May 27 2012

Almond Ginger Green Bean Quinoa

This afternoon, my 3-year-old requested a dish with green beans and quinoa.  Fortunately, I had just purchased some green beans from the farmers market and my pantry is always stocked with quinoa.  So, I came up with this quick and easy dish.

The ginger, soy sauce/liquid aminos, and sesame oil gives it an Asian flare.  It is so delicious and filling.  This meal is packed with protein and a ton of goodness.  I think this is one of my favorite quinoa dishes right now.  I am sure you will like this as much as we do!

Ingredients

  • 3 cups of cooked quinoa
  • 2 cups of fresh chopped green beans (less than 1 inch in length)
  • 1 cup of chopped toasted almonds
  • 1 shredded carrot
  • 1 chopped onion
  • 3 cloves of minced garlic
  • 1/3 cup green onions (chopped)
  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil

Ingredients for sauce:

  • 2 tablespoons of liquid aminos (natural soy sauce)
  • 2 tablespoons of toasted sesame seed oil
  • 1 tablespoon of fresh grated ginger

Directions for sauce: mix liquid aminos, sesame oil, and ginger together, then set aside.

Directions

  1. In a large pan or wok, heat oil.
  2. Then, add onions and garlic.  Cook until onions are transparent.
  3. Add green beans and cook for 4 minutes in medium to high heat.
  4. Turn of heat, then add cooked quinoa, shredded carrot, sauce, and stir it all together.
  5. Plate it and top it off with chopped green onions.
  6. Enjoy!

May 14 2012

Sprouted Beans and Quinoa Tacos and Tostadas

I have been craving tacos and tostadas lately but I haven’t been able to make them because good quality tortillas are hard to find out here.  Most of tortillas I have found contained preservatives and a bunch of other ingredients that I am not able pronounce.   I think I am just missing the delicious taste of Mexican food I used to have all the time back when I lived California.  Fortunately, I found some sprouted corn tortillas at the health food store last week hiding in the freezer section!  I was so glad  to have stumbled upon them because they are all-natural, vegan, sprouted, and yummy!

You may notice that I have improvised the traditional way of making tostadas and tacos.  The reason is because I wanted to make it more nutritious for my family.  I must say my family and I were very happy about how everything turned out.  Dinner was delicious, flavorful, filling and best of all,  healthy.

So tonight, I am sharing with you this healthy taco/tostada recipe idea.

Ingredients:

  • 1.5 cups of Sprouted Bean Trio
  • 1/2 cup of quinoa
  • 1 large onion (chopped)
  • 1 large tomato (chopped)
  • 4 large cloves of garlic (minced)
  • 1 tablespoon of dried oregano
  • 1 tablespoon of ground cumin
  • 3 tablespoons of fresh lime or lemon juice
  • 5 tablespoons of liquid aminos
  • Sprouted corn tortillas
  • 2 tablespoons grape seed oil or olive oil
  • 1 box of store-bought all-natural-vegan guacamole
  • 1 cup of cilantro (chopped)
  • Daiya vegan cheese (optional)
  • Salsa  or hot sauce (optional)

Directions:

  1. Soak the beans for an hour (optional but not required….I just liked them with more moisture).
  2. Rinse quinoa.
  3. Boil water in a medium-sized saucepan.
  4. Add quinoa and beans in the boiling water, simmer for about 10 minutes (med-high heat), and then turn off heat and set aside for another 10 minutes.
  5. In a saute pan or wok, heat oil and then add onions, garlic and tomatoes.
  6. Drain water from the beans and quinoa.
  7. When the onions are transparent, add the beans and quinoa.
  8. Add cumin, oregano, lemon juice or lime juice, and liquid aminos.  Note: if you don’t have liquid aminos, use celtic sea salt and adjust to saltiness preference.
  9. Cook together for another 5 minutes.
  10. While you are finishing up with the beans and quinoa, prepare your sprouted corn tortillas.  If you want to make crunchy tostadas, spray each side with olive oil spray, put them on your griddle, and smash it with a pan.  LOL this is the only way I got it to cook evenly (see below).   Cook on low-medium heat for a couple of minutes on each side until it is crunchy.
  11. If you want a softer shell for your taco, just spray the griddle and heat the tortilla for a 30 seconds or so. 
  12. When you are done with the tortillas, put your tostadas and tacos together.
  13. Top it off with vegan Daiya “cheese”, cilantro, guacamole, and/or salsa.
  14. Serve with lemon or lime slices.
  15. Enjoy!

May 12 2012

Oyster Mushroom Tofu Scramble Breakfast Burrito

I didn’t have much time today to make an elaborate dinner, so I made breakfast burritos using some produce I got from the farmers market (onions, garlic, oyster mushrooms, and squash).  If you like scrambled eggs in burritos, you would enjoy this one.

Ingredients:

  • 3 to 4 cups of oyster mushrooms (chopped)  Note: you can use white mushrooms, portobello, etc.
  • 1 large crooked neck squash (chopped)
  • 1 package of firm tofu (I used organic and sprouted)
  • 1 onion (chopped)
  • 3 cloves of garlic (minced)
  • 3 tablespoons of nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 cup of cilantro (chopped)
  • 3 pinches of turmeric
  • 2 pinches of paprika
  • 1.5 tablespoons of olive or grape seed oil
  • Liquid aminos and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Heat oil in a large pan.
  2. Add onions and garlic and cook until the onions are transparent.
  3. Then, add squash and tofu.  Note: squish the tofu in between your fingers for the “scrambled egg” look.
  4. Cook together for 5 minutes in medium-high heat and then add mushrooms, turmeric, nutritional yeast, cilantro, liquid aminos, and pepper (adjust the amount of liquid aminos to taste preference).
  5. Stir and cook for another 5 minutes.
  6. Done!
  7. Now make some burritos!…using all-natural, vegan, whole grain, preservative-free tortillas.
  8. Serve with hot sauce, guacamole, spicy carrots, salsa, etc.

May 6 2012

Sprouted Bean Trio Sloppy Joes with Garlic Polenta Fries

Okay, I lied.  In my previous post, I stated that I would be sharing a raw vegan sushi recipe, but I realized I was out of sea weed, so I made sloppy joes instead.

Dinner tonight: sprouted bean trio sloppy joes on all-natural-whole-wheat bun and garlic polenta fries.

*Note: Costco sells a large bag of “Sprouted Bean Trio” (4lbs) for around $10.

These are so easy and quick to make.  And they are definitely healthier than the average sloppy joes.  They are low in fat, high in protein, fiber, vitamins and minerals.

I served them with up with some delicious, golden, crunchy, garlic polenta fries.  YUM!

For directions on how to make BAKED POLENTA FRIES, CLICK HERE.

After the polenta fries were baked, I sprinkled it with a little bit of Celtic sea salt and garlic powder and voila!  You have garlic polenta fries!

Sprouted Bean Trio Sloppy Joes

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups of sprouted bean trio
  • 2 large tomatoes (diced)
  • 1 bell pepper (diced)
  • 1 large onion (chopped)
  • 3 cans of organic tomato paste (6 oz.)
  • 1 large clove from an elephant garlic or 4 regular-sized cloves of garlic (minced)
  • 4 tablespoons of chili powder
  • 3.5 tablespoons of raw agave
  • 2.5 tablespoons of vinegar
  • 2.5 tablespoons of vegan Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon of mustard powder
  • Celtic sea salt and pepper to taste
  • olive or grape seed oil

Directions:

  1. Soak beans in water for 4 hours. Note: this is optional.  It is not required, but I like the texture better after soaking.
  2. In water, simmer beans in medium to high heat for 5 minutes and let stand for 10 minutes.
  3. Drain beans and set aside.
  4. In a large pan, heat oil, add garlic and onions and then stir.
  5. After about a minute, add bell pepper and tomatoes.
  6. Cook in med-high heat for about 5 minutes.
  7. Add beans, tomato paste, chili powder, agave, mustard powder, salt, and pepper.
  8. Stir and cook for another 15 minutes. 
  9. Spoon into your favorite burger bun and serve.
  10. Enjoy!

May 2 2012

I’m Back!

Hi there!

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while.  My family and I went on a vacation to Nevada, Arizona, and then to California.

Bellagio

Fremont Street

Luxor

First we went out to Las Vegas.  My husband and I don’t go on many dates because the only people allowed to watch my child right now are close family friends or family members.  Fortunately, my mother was able to take some time off of work to meet us in Vegas to be our babysitter.   I really enjoyed what Vegas had to offer; delicious food, museums,  shows, and shopping (although I didn’t do too much of it for myself).

Date night with the hubby...Cirque Du Suleil

We didn’t go to any buffets, but we were able to enjoy a lot vegan food from Whole Foods and some pretty cool restaurants like “The Red Velvet Cafe” and “Pura Vida Bakery and Bystro by Chef Mayra”.  I really wanted to eat at the Wynn, but we just ran out of time.  Note: Steven Wynn is a vegan and his hotels have restaurants that are VERY vegan friendly.  They even have separate vegan menus.

Here are some photos of the food that we had at Pura Vida Bakery and Bystro (vegan empanadas, kale soup, tofu scramble sandwich, and burritos):

It was oh so yummy!

If you are ever in Vegas, I recommend you check out the vegan restaurants there, you won’t regret it!

After we left Vegas, we visited my husband’s great-grandfather, which is my daughter’s great, great- grandfather in Arizona.  It was such an awesome visit.  He told stories from long ago, he played cards with the husband, he tried curry for the first time in his life (my vegan curry panang), and he read with Savannah.

3-year-old and 93-year-old reading to one another.

After Arizona, we went to California.  We visited more family members, Disney, more vegan restaurants, and more Whole Foods.  Seriously, we were able to eat healthy throughout this whole trip because of that place!  All of our snacks and to-go meals were from Whole Foods.

Whole Foods!

Ready for Disney.

Watching the parade.

 When we went to Disneyland, we packed a cooler full of nuts, non-dairy milk, multi-grain pita bread, hummus, veggies, fruit, Lara Bars and Kind Bars because I wasn’t sure how healthy or vegan-friendly the restaurants were and didn’t have the time to find out.   Thank goodness for my STRONG husband who carried the back pack full of food most of the day! ;)   Thanks, husband!

Beautiful Temecula Winery.

With my sister, Patricia, at a bar in Temecula.

Mother line dancing. She and my sister looked so cute out there on the dance floor!

We even took a family photo.  There are lots of people missing from this pic though.  :(

Photo by my sister.
-A Thousand Words Photography-

Looking at these pictures are making me wish I were closer to my family.  I am missing them very much right now.

In Los Angeles, we hung out in Santa Monica and Playa Del Rey.

Santa Monica.

Aunt Annette, me, and Adeline.

I fell in love with this restaurant called, Leaf Organics Vegan Cafe.  I have to say, the food was absolutely delicious!  I am a huge fan of raw dishes, and I was very happy with what they had to offer.  Here is what we had:

Raw vegan appetizer: raw vegan sushi, raw hummus, guacamole, and raw cashew "cheese".

Raw vegan burger.

My favorite: Raw vegan pad Thai with kelp noodles. OMG I loooove kelp noodles!

We also ate at this restaurant called Local 1205.   I ordered a raw vegan falafel sandwich and a raw vegan chocolate cupcake.  I inhaled the sandwich pretty fast, which is why I don’t have a photo of it.  I was pretty hungry!  But here is a photo of the cupcake:  dates, cacao, agave, coconut, avocado, etc.  Delicious!

We also visited Bakersfield for a couple of days to visit some more family members.

Savannah's great-grandmother, father, grandmother, and grandfather.

The child had such a wonderful time entertaining everyone.  She played her favorite songs from her piano book, danced around like a maniac, and showed off her math and reading skills.  She read everyone books, solved multiplication, addition, and subtraction problems, and played on everyone’s pianos.

She is pooped from all of the traveling!

It was difficult to leave everyone because I knew Savannah loved being around her family.  This visit made me really wish we lived closer to them.  I wish we were closer to California.  I really do miss it.

My mommy and my child.

We had a pleasant little adventure, but now we are back home and ready to get back to our comfy day-to-day routine.

I will post a new recipe soon.  I am thinking about raw vegan sushi with Brazil nuts and almonds….yummmm.

