Chickpea Salad Sandwich

Chickpea Salad Sandwich, fries and "rabbit food."

For some, summer is coming to an end. However, I believe here in Arizona, it may never come to an end. This whole summer I've been working on eating foods that I don't have to cook in the oven or on the stove. I still used both during the summer, but try to limit the use. It's just too hot!

Last week for the first time in a long time I did not create a menu. I had been so busy dealing with my little one who has decided to start her “terrible twos” early. My only thought was to get to the grocery store before nap time and get whatever we needed for whatever I could make up on the fly. I did well, actually. But, I certainly don't recommend not making a menu!

One night I was tired, of course, and not really feeling up to cooking. It happens right? I know that both my little one and BK like chickpeas so I decided to create a chickpea salad. Something we could eat on toasted bread or in a wrap. I did take out my mini convection oven to make curly fries though. The mini convection oven is very useful in the summertime, it doesn't heat up the house. As a vegetable, I served up what we call “rabbit food." Rabbit food, for us, is a mixture of raw fresh veggies. Carrots, celery, cucumber, radish, sugar snap peas, whatever you have on hand. No cooking involved, super simple, and the kids love it.

What would be your favorite edition to your own “rabbit food?”

Chickpea salad

Ingredients:
2 14 ounce cans garbanzo beans
4 tablespoons black olives, minced
2 tablespoons red onion, minced
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
1 lemon, juiced
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/4 teaspoons sage
1/4 teaspoons oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Preparation:
Drain and rinse the garbanzo beans. Place all ingredients, except salt, pepper and oil, in a large mixing bowl and mix well. Using a potato masher or the back of a fork, mash the beans. You don't want hummus just lightly smashed beans. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed. Add approximately 1/2 tablespoons of the oil and mix well.

Serve on toasted bread with a vegan mayonnaise* and enjoy. I added spinach to mine, but I love spinach. Kale would be great to.

* I found this salad can be a little dry, adding the vegan mayonnaise to the bread makes it perfect.

Yum!

GF option: Use GF bread or wrap.

This was a super simple dinner that we all loved! Kid-friendly, mom friendly! So tasty!

Cheers and happy eating!

School/Work Lunch Ideas. GF/Vegan

For us school starts early this year. Last week, actually. As a parent what is an item you may have on your mind?

What to pack for school lunches!  Yep, that's on my mind. Not only for the BK but for the little one as well.

Is it simple to make a vegan lunch for kids? Sure is! How bout gluten free? I'm new to learning about gluten free items so it has been a bit of a challenge. Once I get the hang of it though, easy!

A friend of mine, Jimmy, decided about a year ago to make a big change in his life. As someone who had been struggling with weight for many years he knew he had to do something to lower his weight and improve his health. Cycling alone wasn't doing it. He knew he needed to eat better. Jimmy added ViSalus to his daily regimen. What is ViSalus you ask? It's a 90 day challenge to weight loss and health. Now, the shakes are not vegan. They do contain whey protein. I myself do not drink these shakes but I do promote health and I've seen what this has done for my friend. This is why I'm sharing, especially for my non-vegan readers. :)  In 90 days Jimmy lost 40 lbs and 6.5 inches off his waist. This was a year ago. Now, well let's just say he's rockin' the abs and all that goes with it! He's probably healthier than he's ever been!

He told me a few days ago that he and his family had decided to go gluten free and casein free. To hear this made me smile! Casein, the protein found in milk and cheese as well as processed foods, causes a broad spectrum of adverse affects in the body. His daughter is of school age so who better to help out right? A friend with a school aged child. One who has decided the GF/CF diet is best for not only himself but for his family.

I thought I'd include some ideas for lunches. Not only for the kiddos but for adults who pack a lunch as well.

First of all, gluten free. What is gluten? Gluten is a protein composite found in foods processed with wheat, barley and rye. Now days there are so many gluten free options available. Even restaurants offer gluten free items on their menus.  Bob's Red Mill is a producer of GF products, making baking so much easier! Here's a link to their GF products, here.  During my research I also found a rather comprehensive GF list. Find the link, here.

When I was a kid I generally had a sandwich of sorts in my lunch, an apple or other fruit, and a bag of chips. I also carried a bottle of water or juice. For the little one we send her with almond milk.

