Exploits of a Vegan Wannabe

2/22 Louisiana Style Red Beans and Rice

Sherry — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 17:15:01 +0000

In honor of Mardi Gras I wanted to share a recipe for Louisiana style Red Beans and Rice. Here is a slice of Mardi Gras info from History.com to whet your appetite.

On Mardi Gras in 1827, a group of students donned colorful costumes and danced through the streets of New Orleans, emulating the revelry they’d observed while visiting Paris. Ten years later, the first recorded New Orleans Mardi Gras parade took place, a tradition that continues to this day. In 1857, a secret society of New Orleans businessmen called the Mistick Krewe of Comus organized a torch-lit Mardi Gras procession with marching bands and rolling floats, setting the tone for future public celebrations in the city. Since then, krewes have remained a fixture of the Carnival scene throughout Louisiana. Other lasting customs include throwing beads and other trinkets, wearing masks, decorating floats and eating King Cake. Louisiana is the only state in which Mardi Gras is a legal holiday.

I also learned that the word carnival is derived form the Latin word carnelevarium, which means to remove meat. So lets do that. Here is a recipe for a meaty, hearty, porky red beans and rice that are completely body and soul loving. We started with dried beans which amps up the flavor ten fold, but also means they take several hours to cook. This is a low and slow kind of meal but if you need to sub with canned beans in order to create the dish on a busy evening…do it. Just remember to rinse and drain your canned beans.

Photo By: S. Duquet

Louisiana Style Red Beans and Rice

Inspired by Emeril Lagasse and re-imagined by: S. Boulton

Ingredients

1/2 C finely chopped shallot
1/2 C chopped celery
1 C chopped bell pepper
2 Tbsp minced garlic
3 bay leaves
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp fennel seed (run knife thru seeds several times to mince or use ground)
3/4 tsp cayenne
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
6 C red beans, soaked overnight and rinsed
6 C no-chikn broth or low sodiumveggie broth
2 C water (as needed)
4 cups cooked of your favorite rice, we used 1 1/2 C basmati and 1/2 C black rice
Crusty loaf bread

Make it Happen:

In a stock pot, saute the shallot, celery, pepper and garlic for 1 to 2 minutes. Add black pepper, thyme, fennel and cayenne and saute for another minute. Add the apple cider vinegar and beans. Cover the mixture with the stock . Bring up to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook the bean mixture for 3 hours or until the beans are tender.

Photo By: S. Duquet

Add water as needed during cooking to keep beans immersed in broth. Ladle atop rice and serve. Makes 8 servings.

I enjoyed my red beans and rice with a dollop of hot sauce and a chunk of crusty bread. It was warming and celebratory just like a carnival of good taste.

Have a delicious day.

2/21 Vegan Ranch

Sherry — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:00:45 +0000

Photo By: S. Duquet

I have always loved homemade ranch dressing. The kind that you get in really good restaurants or seedy diners. Yesterday for our meatless meal clients we created a retro diner themed meal. With their meals we gave them an iceberg lettuce wedge with homemade vegan ranch dressing and sliced cherry tomatoes. This is the first time we have attempted to make vegan ranch. I have seen it bottled in the store and have shunned it because real ranch dressing has such a specific flavor and bad ranch is just…. well, bad. Sandy Googled vegan ranch and this is just one of the recipes that came up. It is the first and last recipe we will ever try. It is that good.

Vegan Ranch Dressing

By: J. Hackett from About.com

Ingredients

1 C Vegan mayo ( I used Veganaise)

1/4 C original soy milk

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 tsp finely chopped fresh parsley

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp dried dill

Make It Happen

Blend all ingredients in a blender or food processor until smooth and creamy.

Photo By: S. Duquet

To use your ranch dressing as a dip, just add a bit extra mayonnaise and a bit less soy milk to make it thicker. Place the dip in the fridge; dressing will thicken and set as it cools.

This dressing tastes so eerily like homemade ranch, that if you are still using dairy here and there, you will want to be mad at yourself for indulging in dairy ranch for no good reason. It is so incredible that you just may pour it into a bowl and eat it like soup. Once you taste it you will definitely have to fight the urge to go on a salad binge.

