1. I could tell you the reason that there is no recipe up today is because I made a super yummy cucumber salad but my roommates are utilizing the kitchen so I can’t get in there to take pictures. Or, because I just came back from hot yoga after 3 weeks off and I’m so tired I want to die. These would be partly true. The real reason is because I started season three of Game of Thrones today and I literally want to do nothing else but watch Tyrion and Daenerys be awesome. My GoT dream: for Tyione and Daenerys to fall in love and rule the iron throne together and lock all the Lannisters in a deep dark cell somewhere. With that said, I haven’t seen ANY of this season past episode 2 SO DON’T SAY ANYTHING ABOUT IT!!
2. This lipbalm. The tin says one of the ingredients is “super secret strawberry flavoring”. What that means is, “we melted strawberry starburst into a lipbalm and are calling it top secret”. Seriously. Just like a strawberry starburst. I’m in love.
3. This moisturizer. It protects from UVA and UVB which is so, so important and which not a lot of sunscreens do. It’s toted as chemical-free but one look at the ingredients list and you can see thats a lie. BUT, GoodGuide gave it a 6 on a scale of 1-10 for being a safe-for-you product, which isn’t too bad. It’s hard to find an all-natural moisturizer with SPF that covers UVA and UVB. let me know if you have found a good one
4. My friend, Laura, has started a fun, new blog called Makeshift Living. She talks about cute, cost efficient solutions for the home while she moves into a new place with her beau. She is giving away two succulents which are just so darn cute and trendy right now. If you search on pinterest for succulents, you’ll find about 8 million different ways to display them. I have three now- 1 black prince, one cactus with purple straw flowers and one big hanging one for my porch called a donkey tail. So so so cute AND easy to care for. So enter her contest now and try and win yourself some!
photo by Laura
5. and last but not least, the new Taylor Swift and Ed Sheeran music video. It’s adorable and I sort of want to die each time i watch it and I get to the end. I mean, a little mini Ed (and Ed’s new sleeve tattoo! hello!!) and a little mini Taylor. Love it. I can’t wait to see this song live this summer. I need to get tickets soon!!
I hope everyone has a great weekend. I will be getting dragged to a speed dating event by my friend Ashley, going to SOWA with my Grandma and cousin and, oh yes, holing up in my room and finishing season 3!
I have a problem. (And it’s not that I ate about 800 of these cupcakes in one day.)
It’s hard to admit but, you know, I just have to come clean.
*deep breath* ok. here we go…
I’m addicted to the song Cruise by Florida Georgia Line. Like, addicted.
UGH! It’s just so damn catchy. I’m currently watching the CMT awards live on my laptop, which is literally slowing everything down to a crawl, in anticipation of seeing the song live. If I’m lucky and the Gods are smiling down on me tonight, Nelly will make a guest appearance. I mean, Ed Sheeran and Lenny Kravitz made appearances so why not Nelly??
I mean…I’m also watching it for Kirsten Bell, cause she’s awesome!
psst…but it’s really for Cruise.
Know who does NOT like Florida Georgia Line? My temp, Emily, at work who is going on week 3 of me randomly singing this at the drop of a hat. She must just love me getting this stuck in her head every other day. That’s a lie- she must have dreams at night about ending my life in an attempt to shut me up.
Know who else isn’t amused by my recent obsession? My friend, Melinda. We had a little picnic shindig for her birthday this past weekend and amongst bubble blowing and hoola hooping, I tried to whip out this song. I pulled this up on Spotify and tried to start a little dance party but I was met with hostile looks and head shaking. Come on guys!
Thankfully, these cupcakes were greeted with a whole lot more warmth then my country singing. As they should have been. Melinda requested them specifically for her birthday!
3 sticks unsalted vegetable margerine, room temperature
2 cups sugar
5 Ener-G “Eggs” (or the egg replacer of your choice equivalent to 5 eggs)
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract (*this is mandatory–it really makes the cake that much better!)
3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk (I have used the Coconut milk that comes in a carton in the refrigerated milk section and Light Coconut Milk from a can. Both work great. I think I’m partial to the light coconut milk from the can. I have not tried the full-fat version of canned coconut milk)
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut
Preheat oven to 350.Line cupcake tins with liners.
In a large mixing bowl, add the room temperature margarine and sugar and beat on medium speed for about five minutes until the mixture is very light and very fluffy.
Next prepare the dry ingredients in a separate bowl–the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and whisk well to combine. Set aside.
Next, mix together the egg replacer powder with the water. Now, add this to the sugar mixture and beat on medium speed for another two minutes. Add the extracts to this and mix well.
Now you add the milk and flour mixture in the following manner: first add a third of the flour and then a third of the milk to the sugar/egg mixture. Mix well after each addition–about fifteen seconds of mixing–then add another third of the flour mixture, another third of the milk and repeat this step until the flour and milk are all used.
