Day 116!

Hello Everyone!

Before I start with the recipes I wanted to take a second and talk about my physical health since I became a vegan.  I began at the beginning of January and now its almost the end of April.  I was a size 12 and as of last week I was a size 8, that maybe if I wanted to I could have tried on a 6.  I have lost 25 pounds and I feel so great.  This is one of the best decisions I have ever made and could not be happier.  I am doing something great for me and great for the animals.

So anyways today I am going to be sharing with you three recipes.  First one is a Pickled Shiitake Mushroom,     Second is a Asian Pear and Cucumber Slaw.  Last one is a Fiddlehead Fern Salad.  Pretty easy recipes, I just haven't been cooking really heavy meals lately, because its been so hot out lately.  These recipes would all be great for Spring/ Summer Time

Pickled Shiitake Mushrooms:
2 Cups Fresh Shiitake Mushrooms
1/2 Cup Sherry Wine
1 Cup Soy Sauce
3/4 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Water
1/2 Cup Red Wine Vinegar
1 Cup Champagne Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Fresh Chopped Dill

Add everything but the dill to a pot on the stove and let cook 20-25 minutes on a low simmer, leave the mushrooms whole, if you want you can chop before hand but I did it afterwards.  Let the mushrooms cool before you store.  Add the dill right in at the end of the cooking time, making sure to stir in.

This would be great at a summer time BBQ.  Enjoy!

This next recipes requires no cooking at all, which is really nice for summer time.

Vegan Asian Pear and Cucumber Slaw:

1 English Cucumber

1/4 Head of Cabbage

1 Carrot, Peeled

3 Asian Pears

1 Cup White Wine Vinegar with Tarragon (If if you can't find infused already just add 1 Tablespoon Fresh Tarragon)

1/4 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 Tablespoon Celery Salt

1 Tablespoon Sugar

1 Teaspoon Fresh Cracked Black Pepper

On a mandolin slice the cucumber, cabbage, carrots and pears into a nice thick julienne cut.  If you do not have a mandolin on hand, just do nice matchstick size cuts.

In a mixing bowl add the vinegar, olive oil and coat the vegetable mixture in it.  Add the celery salt, sugar and black pepper.  Check for seasoning may need a bit more.  Let sit in the fridge for at least 5 hours or preferably over night, you want all the flavors to infuse and come together.

Very light and refreshing!

Okay last recipe is a Fiddlehead fern recipe.  Okay I am sure most of you are all like "WTF is that"  "Why is it so odd looking."  Fiddleheads are the fronds of a fern picked early, picked from a Ostrich Fern.  Fiddleheads are actually considered a traditional dish of New England, mainly Maine and of Quebec.  

You need to make sure also you clean them thoroughly before cooking.

With Fiddleheads though you need to remove the yellow/brownish part of it and make sure they are cooked thoroughly they say when boiling to change the water twice boil for 15 minutes at least and steam for 10-12 minutes.  

Also, Fiddleheads are only in season for a few weeks, and are not available fresh year round.  I believe you can find them frozen and pickled, but today we use fresh Fiddlheads.  

The taste of a Fiddlehead is a cross between spinach and asparagus.  I swear it smells like broccoli rabe, but I may have just had a sensory overload right before.  It is low is sodium and a good source of fiber and it contains Omega 3 and Omega 6 Fatty Acids, full of Antioxidants, rich in potasium.  

Anyways!  

Vegan Fiddlehead Fern Salad:

1 Cup Cooked Fiddlehead Fern, Cooled

1/2 Cup English Cucumber, Diced

1/2 Cup Cherry Tomatoes, Quartered

1/4 Cup Toasted Pine Nuts

1 Cup Mixed Greens, Washed

3 Tablespoons Lemon Poppy Seed Dressing

To make the dressing:

6 Lemons Juiced

1 Cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 Tablespoons Maple Syrup (Real stuff, not imitation)

1 Tablespoon Grey Poupon Mustard

1 Teaspoon Poppy Seeds

Salt and Pepper To Taste

In a mixing bowl, place the mustard and lemon juice inside.  Slowly whisk in the olive oil.  Once that is done whisk in the maple syrup, poppy seeds, salt and pepper. Done.  Easy Peasy.

Place ingredients into a serving bowl, arranging how you want, and that's it.   Enjoy!

That is all for today, I do have some more pickled recipes for you all next time.

Also,  follow me on facebook!

https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Vegan-Diaries/363950980369481

Thanks everyone!

Namaste,

V

Day 105!

Hello everyone!

Today I am going to be sharing with you all a extremely healthy soup recipe.  Kale, brussel sprouts and red bliss potato soup.  It is actually extremely easy to make, the only thing is that this soup takes a very long time as you want the ingredients to sit and all marry together.

