Sunday, August 15, 2010

Get Your Cook On!

Today we will be looking at what you can cook when you are at home, and either can't afford to go and explore the city or you don't want to. Nikki tested some recipes, and did not invite me to eat them! If you want some ideas for something scrumptious to eat, try these on for size. 



Stuffed Zucchini
Ingredients 
    6 med zucchini - approx 6-8 long and 2 in diameter    
    2 med or 4-6 plum fresh tomatoes
    1/2 lb fresh mushrooms
    1 fresh red pepper
    1 med to large sweet onion
    3 lg garlic cloves, more if you love garlic
    olive oil for sautéing
    salt & pepper to taste
    1 bunch fresh basil
    breadcrumbs or matzoh meal or falafel mix (approx 1/2 c)

Directions:

Trim the stem on the zucchinis, but don't cut it all the way off.  Carefully cut the zucchinis in half lengthwise, making two boats.  Use a paring knife and carefully hollow out the zucs, leaving about 1/4 inch all around sides & bottom.  Save the parts you remove.  Place the zuc boats in an oiled baking pan or cookie sheet.

Chop all the vegetables, but keep them separate.  Heat olive oil in large pot or Dutch oven.  Add red pepper, a few minutes later onion, a few minutes later garlic.  Simmer slowly so they get soft and onions become translucent, but not browned.  Add mushrooms, chopped zucchini innards, a few minutes later tomatoes, chopped basil, salt & pepper.  Simmer uncovered about 15 min (you don't want them to get mushy).  Taste for seasonings, to see if it needs anything.  If there is lots of liquid, strain vegs in a colander, but save the liquid.  Mix in some vegan bread crumbs or matzoh farfel just to help hold it all together.  Fill all the zucchini boats - there should be enough filling for them to be slightly mounded.  Baste with the saved liquid.

Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1/2 hour to 45 min, until boats are tender but still holding their shape. Check them during baking - if they're getting too dry or browned, cover with foil until the last few min, and baste a couple of times during baking. 

Serves: 12

This is a recipe from Vegweb. 
http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=4706.0

    I narrowed it down to 3 zucchs and cut all other ingredients in half as well. This recipe was not only a thumbs up from me, but my fiancee as well (not an easy feat). More outstandingly, my brother, who detests most veggies, decided he would finish his girlfriends' share as well. The only downside to this recipe is the length of time it takes to chop up all of the ingredients. Like, the author of this recipe wrote, "If you have a food processor, you're in luck." 

PS. It was also extremely satisfying, which I was worried about, and very filling. I will be making it again. 




Pop Tarts! (or Baked Toaster-Like Pastries)
Every time I go grocery shopping with Chris, he grabs an unhealthy processed box of Poptarts, blueberry, and proceeds to finish them off within two days. (And he wonders why he constantly has headaches...) That being said, I felt it my duty to look for a healthier version of the toaster pastry and luckily found it on Veg Web! 
Ingredients:

    3/4 cup whole wheat flour
    1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
    1/2 cup margarine
    1/4 cup water
    fruit jam or preserves

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a cookie sheet and set aside.

In a  bowl, combine the flours (you can use whatever flour you want). Add the margarine and cut into flour with pastry cutter or fork, adding water as needed-- I didn't need the full 1/4 cup.

Divide dough into 4 equal sized balls, and on a floured surface, roll each out one at a time into a rectangle shape. On one half of the rectangle, spread about a tablespoon (or more if you like) of jam, leaving an edge of dough visible.

Fold dough over to cover the jam and use a fork to connect the edges. You might need a little water to get them to hold together, if you use a lot of flour to roll it out.

When all 4 are done, put them on the cookie sheet and bake for 12-18 minutes.

Take them off the cookie sheet and let rest on a cooling rack.

Serves: 4

Preparation time: about 30 minutes

    This recipe was insanely easy to make. It was quick and the end result was better than any store bought toaster pastry I've ever had. In fact, as soon as I took them out of the oven, they were gobbled up by me and roomies. My fiancee even ate about have of mine, before I stole it back from him! 

PS I did make my own icing with powdered sugar, water, some of the blueberry preserves I used for the inside, and a hint of lemon juice. 


                                                           Portabella Mushroom Burgers


    This is my own recipe from experimenting in the kitchen. Every once in a while, Chris and I are down for some burgers, specifically portabella mushroom burgers. It's usually a big deal, even when we shop. We put the shrooms in the cart and it's Christmas all over again. I made the perfect recipe a long time ago, but unfortunately forgot it. This one is still mouth-watering and satisfies his meat cravings and my mushroom ones. 

Two large Portabella mushrooms (stems removed, we fed them to our rats)
1/2 large Onion (white, chopped)
Less than half of Green or Red Bell Pepper, chopped (We just use the insides and the surrounding stem area so we can use the pepper for other recipes)
Splash of Veggie Broth
Olive Oil as needed
Liquid smoke (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Toppings: Burger Buns (http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=15153.0)
            Tomato slices
            Onion slices
             Condiments of choice
             Lettuce leaf, we had Kale on ours.

