The Trouble with Pesto

The trouble with pesto is that as tasty as it is, I really hate having garlic breath afterwards.  This makes pesto a poor choice for take-along lunches for work.  Nevertheless, I love pesto.  I find it a much tastier way to enjoy pasta than a traditional tomato sauce.  Also, sometimes tomato sauce upsets my somewhat cantankerous digestive system.  Pesto you find in stores or restaurants will typically have cheese in it, so if you want vegan pesto you will most likely have to make it yourself.

Pesto is really quite easy to make, particularly if you have a food processor.  A few cloves of garlic, a handful of fresh basil leaves, freshly squeezed lemon juice, some nuts (ideally pine nuts, but walnuts will do if that's what you have on hand), and a good helping of nutritional yeast, and you're away to the races.  You can also add any other fresh herbs you have on hand, spinach, kale, whatever you like to the processor, and blend!  Typically, pesto is quite oily as people will create a sauce of it by adding olive oil, but I've been trying to avoid unnecessary extracted oils (I get all the healthy fats I need from nuts and seeds).  I recently made myself a batch of pesto, and to thin it out, I used the starchy pasta water and it turned out perfectly.  I'd like to show you a picture, but I ate it all before I got the chance!

Sprouting with the BioSnacky!

BioSnacky?  What's that, you say?

For christmas I received a gift card to the Natural Food Pantry, and I did what any good vegan would do with a natural food store gift card burning a whole in their wallet - I bought a sprouter! Ok, to be honest, I was totally considering buying $50 worth of Daiya with my gift card, but as luck would have it, on the way to the Daiya aisle I spotted the BioSnacky 3-tier Germinator!  With three different levels I could simultaneously sprout 3 different kinds of sprout, or alternatively, stagger my sprouting so that ever other day I have a fresh batch of new sprouts!  There are entirely too many exclamation marks in this paragraph, but I don't care, that's just how excited I was about this thing.

Triple the tiers, triple the fun!

So, you might be asking yourself "Why sprouting?".  Fresh sprouts are live, actively growing food, full of enzymes and vital nutrients.  Sprouting makes available nutrients that wouldn't be available or accessible in the pre-sprouted state.  In addition to the usual alfalfa and mustard sprouts you might find in the grocery store, you can sprout just about any legume or seed.  You can sprout chickpeas or lentils, and once sprouted, they don't need to be cooked in order to eat them (bonus!).  Looking for raw, plant based protein?  Alfalfa sprouts are 35% protein, clover - 30%, lentil - 25% [1].  Combined that with their low calorie content, and high concentrations of vitamins and phytonutrients, that makes sprouts among the most nutrient dense foods out there.  Best of all you can grow them yourself in your own kitchen - no green thumb required!

You can easily grow your own sprouts the low-tech way - all you need is a mason jar topped with some cheesecloth or other mesh-like product.  Frugal-Wise has a nice post on jar sprouting (I love the dish rack idea - brilliant!).  This is a totally legit way to sprout, I've done it before, and it worked out just fine. But there was something about the Biosnacky that called to me. Probably because it reminded me of giant petri dishes.  Clearly, the Biosnacky 3-tier Germinator is the nerdy way to sprout, and well, I'm a nerd.

Here's the deal - you pour water into the top tray to just above the red node until the water drains into the next tray.  When it reaches a high enough level in the second tray, that one will start to drain, and so on.  No soaking, no swirling, no shaking or tapping.  Just pour, and the Biosnacky takes care of the rest.  It took an already easy task, and made it even easier!  In just 4 short days, I had a smorgasbord of fresh sprouts!

What do you do with sprouts?  You can toss them in salads, stir-fries, smoothies, or my personal favourite - put them on sandwiches!

The HST Sproutwich - Hummus, sprouts, and tomato!

For everything you could possibly want to know about sprouting, as well as buying seeds, check out the Sprout People.  If you're in Canada, you should purchase seeds from Mumm's Sprouting Seeds (they offer free shipping in Canada for orders over $25!).

Freedom Never Tasted So Good

Ok, ok.  I've been a bad blogger.  Again.  Sorry.

On a brighter note - I just made the best muffins ever!  AND they're gluten-free!

So what's the deal with gluten anyway?  Much like veganism, it's been getting a lot more buzz lately.  But, in case you're still in the dark, here's some information.  No skipping past the knowledge to the muffiny goodness!

The word "gluten" comes from the latin word for "glue".  No, I'm serious.  You see, gluten is a protein found in wheat (and related grains like barley and rye), and is a binding agent used in baking - it's what gives bread dough it's stretchy, elastic consistency. For a very long time this posed a big problem for those trying to bake gluten-free goodies.  Gluten Intolerance is a spectrum of disorders involving people who have adverse reactions to gluten, from sensitivites, to full-blown auto-immune response (aka celiac disease).  While celiac disease has been pretty well researched, non-celiac gluten sensitivity is still poorly understood, but it can trigger many similar symptoms, such as digestive upset, headaches, and fatigue.  What we do know is that more and more people are discovering that they feel better when they are not eating gluten.

