Vega Energizing Smoothie

Vega Energizing Smoothie packets have taken over the checkout area of my local Whole Foods. In fact, I was standing in line with green smoothie ingredients when first I noticed them. I've read Thrive, the book by Vega-formulator and front man, Brendan Brazier. (It's a great gift for aspiring athletes.) But I haven't experimented with the Vega product line.  

So in the name of my VeganMoFo smoothie theme, I decided to give this ubiquitous smoothie product a chance. Of course, I had to get the Choc-A-Lot flavor. However, it comes in other flavors, including Bodacious Berry, Oh Natural, Tropical Tango, and Vanilla Almondilla. 

The smoothie was simple to prepare. You simply blend the powder pack with water or another liquid. I opted for equal parts unsweetened almond milk and water. The result wasn't chalky or cloyingly sweet, as I expected it to be. It also wasn't very tasty. To me, the flavor was almost metallic or chemically. Perhaps it's an acquired taste? I'm not a fan of stevia, which is an ingredient.   

The other ingredients listed are impressive. A single packet packs in loads of plant-based protein, flax seeds, greens, and digestive enzymes. All for $1.99.  After drinking the smoothie, I didn't feel "heavy." I also didn't have teeth full of seeds and fibers, like I do after berry-rich smoothies.

I'm sorry that I didn't enjoy this smoothie experiment more. The Vega smoothie is totally vegan. Dairy, gluten, and soy free too. 

Go Vegan! with Sarah Kramer app review, part 2: New recipes

Screengrab from the Go Vegan! app.

Here is part two of my review of the Go Vegan! with Sarah Kramer app for the iPhone. Yesterday, in part one, I wrote about some of the tried and true recipes. Today I will review some of the new recipes. Using the app, I made a dinner with three brand new recipes and one older recipe that was new to me. Overall, I found the recipes elementary, perhaps a good primer for new vegans. The format of the iPhone app also seems to encourage streamlined recipes.

Faux "Parmesan" Cheeze
The steps to this super easy recipe fit on a single iPhone screen. In short, you blend nutritional yeast and walnuts in a food processor and salt to taste. This recipe seems almost too basic to warrant inclusion. But it reminded me that the app is entitled, "Go Vegan!," so perhaps it is aimed at newbies rather than longtime vegans. The latter would probably already know that "nooch" + nuts = cheesy goodness. (They'd also know what nutritional yeast is.)

Sarah Kramer's cookbooks are so approachable and appealing because they include building blocks such as this condiment. However, in one way, I think Kramer is misleading to new vegans here. The recipe description says that this dish can be made for under $1. Maybe in Canada! Walnuts and nutritional yeast are rather expensive in the U.S. I estimate that this batch cost me $5. That said, the batch will last some time and has many uses.

Shoshana and Teresa's Wilted Kale Super-Salad

Again, this is a simple recipe, something easy to improvise without steps. The greens, root veggies (grated beets and carrots), and dried cranberries marinate in a basic balsamic dressing to provide the wilted effect. I added garlic to the dressing and onions to the salad for more flavor. Instead of adding chopped nuts as required, I used some of the faux parm as a topping. I'll definitely make this style of salad again but I'm not sure that I need to bookmark the recipe. It'd be a good gateway salad for newbie vegans.

Cast-Iron Chickpea Flatbread
On the app, Kramer feeds this flatbread to a dog in a fun video. I didn't have one of its four-ingredients, chickpea flour, but it was easy to find at the health food store. (Sadly, I couldn't find a cute, hungry dog.) My flatbread didn't flip out of the cast iron pan as easily as Kramer's did in the video but that could be because my pan isn't as seasoned as it ought to be. I think I'll make this recipe again, especially as I now have a bag of chickpea flour to use.

Tortilla Chip Soup
This one wasn't a new recipe but also was easy. It is basically a tomato-based soup with some cumin, chili powder, and peppers. I don't think I'll make this again, because I like my soups to be more substantial and stew-like, with plenty of grains and beans. However I will duplicate the tortilla chip garnish on other soups. 

Go Vegan! with Sarah Kramer app review, part 1: Tried and true recipes

I finally purchased the Go Vegan! with Sarah Kramer app for the iPhone. This is the first cooking app that I have ever downloaded but it is definitely not going to be the last because I'm smitten with it. (I hope Dreena Burton releases one next.) 

So far, I've made two of the fifty recipes offered. Forty of the recipes are from Sarah Kramer's previously published cookbooks, ten are new. (Tomorrow, in part two of this review, I'll try a couple of the recipes debuting in the app.) I do wish that the app would cite the specific cookbooks that each of the recipes are sourced from. It would be a handy to be able to reference the original recipe. For example, if you want to recommend it to your iPhone-less, cookbook-loving friends.    

Owning this handy app is like having Kramer's Vegan A Go-Go! in an even more portable version--which I didn't think possible because that book is already pocketable. Below is a photo of how the app sizes up against Kramer's previous pink-covered cookbooks. 

In terms of design, this app is uncluttered eye candy with attractive, functional menus. Each recipe is broken down into an ingredients page and a steps page, with pink apple and whisk icons to toggle back and forth. The app has an easily manageable favorites section and a helpful shopping list function. (Although it is funny that the app adds water to your shopping list. I tend to get water from the faucet, not the grocery store.) 

Other new content in the app includes informative short videos and audio intros for select recipes. And there are drool-inducing photos for every recipe, a feature that Kramer's cookbooks haven't always offered. 

My one personal pet peeve about the app is that it played music automatically on start up. While the music is peppy, I don't like to be blasted by audio unawares. However it was easy to set the music to "off" and it hasn't bugged me since.  

Here are photos of the two recipes that I've already added to my favorites que. Above is Sarah and Tanya's You-Must-Make-This Dressing. This salad dressing recipe is one of my all-time favorites. For this batch, I used a mix of fresh garlic chives and regular chives.  

I also made another familiar favorite, the "Anything Goes" Fruit-Filled Muffins. These muffins are nice because they are flexible; you can add anything (fruits, nuts, chocolate, etc.) into the mix. For this batch I used apple, raspberries, and blackberries for the fruit filling. I also added some whole wheat flour to make it slightly more healthy. I wish the recipe had more spice suggestions but maybe that is a challenge to experiment further.

Update: Here's part two of my review.