Falafel Pizzas?

Geez Louise....I've neglected this blog. It's definitely not from lack of cooking. Since my last post I've really gotten into baking. On a weekly basis I've been making muffins, breads, cobblers, brownies, and other tasty goodies. However, I'll save those for another time and instead share some falafel pizzas I made tonight. I know, I know.....falafel and pizza in the same sentence? Well, many many years ago I roadied with a band called Trepan Nation from Chicago. We rolled into Richmond, VA the day before our show and ended up sleeping in a van in a parking lot somewhere. Anyway, that evening we found a 24 hr pizza joint that strangely enough had falafels as a topping. We bought a big pie with falafels, eggplant, onions, and no cheese. It was the densest motherfucker of a pizza I've ever eaten, and I use the term "pizza" very loosely because it definitely did not taste like a pizza. But damn was it tasty. Now I've always been curious as to whether it actually made for good eating or if I was just starving at the time? Well I had a bunch of falafels left over from the previous day, so I thought I'd give it a go.

I got a couple Whole Wheat Pizza Crusts (Whole Foods Brand) and brushed them with some olive oil. Next I added some marinara sauce. Then I topped the pizzas with various combinations of broccoli, spinach, onions, roasted red peppers, plum tomatoes, and falafel. Finally, I topped both pies off with shredded Follow My Heart Soy Cheese, Monteray Jack style. I cooked them at 400 degrees for 7 mins then broiled them till the cheese melted and browned a bit.

The verdit....Bella gives a thumbs up! Falafels do indeed make for a good pizza topping.

Digging the Hemp Milk....

Having a daughter with allergies to both dairy and soy and of the age where she'll be weaning soon, I've been searching hi and low for a calcium fortified beverage for her. We currently purchase rice milk, but I'm not crazy about it's lack of fats, protein, and the milk's overall thin consistentcy. As Dr. Fuhrman says in his book Disease-Proof Your Child,

I do not recommend rice milks for infants and toddlers. The rice-based milks are too sweet and too low in protein and fat.

So doing some research on the net I came across hemp milk. I've noticed it in the past at the health food store and my wife even bought a carton of chocolate hemp milk at one point, but I never really looked at it's nutritional profile in earnest.

I found the Living Harvest website, www.livingharvest.com, one of the two companies producing hemp milk and was pretty impressed with it's benefits:

An 8 oz. glass of the original or vanilla flavored hemp milk has:

800 mg Omega-3 with SDA
2600 mg of Omega-6 with GLA
All 10 Essential Amino Acids
4 g Digestible Protein
Vitamins A, B12, D, E, Riboflavin & Folic Acid
Magnesium, Potassium, Phosphorus, Iron & Zinc
40% Daily Value of Calcium

Surprisingly, the chocolate flavor has even more calcium (46% of rda), b12 (25% of rda), and boosts 900 mg of Omega-3 and 2800 mg of Omega-6 (perfectly balanced I might add). On the flipside, it does have a high sugar content.

Additionally, hemp milk is gluten-free, soy-free, and has no known allergens. Perfect for my daughter.

And if you're wondering, hemp seeds naturally contain an insignificant amount of THC (yes the stuff that gets you high when you're smoking a doob) and further processing guarantees 0% of THC is found in Living Harvest products.

Of course, most importantly, how does it taste.

I initially purchased both the plain and vanilla flavor. I honestly can't really taste the difference between the two, but they've got a nutty flavor and pretty much remind me of the earlier varieties of soy milk. Slightly chalky, but not really noticable if it's shaken well and not drunk straight. Turthfully it didn't bother me, but what about Bella? She likes it in her breakfast cereal, though not straight.

What about the chocolate? The chocolate I thoroughly enjoy. Better than soy or almond milks. It's rich, chocolately, and not chalky like the plain and vanilla flavor. Strangely, my daughter wasn't digging it and my son won't drink it either. Though, I bet Max would drink it if he didn't know it was hemp milk. For some reason has has a bias against drinking milks from a small rectangular box, as oppossed to the half gallon cartons that Silk comes in.

At $4 for 32 oz. it is a bit pricey, esp since you can get a double box (2 half gallons) of plain Silk soy milk for a little over $5, and almond milk has been 2 for $5 at Publix lately. But, I do like the Omega-3 profile of of the Hemp Milk and the fact that you get nearly half your calcium for the day in one glass.

