Yeah early 90s. Way to get into my tiny skull! Uhhhh! (hmmmm?)

Do you like running? I really, totally, completely and authentically do love running, but I understand that the majority of people despise it and look for any excuse to justify their revulsion. That’s cool. The way I see running is thus: a whole bunch of people came out of me and they really love to talk to me. And other people like talking to me too, apparently. As an only child, running is the best way to get a ton of fresh air and escape the flappity-flappity of jaws for a time, while reconnecting with those imaginary siblings I’ve been neglecting since 2nd year University. It’s also the best way to really enjoy music. Seriously! Head-phones snug, playlists aligned, body fleeing–this is liberty in its purest form. Try it! Your brain and body deserve a break.

Here are 5 songs that I unapologetically, yet terribly shame-facedly, admit make me forget that I am running and propel me into go-like-stink-mode…you owe me in the comments! This is the first in series of such posts—there are greater shames to come! Please share your guilty pleasures–it will benefit all of us!!!! Now…..Run!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Breeders, “Huffer”

I would definitely kiss Kim Deal if I had the chance in spite of the massive marital headache it would cause. Take chances. make mistakes.

Grimes, “Oblivion,”

I KNOW!!! This song is a rip-off of, like, 64 billion other songs! And I am sorry, Roy Orbison and a bunch of other (even indie) artists who were blatantly pillaged of their hard earned work. But, man oh boy, this is a great song when you are running a hill-y course. Just saying.

LCD Soundsystem, “North American Scum”

This one is completely arbitrary. Anything by LCD Soundsystem is perfect. For almost anything you need to get done. Period.

Fat Boy Slim, “The Rockafeller Skank”

So. Freaking. Embarrassing. But it makes me run! And the fact that I am sharing this with you makes me a very big person, no? Oh crap.

Holy F*ck, Super Inuit

Oh, you’ll run faster. You just will.

Coleen Patrick Goudreau's Purple Potato Soup from Color Me Vegan

Hi again again! See? I really am back, if not a little sluggish.

To pick up where we last left off, I am a longtime, health conscious vegan who went mildly astray. But not all at once. Things got drastic when I started hanging out with this guy:

Husband+Wife=Married people automatically get the same portion sizes regardless of body size/composition, no? (Also, I enjoy this picture because I look frightened--which I kind of am because it is X-Mas Eve and 4am and we're still not done the Sanata-ficating of the house--and it looks like he is super mean and controlling. In reality, he is the kindest person in the universe, so I assume I'm doing him a solid by false advertising a tough guy persona)

Discounting the fact that he has put me “in the family way” on more than one occasion, my main veggie-beef with the manfriend is that eating with a person who is exactly 1.056ft taller than you–with a very appealing frame to match–will eventually give you a terribly skewed perception as to what you-sized portions really look like. Seriously, my husband is a machine, a vegetarian Takeru Kobayashi that makes ridiculous serving sizes appear completely reasonable by comparison. And, boy oh boy, did I do a great–nay, fantasmic– job keeping pace for nearly 8 years. But stupid genetics caught up with me after all. Who knew consuming 23 botched potstickers could have ill effects?

How did I break the cycle? Why, the flu, of course! Do you like graphic disgustingness on a food blog? Well, you’re getting it, but don’t fret–you will be rewarded with visions of tummy friendly soup soon enough. Basically, my kid puked in my mouth. Really puked. Like hard. And with fervour. It was as awful as it sounds, happened in a public place and tasted of peanut butter. A trifecta of a.m.a.z.i.n.g!!!!!! This happened right about the time that I realised I fell off the scaffolding of healthful eating and I seized the opportunity to exploit my flu-influenced fear of solid food to hunker down for a total diet overhaul. After all, what could possibly inspire better health choices more than a mouthful of toddler vomit?

Here's the soup! Perhaps this is the wrong photo to place here....but look how the purple gets all blue the next day. Neato!

I’ve always had a rough go coming back from the flu, but this time was different. It was a glorious puzzle waiting to be unfurled. Rather than forcing my body to eat like it used to even if it wasn’t ready or even necessary, I just slowed down; I succumbed to my cravings and stopped after one serving. If I was hungry 20 minutes later, I went back for more. And what did I crave? Soups, soups and more soups! Tummy hugging, veggie exploding, every flavour you can imagine soups. I positively reveled in soups of all sorts–started with broth, moved up to miso, graduating to minestrones, then dahls, then bisques and stews. If this sounds boring to you, then you have not explored the wonder and majesty that is the one pot meal. There is a reason soup is synonymous with healing and comfort food: it’s warm, it’s sultry and it is everything you want it to be with none of the nasty baggage, if you prepare it right:

Pretty, purple potato. Pure ingredients for clean insides!

So, as I train for the TC 10k, I am on a double S&M diet: luscious Soups, crazy huge Salads and lots of Munching in between. And I feel fabulous! “And what about the Purple Potato Soup?” you gasp. Well, I made the recipe almost as suggested (recipe found in Color Me Vegan, by Coleen Patrick Goudreau), but I upped the garlic to 4 cloves and the broth to four cups rather than two. I also cooked mine in the pressure cooker for 8 minutes instead of simmering and added a hearty helping of crushed red chillies and hungarian paprika to the mix. We still found the soup to be crazy bland on day one; ample doses of sriracha and sambal olek helped. By day two the flavours had matured  (and the colour blued up–see above), so outside flavour assistance wasn’t quite as necessary, but still greatly appreciated.

Would I make this recipe again? Not as written, per se. But the purple potatoes are so dramatic and the cauliflower such a delicate and delicious accompaniment, I will definitely play with the concept and get back to y’all.

This is the guy who puked in me, Would you fight back????

It's like Spring in your mouth.

Hello again. I feel as though some further explanation regarding my extended absence is in order: the long and short of it is that I got kind of, well, over my whole deal for a bit. Not tired of eating a “healthy” vegan diet, but tired of documenting everything and trying to make it look pretty and photographing instead of munching with my munchkins. And then there was the fact that I was spending my free time eating all of my culinary missteps instead of exercising. And it turns out I made a lot of mistakes.

After Vegan MoFo 2011, I took a look at myself, had a little shudder and then a little shut-down. As evidenced in my final week of MoFo posts, I had drastically diverged from my original mission with this site. Instead of focusing on a wholesome, whole foods and total body health, I was relying on and writing about processed and packaged foods more often than not. My body noticed before my brain did: un-food+unbridled serving sizes =’d a-Ryann-who-had-not reared-her-ample-haunches since the mid-1990s. In December, I realised that my “early-second-trimester” wardrobe had magically morphed into my every day wardrobe and I knew it was time to make a change. Luckily for me, the change was simple: I just had to go back to how I was BB (Before Blog).

Things were going swimmingly, but I missed writing in a casual voice and, as the days grew longer here in gorgeous Victoria, BC, I really missed taking pictures. Especially now that my food was so much more photogenic, vibrant and sproingier (I’m not sure that’s a word. My Mom uses it to describe her hair sometimes, so I assume it means healthy and bouncy. My Mom is adorable, so I’m just going to go with it). Borderline mopey, in the middle of February, I had an idea: I registered for the Times Colonist 10k . I’ve always loved running, but I have never run a race before. For motivational purposes, I chose an adversary–a person to beat (you know who you are)–and I started training.

It’s hard to believe it until you try it, but, for serious! Smaller, more frequent quantities of superior quality foods give you waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more energy. And that is what I have been doing on my MyWholeDeal.com vacation. Yesterday I ran 10.1 km in 40 minutes less than the time class I registered in (could have been a fluke—don’t tell anybody!!!!) For the remainder of this month and, hopefully, for the foreseeable future, I will document my energizing diet and my training techniques, including my undeniably awesome running playlists. Get ready to give yourself over to the eclectic wonder that is my musical muscle because it is go-time in every sense of the term. And here’s a recipe to get you started.

Simple Fat Free Lemon Dill Marinade

One of the very best things about being vegan is that you are totally within your rights to reuse an amazing marinade with no risk of life threatening illness. Seriously, if the fact that your “food” will relentlessly and mercilessly tear out your guts if you don’t prepare it “just so” doesn’t disturb you even a little bit, I envy your rose coloured glasses so, so much!

This super simple marinade screams Springtime freshness really loud, so make sure to prepare it après afternoon siesta (Romance languages just love to intermingle in the Spring). This mixture paves the way for a beautiful salad topper, satisfyingly punchy kebab or a beautiful soup or stir-fry base.

INGREDIENTS

- juice from one large lemon or 2 small (you figure out the medium-sized lemon dilemma on your own, friendo!)
- 2 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
- 2-4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped fine (or 1 tbs dried dill, but don’t!!!! Just wait ’til Spring!)
- rock salt and pepper, to taste

METHOD

1.Mix all that stuff together and throw some yummy other stuff in there to hang out for a bit (the technical definition of “a bit” is at least 2 hours). I did mushrooms (6-10 whole  halved or quartered), red onion pieces and a can of artichoke hearts (halved). Skewer’em and grilled for 8-10 minutes and served over greens of your choice (I chose spinach and sunflower sprouts with shredded carrot and diced cucumber).

First Grill of the Season!