Vegan Kale, Brussel Sprout, and Potato Soup:
1 Bunch Kale, Rinsed and Chopped
4 Red Bliss Potatoes, Quartered
8 Brussel Sprouts, Quartered
1 Celery Stalk, De-Ribbed and Small Diced
4 Cloves Garlic Minced
1 Yellow Onion, Small Diced
1 Leek, Rinsed and Small Diced
1 Jalapeno, De-Seeded and Minced
8 Cups Vegetable Stock (I made my own, but you can use store bought if you don't have time.)
1 Tablespoon Curry Powder
1 Tablespoon Cumin
1 Teaspoon Ground Ginger
1 Teaspoon Oregano
1 Teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
1 Tablespoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Cracked Black Pepper
1 Teaspoon Oil to Coat Pan

In a large pot place the oil inside and put on medium-high heat.  Allow to heat up.  Add garlic, onion, leek and celery.  Cook down until tender.  Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot besides the kale, let these cook until they are 3/4 way done.

Add the kale, now here is the tricky part, place the soup on the lowest setting you have and let simmer for about 1-2 hours, at least.

What I did was I made it the day before, let it cool down and placed in the fridge and then brought back up to heat the next day and the flavors were perfect, but most people don't have time for that so at least give it a couple hours to cook.  Done!

Enjoy!

I will have more recipes next time, big ones in the works!  Enjoy!

Namaste,

V

Day 98!

Hello!

Today I am going to be sharing with you three recipes.  One is a Vegan Risotto with red peppers, spinach and peas.  The second recipe I am going to be sharing with you is roasted brussel sprouts with onions, cumin and curry.  The last recipe is a teriyaki sauce I made, sadly I forgot to take a picture of just the sauce, but I have it on a vegetable mixture, so you can put it on anything you want, tofu would be great.

Vegan Risotto:
1/2 box of Arborio Rice
1 Cup of Peas, Shucked and Blanched
1 Red Pepper, Diced
1 Onion, Diced
3 Handfuls of Spinach
3 Garlic Cloves, Diced
4 Cups Vegetable Stock
1 Cup White Wine
2 Tablespoons Earth Balance Butter
Salt and Pepper to taste
Oil

In a large pot (you will want to use a pot where you have a lot of room on the bottom so everything cooks evenly) coat bottom of the pan with oil and medium heat.  Add the onions, red peppers and garlic.  Saute until tender.  Add the rice, coat in everything and toast for about 1-2 minutes.  

De glaze the pan with white wine, and let it cook for about 2 minutes to cook off the alcohol and that extreme wine taste, you don't want that.  

Now add the vegetable stock, you will want to continuously stir the risotto mixture, because if it sticks to the bottom it will break and become gross. so medium - medium low heat if you want, and whatever you are comfortable with.  

Cook down until all the stock is absorbed, you may need to add some water if its still to hard.  Once that is cooked, throw in the peas and the spinach. 

 Stir the spinach into the mixture until it has wilted properly.  Add Salt and Pepper to taste, and throw in the butter so it gets a nice creamy texture.  Voila!  That is it, beyond easy risotto.  It is so filling to!  If you wanted to, you could add some vegan parm cheese into the mixture when you add the butter.

Risotto!

Vegan Roasted Brussel Sprouts:

10 Brussel Sprouts

1 Sweet Onion

1 Tablespoon Curry Powder (Hot)

1 Tablespoon Cumin

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450.

To prepare the brussel sprouts, cut the brown end of of them and then peel the outer dark green leaves off and save them (I will show you what to do with them on the next blog) and then cut the brussel sprouts in half lengthwise.  Slice the Onion into half moons if you want.

In a roasting pan add all the ingredients together, check the seasoning, you may prefer more cumin or more salt whatever you like.

Roast for about 25 minutes.  Brussel sprouts are actually supposed to be served Al Dente and not mush.  So just check up on them every 7 minutes or so, stirring it so the top leaves don't brown to much.  

That's it.  I know this recipe is quick and simple, but some people are intimidated by brussel sprouts and I don't want anyone to be, it is extremely good for and delicious when cooked the proper way.

I love when the outside leaves get a bit crispy to.

Vegan Teriyaki Sauce:

2 Cups Soy Sauce

2 Teaspoons Ginger, Minced

2 Teaspoons Garlic Minced

1 1/2 Cup Seasoned Rice Vinegar

1/2 Cup Water

1/2 Cup Brown Sugar

Pinch of Salt

2 Tablespoons Cornstarch Mixed with 2 Tablespoons Water (This is our slurry to thicken)

1 Scallion, Sliced not the dark green part, just the white

Add all the ingredients to a pot and bring up to heat except the cornstarch mixture.  Making sure its above a simmer.

Whisk the slurry into the mixture, making sure you get it all in.  Let it thicken so it become almost like a glaze.       

That is it.  I make teriyaki vegetables which was just a combination of more scallions, red peppers, orange peppers, yellow peppers, red onions and zucchini, but this would be nice for summer like if you grilled some tofu and added some teriyaki or anything like that.  I am still kicking myself for not getting a picture of just the sauce, but you can see in the picture how well it coats the vegetables.  Its super easy to do quickly to, so if your stuck for dinner, this would be something great to do.

Enjoy!

That is all for today, next time I will show you what do with those Brussel Sprouts leaves we saved.

Namaste,

V

Day 95!

