A Vegan Roll Date Night

Growing up in the Midwest, I couldn't get any farther from an ocean if I tried. Because of my landlocked upbringing, my exposure to seafood was somewhat limited. I discovered sushi rolls by accident one night in college. A group of friends and I went to a Japanese restaurant with the sole purpose of consuming half-priced sake bombs (you know - sake, sake, sake BOMB!). This chance encounter was the beginning of a very sweet love affair with these delectable rolls. Since then, I have tried every type of roll under the sun - eel, squid, octopus, salmon roe, sea urchin, you name it.

You know what I find really irritating? If you order a veggie sushi roll at a restaurant, it costs just as much as one with seafood in it. That really irks me. So, Jason and I decided to make our own at home - what a fun date night!

Can you tell which ones Jason rolled? :)

Sushi Sticky Rice

Step 1: Pour 2 cups of brown basmati rice into a rice cooker with 2 cups of water.

Step 2: Microwave 2 tbsp rice vinegar + 1 tbsp sugar + 1 tsp salt for 30 seconds.

Step 3: Pour vinegar mixture over warm cooked rice.

Step 4: Let rice cool.

Assemble Your Rolls

Nori (seaweed). Rice. Toasted sesame seeds. Avocado. Tofu. Cucumber. Carrots. Bean spouts. Soy sauce. Wasabi. Pickled ginger.

Turned out better than any restaurant version of veggie sushi I've had.

Restaurant Review (Vegan Perspective): Blue Koi

Blue Koi. 10581 Mission Road. Leawood. KS. 

I wish that every restaurant had a tablet device attached to the table that allowed you to place your order and send the instructions straight back to the chef. I know I’m weird, but I absolutely hate giving waiters special instructions for my meal. I just get awkward. It’s like I don’t want to inconvenience the waiter or the chef. If I could simply type my order and text it back to the kitchen without any human interaction, I’d be in heaven.

In the IT world, I see jobs become obsolete everyday due to technology. It's only a matter of time before we completely eliminate the need for wait staff. I, for one, am totally fine and in complete support of my food being delivered via conveyor belt. 

Becoming vegan has made my interactions with waiters much more frequent, much longer in duration, and much more awkward. I usually spend a good couple of minutes discussing items on the menu before I even place my order. What has dairy in it, what is cooked in butter, can you remove the cheese from that dish or is it already mixed in, is there egg in the batter? And so on.

Hands down, the best restaurant experience I have had on this journey was this week at Blue Koi. Jason and I went with my brother and sister-in-law, professional Blue Koi diners and avid meat eaters. Blue Koi is NOT a vegetarian or a vegan restaurant, it simply caters to all guests no matter their dietary preferences. Many of the items on the menu are vegan (bubble tea is made with non-dairy milk), but my waiter assured me that EVERYTHING on the menu could be easily tweaked to fit my needs.

taro and coconut bubble tea

My sister-in-law and I had never had bubble tea and were anxious to try it. Our waiter recommended a combination of taro and coconut (this was not on the menu) since I told him I wanted something that was not too sweet. It was the perfect combination. I'm still unsure as to how you're supposed to really consume the bubble part - chew them or swallow them whole? I did a little of both, again, slightly awkward, but it was a fun experience.

We ordered the spicy chili pepper wontons as an appetizer per Bro and SIL's request. They typically order the wontons with a meat filling, but were very pleased with the vegan version. Tons of flavor, some heat, and a delicious sauce that we found out you can also buy on its own (I'm not sure if the restaurant officially sells it, or if our waiter was just willing to hook us up under the table).

spicy chili pepper wontons (boiled & vegetarian)

Although I ordered the Ants on a Tree, I ended up eating the tofu with black bean sauce entree. I sampled the Ants on a Tree, which was delicious, but was not in the mood for so many noodles. Confession: When I can't decide which entree I want, I convince Jason to order the other. Then, when both entrees come out, I determine which one looks most appealing and take that one. Jason obviously earns extra gentleman points for putting up with this behavior. Thank goodness he is so easygoing. 

tofu with black bean sauce & rice

Ants on a Tree

10 Minute Dinner

While I have never been a “reader” per se, there is one type of book I can’t get enough of. Cookbooks. I have a (slight) obsession. Becoming vegan was exactly what my cookbook collection needed, the perfect excuse. In just over four months, I have amassed more fabulous recipe books than I am willing to admit. I love reading about the intricate and time-consuming recipes that produce such magnificent fare. There are recipes with pages upon pages of exotic ingredients. Surely a feast fit for a king, or a fancy dinner party.