I'll probably continue buying a few cartons a week, along with soy milk, and occassionally calcium-fortified orange juice. Variety is the spice of life.

Simple Dinner....

After a long day spent at the zoo, I didn't really feel like making anything too fancy last night (not that I ever make anything fancy). I had a bunch of turnips, a bag of parsnips in the fridge and a package of Flax Seed Tempeh (I've become an omega-3 fiend) that I've been wanting to fry up, so I decided to do roasted roots and fried tempeh meal.

The roasted root veggies was easy. Here's what I did:

Ingredients

3 large parsnips
a dozen or so turnips
2 Tbs. of olive oil
1 Tbs. of tarragon
salt and pepper to taste.

1. I pre-heated the oven to 425 degrees
2. peeled, washed and rinsed the turnips and parsnips and cut them into about 1/2" cubes.
3. I tossed the cubes in a bowl with the olive oil and tarragon.
4. Then I popped them in the oven and baked them for 45 mins.
5. I mixed around every 15 mins just to get even browning.
6. After their done, add all the salt and pepper you like. I tend to add saly and pepper after the fact, since everyone in my household has different threshholds for sodium and not all like pepper.

For the tempeh, I prepared it differently than usual. I decided to steam it for 10 mins., first. Apparently, doing so, opens the pores in the tempeh to allow flavors to soak in. This makes sense. I've always been more of a tempeh person than a tofu person, but I have noticed that no matter how long you marinate tempeh the flavors tend to never penetrate the surface, like tofu. I marinated it briefly (about 15 mins) in a cup of water with a tbs. of garlic, a tbs. of coriander, and a tbs. of bragg's liquid aminos. I threw it on the cast-iron skillet and fried it in a little canola oil for about 10-15 mins on each side. The cast-iron skillet will let you know when one side is done, because it lifts easily.

The verdict:

I'm a late comer to parsnips. My uncle introduced me to it last year. The way he prepared it tasted like a slightly spicy carrot. I've been using them off and on since then. Though, I can't decide if I really like them or not. They've got a strange flavor where they can't seem to decide whether they want to be sweet or bitter. The sweetness tends to win out, but halfway through a parsnip dish I always find myself forcing it down after a usually delightful start. This time was no exception. I enjoyed the roasted roots initially, but lost interest about half way through. I've come to the conclusion, that I'll stick to sweet potatoes and white potatoes if I'm craving a root and only pick up parsnips and turnips when the price is good. That said, if you like these root vegetables you'll probably like this dish since roasting veggies always makes them taste better.

I thoroughly enjoyed the tempeh. The flavor was subtle, but tasty. I'll definitely use the same method again.

Hooray, I found another use for our cast-iron skillet (it's still worthless to cook potatoes in).

"Under weakness, you put eczema" - David Brent (the Office)

A post from my partner-in-crime Michelle (A.K.A. the Bean Queen)

Our two year old, Bella, has been a huge inspiration for our family to eat healthy. Her diet is restricted due to food allergies that result in severe eczema. Since she began eating solids at age one, we have had to pay close attention to her nutritional needs. Our four year old, Max, can eat what-ever veggie fare he desires with little to no allergic reactions. The irony of his seemingly endless options for substance, is that Bella actually has the far more expanded palate. Max manages to subsists primarily on wheat products, tomatoes (think pasta sauce), and cheese. We are lucky to sneak anything green past his scrutinizing vision, beans and tofu are YUCK, and we count our blessings when we're able to blackmail him into eating a salad, before his pizza. I like to think of his palate as a work in progress. Bella, however, eats just about anything we put in front of her - primarily all whole food. What we screwed up with Max, we got right with Bella!

Tonight, for Bella and myself, I made a light red kidney bean dish with quinoa. It is a very simple dish with lots of flavor. I think it would be great with corn chips, too.

Light Red Kidney Bean Delight…

1 bag dry light red kidney beans
5-7 cloves of garlic (if you like your garlic, one or two less if not), minced
1 small onion, diced
1 carrot, chopped
2 large tomatoes, diced
1-2 cups veggie stock (depending on how much liquid your in the mood for)
Garlic powder (hey, we like our garlic), salt, and pepper to taste

Prepare dry beans to directions on bag.
Sauté garlic on med-low heat with olive oil first, about five minutes. Be careful to not burn them. Add onions, sauté for another 2 minutes. Add veggie stock, carrots and beans, simmer for about 7 minutes. Add tomatoes, salt, garlic powder, and pepper to taste.