Thank you J. Hackett for bringing ranch back into our lives. It is such a decadent indulgence. Being vegan rules!

Have a delicious day.

2/20 Diner Doughnuts with Dark Chocolate Ganache

Sherry — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 16:20:24 +0000

Happy Meatless Monday. Over the weekend we did a lot of shopping at stores with housewares like Target and Marshall’s. I was struck by how many new baking accoutrements there are. There is a pan for everything from mini tarts to baby bundts. The possibilities are unlimited and it inspires me to explore recipes to bake all things vegan. As I looked at each pan with mounting excitement, suddenly I saw one that spoke to me and I exclaimed with equal parts reverence and joy,” look, I could make vegan doughnuts!” I promptly put the shiny new non-stick doughnut pan in the cart and felt the anticipation of a six year old with an unopened box of Cap’n Crunch. Something good was about to happen.

Photo By: S. Duquet

We took the pan home and I began to research vegan doughnut recipes. Sandy called our girlfriend for back-up and opened a bottle of wine. Baking is the best! They laughed and drank while I made vegan doughnuts. After a very long day at work our kitchen became a cacophony of laughter and pastry flour. It was heavenly and it all came from the purchase of a $12 doughnut pan. We don’t even eat doughnuts, but we did last night and they were the most unbelievably decadent and joyful ones I have ever had.

Photo By: S. Duquet

Diner Doughnuts with Dark Chocolate Ganache
Yield: 8 donuts

By: The VerdantLife.com and slightly modified by S. Duquet

Doughnut Ingredients

1 cup vanilla almond milk
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp coffee extract (or whatever extract you would like)
2 Tbsp agave nectar
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup vegan chocolate chips, crushed in a food processor

Ganache Ingredients

1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips
3-4 Tbsp vanilla almond milk heated

Make It Happen

~Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray doughnut pan lightly with oil and set aside.

~Whisk together wet ingredients (including brown sugar) until foamy.

~Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl, then add the wet mixture and fold in.

~Spoon into doughnut pan, filling each doughnut cup to the top and bake 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

~While the doughnuts are baking, melt chocolate in the microwave or in a double boiler (I used a double boiler)

~Add heated almond milk 1 tsp at a time, stirring briskly to combine until you reach the consistency of a ganache or dip (thicker than a sauce) Continue to reheat and melt chocolate as you add liquid.

~When doughnuts are cool enough to handle, dip one side in the chocolate ganache and place them on a cooling rack.

Photo By: S. Duquet

I have continuously been amazed and delighted by how much veganism has expanded my desire to cook and play in the kitchen. An activity that was once solely perfunctory has become the perfect evening in with girlfriends. I feel like if purchasing a new pan or wanting to try and veganize a doughnut gets us in our kitchens and inspires us to have fun and enjoy food….that is a beautiful thing.

Have a delicious day.

2/18 Vegan Mac n Cheese

Sherry — Sat, 18 Feb 2012 11:00:38 +0000

Every vegan wannabe has an arsenal of favorite recipes for vegan mac and cheese….here is our first.

The other night we were seeking some comfort food, you know the kind of food that fills your belly and a place in your soul that is wanting to feel safe and loved too. We discussed some of our favorites and then suddenly, macaroni and cheese came to mind as the perfect option. Mac n cheese was a staple of my childhood. When I was little, the Kraft Mac n cheese from the blue box was nothing short of divine, but my palate has changed along with other dietary choices and now I prefer a slightly more grown up variation on an old friend.

A few months back Sandy whipped up a hollandaise sauce that had a slightly cheesy overtone to it. When there was some leftover, she made it into a macaroni and cheese that was positively craveable. So, she made again the other night, this time with the idea in mind that it was to become macaroni and cheese right from the start.

