We have a winner. Congratulations Becca! You have won your very own copy of The Allergy-Free Cook Bakes Bread. Please email me ASAP at blog@everydaydish.tv, with your full name and shipping address, and we can get your book off to you.
Thanks to everyone who participated in the giveaway. Believe it or not, I’ll be doing another giveaway next week, and it’s a book you won’t want to miss!
xo Julie
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I am really excited to review this book, and especially to tag-team with Kittee, and do our reviews and giveaways on the same day. How fun is that?!
I first saw this book at my local Powell’s Bookstore. I was perusing the gluten-free cookbook aisle, and this book jumped out at me. Seriously, the book jumped right into my hand. I was super-excited to see that the recipes were vegan as well as gluten-free. This book was sounding better and better. I hadn’t heard any buzz about it yet, but decided to go on instinct. I had a hunch that this book was special, and I knew that it was going to have to come home with me. I also figured that if I didn’t buy it right then, I would be thinking about it all night, wishing that I had just gotten it earlier. I can’t even begin to tell you how often I have that conversation with myself; ) And usually when I go back, the book is no longer there.
Anyway, instead of just tucking it away on my over-crowded cookbook shelf shelves, I set it on the kitchen counter to bake from it the next day. Lucky for me, Kittee came over, took one look at the book and said “ooh, let’s make some scones”. And since Kittee is a super-douper baker, we had delicious, hot scones in no time.
We both really liked the chocolate chip scones. I think we also thought that we might like to try them out the next time with super fine brown rice flour instead of the quinoa flour. I know, but that’s just me. I can’t help myself sometimes. Plus, as much as I love my quinoa, I find the flour can be a little grassy tasting to me. It was an easy swap, and they we super-delicious too. My husband tried both batches and really liked them both. He’s not gluten-free, and so is very picky about the g-free stuff he eats. He gave them both 2 thumbs up.
Completely inspired by the recipes in Laurie’s book, I tried a few more. And to be totally honest, since I have a casserole cookbook that I’m working on right now, there isn’t a whole lot of time to be baking for fun. But I seriously couldn’t help myself. Her recipes are really well tested and taste great.
I was able to squeeze in a few more recipes, because they just kept calling out to me. I made the Apple Chai Scones, the Maple Kissed Cornbread and the Blueberry Scones. They are all really good, low in fat, and made out of whole grain flours. Plus, at least with the scone recipe, it only makes 4 at a time, so you aren’t over-whelmed with a huge batch of treats. I’m sure you could easily double the recipe as well, if you wanted a larger batch. Oh, and the scones were delicious the next day too. Some gluten-free baked goods tend to be very dry or dry out quickly. This was not the case at all with Laurie’s recipes. The scones were nice and moist the second day.
I am definitely going to be cooking my way through this fab book. I love that all of her recipes are whole grain too. And, there’s a nutritional breakdown for all of the recipes. I can’t wait to try my hand at Laurie’s cracker recipes, her yeasted breads (Kittee swears by the hamburger buns), cinnamon rolls, bagels, breadsticks, breakfast buns, and the one I really can’t wait to bake, the Free-Form Apple Spice Cake With Vanilla Glaze. Oh, and did I mention the Sun-Dried Tomato Focaccia With Shallots And Herbs? Yeah, this book has some killer recipes. I was actually telling Kittee the other day, that I have a couple of books that have become my favorite go-to gluten-free books. The Allergy-Free Cook Bakes Bread is one of those books.
So there you go. I can’t wait to go read Kittee’s review. Oh, and Book Publishing Company (the publisher of The Allergy-Free Cook Bakes Bread), has not only given me permission to share a recipe, but also to do a giveaway as well. So don’t forget to leave a comment (along with a way for me to reach you should you win), and I will pick a winner next week (using the random number generator).
Oh, and here is the Apple-Chai Scone recipe, in case you feel like baking scones this weekend.