Remove the beaters from the bowl and fold in the shredded coconut to the batter with a spoon. Don’t overmix it! (Note: if you use the canned coconut milk, your batter will be very fluffy).
Next, fill the cup cake tins 2/3 full. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a knife/toothpick stuck in the center of the cake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow the cakes to cool in the pans for about 5 minutes. Move to cooling racks. Cool completely before frosting.
Melted Chocolate Buttercream Frosting
from Chow.com
INGREDIENTS
1/2 pound vegan chocolate, finely chopped (about 1.5 cups) (I used a little more then 1.5 c. of 365 brand vegan chocolate chips)
2 sticks (1/2 pound) unsalted nonhydrogenated margarine, at room temperature (I used Earth Balance)
1 1/3 cups powdered sugar, sifted
1/8 teaspoon fine salt
1/4 cup natural unsweetened cocoa powder
3 tablespoons coconut milk (I had a bit of Light Coconut milk from the can left over so I used that)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
optional: toasted coconut and toasted almonds
INSTRUCTIONS
Using a microwave or double boiler, melt the chocolate in a medium bowl; set aside to cool.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the margarine on medium-high speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl. Turn the mixer to low, add the sugar and salt, and mix until incorporated. Increase the speed to medium high and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes, stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
With the mixer on low, gradually add the cooled melted chocolate and beat until incorporated. Stop the mixer and add the cocoa powder, coconut milk, and vanilla. Beat on low until incorporated, then beat on medium high until the frosting is airy and thoroughly mixed, about 1 minute, stopping once to scrape down the sides of the bowl.
My roommate’s friends liked the left over cupcakes, too. I found this little message waiting for me on the fridge.
I’d say these cupcakes are winners. Unfortunately, can’t say the same for my singing. Sooo, I’ll just leave you with a little video…
Why do I love Nelly so much in this video?! I’m so wierd…
If I was a good little blogger, I would have given you this recipe last week so you were properly armed with some delicious grub for Memorial Day. But, I whined about the weather and gave you chocolate cake instead. I hope that’s ok…
Speaking of Memorial Day, how was everyones??
I have to say, my weekend was excellent. And so has this week. Friday and Saturday poured buckets. I had to break my ban on rain boots because I was sick of soggy flats. Grr. Friday, I took my temp, Emily, on a field trip in search of iced coffee with espresso ice cubes and chocolate croissants. It was kind of epic. We were given a sample of a smoothy that tasted like starbursts, I sang Florida Georgia Line’s Cruisin’ so much that Emily has begun to plot my death and the iced coffee and pastries were AH-MAZ-ING. Then I finished the night off at an all-you-can eat sushi place with those two munchkins below. Is there anything better then a cucumber avocado roll? Answer: Yes, a sweet potato tempura roll. (also, are you seeing how ominous that sky looks. eek!)
Sunday was the Boston Calling and the weather Gods answered my prayers by keeping the rain away. The cold was another story. I actually had on a jacket and a hoodie. At the end of May! Ra Ra Riots and Of Monsters and Men stole the show. The night was topped off with dinner and drinks at an irish pub with live irish music. Live music everywhere!!
And Monday the sun came out. SOO happy. I sat in it for as long as I could. Then grillin’ happened. Grilled pizza, veggies, corn on the cob and the best dessert every which hopefully I’ll share tomorrow. It did get chilly toward the end. Hence, Elena snuggling with the grill.
I couldn’t bring this recipe to the grillin’ party Monday, though. I believe Melinda’s reaction when I mentioned it was, “Blueberry BBQ sauce? That sounds disgusting!!” I hope you don’t agree because it was really quite delicious.
Baked Tofu with Blueberry BBQ Sauce sauce from How Sweet Eats
one block of extra firm tofu, pressed (I used this. Best. Purchase. Ever. Though I’m slightly devastated the purple option wasn’t around when I ordered mine…)
safflower oil
salt
pepper
For the sauce:
1/3 cup fresh blueberries
1/3 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar (HSE’s used blueberry flavored but seriously? I can NOT buy another oil/vinegar. Regular works just fine)
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
Preheat the oven to 350.
While that’s heating, start your BBQ sauce. Heat a small saucepan over low heat and add blueberries. Heat until they begin to bubble and burst, about 10 minutes, then mash with a fork. Add in ketchup, both vinegars, brown sugar, onion and garlic powder, ground mustard and worcestershire sauce. Whisk well to combine and break up blueberries and turn the heat up to medium. Heat until mixture bubbles, stirring every few minutes, then turn heat back down to low. Cook for 20 minutes, whisking every few minutes. Sauce will be slightly clumpy and thicker than regular BBQ sauce.