  

Let's face it. There are not enough hours in the day, and I rarely make those recipes. Certainly not on a week night. 

Vegan or not, it's important to have a repertoire of quick and easy-to-prepare meals that don't take a laundry list of ingredients. It also helps if those ingredients are not perishable. You mean, store them in my freezer and pantry so I have what's needed on hand at all times? Done. Short cuts are fine with me, and guess what? Tonight's dinner was completed in 10 minutes (plus the amount of time it takes to boil a pot of water).

Step one: Cook your grain.

Trader Joe's has an excellent selection of these little bags of grains - the cook time for each is 10-15 minutes. Definitely doable. Tonight I selected barley. Typically, barley is refined to make barley malt which is used in the production of beer. Trust me, it also tastes delicious in whole form. But have a beer with dinner and you've got double the barley. Did I also mention that barley is full of protein (for all of those omnivores wondering)???

Bring water to boil. Add barley.

Step two: Cook your veg.

Every grocery store I have been to has bags of frozen veggies that can be steamed in the microwave. Any type of veg will do. My personal favorite is broccoli florets. Not be confused with broccoli cuts. Nothing is more irritating than accidentally picking up broccoli cuts.

While barley is boiling, steam veg in microwave.

Step three: Season and eat.
Season with whatever spice combo you have on hand. Combine and enjoy!

Tamari. 21 Seasoning Salute. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes.

Delicious, nutritious, and filling.

(Image Source)

4 Month Check-In

From Cafe Gratitude

Time for a check-in. What started as a 30 day challenge has morphed into a new and extremely satisfying lifestyle. After three months, I began to hit a confident stride. I could easily keep myself from starving, get the nutrients I needed, and put together vegan meals without having to follow recipes or meal plans I got online. I stopped focusing so much on the fact that I was VEGAN (omg), and began simply living as such. When you focus on every breath you take, it is harder to breathe for some reason - same goes for being vegan. Once I stopped obsessing about it, it became easy and a part of me. Now four months in, I feel like I could (and might) do this forever.  

Not to say there aren't days when it is extremely frustrating. Why can't there be more vegan options? Why do I have to ask this waitress a million questions about what is in the food? Why doesn't Target carry tofu or almond milk? Why is Chipotle the only vegan friendly, reasonably priced, quick place to eat? Why can't I get rid of these pesky fruit flies for good (more to come on this later)?!? Luckily, these occurrences are dwarfed by the positivity I have seen and felt from this lifestyle change. I truly do feel that I have gained more than I have given up. 

Cafe Gratitude Dessert

Image Source

Image Source

The Berry Patch

Last weekend the weather in the Midwest was unseasonably cool. Our normal triple digits had been replaced by a crisp 72 degrees. As I walked outside in the morning I thought, this must be some sort of summer miracle! A perfect day to go blueberry picking!

We finally made it to the patch after a hilarious 40 minute scenic detour. I take full credit for getting us lost. I opted to guess how we should get there instead of using my phone to determine our route. It's a blessing and a curse that we are both navigationally challenged. While we generally struggle to find our way to new places, the discovery that we are WAY off course is typically met with mutual laughter. I swear, if Jason and I lived in the pre-GPS world, we would never have survived.

The Berry Patch

The picking was decent (not as good as last year), and we managed to walk away with one bucket-full between the two of us. Upon returning home, I baked a blueberry pie - the filling was vegan but the crust was Pillsbury, which is not. I had contemplated a vegan crust, but couldn't find a recipe that called for ingredients I had on hand. Most called for weird types of flour and who knows what else. So if you've got a good/easy vegan pie recipe, let me know. I didn't end up eating the pie, instead I also made a vegan blueberry crumble.

For the Filling: Mix berries with a squeeze of lemon juice, lemon zest, sugar, pumpkin pie spice, and flour.

For the Topping: Mix together oats, brown sugar, flour, vegan butter.

Assemble: Put berry mixture in ramekins.

Continue Assembly: Pour topping over berries.

Bake: 425 degree oven (cooked mine in the toaster oven) for 20 minutes until the filling is bubbling and the top browns.

Presentation: While it's warm, top with your favorite vegan ice cream.

Enjoy!

