Leaf Root Flower Fruit - Vegan Cooking, Gardening & Photography

Restaurant Review: Native Foods Café

The Place: Native Foods Café, located at Bridgeport Village.

Ensalada Azteca

 

Have you heard of Native Foods Café? You probably have if you live in California. Native Foods Café is a vegan version of a healthy, fresh, food chain. They have a few locations around the country (most of them in California) and I've only recently discovered them (though I'm a little embarrassed to admit how many times I've eaten there already).

Twister Wrap with Native Chicken

 

Their menu is huge and they have lots of foods that mimic meaty foods like the Classic Deli Ruben and the Oklahoma Bacon Cheeseburger. I can't eat the meat substitute stuff because it's made with soy and/or wheat but I hear it's really good and tastes a lot like the real thing.

A different special every day

 

Native Foods has their gluten-free, soy-free, and nut-free items listed on separate menus. That makes it so much easier for people like me. All I have to do is pick something that's listed on all three menus and I am good to go! My favorite thing is the Roasted Chile Taco Trio, by the way...

Pizza Fingers with Native Cheese

 

They have a kid's menu, too. My younger kid devoured the Pizza Fingers the first time he had them, but the second time he had them he discovered we were at one of "my" restaurants and he balked. Can you believe this? It's getting rather ridiculous.

Chocolate Good Luck Cupcake

 

He didn't balk at the chocolate cupcake, though. Go figure. But he didn't finish it either (nor did his sister) because he said it was too sweet. I really don't understand these people.

Watermelon Nectar with Agave and Mint

 

The wait staff is so incredibly friendly and helpful and happy that you almost can't believe it. And this place has almost completely satisfied my cravings for Chipotle. I love Chipotle but everything is cooked in soybean oil so I can't eat there anymore...

Enjoying the food in the sun outside

 

If you happen to have a Native Foods in your area, give it a try! It's perfect for a quick, yummy, vegan meal in a world where that's almost impossible to find.

 

Chickpea Cake with Baby Greens

I like chickpeas. A lot. I like them in all forms. Hummus is actually one of my major food groups and I start to get a little twitchy if my supply runs low. I reprimanded my husband once for eating too much hummus with his chips. I don't think he's eaten hummus since. I'm pretty protective of my food, apparently. Must work on that.

When I saw this recipe in Sunset Magazine I was like, Yay! A different way to eat garbanzo beans! and I made the dish immediately. I loved it. My husband loved it, too. And it made a ton of cakes so he could eat as many as he wanted without being reprimanded. The next day I reheated the cakes and served them with salad and raspberry-lemon vinaigrette. I liked it; he did not. I don't think he even tried the raspberry salad. He doesn't like fruit mixed into his savory dishes so I didn't have to share any with him. Except I couldn't finish it all myself so I had to throw half of it away. That'll learn me.

The original recipe for the chickpea cake calls for nutritional yeast and though I love the taste of nutritional yeast, I can't eat it. It gives me a super bad headache. I recently found out that it's high in naturally occurring glutamates — kind of like a healthier form of MSG — and if my body even gets the faintest whiff of MSG in the room, it runs for the hills. I thought it tasted pretty good without it, though.

 

Chickpea Cake with Baby Greens and Shallots
Adapted from Sunset Magazine Best Recipes 2012


Ingredients:

Chickpea Cake:

About 1/4 cup olive oil, divided
1 cup chopped onion
1 qt. reduced-sodium vegetable broth
2 cups chickpea (garbanzo) flour
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
2 cups lightly packed fresh spinach
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt

Salad:

2 or 3 cups lightly packed baby greens
1/8 cup thinly sliced shallots
3 tablespoons olive oil
Juice from one lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Make chickpea cake: Heat 1 tbsp. oil in a large, wide pot over medium heat. Cook onion, stirring often, until translucent, about 7 minutes. Add broth and heat until simmering. Sprinkle in chickpea flour, whisking until smooth.

Purée with an immersion blender until as smooth as baby food (or put in a blender or food processor). Stir in thyme, spinach, and salt. Pour into a oiled 9 x 13 in. baking dish. Lay a sheet of plastic wrap on top and use your hand to level mixture. Chill until cold, at least 1-1/2 hours and up to 2 days.

Invert cake onto a cutting board. Cut into 12 squares, then cut each square again diagonally to make 24 triangles.

Heat 1 tbsp. oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium-high heat. Working in batches, brown triangles, turning once, 8 minutes total; add oil as needed. Set on 6 plates (or keep warm in oven).

Make salad: Mix oil, lemon juice, shallots, and salt and pepper in a small bowl. Toss with greens. Spoon salad over chickpea triangles and serve remaining dressing on the side.

