Festive Casserole

Festive Casserole......great for festive occasions! Today is indeed a festive occasion: I finally got a food processor! Yes, I've entered the 21st century. I made this recipe once before, about a month ago and let me tell you, grating/shredding the beets was HORRIBLE without my handy dandy food processor. It took about an hour to shred everything. With my food processor, it took about 10 minutes. Food processors really are cruise control for AWESOME.

So.....on to the dish. I found this recipe on the Yogi Tea web site. It is a fairly ayurvedic-friendly recipe (garlic is a no-no in the ayurvedic diet), but I veganized a few of the ingredients. The vegan cheez is what makes this dish so great. I pretty much use the Follow Your Heart brand exclusively. The key to making this cheez taste really good is to melt it till its bubbly.



Ingredients:

• 4 beets of assorted colors (I did 2 red beets and 2 white beets)


• 1.5 lbs carrots


• 1 bunch green onions, finely chopped


• 3 onions (I chopped one onion normally and food processed the other 2 until they were minced)


• 3 cloves of garlic (I like mine fairly large, but you can mince the garlic if you want)


• black pepper to taste


• Braggs Aminos, sprinkled to taste (this is a healthy and low-sodium soy sauce)


• 1/4 cup olive or canola oil (for use when you sautée)


• 2 packages of vegan jack cheez

Directions:

1. Scrub beets and carrots, but don't cut off stems or roots.


2. Steam whole beets for about 15 minutes, then add whole carrots and steam until tender/firm


3. Rinse in cold water and remove the skins (I use one of those hand skinner tools)


4. Separately grate the beets and carrots (in your handy food processor!)


5. Marvel at how bloody your hands look from the red beets


6. Place in casserole dish, mixing lightly so the colors are distinct.


7. Sautée onions and garlic in oil until golden brown


8. Gently mix the onions and garlic with beets and carrots, layering cheez in as well


9. Sprinkle with pepper and Braggs Aminos (or soy sauce if you want to go the less healthy route)


10. Cover entirely with the grated cheez


11. Cook in the oven at about 400 degrees for around 5 minutes, then broil until the cheez is bubbly


12. Enjoy!

OC Veggie Meetup

Tonight was the June OC Veggie meetup. My friend and co-organizer, Alia, is in Guatemala right now, so I wanted to keep this meet low-key. Haha, nice try! Ended up having about 30 people attend. Great crowd and everyone was friendly and having a good time.

This meetup was held at Au Lac, a very popular vegan/raw restaurant in Orange County. Their raw menu is incredible, and the presentation is very artistic. I had the curry "chicken". I'm addicted to curry; I couldn't help but order it...again. Good times and good company! Next month, Alia will be back and we are going to have a potluck. That'll be a great opportunity for everyone to mingle a bit more.

Raspberry Chocolove

My latest routine has been to have 3 squares of chocolate after dinner. I'm not much of a dessert person, but this chocolate has me hooked. Its gotta be the best chocolate I've ever had. I especially like the Raspberries In Dark Chocolate. All organic, vegan, and fair-trade. And I love the added touches they include in the wrapping. It not only looks visually appealing, but on the inside is an excerpt from Don Juan, by Lord Byron. How cool is that? Being an English Lit major, I find it to be one of the coolest things I've seen on packaging in a long time.

So if you see this in the store and are wondering if you should try this brand, I have to highly recommend it!

Rustic Chocolate Chip Pancakes with Tempeh "Bacon"

I've been really busy with the beginning of the summer semester that I haven't had much time to cook. Well, I've been cooking plenty, but I haven't had very much time to actually take quality photographs of the stuff I've been cooking. But anyway......

These pancakes were really good! Rustic chocolate chip pancakes. The "rustic" means that they don't look too pretty, but they are very good, and they'll really stick to your ribs! I'm not sure where that expression came from originally, but I saw it on a Disney cartoon a long time ago and I always say that when I make pancakes. So anyway, they have chocolate chips in them, chopped hazelnuts and some grated and chopped almonds.

Ingredients:

1 cup pancake mix (I used Arrowhead Mills)

1.5 tsp. egg replacer (mix with 2 tbsp. water)

1 tbsp. canola oil (organic....the non-organic kind is very very bad, most likely genetically modified)

1 tbsp. agave nectar (the raw version is my favorite, as I've mentioned before)

2/3 cup soy milk (this is more like a minimum, I ended up using about a cup of soy milk, both the normal and vanilla variety for extra flavor)

1/4 tsp. sea salt (if desired)

hazelnuts, almonds, dark chocolate or carob chips (add as much or as little as you like; I tend to be fairly heavy-handed)

Directions:

1. Stir all ingredients until lumps disappear


2. Let batter sit for one minute


3. Cook on preheated lightly oiled griddle or pan, turning when bubbles form on surface and edges begin to dry.


4. To ensure they cook all the way through, I usually use my spatula to poke a sliver in the center of the pancake, so that heat can move through a little better.


5. Enjoy!