DAVEGAN: Food for Thought

Kale Tabbouleh

This is an interesting version of tabbouleh that was submitted to me by Hannah. It looks really fresh and healthy which is definitely what I’ve been craving with Spring around the corner! Her post here has photos of the process. Thanks for the submission!

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From Hannah (with a few edits):

Ingredients:

• Kale (6 stalks or so)
• Parsley (bunch)
• Mint (bunch)
• Tomato (1 medium)
• Cucumber (1 large or 2-3 mini)
• Green Onion (you could use red onion too - I forgot)
• Lemon(Juice) + Olive Oil + Salt + Pepper (There are hella different versions for the dressing used that you can google around for)

For those that don’t know/have never dealt with Kale before.. you wanna de-rib them. I don’t know if ‘de-rib’ is the actual word… but take the leafy part off the stem. 

If you have a juicer or a good blender - keep the stems for later.

Now you wanna chiffonade the leaves.

I ended up with this pile of ribboned/chiffonade-d Kale. (which I pronounce shif-fo-nAHd) btw. 

Then, because Kale is such a tough green, I always think it’s best to let it wilt some before eating raw. So I put it in the mix of olive oil and lemon and salt & pepper. I squished it around in my hands in order to make it less tough. 

Then I chopped Parsley. Half curly & Half Flat… and some mint too.  I used about a third of each of the bunches.  Oh and those mini cucumbers are the ones I used. I chopped two of them, and one medium sized red tomato. 

Mix it all up.. 

I like mine with breakfast. That’s how I had it this morning, and how I usually eat Tabbouleh when I buy it. (with morningstar breakfast sausage and slices of avocado)

(editor’s note: I think this would also be great with bulghur wheat or couscous mixed in).

Quick and Easy Vegan: Spinach and Orzo Salad

alexandraunruh asked: My favorite way to eat uncooked tofu is as a tofu "egg" salad! Just crumble tofu and mix with veganese (or another vegan mayo), a little mustard, some chopped celery and salt and pepper. You can add other things like carrots, raisins, apple, etc. to your taste! Quick, easy and delicious. Serve on a bed of lettuce or between two slices of toast.

What a great idea and so easy! I’m going to have to try that this weekend. Thanks!

amy-vegan-nowaskey asked: any good easy tofu recipes? Im 14 and need to make something for myself for dinner, has to be easy and yummy, nothing too complicated thanks!

With tofu, I have a couple of things I always do. One is to buy the firmest tofu I can find for most everything except desserts (like pudding). It just falls apart otherwise. The other tip is to wrap it in a paper towel or cloth to soak up some of the water before using it. Here are a couple of quick tofu ideas that don’t involve cooking it:

1. Cut up a block of firm tofu and add it, uncooked, to your favorite can of vegetable or bean soup (I like lentil!) It’ll add some fast texture and protein.
2. Try this quick recipe for beans and rice and then add cut up tofu on top (try marinating the tofu cubes in salsa for an hour or two first).
3. Cook some brown rice, add some microwaved frozen veggies and cubed tofu with some soy sauce and/or Sriracha sauce.
4. Make a soft taco with canned beans, cubed tofu, lettuce, tomatoes, salsa, avocado etc. wrapped up in a tortilla.
5. Uncooked tofu can also be good in small cubes on a salad.

The main problem with uncooked tofu is that it’s pretty plain unless you add sauce or marinate it. If you are a little braver, you can cook it a ton of ways. Once it’s cooked, you could add it to any of the suggestions above, too. A few easy ways to cook it are:

1. Cut the tofu into slabs, add a little olive oil (optional) and toss it onto the barbeque grill. Serve the grilled tofu like a burger (extra good with lettuce, pickles and barbeque sauce!)
2. This recipe is another one of my favorites and it involves frying the tofu in a little oil, so be careful! So, so good.
3. Tofu is really great baked in the oven. Here’s the basic method and you could try this recipe and bake it. Serve it up with sweet potatoes!

