shape nicelly.  They're great for munching throughout the day, and would definitely fit in on top of a salad or on a snacks table for football games (Super Bowl anyone?), etc.

Mine were a little stale the day after, so store in a very tightly sealed container, or use immediately.  Let me know if you make these and use your own tasty combination!

The Kind Diet

via

You know me.  I've been honest about books being reviewed on here, whether I didn't like them (Journey to the Center of the Earth) or was meh (The Marriage Plot) or super-enjoyed it (Bossypants). 

I'm not exaggerating when I say that reading The Kind Diet, by, yes, Alicia Silverstone, changed my life and the way I eat.  Silverstone is vegan (I'm not vegan, but eat limited animal protein and dairy), and has written a book about the way she lives.  The first half of the book lays out her "nasty foods" including meat, dairy, white sugar and processed foods.  I've read books about healthy eating and why veggies are better for us and the environment than an animal protein-based diet, but this is the first one that really hit home for me.  Because it's vegan, not vegetarian, I finally realized that dairy/cheese isn't the wunderkind that I thought for so long.  She made two points that stuck with me: no other animals drink other animal's milk ("Pandas don't drink gorilla milk...dogs don't drink goat milk" p. 35), and dairy is designed to make us fat (babies drink it to make them fat and happy, and calves turn into 400-lb cows after drinking their mother's milk).  It clicked for me, and I haven't had a fifth of the dairy I used to since reading this book. 

I don't want to get preachy, but reading this book has helped me lose weight (went down a size and have easily maintained it), feel happier, and totally love all the delicious food I get to make in the second half of the book.  JP and I have been more adventurous about the foods we eat (tempeh, wheat berries, collard greens), and don't have to spend as much money at the grocery store or time in the kitchen cooking roasts, pork, etc.  Our dinner plates look beautiful with colorful veggies and new spices.  

If you'd like to make a change, or even just feel curious about incorporating more vegetables and whole grains into your diet, you've got to pick up a copy of The Kind Diet.  It just might change your life, too.

Rustic Pasta

Remember when I told you there would be some vegan recipes on this blog following the cleanse I did?  Well, during that 3-day juicing, I read Alicia Silverstone's (yes, from Clueless) book, The Kind Diet, which is about sticking with a vegan and/or macrobiotic diet.  Half of it goes into why she's a vegan and the research behind sticking with a meatless and dairy-less diet, and the other half is full of recipes with lots of veggies, salads, and whole grains.

The first one that caught my eye was this rustic pasta dish.  It combines soy sauce and marinara sauce, caramelized onions and sauteed cabbage, and celery cooked so long it's softened to a consistency even I can't resist.  The flavors are perfectly complementary: salty soy with tangy tomato and sweetened onions.  Yum-my!

I used whole wheat rotini pasta, and 1/2 cup of marinara instead of 5-6 Tbsp.  Also, a whole head of cabbage wouldn't fit in the skillet, so I could only use half a head.  Trust me, it was enough!

This recipe made 5 servings, enough for two and a half meals for JP and I.  After we finished our bowlfuls, he looked at me and said, "Who was skeptical when you said vegan meal?  This guy.  And who's satisfied?  This guy!"  It must be good!