Chicken McNuggets

The purpose of this blog is not to rant about unhealthy eating but I could not resist this picture that I found while reading an article about a 17 year old girl who is dying of malnutrition because she only eats McNuggets, pop and the occasional piece of toast. I can't really believe that it's true but she says she's never eaten any fruits or veggies. How can that be? Anyway, the picture that went along with it of the anatomy of chicken mcnuggets is great and I wanted to share it with all of you. Hopefully it'll put you off eating those horrible food things!!

"Any" Bean and Lime Dip

This recipe calls for black beans but I have used black-eyed peas and even garbanzo beans. Garbanzos make a great thick dip! This recipe is an adaptation from Extra Vegan Za by Laura Matthias. I know you can get the book at the Kelowna Public Library because Paule had it and that's where I saw it first. I bought my copy at The Book Warehouse in Vancouver. I love that bookstore.

In a food processor, blend to your desired consistency:
1 can beans, rinsed (about 400ml if you use beans you have cooked and frozen so that you always have them on hand for recipes like this one - bean instructions to come soon!)
1 roasted red pepper (buy these at Med Market on Gordon Drive. The large jars are $5 and if you buy a case of 6, you get 10% off. You'll need more of these once I post Corey's amazing Pasta Puttanesca Sauce)
2 tbsp tahini (a must for hummus but if you don't have any then peanut butter or almond butter would do)
juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp light soy sauce or tahini
1 avocado
1/2 cup green olives
1/4 cup cilantro (I just rip a handful off the bunch, rinse and throw in)

If you want a chunkier dip, blend the first 5 ingredients together and then chop the avocado into chunks, use sliced olives and shred the cilantro. Stir those in. I make it either way depending on the amount of time I want to spend making the dip. Black olives can be used as well if you prefer.

Xi Nian Kuai Le

Or Gung Hei Fat Choy if you are from Hong Kong but as we celebrated Chinese New Year on the mainland, we learned the Mandarin version of the new year wish. Happy Year of the Dragon! It officially started on Monday but the celebrations go on for 14 days and end with the lantern festival.

To celebrate, Corey and I had a Huo Guo (Chinese Hot Pot) with Kim last night. Anyone who has had a Chinese fondue has had a type of huo guo. In China, a huo guo restaurant has tables with holes in the middle, large propane burners inside the hole, and steaming pots of spicy broth are placed on top of the burners. The pots are 24" in diameter and a rotating platform surrounds the pot has all the little dishes of yummy bits that are put into the soup to cook. Then there is the solid table where each person has a scoop, a set of chopsticks, a small plate and a bowl of garlic and sesame oil for dipping.

While we were in China, we had all sorts of yummy and more challenging bits thrown into the soup to eat including famous Chinese white broccoli (we were very excited about this new vegetable until we received a plate of cauliflower), various Chinese greens, lotus root, tofu, mushrooms, fish, pork, beef, fish heads, freshly killed eels in their own blood, congealed duck blood, frog skin, and my personal favourite - sheep's brain. No chicken because we were there during the bird flu epidemic and we were rarely served chicken at all.

Obviously the huo guo we made last night was a vegan version (and it's hard to find good congealed duck's blood here - sheesh!) We used our new fondue set that Santa brought for us at Christmas and we each had a little netted scoop that you can buy at the Asian market as well as chopsticks to eat with. Corey made the crushed garlic and sesame oil dipping sauce and we feasted on huo guo for Chinese New Year. Yummy!

Year of the Dragon Spicy Hot Pot

For the Soup:
2 tbsp oil
6 dried cayenne peppers (or 1 tbsp crushed dried chilies)
2 tbsp korean chili bean paste (or other chili bean paste that you have)
1 tbsp sambal oelek
3 star anise
1/4 cup dried mushroom pieces (any type that you have)
zest of 1 orange
6 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 tbsp minced ginger
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
8 cups vegetable stock

Heat the oil in a large pot and fry the dried peppers, chili bean paste and sambal oelek until they are fragrant. Throw everything else into the pot, bring it up to a boil and then turn it down to simmer for about 20 minutes. Taste and adjust the seasonings as you want to make it spicier or add more stock to reduce the heat. When you are ready to do the huo guo, strain the soup to only have the liquid in your fondue pot.

We eat out food spicy but if you don't want a spicy stock, don't use the cayenne peppers, chili paste and sambal oelek. The important flavours come from the star anise, dried mushrooms and orange zest, garlic and ginger.

Our yummy bits to throw in last night were (from left to right):
- chopped Chinese cabbage (behind the huo guo pot)
- enoki mushrooms
- brown mushrooms (yuck - totally optional)
- lotus root (buy these canned if you want but fresh are divine! Peel and slice THIN so that they soften up a bit. They can be eaten raw so it doesn't matter how crunchy they are but they are QUITE crunchy so be forewarned. They are like crunchier and harder water chestnuts.)
- more enoki mushrooms
- red cabbage
- green onions (not for me as you well know)
- tofu skin (make sure to get the vacuum pack variety that is flexible when you open up the sheets or else if you get the dehydrated variety you will have to reconstitute it first before slicing it. Not a problem, just an added step)
- baby bok choy leaves
- sliced extra firm tofu

You can really use whatever you want. Everyone places whatever interests them into the soup and then lets the soup heat up again and simmer. When you can't stand waiting any longer, you scoop out bits and pieces and put them in the bowl with the sesame oil and garlic. Anything can be eaten raw in a vegan version so you don't have to wait until the soup comes to a rolling boil before you pick out some tasty bits to eat.