I actually never use pepper ’cuz I’m not a fan. I always end up tasting this dish over and over again until I get the flavor just right - I like my stuff to have a strong rich flavor. I added cooked quinoa at the end because it is a complete protein source. I add the tomatoes for flavor first and foremost, but also because they help the body to absorb iron. Serve this with a side of kale or broccoli, and whoa, a nutrient packed delicious dinner.

Food tip for parents of babies… instead of buying packaged baby food that is specific for the finger eating stages, season some beans instead.

Bella say’s, “I LOVE MY BEE-BEE’S!"

What the Fuck Do You Do With Mung Beans?

Seriously.....I'm starring at a bag my Mom gave me. I'm really not sure how to use these. Some intense recipe searching to ensue.

Living off lentils....

Last Sunday I made a big pot of lentils, which I've been eating off of all week. The following lentil recipe is a hand me down from my Grandma. My Grandma rules. When I first became vegan she converted so many of her recipes to conform to my diet. I probably would have fell off the train when I was in my late teens, had it not been for her culinary skills. I still have about 100 note cards of her recipes, some of which I haven't used in years, but I'd like to revisit. Tempeh Reuben, vegan biscuits and gravy, tempeh cacciatore, mmmmm....... Frankly, most of them are probably a little too rich for my current diet (I'm for the most part following Fuhrman's Eat-to-Live program), but there's always room to splurge sometimes.

Grandma Harmon's Cooked Lentils

Ingredients:
1 - 1 lb. bag of lentils
1 - chopped carrot
1 - diced celery stalk
1 - 16 0z. can tomato sauce
1-1 1/2 c vegan spaghetti sauce
garlic powder, salt, pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. Rinse lentils, then cover with water. Boil for 2 mins.
2. Take off heat, cover, and let sand for 1 hr. (Now everything I've read about lentils say that they don't need to be soaked, however I defer to my grandmother's cooking prowess.)
3. Add carrots, celery, tomato and pasta sauce. Add as much garlic powder, salt, and pepper as you like.
4. Cook lentils on medium heat until they are tender. About 10 - 15 min.

This makes a pretty large pot and I ultimately use them throughout the week. They can be used in a variety of ways. Of course they're good on their own served with a grain (rice or quinoa). I also like them a couple different ways served with pasta. The way my Grandma serves them is mixed in with macaroni noodles and add some Parmesan cheese (or soy Parmesan for me). I like to add some hot pepper flakes as well to this combination.

Another way to integrate it into pasta, is to simply add it to some additional vegan spaghetti sauce and serve it with pasta. This is one of the few ways I can actually get my son to eat legumes. He never notices them.

I've also seen some recipes for lentil hummus, which could be intriguing. So many possibilities for my, by far, favorite legume.

Well at least it's good for something....

A $125 cast-iron skillet and the only thing I've been able to cook in it is tofu....but it is damn good tofu.

What the Fuck Do You Do With Kale?

I asked that very question to myself several days ago as I perusing the produce section at my local grocery store. They had large bags of pre-washed kale on sale buy one get one free. So I said what the heck. I've always wanted to dabble with kale, since it is one of the most nutrient dense foods that I know of. Of course, I've never really cooked with it so I was at loss as to what I would use it for. I followed the directions on the package, cooking it with tomatoes and Italian seasoning. It was perhaps the most grotesque food stuff, I've ever had the displeasure of dining on. I forced myself to eat it....."uh vitmains....minerals...garble garble...come on keep it down".

So tonight I decided to make a soup. It actually turned out pretty good. Here's what I did:

Ingredients:
1 onion
4 cloves of garlic
8 cups of vegetable stock
1 cup brown lentils
1/2 cup red lentils (no reason other than I didn't want these to go to waste)
chopped carrot and celery (1 or 2 of each)
Shit ton of kale...like a lb. ....seriously
Turmeric
Cumin
Paprika
Pepper

1. First, I sauteed the onion and garlic in a little olive oil till the got nice and translucent.
2. Next, I added the spices to the cooking onions and garlic. I just eye-balled it.
3. After letting the cooking onions and garlic absorb the spices, I added the lentils, stock, veggies, and kale. It will look like there is too much kale for the liquid, but in no time the kale will magically shrink.
4. Bring it to a boil and then simmer for about a hour. Kale seems to take forever to cook...er unless tough greens are your bag.
5. Add all the salt and pepper you wish

Done. Pretty tasty if I do say so myself. I'll probably be eating this the rest of the week.