 

Raspberry-Lemon Vinaigrette

Ingredients:

1/2 cup olive oil
Juice from two lemons (or a 3-to-1 ratio of oil to lemon juice)
1/2 cup fresh raspberries
1 teaspoon brown rice syrup
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Blend ingredients together in a bowl. Add a little water if the consistency is too thick and add more brown rice syrup if the raspberries and lemon juice are too tart.

 

Summer Vegetable BBQ and Grilled Peaches for Dessert

My little sister is leaving town today and going back home to Charleston. I'm going to miss her so much. She is extremely easy-going (certainly the most laid back of us three girls) and is the best house guest there is. For one thing, she helped me rearrange and organize my entire kitchen. I believe this was prompted by my leaving the ginormous food dehydrator out on the counter and deciding it looked fine. She didn't think so. I was making my lunch one day and when I turned around, she was pulling things out of my cabinet to make room for the thing. Did I mention she's a professional pastry chef and has strong opinions on how a kitchen should run? She is and she totally does. I was so excited that I almost dropped my skillet. Yes, I love organizing that much. I also hadn't realized how whacked out my kitchen had become until she got in there and got busy. I have a crock pot? And an avocado slicer? And three old cell phones from the late 90's? Thank you again, dear girl.

Needless to say, there's been lots and lots of laughing, talking, reminiscing, and eating. Like most families, right? When everyone came over for an early dinner the other day, I made grilled cherry tomatoes, onions, and zucchini with lemon and rosemary, roasted potatoes with garlic and thyme, fresh corn on the cob, and grilled peaches with coconut ice cream. It was super, duper hot (which I happen to love, though my big sis does not!) and I was so happy to have us all together. Did I mention how hard we are campaigning to get my little sis to move back to Portland? Yeah, we are laying it on thick. And? The grilled peaches sort of blew our minds.

Summer + family + peaches = happy.

 

Skewered Lemon-Rosemary Cherry Tomatoes with Onions and Zucchini
Adapted from The Gardener & the Grill

Ingredients:

1 pint mixed cherry and grape tomatoes
4 sweet onions, peeled and cut into chunks
2 medium zucchini, cut crosswise into 1/2" slices
1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary leaves
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions:

Thread the cherry tomatoes, onions, and zucchini alternately on skewers. Place skewered vegetables in a large, shallow baking dish. Combine rosemary, olive oil, lemon juice, and seasonings and pour over vegetables, coating well. Marinate at room temperature for at least 30 minutes, turning over two or three times.

Prepare a hot fire in your grill.

When ready to grill, place skewered vegetables directly over the fire. Grill for about 3 to 5 minutes, basting frequently with the marinade until the vegetables are slightly charred.

 

Grilled Peaches with Lemon Balm Gremolata
Also from The Gardener & the Grill

This recipe is very simple, yet full of flavor. A traditional gremolata has parsley, lemon zest, and garlic, but this is a sweeter version, delicious with fruit. If you don’t have lemon balm in your garden, substitute mint and add more lemon zest. If you use a Microplane grater, you get the flavorful yellow part of the lemon rind without the bitter white pith. By chopping the herbs with the lemon zest, the flavors blend together better. Serves 4.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup packed lemon balm leaves
1 tablespoon packed mint leaves
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
Pinch kosher or sea salt
4 peaches, halved and pitted

Instructions:

Prepare a medium-hot fire in your grill. Chop the lemon balm, mint, and lemon zest together until very fine. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the leaves and chop again. Set aside in a small bowl.

Place the peach halves cut side down on the grill. Grill for 4 to 6 minutes, turning once, until the peaches are tender and blistered. To serve, place 2 peach halves in each bowl and sprinkle the Lemon Balm Gremolata over all. Serve with Luna & Larry's Naked Coconut ice cream (that's the brand and flavor I use for special occasions — only a few ingredients and no actual sugar). Enjoy!

 

Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Bread and Thoughts on Baking

Learning to cook gluten-free/nut-free/soy-free/sugar-free vegan hasn't been nearly as hard as learning to bake that way. I find cooking vegetables to be rather enjoyable, and I actually prefer it to the old days of cooking meat. But baking? Baking was a lot easier with eggs, butter, and sugar. Well, the success rate was higher anyway.

Lately I've been finding recipes and leaving out the things I can't have and hoping for the best. That method has led me to many failures. Breads don't rise or they turn to mush and cookies just taste generally unwell. I'm not interested in using a lot of substitutes but I'm guessing those are the things that would make this process easier.

