Mmm Mmm Brussel Sprouts

I love brussel sprouts! This recipe is a vegan version of one from Dave Lieberman who used to have a show on Food Network many years ago. While I don't know what ever happened to Dave, I do know that these are the best brussel sprouts I've ever had.

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed
Salt
3 tablespoons Earth Balance
3 tablespoons finely chopped shallots
3/4 cup vegetable broth

Heat vegetable oil over high heat in a large skillet. Add Brussels sprouts and brown all over by shaking the pan often. Season with salt, to taste. Remove Brussels sprouts from pan, reduce heat to medium high and add the Earth Balance to melt. Add shallots and saute for a minute or 2. Add the sprouts back in, add the vegetable stock, cover, reduce heat to medium low, and cook for 30 minutes or until sprouts are soft and tender.

A Quick Meal for Anytime of Day

I've been making this dish recently since kale has been in season. Someday I'll try this with dried beans but for now I use Goya canned cannelini beans. I eat this for breakfast, lunch or dinner along with some sourdough bread with Earth Balance.

Greens & Beans

1 bunch of kale (de-veined and chopped)

3/4 can Goya cannelini beans (15.5 oz can)

1 C vegetable broth

2 cloves garlic

2 TBL olive oil

crushed red pepper/pepper/salt

Cherry tomatoes (optional)

Saute garlic & crushed red pepper in olive oil over medium heat for a couple minutes. Add kale, beans and vegetable broth (tomatoes if using). Cover saute pan and let the kale wilt down, stirring occassionally. Season with salt and pepper.

Weekend Morning Breakfast

This recipe was inspired by my father's friend Bob. My brother and I and his kids used to camp each summer and he would always make these for us in the morning. I've since veganized the recipe and make these pretty much every weekend I'm home along with some whole wheat toast with either peanut butter or Earth Balance.

4 Red Potatoes, cubed

4 TBL Olive Oil

3 TBL Earth Balance buttery spread

1 Medium Onion, chopped

1/2 Green Pepper, chopped

1/2 Red Pepper, chopped

2 Garlic Cloves, minced

Herbs de Provence (or any mixture of dried Italian herbs)

Garlic Powder

Salt

Black Pepper

Crushed Red Pepper

Parsley, chopped

Place potatoes in a large saucepan filled with water and bring the water to a boil. Boil for about 10-12 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through but not mushy. Drain potatoes. In a large fry pan, heat the olive oil and Earth Balance. Add the onion, peppers, garlic and saute until the onions are translucent. Add the potatoes and saute for about 10-15 minutes. Add the herbs and spices. Add the parsley at the last minute. Enjoy!

I think this is my favorite meal

Soba Noodle Stir Fry
8 oz Soba Noodles
1 TBL Olive Oil
1 Small Onion, chopped
1 Clove garlic
1/2 Red Bell Pepper
1/2 Frozen Corn
Bok Choy, chopped
Scallions
Parsley
Dressing (equal parts of each)
Sesame Oil
Rice Wine Vinager
Soy Sauce
Water

Cook Soba Noodles for as long as the package says and then rinse under cold water, set aside. Saute Onion, Garlic and Pepper in Olive Oil with a pinch of Salt. Add Bok Choy. Add Corn, Parsley & Scallions. Add Soba Noodles and Dressing. Toss everything together over the heat. Serve warm or cold.

Roasted Parsnip Soup

Here's what I came up with last night:

olive oil
Earth Balance buttery spread
pinch of crushed red pepper
3 medium parsnips
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled
2 cups vegetable broth
1 medium potato, cubed
salt and pepper
parsley

Preheat oven to 400. Cut the parsnips into 1 inch pieces and place them on a large baking sheet with some olive oil and the garlic cloves. Bake for 20 minutes. While the vegetables are roasting, saute the onion with some olive oil and Earth Balance butter with a pinch of crushed red pepper for about 5 minutes. Add potatoes and saute for another 5 minutes. Add the vegetable broth and bring to a boil and reduce the heat. Cook covered on very low until the potatoes are tender. Add the parsnips and garlic to the broth. Add chopped parlsey. Puree it, in batches, in the blender until very smooth. Return it to the pot and add salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Elephant in the Room

And to all of my loyal readers, I need to address the elephant in the room. I'm sure you find it just as amusing as I do that an A1 steak sauce ad keeps popping up on this vegan blog. But rest assured it is vegan! In fact, I like to use it on baked potatoes, so there you go!

Dinner Derailed, but Back on Track

I have an opened carton of vegetable broth in my fridge and I only have 3-5 days left until it goes bad. It's been on my mind the past couple days but I decided today is the day that I will use it up. I also have some fresh onion, garlic and parsley which combined just screams soup. I know it's the hottest day of the year but I love soup year round. It's funny the reaction you get when you say you are going to make soup in August. People are always so shocked and I'm just as shocked from their reaction. Anyway, I decided this morning that I was going to make a Roasted Cauliflower soup. All I needed was some Cauliflower and a Potato. This plan was quickly derailed when I learned that someone bought the last head of cauliflower at my farmers market. That was sad. But that was not going to stop me from using that vegetable broth tonight. So what about using Parsnips? My friend Sara turned me on to Parsnips not long ago and they will be the perfect replacement in my Roasted Parsnip soup. I'll let you know the details tomorrow...

Farmers Market Wednesday's

One of my favorite parts of summer is the farmers market every Wednesday across the street from my office on 2nd Ave. Each week gets better and better with more vegetable and fruits coming into peak season. I try to make a point of buying a vegetable that I've never cooked with before including arugula, tomatillos, parsnips and different varieties of peppers among other things. Some of my standard weekly purchases are tomatoes, corn, broccoli rabe, garlic, onions, blueberries, red potatoes, cucumbers and fresh loaves of sourdough bread. Sometimes I go a little overboard, especially since I need to carry all of this on my trek home to LB. While I've tried, it is impossible to hide the smell of fresh garlic and onion so to all my fellow commuters on the LIRR, I apologize!