Restaurant Review: Füd

813 W. 17th Street. Kansas City. MO. 64108.

Since becoming vegan, Jason and I have cooked most of our meals at home. I knew Kansas City had some veg restaurants, but frankly, I thought they were going to be really weird. Even though I've been vegan for almost four months now, the picture in my head was that they would be "stereotypical vegan." You know, the menu is comprised solely of tofu, everything is really mushy, has no flavor, and comes with a side of grass and other unappealing foliage. I should have known better. 

Despite this horrible image I had in my head, Saturday night we headed to Füd. This local vegan dining establishment focuses on organic food, sustainable practices, and having the lowest possible carbon footprint. So all in all, you can feel really good about eating at Füd. On a sidenote, they only accept cash and checks, glad we saw that before leaving the house.

Now let's talk about the food. I was shocked to find such a diverse menu with a plethora of different options. I settled on the Rainbow Salad from the Living Fresh Food portion of the menu. A living rainbow of greens, avocado, apple, carrot, squash, cucumber, bell pepper, parmesan seed, nuts and house dressing. This was, hands down, the best salad I've had in my entire life (Jason agreed). I'm not sure what they put in their house dressing, but they should bottle and sell it. Vegan or not, you can't go wrong with this for a meal.

Rainbow Salad

Jason ordered the Jack Reuben from the Hot Fresh Food portion of the menu. Panini style jack fruit spiced and stacked with garlic sweed cheese, thrillanaise, and sauerkraut on rye. If you're like me, you're thinking...what is thrillanaise...and sweed cheese...? The menu is sprinkled with these words that are probably not in Webster's dictionary. But don't worry or focus on that too much. I don't know what they mean either. All you need to know is that it's a reuben sandwich. And it's good.

Jack Reuben

Although we were sufficiently full, we pushed on and ordered dessert: cashew soft serve ice cream sundae topped with raw chocolate sauce, raw superfood caramel sauce, goji berries, cacao nibs, blueberries, and pecans. I'm telling you right now, I would go back to Füd for the dessert alone, it was that good. Just looking at the picture of the sundae is making my mouth water. Everyone. Must. Try. This.

Cashew Ice Cream Sundae

So in summation, we had an incredible dinner experience and Füd far exceeded our expectations. I highly encourage everyone to give this restaurant a try, I think you'll walk away full and completely satisfied.

Oh, Paneer.

Let me tell you about the most amazing cheese in the world; it’s called paneer. I've heard people refer to it as “Indian cottage cheese,” which I feel is a little misleading. I think it is more like a cross between mozzarella and feta. It’s got some give to it, yet it doesn't quite stretch like mozzarella nor crumble like feta. It truly is in a league of its own. You can buy it at an Indian market – it comes in blocks or smaller cubes, and full fat or reduced fat varieties. If you are a cheese lover who has yet to discover paneer in all of its glory, get on it ASAP! Don’t let the tragedy continue.

Jason’s mom introduced me to this little piece of heaven over a year ago. And I was spoiled because it was homemade, can’t beat that! Palak Paneer (spinach and cheese) became a fast favorite of mine. Since going vegan, I have been in a state of mourning because I thought I would never be able to eat it again. Then, lo and behold, one of my co-workers suggested that I replace the paneer in the recipe with tofu. Brilliant! And so I did. The verdict? It’s a win!

 Here is my veganized recipe for Palak Paneer; the original recipe credit goes to Jason’s mom.

Tofu Marinade:

1 teaspoon turmeric

½ teaspoon red chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon canola oil

12 ounces (1 block) firm, pressed tofu

Other Ingredients:

1 medium onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, chopped

½ inch ginger root, chopped finely

Chilies, to taste, optional (if you like it spicy, use thai chilies)

½ teaspoon garam masala

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

16-20 ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed

Salt, to taste

½ cup plain coconut yogurt

In a bowl, mix together turmeric, chili powder, salt, and canola oil. Drop in the tofu cubes and gently toss, taking care not to break the cubes. Let marinade (10 minutes is fine).

Place a large skillet over medium heat. When the pan is hot, pour the tofu and marinade into the pan. Fry the tofu cubes, lightly browning each side. Remove the tofu from the pan and set aside.

Using the same pan, add the onion, ginger, garlic, and chili (if using). Sauté the mixture until it’s evenly toffee-colored, which should take about 15 minutes. If the mixture is drying out and burning, add a couple of tablespoons of water.

