Vegan Quinoa Pancakes

I'm always looking for ways to make something familiar with healthier ingredients. And due to the fact that my husband isn't eating most grains, including, wheat, I'm always looking for alternatives to try. This morning I made a batch of these. They aren't as light and fluffy as a lot of pancakes, but they're pretty decent. I also didn't have enough quinoa flour, so I ground my own out of some quinoa flakes. It seemed a little heavier than what we'd purchased at the health food store. I'm going to do a little more experimenting, but for now, this was pretty good.

Quinoa Flour Pancakes (Vegan substitutions below)


1 1/2 cups of quinoa flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg, 2 egg whites
1 1/2 cups milk
1 TB Earth Balance Buttery Spread (melted)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup of ground flax seed
Just mix all the ingredients together. I actually increased the flour because when I first poured it on the griddle….ummm….way too thin!

My substitutions

I added a little more baking powder

I used soaked flax seeds in place of the eggs

I used rice milk

I replaced the buttery spread with coconut oil

I added a little vanilla and cinnamon to the batter

Put everything in a blender and whirl away!  I had to add extra water because it got very, very thick due to the flax seeds. Pour 1/4 c. batter onto griddle or into non-stick or oiled pan. 

I served them with a little plain soy yogurt with vanilla and stevia added to it and some blueberry sauce made out of frozen blueberries and tapioca flour. Colorful and pretty good

Raw Tempura Vegetable Sauce

This is one of my favorite new raw recipes. It's easy to make, and I think it really tastes great. In fact, I crave it. It gives me a little boost that seems just right in the late afternoons.

Raw Tempura Vegetable Sauce

1/2 C raw sunflower seeds, unsoaked
1 C raw cashews, unsoaked
1/2 C fresh lemon juice
1 t Redmond or Celtic salt
1/2 C olive oil
1 t Chinese Five Spice (star anise, cloves, cinnamon, fennel, and black pepper)
1 C water

Blend all ingredients in a high-powered blender, pouring in the water slowly until you achieve the right consistency. (I usually pour in the whole cup of water at once, but can't guarantee you'll get a consistency you'll like.)

Spoon into a bowl for dipping broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, celery or any other firm, raw vegetable. You can refrigerate it for several days, if it's lasts that long.

You can also mix the sauce with vegetables and heat in a food dehydrator at 145°, spread on a Teflex sheet or parchment paper, for two hours. I enjoy this variation, but I am usually too impatient to wait to heat the vegetables!

Note: The original recipe comes from Gabriel Cousens' Rainbow Green Live-Food Cuisine. His recipe uses pistachios and pine nuts, which are better choices than the nuts I used, but cost somewhat more. He also uses 3 teaspoons of  salt rather than 1 teaspoon (3 teaspoons was too salty for my taste.)

Picnic Food - Veggie Sandwiches on Raw Onion Bread & Sweet Potato Fries

Friday night. What shall we do? We're in the habit of going out, usually to a restaurant, and normally to one that's inexpensive. These days we look for places that have salads or salad bars, but we opted for a little picnic at the park instead. We hadn't planned ahead, so it was very last minute and the food had to be prepared fairly quickly. We settled on Veggie Sandwiches on Raw Onion Bread and Sweet Potato Fries.

If you're not very familiar with a raw foods diet (I distinctly remember the first time I heard the term and thought of all the food we ate and how they'd taste raw - yuck! I couldn't imagine), do a little Google research and you'll find it's pretty popular and there are tons of recipes and recipe books on the subject. At any rate, we're trying to eat a large portion of our diet raw because of the health benefits, and with the dietary restrictions that my husband has had, bread has been completely out of the picture. But he can have raw breads, and the onion variety is a good one!

There are a number of different twists on raw onion bread and I've made several. I've taken a couple of recipes and tweaked them into my own, so I guess I get to put my name on it. You'll need a dehydrator to make this work.

Cristi's Raw Onion Bread

2 1/2 lbs sweet onions, peeled
1 cup ground sunflower seeds
1 cup ground golden flax seeds
1 zucchini
1/2 avocado, well mashed
2 T. olive oil
1 1/2 t. Real Salt

Note: You may want to start with 1/2 batch if you're uncertain about liking it or not. Also, I use a coffee grinder to grind the flax seeds and sunflower seeds.

