Hey, do you want to know a secret? This is a good one; I promise. Okay, here it goes: French fries don’t have to be unhealthy! That’s right. Potatoes are actually one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet. And although they have a lot of carbs, you get a lot of nutrition from each potato you eat. Of course, the most nutritious way to eat your potatoes is baked with very little toppings, but that doesn’t mean French fries are bad. Well, they can be, but they certainly don’t have to be. These aren’t the fries you survived on every day in high school. No, these fries have just enough oil to help them brown.
I’ve been on a fry kick myself lately ever since I got my handy little French fry cutter. To make them healthier, of course, they should be baked and not fried. Also, if you bake them until they just start to brown, they’ll retain more nutrients than if you make them super crispy. They might taste better crispy, but they’re not as good for you.
You don’t need a fry cutter to make homemade French fries, but I can’t tell you how much it helps. It cuts prep time down to about one to two minutes from maybe about eight to 10 that it would have taken to cut the potatoes into fry-size pieces. If you like homemade French fries, get a fry cutter.
Anyway, I know you don’t need a recipe to make fries, but I’ll give you one anyhow. Mine are seasoned with garlic powder, chili powder and salt, but you can use any seasonings you’d like.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut the potatoes into fry-size pieces (using your handy fry cutter, if you have one). Add the fries to a large bowl, drizzle on the oil and toss to coat. Next, add the spices and toss to coat. Bake for 15 minutes, and then flip the fries. Bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, and then serve.
I may have mentioned in a previous post that I’m adjusting my diet to include more raw foods than I have in the previous months. This is partly because the warm weather is coming and I feel the need to eat more cool and fresh things, but it’s also because I’ve gained about eight pounds (she says, as she hangs her head in shame). Yes, I know I wasn’t eating well. I was having way too much bread (and bread products) and I was adding too much oil to my foods. Coconut oil is healthy, and it’s one of the best oils you can use for cooking, but it does contain a lot of fat. I’ve also been eating more avocados than I’d like to admit.
Don’t get me wrong; avos are awesome and good for you too, but they also contain a lot of fat. This past winter was my first winter as a vegan, and I think it’s safe to say that I naturally crave fat when the weather is cold. Seriously; I was eating two to three avocadoes a day.
But it’s kind of funny, and cool at the same time, how your cravings adjust to your needs. Lately, we’ve been having some nice springy weather and I haven’t been enjoying the avocadoes as much as I used to. I still do adore them (and will continue eating them in moderation), but I don’t feel like I need them.
So, instead of having vegan lasagna or some sort of veggie burger, tonight, we’ll be having raw vegan tacos. It’s time to shed those eight pounds. As incentive, I know bathing suit season is just a few weeks away. And if that isn’t enough, I’m rewarding myself with a new tattoo when I reach my goal weight. So, let’s get to those raw vegan tacos.
Pinch of cayenne powder (or to taste)
2 to 4 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil (or, better: flaxseed oil)
Salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process for about 30 seconds or until the mixture is well-combined, but still chunky.
1 head Boston lettuce
1 tomato, finely diced
½ red onion, finely diced
Use one lettuce leaf as the shell for each taco. Fill it with the taco meat, tomato and onion (as you would fill a flour tortilla), roll it up and enjoy.
I’m a big fan of those “clean out your fridge” kind of recipes. I usually go shopping with big ambitions to make all sorts of good recipes during the week, but I don’t always live up to them. So, at the end of the week, I’m left with a bunch of extra ingredients. I could either roll up my sleeves and get to my original plan, or throw together something easy that uses all the extra stuff I’ve got laying around. I usually opt for the easy option – ‘cause that’s how I roll.
In times like these, Panzanella is one of my go-to recipes. Actually, it does depend on exactly what’s in the fridge. If I have a lot of tomatoes and things like onions and peppers, then Panzanella is my go-to meal. If I have a few eggplants lying around, I’ll make caponata or ratatouille. But today, as you might have guessed, I have a lot of extra tomatoes. The original plan was to make gazpacho, which is also easy, but I just wasn’t feelin’ it – so, Panzanella it is! My friend Lisette, the medical assistant, simply adores this recipe and she says no one makes it quite like me. While I appreciate the compliment, I think she’s just buttering me up to make this for her when she comes over next week. Wait. Can vegans use the phrase “buttering me up?” Hmm…
Whisk all of the dressing ingredients together and set aside.