Hello everyone!

I can't believe it is spring already, its such a beautiful day outside!  Today I am going to be sharing with you one recipe today, just because it is kind of long.  The dish is called Coxinha, it is a typical Brazilian food.  It is deep fried (I know, but it is so good!) They are so addicting and so easy to make.  It is actually not typically vegan at all, but I have transformed it into a version vegans will love.  You can fill the coxinha literally with anything you want.  I try to keep it with more of a Brazilian flair when I make it, but do whatever your hearts desires, recipes are based on my own preference, so change it to yours!

I wanted to take a moment and talk about reiki again.  I have been practicing reiki a lot lately, well I usually did self reiki at least once a day on myself, but now I am doing it on others.  I do feel like the energy flows through me more since veganism came into my life, and that it has made a significant difference in my life.

Anyhow

Vegan Brazilian Coxina:
4 Cups of Water
1/2 Pound of Yucca
3 Cups of Flour (Run through a food processor, needs to be super fine)
Oil to fry the Coxinha in
2 Cups Soy Milk
Salt and Pepper

Filling:
2 Cups Corn taken off the cob
2 Cups Heart of Palm (Palmitos) cut into small bites
Earth Balance Butter

First, you are going to want to cook the yucca, since this will take a good amount of time.  In a pressure cooker add the yucca and cover with water adding two inches to it.  Cook for about 15-20 minutes.  Remove from pressure cooker and let cool, mash it up.

Make your filling.  I put a saute pan on the stove, melted the earth balance butter, and then added the corn and heart of palm and sauteed until cooked and tender.  I put aside to let it cool.

Get the water on the stove and bring to a boil, I would season this water.  I just used salt and pepper.  Whisk the flour into the water vigorously for about 2-3 minutes, forming into a dough.  Mix in the mashed yucca.

Let cool down for 5 minutes, you will burn your hand if you try right away.

Form a ball of dough and place in the palm of your hand and press a large indentation into the middle making a hollow hole put your filling into the hole.  Fold the dough around the filling and making the top into a point.  Heat the oil up on your stove on medium.  Once done dip the coxinha into the soy milk, roll in flour again.

Place into a cupcake pan while assembling, fry until golden brown

Coxinha!

 Enjoy!

Namaste,
V

Day 88!

Hello!

Today I am going to be sharing with you two recipes.  First one is a portobello wellington which is the vegan version of beef wellington.  Second recipe is a curry tomato lentil soup!

Okay so my inspiration for the portobello wellington is because I watch hells kitchen and its something they serve/prepare for the restaurant.  So I decided to make my own version of it.  It is actually wicked easy to make.

Vegan Portobello Wellington:
2 Sheets Vegan Puff Pastry
2 Tablespoons Grey Poupon Country Style
1 Cup Porcini (hydrated)
4 Portobellos
1 Cup Crimini Mushrooms
1 Cup Shitaki Mushrooms
2 Shallots
3 Cloves Garlic
4 Cups Spinach
1 Cup White Wine
1 Cup Vegetable Stock
Sprig Sage
Sprig Rosemary (Taken off the stem)
Sprig Thyme (Taken off the stem)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Oil to work with

Put oven on at 400.

De-gill portobello mushrooms, place on a cookie sheet, drizzle oil on top  and salt and pepper.  Cook in the oven until 3/4 of the way done.

In a food processor add the porcinis, criminis, shitakis, shallots, garlic, spinach, rosemary, thyme into a food processor.  You may need to do in increments depending on the size of your food processor.

Get a saute pan on the stove on medium high heat, put oil to coat bottom of pan.  Place the food processor mix into the saute pan.  Add the white wine and vegetable stock, reduce down and cook for 3-5 minutes, until the stock/wine is absorbed.  Salt and pepper.

Place the puff pastry down onto the counter top, roll out to be a bit thinner.  Take the portobello and coat in the grey poupon, place the mushroom mixture inside the cap.  Place in the center off the puff pastry and fold around it, score the top of the Wellington, making sure not to go to deep.

Bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, place on bottom rack.  You will want it to be golden brown.

Okay, not such a great picture, but it tasted amazing!

Okay onto the next recipe.  It is unbelievably easy and so good!

Vegan Curry Lentil Soup:

1 Onion, Diced
1 Red Pepper, Diced
1 Yellow Pepper, Diced
1 Orange Pepper, Diced
2 Cups Lentils
1 Can Sans Marzano tomatoes
2 Teaspoons Curry
1 Teaspoon Cumin
1 Cup Water
Oil to coat pot
Salt and Pepper TT (TT is to taste)

Get a pot on the stove on medium high heat, coat pot with oil.  Add the onions and pepper.  Cook for about 2 minutes.  Add the lentils, sans marzano and water.  Cook for about 20 minutes, until lentils are tender.  Kind of break up the chunks of tomato with your spoon.  Once it is cooked add the curry, cumin and salt + pepper.  Serve hot.

And its done so easy!

Enjoy!

I have tons of more recipes coming, I'll keep you posted soon!  Enjoy!

Namaste,

V