Put onions in food processor with 's' blade and process until small pieces, (but not mush). Put in mixing bowl with the other ingredients and mix thoroughly. The flax will absorb liquid. Smooth onto Teflex sheets* about 1/4" thick and place in dehydrator for 5 hours, turning over for another 3-4 hours or until dry and crispy. Either break into pieces or cut with a pizza cutter, and store in refrigerator in an airtight container.

*If you don't have an Excalibur dehydrator, any type will do - just use natural unbleached parchment paper instead of the Teflex sheets.

Of course you'd have to be thinking ahead to have this ready to make sandwiches. Once you have a batch, you'll be good to go. Here's what we do:


Veggies Sandwiches on Raw Onion Bread


Spread a little mayo on the bread. We prefer Vegenaise with a few seasonings thrown in. Chef's Shake was our favorite, but we can't seem to find it anymore. I used Herbamare but it was a little on the salty side. You're on your own for this! Experiment a little. 


Place lots of cut up raw veggies on. We've used spinach, romaine lettuce, bell peppers, onions, avocados, tomatoes, carrots (thinly sliced), you name it. Put another slice of the bread on top and you're good to go. Chances are that your veggies will start falling out. Eat quick and keep a plate and fork handy for what drops!


*For the picnic, we placed the veggies in a plastic container and assembled the sandwiches just before eating.


Now for the fries. They're a bit of an odd thing to take along for a picnic, but they sounded good and we weren't going far. We baked them, wrapped them in foil, and wrapped the whole thing in a towel. They were still good and hot when we were ready to eat.

If you're only accustomed to white potato fries, you're in for a treat. These generally aren't very crispy, but they are oh so flavorful. And they're much healthier, being lower glycemic and higher in nutrients. Yum, yum!


Indian Spiced Sweet Potato Fries


2 med. sweet potatoes
1 1/2 T olive oil
1 t curry powder
1/4 t turmeric
1/4 t cumin
1/4 t ginger powder
1/2 t Real Salt
Parchment paper

Preheat oven to 400F. Line cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Wash & scrub potatoes, leaving the skins on. Cut them into sticks and place in mixing bowl. 
Pour on olive oil and mix together until all are coated. 
Mix spices together in small bowl (I'm generous with the amounts!), then dust over sweet potatoes, mixing them around as you dust. (I mix everything together with my hands. It's messy but it gets the job done better.) 
Spread in single layer onto cookie sheet.
Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, turning them half way through the baking time.

And here's my man, enjoying our little picnic. We ate, then walked the perimeter of the park in our bare feet, a healthy thing to do called grounding.  Then we played a round of croquet. 'Twas fun and relaxing. It reminded us of our engagement days. Who cares if that was 32 years ago? We don't!!!

Eggplant, What?

Aren't these lovely? I think they're a little too neglected, probably because people don't really know how to use them properly (like me!) For a long time, my only real association with eggplant was remembering my mother being on Weight Watcher's and fixing eggplant in some tomato sauce. I'm pretty certain I tasted it and didn't care for it much, and I don't think I had any again until well into adulthood. Then my biggest connection with it was Eggplant Parmesan, which I love.

My husband chose a recipe from Rainbow Green Live Food Cuisine, a book by Gabriel Cousens (a man I happen to admire quite a lot.) The recipe was for a raw Eggplant Casserole, and it was a "I'm thinking ahead" kind of thing. Thankfully I was thinking ahead this morning when I asked Aubrey to slice up the eggplants and soak them in salt water all day long (the recipe suggests 8 hours). Unfortunately, I wasn't thinking enough ahead to give it the 1 to 2 hours in the dehydrator, and then I didn't appear to have my thinking cap on when it came to turning on the oven because I set it and walked away without pushing "start" - who needs start anyway?!! I don't.

So, I chose to cook it rather than go the raw foods route, and because I had missed that blasted start button, I turned the oven up to 400 degrees and cooked it for about 15 minutes. Worked fine, but I really do prefer doing it raw and keeping all of those lovely enzymes intact. Maybe next time?

