Quinoa salad with apricot and pistachios

I was lucky to have my friend, Michelle whip up a delicious and healthy dinner for me and another friend tonight. Since I normally do all of my own cooking, it was really nice to have someone else cook for me :) I have such lovely friends!

Mich made quinoa salad with apricot, kale and pistachio nuts. She made some changes to the original recipe, adding kale and capsicum instead of the romaine lettuce and raisins. The original recipe can be found here.

I thoroughly enjoyed this meal. It was light, flavoursome and very filling. You might not think that salads are a substantial dinner, but this one left us all feeling very satisfied. Although, we still had room for dessert of course :P

Homemade guacamole & corn chips for starters :)

Vegan blackened tofu, kale, silver beet (chard) and quinoa

I had a busy day today but I wanted to cook up a recipe I found on The Simple Veganista. The recipe was blackedned tofu, stir fried kale and quinoa. I had an hour to cook and eat my lunch before having to rush off and pick up my brother to go to the dentist. This dish was so quick and easy to make that I got it all done, plus I managed to get changed and brush my teeth! Awww yeah. 

Mind you, it was quick to make because I already had the ingredients. This dish is simple, but jam packed with flavour. I really loved it.

As The Simple Veganista goes on to explain on their site, this is a very nutritious meal. Kale is just a wonder vegetable, and quinoa is a wonder grain. Put them together and you get something even better than when the Power Rangers combine into a Megazord. 

Blackened Tofu, Stir Fried Kale (and silver beet /chard) and Quinoa

From The Simple Veganista

Kale and silver beet (chard):

Ingredients

kale and silver beet, roughly chopped

2 tablespoon of nutritional yeast, fine ground

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons sesame oil

salt to taste

sesame seeds to garnish

Directions

In large wok or saute pan heat oil on medium high. Add kale and stir fry for about a minute. Sprinkle nutritional yeast and garlic powder over top, turning and moving the kale around to get all the spices mixed well throughout the kale. Continue stir frying for another four to five minutes. You may leave a cover on for a minute here and there in between stir frying to help soften the kale. When kale turns bright green it's about ready to be removed from heat. Test a piece and see if it's too your liking, if not stir fry a little longer. Some may like it crisp and some may like it softer. Serve with a sprinkle of sesame seeds on top.

Blackened tofu:

Ingredients

one block firm or extra firm organic tofu

2 tablespoons tamari

1 tablespoon sesame oil

Spice Blend

2 teaspoons paprika

1 teaspoon black or white pepper

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon thyme

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Open and drain tofu. Slice tofu into slabs, whatever size you prefer. Press tofu between paper towels or cloth to remove excess moisture. In a shallow dish place tofu and tamari and let set a few minutes, turn after a few minutes to let the other side soak.

In medium size bowl, combine all spice blend ingredients and mix until blended. This is fairly spicy so you may consider using less black pepper and/or cayenne.

In saute pan, heat oil on medium high heat. Place tofu pieces in spice blend, press gently to get a good coating, turn and repeat on the other side. Place coated tofu onto saute pan and cook a few minutes on each side. They will  blacken nicely as they should and be so tasty! Serve with quinoa, rice, kale or anything that calls to you. Serves four.

Quinoa:

Ingredients

1 cup quinoa

1 1/2 cups water

Directions

Rinse your quinoa under cool running water for about a minute or two to remove any dust. If you forego this step your quinoa will have a bitter taste. Well worth the step. In medium to large pot add quinoa and water, bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 15-20 min. Once done stir and let set for 10 minutes uncovered to rest and soak up any excess water. Stir once again before serving. It will be a perfect quinoa, fluffy and sprouted.

  

Vegan portobello mushroom and kale calzone with garlic miso cream (from The Simple Veganista)

Since changing to a vegan diet two years ago, I had bookmarked about 30 different vegan food sites which I would frequently check for new recipes. Unfortunately, I accidentally went and deleted all of my bookmarks the other month, so I've lost them all. 

But not to worry, I'll just start over :)

Which leads me to my point. I have fallen in love with a new vegan food website called The Simple Veganista. Check it out please! There are so many delicious recipes, and the food photographs are so good that I could eat my laptop screen. No joke guys. 

I have had my eye on a recipe for Portobello and Kale Calzones with Garlic Miso Cream, and I finally had some time today to cook this baby up. 

It is such a good recipe! I was a bit lazy so I used a box pizza dough mix rather than making a wholemeal pizza dough, but it still tasted delicious and I still felt healthy chowing down on my calzone. 

The garlic miso cream was gooood! It was just the perfect flavour combination to accompany the veggies in the calzone. Absolutely delicious! Make this up, and whoever you serve it to will be totally and utterly impressed with you. 

Happy cooking!

