A Veg-anza in New Paltz

Last weekend, instead of taking the train into New York City to see my beloved mother (and now fellow vegan!), I invited her up to Poughkeepsie in honor of Vassar’s annual spring Families Weekend. While we did not engage in any of the (thrilling, I’m sure) planned campus activities, my mother and I enjoyed ourselves immensely by paying a visit to the adorable gem of a town known as New Paltz. A mere 30-minute drive from Poughkeepsie, New Paltz functions essentially as a much more thriving, hipper city than the 18th most miserable city in America that Vassar calls home (sigh). In keeping with the town’s hip young atmosphere, New Paltz boasts an all-vegan cafe, a vegan fair-trade chocolate shop, a quaint health foods co-op, plenty of vegan items on many restaurant menus, and a grand slew of unique handmade jewelry stores, clothing boutiques, and antique shops. Needless to say, I wholeheartedly wish that I could gather up the Vassar campus and relocate it to New Paltz, but as that seems rather impossible, I’ll settle for weekend visits to the happy little town.

Upon first arriving in New Paltz, my mother and I sought lunch at a traditional Japanese restaraunt called Gomen Kudasai. The noodle shop features an entire vegan menu, as well as plenty of gluten-free items, including mung bean thread and yam noodles. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the chance to experience the full extent of Gomen Kudasai’s offerings, as the restaurant only offered their brunch menu during our visit. Regardless, my mother and I found plenty of vegan options, as specially denoted by helpful symbols on the menu. We began our meal with a complimentary bowl of always-satisfying salted edamame, followed by a simple and elegant triangular prism of brown rice and seaweed known as onigiri. For her entree, my mother opted for a stir-fry of udon noodles, chewy browned tofu, and succulent vegetables in a delightful gingery sauce. As for myself, I ordered an incredibly comforting bowl of kaki ten soup with gluten-free noodles, which comprised of slippery, chewy, semi-transparent noodles and crispy shredded veggies in an unctuous umami broth. All of Gomen Kudasai’s fare tasted fresh, simple, and quite thoughtfully prepared, though it did verge on the overly salty side.

 

 

After contentedly filling ourselves with noodles and other Japanese goodies, my mother and I set out on the gorgeously sunny day to explore the town of New Paltz. Our ventures brought us first to the much-acclaimed Lagusta’s Luscious—a vegan artisanal chocolate shop with a commitment to social justice, environmentalism, and animal rights. Indeed, the lovely and hugely talented ladies at Lagusta’s source all of their ingredients from small farms and producers in and around New Paltz, package all of their chocolates in 100% post-consumer recycled paper boxes and packing materials, use only fairly traded chocolate certified not produced with child/slave labor, and often donate to various worthy causes including animal sanctuaries and feminist organizations. The shop’s proprietor, Lagusta Yearwood, also just contributed an insightful and inspiring essay to the Defiant Daughters anthology entitled “Eat Chocolate, Have Faith in Women,” which she read at the book’s launch at Bluestockings Bookstore in NYC, where I had the honor of meeting and chatting with her.

The Lagusta’s Luscious storefront.

Greeted by my favorite professor’s wife, who works at Lagusta’s Luscious and refers to me as her “vegan sister,” my mother and I gazed in awe at the tantalizing and uniquely flavored chocolate truffles and bars lining the blue-and-brown walls of the tiny shop. Yearning to spoil me after not seeing me since spring break (that’s my mother for ya), my mother eagerly gifted me an eight-piece box of assorted chocolate truffles, a smoky corn-on-the-cob chocolate bar, and a block of Lagusta’s housemade chickpea-kidney bean tempeh (I know, right?). From the glass-plated truffle case, I chose to include in my assorted chocolate box a Rosemary Sea Salt Caramel, a Sea Salt Shiitake Truffle, a Caramelized Onion and Chipotle Truffle, a Coriander-Beet Truffle, a Fennel-Apple Truffle, a Grapefruit Cream, a Macadamia Maui Vanilla Cream with Chamomile, and a Raspberry Balsamic Truffle. Um, can you say heaven on earth?

Every spice imaginable to inject oodles of flavor in Lagusta’s decadent chocolate.

The April 2013 Chocolate-of-the-Month: a vegan “bacon” bar filled with shiitake-miso-yuba caramel.

Two chocolate barks: a Sea Salt and Almond Slate, and a Fig and Fennel Bark.

My very own box of chocolate truffles.

Homemade chickpea-kidney bean tempeh.

After bading goodbye to Lagusta’s rather magical shop, my mother and I meandered around New Paltz for the better part of the afternoon, peeking inside and browsing nearly every quaint little storefront in the small town, including a shop called Scarborough Fair that specialized in artisan infused oils and vinegars. There, my mother insisted upon buying me a 4-oz bottle each of avocado oil and pomegranate balsamic vinegar (hey, I’m not complaining), but they also boasted other intriguing varieties like porcini mushroom extra virgin olive oil and fig balsamic vinegar. I hope to experiment with the avocado oil and pomegranate balsamic to produce a couple winning recipes for the blog in the near future, so keep an eye out for those.

Oil and vinegar jugs at Scarborough Fair.

