Happy Easter

It was a strange Easter without the girls at home. They have always been into our little traditions of colouring eggs (we always did the white wax and food-colouring method), and having an egg hunt in the yard. For the most part they were probably playing along for Ethan's sake, but I think those things were important to them. I asked Ethan (who is now 13), if any of those traditions were important to him. Ethan has never eaten eggs, and with me being vegan, I was hoping that he wasn't interested in colouring eggs. What would we do with a bunch of hard-boiled eggs? The family used to eat egg sandwiches after Easter, but now Fred is the only one who would be interested in that... I was relieved when Ethan said, "I like the egg hunt. Getting candy."  It's fun (and funny) to see a 13 year old boy searching high and low just to get some little eggs with candy in them. :) I'm glad he is still motivated by childish pleasures.
*Note about candy: Many types of candy are not vegan. They may contain ingredients like gelatin or modified milk ingredients.

I did make a cute egg-shaped cake for Easter. Cakes are fun. Baking really is like science too. Adding a little vinegar to a recipe that contains baking powder provides all the rising power that a cake needs (without the eggs).

White Cake

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 tablespoon white vinegar

5 tablespoons melted vegan margarine

1 cup lukewarm water   

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Have ready an ungreased 8-inch square cake pan. Line the pan with parchment paper or grease and flour the bottom. For a layer cake, double the recipe.  Sift flour, baking soda and powder, sugar and salt into a bowl.  Make 3 holes in the dry ingredients. Into one hole pour the vanilla, in second hole pour vinegar and into last hole pour melted margarine.  Quickly pour LUKEWARM water over all. Beat well. Pour batter into cake pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until top seems cooked. Easy peasy!

 

Lunch with an Old Friend

My long-time friend, Cyndi came by today. She was traveling through town and happened to stop by around lunch time. We sat outside, catching up on family news and enjoying the warm sun.  I love being able to feed anyone who comes in my door, so I was prepared with some build-your-own pita sandwiches. It's like good science when you can put a bunch of good ingredients together to make something even better. Inside our pitas we put mayo (vegan), spinach, grated carrots, grated raw beets, slivered dill pickles, onions sauteed in bbq sauce, sunflower seeds, and pumpkin seeds. They were great, and have so many variations. You could add sprouts, blanched broccoli or cauliflower florets, grated red cabbage......
So many choices. To me, the ingredients that make it really good are the dill pickles and the bbq onions, and of course a great friend to share it with. ;)

Ethiopian Cuisine?

Of course Ethiopia has a traditional cuisine. Why wouldn't they? I just didn't know about it until Friday when friends Laurie, Deb, Anja, Michelle and I became enlightened. We met in Spokane to see Elton John (that's right!) and before the concert we shared (literally) an Ethiopian experience at Queen of Sheba restaurant.
Vegan food is readily available in Ethiopian restaurants since, traditionally, the Ethiopians have a meat and animal product fast on Wednesdays, Fridays and other holidays throughout the year.
The information in the menu (and in many articles I have read on the net since then) describes their eating traditions. Food is shared. Food is eaten with the hand (some articles say the right hand). A crepe-like flatbread called injera is used as a base on which to serve the variety of foods on the menu, and extra pieces of injera is used to pick up the food and transfer it to the mouth. Injera is made using flour from a grain called Teff. Teff flour is high in protein, iron and calcium (bring it on). The batter is fermented, which creates little holes when the batter is cooked. It is a bit spongy, but definitely holds the other foods quite well.
We liked the spicy dishes, which were seasoned with a mixture of spices called Berbere.  Berbere is a mixture of red chilis and other tasty spices.  Naturally we asked for the spicy food, and we meant it, but we don't think they believed us, because they brought some pretty mild selections. The tastier ones were definitely the ones with the berbere, though. I also enjoyed a potato, carrot and cabbage stew-like dish with hints of ginger.
I have been looking up a few recipes that I think will resemble some of what we ate. I'm looking forward to trying these at home.

Injera (Ethiopian bread)

Serving for 2 people, yields 5 to 6 Injera.

Mix by hand, 1lb of Teff with 3 cups of water along with 1 teaspoon of yeast.

For fermentation to take place, set aside overnight (24 hrs) outside. (I don’t know if it needs to be as hot as Ethiopia, but I think for a Canadian girl like me, I’ll try leaving it inside). Preheat pan, and leave on low heat during baking. Swirl pan while heating, to spread batter into large circle (as large as you can- the ones in the restaurant were about 18 inches in diameter). Heat only on one side for about 2 minutes.
Take injera out carefully (hot) and set aside on a plate to cool down before eating.

* If this is your first batch of injera, use the teaspoon of yeast; but if you plan to make injera regularly... then save about 3 spoonsful of the mix for your next injera. This will act as a self-rising yeast on your next batch of injera; save it in your fridge it will stay for over a month. This is the same process of saving some of your current dough for your next batch of sourdough cakes or cookies.

Alecha (Ethiopian Vegetable Stew)

6 servings

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 cups red onions (chopped)
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic
• 6 new potatoes, chopped
• 5 carrots, chopped
• 1 small cabbage, chopped
• 6 medium chili peppers, chopped (3, if you like it milder)
• salt and pepper
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cardamom
• 2 teaspoons parsley, chopped
• 2 tablespoons basil, chopped

Cook onions and garlic in oil until transparent. Wash and chop vegetables and add them to the onions, lightly browning. Add nutmeg, garlic and cardamom then cook slowly for 30 mins. Season to taste then add chili, parsley and basil just before serving. 