2 days later and it tastes even better!

Candy Colored Clowns....

So apparently, researchers at Durham University have found that instant coffee can cause hallucinations: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7827761.stm

According to the study:
People who drank more than seven cups of instant coffee a day were three times more likely to hallucinate than those who took just one

And to think that I could have avoided wandering around cow pastures looking for magic mushrooms as a youth, by just drinking tons of Folgers.

Quinoa....My New Best Friend

Since I gave up refined grains a couple months ago, I've been using quinoa as a staple in my diet. I pretty much use it as a rice replacement. Besides who wants to wait almost an hour for brown rice to cook? It kind of has a nutty flavor and a couscous-like consistency. It's nutrional profile is pretty impressive: http://www.nutritiondata.com/facts/cereal-grains-and-pasta/5705/2

1 cup of Quinoa has:

over 8 grams of protein
nearly 3 mg of iron
118 mg of magnesium
2+ mg of zinc
500+ mg of omega-3
all 8 essential amino acids

Most importantly, it's easy as hell to make and I never have the problem with it being over moist or over dry like rice often turns out.

You can find quinoa in the bins section at whole foods. To cook it, all you need to do is:

1. Mix 1 cup of quinoa with 1 cup of water in a pot.
2. Bring to boil
3. cover and reduce heat
4. simmer for 15 mins.
5. done

Apparently, if you soak them for 24 hrs. before cooking, they begin to germinate, which increases the nutritional potency.

For dinner tonight, I kind of did a spin on fried rice modifying a recipe I found for a black bean quinoa dish:

Quinoa and Black Beans
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Quinoa-and-Black-Beans/Detail.aspx

I followed the recipe to a tee and set it aside.

Then I grabbed a large wok and sauteed half a package of baby portabellos in a little oil. When they got soft, I tossed in the quinoa and black beans. I grabbed my mini-bottle of Bragg's Liquid Aminos, and gave the cooking quinoa and beans a few squirts. I stiry fried it for about 5 minutes and then it was ready for consumption.

Serve it with a side of steamed veggies and you're all good.

Morning Smoothie Time.....

I pretty much have the same thing for breakfast most mornings and 4-5 days a week I typically have a smoothie. Mine are pretty basic:

1-2 bananas (depending how large)
1 cup frozen berries (I like mixed berries or blackberries, despite the annoying seeds)
1 cup soymilk (I use Silk Plus with DHA....a little extra omega-3 never hurt)
2 tbs. ground flax seeds
a little vanilla extract
on occasion I also might throw in a couple tsp. of nut butter...I've been digging sunflower butter lately.

Blend till your heart's content

Pretty simple. Devour it all and you'll get over 2 1/2 grams of Omega-3 and 32 mg of DHA. I'm trying to work up the courage to test out some smoothies where I can sneak some veggies in, preferably something my son would drink. I saw an intriguing recipe for a banana/kale smoothie somewhere, but low and behold I always fall back on the old favorite.

Here's a Quick One I Made Tonight...

I've been in the habit of using dry beans versus canned. I usually spend Saturday or Sunday morning preping beans and a few dishes that will last throughout the week. Today I cooked up a 2 lb bag of black beans. Hmmm.....what to do with 2 lbs. of black beans? How about black bean soup. I found this quick, but yummy recipe. For you lazy taco bell vegans, this is about the easiest thing you can make. It literally has 4 ingrediants and takes 10 minutes to cook. Or half a day, if you do dry beans. Add a little extra cayenne for a kick. I added an extra cup of un-mashed black beans to mine because I found it a little thin using the recipe as is.

Black Bean Soup
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/soupsstewsandchili/r/quickbeansoup.htm

Arise Eggplant Wizard....Arise

So I've decided to start a food blog. Actually many years ago I had the notion to start a punk rock vegan recipe/food/whatever zine (akin to Soy Not Oi, Please Don't Feed the Bears, etc.), but as things go, that idea came and went. One thing I can say about myself is that I'm an idea generator, however it's the implementation and follow-through on ideas that I have a problem with. Anyway, I always thought Eggplant Wizard would be a fitting moniker for such a zine. If you're not familiar with the title, you obvisously never spent enough time worshiping an NES as a child.

