Eat Yer Veggies

Last night's dinner was all about the leafy and green, the crunchy and bitter and with just the hint of slightly sweet. I used to hate salads, if I saw a salad come near my face I was bound to kick it and yell, "Vegans eat more than salads, gosh!" but that is when I realized salad was more than shredded carrots, iceberg lettuce and gross tomatoes. Salad can be an exotic flavor combo so intense I find myself skipping dessert because my salad creations have met every craving my crazy head desires.


Along with my taste-tastic salad I roasted up some beets, carrots, onions and garlic. I kept the skins on both the beets and carrots because we all know, fiber is where it is at, right? The beets were only slightly sweet and the carrots caramelized a bit making for an amazing dish that I think I will revisit tonight.

For fun, here is the nutritional break-down of my dinner:

Salad

Red leaf lettuce- good source of Vitamin A
Kale- rich in calcium and Vitamin K, good source of beta carotene
Spinach- full of vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, vitamin K, magnesium, manganese, folate, betaine, iron, vitamin B2, calcium, potassium, vitamin B6, folic acid, copper, protein, phosphorus, zinc, niacin, selenium and omega-3 fatty acids. WOAH!
Tomatoes- high in Lycopene
Cucumbers- with skin on high in potassium and Vitamin E
Golden Raspberries- high in antioxidants and fiber, and help regulate special lady time
Blueberries- also full of antioxidants and can reduce inflammation
Edamame- rich in carbohydrates, protein, dietary fiber, omega-3 fatty acids and micro nutrients, particularly folic acid, manganese and vitamin K

Now that is a vitamin packed salad!

Roasted Veggies

Beets- contain certain unique pigment antioxidants present offer protection against coronary artery disease and stroke, lower cholesterol levels in the body and have anti-aging effects.
Carrots- high in vitamin-A, Beta Carotene and fiber
Garlic- is shown to lower risk or some cancers
Onions- believed to have anti-inflammatory, anti cholesterol, anticancer, and antioxidant properties
Olive Oil- can reduce the risk of coronary heart disease
Sea Salt- eh...not that good for you but it does have trace minerals, and we ladies love trace minerals, I think.

Pretty sweet, huh?

Simple Sandwich

A wonderful farmer's market just opened in Tempe and only about three miles from my house too! This last Saturday Timmy, Bonnie and I biked over to check it out, and although it is quite small we were amazed with the amount of vegetables we were able to purchase that were grown in our own neighborhood. There was an adorable woman and her son selling veggies she grew in her own backyard. This gave Timmy and I hope that was can one day have a successful garden in our own yard. We have quite a lot to do until we get to her superior level of gardening, but we are slowly learning. She had these beautiful tomatoes and wonderful cucumbers that we purchased and I made a delicious sammie with them and some fresh dill from another Tempe vendor. This sandwich is so simple I can't really say this is a recipe, but if ever hungry and in a hurry this makes a great lunch.




2 pieces bread
2 T. Vegan cream cheese (I use Tofutti)
1 tsp. chopped fresh dill
1 persian cucumber, thinly sliced
1/2 tomato, sliced
a squirt of mustard

Now if I had an avocado that would have been the icing on the cake! Whip the cream cheese with a fork and add in the dill. Spread on two pieces of bread and well...make a sandwich. If you are like Timmy and the layers have to be arranged a certain way I suggest tomato in the middle of the cucumber slices so the bread doesn't get soggy. But really, no one is that picky? Right?


check out this yummy big salad I made with the farmer's market veggies, homemade croutons too!

I apologize for my lack in posts lately, I just haven't been feeling like sharing too much lately. The job I was so very excited to get, I am no longer working there, it was not the golden goose I thought it was. That sent me into a bit of depression that I haven't really shared with too many people. The stress and disappointment really made me sluggish. I have just recently started riding my bike again (crazy seeing as how I am madly in love with my bike) and I started doing household projects to keep my depression at bay. Now I am in the process of starting my own business and I have been very slow at getting things going. I am taking my food handler's test on Friday then registering for a business license and all of that fun stuff that comes with starting a catering business. If you know anyone in the Tempe/Phoenix area with a licensed kitchen for rent please pass on that info to me.

I am hopeful that once things get going I will feel happy and motivated once again. I promise to post more, and also to share my adventures in home improvement. I hope everyone is having a great start to 2011 and I miss reading all of your posts and hearing from you. I promise not to be such a stranger.

