Monthly Archives: October 2011

Vegan Mofo #22 Central Florida Veg Fest

Date: October 25, 2011
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Veganism
Comments: Leave a reply

 

It’s that time again! The Central Florida Veg Fest started out beautifully October 22, 2011. Every year in October, Vegans and Vegetarians in Central Florida look forward to gathering together to eat great food, meet old and new friends, listen to amazing musicians, get delicious food ideas, and learn something new from brilliant speakers.

This year, we were graced with a visit from the amazing Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. Author, activist, passionate speaker, and all-round amazing person. Colleen addressed the audience with humor, honesty, and pure passion.

It was that passion that touched me more than I realized. I sat in awe watching her speak about veganism in a way that was not scary to anyone. There seemed to be quite a few people in the audience curious about living the vegan lifestyle. Of course, newbies think of veganism as a trend, fad, and a diet when really it is much more than that.

Ms. Goudreau is truly an inspiration to anyone that comes in contact with her. She has this infectious personality that radiates passion and compassion from the inside out. When she speaks, she makes veganism sound like the it thing to do. However it is the smart thing to do. I really enjoyed meeting her and experiencing what people all over the country has had the honor of being present.

Boy was I present!

 

Vegan Mofo #21 Lentil Soup

Date: October 21, 2011
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Beans and Legumes, Soup
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Fall continues to bring out the love of amazing soups and stews. I love French lentils. They hold together and have the most hearty flavor of all the lentils. Lentil soup can eaten with mashed potatoes, rice, artisan bread, pasta and more. It is one of my favorite things to eat on a cold night.

 

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Vegan Mofo #21 Lentil Soup

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 55 minutes

Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients

  • 2 cups French lentils
  • 7 cups water
  • 1/2 cup onions. chopped
  • 1/2 cup celery. chopped
  • 1 cup carrots, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 2 teaspoon rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Instructions

  1. Rinse lentils.
  2. Add water and remaining ingredients.
  3. Bring to a boil then reduce to med.
  4. Cook for 30 - 45 minutes.
  5. Serve.
https://www.beyondnfinity.com/vegan-mofo-21-lentil-soup/

Vegan Mofo #20 Tofu and Dumplings

Date: October 21, 2011
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Soup, Tofu
Comments: 1 Reply

 

There is nothing like a nice bowl of something hot and delicious once the weather starts to get a little cooler. Finally, the weather in Florida has started to cool down at night, making it great for some tasty fall dishes. I love soups and stews of all kinds as long as I can make them vegan, I am there!

 

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Vegan Mofo #20 Tofu and Dumplings

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 60 minutes

Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients

    Tofu
  • 1 14 ounce package extra-firm water packed tofu
    • Soup
  • 1 cup onion, chopped
  • 1 1/4 cups celery, chopped
  • 1 1/4 cups carrots, chopped
  • 2 teaspoons rosemary, ground
  • 2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 2 cups water
    • Dumplings
  • 1 1/4 all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 tablespoons vegan margarine, cold and cubed
  • 1/4 cup non-dairy milk
  • 2 whole green onions (scallions)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400
    2. Tofu
  2. Remove tofu from package.
  3. Rinse.
  4. Squeeze.
  5. Cut into cubes.
  6. Bake for 35-40 minutes.
    7. Soup
  7. Saute onions, celery, and carrots on medium for 15 minutes.
  8. Add rosemary, paprika, cayenne pepper to open the fragrance of the spices.
  9. Add vegetable broth and water.
  10. Stir.
  11. Simmer.
    12. Dumplings
  12. Add the all-purpose flour and baking powder to a bowl and mix.
  13. Add the cubed vegan margarine to the flour mixture.
  14. Combine the vegan margarine and flour until it resembles pea size crumbs.
  15. Pour in non-dairy milk.
  16. Mix together until all the ingredients are mixed together, yet do not over work the dough.
  17. Dust your work surface with a light coating of flour.
  18. Place dough on top gently roll the dough in the flour.
  19. Add more flour if dough is too sticky, yet keep the dusting light. Too much flour makes for tough doughy dumplings.
  20. Roll out dough to whatever thickness you like an cut them into whatever shape and size you like (i.e. ribbons, squares, rectangles, your choice).
  21. Stir dumplings into your pot of soup.
  22. Cook on medium for 20 minutes. As the soup cooks, it will thicken.
  23. Stir in sliced green onions.
  24. Serve.
https://www.beyondnfinity.com/vegan-mofo-20-tofu-and-dumplings/

Vegan Mofo #19 Crimini Mushroom Gnocchi with Kale Pesto

Date: October 20, 2011
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Mushrooms, Pasta
Comments: 2 Replies

Kale is such a powerhouse ingredient that is as versatile as it is flavorful. I love using it as I would lettuce for salads, as I would broccoli as a side or ingredient in a dish, as I would basil for pesto.

