Mexican Tacos with a Veggie Flare!

Who says vegan mexican food can't have all the flavors of a meat-based meal?  It can be just as mouth-watering but with with a lot less fat and a lot more nutrients!  My friend recently told me that she went vegetarian for 2 weeks, but was struggling to come up with a good taco recipe. So I decided to whip up some tacos at home to show her how it's really done around here!

Recipe
1 package Corn or Wheat Tortillas, steamed
1 package Match Meats Beef or Yves Ground Round
1 jar of salsa
1 cup of corn
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
2 cups of lettuce, chopped

Stir in the salsa into the meatless beef and heat it thoroughly for 5-7 min until the flavors and fully mixed. Then place the tortillas into a steamer and steam for 2-3 minutes. You can also heat the tortillas in a toaster oven or in the microwave (but be sure to first wet the tortillas with water so that they remain soft when heated).

To assemble the taco, put about 3 Tbsp (or more) of the meatless beef into the middle of the tortillas, then add some more salsa if you'd like, then add the corn, cilantro, and avocado. Then for the best part...just wrap it and eat with your hands! (the sloppier the better!) A simple, easy, and elegant meal!

Tropical Cheesecake Delight

How I love mangoes let me count the ways...I love them in smoothies, in salads, in sushi (yes I had amaaazing mango sushi recently!), in rice, and in dessert. I can never get too many mangoes! So it is with great delight that I share a recipe with you that I adjusted from Recipe Zaar and added a tropical twist to it...inspired by a wonderful friend of mine.

Recipe:

1.5 packages of extra firm silken tofu
1/2 T tahini (I use Arrowhead Mill's tahini because it's sweeter than most)
2 T lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest
2 T corn starch
1/3-1/2 c sugar (you can add more for sweetness if you like)
1/2 t salt
1/2 t vanilla
2 T almond milk (you can use soy or rice milk as well)

Mango Drizzle:
1 whole mango, blended

Crust:
1 graham cracker crust (I bought an organic crust by Wholly Wholesome.  You can also crush  2 cups of graham crackers or coconut cookies and mix the crumbs with about 1/4 cup of maple syrup and press the mixture into a  9" pie plate and bake at 350 for 5 min and then pour the filling in and bake once more)

Blend the pie mixture until smooth and pour it into a 9" pie crust. Bake cheesecake at 350 for 30 min. Once the pie is baked, allow it to set and cool for 45 min. Then chill it for an hour and serve it with mango puree...it's heaven!

Veggie Chicken Strips

Who would've thought that something like chicken strips could be replaced by a product made out of  a humble soybean!  Well, technology has certainly come so far that we can now mimic the taste and texture of animal flesh and the results are fabulous, compassionate, healthy and delicious!

Today, I'm featuring Light Life's Smart Strips which you can find in most produce sections of grocery stores. You can use them in fajitas,  stir frys, casseroles, pot pies, stews or burritos.

As you may have caught on by now, I love making stir frys as they are so easy to make and incredibly versatile. Below, you see a simple stir fry I made with the Smart Strips. 

Because you can use these strips in any meal, I'm just going to give you an idea of what I did and you can use this post as inspiration to make your own master piece.

Recipe:

1 package of Smart Strips by Lightlife

2 carrots, julienned

1 red onion, julienned

1 red pepper, julienned

1 cup brown rice, cooked

1 bunch arugula greens

Sauce:

1.5 TBSP Tamari (soy sauce)

1 TBSP agave nectar (or to taste)

2 TBSP brown rice vinegar

So basically I sauteed the strips first until they were lightly browned, and then added a variety of veggies (onions, red peppers, carrots) . Then I tossed the veggies in a simple sauce I made with tamari, agave nectar and brown rice vinegar and put it on a bed of rice and arugula greens!  Such a simple, yet elegant meal!

Eat Your Greens!

I know, I know…today we’re going to discuss a very important but not much loved topic…eating greens! I’m sure your mom has told you to do this over and over again despite the well of tears forming in your sweet innocent face… “Eat your greens child!…WHY? Because they’re good for you!”  Well, there is more to the story than just that.

Here are a few good reasons to eat greens everyday according to Dr. Weil:
A great source of vitamins (including folate, one of the B vitamins) green vegetables also provide minerals and fiber. Some - including spinach, collards, kale and broccoli - contain antioxidants such as lutein and zeaxanthin, carotenoids that can protect aging eyes from developing cataracts and macular degeneration. They may also protect against clogging of the carotid arteries in the neck. Cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, kale and turnips contain antioxidants and other phytonutrients that reduce cancer risk.