It is estimated that 1 in 133 Canadians are affected by celiac disease [1].  Throw in the folks with gluten sensitivity, and well, it just makes good sense to learn how to cook without gluten!   Two of my close friends are gluten-intolerant, and I myself spent a year eating gluten-free as I suspected it as a culprit in my digestive woes.  When I first started cooking gluten-free (6 or more years ago now!) it was a challenge.  There was no Gluten-Free section at the grocery store, you couldn't find gluten-free goodies in your local bakery, there was no gluten-free pizza crust or hamburger buns available at restaurants.  What a difference 6 years makes!  Times have changed, and as awareness grows, so is the availability of products and resources.

Take, for instance, Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Gluten Free Flour.  With one easy step you can transform any baking recipe into a gluten-free one.  Which is just what I did with the delightful muffins I'm about to teach you how to make.

Om nom nom... 

Gluten-Free ChocoNana Walnut Muffins!
Makes 12-15 muffins

1 1/2 cup all-purpose gluten-free flour
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 1/3 cup mashed, ripe bananas
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup non-dairy milk
1 tsp vanilla

1 cup chopped walnuts

Whisk together dry ingredients (= lazy man's "sifting").  In a separate bowl whisk together wet ingredients.  Add wet to dry.  Fold in walnuts.  Pour into greased or lined muffin tins.  Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes, or until muffins are set and toothpick comes out clean.  Devour.

Starbucks inspired cupcakes!

This summer Starbucks introduced a new frappuccino - the Mocha Cookie Crumble.  I was making cupcakes for a friends' baby shower, when the Siren's inspiration hit.  These cupcakes were seriously decadent - this may be my favourite icing I've made to date!

Vegan Mocha Cookie Crumble Cupcakes


24 Chocolate cupcakes (I used a double recipe of Basic Chocolate Cupcakes from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World )

1/2 cup vegan margarine
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup cocoa
3 1/2 cups icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 package Starbucks Via Instant Coffee
1/4 cup non-dairy milk

6 Chocolate wafer cookies
12 Oreos
*Yes!  Oreos are accidentally vegan! Just be careful of imposters - some imitation brands do have milk ingredients.

Make chocolate cupcakes as usual.

Beat together margarine and shortening until smooth.  In a separate bowl, whisk together cocoa, icing sugar and Via instant coffee.  Add in small quantities to margarine mixture, adding small amounts of non-dairy milk along the way to achieve desired consistency.  Add the vanilla.  Beat it all on high til it's fluffy and awesome.

Ice cupcakes, don't be stingy.  Put the chocolate wafer cookies into a ziplock bag and bash them up into fine crumbles.  Generously sprinkle the cupcakes with crumbles, and top each cupcake with half of an oreo.  I would tell you to enjoy this with a frappuccino, but these cupcakes are so rich you'll be needing a large glass of water instead!

Taraxacum officinale

Has this ever happened to you?  You're in the grocery store or farmer's market, and you spot something.  "Hmm..", you think to yourself, "I've never had that before, I wonder what I could make with it!" This time, that something was dandelion greens.  As a biologist, I knew that the latin name for dandelion is Taraxacum officinale, and any plant with the species name officinale, officinalis, or officinarum indicates that it is a medicinal plant.  I figured that there must be something special about dandelion greens to have afforded it such a long-standing medicinal status.  Although often viewed as a pesky weed, it is undeniably a tenacious survivor, a quality that is indeed admirable.

After returning home with my greenery, a quick internet search revealed that dandelions are an incredible herb.  Traditionally they are used as a diuretic, improve kidney and liver function, aid digestion, stimulate appetite, act as a mild laxative, and the list goes on.  Recent research indicates dandelion can be used for weight loss, normalizing blood sugar, lowering cholesterol, and as a disinfectant. [1, 2, 3].  Nutritionally, they are an excellent source of calcium, iron, potassium, manganese, vitamins A, B3, B6, C, E, K, thiamine, riboflavin, and folate [4, 5].  That only scratches the surface.  Take home message: eat more dandelions!

Problem being, dandelion greens are really quite bitter.  Young greens aren't so bad, and are often found in "spring mix" salad greens.  The greens I bought were older, and when I sauteed them up with some garlic salt &  pepper like I would normally do with spinach, kale, or collards, they were much more bitter than I would like.  I figured to make them more palatable, they would need to be paired with something sweet.  Tonight's dinner was an overwhelming success!

Sweet Potato and Dandelion Saute

1 sweet potato

1 tsp rosemary

1 cup dandelion greens

1 cup other greens (I used beet greens)

1/4 cup diced red onion

1-2 cloves minced garlic

Roast the sweet potato with the rosemary in the oven until soft.

Saute onion for a few minutes in a bit of olive oil.  Add garlic, saute for 30 seconds.  Add greens and cooked sweet potatoes, toss until greens have wilted.  Salt and pepper to taste and enjoy!

Vegan Easter Awesome

I always remember Easter as being a pretty fun time when I was a kid.  Easter meant egg hunts, chocolate, and decorating eggs.  This year, with my niece about to turn two, the fun times can start again.  My mom and I orchestrated her first egg hunt, which she was super good at!  We figured two was a little young for egg decorating, and let's face it, it isn't exactly a vegan tradition.  So I came up with a better idea.  A way better idea.  Let's decorate egg-shaped cookies!  Not only are they vegan and less fragile, but once you're done decorating, you get to eat them!

