Black Bean, Zucchini & Olive Tacos

I made these for dinner and HOLY CRAP they were yummy! I was excited about it for hours after dinner was over. I used the recipe from Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, but I tweaked it slightly by using yellow squash instead of zucchini, leaving out the jalapeno (the husband isn't a huge fan of spice) and coriander (just didn't have it) and adding more garlic.

What you will need:

Olive Oil

4 small yellow squash

1/4 tsp salt

4 cloves garlic

1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives

1/2 tsp ground cumin

6 oz. salsa verde

16 oz. can of black beans, drained & rinsed

1/2 cup thinly sliced scallions

Corn tortillas

1. Heat oil in large skillet. Chop squash and olives into bite sized pieces and mince garlic.

2. Saute squash with salt for 5-7 minutes. Add garlic, olives and cumin and saute for another couple minutes.

3. Add beans and salsa verde and continue to cook until salsa verde cooks down a bit.

4. Heat a small skillet over medium heat and add a little bit of olive oil. Heat tortillas until soft, fill with squash/bean mixture and sprinkle with scallions. *I added some Cholula to mine too because I LOVE spicy :)

 

 

Vegan Interrogated: Amy

Name: Amy Wright
Location: Seattle area
Website: www.etsy.com/shop/overthefenceart
www.over-the-fence-art.com

What made you decide to go vegan?
I went 100% vegan 3 years ago.
My love for animals, the planet and my health helped me embrace the vegan diet.

What was the reaction from your friends/family?
My friends and family supported me in the decision to go vegan from the very start.

Dumbest question someone asked you about being vegan.
The dumbest question I still get regarding being vegan is "Do you still eat fish" and "where do you get your protein"?

What changes have you noticed in yourself since going vegan?
So many changes I've noticed since being vegan. The first being dropping 12 lbs., my digestion improved, my energy went up and my chronic sinus trouble vanished.

Do you have any advice for people toying with the idea of becoming a vegan?
My advice to others toying with the idea of going vegan is that it's a process. I was a vegetarian for 30+ years until I switched to being vegan. I read everything that I could get my hands on in the vegan life style. Books like The China Study, The Kind Diet, and the influences of many other Eastern medicine doctors convinced me that I had nothing to lose and everything to gain.
There are so many minor and major health isssues tied into eating a non-plant diet. I struggled with headaches and sinus troubles for most of my adult life. Since I became vegan and gluten-free, I am headache free!
I think I always knew that I wanted to adopt the vegan diet, and now that I have I feel that I am being true to my real self. My health has improved, no animals are suffering from my diet choices, and the planet benefits as well. Yay!

Sage Organic Vegan Bistro

In quirky Echo Park on the ground floor of the historical Jensen's Rec Building sits Sage Organic Vegan Bistro. I've been meaning to try this place for awhile now and finally got around to hitting up their brunch on a beautiful Sunday morning.

The space is cute and bright with tons of windows to give it a nice cheerful atmosphere. I love the pendant lights made of mason jars hanging from the ceiling. You can see one just to the left of the sign in the picture below - too cute! The wait staff was very friendly even when they started to get busy. It seemed like there were a lot of regulars coming through the doors as they were greeted by name. I wanna be that cool!

On to the food! To start, my husband and I shared the TexMex Chimichanga egg rolls made with bell pepper, black beans, corn, onions, cilantro and daiya. It said it comes with a mango chutney, but we got some sort of avocado dipping sauce I believe which was A-MAZING. I started eating it straight up after the egg rolls were gone. The rolls themselves were pretty fricking good as well, so much flavor and the perfect crispy outer shell.

For his meal, the man ordered the BLTA, made with tempeh bacon, which in retrospect I should have advised him against as he really doesn't like tempeh. But I kept my mouth shut and even though he ate most of his meal and said it was ok, I don't think he was super amazed by it. I had a bite and it tasted great to me :)

I was going to go with the tacos because I always lean towards anything related to Mexican food, but decided to be daring and order the Spinach, Avocado & Walnut Sausage Florentine. It was pretty good, I liked the walnut sausage and most of the flavors were savory and delicious, but something in the dish had a little too much salt (or possibly nooch??) for my liking, maybe the hollandaise sauce? I don't eat a lot of salt so I tend to be sensitive to the taste. Overall I was pleased with my dish, but I don't think I would order it again. Next time I will definitely go for the tacos or maybe the sweet potato enchilada. And there will be a next time, because even though neither of us were super impressed with our entrees, I don't think it was the fault of the restaurant or a knock to their quality (because the egg rolls KICKED ASS!). We just ordered wrong for us.

As a nice finish I ordered a scoop of coffee nib Kind Kreme to go. YUM.

Vegan Chili

This chili is tasty, hearty and great for a detox meal. I make a huge pot and it lasts a couple days for an easy reheat-able lunch.

What you will need:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, peeled and chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
2 small zucchini or squash, diced
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 bell peppers, diced

2 cups sliced mushrooms
1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon cumin powder
1 (6 oz.) can tomato paste
1 (14 oz.) can tomatoes (or 1 1/2 cups chopped fresh)
1 (15 oz.) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 (15 oz.) can of black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
water to cover
sea salt & pepper to taste
green onions & cilantro for garnish

1. Slice and dice all your veggies.

2. Sauté vegetables in olive oil with spices in a large stock pot until tender.

3. Add tomatoes, paste, beans. lemon juice and cover with water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20-30 minutes.

5. Garnish with green onions and cilantro. Enjoy!

 

Vegan MoFo!!

 

Hey there! I'm excited to be participating in the 2012 Vegan Mofo (Vegan Month of Food). This awesome month long blogging event starts today and features a ton of blogs blogging about (obviously) food!!

I didn't pick a theme so I'm just going to have recipes and restaurant reviews. I don't think I can do every single day but I'm going to do my best to do one every other day.

I look forward to checking out all the other blogs as well...this should be fun!

Check out the blogroll here for all the amazing participants: http://www.veganmofo.com/blogroll/

Vegan in Vegas

This past weekend was my first trip to Las Vegas as a vegan. I already knew the Wynn and the Encore are very vegan friendly due to the fact that Steve Wynn is a vegan, but I didn't do much research beforehand into other hotels. This was a budget trip for us so we took the cheapest room we could find at the LVH.

We arrived Friday evening and after getting settled and cleaned up we went to meet our friends where they were staying at the MGM. I did a quick search on my phone for vegan options there and found a blog that stated the Italian restaurant Faminna had some vegan options. Sadly upon double checking we were told that all pastas contained eggs (BOO!) I definitely needed something more than a salad at this point so we moved on. Right across the way was the Japanese restaurant, Shibuya. They had a prix fix vegetarian menu that was $55, and most of it wasn't actually vegan but the waiter was nice enough to point out a couple things we could eat like the edamame, fried tofu and a veggie roll. Unfortunately their miso soup is made with fish broth, so boo to that too. I wish we were able to eat more, but it was better than continuing to search for another hour or two. Plus we had great company and conversation so it was all good. The presentation of the tofu was gorgeous and it was pretty tasty, plus we got a huge bowl of edamame.

The next day we got up pretty late so we went straight for lunch at the Wynn's Terrace Pointe Cafe. They had a vegan menu with a load of good choices, but they were all pretty pricey except for the burger, fries and chocolate milkshake combo for $9, so we both got that. In all honesty I was a bit disappointed when the food came out. It all tasted fine, but the proportions were tiny. My vegan milkshake was pretty awesome though :)

That night we decided to take our friends to a nice dinner at Top of the World at the Stratosphere. When my husband made the reservation the host told him that they did have a vegan option so we weren't worried about finding something to eat. The view there is GORGEOUS. You can see all of Vegas lit up and the restaurant rotates!! There was one vegetarian option on the menu with a bunch of vegetables and some quinoa. I figured I would play it safe and ask the waiter if they used butter in the preparation. Good thing I did because he said that they did. When I told him that I was vegan and didn't eat butter he told me that it's ok because it tasted really good. WTF?! When I said again that I was vegan and asked if it would be possible to do it without butter he told me no. So my husband and I were looking at a plate of lettuce and tomatoes for dinner basically. My crusader friend was not satisfied that the chef would not be able to make something vegan for my husband and I so she asked the waiter again if it would be possible and he gave us total attitude, saying it was Saturday night and the chef can't just make new dishes for everyone. I was pretty annoyed at this point but we finally got him to go talk to chef and when he came back the chef said it wouldn't be a problem to prepare the vegetarian meal without dairy. The food was ok, but it was basically $40 for a plate of carrots, asparagus and mushrooms. I was disappointed. I don't care how great the view is, I will not go back to that restaurant again. I didn't even want to take a picture of my food.

Sunday morning was the saving grace of the entire weekend. I had been reading about Ronald's Donuts on vegan websites for the past month and we decided to take a cab out to Chinatown to get some. After a $20 cab ride we walked into this typical little donut shop and I asked the very sweet owner which options were vegan and he pointed out the entire top two rows! I was ecstatic! Maple bars, chocolate bars, sugar twists, donut holes, apple fritters, etc....I had a hard time only choosing a couple to eat. We ended up with a fritter, 5 donuts, 12 donut holes and a large bottle of water all for $8. They were the best damn vegan donuts I had ever had. Heaven. The owner was so nice, I will definitely make this place a staple for future Vegas trips.

For lunch on Sunday we ate at the lounge in MGM Signature Lounge and had a great bowl of vegan chili (just ask for it without the cheese). After the donuts I was happy to have some hearty food in my belly. I didn't get a picture of this either because at this point I was just too darn tired and I may have had a couple margaritas in my already ;)

Overall I was a little disappointed in the vegan options in Vegas. You would think for a city with so many tourists that it would be more accommodating to different dietary needs. I think before we head out again I will do a lot more research as I'm sure there are places we just didn't know about where we could have found a decent meal.