Heat coconut oil over a medium heat. Add bread and salt and cook for about 10 minutes. Stir frequently until bread is browned. Add additional oil if necessary.
Toss all ingredients with the dressing and add salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate or serve immediately.
Ratatouille is one of the easiest things you can make, but boy does it sound fancy. If you’ve never made it before, I should warn you, it doesn’t look nearly as fancy as it sounds. It’s kind of like a vegetable lasagna without the noodles; a vegetable casserole, if you will.
The recipe below calls for my homemade version of vegan parmesan, but if you’re not into that sort of thing (or if you want to keep it pure), you can easily omit the VP. It does add flavor, but it’s not an essential component. There are many vegan ratatouille recipes that don’t include any kind of vegan cheese at all.
I love the “set it and forget it” kind of recipes. I also make a vegan pulled “pork” that works well in the crock pot, but the thing that sets this recipe apart is that you can add virtually any kind of vegetable you’d like. If you look closely, you can see mushrooms in the picture above. You can also add peppers or celery. Potatoes and carrots might be a little strange, but they’re not off limits. Nothing is. You don’t need to learn how to become a chef; you just need to learn how to clean out your refrigerator. That’s what’s so great about ratatouille.
So, here’s the recipe:
1 large eggplant, cut into ½ inch cubes
2 zucchini, sliced
1 yellow onion, diced
4 roma tomatoes, cut into ½ inch cubes
1 4-oz. can tomato paste
Layer the ingredients in your crock pot starting with the eggplant, then zucchini, then roma tomatoes. Scatter a few spoonfulls of tomato paste, and then sprinkle with vegan parmesan (recipe below). Create one more layer just as you did the first. Cover and cook on low for about 8 hours.
Vegan parmesan:
1 cup almonds
2-3 cloves of garlic
3/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. nutritional yeast
Add garlic to the food processor and process. Add all other ingredients and process until the almonds are thoroughly chopped.
With the summer approaching in a few short months, I’ve been trying to clean up my diet a little by introducing more raw foods. So, instead of eating hot food for lunch, I’m opting for salads. And instead of popcorn, I’m opting for hummus and crudité. It’s a great snack and it’s so easy to make. Actually, there are a lot of things you can do with hummus. I like to keep it in a container in the fridge and use it whenever I see fit. It goes great on sandwiches and wraps, and it can be used for dipping all sorts of good food. Yum!
I got my recipe from a friend who is a traveling nurse. She said she picked this one up from a friend she made in Baltimore – and it has become my favorite way to make hummus. But truthfully, you can make it however you’d like. Most people just “wing it” and it works great. On the other hand, if you’re new to hummus-making, I would definitely suggest going with a recipe. Like, say, this one:
In a food processor, process the garlic first. Then, add all of the other ingredients and blend until they reach your desired consistency. And, that’s it. How easy is that? If you want to mix things up, you can add roasted red peppers or olives instead of the sundried tomatoes. If you like things extra garlic-y, you can add another clove of garlic upfront. That’s the great thing about hummus – it’s so easy to adjust to your personal taste. You may have noticed that unless you buy your hummus prepackaged at the store, no two batches taste the same. Again, that’s the beauty of hummus.
If you’re a fan of this dipping sauce/spread, check out the video below for a bit of a different twist on classic hummus…
Today, I’m excited to share my favorite salad dressing with you all. I’m not just excited because it tastes good, but also because I know it’s super healthy. I’m telling you; after you eat this stuff, you’ll feel amazing. If they were awarding scholarships for omega-3 content, this dressing would get a full ride. Aw, come on; don’t look at me like that. You know they give out some weird scholarships. This is a totally plausible scenario. Okay, fine; maybe not.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have to tell you that this is a very expensive dressing to make. That’s why it’s not a staple in my house; it’s a once-in-awhile splurge. I could sit here and justify the expense, telling you what an omega-3 boost you’ll get from just one serving – but the fact remains that this recipe will cost you about $8 to make. It’ll make about 8 to 10 servings, though.