Hugs,
Rikki Cupcake

Tofu Salad Sammies

I love tofu, I know I have said it a million times before, but I would much rather eat some yummy tofu slab that a mock meat concoction. Not that seitan and all that stuff is bad, it is just I love the texture, taste and really the flexibility of tofu. You can make it taste like ANYTHING! I also love sammies, have I said that yet? Not sure, but it is true. Tofurkey, Pb & J, TLT's, eggless egg even potato salad sammies. I try not to eat too many for fear of a carb over load but damn, give this girl a sammich already!



Tofu Salad Sammie

Tofu:
1 block firm tofu, drained
2 T. olive oil
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. salt

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut tofu into slabs and place on well greased cookie sheet. Brush on 1/2 olive oil, 1/2 salt and 1/2 pepper and bake for 30 minutes. Pull out of oven, flip tofu and brush on remaining olive oil and sprinkle on remaining salt and pepper. Bake another 30 minutes. Let cool.



Fixens':
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup slivered raw almonds
1/4 cucumber (hothouse) 1 whole cucumber if Persian, sliced
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/4 cup Vegenaise


Once cooled,

cut tofu into 1 inch squares. Place into large bowl
and add all the fixens'

and mix well.

Chill in refrigerator for one hour, then enjoy!


weird horse-y, giraffe-y, metal thingy approves!

Yummy Quinoa and Spicy Tofu Salad

Normally I am not a fan of salads. To me they equal lack of creativity and they are what a vegan or vegetarian eats when there are no other options available. My grandma has always invited me over for dinner with the promise of there being salad for Tim and I to eat and though I appreciate her offer salad is just so darn unappealing. This is why I was taken by complete surprise when my little baby belly started craving the green stuff on a daily basis. I did not think I would ever wake up in the middle of the night desperately seeking arugula or biking around town with the thought of spinach following closely behind.

The other day as I worked the produce section in my grocery store I realized I was drooling. I kept eyeing the carrots and hugging the broccoli and whispering sweet nothings in the direction of the celery and cucumbers. This was enough! I was starting to go loony from lack of salads! That day I went home and pulled all the veggies out of the fridge and got straight to work, but wait, what about the pantry? There must be goodies in there too, no? This is when I found the quinoa hiding behind the wild rice and a light went on or a bell chimed or the proclamation of Eureka was shouted. Which one happened, I am not sure because I was already preparing the quinoa on my stove top before I fully understood the golden delicious salad I was going to be shoveling into my tum tum later.

With the addition of quinoa to my veggies I was ready to start building my dream dinner. Spinach, Romaine, heirloom tomatoes, carrots, pine nuts, dried cranberries, quinoa and something else, I needed something else. This is when my genius self (OK moderately smart self) grabbed a red onion, a few cloves of garlic and got to chopping. I sliced up some extra firm tofu and added it to the onions and garlic in my frying pan then for fun tossed on Sriracha and Bragg's Liquid Aminos and the end result was fantastic! A spicy delicious salad with the sweet/tart dried cranberries made my heart skip a beat. I am going to make this again, I am going to make it tonight, and eat left overs for lunch, it is that good!

Curried Tofu Salad

My super awesome friend Andi makes some of the best tofu salad ever! We love it and have dubbed it "chix sally" and whenever I get a call or text regarding a fresh batch of chix sally I peddle on over to house and nosh down on a gigantic sammie aka sandwich. I love Andi and I love her sally but if I told her to spice it up a bit, she might kick the tofu out of me. So to save myself a beatin' I concluded the only avant garde sally would have to be made by me. I made a curried tofu sally and it was delicious, but please do not tell Andi!



Curried Tofu Salad

1 package extra firm tofu, drained
2 T. olive oil
1 T. curry powder
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. turmeric
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/2 cup Veganaise
1/4 cup peas
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1 tsp. curry paste (I used green)


Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

After draining tofu slice into 1/2 inch slabs and rub both sides with olive oil. In a bowl mix together all dry seasonings and sprinkle on both sides of tofu. Bake tofu for 30 minutes, then flip and bake another 30 minutes. Let tofu cool then cut into tiny cubes. In a bowl mix Veganaise, peas carrots and curry paste. The add tofu and mix to combine. Refrigerate for an hour or overnight. I think it tastes best the next day.


Sorry Andi.