Pink Drink!

Veggies and fruits really contain the most amazing colors, and it's always exciting to see this vibrancy in fresh juice.  Today I pushed Red Russian kale, two Honeycrisp apples and half a lemon through my juicer and got this pretty pink drink.  

A patient person would have waited until all the foam floated to the top before pouring the juice into the glass!  Next time I'd like to try it with Granny Smith apples, a green variety of kale, lemon, and a bit of ginger for a vibrant green, gingery drink.

The Best Mung Dal

I haven't actually tried every mung dal out there, but I'm willing to bet I'd still rank this one pretty high if I had.  I first saw this recipe on the Post Punk Kitchen forum and decided to give it a try since I had all the ingredients on hand.  Since that night several months ago, I've been in mung dal heaven.

This recipe is simple and really, really satisfying.  You can adjust the spiciness level to your preferences, and add a good squeeze of lemon juice and cilantro for a fresh, flavorful taste.  I can't tell you how much I love this dish!  And so, even though it doesn't contain greens (rather, it contains green things), I'll introduce to you Mung Dal from Sonia at the Seven Spice blog.

I salivate just looking at this photo.

I don't have a pressure cooker, so when I make this soup, I soak the mung beans for 2-8 hours and then cook them until the texture indicated in the recipe.

Sorry for taking another break from my greens theme.  I just got home after traveling ALL day and decided to use a backup recipe.

Lasagna with Spinach, Mushrooms, and Butternut Squash - RAW

Hi all!

Amanda has asked me to post on her blog while she is out of town at her grandma’s birthday party. I am friends with the Supreme Master and Lady Beth (see their posts below) but unlike them, Amanda does not have a nickname for me and has mentioned me on her blog by my real name, Carly. Amanda and I have been friends for about five years, when we became roommates through veggieroommates.com (yes, you heard me right! Alas, this website sadly no longer exists). We were roommates for the last two years of Amanda’s college days and my first two years of grad school in Florida. I stayed in Florida to finish my degree and work for The Nature Conservancy. Surprisingly, I then got a job with a conservation non-profit in Portland and ended up moving to the same town that Amanda currently lives in. Small world!

I have been a vegetarian since I was 12 (if you are counting that means I have been veg for 19 years!). I grew up in a meat and potatoes family in central Wisconsin, which means being vegetarian was not easy! The only green vegetable my family ate at the time was iceberg lettuce. I am not exaggerating. I have slowly been adding greens into my diet as I have found that I remarkably don’t dislike them, despite what others in my family may prefer. In fact, I LOVE them! This has rubbed off on my family as they have actually started to eat romaine lettuce, spinach and….broccoli! I am hoping to get them to start eating kale and collard greens soon but that might be an uphill battle.

Anyways, on to the food. I love experimenting with RAW foods so I thought I would give it a try for Amanda’s blog. This recipe does take some preparation but not as much as most RAW recipes. You will need a mandoline and either a food processor or high speed blender (like a Vitamex). You will *not* need a dehydrator (whew!). I used cremini mushrooms here because I work for a non-profit and can’t afford the wild variety. But if you are able, a combo of oyster, shitake, and cremini would probably be lovely!

This Recipe has been adapted from Matthew Kenney’s Everyday Raw Express

Lasagna with Spinach, Mushrooms, and Butternut Squash - RAW

1 very small Butternut Squash

Cashew Cream
2 cups cashews, soaked for 2 hours
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 ½ Tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3 Tablespoons water
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon black pepper

Spinach
2 cups baby spinach

Mushrooms
1 cup cremini mushrooms
1.5 Tablespoons olive oil
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 Tablespoon nama shoyu
1/2 Tablespoon parsley
1/2 teaspoon thyme
1/2 teaspoon oregano


Peel the butternut squash, cut in quarters and remove seeds. Using a mandoline, cut the squash into thin slices. Each slice should be at least 3 inches long. Toss with a bunch of olive oil and salt. Soak for 30 min or more. Rinse and drain before using.

For the cashew cream, soak the cashews for about two hours. Drain the water (do not use it!) and rinse the cashews. Pulse cashews, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, olive oil, water, salt and pepper in a food processor or high speed blender until smooth and fluffy.

Chop mushrooms very finely. Toss mushrooms with all ingredients and allow to marinate for 30 min or more.

Wash and chop spinach.

Layer squash, cashew cream, spinach, and mushrooms. Repeat. Garnish with more oregano and thyme. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper, if desired.

Greetings All!