I chopped up the mushrooms and the onions to then saute them until they are lightly brown.

In the meantime, the gnocchi is placed into boiling water to cook quickly.

Once the mushrooms and onions are caramelized and the gnocchi is floating, combine. The happiness is in full effect.

After making the kale pesto, I used two tablespoons of the mixture. Yet if you are not a great lover of kale then use a little less or saute some kale with the mushrooms to have just a light taste of kale.

 

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Vegan Mofo #19 Crimini Mushroom Gnocchi with Kale Pesto

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: Serves 2; Serves 4 with Salad

Ingredients

  • 12 crimini mushrooms, chopped
  • 1/4 cup onion, minced
  • 1 bag Caesar's Organic Vegan Gnocchi
  • 1 hand full of kale
  • 3 large cloves
  • 1 cup vegetable broth plus 1/4 cup for pesto
  • 2 teaspoons miso
  • Fresh cracked black pepper, to taste

Instructions

    Mushroom Mixture
  1. Saute chopped mushrooms and onions until golden brown or caramelized. If mushrooms and onions start to stick, add a Tbsp of vegetable broth or water at a time.
    2. Gnocchi
  2. Boil water.
  3. Add gnocchi to the boiling water.
  4. Cook until gnocchi floats or according to the instructions on the bag.
    5. Kale Pesto
  5. Place hand full of kale, 3 cloves, vegetable broth, and miso into blender or food processor.
  6. Blend until pureed smooth.
  7. Add gnocchi to mushroom and onion mixture in skillet.
  8. Add between 1 1/2 teaspoons to 1 tablespoons of kale pesto or all of it as I did. The flavor can be very green tasting so choose according to your taste.
  9. Serve.
https://www.beyondnfinity.com/vegan-mofo-19-crimini-mushroom-gnocchi-with-kale-pesto/

 

 

 

 

 

 

Vegan Mofo #18 Tamari Tofu with Edamame

Date: October 18, 2011
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Tofu
Comments: Leave a reply

Still not up to par. So, I figured something light and mild on the stomach would be better than nothing at all. I decided some Japanese rice, edamame with umeboshi vinegar, baked tamari tofu topped with furikake. If you do decide to use furikake, make sure you read the label to check for bonito. You want one without bonito or you can leave the furikake off and just add sesame seeds and cut up nori. Enjoy!

 

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Vegan Mofo #18 Tamari Tofu with Edamame

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes

Yield: Serves 6

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups Japanese rice, uncooked
  • 2 cups edamame
  • 1 14 ounce package extra-firm water packed tofu
  • 1 tablespoon tamari
  • 1/2 cup vegetable broth
  • furikake (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400.
    2. Rice
  2. Place the 1 1/2 cups of rice into a pot
  3. Rinse rice until it is clear.
  4. Measure 2 cups water.
  5. Add to the rice.
  6. Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer.
  7. Once the water is mostly gone, turn off burner, place lid on pot to let the rice steam.
    8. Edamame
  8. Fill a pot with water.
  9. Add the steamer basket.
  10. Add edamame to basket.
  11. Steam for 5 minutes.
  12. Place into bowl.
  13. Add umeboshi vinegar
  14. Set aside.
    15. Tofu
  15. Remove tofu from package.
  16. Rinse.
  17. Slice in desired amount and size.
  18. Place into baking pan.
  19. Mix the tamari and the vegetable broth.
  20. Pour over tofu.
  21. Place in over bake.
  22. Bake until liquid has been absorbed and lightly brown. (About 30 minutes)
    23. Plating
  23. Put together everything in however way you like.
  24. I like 1 cup of rice in a bowl with 1/4 cup edamame and 1 or 2 pieces of tofu.
  25. Sprinkle with furikake.
  26. Serve
https://www.beyondnfinity.com/vegan-mofo-18/

Vegan Mofo #17 Kale Salad

Date: October 18, 2011
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Salad, Vegetables
Comments: Leave a reply

When I went to bed, I was not feeling all that great. I figured that I would feel better once I got some sleep. That was not the case. So I had a cup of something hot to drink and a piece of toast. That did not help. So I went back to bed.