I recently found this recipe for gluten-free vegan banana bread and my hopes weren't high and my expectations were low (just where I like them) but I was pleasantly surprised by how well it turned out. I only tweaked it a little bit and it rose! All by itself! In the oven! I used my typical combination of flours, coconut oil, and coconut crystals, and this time it turned into something quite pleasing.

So... here's to more baking adventures and to my first success among many, many failures!

P.S. If you were to ask my children if this was a baking success they would give you a sheepish and embarrassed "Uh, no." But they're young and jaded and already skeptical of any food that's been deemed okay for me to eat. If Mom can eat it, it must taste bad. Amazing how quickly they can turn on you.

 

Gluten-Free Vegan Banana Bread
From the Daily Dietribe

Ingredients:

1/2 cup quinoa flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
3 medium overripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1/4 coconut crystals
1/4 cup + 1 tablespoon chia seeds
3 tablespoons unsweetened rice milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Oil a 8.5 x 4.5 inch bread pan.

Whisk flours, baking powder, and baking soda together in a medium sized bowl. Set aside.

Place bananas, oil, coconut crystals, chia seeds, rice milk, vanilla, and apple cider vinegar in a large bowl. Beat starting on low then increasing to medium speed, until ingredients are completely mixed. The bananas can still have small chunks, but should be mixed in well.

Beat or stir in flour until completely mixed.

Scoop batter into pan and bake for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool for ten minutes before moving to a cooling rack.

Makes 1 loaf.

 

Zucchini Corn Tostadas

I just realized that I tend use the same ingredients for a few dishes in a row. Like, if I make something with zucchini, I'll make another thing with zucchini — or corn, or tomatoes, or whatever the case may be. I guess I'm just not done with that ingredient yet!

I've been making a variation of this recipe for years and it's been one of my favorites for a very long time. I don't make it with cheese anymore and I also make my own rice tortillas now and serve them open-faced. The rice flour is super sticky so when I'm making the tortillas, I line the tortilla press with waxed paper and spray that with olive oil, otherwise I will lose the whole batch.

I should mention that the tortillas aren't really that flexible and they turn rather crunchy after being baked in the oven, which is why I make them into tostadas. If I knew what I was actually doing, I might be able to remedy this problem but I don't, so I can't, and it seems to work fine anyway.

 

Zucchini Corn Tostadas
Loosely adapted from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons olive oil
1 red onion, coarsely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 medium zucchini (about 1 pound), halved lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise
1 cup fresh or frozen corn
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
4 rice flour tortillas
Crushed red pepper
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large skillet, heat 3 tablespoons oil over medium heat. Add onion and salt; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic; cook 1 minute more.

Add zucchini, corn kernels, and crushed red pepper; cook, stirring occasionally, until zucchini is soft and corn is tender, about 6 minutes. Remove from heat; stir in cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste.

Brush one side of all tortillas with remaining tablespoon oil; lay tortillas, oiled side down, on a baking sheet. Place 1/4 of the filling on each, and press down gently with a spatula to seal.

Bake until golden brown, turning the baking sheet once for even cooking, about 20 minutes. Remove from oven; let cool slightly. Serve open-faced with guacamole and salsa, if desired.

 

Rice Tortillas
From Bob's Red Mill

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup Water
1 tsp Mexican Seasoning

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix the flour and Mexican seasoning. Stir in water, then evaluate the consistency. The dough should be soft, but not wet, and mold easily into shapes. The dough will easily form a ball as you stir it. If necessary, add a bit more flour or water to achieve the proper consistency.

Pinch off balls of dough the size of golf balls. Knead each ball a bit and place in your wax-papered, olive-oil-sprayed tortilla press. Press until flat and repeat with all dough.

Heat a heavy frying pan or griddle. Use no oil. Place each tortilla in the hot pan, and cook for a few minutes on each side. Tortillas should become lightly brown and start to appear dry. Cool on wire racks.

Store in the refrigerator up to 2 weeks, or freeze. Reheat in a toaster or warm oven.

Makes about 4 Tortillas.

 

Black Bean Soup in Summer

Do you love soup? Hot soup? Do you eat it all year? Even in the summer? I do. My family thinks I'm crazy, making hot soups on hot summer days, but I usually cook everything in the morning, while the air is still cool, and warm it back up on the stove at dinnertime. And this soup is so easy and quick that it will hardly heat up your whole kitchen.

I know there are lots of black bean soup recipes out there but for some reason I always come back to this one. Maybe it's because I usually have a zucchini laying around, and a 1/2 of a red pepper in the produce drawer, and an extra tomato ripening on the counter, and I somehow have all the ingredients I need to make it when I want to make it. I usually have a few sweet potatoes in a basket, too, ready for spicy sweet potato fries (which I happen to love with black bean soup).