While your sauce is cooking, slice up your pressed tofu however you like. I decided to go a little crazy and do triangles. Brush with safflower oil (or alternatively, spray with some cooking spray). Sprinkle with salt and ppper. Bake for 20-45 minutes, depending on your desired texture. 20ish will give you a firm outside and soft center. 45 is denser and good for tofu sticks that you are going to dip. I went for 30. Nice and middle of the road.
When your tofu is done, brush with BBQ sauce. Or spoon it on like me because 1. I don’t own a fancy food brush and 2. I really like BBQ sauce.
This sauce is also really excellent to dip roasted veggies in.
Ok, I’m off to be productive with Rachel. We are camped out in a cafe eating snacks, drinking coffee, budgeting and overall, gettin’ crap down! I know…we are such party animals!! Wish us luck 🙂
I don’t know where you are but here in Boston, the weather is not pleasant! We went for warm, sunny spring days to gray and dreary. Sometimes, it’s gray,dreary, cool and rainy. Other times, it’s gray, dreary, warm and humid… with the promise of rain. But always gray and dreary.
I’m sick of gray and dreary.
And guess what this weekend’s forecast is suppose to be?
Yeap. You guessed it. Gray and Dreary! and rainy. Which is going to be super fun during my outdoor concert! Oooor not.
Now, I’m not meaning to bitch here. I’m just setting the stage. I was planning on doing a spring friday favorites, complete with favorite spring shoes and drink and what not. Then, I was going to top it off with a nice very vanilla cupcake recipe with a nice spring twist- sorta.
But, the gray and the dreary are leaving me in a funk. So, I’m going to save the spring post until the sun is shining and the birds are singing. Instead, I’m going to do what any flood blogger would do in a funk. Post some yummy food to eat your emotions away with. Because it’s curl-up-in-bed-and-watch-a-good-movie-while-eating weather, not frolick in flip flops weather.
1. Favorite Store-bought snack: Hail Merry Strawberry Macaroons. Sorta tastes like a strawberry shortcake ice cream pops, minus the gross dairy and chemicals. Propylene Glycol Monoesters, anyone? I think I’ll nab one of these awesome macaroons, instead.
2. Favorite liquid: Metromint Water in Chocolatemint. Ingredients: water, mint, cocoa essence. That’s it. And it’s amazing. Have I talked about this before? I’m having deja vu…
3. Favorite Delivery discovery: Angora Cafe in Allston. They have soy fro-yo with pick-your-own toppings. But don’t bother. Just get Late Knight (soy fro-yo, coffee, oreo and cookie dough) and thank me later. “But Erin,”, your saying to yourself “there’s a $15 minimum delivery free and fro yo only costs $5”. Don’t sweat it, son. Order yourself a build-your-own salad for lunch tomorrow and then you have ice cream to eat during your movie AND you can sleep in late cause your lunch is already done. Your welcome.
4. And what goes really good with Fro-yo and snuggling in bed? Mug Cakes. Yeapers. This is my favorite:
3 tablespoons spelt flour (or white, or Arrowhead Mills gf)(I used regular all-purpose)
1/8 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar or evaporated cane juice (I used 2 tsp of vegan cane sugar)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 stevia packet (or 1 tablespoon more sugar) (I used 1 TBSP palm sugar)
2-3 tsp of vegetable oil or coconut oil (I’ve tried it with oil and also with apple sauce, which CCK said may work. The cake comes out much gummier with apple sauce, though it’s still delicious)
3 tablespoons milk of choice (I used unsweetned vanilla almond milk)
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Combine dry ingredients and mix very, very well. Add liquid, stir, then transfer to a little dish, ramekin, or even a coffee mug. Microwave 30-40 seconds. If you don’t want to eat it straight out of the dish, be sure to spray your dish first (and then wait for it to cool before trying to remove it). Otherwise, you can just mix everything in a mug, microwave it and eat it straight from there. I opted to use my favorite mug 🙂
I’m definitely snacking on this while snuggling up and watching Les Mis. Is there anything better on a gray crappy day?
5. and of course I can’t leave you without some tunes!
Of Monsters and Men- Little Talk. I’m seeing them on Sunday at the Boston Calling Concert. Fingers crossed it doesn’t rain!!
During the whole Team Lean Challenge I did with my friend, Rachel, I cut out a ton of bad food. I realized if it was in my house, I would eat it. I’m looking at you bread, pb and chocolate chips. I may not have cookies in the house but combined, you make an amazing 9pm snack.
At the top of my list was pasta. It’s just so easy! I mean, I could roast a ton of veggies which takes forever… or I could just heat up some noodles and dump some sauce on it/cook up roman noodles/pour boxed mac and cheese into a pot.
See. Pasta had to go.
