We have MOVED to www.ChooseVegBlog.com!

Hey everyone, Our blog has now moved to www.ChooseVegBlog.com Please come and visit! :) Sangeeta

Still Under Construction: To Paradise and Back!

Firstly, I'm sorry that I've been away for a long time! I have a really really good excuse! I was getting married AGAIN!(this time it was an Indian version) I just got back from our honeymoon and would love to share some of the AMAZING experiences we encountered along the way. My most recent posts will be about the incredibly delicious food on the island... So get yourself a cup of tea, kick back, and enjoy a mini photo vacation to Maui through my new photo blog at www.KumariBlog.com

Under Construction

Hi All! I know I've been gone for so long! We're rebuilding our blog site and it will be featured on www.ChooseVeg.com pretty soon!! Oh and I'm sorry that the formating is all ruined on this blog...when we uploaded our posts on our new blog, somehow it ruined our formating and instead of putting time into fixing this, I figure I should instead put time into building the new blog.

In the meantime, here is a quick recipe that I use often. I love sweet potatoes and they are so good for you! All I do is slice up the sweet potatoes add a little oil and sprinkle on some chili powder and salt to taste. Then I bake it at 415F for about 15-20 min. You can eat it plain, but I like to eat it with some ketchup on the side. Try this out, and I know you'll be eating this simple snack over and over again! Hopefully, the next time I blog, I'll be telling you that our new blog site is up and read to visit!

A Salad that Keeps You Coming Back for More!

Could this be true? A salad that makes you want to come back for more and more and more? Yes, it is! :) I know, this isn’t the “Most Awesome Salad in the World” which I blogged about last week, but it’s still pretty awesome if you ask me. Before I tell you more, I just want to say sorry for being away for a several days! I know, it’s not like me…but I have good reason. I’ve been swamped creating my new site and juggling a whole bunch of projects! I’ll have some exciting news for this blog in the coming weeks...let’s just say we’ll be growing leaps and bounds soon…more to come! Back to the topic at hand…who doesn’t love Cesar salad? And it’s even better made vegan! (Isn’t everything better vegan?) I whipped up this recipe and as usual I didn’t measure anything, so I’m giving you approximate amounts…but either way, trust your intuition and it’ll turn out great! Cesar Salad Dressing 1/2 package of silken tofu (6oz) http://www.morinu.com/product/tofu.html 1 Tbsp Braggs Liquid Aminos (or Shoyu/Tamari Sauce) 1 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast 1 strip of Nori (2 inches by 2 inches) 1 lemon, juiced 1/4-1/2 tsp garlic powder (if you are a garlic “freak” be my guest--go crazy on it!) 3-4 Tbsp water 1/4-1/2 tsp white pepper salt to taste Salad: 1 head Romaine Lettuce, chopped 1 avocado, chopped 2 handful of croutons (I buy read-made ones to save time, but you can make your own) 1 red pepper, diced Blend the dressing ingredient until smooth. If you want to make your dressing thinner, then just add more water until you achieve your desired consistency. Then toss the dressing into the salad until it is nicely coated. We tossed about half the dressing amount and saved the rest for the next day.

A Protein Powerhouse Meal

This dish was made whimsically with whatever grocery was left in our fridge. I know it’s annoying when you are hungry and all you see are a few things in the refrigerator, but you know, sometimes your most creative meals can be made this way. I kind of like the challenge of it all, and I hope you enjoy what I’ve come up with. But first, a word on tempeh…This meal is made of an Indonesian product called tempeh. It’s very high in protein as it’s made of soybeans. It’s gross how they make it, (it’s basically fermented beans) but I try not to think about that because it’s good for you and it makes a hearty meal. Like tofu, tempeh is very versatile and can be put into a variety of dishes. However, most brands of tempeh have a bitter aftertaste that I don’t like. So, I’d suggest boiling the tempeh in water for about 10-15 min to get rid of the bitterness. Now, if you buy the White Wave brand of tempeh, you won’t get much of a bitter flavor and that’s the brand that I’d recommend. Orange Tempeh Marinade 1 package of tempeh 1 orange, juiced 1 tsp orange rind (or to taste) 1 Tbsp almond butter 3 tsp agave nectar 1 Tbsp shoyu sauce 1/4 tsp ginger powder (optional) Tempeh Stirfry 1/2 small red onion, diced 1 garlic clove, crushed 1 head of broccoli, chopped Miso Sauce (optional) 1 Tbsp Brown Rice Miso 4 Tbsp Water (or more if you want a thinner sauce) Mix all the ingredients for the marinade until it’s smooth. Then marinade the tempeh for about 1 hour. If you don’t want to wait that long (I didn’t) you can get away with marinating for about 30 min. Then heat a few sprays of canola oil in a non-stick pan and add the onions and garlic until soft. (because I don’t like to use too much oil, I add a little water after about a minute of stir-frying.) Then add the tempeh and fry for about 5 minutes after which you can add the broccoli. You can put a lid over my pan for another 5 minutes or until the broccoli is soft. If you want this dish to have a fuller flavor, you can add some miso sauce at the very end. I mixed about 1 Tbsp of brown rice miso and 4 Tbsp water and poured a little over my tempeh dish…delicious!