Good beverages to pack in a kids lunch:

• Almond milk (provided you have access to a refrigerator or you can pack with a couple ice packs.)
• Bottled water is always an excellent choice
• Coconut Water is very hydrating and a great choice as well
• Homemade juice (I'm a huge fan of homemade rather than store bought)
• I'm not a fan of lot's of sugar but seeing as I have a teenager in the house who insists on soda at lunch (something he would just buy on his own anyway) I get him Hansen's Rootbeer. Still sugar but no caffeine and better than the countless overly processed name brands. Luckily the kid loves water and carrot juice too! :)

What I often make for the little one. Juice.
6 carrots
1 apple
1 orange
1 cup spinach
a dash of agave nectar

Juice all the fruit/veggies in a juicer. Mix in the agave once everything is juiced. This makes enough to last her 2-3 days but she's still quite small. Simple juice with great vitamins.

The snack portion of a lunch can be a bit tricking. I know it's easy to buy the processed items from your grocery store but try and avoid that. Or look for items with the least amount of processed items. Your big brands are often full of not so good ingredients.

Snacks for kids lunches and yours:

• Veggies! Each Sunday, to make things easier, I bag up carrots, celery and snap peas into individual bags. This way they are ready to grab for each school lunch or for each lunch for the hubby. In his bag he likes a large handful of parsley to munch on too. 
• Edamame! My little one loves shelled edamame. This too can be prepared on Sundays and bagged individually for the week. It's a great source of protein and most kids love it! 
• Good Ole' Ants on a log. Why not, right? Peanut butter (GF and full of protein) and celery. Who doesn't love celery! Add some sweetness with raisins and it's so tasty, yet so simple.
• Nuts are great for everyone! A handful a day is a great health benefit. I love raw almonds, cashews, and pumpkin seeds. Trust me if you haven't tried them raw do so, tasty! Again, you can pack these babies up each Sunday as well. 
• Crackers. I've found some great GF varieties. Almond or pecan nut thins. I found them at my local Sprouts Market. These are heavenly! 
• Air popped popcorn. Great snack. High in antioxidants. 

• Protein bites! I made up some tasty protein bites just for Jimmy and his family. But, I'm going to share the recipe with you all. I call them Jim Bites. A little play on words really because they'd be a great snack before hitting the gym. Great protein source!
• Chickpeas. These little beans are full of protein as well as fiber. This helps prevent a spike in blood sugar levels! Try Dreena Burtons Jerk Chickpeas or Tamari Roasted Chickpeas. Both are great cold.

Jerk Chickpeas. Great cold too!

Jim Bites:
½ cup raw almonds
2 tablespoons hemp seeds
⅛ teaspoon salt
½ cup rolled oats
1 cup pitted dates
½ tsp vanilla extract
½ cup almond butter
1 tablespoon chia seeds (black or white)
1/4 cup raisins
2 Tablespoons dark chocolate chips (vegan)
1 tablespoon agave nectar (optional, see note)
Place almonds, hemp seeds, salt and oats in a food processor. Process, it will become a flour like consistency. Add the dates, vanilla, almond butter and agave nectar. Once this gets crumbly add the chocolate chips, pulse until it starts to ball up and stick to the bland. This may take a couple of minutes. When done, scoop up into small balls and place in refrigerator for an hour. Enjoy.

Fruit! Fruit is a simple addition to your lunch. Berries are an excellent source of antioxidants so those are always a great choice. Grapes, kiwi, bananas, melons, pineapple. It's all great. I like to cut up an orange for the little one and always include grapes. BK loves berries!

Note** I find when I eat these little guys I prefer them to be less sweet which is why the agave nectar is optional. If you want a little more sweet feel free to add this ingredient.

Main course:

• For the kiddos peanut butter sandwiches seem to be a favorite. There are plenty of GF breads available today too. Trader Joe's have several varieties. Jams and jellies I'm a little concerned about only because the store bought varieties are full of sugar. Making your own though can be quite simple.
• Eggless salad (again for this you will need a cold pack or access to a refrigerator). Make this into a GF wrap, either with GF tortillas or romaine lettuce. Both are quite tasty!

Eggless Salad:
1 package, 14 oz, extra firm tofu
1 tablespoon Bragg's Liquid Amino Acids
2 stalks celery, minced
1 small carrot, minced
1/2 tablespoon nutritional yeast
1/2 tablespoon stone ground mustard
2 tablespoons dill relish
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/4 teaspoon yellow curry
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon black salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon vegenaise (vegan mayonnaise)
Pepper, to taste

Preparation:

Wrap the tofu in two paper towels and drain between two plates. Place something heavy on top of the top plate. Drain, 10-15 minutes
Crumble the tofu into a large mixing bowl. Add all other ingredients and mix well. Let sit in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. Mix again and add pepper as needed.