If you don’t plan to have 8 to 10 people over for dinner, just cut it in half. You don’t want to make this dressing too far in advance because flax oil has a tendency to spoil quickly. I’d say, you should probably finish this dressing within 24 to 48 hours of making it, just to be safe.
For an extra omega-3 boost, sprinkle some ground flaxseed on your salad. Although this isn’t a dressing to make every day, all vegans should know where their fatty acids are coming from on a daily basis. It’s really important to get a balanced amount of omega-3 to omega-6 fatty acids.
You see, today, I was feeling a little piggish and gulped down about 2 tablespoons of omega-6-rich tahini, so I really needed an omega-3 boost. Good thing I had all these ingredients on hand.
Oh, and there’s one more thing you should know before you start on this recipe. I use flax oil because it’s a good source of omega-3 fatty acids, not for the taste. Don’t get me wrong; this dressing is yummy, but it does have a flaxy aftertaste that you may or may not enjoy. If you find it’s too much for you, next time you can use half flax and half olive oil.
Combine all ingredients in a food process or blender and blend for about one minute. Serve immediately. Because this contains so muhc flax oil, it’s important that you refrigerate any leftover dressing right away, so it’ll still be fresh the next day.
We had a nice taste of spring with some unseasonably warm weather here in New York, but today, things are back to normal. It’s not too chilly (in the 50s), but the chill in the air has reminded me that I want to make some of my favorite winter dishes one last time before I resign myself to salads and such.
I have nothing against salads, but I absolutely adore the comfort foods that are the stapes of my winter menu. One of those recipes is for vegan stuffing. My husband especially loves this one. He’s a big fan of stuffing.
Another reason I want to make some hearty meals is because I have some meat-loving guests coming over this weekend. My brother and his girlfriend are one serious pair of omnivores. He’s learning how to become a police officer and is trying to bulk up for training with as much animal protein as he can possibly consume (or so it seems). She is a professional baker with a serious sweet tooth. I don’t think she’s ever even tried a vegan sweet treat before.
This weekend will be interesting, to say the least. Well, here is one dish I’m going to be serving:
Most of my recipes are inspired by dishes I’ve enjoyed at various restaurants. There are some really amazing vegan (and vegan-friendly) restaurants out there. One that I’ve been to recently is called Rock da Pasta in the cute college town of New Paltz, New York. It’s a themed restaurant that specializes in pasta (no surprises there).
During our last trip, I got some gluten-free rotini with a cilantro pesto that was supposed to be a favorite amongst vegans, but I wasn’t a huge fan. It was okay, but not great. What was great was my husband’s alfredo-inspired pasta. It wasn’t traditionally a vegan meal, but they veganized it by using coconut milk and leaving out the cheese in the “alfredo.” It didn’t taste like alfredo at all; more like a white curry. But either way, it was amazing. It’s almost criminal how good this dish was. That’s right, all you criminal justice degree majors, you’ve got to go there and check it out for yourself. A case study may be in order.
I tried my hand at making this dish when I got home, but I couldn’t quite get it right. What I ended up with was good, but not really anything like the original. Still, I’ll certainly make it again.
Heat the coconut oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add onion and tomato and sauté for about 2 minutes. Add the flour and stir until thoroughly combined. Add the coconut milk, and then add all other ingredients (except soba noodles). Reduce heat to medium-low and let simmer while you cook the soba noodles according to the package directions.
I have an interesting confession (or fact?) to present you with today. Yeah, this one is juicy. Okay, here goes: When I was little, I used to resent Popeye. Yup. There he was with his funny-looking face and weirdo muscles telling me that I should eat spinach, of all things. Oh, no. And, what’s worse is that my mom had to see this too. Who would ever expect such blasphemy from a cartoon? Not I, my friends. Not I.
So, you may have guessed that I’m not a fan of spinach. As I got older, I learned to enjoy it with cheese in quiche form, but then I learned about the dangers of milk and cheese. And, yes. They’re more scary than thought of having to eat spinach. So, I had to find other ways to get some of this leafy green into my diet. I must (begrudgingly) admit that Popeye was right. Spinach is one of the most nutritious foods you can possibly eat. But, please don’t eat it out of a can.
