The Beauty and The Beet — Fun Vegan Creations

Oct
15

Penne A La Cherry Vodka

Traditionally, Penne Alla-Vodka has a pink creamy sauce. What gives the sauce its pink color is the tomato sauce mixed with heavy cream. These days, “Heavy cream” means something else for me. It means heavy cow’s udders, udders that will never comfort and nourish a baby cow because in the dairy industry cows are separated from their babies right after birth and the calfs are thrown into a small cage the size of their body. The mother cows are then “milked” by painful machines, so humans could steal their milk and drink it in their coffee or make heavy creams. Sad but true, I know it doesn’t have to be like that. We can have delicious nutritious food without it.

If you feel like you need a drink now… I’ve got your fix… how about Cherry Vodka? Well, not really for getting drunk but more for depth of flavors, most of the alcohol evaporates during cooking anyway, so don’t worry! it’s Ok to give it to the kids, worse case scenario they’ll go to sleep early. Just kidding, just kidding… (;

The ‘Cherry’ part in the Penne Alla ‘Cherry Vodka’ was an honest mistake which turned out to be a good mistake. I opened the freezer, picked up the bottle of Vodka without looking at it too much. Later I remembered that alcohol is not always vegan, I ran back into the kitchen to check and only then I realized it was a Cherry Vodka. Oh well, too late, it was already in the pan making friends with tomatoes and cashews. Also, technically tomatoes and cherries are both fruits right? so why not? it works for me… I was happy to find out that it was indeed a vegan Vodka, which made it even more tastier now 🙂 If you want to find out if an alcohol beverage is vegan, you can check it on this site: http://www.barnivore.com

For the ~~Heavy~~ Happy cream I used cashew butter mixed in with unsweetened soy milk, If you can’t find cashew butter it’s easy to make a simple cashew cream/”milk” from scratch. (see below)

Ingredients

1 Pack Penne Pasta (about 16 oz.)

2 Cups Crushed Tomatoes (I used San Marzano 28 oz. can)

1 Tbsp. Tomato Paste

4 Tbsp. Cashew Butter (Or ¼ Cup raw cashews: see below)

1 Cup Unsweetened Soy Milk

3-5 Cloves Garlic

2 Tbsp. Cherry Vodka

1 tsp Oil

1 tsp. Dried Basil

Salt & pepper to taste

Preparation

Cook the pasta in salted boiling water according to the directions on the package, (about 9 minutes to get it ‘Al-Dente’) Drain and set aside (do not wash the pasta!)

In a saucepan add the garlic and oil, sauté for 2 minutes.

Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, cashew butter, soy milk, cherry Vodka, basil, salt and pepper.

Stir in more water or soy milk if it’s too thick.

Cook for about 15 minutes and pour over the pasta to serve.

If you prefer to make the cashew cream from scratch:

Soak ¼ Cup raw cashews for 2-4 hours in water. Wash and drain. In a high-speed blender, place the cashews and ¾ Cup of soy milk or water and blend until creamy, add into the tomato sauce. (Instead of the cashew butter and soy milk).

Category: Blog, Easy & Simple, Kid Friendly, Lunch, Recipies

Oct
10

Sweet Green Split Pea Soup

This recipe is a “Phone recipe” I got from my mom. It’s the kind you don’t get with accurate measures. “Add a little bit of this, a bunch of that and cook until it’s ready”… which is fine here, there is room for adjustments anyway. You can play with the spices, the amount of liquid and the vegetables and it will still be delicious!

As a child, I did not appreciate it as much but now even the smell of it reminds me of Home Sweet Pea Home. It’s so interesting how senses like smell and taste are connected to memories. Winter, coming home from school straight to the kitchen table… that is my childhood pea soup memory. Plus, my hubby said it’s the best soup he ever tasted, but then again, he says that about everything I cook 😉

The soup tends to get very thick when it gets cold, so just add water and it’s good for the next day too.

Ingredients

2 Cups Dry Green Split Peas

1 Sweet Potato/Yam Peeled and Chopped into small cubes

4-5 Stalks of Celery, Chopped

1 Onion, Chopped (I used a few sweet and mild Cipollini small flat onions but any Onion will do)

2 Cups Vegetable Broth

4-6 Cups of Water

2 Tbsp Oil (Olive Oil Or Coconut Oil)

1 tsp. Sea Salt

1 tsp. Adobo Spice Mix

1/2 tsp. Cumin

Black Pepper (the more the better for me…)

Chopped Dill (Optional)

Preparation

Soak the peas for 2-3 hrs. or more (the more soaking time the less cooking time).

In a large pot, Sauté the onion in oil.

Stir in the sweet potato and celery for a few minutes.

Rinse and drain the split peas and add them to the pot.

