My father was recently diagnosed with an illness that has required him to eat a strict vegan diet. My father was the second youngest of six, raised on a beef cattle ranch in Eastern, Washington state. For him to suddenly become vegan is like learning how to eat all over again. After 60 years of eating as one pleases, indulging in pot roasts, Thanksgiving turkey and sushi; each bite is now new, unfamiliar and thought provoking. Roasted beet soup with ginger, a raw celery and apple salad with lemon juice and a dessert of pears with honey? -Who knew this extreme diet could offer such lovely flavor profiles? Since my mother has also had to drop everything to tend to him, not only does she have less time, she is also learning to cook vegan, something she has never purposely done.Luckily, Foodista has some great recipes that are not just vegan, they are unbelievably, deliciously vegan! Who knows, perhaps they will both continue to eat vegan once my father is feeling better.

And you don’t have to be vegan to enjoy new flavor profiles. Here are a couple recipes to try, you may even be surprised how good going vegan can be!

Want more Vegan Recipes?

Vegan Yum Yum

No I’m Not Starving

Sisters Vegan

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Categories:	Diets • Vegetarian • Veggies • vegan	7 Comments
Tags:	Health • special diet • vegan

The annual “Leave a Zucchini on Your Neighbor’s Porch Day” was August 8th, and even if you happened to sneak several large squash into mailboxes,  friend’s purses or onto co-worker’s chairs that day, the likelihood that you still have more zucchini than you know what to do with is pretty high. We figured you were not alone, so we have found 10 great recipes from Foodista and five more from food bloggers to help you get your creative juices flowing…oooh there’s one I forgot Zucchini Juice!

1. Raw Zucchini Pasta
2. Zucchini Pasta with Sausage
3. Stuffed Zucchini Boats
4. Zucchini Cookies
5.Savory Zucchini Pancakes
6. Zucchini Bread
7. Zucchini Parmesan
8. Green Curry with Zucchini
9. Zucchini Dip
10. Vegan Veggie Burrito

5 More Great Zucchini Recipes From Bloggers

All Things Nice Stuffed Zucchini Blossoms

Home Joys- Zucchini Crust Pizza

Cooks United Zucchini Fritters

Chocolate and Zucchini Zucchini and Mushroom Crumble

Kalyn’s Kitchen Zucchini Carpaccio

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Categories:	American • Baked Goods • Chocolate • Cooking tips • Pasta & Grains • Uncategorized • Vegetarian • Veggies • condiments • desserts • quick and easy	Leave a Comment
Tags:	vegan • Vegetarian • Zucchini recipes

I wish I could say that I came up with the brilliant idea to bake chickpeas, but alas, I cannot. The truth is I was getting ready for work one morning and overheard Mark Bittman talking about this healthy snack on the Today Show. I don’t know why I never considered baking chickpeas!

On my way home that evening I stopped by the store and purchased two cans. I mixed the chickpeas with some olive oil and zatar spice and baked until crispy. The perfect quick and easy snack food! My next batch? A Mexican chili and lime version.

Here’s how to whip up this healthy snack:

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Categories:	Seasoning & Spices • Snack Foods • Vegetarian • Veggies • quick and easy	2 Comments
Tags:	chickpeas • garbanzo beans • snack food • snacks • vegan • Vegetarian

Long ago when we were part of a (very low budget) film crew shooting in Germany and Austria I discovered the pleasures of goulash and goulash soup. The difference between the two being essentially a matter of the liquid proportions. Cheap, hearty, and invariably warming in the depths of a European winter, this is a meal worth sopping up with bread (externally) and of course, beer (internally).

These days we are eating mostly vegetarian so I made this version sans beef. Using an intermediate amount of liquid and with no flour thickener, the result was midway between stew and soup: perfect for serving with rice. The key to authentic taste is the Hungarian paprika; get the real stuff, and avoid the tasteless brick dust sold under many domestic labels.