But the week of the bombings in Boston, a friend of mine was planning a potluck for Sunday as a way to end what had been a very stressful week on a positive note. It was a great idea! I brought this and all the non-vegans ate it up. I had no leftovers!
Of course, it was so delicious, I was dying to make it again, fitness challenge or not! When I made it for just me, I pumped up the veggies significantly and added some tofu for an extra kick of protein. The result was a super creamy, veggy-packed noodle fest. So delicious!
Peanutty Noodles and Veggies
adapted from Chloe Coscarelli’s Peanutty Noodles recipe found in Chloe’s Kitchen and on line at KATU.com
serves 4 to 6
1 pound brown rice noodles
1 block of tofu, pressed and cubed
1 cup coconut milk
½ cup water
¼ cup maple syrup
¼ cup soy sauce
½ cup peanut butter, chunky or creamy
1 tablespoon chili-garlic sauce
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
2 carrots, peeled and shredded
1 cup of edamame (no shells, thawed if using frozen, which I did)
1 red pepper, diced
3 scallions, trimmed and thinly sliced
½ cup peanuts, roughly chopped, for garnish
Instructions:
Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add brown rice noodles and cook according to package directions. Drain, rinse with cold water, and drain again. Return noodles to pot.
Heat some sesame oil in a skillet. Saute tofu in the pan until golden. (if you prefer your veggies cooked, you can also throw them in with the tofu at this time. I sauteed my edamame with the tofu but left my peppers and carrots raw). Set aside.
Meanwhile, make the sauce by combining coconut milk, water, maple syrup, soy sauce, peanut butter, chili-garlic sauce, ginger, and garlic in a medium saucepan. (this will look so gross when it’s all going into the pan and you will definitely be thinking “eeew! this is going to taste weird.” It won’t. Trust me.) Let cook over medium heat, whisking frequently, until sauce comes together and thickens.
Remove from heat and mix in lime juice and sesame oil.
Toss hot noodles with the sauce, tofu and veggies.
Garnish with peanuts and scallions and serve. Any leftovers can be served warm or cold the next day for a delicious lunch.
I had fro-yo three times last week and may or may not be planning to share some Game of Thrones-themed cupcakes with you later in the week. Yeeeah…clearly, the fitness thing is over. Good thing I haven’t given up on the exercise!
PS. This would be great for a memorial day cook out. It tastes good hot or cold and it doesn’t scream, LOOK AT ME I’M VEGAN! well…maybe leave out the tofu if your hanging with all carnivores…
Happy Friday, everyone! I’m pretty sure this week was extra long. I don’t care that the calendar says it had 5 days like every other work week. It. Was. Long.
With that said I feel like it’s too easy to focus on the negative and complain about my week so let’s do Friday Favorites as top 5 positive things from this week, shall we? That’s way more fun…
1. Saturday I partied it up with my friend, Rachel, and her very cool friends. It was a birthday/cinco de mayo party. I didn’t drink a drop of margaritas. I know! Who am I?? I did have two very large glasses of the world’s best sangria though. Seriously. I tried to get the recipe and Eric was not having it. It was also the first time I’ve had people who I haven’t met before say “Oh! You write Wicked Vegan? I read your blog all the time!” Or something along that line. It was a very cool moment. Hey, Deanna!
1. Rachel punched the Pinata open. Bats are for woosies and 2. it was filled with little bottles of liquor!
2. SOWA is finally open! I walked around Sunday in the sunshine with my friend, Lisa. She bought the world’s cutest teal dress that looked like it was straight out of New Girl. I bought an umbrella necklace and a cactus. It was a good day.
3. I received the following rant from my friend Melissa, via email, this week that made me laugh out loud in my cube. This comes AFTER she sent me a dress from modcloth to consider for Lisa’s wedding this summer:
“Also, Modcloth is sort of evil because I imagine they must be bunch of tiny little Zooey Deschenel clones in colored tights and vintage cardigans. Manic Pixie Dreamgirls at their worst, not even realizing their power to destroy another girl’s self-esteem because they can’t imagine a dress size that accommodates for hips.
Evil hags.”
LOL! Well, ok then!
4. but that email couldn’t top my Dad’s discovery of emoticons. After he sent me some clapping hands (he’s partial to the animated ones), I firmly told him he was WAY too old for emoticons and he needed to stop. Immediately. This did not work. Instead, I got messages like this:
Note: The little dude in red dances..and the beer glasses clink…and the smiley face bounces… and the whale spurts water…yeap.