Add the garam masala, coriander, and cumin. If you haven’t already, sprinkle a little water to keep the spices from burning. Cook, stirring often for 3-5 minutes.

Add the thawed spinach to the onion mixture and stir well. Add a little salt. Cook for about 5 minutes.

Remove the pan from the heat. Add the yogurt a little bit at a time, stirring to incorporate. Once the yogurt is well mixed into the spinach, add the tofu. Put the pan back on the heat, cover, and cook until everything is warmed through, about 5 minutes.

*Basmati Rice*Dal*Roti*Vegan Palak Paneer*

But Why Dairy?

(Source)

I get the meat thing, but why did you give up dairy and eggs? I get that a lot, and rightfully so. Here are my reasons.

Health: It can be summed up in this video Uprooting the Leading Causes of Death, and I encourage everyone to watch it. This video found its way to us courtesy of Jason's friend and fellow vegan @wolsamnoraa.

Cows: Veal. A lot of people have a problem with the idea of veal and say - That's cruelty to baby cows so I don't eat veal! It's completely unnecessary! But do you know why veal exists? Think about it for a second. How is it that dairy cows can produce such large quantities of milk throughout their entire life? That's right! They are continuously impregnated. And what happens to (a large majority) of their offspring? You guessed it. Veal, a product of the dairy industry.

(Source)

Chickens: I have no problem with eggs in general. In fact, I am a major egg lover. If you ask Katie, my college roommate, she will tell you that at one point in time I was living exclusively on eggs. What? They were cheap and seemed more nutritious than Ramen noodles. My problem lies with factory farming and unfortunately that applies to the egg layin' hens too. Before I became vegan I was seriously considering a backyard chicken coop. I'm no longer in the market, but if you're interested Williams-Sonoma sells a variety.

(Source)

Ready, Set, Garden!

Since we are consuming a ridiculous amount of veg these days, it seems like the logical next step would be to grow some of our own. We attempted a backyard garden last year. Due to the extreme heat and drought-like conditions, the output was minimal (and probably due to us being novices). Since then, Jason has clocked several hours (and I've clocked a few hours) volunteering at the downtown community garden. He's picked up some tips from the pros and we are much more experienced and prepared this time around. 

We spent Sunday prepping the garden and planting. Here's the garden all cleaned out and ready to go.

And hey! What's that colorful mixture of goodness on top of the soil, you ask? It's the pulp we saved from juicing! You can mix it into the soil for compost. Talk about a beautiful trifecta. Good for the soil, the soon-to-be veggies, and us! 

Hot tip: If you don't have a garden, you can donate your pulp to a local community garden or farm!

On the summer garden agenda this year: tomatoes, Thai peppers, habaneros, rainbow carrots, onions, eggplant, cilantro, parsley, and dill. Come on over in a few months for some SPICY salsa!

And I had to include this picture of Sasha. She loves gardening season too, just another excuse to be outside all day!

How will you survive???

Since becoming vegan I have gotten a lot of questions like, "No meat?!? What do you eat???" The first week of the vegan journey, I really didn't have an answer. I had done plenty of research, but in reality I had no clue how I would keep myself alive, or what I would be consuming...3 meals a day...21 meals a week...bean burritos? It's funny now because that is what Jason ate for an entire week. What a disaster. I don't recommend living exclusively on bean burritos. #beanlife

As I have continued to learn on this journey, I still find that question hard to answer but for a different reason. There's an endless amount of things I can eat, and I have only begun to scratch the surface. Every time I go to the market I see a new food I have never tried, or a new spice combination to play with. I can eat most typical American dishes with minor substitutes or tweaks to the recipe. Another bonus I have found is that being vegan has sparked my creative side. Until now, I had not consider myself a creative person (thought my brothers got those genes).

This weekend I made my own version of a veggie lasagna. I...am at a loss for how good it was. It was unreal. I have not had a lot of experience cooking with or eating tofu, and honestly, it still creeps me out a little bit. But it was absolutely perfect in this recipe. It looks a little bit like ricotta cheese mixed in with the veggies, and I didn't even think about it when I was eating it. After scarfing down a monstrous piece, I was satisfied but not uncomfortably stuffed to oblivion. Even if you are not planning on becoming vegan, I highly recommend adding this plant based recipe to your rotation. 

Veggie Lasagna Medley

Adapted from Engine 2's Raise the Roof Sweet Potato Lasagna

2 cloves garlic, chopped
12 ounces mushrooms (baby bella), sliced
1 head broccoli, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 1/2 cup corn
1 1/2 cup peas
2 red peppers, chopped
12 ounces silken tofu
1 tsp dried basil (if using fresh, add more)
1 tsp dried rosemary (if using fresh, add more)
1 tsp dried oregano (if using fresh, add more)
salt and pepper to taste
red pepper flakes to taste (optional)
3 medium sized sweet potatoes, cooked and mashed
2 jars pasta sauce
1 package lasagna no-boil noodles
4 tomatoes, sliced
1/2 cup raw cashews, ground

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Saute mushrooms and garlic over medium heat until the mushrooms have reduced in size (about 7 minutes). Remove from heat and set aside in large bowl. 
Using the same pan, saute broccoli and carrots with 1/4 cup water. Cover the pan and cook for about 5 minutes. Remove from pan and add to mushrooms.
Saute peppers, corn, and peas until heated through (about 3 minutes). Remove from pan and add to bowl with other veggies.
Drain the silken tofu with a paper towel and add to the bowl of veggies.
Add spices to the veggie bowl and combine.

Assemble the lasagna in a 9x13 pan. Here are the layers from bottom up:
Sauce
Noodles
Sauce
Veggie/tofu
Sauce
Noodles
Sauce
Sweet potatoes
Sauce
Noodles
Sauce
Sliced tomatoes

Now that's a lot of veggies!

Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes.

Remove foil and sprinkle ground cashews over the top. Bake for 15 more minutes uncovered.

Put under broiler for a few minutes until the cashews are toasted.

Enjoy!

The ground cashews toast up perfectly, you will not miss the Parmesan cheese.

Check out that sweet potato layer, oh yeah!

Aunt J Knows Best

Last Thanksgiving, Jason and I were in California and stopped in to see my favorite Aunt J and Uncle K. Aunt J is Mom's little sister, and we are three peas in a pod. I don't know how many times growing up my mom switched our names or said, "You are just like your Aunt J!" And Mom was right. I know I can thank her for several of my wonderful personality traits, and my height. Although she lived half way across the country, we always managed to stay close. I called myself her sidekick, and everything we did together was an adventure. It is fitting that she has played an instrumental role in my road to vegan.

At our last visit, Aunt J had semi recently become vegan. The change was a good thing for her, and I could see that she was glowing and even more full of life than ever before (which is hard to believe if you know her). We talked some about the change while flipping through a vegan cookbook. We admired the colorful dishes and fun presentations. While I was intrigued, many of the ingredients listed in the recipes were foreign to me. It sounded like a good idea in theory, I just didn't know if I could do it. But with Aunt J making it look so simple, I thought I'd give it a try.

Each morning while we were there, Aunt J made us a juice concoction to go with breakfast. Jason and I have adopted juicing, and now swear by it. With juicing, your body does not have to work hard to digest anything, so all the nutrients are absorbed immediately. Some people make "green smoothies" which are also incredibly good for you. If you're looking for nutrients plus extra fiber, that's a good way to go, too.

Daily Juicing

The contents of our juice varies depending on what we have on hand. We buy greens in bulk from Costco, and the rest from the farmer's market. We try to do about 3/4 vegetables to 1/4 fruit. Here's what I made yesterday:

2 handfuls of spinach

2 handfuls of kale

2 stalks of celery

1/2 cucumber

1/2 beet

1/2 apple

1/2 orange

1/2 lime

3 carrots

1 inch ginger

*Makes anywhere from 12-20 ounces, depending on how juicy your fruits and veg are.

A Vegan Cook-Out

I love when the weather warms up - spending all evening outside, grilling, sitting on the screened-in porch feeling a warm breeze, listening to the radio, and sipping on a Blue Moon. A cook-out is not really about the meat on the grill (hamburgers, hot dogs, steaks, etc.), it's about the experience. Now that Jason and I are vegans, we're having to adjust the food to maintain the experience. This weekend was our first chance to do so, and I think it was a great success. We made spicy portobello mushroom burgers with grilled peppers, onions, and corn. Next time we may add something like avocados to make the burger more substantial.

Portobello Mushroom Burgers (Adapted from here)

Remove the stems and gills. Marinade 4 mushroom caps for up to 2 hours:

1/4 cup olive oil

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons spicy mustard

Hot sauce (to taste)

Salt/pepper

Grill 3-4 minutes on each side. Add to bun, dress, and enjoy!