Pasta with Asparagus, artichokes and spinach

Ok so this is my first post in a while. Truth be known I have been doing a lot of reviewing of what I  had considered VEGAN cooking. You see I am new to veganism and very much still learning. So I must say I am sorry for some of my prior post which were not entirely vegan but rather nice vegeterian dishes. It was a nice attempt at vegan, but what I have learned is that this is MUCH harder than it looks which is why I think vegans get such a bad wrap. People think we are crazy because manufactures HIDE animal products in the ingredients which make finding a 100% PURELY animal free product difficult to find.

So I have been doing a lot of ingredient reading and a lot of garden planting along with a lot of experimenting with 100% animal free vegetables. My wife giggles at me when I say this because of course vegetables are animal free. I just get so impatient with animal products in so many things you would consider not an animal product. My whole thing is I want to be healthy, I want to be vegan and I want to do so while shopping at a "normal" grocery store vs going to a speciality store which makes me crazy. I think people would be more apt to experiment with food in general if they can get what they need from their coroner market.

So here is an animal free dish, it is fresh as spring and has a great zest. I fixed it this mothers day for my family, my wife, grand-mother, mom and dad all came in. Ok my wife was already here but you get the idea.

My dad did not eat this he says he is not a fan of green. Ok not going to force this on him, I did make a nice lemon tarragon chicken for them and this dish as the side salad but my main dish.

You will need the following ingredients:

1 lemon
8 artichoke hearts fresh or can will do
1 tbl spoon EVOO
1 fresh rosemary sprig
3/4 fresh fava beans or snow peas (optional)
8 medium asparagus spears cut into 2 inch lengths
1 pound of wheat pasta with no animal product such as egg
1 small bag of frozen peas
3/4 cup tarragon leaves (optional)
1 small bag of fresh baby sspinach
(Parmesan cheese will make it vegetarian if used as a garnish)
1/2 cup or so of the pasta water so don't discard it
1/2 cup or so of vegetable broth
2 garlic cloves crushed and finely minced
1-2 tspn of lemon zest (optional)

Cook your pasta, once done drain well and place in a bowl over the spinach. The heat from the pasta will wilt the spinach.  Keep your pasta water you will need some for the puree.

While the pasta is cooking get your asparagus ready, pick 8 nice spears place in boiling water for about 2 min you want them crisp so don't leave them in the boiling water too long. After you remove them from the boil place in ice cold water, this will stop the cooking process, preserve the color and cool them down. Once done cut them into 2 inch segments and set them aside.

I used Artichokes from a can, they work just as well for me in this recipe. If you like you can also make them from fresh. Again I did not see the point for this recipe. Open can, drain and rinse the artichokes then cut in half and set aside.

If you are using another bean such as fava or snow peas then read them now. I did not choose to use any further bean as I wanted to keep this simple and fresh.

In a blender or food processor put your frozen peas in with 1 clove of garlic, add some salt if you like I didn't use any extra. Once the peas are pureed then add in some of the pasta water and vegetable broth. You want to add the broth mixture until you have a consistency of a loose puree or how ever you like it.

Lets make the dressing, in a measuring cup or some other sort of container put some EVOO tarragon, lemon peal, garlic and rosemary.

Now you can start to assemble, I like to put some puree on the pasta and lightly mix some. Then add in your vegetables artichoke, asparagus and any other bean you liked and drizzle with the dressing.

I got the origional receipe from bon appetit magazine and have modified it to my taste. The great thing about this receipe is that you can add or subtract anyting you like. I think next time I will add caper berries for some more savory flavor.

Calories per serving of Pasta with Asparagus, artichokes and spinach153 calories of Olive Oil, (0.08 cup)
116 calories of Whole Wheat Spaghetti, cooked (pasta), (0.67 cup)
80 calories of Artichokes, fresh, (1.33 artichoke, medium)
10 calories of Asparagus, fresh, (0.33 cup)
5 calories of Lemon Juice, (0.08 cup)
3 calories of Vegetable Broth, (0.17 cup)
2 calories of Tarragon, ground, (0.17 tbsp)
1 calories of Spinach, fresh, (0.17 cup)
1 calories of Rosemary, (0.25 tbsp)

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 6 - 8
• Amount Per Serving about a cup
• Calories: 377.1

• Total Fat: 19.0 g
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 325.6 mg
• Total Carbs: 47.7 g
• Dietary Fiber: 14.7 g
• Protein: 12.0 g

My Vegan Cookbook

http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/cookbooks.asp?cookbook=326341

Visit my online cookbook titled The Vegan Chef! So far just a couple of recipes but you will find nutrition information for each recipe!

Low Fat Oatmeal Cookies

If you are like me you eat healthy most of the time, you workout 4 or more times a week but every now and then you want or even crave something sweet. BUT you don't want to undo all the hard work you have put into the week.

Today I made up some low fat VEGAN oatmeal cookies, I find these to be a wonderful way to treat yourself and not throw off your hard work for the week.

Donna who is by no means vegan is my tester for most of my recipes, sometimes to her delight sometimes not so much, but gives these cookies a 9 on a scale of 1-10. These cookies are as easy to make as they are delicious to eat.

What you need:
1 Cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flower
1 Cup Rolled oats but not the instant kind
1/2 teaspns baking powder
1/2 teaspns cinnamon
1/4 teaspns nutmeg
1/2 Cup molasses
4 Tblspns corn oil
2 Tblspns water
1 1/2 teaspns vanilla
1/2 Cup walnuts coarsely chopped
1/2 Cup raisins

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
Place the flower, oats, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg in a mixing bowl and stir together and set aside.

In a small bowl mix the molasses, oil, water and vanilla together. I like to put the oil in first so the mixture comes out of the bowl easier. Oh and don't forget the water the first time I made these I forgot and while they will come out ok, and have the same flavor they will be dryer. The water is going to make these cookies retain their moisture.

Once all the wet ingredients are mixed together well add to your dry ingredients and mix well, add the nuts and raisins and incorporate throughout. I tried these a number of ways the first time I spooned out a heaping teaspoon of mixture and made flat disks, I have also spooned out a tablespoon and made balls and even placed all the mixture onto wax paper and made a roll then cut out disks. Whatever you go with make all the cookies even so your cooking time is even. I would say start with no more than a tablespoon of mixture and cook for 10-12 minuets or until lightly browned but still moist.

Remove from the oven and place on a cooling rack, you can keep for up to a week in the pantery.

Bon Appetite!

Nutrition Facts Low Fat Vegan Oatmeal Cookies
20 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		116.9
Total Fat		5.2 g
	Saturated Fat	0.6 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	3.0 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	1.1 g
Cholesterol		0.0 mg
Sodium		15.9 mg
Potassium		165.2 mg
Total Carbohydrate		17.1 g
	Dietary Fiber	1.5 g
	Sugars	7.2 g
Protein		1.9 g

Vitamin A	0.0 %
Vitamin B-12	0.0 %
Vitamin B-6	4.1 %
Vitamin C	0.3 %
Vitamin D	0.0 %
Vitamin E	3.4 %
Calcium	2.9 %
Copper	5.1 %
Folate	0.8 %
Iron	4.3 %
Magnesium	6.5 %
Manganese	12.6 %
Niacin	0.9 %
Pantothenic Acid	0.8 %
Phosphorus	2.0 %
Riboflavin	0.7 %
Selenium	2.3 %
Thiamin	2.4 %
Zinc	0.9 %

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

Mixed Veggies, Roasted Brussel Sprouts... OOOoooo So Good!

Tonight's dinner was a little hope a lot praying and a whole bunch of trust in cooking experience. I know your thinking oh no this can't be good but in fact it was delicious. Scale of 1-10 a solid 8.

So what is it you ask, well I came home from working out at the gym feeling like I have a healthy start on the evening and wanted to keep that going. So I took a look in the fridge, found the following: 

2 large porta bella mushrooms

1 medium yellow squash

1 small to medium sweet potato

1 head of cauliflower

1/2 medium or 1 small onion

2 cloves garlic

1ear of corn

1 cup sweet pea pods

3 Mexican red peppers

1 pound brussel sprouts
1/2 cup vegitable stock

What I did, take the brussel sprouts cut the ends off each then cut each sprout  in half. Place into a deep roasting pan and drizzle with EVOO and balsamic vinagor then place in a preheated oven at 350 for about 20 min. When you take them out you can sprinkle garlic salt over them and serve. If you've never liked brussel sprouts your not alone, when not cooked correctly these can be repulsive. THIS recipe is my go to recipe each mouthfull of sprouts is delectable! You won't be disapointed!

