Fast n' Easy Fridays: Vegetable Tacos

Last week I started a new job and it has been insane.   Leaving early, staying late and so many meetings, I’m lucky if I see my desk before 5pm.  Planning out careful breakfasts, snacks and lunches is a thing of the past.  I haven’t had a minute to sleep, let alone cook or write a blog post!  With that in mind, Fast n’ Easy Fridays is probably more important than ever!  Here’s a very fast dinner option that is healthy, fresh and of course, vegan and gluten free.

Small note:  For all of you non-vegans out there:  These tacos are great when combined with Fish (we like Tilapia) and Goat Cheese.  I’m still on the Whole Foods Healthy Challenge, so I had to pass, but through this challenged I’ve learned that a non-meat diet is not conducive to my (already very restricted) dietary lifestyle, so I’ll be excited to add some fish to this recipe very soon!

Vegetable Tacos:
1 peeled Jicama – cut into cubes (see Helpful Tip below for peeling)
1 avocado, sliced
½ cup shredded red cabbage
2 cups spinach
1 cup baby tomatoes
1 lime, juiced
Gluten Free Corn Tortilla shells

Cut up all vegetables and place on Corn Tortilla.  Liberally squeeze lime juice on taco and eat.  Fast, healthy and easy!

Helpful tip:  I love jicama and have been known to eat it like an apple.  But, it is such a pain to peel!  Don’t use a potato peeler which can take upwards of an hour due to Jicama’s thick skin.  Instead, cut the top off, and make a slit just below the peel.  Jicama has a distinct ‘grain’ and if you peel back the skin in the direction of the grain, it will come up easily.  Just keep cutting little slits under the peel and peeling back with your fingers in the direction of the ‘grain’.

Fast n' Easy Fridays: Vegetable Coconut Curry

This flavorful and easy curry dish can be made with whatever veggies you have lying in your fridge.

Vegetable Coconut Curry

Sauce

1 can coconut milk
2 cups vegetable broth
3 Tbsp Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp Coriander
2 Tbsp Turmeric
½ Tsp Cayenne Pepper
2 Tsp Agave
2 Tbsp chopped ginger
1 clove garlic

Vegetables
1 sweet potato, chopped
1 cup carrots, chopped
1 onion
1 cup green beans
1 red pepper, chopped
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 cup spinach
2 cup broccoli

Add all Sauce ingredients into large pot and bring to a boil, then simmer on low.  While sauce is heating, prep and cut vegetables.  Begin with sweet potato and carrots and add to sauce first because they take longest to soften.  Saute onion (using vegetable broth instead of oil) until soft and add to pot.  Add all other vegetables to pot and let simmer for 20 – 30 minutes, until all vegetables are soft.  Add salt and pepper, to taste.

Serve with rice, rice noodles or quinoa and squeeze fresh lime juice when serving. 

 

Enjoy!

Day 8: The "Challenge" is a challenge...

One week is over and I’ve got to admit, I’m skeptical.  I’d like to say this diet, or should I say “Lifestyle” has been a breeze, but the truth is it’s hard.  In general, I love the focus on healthy grains, veggies and fruits and have found an entire world of fresh produce that I didn’t know existed or at least would have never considered buying.  Before last week, I had never tried kale or bok choy and it turns out they are good!  Consumption of plant-based foods has helped me to branch out to new foods I wouldn’t have tried and also made me more aware of how often I skipped the veggie part of a meal and stuck to meats and grains.  So, from that aspect, I’m loving the diet and my increased consumption of greens. 

Surprisingly, I haven’t missed meat and dairy at all and I find cooking much more enjoyable when I’m not worried about cleaning and prepping meat.  Although, I will definitely always choose goat yogurt over coconut yogurt which lacks yogurt’s characteristic tanginess.  So, why the skeptics then?  I miss oil!  Now that I’m looking, oil is in everything.  How do you make popcorn without oil and are there any oil-free tortilla chips out there?  Tortilla chips were my go-to dinner option when I was strapped for time.  Pared with corn, black beans, spinach and avocado, it made a filling and fast dinner.  I’ve substituted spinach and quinoa for the chips, turning the dish into more of a healthy burrito bowl, but there’s really no comparison to the salty goodness of tortilla chips.  And I’m not even going to mention the struggle I’ve been having with Angie’s Kettle Corn except to say that I bought it at Costco yesterday and started eating it before I left the store…  There are so few food items that I can truly enjoy without worrying about some sort of reaction or sensitivity and these corn-based items were two of my favorite indulgences.  When I’ve given up so much, why should I give this up too?

