Tag Archives: broccoli

Apr29

Easy Noodle Stir Fry

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I love eating vegetables. I love drinking vegetable juice. I love smoothies with vegetables. I love shopping for vegetables at the farmers market. I love growing vegetables. I FRIGGIN’ LOVE VEGETABLES! And…I’m a mom of two teenage boys who until relatively recently hated most vegetables. This seemed really unfair to me. I took it personally. And felt like I had somehow failed as a mom.

I mean, come on, this is a big part of my life and I was unable to share it with my kids. Over the years, I would talk to other moms whose kids ate vegetables and pretty much whatever was served for dinner. I’d hear things like: “I’m not a short-order cook,” or “They have to at least try a tasting portion.” Well, this never, I mean never, worked in my house. It always lead to drama at the dinner table which took all of the fun out of our family dinner. I want that time to be one where we share and laugh and connect…not a time to argue, fight or negotiate.

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Apr16

Macrobiotic Bowl

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Food fascinates me. Well, clearly, I write a blog about it. Seriously, I love how I introduce some new thing about food into my life and then it leads to something else. Or I meet someone or go somewhere and learn something completely new.

Eating an amazing meal in Boulder, CO inspired me to transition to vegetarian eating. Reading the World Peace Diet during my yoga teacher training affirmed my commitment to a vegan lifestyle. My first macrobiotic meals, at Casa de Luz in Austin and Green Vegetarian Cuisine in San Antonio, felt life changing too.

Although, I’ve only had a few macrobiotic meals so far, I love the way they make me feel. Balanced. Energized. Vibrant. Healthy. There is something to it and I want to learn more.

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Aug22

Broccoli Pasta + Vegan Béchamel Sauce

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Learning how to make sauces was one of my favorite things about going to culinary school. It’s sort of art and science in action. You take all these ingredients, combine them in a specific and careful way and the result is something kind of incredible.

Of course, most of the sauces I learned had heavy cream, butter and/or eggs. All things that I don’t eat anymore. But now I just apply the techniques and make healthier versions of the same thing.

Béchamel is one of the five mother sauces. It’s basically a white sauce and you can flavor it anyway you like. For my version, I used Earth Balance and olive oil instead of butter; gluten-free flour in place of white flour; and almond milk for cow’s milk. Sounds like some major substitutions, I know, but it works.

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Apr29

Vegan Caesar Pasta Salad

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I’ve been making variations of this salad forever. It’s so great to take to a potluck because it can feed a lot of people. When the weather warms up (it’s pretty much summer here in Houston now), this salad is just what I’m in the mood to eat.

Traditional Caesar salads include parmesan cheese and anchovies. To make it vegan, I include nutritional yeast to get the cheesy taste and kelp powder to mimic the fish flavor. You should be able to find kelp powder at Whole Foods and maybe even your local grocery store in the organic spice section. (Houston peeps, I got mine at HEB.)  Most Caesar salads also include croutons which I skipped this time, but if you like that, make a batch using day old bread cut into cubes and sauteed with olive oil, salt and pepper.

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