Our wandering also brought my mother and me to Inquiring Minds—an independent bookstore that, incidentally, will host a reading by three contributors to the Defiant Daughters anthology, including Lagusta Yearwood herself, this Saturday at 7pm (stop by if you’re in the area!). Inside the bookstore, I excitedly discovered an entire display table devoted to vegan cookbooks and animal rights literature, including the cult classic The Sexual Politics of Meat by vegan pioneer Carol Adams. With her feminist background and newfound veganism, my mother immediately became enthralled with the book’s cover and premise. After purchasing the book, my mother and I agreed that I would read it first while at Vassar, hand it off to her when she comes to help me relocate to D.C. for the summer, and discuss the book’s still groundbreaking ideas once we had both finished reading it. I can’t wait to start paging through the book that has enlightened so many individuals to the unavoidable intersections of veganism and feminism.

Vegan & animal rights display table at Inquiring Minds bookstore.

I planned on accompanying my mother back to New York City to spend Sunday with both of my parents, so before departing from New Paltz, my mother and I picked up a dinner to enjoy on the train ride home at organic and local vegan deli, bakery, juice & smoothie bar Karma Road. Though I didn’t obtain photos of the actual food that my mother and I ordered (snapping pictures on moving trains does not translate to quality photography), I did document the deli case, which boasted gluten-free veggie burgers, coleslaw, kale pizza with Daiya cheese, mixed vegetable curry, braised greens, and spelt sweet potato biscuits among other offerings. For our to-go dinners, my mother ordered a hummus wrap and a small portion of coleslaw from the deli case, while I chose the Karma Combo salad—kale, sunflower sprouts, carrot, celery, tomato, and roasted peppers in a tahini dressing—accompanied by two logs of hearty and sweet apple juice-glazed tempeh. Followed by a piece each of my smoky corn-on-the-cob chocolate bar, our meal from Karma Road provided immense satisfaction on the train ride to NYC.

As my mother and I strolled around New Paltz, we discussed the pervasive feeling of great clarity achieved after adopting a vegan lifestyle, the abhorrently corrupt nature of the meat-industrial complex and food corporations, and cruelty-free cosmetic brands. I never could have fathomed that my own mother of all people would find herself caught up in the same issues that I hold near and dear to my heart, and feel so unbelievably greatful to now call my mother an ally in the vegan movement. To those individuals feeling frustrated with their own family members who haven’t yet found their vegan calling, I’d encourage you not to lose hope, to always speak to those family members with patience, kindness, and compassion, and to continue to embody your own values in your everyday life. Even if your loved ones don’t adopt a vegan lifestyle in this lifetime, you can rest confident that you at least shifted their consciousness, if just a smidgen, to a more compassionate mode of existence. At the end of the day, I’d call that successful advocacy.

Until next time, Ali.

What I Ate Wednesday #66: My Last WIAW

Yes, I understand that another “What I Ate Wednesday” constituted my last post, as well. Yes, I understand that recipes, ethical/philosophical musings, and restaurant reviews serve as vastly more intriguing topics than my weekly eats do (perhaps some of you may argue to the contrary, but that’s simply my humble opinion). However, in the midst of authoring an important piece for a vegan-related, non-blogging outlet as well as beginning my second essay in my three-part series exposing Michael Pollan’s ulterior motives, I’ve devoted much of my intellectual/writing-related energies toward venues other than my beloved blog. Fear not though, dear readers, for I hope to soon channel these energies back to the world of the vegan blogosphere. Once that happens, I intend to no longer participate in this weekly meal recap as I have for 66 past Wednesdays, for I’d prefer for my blog to cultivate a more professional atmosphere fostering intellectual discussion among innovative recipes. Hopefully, the elimination of What I Ate Wednesdays from my blog will allow me to provide more intriguing content on a more regular basis. So now, for the last time, please enjoy another round of my stupendously intriguing meals.

Breakfast: A breakfast salad of baby spinach, amaranth, brown rice, goji berries, wild blueberries, and chia seeds tossed in a dressing of plain unsweetened soy yogurt, homemade sprouted almond butter, and Amazing Grass Green Superfoods Powder, sprinkled with the contents of one capsule of Rainbow Light’s Advanced Enzyme Systems digestive enzymes.

Breakfast Checklist: Protein—soy yogurt, sprouted almond butter, chia seeds. Whole Grain—brown rice, amaranth. Fruit—goji berries, blueberries. Leafy Green—baby spinach. Superfoods—goji berries, chia seeds, Amazing Grass powder.

Morning Tea: Rooibos Red Tea from Alvita.

Lunch: An open-faced sandwich of a lentil-brown rice-roasted sweet potato & broccoli burger on top of a brown rice cake slathered with tahini, sauerkraut, and dulse seaweed flakes, accompanied by a bowl of mushroom, leek, and spinach soup sprinkled with nutritional yeast.

Meal Checklist: Protein—beluga lentils, tahini. Whole Grain—brown rice. Vegetables/Fruit—sweet potato, broccoli, cabbage, leeks, spinach, mushrooms. Leafy Greens—spinach, broccoli, cabbage in sauerkraut.

Afternoon Beverage: Kukicha Twig Tea from Eden Organics.

A bottle of GT’s Kombucha in Cosmic Cranberry flavor.