:)

Apr 7 2012

Zucchini and Rainbow Chard Fruity Smoothie

Here is another delicious smoothie idea.  A blend of zucchini, rainbow chard, and fruit!  Yum!

This was our breakfast this morning served with almond, coconut, and raisin oatmeal.  This breakfast high energy breakfast is high in protein, high in fiber, and packed with vitamins and minerals (B12, iron, calcium, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, and much more).  This delicious meal will help you take on the day!

Smoothie recipe:

  • 1.5 to 2 cups of coconut water (add more if you want your smoothie thinner)
  • 1 cup of rainbow chard
  • 1 banana
  • 1 medium zucchini
  • 1 pear
  • 5 pitted medjool dates (to sweeten)  this also adds fiber and iron
  • 1 small carrot
  • 4 tablets of spirulina (sea weed)
  • 1/4 cup of ice
  • 2 tablespoons of chia seeds

Directions: Blend all ingredients in your Vitamix or other high powered blender.

Oatmeal:

  • 1 cup of cooked 5 grain oatmeal
  • 4 tablespoons of almond butter
  • 3 tablespoons of shredded coconut
  • 1/3 cup of raisins
  • a few pinches of cinnamon

Directions: Cook oatmeal and then add the rest of the ingredients.

Enjoy!

As you can see, I like my oatmeal lumpy. :)

Mar 30 2012

Chipotle Lime Black Bean, Avocado and Jicama “noodle” Salad

I remember eating jicama as a snack when I was a child.  My mom would slice it into french-fry-looking pieces and serve it to us with salt and/or with vinegar.  I loved the mixture of the sea salt and vinegar with the crunch of the jicama.  In my opinion, it tastes a bit like pears, but not as sweet.  Jicama is very nutritious because it contains a lot, fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, etc.

I decided to make “noodles” out of the jicama for this salad because I was too lazy to chop it into small squares.   I wanted to make a jicama salad that had that tanginess I was used to.  I also wanted to add more protein and a southwestern taste to it.  So, I added black beans, cilantro, chipotle and lime.

This is such a delicious salad/side dish.  It is refreshing, filling, flavorful and super healthy!

Ingredients:

  • 1 can of organic black beans (Edens is BPA free.  I usually cook my own beans, but today, i just didn’t have the time)
  • Juice of 2 limes
  • 2 avocados
  • 1 medium to large jicama
  • Hand full of cilantro (about 2/3 of a cup)
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • 1 teaspoon of chipotle powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon oregano
  • 1/3 teaspoons of Celtic sea salt

Directions:

  1. Peel jicama and slice to fit in the food processor.
  2. In your food processor, blend lime juice, salt, oregano, onion powder, chipotle powder, garlic, and cilantro with the S blade.
  3. After it is blended, remove the S blade and replace with he shredding blade.
  4. Close the food processor and shred your jicama.
  5. Pour jicama and blended lime dressing in a large bowl.
  6. Slice avocados and pour it in the large bowl along with your rinsed/drained black beans.
  7. Toss everything together.
  8. Serve and enjoy!

Mar 28 2012

Spicy Thai Coconut Hummus

I do most of my shopping at this health food store called Earthfare. They have everything a vegan family needs!  They have vegan friendly toiletries, wines, desserts, etc.  Their deli offers vegan nuggets, salads, sushi, and much more!  I just love that place!

Anyway, so a few days ago, my daughter and I had lunch there.  My daughter had a whole wheat grilled Daiya “cheese” sandwich with a side of raw broccoli and fruits.  I had some vegan brown rice sushi, Mary’s Gone crackers and hummus.  I don’t usually buy hummus because I just usually make them myself, but boy was I glad that I picked up the Thai coconut hummus from the deli!  I instantly was addicted to it!  It was spicy, it was delicious, tangy, and coconutty!

I told myself, “I HAVE TO TRY TO MAKE THIS AT HOME!”  So, I looked at the ingredients and I was very excited to see that I already had most of the ingredients on the list!  There were some things that I didn’t have, but I just improvised.