And what about when I go to a friend’s for dinner or a wedding?  My diet is already so limited due to medical factors, why should I make it even harder by choice?  The gluten and dairy free option at events is almost always meat.  And, I hate to admit it, but when I go to my friend’s wedding next week and they tell me the only gluten-free option is a chicken breast, I know I will eat it.  I will most likely feel intense guilt about this choice and who knows, maybe I’ll get lucky with some gluten free quinoa pasta, but I’m being realistic here.  Food already consumes so much of my life and my family’s life.  With so many restrictions, I feel guilty adding another one and expecting my family and friends to accommodate me.  In the past, when I’ve been worried about what I’ll be able to eat at an event, I’ve always held faith that, no matter what, there would be a plain piece of meat I could eat.  I don’t miss meat in my at-home life and think I might keep this veggie lifestyle at home even after the 28 days are over, but when I go out, that meat option has always been there for me and I don’t know if I can let that go.

So, I’ve had a few discouraging thoughts this week and a few slip ups.  I couldn’t stop myself from eating tortilla chips or kettle corn (both really good and both containing oil).  But, all in all, I feel great about eating more fruits and veggies and am surprised to see that in my daily life, a meat-free existence hasn’t been too painful. 

I promised I would spend this past weekend brainstorming new and more inventive menu options, so for the next month, I will post a new recipe idea every Friday.   For today, I will post my favorite lentil recipe which is fast and easy.  Not exactly inventive, but sometimes flavor and time are more important.

Quick and Easy Lentils:
1 cup lentils
2 cups vegetable broth
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1 cup chopped mushrooms
Salt and pepper, to taste

Bring vegetable broth and lentils to a boil.  Cover and reduce heat to low.  Simmer for 20 minutes, until soft.  While lentils cook, saute onion and garlic until soft.  When lentils have cooked for 20 minutes, add onion, garlic, mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook for another 5 minutes, or until all broth has been absorbed.

See you Friday for Vegetable Coconut Curry.

Day 2: Whole Foods 28 Day Healthy Eating Challenge

When I decided to join Whole Foods 28 Day Healthy Eating Challenge, I thought it would be easy.  Increase consumption of plant-based foods, reduce oil, sodium and sugar intake and eliminate all animal products.  I figured since I currently avoid dairy, eggs and most sugar, I was already practicing this diet and it would be a snap.  But, when I asked Girlfriend if she wanted to join the challenge (after I had already signed up), she said “no way, I love meat!”  Wait… No meat??  I definitely interpreted ‘animal products’ as dairy and eggs and completely forgot about the biggest animal product in my life:  meat!  This might be harder than I thought it was going to be…  But, I’m up for the challenge and can do anything for a month, so I started researching and brainstorming meatless dinner options and new recipes.
 
Before I share my favorite veggie dish, let me give some background.  The Challenge follows the principles outlined in the book, Engine 2 Diet, by Rip Esselstyn which basically focuses on committing to a plant-based diet to lower cholesterol, lose weight and improve overall health.  I haven’t had a chance to read the book yet, but will share the highlights in the next few weeks.   Guidelines include the following:

- Complete elimination of animal-based products and processed foods
- Reduction in oils, sugars and sodium
- Increase consumption of fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans and whole grains
- Exercise minimum of 5 times per week

So, for the next 28 days, I am going goat-free!  A little sad to put the “Goat” part of my blog on hold for the month, but I did discover So Delicious coconut yogurt, so at least I will have something to pare with my delicious granola. 

Throughout the month, I will update you on my progress, suggest veggie-friendly meal ideas and post vegan recipes.  Today I will leave you with one of my favorite salad recipes that’s fast, easy and very filling.  Feel free to change the ingredients with any fresh veggies you have in the fridge.

