Vegan Mofo: The Best Fried Rice and Chocolate Avocado Pudding

One of my favorite things to make is fried rice. It's easy, it's tasty and it's filling. The oils that I use in my fried rice were originally gathered by Alicia Silverstone in the Kind Diet but we differ on ingredients to go in the rice. This dish is great because it's customizable. You don't need to measure things, you don't have to follow a set of ingredients, just keep tasting till it tastes right! As with a lot of Asian dishes, I have found, a lot of knowing when the dish is done is based on smell. If you want your fried rice to have a saltier flavor, add more tamari till it smells salty. If you want it to be more vinegary add more vinegar until it smells like you have enough. Personally I prefer more salt to vinegar but to each his own.

Fried Rice for 2

1 cup basmati brown rice, cooked
3 organic carrots, sliced into rounds but not peeled
1/2 red onion, diced
1 portobella cap, cleaned and sliced
toasted sesame oil
brown rice vinegar
braggs liquid amino or tamari
(also consider things like peas, kale - which should be added at the same time as the rice, cabbage, daikon, adzuki beans or water chestnuts)

1. Heat about two tablespoons of toasted sesame oil in your cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and mushrooms. Sautee until the onions are getting translucent and the carrots and mushrooms have taken on a darker, saturated color - about 3 or 4 minutes.

2. Add the already cooked brown basmati rice. Stir the veggies and rice together to mix. Start adding your vinegar and tamari a little at a time. I tend to do about 1-2 tablespoons worth of tamari first, then about a teaspoon of vinegar. Taste.

3. Let the rice and veggies keep cooking until the carrots are soft but certainly not mushy. Keep seasoning as needed. I would guess that I use roughly 3 tbsp of tamari and perhaps 2 tsp of vinegar in all. Serve hot topped with sesame seeds, shriracha or just as is!

For dessert I have been somewhat obsessed with avocado pudding lately. I don't remember where I first saw it but I jotted down the ingredients from somewhere and then just finally got around to making it. SO GOOD!



Oh were you expecting a picture of it? I ate it all....

Avocado Pudding

2 ripe avocados
1/2 cup maple syrup
3 tbsp lemon juice
6 tbsp carob or chocolate powder

1. Put it all in a blender. Blend. Eat.

This dessert is so simple and so tasty. Everyone I have made it for, and I have made both carob and chocolate, agree that it has so much more complexity and character than your standard pudding, while still satisfying that fat-kid desire to finish (or start) the meal with a Snack Pack.

Coral Lentil and Split Pea Curry Soup

The idea for this soup came fully from Heidi over at 101 cookbook. But, as I am currently cleaning out my pantry in preparation for the big move back to America, I changed the recipe around to suit what I had and what I prefer. For sure though check out her recipe here.

So - Item # 4 and 5 for cleaning down the pantry are: coral lentils and split peas.

Lentil Split Pea Curry Soup

1 cup split peas
1 cup coral lentils
5 cups home-made veggie stock
2 cups water
2 carrots, peeled and sliced thin
2 tbsp ginger, peeled and sliced thin
2 tbsp curry powder
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 cup small portobello mushrooms, cleaned and chopped
1/3 cup tomato paste
14 oz coconut milk
2 tsp salt
fresh cilantro

1. Rinse the lentils and peas in a fine mesh strainer. Combine them with the water and the veg stock in a large pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer, add the carrots and a 1/4 of the ginger. Cover, simmer 30 minutes or until the peas are tender.
2. During this time heat a dry skillet on low heat and toast your curry powder. Set the curry aside in a bowl. In the same skillet heat the oil and add the onion and ginger and mushrooms. Sautee for 2 minutes, stirring, then add the tomato paste and simmer a few more minutes.
3. Add the curry to the tomato paste mixture then and when it is well incorporated, add the whole mix to the soup pot. Add the coconut milk and the salt. Simmer uncovered 20 minutes or until the soup thickens sufficiently.

Shiitake and Pepper Barley Salad

So a while back I stumbled upon the eating down the fridge project on someone's blog (can't remember who) and thought that was a great idea. Now that I am down to my last 4ish weeks in France I have liked that idea more and more but for me, since we have a fridge the size of a breadbox, its going to be "eating down the pantry." I started with the barley. I brought this barley all the way from 'Merica! I couldn't think of anyone to give it to at home before leaving so I just brought it with me.



This salad is super versatile. You can serve it hot or cold (I prefer cold actually), with sauteed veggies or roasted, or just as marinated barley if you so wish it! The firs few times I made it I used roasted tomatoes, peppers, red onion and garlic and it turned out swell. I will give you directions for making the barley salad pictured here and the dressing but really you can put anything veggie wise on this.



