warm salad with broccoli, kale and avocado with tahini lime dressing

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avocado / broccoli / kale / meals / salad / salads / seitan

this is an old stand-by summer time meal salad, it’s mostly raw with a few quick cooked components. it also happens the be the first thing i ever cooked for my gentleman friend, so there you go, ROMANCE.

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it’s pretty filling, has a lot of flavour and it’s EASY. which is what i need, because the past few days have been absolutely bananas.

first there was the 22L of soup i made mid week, followed by my band’s tape release on friday, followed by my roommate’s champagne birthday.

hey, it’s our little tape! it’s a split with our raddest pals, Movieland.

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for katie’s bday cake i essentially made a giant raspberry chocolate ice cream sandwich.

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OK BACK TO SALAD NOW. this makes atleast 4 servings.

if i’ve never talked about massaging kale before, here i go. anytime i’m using raw kale in a recipe (like this) i like to use massaged kale because it’s easier to digest and gives it a milder flavour. take the stems off, cut it up a bit and then take a section and massage it. you can actually massage it with your fingers, or be lazy like me and just roll it into a ball in between my hands until it looks darker and a bit wilted. you’ll be able to see the difference.

check it out! raw kale VS massaged kale

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RAW

3 green onions, sliced

a big handful (50g) pea shoots, chopped roughly into 1 inch pieces

1/4 long cucumber, cut lengthwise then in thin slices

a big handful flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped

a big handful cilantro, roughly chopped

1 bunch kale, chopped and massaged

1 avocado, diced

2 cups salad mix (arugula and the likes)

1/4 c. toasted sunflower seeds

Combine all in a large bowl!

 

COOKED

1/2 head of broccoli, stems diced and cut into small florets

2 good seitan sausages, cut lengthwise then sliced

coconut oil for frying

sautee broccoli in coconut oil with a pinch of salt until slightly browned and it just turns bright green. put aside in a bowl. in the same pan, brown sausage, adding more coconut oil if needed. cool sightly and add to salad.

 

DRESSING

the zest and juice of 1 lime

1/3 c. tahini

2 cloves garlic, finely grated

3 inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated

2 tbsp bragg’s

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp chili paste

water

mix it all and thin with water as needed (it’ll depend on the type of tahini you have). toss with salad! eat!

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new things about soup

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news / soups

hey dudepals,

so i’ve started a weekly soup thing! i make soup once a week and sell it to folks i know! it’s fun and going pretty well so far  and this week’s soup (curried cauliflower) is finally done though! i am so tired.

i’ll have a new recipe up soon, not just soup banter, i promise. until then, here is  a brief photo essay about soup.

HERE ARE SOME HUGE CAUILFLOWERS.  when i left the store, they had no more. also, keepin my hair out of the food!

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my fridge!

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me, very tired, with all my soups at the end of the night.

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now for drop-offs!

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eggplant, tempeh vietnamese subs

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carrot / eggplant / sandwiches / tempeh

a friend of mine mentioned that she ate an eggplant bahn mi in san francisco and my brain exploded.

so i made this. i’ve never made any kind of vietnamese sub, so i’m sure there is room for improvement which i will share when i figure it out. until then, this was pretty delicious.

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THE SUBS

a flat whole wheat baguette, with 2 sub sized segments cut out OR sub buns

1 large italian eggplant

1 square tempeh

a handful pea shoots

a big pinch of cilantro

carrot and cucumber pickles (see below)

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 inch piece of ginger, peeled and grated

1 heaped tbsp miso paste

1 tsp chili paste

zest of 1 lime and half the juice

a few drops sesame oil

1/4 c. soy sauce/tamari/bragg’s

a few shakes of nutritional yeast

preheat oven to 400.

first off, slice eggplant in half lengthwise then into long 1/2 inch thick slabs (think pear pear slices). salt generously and let drain in a colander while you prep the tempeh. slice tempeh. combine garlic, lime juice and zest, sesame oil and soy sauce in a shallow dish. add tempeh and let sit.