Jicama Arugula Salad
2 cups Spinach
2 cups Arugula
1 large Jicama, peeled and cut into small cubes
2 cups strawberries, sliced
½ can black beans (drain juice)
½ can whole kernel corn (drain juice)
2 ripe avocados
2 Tbs oil (avocado, olive or walnut work well)
1 lime, juiced
2 Tbs Cilantro, chopped

Toss all ingredients together in a bowl and serve!

********
Also, the official Challenge start date was Wednesday, May 11, so today is Day 2.  Since my OCD couldn't handle starting a new program mid-week, I started on Monday, so it's Day 4 for me.  From here on out, I will follow the Challenge dates, but let's recap since it's almost been a week.  Minus a small fiasco when I totally blacked out with a bag of tortilla chips, I haven't had any slip ups and the no-meat thing hasn't been too hard.  I haven't been very inventive at adding interesting dinner and lunch ideas into my diet.  For the most part, I've been eating spinach or arugula salad with vegan soup every day...  So, for this upcoming weekend, my goal is to start brainstorming and find some fun and interesting dinner ideas to spice up this diet.  Stay tuned! 

Gluten Free, Vegan Passover Round Up Part 2

As promised, Passover Round Up continues with gluten free, vegan chocolate cake recipes.  Since we had Passover dinner obligations with both sides of Girlfriend’s family, I decided to make a couple different desserts.  More for myself, so I wouldn’t get bored eating the same thing every night.  Girlfriend’s family was so supportive of my food allergies and called to walk through all the ingredients used in the beef brisket and side dishes to make sure all would be completely gluten and dairy free.  Of course I had to pass up Matzah ball soup which was a bummer.  Maybe next year I’ll take on gluten free Matzah balls… 

I made Lexie’s Kitchen’s Egg-Free, Dairy-Free Chocolate Decadence which tasted great and had some very healthy ingredients too.  I was skeptical to make a cake with black beans and cashews, but it was delicious!  Note that I left out the baking powder which is not kosher for Passover.  In general, I really like Lexie’s Kitchen’s blog which focuses on recipes that are free of gluten and casein and has a lot of egg-free recipes which are harder to find.  Lexie suggests using a 5 inch round cake pan for this recipe, but I didn't have one, so I used cupcake tins instead and made personal portions for everyone.  I must admit Lexie's presentation is much more pretty than mine, but they still tasted great! 

For the next night, I made Living Without Magazine’s recipe for Macaroon French Silk Pie which is completely free of eggs, dairy and gluten and really delicious!  As mentioned in Monday’s blog post, I couldn't use store-bought macaroons because they are not egg free.  So, use the recipe I posted on Monday for Gluten Free, Vegan macaroons for the macaroon crust.  I tried making Living Without's coconut milk whipped topping recipe at the link noted above and it was a disaster.  First it completely separated and was very grainy and then it turned back into liquid.  It never came close to a creamy consistency.  Let me know if you have any tips on how to perfect this recipe!  The pie was still good without the whipped topping - how can you go wrong with chocolate and macaroons?

Here's a close up of the crust:

Hope everyone's Seder was delicious and lots of gluten free goodies were available.  What are your favorite allergy friendly Seder dishes?

Gluten Free, Vegan Passover Round Up Part 1

Passover is my favorite holiday, mostly because of all the amazing food.  It’s funny that a holiday which eliminates yeast and breads was my favorite holiday even before I was gluten free. Every year, I anxiously await the usual treats: beef brisket, matzah ball soup, sponge cake with fresh whipped cream and, my all time favorite, carrot kugel. This year, I felt the same excitement until I realized that all the dishes I just mentioned have some form of gluten, eggs  and  / or dairy.  What was I supposed to eat for Passover?

I spend the holiday with Girlfriend’s family and know I won't be able to eat many of the dishes.  So, I volunteered to bring dessert and started experimenting to find a dessert worthy of the old classics.  I found some great recipes which I will share with you throughout the next few days.  Unfortunately, my attempts at altering carrot kugel have been unsuccessful.  The original recipe requires 9 eggs and, so far, I haven’t figured out how to alter an egg-free version while maintaining the appropriate consistency.  I still have a few ideas up my sleeve, so hopefully I’ll be sharing the recipe with all of you very soon.