Apple-Chai Scones
Adapted from The Allergy-Free Baker Bakes Bread by Laurie Sadowski, with permission from Book Publishing Company. I dusted my cooled scones with some powdered sugar. I think they would also be delicious with a drizzle of a powdered sugar glaze.
Yield: 4 Scones
Scones:
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1/4 cup teff flour
3 tablespoons unrefrined cane sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons cold vegan buttery spread
1 small apple, diced (about 3/4 cup)
2 to 3 tablespoons cold, plain nondairy milk
Topping:
2 teaspoons plain nondairy milk
Ground cinnamon
Unrefined cane sugar
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
To make the scones, put the sorghum flour, tapioca flour, sugar, baking powder, xanthan gum, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, salt, cloves, and pepper in a large bowl. Using a pastry cutter or two knives, cut in the vegan buttery spread until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the apple.
Slowly pour the nondairy milk into the flour mixture to make a dough and stir until just moistened. Using floured hands, gather the dough into a cohesive ball and transfer to the lined baking sheet. Gently knead the dough two or three times until it holds together. Pat into a 1/2-inch thick circle. Using a floured knife, cut the dough into 4 wedges, pulling them apart only slightly.
For the topping, brush the unbaked scones with the nondairy milk. Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar to taste.
Bake for 15 minutes, until lightly browned. Transfer to a cooling rack, and let cool for at least 5 minutes. Serve warm.
Please excuse the terrible photo, but this is a pic of the Apple-Chai Scones. I quickly snapped it before the scones were devoured. It was seriously hard to not eat them all!
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I was off by a day. Oops. Tomorrow is the review and giveaway, which I will be doing at the same time as my buddy Miss kittee at her Cake Maker To The Stars blog. Check them out tomorrow, and enter at both of our blogs, for two chances to win!
So, I’ve been wanting to do a post about all of the awesome holiday/Thanksgiving dishes that are in my Vegan Diner cookbook. These are some of the dishes that I make every year. Did I mention how much I love Thanksgiving? To me, it’s all about spending special time with family, around the table, sharing a home-cooked meal. It’s always been one of my favorite holidays.
I seriously have been making many of these dishes, or something similar, for the past twenty years or so. There’s something to say for tradition, and even when I say on occasion that I’m going to mix it up and try something new, I don’t. I go back to my favorites, the ones that I look forward to all year long. So here’s a list of some fab holiday dishes:
Garlic Mashers (page 87), Smoky Curls, which are fantastic with gravy and mashed potatoes (page 76), Garlic Roasted Brussel Sprouts, Diner House Salad, but add in thinly sliced peeled apple or persimmon and dried cranberries (page 72), Sweet Cornbread (page 56), Fluffy Biscuits (page 54), Brown Rice Hazelnut Burgers (page 99) or Quinoa Burgers (page 100) topped with any of the delicious gravies, Smoky Seitan Roast (page 114), Home-Style Loaf (page 120) or the Chicken-Style Seitan Roast (page 121), Diner-Style Dressing/stuffing (page 89), Creamy Sage and Pepper Gravy (page 160), Two Pepper Gravy (page 177), Rich Brown Gravy (page176) and Cranberry Port Sauce (page 180). And I didn’t even cover dessert. All of the dessert recipes would make a great finale to a holiday feast.
Not all of these recipes are gluten-free, although many can easily become that way. If you are abstaining from gluten, seitan won’t work, but the Quinoa Burgers and the Mushrooms Burgers will (as long as you use GF bread in the Mushroom Burgers). Sub out homemade GF cornbread cubes or GF bread for the French bread (adjusting the liquid in the recipe as needed). For all of the gravies, you can substitute GF oat flour for the wheat flour, and they come out great! For the cornbread, use your favorite GF flour blend for the wheat flour, and add about a teaspoon of xanthan gum (unless your blend already contains it).
I can’t wait to hear what’s on everyone’s menu. I’m sorry that I didn’t get this list together in time for Canadian Thanksgiving. My sincere apologies! And even if you don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, these dishes would make a fabulous meal or feast for family or friends.
