Wednesday, November 21, 2007

Creamy Dijon-Dill Potato Salad

Ah, so you have to make something for your next family event, and you're the only one who's vegan, huh? You don't feel like throwing together yet another boring lettuce-based salad, and you're not in the mood for dessert. Moreover, you want to make something that everyone will enjoy, without all of those puzzled "How can that be vegan?" looks.

Well, guess what? You're in luck!

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Salsa Pasta Salad

Sometimes I just feel like having some good old-fashioned pasta salad. I mean, there's nothing quite like a chilled bowl of pasta (dressed up with a few accouterments, of course) to help get you through that midday slump. Unfortunately, however, it seems as though most pasta salads are heavy on the mayo and light on the flavor.

Yea - not exactly my bag.

Thus, enter "Salsa Pasta Salad," which is both flavorful and non-mayonnaised (vegan or otherwise). And although this salad isn't quite perfect yet, I appreciate being able to throw it into a plastic container for lunch in about 30 seconds flat.

The recipe can be found here, but please make sure to use olive oil in place of the vegetable oil - it tastes better, and it's so much better for you!

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Green Drink

That's right, I TiVo Oprah everyday. So sue me.

Thanks to her show, I've become acquainted with my favorite Doctor in the world - Dr. Oz (whom I don't, in fact, actually know). Anyway, I really like Dr. Oz because he practices both Western and Eastern medicine, which means that he promotes yoga, meditation, and even (gasp!) improving one's health through a diet rich in fruit and veg. Thus, he recently shared the following recipe to encourage people to incorporate healthy smoothies and juices into their daily lives. As for me, I'm pretty adept at blending up the former, but when it comes to the later, uh...notsomuch.

Actually, the meager breadth of my "juicing" experience extends only to squeezing the juice out of lemons, limes, and oranges for various recipes. If that's not bad enough, I don't even have a juicer. And my blender has been decidedly uncooperative lately, resulting in this being a much more time-consuming recipe than it should've been.

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Vegan Chocolate Chip Mint Cookies

Well, I guess I should have seen this one coming...

Ever since I purchased "The Joy of Vegan Baking" cookbook, I've had an indescribable desire to bake! As mentioned in a previous post, although I do enjoy something sweet now and then, I'm certainly not what you'd call a "dessert person." That's why it's even more crazy that cookies keep running through my head. (Chocolate chip, & peanut butter, & oatmeal, oh my!)

*Warning: clicking on this picture will encourage screen licking.

Basically, it appears that a previously latent compulsion is suddenly driving me to bake every recipe in this entire cookbook, without regard for the fact that my name is neither Cookie Monster, nor Martha Stewart.

So, what's a girl to do? How can I stop this madness? I clearly can't allow cookies/other baked goods to take over my already crowded apartment, can I? And I obviously can't devour everything myself, right? And it would certainly be unfair to force CH to eat 100s of delicious baked goods, wouldn't it?

Saturday, November 03, 2007

Mexican-Style Chickpea Salad

Honestly, I've found that I'm somewhat addicted to beans (which probably explains why CH and I affectionately call each other "Beans" on occasion...awww).

Anyway, I love their versatility: they can be eaten hot or cold; can be used dried or from a can; and are perfect as part of a side dish or even as the "main event." Although black beans are my all-time favorite, a variety of other kinds are quickly moving up on my list.

Typically, I prefer chickpeas in the form of falafel or hummus. I also like them in soups/stews, because they usually taste kind of funny to me when I eat them cold, as whole beans. Actually, if I eat enough chickpeas, their taste starts to remind me of tuna fish, which makes me a bit unsettled. Interestingly though, after doing a bit of recipe googling, I discovered that chickpeas are often used as a vegetarian substitute for tuna salad. Hmmm...maybe my taste buds are even more well-developed than I previously thought.

So, I found this Mexican-Chickpea Salad on the Food Network website. I actually didn't like it that much, but maybe that's because I left out the chipotle peppers. (While I do love jalapeƱos, I cannot stand chipotles, which are smoked jalapeƱos.) Despite that fact, I decided to go ahead and post the pictures and a link to the recipe anyway. Who knows, maybe some of you will find this recipe more to your liking. In the mean time, at least it looks nice! You can find the recipe here.

(Edit 4.24.12) A thoughtful reader pointed out that this recipe is no longer available on The Food Network website. Thus, please find the recipe below:

Mexican-Style Chickpea Salad
(from The Food Network)

Ingredients:
2 canned chipotle chiles in adobo, minced (I omitted these)
3 fresh jalapenos, minced
1 medium onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 tomatoes, chopped
4 c. canned chickpeas, rinsed & drained
1/4 c. extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 c. lime juice, freshly squeezed
3 Tbsp. fresh cilantro, chopped
salt + freshly ground black pepper

Directions:
Add all ingredients to a large bowl & refrigerate for at least 2 hours.  Season with salt & additional lime juice, as desired.  Serve salad cool or at room temperature.