Luckily, my dessert attempts were much more successful.  I found some great recipes for a couple different chocolate flourless cakes which I will share later this week.  Today we will focus on gluten free and egg free macaroons. Since Passover requires elimination of all leavening agents (e.g. flour), it is fairly easy to find gluten free macaroons at the grocery store.  Finding egg-free macaroons is another story.  Living Without magazine comes through as usual with a great gluten free, sugar free, egg free and dairy free Macaroon recipe:

I made a few changes in my version to eliminate vanilla extract which is one of the 40 foods I am ‘sensitive’ to and try to avoid when I can. Living Without suggests using honey or agave and I used agave (of course!). It was really difficult to find unsweetened shredded coconut. Whole Foods used to sell it, but recently discontinued the product.  So, I reduced the amount of agave required in the recipe and used sweetened coconut. The results were still delicious! Come back later in the week for a continuation of Gluten Free, Vegan Passover Round Up where I will share some delicious chocolate cake recipes.

What's For Breakfast?

When you’re first diagnosed with food allergies, the Doctor usually recommends doing an Elimination Diet which requires eliminating all the foods you are ‘sensitive’ to and then adding them back in one at time to determine which foods cause symptoms.  However, it’s not enough to just eliminate the sensitive foods, the diet also emphasizes rotating consumption of the same food types each day.  For me, this was one of the hardest parts of the Elimination Diet.  First I had to cut out 40 of my favorite foods and then I had to figure out how to somehow vary the remaining foods I could eat.  This was especially difficult for breakfast.  Without dairy, gluten or eggs, how do you find multiple breakfast options to vary every day?

After a lot of searching and more than a few hungry mornings, I have found some great breakfast options.  If you read my last blog post, you already know about the wonders of goat yogurt.  Other options include corn cereal, buckwheat cereal, gluten free oats, and granola.

I love that Chex has multiple gluten free cereals, including Rice, Corn and, my personal favorite, Honey Nut Chex.  These are great when you’re on the go and need something fast. For a more hearty option, try Bob’s Red Mill Organic Creamy Buckwheat or Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Quick Cooking Oats which make for filling and fast breakfasts.  I make a big batch on Sunday night and bring to work a few times a week.  Throw some Agave, cinnamon and dried or fresh fruit on top and it makes a great breakfast that keeps me full until at least 12:30 which is unheard of, as I’m usually chewing my arm off by 10:30.

But, my favorite breakfast is granola with goat yogurt.  I used to buy gluten free granola from Rose’s Bakery, but it’s pretty expensive and also has cranberries which, I am very sad to say, is on the No List.  So, I made my own recipe.  I usually throw in whatever I have lying in the cabinet - you can add any nuts or dried fruits that you like.  Here’s what I like:

Gluten Free, Dairy Free Granola:

2 cups Gluten Free Oats

¼ cup Flax Seed

¼ cup shredded coconut

¼ cup chopped walnuts

½ cup sliced almonds

½ cup cut up dried prunes

½ cup dried raisons

½ cup dried cherry

½ cup Agave Nectar (Costco sells Organic Blue Agave in pairs)

5 Tbsp Coconut Oil

Mix oats, flax seed, coconut, almonds, walnuts and prunes together in large bowl. 

Heat agave and coconut oil over high heat until oil is completely melted.  Slowly pour oil / agave mixture into oat mixture, stirring constantly.  Stir until oat mixture is completely coated.  Spread onto greased baking tin

Bake:  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

10 minutes @ 350 degree

20 minutes @ 300 degree

Remove from oven after 10 minutes and mix granola so it does not clump together or stick to pan.  Remove from oven after 20 minutes, mix and add raisons and cherries to cook for last 10 minutes.  If you add earlier, the dried fruit burns and dries out.  (Prunes have a lot of moisture, so need to go in with the oats / nuts or they will be too moist)

When done, mixture should look darker (nice roasted brown), but should still be slightly soft.  Let cool in pan for 1 hour and once completely cool, mixture will be crispy.

I like to eat it with goat yogurt, but you can serve with any type of milk (goat, almond, soy, etc).   Feel free to comment with your favorite uses for granola or any ideas for different nut / fruit options to add!

Happy First Day of Spring!