BUT, the cherry on top was when I found out that he sent Mom a “hive with bees buzzing”:
He’s firmly sticking to his bee hive story but clearly, I’m not buying it! He definitely sent my mom an animated emoticon of poop! My parents are hilarious.
and last but not least, 5. I made these cookies as a sugar-free snack for post-yoga. Rachel and I are still going strong with the hot yoga, even though the Team Lean Challenge has concluded. Well, I should say Rachel is going strong. I seem to be getting progressively worse. But silverlining- I get to chill in child’s pose and watch the very hot guy in yoga attempt Warrior 1. “mmhmm…it is really hot in here… I’m sure taking off your shirt would be a total improvement… Thank you, yoga gods!”
Yoga Cookies Adapted from recipe found in Chole’s Kitchen by Chloe Coscarelli; and online at Love and Flour
Serves: 24ish
Ingredients
1 cup + 2 TBSP whole wheat pastry flour (or all purpose flour)
2 scoops of your favorite vanilla or non-flavored vegan protein powder (2 scoops should be roughly 1/2 c, minus 2 TBSP. I used a pre-packaged serving size of Vega Sports Protein Powder in Vanilla)*
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
¾ cup + 2TBSP of unsweetened apple sauce
½ cup maple syrup (or agave)
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups rolled oats
½ cup shredded coconut, unsweetened (I also tried flaked coconut and much prefer the texture of shredded. The cookie holds together better)
½ cup unsweetened craisins
½ cup cacao nibs or vegan chocolate chips (I used Taza Cacao nibs, which I purchased on a whim because I LOVE their Chocolate discs)
½ cup chopped walnuts
*You want your flour and your protein powder to equal 1 1/2 cups combined. Like I said, I used a pre-packaged Vega Protein pack and when I measured it out, it was just shy of the 1/2 c. mark. Hence, the weird flour measurements
Instructions:
Whisk together the flour, protein powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl and set aside.
In a separate bowl, stir together the apple sauce, syrup, and vanilla.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until combined.
Fold in the oats, coconut, craisins, walnuts, and cacao nibs.
Scoop 1½ tablespoons of dough, roll into a ball, then gently flatten the dough with the palm of your hand. Place on a baking pan lined with parchment paper.
Bake at 350 degrees for 12-14 minutes until firm and bottoms are golden brown
One of the hardest things I have found when attempting to eat healthy over the past year or so is that sugar and snacks are SO hard to cut out of your diet. I wanted to make these “cookies” as hearty and as healthy as possible while still fooling my brain into thinking it’s snacking. So I did my best to eliminate the extra sugar from this recipe by using unsweetened apple sauce, coconuts and craisin. I also tossed the chocolate chips and used roasted cacao nibs. I will be honest- these definitely aren’t going to replace chocolate for me, they definitely don’t taste like a chocolate chips and they aren’t that great plain. BUT, I found they gave enough of a chocolate hint when cooked into the cookies to fool my brain without over powering the other ingredients. Cooking them into the cookies took away a lot of the bitterness. I want to try the semi-sweet chocolate baking squares next time.
Alright, everyone. I hope you have a fantastic weekend! It’s rainy and gross here in Boston but try and stay positive this weekend. Get out and do something spring-y, meet some awesome new people or, you know, tell someone you love them with an animated poop icon. Whatever puts a smile on your face 🙂
I know I’m being annoyingly clique right now but I REALLY wish it wasn’t Monday. I could have used one more day this weekend.
My oh-so-awesome landlord decided that the construction he has been doing the last several week should continue at 7 am on Saturday, my one day to sleep in. I was thrilled to turn over in bed at such an early hour and see a middle aged latino man working outside my window as I slept and he worked on the apartment. Thankfully, my blinds were mostly shut. Mostly.
I was then even more overjoyed to see that our driveway was strewed with wooden boards, discards shingles, tools and machines making it impossible for me to get out until around 4 pm, when they were finish their work and had cleaned up. So much for a fun filled day of errands and shopping
Yes, I was in an excellent mood on Saturday.
Thankfully, I made good use of my Saturday evening by having a few friends over and watching the first few episodes of Games of Throne. I may be kind of addicted! Can we just talk about how infuriating the Lannisters are?! ARGH! Every time Cersei Lannister and her ugly ass, scheming self are on the screen I just want to punch her!
But I digress, a TV viewing party would be incomplete without some good food. I whipped up these vegan-friendly Sloppy Joes and they got thumbs up all around from my non-vegan friends. My friend, Rachel’s boyfriend, had three of them and he definitely isn’t vegan. I consider that a win!
the original recipe says it makes 4; we used average hot dog bugs and we got 7 servings
Ingredients:
1 tsp olive oil
½ onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
½ red bell pepper, diced
2 15oz cans of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 15oz can of fire roasted tomatoes, diced
¼ cup tomato paste
2 T soy sauce
2 T Sriracha Sauce
1 T Maple Syrup
2 tsp dried oregano
1 ½ tsp cumin
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp liquid smoke
1 T nutritional yeast (optional)
salt/pepper to taste
optional toppings: avocado or vegan cheese
4 vegan hamburger or hotdog buns; could also serve it on a baked potato or with lettuce in a wrap
Instructions:
Pour the chickpeas into a bowl. Use a fork to mash them until they are in small chunks/shreds. I like to mash about half the chickpeas and keep half whole for texture. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to it’s lowest temperature. Open the buns (if you are using them) and place the halves, cut side up, on the center rack (or on a baking sheet). Let them heat up for about 10-15 minutes.