A Quick and Simple Snack for Summer

My first blog entry ever was about my favorite food…smoothies. I want to continue to share with you my favorite smoothie recipes. Just like you, I’m always on the go and am constantly juggling projects. When I get hungry, I want to snack fast. I want something fresh, easy to make and easy to clean. (I'm not much of a dish washer!) I can’t tell you how often I make smoothies because they are delicious, healthy and the magic word…soooo easy to make. I make them for breakfast, dessert and sometimes when I'm really really busy, I even have them for dinner! This week I’ve been making a lot of strawberry pineapple smoothies, so I decided to share my recipe with you. 1 banana 1/4 cup of frozen strawberries 1/4 pineapples 1/4 cup almonds 1 cup water 1 Tbsp flax seeds Combine all the ingredients in a blender until smooth and enjoy! If you have a Vitamix blender, this will blend very easily. If you have $20 blender (I had one all through college) then it’ll take several attempts at getting this smoothie to be smooth. Most likely, it’ll be a bit chunky due to the almonds, but I like that way. If you want to lose weight, get healthier, or just eat something delicious, please give smoothies a try. I can't emphasize enough how yummy and easy they are to make.

The Most Awesome Salad in the World!

This is my absolute favorite salad! This recipe was inspired by a wonderful restaurant here in Columbus called North Star Cafe. I used to order this salad all the time at the restaurant and just couldn’t get enough…then I tried to mimic the recipe at home and I think I’ve got it pretty close. I knew it was a winner when my HUGE Indian family came over for dinner and had this salad and kept coming back for more! Now, fancy salads is not the Indian “thang”…but when my non-venturesome food loving family inhaled this dish, I knew I was onto something great. I can guarantee that your friends and family will love this too! So there are a few “magic” ingredients in order to make this happen…it just won’t be the same without Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar (I get it from Trader Joe’s) and Candied Pecans (also from Trader Joe’s). I’ve never measured these ingredients, but this is close to how I do it. Dressing: 3-4 Tbsp Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar 1 Tbsp Agave Nectar 2 tsp Shoyu Sauce (this has a softer flavor than Tamari) 1/2 lemon, juiced (I just squeezed about 1 Tbsp worth of juice) Salad: 5 steamed Baby Beets (I buy them pre-steamed from Trader Joe’s) 1 handful Candied Pecans, chopped 1 handful of Roasted Almonds, chopped 1 avocado (optional) 1 container of pre-washed Baby Lettuce Assemble the salad ingredients in a large salad bowl. Mix the dressing ingredients together and toss into the salad bowl. You can also add baked tofu and croûtons to this salad. My mouth is watering just writing this…I hope you love this as much as we do!

Berry Bonanza!

