December | 2013 | My Foodie Call | Page 3

Monthly Archives: December 2013
- Healthy Stuffed Portobellos
  
  Posted at 8:00 pm by myfoodiecall
  
  Dec 10th
  Mr. Foodie Call is away. What does this call for???
  
  A mushroom recipe.
  
  Mr. Foodie Call does not like mushrooms.
  
  This is a tough one for this house for a couple of reasons:
  
  1) I LOVE mushrooms (and so do two of my kids.)
  
  2) MANY vegan and plant-based recipes use mushrooms. It is a lot easier when you can cook with mushrooms. Never mind the insane flavor that they add to foods, but the fancier fungi like shiitake and large portobellos can be cooked just right so that they take on a meat-like texture that people sometimes crave.
  
  So, Mr. Foodie Call is away? Let’s make mushrooms.
  
  Awesome texture and so super cute.
  
  Here is how the magic happens.
  
  Buy your mushrooms.
  
  Chop some onion and celery. Mince some garlic.
  
  Cook it.
  
  Add your bread crumbs.
  
  And the rest of your stuff….
  
  De-stem your mushrooms. Arrange them all flat and fantastic.
  
  Fill ’em up.
  
  Still folllowing me?
  
  Bake it and plate it. Easy.
  
  Stuffed Mini Portobello Mushrooms
  
  Modified from The China Study Cookbook
  
  Stuffed Mini Portobellos
  - 12 mini portobello mushrooms (I bought 2 packages of 6 at Trader Joe’s)
  - Vegetable broth
  - 2 garlic cloves, minced
  - 1/2 onion, fine-chopped
  - 1 stalk celery, diced
  - 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  - 1 teaspoon Bragg’s liquid aminos (don’t freak. You can use soy sauce instead of liquid aminos.)
  - 4 tablespoons white wine vinegar
  - 1 teaspoon honey
  - 1 cup whole grain bread crumbs (either store-bought if you are pressed for time or make your own by pulsing day-old bread in the food processor a few times)
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable broth in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, onion and celery and cook for 2-3 minutes or until onions are soft.
  3. Stir in 2 more tablespoons vegetable broth.
  4. Stir in remaining ingredients: thyme, aminos (or soy sauce), vinegar, honey, bread crumbs, and 2 more tablespoons vegetable broth.
  5. It should start to stick together at this point. If not, add more vegetable broth.
  6. Stuff each mini portobello and place on a prepared baking sheet.
  7. Bake for 25-30 minutes.
  These could be placed on a bed of greens and served up as a meal or plated as an appetizer.
  
  Or eaten straight from the pan. 🙂
  Posted in Meatless mealtime, Salads, Soups, and Sides | Tagged mushrooms
- A “Nutrition Sandwich” with a side of pickle.
  
  Posted at 8:00 pm by myfoodiecall
  
  Dec 9th
  Nutrition squashed between two slices of bread.
  
  I am definitely a peanut butter banana sandwich kind of girl.
  
  Yet, I do love a good veggie, crunchy, with a little bit of creamy sandwich (does that description make any sense?)
  
  Well it will in a second.
  
  Here is what I used to make that super healthy sandwich above.
  - Whole wheat bread
  - Broccoli slaw
  - Cashew Mayonnaise that I made in this post (alternately, you could use hummus)
  - Cucumber
  - Tomato
  - Cheddar
  - Baby spinach
  - Avocado slices
  A closer look at the assembly.
  
  Start with your broccoli slaw and cashew mayo (or hummus).
  
  Add to the slaw. No measuring. I just kind of eyed this step.
  
  Stir it up.
  
  Toast your bread. Duh.
  
  Spread some more cashew mayo or hummus on your toast.
  
  Add your broccoli slaw mixture.
  
  Thinly sliced cucumber.
  
  Next tomato.
  
  Cheddar. Trap those veggies in.
  
  Baby spinach.
  
  Avocado wedges. Here is the creamy part of this awesome sandwich. Don’t skip this.
  
  Stack. Slice.
  
  Devour. A nutrition sandwich with a side of pickle.
  Posted in Salads, Soups, and Sides | Tagged avocado, cashew, whole wheat
- Vegan “Egg” Nog French Toast
  
  Posted at 8:00 pm by myfoodiecall
  
  Dec 8th
  I had a holiday brunch that I went to this past week and I had to bring a plant-based dish to share. This put me on the hunt for a good brunch recipe. I needed to find something that I could make ahead, but would still keep for the short drive to Daniel Island… and something that was a little more adventurous than fruit salad.
  
  French toast, maybe??
  
  Vegan “Egg” Nog French Toast.
  
  Remember this post about using Vegan Egg Nog in my pumpkin pie recipe?
  
  Well, I am still on my egg nog kick. After all, ’tis the egg nog season.
  
  However, I can’t take credit for this recipe idea. This I got straight from the back of the So Delicious Nog carton.
  
  So Delicious Nog. Although I think they are all pretty great.
  
  I followed the recipe exactly except I used a long whole wheat french baguette (slightly different from their recommendation).
  
  …And I still needed to figure out how to transport the french toast to the brunch so that it would stay warm (a slow cooker maybe?), but also making sure that the french toast didn’t stick together…(assembled upright??)
  
  Upright it is. Perfect.
  
  Question is: Will they stay warm and keep while being transported??
  
  Yes.
  