Heat the olive oil in a large shallow saucepan over medium heat for about one minute. Add the onion and garlic and sauté until onions are translucent and garlic is fragrant. Add the bell pepper and the chickpeas and sauté for about two minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and let it simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 10-15 minutes, until heated through and slightly thickened. If it sticks, add a little water to scrape the pan and lower the heat a bit.
Once the buns are warmed and the chickpea mixture is hot, scoop the mixture onto the buns. Serve while hot.
I did spend Sunday eating brunch, working out and soaking up the sunshine so my landlord was not able to destroy my whole weekend. Can I just say, Sunday was beautiful here in Boston! If I could have one wish, it may be that everyday is as beautiful as that day was.
So, any Game of Throne fans? Thoughts? I’m only on season 1 so don’t spoil anything but please, tell me I’m not the only one who wants to punch some of these characters in the face.
Unplugged. Picnicking on my porch after work, reading a book, eating veggie scramble and oranges and soaking up the warmth and fresh air
Hello, all and Happy Friday!
Things have been quiet over here at Wicked Vegan. Here’s some reasons why:
First, a few weeks ago, I realized I was getting a number of headaches. The kind of headaches where you are taking extra strength Tylenol PM at 6pm and zonking yourself out so you can sleep away the pain. I haven’t had headaches like that since I gave up dairy so I was kind of surprised. After taking a mental step back I realized, I was in front of a screen A LOT! Computer when I get up to check email and blogs, computer at work, cell phone at lunch to play candy crush, computer when I got home, cell phone all day. I caught myself at one point watching TV, while on my laptop and on my cell phone texting people. No wonder I was giving myself a headache! So, I’ve been trying my best to unplug. After work is spent at hot yoga, ballet, reading or hanging out with my friends. I’ve pushed my book club to get their act together, practiced my guitar and overall, felt a lot better. This means less time to write blog posts and edit pictures, though. I’m working on setting up a balance where I update the blog once a week, set the posts to launch at a certain time and then walk away. It’s a work in progress. I haven’t abandoned the blog though and I look forward to sharing some great recipes next week 🙂
And second, last week was CRAZY in Boston. I actually had a post for cookies and Friday favorites scheduled to launch on Friday but I was woken up at 5:30 to my work being cancelled “Due to Police Activity”. WTF? Turns out my work, which is in Watertown, was closed because the Boston Marathon Bomber was on the loose. Then the whole of Boston was on lock down! I live approximately 2 miles from Watertown so you bet your butt my roommate and I were glued to our TVs all afternoon watching the drama unfold. With everything as tense as it was, I didn’t feel like a comical blog post on cookies was appropriate so I pushed the blog back…to next week. Stay tuned!
Now, onto some Friday Favorites… because I can!
1. Favorite New Blog Find: Thug Kitchen. It’s hilarious and vegan. Homeboy’s only been up and running since August and Gwyneth Paltrow is already throwing props his way on Rachel Ray. Go. Read. Learn how to avoid dick cancer…
(picture 100% property of Thugkitchen.com)
2. Best Call-em-out, point-the-finger, and tear-them-a-new-one News Reporting. Ahh, Jon Stewart. Thank you for saying what we were all thinking.
3. New Music Video Obsession:Paramore- Still into you
4. Favorite Way to Stay hydrated: Water + muddled Fruit + a few hours to sit and get yummy= Aqua Fresca. Shown here is Pineapple Strawberry and All Citrus (Lime, Orange and Lemon). You’re supposed to get something like 8 glasses of water a day. WATER. Not fruit juice, coke, coffee or booze, all of which can actually dehydrate you and do crazy things to your blood sugar and digestion. WATER. Making water fun helps get that done.
Half-gallon mason jars hold 6 cups. That’s almost the Doctor recommended amount of water you should be drinking. Get on this!
5. Favorite New Subscription: Boston Organics! Its like channeling the excitement of getting a package in the mail, except it’s all organic produce. Isn’t that exciting!!! I’m currently signed up for a bi-weekly produce drop off. My box is half veggies, half fruit and it’s all organic. You can also have add on’s like eggs, coffee, tea, chocolate, milk, etc. Again, all organic. I’m pretty stoked! My first box arrived last Thursday so I’m still trying to work it all out.