Just like Supreme Master, I have been asked by the lovely Amanda to contribute as a guest blogger in her absence. Amanda may have referred to me in previous posts as Lady Beth and I, too, am a frequent traveling companion of hers. I am going to try to make this post as grammatically correct as I can, in case another mutual friend of ours (we'll nickname him Grammar Guru) is reading. :)

I met Amanda five years ago back in college. After we graduated, we have not lived in the same cities but have managed to have at least bi-annual visits/food travels. I love warm weather and cannot tolerate much cold (opposite of Amanda), so I chose to return to South Florida after I graduated college. While warm weather abounds, tons of vegan options do not.

I have the fortune of having vegan parents in the area who cook some scrumptious meals. Unlike our weather preferences, Amanda and I have similar tastes in food (not surprisingly, she already posted a recipe of my favorite green meal - massaged raw kale salad). To not duplicate simialar recipes, I leave you with one of my dad's signature dishes. While the dish itself does not use a green, the sister vegetable of the main character is a green. The recipe is a slight green deviation.

See a recipe for this German entree at http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=25808.0. Personally, I prefer the recipe with no raisins, and recommend that you alter the sugar/vinegar ratio based on your sweet/sour preference ratio. To keep with the green theme, feel free to use green cabbage as opposed to red -- or create a dish with a combination of the two!

Happy eating.

Peanut Kale

Happy VeganMoFo Hump Day!

Hi everyone! Amanda has asked me to contribute as a guest blogger today while she’s out of town. You may know me from one of her many travel adventures, as we’ve stuffed our faces in countless cities together across the continent. She refers to me as Shivels, which is a nickname that I hate! So while I have full reign of her blog today, I’m going to go ahead and change my nickname to Supreme Master.

Moving on.

A little background information on me: I’ve been vegan for over 8 years. Amanda and I met in Florida but I moved to Seattle 3 years ago. I moved here mainly for the food but I tell mainstream society it was for graduate school. Which is partially true; I just picked my school based on which city had better food to offer. So here I am!

As a grad student, my nutrition has had its ups and downs. Finals week are the worst and most days involve me throwing Amy’s microwaveables in my backpack or ordering a pizza and hoping it’ll last me my next three meals. This pattern usually leads me to reflect upon my nutrition at the end of the week and panic. I then try to think of the most nutritious way I can make up for my sins. In my panic, the gloomy Seattle clouds part and a light shines down upon the kale in my fridge.

Sometimes I’ve been so short on time and so desperate for nutrients that I’ve just taken bites out of a bunch of kale before bed. Not ideal. Other times I’ll have it juiced. Oftentimes I’ll just sauté it with some garlic, braggs and seasame oil. Regardless of how I eat it, I always resort to a kale cleanse to clear my conscience. The last time I did this, I was looking for something different and came across this recipe for Creamy Peanut Kale on vegweb.

I like this recipe because not only is it delicious, but it's fast and simple. Prepping for it really just involves chopping the kale and making the peanut sauce.

Wilted and nearly-dead kale, ready to become something more!

Another thing I appreciate about the recipe is that once you have the kale, it's likely you'll already have the remaining ingredients sitting around the kitchen. So if you're ever looking for a quick and easy recipe to clear your conscience of your gluttonous sins, give this one a try!

The end product may look something like this, although I usually make a thicker peanut sauce than what the recipe makes. (Caution: my pictures were taken with a smartphone on a plate with streaks on it. Not the food porn you're used to, I'm sure. Sowwy!)

I'd like to end this Hump Day post by sharing a song by fellow vegan, Leslie Hall. Go ahead and give it a listen and remind yourself of the deliciousness and nutritiousness of VeganMoFo!

-Supreme Master

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows

Taking a break from the greens to enjoy some chocolate and peanut butter cookies!

Have you made this recipe from Isa and Terry's Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar?  This was my first time.  I think I ended up with a too-oily batter, which made the chocolate part of the cookie flatten more than it should have, but the cookies were still quite good. 

A little more like flying saucers than pillows, but tasty all the same!

I've only tried a few of the recipes from this book, but I feel like this is the season for, among other things, cookies, so I want to give more a go!  What's your favorite cookie recipe, either from VCIYCJ or elsewhere?

Kale Sandwich

This may be the most boring way to enjoy kale, but perhaps you never thought about it before.  If that's the case, then you're welcome for the introduction!  Matt has kale in his sandwich every day.  Sometimes I eat it this way too, as evidenced below.  Fresh-from-the-garden kale is tougher than some lettuces, but it's just as sweet as, say, romaine.  I think it's a great addition to sandwiches.

Kale sandwich with shredded carrot, Vegenaise, mustard, oven roasted tofurky, and tomatoes- on Dave's Killer bread.

Pssssttt.  Did you see my previous post about the Flash Mob Blogging event?