Tag Archives: food

May 16, 2013

Refreshing Watermelon Tomato Salad

The weather earlier this week was insane! You want to talk about a scorcher?  I thought that I was back working Coachella! Thank goodness I could jump in a pool to cool off. ;) I wish that I had this salad to cool me down from the inside out, though.

I was inspired by a salad that I had years ago, with watermelon, tomato, mint, and feta, plus some vegetarian roe for a salty kick. This one is slightly different, with creamy pine nuts changing up the texture, and a combination of mint and basil to make it interesting (and pretty!).

The best part about this salad is that it comes together in mere minutes. If you chill the tomato and watermelon before assembly it works out even better. This is the perfect side for a summer party, BBQ or as a light snack. Throw a little white balsamic vinegar on there and call it a day!

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May 2, 2013

Vegan Ceviche

Phew, let me tell you, it is so weird to be home again. But, definitely a relief. After a month of working my butt off in the windy, hot desert that is Coachella Valley, and not blogging at all, it is nice to be sitting comfortably at my desk and hanging out with my pups. I won’t lie, though, being forced to have a break from the internet was actually a good thing and eventually I just had to live with the fact that I would have no time to blog, etc. Before April, I was already having a hard enough time juggling my work with my personal life, and now I have to really re-access what my priorities are, but still reach my goals. Such is life!

Here are a few photos from my trip!

Pre-Coachella Show Day

Dust Storm Hellish-ness Weekend 1

About to watch Local Natives

Messin’ around in the Boutique Photo Booth

Some of our Inventory team on the last day!

One of the recipes that I made before I left, is something that I’m really excited about; especially since Cinco de Mayo is right around the corner! I had ceviche a few times in my life before I went vegan, and only once after that. The vegan version that I had was weird and involved fake shrimp which always gives me the heebie-jeebies, so I decided that I would make my own recipe!

This dish is more of a side, but may just steal the spotlight with how refreshing it is and its great flavors. Plus, it is REALLY easy to make. Once of the sneaky ingredients in it are oyster mushrooms, they have a slightly fishy scent/taste which makes this a well-rounded vegan ceviche. You can bring it to a party, serve it with a meal, make it whenever! I prefer to eat it with some salted tortilla chips and a beer. ;)

I can’t forget to mention that my mom loved this so much that she brought it to a get together with some of her quilting friends; and they all enjoyed it, too!

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April 18, 2013

Grilled Buffalo Tempeh Mozzarella Sandwich

Let me start off by saying that I miss the “real” world! I’ve been out here in Indio for two weeks and am so insanely busy. I have more and more posts saved up for you, but no time to get them up! And, cooking is out of the question, so I have almost 2 more weeks until I’m back in my kitchen at home and cooking up awesome dishes.

For those of you that didn’t hear, I’m on the inventory team in the merch tent for Coachella/Stagecoach, so I’m pretty much stuck in the desert for an entire month. What IS a relief is that I have some really great vegan options when it comes to show-day eats. Right now, there’s a Brazilian vegan booth with some great combo plates (including plantains!), a vegan Indian booth with lentil dahl, savory chutney and saffron rice, plus a RAW VEGAN booth! Pretty incredible to see veganism grow to change your typical food court booths, and even better to see it being a popular choice; even with Ruth’s Chris’ booth only a couple of stops over.

You may have heard that National Grilled Cheese day was this past Friday, and this here sandwich is my contribution to all of the great posts from that day. I tried out a new, vegan cheese substitute with this one and loved how it turned out. Plus, I absolutely adore buffalo anything, as long as it’s vegan; so this ended up being a magical combination. To make it slightly healthier I added some kale to the sautéed tempeh, which also adds great color and texture contrast. Don’t you love it when food looks as good as it tastes?

This recipe really comes together in almost no time at all, save for the sauteing of the tempeh. It’s pretty flexible as well; you can switch out the kale for almost any other green, and adding some diced red onion may just take this sandwich to another level! Maybe you prefer sourdough over seedy wheat breads, which sounds so good, or adding some tomato and avocado. Excuse me while I wipe the drool from my keyboard.

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April 5, 2013

Mini Chocolate Chip Banana Cheesecake & EatPastry Review

You know those times, when you were a kid/teenager/depressed adult when you loved to eat raw cookie dough? I mean, it’s seriously hard to beat pre-made sweets that are just as good, if not better, before baking as they are afterward. As far as a vegan option went, there was nothing like this that wasn’t homemade for so long! That is, until the amazing people over at EatPastry came up with their line of vegan cookie doughs.

They can be found in the cutest tubs at some Wholefoods, Mother’s Markets and depending on your area, a big-ass tub from Costco! Can you imagine? Seriously, I need that in my life.  Well, maybe my tummy does, but my gluteus maximus certainly doesn’t. ;)

When I first tried this cookie dough, it was in its baked form at Expo West last year. Tiny morsels of chewy cookies of a few different flavors, plus taster spoons with a bite of raw cookie dough on them. To put it bluntly, I was enamored. The texture of the cookies is terrific, even the gluten-free ones! They are as good, and I have a hard time being convinced by most GF pastries. I will say, that you probably shouldn’t eat the GF cookie dough raw because it has a slightly bean-y after taste.

The time came to do a review on a few tubs out of their line and it was a totally success. I also wanted to incorporate a recipe in here for you guys that is INSANE; like, so good. And if you want a bunch more ideas for your cookie dough, check out EatPastry’s Facebook page; Jessie (one of the co-founders) posts the most amazing things; they will probably make you jealous.

First off, I have to admit, I ate the tub of the Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Raisin dough before I could even do anything with it. Oopsies. It’s one of my favorites now! Then I used the GF snickerdoodle cookies to make a sandwich that had a vegan cream cheese layer, mmm… The GF Chocolate Chip dough I enjoyed baked as a regular ol’ cookie and it was perfect. It’s everything you want from a cookie; slightly chewy, great color and texture, with a couple of chocolate chips in each bite. 

With the “regular” Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough I made something incredible though, Mini Banana Cheesecakes with Cookie tops & bottoms. The best part is that there really isn’t much too it, and that they are suitable for all ages and preferences. Unless you don’t like cookies or bananas, then we probably can’t be cordial. I highly suggest that you try these out for yourself, and top it with a warm chocolate drizzle, or a peanut butter chocolate drizzle, that also sounds fantastic.

Overall, this is a high-quality product that is basically foolproof. I recommend this product to anyone that asks about it because it is delicious and the people who run the company are so genuine and nice, and just all around great people.

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