See you guys tomorrow for the giveaway!
xo Julie
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I know that I’ve been talking about breakfast a lot lately, but I think it truly is an important way to start the day. At least for me.
One of my favorite quick and hearty breakfasts (besides the savory chickpea pancakes) is grits. Well, to be honest, sometimes it’s stone-ground grits and sometimes it’s Mighty Tasty Hot Cereal from Bob’s Red Mill, and sometimes Quinoa Rice & Shine hot cereal from Arrowhead Mills. Polenta works well too. All of them make a delicious, warm, filling (and nutritious) way to start the day.
Although I used to like my hot cereal sweet, I am now a savory girl all the way. I cook the hot cereals with water (according to the directions on the package), and then at the end I stir in enough non-dairy milk to make it nice and creamy (and with a little extra protein kick too). Then I add some salt (or Penzey’s garlic salt which is the bomb!) and lots of fresh ground pepper, nutritional yeast flakes, sliced scallions and sometimes steamed greens, chopped steamed broccoli or sautéed mushrooms. It is so delicious! Seriously, this is what I love to eat on a cold, chilly morning, or after a morning workout. Then, if you want to take it to another level all together, top it with one of the gravies from Vegan Diner, and you’ve got yourself a breakfast of kings!
I really have been on a breakfast kick. It must be the cold, chilly Fall mornings. Fortunately between my yummy hot cereal and savory chickpea pancakes, I am good to go every morning.
Oh, and before I forget, we’ve got a winner for Robin Asbell’s Sweet & Easy Vegan cookbook! Cassie Adams, you have won yourself a copy of Robin’s beautiful book. Congratulations! Can you please email me your mailing address ASAP (at blog@everydaydish.tv) so that the publisher can send you out your book?
I’ve got another cookbook review and giveaway coming tomorrow. Can you believe it? Definitely enter to win, because the book is a winner!
xo Julie
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I confess. I am a coffee junkie. A coffee addict. A person who wakes up in the morning, and the first thought that goes through my head is my luscious morning cup of Joe.
I’ve tried to cut it out, and switch to tea, or fresh juice or hot water. But the truth is… I love my morning cup of coffee. I figure that it’s pretty much my one vice, and (maybe this is the addict in my talking), but is it really so bad to enjoy my morning cup? About a year or two ago, I decided to give myself permission to embrace my love of coffee. I am a much happier person with it (just ask my husband what happens if we run out). I embrace my coffee addiction happily.
So what is my favorite way to drink my coffee, you ask? Well I’ll let you in on my little secret. No, it’s not crack, it’s ground cinnamon. Cinnamon adds the most incredible hint of sweetness to my morning cup, and it’s full of all kinds of health benefits too. I think my mom actually started it years ago, by adding a piece of cinnamon stick to the ground coffee in the filter. I’ve changed it up a bit (of course), and add a generous sprinkle of ground Vietnamese cinnamon (my favorite variety!) to the ground coffee in the basket. It is soooo good! My favorite beans are a rich dark roast (think Sumatra), and I try and get organic/ fair trade as well, when I can.
Now, I tend to brew my coffee very strong, as I like to add a lot of steamed milk to it (and watery coffee is yucky!). Last year I found the perfect milk frother, which is the crowning glory of my morning cup. It’s from Capresso, and believe it or not I just saw it at Costco for thirty something dollars (I think it’s normally in the fifty-ish range). It whips up an amazing froth! I tend to trade off between Soy milk and almond milk, and it does a fantastic job of both.
I’m starting to see why my husband refers to my coffee as “love coffee”. There’s a lot of love that goes into my morning cup.
So how do you like your morning cup of Joe?
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Most mornings I need a breakfast that is filling, healthy, and will keep me going at least until lunch. Back in the day, eggs fit that bill. I could quickly scramble them up, along with whatever veggies I wanted. Once I went vegan, I needed a new standby. Oatmeal worked for a while, but honestly, it doesn’t always give me the staying power that I need. Plus, if you eat something everyday, it gets really, really boring.