I went from someone who hated eating greens, to learning to cook and prepare them in a way in which even I can enjoy. I’ll be blogging about different types of greens from time to time because I think we all need to start adding more of these super foods into our diets.

Of all the greens, Kale is king! It is one of the most nutrient-dense foods on the planet!  So this is why I like to come up with a variety of ways of using it. I like to lightly steam kale for 5 minutes and add it to everything! I’ll add it to any kind of soup, chopped very fine in salads, or added with tofu in stir-fry…pretty much anything! The great thing about it is that it has a very mellow flavor so it won’t overpower your meal. Instead it will add a welcome variety of nutrients and antioxidants .

I’ll often stir-fry kale with a simple combination I really love:

1 bunch Kale, chopped
1 Tbsp. Mirin (seasoned rice wine)
1 Tbsp Brown Rice Vinegar
1 Tbsp Tamari (or any kind of soy sauce)
1 Tbsp Agave Nectar (optional)
1 Tbsp Roasted Sesame Seeds (optional)

Because I’m a lazy cook, I'll just throw all these ingredients (except the sesame seeds) into a non-stick pan all at the same time with about 2 Tbsp of water and let it lightly steam. At the very end, I'll add toasted sesame seeds and a little salt if needed.

I hope you grow to love greens as I have!

Grilled Pork and Vegetables without the Pig!

I've decided that we'll have a "Meatless Mondays" menu item which will contain alternatives to traditional meats. I hope it'll help those of you who are transitioning from a meat-based diet to a plant-based one.

My husband and I came across this AMAZING product called Match Meats.  I love their tagline: Better for You, Better for Everyone. This stuff looks like meat and even feels like it too! We've only made one item from them so far, but were very impressed by it's ease of use.

So the first thing we tried was their "pork" product. If you want to know what it looks like and how to cook it, this company has it's act together and offers videos on how to use all their products! This video shows you how to work with their pork product and here is where you can order this delicious goodness.

Here is how we made this dish:

Recipe:
1 package of Match Meats pork product
1 head of broccoli, steamed
fresh thyme leaves
barbecue sauce (optional)

So, this a very simple preparation technique.  Since the veg meat is very pliable, I wet my hand (to prevent it from sticking to them) and molded the patties into a burger shape.  We then very lightly sprayed canola oil onto our George Foreman grill and cooked them until we got those nice grill marks. Derek, decided he wanted the patties to be slightly browned, so we put them on a non-stick pan to brown.  You can see the images of how we did this below.

Once the patties are browned, I sprinkled some fresh thyme  and lightly salted the patties. You can add barbecue sauce to the side if  you'd like, but we thought the patties were flavorful enough as is.  I then served the dish with some simple steamed broccoli which was lightly salted.

What a simple and satisfying meal...and the best thing about it was that there is a happy happy ending!
...and this little piggy was never eaten!

The ChooseVeg Blog Has Officially Launched!

I just wanted to say a friendly hello to any new blog readers. We've officially moved from The Veg Lounge to ChooseVegBlog.com

Here I hope to provide you with exciting and simple recipes to make a healthy living easy...I welcome any comments, questions or ideas for blog topics. Happy reading and eating! :)

 

Bringin' Home the Fakin' Bacon

This week's recipe requires little ingenuity and a lot of condiments. If you've never tried tempeh bacon before, it's great!  Now, don't expect the same texture of let's say... a piggie's carcass, nor the drippy cholesterol laden fat...but you'll get a similar smoked flavor that's both satisfying to humans and pigs! (shout out to Wilbur!) :)

1 package Fakin' Bacon
4 slices of bread
1/2 avocado
dijon mustard
veganaise (egg-free version of mayonnaise)
1 tomato, sliced
3 lettuce leaves

All you got to do is fry the bacon for a few minutes on each side until it's ever so lightly browned. Then all you have to do is assemble this deliciousness with the ingredients above and you got yourself a wonderful meal!

A Salad that Keeps You Coming Back for More!

Could this be true? A salad that makes you want to come back for more and more and more? Yes, it is! :) I know, this isn’t the “Most Awesome Salad in the World” which I blogged about last week, but it’s still pretty awesome if you ask me.

Before I tell you more, I just want to say sorry for being away for a several days! I know, it’s not like me…but I have good reason. I’ve been swamped creating my new site and juggling a whole bunch  of projects!  I’ll have some exciting news for this blog in the coming weeks...let’s just say we’ll be growing leaps and bounds soon…more to come!