2. The acidity in the lemon juice and vinegar will cause your veggie marination victims to give up their goods, thereby providing you with a more copious and flavourful marinade to continue your culinary journey with: after skewers, I chopped up 4 more mushrooms, tossed ‘em in the leftover yumminess overnight and then sautéed the whole lot with a small sliced zucchini, about a cup of baby spinach leaves, salt, pepper and some tofu Shirataki for a super filling, yummy-but-light, lunch the next day. Heavy on the Sriracha, of course. We can’t eschew all things processed lest we become savage.

Lemon Dill Shirataki with Mushroom and Zucchini...Yum!

At any rate. I’m back now. But I am leaner and tougher and more excited than ever (which must be pretty super excited, says anyone who has ever had a conversation with my motor mouth. Ever.) Also, if my pictures are so incredibly heinous that you can’t stomach them, follow me on Facebook to find out why!!!

Ahhhh. It’s nice to be back!

It's like a salad within a dream within a salad within a dream.

Hi again!! Cop-out post here. Those of you who also follow me on Facebook already know that a gigantic asteroid filled with hot tea crashed into my camera a couple Fridays ago, a super-true occurrence, which has tragically hobbled my blogging re-emergence thus far. Let’s all agree that my involuntary camera augmentations are going to make my site look super dreamy and move on, okay??? Also, I’ll provide two bonus recipes this week to make up for the cop-out. I’m back. For serious!

Happy last day of Vegan MoFo 2011!!!

As you may have noticed, this day is also Halloween and, as a person completely covered in small children for most moments of the day, I found it very difficult to be post-proactive this weekend. For that, I apologise and will make it up to you with a particularly nummicious recipe tomorrow–which also happens to be International Vegan Day!!!

For tonight, let me leave you with one last product review. It’s quick. It’s easy. It’s delicious and there is not much else to say about it, which is great because I just trick’or’treated with a mess’o'toddlers and I am ready to veg in front of a cheesy/scary/why-the-dickens-are-we-watching-this movie and enjoy my sugar buzz in peace.

Soyatoo Rice Whip on an Apple Cinnamon Pancake

I spotted Soyatoo Rice Whip hanging out in the refrigerated veggie stuff section at Safeway (Tillicum) and could not resist. There will always be a special place in my heart for aerosol products, not because I approve of them, but because I can’t help but think it is neat when something is propelled almost violently onto something else and I’m supposed to eat both things. That’s about the extent of my “animal” instinct. Sad, isn’t it?

Soyatoo Rice Whip Nutritional Info

The other draw was the lower-calorie, less-fattiness of the product. For the occasional splurge on a processed product, I can deal with this nutritional data. Plus, it tastes great! Kind of vanilla-y, extra silky and not artificial at all, I am putting this one in the mental archives for the next time I have to spray anyone with anything that I might have to eat off them. You’d be surprised how often that happens. For serious.

Hi y’all. T’is the Friday night before Halloween and I am all kinds of inundated with sewing and sorting and reading and reviewing and cleaning and just generally not enjoying the season at all. So, I’m producing a cop-out post on this, the last Friday night of Vegan MoFo 2011.

This is my week in vegan reviews, so please check out all my vegan reviews here! And I’ll be back tomorrow with one more yummy review and then I’ll close out Vegan MoFo 2011 with two more fantabulous vegan recipes on Sunday and Spooktacular Monday. Happy Vegan MoFoery!

I took one for the Vegan MoFo team with this post, folks. Yep, it’s another vegan “cheese” product. Nope. Wait. Cheddar flavoured soy protein product. Doesn’t that sound amazing? Deep breath. And here we go.

Now, I suppose that vegan cheese qualifies as an acquired taste and I suspect that there exists a potential for my taste buds to adapt and come to appreciate the pungent and er, robust flavour that most vegan cheeses boast. But, why would I put myself through such heartache and sorrow for a product so devoid of nutrients and so full of other stuff? Seriously! Look!

Earth Island Vegan Gourmet Cheddar Nutritional Info

Fine. I get it. People loooooove cheese. They totally want to marry it and make tiny cheese babies with it. And even once you are firmly ensconced in your new vegan life, you don’t forget. I know this! And you know I heart nostalgia (see yesterday’s yogurt love fest or the trip down memory lane I took riding my mom’s macaroni casserole). It is understandable to miss cheese, especially since it’s been reported that cheese possesses addictive qualities, but vegan cheese does not contain casein (which is the cheese crack) or much protein, calcium or any nutrient to speak of, so why do we subject our beautiful bodies to all this sodium, fat and weird-tastedness, I ask? Oh! You want the ooey gooey meltieness!

Earth Island Vegan Gourmet Cheddar...melted? Non! Il ne fond pas!

Other than Daiya, which is tasty, but also nutritionally defunct, I have yet to encounter a vegan cheese that really melts. Earth Island Vegan Gourmet Cheddar did not. It became kind of sweaty and crumbly and smelly, like an out of shape guy at the gym for too long, but that’s about it.

Maybe I’m being too harsh. I’m afraid I was biased by the slimy texture and potent aroma that assaulted me upon opening the package. How’s this for objectivity: my sweet innocent Daiya lovin’ 2 year old ate a piece with a super strange look on her face and said, “Thanks for the cheese, Momma. More water? Now?” Thanks is a very positive word, right?

Sigh. If we never mucked with cow babies’ milk in the first place, we would never of had cheese to miss and we would not be trying to emulate something that we shouldn’t be eating anyway. Yeah, I went a little political there for a wee sec. I hate vegan cheese that much. But if you need it, I suppose Earth Island Vegan Gourmet Cheddar is not the worst you could do. My main complaint is the pungent flavour, so maybe try the Mozzarella and report back. I would love to know what everybody else thinks about vegan cheese–I’m sooooo nosy!

So Delicious Cultured Coconut Milk Yogurt

This has been a quick Vegan MoFo! Only four obligatory blogging days left (though, I may get sentimental and weekend post this week) and three more vegan convenience foods for my Vegan MoFo Week in Reviews.

Today I bring you the happiness that is So Delicious Cultured Coconut Milk non-dairy yogurt. Yogurt was a big loss for me: I pretty much lived on fat free yogurt and Stoned Wheat Thins my last year of high school and it’s a well known fact that I think it is adorable when small children say “yo-grit” instead of yogurt, so it’s been a real shame having to tell them to shut up and stop rubbing it in my face all these years. Oh sure, I’ve tried other non-dairy yogrits, but soy based products all have that same, shall we say, fakedy taste. Definitely not tangy and creamy like I remember it could be. Well, it’s time for me to quit my grousing (and growling at toddlers) because So Delicious Cultured Coconut Milk Yogurt has finally come to my aid.

So Delicious Cultured Coconut Milk Yogurt Nutritional Info

As you can see, it is a great source of calcium, but most importantly, So Delicious has captured that all important tang that makes yogurt so, well, yogurty. This is thanks to how dang cultured it is, I’m supposin’. My daughter chose blueberry for us to sample. Thankfully, it comes premixed, not “sundae style,” because I cannot abide spoons that get goopy passed their midway points. The colour was crazy-vibrant purple–check it out:

Blueberry So Delicious Cultured Coconut Milk Yogurt

–as a result of the blueberry juice concentrate, which made my 2 year old very excited. Pretty food is soooo much better than drab food, apparently. She gobbled up more than half the container in no time flat and I had to hide the rest, because at per $4.29 16oz container (on sale–I think it’s closer to $5.99 at regular price), this coconut-based yogurt does not grow on trees! But, that’s the pitfall of quality vegan products: you gotta pay for the goodness. I respect that, but that is also why we’re rice and beans vegans 89% of the time.

The only other issue I have with this product is the fat content: 4g saturated fat per serving (and seriously, who eats just a serving?) isn’t ideal, but the fat is from sweet, sassy coconuts, so I’ll relax a little and drizzle some of this in my borscht next time. Honestly, I’m just glad there’s a reason to encourage my toddlers to mispronounce yogurt! Yay, So Delicious!

I decided to jump on my Tofurky Pepperoni Pizza this evening and the reason for that was onefold: it’s October 25th. I work until 4:20pm. There are only like two feet-fulls of days (translation: maybe 10?) left when I’ll be able to run outside after work without fear that weird oldish men in blue sweatpants will drag jogging me into the dark bushes and create a situation that warrants the arrival of a Channel 6 News Van. Am I a little paranoid? Totally. But I’m also selfish and neglectful of my family, so frozen pizza it was for supper tonight!

Tofurky Pepperoni Pizza. Cooked. (Curse you, Autumn Lighting!)

Luckily, it was a super-delicious frozen pizza. Crispy-thin whole grain crust, über-herby sauce, very not rubbery faux pepperoni and just a touch of vegan cheese, so as not to put off the vegan cheese resisters: Tofurky Pepperoni Pizza was a hit all ’round our square table. The sauce was a definite highlight for me, since it was a main flavour component, not just a bland supporting player. The garlic might be a little heavy handed for some, but I really enjoyed having a pizza breath war with my daughter after supper (just speak really breathy “h” words into each other’s faces a whole bunch. Who needs video games? What? My other kids do? Oh, right.)

Tofurky Pepperoni Pizza Nutritional Info

The downside? While this pizza does serve up a healthy helping of protein and vitamin C (strangely? See! The tomato sauce is glorious!), the fat content is a bit rich for my blood. Also, weighing in at 10 inches on thin crust and costing upwards of $10+ (I paid $8.69 for ours, but I *think* it was on sale…), economically speaking, on a less rushed day, I’d certainly prefer to order a hot and fresh cheeseless pizza from the Joint or some comparably delicious pizzeria rather spend my dollars on frozen.