Vegan Portobellow & Kale Calzone with Garlic Miso Cream
From The Simple Veganista

Makes 4

Ingredients

• 1 500g flour and 4g yeast packet from the Laucke Pizza & Focaccia Speacialty Mix, divided into 4
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 2 -3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon thyme
• 2 portabello mushrooms, sliced
• 1 1/2 cups broccoli florets, cut somewhat small
• four large leaves of kale, stems removed and roughly chopped or left somewhat whole (I used curly kale) or a bundle of spinach
• large handful cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half (I used small roma tomatoes)
• olive oil, to brush on top of calzone
• himalayan salt and cracked pepper to taste
• cornmeal for dusting the baking tray

Garlic Cream Sauce

• 1 cup cashews, soaked for at least two hours or over night
• 1/2 cup to 1 cup water, if you soaked the cashew for two hours use 1 cup, if soaked overnight use 1/2 cup water
• 1 head garlic
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons white miso
• juice of 1 lemon
• himalayan salt & pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200C).

First, roast the garlic for the garlic cream sauce. Remove most of the outer layer of skin on the garlic leaving enough to hold them in place, lay sideways and cut the tops off. Place garlic cut side up on a piece of tinfoil, drizzle with olive oil and top with sea salt & cracked pepper. Fold ends of foil up and squeeze together and crimp the edge. Place on cookie sheet and cook for 40-45 minutes. Let cool.

Once garlic is done, turn the oven up to 475-500 degrees F (250-260 C). Place pizza stone or baking tray inside the oven for about 45 minutes before cooking.

While garlic is roasting, make up the pizza dough according to the packet recipe. Cut dough into four equal portions, roll each portion into a ball, cover with light towel and let set for another 30 minutes away from oven heat to let the gluten relax....if the gluten isn't relaxed you may have a hard time rolling out your dough properly. (I let mine sit for 45 minutes after kneading it. After this time, it had tripled in size. I then cut the dough into 4 and let each ball rest for another 45 minutes. Lots of waiting, but trust me, your dough will come out better this way).

Next onto the garlic cream sauce. Drain cashews and place all ingredients into food processor/blender and process until creamy, about 4 to 5 minutes. If cream is too thick and extra water 1 tablespoon at a time until desired consistency being careful not to thin it out too much making it runny, if in doubt leave it on the thick side. Taste for seasoning, set aside.

Slice your grape/cherry/baby roma tomatoes in half, place in small bowl and set aside.

In large skillet, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Add onion, garlic and cook until onions become soft. Add in mushrooms, broccoli, kale/spinach, thyme and salt & pepper to taste, cook for another 5 minutes or so. Turn off heat and cover ajar to help steam and soften the veggies a little more while working on the next step. 

On a lightly floured surface, roll each portion out into an eight inch oval, rectangle, circle, ...whatever works easiest for you. Lay on some of the veggie mixture, add a few heaping tablespoons of the garlic miso cream and top with some of the kale and tomatoes (or layer however you like, this is just a suggestion, my emphasize is to keep the cream in the middle of the calzone as much as possible). Fold the other half over and seal the edges by rolling them up and sealing or by pressing with a fork, or both. Top with a light coat of olive oil and a sprinkle of salt, pepper and thyme.

Enjooooyyy!!

Vegan Quinoa Pilaf with Kale and Corn

The lovely family I work for are often giving me a bunch of fresh kale from their garden. I always love when this happens because it feels so wonderful to be on the receiving end of such a kind gesture. I count myself very lucky to be working in such a warm environment. 

What I love about kale is that there are thousands of great vegan kale recipes out there. All of them 100% delicious. You can't go wrong with kale, and it's so good for you too.

Today's kale recipe is from my cookbook Vegan Holiday Kitchen by Nava Atlas. I made the Red Quinoa Pilaf with Kale and Corn, but I used normal white quinoa instead. I'm fairly certain all quinoa tastes the same regardless of colour, but I don't know that for sure so maybe I'll conduct some of my own taste test experiments. 

This meal was so wonderfully light. It is perfect for winter or summer, and it makes for a great lunch. If you're anything like me, dinner has to be more substantial :P



Vegan Quinoa Pilaf with Kale and Corn
From the Vegan Holiday Kitchen cookbook by Nava Atlas

Serves 8

Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups quinoa (any colour), rinsed in a fine sieve
• 3 cups prepared vegetable broth or 3 cups water with 1 vegetable bouillon cube
• 1 bunch kale (about 8 ounces)
• 1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 to 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 3 to 4 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced
• 2 cups cooked fresh or thawed frozen corn kernels (I used mixed corn and peas)
• 2 jarred roasted red peppers, cut into strips, or 1/3 cup oil-packed sundried tomatoes, cut into strips
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon dried rosemary
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions

1. Combine the quinoa with 2 cups broth in a medium saucepan. Bring to rapid simmer, then cover and continue to simmer gently until the broth is absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes. If the quinoa isn't quite done, add additional ½ cup broth (or water) and continue to cook until absorbed.
2. strip the kale leaves away from the stems. Discard the stems, or slice them very thinly. Cut the kale leaves into narrow strips. Rinse well and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet or stir-fry pan. Add the garlic and saute over love heat until golden.
4. Add the kale, stir together, and cover, raise the heat to medium and cook until wilted, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add the remaining ingredients and cook, stirring frequently for 4 to 5 minutes longer. Transfer to serving bowl or casserole dish and serve at once, or cover until needed.