Enjoy!

Instant Yummy Muffin/Loaf Recipe

I have been unable to resist the Chilean blueberries that have arrived at IGA this month. Not local, not organic, not seasonal, not in any way what I should be eating but I can never resist. I love blueberries in my oatmeal, as a snack, and in muffins. They are little pockets of sunshine in a grey January day.

While we are hunkered down in the snow today, I decided to make blueberry muffins (which ended up being a loaf cake as I was too lazy to find the muffin tins.) In the time it took for Corey to put a load of laundry in the wash this batter was made and in the oven. Fourty minutes later we had a yummy, not too sweet, blueberry lemon loaf.

This recipe is actually for lemon poppy seed muffins but I used blueberries instead of poppy seeds. I see no reason why you couldn't use anything that you like as inclusions such as nuts or other fruits. The lemon flavour is actually quite mild (Corey would never have guessed it was lemon flavoured) so even chocolate chips would work but check they are vegan. IGA does carry those too.

Lemon Blueberry Loaf (adapted from Moskowitz' Vegan Brunch book)

2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
(if you want but I didn't: 5 tsp poppy seeds)
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cups soy/almond/rice milk
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup canola oil
2tsp vanilla
1 cup blueberries

In a medium bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Make a well in the middle and add all the wet ingredients. Stir gently until just moistened and then stir in blueberries. Pour into a lightly greased square cake pan/loaf tin or muffin cups. Bake at 375 for 40-45 minutes for a cake or 25-30 minutes for muffins. They are done when you insert a knife into the middle and it comes out clean. It also starts to pull away from the sides of the pan when it's done. Serve when cool (always better than fresh out of the oven in my opinion.) Mmm!

Hottie Black-Eyed Peas and Greens

Winter finally set in yesterday so I wanted something hot and stewy, plus we were going to see The Iron Lady and so I needed something that could be made fairly quickly. And a quick look in the fridge revealed a sad bunch of chard just begging to be eaten. How could I refuse an opportunity to make a favourite?

Isa Chandra Moskowitz is a vegan goddess. We have three of her cookbooks and we have not hit a bad recipe yet. This one comes from Appetite for Reduction and is one of my go-to staples, especially if I have some wilted greens like beet greens, kale or chard. Of course you can use nice fresh greens but they are good for using up those bunches that are looking slightly tired.

You can serve this on any starch or just eat it as a side dish or as a dish itself. I cooked bulgur last night which is made from cracked wheat. It is not fast from start to finish (40 minutes) but all you need is to put 1 cup bulgur in a pot with a lid, add 1cup + 1/3 cup boiling water, stir, cover and let sit. After 40 minutes, fluff with a fork and voilà! Make this first and let it "cook" while you prepare the rest. More substantial than coucous and different from rice.

Hottie Black-Eyed Peas and Greens

oil for frying (I use canola which is the best oil apart from olive in terms of health benefits)
1 onion chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1 bunch greens washed, cut into strips/shredded (about 1/2 lb although I never weigh my greens)
1/4 cup water
1/4 tsp salt
2 cans (15oz each) black-eyed peas (although I have used black beans and I'm sure any other bean you like would work.)
1 cup passata (tomato sauce NOT ketchup)
1/2 cup veggie broth (see note below about instant veggie broths)
1 tbsp hot sauce
1/4 tsp liquid smoke or smoked paprika (last night I added 1/4 block of smoked tofu cut into 1cm cubes which added a smoky flavour but not as intense as the liquid smoke or paprika. Corey preferred it with the tofu, I like the smoke or paprika more)


Heat the oil in a large saucepan (with a tight fitting lid) on medium heat. Sauté onions until translucent. Add garlic and sauté another minute. Add the greens, water and salt. Cover and let simmer until the greens are cooked down - about 10minutes. Check the pot and stir a couple times to make sure nothing is sticking and that your greens haven't become a mush. Add the peas, passata, broth and mix thoroughly. Cover and let simmer 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Add the tofu at this point if you are using it. Add the hot sauce and liquid smoke/paprika and cook 5 minutes more, uncovered, stirring occasionally. Serve on a starch of your choice. Yummy!

About soup broth powders...
It's hard to find any stock powder that isn't more salt than anything else. We have a "chicken flavoured" veggie stock that gives me 21% of my sodium intake in just 1tsp. Ridiculous. The broth powder I use the most often is Gayelord Hauser's All Natural Instant Vegetable Broth. It only has 7% of my daily salt per tsp and as far as I can tell, the salt comes from the ground kelp. It's more expensive but it comes in a good size box and if worth the price. I get it at Nature's Fair by the mall.

I LOVE TOFU part 1

Many people tell me that they could never be vegetarian and especially not vegan because they can't stand tofu. That's because they haven't had GOOD tofu. I do have to be honest though and admit that I love tofu so much that I eat it raw while I am preparing it for other dishes.

I am going to offer you a variety of ways to prepare tofu so that hopefully you will enjoy this great source of protein. And no, it does not cause breast cancer or man breasts or any other hormonal problems. Look at the Chinese - they are not a culture of breasted men and they eat a lot of tofu. Worried that your tofu might be made with GMO soy beans? Then eat organic tofu. Either way, man breasts aren't going to bud overnight (or ever) if you add tofu to your diet.

Easy Grilled Tofu with Peanut Sauce (or any sauce you want to make!)

one package of extra firm tofu
If you have the time, put the tofu on a a plate with a lip, put another plate on top and put something heavy on top of that (I used a bag of navel oranges today but a big can or cookbook or whatever you have on hand)

Turn on your broiler to high.

While your tofu is pressing, make the peanut sauce:
1 small can of light coconut milk (about 150ml)
1/3 cup chunky peanut butter
3 tsp sambal oelek or other chili paste
1/2 tbsp half-salt soy sauce
1/2 tsp tamarind paste (I am sure this can be optional - how much can 1/2 tsp affect the taste?)
1 tsp minced ginger
1/4 tsp ground coriander (go to Abby's Spice and Tea Store on Kirschner for the best and freshest spices)
freshly ground back pepper

Put all the ingredients in a saucepan and on medium-high heat, stir while it comes up to a boil. Turn down the heat to just below medium, stir one minute then remove from the heat and let cool. You can add water or more coconut milk if it's too thick when it's cool.

Now for the tofu.

Cut the block into 1/4 inch slices - I can get 16 slices out of a tofu rectangle. You can spray your cookie sheet with Pam or use parchment paper or a silpat mat or if you are not afraid, just place the tofu on the cookie sheet. Place under the broiler. When it starts to turn light brown, flip. The tofu may require a bit of convincing if you've just put it on the sheet but it should be flip-able. Brown the other side. The outside will be crispy and the inside will be soft.

Dip the tofu in the peanut sauce. YUMMY! And if you don't like tofu, you won't even be able to taste it.

My Search for the Perfect Vegan Pad Thai - Recipe #1

I LOVE pad thai. It is my favourite dish at the Mon Thong by the movie theatre. I always ask for no shrimp and extra tofu (and no green onions either - yuck) but I am sure that there must be shrimp paste lurking in there anyway. Almost all my vegan recipe books have pad thai recipes. It was my goal to have a pad thai week over the Christmas break where we would eat nothing except pad thai until I found the ultimate recipe but I never ended up even making one. Finally tonight I decided to try. I was going to be lazy and use a bottle of vegan pad thai sauce that I had bought at the Asian supermarket but (1) it had expired 2 months ago and (2) there was more sugar than anything else. I decided to not be lazy, cooked a package of flat rice noodles, and went in search of my first pad thai recipe in my cookbooks.

Pad Thai #1 - Modified from The Tropical Vegan Kitchen by Donna Klein

1 package of dried, flat rice noodles cooked according to directions then drained and rinsed in cold water. These cook fast so don't leave them for more than 5 minutes.
1/2 tbsp tamarind paste mixed with 1/2 cup water
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tbsp tomato ketchup
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 1/2 tbsp ketjap manis (if you have none then add another 1/2 tbsp each of soy sauce and brown sugar)
2 tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp crushed red chili flakes
1 tsp minced ginger
1 pkg firm or extra firm tofu cut into 1/2" cubes
1 cup snow peas or cabbage or peppers or carrots or a mix of them all
1 cup bean sprouts rinsed and blanched in boiling water to wash off any salmonella yuckies
1 green onion (yuck - this is entirely optional)
1/4 dry roasted peanuts

Mix the tamarind, water, soy sauce, ketchup, lime, sugar, sesame oil, and ketjap in a bowl and set aside.
Heat oil in a wok and when the oil is hot, toss in the chili flakes and ginger. Stir that around a few minutes then toss in the tofu and let the sides brown a bit. Add the veggies, toss, cover and let them steam cook themselves until they are of your desired crunchiness. If water develops in the bottom of the pan, let that evaporate before adding the tamarind liquid mixture. Mix into the veggies and bring that up to a boil. Toss in the noodles and mix it all together.

In your individual bowls, place a pile of bean sprouts. Serve the Pad Thai on top. Garnish with green onions (yuck - really, you don't have to) and the peanuts. Eat with a fork. The Thai don't use chopsticks.


My review... yummy but not the pad thai taste I am searching for. It's the right texture although it's a little too wet. I could have let the sauce cook down more. I would certainly make it again and Corey really liked it. He isn't a pad thai fanatic so his ability to compare to restaurant versions is limited.