6. Favorite concert: Andrew McMahon. I’m so in love with him right now. I saw him a few weeks ago and I’m still riding the high. Favorite song- Hammer and Strings by Andrew’s band, Jack’s Mannequin. This wasn’t played at my concert but it is easily one of my top 5 favorite songs of all time. Check it out below.
What have you been up to lately? What are you into? This weekend I have a date with some friends and season 1 of Games of Thrones. I’m told I’ll love it. I’m skeptical… Whatever your plans are though, I hope you have a great weekend and I will be back next week with some new recipes 🙂
This week has been rough. On Tuesday, our dog Ace, died really unexpectantly. The vet thinks it was cancer in his chest. He was still pretty young at 8 and it hit us all really hard. He was a super good dog, even though he was mildly neurotic. He didn’t like red rugs. He had a nightly routine which involved giving his blanky a tour of the house before settling down. And overall, he really didn’t like change. But, don’t we all have quirks? I can’t eat m&ms or skittles without sorting them into groups by color. Is that any less weird then avoiding red rugs? Needless to say, he fit into our family pretty well and it’s been hard losing him.
So, I’ve been trying to stay busy all week. Tuesday night, despite the news, I went to ballet class, swollen red poofy eyes and all. Last night, I went on a bit of a shopping spree with my friend, Rachel. Container store, Lush, Barnes and Noble, fro-yo with soy yogurt AND Whole Foods. It was kind of epic. And perfectly fun and distracting.
Thankfully and completely by coincidence, I managed to get my act together on Sunday evening and make food for the whole week. So, despite my running around and blurred vision, I have still been eating well.
This salad seems like it may be boatloads of work, but you can make everything in advance and it makes several servings so you can have it for lunch or dinner throughout the week. Check out some substitutions all the way at the bottom if you want to save some time.
To roast the zucchini, summer squash and asparagus, I used the new baking sheet my Grandma gave me. Look how much bigger it is compared to my old ones!
Roasted Veggie Salad with Herb Quinoa Oat Bread
Roasted Veggie Salad:
2 small zucchini
2 small summer squash
1 large bunch of asparagus (skinny stalks are the best! But that may be personal preference…)
1/2 butternut squash
baby spinach or arugala (Whichever you prefer. I have had both and both were delicious. I tend to have baby spinach on hand more frequently though because I also use it in smoothies)
coconut oil
salt and pepper to taste (optional)
pepita seeds
Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Dice your butternut squash into cubes and place on a baking sheet. Drizzle with coconut oil (I didnt measure but I would estimate 1 TBSP) and toss until well coated. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste if you are using.
Dice your zucchini and summer squash. Remove the tough ends from the asparagus and cut into thirds. Put the zucchini, summer squash and asparagus on a large baking sheet. Drizzle with coconut oil (again, around 1TBSP) and toss until well coated. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Place the butternut squash in the oven for 30 minutes. At the 15 minute mark, put the other tray of veggies in.
When the 30 minute are up, remove the veggies from the oven. Veggies can be hot or cold when served, both are delicious so it’s a matter of preference. To serve, place a slice of toasted Herb Quinoa Oat Bread down (recipe below), top with a bed of spinach or arugala, then your roasted veggies, drizzle with apple cider vinaigrette (recipe below) and sprinkle with pepita seeds. Dig in!!
3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey or maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Put in a jar, shake it up and serve.
Herb Quinoa Oat Bread recipe from Edible Perspective
2-3 servings (I cut mine into 6 servings to get me through the week)
1/2c GF oat flour*
3/4c quinoa flour
1/4c almond flour
1c water
1.5T ground chia seeds or ground flax seeds
1.5T coconut oil
1T unsweetened applesauce
1/4t salt
1/4t garlic powder
1t parsley
1t oregano
1t thyme
5-8 grinds of black pepper
Preheat your oven to 375.
Add 1/2T coconut oil to a 9” round/square pan and place in the oven. A cast iron pan works really well. Or line a 9” round/square pan with parchment paper.
Mix all dry ingredients together in a large bowl.
Pour in the water, applesauce, and 1T of melted coconut oil.
Stir until just combined and let sit for 5min. Batter should be thick, but pourable after sitting.
While the batter is sitting, place the pan in the oven with 1/2T coconut oil for 5min. Remove from the oven and spread the oil around the sides + bottom of the pan. *If using parchment paper, skip this step.
Pour the batter into the pan, spread to the edges, then shake lightly to even out.
Bake for 38-42min, until the bread is cracked on top, pulled away from the sides, and edges are golden brown. I always bake mine for 40min.
Let cool to fully firm up, then remove from the pan + slice.
Store in a sealed container for 3-4 days.