 

Black Bean Soup
Adapted from Vegan Lunch Box

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
2 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
3-1/2 cups cooked black beans
1/2 teaspoon oregano
3/4 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and a bit of salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the onion has softened and is beginning to brown, about 4 minutes.

Add the garlic and cumin. Stir briefly, about 30 seconds, then add the zucchini, tomato, 1-1/2 cups water, oregano, and salt. Bring to a boil, then turn heat to low and simmer, covered, until the zucchini is tender.

Measure out 1 cup of the black beans and set them aside. Put the rest of the beans into the saucepan. Using an immersion blender (or transfer the mixture to a blender), puree until thick, smooth, and creamy. Turn to medium-low heat, and add the whole beans. Cook, stirring, until warmed through. Add a bit more water if the soup is too thick for your taste. Season with salt and pepper, and garnish with chopped red onions, slices of avocado, and splashes of hot sauce (this is my favorite one {no sugar or yucky ingredients}), if desired.

 

Spicy Sweet Potato Fries

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced lengthwise into strips
2 tblsp. olive oil
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
Pinch of red pepper flakes
Salt and black pepper to taste

Instructions:

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Toss sweet potatoes with oil and arrange in a single layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with spices. Bake for 25 minutes or until crisp on the edges, turning once or twice during baking.

 

Rice Penne with Garlic, Corn, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Sometimes simple dinners, using whatever you have in the pantry, are the very best kind. I think so, anyway. The other day I was too hungry to think straight and I didn't have a dinner planned and I certainly didn't feel like dragging the kids to the grocery store at 5:00 pm, so this is what I came up with. It's about as simple as it gets — a little spicy because of the crushed red pepper and a little sweet because of the corn, and just right for a quick summer meal.

 

Rice Penne with Garlic, Corn, and Sun-Dried Tomatoes
Serves 1 to 2 depending on hunger level

4 oz. rice penne pasta
1/3 cup fresh or frozen corn
2 tblsp. olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
4–5 sun-dried tomatoes
Handful of fresh parsley, chopped
Salt and ground pepper to taste
Red pepper flakes, for garnish

Instructions:

Make pasta (and sun-dried tomatoes if not using ones that are packed in oil) according to package instructions. Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-low heat, then add garlic and cook for 2 min. Add corn and tomatoes to skillet and season generously with salt and pepper. Turn up heat slightly and continue to sauté while the pasta finishes cooking. Drain pasta and mix with the sauce, adding fresh parsley at the end. Serve hot and top with red pepper flakes, if desired.

 

Char-Grilled Eggplant with Grilled Marinara Sauce Served with Charred Green Beans and Fresh Basil Vinaigrette

Ahhh, summer. Summer. I love summer. The light, the sun, the plants, the birds — it's far and away my favorite season. And I love grilling and cooking summer dinners outside. Even though I'm not the one who grills the food. We're very stereotypical around here that way. I have to wait for my husband to come home from work so he can turn on the grill because I don't know how to turn on the grill.

He could teach me, I suppose, but I don't want to learn. Plus, he's already too good, we need him on the grill. So I prep everything, he cooks everything, we eat everything, and then I clean everything. See? Very stereotypical.

This was our first time grilling eggplant and though we both really liked it, we agreed that the Grilled Marinara is what made the dish sing. We've made Charred Green Beans many times before but this time I made Fresh Basil Vinaigrette and used it to dress the beans and some mixed lettuces that I picked from the garden.

This recipe made quite a bit of extra marinara sauce which was great because I mixed a little of it with some leftover quinoa pasta and made a tasty lunch the next day. I loved having this Grilled Marinara in the fridge and already miss it now that it's gone. But in just a few short days, I'll be able to start harvesting my own tomatoes for more marinara.

Ahhh, summer.

 

Char-Grilled Eggplant with Grilled Marinara Sauce
From The Gardener & the Grill

Eggplant:

2 medium eggplants (2 pounds total)
Fine kosher or sea salt to taste
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Grilled Marinara Sauce:

3 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Fine kosher or sea salt to taste

Instructions:

Trim off the ends of the eggplants, but do not peel. Cut lengthwise into 1/2-inch slices and lightly salt. Place in colander and let drain for at least 30 minutes to remove excess water. Pat dry.

Meanwhile, prepare a hot fire on the indirect side of your grill.

Place the eggplant slices on a baking sheet. Brush the slices with olive oil on both sides.