Instead, how about trying this spinach burrito? Take it from someone who needs her spinach masked. It’s a good one. Here’s the recipe:
Combine coconut oil, broth and vinegar in a small saucepan over high heat and bring to a boil. Add garlic and parsley and boil for another 3 minutes. Set aside.
Burritos:
½ cup diced onion
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. coconut oil
1 10-ounce package of frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained)
Salt and pepper
6 whole wheat tortillas
¾ cup salsa
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large sauté pan over medium heat, sauté onion and garlic in coconut oil for about 2 to 3 minutes, or until tender. Add the spinach, salt and pepper and cook for another 3 minutes.
Place about 3 tablespoons of spinach mixture in each tortilla, fold the ends over and roll it up. After each tortilla is rolled, place it (seam-side down) in a lightly oiled 13×9 inch baking dish. Drizzle with garlic sauce, top with salsa and bake uncovered for about 20 to 25 minutes.
Unlike most of my recipes, there is quite a bit involved in this one. You can make your life a little easier by preparing the shiitake bacon and caramelized onions in advance, but the work still needs to be done. I’m making this one again tonight for my friend who is coming over later. She’s an administrative assistant during the day and studies to become a tax accountant at night, so she’s one busy lady. I like to invite her over ever so often for some good company, and so she doesn’t have to spend time cooking. She does enough. I’m hoping she’ll like this recipe as much as I do. Actually, I hope you like it too! Give it a shot and let me know what you think:
4 (16-ounce) cans cannellini or other white beans, rinsed and drained
1 bay leaf
1 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Remove the outer layer of paper from the garlic head, but do not separate the cloves. Wrap the entire head in foil and bake for 1 hour. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes and separate cloves. Squeeze each clove to extract the pulp. Set half of the pulp aside and reserve the rest for future use.
Heat a large pan over medium-high heat and add coconut oil. Once the oil warms, add onion and sauté for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low, and then cook for about 25 minutes or until onions are caramelized. Stir in apple cider vinegar.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Add garlic, shiitake bacon, butternut squash, and the next 6 ingredients (through bay leaf) to the onion mixture and stir well. In a separate bowl, sprinkle a little coconut oil onto the breadcrumbs and toss to coat. Add the squash mixture to a lightly greased baking dish, cover and bake for about 50 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for another 15 minutes.
This is a nice and unexpected side dish to add to your repertoire (the fam will be very pleased, to say the least). It’s also a good one to serve as hors d’oeuvres at your next cocktail party. Just throw them on a serving dish and serve with toothpicks.
There are quite a few substitutions you can make to customize this dish to your tastes. You can sub the spinach for kale (or any other leafy green), or you can use a sweet potato in lieu of a white one. If you decide to go with the sweet potato, you’ll have to add about 2 tablespoons of flour or else they’ll come out a little too mushy – Trust me; I’ve made that mistake already. They still taste good, but they aren’t exactly presentable.
Ingredients:
3 large potatoes
2 or 3 cups of frozen spinach
3 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp curry powder
2 tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
½ cup almond milk
Directions:
Cut the potatoes into 2-inch chunks and boil for about 6 minutes (or until they are just slightly firm). When they’re done, either mash them or put them through a potato ricer (the potato ricer is much better, if you have one).
Defrost and drain the spinach, and then give it a rough chop.
In a medium-sized sauté pan, cook the chopped garlic and spinach with a little water (so it doesn’t stick) for about 4 minutes.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Mix all the ingredients in a bowl and let it rest until cooled. You may need to mix it a little with your hands once it has cooled. Then, make the mixture into small balls (as many as you can).
Lightly spray a baking dish with cooking oil and bake for 15 minutes.
I love easy recipes. There, I said it. It’s not that I don’t like to cook. Actually, when I have the time, I adore spending an entire Sunday in the kitchen to make a meal that I know my family will enjoy. But, like so many of you, I don’t always have the time. Sometimes my husband lends a hand in the kitchen, but since he’s an accountant, I’m on my own during tax season. More often than not, I end up whipping something together on the fly. That’s probably why I’m known as the queen of the three bean salad in my house. In just five minutes, I can pull together a bean salad that will knock your socks off (not to brag).
But, even good things are only good in moderation. You can easily get tired of having the same thing over and over again. That’s why I like to make different variations of the bean salad throughout the year. In the winter, I make a version with edamame that my family just loves. Of course, I don’t tell them how easy it is. That’ll be our little secret (wink, wink).