So, my new favorite go-to quick, stick-to-your-ribs, healthy breakfast is savory pancakes. I’ve made them on and off over the years, but I have a new way of doing them, which is much quicker. First, I keep a jar of chickpea (garbanzo bean) flour on my kitchen counter. A large canning jar works great. Then in the morning I sprinkle some chickpea flour in a bowl. I don’t measure at all here. I would guess that I probably use 1/2 cup. Then I whisk in water, until I have a nice smooth, fairly thin batter. Add salt and pepper to taste. If you like garlic (like I do), then press in a clove or two. Now you’re going to add the veggies, using whatever you’ve got on hand. My personal faves are chopped raw organic baby spinach, bean sprouts, shredded zucchini, scallions, sautéed mushrooms, whatever you like (and that cooks pretty quickly too). I just stir the chopped veggies into the batter. Oh, and if you happen to have kimchi on hand (see recipe here), it’s fantastic in the pancakes along with spinach and sprouts (and sometimes a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds too).
I then preheat a large cast iron griddle that I lightly grease (you can also use a non-stick pan too). I re-check the consistency of the batter. You want it on the thin side, to get a very thin pancake. If it needs to be thinned, simply add a little more water as needed. The I scoop some batter onto the griddle, and using the back of a spoon, spread it as then as you can get it. It’s a very forgiving batter so if you have some holes from spreading it, just fill in the holes with a little drizzle of additional batter. Cook it over medium heat until it’s totally cooked through and nicely browned on the bottom, probably 5 to 10 minutes. Flip it over and cook it for at least another 5 minutes, or until nicely browned and the pancake is cooked all of the way through. These pancakes take a little longer to cook than regular pancakes, due to the chickpea flour.
I like to serve the pancakes a couple of different ways. I either make a dipping sauce for it with tamari, sriracha and a drop of sesame oil, or I serve them with the mustard dill dip I posted about the other day, leftover cheese sauce or gravy. Now when I make cheese sauce or gravy (or dill dip), I make sure that I have extra for serving the next morning with these savory pancakes.
You really only need one pancake per person, as they are really filling. I usually fold them in half and then top them with a sauce. Sometimes if we have some yummy leftovers, my husband will stuff the cooked pancake with it, just like an omelette. Other times, I’ll leave the veggies out of the pancakes, and sauté them up in a separate pan, stuffing the pancake with them and then topping with a sauce. These pancakes are seriously easy and can be made dozens of different ways.
You are going to love this recipe, and it really is as easy as making an omelette. Plus, they are cholesterol and animal free, full of protein, and no added fat. Give them a try soon.
xo Julie
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Although I love home-style comfort food, I think that comfort food comes in so many shapes and forms. I’ve always been enamored with comfort food from other countries, whether it’s something as simple as Mjadra (lentils and rice with caramelized onions), rice and beans with fresh salsa, saffron-infused paella, spaghetti with marinara or a Greek tomato and okra stew. Comfort food, to me, is family-style food. It’s the essence of pure love. The meal that you’re served at a big, long wooden table with lots of happy, smiling, hungry faces. The food that our grandmother’s cooked (or that we wished they cooked us in some cases).
I had one of each. My mom’s mom (Bubby), was a wonderful, loving person, but a terrible cook. The dish that immediately comes to mind is a quiche that she made one night for dinner. It was liquid in form, just like a watery soup. After hundreds of guesses about what went wrong with the recipe, we finally surmised that she had forgotten to add eggs to bind it. So it was probably skimmed milk and undrained canned mushrooms. I think we ate salad for dinner that night. I still shudder at the thought. My other grandmother (my dad’s mom) was a bit intimidating, but an incredible cook. Intimidating in that she had a permanently hooked finger (a long story involving a job at a cookie factory in France), that she would occasionally use to hit my dad and uncles with, when they weren’t listening (a quick thwack to the side of their head, ninja-style). They would laugh and get her even more annoyed. She also wouldn’t let anyone breath in the kitchen when she was cooking, especially when she was making her garlic aioli, because she said it would ruin the sauce. She had some serious rules in her kitchen. But, she always cooked up great big pots of fresh, homemade rustic French food, that was so delicious, and redolent of garlic that your lips would literally burn (in the very best way).
My husband’s grandmother made incredible comfort food too. She was Greek and lived to the amazing age of 106. She fed all of her children, grandchildren and great-grand children Sephardic-style Greek/Middle Eastern comfort food. VaVa, as she was affectionately called (grandmother in Greek), was famous for her spinach quajado and potato and caramelized onion burrekas (little pastries, with a very rich olive oil dough). I once accidentally sat on one of her burrekas, and had a permanent half-moon oil stain that I could never get out of my dress.
So what am I getting at with all these stories? Comfort food is the food that feeds our souls. It makes us feel warm and loved. It’s love, pure and simple.
And, in the spirit of delicious comfort food, these Peanut Sesame Noodles should fit the bill. I made them for dinner the other night, just as my kids were packing up to head back to college. I wanted to make sure that they had nice full tummies before they hit the road.
Julie’s Peanut Sesame Noodles
These noodles are always a hit, and are perfect for a potluck, lunch or part of an Asian-style dinner. Feel free to toss in some sautéed tofu cubes (which I often do). If you can’t eat peanut butter, they are equally delicious with almond butter as well. You just may need to tweak the other flavors to taste. You can watch a video of me making them on Everyday Dish too.
1 pound dried pasta (I use dried white rice noodles, such as those for pad Thai)
1/2 cup peanut butter
6 tablespoons soy sauce or tamari
1/4 cup warm water
1 1/2 to 2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and cut into pieces
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil
5 tablespoons agave syrup, or organic sugar to taste
2 teaspoons siracha sauce, or to taste
2 cups thinly shredded purple cabbage
1 cup shredded carrots
3/4 cup chopped cilantro
4 scallions, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1. In a large pot of boiling water, cook the spaghetti until it is al dente or just tender. Drain and rinse noodles. Set aside to cool.
2. In a blender jar, add peanut butter, soy sauce, water, ginger, garlic, rice vinegar, sesame oil, agave syrup and siracha sauce. Blend sauce until it’s smooth and creamy. This might take a few minutes.
3. Place noodles in a large bowl. Pour peanut sauce over noodles, tossing well so that noodles are well coated with sauce. Add shredded cabbage, carrots, cilantro, scallions and sesame seeds, tossing until mixed. Adjust seasonings to taste and serve.
Tip: If not serving noodles right away, refrigerate until ready to serve. If the sauce on the noodles gets too thick to serve, add 1 to 2 tablespoons hot water, mixing or tossing well.
Copyright © 2012 Julie Hasson
Oh, and don’t forget to hurry and enter the cookbook giveaway here!
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I’m so excited to be taking part in Robin Asbell’s Virtual Breakfast Potluck. The potluck is to celebrate the release of Robin’s new cookbook, which is a gorgeous collection of healthy vegan dessert recipes. If you’ve been looking for dessert recipes that rely on whole grains and natural sweeteners, this is your cookbook. The book is also filled with beautiful photographs by Joseph De Leo.
There are so many recipes that have caught my eye, like Cocoa-Almond Granola Bars, Espresso and Nut Butter Chunks, Cherry Almond Snackers, Coconut Mango Breakfast Cookies, Raspberry Tart with Cashew Pastry Cream, Peanut Butter and Jelly Banana Bread, Spiced Sweet Potato Bake with Coconut Crumble Topping, Cashew Blondies, Carrot Orange Cake with Marmalade Glaze and Mini Fruitcakes with Rum Glaze. There is also a nice handful of recipes in the book that are naturally gluten-free too, or could pretty easily be made gluten-free.
My potluck dish is the Pine Nut Polenta with Cherry Sauce. I tried to photograph the finished dish, but unfortunately the winter lighting in my kitchen is terrible. I think I might need to invest in a light box or something (let me know if you have any suggestions on that front).