I hope that helps and thanks for the question!

Quick and Easy Vegan: Naan

Ingredients:

• 1 cup bread flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 pinch salt
• 2/3 cup water
• extra flour for rolling

Directions:

1. Whisk together the bread flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl.
2. Add the water and stir. Then knead with your hands for a minute or two. If dough is too sticky, add a bit more flour.
3. Dough should be smooth and elastic. Divide into 4 balls.
4. Roll out each ball until it is about 5 to 6 inches in diameter.
5. Spritz a frying pan with olive oil and heat over high heat. When hot, place one of the pre-naans on it. Press down a bit with your hands or a utensil. Cook until golden.
6. Then flip and cook until golden. Repeat with remaining pieces.
7. Use a pizza cutter to cut each piece into 4 triangles.
8. Serves between 2 and 4 people. Each piece (divide into 4 triangles) is about 140 calories.

via: (never home)maker

Quick and Easy Vegan: Spinach & Adzuki Beans

This recipe is quick in prep time, but takes 2 minutes of planning ahead. For an even quicker version, see my note below.

Ingredients
1/2 cup adzuki beans, sorted, rinsed well, drained
1 3/4” piece ginger, peeled and grated
1 10 oz. pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 1/2-2 T. tamari
Sea salt

Method
1. Place beans, in large saucepan with enough cold water to cover by a few inches. Bring to boil, boil for 3-5 minutes. Remove from heat, cover, let stand 1 hr.

2. Place beans, ginger & 1 cup cold water in large saucepan, bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until beans are tender, not mushy - about 30-40 minutes.

3. Stir in spinach, cover and cook for about 10 minutes or until heated through. Add 1 1/2 T. tamari and season with salt if desired and add additional tamari if desired.

Note: For a REALLY quick and easy version, get canned adzuki beans (or black beans, if you can’t find them) and mix it with the thawed spinach, tamari, and ginger (really finely chopped or grated). Microwave it for a minute if you want it hot. Stir and serve!

Source: 3 Bowls, Vegetarian Recipes from an American Zen Buddhist Monastery

Quick and Easy Vegan: Indian Corn

Since grilling is a big part of the upcoming 4th of July holiday, I thought I’d share one of my favorite things to grill, Indian Corn. I got this recipe from a friend who claims that you can get this at carts on the street in India. It’s so easy and pairs really well with some veggie burgers or maybe a Mediterranean Vegetable Stack.

Ingredients:

whole ears of corn
cayenne pepper
salt
lemons

Directions:

Shuck the corn and toss it straight on the grill. It’ll get a little charred (it adds flavor), but just turn it periodically until it turns a deeper yellow (maybe 15-20 minutes as a rough guide).

Prepare a small shallow bowl by adding enough salt and cayenne pepper to cover the bottom. Just eyeball it and start with a dash of cayenne (you can add more later, depending on how hot you like it).

Cut the whole lemons in half and place the halves cut-side-down in the salt mixture. Take your ear of corn off the grill and rub the lemon and salt/cayenne mixture all over it, squeezing a little to really get the juice on there.

Enjoy!

The Vegan Stoner

What a fun idea for a recipe website! The Vegan Stoner offers recipes that are cheap, fast and vegan! Great for those weeknights when time is precious. Check out some of my other ideas for quick and easy vegan meals!

Quick and Easy Vegan: Veggie Pita Sandwiches

2 pita bread, halved

Plain or red pepper hummus, as needed

3 small cucumbers, diced

1/2 pound tomatoes, chopped

3 small cans sliced black olives, drained

2 cups romaine lettuce, chopped

Salt and pepper, to taste

Open up the 4 halves of pita to create a pocket. Spread desired amounts of hummus in each pocket. Fill each pocket with equal parts of the remaining ingredients. Season to taste.

via: Lawrence.com