Granola: Breakfast of Champions.

Granola is a great breakfast to get you going in the morning. I was inspired by my friend's granola picture on her Facebook page and I knew I had to make some right away. Mine has rolled oats, ground flax seeds, sunflower seeds, slivered almonds, walnut pieces, pumpkin seeds, coconut, raisins, sultanas, cranberries, cinnamon, a "touch" of sunflower oil and sweeteened with date syrup.


And it all fit into the new jar I bought from Ikea! Can't wait for breakfast tomorrow. Going to have this with hemp milk, mmm...

H.L.T. and Curried Split Pea Soup

Do you remember the curried roasted chickpeas snack I made the other day? Well, they didn't stay crunchy after a day or two and I didn't want to throw them out. I decided to revamp them by pouring boiling water over them to rehydrate them then I drained them and put them in the blender with tahini, garlic, lemon juice and water and made a curried hummus spread! It was pretty yummy in this H.L.T. sandwich. (Hummus Lettuce Tomato)


I spread a little Vegenaise on Ezekiel bread and assembled my sandwich. This would be good in a pita too.


Curried split pea soup from Vegan with a Vengeance cookbook. My favorite.

Corn Tortilla Quesadillas, Tofu Stir Fry

After that gigantic English breakfast you probably thought I couldn't eat anything else but it's a holiday after all and I felt like cooking! Made these as a snack mostly for my husband but I had a little. I had a container of Daiya vegan cheese that I had to use up so I made these quesadillas with corn tortillas instead of flour. I've never tried this before and it worked wonderfully. Really yummy these were.


When dinner rolled around, I whipped this up out of the leftover tofu and mushrooms that I didn't use at breakfast. This is the "Tofu Stir Fried with Vegetables and Hoisin" recipe from "The Power of Ancient Foods" cookbook. Very simple and very satisfying with a bit of rice and a side salad.

"Full English", Vegan Style.

I've always loved the idea of the full english breakfast. Before I was vegan, I had one once in London. It had bacon, eggs, sausage, grilled tomato, mushrooms, beans and toast. I think there were potatoes or "bubble and squeak" too, I don't remember. Now that I don't eat meat or eggs, I have to improvise. Mine has scrambled tofu with onions, sauteed mushrooms, heinz beans (a british product), LightLife brand vegan sausage patties with some HP sauce on the side and tomatoes. I'm missing the bacon aspect because I really didn't want to add another protein to my dish! It was way too much food as it was!


Also included, hot ceylon tea and white toast with Earth Balance and apricot jam. This was a nice treat on my patio on this fine Labor Day holiday.

Kichadi Soup, Carrot Raisin Salad, Ginger-Date Cake

Enjoying my new Ayurvedic cookbook. In front is kichadi soup. Kichadi is a simple stew of basmati rice and split mung dal which is the core of Ayurvedic nutritional healing. This is a watered down version, cooked very plainly to make a soup. I didn't have split mung dal so I used masoor dal (red lentils) which turned yellow in the soup. The only ingredients in this soup are sunflower oil, basmati rice, lentils, cumin and mustard seeds, sea salt, ground cumin and water. I added minced ginger root, green hot chili peppers and coriander leaves (cilantro) as a topping. The dish in back is also from the cookbook and it's a simple carrot salad with raisins.


I was dying for sweet but didn't want to indulge in something sugar laden so I made this vegan date cake and used extra dates and also date syrup to sweeten. I added lots of grated fresh ginger root for some spiciness. It turned out so moist, almost like gingerbread (without the molasses) and lightly sweet. It's perfect with tea.
Recipe is here. In place of sugar, I added about 9 more dates and used about 1/2 cup date syrup and maybe a tablespoon of grated ginger. I also added a touch more spelt flour to make up for the extra liquid. I'm sure if you up the date syrup, it would be sweeter. Oh, and sub soymilk for the milk of course!

Snacks.

We're going to the movies tonight and instead of buying popcorn and candy (which probably aren't vegan anyway), I decided to make homemade snacks to bring with me. In front are curried roasted chickpeas (YUMMY) and in the back, plain toasted sunflower seeds. Got the recipes from 'The Ayurvedic Cookbook'. I've only started reading about Ayurvedic holistic healing recently and from what I understand, there are three types of biological energy called 'doshas' that rule our physical composition as well as our reactions and sensibilities to our environments. The three doshas are 'vata', 'pitta' and 'kapha'. In order for our bodies to be in complete health and harmony, one must have a balance of the three. We all have unique proportions of the three doshas and will have one that dominates. According to my ayurvedic constitution, I am predominantly kapha in nature and certain foods will calm this dosha instead of aggravate it. These snacks are a good example. I've been reading a little bit about the right foods for kapha and it's a little alarming that a lot of my favorite foods are supposedly not good for my nature like bread, pasta, sweets, sweet potatoes, rice, kidney beans, tofu, bananas, dates!!!!! So I'm not sure how seriously I will take all this but it's good to have some healthy and mindful food choices if I need to feel "balanced". :) There are times when I crave simple, healthy, no-frills food and I think this cookbook will do me good during those times.

If you want to know more about Ayurveda, this is a good site.

Veggie Tortilla Soup

Yummy tortilla soup with a sprinkling of fried corn tortillas and Daiya vegan cheese. This was really good!

Veggie Tortilla Soup

2 TB olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 small zucchini or other summer squash, diced
2 ribs celery, diced
1 14oz. can diced tomatoes, drained
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup corn, frozen, fresh or canned
1 14oz. can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 tsp. low sodium soy sauce
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

topping:
corn tortillas, cut into strips and fried in canola or grapeseed oil
lime wedges
Daiya cheese shreds

Heat oil in a soup pot over medium heat. Saute onion, garlic, carrot, red bell pepper, zucchini and celery until semi soft. Add drained tomatoes and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer. Add corn, kidney beans and seasonings. Let simmer for 15-20 minutes until all vegetables are tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste. I like to drizzle a little olive oil in at the end for a little more richness. Serve in bowl and top with fried tortilla chips and Daiya cheese.