My best friend and I have a long standing tradition of eating pink ice cream on the first day of spring.  It started out in high school as a way to fight the winter blues and has turned into a tradition we have kept up through the years.  Despite still freezing temperatures and a foot of snow on the ground, we welcomed spring in tank tops with pink ice cream and a camera.  Even now that we live on opposite sides of the country, every year, snow, sun or otherwise, we call each other and welcome spring with a bowl of pink ice cream. 

This year, I feared my new allergy free lifestyle was going to get in the way of a tradition lasting over a decade.  Instead, I pulled out the ice cream maker and whipped up this dairy free ice cream. 

I found this recipe from one of my favorite blogs, The Whole Life Nutrition Kitchen.  Their recipes have never failed me, and this one for Strawberry Coconut Ice Cream is no exception. 

Strawberry Coconut Ice Cream

2 cans full fat coconut milk
2 to 2 1/2 cups frozen strawberries (about 1 pound)
1/2 cup honey or agave nectar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Mix all ingredients in blender and whip until smooth.  Put in ice cream maker and follow ice cream maker instructions.

This recipe is really easy and fast – took about 40 minutes in ice cream maker until fully frozen.  I chose strawberries, but you can add any of your favorite ingredients, blueberries, chocolate (use unsweetened cocoa powder), nuts, etc. 

Even our puppy, Dally, helped welcome the first day of spring this year with Frosty Paws ice cream.  It wasn’t dairy or gluten free, but Dally didn’t seem to mind! 

Never Enough Time! Quick and easy meals for planning ahead

As most of you know, one of the hardest aspects of cooking clean is planning for your next meal.  I work in business, so I’m constantly working late and skipping lunch.  I am lucky that my company provides catered lunches every day, but I’m always wondering if I can really eat the soup, if the meat has soy sauce or a spice on it with a gluten additive.  Not to mention cross-contamination!  There are a lot of foods we don't think twice about that can have hidden gluten.  Here's a partial list of foods to watch out for.

Ice Cream

Soup (vegetable / chicken stock sometimes uses gluten containing grain)

Lunch meat

Sausage

Root Beer (contains Malt which is derived from Barley)

Soy Sauce (derived from wheat, but there are wheat-free Soy Sauces available)

Caramel Coloring

Modified Food Starch (if derived from Wheat, but usually derived from Corn)

Alcohol (beer, vodka, scotch, etc)

Again, I’m an accountant and a worry wart.  I carry a LaraBar in my purse at all times, just in case.  I can’t take the unknown of whether or not I can eat the catered lunch, so I generally bring my own food.  It takes a lot of time and work to plan lunches for a full week.  My staples usually rotate between big batches of quinoa, quinoa pasta and lentils.  I make a big batch on Sunday night and bring throughout the week.  But, let’s be honest.  Quinoa is not the most exciting grain.  I found this great Lentil Soup recipe which has tons of vegetables and is very filling due to the lentils.  I love making big batches of this soup and freezing for when I need a last minute meal.  My girlfriend loves it too.  Although she does not have food allergies, she has become my test rat and is loving it.  This soup is one of her favorites and I’m lucky if there’s any left for me to bring to work!

Note:  I also have a yeast allergy and most vegetable / chicken broth has yeast extract.  I found a great organic chicken broth from Costco that does not have yeast extract (Kirkland Organic Chicken Stock)

Lentil Soup: (Adapted from Better Homes and Gardens, January 2011)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 cup lentils

1 lb small mushrooms, cut into quarters

4 medium carrots, thinly sliced (about 2 cups)

2 stalks celery, chopped

½ head napa or red cabbage, chopped (about 2 cups)

32 oz box Chicken Stock

4 cups of water

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp black pepper

In large saucepan or Dutch oven, heat oil over medium heat.  Add onion and garlic; cook until onion is tender, stirring occasionally.  Stir in lentils and cook for 1 minute.

Add mushrooms, carrots, celery, cabbage, water, chicken broth, salt and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer, covered, about 30 minutes or until lentils are tender.

Per Better Homes and Gardens, one serving has 3g fat, 13g fiber and 12g protein. Wow!

As you can see, we added way too many vegetables, so we added a few extra  cups of chicken broth and it was delicious!