Anyway, we had this easy Eggplant Casserole with a lovely green salad made by Bob (I can't always call her Aubrey because Bob is what comes out when I open my mouth to say her name.) Give it a try, whether raw in your dehydrator, or cooked in the oven.

Eggplant Casserole

3 small eggplants
2 t. Celtic salt


Sauce
1/2 c. olive oil
2 T. fresh thyme, minced
1/2 t. Celtic salt


Garnish
1/2 C. sun-dried tomatoes, soaked and diced
1/2 C. parsley, finely chopped


Peel and slice eggplant into 1/2" rounds and cover with water. Add salt and soak for 8 hours. Drain and combine with sauce and massage the eggplant 3 to 5 minutes. Spread the mixture on a dehydrator tray with a Teflex sheet and dehydrate at 145 degrees for 1 to 2 hours. Combine in a mixing bowl with sun-dried tomatoes and parsley and mix well. Serve warm. Serves 4 - 6.

My notes:
Our eggplants were sliced a little thinner, which I liked, and it cooked faster
We use Real Salt, and like it a lot.
I found some fresh thyme growing about 12 - 15 feet from the pot I grew it in last year. There it was, snuggled up next to the rose bush. And it gives a lovely flavor, so use the fresh herb!
I saw someone say on a raw foods forum that they made this recipe with olives. Oh, yum! Wish I'd seen that before we made it. Next time, for sure!


Don't be shy about trying eggplant. It doesn't have a whole lot of flavor, so it takes on whatever flavors you surround it in. The texture is a little spongy, but it's good. Go for it!

Dry Fry Tofu

Although tofu constantly gets a bad name and often a groan if mentioned in some circles, we have learned to like it if it is properly prepared. We're no more fond of its slimy texture than anyone else, but if you're still preparing it the slimy way, then listen up! My daughter, Melissa, told me about a cooking method for tofu that makes it so much more palatable, and it actually feels a lot like chicken in your mouth. We've used this method about a half dozen times over the past two months, and it works!

I followed the directions here:

Dry-Fried and Marinated Tofu
    One 16 ounce brick of extra-firm tofu for every four people.
    Cutting board and knife
    Cloth Napkin or dish towel
    Teflon pan OR a very well-seasoned cast-iron pan *
    Spatula
    Prepared marinade in a bowl (see recipes at end for suggestions)

* A note on the pan: If you use a normal cooking pan like stainless steel or other varieties that don't have a non-stick coating, you will most likely have a lot of trouble with the tofu sticking to the pan, since no oil is used. Teflon isn't supposed to be dangerous at low to medium heat, but to be safe I've switched to using a very well-seasoned cast-iron pan.  As long as I'm careful to watch it, I don't have trouble with sticking.

Preparation:
(First, prepare your marinade. See recipes at the bottom of the page.)

Tofu comes packed in water. Drain the tofu and cut it so that your pieces are a half an inch thick. For most recipes, you will want to then cut it into triangles, but some recipes call for strips.

Put the tofu pieces between two absorbent cloth napkins or woven dish towels (NOT terry cloth) and gently press, enough to get a lot of water out but not hard enough to squish it.

Dry-frying:
Use a Teflon or well-seasoned cast-iron pan at medium heat on an electric range, low to medium-low on a gas range. Slow cooking is the key to keeping the tofu from sticking to the Teflon and insures that the water has time to evaporate out before the outside is browned. Do NOT use oil. You want to leech all of the moisture out of your tofu, so do not use oil--leave the pan dry.

Place your tofu in the pan leaving room around pieces. You may need to fry a few batches to give it enough room. As the tofu cooks, use a spatula to frequently press down on each piece. You will see the water seeping out and sizzling in the pan. Once the bottom sides are very firm and golden in color, flip the tofu pieces and fry the other side, again frequently pressing each piece with a spatula. When they are golden and firm on both sides, they are done.

Marinade:

The dry-frying method has left your tofu dry and firm, ready to suck up the flavors of a marinade like a sponge. Place the tofu pieces in the marinade and stir well, making sure the tofu is submerged. Marinate for at least a half an hour and then use this delicious firm and flavorful tofu in a stir-fry.

Marinade Recipes:

Here are some example marinades that work well with dry-fried tofu. These marinades also do well with meat.