Dinner: A breakfast-dinner of savory Sweet Potato Belgian Waffles (made with my new, very own waffle iron!) topped with Coconut-Braised Kale and served alongside strips of Tempeh Bacon, courtesy of Kathy Patalsky—my biweekly dinner contribution to the Ferry household.

Meal Checklist: Protein—chickpea flour, fava flour, tempeh. Whole Grain—sorghym flour. Vegetables—kale, garlic, onions, sweet potato. Leafy Greens—kale.

After-Dinner Beverage: Traditional Medicinals’ Organic Eater’s Digest tea.

Happy WIAW!

Until next time, Ali.

What I Ate Wednesday #62

Breakfast: A green smoothie of 1/2 a jonagold apple, 1/2 of a frozen banana, a handful of frozen blueberries, 1 tbsp chia seeds, 1 tbsp hemp seeds, 1 tsp maca, 1/2 tsp spirulina, 1 tbsp goji berries, 3 leaves of kale, and 1/2 cup homemade almond milk, topped with a half-cupful of my latest granola creation featuring GF rolled oats, raw buckwheat groats, unsweetened shredded coconut, flaxseed meal, pecans, and walnuts coated in a puree of apples, dried apricots, almond extract, cardamom, cinnamon, and coconut oil.

Breakfast Checklist: Protein—chia seeds, hemp seeds, almond milk, flaxseed meal, pecans, walnuts. Whole Grain—GF rolled oats, buckwheat. Fruit—apple, banana, blueberries, goji berries, dried apricots. Leafy Green—kale. Superfood—hemp seeds, chia seeds, spirulina, goji berries, maca, flaxseed meal.

Morning Tea: Eden Organic Genmaicha Tea.

Lunch: A deconstructed salad of sorts (perhaps “lettuce wraps” would serve as the correct term?) of four large leaves of lettuce schmeared with hummus and topped with quinoa, celery, mushrooms, sauerkraut, and dulse flakes, all drizzled with Liquid Gold Dressing.

Meal Checklist: Protein—chickpeas and tahini in hummus. Whole Grain—quinoa. Vegetables—mushrooms, celery. Leafy Greens—lettuce, cabbage in sauerkraut, dulse flakes.

Afternoon Beverage: Choice Organic White Peony tea.

A bottle of GT’s Organic Raw Kombucha in Hibiscus (Botanic No. 7) flavor.

Dinner: A comforting and astoundingly flavorful soup of lentils and split peas cooked down into a creamy puree with mushrooms, celery, leeks, and cubes of tofu, served over a bed of wilted kale and topped with a brown rice-black bean pilaf as well as a sprinkling of nutritional yeast.

Thanks to Franny and Robyn for anoter scrumptious Ferry dinner!

Meal Checklist: Protein—lentils, split peas, tofu, black bean. Whole Grain—brown rice. Vegetables—mushrooms, celery, leeks. Leafy Greens—kale.

After-Dinner Beverage: Traditional Medicinals’ Organic Eater’s Digest tea.

Happy WIAW!

Until next time, Ali.

Wild Rice Congee with Sweet Potatoes & Kale

My health seemed in tip-top shape last night—I ate a hearty dinner of shepherd’s pie and hummus, gave the Ferry kitchen a good scrub-down, and hopped in the sack by my preferred bedtime of 9:45. By the wee hours of the morning, however, flu-like symptoms seized my being and rendered me both pajama-clad and relegated to eating primarily oatmeal and bananas for the rest of the day…or so I thought.

While fathoming alternative easy-on-the-stomach foods, I recalled the traditional rice porridge called congee—first introduced to me via Kim at Affairs of Living—that Chinese and other Asian cultures have long employed to boost longevity, heal the ill, and strengthen the digestive system. Traditional Chinese Medicine recommends congee for boosting the body’s qi energy, which depends upon the proper functioning of the spleen and stomach, since it fortifies the former and harmonizes the latter.

Both immensely comforting and astoundingly simple to make, congee requires no more than cooked rice, spices, veggies, water, and time. For variations on the recipe I’ve offered below, switch around the herbs and spices, add a different grain such as millet or amaranth, or substitute the veggies of your choice (grated carrots, cubed squash, garlic, etc). I can guarantee that any mix of ingredients you choose will aromatize your entire abode nicely.

In the slow-cooker.

Wild Rice Congee with Sweet Potato and Kale (Soy Free, Oil Free, Nut Free, Low Sodium, Low Fat)

Makes a whole lot.

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked wild rice
2 heaping cups cooked brown rice
2-inch piece kombu seaweed
2-inch knob fresh ginger, peeled
2 star anise pods
A dash of turmeric
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 large leek, white part only, halved and sliced
5-6 medium leaves of kale
8 cups water

Crock Pot Variation: Combine all of the ingredients in a large crock pot. Turn on either high and cook for 4-6 hours, or on low for 6-8 hours. Add more water as needed.

Stovetop Variation: Combine all of the ingredients in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer, cover, and cook for 1-2 hours, adding water as needed.

Serve as is, with a sprinkle of flax/pumpkin/sunflower/hemp seeds, a cupful of cooked beans, or a dollop of nut butter.

