Quickie Post Follow Up

Here is a great post about building the perfect salad from a blog my mom found today!

http://www.canyoustayfordinner.com/2011/12/14/how-to-make-a-delicious-400-calorie-salad/

Summer Salad Challenge

To some it may sound crazy, but the truth is that with all the new convenience options around at Whole Foods lately, it's totally possible to be a junk food vegan.  Being vegan used to mean you literally didn't have the option to eat enough of anything to get you fat (unless you were on an all pasta diet).  Today there's vegan pizza on my street, nut cheeses in all the best sandwiches at my favorite vegan lunch place, and a seemingly endless array of vegan cupcakes, all in just St. Louis!  I try to steer away from being a junk food vegan, but when weekends get more steeped in Coronas & pool time than running, sometimes I fail.  So I'm starting a "summer salad challenge."  My goal is to eat one meal a day as a salad.  It can literally be any meal, even breakfast.  Sometimes it won't be perfect - if I end up eating a salad WITH a meal, I figure it still counts.  But every study shows that the more salad you eat, the less you eat other bad-for-you stuff.  Also - this doesn't have to be a lettuce based salad...but no mayo based salads would be ideal.

I started today with a salad based off of a recipe from Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook, which is surprisingly awesome and VERY vegan friendly.  It's one of my favorites, and the dressing makes a lot, so it's great for a veggie dip for the rest of the week.

Tomato, Avocado, and Miso Salad

6-8 cups butter lettuce
1 large avocado, or 2 small, cubed
2 large tomato, chopped or you could also use a cup of halved cherry/grape tomatoes
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1/2 diced cucumber

Dressing

Ingredients:

1/2 mild onion, peeled and roughly diced (I used 1/2 vidalia)

1 small clove of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped

1/4 cup + 1 tbsp white miso

2 tbsp toasted sesame oil

2 tbsp mirin

2 tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp rice wine vinegar

2 tbsp water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Blend all ingredients but the veg oil in your blender until smooth, then slowly stream in vegetable oil to emulsify dressing.  It will look creamy when finished blending.

Toss with all salad ingredients to combine, and top with sesame seeds.

Even Omnivores Tofu Nuggets & Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

This week I thought I'd post one of my fiancé's favorite dinners for me to make.  He is still clinging to the title of "omnivore" even though I'd venture to guess that he eats 80% vegan.  He really tries - I have to give him credit. I have a theory that it's a lot easier to feel satisfied by meat substitutes like tofu & tempeh if you aren't still eating steak & bacon, but seitan, with its meatier texture was working out for him.  Unfortunately, seitan is about $4 for an 8 oz box, and I work too much to have time to make my own every time I cook dinner.  Tofu, however, is only about $1.50.  I love tofu, pretty much any way you cook it but I'm not eating any animals products at all, so I'm pretty easy to please as far as meat substitutes go.  To Darrell though, tofu just seemed like too much of a stretch.  Until I made these, which are awesome.

Crispy Breaded Tofu Strips

Yield: 3 servings

Ingredients:

• 1 package firm or extra firm tofu (I use organic, non-GMO)
• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1/3 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs 
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• scant 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp cayenne powder (for a kick of heat)
• 1/4 tsp onion powder

1. Press tofu: Rinse the tofu with water and place a couple kitchen towels on the counter. Wrap the tofu with another towel, place another towel on top, a layer of aluminum foil (so keep the cookbooks dry) and finally several heavy cookbooks on top. Let sit for at least 30 minutes to soak out the water.  

2. Meanwhile, whisk together the milk and cornstarch in a shallow dish.  This works best if you slowly add the milk to the cornstarch WHILE whisking.  In another bowl, mix together the cornmeal, breadcrumbs, salt, and spices. Set aside. Preheat oven to 400F and grease 2 baking sheets with oil. I like to line mine with aluminum foil for no cleanup.  

3. Slice tofu into 16-20 little squares, depending on how thick you want it. With one hand dip the tofu strip into the milk mixture and then into the cornmeal/breadcrumb mixture. Use other hand to sprinkle dry mixture all over the tofu. Coat both sides entirely and then place on baking sheet. Repeat with the rest.

4. Bake tofu on middle rack at 400F. Bake for 20 minutes, then flip the tofu, and then bake for another 15-20 minutes until crispy. Remove tofu and serve with rooster sauce & mashed potatoes!

Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

yields: 6 servings

1 Head Cauliflower, chopped into florets

2 Yukon Gold Potatoes, cut into 4 chunks

1/2 cup soy milk

4 TBSP Earth Balance margarine

Bring a large pot of water to boil, and submerge the cauliflower & potatoes in for at least 40 minutes.  Drain them, and then pour all the cauliflower, potatoes, soy milk, and earth balance into a food processor.  Salt & pepper to taste.  You may have to do this in two batches depending on the size of your food processor.  Remember to scrap down the sides as you go - you don't want to end up with potato puree on bottom and chunks on top.  DO NOT try to make these "mashed" with a potato masher, as the cauliflower will end up grainy.  You only get that super smooth "mashed potatoes" texture with a food processor.  

Last but NOT least - the best sauce ever - Rooster Sauce

This is inspired by a sauce served with savory crepes at our favorite brunch spot, Rooster in downtown St. Louis.  

After hearing Darrell rave about it, while I couldn't eat it because it had mayonnaise in it, I decided to recreate it at home.  

Ingredients: 

2 TBSP veganaise, or any vegan mayo

2 tsp sriracha

2 tsp yellow mustard

Directions: 

Mix it all together!  Done!  I never make this in advance because it's so easy, I just throw it together for a dipping sauce whenever I need one - it's great on sandwiches too.  If you wanted an even lower calorie dip, try Sriracha ketchup, which they also serve at Rooster.  It's just ketchup with sriracha mixed in, as much as suits you.  

it's been a while...

So I'm going to give this another go, since I've recently been re-inspired by the topic, thanks to a new documentary series on HBO called "Weight of the Nation."

This documentary series is really interesting in that it examines America as a whole, and our habits, not necessarily just those who are already struggling with their weight.  I for one, was surprised to learn how many people just don't  know how to eat better!  I grew up in a house where we were VERY weight conscious...I could probably have told you the amount of calories in anything you'd asked me about by the time I was 14.  But one woman was ingesting 2000 calories daily in just soft drinks and had no idea...can you imagine?  No food at all, just soda!

The most horrifying part is probably the episode about children.

HBO is intending for this documentary to be a sort of public service, so they're making it easily viewable for free.  I requested to watch it early and they even sent me the entire DVD set for free, which I thought was pretty amazing!

Here are all the videos to watch: