Friday, December 30, 2011

Pureed Potato Carrot Soup


I  hope everyone is enjoying the holidays. We are going to try a new vegan brunch in town tomorrow! I'll be sure to post about it and let you know how it goes.

After being sick, I wanted to add vegetables back into my diet slowly, so as not to upset my stomach. That's how I got this soup....I decided to puree some potatoes with carrots to make it easier to digest, so here it is!

It's probably pretty cold for a lot of you, so this is a good winter recipe. Right now, it's 78 degrees and sunny here, so I won't be cooking this one today:

Pureed Potato Carrot Soup 
(makes 2 large bowls)


2 white potatoes (feel free to try sweet potatoes!)
4 carrots
4 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2" piece fresh gingerchopped
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth


Steam the potatoes and carrots until very soft. In a soup pot, saute the onions, celery, and ginger in a little bit of water until  soft. Put the broth into your Vitamix (or other high-speed blender) and add the potatoes, carrots, and onion mixture. Puree until smooth. Add the soup back into your pot and add 1/2 cup broth as well as salt and pepper to taste. Stir and serve warm. You could try mixing in some vegan cheddar cheese at the end, if you'd like!


What are your plans for New Year's Eve?? What's your favorite winter soup?

Eat smart,
T.

Monday, December 26, 2011

Sick

Sorry I haven't been able to cook or post lately. It's funny....I don't really get colds or anything anymore, but I've had some weird stomach bug for the last 4 days or so....barely eating anything. Already lost almost 9 pounds. Keeping to mashed potatoes and applesauce mostly, and lots of water. I started taking some probiotics yesterday too. Hopefully it will go away soon.....maybe it's some sort of bacterial infection. Anyway, I hope you're all having a nice holiday season and I hope to be back to cooking and posting again soon!!

Eat smart,
T.

Sunday, December 18, 2011

Raw Pad Thai


The other day I got my February 2012 issue of VegNews magazine and one of the many recipes caught my eye: Gena Hamshaw's Perfect Pad Thai (pg. 55). You can find a similar recipe on her website here (not exactly the same recipe).

I made it the other night when we had a friend over and the meat-eater liked it! I LOVED it. I doubled the sauce and I have some leftover to add to some vegetables/salad. I used two packages of kelp noodles...love those things! I only changed the recipe slightly: I left out the tamarind paste and sesame oil, I didn't have a red pepper, so I just shredded a bunch of veggies like white and red cabbage, carrots, and zucchini. It was so delicious. If you have this magazine (if you don't, go get it at your bookstore!), I highly recommend this dish!





SO GOOD! Go make it now!

You can find a recipe for my cooked Pad Thai here.

What awesome new recipes have you tried lately?

Eat smart,
T.

Friday, December 16, 2011

My new food processor!!


Yup, I did it. I finally got the big FP: The Cuisinart Elite 12-cup food processor. And it's big, but I love it! It's got 2 bowls in it, the 12 cup bowl and the 4 cup bowl. It also has an adjustable slicing disk, from 1mm to 6mm, as well as a fine/medium shredder and the chopping blades.

Carrots!

Carrots, zucchini, etc.

Cabbage for today's raw Pad Thai (I'll post about that later).

Do you have a food processor? I'm looking forward to using this to slice up cucumbers and tomatoes for salad too. You can do thin potatoes for chips as well!

Eat smart,
T.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Robert Cheeke stuff


I recently ordered a t-shirt from Robert Cheeke while he was doing his "Black Friday" discounts and look at all the other free goodies he threw in! Besides the shirt, I got a grocery bag, a tank top, some Vega samples, and some cool brochures and stickers. That's just the cover of his book on the left (though I do have the actual book...see my post about it here). 


I'm not a bodybuilder, but I have been using the p90x workout program, so that's about as close as I'm going to get! I started round 2 of p90x about a week ago. The Classic version this time and plyo is killing me. Anyone have suggestions for good shoes to get for that? Lots of cushioning is needed. Right now I'm just using really old sneakers for my indoor workouts and they're pretty worn down on the bottom.

Onto other things....have you seen these salad dressings (Sass)? I found them at Whole Foods...plant based, low calorie, low fat....and tasty! Though I do need to pour a lot on......I guess it's ok though, because it's mostly vegetables :)


And how about this soup (Pacific)? I liked it a lot!


What awesome foods have you tried lately??

Eat smart, 
T.

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

More local goodies

There's been a lot of vegan happenings lately in New Orleans. Yesterday, I decided to go try out one of the new vegan restaurants. I mean...100% VEGAN!

The Wandering Buddha:

It's a 100% vegan Korean restaurant, located in a bar in the Marigny (or is it St Roch?) area of New Orleans. I'm not so familiar with that area. It seems a lot of the vegan food options are popping up in dive bars around town. We arrived at 5 pm, when the bar was supposed to open. The doors were chained closed, though we didn't have to wait forever out in the cold rain. They opened up about 10 minutes late. It IS New Orleans after all. We were the first ones in there and so there was no smoke lurking in the air (yay!). We brought a friend, who happens to be Korean-American. We sat down and the waiter, Christion, brought us out some menus. He was very friendly. He specified that everything was vegan on the menu, though I wonder why they opted to put "vegetarian and vegan" on the menu itself. It makes it seem as if only some of the items are vegan. <shrug>

I ordered the same thing as my friend, the bibimbap (rice and vegetables) with the brown rice option (for $1 more). S ordered the japchae (glass noodles with vegetables). His came out, and they brought out the bibimbap both with white rice instead of the brown. My friend mentioned that and the waiter quickly brought it back to exchange it for brown rice. S's food was getting cold, so he started and I liked his a lot (so did he!):


The waiter eventually brought out our orders with the brown rice. It was a bit on the cold-ish side. My friend says, traditionally, bibimbap should come out steaming hot. And it would have been nice, since it was freezing cold outside, and not that warm inside. It was fine for me...warm enough.


It looked so pretty! I haven't eaten much Korean food, I must admit. And after my dad always said how he couldn't stand kimchi or the smell of it in the air on the streets.....I was dreading it. And to be honest, it was too salty for me. But that's pretty traditionally Korean, I guess. My friend thought it was good, but she was used to kimchi that has fish in it, which is more authentic. Anyway, S liked the kimchi. I typically don't like really salty foods, so it wasn't the restaurant, it was me! The sauce that came on the side (luckily) was pretty darn spicy. Too spicy for me, though I did use some of it. The spicy cucumbers were also quite spicy, but I ate most of them. The rest was really good.....I only left the kimchi....for S :)

Outside of the salty kimchi for me and the spiciness, I thought it was really good! I might order what S had next time, or perhaps the cold buckwheat noodles. On another note, it was a lot of food! I'm glad we didn't order appetizers, although I'd like to try some of them...maybe next time. The bar is separate, so if you want alcohol, you have to go up to the bar and order/pay separately. (they had two Abita beers on tap, which is suprising for this type of bar!)

It was a good experience and I'm glad we went. I definitely want to go back and try perhaps some of the less spicy options :) And thanks for the great hospitality, Christion!

And these were really good too (not sure what they were), which were given to us at the end, on our check:

 (you can find them on Facebook too)

After dinner, we went over to the brand new New Orleans Food Co-Op, which was just a few blocks away. I wanted to check it out and see what kinds of cool stuff they had in there. It's in a really nice building and it's a pretty good sized store. Prices seemed to be on par with other smallish natural food stores. They had bulk seeds, grains, and flours, as well as coffee beans. They also had a pretty good selection of organic fruits and vegetables, priced perhaps a bit higher than normal. They did have the vegan staples: vegan mayo, vegan cheese (Daiya included-yes I found the pepperjack flavor there!), vegan cream cheese, nondairy milks, etc. There was a small selection of prepared foods like sushi and vegan chicken salad, but not a ton. And surprisingly, I didn't see any alcohol! Usually you can find good craft beers at these kinds of stores, but alas, not here. I would pay into the store and become a member if I lived closer. But I live out in the suburbs and it's not a very convenient place for me to shop.

Definitely check it out if you're in the area! This was the stash I got last night:

Daiya, Soy yogurt, pasta sauce, black apples, brown rice noodles, and organic swiss chard.

So if you're in NOLA, check these guys out! Next time I'm going to try the new vegan dinners at the St. Roch Tavern in the same area. Yay for vegan options in NOLA, finally. Anybody deliver out to the burbs yet?? ;)

Eat smart,
T.

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Carrot Ginger Soup


It's perfect weather here for a nice hot soup. Yes, it actually dipped below 50 degrees!

So I thought I'd whip up some soup and carrot with ginger seemed perfect. But first, let me show you the awesome pumpkin pancakes I had, made with leftover pumpkin puree and served with leftover cranberry sauce:



Are you wondering about that cool coffee mug in the background?? (insert shameful plug here)
That, my friends, is my REAL gig. The awesome mug has our new logo on it, designed by our friend, Amie of NexStitch. My husband and I are a viola duo. We perform and teach lessons (online). If you'd like any of these cool items for yourself or to give as gifts, hop on over to our online shop to get them! And of course, to help out some musicians :)

Where were we before I went off on a silly (but needed) tangent...??

Oh yes, carrot soup!

First I have to mention that I made my vegetable barley stew again last night....so good, and also perfect for this weather.

Carrot-Ginger Soup
(makes ~3-4 servings)


1 1/2 lbs carrots (any kind), cut into chunks and steamed
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
3 stalks celery, sliced
1 tbsp minced garlic
1" piece of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1 cup vegetable broth
1 cup almond milk (use more if you like it thinner)
pinch of nutmeg
salt & pepper to taste


In your medium soup pot, add the onions, celery, garlic, ginger and about 1/4 cup water. Cook on medium heat until the onions are soft.


In a blender (I used a Vitamix), add your broth, onion mix, and steamed carrots. Puree.


Pour the pureed soup back into your soup pot and add the milk, pepper, and nutmeg. Heat on medium-low until it's as hot as you want it. Turn off the heat and add the salt. Stir and serve.






Check out the GIVEAWAY on CzechVegan's blog for Manna Products!


How's the weather where you are? Have you been making hot soups to keep warm? What's your favorite soup?

Eat smart,
T.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

Thanksgiving Meal and my first Seitan


That was our Thanksgiving plate! We had Tofurky, a stuffed seitan roast, my mom's stuffing (veganized), sweet potato salad, my kale and carrot salad, and cranberry sauce. All of this, plus cranberry bread and Pumpkin Gingerbread. We had a couple of friends over, so the two roasts were pretty much finished by the end! I adjusted some of these recipes, like using whole wheat flour and cutting down the sugar and oil, etc. 

I think I usually make more for Thanksgiving...including rolls, etc. For some reason, I just didn't feel like making a ton, and I spread it out on three days, so it was pretty easy. You can see my posts of Thanksgiving past here and here.

(Tofurky!!)

This was my first experience making seitan!! EVER!! I was so freaked out. And let me tell you, it was weird.

It was pretty wet, but really stuck together. The problem I had was when I tried to stretch it out to fill it, it kept breaking. Why would that be? And should it be this wet? I followed the directions exactly, oil and all, just because it was my first time making the stuff. This thing was the ugliest roast I've ever seen! (you might want to cover your eyes for the next picture....it's scary).
A big blob. An evil "seitanic" blob. I stuffed it with the bread stuffing (I used sprouted grain bread).
But...it tasted REALLY good! Yay. So I'll have to work on the appearance a little...
Mmmmm......