Recipe submitted to Healthy Vegan Fridays, Wellness Weekend, Gluten-Free Fridays, and Foodtastic Fridays.

Until next time, Ali.

Vegan MoFo # 16: Creamy Green Soup with Sweet Potatoes, Mushrooms, and Basil

Thinking it prudent to ease my way back into my standard fiber-packed, high-raw diet after recovering from a stomach bug over the past few days, I again substituted my green smoothie for oatmeal and required a more digestively-friendly lunch than my usual ginormous salad. However, I could hardly bear the notion of avoiding my best friends, the leafy green veggies, for the third day in a row, and immediately recalled the poetic waxings of Anna Thomas in her tome of comforting recipes, Love Soup. Thomas devotes an entire section to green soups, utilizing unique flavor and ingredient combinations that consistently yield intriguing, mouthwatering results, focusing always on paying the royal green leafies their well-deserved respect. Inspired by Thomas, I set out to craft a creamy soup rife with vegetables rendered more easily digestible through cooking and pureeing.

This soup receives a tangy undertone from the sweet potatoes and basil, as well as a quadruple dose of umami from the mushrooms, miso, tahini, and nutritional yeast. In regards to the digestive benefits of particular ingredients, kombu increases the digestibility of anything simmered with it (most commonly beans and grains), coconut oil harbors anti-inflammatory properties while the body can more easily digest its medium-chain fatty acids, basil contains a compound called eugenol which eliminates muscle spasms to ease gas and stomach cramps, and miso I spoke of yesterday (basically, it’s fermented and therefore magical). I served this over a bed of brown rice with a garnish of sauerkraut—both also players in the game of digestive health. Scrumptious tummy happiness, here we come!

Creamy Green Soup with Sweet Potatoes, Mushrooms, and Basil (Nut Free, Soy Free, Can be Oil Free, Low Fat, Low Sodium)

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp coconut oil (optional; see oil-free instructions below if desired)
• 3 shallots, minced
• 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 2 small sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 2-inch square of kombu seaweed
• 5 cups water or low-sodium vegetable broth
• About 2 lbs leafy greens, chopped (I used mostly collards with a hearty salad mix of mustard greens, baby kale, mizuna, and tat soi thrown in)
• 8 oz mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tbsp dried basil
• 2 tsp miso
• 1 tbsp tahini
• 3 tbsp nutritional yeast

In a large soup pot over medium heat, melt the coconut oil. Add the shallots, garlic, carrots, and sweet potato and saute for about 5 minutes, until shallots are transluscent. Add the water and kombu and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 15-30 minutes, until vegetables are very tender.

Oil-Free Instructions: Combine the ingredients shallots through water/vegetable broth in a large soup pot and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until vegetables are very tender.

Remove the kombu and discard. Remove soup from heat. Puree using either a regular or immersion blender.

Return the soup to medium heat and add the greens, one handful at a time, until wilted. Add the mushrooms and dried basil, stir well to combine, and simmer for another 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, dissolve the miso in a couple tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Stir in the tahini and nutritional yeast to form a smooth paste.

Once the soup has finished simmering, remove it from the heat and puree again. Stir in the miso-tahini mixture. Serve over a bed of whole grains.

Recipe submitted to Wellness Weekend, Gluten Free Fridays, and Healthy Vegan Fridays.

Local Ingredients: Carrots and collard greens from the Poughkeepsie Farm Project.

Comment Provoking Questions: How do you ease your way back into regular eating habits after stomach troubles? What are your favorite ingredients to use in green soups?

Happy Vegan MoFo!

Until next time, Ali.

What I Ate Wednesday #24

Upon Waking: A cup of warm water mixed with 1 tbsp lemon juice to stimulate metabolism and digestion (unpictured…I’m sure you can imagine a cup of slightly hazy water).

Breakfast: A very green, very vegetable-filled, very springlike smoothie of 1 frozen banana, 1/2 cup frozen mango, 1/2 cup frozen pineapple, a large handful of watercress, 2 baby cucumbers, a handful of cilantro, a small knob of fresh ginger, another large handful of baby kale, 1 tbsp each of chia and hemp seeds, a squirt of lime juice, and 3/4 cup hazelnut kefir topped with (unpictured) 1 cup brown rice puffs, 2 tbsp toasted almonds, and a handful of sliced strawberries.

The March farmers market, unexpectedly exploding with early spring produce due to the premature warm weather, has introduced a cornucopia of lovely green produce—all of which blend perfectly into refreshing (and nutrient-dense!) smoothies. Watercress especially deserves a special mention: related to the cruciferous family of broccoli and kale, watercress contains rich amounts of iron, iodine, sulfur, zinc, potassium, and vitamins C and A, among others, and has diuretic as well as antibiotic properties.

Breakfast Checklist: Protein—hazelnut kefir, almonds. Whole Grain—brown rice puffs. Fruit—banana, mango, pineapple, strawberries. Leafy Green—kale, watercress. “Super Food”—hemp seeds, chia seeds. Added Veggie Bonus!—cilantro, ginger, cucumbers.

Local Ingredients: Watercress from Blue Valley Gardens, baby cucumbers from Canopy Gardens, baby kale and cilantro from Blue Moon Community Farm.

