Spaghetti with Broccoli and Lemon

One of the most common misgivings I hear from people about eating a vegan diet is how time consuming it is. People have this idea that being vegan means spending hours finely slicing vegetables, processing complicated juices, and hand-picking grains to mill into flour. Okay, maybe I’m exaggerating a little. But, people genuinely fear the effort perceived in veganism.

Yes, there is work involved in the food that I eat, but that comes more from being healthy than being vegan. The key to a healthy diet is to make most of your food yourself. This allows you to control the amount of additives, preservatives, salt, and fat that you eat, and reduces the amount of processed ingredients you consume. I could technically be vegan, and eat nothing but takeout, french fries, and donuts from Whole Foods. Is there a lot of work in that? No. Would I be the picture of health? No, again.

Like most people, I don’t always have time to prepare intricate, complex, and elaborate meals in the name of health. So, when I find something that hits the trifecta of healthy, delicious, and quick, it ends up becoming a staple. This dish was tossed together for Sunday lunch with a spinach, dried cherry, and marcona almond salad, and toasted ciabatta. The longest step: boiling the water for the pasta.

Spaghetti with Broccoli and Lemon

1 pound spaghetti (whole wheat for a little nutritional boost)
1 head broccoli, chopped into small florets (in the interest of saving time, you can buy pre-cut florets)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Zest of 1 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the spaghetti until it is a minute or two away from being done. Save 1 cup of the pasta water.

While the water is boiling, cook the broccoli. You can boil the broccoli in a small pot of water for a few minutes, rinse under cold water, and set aside; or, you can place the florets in a bowl with a couple tablespoons of water, cover with plastic wrap, and microwave for 3-4 minutes. Broccoli should be fork tender, but not soft.

In a large saute pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat, and then add the garlic. Pay careful attention that the garlic doesn’t burn. Add the broccoli, and toss with the olive oil and garlic. Add the lemon zest and chili flakes, and stir to combine. Add the pasta, lemon juice, and 1/2 cup of reserved pasta water. Cook for 1-2 minutes until the pasta is done and coated with sauce. Add more pasta water if the spaghetti looks dry. Finish with salt and pepper, and serve immediately.

Superbowl Sunday: Buffalo Cauliflower

So, apparently it’s Superbowl Sunday, or as we refer to it at my house, [Insert Your Favorite Chick Flick] Sunday. I don’t care about sports. I don’t care about football. I don’t even pretend to care about football for boys I think are cute. But, I do care about food. Especially junk food.

In my former (read: non-vegan) life, I relished Superbowl Sunday if only for the chance to eat buffalo wings, Doritos, and cupcakes frosted in the colors of whatever team I had arbitrarily decided to root for. My first few years of being vegan, I just opted out of the whole event. But last year, I changed my mind. I have always asserted that a plant-based lifestyle is not one of lack or restriction. And if I ever want to convince people to join my team (see what I did there?), I’m going to have to give them Superbowl food.

Buffalo wings have long been a favorite of mine. My mom grew up in upstate New York, so it’s practically in our blood. My college roommate, Claire, and I used to get 10¢ wings and tater tots at the sketchy bar near campus. But how to turn something as literally meat-centric as wings into delicious plant-based food? What I realized is that it’s not really about the wings; it’s about the sauce. After doing a little research, I discovered several recipes for buffalo cauliflower. Cauliflower has a firm texture with a mild flavor that serves as the perfect vehicle for tangy, spicy buffalo sauce. It’s a flavor touchdown! Okay, that was bad...

Buffalo Cauliflower
adapted from PETA

1 cup unsweetened nondairy milk
1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 head of cauliflower, chopped into small florets
1 1/2 cups buffalo sauce

Heat the oven to 450°F.  Combine the milk, flour, and salt in a small bowl. Coat the cauliflower florets in the batter, and place in an ovenproof dish. Bake for 15-20 minutes until the cauliflower is tender. Turn once halfway through. Pour the hot sauce over the cauliflower, and bake for 5 more minutes. Serve hot from the oven.