  Vegan Nog French Toast
  
  Ingredients:
  - 2 ripe bananas
  - 2 cups Vegan Dairy-Free “Egg” Nog
  - 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  - 1 tsp vanilla
  - 1 wheat french bread loaf (left on the counter, unwrapped, for a day or so…use vegan bread if you want to keep the recipe vegan)
  - coconut oil
  Directions:
  1. Blend bananas, “egg” nog, cinnamon, and vanilla in a blender and pour into a shallow pan or wide bowl.
  2. Heat a griddle coated with a thin layer of coconut oil.
  3. Gently dip the bread slices, one at a time into the pan or bowl, letting slices soak up mixture for a few seconds, then carefully turn to coat the other side.
  4. Transfer bread slices to griddle heating slowly until bottom is golden brown.
  5. Turn and brown the other side.
  6. Serve with maple syrup, fresh berries, or both.
  7. Eat immeditately.
  OR…….
  
  If you need a make-ahead/eat-later method read below:
  
  If you are attending a brunch or need to bring a breakfast for a holiday event, try using this method. I was able to transport this dish to my brunch right in the slow-cooker and it worked great!
  
  A closer look at how easy this dish is.
  
  Slice your bread.
  
  Blend your banana/nog concoction.
  
  My little assembly line.
  
  Slow cook on one side.
  
  House starts to smell awesome right about here….
  
  Flip once golden brown.
  
  Important step. Let cool for a few minutes on a cooling rack.
  
  Place upright in a pre-sprayed slow cooker.
  
  Keep on warm setting until ready to transport.
  
  I highly recommend this recipe if you are a big french toast and egg nog fan. I will make this again for sure.
  Posted in Breakfast | Tagged french toast, nog, vegan
- Cashew Mayonnaise
  
  Posted at 8:00 pm by myfoodiecall
  
  Dec 7th
  Cashews and tofu. Who knew it could make an awesome mayo?
  
  Do you keep cashews in your kitchen? If the answer is no, then start. Remember my post on my top 10 kitchen staples??
  
  Well cashews need permanent residence in your cupboard. So versatile, especially when eating vegetarian, vegan or plant-based.
  
  This cashew mayo recipe in today’s post is from the China Study Cookbook. Great book to add to your collection. Whole food, plant-based recipes? What more could a girl want? And best of all is that when I browse through the pages, I pretty much have every ingredient. There is nothing worse than going through cookbooks and then realizing you can’t make the things in the cookbook because either you do not have them on hand, or you just do not know what the heck they are!
  
  Anyhow, back to the mayo. I was skeptical of this spread at first glance of the ingredient list. But you know what? It works. I’ll definitely be making it again.
  
  Green Garden Mayonnaise
  
  Instructions
  - 6 ounces firm silken tofu
  - 1/4 cup raw cashews
  - 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  - 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
  - 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  - 1 teaspoon agave
  - 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
  - 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
  Directions
  1. Blend all ingredients in a food processor until smooth.
  2. Store in a mason jar or covered bowl and refrigerate until ready to use.
  Homemade cashew mayo.
  Posted in Salads, Soups, and Sides
- Make friends with…Tofu.
  
  Posted at 8:00 pm by myfoodiecall
  
  Dec 5th
  If you have been following my blog for a while, you know that I use tofu A LOT. Yes, I am well aware that tofu is the punchline to EVERY vegetarian joke, but I think its mockery is unfair.
  
  Tofu is extremely versatile and extremely healthy.
  
  And as I have mentioned in the past, if you do not like tofu it is because it wasn’t prepared right.
  
  Tofu 101:
  
  Let’s talk about the different kinds of tofu, shall we??
  
  First off, you can use pretty much any kind of tofu in a recipe that might call for tofu. Tofus are somewhat interchangeable, HOWEVER the results will be a bit different. Texture, creaminess. I am okay with this because I have been eating tofu for years, but to the tofu newbie? Stick with what the recipe says. If it says silken tofu, use silken tofu! You do not want to have a bad tofu experience then never touch the stuff again, right?
  
  The Two Kinds of Tofu
  1. Silken or Soft tofu is what you want in smoothies, puddings, salad dressings. SOFT STUFF!
  Can be found refridgerated or also in the world foods section of your supermarket.
  
  Check out the picture. A smoothie on it. SOFT STUFF. CREAMY STUFF.
  
  Can also be found in with Asian goods. Doesn’t need to be refridgerated. Nice to have an option for road trips. Because we all bring tofu on road trips. Ha!
  
  Extra Firm or Firm Tofu is for you meat eaters that are using your tofu in place of chicken in your stir fry. This tofu hold up better than silken because it has less moisture.
  
  Check out the picture on this package. Kabobs. You can’t do that with silken tofu, surely it would crumble before you even finish putting it on the stick.
  
  Extra Firm Tofu also holds up its texture well even after being pressed. You do press your tofu, right??
  
  Why press your tofu????
  
  Newbies out there, listen up:
  
  If you press your tofu, it helps remove any excess moisture (from that tub of liquid it was just sitting in).
  
  If you press your tofu, it helps to improve texture (for all of you “tofu is too slimy” people out there).
  
  If you press your tofu it allows sauces and marinades to be reabsorbed (making your meal super awesome and swoon worthy).
  
  How do you press tofu?
  
  Easy.
  1. Grab a dinner plate.
  2. Put two paper towels down.
  3. Put your tofu block on the paper towels.
  4. Put two more paper towels on top.
  5. Add a pan or something heavy on top of the tofu/paper towel tower thing you’ve got going on.
  6. Walk away for 30+ minutes.
  7. Voila. Pressed tofu.
  Tofu rocks.
  Posted in Make friends with... | Tagged tofu
← Older posts

Newer posts →
- You missed a call?
- Categories
- Want an email whenever I post?
  
  Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.
  
  Email Address: