Green smoothies from Mayim's Vegan Table for April

Green smoothies

Mayim's Vegan Table is this month's VegCookbook Club selection. This celebrity cookbook, written by Mayim Bialik and Dr. Jay Gordon, may be another one that I experience virtually. My local libraries have copies of her parenting book but not this new culinary volume. (I might have to take up showrooming, if only we had some browsable bookstores remaining in DC.)

You can find the first chapter of the cookbook free on Bialik's website. And our VegCookbook Club leader Britt Bravo has sleuthed recipes around the Internet. That's how I came to try this green smoothie recipe. A whole avocado made these drinks super creamy and satisfying. I used spinach for the greens. This is the perfect smoothie to fuel blossom peeping, DC's current spring obsession.

April blossoms

The last recipes of March's VegCookbook

Carrot Apple Ginger Soup

Here are some final items that I made from The Oh She Glows Cookbook, the March VegCookbook Club pick. I never located a copy of the physical cookbook but the website of its author, Angela Liddon, offered me lots of recipes to sample. Based on these positive experiences, I think this cookbook would make a great Mother's Day gift or personal spring detox planner.

Carrot Apple Ginger Soup

The carrot apple ginger soup (above) was a colorful, zippy, and cleansing puree. And I finally used my new blender to make a soup! I concur with Liddon's Vitamix recommendation of working with hot liquids in small batches. Because my boyfriend dislikes anything remotely pumpkin pie-flavored, I did leave out the nutmeg pinch. But I increased the ginger to great results. 

Easy Salt & Vinegar Roasted Chickpeas

Easy Salt & Vinegar Roasted Chickpeas
This simple recipe really did taste like salt & vinegar potato chips without the greasy guilt. I used less vinegar than it called for in the recipe, just enough to fully submerge the chickpeas. The roasted chickpeas made enough for snacking and salad toppings.

The Hummus That Changed Everything

The Hummus That Changed Everything
Look out, Dreena Burton. Here's another great hummus recipe. Very well-proportioned and classy with the olive oil drizzle and paprika atop. Plus a hidden kick from the Tabasco. (I used their habanero blend.) This hummus moved quickly. It'd be a good fail-safe recipe for picnics, parties, and other hummus requisite events.

Spring into Color

I stole today's blog post title from a clothing shop window that I pass on my walk to work. Also on this route I noticed a coming soon sign for a raw, organic juice bar! That's a sure sign of spring.

The two colorful recipes below are from the Oh She Glows website and have provided me some much needed relief from dark, bleak March mornings. The Oh She Glows Cookbook is this month's VegCookbook Club selection.

Green Monster Vegan Overnight Oats

I think I missed out on the overnight oats craze. This recipe is a marriage of that easy breakfast concept of soaking your rolled oats in the fridge overnight and the Green Monster smoothie that I enjoyed last post. Sadly, while I dig the Green Monster flavor (vegan milk + spinach + chia seeds + banana), I don't think gummy oats are my cup of tea. I found them cold and bland. The fresh blueberries were the bomb, of course. I think I'll stick to smoothies and the odd side of fresh fruit.

Neon Pink Smoothie "Juice"
This is a citrus juice meets whole fruit smoothie that you "juice" in your high-speed blender. Refreshing (thanks to the grapefruit, cucumber, and apple) and bright and beautiful to behold (thanks to the beet). I used a whole beet because it was wee. Next time I'd add ginger for even more morning kick.

Green monsters and ToB X

Classic green monsters

Yesterday was a snow day in DC, so I began March right with a recipe from the Oh She Glows website, the Classic Green Monster. This green smoothie was delicious--sweet and creamy. I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk, as suggested. Also a mix of spinach and kale for the greens and peanut butter for the nut butter. The Oh She Glows Cookbook by Angela Liddon is the VegCookbook Club's March selection. This brand spanking new cookbook launched today and is sure to be the buzz all over social media.

Speaking of bookish things, I enjoyed my Green Monster with the opening of The Tournament of Books X. It's March Madness for books and this year I've read 10 of the contenders. I was pulling for Kate Atkinson's Life After Life, which won its prelim match yesterday. However for the win, I'm madly in love with Long Division by Kiese Laymon. It's an underdog and could be this year's Skippy Dies for me. Aka, the beloved book that dies in its first round and doesn't even come back as a zombie. (Yes, there are zombie books. This tourney is too fun.) Here's the full list of contenders with links to my Goodreads reviews.