Robin and her publishers at Chronicle Books have generously let me share the recipe with you. It’s a fun change of pace from your ordinary breakfast fare (or at least my usual bowl of oatmeal). I love that Robin includes instructions if you don’t have amaranth and want to use all cornmeal too, which I will probably do in the future. Cornmeal is one of those staples that I buy in bulk and always have in my pantry. And, lucky for me, my freezer is stuffed full of cherries from this summer (it was one of those crazy moments where you can’t say no to 40 pounds of cherries for $10, and your husband grumbles every time he opens the freezer and is pelted with giant bags of frozen cherries. But that’s another story for another day). Fortunately I even had a small bag of amaranth that was waiting to be used.
I found that it was super easy to make and chill the polenta the night before, and then cook it up along with the sauce in the morning. The recipe came together really easily.
So for a chance to win a copy of Robin’s gorgeous new book Sweet & Easy Vegan, simply leave your name (and a way to reach you should you win!), and a comment about your favorite breakfast dish or healthy dessert. Good luck everyone!
Pine Nut Polenta with Cherry Sauce
by Robin Asbell from Sweet & Easy Vegan
Serves 4 to 6
This polenta, enhanced with your choice of ancient grains and liberally doused with sweet cherries, makes for a fun and tasty breakfast. This method, in which you prepare the polenta the day before, chill it, and then fry or bake it the next morning, results in a slab with crispy edges, essentially giving your hot cereal some texture and visual appeal!
Polenta
1 cup/140 g coarse cornmeal
3 cups/720 ml water
1 cup/200 g amaranth or teff, or 1 cup/140 g additional coarse cornmeal
1 cup/240 ml vanilla nondairy milk
1/2 cup/55 g pine nuts, toasted
Sauce
10 oz/280 g frozen dark cherries
1/2 cup/120 ml maple syrup
1/2 cup/120 ml apple juice
1 tbsp cornstarch
Oil a 9-by-5-in/23-by-12-cm loaf pan.
To make the polenta: Put the cornmeal in a medium saucepan, then add the water gradually while whisking continuously. Whisk in the amaranth. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then cook, whisking continuously and still over medium heat, until thick, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the nondairy milk and cook, stirring frequently, until very thick, 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in half of the pine nuts.
Scrape the polenta into the prepared pan and spread it in an even layer. Sprinkle the remaining pine nuts on the top and press to adhere. Cover tightly and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, until firm.
To make the sauce: In a small saucepan, combine the cherries and maple syrup. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Lower the heat to maintain a simmer. In a cup or small bowl, whisk the juice and cornstarch together until smooth, then stir the mixture into the cherries. Cook until shiny and thickened, about 5 minutes.
To serve, slice the polenta and either fry it in a lightly oiled, well-seasoned cast-iron skillet or bake it on an oiled baking sheet at 400 °F/200°C/gas 6 for 10 to 15 minutes, until heated through and browned. Serve topped with the warm sauce, reheating it if need be. Stored in separate airtight containers, the polenta and cherry sauce will keep for about 1 week.
See more of Robin’s virtual breakfast potluck here:
Mocha Scones with Cacao Nibs
Shaina Olmanson’s Food for my Family Blog
Jumbo Buckwheat Cakes with Strawberry Sauce
Leinana Two Moons Vegan Good Things Blog
Coconut Banana Granola
JL Fields JL Goes Vegan Blog
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For the past 2 days, I have been baking batch after of gluten-free pumpkin muffins, trying to come up with the PERFECT muffin. I thought it would be easy peasy. But sometimes the baking gods are with you and sometimes they’re not. I have my fingers crossed that the batch that are beautifully rising in the oven as I type, will turn out to be those perfect muffins. A big dome on top that’s lightly cracked, a soft and tender interior. To say that I am a perfectionist is an understatement.