Add the Vegetable broth and water, bring to a boil and lower to simmer for 1 1/2 hr. until the peas are “melting”.

Add the salt and spices towards the end.

Serve with croutons and sprinkle chopped dill on top.

Category: Blog, Gluten Free, Lunch, Recipies, Soups, Uncategorized

Oct
4

The Healthier Chocolate “Milkshake”

The Beauty and The Banana

I’ll do anything to get my daughter to eat more fruits and vegetables. It took about 7 years to convince her to eat a banana just the way it is. So I had to come up with creative ways to make the banana invisible. I mixed it in the chocolate “Milkshake” and she loved it! Yey! Every time she is willing to taste something new and she likes it, I mark an imaginary “V” in my mind for yet another Victory for me. I’m sure some of you know what I am talking about 😉 There is no need for convincing here… This shake is so delicious, healthy and easy to make and If you remember to freeze the bananas beforehand it becomes a frozen dessert no one can refuse!

*If you like, you can replace the almond butter with peanut butter.

Ingredients

2 Organic Ripe Bananas

2 Cups Almond Milk (play with the amount depending on and how smooth you like it)

1 Tbsp. Raw Almond Butter

1 Tbsp. Organic Date Syrup (If you have Dates, even better use 3-4 Medjool Dates)

1 Tbsp. Cacao Powder

1 tsp. Hemp Seeds (They contain complete protein, Omega 3 Fatty Acids and Fiber, this is Good stuff!!)

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

Preparation

Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth.

Category: Blog, Breakfast, Drinks, Gluten Free, Kid Friendly, Raw, Recipies, Sweets and Desserts

Oct
1

Red Lentil and Acorn Squash Patties

I made these patties in a few different versions before. I learned that a great way to experiment with making patties or veggie balls, is to use dry uncooked and soaked legumes as a base ingredient. Add vegetables, herbs and spices and the options are limitless! The fun fact is:, Legumes, due to their high content of starch (that’s the white stuff you see in the soaking water) act like a “glue” so there is no need for eggs. How simple and cool is that?! Actually, Falafel balls are made with the same principle, dry uncooked and soaked chic-peas or Fava beans mixed with spices and herbs and then fried.

In this recipe I used the beautiful Acorn squash with the red/orange lentils and made it ready for fall… I served it with tri-color couscous and simple tomato sauce but It’s great in a sandwich too. So lets get to work! start soaking your lents…

Ingredients

1¼ Cup Red Lentils, Soaked in water for about 3 to 4 hours

1/2 Acorn Squash

1 Small Onion

1/2 Cup Bread Crumbs

1 tsp. Fresh Thyme leaves

1 tsp. Salt

1 tsp Cumin

1 tsp. Turmeric

1 tsp. Paprika

1/2 tsp. Dry Ginger powder

1/2 tsp Black pepper

1 Tbsp. Maple Syrup

Oil for Frying

Preparation

Preheat oven to 400º

Cut the acorn squash in half, scoop out the seeds, brush with olive oil, maple syrup and sprinkle with sea salt (I used only one half of the squash, the other half I used for another recipe).

Roast in the oven for 45 minutes to an hour until soft. Set aside to cool. After the acorn squash has cooled, scoop the “flesh” from its inside, do not use the skin.

Rinse and strain the lentils and chop the onion.

Place the mashed acorn squash, the lentils and the onion in a food processor and blend.

In a mixing bowl, add the mixture, the bread crumbs and the spices.

Heat up the oil in a frying pan. Use an ice-cream scooper to form balls, place it in the pan and flatten a little to look like patties. Fry on medium heat for 2-3 minutes on each side.

• Always fry one pattie first to test the flavoring. If more spices are needed, add it to the mixture before frying the whole batch.

• If the mixture is too soft for the ice cream scooper to pick up, add more bread crumbs.

• If you prefer, you can bake them in the oven, it comes out just as tasty. Just brush them with oil before baking.

Always test one first

Category: Blog, Holidays, Kid Friendly, Lunch, Patties and Burgers, Recipies, Uncategorized

Sep
25

Kohlrabi and Roots Salad with Asian Touch

I used to see kohlrabi only as a cooked vegetable in soups but since I learned about the benefits of raw food, I’ve been experimenting with the idea and discovering that almost everything is better raw. A great way to introduce raw hard vegetables is to cut them like noodles or slice them “paper thin”. To slice them super thin I used a Japanese mandolin. Please be careful if you’re going to use one! It’s easy to forget that your fingers are at the end of it and cut yourself. It wouldn’t be such a vegan salad if there is blood in it ha?! 😉

Colorful and fresh, this salad could complement any asian style meal and it’s also fun to eat it by itself with chopsticks.