Once I woke up, I decided to have something green. So I decided to make a kale salad to have something healthy and nutritious, with the hope that it would be good enough of a light meal.

 

It is really a very tasty salad, yet my stomach just wasn’t having anything in it. So I ended up just letting my daughter have all that nutritional goodness from a powerhouse of kale, sodium from celery, sweetness from the dried fruit, and protein from the nuts.

 

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Vegan Mofo #17 Kale Salad

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Yield: Serves 2

Ingredients

  • 1 bunch of kale (any variety)
  • 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 3/4 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
  • 1/2 cup raisins, dried cranberries, dried cherries (or a combination of dried fruit)
  • 1/2 cup celery and the tops, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons green onions
  • 1 pear, divided and chopped
  • 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 2 tablespoons water

Instructions

    Kale
  1. Wash kale.
  2. Tear leaves away from stems.
  3. Save stems to chop and use in the salad.
  4. Place washed kale in a bowl.
  5. Add the apple cider vinegar.
  6. Add chopped stems.
  7. Squeeze the kale to make sure each piece gets vinegar.
  8. Set aside to wilt kale.
    9. Dressing
  9. Add 1/2 cup of chopped nuts.
  10. Ad 1/4 cup of dried fruit.
  11. Add 1/4 cup of celery.
  12. Add half the pear.
  13. Add the rice wine vinegar and the Dijon mustard.
  14. Place lid on and blend until smooth.
  15. If too thick, add the 2 Tbsp water.
  16. Pour out of blender and set aside.
  17. Squeeze kale.
  18. Pour out the excess vinegar and rinse if you like.
  19. Add the remaining ingredients along with the dressing.
  20. Stir.
  21. Chill,
  22. Serve.
https://www.beyondnfinity.com/vegan-mofo-17-kale-salad/

 

Vegan Mofo #16 Chia French Toast

Date: October 16, 2011
Author: BeyondNFinity™
Categories: Bread, Breakfast
Comments: Leave a reply

I have this craving for french toast. I love french toast. I love the smell of the house when I make french toast. Most of the time I make french toast for dessert with some kind of fruit and a little drizzle of agave. Yet, there are times when I want the wonderful taste that I remember when I was a child for breakfast.

It is really quite simple to make. I don’t do anything complicated. I love using a sourdough bread for that tang, just as I remember in Louisiana making it with day old french bread that basically started to have a little tang to it due to age. So, sourdough makes a great replacement. Other than that, you can use any kind of bread you choose, just make sure that it is vegan.

Not everyone uses a recipe for french toast, however I will try to remember what I do every time. Here it goes!

 

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Chia French Toast

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 30 minutes

Yield: Serves 2

Serving Size: 2 pieces

Ingredients

    Bread
  • 4 slices sourdough bread or any bread of your choosing
    • Custard
  • vegan spread, about 1 Tbsp or your choice of quantity
  • 1 1/2 - 2 cups almond milk
  • 2 tablespoons chia seeds, ground cinnamon
  • nutmeg, whole
  • microplane or grater
  • Maple Flavored Agave or maple syrup

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
    2. Chia Seeds
  2. Place chia seeds into a coffee bean grinder, food processor, or food prep processor.
  3. Grind until ground.
  4. Set aside.
    5. Custard
  5. Place almond milk and ground chia seeds into a bowl.
  6. Mix.
  7. As the mixture sits, it will thicken. You may need to add more milk based on how thick or thin you want the custard.
    8. French Toast
  8. Dip each slice into the milk/chia seed mixture.
  9. Remove excess of mixture from the bread by sliding fingers down the sides of the bread.
  10. Place dipped slices into a baking pan coated with vegan spread. Or a silicone food safe baking pan.
  11. Sprinkle each slice of bread with cinnamon and freshly grated nutmeg (a little goes a long way).
  12. Place the baking pan on oven.
  13. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until lightly brown.
  14. Serve.
https://www.beyondnfinity.com/vegan-mofo-16-ch-ch-ch-chia/