Morning Tea: Tazo Green Ginger tea. I normally don’t like to buy non-organic, corporation-owned (coffee giant Starbucks owns Tazo) products of any sort, but my mother brought this home one day at my request for ginger tea and I certainly couldn’t just throw the box away in anti-corporate disgust. Thus, I’ve enjoyed a couple mugs of this zingy tea (though not without mild guilt), described as having smoky, earthy notes of ginger, lemon, and peach.

Lunch Box: Tender mixed lettuces, wild mixed greens, alfalfa sprouts, farmhouse mix sprouts, 1 medium yellow carrot, and 1/2 cup sprouted mung beans tossed in Liquid Gold Dressing and topped with a hearty dollop of cortido as well as a mash of 1/2 cup red quinoa, 1/2 of a roasted sweet potato, and 1 tbsp dulse seaweed.

Meal Checklist: Protein—sprouted mung beans. Whole Grain—red quinoa. Vegetables—alfalfa sprouts, farmhouse mix sprouts, carrot, sweet potato, cortido veggies Leafy Greens—mixed greens, dulse seaweed.

Local Ingredients: Alfalfa sprouts from Troy Gardens, carrots from JenEhr Family Farm, farmhouse mix sprouts from Garden to Be (no website), cortido from Fizzeology, mixed lettuces from Blue Moon Community Garden, mixed greens from Don’s Produce.

Afternoon Snack: A glass of NessAlla Kombucha in Raspberry flavor.

Dinner: A bowl of Green Tea Sunchoke Soup with Lemon and Rosemary over a small serving of quinoa accompanied by lightly steamed broccoli.

Meal Checklist: Protein—none. Whole Grain—quinoa. Vegetables—sunchokes, fennel, carrots, leeks, parsnips, garlic. Leafy Greens—broccoli.

Local Ingredients: Sunchokes from Harmony Valley Farm, carrots and leeks from JenEhr Family Farm, garlic from Brantmeier Family Farm.

Dessert: A Raw Chocolate-Nettle Cupcake with Pistachio Crust.

Local Ingredients: Spinach from Snug Haven, nettles from Brantmeier Family Farm.

Comment Provoking Questions: What sorts of greens are you putting in your smoothies lately? How’s your local farmers market doing right now? What’s cropping up in your area?

Happy WIAW!

Until next time, Ali.

Raw Chocolate-Nettle Cupcakes and Green Tea Sunchoke Soup

The unexpected burst of spring here in Madison has unleashed a premature, though verily welcomed, bounty of stunning local produce. My last excursion to the indoor farmers market ended with a canvas tote bag full to the brim with early season vegetables including crisp thumb-sized cucumbers, peppery watercress, over-wintered spinach, super sweet yellow carrots, baby kale and collard leaves, and mild-flavored medleys of gorgeous mixed salad greens—all light, refreshing fare as compared to the hearty root vegetables of winter.

With each seasonal shift offering an exciting array of earthly edible gifts, I often find myself overwhelmed and immediately yearn to remind my tastebuds of every reappearing fruit and vegetable that they had forgotten over the past year. Thus, I often return home from the farmers market with a cornucopia of produce, but not the slightest idea of how to culinarily implement it. Indeed, this weekend I found myself holding a bunch of stinging nettles in one hand and a pound of knobbly sunchokes in the other—both rather obscure ingredients.

Stinging nettle is a green leafy herb covered in fuzzy hairs (some of which “sting” and some of which do not). Thought to reduce the amount of inflammatory chemicals in the body, doctors employ nettles to treat a wide range of ailments from joint pain to eczema to urinary tract infections. Foragers and wild herb enthusiasts, however, consider the plant a gourmet cooking ingredient. Nettle soup often appears in recipes, while the Greeks add them into spanikopita and the Italians puree them into pesto or pasta fillings. Supposedly nettles require a quick blanch in boiling water before considered edible, but the recipe with which I experimented featured them raw and chopped up fine in the food processor.

Sunchokes, aka jerusalem artichokes, resemble disfigured, striped potatoes in appearance, but do indeed taste vaguely of artichokes with a crisp crunch. From a nutritional standpoint, sunchokes contain rich amounts of inulin, promoting intestinal health, as well as ample iron, vitamin C, phosphorus, and potassium. I adore the unique flavor of sunchokes in pureed soup—exactly the recipe featured in this post.

Without further ado, I present unto you a springtime edition of recipe experimentation.

Recipe One: Raw Chocolate-Nettle Cupcakes with Pistachio Crust—Adapted from Green Kitchen Stories.

Tweaks:

• Divided the entire recipe in half to yield five cupcakes instead of one large layer cake.
• In chocolate fudge layer, used a mixture of dates and prunes.
• Substituted carob powder for cacao.
• Omitted salt.
• In nettle-mint layer, substituted 1 cup of coconut flour for the shredded coconut (the recipe calls for grinding the coconut into a flour anyway).
• Didn’t juice the spinach or powder the nettle—simply added them to a food processor in their whole leaf forms.
• Used 1/4 tsp peppermint extract for the “peppermint essence.”
• Substituted date paste for the agave.
• In frosting, omitted the coconut butter, used a whole vanilla bean instead of vanilla powder, and substituted prunes for dates.