INGREDIENTS:

1 lg white or yellow onion, chopped
2 leeks, washed, trimmed and chopped, including a bit of the green top
4 ribs celery, chopped
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
1-2 red or green peppers, seeded, pared and chopped
3-4 med potatoes, peeled and cut into 1″ cubes
4 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped fine
1 12 oz can diced tomatoes together with their juice
2 tsp caraway seeds
6-8 tbs sweet Hungarian paprika – or adjust to your taste
3 tbs canola or other mild vegetable oil
4 cups vegetable or other stock, or water
Salt and pepper to taste

optional: 1 cup firm tofu cut into 1/2″ cubes

TECHNIQUE:
In a non stick or other stockpot:

Heat the vegetable oil until hot
Add and sauté the onion, leeks, and celery until soft and the onions are translucent
Stir in the paprika, caraway and garlic, and heat through 1-3 minutes
Add the carrots, green peppers, onions, potatoes, tomatoes and their juice
Add 4 cups stock or water
Bring to the simmer and heat at a low simmer for 45 minutes.
If using tofu add in the final 15 minutes of cooking.
The goulash is ready to eat when the vegetables are tender.
Longer cooking will improve taste: add extra stock or water as needed or leave as is to reduce for a thicker version
Taste and adjust seasoning

Serve with rice or rye bread. Rye croutons would be aces with this dish.

Click here for a printable version of the recipe.

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Categories:	Cooking tips • European • Seasoning & Spices • Soup • Veggies	4 Comments
Tags:	goulash • hungarian • paprika • Soup • tofu • vegan • vegetables • Vegetarian

I was perusing the seafood section at Uwajimaya the other day when I spied the sample table. I edged closer and saw that it was caviar. Caviar! Now that’s the kind of sample table I can hang around! Barnaby handed me a cracker piled high with jet black goodness and I tasted. Delicious! But wait, it’s not quite caviar. What is it? It definitely had the taste of the sea, but not as briny as I was expecting with caviar.

That’s because it wasn’t caviar.

At least not in the traditional sense. It was seaweed caviar! It’s called Cavi-Art, and it’s the brilliant result of molecular gastronomy, which basically means the scientific transformation of an ingredient. In this case, and this is purely my guess as I’m not trained in molecular gastronomy, liquid seaweed that has been transformed into tiny pods – a.k.a. caviar.

Cool!!

Whether you’re vegan, want to try something new, or just don’t want to drop the coin on caviar, this is the perfect alternative. It also has a long shelf-life, doesn’t need to be refrigerated and can be used in hot and cold dishes. Best of all, it’s healthy (low-fat, low-salt and cholesterol free) and environmentally sustainable, as it doesn’t contribute to the depletion of fish stocks and only a small percent of the seaweed growth is harvested each year. Nice.

We purchased the black lumpfish Cavi-Art, but it also comes in red and yellow lumpfish as well as salmon Cavi-Art. Check out their website for some delicious sounding recipes. So far we’ve just been piling it on crackers with a bit of crème fraîche.

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Categories:	Fish & Seafood • Veggies	5 Comments
Tags:	black lumpfish • cavi-art • caviar • caviar alternative • fish alternative • molecular gastronomy • salmon caviar • seaweed • seaweed caviar • vegan

We found some stunning tomatoes at the farmer’s market yesterday and we immediately thought of a slew of dishes we could make with those bright crimson beauties.

Our newest invention is Tomato Poke, the vegetarian version of the traditional Hawaiian dish Tuna Poke. Tuna Poke (pronounced poh-kay) is made with fresh ahi, but when we saw the gorgeous red flesh of the tomatoes Barnaby said, “Perfect. I know the perfect thing to make.” And he came up with not one, not two, but three perfect recipes. One of which is below, the other two I will share over the next couple of days in what I’m now calling my Tomato Week series.

Tomato Poke
Makes approximately 6 small toasts

2 medium sized tomatoes or one large one
Soy sauce, to taste
Sesame oil, to taste
1/4 inch slices of a good French baguette (or vegan bread), lightly toasted

Additional options that would be delicious mixed in: grated ginger, finely chopped green onion, sesame seeds and/or shredded nori (seaweed) for garnish.

Remove the skin, seeds and any tough white parts of the tomato. Finely dice the remaining tomato flesh, then strain over a bowl to remove as much juice as possible. Save the strained tomato juice! I’ll tell you about a fresh and tasty cocktail later this week.

Place your drained tomato in a bowl and drizzle with soy sauce and a bit of sesame oil. Mix well, then carefully spoon on top of toasted baguette slices.

You’ll almost forget you’re not eating tuna poke!

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Categories:	Cooking tips • Fruit • Sauces • Seasoning & Spices • Veggies	5 Comments
Tags:	Food • foodista • hawaiian • poke • sesame oil • soy sauce • tomato • tomato poke • tuna poke • tuna poki • vegan • Vegetarian