I like to keep things simple and one of the best ways to use these vegetables is in a sandwich. I toast sourdough slices with a little oil brushed on both sides and then just layer vegetables. One of my favorite veggie combos is thinly sliced cucumber, avocado, onion, tomato and sprouts. While sometimes I spead a layer of (Sabra) hummus as the paste, lately I've been mixing a little horseradish with Grey Poupon. Horseradish gives anything a nice kick and the creaminess of the avocado mellows it out. I like the crunch of the cucumbers and the taste of raw onion. The tomato adds sweetness and the spouts add texture. It's so good! Maybe I'll try this with Veganaise someday?

Shadow

Here's a cute picture of my dog Shadow ready to hit the road in my car. For some reason, she loves sitting in the drivers seat and refuses to move when asked! For the longest time, we told everyone who asked that she was part Lab, part German Shepard. A few random people identified her as an Australian Cattle Dog, and after some research (Google image), and dealing with the fact that I've falsely identified her for so many years, I can now confidently refer to her as an Australian Cattle Dog (mix). Who would've thought my puppy was Australian!

Although Shadow lives in CT with my father and I'm in NY, I still make a lot of effort to get back home to see her. She is almost 14 years old and time with her is precious. She has slowed down a lot throughout the past couple years, but she still has her random bursts of energy where she will run around the backyard in circles like a madman. Then she stops, panting, with this crazy look on her face and does it all over again. She's coming down for a visit this weekend, so I'll post some new pics then.

My Favorite Summer Recipe

I love this recipe. It's a variation of a recipe I found in 'The Hip Chicks Guide to Macrobiotics'. They suggest using brown rice and toasted almonds, but lately I've been using quinoa and walnuts. I think the pickle is the best part and the walnuts give it a great bite! The avocado adds creaminess and the corn is just delicious, especially when it's fresh. Enjoy!

Summer Quinoa Salad

1 Cup Quinoa, soaked in water for 15 minutes or rinsed well in hot water
1/3 Cup Frozen Corn, thawed, if you use fresh, blanch it for a couple minutes
1/3 Cup Yellow Onion, chopped
1/4 Cup Walnuts, chopped
1/4 Cup Dill Pickle, chopped
1 Avocado, chopped into small cubes

Dressing:
1 TBL Brown Rice Vinegar
1 TBL Lemon Juice
1 TBL Olive oil
1 TBL Shoyu (soy sauce)

Cook the quinoa according to the package instructions. I use 1.5 Cup water to 1 Cup of quinoa and bring it to a boil, and then simmer for 15-20 minutes. Set aside to cool.

For the dressing, whisk all ingredients together and set aside.

Add the veggies to the quinoa and mix and then add the dressing. Cool in the fridge for about half hour.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Life in LB, LI

This is my life now...I live in Long Beach on Long Island with the best boyfriend ever, Nick. I have to say, this is the best place to live in my opinion. I'm able to work in the City and come home to the Beach everyday. It makes that 1 hour and 45 minute (one way!) commute worth it! While the train is only about 50 minutes, I choose to make my life alot harder by walking from Penn Station to my office every morning and evening. I also bike to and from the train station in Long Beach which is only a mile each way. I hardly consider biking on the boardwalk lining the beautiful ocean a rough part of my commute, except of course when it's rain and gusty winds and I'm wearing a dress! The best part about my commute is that I have a built in daily work-out. While I still love (hate) to go running on the weekends, it's just not happening during the week anymore.


Long Beach is such a great place to live because everyone who lives there is so active. Since it gets packed with people flocking to the beach in the summer, the best way to get around on the weekend is by bike. Parking spaces are like gold, and we'd rather not give up our spot if we don't have to. I just throw on my backpack and head out to run errands along with everyone else. The beach and boardwalk are packed with surfers, runners, bikers, power walkers, and beach volleyball players. I don't know if it's possible to be lazy living here!

My First Post

I'm not sure how this blog is going to finally take shape but I know it will center around my passion in life, which is a cruelty-free vegan lifestyle. I've always been an animal lover with a particular fondness for dogs (and dolphins!). It wasn't until my dog Buffy was put to sleep when I was eight, that I realized how much I loved animals and wanted to save them. Although, my eight-year-old mind was not able to make the connection between the food I ate and the welfare of animals. In fact, I didn't fully realize this until after college. I experimented with vegetarianism in my senior year of college at Penn State in 2002 but eventually went back to eating meat after graduation for no apparent reason. After moving to New York City by myself in early 2005 at age 24, I've been mostly vegan in my eating and clothing/household cleaning purchases since. I say 'mostly' because nobody is perfect. My experience with being vegan has been life-changing. I'm happier, more compassionate, and thoughtful in my life. I care more. I think more. And, although I've never preached about veganism, I've also been able to let others know about it and seen them change as well. That is the best part. I'm very hesitant to even bring up my beliefs to others for fear of confrontation, so I choose not to. But I'm so happy when someone asks questions in a genuinely curious way, rather than a defensive, ignorant way. The geniunely curious, I find, are also the nicer people to begin with.

So that's the (very) short story of me and how I've arrived at this place in my life. But there is lots more to share. I love cooking and experimenting with new ingredients and recipes. I love to test them on my boyfriend, because if he approves then I know we have a winner! I'll be posting lots of my recipes and any great new vegan product finds that I come across. Basically, this will be a journal of a girl who loves her life and lifestyle and wants to share it with whoever would like to read.