Finalists for the The Morning News' 2014 Tournament of Books:

At Night We Walk in Circles by Daniel Alarcón
The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton
The Tuner of Silences by Mia Couto
The Signature of All Things by Elizabeth Gilbert
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid
The Dinner by Herman Koch
The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri
Long Division by Kiese Laymon
The Good Lord Bird by James McBride
Hill William by Scott McClanahan
The Son by Philipp Meyer
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell
The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara
Life After Life by Kate Atkinson
Woke Up Lonely by Fiona Maazel

Tourney time

Tea and cornbread from The Joy of Vegan Baking in February

Ginger Tea and Cookbooks

February has been a full month, as I moved to a new apartment in wintry weather conditions. Then promptly got sick with a nasty cold. When I finally unpacked my VegCookbook Club books, the cookbooks of Colleen Patrick-Goudreau, all I could manage in my sickly state was tea. Luckily The Joy of Vegan Baking has two excellent and medicinal tea recipes that I brewed up repeatedly.

Pictured above is the Ginger Tea, which uses fresh ginger root. I made it hot and strong, sweetening with agave nectar, as suggested. I think this tea healed me. Below is the spicy Chai. This recipe let me dig out lots of spices, like I was cooking. (Man, I need more spice in my life!) This richly-flavored brew calls for cardamom, pepper, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, and vanilla.

Chai

Eventually I did manage to bake, after much drooling over Patrick-Goudreau's lovely cookbooks. The cornbread recipe below is also from The Joy of Vegan Baking. (I never cracked my copy of The Vegan Table but will cook from it come spring.) To me this cornbread was perfect, not overly sweet or oily. I swapped white whole wheat flour for the all-purpose. And I left out the whole corn kernels but might try blueberries as an addition next time. The cornbread was served with hot soup but it would be great at any meal, any time of day. 

Meanwhile, the oven at my new apartment bakes like a champ! However the oven light doesn't work. (I wonder if I can replace it?) This kitchen is smaller than my last one, but I'm sure it'll produce lots of good vegan food. The March VegCookbook Club has been announced. It's The Oh She Glows Cookbook by Angela Liddon, from the popular and beautifully designed blog, Oh She Glows.

Cornbread

Cooking with Lindsay S. Nixon for January

This month's VegCookbook Club featured author is Lindsay S. Nixon, aka the "Happy Herbivore." I don't own any of her cookbooks but was able to borrow The Happy Herbivore Cookbook through my public library on Overdrive. I find the Overdrive app a little cumbersome for cookbooks. It's hard to navigate to a specific recipe; I usually start in the index but am plunged into random locations from there. However Lindsay Nixon has a number of well-designed print books and many recipes available on her user-friendly blog.

Here's what I've made so far this month. I'm not sure how much more I'll cook up, as I'm moving to a new apartment in February and my energy is shifting to those non-foodie preparations. All of these recipes are highly recommend for fast, uncomplicated, and healthy eats.

Baked Onion Rings
I never thought I'd be able to make healthy onion rings at home but these oil-free versions--made with whole-wheat bread crumbs, cornmeal, garbanzo flour, vegan milk, and spices--are the bomb. You get all the fun of onion rings without feeling gross from deep frying. I served these with a trio of condiments: ketchup, mustard, and Sriracha vegan mayo.

Quick Queso Sauce
This is a nutritional yeast sauce more than a "queso" or cheese-flavored spread. That said, it is a cinch to make and really livened up my leftover burritos this week. It calls for whole wheat flour, vegan milk, spices, and "nooch." You heat it on the stove top, taking care not to burn the bottom. Maybe next time I'll add tomatoes and green chilies.

Single-Serving Brownie
Another quick and easy recipe, this time it's a dessert. This single-serving brownie is a cinch to throw together. I cooked it in a metal measuring cup in my toaster oven, one of the suggested methods. An intense chocolate fix in 15 minutes without firing up the oven; how cool is that?