shake all the salt off your eggplant and blot with a clean cloth. lay out the eggplant on a baking sheet and drizzle with oil. bake for 15 minutes then flip and bake for another 10 or 15 (keep an eye, eggplant can go from cooking very slowly to shrinking up into nothing quite quickly).

in a frying pan, brown tempeh on both sides in a bit of olive oil. add remaning marinade and cook for a minute. take off heat and toss with nutritional yeast.

combine miso with 1/4 cup water, ginger and chili paste in a small dish. Once the eggplant has softened and browned slightly, spread miso mixture evenly on all the eggplant slices. broil until browned and the miso mixture is mostly absorbed.

arrange 1/2 the eggplant in a layer on each baguette or bun, then lay out the tempeh slices evenly. then peashoots, the cilantro, then pickles.

CARROT AND CUCUMBER PICKLES

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2 carrots, ribboned with a peeler

1/3 cucumber, julienned

1/4 c. sugar

3/4 c. white vinegar

1/2 c. warm water

pinch chili flakes

1/2 tsp salt

combine water, vinegar and sugar and dissolve sugar. add chili flakes and salt. put all the veg in a 500mL jar and pour over vinegar mixture. let sit for a couple hours at least! tasty delicious.

tomato, chickpea and kale soup

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beans / kale / quick / one-pot / soups / tomato

oh just making my favourite thing, soup.

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CHICKPEA TOMATO KALE SOUP

1 red onion, diced

1 small can good chickpeas, rinsed and drained

4 cups broth

1 large can marzano tomatoes, chopped roughly

1 fresh tomato, diced

6 large leaves lacinto kale, veined and roughly chopped

6 cloves garlic, minced

black pepper and salt

1 tsp smoked paprika

squeeze of lemon

lemon zest

1/8 c. nutritional yeast

dash of cayenne

sauté onion. once soft, add tomatoes and garlic. cook for a minute then add hot broth, bring to a boil. add remaning ingredients (except kale) and simmer for 10-15 minutes. add the kale for the last few minutes of cooking. DONE!

hawaii eats!

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news / travel

so i’ve been in oahu pretending that it’s summertime everyday and everything is magical fun.

I WANT TO GO BACK!

most of the time we were being frugal and eating boring things, but we found a few good vegan places to eat! here’s the scoop!

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The first place we found was Peace Cafe. despite only serving decaf coffee, the food was great! it’s a small place, everything is vegan and delicious. It’s around the University, near some good veg groceries.

Here is the BBQ tempeh plate! coleslaw, cornbread, BBQ tempeh, salad and rice

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Next up is bibimbap! pickled carrots, bean sprouts, seaweed, kimchi fresh tofu and rice.

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this is Lucy the dog! she lives at the first house we were staying at and we fell in true doggy love.

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One of the great finds was Downbeat, a diner in Chinatown. it’s not all vegan, but everything there CAN be vegan. there is a venue attached, good drink specials and breakfast all day. We weren’t staying really anywhere near Chinatown, but we made it to downbeat twice because it was so delicious.

Here is a “buffalo chicken” sandwich!

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teriyaki burger! oh did i mention you can get curly fries!?!?

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everything we cooked was pretty much some weird combination of sprouts, avocado and random veg. oh and chips. we had limited cooking facilities, at times, none. here’s marky beachin’ it and our super fancy tofurkey sandwiches.

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Another top pic! Beet Box Cafe. it’s a small restaurant in the back of a health food store. i wish we’d been able to eat there more than once. we got a particularly good tofu scramble with black beans, fresh avocado, broccoli and rice.

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this sandwich was INCREDIBLY GOOD. tempeh bacon-style, tomato, avocado, pea sprouts, red onion, veg mayo, grated carrot and good bread.

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we spent part of  our trip staying on the beach in a hut. these two dogs ran the place.

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here are some chickens i didn’t eat! there were roosters and chickens running wild on all the beaches all over. and one rooster who was intent on waking us up everyday at the crack of dawn.

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Our last night we took another swing by Downbeat for happy hour.

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super cheap margaritas and big brews!

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BBQ “chicken” sandwich with curly fries for our drunk bellies.

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goodbye hawaii!

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