Stalking the cupcake prey in its natural garden habitat.

Close up to highlight those gorgeous earth-toned layers.

Lessons Learned:

• Playing with different types of dried fruit imparts subtle flavor nuances and interest in any recipe. The pure sweetness of the dates mingled well with the tart prunes.
• The addition of cacao nibs to the chocolate fudge layer should certainly not be optional, as the original recipe suggests. I utterly adored the textural contrast of the crunchy nibs to the smooth fudge and would have quite missed their presence.
• I completely botched the “super-infused mint layer.” Overestimating the amount of coconut flour yielded by grinding 1 1/4 cups shredded coconut, I ended up with a light green powder rather than a cakey dough. The layer certainly still tasted good—I quite enjoyed the cool peppermint flavor playing off of the snickerdoodle-reminiscent coconut flour and the grassy greens—but the texture certainly required a vast improvement. Next time, I’ll either vastly reduce the amount of coconut flour or start with shredded coconut, as per the original recipe.
• Coconut butter is completely unnecessary in the frosting since a whole avocado offers an ample amount of fat, not to mention that a banana provides extra creaminess, to produce a silky smooth pudding-like layer with a rich mouthfeel. I fear that with coconut butter, the frosting would prove much too rich and perhaps cloying.

Local Ingredients: Spinach from Snug Haven, nettles from Brantmeier Family Farm.

Recipe Two: Green Tea Sunchoke Soup with Lemon and Rosemary—Adapted from Green Kitchen Stories.

Tweaks:

• Instead of using only sunchokes, I implemented a mixture of complementary vegetables, two pounds in total: a generous handful of sunchokes, two large carrots, a large bulb of fennel, and two medium parsnips.
• Substituted 1 tbsp dried rosemary for fresh.
• Omitted the fennel garnish.

Lessons Learned:

• What a wonderfully complex soup! The artichoke-y sunchokes, sweet carrots, bold parsnips, and anise-y fennel combine to produce a harmonious, refreshing flavor perfectly complimented by the rich matcha green tea and rosemary with a lovely dash of lemon for necessary acidity.

Local Ingredients: Sunchokes from Harmony Valley Farm, carrots and leeks from JenEhr Family Farm, garlic from Brantmeier Family Farm.

Comment Provoking Questions: Have you ever cooked with nettles or sunchokes before? If so, how did you use them? Has spring sprung early in your town as well?

Until next time, Ali.

What I Ate Wednesday #22

Breakfast: A gorgeously mauve smoothie of 1 frozen banana, 1 cup frozen cherries, 1 cup frozen shredded zucchini (stored from summer), 1 tsp lucuma, 1 tsp hemp seeds, 1 tbsp carob powder, a large handful of kale, and 1 cup almond kefir topped with 1 cup brown rice puffs and a couple chopped rings of dried pineapple, accompanied by two mini versions of the Coconut Lime Avocado Pies from Vegan Yack Attack.

Dried pineapple has fast become my new favorite dried fruit for its tendency to pleasently dissolve upon contact with the tongue and its tropical flavor. Yum!

As for the avocado pies, I followed the recipe almost exactly, only replacing the maple for date syrup and omitting the coconut oil. I also seem to have lost my regular-sized muffin tin, and ended up once again resorting to my favorite mini pan for elfish, though still absolutely delicious, versions of the pies. Who couldn’t love a dessert with kale in it?

Breakfast Checklist: Protein—almond kefir, pumpkin seeds in pies. Whole Grain—brown rice puffs. Fruit—banana, cherries, dried pineapple. Leafy Green—kale (in both the smoothie and the pies). “Super Food”—hemp seeds, lucuma, carob. Added Veggie Bonus!—zucchini.

Local Ingredients: Zucchini from my neighbor’s garden.

Morning Tea: Comforting Tea from Aveda. I feel like I’m being pampered in a spa every time I sip on it.

Lunch Box: Mixed greens, 1/2 cup black beans, and alfalfa sprouts topped with my take on the Red Cabbage Salad with Wakame, Marinated Mushrooms, and Sweet Miso Dressing from Sweet Potato Soul and two mashes: one of 1/2 cup black japonica rice and 3 tbsp Cannellini Bean Pesto from Oh She Glows; the other of 1/2 an avocado, 1/4 of a roasted sweet potato, and 1 tbsp dulse seaweed.

For the salad, I used 1/2 small head of red cabbage, two medium carrots, 1/2 head of fennel, and 2 stalks of celery. My marinade for the mushrooms consisted of 2 tbsp lime juice, 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar, and 2 tbsp coconut aminos. Finally, in the dressing, I omitted the mirin and soy sauce (since I already included a sodium-heavy condiment of coconut aminos in the mushroom marinade), substituted date paste for honey, and used 1 tbsp of tahini in place of the sesame oil.

As for thepesto, I followed the recipe exactly with lovely results! Fresh, summery basil tastes oh so wonderful as we enter springtime.

Meal Checklist: Protein—black beans, cannellini beans in pesto. Whole Grain—black japonica rice. Vegetables—alfalfa sprouts, basil, garlic, red cabbage, fennel, carrots, celery, mushrooms, ginger, sweet potato. Leafy Greens—mixed greens, dulse seaweed, wakame seaweed.