A recent preoccupation with my health has rekindled my interest in such a project. As of the last couple years, I've been experiencing a lot health issues and most recently my doctor told me to consider taking medication for blood pressure (though I suspect I have a killer case of whitecoat hypertension). Not being one who particularly likes taking medication, I decided it was time to get serious about eating better.

Here's a little background....I've been a vegetarian since 1994. During my senior year of highschool, my friend Zack got me to go along with him and forego meet. The irony is he was never really fond of fruits and vegetables and was one of those folks who would order a subway sandwich extra meat and cheese, no vegetables. I always found it little odd that he'd have any interest in vegetarianism and to this day I'm not really sure what his motivations were. Regardless, I thought what the hell. I was already interested in counter-culture by that time and I was always a black sheep growing up, so why not add another layer of non-conformist cred. I lasted about 3 months. I was actually pretty ambivalent about the whole experiment, though I actually felt pretty good.

Fast forward a few months later, I graduated and was working at Burger King, which I might add was the worst job I've ever had. But low and behold, I worked with a girl who happended to be a vegetarian and also introduced me to diy punk and Jawbreaker. She dubbed me a cassette with the first 7 songs off Unfun, which remained on my walkman for many months and is still one of my favorite albums of all-time, perhaps only dwarfed by 24 Hour Revenge Therapy, but it's close. I digress. So my co-worker re-introduced me to vegetarianism and frankly working with all that low quality meat only served as a further incentive to give it another try.

After a few months, I pretty much decided this was going to be a lifelong thing. I found it pretty easy being a vegetarian. I still ate pizza, burritos, mac & cheese, grilled cheese, and most of the stuff I ate prior to my change in diet. As a gift, my friend's mother (the guy who originally introduced me to vegetarianism) gave me a vegetarian cookbook and within it's pages is where I first came across the term vegan. I honestly thought the idea was a bit excessive and didn't really interest me, though it seemed rational that with availability of meat-analouges and supplements meat, eggs, and dairy probably weren't necessary. It's with that rationale that I eventually tried veganism.

Being involved in the diy punk scene during the mid-late 90's, information on veganism and animal rights was in no short supply. It seemed like there was a time when you couldn't go to a show without seeing pamplets from Vegan Action, Farm Sanctuary, or Peta widely available or have Food Not Bombs raising funds by selling vegan treats. During the mid-90's it was actually weird to meet someone involved in punk who actually ate meat. And yes I dug Earth Crisis for a while, but then again who didn't.

My transition to veganism was bumpy at first. I had a food ingrediant bible that I had to study carefully every time I went to the grocery store. Fucking mono-dyglicerides in bread was always a bummer. I always had to buy that thick ass Ezikiel bread from the health food. And don't even remind about how bad soy milk was back then. The Albertson's across the street from my apartment only carried "Soy Moo", which was thick and chalky. Edensoy was tolerable, though a far cry from today's Silk soy milk. While it was a tough transition, I finally got the hang of it and stuck with it for the most part for several years after.

I moved to Chicago in 1999 with my girlfriend (now wife), where being vegan was a walk in the park. There was no short supply of vegan friendly restaurants and health food stores. Man I miss Soul Vegetarian and the Chicago Dinner. Living in a city without the need for a car, I also chose to walk most of the time, and was probably in the best shape of my life the 3 years I lived there. I've always been a bit "husky", but I was pretty darn near my ideal weight during that time.

In 2002, me and my partner moved back to Florida. I was kinda bummed about the moved and didn't really leave the house much. Being engrossed in school I got really lazy about my diet and adopted junkfood vegetariansim. Processed high-sodium foods, frozen pizzas, sometimes drinking an entire liter of coke (especially during term paper crunch time), became staples in my diet rather than an occasional indulgence. Yes, even in my otherwise vegan existence in Chicago, I had to occassionally indulge in some deep dish pizza. Though it usually was soy cheese at Leona's.

By 2004-2005, I was having a lot of back problems due to my increased weight. I always tried to do the vegan thing again, but never had the will power. Fast forward to today, I decided it was time to get back to eating a healthier diet. As of November, I've been eating a lot healthier and have generally been eating a vegan diet. I've lost some weight and have generally been feeling better.

So as I come full circle, eating well and getting healthy again are the impetus for this blog. I'll be posting recipes, food diaries, and other food related (and probably non food-related) musings. So there you have it... the almighty Eggplant Wizard.