* notes from Wicked Vegan: Don’t be intimidated by the list of unusual flours. I currently have at least 5 different flours in my pantry, none of which are the ones listed above and I was determined not to buy another. So I made these flours with the oats, quinoa and almonds that I already had. Just put the oats, quinoa and almonds in a food processor or magic bullet, separately, and blend until they have broken down into a flour consistency. The oat flour and quinoa flour were very easy to turn to flour. I had a bit of trouble with the almonds, which resulted in a corn-bread texture to my bread. It was still delicious, it just didn’t look like the pictures from Edible Perspective but I was ok with that.
notes from Edible Perspective: I have found coconut oil to be the best to prevent sticking. Feel free to sub another high-heat safe oil. This recipe would be great as a base for pizza. Remove the bread from the pan, pile on toppings, then bake for 5-10min. Feel free to sub buckwheat, millet, amaranth, or corn flour for the oat or quinoa flour but not the almond meal. You can easily make these gluten free flours at home in your blender or food processor. For GF oat flour, use rolled oats, oat groats, or steel cut oats. Process until turned into a fine flour. You can make almond meal by processing almonds until turned into a soft meal with no almond pieces.
You can roast any veggies that you want for this salad. California Pizza Kitchen has a salad similar to this and they use eggplant. You could also throw in mushrooms, green beans, bell peppers or onions. I really think whatever you like would work in here.
Store bought Naan can be subbed in for the quinoa bread. I had originally bought roasted garlic naan for this recipe but holy crap was that stuff delicious! I ended up eating the four pieces before I even began to make this recipe so I decided that maybe I didn’t need more of that deliciousness in the house! After all, oatmeal with a side of roasted garlic naan for breakfast, soup with roasted garlic naan for lunch and just warm roasted garlic naan dipped in hummus for dinner doesn’t exactly make a well rounded day of food.
Balsamic vinaigrette, bottled or homemade, can be subbed for the apple cider vinaigrette dress.
ok, I promise no more sad stuff tomorrow on WV. I’ll try and bring you some fun Friday Favorites complete with some upbeat music.
So, I’m typing this on Sunday evening. I’ve painted my figure nails with Butter London nail polish (free of Formaldehyde, Toluene and DBP, the three harshest chemicals in nail polish); I just finished up a roasted veggie salad on home made gluten-free flat bread for dinner (recipe to come); I’m working on my vegan blog about homemade granola; aaand, I’m watching the Academy of Country music awards? Yeah… one of these things doesn’t belong. I feel like country music should go with beer swiggin’, not herbal tea sippin’.
I’d like to think Luke Bryant would find my “Blow Raspberries”-painted nails pretty sexy, though…
Anyway, this is my favorite, go-to granola recipes. I almost always have all the ingredients on hand, it goes together super fast and it goes with everything. Enjoy!
Almond Coconut Granola recipe in Skinny Bitch in the Kitch by Rory Freedman and Kim Barnouin; found online at Spark Recipes
2 c. rolled oats
1 1/4 c. slivered almonds (you can use whatever almonds you have on hand. I prefer slivered because it provides a nice crunch)
3/4 c. unsweetened coconut (both shredded and flaked will work. I prefer flaked)
1 tsp of sea salt
2 TBSP safflower oil (or other high heat safe oil)
3/4 c. maple syrup
2 TBSP brown rice syrup (if you can’t find this, you can sub in agave or 2 more TBSP of maple syrup)
1 cup of dried cranberries (or any combination of dry you want. I like 1/2 c. dried cranberries and 1/2 c. apple-juice infused dried cherries. I bet pineapples would be tasty, too)
Directions
Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees.Toast rolled oats on a baking sheet about 15 minutes, stirring once.
In a small bowl, whisk safflower oil, maple syrup and brown rice syrup.
Once oats are done, add them to the large bowl. Mix dry ingredients.Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix well. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper. Add mixture onto baking sheet and bake for another 20-25 minutes stirring once. The mixture will still be wet when the time is up. You just want to cook it until it’s golden.
After baking, add dry cranberries (or other dried fruit) and mix again.
Allow to cool for about 30 minutes or so.
When cool, break up and store in an air tight container.
Makes about 6 cups or twelve 1/2 cup servings.
Currently, my favorite way to snack on this granola is on fresh apple rings with a little PB2 or Teddy’s all-natural PB. I also like it for breakfast in the morning. I’ll fill a bowl with fruit- right now I’m on a banana and blueberry kick- top it with 1/2c. -3/4c of granola and pour some almond milk over it. I like to think of it as a healthier version of cereal.
PS. Eric Church totally deserved more awards last night! I mean, Come on! Miranda Lambert is still winning awards for that song?
PPS. Last year I didn’t even know who Eric Church and Miranda Lambert were. Who am I?? I think I need to go listen to some rock music now…
wickedvegan.com 