For the rest start with the sweet potato and cauliflower as these are going to take the longest. Peal the sweet potato then cut into cubes, place into a wok with EVOO and cook on high heat. Cut the cauliflower down into shoots and place these into the wok.Cook for about 10 min on high heat then add the vegtable stock. The stock will help soften these vegtables.

 For the yellow squash cut it into cubs and toss in the wok let all the veggies now in the wok cook for about 5 min while you prep the onions and garlic. For the onions cut into pices, mince the garlic. 

Once the first set of veggies start to brown and the sweet potatos are tender toss in the onions and garlic. Once the onions start to become translucant toss in the mushrooms and sweet pea pods, Mexican red peppers and corn. simmer for about 10 min. 

This was an amazing grouping of veggies the peppers added flavor but not much heat, if you want it to be hotter or spicer then you can add more to your liking.  

VEGAN RESTURANT

Okay here is the Menu for this VEGAN resturant! Spiral Diner and Bakery, LOVE that this exists! This is a must visit location for me this weekend, and I will let you know what I think once I have gone.

Eating Out - Asian Mint

Okay while I LOVE to cook and experiment, sometimes I just want to sit and enjoy the company of my family and not cook. One of our favorite restaurants is Asian Mint, we like to go to the one located at 75 and Forrest but there is another located on Oak Lawn in Highland Park. We like the one on Forrest because they have a more relaxed feel than the one in Highland Park. Plus the Highland Park location is very small and feels cramped.

One of my FAVORITE dishes is a Stir Fried Rice, Yellow Curry with Tofu and Veggies. I ask for this dish to be specially made vegan style which means of course no eggs, dairy or meat. So they oblige me and give me the best stir fried rice you have ever put in your mouth. WOW what flavor!

Donna ordered Kung Paw Chicken with tofu, which was fantastic with the Tofu! Just goes to show you that ANY dish can be made specially for you VEGAN style!

Next time I go it will be Stir Fried Asian Veggies and Tofu which is also a favorite of mine. For now Bon Appetite!

Vegeterian spaghetti that taste like the real thing?

Okay so I have the most amazing wife EVER!!! Get this I walk in and not only has she made dinner, again, she made SPAGHETTI!!! Well if you know me you know Italian is a basic food group which makes going vegan challenging. Spaghetti is her speciality and the thought of not having it again was well distasteful.

She had plated the spaghetti, had a salad, a reasonable glass of wine along with garlic bread. Now I know what you are thinking YUMMY and CALORIE CITY! Well you would be mistaken my friend on the calorie city part anyway. She found items that were not only vegan relatively low in calories, so this entire meal was not only worth having but figure friendly.

Lets start by discussing the noodles she found a company called Ronzoni Smart Taste with added calcium, vitamin D and fiber with 170 cals per serving. The "meat" was by Morning Star called Meal Starters this was 80 cals per serving. Add her sauce ingredients and you have spaghetti for around 300 cals and it's not a frozen dinner! Sorry no way I could ever give this recipe out as it is a true Italian secret. There is no way I want anyone called Vinnie or someone with a last name of Sarafini coming after me to have any discussions on family secrets. I love the ocean but in no way do I want them to take me swimming with the fishes if you get my drift... Kidding.

The bread is 35 cal per slice with a spread made by Best Life added to that was of course garlic.

So what she said she did to ready the "meat" was to add some EVOO, a necessary step since this product has no actual animal fat. Brown the "meat" and use as you would any other ground beef, chicken or turkey. Make your spaghetti sauce as you normally would, again friends sorry cannot give the actual recipe on this one.

I am sure by now you are wondering, as I was seconds after entering the door, how this is going to taste. Well let me be the first to say, you absolutely could not tell the difference. Wow what a statement! Well okay there is a difference, but not in taste. The difference for this meal vs. the original beef laden, high fat content, calories out the wazoo meal is that right now I don't hate the fact that I ate it, I am not sleepy, bloated, burping or weighed down with a heavy lump of animal content in my stomach. BRAVO!

Not your tofu and carrots of vegan times gone by but a great way to enjoy meals that are tasty, low calorie and simply devine to make and eat. BON APPETITE!

Frozen FOOD?!?!? Good Solution?

I came home tonight and Donna had made me dinner, what wonderful surprise!

She had visited out local grocery and found some chicken tenders by Morning Star that makes vegetarian "meat" product that is 100% meat free. She pre-heated the oven and followed the directions on the package. These were very tasty.

For the mixed vegetables she found a company called Alexia that makes Chipotle Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Vegetable she followed the directions put them in a pan and sauteed them with the seasoned oil that came in the package for 8-10 min. These were wonderful and a great healthy way to add vegetables fast and easy!

For the noodles she found adding Ramon Noodles was a fast way to as she puts it "jazz up any meal quick". This was nice but not something I could recommend very often as they are very high in sodium so not the healthiest solution.

All in all this was a good solution for a night you don't want to cook. Donna gives this an 8 on a scale of 10; compared to fresh cooking I would give this a 6 or 7. Compared to fast food or frozen TV dinners I would give this meal a 7 or an 8.

Nicely done Donna! Love you!

Roasted Eggplant with Roasted Broccoli, Yellow Gold Potatoes Garlic and Onions

Dinner tonight was, how can I describe it... AMAZING! Eggplant, broccoli with yellow gold potatoes and onions! I was talking with a frienda few days ago, thank you Jennifer, about broccoli and how best to cook it. Jennifer advised me that she had broiled some broccoli in the oven using some EVOO and encouraged me to try it.  So tonight I was trying to figure out what to feed the family for dinner. I found some eggplant, broccoli, yellow gold potatoes, onions and garlic what a combination I thought but recalling my conversation with Jennifer I wanted to try it. I had no idea if this combination would be good or bad. I can only say that it worked and worked well.  

So here is the list of ingredients:

1 regular sized eggplant

3 small yellow gold potatos

2 heads of broccoli

1 small onion

2 cloves garlic

2 teaspoons Mrs. Dash

Black Pepper

Garlic Salt

Extra Vergian Olive Oil aka EVOO

Balsamic Venagar

Vegtable Cheese Pepper Jack Cheese

Pamasian Cheese

Rotel Tomatos

Red Pepper Flakes to taste

Take the eggplant and cut the top and bottom off, then slice it into just under 1/2 inch steaks, you may get 4-6 slices each eggplant. Pre-heat the oven to broil the eggplant. Place on a broiling pan, drizzle the EVOO over each slice, season with black pepper and garlic salt flip and repeat the process. Place the eggplant in the oven and broil for about 7min then flip and broil another 7 min. Remove the eggplant from the oven place 1/2 a slice of cheese on each eggplant and 1 tablespoon of Rotel tomatoes on each eggplant. Return to the oven and broil for another 2 min.

Roasted Broccoli

Cut the pieces off the head into manageable bite sizes and place in a 2 inch roasting pan. Drizzle EVOO over the broccoli along with balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle the red pepper flakes over the broccoli as much as you like, I added 1/4 teaspoon of garlic salt to this for an extra kick. Place in a pre-heated 400 degree oven and cook for 12 min pull out stir and return to the oven for an additional 8 min. When you take it out for the final time if you want to add Parmesan cheese, this of course will make this dish vegetarian not vegan.

Yellow Gold Potatoes with Onions and Garlic

Wash your potatoes this seems to go without saying but one never knows. Cut the potatoes into small to medium bite sized cubes. Slice up 1 small onion and mince 2 cloves garlic. Pre heat a pan to medium high heat and drizzle EVOO into the pan. When the oil is hot add potatoes, onions, garlic stir the ingredients together to coat in the EVOO. Cook on medium high heat for about 15 min or until golden brown and done.

BON APPETIT!!!