Tofu Ricotta Cheese and Low-Country Cucumbers

I made these two recipes on a Sunday to use on salads throughout the week. The tofu ricotta cheese recipe tastes less like cheese than herby tofu, which is fine by me. The cucumbers were simple and spicy. They disappeared faster than the tofu.

Favorite 2013 VegCookbook Club Recipes

It's New Year's Day and I realized that I didn't post about VegCookbook Club for December but I have been revisiting my favorite recipes from 2013. Below are some photos, largely from Instagram, with links to my initial reviews from earlier in the year. Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan got my vote for cookbook of the year, but all of the books that I sampled were winners. I didn't get my hands on Isa Does It, the November book, which won the popular favorite. However I will be cooking from the January selection, the books of author Lindsay S. Nixon, aka the Happy Herbivore.

Top Smoothie: Crazy Sexy Goddess Smoothie, I posted about this amazing smoothie twice!

Top Dressing: Dijon Vinaigrette. Okay, I really like making salad dressings. This one is classy.

Top Baked Good (savory): Cornbread Biscuits

Top Baked Good (sweet): "You Got Peanutbutter in my Chocolate" Cookies, also from EDBV. Oops, I never posted about this one. But it was good enough for my office holiday potluck.

Top Dessert: Sinful Chocolate Pudding. So easy to make.

Returning to blogging and VegCookbook Club for December

Sticky Fingers' Mudslide

I'm writing this on Thanksgiving Eve, soon to head to PA for the holiday. And I'm noting that it's been eight weeks since my last post! I completely fell off the Internet after VeganMoFo ended in September. In addition to a blogging hiatus, I took a long break from the VegCookbook Club and from Instagram. But I'm planning to return in December, as the VegCookbook Club is planning a celebration of 2013 favorites. Plus, I need to post about Sticky Fingers' new liquor license, which I have enjoyed experiencing recently (see above photo).

Green Juice Smoothie

This green smoothie has been my Moby Dick. I've been chasing it all month long. Here it is finally, just as Vegan MoFo is coming to a close. And the VegCookbook Club is moving on to another book. Looks like October will be devoted to Mouthwatering Vegan by Miriam Sorrell.

But first, the third and final smoothie from Vegan Indian Cooking: 140 Simple and Healthy Vegan Recipes by Anupy Singla. (Free PDF version available here.)

Green Juice Smoothie - action shot

Green Juice Smoothie
There are 12 ingredients in this smoothie, not counting the ice and water. I scored them all with the exception of apple juice. I substituted coconut water instead. The actual blending was a breeze, thanks to my new blender. (I know that I need to pipe down about the Vitamix soon. The honeymoon glow will subside. Did I mention that it is chainsaw loud?)

How did it taste? Great. You could clearly pick out the citrus (lime, orange, and pineapple). The grapes, apple, banana, and cucumber were more subtle. My favorite ingredient was the ginger. (Wow, I need more ginger in my life!) The carrot and spinach provided the veg. And the chia seeds made it nicely thick.

Overall, a lovely juice-smoothie hybrid. Worth the wait and the blender purchase. I know that I enjoyed it because I forgot to photo it again until the cup was half empty full. 

Green Juice Smoothie - half full cup

Red Velvet Smoothie and Chickpea Poppers

I finally made another smoothie and a snack from this month's VegCookbook Club selection, Vegan Indian Cooking: 140 Simple and Healthy Vegan Recipes by Anupy Singla. (Free PDF version available here.) After falling in love with the first smoothie recipe that I tried from the book, I've been eager to tackle the remaining two. However, I didn't think I could blend any other challenging produce to the desire consistency. Until now. Yes, the Vitamix package has arrived to much fanfare.*

Red Velvet Smoothie
This inventive recipe made a smooth and luscious drink with a lovely strawberry-pink hue. And I still can't get over how my mighty new blender dealt with a whole, raw, and unpeeled beet. It liquefied that sucker. Plus the almonds, goji berries, and apple too.

Chickpea Poppers
I also made this roasted chickpea snack from the cookbook. This popcorn-like snack is reminiscent of the chickpea nibbles from How It All Vegan! However I think I liked the Indian spices here more. I used high quality garam masala and paprika (thanks to a kind relative's spice gift). Plus, low quality cayenne pepper and chili powder. I think I'll reduce the salt when I roast the chickpeas again. This recipe is a keeper.

*Here's my cat, clawing at the Vitamix box:

Crazy Sexy Goddess Smoothie

My refurb Vitamix has shipped. The shipping notice reads, "Congratulations!" Like it's a new baby or another happy life event.

Meanwhile, today I am playing old favorites, and posting a repeat. I first blogged about this smoothie in January, when I decided to make all the smoothies in that month's VegCookbook Club selection, Crazy Sexy Kitchen: 150 Plant-Empowered Recipes to Ignite a Mouthwatering Revolution by Kris Carr with Chad Sarno.

Crazy Sexy Goddess Smoothie

This smoothie is still a winner, maybe my all-time favorite. (Although I've also made this Blueberry–Green Smoothie four times this month. That's huge for a Mofo month.) I do love the combo of cucumber, coconut water, kale, blueberries, and banana. For the Goddess, I skip avocado but add chia seeds, cacao, and some nut milk. Pairs well with Prince's Purple Rain, opening track "Let's Go Crazy."

Drink Your Greens Smoothie

Today's smoothie is from July's VegCookbook Club pick, Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan: Everyday Vegan Recipes Worth Celebrating by Dreena Burton. I didn't get to this smoothie in July, although other Clubbers did. I did love the "But Where Do You Get Your Protein?" smoothie that I made.

If you haven't heard of VegCookbook Club yet, I highly recommend it. It's a relaxed and inspiring year-long version of VeganMoFo. You can join in any time. Look, I'm still pining for this recipe from July!

The current month's selection is Vegan Indian Cooking: 140 Simple and Healthy Vegan Recipes by Anupy Singla. It even has a free PDF version available here! I am going to try a smoothie recipe or two from this cookbook. However, I think I need to upgrade my blender first.

Drink Your Greens Smoothie
I used spinach rather than kale for the greens. However avocado also adds to the emerald hue. What else is in it? Fresh OJ, cantaloupe (my new favorite freezer item), banana, and agave. This lovely smoothie really did make me want to drink my greens. I think more green smoothies will be coming this month.

Betty Goes Vegan in August

It's the end of the month and I never did locate a copy of the August VegCookbook Club pick, Betty Goes Vegan by Annie and Dan Shannon. However I bet there will be plenty of copies at DC Vegfest, when the Shannons present their much-anticipated cooking demo. That's Saturday, September 28th at 2ish. (Full schedule here.)

I did make a couple of items from the authors' recipe-rich website. The recipes are playful takes on the All-American dishes engineered for General Mills' Betty Crocker brand. These veganized versions were created for "The Betty Crocker Project," the initial blog challenge that spurred the Betty Goes Vegan cookbook.

Here's what I made:

Cowboy Caviar
This recipe is for "the Hostess with the Mostess." It's a colorful and quick combination of crunchy veggies and tender, cooked beans that can serve as a salad, a side, a condiment, a dip, or taco fodder. I loved this recipe because it required no cooking, of course. I think you could vary the canned ingredients to feature what was fresh and in-season. Fresh cilantro and ripe avocado seem key.  

BLT Crostini
A wacky recipe but not without its charms. These faux "cheesy" crostini are meant to be baked on a pizza stone but I cheated and cooked these in the toaster oven. I used local heirloom tomatoes for the "T" and smoky tempeh for the "B." The wispy lettuce leaves looked attractive but didn't provide much flavor. Maybe something peppery like arugula or watercress would work here?

Orange, Agave & Mustard Dressing  
This dressing accompanies a spinach salad recipe. I've been looking for an oil-free dressing and this one is a nice marriage of zesty orange and zippy mustard. However, I thought the agave was too sweet and cloying, even when reduced by a third.

VeganMoFo and DC VegFest are coming this September

Ready to represent vegankind in DC

VeganMoFo 2013

VeganMoFo, the Vegan Month of Food, returns this September 2013. This former Post Punk Kitchen and blogging event has turned into a social media extravaganza. And rightly so. It's a month-long celebration of the vibrant community of vegan foodies that exists across all platforms and the Universe. Cue the trumpets.

I've participated twice in the past and it was a blast! This year my theme will be smoothies because I've had so much fun blogging about them so far, largely thanks to Crazy Sexy Kitchen. That means I've placed this blog into the Healthy/Whole Foods blogroll group. How cool is that?

My favorite thing about VeganMoFo is finding inspiration in what other MoFo'ers are posting. I can't wait to see what everyone cooks up. I'm going to be on the look-out for fellow blenders and DCites. And I'll be Instagram too, following the #VeganMoFo action.

DC VegFest

And if September wasn't cool enough, DC VegFest is happening on Saturday, September 28th, 2013. Hosted by Compassion Over Killing, this one-day, free festival promotes veggie food in the nation's capital. I didn't get to go last year and it has moved to a cool outdoor location, Yards Park, convenient to Navy Yard Metro. The lineup of speakers looks great. You can even meet the Shannons, our August VegCookbook authors, and see them do a cooking demo. The festival runs from 11am to 6pm.  

  

Finishing up Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan

A Sweet Finish:
I decided to close July's VegCookbook selection with a sweet. Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan has an excellent "Sugar 'N' Spice" chapter with loads of decadent desserts and baked goods. I went with a simple, no cooking required recipe.

Cashew Banana Ice Cream

There's great vegan-friendly bakery in Ocean City, NJ, called The Bashful Banana Café that is famous for a banana "frozen custard." It's just bananas whipped to a custard consistency. They call it: the Banana Whip. This "ice cream" version adds cashew butter, which gives it a thick, creamy texture. The recipe also calls for sweetener. I added a little agave but would skip it next time. Bananas are sweet enough. I also added some vanilla and cinnamon. Overall, a speedy sweet fix that requires only firing up the food processor.

Salad Dressing Round-Up:
Plus, here's a quick round-up of the salad dressings that I've made from this cookbook in July.

Salad Dressings from ED&BV

Of these three dressings, the Creamy Basil Dressing (top) was my favorite. Fresh basil provides so much flavor. I used cashews and almonds for the nuts and unsweetened almond milk as the main liquid. It was great on salads and as a dip for heirloom tomatoes.

Back-to-Basics Balsamic Vinaigrette is one for regular weeknight rotation (bottom left). Super simple and straightforward. Although, as with all the dressing recipes, I cut back on the sweetener by a third, at least. (Sometimes I think Canadian cookbook authors just like to promote maple syrup. Which I love. But not in everything.)

Cumin-Cinnamon Vinaigrette was a unique blend, but perhaps not to my tastes (bottom right). I think the cinnamon reminded me too much of my morning smoothies. This one would work on a salad served before a spicy Indian meal.    

August's pick:
Now August is arrived and with it comes a new book: Betty Goes Vegan by Annie and Dan Shannon. I haven't gotten my hands on a copy yet but I wonder if it'll have the technicolor glow I remember from my Mom's old Betty Crocker cookbooks.

A trio of summer dips

I've called Canadian cookbook author Dreena Burton the "Queen of Hummus" but now I need to up that to the "Goddess of All Dips, Spreads, and Sauces." Here's a trio of fast, delicious, and versatile recipes that I've made from the July VegCookbook Club pick: Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan. (The poll for August's club cookbook is already here.)

Olive & Sun-Dried Tomato Hummus
Another great hummus recipe, this time with tahini instead of raw nuts. Although the tahini amount is a controlled single tablespoon. This imparts some flavor but doesn't drown the main attractions. The real stars in this hummus are the olives and sun-dried tomatoes. It's a good excuse to visit your grocery's olive bar. And it's sure to win "The Battle of the Hummus" at your next summer potluck.  

Smoky Avocado Sauce
What a beautiful, silky smooth sauce! Two types of citrus and a little liquid smoke are the surprise notes to the creamy avocado. I'm going to make this every time I want to class up burritos. It'd be an impressive addition to a savory brunch too.