Then we've got the cranberry sauce and the salads:



....cranberry bread....



And the gingerbread:

That gingerbread is so not good for you.....but it sure was tasty. I only make it once a year!

And of course, some wine....(followed by Belgian beer of course). This is really the ONLY kind of wine I ever drink (from Franconia, Germany, and usually found in these cool round bottles):
(drinking it out of a beer glass, of course!)

Hope you all had a nice Thanksgiving, if you celebrate it. 

What did you make? Have you made seitan before? Have you had Franken wine before?

Eat smart,
T.

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Rice and Greens



That's right. Rice and Greens NOT Rice and Beans, as they commonly eat down here...

Check out those greens! Sadly, that will shrink into about 1 cup of cooked greens :(

Last night I made a really good basic meal of brown rice, greens, and an Asian style sauce. Very healthy! Here it is:


Rice and Greens with a Korean BBQ Sauce

Warm cooked brown rice (1 cup per person)
*Greens (I used 1 bunch of kale, a HUGE container of spinach, and some chard leaves)


Korean BBQ Sauce:
(makes about 3-4 servings)


1/2 cup soy sauce
3 tbsp agave (or other sweetener)
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 tbsp rice wine (mirin)
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp powdered ginger (or use fresh!)
drop of sesame oil


For the sauce, whisk everything together until smooth. Should be a little thick. If it seems a little too watery, add a little more applesauce. If it's too thick, at a little water or soy sauce. 


Wash and tear up the greens into small pieces. Put them in a large pan. No need to add water if you use spinach, as it creates its own! Add as much as you can to the pan. As it shrinks, you can continue to add more greens until you have the right amount for you. Sprinkle some salt in if you want. That will also help to bring out the water. When it's a nice dark green color, it's done!


Put your brown rice into a bowl and add the greens on top. Then spoon the sauce over it (it will heat up with the hot greens and rice). Enjoy!


*feel free to use whatever greens you want: beet greens, collards, kale, spinach, chard, etc.

What's your favorite basic meal?

Eat smart,
T.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Thanksgiving Recipe Resources


It's that time of year again, and I'm so not prepared. I just bought my traditional Tofurky. I don't really know what else I'm going to make yet. I love making a Thanksgiving dinner.....it's a tradition for me. S doesn't really care one way or the other and we usually only have one or two friends over. So of course, I'll have lots of leftovers. But you're supposed to! It's Thanksgiving afterall.

I thought I'd try to put together a list of places online where you can find some good vegan Thanksgiving recipes. Since I'm also still trying to find some good ones, it'll help me out as well. I know at least some of you haven't planned out your meal yet either, right??

Here we go!

Julieanna Hever's Thanksgiving Recipe page on Forks Over Knives (I watched her cook it last night)

VegNews Thanksgiving Recipes and Tips (a good list!)

Some of Christina Pirello's recipes on the Huffington Post.

Oh She Glows Thanksgiving Dinner Party PDF (try her Gingerbread with Spiced Buttercream!)

Some recipe ideas from Yummly

Vegan Thanksgiving recipes from Nava Atlas (I used some of these before)

Thanksgiving tips from Kathy at HealthyHappyLife.

Gentle Thanksgiving page.

If you find any more or have your own Thanksgiving pages, feel free to leave them in the comments section for everyone else to see! Thanks.

Eat smart,
T.





Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Welcome to the NEW Eating Kale!

This is the new Eating Kale blog. My old blog, which you can find here, will stay online and I will periodically refer to it. But any new posts I make will be here. I just thought it would be easier to tell people the url, since it is the same as the title of my blog! And changing the old url would have been more difficult than one would think. So there you have it.

I'm still working on the layout of this one. I think the old one was just so busy with "stuff" on either side. So feel free to become a GFC follower here too :)  Or add this url to your reader feed.

You can also follow me on Google+ and Facebook.  And don't forget Twitter!

Thanks for reading!
Eat smart,
T.