Before I left for Indio last month, I knew that I would need to bring some snacks with me. I’m glad that I planned ahead, because our team was stuck without breakfast for the first few days we were out there. Yikes! With this post I’ll give you some tips on what to bring with you when your options are limited.
Of course, there are a crazy amount of vegan snack bars that you can choose from, when you need to hold yourself over. I love bringing a couple in my purse when I’m flying, to replace the typical “pretzel or nuts” choices. My bars of choice are Vbars, PureFit bars (which are a lot like Power Bars) and usually Clif bars (only because they are everywhere). The good thing about these types of snacks is that they are small and easy to fit in luggage/bags.
If you have a little more room to bring stuff with you, say you’re driving to a family member’s house or something like that, I would highly suggest making foods that really only need a bit of hot water added to them. Take for example, my Portable Oatmeal Breakfast. You can pack three day’s worth of breakfast into one large jar! Plus, it’s easily customizable to your preferences.
But, what I ended up making for this trip was downright awesome. It took some time because I dehydrated most of the fruits at under 118ºF, but that’s not something that you need to do. Here we have a mix of mango, banana, tart berries and coconut roasted almonds. Crunchy, chewing and filling it’s all you want from a trail mix. Next time, I’m making a massive batch of this and adding it to granola and yogurt for breakfast, it sounds so good!
Well, it’s Thursday, which means that we are almost to the weekend! What is holding me over until then are thoughts of this past weekend, where I went to the LA Vegan Beer Fest, Gentle Barn and plenty of great vegan restaurants! Sorry, I’m really not trying to brag, but I did have a great time with some great people. One of the restaurants that I went to is a new pizza joint in Orange County, called Vegan Pizza (weird, right?) that has some awesome food, and I can’t wait to go back and try their calzone!
Aside from that, I now have time to get back into the swing of things, and am looking forward to a busy next few months. First up, I’ll be heading to Portland in a couple of weeks for Vida Vegan Con! I can’t even describe the anticipation I feel, I’m just really excited to be attending something so awesome. Once that is over, I’ll do a thorough re-cap on it; but, now I have something else for you.
Here’s a recipe to get your mind thinking of warm summer breezes and good times. This tropical sorbet has a splash of lime and an underlying flavor of coconut from some Malibu Rum! Of course, you can leave out the booze, but if you’re on the fence about it, definitely add it in! Also, you can use the process for making this sorbet for any ice cream or sorbet-like treat, and it’s super easy.
I’ll admit, I’m a huge fan of the show “Chopped” on Food Network; although I obviously don’t care for the meat. But, I was totally ecstatic when I found out that Isa Chandra of Post Punk Kitchen made an announcement that they’d be hosting an online, vegan version! The dish needed to take around 40 minutes to make, be an entrée and include black-eyed peas, mint, blackberries, and bittersweet chocolate.
My first thought, wow, I could make a stellar dessert with those ingredients! But, of course that’s not an entrée so it won’t work. Upon thinking for a couple more minutes, and really concentrating on using the bittersweet chocolate in a savory way, I thought of mole sauce. Soon everything fell into place, I’d do a spicy chipotle ancho mole sauce, a mushroom and black-eyed pea filling and a sweet salsa made with mango, blackberries and mint.
I’ll admit, this took closer to 50 minutes, but I’d say that with taking pictures and writing down the recipe you could probably cut me just a little slack. What I ended up with was a great, healthy (untraditional) Mexican dish with intense spice and flavor. If you recreate this at home, make sure to get every part combined in each bite, because it is most exquisite that way. Keep in mind that the directions are written exactly as I made the dish, so it may seem like intense multi-tasking, but in reality is very easy.
Healthy Black-Eyed Pea Enchiladas with Mole Sauce & Mango Mint Salsa
Author: Jackie of Vegan Yack Attack
Recipe type: entrée
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 2-3
An untraditional Mexican dish that is healthy and full of spice and flavor!
Ingredients
2 tsp. Coconut Oil
1 Cup White Onion, Diced
1½ Cup Vegetable Broth
¼ Cup Blackberries
2 Tbsp. Canned Chipotle Peppers
2 Tbsp. Ancho Chili Powder
⅓ Cup Bittersweet Chocolate Chips (mine were 65%)
2 Tbsp. Roasted Almonds
2 Cloves Garlic
1 tsp. Ground Cumin
½ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Smoked Paprika
¼ tsp. Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp. Coconut Oil
½ Cup White Onion, Diced
3 Cups Button Mushrooms, Sliced
1 Can Black Eyed Peas, Rinsed Thoroughly
1 tsp. Ground Cumin
½ tsp. Smoked Paprika
¼ tsp. Ancho Chili Powder
Pinch of Cayenne
Salt to taste
4 Large Leaves of Swiss Chard
⅔ Cup Mango, Diced
¼ Cup Blackberries, Diced
1 Tbsp. Packed Fresh Mint, Finely Diced
Instructions
Get one medium and one large pan warm over medium heat, once they reach temperature, melt 2 tsp. of Coconut Oil in the larger one, and 1 tsp. in the other.