Moo Shu Vegetables and Pancakes, Part Two

Moo Shu Vegetables
adapted from Chloe's Kitchen by Chloe Coscarelli

1 package extra firm tofu
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 onion, thinly sliced
8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 head cabbage, sliced
2 carrots, julienned
Salt to taste
2 teaspoons hot sesame oil
2 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce

Drain the tofu, and squeeze the excess water out of it. Cut into thin rectangles. Place the rectangles on a nonstick skillet, and brown the top and bottom of each piece. Set aside.

Combine, onions, carrots, and mushrooms in a large sauté pan with 1/2 cup of water over medium to medium-high heat. Add more water as needed to keep the vegetables from drying out. Sauté until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the ginger, garlic, and a good pinch of salt, and cook for a few minutes more. Add the 3 tablespoons soy sauce, cabbage, and tofu, and cook until the cabbage is tender and most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat, and drizzle with the sesame oil. Finish with the green onions.

In a small bowl, combine the hoisin sauce with 2 tablespoons soy sauce.

My perfect moo shu is a pancake smeared with 1 teaspoon of hoisin, 1/3 cup of cabbage filling, and a flick of hoisin on top. Roll or fold into an eatable size, and keep plenty of napkins on hand!

Moo Shu Vegetables and Pancakes, Part One

Sometimes I forget how California I truly am. My extended family hails from Massachusetts and New York, I spent my college and grad school years in Chicago and Boston, and I have a traditional Irish Catholic name, so I somehow thought this made me less of a Left Coaster. But then, something will happen to remind me where I come from. On a date once, in the middle of a conversation on poetry and augury, I pulled out my tarot cards, and was told, “You’re so California right now.” Upon leaving happy hour early last Friday, my colleagues asked where I was going, and I told them I had to get home because I was attending an all day Women’s Bliss Circle in the morning. My utterance was greeted with some silence and some laughter. I got the same response when I told a friend that before we were able to drive, my best friend and I used to get Chinese food delivered to school, so we wouldn’t have to eat the cafeteria food.

My dish of choice was always moo shu. Chicken, pork, or vegetarian, it didn’t matter. What I loved were the paper-thin pancakes, slightly sweet hoisin sauce, and the still crisp cabbage. It was one of the first foods I remember being truly satisfied with when I became vegan. The meat is not the star of moo shu, and the egg is unremarkable, so this dish lends itself well to a plant-based diet. I could have easily made my own moo shu, but the pancakes seemed well out of my abilities as a cook. Happily, Chloe Coscarelli’s first book includes a recipe for moo shu AND pancakes. As with many things, there’s no substitute for the homemade, hand-rolled version, so do yourself a mitzvah, and make these for dinner this week!

Moo Shu Pancakes
adapted from Chloe’s Kitchen by Chloe Coscarelli

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup boiling water
1/2 teaspoon salt

Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the boiling water, and mix with a wooden spoon. Once cooled, knead for a few minutes on a lightly floured surface. Form into a ball, and let sit covered for 20 minutes.

Roll dough into a 16 inch log, and slice into 1 inch pieces. One at a time, flatten each piece of dough with your hand, and then roll into a 6 inch circle. The dough will be quite sticky so have plenty of flour at hand.

Heat a nonstick skillet to medium-high heat. Cook each pancake individually; flip over once they have browned slightly, 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side. Stack pancakes and set aside.*

*Here is Chloe’s genius trick for keeping the pancakes warm: fill a small saucepan half-full with water, and bring to a simmer. Place a large heatproof plate on top of the saucepan. Stack the pancakes on the plate, and cover with a metal bowl.

Tofu Shiitake Dumplings in Spicy Peanut Broth

Growing up, I always heard my parents talk about these amazing dumplings they used to eat shortly after I was born, near Boston. They described, with near reverence, how the spicy broth was almost unbearably hot. This early exposure to wontons, much like an early exposure to language, primed me for a particular dumpling aptitude and appreciation.

I have my own fond memories of the chicken dumplings in spicy peanut broth I used to eat at Ho Chow’s when I was in high school. The sauce was so spicy that if you breathed wrong, you’d be coughing for the rest of dinner. Somehow, it was worth it, and I have longed for them ever since.

On a recent trip to Oregon, I had dinner at a great Asian fusion restaurant that skillfully combined Japanese, Chinese, Singaporean, and Thai flavors in each dish. To start, we enjoyed these delicate tofu stuffed dumplings in a light miso broth. The wontons were tender and perfect, but the broth was a little too mild for my taste. In my head, I paired them with that hot and spicy peanut broth, and couldn’t wait to create my own vegan version. 

Tofu Dumplings

1 package extra firm tofu
1/2 cup minced carrot,
1 cup minced shiitake mushrooms (you can use cremini if necessary; I also like to add a few maitakes)
1/2 cup minced cabbage
1 tablespoon ginger, finely grated
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame chili oil
1 package wonton or pot sticker wrappers (check to make sure there is no egg)

In a large sauté pan, stir fry the carrots, mushrooms, cabbage, ginger, and garlic until tender, about 7 minutes. In a large bowl, combine the vegetables, tofu, soy, and sesame oil. Combine with a fork (or use your hands) to break up the tofu and incorporate the other ingredients. Taste the filling, and add more soy sauce if necessary.

Place 1 heaping tablespoon filling in the center of the dumpling wrapper. Wet the edges with water and fold the edges to seal the dumpling.

You can steam the dumplings in a steaming basket over a wok of boiling water for 12-14 minutes, or boil the dumplings in boiling water for 5-6 minutes. Place on an oven safe plate and keep warm in a 200° oven.

Set aside to be combined with the peanut broth. 

Spicy Peanut Broth

1 cup vegetable stock
1/4 cup peanut butter
3 tbsp chili paste
1  1/2 tbsp rice vinegar
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame chili oil
2 sliced green onions

In a small saucepan, combine the vegetable stock, peanut butter, chili paste, rice vinegar, and soy sauce. Bring mixture to a simmer, and cook for 3-5 minutes, allowing all of the flavors to combine. Add more chili paste for heat. If the broth gets too thick, add more vegetable stock until it attains a smooth, thin consistency. Ladle the broth over the dumplings, drizzle with sesame chili oil, and finish with green onion. Serve immediately - as if you could wait!

A Vegan Day at the Movies

Growing up, one of my favorite family activities was going to the movies. I have the best memory of being scared out of my wits at Jurassic Park, to the point where I flung a bucket of popcorn out of my lap, and all over the floor (much belated apologies to the Century Theaters’ staff). Food has always been an important part of my movie-going experience, and that hasn't changed since I became vegan. Hot dogs, Junior Mints, popcorn and nachos are the staples of cineplexes across the country which makes it hard to find a suitable snack. Amazingly, the nacho cheese that comes sealed in a tub is actually made with real cheese, but the butter on your popcorn is (often) vegan! However, popcorn does not a meal make, so I like to bring a bag full of goodies.

The 7:00 showing at the theater demands dinner. You can always go the standard route with a foil wrapped vegan dog, but if you’re going to go the trouble of sneaking in food, you might as well raise the bar. When faced with this situation recently, I opted for this bright, fresh noodle salad. Delicious at room temperature, easily transported, and accompanied by chocolate covered pretzels, this dish makes a perfect movie meal!


Soba Noodle Salad with Snow Peas
adapted from Fresh & Fast Vegetarian by Marie Simmons

1 1/2 cups snow peas, sliced diagonally in half
1 teaspoon plus 1/2 teaspoon salt
12 oz soba noodles
1 carrot, julienned
1 cucumber, julienned
1 red bell pepper, julienned
4 green onions, sliced into thin diagonals
1 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1/3 cup rice vinegar
3 tablespoons canola oil
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, crushed

Bring a medium saucepan of water to a boil. Add the noodles, and cook for 3 minutes. Add the snow peas and 1 teaspoon salt to the pan, and cook for one minute more. Drain the noodles and snow peas, and rinse with cold water. Transfer the contents of the pan to a bowl, and toss with the sesame oil.