But, I do recommend keeping a Tofurky frozen pizza or two on hand  for those days when you care more about making the voices stop for 50 minutes than preparing a real, home-cooked meal for your family. The vegan, frozen Tofurky Pepperoni Pizza is, hands down, the best frozen pizza I have tasted and I am anxious to try the other incarnations. You should too!

Yay! Tofurky Vegan Frozen Pizza

Ethnic Cottage Tikka Cooking Sauce

Hey! It’s the last week of Vegan MoFo already! Holy Hummus! What to do? How about “A Week in Reviews”? OK!!! This week will be dedicated to reviews of handy vegan products, because, let’s face it, it’s downright exciting to see a product labeled “vegan.” It’s like a happy grocery store birthday present. Fantastic.

First up is Tikka Cooking Sauce from Ethnic Cottage. I found this little beauty at the Market on Yates. I don’t often buy jarred sauces on account of the preservative/oil/ick factor, but check this out:

Look! No ickies!

Yes, yes, yes, the recipes associated with this product all call for animal products, but we know better. I had great hopes for this jar: visions of smothered tofu, tempeh, chick peas and tender lentils galore. And, as I turned the lid, summoning forth that very satisfying poppy noise, I was immediately inundated with a spicy sweet aroma that made me shout, “Oh yeah, that’s a sauce I’d like to put into my mouth.” So, I did. First, I took a spoonful. Then another. Then I heated up some leftover Jasmine Rice and just really went to town. By the time I was done, I didn’t really have enough sauce left to share with the rest of my family, so I polished off the jar incrementally (over rice with splashes of Sriracha) throughout the rest of the week.

Did I like it? You bet! Rich and tangy, with serious cinnamon overtones, this Tikka is incredibly satisfying. I especially liked the chunks of real veggies (tomatoes and onions), a feature that elevates this sauce to a status above mere condiment. Or maybe I just told myself that to justify eating mainly rice and condiment for lunch for an entire week. Whatever. Having said that, it wasn’t as spicy as I like my sauces, but that could be because I’ve positively scorched my palate over the years in preparation for our dream move to somewhere hot and spicy (anyone want to hire a graphic designer and vegan freelancer in New Mexico?) All in all, Ethnic Cottage’s Tikka Cooking sauce is a yummy splurge that boasts perfectly balanced flavours and textures. Simmer some chickpeas in there and you’ve got vegan fast food at it’s very best.

Will I buy it again? Maybe. At under 2 cups per jar and a regular price tag hovering at around $7 (I got mine on sale for $4.99), it’s really not the best use of your much coveted funds. Better to invest in some exotic spices and tomatoes of your own and Tikka yourself. However, if Ethnic Cottage Tikka was on sale again I would probably buy it for those lazy days when I just want to pour sauce on my arm and lick it off rather than cook. You have those days too, no?

Need a terribly simple, yummy side dish to bring to a potluck this weekend? This one screams “Halloween is coming” in all its vivid orange and punchy green glory. Happy Weekend, Vegan MoFoers!

INGREDIENTS

- cups carrots, sliced into matchsticks
- 1/4 cup mild vegetable broth OR orange juice OR apple juice*
- 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, chiffonaded
-  2 tsp mustard seeds

METHOD

1. Add carrots and broth (or juice) to a medium sauce pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5-7 minutes , until carrots are tender crisp.

2. Drain and return to pot. Toss carrots with mustard seeds and mint. Serve immediately.

NOTES

*I don’t have a big sweet tooth, so I prefer using broth, but if you choose to juice it, a tiny splash of rice wine vinegar makes a nice finisher for this dish. If you’re brothy like me, a sprinkle of smoked rock salt is tops. Even better? Try black salt for even more Halloween flair!

As a vegan parent, some of the most frustrating moments occur at mealtimes when you are out and about. Not because you can’t just pop into McDonald’s or toss your kid some Dunkaroos. But because eating with other parents in parks or shopping centres or at playgroups or preschool outings always provokes the same questions: “You’re vegan? Are your kids? How can you feed your children such a restricted diet? How can you deprive them of so much?”

So, instead of trying to explain for the umpteenth time why feeding kids a balanced vegan diet is anything but restrictive and infinitely better than feeding them traditional “kid food” (think processed crap like chicken nuggets, pop and sugary cereals and snacks), I’m just gonna hand out cards with this URL. Here’s to the next generation of Vegan MoFoers!

What Do My Vegan Kids Eat?

Actual Fruit VS "Fruit" Snacks

Isa's Bananas Rabanda VS French Toast

Homemade Coconut Oatmeal VS Sugary Store-bought Packets

Wholegrain Pancakes with Applesauce and Veggie Ham VS Bisquik, Aunt Jemima and Nitrates

More Actual Fruit VS Fruit Rollups

Almond Butter and Apple VS Skippy and Jelly

Hummus Man and Dahl VS Chicken Nuggets and Fries

Peanut Butter Banana Man VS Well, Peanut Butter and Banana (It's not all different)

Veggie Soup VS The Weird Neon Yellow Stuff

Mediterranean Quinoa VS Hamburger Helper

Isa's Macaroni and Trees VS Kraft Dinner

Bright and Tasty VS Beige and Fried

Vegan Cupcakes VS Other Cupcakes

Awesome Birthday Cake VS DQ

Extra Credit Reading

Raising Vegetarians
Veggie Kids
Happy Veggie Kids

best vegan macaroni casserole ever

My Mom’s Macaroni Casserole was better than your mom’s. That’s just plain and simple fact. In most households, the very mention of macaroni casserole sends shudders down the spine: I see visions of condensed “Cream of Stuff” soup, cans of tuna, undercooked, or worse, over cooked celery and frozen peas or squares of weird pig by product. I shudder to think what you all went through! Vegan Mofoers, I am here to help erase the evil.

But, nostalgia be damned. Bacon is dead pigs and the dairy industry is some crazy sadistic shiz. Although I can’t say our house was exempt from exploiting beautiful, unjustly processed piggy-wigs, at least our casserole tasted better and its majesty is more easily replicated in a vegan friendly format. Which means my kids don’t need to be deprived of the excitement I felt hearing that ‘roni box a rattlin’. No sir. Time for some vegan junk food.

DISCLAIMER:

Winter food photography: it sucks. Usually I try to at least create a beautiful white light box in my….erm….upstairs bathroom…cough…shhh!!!!! But, frankly, we just joined the YMCA/YWCA and they offer evening childcare for spousal workouts, so this meal was a little rushed. Just as every junk food meal should be!

Boss Vegan Mac Ingredients

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 package wholegrain macaroni or other short pasta
- 1 can whole plum tomatoes, hand diced, juices reserved
- 1 cup crimini mushrooms, chopped
- 1 cup vegan cheese, shredded–Daiya is the best we’ve found: 1/2 cup mozzella style, 1/2 Pepperjack
- 4-8 slices vegan bacon, such as Yves Canadian, if you want that sought after bacon-y smell, or make some of Isa’s eggplant bacon
- salt and pepper, to taste

METHOD:

(It’s so darn easy, but it tastes so good!)

1. Preheat oven to 425ºF.

2. In a large stock pot, cook pasta according to package directions. While pasta is cooking, sauté mushrooms in a bit of broth or white wine until just tender (alternately, if no one in your family is mushroom phobic, add to boiling pasta when there is just 2 minutes cooking time left.

cooked crimini

3. Drain pasta (and perhaps mushrooms). Return to pot. Stir in mushrooms (if using) and tomatoes with juice. Salt and pepper to taste.

Use the Mushrooms!

4. Now it comes down to taste. My Mom put ours in a very deep and giant casserole dish, which equated to a concentrated area of “cheese” and “bacon” on top and lots of tomato-y good pasta below. Our house takes picky to a new level, so I filled a 9″X”9 pyrex baking pan with just pasta and tomatoes, then mixed in the sautéed mushrooms into the remains of the pasta and put it all into 3 adorable ramikin-esque baking vessels. On the 9″X9″, I sprinkled the cheese and layered the veggie bacon. On the little ones, I just did bacon, cuz Daiya really does not have any nutritional value and mushrooms are delish.

If you don’t suffer from conflicting buds or nutritional morals in your home and you want every serving cheesy (with or without shroomies), just use a 9″X13″ lasagna pan and the upper quantity of bacon. Either way=yum!

5. Bake for 20 minutes and serve with exuberance.

Closest thing this house will ever get to a greasy spoon!

SOURCE: My mommy,  Janet McQuarrie

Fat Free Vegan Maple Cranberry Pumpkin Bread or Muffins

Surveying the ingredients at my disposal for this, the second day of Vegan MoFo, Week 3, I began to feel a little festive. I wonder why?

Festive Ingredients

I’m pretty sure I bought all this stuff as separate impulse buys on separate shopping trips, but suddenly it all seemed serendipitous that these jolly-time foods should be together under the same roof and I knew at once that they should, nay, must stay together in my tummy!

I’ve been a sucker for Sunrise Dessert Tofu lately, especially as a substitute for fatty coconut milk in Indian and Thai dishes. But this guy is new:

Sunrise Maple Caramel Dessert Tofu

My manfriend is a notorious maple hater, but who can hate maple when it gets all snuggly with pumpkin? Only a heartless fiend, that’s who, and since my husband has eaten a couple of my little loaves now, I guess he dodged that bullet! If you can’t find this delightful concoction, regular silken tofu will do, but do try to use pure maple syrup as your sweetener so your loaves can still be categorized as kissed. Everyone needs to be kissed.