Photo By: S. Duquet

Vegan Mac n Cheese

by S. Boulton

Hollandaise Ingredients:

1 pkg Silken tofu (approx 15 oz)

1/2 + 1/8 C nutritional yeast (set this 1/8 C aside)

1 Tbsp white or yellow miso (we used white paste)

2 Tbsp tamari

1 lemon, juiced

1/2 tsp turmeric

Dash black pepper

1/2 tsp paprika

1 Tbsp arrowroot

Unsweetened non-dairy milk as needed to thin sauce (we started with 1/4 C and ended up closer to 1/2 C)

Rest of Mac n Cheese ingredients

~ 1/4 to 1/2 C shredded non-dairy cheese (I used Daiya)

~3 C your favorite pasta shape (dry)

~1 C frozen peas

Make it Happen:

~Put all of the Hollandaise sauce ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until very smooth. It should be pourable, but not runny.

~boil the pasta according to the package instructions. Toss the peas into the boiling pasta for about the last 2 minutes to heat them through. You could add other veggies if you wanted as well, like chopped peppers or artichoke, let your imagination roam free. Drain the pasta and peas in a colander and return to the pot. Stir in the shredded cheese and as it begins to melt, add the hollandaise sauce, the 1/8 C additional nutritional yeast and warm together on low just enough to heat through.

Photo By: S. Duquet

If you felt even further inspired, you could toss in some chopped olives here too. We kept it simpler on this evening and enjoyed it with only adding peas.

Makes 4 generous servings.

This was a perfect comfort food for my body and my soul, just as I had imagined it would be.

Have a delicious weekend.

2/17 Maroon Carrots

Sherry — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 11:00:20 +0000

A week ago while filming our most exciting, first ever casting video for the Travel Channel we went to a local boutique produce store. Whenever I am looking for the unique…the best of the best, I go to this store.

Photo By: S. Duquet

While there we found maroon carrots. I had never seen a maroon carrot and I fell in love instantly.
They are as deep purple as an eggplant, yet their insides are bright orange. Once sliced they look like edible poker chips. They taste like a carrot on Xanax…they are softer and much more rounded in flavor when enjoyed raw. According to CarrotMuseum.com,”The first cultivated carrots exhibited purple or yellow roots. Carrot cultivation spread to Spain in the 1100’s via the Middle East and North Africa. In Europe, genetic improvement led to a wide variety of cultivars. White and orange-coloured carrots were first described in Western Europe in the early 1600’s (Banga 1963).”

I feel like the purple carrot has been waiting for us to acknowledge its beauty and original place in our carrot devouring history.

Photo By: S. Duquet

I paired the maroon carrots with raw golden beets for the most visually stunning salad I have ever seen. I doused it with an oil free bottled dressing to create an easy and vibrant side dish.

Ingredients

~Thinly sliced Golden beets

~Thinly sliced maroon carrots

~Dressing of choice

Make It Happen

Toss to coat, chill and enjoy.

Sometimes….really most times, the natural beauty of things grown in the ground do not need to be elevated or disguised…just honored and enjoyed.

Have a delicious day.

2/16 Bakers of the World Unite

Sherry — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:00:05 +0000

I have always been a lover of bake sales. The elementary school in our neighborhood where we vote always has one situated perfectly outside the gymnasium, where the voting booths are located. Our favorite church rummage sales also have them. Tables overflowing with beloved baked goods looking for a home. There are always antique baked goods created by strictly following handed down family recipes. Seeing those items makes me feel at home on my insides whether or not I purchase them. The funny thing is that even though I love attending bake sales so much, I have not purchased anything at one in over a year and a half….since I have been vegan. Oh I have looked, but have not found so much as a vegan cookie. Time for a sea change.

The fourth annual Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale will takes place this year April 21-April 29th. It is an international movement designed to get people baking, eating and talking about all things deliciously vegan. The concept is that during the selected week there will be vegan bake sales spanning the globe that have affiliated with the World Wide Vegan Bake Sale. People all over the world will be noshing on vegan baked goods, spreading the love and raising some dough for a charity they care about. Sounds pretty wonderful to me.