Barley Salad
1 cup Barley
package of shiitake, cleaned with a damp rag, chopped
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 small yellow pepper, chopped
3 Tbsp olive oil

Note: Barley is a 3 to 1 ratio. For two people 1 cup of barley boiled in 3 cups of water should be more than enough. But should you want to feed a lot of people just remember the ratio and work from there.

1. Place 1 cup of pearled barley in a small pot with 3 cups cold water. Bring the barley to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes. Know this: Usually barley is simmered for an hour and 15 minutes! This makes it...well mushy in my opinion. I like to boil it for 30-40 and that way it still has a chewy texture - but do whatever you prefer here.
2. While the barley is cooking heat 2 Tbsp olive oil over med high heat in a pan. Add the shiitake. Cook the shiitake until they release their juice, then reduce the heat and let them simmer for the next 20 minutes or so.
3. In a separate pan, heat the remaining olive oil. Add the onions and yellow pepper first. After a few minutes add the garlic. Sauté until the veggies are soft and golden.
4. When the barley is done (it will have tripled in size and soaked up and boiled off the water it was originally in) fluff it with a fork. Prepare the dressing(see below). Divide the barley up onto your plates, top with the shiitakes, peppers, and finally the dressing. Mix well.



Barley Salad Dressing
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsalmic vinegar
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1. Mix the ingredients in a bowl with a wisk, or throw it in a cup with a lid and shake.

Vegan Spinach and Portabella Lasagna

So you might have noticed I've been trying out some vegan recipes lately. I just recently found a bio (translate organic) supermarket in my area (dont know how i missed it before really) and have discovered things I was missing like tempeh, seitan, tofu varieties, alfalfa sprouts, and new to my list is soy creme fraiche. With my newly found creme fraiche and a package of no boil spinach lasagna noodles I decided to go about this lasagna thing in a less traditional way and cut out the meat and cheese.




Now I know what you're thinking. What is that pile of slop? Food is by far one of the most important things to me but honestly Im more interested in eating it than making it look pretty. I've gotten more and more interested in food photography but when it comes to photographing my own food, I just cant spend 45 minutes making this lasagna look amazing. It'll get cold!

Vegan Lasagna
16 oz chopped spinach (if fresh blanch first, if frozen, thaw and squeeze out extra water)
several palm sized portabellas, cleaned and sliced
1 package firm tofu
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup soy creme fraiche (you can use soy milk if you want)
2 minced garlic cloves
juice of 1/2 a lemon
2 tbsp minced fresh basil (20 leaves or so)
1 tsp salt
4-6 cups of your favorite tomato sauce

1. Preaheat the oven to 350F
2. Cook the noodles according to the package or get smart and get the "no boil" kind. Wha? I know.
3. Place all the ingredients except for the mushrooms, tomato sauce, noodles, and spinach in a blender and blend until you have a mixture that resembles ricotta.
4. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and stir in the spinach.
5. Cover the bottom of a 9 x 13 casserole with a thin layer of tomato sauce. Then start layering. Noodles, ricotta, mushrooms, tomato sauce. Repeat. Top it all with tomato sauce. Cook for 30 to 40 minutes. Serve it with crusty bread drizzled in olive oil, popped in the oven for 15 minutes or until the olive oil is bubbly.

Happy eating!

Mashed White Bean Sammy and Bulgar Mixed Veg Salad-Vegan

Sounds like a lot of healthy stuff right? Yeah it is, but trust me it's so good!

White beans seem to find there way onto my plate more frequently here than at home so I decided to just embrace it. This method of mashing the white beans creates a hummus-like but slightly bumpier kind of spread that frankly I now prefer to hummus.



Mashed White Bean Sammy (for 2)

1 can white beans (drained and rinsed)
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1 avocado
handful of spiniach
handful of sprouts (can't find them here but that's how I wanted to eat it)
4 slices of your favorite bread

1. Put your white beans in a bowl and add the olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Using a fork mash the beans against the side of the bowl until you have a lumpy spread.
2. Spread onto your bread, top with avocado, spinach, and sprouts.
3. Eat!

Also it would be good with cucumber, roasted red pepper, or shriratcha!



The Bulgar Salad is a bit more complicated but it keeps well. I made it yesterday and I made enough to eat cold for the rest of the week as a side.

Bulgar Mixed Veg Salad

1 cup bulgur wheat
1 eggplant, thinly sliced then sliced into 4ths
1 pound mushrooms, sliced in half
5 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
salt and pepper
1 cup basil leaves, torn

1. Cook the bulgar according to the package (usually 2 cups cold water and 1 cup bulgar, bring the boil, cover and simmer for 12-15 min)
2. Sautee the mushrooms and eggplant in 3 tbsp oil until tender (5 min)
3. Put your bulgar in a large bowl and fluff with a fork. Add remaining oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper and mix well.
4. Add your eggplant and mushrooms and mix well. Gently fold in the tomatoes and basil.

This will make enough for 4-6 people or it will last one to two people several days. Serve warm or cold.