Maple Cranberry Pumpkin Loaf, Fat Free and Vegan

INGREDIENTS:

- 2 cups whole grain flour
- 2 cups pastry/ cake flour
- 3 tsp  baking powder
- 1 tsp  baking soda
- 1/2 tsp  sea salt
- 1 1/2 cups maple caramel dessert tofu, OR any other flavour dessert tofu or silken tofu
- 1/2 cup maple syrup OR sucanut, OR any other natural sugar
- 1 cup orange juice or apple juice
- 1 cup puréed pumpkin
- 2 cups fresh cranberries, OR 1 1/2 cups dried

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a large mixing bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients (except for sugar, if you are using it).

2. In a medium mixing bowl beat tofu until it is very smooth. Add sugar or maple syrup, juice and pumpkin and mix thoroughly.

3. Make a well in the dry ingredients, deposit wet ingredients in said well and mix until very well combined.

Beauty well, eh?

4.Fold in berries and spoon into prepared pans.

I used an 8 slot mini-loaf pan plus 6 muffin cups. You could also make 2 regular sized loaves or 24 muffins. Or, if your family is not as piggy as mine, just half the recipe!

What Not To Do Gnocci

What do you get when you cross a girl with a potato allergy, faulty method and mixed up ingredients? This icky Gnocci! ew!!!

That’s right, I am starting off week three of Vegan MoFo with a kitchen catastrophe. I have a soft spot in my heart for gnocci, those tender little pillows of potato pasta, but I have never had good gnocci at home. Packaged, supermarket gnocci, when you are lucky enough to find a vegan variety, is universally disappointing. Often tough, sometimes gummy, store-bought gnocci lacks the dual textures of homemade: slightly al denté yet fluffy all the same. We even live a block away from an authentic Mediterranean market and I was heartbroken to discover the gnocci they sell is no different than any other vacuum sealed dud. So, rather than relegate gnocci to those rare occasions we can find a vegan version at a restaurant (the hotel we got married at served me the most incredible, vegan gnocci on our anniversary a couple years back and forever doomed me to be a brutal and severe gnocci critic), I decided to try my hand at creating my own from scratch. And boy did I blow it.

Organic Russet Potatoes

Faux Pas the First:

I chose russet potatoes because they are considered to be floury (categorized as having a low moisture and sugar content), which is ideal for pasta. But, rather than baking them in a dry oven, I peeled and pressure cooked them whole for 12 minutes instead.

Although I blotted them dry immediately and let them sit for about 1/2 an hour, I think the pressure cooking was just too much of a soak for them. Which lead me to…

Faux Pas the Second

Rather than pushing the potatoes through a sieve, as most recipes suggest, I took the lazy way out and whirled them through the grating blade of my food processor.

I never make mashed potatoes in the food processor. Why? As you can see in the above photo (especially around the edges of the bowl), the result is a sick, gluey mess. But, ever hopeful kitty that I am, I thought that maybe the gluey texture of the potatoes might be a boon to pasta, acting as a better binder in the absence of egg. However…

Faux Pas the Third

Do you ever find that homemade wholegrain pasta sometimes has a play-doughy taste? We do and I wanted my first attempt to shine, so I decided to use, gasp! white flour in this recipe! Refined carbs! eeek! Problem is that I rarely have all-purpose flour in the house, so I had to use cake and pastry flour as a substitute. The fine texture of this delicate flour in concert with the overly moist potatoes was a perfect storm. No matter how much I over-mixed and over-floured, the dough just kept getting stickier and finally I had to make a decision: throw out the whole mess or firm it up with some whole wheat flour. I chose option 2. I was wrong.

Once I was able to bring the dough to a rollable consistency, it was smooth sailing. Or so I thought…

How gross my finger looks should have been a clue!

Look how many we had to choke down!

So, I boiled them gently in salted water until they floated and served them to my very nice and unsuspecting family with a red wine and wilted spinach tomato sauce. I am so, so cruel.

Ewwwwww!!!!!!

They were tough, they were super play-doughy, yet, strangely, my kids could not get enough of’em. Perhaps because they tasted like play dough? My husband ate a substantial helping, perhaps because he is a wonderful human being. I stoically nibbled my photo display, cursing my smugness, my utter disdain for the substandard gnocci attempts of others. Karma’s a poo-face.

Fat Free Vegan Mexican Lasagna

You know what, Vegan MoFo friends? I forgot to theme my posts this week. Like I said when I forgot to do it last week, my original intention was to focus my posts on teaching kids how to eat healthfully, and, although I haven’t been doing so explicitly, my kids have gobbled every recipe I’ve posted so for, so I’m kinda living up to the dream, right?

I guess if I had to pull a quasi-theme out of this week’s post it would be “Thinking Ahead” and “Using Leftovers.” When I was at my parents’ house last weekend for the holiday, I read this article in the local paper. I was startled to learn that “[n]ew statistics from the UN Food and Agricultural Organization show that world malnutrition could be eliminated by salvaging just one-quarter of the food wasted in the U.S. and Europe.” Holy Moly!  Just consider all the food that gets thrown away in restaurants and supermarkets everyday–it is downright sickening! This is a problem that cannot be eradicated without a complete overhaul of the world’s food systems and a re-education of the population in regards to food security and the global economy. I can’t fix that tonight, but I can do my best lessen our family’s impact.

One solution is to eat at home more often and shop judiciously. As vegans, we are used to planning ahead: if we don’t think about what we’re going to eat everyday, we probably won’t be able to eat period. Unless you are lucky enough to live in a fantastical vegan mecca (You will be mine one day, Portland!), if you are vegan, you’re probably fending for yourself most of the time anyway, so why not make your meals work for you? Although it may seem like more effort at first, creating a weekly meal plan that allows you to transform leftovers into brand new meals will save you time, money and eliminate those nasty, fuzzy science experiments you find lurking at the back of the fridge when you’re hunting for the pickles.

To get you started, check out my recipe for Next Day Mexican Lasagna, which makes a great follow up to Taco Tuesday and Hump Day Chili.

Next Day Mexican Lasagna

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 1/2 cups Tex MexRice Bowl (made with my famous Ranchero Salsa!)
- 10 corn tortillas
- 4 cups your favourite vegan chili OR see note*

FOR TOPPING:
- 1 tbs  vegan broth powder
- 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 generous pinch sea salt
- 1/4 tsp  black pepper
- 2 cups warm water
- 1/2 cup fine cornmeal

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a 9″X13″ rectangular baking dish (lasagna pan), spread Mexican rice evenly.

Tex-Mex Rice Bowl featuring Ranchero Salsa Layer

2. Top rice with corn tortillas. Tear or cut to fit.

Tortilla Layer

3. Top tortilla layer with chilli.

Fat Free Vegan Chili Layer

FOR CHEESY VEGAN TOPPING:

1. In a medium bowl, stir together nutritional yeast, broth powder, salt and pepper until very well mixed.

2. Transfer to a medium saucepan and stir in water until no lumps remain. Cook over medium-high heat until mixture starts to bubble.

3. Reduce heat to low and slowly pour in cornmeal, whisking constantly.

4. Cook until it reaches a spoonable/spreadable consistency–about 1-2 minutes.

Cheesy Vegan Cornmeal Topping

5. Spoon cornmeal topping over waiting lasagna and gently spread to provide even coverage.

6. Bake for 35 minute. Olé!

NOTES:

1. If you don’t have chilli on hand, you can whip some up in your pressure cooker in less than 15 minutes. In your pressure cooker, combine 3 cups of your favourite chopped veggies (celery, yams, corn, carrots, onions, and garlic are my faves), 1 can of chili style diced tomatoes, one can of your favourite beans (I favour black beans or bean salad mix for chilli), 1/4 vegan broth, 1/2 jarred salsa, a pinch of sea salt, and a tsp each chilli powder, cumin and coriander. Seal, bring to high pressure over high heat, reduce heat to low and cook for 8 minutes or until veggies are tender.

Vegan Chili Awaiting Pressure

Fat Free Vegan Curried Squash Blossoms with Tangy Sriracha Dipping Sauce

Hey! Remember those Rustic Curried Squash Ravioli we made the another night? Sure you do! Well, you may have noticed that the recipe makes way more filling than the pasta can possibly handle. That’s because it is a statistical fact that vegans loooooooove leftovers! Why not turn your extra filling into something pretty to snack on?

INGREDIENTS:

- curried squash and chickpea filling (whatever you have left; I had just over a cup left and made 18 blossoms. Or, make a whole batch and do as many blossoms as you like!)
- 18-24 vegan dumpling wrappers, pre-packaged or make your own
- olive oil cooking spray

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 425ºF. Place one tablespoon of filling onto the centre of each wrapper and folding accordingly:

Step 1: place filling on wrapper and moisten outer edge.

Step 2: fold wrapper in half over filling horizontally.

Step 3: bring open edges in to centre.

Step 4: gather edges pinch to seal, et viola!

2. Place on parchment lined baking sheet, spritz lightly with olive oil spray and bake for 8-10 minutes until crisp.

Fat Free Vegan Curried Squash Blossoms

3. Serve with Tangy Sriracha Dipping Sauce: equal parts seasoned rice wine vinegar and Sriracha garlic chili sauce whisked together.