In a small bowl, combine the rice vinegar, oil, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Combine the noodles, snow peas, carrots, and cucumber in a bowl, and toss with the dressing. Top with green onions and sesame seeds. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Braised Kale

Sometimes it’s the simplest dishes that end up being the most delicious. I talk a lot about eating your greens; it seems only appropriate since they are so good for you. They are literally powerhouses of essential nutrients like iron and calcium, not to mention antioxidants and vitamins. So, I talk a lot about eating your greens, and I try to follow my own advice. I like greens, some more than others, but they’ve never been my favorite part of any meal...until now. While visiting my aunt, she made braised kale for us, and I couldn’t get enough of it. I assumed it was because we had been traveling for 2 days, and my peanut butter and jelly fed body was crying out for something real.  But, when I made the dish myself a week later, I was licking my plate clean. I have since put away an entire bunch of kale all by myself thanks to this recipe. If greens have seemed better in theory than in practice, please give this dish a try. It just might change your life.

Braised Kale

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 bunch kale (or chard, dandelion greens, etc)
1 cup vegetable stock
1 cup water
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Salt to taste

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot over high heat . Add the garlic and sauté until golden and fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the greens, and stir to coat in oil. Add the stock and water. Cook over medium high to high heat until the liquid is almost completely absorbed, about 20 minutes. Add the lemon juice, and taste for salt. Enjoy immediately!

Black Rice, Mango, and Sugar Snap Pea Salad

A couple of weeks ago, I had the chance to celebrate a truly wonderful occasion: the graduation of my friend Jessica. Aside from her PhD, Jessica also holds the honor of being the first human being to appear on my blog, and she has always been a willing guinea pig for new recipes. When she asked me to prepare a dish to share at her celebration, I felt honored. Jessica is a phenomenal cook, and I knew expectations would be high for the food at one of her events, so I had to deliver.

I decided on this versatile and satisfying dish I had sampled at Marie Simmons’s recent book signing. It’s flavorful enough to stand out, but still collaborate with any other dish. It also makes a great vegetarian main course as well as a bright, fresh starter for omnivores. Like all of Simmons’s other recipes, it is perfectly balanced, easy to make, and won me raves from Jessica and her guests. I can’t count how many people requested the recipe for this dish, so here it is; apologies for the delays!

Black Rice, Mango and Sugar Snap Pea Salad
adapted from Marie Simmons’s Fresh and Fast Vegetarian

8 ounces stringless sugar snap peas, sliced diagonally in 1/2” pieces
1 ripe mango, peeled, pitted, and diced in 1/2” pieces
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped finely
2 teaspoons sesame seeds, toasted
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup Forbidden Rice
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon peeled, grated fresh ginger
1 clove garlic, crushed
1/4 teaspoon salt

Fill a medium saucepan 3/4 full with water. Bring to a boil, add the 1 teaspoon salt and sugar snap peas and cook for 1 minute. Remove the snap peas, rinse with cold water, and set aside. Add the rice to the boiling water and cook for 25 minutes, or until tender. Drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, oil, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Whisk until combined.

In a large container, combine the rice, mangos, snap peas, 1/4 cup of cilantro, and onion. Drizzle with 2/3 of the dressing, adding more if desired. Top with the sesame seeds and remaining cilantro, and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Faster but Slightly Less Fresh

I hear from a lot of my friends how challenging they think it would be to eat vegan, or even just to eat healthy. It does take a certain amount of planning to eat good and good for you food everyday, but it doesn’t always mean buying a bunch of ingredients and putting something together from scratch.

I am a huge fan of leftovers; some dishes I can eat for 3 days straight and never get sick of, but sometimes I like to adjust and edit my previous night’s dinner to fashion something new and delicious. Like this meal: not quite enough leftovers of tomato and white bean soup became a tomato bread soup with spinach. In the spirit of Marie Simmons, I wanted to make something fast and (slightly less) fresh. Five minutes made this an entirely different, and entirely delicious dinner!

1 cup cubed bread, toasted
1 cup baby spinach, loosely packed

Heat the Tomato and White Bean Soup. Add the spinach and stir until wilted. Spoon over the toasted bread cubes., and top with spinach pesto. Serve immediately!

Make it a Meal: Tomato and White Bean Soup with Spinach Pesto

Sorry it has been so long since I have posted, dear readers, but I have been traveling, and let’s face it, just being generally lazy. It’s summer! But, back to Marie Simmons, and her extraordinary new book, Fresh & Fast Vegetarian.