Back to the topic at hand…who doesn’t love Cesar salad? And it’s even better made vegan! (Isn’t everything better vegan?) I whipped up this recipe and as usual I didn’t measure anything, so I’m giving you approximate amounts…but either way, trust your intuition and it’ll turn out great!

Cesar Salad Dressing
1/2 package of silken tofu (6oz) http://www.morinu.com/product/tofu.html
1 Tbsp Braggs Liquid Aminos (or Shoyu/Tamari Sauce)
1 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
1 strip of Nori (2 inches by 2 inches)
1 lemon, juiced
1/4-1/2 tsp garlic powder (if you are a garlic “freak” be my guest--go crazy on it!)
3-4 Tbsp water
1/4-1/2 tsp white pepper
salt to taste

Salad:
1 head Romaine Lettuce, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
2 handful of croutons (I buy read-made ones to save time, but you can make your own)
1 red pepper, diced

Blend the dressing ingredient until smooth. If you want to make your dressing thinner, then just add more water until you achieve your desired consistency. Then toss the dressing into the salad until it is nicely coated. We tossed about half the dressing amount and saved the rest for the next day.

A Protein Powerhouse Meal

This dish was made whimsically with whatever grocery was left in our fridge. I know it’s annoying when you are hungry and all you see are a few things in the refrigerator, but you know, sometimes your most creative meals can be made this way. I kind of like the challenge of it all, and I hope you enjoy what I’ve come up with.

But first, a word on tempeh…This meal is made of an Indonesian product called tempeh. It’s very high in protein as it’s made of soybeans. It’s gross how they make it, (it’s basically fermented beans) but I try not to think about that because it’s good for you and it makes a hearty meal.

Like tofu, tempeh is very versatile and can be put into a variety of dishes. However, most brands of tempeh have a bitter aftertaste that I don’t like. So, I’d suggest boiling the tempeh in water for about 10-15 min to get rid of the bitterness. Now, if you buy the White Wave brand of tempeh, you won’t get much of a bitter flavor and that’s the brand that I’d recommend.

Orange Tempeh Marinade
1 package of tempeh
1 orange, juiced
1 tsp orange rind (or to taste)
1 Tbsp almond butter
3 tsp agave nectar
1 Tbsp shoyu sauce
1/4 tsp ginger powder (optional)

Tempeh Stirfry
1/2 small red onion, diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 head of broccoli, chopped

Miso Sauce (optional)
1 Tbsp Brown Rice Miso
4 Tbsp Water (or more if you want a thinner sauce)

Mix all the ingredients for the marinade until it’s smooth. Then marinade the tempeh for about 1 hour. If you don’t want to wait that long (I didn’t) you can get away with marinating for about 30 min. Then heat a few sprays of canola oil in a non-stick pan and add the onions and garlic until soft. (because I don’t like to use too much oil, I add a little water after about a minute of stir-frying.) Then add the tempeh and fry for about 5 minutes after which you can add the broccoli. You can put a lid over my pan for another 5 minutes or until the broccoli is soft.

If you want this dish to have a fuller flavor, you can add some miso sauce at the very end. I mixed about 1 Tbsp of brown rice miso and 4 Tbsp water  and poured a little over my tempeh dish…delicious!

A Quick and Simple Snack for Summer

My first blog entry ever was about my favorite food…smoothies. I want to continue to share with you my favorite smoothie recipes. Just like you, I’m always on the go and am constantly juggling projects. When I get hungry, I want to snack fast. I want something fresh, easy to make and easy to clean. (I'm not much of a dish washer!) I can’t tell you how often I make smoothies because they are delicious, healthy and the magic word…soooo easy to make. I make them for breakfast, dessert and sometimes when I'm really really busy, I even have them for dinner!

This week I’ve been making a lot of strawberry pineapple smoothies, so I decided to share my recipe with you.

1 banana
1/4 cup of frozen strawberries
1/4 pineapples
1/4 cup almonds
1 cup water
1 Tbsp flax seeds

Combine all the ingredients in a blender until smooth and enjoy! If you have a Vitamix blender, this will blend very easily. If you have $20 blender (I had one all through college) then it’ll take several attempts at getting this smoothie to be smooth. Most likely, it’ll be a bit chunky due to the almonds, but I like that way.

If you want to lose weight, get healthier, or just eat something delicious, please give smoothies a try. I can't emphasize enough how yummy and easy they are to make.

Labels: almonds, flax seeds, high energy food, pineapples, quick meal, smoothies, strawberries