Pressure Cooker Chick*n Pea Stew and Dumplings

Well, autumn is definitely in full force in Victoria (which really just means we’ve settled into the dreary mildness that is also winter and spring here on the South Island). That means my tummy needs a hug on the inside and there is no better way to accomplish that feat than with warm stew and tender dumplings.

While stew is traditionally an all-day commitment, this saucy number whips up in a flash: just 21 minutes cooking time! But it tastes like it was simmered for hours thanks to the beauty and science (MAGIC!) that is pressure cooking. It is also important to use quality vegan broth: I use vegan “beef” for the stew and straight up veggie for the dumplings. This stew thickens as it cools some, so don’t start setting the table and pouring the almond milk until the dumplings are done. Then your supper will be just like Baby Bear’s porridge: just right. Except it will still be stew and dumplings, not porridge, which is much better. Porridge is icky. (Prove me wrong, Vegan Mofoers. Prove me wrong.)

Pressure Cooker Chick*n Pea Stew with Dumplings

INGREDIENTS:

FOR STEW:
- 1 med-large onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 4 stalks celery, chopped
- 3 large carrots, chopped
- 2-3 medium potatoes, diced
- 1 1/2 cups chick peas, cooked or canned (my 2 year old calls’em “chicken peas,” hence the name of the recipe. She kinda bosses me around. A bunch.
- 4 cups vegan broth PLUS 1/2 cup vegan broth, divided
- 3 tbs tamari or soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning*
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbs hot mustard, such as Keen’s
- 3 tbs all purpose OR pastry flour

FOR DUMPLINGS
- 1/2 cup whole grain flour
- 1/2 cup pastry/ cake flour PLUS 3 tbs
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp dry poultry seasoning
- 1/2 cup vegan broth

METHOD:

1. Place all stew ingredients on your pressure cooker. Mix thoroughly.

Did you know? Celery + Carrots + Onions = Mirepoix. One to grow on.

2. Seal cooker, bring to high pressure, reduce heat and cook for 6 minutes. (Set a timer for supreme accuracy!)

3. Meanwhile, assemble your dumpling batter: in a medium bowl, combine dry ingredients.

Add broth and stir gently until combined, being careful not to over mix. Batter should be very, very thick.

4. When your timer beeps or rings or whatever it does, use the quick release method to release pressure. Taste stew and adjust seasoning as necessary.

5. In measuring cup, stir together 1/2 cup of vegan broth (at room temperature) and 3 tbs flour until no lumps remain. Add to pressure cooker and stir to incorporate (this will thicken up the stew, as good slurries do).

6. Return cooker to stove (over medium-high heat) and drop batter into stew by 1 tbs dollops (stew should still be plenty hot and bubbly, but if it isn’t, continue to heat uncovered until it is). Cover (but DO NOT seal) cooker, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes. Please respect a dumpling’s right to dumplify in private and do not lift lid to monitor progress. May the cooking of dumplings forever be as sacred as the cooking of rice. Amen.

Now get your comfort food loving self a bowl and dig in!

Pressure Cooker Chick*n Pea Stew and Dumplings

NOTES:

*If you do not have poultry seasoning, use 1 tsp sage, 1/4 tsp thyme and 1/4 tsp oregano. You may also substitute fresh herbs for dried. Use about a quarter of a cup chopped very fine.

Rustic Curried Squash Ravioli--Fat Free and Vegan!

I know I presented a cop-out post last night, so I decided to make a rather involved recipe tonight to make up for it. Trouble is, a rather involved recipe means less time for writing a rather involved post. So, let’s call this one a pictorial. Without further ado, break out your squishy squash because it is time for Rustic Curried Squash Ravioli! (They are rustic because I also take care of a mess of children while making homemade pasta. I am frickin’ rustic).

Rustic Curried Squash Ravioli--Fat Free and Vegan

Rustic Curried Squash Raviolli

INGREDIENTS:

FOR DOUGH

- 1 cup whole grain flour
- 1 1/2 cups “white” whole wheat flour*, you might not need it all
- 1-1 1/2 cups vegan broth, see above
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 1 tsp tumeric
- sproinkling of sea salt, to taste

FOR FILLING:

- 1 1/2 cups winter squash, roasted for 25 minutes in a 425ºF oven (sliced, seeded, salted and peppered)
- 1/2 cup chick peas, cooked or canned, drained very well
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1 tbs dried red chillis OR 3 tbs Sriracha, optional
- 2 tsp your favourite curry powder
- sea salt, to taste

METHOD:

FOR DOUGH:

1. Add 1 cup broth to the bowl of your food processor, outfitted quite smartly with its dough blade. Add 1 cup whole grain flour and 1 cup white whole wheat (if using), as well as salt and spices.

Curried Pasta Ingredie

2. Pulse flour and broth until a dough ball forms and then process for about one minute. Add the rest of the flour and process until your reach the consistency of coarse bread crumbs. (you may still have a more diminutive dough ball too. That’s okay. It’ll give you a base for step 4.

Crumbly crumbs.

3. Empty the contents of your food processor onto a cutting board and form crumbs (and possible pre-existing ball) in a ball. Wrap ball in plastic wrap and allow to rest for 30+ minutes at room temperature.

Dough Ball!

FOR FILLING:

Curried Ravioli Filling Undone

4. Combine all ingredients in the bowl of your food processor, outfitted quite daringly with its super-sharp cutting blade, and process until it is the consistency of very firm mashed potatoes (ironically enough, if you do need more ooomph, mashed potato can be added to thicken in a quicken).

Curried Ravioli Filling Done

FOR RAVIOLI:

5. Using a pasta machine (or a rolling pin, if you have better mega-arms than I!), roll out dough, in 1/2 cup portions, into 1-2mm thick sheets. Flour often. You should end up with 5-6 sheets of pasta.

6. Lay one sheet on an amply floured work surface and brush with flour and water mixture (4 parts water to one part flour). Spoon 1 tsp of filling onto corner of sheet about 1 1/2cm from edges. Continue spooning filling at even intervals to make 2 rows. The picture says it better….

Curried Squash Ravioli Assembly

7. Lay another sheet of pasta on top of the first. Sprinkle with flour and press to seal outer edges. Next, press down to seal between the 2 rows. Finally, press to seal around the edges of each individual filling doblet (see photo).

Curried Squash Ravioli Assembly Part Deux

8. Using a pizza cutter or very sharp knife, cut out individual ravioli (don’t fret about form–they’re rustic!) and then sprinkly with flour. Free form the ones that don’t succumb to the grid. Pinch around every individual ravioli to ensure adequate seal-age. Leaks are cute, but not very prudent.

9. Bring a very large pot of salted water to a rolling boil. Add ravioli individually and cook for 5 minutes, stirring gently whenever your pasta intuition tells you too.

10. Drain and serve over your favourite sauce or curry (I’ll post our at a later date!)

Got extra filling? Of course you do! Well, I’ve got a place for it right here…

Puerto Vallarta Amigos Vegan Tacos

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone who is Canadian and also those who are not Canadian yet appreciate the sentiment of gratitude in October. I spent the long weekend up Island with various familial branches, so did not get to cook my usual Thanksgiving feasty. I’m going to do that later this week, which I am telling the children makes it even more special since we’re the only ones doing it (such a fib, we are so alone).

So what am I giving you for Vegan MoFo then? Weeeeeelll, in the midst of the busy, busy weekend, my Dad decided to craft a super yummy Mexican-themed Thanksgiving meal on Saturday evening. Did I cook too? Yeppers. Black bean and corn salad with Salt Spring Island Moghul curry powder, as well as extra zesty refried bean tacos. Did I take pictures? Nopers. I did not. But, see those pretty taco pictures above and below? I took these this very summer. You could eat these tacos too, you know. You just need to hustle your buns down to Puerto Vallarta Amigos in beautiful Victoria, BC.

Yummy Vegan Tacos at Puerto Vallarta Amigos

My Thanksgiving tacos were g.r.e.a.t. But my summertime visit to Puerto Vallarta Amigos was also very, super great. And the tacos were crazy affordable and delicious. Puerto Vallarta Amigos is an adorable food truck that is usually situated at Yates and Wharf St and offers a variety of vegan options–look at them! Unfortunately, when we were there, they were plum out of the vegan chorizo, but they had plenty of sassy sauces (that were kinda just a bit teensy spicy, yet no match for our 3 Sriracha bottle a week seasoned tongues) and other fancy fillings, so I was good.

My favourite was the spinach-potato filling because it was so beautifully seasoned and unexpectedly at home in its corn tortilla home. My husband preferred the beans on the same grounds: potatoes and spinach don’t live in taco houses, says he. Not in his neighbourhood! (Try the potato and spinach anyway, he’s so totally wrong!) My husband also said that the beans were yummy-flavourful and he wished he had more. I said he should and he said he would look into it. And he has.

Puerto Vallarta Amigos is quick, tasty, handy and accommodating. They make me happy and Thanksgiving makes me happy too! Yay, holidays!

Chilli Lime Beefless Tips: spicy, low fat vegan bliss

Happy Friday before the (Canadian) long weekend, Vegan Mofos! Can I get a collective sigh of relief? Ahhhhhhhh. Closing out my crotchety week I give to you a recipe for Gardein Beefless Tips, which I promised months ago, which makes me annoyed with myself and a wee bit embarrassed. But when I get embarrassed, I get defensive, so back off! (See!?! Crotchety! Accidental theme fulfilled!)