One of the things I really appreciated about Simmons’s cookbook is its organization. She has chapters devoted to soups, salads, entrées and more, but she also categorizes things as main dishes and sides, which makes it incredibly easy to navigate your way to a delicious meal. On top of that, almost every dish has a side note, “Make it a Meal,” where she suggests recipe pairings that can take a dish from first course to main course. So, when I made Simmons’s Warm Green Bean and Tomato Salad with Mint, I knew I would need something else to make this a dinner.

Simmons’s suggestion was another salad, but two salads do not make a meal in my mind. Soup and salad however do, so I turned to the soup section and was stopped in my tracks by the phrase “spinach pesto.” Heaven. Make it a meal yourself, and try this delightful soup and salad combination!

1/4 cup olive oil
1 cup onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
3 cups water
1 15.5 oz can of cannellini or small white beans
2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
1 clove garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups baby spinach, loosely packed
Salt and pepper

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large pot. Add the onion and garlic, and sauté until tender and fragrant, 7 to 10 minutes. Add the canned tomatoes with the juice, tomato paste, water and beans. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer covered for 20 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper.

While the soup simmers, make the pesto. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the nuts and garlic, and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the spinach and process until coarsely puréed. While running, add 2 tablespoons olive oil.

Spoon the soup into bowl, top with a dollop of spinach pesto and some toasty bread. Enjoy!

When I Grow Up, I Want To Be Marie Simmons

Last week I had the extraordinary opportunity to meet one of my culinary role models, Marie Simmons. If you don’t know about Simmons, you should. Simmons was a contributor to Bon Appétit magazine for 18 years via the “Cooking for Health” column. She has won numerous awards for her cookbooks including the James Beard Award and the Julia Child Cookbook Award. Beyond her culinary expertise, Simmons was a warm, approachable, and learned speaker, displaying a thorough knowledge of ingredients, techniques, and flavors. I could go on and on about how admirable Simmons is, but when it comes to cookbook authors, food speaks louder than words.

It was with high expectations that I cracked open Simmons’s latest work, Fresh & Fast Vegetarian. Simmons is not a vegetarian, but she has a deep respect for vegetables, grains, and legumes. Her recipes are extraordinary in every sense of the word, deviating from standard flavor and texture combinations. At her signing, I had the opportunity to taste the Black Rice, Mango, and Sugar Snap Salad; Green Bean, Corn, Tomato, and Cucumber Salad; Shredded Tuscan Kale Salad; and Cabbage, Pineapple, and Peanut Salad. They were all totally mouthwatering, and this is coming from someone for whom no love is lost with salads. I actually can’t wait to make all of Simmons’s recipes, starting with this Warm Green Bean and Tomato Salad with Mint.

Warm Green Bean and Tomato Salad with Mint

12 ounces green beans, cut into 2” pieces
Kosher salt
1 garlic clove
1/2 cup finely chopped mint
1 pound tomatoes, cut into 1/2” wedges
2 tablespoons olive oil
Fresh ground black pepper

Steam the green beans in a pot or microwave. Lightly crush the clove of garlic, and rub the inside of a medium bowl with it. Add the hot green beans to the bowl along with the mint. The heat from the green beans will allow the garlic and mint to bloom with flavor. Add the tomatoes, oil, salt, and pepper, and toss gently. Especially delicious served warm.

Greens Week, Part III

And now for something a little different...greens don’t have to be a side dish, as I talked about in the last post. But, they don’t have to be the only thing on the plate either. Greens are also an excellent complement to a variety of flavors. This was a dish I loved before I became vegan, a simple tomato, sausage, and spinach risotto. Obviously a little adjustment was needed, but the best part about this recipe is how the rice absorbs the juice from the tomatoes, and the massive amount of spinach wilts throughout the risotto. Adapting dishes from omnivore to vegan means paying careful attention to the purpose of each ingredient. In this case, omitting the sausage leaves a textural and flavor opening. My readers know that I am not a big fan of faux “meat,” so I knew I would have to think outside the box. There’s a meaty quality to walnuts, and lightly toasting them adds a smoky richness. Great plant based food is all about creativity and flexibility!