Spring is here! Oh my favorite time of year…Now is the time that I get out of hibernation and actually get to go out for a bit. I’m sorry, I’ve been slacking on the blogging end, but I’ve been out and about all week enjoying the little bit of warmth in the air and a few rays of sunshine. So in keeping with my simplistic fruit dessert theme, I want to encourage you to make nice desserts out of fruit. It may not seem like a dessert to you, but put it in a nice bowl and spruce it up with some cinnamon, powdered sugar, agave, nutmeg and anything else your imagination will allow and there you have it. In minutes, you'll have a delicious simple meal which is not only good for you, but beautiful to look at. I love berries! How can you go wrong with berries? I think we forget how lucky we are in being able to go to the grocery store and pick out as many containers of berries as we want. Have you ever gone berry-picking? It's super fun, but very labor intensive. Once you've gone berry picking, you'll never forget how lucky we are to have so much good food at our fingertips. In our go-go-go culture, sometimes it's nice just to slow down and enjoy the simple things in life. So go ahead, slow down and enjoy. . . . If you feel a little more venturesome, try this wonderful recipe from my friend at the Fat Free Vegan Blog called Fruit Medley Cobbler. I love cobblers as they are so easy to make and you really can’t go wrong. I’ll share my cobbler recipes as soon as I stop frolicking outdoors and set myself down at the computer. :)

Tropical, Sensational and Oohhh so Easy!

It’s Sunday night and you just gotta have something sweet...but you can’t add extra pounds to that fab body of yours! Oh what to do, what to do? Well, I’m in the same boat and I can’t binge as I have a wedding dress to fit into, so I came up with an easy dessert recipe anyone can follow. While shopping at Whole Foods I was looking for something yummy that I could snack on. Now, I’ve been really good with my work-out “regime” and I just wanted something yummy that won’t make me take two steps backwards for every step I’ve taken forward. And then I saw them, glistening in the grocery aisle and calling my name, 2 cans of organic papaya and mango just wanted to come home with me. It worked! When I was wanting something sweet that night, I remembered the tropical fruit I picked up. Here are 2 versions you can try…one is no fat, and the other has a little but certainly not as much a slice of chocolate cake. Tropical Fruit Salad 1 can mango 1 can papaya 1 banana 2-4 tsp agave nectar 1/2 tsp of blossoming orange extract Chop the fruit and mix it in a bowl. Then in a separate mixing bowl stir the orange blossom extract with some agave nectar. Pour this nectar over the fruit and enjoy! “Whipped” Cream 6 oz silken tofu (or if you can’t eat soy, then you can add about 3/4 cups of cashews) 1/4 cup agave nectar (I guessed at this amount) 2 tsp vanilla extract 2 tsp blossoming orange extract Blend all the ingredients in a blender until the cream is smooth. If you noticed in the picture, I layered the whipped cream with fruit in a martini glass. Once it’s all pretty, put it in the refrigerator to cool for about 30min. There it is…a guiltless dessert. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Mac and “Cheese” made with Vegieees (Seriously!)

Do you ever walk into the kitchen on a Sat afternoon and crave Mac and Cheese for lunch?…Ya? I knew it! So that’s what happened to me today. Every once in a while I really crave Mac and Cheese…and this really hits the spot! When I used to baby-sit children, I came up with this absurdly great recipe. How I came up with it, I am not sure. Some crazy vision took over my palate and made me come up with this concoction, but it worked!

1 package of frozen veggies (I like Cascadian Farms Garden Vegetables with corn, carrots, green beans and peas.) 1 package of silken tofu (This is a very smooth tofu. I use the Mori-Nu brand found in Asian sections of grocery stores) 1-2 tsp turmeric powder(more if you want a brighter color) 1/4 tsp garlic powder (optional) 2-4 tsp olive oil (we live a low-fat lifestyle, but feel free to add more oil if you like) 2-4 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast 1 Tbsp Shoyu Sauce (you can use Braggs Liquid Aminos) 1/2 lemon, juiced 1-2 tsp salt (optional)

Now, just like most of my recipes, this is a ridiculously easy! All you have to do is cut up the tofu and steam it with the veggies for about 6-8 minutes. You can use firm tofu if you like, but the “cheese” will be more gritty than with silken tofu which is well…silky smooth! Then blend all the ingredients…you can add a little water to your blender if you do not have a powerful blender like the Vitamix. (we’re in love with our Vitamix! Whatever you do, never ask my husband about this blender, as you’ll never hear the end of it!) Pour this blended mixture onto macaroni pasta and stir. I sprinkled just a little bit of salt over the mac and cheese which made the flavors just pop! Please note that this is just a base recipe…feel free to add other things or take things out. Sometimes I add more carrots to this recipes to add more color, but I rarely make it the same way twice. Mmmm...I hope you enjoy this recipe.