Smoothie

I found this recipe on another website but the extra calories that came from the white sugar and heavy cream seemed unnecessary. I wanted a way to lessen the calaries and a natural way to sweeten this smoothie without using white sugar. Using the honey is a great way of making this treat a little sweeter and the silk milk lessens the calaries from the cream. I also used silken tofu in the mixture I think this will allow freezing of this mixture so you can have it as a frozen treet later. I'll get back to you later on that one or maybe you'll be up for the task and let me know.

This cool and refreshing smoothie is as healthy as it is easy to make and take with you while on the go. I used fresh berries cut them up and then froze them an extra step that may prove unnecessary. I freeze them so that they add a thick texture to the smoothie. You could very well choose a good frozen berry, I may in the future as they keep longer than fresh and the frozen berries are less expensive than fresh.

The following list is per smoothie:

Start with some silken tofu about 2 oz, 

1 tea spoons of vanilla

2 table spoons of honey

1/2 cup of silk milk or almond milk (lite)

1 cup of frozen cut up strawberries

1/4 cup of frozen blueberries
5 cubs of ice

Place all ingredients in a GOOD blender and blend till smooth, place in a glass garnish with a fresh strawberry and some fresh blueberries.

A good blender is necessary so that you get the mixture very smooth quickly, skimp on this piece of equipment and you can get lumpy not so smooth smoothies and runny if it takes too long.

Cheers!

January 10, 2011 Breakfest of Champions

Today's breakfast is a simple breakfast burrito, find a wrap that you like mine is a multi grain wrap with only 120 cals. I was in a hurry this morning and out of fresh onions and garlic so I substituted garlic salt and onion powder where I would normally include fresh.

How I started, I had some extra firm tofu and used about 2-3 ounces sliced into strips, I heated a saute pan and when temps came to a high heat I sprayed it with a zero cal Pam spray add tofu and brown on all sides. About half way through the browning I added bell peppers, garlic salt, onion powder then added some pre cooked jasmine rice and black eyed peas along with some fresh mushrooms. Once heated through I placed the wrap over the food in the pan to steam heat the wrap, once done add filling. After assembled I added the final touch of salsa and veggie vegan cheese, YUM!!! Total cal content about 275.

 

 

This was a fast, easy and very tasty way to enjoy a vegan breakfast, your taste buds will be delighted

Vegan Style Cooking First Up BURGERS!

I decided to start a food blog after my students suggested that I keep track of the meals I create. Recently I started experimenting with vegetarianism and even a total vegan diet. At first I thought "wow this is going to be gross". In fact just the opposite, this new endeavor has been quite tasty so much so I am going vegan. This blog will be a testament to my trials in cooking VEGAN style.

I started out at a restaurant that I called hippies and moon beams as I could never remember the name only what it made me thing of, I have since been advised it is called Dream Cafe. Now please understand hippies and moon beams is something that makes me smile so not a slam at all. One of the dishes they have on the menu is called "Your so VEGAN" and I decided to try it. I LOVED IT!

This dish started me out on my journey, only to be fueled by my company that started a vegan study to see the health benefits of a vegan diet. Since my visit to Dream Cafe I have visited local grocery stores as well as speciality stores and found tremendous support for my vegan ways. This blog is intended to document my endeavors I hope you enjoy it as much as I hope to enjoy the journey.

Today I made a Porta Bella Mushroom burger.

I went to Kroger and bought a package of Porta Bella Mushrooms, when I came home I put together a marinade and basting liquid comprised of Balsamic vinegar, EVOO, and Italian herbs. Then I brushed the inside of the mushrooms and let them sit for about 15 min. While they sat I fired up the grill once ready I placed the shroons on the grill smooth side UP. I grilled these for about 10 min on this side basting with the marinade. When i flipped them I allowed another 10 min of grilling smooth side down.

Once done I placed some VEGAN cheese I bought from Kroger pepper jack flavored on the inside of the shroon and allowed to melt. Meanwhile I had some bread that I also got at Kroger that is 35 cal per slice and placed some VEGAN butter on it with some fresh chopped garlic and let this toast on the grill along with some onions. Once done I simply started building the burger. Lettuce, onions, I do not care for tomatoes so I skipped these, I did add bell pepper and mustard and Viola! Bella Burger and the best burger I have ever had! I am hooked!