To participate you simply need to register your event with their site, have a vegan bake sale within the week time frame and donate the proceeds to the charity of your choice. Their website has a bounty of resources to help you create a successful event including vegan baking tips, recipes, brochures and even a press release template to send to local media. The cool thing is that you don’t have to be vegan to participate, you just need to be willing to bake vegan edibles and share them with the world. I have found vegan baking to be challenging, satisfying and exciting and I think you may as well.

I have been allowing this exciting idea to envelope my thinking and it feels pretty good. Where to hold the sale…what charity we should partner with and what goodies to bake. My love of baking was born with my veganism and I have to admit, I was kind of surprised. Who would of thought that becoming vegan would have encouraged such a new love of baking. Yum.

Have you ever participated in this event or in an event like it? Have any tips to share with a vegan wannabe bake saler? I would love to hear from you.

Here is a link to a highlight video from the 2010 Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale. The music and sweet, loving images from around the globe made me feel both weepy and motivated. 2010 Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale

Have a delicious day.

2/14 Happy Love Yourself Day

Sherry — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 11:00:23 +0000

Courtesy of Adventures2findhim.com

Happy day my friends. Welcome to part deux of Love Yourself Day. Today begin a new habit of treating yourself like a cherished friend and loved one. Every time you go to the ladies or men’s room and face the mirror, use it as an opportunity to say something kind about yourself to yourself. Something like, ”Sherry, your hair looks pretty today, or…you are likable.” If it feels too difficult or strange at first, then start slowly by saying things your mind is less likely to resist such as ,”Sherry you are a kind friend, or… I am proud of you for being on time today.” Once you get over the initial feelings of insecurity or ridiculousness, you may realize that it feels good…really good to say nice things to yourself all day long. And isn’t the most ridiculous thing of all that it actually feels so foreign to look in a mirror and say something loving to yourself? When did that happen? I want kindness and self love to be a habit; an everyday all day long action that I engage in for myself and for those I love.

A Valentine gift that I decided to give to myself was pink sugar cookies. Iced sugar cookies make my heart smile. They hold a place in my happiness files whose origin I am unsure of. I don’t know how they became so beloved, but they make me happy and I like that.

I wanted to make pink, iced sugar cookies for myself for Valentines Day so I researched natural food coloring made from beets. I found a perfectly easy recipe that created the most divine shade of pink cookies and icing. I also used beet sugar to carry the theme throughout. They were the best iced sugar cookies I have ever had. Making them from all things beet was a bonus.

Sugar Beet Hearts

By S. Duquet

I used the perfect sugar cookie recipe from Peas and Thank You and slightly modified it using beet juice coloring and beet sugar.

Note: I used the beet coloring in the cookies to make them a baby pink color. It was subtle but looked very sweet. I used it as well in the icing. You will want to make your beet coloring before you make your cookies.

Beet food coloring:

Recipe from EmilyWeaverBrownPhotography.com

Thank you Emily. I loved using this beautiful, natural food coloring

~Place beets (tops removes) in glass dish with about 2 inches of water. Cover with foil and bake at 400 for about 45 min (up to an hour for very large beets). I used 2 cups of small beets
~Let beets cool, remove from beet juice. (I carefully poured warm juice into a sauce pan and began to boil)
~ Move beet juice to a pot and boil until juice is reduced to a thick syrup.

Makes enough syrup for cookies and icing

Cookie Ingredients:

~ 2 1/2 C unbleached organic flour

~ 2 tsp baking powder

~ 1/2 tsp salt

~ 1 C beet sugar

~ 1/4 C non-dairy milk (I used vanilla coconut milk)

~ 2 tsp vanilla extract

1 C vegan margarine (I used Earth Balance)

1-2 Tbsp beet food coloring

Make it Happen:

In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. In large mixing bowl, beat together sugar, milk, vanilla and margarine and food coloring. Gradually add dry ingredients to the large bowl, mixing until a dough comes together. Remove dough from bowl and wrap in plastic wrap. (I wrapped mine in two long rolls) Refrigerate for 1 to 3 hours until dough becomes firm.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove dough (one roll at a time) from fridge and roll out onto floured board with a floured rolling pin until dough is about 3/4 inch thick. Using cookie cutters, cut into desired shapes and carefully transfer to a cookie sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes until edges are slightly browning. Be careful not to over bake. Allow cookies to cool on cookie sheet for a minute before moving to a cooling rack. (I found that after I cut out my shapes a few times and re-rolled, the dough became very soft so I wrapped it back up, put in the fridge to re-chill.)