Although I am really trying to avoid processed soy products as much as possible these days (a hex on you, hexane!!!), Gardein Beefless Tips can usually be found chilling out in my freezer next to the peaches and cream corn for those “just in case” times. This is because of their satisfying tender-grilled tastiness and appeal to stalwart omnis. Gardein Beefless Tips are also super versatile, complementing nearly every ethnicity of cuisine imaginable. Having said that, please substitute edamame, black beans, chickpeas or even the less processed and beautifully fermented yum that is tempeh–just omit the pulsing step with the beans, but pulse away seitan and tempeh.

The makings of a beautiful stir fry.

Buuuuuuuuuttttttt, having said thaaaaaattttttt, Gardein Beefless Tips are just divine in this recipe. Go ahead and use them. Today we spice the tips up with our faithful ol’buddy, Sriracha and his partner, the ever-vibrant lime. All at once hot, sour, spicy, sweet and umami, this sauce is friend to all you can stir fry, but it does have a special fondness for getting all up in broccoli’s business.

Chilli Lime Beefless Tips

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 lime, juice from
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2 big’ol inches ginger
- 1/4-1/2 cup Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce
- 1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
- 2-3 tbs  Mirin OR natural sugar, (such as Sucanut)
- 1 package Gardein Beefless Tips
- 1/2 red onion, chopped
- 3 stalks celery, chopped
- 1/2 zucchini, diced
- 3 leaves kale, chopped
- 1 stalk broccoli, crowns and stems, chopped
- green onion, chopped
- water for oilless sauté

METHOD:

1. Purée garlic, ginger, lime juice, Sriracha, soy sauce and Mirin (or sugar) in large bowl of your food processor until very, very smooth.

2. Place defrosted tips in purée and allow to marinate for 15 to 20 minutes. Start your rice and prep your veggies.

3. In a large wok or skillet, sauté onion and celery in a few tablespoons of water over medium-high heat, 1-2 minutes, until they just start to soften, splashing in more water as necessary. Add zucchini and kale to the skillet and cook 2 minutes more, again, adding more water as necessary.

Sriracha: useful even post-mortem. The bottles make excellent water squirters for fat free sautés and stir frys.

4. Back to your food processor! Pulse beefless tips quickly, 2-3 times to chop coarsely. This allows for better sauce distribution and makes the fauxness of tips less noticeable for our omni friends.

5. Add beefless tips and sauce to skillet and cook until sauce is bubbly. Cover, reduce heat and cook for 3 minutes more. Add broccoli, cover again and cook for another 3 minutes, until broccoli reaches your desired tenderness.

Serve immediately over Thai Jasmine rice or a grain of your choice. Garnish with chopped green onion or scallions and sesame seeds.

Gratuitous Close-up!!!! Chilli Lime Beefless Tips

Almost Instant Fat Free Vegan Mashed Potatoes and Gravy

It’s Thanksgiving-time in Canada-land this weekend. There is no better way to feel glaringly vegan than attending a family gathering entirely centred on food. For many of us, it goes without saying to always bring a main (might I suggest Chick** Pot Pie or Vegan Shepherd’s Pie?), but vegan friendly sides can be slim pickings as well. Why not wiggle your way into the kitchen and veganize a side or two?

Mashed potatoes are often loaded with fat and dairy, but there are better ways to enter flavour country. Fresh herbs, garlic and high quality vegan broth make for creamy-good taters without all the ickys.

Diced Potatoes and Whole Garlic Cloves in Pressure Cooker

Ever eaten instant mashed potatoes? You know the flake-ed kind? I managed to avoid this earthquake kit staple until a two week camping trip last summer when I caved and bought some on a whim and saw my husband’s face alight with joy. The verdict? Not baaaaaaaaad. Very fast, nearly instant. But why eat something that can survive a nuclear holocaust when pressure cooker potatoes are even more instant and waaaaaaay healthier and tastier? Cuz you can’t use your pressure cooker on a Coleman stove? Fair enough. Just don’t go camping for Thanksgiving!

Whole cloves of garlic become silky pillows of love when pressure cooked, imparting a mellow, buttery flavour on your potatoes. Use whatever herbs you fancy most: I like fresh packed Poultry Seasoning for Thanksgiving, but dried rosemary works brilliantly as well.

Pressure Cooker Mashed Potatoes

INGREDIENTS:

- 5-7 medium-large potatoes (I favour Yukon Gold), skin on, diced into 1 inch cubes
- 2 cups vegan broth, preferably the un-chickn variety
- 5 cloves garlic, whole
- 1/4 cup fresh herbs, chopped fine OR 1 tbs dried herbs
- sea salt and black pepper, to taste

METHOD:

1. Place all ingredients in your pressure cooker. Bring to high pressure, reduce heat and cook for 6-8 minutes.

2. Release pressure and drain potatoes, reserving cooking liquid. Place cooking liquid in a measuring cup.

3. Add 1/4 cup cooking liquid to potatoes and start smashin’em, adding more liquid as necessary until you reach your perfect potato consistency.

And what would mashed potatoes be without gravy? Pretty good, actually, but people seem to love the stuff. Yes, there are also many instant gravy options available (can, powder and strange liquid drops), but it takes but a tick to make your own fat free vegan gravy from scratch. And boy is it it yummy!

Fat Free Vegan Herbed Gravy

INGREDIENTS:

- 1/4 cup of your favourite flour, I used Nutri Blend (white whole wheat)
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 1/2 tsp dried thyme OR Italian Seasoning OR 1 tbs fresh herbs, chopped very fine
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- a few dashes Old Bay Seasoning
-  2 tbs tamari or soy sauce
- 1 1/2 – 2 cups vegan broth, preferably un-beef flavoured
- sea salt and black pepper, to taste

METHOD:

1. In a large sauce pan, whisk together dry ingredients over medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Continue on this path until your mixtures is nice and toasted (light tan and nutty smelling).

2. Remove from heat, add broth and tamari and whisk until smooth.

3. Return to stove and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until you reach your desired consistency. If it gets too thick, add more broth. Taste, add salt and pepper as necessary and serve it over all your Thanksgiving goodies!

Happy Thanksgiving, my Canadian MoFos!!!!!

Hey! You know what I forgot? I forgot that since it is Vegan Mofo, I am suposed to be theming it up with my posts. My original intention was to do something centered on kid friendly recipes and teaching children healthy eating habits for life, but my first two posts have been kind of pity-party-complainy-narcissistic ramblings, so I’m just gonna finish out the week like that and be true to my theme next week. Cool beans? Like you have a say in the matter, ha!

Speaking of beans, I really like black beans, don’t you? Black beans and smooth segues. As a kid, my only exposure to beans was kidney beans and those are, well, thick skinned. Imagine my surprise the first time a tender noir beauty made its way into my mouth! Black beans are a happy addition to any Mexi-cali meal we munch on in our home and they make a handsome showing here.

Pressure Cooked Black Beans

The other thing about these burgers that makes them fit into my persnickety week is the presence of chipotle chili powder. I got it into my head in the late 90s that chipotle was an icky, trendy, smoky devil that I would never allow access to my sweet, pretty pantry. But, a few months ago, I was lucky enough to be a recipe tester for an unnamed Vegan Icon and was required to acquire the stuff. I don’t love it like wanna marry it or anything, but I will admit that chipotle has its place. Like in smoky bacon-esque creations and these quick, easy, tasty burgers.

Another upside to pattying your own burgers is using up fridge remnants: maybe I’m being veganist, but I have a feeling that all of us vegans cook an excess of grains. And that’s just smart thinking. Reward yourself with a healthy, tasty burger!

Fat Free Vegan Chipotle Black Bean Burgers

INGREDIENTS:

- 2 cups quinoa, cooked OR 2 cups brown rice, cooked
- 2 1/2 cups  black beans, cooked and gently mashed
- 1/4 tsp  sea salt, or to taste
-1 tsp  garlic powder
- 1-2 tsp  chipotle chili powder
- 1/4 cup salsa, jarred OR homemade
- 1/4 cup red onion, diced extra fine
- 1/4 cup fine cornmeal

METHOD:

1. Mix’em (exceptin’ the cornmeal)

Black Bean Patties, unpattied

2. Patty’em then sprinkle’em (utilize said cornmeal).

Chipotle Black Bean Patties

4. Bake’em at 400ºF for about 15 minutes, until slightly crisp.

Oh, they’ll be a little crumbly still, that’s no lie, but you won’t even give a care when your chewy vegan bun, avocado slices, fresh cut salsa and Pepper Jack Daiya hold the whole deal together.

Warm up to autumn with this spicy sweet curry.

Welcome to autumn, my friends. I myself don’t care for it much. Don’t like the dampness, the early-onset darkness or the shameless manner in which the foliage starts shedding its clothing. I take no pleasure in jumping through piles of crunchy leaves and maybe that’s just me, but the one thing I can’t complain about this season is the food. Fall flavours beg to be slow cooked and stewed–this is the time of year when cooking transforms your house into an envelope stuffed with luscious aromas, making you anticipate tucking into your meal all the more. And when I open my door to a neighbour or friend and they are greeted with a gust of savoury fall goodness that causes them to exclaim, “Yummm! What are you making in there?” I take pride in replying “None of your dang business, now SCRAM!” before I slam the door in their faces because I am crotchety beyond my years and the dreariness of autumn makes me kind of a jerk.