Local Ingredients: Alfalfa sprouts from Troy Gardens, carrots from Tipi Produce.

Afternoon Snack: A tall glass of NessAlla Kombucha in Peach Blush flavor.

Dinner: A big bowl of the Roasted Vegetable Chowder from Gluten-Free Goddess over 1/2 cup quinoa and a side of lightly steamed broccoli.

I would happily bathe in this chowder. Honestly, sprint to your kitchen immediately and start a pot of it. My veggie mix (the recipe is very flexible) consisted of 1/2 medium yellow onion, 5 large cloves of garlic, 1/2 a fennel bulb, 4 carrots, 4 parsnips, most of a small head of cauliflower, and 6 plum tomatoes (frozen and stored from the summer). I also omitted the wine, but the chowder ends up so deeply flavored anyway that I didn’t miss the extra taste layer at all.

Meal Checklist: Protein—chickpeas. Whole Grain—quinoa. Vegetables—onion, garlic, carrot, fennel, parsnips, cauliflower, tomatoes. Leafy Greens—broccoli.

Local Ingredients: Carrots from Tipi Produce, garlic from Brantmeier Family Farm, parsnips from Driftless Organics.

Comment Provoking Questions: What fruits and vegetables do you store in the freezer from the summer? What is your favorite type of dried fruit?

Happy WIAW!

Until next time, Ali.

What I Ate Wednesday #20

Breakfast: A smoothie of 1 frozen banana, 1/2 cup frozen mango, 1/2 cup frozen pineapple, 1 medium golden beet, 1/2 avocado, 1 medjool date, 4 leaves of purple kale, a handful of cilantro, 1 tsp lucuma, 1 tbsp hemp seeds, and 1 cup hazelnut kefir all topped with 1 cup brown rice puffs and 2 tbsp toasted walnuts.

For the past two days, I’ve experimented with blending a beet into my morning smoothie. Yesterday, a red one augmented a mixed-berry-based breakfast with carob powder whose bold flavors far outshined the beet’s earthy sweetness. The fruits in today’s smoothie, however, imparted subtler flavors and allowed the beet to nudge its way to the flavor forefront, resulting in an astoundingly complex morning beverage.

Breakfast Checklist: Protein—hazelnut kefir. Whole Grain—brown rice puffs. Fruit—banana, mango, pineapple, avocado, date. Leafy Green—kale. “Super Food”—lucuma, hemp seeds. Added Veggie Bonus!—golden beet, cilantro.

Local Ingredients: Golden beets from Driftless Organics.

Morning Tea: Organic Double Dark Chocolate Mate from the Republic of Tea.

Lunch Box: Mixed greens, alfalfa sprouts, “farmhouse mix” sprouts, 2 small purple carrots, and 1/2 cup black beans all tossed with Liquid Gold Dressing and topped with Creamy Seaweed Salad, 2 patties of a mushroomy variation on my Sprouted Green Burgers, and a dollop of kimchi.

Earlier this week, I prepared a batch of Desi’s absolutely delicious Creamy Seaweed Salad (using 3 tbsp of tahini and omitting the olive oil and sesame seeds). The salty oceanic flavor of the wakame along with its surprisingly hearty, chewy texture provided a strong base for the texturally contrasting celery and scallions as well as the smooth dressing.

Eager to employ the remainder of last week’s sprouted quinoa and buckwheat, I revisited my recent recipe for Sprouted (Almost) Raw Green Burgers and altered it slightly to accomodate the contents of my refrigerator by replacing the parsley with about 3/4 cup white button mushrooms and using dried basil instead of oregano, yielding tasty results.

Meal Checklist: Protein—black beans, tahini, sunflower seeds. Whole Grain—sprouted quinoa and buckwheat. Vegetables—alfalfa sprouts, “farmhouse mix” sprouts, carrots, celery, scallions, mushrooms, sundried tomatoes, kimchi veggies. Leafy Greens—mixed greens, kale, wakame seaweed, cabbage in kimchi.

Local Ingredients: Carrots from Harmony Valley Farm, kimchi from Fizzeology, alfalfa sprouts from Troy Gardens, “farmhouse mix” sprouts from Garden to Be (no website).

Afternoon Snack: 1 tall glass of NessAlla Kombucha in Raspberry flavor.

Post-Workout Snack: 1 bottle of Harmless Harvest 100% Raw Coconut Water.

Though I’ve previously attested to noticing an off-putting bitter/sour taste from the VitaCoco brand of coconut water, Harmless Harvest’s astoundingly refreshing brand of the tropical beverage has transformed me into a coconut water convert. Perhaps it’s the purity of their 100% raw and unprocessed promise, or their dedication to sourcing sustainably grown coconuts from small eco-farms, or their coconut water’s impressive nutritional profile (generous amounts of potassium, fiber, vitamin C, and magnesium all in an 8-oz bottle? Count me in!), but Harmless Harvest has undoubtedly cracked the code to producing impeccable coconut water.

Dinner: A bowl of Curried Cauliflower and Squash Soup accompanied by three Garlic and Curry Quinoa Flatbreads (both recipes courtesy of the Queen of Quinoa), and some lightly steamed broccoli.