Icing Ingredients

1 C sifted powdered sugar

1 Tbsp or more if you would like of beet food coloring

1-2 Tbsp vanilla or flavor of your choice

Make It Happen

~Add liquid to sifted sugar and mix briskly with a whisk. Add enough additional liquid if needed to create your icing.

Photo By: S. Duquet

~Ice your cookies, let dry and enjoy.

I had one while Sandy was gone then pretended I hadn’t. I had another as I was photographing them, then I made myself a pot of tea so I could enjoy another one. They made my heart smile really big.

Have a delicious Love Yourself Day.

2/13 An Inspired Winner and Love Yourself Part one

Sherry — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 11:00:37 +0000

Happy Meatless Monday and day before Valentine’s. I have a two part Love Yourself Valentines special for you. Two recipes to love that will absolutely love you back.

Thank you for all of your comments to win The Inspired Vegan by Bryant Terry. The book is beautiful and I am honored to have a copy to share with you. Congratulations Nik D, you are our inspired winner.

Courtesy of cupcakesandcrinoline.com

Valentines Day has always felt like it was about having someone to love. Getting a Valentine…. giving a valentine…do you remember how vital it was in elementary school to receive an adequate amount of Valentines inside your hand decorated mailboxes?? God the pressure was almost too much to bare for a third grader. Even thinking about it now makes my chest tighten. I’m tired of living in the shadow of third grade expectations and fears. I am tired of wanting someone else to show me how loved I am on Valentines Day. I want to show me how loved I am on Valentines Day. I want Valentines Day to be about loving myself. I strive to love myself enough to be a nurturing and loving participant in the lives of those I love.

With that I give to you Love Yourself Lentil Stew. It is the kind of meal that will love you from the inside out. It will scrub your arteries, pump up your heart and jiggle your organs. It will feed your soul and warm your feet. It will make you strong and help you smile at yourself in the mirror because you are loved.

Photo By: S. Duquet

Love Yourself Lentil Stew

Original recipe by Melissa Ray Davis and modified by S. Boulton

Ingredients:

~ One shallot, chopped fine

~ 3 Tbsp granulated garlic

~ 1 large carrot, chopped

~ 2 stalks of celery, chopped

~ 3 C potatoes diced, I used California white with skin on (Sandy cut hers in the shape of a heart with a small cookie cutter for the occasion)

~ 1 Jalapeno pepper, chopped small

~ 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil

~ 1 1/2 C brown lentils

~ 1/2 C green lentils

~ 1 Tbsp dried thyme

~ 1 tsp ground turmeric

~ 1 tsp ground rosemary

~ 2 bay leaves

~ 1 quart low sodium veggie broth

~ 1 C white wine

~ 2-3 C water

~ 2 C fresh kale chopped

~ Coarse Sea Salt to taste (about 1 Tablespoon)

~ Pepper to taste (I used at least 1 Tbsp)

~ 3 Tbsp red wine vinegar

Make it Happen:

In large stock pot, simmer shallot, garlic, carrot, celery, potato and pepper until vegetables sweat, stirring often. Add lentils and turn to coat in mixture. Add the thyme, turmeric, rosemary and bay leaves and mix gently.

Photo By: S. Duquet

Add veggie broth and white wine, stir and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes and add water in steps as lentils absorb liquid and stir. Mix in kale and red wine vinegar and continue simmering for another 20 minutes.. Add salt, pepper and extra garlic to taste, simmer another minute or two and serve with hearty crusty bread. Yields 6 servings.

Have a delicious day.