The following Marinades should work for one 16 ounce block of tofu after frying.

Simple, All-purpose Tofu Marinade:
    1/2 cup Braggs Liquid Aminos (for a salty, smoky flavor)
    Splash of rice vinegar
    1/2 large sweet onion, diced
    5 cloves garlic, crushed
    water to cover

Chinese Tofu Marinade:
    1/2 cup shoyu (or soy sauce)
    1/4 cup rice wine (or sherry)
    1 clove garlic, crushed
    1/2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated or crushed
    1 tsp palm sugar (or brown sugar)

Thai Tofu Marinade:
    1/2 cup fish sauce (or soy sauce)
    1/2 cup rice wine (or sherry)
    1/4 cup palm sugar (or brown sugar)
    Splash of rice vinegar
    Juice from 1/2 lime
    1 small shallot (or half onion), finely minced
    1 tbsp chili paste
    1 tbsp finely minced lemon grass (fresh or dried)

My notes:

Even though they say no terry cloth towels, I use them and they work fine.

I am not fond of Teflon cookware and don't have any except for a griddle. I dry fry mine on the griddle and there's just enough room for one pound of tofu to fit on there.

We use whatever sauce we throw together and I just toss the dry fried tofu and the sauce together in a pan and heat it up, allowing the tofu to absorb the sauce.

I only use organic tofu. All other tofu is GMO, and that's not for me and mine!

If you haven't tried tofu before, this is a perfect way to start. Let me know how it turns out and what kinds of sauces you use. I love new ideas!

Stuffed Bell Peppers, Vegan Style

I've become a working girl, and my work schedule these days is Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. When I come home, I'm tired and just want to chill for a bit. Unfortunately I'm not as organized as I wish I was in the meal department. In fact, instead of having a menu plan, I just go to the store and buy a gazillion vegetables and know that I'll be able to create something good out of them. But it takes some pretty quick scrambling for me to figure it out in a timely manner so that we're not eating at 9 p.m. I know there are families that do that, but ours isn't one of them! I grew up having dinner at 5:30. In fact, if the phone rang during dinnertime, it would make my dad mad. He just didn't understand why people would be so rude as to call right during our dinner hour. Then my mother would remind him that not everybody had dinner that early. I've learned since then that not many folks at all have dinner so early, but I sure wish I was nearly done cooking by that time. That's still a goal of mine.

Now back to the piles of vegetables that I purchase. It kind of makes me chuckle thinking about how many we have stuffed in both of our refrigerators. I think back to a call I overheard several months ago while at work. The School of Natural Healing, where I'm employed, has a call-in hour four days a week where a Master Herbalist answers questions from the general public. Once in awhile I can overhear a comment or two, especially if it's a topic that is particularly charged. One day I heard quite clearly, "Do what Dr. Fuhrman* says. Go to the produce section of the grocery store and anything you can find there, eat that!" That's pretty much what we have going on here at our house. We have become best buddies with the produce sections at every grocery store within 20 miles of us.

So, with this plethora of produce, I have many options as long as I find interesting recipes that tantalize our tastebuds. Tonight my niece, Brooke, posted a link on my Facebook wall for vegetarian stuffed peppers. I took a look at it and thought, "Perfect! I have more than a dozen sweet peppers in the fridge and can adapt this to fit our diet." So I did.

We're not only doing the vegan thing, we're focused even more narrowly, and I'll get to why that is soon. But for now, suffice it to say, I'm not using any legumes or grains (other than brown rice) in our foods. Quinoa (which is a seed, pronounced KEEN wah,) is a great substitute for grains, and sometimes I even prefer it over rice. Tonight it became the "meat" of our meal.

Without further adieu, here's the recipe, from Our Best Bites, and my adaptations. (I'm particularly fond of the author because she makes it clear that you need to choose any colorful pepper besides green. Oh, how I concur! Green peppers were meant to stay in the garden until they ripen; they were never meant for your mouth in that state.)    :-)

Southwest Stuffed Bell Peppers
Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen The original recipe in my opinion has some major flaws, which I have corrected below!