Ah, the fruits of the harvest.

Nothing says “In your face, it’s Fall!” like the colour orange, so naturally it is time for Orange Thai Curry. I used yams and summer squash, but truly you could use any orange or yellow veggie that you fancy: carrots, bell peppers, or acorn squash would all be fantastic in this spicy-warm sauce. Orange vegetables have an inherit sweetness that just begs to cuddle with coconut. Likewise, if you cook your own dried chickpeas rather than opt for the convenience of their canned cousins, you will notice they’re no slouches in the sweet department themselves.

Dried chickpeas remind me of something, but I can't quite place my finger on what...

This curry can be as fiery as you’re feeling: simply adjust the amount of Sambal Oelek or chilis to satisfy your pretty palate. I used 2 tbs Sambal Oelek and my two year old ate it. You’re not wussier than a 2 year old, are you?

Fat Free Vegan Orange Thai Curry and Rice

Orange Thai Curry

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 large yam, diced
- 1 medium yellow zucchini (summer squash), diced
- 2 cups chickpeas, cooked- 1 small onion, chopped fine
- 6 cloves garlic- 2 (thick) inches ginger or galanghal
- 300 grams coconut dessert tofu OR 1 can Light Coconut Milk (if using coconut milk, reduce broth to 1 1/2 cups)
- 1 tbs  Thai Red Curry Paste
- 2 tsp  madras curry powder
- 1-3 tbs  Sambal Oelek OR 1 TBS dried red chilis OR 4-6 fresh Thai Red Chilis, chopped fine
- 2 tsp  garam masala
- 2 tsp  lime juice, fresh squeezed, about a quarter lime
- sea salt, to taste- 2 cups vegan broth

METHOD:

1. In your trusty, NEVER dusty, food processor, purée garlic, ginger, tofu, garam masala, curry powder, curry paste, lime juice and Sambal Olek until ultra silky smooth.

Pre-pulverization. You are gonna get it, ingredients!

2. In a large skillet, over medium-high heat, sauté onion in a 1/2 cup of the broth until soft (about 4 minutes). Add yams, chickpeas, squash and the rest of the broth and sauté for 3 minutes more.

Pre-simmer

3. Add yo’coconut purée to skillet. Stir to combine and add salt to taste (or don’t, salt is so whatevs) and heat until bubbly. Reduce temperature to low, cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until yams are ultra soft. Serve over brown basmati rice or Thai Jasmine rice.

Happy Fall, Vegan Mofoers!

I kind of feel like my angsty-snit this summer puts me at a bit of an advantage for MoFo this year. I mean, it wasn’t like I wasn’t cooking and photographing all summer, I just temporarily misplaced my will to blog about it when I found out I had to sell my ticket to Vida Vegan Con. My absence from the blogosphere this summer was the internet-ical equivalent of storming off to my room, slamming the door and getting my pout on. But, I’m all better now and boy-oh-jeez do I have A LOT of great recipes, photos and reviews to share!

I am so happy to be back and can’t wait to read about all the amazing goings-on that Vegan MoFo 2011 is going to bring us! And, to herald my return, please allow me to toast all of Vegan Blogsville with a cocktail. In wholegrain, fat free muffin form.

So good you won't even care that they don't give you a buzz. For serious.

Fat Free Pîna Colada Muffins

INGREDIENTS:

- 2 cups whole grain flour
- 1 tbs  baking powder
- 1/2 cup evaporated cane juice, sucanut or other natural dry sweetener
- 1 egg’s worth egg replacer (EnerG or ground flax egg)
- 1 can crushed pineapple, not drained
- 1/2 package coconut dessert tofu (150g)
- 2 tsp  coconut or vanilla extract

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF. In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour and baking powder. Stir in sugar.

2. In a smaller bowl, mix together egg replacer and water. Add pineapple, vanilla and tofu and mix thoroughly.

3. Add wet ingredients to dry. Stir until just mixed. Pour into prepared muffin cup and bake for 25 minutes, until muffins are slightly brown and you pass the toothpick test.

So there you have it. Quick, easy, moist and delicious. Just like me? Meh, give me a couple days to get back into this writing thing. I’ll find it!

Happy Evil Colonial Regime Weekend! Or whatever. Yay History!

Sour grapes aside, the first weekend of July is a jubilant weekend for all of us here on this stolen continent. And what says “we have got it easier than anyone else on this planet” better than tasty, tasty cupcakes? Nothing. Nothing at all.

I super like cupcakes. And these are delicate and sweet and pretty, just like the best of the settlers once they settled down some (I’m watching the Coen Brothers’ True Grit as I type this. There is no need for conjunctions here).  I adapted this recipe from Coleen Patrick-Goudreau’s delicious treats in The Joy of Vegan Baking, making mine less sweet and not at all oily. Eat them! Eat them I say! And watch out for rattle snakes. Ever stalwart.

yields 12-15 small cupcakes

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 cup pastry/ cake flour*
- 3/4 cup “white” whole wheat flour*
- 1 tsp  baking soda
- 3/4 cup evaporated cane juice or organic vegan white sugar
- 1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
- 1 tbs  apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp  vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen strawberries, smashed or puréed
- 5 whole strawberries, sliced
- a whole bunch blueberries, if youse American
- 1 batch your fave vegan whipped “cream” recipe**

Look! Red wine for Canada Day!

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF and grease/line/set up (if you favour the silicone) 15 muffin cups so they are ready to party.

2. In a large mixing bowl, stir together flours, sugar and baking soda.

3. In a separate medium type mixing receptacle, whisk together apple sauce, vinegar and vanilla. Stir in your pretty berries.

4. Make a well in your dry ingredients. Think of Ms. Grimmer if you were in my highschool Home Ec class (for those of you that were not, Google “Pat” from Saturday Nigh Live. But in a nice way). Now stop thinking about her and pour wet ingredients into dry and stir very gently until just mixed. (you couldn’t stop thinking about her, could you?).

5. Fill your cups 3/4 full and bake for 18-22 minutes, until tester tooth pick comes out clean.

Naked and Pink: Fat Free Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes

6. Allow to cool completely, slather with vegan whipped cream and top with berries according to your nationological leanings. Party.

NOTES:

*I like to add a little wholesome to the load. You could ostensibly use all whole wheat flour, but it’s a party, yo! Party! Cake and pastry flour makes your cupcakes spongy and it’s not a party unless it’s spongy.

**Vegan whipped cream is awesome and much tastier than the real stuff. It was a lazy party weekend (party!), so I used this (see below photo), but recipes abound. Go for it!

Found this by accident in the coffee section of Fairway Market snuggled up to the non-dairy milks in tetra packs. Super yummy!

You know what you need right now? A crazy versatile filling. That’s right! Not money nor true love nor eternal health. You need something that will reliably taste great when shoved into something else. Well, you are in luck, my friend. This little green wizard can do just about anything! Great in potstickers, tortellini or pierogi, I even combined my leftovers with canned diced tomatoes, chopped olives and more chickpeas for a quick and delightful pasta toss. Dare you spread it on crostini, drizzle with olive oil or sprinkle with mozzarella-style Daiya and bake it up tasty? Probably you do. I would.

This recipe makes a hella-lot (that’s a culinary term, for serious). I stuffed about 50 potstickers and still had at least 3/4 of a cup to toss with my noodles. Don’t worry! This is a good thing since you can do oh-so-much with our yummy filling and the flavour improves the longer it hangs out. In fact, you can let the leftovers party in your fridge for up to 5 days. Party.

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 can chickpeas or 2 cups cooked chickpeas
- 3 cups spinach, fresh
- 4 large brown or white mushrooms, chopped coarse
- 2 tsp garlic powder OR 2 cloves finely minced garlic
- 2 tbs lemon juice
- 2 tbs soy sauce or tamari
- 1/2 cup green onions*
- 1/2 cup cilantro*
- 2 tsp garam masala*

METHOD:

1. In the large bowl of your food processor, blend chickpeas, spinach, garlic, soy sauce and lemon juice together until smooth.

2. Add garam masala, mushrooms, green onions and cilantro (OR whichever flavour enhancer you’re letting into your life this fine day) and pulse until combined.

3. Fill your boots. Or your potstickers. Or your sweet, sweet, pasta. Maybe some pierogi? But, above all, your boots.

NOTES:

*you can easily manipulate the nationality of this scrumptious putter-inner by playing with herb and spice combinations. Try flat leaf Italian parsley instead of garam masala and cilantro. Perhaps you have some mojo cubano lounging in your fridge? Splash some of that right in there! Maybe Chinese 5 Spice powder and chopped water chestnuts to complement your green onions and add texture? Right? Okay! Go!

Spinach and Chickpea Pasta Toss

Yes, yes, yes, it has been awhile! You are right! It’s been a busy, life-rearranging time for us over here at MyWholeDeal.com (which is just me. Shhhhhh. Sounds more professional if I inflate the numbers a little), but methinks we are finally back on track. Methinks, anyway.

As I mentioned in my last post, oh so many days ago, my immediate future was looking decidedly different. My days began to be consumed by phone calls, meetings and various preparations and I began falling back on quickie-type meals to feed my peoples.