So, I made the hummus, it is not exact, but it is VERY similar.  Both are deliciously awesome!  And, I am happy to share the recipe with you! :)

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups of cooked garbanzo beans
  • juice of 2 lemons
  • 4 tablespoons of tahini
  • 2 tablespoons of safflower oil
  • 3 tablespoons of coconut oil
  • 3 tablespoons of organic tamari
  • 2 tablespoons of Asian chili paste (garlic paste)
  • 2 tablespoons of minced shallots
  • 1 clove of garlic from an elephant garlic or 6 cloves from a regular-sized bulb of garlic
  • 4 teaspoons of lemongrass paste
  • 3 teaspoons of red wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons of freshly grated ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon of cumin
  • 1 teaspoon of Celtic sea salt
  • 3 pinches of cardamom
  • 4 to 8 tablespoons of organic sriracha (hot sauce) *note: this is optional and adjust to heat preference*

Directions:

  1. Throw everything in the food processor and blend (except for hot sauce)!
  2. Add hot sauce and adjust heat to your liking.  (note: if you want to make this for your young child, I would omit the hot stuff…I put a tiny bit of chili paste for my daughter’s hummus).
  3. Enjoy!
  4. Serve with fresh veggies, crackers, crusty bread, vegan naan, tortilla, etc.

Mary's Gone Crackers and hummus.

Mar 21 2012

Tangy Sesame Kale Salad

I just love kale.  I love it in smoothies, juices, soups, and I also love it as salad.

Kale is packed with fiber and antioxidants.  It also helps fight off cancer cells, helps lower cholesterol, and it also has anti inflammatory properties.

So, eat more kale!

It is a great source of:

  • Manganese
  • Iron
  • Copper
  • Calcium
  • Fiber
  • Vitamin C
  • Vitamin K
  • Vitamin E

….and more!  Click here to find out: http://whfoods.org/

 

A couple of years ago, I was introduced to a delicious kale salad from Earthfare (health food store).  The kale salad had sun-dried tomatoes, black-eyed peas, kale, and some kind of sesame oil vinaigrette.  It was delicious.  I forgot what the name of that salad was, but my recipe adapted from that salad.  I just used what I had in my fridge but it turned out pretty yummy.

This salad is flavorful, filling, and healthy.

Ingredients:

  • 8 cups of kale (veins removed and chopped)
  • 1 chopped tomato
  • 1 cup of black beans or black-eyed peas
  • 5 tablespoons of sesame seeds

Dressing ingredients:

  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 3 tablespoons of liquid aminos (for salt)
  • 1.5 tablespoons of red wine vinegar
  • 3.5 tablespoons of toasted sesame seed oil
  • 1 clove of garlic (finely minced)

Directions:

  1. Prepare your kale (wash, remove vein, and chop).
  2. Place your kale, tomatoes, and beans/peas in a large bowl.
  3. Mix dressing ingredients together.
  4. Pour dressing into your bowl of kale.
  5. Mix dressing into the salad.
  6. Place on your salad plate/bowl and then sprinkle with sesame seeds.
  7. Serve.

Mar 19 2012

Avocado German Chocolate Cake Pudding

I have been making a lot of fruit “ice creams” and puddings lately.  They can be so addictive!

Today, I decided to make this German chocolate cake pudding because I wanted to use some of the pecans I just purchased.  I just love chocolate with pecans and coconut.  And, my daughter ate this up with a huge bowl of strawberries.

It is healthy, creamy, chocolatey, and a bit coco-nutty.

Avocados are not just for guacamole anymore! ;)

Check out these other sweet avocado recipes on my blog:

Ingredients:

  • 2 avocados (ripe)
  • 2 frozen bananas (ripe)
  • 2/3 cup of frozen blueberries
  • 2 teaspoons of vanilla
  • 9 pitted medjool dates
  • 3 tablespoons of unsweetened shredded coconut
  • 4 tablespoons of raw cacao (chocolate powder)
  • 1/4 cup of finely chopped pecans

Note: if you want to keep this “raw”, just use raw pecans and un-toasted coconut.  But today, I cooked the pecans in my wok greased with a little bit of coconut oil and TINY pinch of of celtic sea salt.

Directions:

  1. Place all ingredients in your Vitamix (except for the pecans).
  2. Blend it all together until smooth (no lumps).
  3. Pour the pudding into a bowl.
  4. Mix in your pecans.
  5. Serve and enjoy!