Hey guacamole, you’ve got some quinoa on you.

I had leftover guacamole from my nacho-tempeh-bacon-guac sandwiches and I knew if I didn’t eat it all quickly, it would start turning blackish in color despite my attempts to keep it from air.

Guacamole that has turned darker due to oxidation is not inedible but let’s face it, bright green guacamole is way more appetizing. So why not disguise it?

I got this idea from Epicurean Vegan who mixed mashed avocados with rice and beans.  I didn’t have rice so instead I mixed my leftover guacamole with a cooked combo of white and dark quinoa. Then I stirred in left over diced tomatoes with green chilis (from a can) and some salt and pepper to taste.

Then, I topped it with some black beans, sour cream and green onions. Since the guacamole was already made and full of flavor, this dish could not have been simpler. This kept in the fridge for several days and the guacamole kept on looking awesomely appetizing due to its quinoa disguise!

PS. Portland, I’ll see you in a few days for VVC!

Going out with a sneeze

I have a cold. It’s full blown-sies. An end of school year gift from my students I’m sure. When I’m under the weather, I don’t feel like doing anything in the kitchen.  Solution: get someone else to do the cooking.

Neal made me this brunch of tofu scramble, fried “ham”, english muffins and strawberries.

And one night we went to Harmony, a veg Chinese restaurant.

Pickled carrots and cabbage, served at the beginning of each meal here. Neal doesn’t like it so I eat it all.

Wonton Soup- we always order this when we eat here.

Salt and Pepper “Squid”- new menu item, second time we’ve gotten it.

Szechuan style green beans- we order this every time we’re here.

Orange “beef”- don’t order this as often, but it was tasty!

I’ve been taking vitamin C, drinking a lot of tea and smoothies, and sucking on Ricola’s non-stop. I sure hope I am feeling back to my old self soon. I’m tired of the stuffed up nose and the Darth Vader-like mouth breathing.

Any tips on how to curb a cold quick?

Baked Shells Stuffed with Cheesy Butternut Squash

These baked shells are packed full of creamy, cheesy, herby butternut squash goodness in every bite. This dish is easy to throw together and easy to customize.

First I preheated the oven to 450 degrees. Then I sliced a whole butternut squash down the middle and de-seeded it. Wash the outside of the butternut squash and nuke it for 3 minutes to make cutting easier.

I roasted the butternut squash for about 45 minutes (until tender). While it was roasting I prepared the macaroni shells, the big kind used for stuffing. I just followed the directions on the package.

After the butternut squash got all tender and delicious, I scraped both sides all out into a bowl. I then mixed in 1/2 cup of pre-made cashew cheese (recipe below), a handful of chopped basil and chives and salt and pepper to taste.  You don’t have to use basil or chives, get crazy and try different herbs, use more, use less…don’t use any at all. I used what happened to be in the fridge. You also don’t have to use butternut squash, try pumpkin like I did here.

Then I stuffed ‘dem shells and placed them in a baking pan. The amount of filling I made stuffed about 12-14 shells. I poured some store-bought marinara sauce over it and baked it at 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes.

And then I stuffed them stuffed shells into my mouth. These were so flippin’ delicious. It’s really the cashew cheese that brings this dish to that next creamy delicious level. The recipe (below) for the cashew cheese is based on Tal Ronnen’s but without having to prepare it for days because I don’t use probiotics.

Cashew Cheese

• 2 cups soaked cashews, drained (A couple of hours is best but it works just as well if you only soak it for 20-30 minutes and use a high speed blender)
• 2 tbs nutritional yeast
• 2 tbs lemon juice
• 2 tbs almond milk
• 1 tsp tahini
• 1/2 tbs onion powder
• 1 tsp salt

Throw everything in food processor or high speed blender and blend until smooth. Stick it in the fridge and use in meals like above or as a veggie dip or cracker spread.

These count as breakfast, right?

I’ve been on a real chocolate kick since like, um, I don’t know…forever! Thank goodness there are clever recipes out there that include chocolate disguised in a breakfast-y like package. Here are two that I made recently.

Marbled Banana Bread from Post Punk Kitchen. This looks real fancy but was so simple to make!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins. These were the perfect portable breakfast sweets.There’s a part of my brain that knows these sweet dessert-y foods should not be the meal I start my day off with. But then there’s another LOUDER part of my brain that is saying “Get in mah belly!”

Vegans on a Monadnock

This weekend we went on a short hike in Arabia Mountain. We walked along two trails. The first was “Forest Hill” and it was, well, forest-y.

We went past Arabia Lake. Nikko (our girl pup) was feeling adventurous and ended up falling in the lake. Poor girl. She was ok. I didn’t get a picture of her falling in…what kind of mother do you think I am??

After we passed the lake, we took “Mile Rock” trail back to the nature center. This part of the trail is all rock. Although Arabia Mountain is called a mountain, it’s actually a granite monadnock. This just means it’s an isolated and exposed rock hill. 

Granite used to be quarried here so there are still big chunks lying about.

The entire time it threatened to rain on us.

But we made it back to the car dry.

When we got home, I made us a couple of smoothies with mango, peaches, tangerines, strawberries and pineapples.

And the dogs, who are city dogs through and through, recouped from being out in nature.

Sweet Potato Salad with Tangy Ancho Chili Sauce (Virtual Vegan Potluck)

Hey vegan potluckers! We are thrilled to be participating in the third virtual vegan potluck!

One of my favorite dishes is the classic potato salad. But Neal won’t go near it because most versions have vegan mayo in them and he detests mayo. Even if the potato salad is mayo-less, he won’t go near it because he associates it with mayo. Challenge accepted! 

This potato salad is a twist on the classic version. Instead of russet and/or red potatoes, I used sweet potatoes.

And instead of the classic mayo, onions and pickle relish mixture, I used Mexican inspired ingredients like dried Ancho chili, cilantro, lime juice, harissa (technically, this ingredient is Moroccan)

and black beans.

The tangy sauce is cashew based and comes out nice and creamy but not in a mayo kind of way. 

Sweet Potato Salad with Tangy Ancho Chili Sauce

Ingredients (approximates)

• 4-5 medium to large peeled and cubed sweet potatoes
• 1-2 garlic cloves
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2-1 tbs chopped dried ancho chili
• 1/2 cup raw cashews
• 1 tbs olive oil
• 1/2 tsp harissa
• 2 1/2 tbs lime juice (+ a couple of splashes at end)
• 3/8 cup of water
• 14.5 oz can of rinsed and drained black beans
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Directions

1. Boil sweet potatoes until tender (about 5-7 minutes in boiling water). You want them tender but not too tender that they turn to mush. Drain and let cool.
2. In a small blender or food processor (I used the small cup with my magic bullet), pulse the garlic, salt and ancho chili.
3. Add the raw cashews and blend until it’s powdery/pastey.
4. Add the olive oil, harissa, lime juice and water and blend until smooth.
5. In a large bowl, add the sweet potatoes, black beans, cilantro and all the sauce. Gently fold ingredients until the sauce is incorporated.
6. At this point, I tasted it and ended up mixing in a few more splashes of lime juice (to up the tang factor) as well as some salt, pepper and more harissa.

This salad is great warm or cold, by itself or inside a tortilla! If you want it more spicy, add more ancho chili. It is super tasty and best of all, it passes the Neal test. Finally. A potato salad that he will eat!

Still hungry? There are more good vegan eats in the Virtual Vegan Potluck. Click the button below to see the dish before mine by Farmer’s Market Vegan.

Click this button to see the dish after mine by The Vegan Gypsy.

Or if you’re just joining in, click below to start from the beginning with our gracious host, Vegan Bloggers Unite.

Happy virtual eating!

Nacho Ordinary Sandwich!

This nacho-cheese, tempeh-bacon and guacamole grilled sandwich is one of THE best sandwiches I have ever eaten.  Every bite is bursting with a wonderful combination of Mexican flavors. It was inspired by this non-vegan version. Read on to see how simple it is to make.

The first thing I did was grill up some store-bought tempeh bacon. Homemade is cool, but store-bought can be a good time-saver if you’re a poor planner like me.

For the cheese, I made a batch of “Nacho Mmmm Sauce” from Peas and Thank You. Neal’s step-mom sent me a newspaper article from The Seattle Times that included four different Mmmm sauce recipes. I’ve tried most of them and the nacho is my favorite.

I slathered a thick layer of the nacho sauce on one side of each bread.

Then I added a thick, generous layer of homemade guacamole. I didn’t follow a recipe for the guac. It’s just two ripe avocados (mushed) mixed with about a 1/2 cup of chopped cherry tomatoes (seeds removed), a handful of chopped cilantro, some diced red onions, minced garlic (clove or two), lime juice, cumin, salt and pepper.

Next, I layered on the grilled tempeh bacon, closed the sandwich and grilled it for about 4 minutes on each side to heat it through. While it grilled, I lightly patted down on the bread to get the nacho cheese and guac to mush together.

I cut the sandwich on the diagonal and then asked if it was ready for its close up.

This is a great sandwich for summer and is lovely with a cup of lemonade and some tortilla chips on the side.  No napkins are needed because you’ll want to lick your fingers clean.

Come back Saturday for the Virtual Vegan Potluck May 2013 edition! There will be plenty of vegan food to go around from bloggers all over the world!

Raspberry Chocolate Sauce

This rich, decadent, vegan raspberry chocolate sauce made an appearance here awhile ago on pancakes. It was so good that I made it again, but this time I actually sorta paid attention to what I was tossing into the magic bullet.

Vegan Raspberry Chocolate Sauce

• 1/2 tbs extra virgin coconut oil
• 3/4 to 1 tbs of cocoa powder
• 2 tbs of agave
• 8 raspberries

I dumped all of this in our magic bullet (mini-blender) and blended it until smooth. This makes a single serving amount so it won’t blend well in a big blender. If I were to use a bigger blender I would at least double the ingredients.

This sauce was the perfect topping for The Vegan Penny Pincher’s vegan chocolate crock pot cake, but is also delicious on pancakes, vegan ice cream or anything really! Because everything is better with chocolate.

Triple A

Athens

Neal had to deliver some screen printed posters to a band in Athens, GA Saturday night, so I went with him and we ate at The Grit- an all vegetarian diner with vegan options.

I got the vegan Bahn Mi with wasabi mayo, pickled veggies and hoisin seared seitan, 

while Neal got the deluxe grilled sandwich with grilled seitan, and sautéed onions, mushrooms and peppers. And we both got sweet potato fries.

We were stuffed but we couldn’t leave without dessert. We got the grasshopper cake (chocolate mint) and chocolate cake to go!

Award

I was so pleased to receive an award from The Vegan Kat this weekend alongside some purty fabulous bloggers! So this is how this award works:

Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award

1. Visit and thank the blogger who nominated you.
2. Acknowledge that blogger on your blog and a link back.
3. Answer 10 questions given.
4. Nominate up to 12 bloggers for Sisterhood of the World Bloggers Award, provide a link to their blogs in your post, and notify them on their blogs.
5. Copy and paste the award somewhere on your blog.

10 Questions:
What is your favorite color?   orange
Your favorite animal?   hard to choose…I like all animals
Your favorite non-alcoholic drinks? tea! any kind of tea…I’m addicted!
Facebook or Twitter?  going rogue here, instagram!
Your favorite pattern?   stripes a la Jean Seberg in Breathless
Do you prefer getting or giving presents?  giving
Your favorite number?   44 
Your favorite day of the week?    Any day I don’t have to go to work!
Your favorite flower?    orchids
What is your passion?   creating

My nominees:

1. ASTIG vegan
2. The Opinioness of the World
3. Life of Kylie
4. Rambling Vegans

Anticipation

This Saturday marks the third Virtual Vegan Potluck! I’ve participated since its inception by the amazing Ann over at An Unrefined Vegan. This year I intend to visit each and every blog which is going to be crazy because the list of participants is growing! In fact, enrollment goes through May 6.

I’m bringing a salad…what are you bringing?

Tassili’s Raw Reality

As far as I know, there are only two pure raw food restaurants in Atlanta: Loving it Live and Tassili’s Raw Reality. Loving it Live is great, but it’s pretty far for us. So we were happy to discover Tassili’s Raw Reality a couple of months ago.

Outside they have produce and herbs growing. How awesome is that!

The inside feels very cozy. Partly because it’s small but mainly because it’s decorated with warm, inviting art and colors.

It’s the kind of place where you place your order at the counter and they bring the food to you or you can take it away.

A lot of the menu items are displayed in the front glass case. 

Since a lot of things are prepared fresh, a longish wait time during peak hours is not uncommon. The wait is not bad since it’s such a cozy place and on Sundays they have live music.

On our first visit, we got a lot of food in order to try a bunch of stuff. Neal got (clockwise) the sweet coconut corn, pad thai noodles, curried plantains and karamu couscous.

I got (clockwise) black love stew, spicy kale salad, a nori roll and black-eyed pea hummus.

Now I think we’ve figured out our favorites. These descriptions are taken from the online menu.

• karamu couscous:  A lightly sweet, fluffy, festival of couscous, raisins and berries that is perfect on its own or as a complement to the Spicy Kale and other savory dishes
• sweet coconut corn: This dish is like drinking sweet kernel corn right from a freshly split coconut bowl cut straight from the tree.
• spicy kale salad: With one of nature’s most nutritionally complete foods as its base, Tassili’s Spicy Kale is a flavorful blend of fresh kale, red onion, sun dried tomatoes, spices and, of course, the love that brings it all together (personal note: this stuff is for reals spicy and I don’t normally like spicy but this is soooo good!)
• nori rolls: How can so much satisfaction be packed into such a little unassuming roll? Taste it and you’ll understand. Tassili’s Nori Rolls is a flavorful blend of sunflower and pumpkin seed, wakame seaweed, scotch bonnet and spices (I cannot eat at Tassili’s without having at least one nori roll)

There are still many things on the menu that we want to try like the w-raps, spicy naked tacos and the eggplant pizza so we will be back.

What are your favorite raw foods and/or restaurants like?