• I'm a huge fan of hummus as is my little one. BK likes jalapeno flavored hummus. Pack some in a container with a baggie of cut up pieces of pita bread (whole wheat or GF). You could also eat the hummus with all the yummy veggies you packed. Great source of protein and fiber.
• For us grownups salads are always good and easy to pack up. Each Tuesday night (I have so much on my plate Sundays so Tuesday it is) I make a rather large salad. That is our dinner Tuesday night and for the rest of the week we have salads at lunch. Add chickpeas, black olives, hemp seeds, and marinated artichokes to the every day veggies and you've got yourself a meal. Little one's may like this but it really depends on your little one. I pack simple balsamic vinegar as my dressing. Yum!

Oh yes, it's a big ole salad! Trash bowl next to it (the only good idea I got from Rachael Ray!)

• My little one loves these pouches of pureed veggies (for the little ones for sure). Since she often turns her nose up at the greens I try to serve her this is the best way to get them. They are made by Plum Organics and all they contain is the veggie/fruit ingredients necessary. She LOVES these things! It's not a meal replacer but great to bring along to go with lunch.

Pack variety in your lunch, in the kiddos lunch, and everyone will be happy. Make things easier for yourself by preparing and bagging things only once per week. Don't try and do it each evening. The only things I put together each evening for the little one is her soy yogurt and fruit. Her milk as well. Takes less than five minutes and I'm done packing her lunch. I have containers just for her, labelled with her name to make things even easier.

A great place to get labels that are safe in the dishwasher AND washing machine is NameBubbles. i love this place! I get the daycare package which has several labels in different shapes and sizes. My daughter is nearly 1.5 years old now and I just ordered my second set. They truly last a long time! Wash after wash. I label clothing, containers, bags, jackets, sippy cups, whatever she needs to bring to school. Check them out.

I hope this makes packing lunches a little easier for you all. Let me know what your favorite items to pack are. Would love to add to the list for everyone.

Cheers and happy eating!

J's Summer Squash Soup

I planned on making an Indian dish for dinner this evening when the hubby and I both felt that our stomachs were a tad in knots. I believe we probably ate something that did not agree with us, perhaps the potato salad we had at lunch. Instead of a heavy meal we opted for a lighter summer (albeit hot) soup.


I looked around the pantry and the fridge for fresh items and threw it in to make this delicious soup! It may be hot outside but this soup was quite refreshing. The only item we didn't have that I wished we had was a nice crusty bread. Next time because this is a keeper, recipe wise.


Things you will need:
1 Tablespoon coconut oil
3 cups summer squash, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
Bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried sage
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
1 14 ounce can black eyed peas, drained and rinsed
6 cups vegetable stock
1 cup orzo pasta (or other small pasta)
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped finely
1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste, plus a pinch of salt to add to vegetables when sauteing


Things to do:
Heat oil in a large stock pot and add the vegetables, dried herbs, and bay leaf, with a pinch of salt. Cook 6-8 minutes or until the vegetables start to soften.  Add the beans and cook another 2 minutes. Add the vegetable stock, bring to a boil, low to a simmer. Simmer for 30-35 minutes. About 9 minutes before the cook time end add 1 cup of orzo.  Season to taste with salt and pepper. With about 1 minute before the soup is complete add the balsamic vinegar, parsley, and lemon juice. 

Enjoy with crusty bread. I've been adding hemp seeds to most everything lately because it adds extra protein. Feel free to add some if you have them on hand. Hemp seeds contain 10 essential amino acids which makes them a complete protein. 3 tablespoons equals 11 grams of protein. I add them to everything now! Great way to get protein without inhibiting taste too much. My little one loves hemp seeds in her soy yogurt in the mornings. Big plus! Speaking of my little one, J, absolutely loved this soup. She clapped after each bite!


Cheers and happy cooking!


No playlist this time. I do love music while cooking but this time I chatted with the hubby instead.

Zucchini Bread

I'm no baker. I didn't enjoy baking classes in culinary school and I didn't enjoy working with the desserts at the restaurants I worked at either. Put me in front of a saute pan and I'm a happy girl. There is a running joke in my house about my baking. One night awhile back we had a brownie mix (yes, I used a mixed. I'm not a baker remember) and I thought I'd make some brownies for the hubby and BK. They were out for a run so I got started. They came home just as I was stirring the ingredients in a bowl. They both looked in and looked at me. Yes, in the bowl was a dark chocolate brick. I could barely stir it. I re-read the instructions and I realized I had forgotten the water. Yep, me, I forgot to add water. I can create many a dish from scratch but for some reason following instructions on a box baffles me. 


Now, whenever I attempt to bake I'm asked if I've added water!


For some reason after becoming plant powered/vegan I started baking more. I think I'm just trying to learn new cooking processes I have never done before. I'm so used to cooking/baking with butter and milk and all things animal based that I feel like I'm learning something new. 


About a month ago a friend told me about Market on the Move, a local company that "rescues" vegetables that would otherwise be thrown out at the supermarket. There is nothing wrong with the produce it just doesn't always look perfect. So, I went to check it out and came home with two flats of tomatoes and a flat of zucchini and squash. I got banana peppers in that batch as well. I made salsa,  tomato sauce and we had great roasted veggies for dinners. 


I sat and starred at the zucchini wondering what else I could do with it. I browsed the internet and found some vegan zucchini bread recipes. Not many though. I expected more. What I found were recipes with white flour, lot's of sugar, and way more oil than I would want to use. But, I made one and it was okay. I just wondered if I could do better. 


I've been using Let Them Eat Vegan by Dreena Burton a lot lately and remembered that in her book she uses lot's of different kinds of flours and sugar/sweeteners.  Okay, well I have those items so I'm just going to wing it.


I thought for sure I'd bake up a loaf of mush because, again, baking is not my forte!


Here is what I came up with. Don't be scared, it's not a lump of mush.


Ingredients List:


1 cup oat flour (I process organic rolled oats in the processor to make flour)
1 cup spelt flour
1/3 cup raw sugar (turbinado)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg
1 cup zucchini, shredded
1 cup over ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup agave nectar
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup non dairy milk


How to List:


Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Lightly grease a loaf pan.


In a large bowl mix together the dry ingredients, sift in the baking powder and baking soda, mix well.  Set aside. In a small bowl add all the wet ingredients, including zucchini and banana. Stir well and make sure the banana is mashed well.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until well incorporated. 


Pour your bread mix into your loaf pan and bake at 325 degrees for 50-60 minutes.  Enjoy warm or save for later.

Well, here it is. My first baked goods recipe. I do hope you enjoy! Please feel free to comment and leave feedback if you make this. I'd love to hear what others think!


Cheers and happy eating!


Playlist: (iTunes on random)
U2 - Mysterious Ways (Solar Plexus Extended Club Mix)
The Prodigy - Run with the Wolves
Ver Vlads - Crazy Ivan
Imperative Reaction - Judas
Depeche Mode - Freestate
Coldplay - Parachutes
Peter Gabriel - Red Rain
Skinny Puppy - Rain
Fatboy Slim - Weapon of Choice

Seems like I'll be eating lots of chickpeas this week. Menu!

I grocery shopped without picking up any fake meats. Makes me a happy camper. I realize I don't use them often but even a few days a week is just too much for me. I'd rather not use them at all but I know there will be a time and place.

As of right now my grocery shopping is done, except locating truffle oil, so my weekend is free for the fun stuff! I think it's off to the zoo, new elephant exhibit, and possible our air and space museum to see some military vehicles. I'm thinking J will love the zoo! I think she just won't be too sure with the museum. The weather should be nice for outdoor outings as well. In AZ it gets awfully hot in the summer so unless we are up and out at 5am it's best to do indoor activities.

Back to the menu for the week!

Sunday April 1, 2012:
Not foolin' with this Yellow sweet potato chickpea pie with basil. A side of asparagus and that sounds like a great dinner! I'm using Let Them Eat Vegan!: 200 Deliciously Satisfying Plant-Powered Recipes for the Whole Family and very excited!!

Monday April 2, 2012:
We are having a non-vegan friend over for dinner so I thought I'd keep it fairly simple as to not scare him away. I'll be making pasta with a tomato, artichoke, basil sauce. Garlic bread on the side.

Tuesday April 3, 2012:
It's big ole' salad Tuesday night. I love putting chickpeas and kidney beans on top. I think I'll make a carrot, beet and jicama salad to go on the side. We have plenty of beets from CSA.

Wednesday April 4, 2012:
Falafel with pita. Hummus and Indian Spiced Rice. I'm going to try LTEV falafel (I used a recipe from another book I did not like so *fingers crossed* although her other recipes have been divine!). I'll serve a tahini sauce as well. Wow, tahini (just the sesame paste) was difficult to find in my local market

Thursday April 5, 2012:
Jerk chickpeas, again out of LTEV, oh yes it's the week for this fantastic book! Rice or quinoa for a side and green beans. I blanch and shock mine then saute with garlic.

Friday April 6, 2012:
No cook Friday night! Left overs it is.

Saturday April 7, 2012:
Winter Vegetable Chickpea pot pie. Again, LTEV and again with the chickpeas. They are just so good!

Not much original stuff made by me this week. I'm still working on recipes though. I do believe writing a cookbook is going to take a long time. And, I think I may need some guidance. I will forge ahead though because I love to cook. Unfortunately, I did not learn vegan cooking in culinary school. But, I know the basics so I'm working hard! I'm so excited about the prospect of writing a book!!

Cheers and happy eating!