4 very large or 6 medium sweet peppers (red, yellow, or orange)
1 Tbs salt
1/2 C white rice (or  brown if you want to take the time to cook it), quinoa also works
2 Tbs olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 – 1 jalapeno, minced (or you could sub a small 3oz can of mild green chilies)
1 14oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 cup frozen corn kernels
2 green onions, sliced
1/2-1 tsp chipotle chili powder (you can start with 1/2 and add more to taste)
1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/4 black pepper, plus more to taste
1 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, preferably fire roasted
1 1/4 C jack or pepperjack cheese, divided
3-4 Tbs chopped fresh cilantro
tortilla chips, just a handful and more for serving if desired.


Preheat oven to 350.  Prepare peppers by washing, slicing tops off, and removing insides.  Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil and add 1 tablespoon salt.   Boil whole peppers for about 3-4 minutes, until they begin to soften.  Remove from water with tongs and place on paper towels to drain. Add rice to boiling water and cook until tender, about 13 minutes.  Drain thoroughly.


Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onions, garlic, and jalapeno (or chilies) and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.  Add corn, beans, green onions, chipotle chili powder, kosher salt, and pepper. Stir until corn and beans are heated through, about 5 minutes.  Place peppers in a baking dish.  Remove skillet from heat and add rice, tomatoes, 1 cup cheese, and cilantro.  Stir to combine well and give it a taste.  Add additional salt, pepper, and chipotle powder to your liking.  Then evenly divide mixture between peppers.
Top peppers with remaining 1/4 cup cheese (or more if you can fit it on there :) and crushed tortilla chips.
Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes


We had this with a big green salad with Vegan Ranch Dressing, recipe found here.

My changes: 
I used about half the salt.
I used quinoa instead of rice.
I did not add any beans.
No hot peppers found their way in, but only because I didn't have any handy.
I missed the cilantro (just for you, Colette!) because I couldn't find it quickly enough, Darn!
I used about 3/4 t. of chipotle chili powder and it was perfect for us. Any more and it woulda burned big time.
We had some fake-o pepper jack cheese that I sprinkled on top, maybe 1/3 C. total, none in the filling itself.
I just happened to have Italian diced tomatoes only, so that's what went in. They worked fine.
I did not use any chips and we did not miss them.

When I make it again:
I would add some diced zucchini or other vegetables into the filling. The more you can stuff in there, the better. So that's my plan.

*Dr. Fuhrman is the author of the excellent book Eat to Live. If you really want to know how to reverse disease or stop it from showing up in the first place or lose weight, get that book, read it, and follow his eating plan. You'll be so glad you did!

Your Fork As Your Shovel

From the time I was a teen, I always had an interest in nutrition. I was fascinated when I took a nutrition class in college and we had to analyze the food we were eating to discover what nutrients were in every single thing we ate for a week. Some thought of it as being tedious, but for some odd reason I liked looking through all of the charts and seeing how much niacin was in a certain food, or how much vitamin C an orange had. It was a toss-up between majoring in nutrition or becoming a veterinarian. In the end, it was neither. I still am fascinated with nutrition (even more so than ever) and I have never lost my love for animals, but I figured out a long time ago that I couldn't handle seeing an animal in pain, so vet school was completely out of the question.

I have realized for quite a long time that nutrition has everything to do with health, and that every thing you put in your mouth will either work toward keeping you healthy or  it will tear down and support you in the development of disease. I read once that Americans are digging their graves with their forks. Unfortunately that is too true, and I want to leave my grave digging to the official cemetery folks. I am currently enrolled as a student at The School of Natural Healing, and one of the areas we learn a lot about is nutrition. Thank heaven! The more I learn, the more empowered I feel.

I have lots more of my story to share (and how it relates to good nutrition), and it'll come out here and there. Our family has a story, too, and that is why I'm in the position of being really vigilant about our diet these days. I only wish I had done it all along out of choice rather than being compelled, as I am now. But either way, I'm glad to be eating super healthy. That is a blessing.

I'll be sharing recipes that our family likes; we're trying new ones nearly every day. Hopefully they will be categorized in a way that will make them easy to find according to the type of food you're looking for. But really, this is just our family's own recipe book that makes it easy to have them at our fingertips without all the fuss of pulling out books and thumbing through pages. We're lazy like that.

Come. Eat. Enjoy.