Tomato, Spinach, and Walnut Risotto

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 cups arborio rice
1 cup white wine
1 large can diced tomatoes
1 small can vegetable broth
1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted
6 cups spinach

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium high heat. Add the onion and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the rice, and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, coating the rice completely with oil. Add the white wine, and simmer until the wine is almost completely absorbed.

Meanwhile, drain the tomatoes reserving the juice. Combine the juice and the broth in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer. Gradually add half-cupfuls of the tomato broth mixture, allowing it to be almost completely absorbed until the rice is almost tender, about 25 minutes. Add the walnuts and tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes. Finally, add the spinach, and stir until wilted and completely combined. Serve immediately.

Greens Week, Part II

Greens are one of the most versatile ingredients to work with, not to mention how quick and easy they are to prepare. A huge pile of spinach and arugula, microwaved for two minutes, topped with lemon juice and salt, makes a great addition to any lunch. When making a side of greens for dinner, I like to incorporate similar flavors from the main dish. This broccoli was conceived as a side dish for an Asian tofu stir-fry, incorporating chili, garlic and soy. Later, I was testing one of my recipes, a Southeast Asian tofu dish, and it did not turn out well. I already had brown rice prepared, I was starving, and I had nothing to eat. Remembering this flavorful, and satisfying broccoli dish, I adapted it to spinach, and added some cashews for a little protein and fat. 5 minutes later, I had a nourishing and tasty dinner. Eating greens shouldn’t be an ordeal, and eating well shouldn’t take hours of preparation. You can use this recipe for a main dish, or a side, and have a spectacular and good-for-you dinner in minutes.

 

Chili Garlic Greens

1 tablespoon chili garlic paste
2 tablespoons chinese rice wine
2 tablespoons soy sauce
Greens of your choice (1 head broccoli, 6 cups spinach, etc.)
1/2 cup cashews (optional)

In a large sauté pan, combine the chili garlic paste, rice wine, and soy sauce. Stir to combine, and bring to a simmer. Add the greens, cover, and simmer until tender; time will vary depending on which green you are using. Toss and serve immediately.

Greens Week, Part I

Welcome to Greens Week! I talk about this a lot, how important it is to eat a wide variety of leafy green vegetables on a daily basis. Eating greens two or three times a day has been the single greatest change I have made to my diet in the last year. Most of the time, my greens appear as a side dish, gently sautéed with olive oil, lemon, and salt. But they can also be the star of the show, seamlessly integrated into stir-frys, risottos, and more. 

You’ve been hearing it your whole life, Eat your greens! And it’s true; they’re so good for you! Calorie for calorie, leafy green vegetables are absolutely loaded with minerals and nutrients: calcium for your bones, iron, complex carbohydrates for energy, fiber, and tons of antioxidants. Green vegetables give your body everything it needs to be healthy, energetic, and strong, in the most efficient and delicious way possible.

So, what do you actually eat? Over the next week, I will provide a few recipes highlighting specific greens, but these recipes can be adapted to suit any of the wide variety of tender, bitter, and fresh leafy greens you can find in your grocery store, or at the farmer’s market. Kale, collard greens, dandelion greens, spinach, broccoli rabe, arugula, dinosaur kale, broccoli, and bok choy are some of the dark green vegetables you will soon love!

Bok Choy Skillet Supper
adapted from Vegetarian Times

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
8 oz. crimini mushrooms, sliced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
2 shallots, diced finely
1 cup bulgur
1 cup vegetable broth
1 1/2 cup water
1 sprig fresh thyme
4 heads baby bok choy, halved
Salt and pepper to taste


Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add the garlic, and sauté until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the mushrooms, and brown for 5 to7 minutes. Set the mushrooms aside, and add the tomatoes to the pan, face down. Cook the tomatoes until browned, about 10 minutes. Set aside with the mushrooms. Add the shallots to the pan, and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the bulgur, vegetable broth, water, and thyme to the pan. Cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.

 

Arrange the bok choy on top of the bulgur radiating out from the center of the pan. Sprinkle the tomatoes and mushrooms on top of the bok choy. Cover, and simmer for 10 more minutes. Remove from heat, and let sit for 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Any Kind of Vegetable Soup

This isn’t really a post about cauliflower soup. This is a post about any kind of soup you want. I have a somewhat strange work schedule, which happily allows me to cook and write blog posts. But, it also means that I often don’t eat dinner until 9:00 or later. For a while, I was subsisting on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches (read almond butter and snobby orange marmalade) and raw veggies. But, here’s the thing. I don’t like cold food. I’d rather have cold food than nothing, but it doesn’t feel like a true meal to me unless it’s hot, sautéed, roasted, or otherwise. I like soups, pastas, stir frys more than salads and sandwiches, no matter how convenient.

Coming home late at night, though, I didn’t want a big thing of food just sitting in my stomach while I try to sleep. I needed something light, something filling, but nothing too heavy. Soup seemed the perfect choice. And even better, light, fresh, puréed vegetable soup. The recipe below is a base to which you can add any vegetable; carrots, broccoli, zucchini, peas, corn, and more would all be great additions to this base. And it’s the perfect thing to make at the beginning of the week, and live off of for the next few days.

Rice and Onion Soup Base
adapted from Julia Child’s The Way to Cook

1 medium onion, sliced
2 tablespoons non dairy butter
4 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup arborio rice
3 cups vegetable of your choice
Salt and pepper

Add the onion and butter to a large pot, and heat over medium heat. Sauté the onions until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the rice and stock, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes, until the rice is tender. Add the vegetables, and simmer until tender. Purée using an immersion blender, or transfer to a blender or food processor. Add liquid if you would like a thinner soup, or add unsweetened, non-dairy milk for creaminess. Serve immediately, or store in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Top with toasted almond breadcrumbs.

Spring Dinner: Orange Glazed Carrots

So far, this spring dinner has been distinctly verdant, but green is not the only color associated with the season. Looking in my backyard I see alongside all this green, pink, red, yellow, orange, and purple in every shade and variety. It seemed only appropriate that my spring table be equally representative. Orange is a great complement to the green and cream of my other dishes, but food is more than a visual experience. It is truly about taste above all else.

Carrots, tender and bright, are an excellent side dish in any season. In the fall and winter I like to glaze them with maple syrup for a sweet and juicy vegetable. But, spring is about a different palette of flavors. Growing up, my family’s traditional Easter breakfast was homemade biscuits with sliced ham and orange marmalade. The combination of salty ham and biscuits with sweet, bitter orange marmalade was unique and delicious. My vegan food life is less about finding one-to-one substitutions, like a vegan ham, but about identifying similar taste experiences. Carrots glazed with orange marmalade are bright and citrusy, but also savory and filling; the final piece of a light and vibrant dinner. 

Orange Glazed Carrots

4 carrots, sliced into 1/2” sticks
1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons orange marmalade

Heat the oven to 375º. Place the carrots in an oven proof dish. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss the carrots to coat. Bake until fork tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Spoon the marmalade over the carrots and stir to coat each carrot. Return to the oven for 5 minutes, until the jam spreads evenly over the carrots. Enjoy immediately!

Spring Dinner: Asparagus and Lemon Risotto

Apologies for my spotty posting lately, dear readers. We’ve been having spectacular weather and I’ve been working more on my tan than on my blog. Warm weather has a tendency to make me feel a bit lazy, more interested in lying in a hammock with a good book than anything else. I am deeply inspired by food though, and the compulsion to share that inspiration is the foundation of this blog.

Fresh pea soup was the first course of my spring-themed Easter dinner. This was followed by asparagus and lemon risotto. Asparagus is a classic spring food; grilled, roasted, or just lightly steamed, this vegetable makes you feel light and fresh. And the bounty of fruit on my lemon tree is a testament to its vernal influence.

Asparagus and Lemon Risotto

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 1/2 cups arborio rice
1 cup white wine
4 cups vegetable stock
1 bunch asparagus, steamed and sliced into 2” pieces
1 tablespoon lemon juice
zest of 1 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the rice. Stir to coat in oil, and cook until each grain is translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the wine and stir until almost completely absorbed. Add the vegetable stock in half cup-fuls, keeping the rice from becoming dry. Continue adding liquid, stirring constantly to keep the rice from sticking. Cook until the rice is tender and creamy, about 30 minutes. Add the lemon juice and zest. Taste for salt and pepper. Stir the asparagus into the risotto, and stir immediately.