If you didn’t know this about me before, I’ll fill you in. I’m super-obsessive about testing my recipes. I test them over and over again, until they’re perfect (and meet my long criteria list). I often take this another step further, and tinker with them even more, so that I can share variations of the recipes. Some might call me crazy, but there’s nothing more frustrating than going to try someone’s recipe, and having it fail. Not to mention the time involved and the cost of ingredients too. So it’s what I do. I keep going until a recipe works, and is utterly scrumptious. Case in point last night. I thought my son was going to have a heart attack, when he looked into the garbage can, and saw dozens of muffins that hadn’t passed the test. After a month away at college, it was almost too much for him to bear. It was like a muffin graveyard. I should have taken a picture of it.
So, what does pumpkin muffins and obsessive recipe testing have to do with garlic mustard dill dip you ask? Well I’ll tell you. With all of the hours each day that I spend recipe testing and developing, whether it’s muffins or casseroles or gravy, when mealtime comes around, I want something easy, chock-full of veggies, and with a punch of flavor (not too much to ask right?). Plus, I don’t want to have to stop what I’m doing and cook something else. So, I want to share one of my favorites lately. I steam up a big pot of fresh vegetables (sometimes green beans, cabbage, brocoli, cauliflower, carrots, zucchini, or whatever is fresh and you feel like eating). When the vegetables are cool, I refrigerate them in a large glass container. Then I whip up a batch of one of my favorite dips (Garlic Mustard Dill Dip), and I have something fresh and healthy to eat whenever the mood strikes. The sauce is also fab with steamed artichokes, asparagus or fresh, raw veggies. The original recipe is adapted from a recipe by Sarah Kramer (I think it’s a Dilled Cream Cheese recipe out of her first book). So I adapted it, and with her sweet permission, filmed it for Everyday Dish (see the video there too). I’ve since adapted it further, omitting the salt and adding 1/4 cup Dijon mustard. This dip is so good, and is super-healthy too (and has lots of protein).
I’d love to hear what your go-to quick and healthy recipes are. It’s always good to have a few healthy tricks up your sleeve. I’ve got a few more that I’ll share soon too.
Enjoy!
xo Julie
Garlic Mustard Dill Dip
This sauce is fabulous served with fresh or steamed vegetables, or used as a sauce on just about anything. If you can, let the dip chill for a few hours before serving to let the flavors meld. If you don’t like the taste of mustard, omit it, and increase the salt to 1 teaspoon and the water to 2 tablespoons.
Makes about 2 cups
1 box MoriNu firm or extra firm tofu (I usually use firm or extra firm. the Lite version works well too)
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons raw unsalted cashews
2-3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon water
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt, optional, or to taste
1 tablespoon dried dill
Combine the tofu, Dijon mustard, cashews, garlic, water, and salt together in a blender of food processor. Blend until the mixture is ultra smooth. Add the dill and blend again briefly to mix well. If you add the dill at the beginning, your dip will be very green colored.
Scoop the dip in a bowl or sealable container and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Tip: If you don’t have a strong blender, you can soak the cashews in water for several hours, to soften and make them blend easier. Just make sure to drain them before using.
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I apologize for my site being down the past couple of days. I decided to give it a little facelift, thanks to a very awesome friend that seriously came to my rescue. Because, doesn’t it always figure, that when you’re notified of a new update for your website, it’s always “easy to do”, “no coding necessary”, just “plug and play” and “drag and drop”? Let me just say… they lie! So one minute your website is there, and looking like you want it to, and the next minute (after you’ve hit the “update” or “install” button), your website is gone. Vanished. No where to be found. We’ll mine was actually there, it just took someone who knows what they’re doing to find it, and put it all back together again. I really need to brush up on my WordPress skills; )
Anyway, thanks to my amazing friend (seriously!), my site is so much prettier now. I feel like my blog is wearing a new party dress. Isn’t it fun to get all dressed up once in a while? So, as I figure out the inter-workings of my blog, I’ll hopefully make a few more tweaks here and there.
I will make up for these few lost days, and blog over the weekend. Vegan MOFO lives on! Oh, and on Monday I’ll be part of a virtual potluck , along with an awesome giveaway.
Happy Friday!
xo Julie
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