Start off by heating up the olive oil (very small amount) in a pan, medium heat. Throw in your peppers. Let simmer for 3 minutes or until almost soft. Somewhere around this point the oil may cease to exist. This is where the veggie broth comes in handy (cutting out some fat here). Add the onion. Let simmer until transparent. Add liquid smoke to taste, along with salt and pepper.
 In the same pan, push the sauteed veggies to the side and set the mushrooms in, with the under-part facing upward. Make sure your sautés aren't getting burnt and that your shrooms aren't either. There is no need to flip them. When the edges soften down, the mushrooms are finished. 
Assemble the burger with mushroom still upside-down (it's a perfect place to put those yummy sautes). Add toppings. We had Kale instead of lettuce on ours. (Chris' idea believe it or not!) You can serve it with sides or all by its lonesome. We had it with carrot sticks (Chris' idea too! Where's the Chris I used to know? :]) 

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Starting off With a Bang, the Raphsodic Escapade

So on Our First Official Adventure together in Rehab, Nikki and I headed to a Quirky/Cool Vegan Bakery Called Raphsodic Cooperative Company. This 100% vegan bakery has the most delicious confections in the Universe, or Orlando, which is the center of my universe for the moment. They have everything from vegan brownies that will take you a week to eat, to delectable cupcakes that you cannot get enough of and all sweets in between. 
Some of the Delicious Cupcakes on Display 
        What must be noted when one first enters this heavenly bakery; it screams, "I AM AWESOME" in about a million different ways. Some examples of the aforementioned awesomeness include the decor that host a rotating gallery of local artist, to vegan friendly handmade jewelry and other goods. This is all before you even approach the bounteously stocked case of sugary delights. Once the Delights have been approached, you may be overcome with indecision from all of the choices that lay before you. There are gluten-free and raw choices, along with the rest of the vegan fare. 

     Having converted my grandmother to an addict of this institution, I had previously been to Raphsodic on numerous occasions trying many cupcakes, cookies, biscuits and scones. ON this venture a Blueberry filled Cupcake with strawberry icing. This was a beautiful marriage of two flavors that I highly enjoyed. As this was Nikki's first time we tried some extra delicious goodies. Her experience and words of praise are as follows.

    I tried the lemon ginger tea with agave nectar that was homemade (exciting!) and the very unique flavor combination of chocolate and espresso that really kicks around in your mouth and with a sip of tea, it all goes down as a rather orgasmic experience, leaving me thinking, "we're coming back here", but more importantly, I was able to exclaim the goodness of a cupcake that's not only sweet in its flavor but in its ideology as well. Vegan cupcakes are not myth.

Chocolate Expresso Cupcake
Side notes: the art on the walls was gorgeous and definitely adds to the environment. The homemade jams were adorable and probably delicious. They have a fridge stocked with an array of healthy drink alternatives to soda.

Overall, the small, but dynamic bakery ties you into the local community. A small bulletin board offers an insight into charities that are being helped around the area and elsewhere, like Food Not Bombs Orlando. Moreover, the flow of the people who are in the space is nothing but good energy. From the co-owner Katie Mosher, who was in during the time of our visit, to the customers coming in, everyone is happy and helpful. (How could you be upset about cupcakes?) No one is shunned for not being veg, there isn't that pungent smell of pretentiousness, and everyone wants to have a good time.

Really, the best way to describe this amazing bakery is as follows:

Even Homer Drools at the Deliciousness 

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

From those in Rehab

There are two writers of this blog, Lauren and myself, Nikki. We are both vegans and both enjoy discovering new recipes, new places to eat out, and new products that help us live a better vegan lifestyle. We have many reasons for being vegans that include animal well-being and respect, environmental, economical, political, and most important to me: health reasons.

Follow Lauren's appetite chain, for all things comforting and sweet and me for anything a little more on the light side. We will also both be experimenting in different recipes. A good half of the recipes I use are for my fiancee and his own taste buds. These recipes will not be on the light side. As far as eating out goes, we will always go together.

However, we are fairly new vegans. I've been a vegetarian for two years and a vegan on and off for about 5 months. Hopefully, this can be helpful to others just starting out as we chart our progress and the adventures that take place throughout this rehab.

Oh, and a little bit about me, other what's already been stated, I'm aiming towards having a tattoo apprenticeship and working on getting my art displayed in some of the local places in Orlando. I love animals, obviously, especially cats, and you'll probably be seeing a lot of pictures of me with my Vinny-cat at least lingering about in the background.

You put a baby in a crib with an apple and a rabbit. If it eats the rabbit and plays with the apple, I'll buy you a new car. ~Harvey Diamond

Animals are my friends... and I don't eat my friends. ~George Bernard Shaw

Nothing more strongly arouses our disgust than cannibalism, yet we make the same impression on Buddhists and vegetarians, for we feed on babies, though not our own. ~Robert Louis Stevenson

Tongue - a variety of meat, rarely served because it clearly crosses the line between a cut of beef and a piece of a dead cow. ~Bob Ekstrom


Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Welcome to our blog, step inside step inside

'Ello 'Ello 'Ello. Welcome to a Rehab unlike any other. One where you cleanse your body of all nasty, stanky, rotting flesh that we all have affectionately euphemized as "Meat". Yes in case you have not caught on by now, the writers of this blog are Vegan. Oh such a dirty word it seems, but it doesn't have to be. Most people think that Vegans are some of the most depraved people in the world, and that we pretty much do not eat anything. Well step aside haters whilst I munch on my vegan cupcakes, cobblers and all the other veganlicious food that I constantly eat. Yes, I said cupcakes. Oh and I also said cobblers and constantly eat.
The point of this blog is to rave about all the delicious foods that we are discovering in this rehab. Myself and another cowriter, want to bring all things vegan from around the Orlando area, to show that this really is the most kick arse rehab there is. So for now I must bid you adieu, and go dream of those vegan cupcakes.
- Lauren