Tag Archives: easy

Asparagus Portabella Risotto

Spring has begun, at least on the calendar, as I know many of you are still stuck in cold weather and snow. But, it also seems as though new things are popping up everywhere, and I’m not talking about plants. I’ll start with a little background on me, I went to school for product design and graduated with a BS in Industrial Design (no, that’s not designing factories). I worked in the field for a few years, until a quit my job a year and a half ago; that is when I started to seriously put work into my blog, freelance photography projects and basically doing whatever odd-jobs that I could to get by.

So far, that list has included doing vegan food tours for a couple of months, lots of merch gigs, writing articles and the occasional garage sale. ;) And for a few months, last year, I applied to many, MANY design jobs; nearly landing one, but it just didn’t work out. Lately, I’ve been wondering if I’d ever return to the industry in which I get my creativity from, feeling a loss. Then, yesterday, I get a call from one of my old co-workers and to keep it short, I’ll just say there is a good possibility of me returning to a full-time design position.

Oddly enough, the timing is not that great, seeing as how I’ll be gone nearly the entire month of April, doing work out in Indio for Coachella and Stagecoach. Lots of work and lots of heat, plus not a lot of computer time. But, I’m getting everything organized before I go so that you can have some awesome recipes to drool over. Now, I’m feeling more overwhelmed than ever, but feel as though everything will line up eventually, or I hope, at least. Ha!

I’ll keep you updated on that, but now, I have this delicious and satisfying risotto to show you! It’s creamy, yet still light enough to showcase some serious Spring flavors. Risotto used to intimidate me, for some reason, until I made my first one in the fall and it turned out great. So, don’t be intimidated by this rice dish with a fancy name. 

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Filed under Healthy Recipes, Holidays, Savory Recipes

Glazed Mint & Chip Cupcakes

Do you ever have those days where you’re starting out with an awesome recipe idea, and then it keeps morphing? Yesterday was definitely one of those days, for me. I knew that I wanted something minty, chocolatey and green so share with you all, but wasn’t sure about just which way to do it.

First, it started out as a cookie; minty, green and lil’ chocolate chips. But, after seeing the consistency of the dough I thought that maybe this was better suited to be a muffin. So, I baked a couple of test muffins. As good as they were, I knew that they needed something else, a little more of a minty kick. Let there be glaze! A minty sweet glaze was then poured over the top and I adjusted the recipe some more so that it would be a fluffier cupcake.

You better believe that I was in a sugar/carb coma after all that taste testing. But, I will do what I must for you! ;) Even if that means a couple of extra work outs this week. So, now, we have an adorable cupcake that is perfectly suited for St. Paddy’s day! Plus, there’s veggies in it, spinach to be exact; that’s what gives these cuties their terrific color.

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Filed under Holidays, Sweet Recipes

Spring Soba Stir Fry

Wow, what a weekend! I realize it’s Tuesday, just kidding, it’s Wednesday. See, how messed up my schedule is? Either way, Expo West ended up being a lot of fun. I met some amazing bloggers, tasted some great products and overall had a good time checking everything out. But, right now I’m going through VYA Post-Expo syndrome; meaning, after eating samples all day for three or four days, cooking has become “inconvenient”. Ridiculous, right?

This means, that I’m gettin’ back into the groove of things this week; starting with this super easy recipe that uses Spring produce and great Asian flavors. I always recommend stir fries and sautes to people who are just getting into (vegan) cooking. It’s really easy to go by taste and looks with these types of dishes because there’s not a lot of chemistry involved, unlike baking.

In this case, we have some crunchy snap peas, fresh asparagus and a salty-sweet Hoisin sauce; combine that with only a couple more ingredients and BAM! You have dinner. Don’t you love it, when food is that easy?

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Warm Smoky Tempeh Salad

As some of you may know, I spend the past weekend (plus a couple of days) in San Francisco. If you’ve been there before, you can imagine how excited I was about trying out some more vegan restaurants and delightful food! Not to mention, the whole point of my trip was to visit some amazing friends and check out the scenery. There were many firsts during this trip, one of them being that it was my first time flying there and boy, do I love 1 hour flights!

Once I got there, my lovely friend Caroline picked me up and we jogged a couple of miles in preparation for the weekend of crazy feasting! I just have to say, as reluctant as I was to jog before breakfast, it sure set the tone for the weekend. So, thanks again, Caroline! We went to Source for brunch, to visit the always awesome Jenny (who’s the pastry chef there) and left feeling slightly food drunk. The rest of the weekend included trips (including but not limited) to Souley Vegan, Pepple’s Donut Farm, Gracias Madre and St. Francis Fountain.

As you can tell, it wasn’t the healthiest of times, but I did squeeze in a recipe while I was there! After one of our morning runs, Caroline and I decided to make some lunch at home. We wanted something healthy, but substantial, that would fit the cool but beautiful weather. First, we thought salad, then it kept evolving with different ingredients and methods, until finally we settled on a wilted, warm salad. It’s essentially between a saute and a fresh salad, perfect!

Here, you have your protein-packed tempeh, some caramelized onions, crunchy romaine, and don’t forget about those adorable baby bellas! This recipe is very simple, and comes together in no time. It was really my first time experimenting with wilted lettuce, for myself, but I’ll definitely be doing it again. :)

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Filed under Healthy Recipes, Savory Recipes