I made the sugar cookie recipe from Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar, some simple icing, and I had purchased a whole lot of fun sprinkles from bulk barn.  I taped some parchment paper to the coffee table, and handed her some freshly iced cookies for her to sprinkle at will - and sprinkle she did!  As you can see, they are masterpieces! :)  The cookies were delicious (albeit crunchy with the copious amounts of sprinkles), and I think I've just found myself a new Easter tradition.

My family had our celebration on Good Friday, and we discovered at the last minute that my sister-in-law, who is catholic, cannot eat meat on Good Friday.  Good thing there's a vegan at the table!  I made the vegan quiche from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen, and put green onion, red pepper, and broccoli in it instead, and topped it with cheddar style Daiya shreds.  It was super yummy, and my sister-in-law thought so too (she even asked for seconds!).  Definitely omnivore approved! This quiche tasted just as good (possibly better?!) the next morning for breakfast, and I am going to start making it regularly as an easy make-ahead breakfast that is fast and nutritious for busy mornings.

What holiday would be complete without cupcakes?  These cute easter cupcakes are super easy to make.  First you take your basic vanilla (or chocolate if you prefer!) cupcake and fluffy buttercream icing from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.  Then you colour some shredded coconut the spring colour of your choice, and roll the cupcakes in the coconut to form a "nest" around the outside (leaving the middle un-coconuted).  Then stick some mini-eggs in the middle, and ta-da!  Bird Nest Cupcakes! I know mini-eggs aren't vegan, but they make the perfect decoration (I gave mine to my mom to eat).  If anyone know of any vegan mini-eggs or something that would take their place, let me know so that next year they can be truly vegan, decor and all!

Step 1: Start with a healthy breakfast

So the first step (and arguably the most important) in "Breaking the Food Seduction" is eating a healthy breakfast.  The right breakfast can set you up for success, or failure, so choose wisely.  So what constitutes a healthy breakfast?  The two key components are 1) lots of fiber and 2) healthy protein.

Fiber is essential to winning the battle against cravings.  Fiber not only fills you up, but it also fills you up for longer.  Fiber digests slowly, gradually releasing a steady stream of energy all morning.  Low fiber foods (white toast/bagels, sugary cereals) release their sugar too quickly, raising and then dropping your blood sugar, opening you up to mid-morning cravings.  These refined carbohydrates (which you might as well consider pure sugar, because it takes no time at all for them to break down into sugar) increase the serotonin in your brain.  Serotonin regulates sleep, and mood.  These serotonin spikes can leave you feeling sluggish and drained - and reaching for a sugary and/or caffeinated pick-me-up.

Enter protein.  Plant-based protein blocks that extra serotonin surge and prevents the ensuing sluggish feeling.  I say plant based protein because most animal based proteins are laden with fat and cholesterol, and that is  not how we want to start our day.  I'll discuss more on the effects of fat and cholesterol in a later post, for now, let's stick with breakfast.

So here's a breakfast I had on a successful day:

Cantaloupe, dark rye toast, and scrambled tofu.  Fruits have lots of great soluble fiber that will keep your GI tract healthy and happy, and they help bundle up all those fruit sugars and make sure they are released gradually throughout the morning to give you the energy you need to make it til lunch.  Hearty whole grains, in particular low Glycemic Index whole grains like rye and pumpernickel, are also rich in fiber, to keep you full and prevent a mid-morning sugar crash.  Scrambled tofu is a quick protein source that easily replaces scrambled eggs, without all of the cholesterol or moral dilemmas.

If you have never tried scrambled tofu before, don't be afraid, it's really quite tasty.  Simply crumble up a block of firm tofu into a skillet.  You can add in diced onions and peppers for added flavour.  Season it with onion powder, garlic powder, nutritional yeast, turmeric, salt and pepper.  Saute it up til it starts to brown.  Voila!  That's it.  Seriously tasty, hearty breakfast.  That day I didn't crave pastries at work at all!  It had lost its appeal.

Other mornings where I've just had a smoothie, my resolve has not been so great and I find my sweet tooth aching quite quickly.  I either need to improve my smoothie recipe by boosting the fiber and protein in it, or have it along side some other hearty options.  This is still a work in progress, but I'm sorting it out.

Another easy breakfast that satisfies the protein and fiber in one fell swoop is beans.  You may not consider beans traditional breakfast food, but many cultures around the world eat beans for breakfast, and for good reason.  They are cheap, easy, fill you up, keep you full, and are SO good for you.  The easiest way to enjoy them for breakfast is in breakfast burrito form.  Saute up some canned beans with onions, peppers, tomatoes and/or salsa, and season it up with some cumin and chili powder.  Wrap it up in a whole wheat tortilla and you now have a portable breakfast.  The other great thing about this is you can make a lot at once, save it in the fridge, and you have a week's worth of breakfasts at the touch of a microwave button.

I'll have more ideas to come, but I thought I'd better update to let you know how it's going!