Following the soup recipe to an absolute T produced less than stellar results, though I place the blame completely on myself for not reducing the amount of curry powder even though I’m well aware of my incredibly low tolerance for the potent Indian spice mixture. Difficult to consume an entire bowlful thanks to its intense heat level, this soup would have benefitted enormously from a less enthusiastic hand with the curry powder. I intend to attempt this recipe on another occasion to allow its gorgeous medley of winter vegetables to shine.

The flatbread, however, proved wildly successful, even after futzing with the recipe a bit. My box of quinoa flour contained about 1/8 cup less than needed, but I failed to reduce the amount of water in a silly culinary faux pas. I also replaced the psyllium husk, an extremely powerful binder, with the gentler flaxseed meal. Combined, both of these missteps resulted in a much too watery batter. Thus, I whisked in 1/2 cup chickpea flour to firm up the mixture and followed the directions as written. The slightly improvised flatbreads boasted a lovely, not overpowering, curry flavor complemented by the garlic powder, and a satisfying (dare I say…) breadlike texture with a crispy edge. I’ll certainly keep this recipe close at hand for future meals.

Meal Checklist: Protein—garbanzo bean flour. Whole Grain—quinoa flour. Vegetables—acorn squash, cauliflower, red onion, carrots, parsnip. Leafy Greens—broccoli.

Local Ingredients: Garlic powder from Brantmeier Family Farm, red onions from Blue Valley Gardens, parsnips from Driftless Organics, carrots from Harmony Valley Farm.

Comment Provoking Questions: How do you feel about beets in smoothies? What is your favorite variety of seaweed? How about your favorite brand of coconut water? What is your heat tolerance level for curry powder? Have you ever ruined a dish by over-spicing it?

Happy WIAW!

Until next time, Ali.

No-Frills Lentil Soup: Simple and Warming

Trekking home under the gray sky, scarf yanked up to my mouth as a brace against the brisk autumn wind, I determinedly speedwalk, just under the point of breaking into a run, across the December tundra otherwise known as the three blocks between school and my house. During my hurried journey, I often promise to simmer up a comforting pot of soup for dinner to warm my chilled appendages, but upon arrival home, my homework entrenches me until the clock strikes 45 minutes before I must depart for my nightly gymnastics practice and I must forgo the luxury of perfectly melding flavors into a warming broth filled with farmers market vegetables, instead usually opting for a rather thrown-together salad or (if luck favors me that day) leftovers.

This Friday, I finally followed through on my personal oath. Free from any homework due the next day, I gladly succumbed to my intense lentil soup craving, inspired by the recipe for Egyptian-Style Lentil Soup from The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen (a wonderful panopaly of fresh, classic recipes from Italy, Spain, Provence, and the Middle East that showcase the region’s deep appreciation for vegetables, grains, and legumes).

Not exactly certain about this recipe’s decidedly Egyptian-ness (it seemed to me like I could find the same blend of ingredients in any area of the Mediterranean), I shrugged off the soup’s wavering authenticity to supremely enjoy the complex flavor profile produced from such common ingredients. The broth, astoundingly seasoned with rich lentil juices and sauteed veggies, could have stood as a thin soup all on its own. Cumin and fennel seeds, my two favorite spices to implement in lentil soup, did not fail to impart adequate smokiness and unctuousness.

As the title of this post suggests, the recipe certainly did not break through the barriers of everyday lentil soups, nor did it launch any sort of soup revolution. This soup did, however, warm my very soul on a blustery December evening. What more can you ask for in a soup? I also served it over a bed of shredded kale, which slightly wilted but still held a pleasing crunchy texture—a lovely contrast to the creamy lentils.

No-Frills Lentil Soup (Gluten Free, Soy Free, Nut Free)—Adapted from The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen.

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 5 oz carrots, diced
• 2 small stalks celery, leaves included, diced
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 cups vegetable broth (homemade or boxed—the low-sodium version from Pacific Natural Foods is my favorite.)
• 4 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups lentils (I used black beluga, but you could certainly use the green French Le Puy or the standard brown.)
• Generous sprinkle of cayenne (err more on the stingy side if you like less heat.)
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

In a large soup pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions, carrots, celery, garlic, cumin, fennel seeds, and bay leaf. Saute, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender, about 15 minutes. Add the broth, water, lentils, cayenne, and black pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Uncover and simmer for 10-15 more minutes, until the lentils are very tender and broth has slightly thickened.

Turn off the heat, remove the bay leaf, and stir in the lemon juice. Serve immediately. This soup also keeps well in a Tupperware container and tastes even better the next day.

Recipe submitted to Wellness Weekend and featured on Finding Vegan.

Meal Checklist: Protein—lentils. Whole Grain—none. Vegetables—onion, carrots, celery, garlic. Leafy Green—kale.

Local Ingredients: Yellow onions from Driftless Organics, carrots from the Plahnt Farm, celery from JenEhr Family Farm, garlic from Brantmeier Family Farm.

Comment Provoking Questions: What is your go-to warming winter meal? What is your favorite variety of lentil? What are your favorite spices to use in lentil soup?

Until next time, Ali.