Warm & Cheesy White Bean Dip
This is the only recipe that required heating and only briefly on the stovetop. I would rename it "Noochy" instead of "Cheesy" dip because the nutritional yeast flavor is its own thing. Cashews give this cannellini dip extra richness. I used almond milk rather than rice milk and doubled the garlic (natch). The dip worked great drizzled on pizza, as Dreena Burton suggests. Makes loads of leftovers.

Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan for July

July's VegCookbook Club pick is one of my all-time favorite cookbooks, Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan: Everyday Vegan Recipes Worth Celebrating by Dreena Burton. Unlike many of this year's other club selections, I actually own this attractive and colorful volume. So I have no library wait to endure.

Because I have been on vacation to Chicago, I have only made two recipes thus far. I do wish that it wasn't summer and that I could fire up the oven again because Dreena Burton's desserts are killer. However, there is plenty to look forward to in this cookbook without baking.  Did I mention that this book has a whole chapter devoted to hummus?  

Roasted Red Pepper & Almond Hummus
Dreena Burton is the Queen of Hummus. This red pepper hummus is much tastier and fresher than the brands that you can buy from the grocery store. In place of tahini, the almonds impart a subtle, nutty flavor that matches nicely with the sweet and smoky roasted peppers. I imagine that kids might enjoy this hummus. However I tripled the garlic for adult palates.

"But Where Do You Get Your Protein?" Smoothie
I usually forgo nut butters in my smoothies but this one calls for two types, which is interesting. I went with peanut butter and sunflower seed butter and used almond milk rather than soy. I also skipped the protein power because I'm not worried about extra protein. I did add ground flax. The blueberries and bananas provided sweetness to this creamy, nourishing drink.

Martha goes Meatless

The July VegCookbook Club selection has been announced already and I have yet to post about June's pick. Here goes.

It took awhile for my library hold for Meatless: More than 200 of the Very Best Vegetarian Recipes to arrive. This glossy new book is surprisingly hefty. It would add a thick chunk of meatless recipes to an omnivore's bookshelf.

I thought that the book was authored by Martha Stewart but, in fact, she only penned the very brief forward. (Which has a gruesome anecdote about butchering the family pet sheep and serving it to her daughter Alexis as "pork chops." Her daughter was not fooled and chose this moment to start eating "meatless." Go Alexis!)

The many excellent food photographers get credited in the back pages but the recipe authors themselves are ghosts in the Martha Stewart machine. The recipes are largely repurposed from Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia Publications. So I imagine that if you subscribe to the magazines or other arms of brand Martha Stewart, then some of these recipes might be repeats.

The book has an appealing design, although the index could use some work. I was particularly thrilled to find the "V" symbol for vegan recipes. (Although, the ghost writers seem to think that honey is vegan. I recommend subbing agave.) Truthfully, as I paged through the cookbook, I ended up skipping the non-V recipes, which are largely cheesy.

Below are the three V recipes that I ended up trying. I was looking for recipes that required little or no cooking, due to the summer heat.

Fancy presentation

Avocado Salad with Bell Peppers and Tomatoes
This easy, fresh, and attractive "salad," is really a chunky guacamole with tomatoes, peppers, scallions, garlic, and fresh cilantro. Presentation is key, as it is served in the scooped-out shell of an avocado. I actually just filled a single half for the photo and dumped the rest into a bowl, which was messier but equally satisfying. I forgot the extra cilantro garnish because I'm not Martha Stewart.

How it was really served

Fresh Pea Hummus
Who'd have thought that I would be making a "Martha Stewart" hummus? I scored fresh peas at our local farmers' market and used them in this inventive green hummus recipe. Some cooking is required here but only boiling water, which I could it handle. This recipe reminded me of an edamame hummus that I used to make. As with the edamame version, the look of this dip is surprising and delightful. The fresh green peas were sweet and paired well with the cilantro.

Martha Stewart hummus

Fresh green peas

Chipotle-Avocado Sandwiches

Finally I made these smoky mashed kidney bean sandwiches. I subbed curly kale and fresh broccoli for the suggested escarole and sprouts. I did use avocado and radishes as called-for in the recipe. This meatless combination was excellent in a pita. However I think it might be harder to eat with sliced bread. I did add spicy mustard for extra flavor, as the recipe only uses one chipotle pepper in adobo sauce. You could probably add even more peppers, according to taste.