Spring Dinner: Fresh Pea Soup

In case I haven’t mentioned this before, I love Spring. I love sundresses, sandals, and the heat on my shoulders when I go for a run. I love grazing at the farmer’s market, scooping up fresh peas, asparagus, and mint. I love the tulips, daffodils, and lilacs thriving in my backyard. Springtime is part of the reason I knew I belonged in California. For all that talk about how California doesn’t have seasons, we have longest, most beautiful Spring. In snowy climates, there is a desperation that accompanies spring. When if finally becomes warm in late April or early May, it is at the last possible moment, the moment when you just can’t take it anymore. I’ve never been one for such a masochistic relationship.

Spring in California is lush, and continually building; every week something new is in bloom, flowering pear and cherry trees, lilacs, hyacinth, poppies, and snapdragons. The trees go from bare to bursting seemingly overnight. The food of Spring embodies this optimistic renaissance. Everything is green, new, and super fresh. Easter Sunday seemed like the perfect occasion to feast on these Spring treats.

Fresh Pea Soup

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, minced
4 cups vegetable broth
2 cups fresh or frozen peas
1 tablespoon fresh mint, minced
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Sauté the onion until tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Add the vegetable stock and peas. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the mint. Blend with an immersion blender until mostly smooth. Taste for salt and pepper. Top with toasted breadcrumbs and serve immediately!

Bucatini al Pomodoro

Oh. My. God. It’s time for my monthly Bon Appétit post, and this one is not to be missed. May’s publication is the Italy Issue, stuffed with irresistible recipes and luscious pictures. It has a distinctly vintage feel, celebrating the stylish Rome of La Dolce Vita and Vespas. And gracing the cover is the “simplest, silkiest sauce you’ll ever make;” a perfect bird’s nest of bucatini al pomodoro that instantly called out to me.

The entire magazine made me homesick for my year in Italy; for long evenings of conversation over bowls of pasta and vino della casa, for late night slices at Pizza Pazza after an evening of dancing in Testaccio, for slowly sipped espresso in Piazza Navona. This pasta immediately brought me back to that time. So, for a taste of my Italian experience, simmer a pot of this simple tomato sauce, and eat it late at night, preferably outdoors, with a glass of red wine.

1/4 cup olive oil
1 medium onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
28 oz. can peeled tomatoes
3 large fresh basil sprigs
16 oz. bucatini or perciatelli
2 tablespoons non dairy butter
salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-low heat. Add the onion and sauté until tender, about 12 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 4 minutes. Add the crushed pepper and cook for one minute more.

Purée the tomatoes in the bowl of a food processor, then add them to the sauté pan. Season with salt. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add the basil, remove from heat and let sit until the pasta is ready.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the directions. Drain the pasta reserving 1/2 cup pasta water.

Discard the basil (I ate it as a pre-dinner snack) and heat the sauce over medium high heat. Add the pasta water and the noodles, stirring to coat all the noodles. Add the butter and stir until melted. Taste for salt and pepper. Top with fresh basil and toasted breadcrumbs. Enjoy while piping hot!

Whole Wheat Pancakes with Peach Compote

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, unequivocally. I notice such a difference when I start my morning with whole grains, protein, and healthy fats. Breakfast is particularly enjoyable on the weekends when I have the time to prepare muffins, scones, and waffles galore. Pancakes are traditional weekend breakfast fare, and I have waxed poetic about them before. Often, I make slight changes to previously discussed recipes and I always want to share them with you because I am so delighted by the joy I feel about food. This morning’s pancakes featured salty walnuts in tender, chewy whole wheat pancakes topped with a sweet and tart peach compote. Yum!

1 cup frozen peaches (if using fresh, peel them)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon water

Combine peaches, maple syrup and water in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium heat until the mixture starts to break down a little. In a separate bowl, combine the cornstarch and water, then add to the peaches. Cook briefly, until the mixture starts to thicken. Spoon on top of whole wheat pancakes or buckwheat waffles.