Coney Dog

Sometimes I just really need a hot dog. Being vegan, they aren't that easy to come by. I have yet to try Pink's because every time I drive by, no matter what time of day, there is a line around the block. Somehow that just doesn't seem worth it to me for a vegan hot dog.

A couple weeks ago I couldn't take it anymore, I needed a hot dog and I needed it bad. I was even willing to stand in line at Pink's, but luckily a quick Google search led me to Coney Dog. Vegan hot dogs AND chili? Yes frickin please.

First time there I ordered the California Jack with vegan chili, onions and mustard. Heaven. The chili is pretty good, Not the best chili I have ever had, but it satisfies. I wasn't impressed with the french fries on this trip, they seemed a bit tasteless, but it must have been an off day because they were good the next few times. I have also tried just a plain vegan dog with mustard and it's super tasty as well.

The staff is pretty nice but not overly friendly. That's ok though, as long as they bring me my hot dog, I love them.

Vegan Interrogated: Kendy

Name: Kendy/MissMuffcake
Location: Modesto, CA USA
Website/blog: www.missmuffcake.com

A little about yourself:
I am a 33 year old vegan zine maker, cat lover and tea drinker. I like spending time reading, doing yoga, cutting and pasting text, going to new places to eat with my boyfriend and learning new things!

What made you decide to go vegan?
After being vegetarian for 6 years I started learning about why dairy was bad. It shocked me that dairy could be so cruel. I have been vegan for 12+ years now.

Favorite organization/cause & why:
Local no kill shelters. I have a soft spot in my heart for cats. I like hosting vegan bake sales to raise money for local no kill shelters. I like seeing my money helping the blocks I walk down.

What do you think is the best way to spread the word of veganism/compassion?
Coming together as a collective force. I understand we are all busy with our day to day lives but we need to take time and connect with others in the community and share our knowledge and help one another out. Support those with the same goals as you and in turn I hope they support you!

Favorite meal to make:
Kendy's $10 vegan BBQ plate. I always joke with my boyfriend and ask him if he would spend $10 on the plate of food I put in front of him. The BBQ plate consists of pan fried BBQ soy curls, mac & cheeze, watermelon and toasted bread with spread!

Dumbest question someone asked you about being vegan:
I have been asked a few times if I eat fish...I find it odd that after saying I do not eat anything from animals or insects fish is still a question!

Vegan T-Shirts at Fabulously Fierce!!

As some of you may know, I run an online shop for handmade home decor and embroidered items - Fabulously Fierce. I recently started to venture into embroidered hoodies, tees and tank tops. I thought this would be a great way to get the message of compassion across so I made a couple vegan themed tees!

The first states "I Think Therefore I'm Vegan" with a cute little bunny. It's a v-neck unisex style so it works for men and women!

The second has four lines of text saying Cruelty Free / Without Cruelty in 4 different languages. The is also a unisex style!

Vegan Enchiladas

I have been craving Mexican food something fierce lately I haven't found a vegan place that satisfies my need in L.A. yet so I figured I would make my own. I figured a fairly easy place to start was enchiladas.

As I was checking out at the grocery store with my tortillas, enchilada sauce and veggies the clerk asked me if I was making enchiladas, when I replied yes he immediately asked "where's the meat??" Haha, that gave me a good opportunity to educate our youth on yummy vegan food, maybe I should have brought him some :)

Anyhoo, here is what you will need:

Olive Oil
3 cloves garlic (at least) minced or crushed
1/2 - 1 cup diced yellow onion
3 zucchini
8 oz mushrooms
1-2 cup fresh spinach
1 can black beans, drained
Mexican Spice blend (cumin, salt, pepper, garlic powder, etc)
1 lrg can enchilada sauce
Vegan cheese shreds
10-12 Corn tortillas
Bell peppers (about 1/2 cup diced) for garnish
Avocado

1. Preheat oven to 375°. Heat 1/2 TBS olive oil in a large skillet. Sauté diced onions and garlic until tender.

2. While onions are cooking, chop mushrooms and zucchini into bite sized pieces. Add to pan with a little more olive oil and Mexican spice blend (I used about 4 TBS). Stir frequently.

3. Add beans and continue to cook.

4. Coat the bottom of a glass baking dish with the enchilada sauce, just enough to cover the bottom. In a smaller skillet, heat a dash of olive oil.

5. Place tortilla in small skillet until it is soft, remove and place on a paper towel. Quickly add fresh spinach leaves and a couple spoonfuls of the vegetable mixture to tortilla, roll it up and place it in the pan. Repeat until all the tortillas are filled and in the pan. *You may need to add more oil to the skillet as you go along.

6. Cover with remaining enchilada sauce. Sprinkle with vegan cheese and diced bell peppers.

7. Bake 25-30 minutes until the sauce is bubbling hot. Serve with fresh sliced avocado.