For the Grilled Marinara, combine the tomatoes, garlic, basil and olive oil in a disposable aluminum pan. Season with salt to taste.

Place the tomato mixture on the indirect or no-heat side of the grill and arrange the eggplant slices on the direct heat side. Grill the eggplant, turning once, until tender, about 10 minutes. Stir the marinara so it warms through.

To serve, arrange the eggplant slices and top with Grilled Marinara.

 

 

Charred Green Beans with Fresh Basil Vinaigrette
Also from The Gardener & the Grill

Green Beans:

1-1/2 pounds slender green beans
2 tsp. olive oil

Fresh Basil Vinaigrette:

1-1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (from 3 to 4 lemons)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tblsp. Dijon mustard
1 cup finely chopped fresh basil
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Instructions:

Toss the beans with olive oil and place in a perforated grill basket or wok set on a baking sheet.

For the Vinaigrette, combine all the ingredients for the vinaigrette in a bowl. Use a hand held blender to emulsify. Alternatively, combine in a food processor and pulse until fully blended.

Place the grill wok or basket directly over the fire and stir-grill tossing the beans with wooden paddles or grill spatulas until crisp-tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. Transfer the grilled beans to a large bowl and toss with about 1/4 cup of the Vinaigrette or to taste.

 

Pretty Purple Majesties

I like to make pan-fried potatoes in the morning. I usually make as many as I can fit in a pan and warm them up for breakfast, day by day, throughout the week. Sometimes I put them alongside Quinoa-Coconut Pancakes, but most of the time I just have them with some fruit.

Theses Purple Majesties are pretty little things, though they aren't as creamy and flavorful as my favorites, Yukon Golds. But they're still delicious straight out of the garden, and they've been adding gorgeous color to dishes all summer.

 

Simple Pan-Fried Potatoes

Rinse and dry 4–5 small potatoes (any variety will work — Yukon Gold, Purple Majesty, Small Red) and chop into 3/4-inch pieces. Chop 1/2 medium-sized onion (red, yellow, or sweet) into 1/2-inch pieces and set aside. Heat 2 tblsp. olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat; add the potatoes and sauté for 2–3 minutes. Add onions and season the whole skillet generously with salt and pepper.**

Once the potatoes start to get crispy on the edges (about 5 minutes), turn the heat down to medium-low and cover. Continue to cook, mixing and turning the potatoes as necessary, until cooked through and the potatoes are nice and soft. Take off the heat and serve with slices of avocado or salsa, if desired.

**Variations: Sometimes I add red chili flakes and/or cumin and/or dried oregano at this point. Or sometimes I'll add fresh chopped parsley and other herbs at the end, once I've taken the potatoes off the heat.

 

Quinoa-Coconut Pancakes with Fresh Berries

I try not to miss the foods I used to love. I don't know how most vegans do it and I suppose it makes a difference whether you came to veganism by way of environmental activism or animal rights instead of food allergies, but there are some food rituals that are hard to replace. A weekend breakfast of pancakes and bacon is one of them. It's not so much the taste of the food that I miss (though it certainly tasted delicious), it's the ritual of my husband cooking breakfast for us every weekend, and enjoying it together at the table. His breakfasts also gave me a much needed reprieve from the kitchen after a week's worth of daily meal preparation. Now I don't ever get a reprieve from cooking. Eating a restrictive vegan diet means you almost never, ever get a break from the kitchen.

He still cooks breakfast for himself and the kids (minus the bacon) but I cook my own weekend breakfasts these days. I try to make them a little bit special and not just throw some things in a pan. Luckily, it's easier to start new food rituals in the summer, when fresh foods are everywhere and ripe fruit is literally falling off the vine. And how can you complain about that?

 

Quinoa-Coconut Pancakes with Fresh Berries

Ingredients:

2 tblsp. coconut oil, melted, plus more for pan
1 tblsp. ground flaxseed
3 tblsp. water
1 cup quinoa flour
2 tsp. arrowroot powder
2 tblsp. coconut crystals
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 cup water or non-dairy milk of your choice
Fresh berries or other fruit
Maple or brown rice syrup for serving

Directions:

1. In a small bowl, mix together flaxseed and 3 tblsp. water with a fork and let stand to thicken. (This is used in place of one egg.)

2. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.

3. Add wet ingredients (including flaxseed mixture) to dry ingredients and stir until blended. Add more water or flour to get the consistency you want.

4. Lightly grease a skillet with some coconut oil and turn to med-high heat. Spoon pancake batter onto pan and cook until lightly browned on each side.

5. Serve with fresh fruit and top with unsweetened shredded coconut and syrup, if desired.