Toss the following ingredients together in a bowl and then mix with your favorite Italian dressing:
2 cups chickpeas, cooked and rinsed
1/2 cup diced red bell peppers
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1/4 cup shelled edamame (can use frozen kind as long as it’s defrosted)
Sometimes I make this as a side dish, and sometimes I combine it with cooked noodles to make a pasta meal. Penne or spaghetti work well, as do buckwheat noodles. You can experiment and see what works best for you and your family. Although I usually reserve this dish for the winter, it can easily be served year round. In fact, it would be a great recipe to take with you to a backyard barbecue.
Hey, do you want to know a secret? This is a good one; I promise. Okay, here it goes: French fries don’t have to be unhealthy! That’s right. Potatoes are actually one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet. And although they have a lot of carbs, you get a lot of nutrition from each potato you eat. Of course, the most nutritious way to eat your potatoes is baked with very little toppings, but that doesn’t mean French fries are bad. Well, they can be, but they certainly don’t have to be. These aren’t the fries you survived on every day in high school. No, these fries have just enough oil to help them brown.
I may have mentioned in a previous post that I’m adjusting my diet to include more raw foods than I have in the previous months. This is partly because the warm weather is coming and I feel the need to eat more cool and fresh things, but it’s also because I’ve gained about eight pounds (she says, as she hangs her head in shame). Yes, I know I wasn’t eating well. I was having way too much bread (and bread products) and I was adding too much oil to my foods. Coconut oil is healthy, and it’s one of the best oils you can use for cooking, but it does contain a lot of fat. I’ve also been eating more avocados than I’d like to admit.
I’m a big fan of those “clean out your fridge” kind of recipes. I usually go shopping with big ambitions to make all sorts of good recipes during the week, but I don’t always live up to them. So, at the end of the week, I’m left with a bunch of extra ingredients. I could either roll up my sleeves and get to my original plan, or throw together something easy that uses all the extra stuff I’ve got laying around. I usually opt for the easy option – ‘cause that’s how I roll.
Ratatouille is one of the easiest things you can make, but boy does it sound fancy. If you’ve never made it before, I should warn you, it doesn’t look nearly as fancy as it sounds. It’s kind of like a vegetable lasagna without the noodles; a vegetable casserole, if you will.
With the summer approaching in a few short months, I’ve been trying to clean up my diet a little by introducing more raw foods. So, instead of eating hot food for lunch, I’m opting for salads. And instead of popcorn, I’m opting for hummus and crudité. It’s a great snack and it’s so easy to make. Actually, there are a lot of things you can do with hummus. I like to keep it in a container in the fridge and use it whenever I see fit. It goes great on sandwiches and wraps, and it can be used for dipping all sorts of good food. Yum!
Most of my recipes are inspired by dishes I’ve enjoyed at various restaurants. There are some really amazing vegan (and vegan-friendly) restaurants out there. One that I’ve been to recently is called Rock da Pasta in the cute college town of New Paltz, New York. It’s a themed restaurant that specializes in pasta (no surprises there).
I have an interesting confession (or fact?) to present you with today. Yeah, this one is juicy. Okay, here goes: When I was little, I used to resent Popeye. Yup. There he was with his funny-looking face and weirdo muscles telling me that I should eat spinach, of all things. Oh, no. And, what’s worse is that my mom had to see this too. Who would ever expect such blasphemy from a cartoon? Not I, my friends. Not I.
Unlike most of my recipes, there is quite a bit involved in this one. You can make your life a little easier by preparing the shiitake bacon and caramelized onions in advance, but the work still needs to be done. I’m making this one again tonight for my friend who is coming over later. She’s an 
This is a nice and unexpected side dish to add to your repertoire (the fam will be very pleased, to say the least). It’s also a good one to serve as hors d’oeuvres at your next cocktail party. Just throw them on a serving dish and serve with toothpicks.
I love easy recipes. There, I said it. It’s not that I don’t like to cook. Actually, when I have the time, I adore spending an entire Sunday in the kitchen to make a meal that I know my family will enjoy. But, like so many of you, I don’t always have the time. Sometimes my husband lends a hand in the kitchen, but since he’s an