Berbere Stew (Ethiopian Lentil Stew)

• Berbere Spice mixture
  1 Tbs. ground cardamom
• 1 Tbs. ground coriander
• 1 Tbs. fenugreek
• 1 Tbs. ground nutmeg
• 1 Tbs. ground cloves
• 1 Tbs. ground allspice
• 1 Tbs. cinnamon
• 1 Tbs. paprika
• 1 Tbs. turmeric
• 1 tsp. cayenne
• 1 Tbs. ground black pepper
• 1 Tbs. ground sea salt
• Store in a cool, dark place.
  
  The stew:
  1/2 large onion, chopped
• 1 + 1/4 cup red lentils
• 2 1/4 cups water
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 1-2 Tbs. berberé spice mixture, above
• 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes

Mix lentils with water, garlic, onion, and spices. Cook, uncovered, over medium-low heat, for 20 minutes or until the lentils have softened.   Watch carefully and add water if it starts to dry out.  Add the tomatoes and heat at least 15 more minutes. Could be served over brown rice, if you aren’t doing the injera.

I'm looking forward to trying these dishes at home. I really liked the flavours, and I'm excited to have found another ethnicity to draw my food interests from.

Breakfast on the Run

As long as I remember to have the ingredients in the house, my favourite (and healthiest) breakfast option is a smoothie.
It really does fill me up enough to last until a mid-morning snack or even lunch. In order to cut out some unnecessary calories, I now use water where I used to use apple juice.

Breakfast Smoothie
Put all ingredients into a blender!
1 banana
1/2 - 3/4 c. frozen fruit (I like raspberries the best, but I had blueberries this morning)
1/2-3/4 c. water
1/2 c. spinach leaves
2 Tbsp flax seed, hemp seed, buckwheat groats (whatever)

Done!

Onions, Garlic and Olive Oil

Why do so many simple and delicious dishes start with sauteing onions and garlic in olive oil?
This struck me tonight as I was throwing together some Bean Soup for supper.  Check out how easy this soup is....

Red and White Bean Soup
saute:
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 Tbsp olive oil
add:
4 cups water
2 veggie bouillon cubes
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning 
1 can white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 lg. can diced tomatoes
simmer until everything is hot and the flavours have melded together.

This soup is gluten free, too! You could add 1/2 c of barley or pasta (which would make it not gluten free), or 1/2 c of rice.  You'd just have to simmer it a bit longer to cook the grain.

Excuse me while I go stir the soup.

:)

Hail to the Kale!

Fred and I enjoyed a great evening with friends last night. I always feel so honoured when our hosts go out of their way to make a vegan-friendly meal, although for Ray and Nancy this was not too huge of a step, since Ray has been a vegetarian for more than 20 years.
In addition to lots of other delicious food, Nancy made a great Kale Salad that reminded me a lot of that delicious Japanese Cabbage Salad with the crunchy noodles. She shared the recipe:

Hail to the Kale Salad
Into a large salad bowl, put:
1 bunch of kale, washed and chopped
3 cups of grated carrots
1/2 head of red cabbage, chopped thinly
In a skillet, toast:
1/2 c. pumpkin seeds
1.2 c. sunflower seeds
-add a few drops of tamari while the pan is hot to flavour the seeds, and remove from heat
Then add seeds to veggies.
Toss above ingredients with the dressing below:
1/2 c. flax or hemp oil
1/3 c. Braggs liquid aminos (or liquid soy, or all purpose seasoning - whatever they call it this day)
5 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp dried oregano 
This delicious salad will last 2 or 3 days in the fridge.

:) Thanks Nancy!  I will definitely be re-creating this salad very soon!

Gluten Free 2 nights in a Row!

My friend, Sue, follows a low fat, gluten free diet. Sometimes when I'm making supper I think, "Sue could eat this." That's what happened on Wednesday, so I phoned her at work and said, "I think you should come over for supper." The rest of her family was away, so she did.
We had a simple meal of mashed potatoes, mashed yams, mushroom miso gravy, spinach salad and tofu cutlets (chicken for the meat eaters.)
I recently learned that if you freeze tofu (in the package), then thaw it and press out the excess water, it soaks up a marinade beautifully and has a bit of a drier texture, which is more palatable for some people.  I tried this technique with the tofu cutlets. It worked beautifully.

Tofu Cutlets 
1 lb of tofu - frozen, thawed and drained (or use 1 lb of firm tofu, drained)
1/3 cup tamari sauce

Slice the tofu 1/2 inch thick and marinate for 2 hours in the tamari.

Dip each slice in:
olive oil
Then roll in a mixture of:
1 c. gluten free chick pea flour mix (or 1/2 cup cracker crumbs and 1/2 cup ww flour if gluten isn't an issue)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. parsley flakes
1/2 tsp. turmeric

Brush a cookie sheet with oil.

Lay the tofu on the cookie sheet at bake at 400 for 15 minutes on each side.

They get really crispy. Mmm.

They can be served with your favourite salsa or sauce if you like.

Well, that was Wednesday....

Then came Thursday...

I went into the cupboard looking for ingredients to make something with an Indian flare, but I opted for the simplest meal on the face of the earth.

Rice and Lentils 

Saute:

1 onion, diced

1 Tbsp garlic, minced

1 Tbsp olive oil

Add:

1 cup brown rice

1 cup lentils

4 cups veggie broth

1 bayleaf

simmer for 1 hour, until rice and lentils are cooked.
Add some colourful veggies, and you've got a completely nutritious meal.

So, there it is.
It is so easy to cater a vegan diet to a gluten free diet.