In the large pan saute 1½ cups of white onion, in the smaller pan saute ½ cup of White Onion, until they start to clear.
Once clear, take the larger pan’s contents and place them in a blender. Add in vegetable broth, ¼ cup blackberries, chipotle peppers, 2 tbsp. Ancho Chili Powder, bittersweet chocolate, roasted almonds, garlic, 1 tsp. ground cumin, salt, ½ tsp. smoked paprika, and cinnamon. Puree until completely smooth, though little chunks of chocolate are okay.
Return mole sauce mixture to the large pan and simmer on low-medium heat for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
In the smaller pan, add the sliced mushrooms, black-eyed peas, 1 tsp. cumin, ½ tsp. ancho chili powder, and a pinch of cayenne. Saute together until the mushrooms reduce to nearly half of their size and add salt to taste.
Prep the large leaves of Swiss Chard by cutting out the large rib in the center, so that you can easily roll them up.
Mix the mango, ¼ cup blackberries and fresh mint together in a small bowl and set aside.
Take the mole sauce pan off of the heat and let it cool for 5-10 minutes.
Take roughly ½-2/3 Cup of mushroom mixture and place it into a chard leaf. Roll it up and set it on its loose end, put two on each plate.
Pour ½ cup or more of the mole sauce on top of the “enchiladas” then top it off with a few spoonfuls of mango salsa.
I’m in a bit of a rush today, unfortunately, so this post may be more brief than others! The reason for this is that I’m working at the Coachella Music Festival and Stagecoach (selling merchandise) and will literally be away from my computer (and blog! ) for over three days, three weekends of this month. I’m not really looking forward to it, but it’s money, right? That’s why I’ve spoiled you silly with recipes THREE DAYS IN A ROW! Not that you’ve noticed.
Now, onto the muffins! This recipe was a little finicky, so make sure that you have the right proportions here. I made these so that I could bring them out with me to Indio this weekend if I needed snacks. Who knows what kind of food is going to be there and if it’s vegan, I feel that it’s probably best to bring your own. I’ve never used mango in a baked recipe before, and it turned out so moist and subtly sweet; when eaten with the warm blackberries and crunchy pistachios, it was an absolute delight.
Moist mango blackberry muffins with occasional crunches of pistachios are great for breakfast or a snack!
Ingredients
3 Tbsp. Ground Flaxseed
1¼ Cup Warm Water
2 Cups Mango, No Skin/seed and Mashed
½ Cup Coconut Oil, Melted
⅔ Cup Organic Sugar
1 Tbsp. Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tbsp. Vanilla Extract
3½ Cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1½ tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1 Tbsp. Ground Allspice
1 tsp. Salt
1 Cup Fresh Blackberries
1 Cup Salted, Shelled Pistachios
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F and get 24 cupcake liners ready in a baking sheet.
Stir the ground flaxseed and warm water together and set aside for a few minutes until the flaxseed is gelatinous.
In a small bowl, stir together the coconut oil, mango, sugar, ACV, vanilla extract and the flaxseed mixture.
Using a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, Allspice, and salt.
Pour the wet mixture into the dry and stir together until there are not dry chunks and it is smooth.
Fold the blackberries and salted pistachios into the batter. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop the batter into the cupcake liners until it almost reaches the top.
Bake for 23-27 minutes, check to see if they are done baking with a toothpick to see if it draws clear. Place on cooling rack for 10 minutes.
Note that I specified that the pistachios be salted; when you take a bite into these muffins, the pistachios give them a delectably buttery taste that makes them quite the pleasure to eat. I hope that everyone has a great weekend, I’ll be posting again, soon!
The bloghop, this month, is filled with so many amazing blogs! I love that I’m able to be a part of it, and continue to share the foodie love. Here’s a list of all of the bloggers that are participating!
Please join in on the #berrylove fun by linking up any berry recipe from the month of March 2012. Don’t forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #berrylove event! The twitter hashtag is #berrylove.
This is a vegan food blog, run by Jackie Sobon, that covers everything from indulgent desserts, to healthy dinners, and even raw recipes! I also write up restaurant reviews and am sort of a beer snob. You'll find that there is something for everyone, here!
If you would like me to contact me about photography jobs, testing out a recipe, review your restaurant or just have a question you'd like me to answer email me at: [email protected]!
) for over three days, three weekends of this month. I’m not really looking forward to it, but it’s money, right? That’s why I’ve spoiled you silly with recipes THREE DAYS IN A ROW! Not that you’ve noticed. 