2/11 Operation Beautiful

Sherry — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 11:00:58 +0000

In the past few days, I have been having a difficult time with reruns of my old mental tapes. They have been stuck on repeat and are painful and exhausting. The tapes star negativity with cameos by insecurity and self doubt. They are so familiar to me that I don’t even know they are playing until I am almost drowning and can hardly breath. Last night as I was reading an article on This Dish is Veg , I saw a beacon of light…..a ray so slender and bright, it could only be born of positivity and love. The article was about unique and compassionate ways to celebrate Valentines Day.

One of the suggestions was to leave anonymous, positive affirmation post-it notes in public places like bathroom mirrors and locker rooms as a reminder to anyone that reads them that they are beautiful and lovable. According to the article by Amanda J, this act of selfless sticky noting is called Operation Beautiful. It is a movement created by Caitlin Boyle when she began leaving loving notes throughout her living space to challenge and eliminate her own negative self talk. She took her positive post-its on the road and began leaving them all over town. Now Caitlin encourages all of us to eradicate, challenge, quiet our negative self talk by leaving loving notes for ourselves and others. All you need to participate is a pen and a post-it. Send Caitlin an email at OperationBeautiful@gmail.com with a photograph of your Operation Beautiful note or a description of your experience, and she will post it on the Operation Beautiful site.

This week if I had found a post- it note on a public bathroom mirror that said, “You are lovable just the way you are,” I would have freaked out, cried, looked over my shoulder and then tried, even if just for a moment to absorb it and believe it. For that reason alone, I am going to purchase a pack of colorful post-its, a special pen and engage in Operation Beautiful. For myself and for any woman that uses a public restroom after me that needs a reminder that she is unique, perfect and beautiful exactly the way she is.

Have a delicious weekend.

2/10 Pearls of Wisdom

Sherry — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:00:14 +0000

This week was the first time I have ever created a dish using Pearl Couscous. I had heard of it before, but had not yet sought it out or tried to cook with it. In all honesty, until I became vegan a year and a half ago, I wasn’t really familiar with anything more scandalous than brown rice. I wasn’t very adventurous and only marginally enjoyed cooking. I am now willing and excited to try new things and that has been one of the most unexpected treasures of becoming vegan.

Pearl couscous is much larger than its North African counterpart and is toasted rather than dried. It is chewy in a pleasing way and feels much heartier than ordinary couscous. I bought a tri-color blend and paired it with pencil thin asparagus, musky brussel sprouts and bright, tangy lemon. I called it Pearls of Wisdom in honor of all the brain feeding food on one plate. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

Photo By: S. Duquet

Pearls of Wisdom

By: S. Duquet

Veggie Ingredients

3 C fresh asparagus broken into pieces

3 C brussel sprouts halved or quartered

2 C low sodium vegetable broth

1 C fresh dill

2 packed cups parsley

1/2 C chopped walnuts

Juice of 2 lemons

Couscous Ingredients

1.5 C low sodium vegetable broth

1 C Pearl couscous (I used Rice Select Tri Color)

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

Make It Happen

~Begin cooking couscous and the spices in broth

~Meanwhile,start to prepare the veggie ingredients. In a deep saute pan simmer brussel sprouts in 2 C veggie broth until nearly tender. Add asparagus and simmer until both are al dente.

~When veggies and couscous are both cooked, mix together in large bowl. Stir in fresh herbs, walnuts and lemon juice.

Enjoy immediately.

Photo By: S. Duquet

This dish is lively and satiating in a comforting way. It is a love fest for your body and mind.

Enter to win a copy of The Inspired Vegan

Thank you for sharing your favorite comfort foods in the comments. I have loved reading every one of them and hope to try them all. I love foods that speak to my soul and wrap it in love even when I can’t. Please continue to comment for additional entries to win. Here is a second question if you have already answered the first. Where is the best vegetarian or vegan restaurant you have ever been to on vacation? Mine is a restaurant called Leafy Greens in St Petersburg, Florida. Contest ends this Saturday, Feb 11th and I will announce the winner on Monday, Feb 13th.

Have a delicious day.