I learned two things these last few weeks: 1) It is much easier to find childcare for an unreasonably hostile 4 year old than it is for a cherubic and potty trained 2 year old and 2) I have enough pressure cooker recipes to fill a cookbook.

Oh, look! Here’s one now!

Tender potatoes act as a thickener for this quick, satisfying and fresh tasting stew.

This recipe really is beyond simple, but it also allows the dill and veggies to scream their fresh yummy flavour from the hilltops, if you are eating it on a hill, or at very least your spoon top, if you are not. Fresh dill is imperative and crazy bountiful this time of year, so you have no excuses. You will dill.

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 cup black eyed peas, dried
- 1/2 cup brown rice
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 1 cup celery, chopped
- 1 cup carrots, chopped
- 2 cups potatoes, your favourite, diced
- 1/2-1 cup fresh dill , stems and all, minced
- 4 cups vegan broth, OR 3 cups liquid to cook beans and rice + just enough more to cover veggies (depending on your pressure cooker).
- sea salt and pepper, to taste

If a stew can say summer, this one does. Vegans don't normally eat stuff that says stuff, I know. But you should eat this.

METHOD:

1. Add ingredients in the order listed to your pressure cooker. Bring to high pressure, reduce heat and cook for 18-24 minutes (depending on your cooker), until beans and rice are tender. Adjust seasoning as necessary and serve with warm wholegrain bread or fresh spinach salad.

Ready for Pressure!

NOTES:

*If you do not have a pressure cooker, soak black eyed peas in salted water overnight. In a large stock pot, sauté onions in a bit of stock or water over medium-high until translucent. Add veggies and a bit more stock and cook for 3 minutes more. Add rice, beans, salt and pepper and 4-5 cups of vegetable stock. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and cook for at least an hour, until beans and rice are tender. Stir in chopped dill, adjust seasoning and serve as above.

SERVINGS: 8

Hoo Hoo Billy. It has been a super-dumb week and a bit. So much stuff has transpired to change the trajectory of my little world and I just did not feel like cooking or blogging or talking to anyone. But, you can only be in a funk for so long before you are known as that funky chick and who wants to be that? Except for maybe Blossom or that funky chick who lives down the street from me, but they’re the exceptions, fo sho.

At any rate, long story short, I’m a sad little monkey because I must miss out on the vegan bloggers event of the summer/universe and I have to leave my cute little monkeys and return to the daily grind this fall. (As an aside, I haven’t HAD to be anywhere on time for 4 1/2 years now and I really sucked hot rocks at it back then so I am über terrified about getting three kids to various destinations and my irresponsible behind to work on time. Any tips would be greatly appreciated!) But there are so many worse places in the world to be than where I’m at, so I’m being a nice buttercup now and sucking it up. Look at me go!

Veggie burgers are great, right?  Eat these ones! (Look at me segue away from that pity-party so seamlessly–smmmooooottttthhhhh)

Easy Vegan Lentil Burgers

INGREDIENTS:

- 2 cups brown lentils, cooked and drained
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 cup wholegrain breadcrumbs, fine
- 1 tsp garam masala
- 3 bay leaves
- sea salt, to taste
- 3 tbs prepared mustard, your favourite one–I like sweet onion or spicy hot

My man can turn any burger naughty. Daiya and Sriracha.

METHOD:

1. You can use either dried or canned lentils for this one. Life offers us so many choices.

I used dried: I popped 2 cups large green (or brown) lentils, the garam masala, bay leaves and salt into my pressure cooker and covered with about a 1.5 inches of water. I brought it all to high pressure, reduced heat and cooked for 32 minutes until lentils were super mushy and water was completely absorbed (I released pressure and checked on my little friends at 25 minutes and they were too firm, so I added a bit more water and sent them back on their being cooked mission quest. I recommend you do the same since all appliances vary.)*

If you’re using canned, drain’em super goodlike and add the spices in step 3. Now go to Step 2.

2. Preheat oven to 425ºF. Meanwhile, in a medium pan over medium heat, sauté onions and garlic in a little water, broth or oil (depending on your political leanings) for about 5 minutes until translucent and tender.

3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly spray with olive oil. In a large mixing bowl, combine mushy lentils, spices–if using canned lentils, bread crumbs, onions and garlic. Mix together until very thick, adding more breadcrumbs if necessary. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.

4. Scoop about 1/4 of mixture into your hot little hands and roll it up into a ball. Now mush that ball down until it’s a patty. You’re the boss here. Don’t forget that. Repeat steps until you use it all up–you should get about 8-10 patties.

Make'em look like this!

5. Bake for 10-12 minutes, checking frequently just in case your oven is more over-achieving than mine and serve immediately with the best burger toppings in the world!

NOTES:

* If you cook 2 cups of dried lentils, you will have more than you need for this recipe and I am always happy to have extras. Cooking large brown/green lentils with garam masala, bay leaves and salt and adding a bit more water to your serving super reminds me of the rehydrated soups I lived off during my University days. The kettle truly is the vegan student’s best friend!

I was snarfy hungry on Saturday afternoon. I think the kids are calling it hangry these days. Whatever the moniker, once my entire family had casually yet pointedly removed themselves from my presence, I realised I needed to eat something right quick or risk solitary confinement for the rest of the weekend.

The problem is that, when you are picky and perhaps a little psychotically health conscious and vegan, there is really no such thing as fixing something right quick. I made a pact with myself a long time ago that I would only eat things that are very, very tasty. What is the point of busting my behind on a stupid elliptical trainer for hours at time to burn off something that was less than divine? There is no point, I tells ya. Which puts me in a bit of a bind when hangry hits, although if “Mock 10 Borderline Murderous Hangry” sneaks up on me, I usually have no choice but to slather sriracha on the nearest edible surface and cool out until I even out. Luckily, Saturday was but a Mock 3–I was just hangry enough to create a cheater dish that will no doubt become a staple in this house.

Mojo Cubano Potstickers

Mock 3 Hangry can only be satiated by stuffing something into something else and then stuffing it all into me. Usually I am smart enough to make extra perogies and keep some in the freezer for hunger emergencies, however, I am currently fighting with my pasta maker so my stocks are depleted. The pasta maker totally started it, by the way. Rummaging through the cupboards and fridge I was delighted to find vegan gyoza wrappers and canned lentils. I was hell bent on whipping up a batch of Crispy Lentil Perogies, when all of a sudden, this little bottle caught my eye:

Impulse Buy. Dig it.

I try not to buy pre-fab sauces and marinades anymore, but for some reason, this friendly fellow weasled its way into my basket the other day.  So, in lieu of spinach and proper pierogy protocol, I mashed up my taters and lentils with garam masala, a titch of lemon juice and a splasheroo of this sauce. The result? Flavourful and fantastic! In fact, Mojo Cubano may be giving Sriracha a run for its money in my favourite condiment of all time race.

INGREDIENTS:

- 1 can lentils, drained thoroughly
- 1 medium onion, halved and sliced
- 1 med-large potato , baked (or nuked) then diced
- 1 tsp  garam masala
- 1/4 tsp  black pepper
- 2 tbs  mojo (cuban-style garlic lime marinade), store bought or homemade*
- sea salt, to taste
- 1 squeeze lemon juice
- 30-40 store-bought, vegan gyoza wrappers, or homemade if you are not raging hungry like me
- more marinade, for dippin’

METHOD:

1. In a medium frying pan, caramelize sliced onion over medium-high heat in a scant spritz of olive oil spray, stirring constantly.

2. In a large bowl, using a potato masher, bash together lentils, diced cooked potato, garam masala, marinade, salt and pepper until thick and thoroughly combined. Stir in caramelized onions and a squeeze of lemon juice. Taste and adjust seasoning as necessary.

3. Preheat oven to 375ºF and line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper or spray lightly with cooking spray. On a clean work surface, lay out 8-12 gyoza wrappers. Spoon a generous teaspoon of the lentil mixture in the centre of each wrapper. Moisten edges, press and pinch very firmly to seal. Continue until all your filling has been gobbled up by voracious wrappers.

4. Space filled gyozas on prepared baking sheets evenly, spritz lightly with olive oil, if desired, and bake for 10 minutes, until edges are crisp. Serve with Sriracha and more Garlic Lime marinade for dipping.

NOTES:

Safeway Sauce

*When I googled “Cuban Garlic Lime Marinade,” I found a bijillion recipes for Mojo Cubano, which I’m guessing is what my pre-fab stuff is trying to be, although soy sauce is not a traditional ingredient. Why not make your own authentic Mojo Cubano? It could not be easier or tastier, unless you make it with, say, pure rainbows. Nope, that would not be easier. Just do this instead.

INGREDIENTS:

- 6 garlic cloves
- 1 cup very finely chopped onion
- 2/3 cup lime juice or sour orange juice
- 1 tbs cilantro, chopped
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/4 tsp dried red chile
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper

- 1/2 cup olive oil

OR

- 1/2 cup water
- 1/8 tsp xanthum gum, guar gum or psyllium fibre (husks)–to thicken. You can use 1 tsp cornstarch, but you will have to heat the whole she-bang up, which is fine, if that’s what you’re into!

This is store bought. Yours will be better!

METHOD:

1. Using a mortar and pestle, pulverize garlic and salt until they form a paste.

2. Place paste in a medium mixing bowl and whisk in the rest of ingredients and allow to sit for at least half an hour before using.