Book Review and Giveaway - "Blissful Bites" by Christy Morgan

As I mentioned in my last post, I was recently sent a copy of Blissful Bites: Vegan Meals That Nourish the Mind, Body, and Planet, the new cookbook from Christy Morgan, to review. I have been following Christy on Twitter for awhile now and her comments never fail to make me laugh or inspire me to try something new in the kitchen, so I was interested to find out what her recipes would be like.

First, a bit about Christy: she is a vegan macrobiotic chef. She was trained at The Natural Epicurean Academy of Culinary Arts in Austin. She teaches classes and gives lectures about how to change your life through healthy cooking. And she has a blog called The Blissful Chef where you can find tons of information about vegan cooking, recipes, etc. It's safe to say that this chick knows her stuff!

Now, onto the book... let me start by saying that it's absolutely gorgeous. I love that it is paperback rather than hard cover because it is easier for me to use in the kitchen and lighter to carry around. Christy's introductory comments pulled me in right away because it's quickly apparent that her food philosophy is very similar to my own. She urges you to listen to your body and feed it with the foods that make it feel best. When your diet focuses on fresh, organic produce, whole grains, lean proteins, etc. you just end up feeling better -more balanced, calm, and energized. It's not about stigmatizing foods and labelling them as "good" or "bad", but simply about being intuitive. There will always be a time and place for an indulgence or two, but the goal should be to stay away from caffeine, sugar, white flours and highly processed foods, since they tend to drag you down physically. Common sense, really.

I know all of that is easier said than done, but flipping through Blissful Bites, I was amazed at how many of the recipes called to me. Christy makes eating well seem very appealing and not at all like you're giving anything up. The book is divided into categories like "Breakfast and Brunch of Champions", "Delectable Vegetable Sides", and "Healthier Desserts You Crave". Each of those categories is further broken down by season: Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, and Anytime. This really helps you to focus on fruits and vegetables that are in-season and readily available. I love that! Cooking seasonally and locally is always a goal of mine, so this is right up my alley. 

Christy also marks each recipe with applicable icons for raw, gluten-free, soy-free, low or no oil, and less than 45 minutes making it very easy for people with special diets to quickly find recipes they can enjoy. Because Christy is also a private chef, she has marked some recipes as "Chef Favorites" and "Fan Favorites" based on those for which she's had the best feedback. And there are beautiful full-color pictures of most of the recipes, which always helps you to know that you're on the right track when tackling something for the first time.

I had a REALLY hard time figuring out which recipes to test first because they seriously all look so good! One in particular really stood out to me and that was the Veggie Stuffed Pasta Shells with "Mama Mia Magnifico Sauce" and Tofu Ricotta Cheeze. As someone who suffers from acid reflux, I am always looking for ways to cut down on trigger foods like tomato sauce, and the "Mama Mia Magnifico Sauce" contains no tomatoes whatsoever! I had to give it a try. The base is butternut squash (which is pretty genius, since it has a texture very similar to crushed tomatoes when it's cooked and blended) and it is given a red hue from  grated beets. I was surprised at how much it looked like the real thing! 

I knew it would be tough to get Johnny to try this one since he is serious about his Italian food. But I explained this was not meant to taste exactly like tomato sauce. Rather, it was more like a vegetable sauce that should be judged on its own merits. He finally gave it a shot and he totally loved it! I was equally impressed and coming away from dinner without that acid feeling in my throat was a big bonus.   

My lovely mother-in-law and brother-in-law were in town this past weekend, so I thought it'd be fun to make brunch for everyone one day. The Pumpkin Spice Pancakes sounded too good to resist, so I made up a batch of those and they were very well received. They are a great spongy, fluffy consistency and are perfectly spiced. Johnny was once again the lone holdout, busying himself with his fruit salad before daring to try the pancakes (I guess he has something against pumpkin due to his dislike of pumpkin pie). I left the room for a minute or two and when I came back, he had gobbled up three pancakes and also had his foot in his mouth.

I was a bit more hesitant to serve the Sizzling Tempeh Bacon to everyone as I knew my MIL and BIL had never had tempeh before. But they both really enjoyed it and my MIL even said she would cook it at home if I gave her the recipe! You can buy some pretty good pre-packaged tempeh bacon at the store, but it doesn't really compare to making it yourself. This version is slightly sweet, salty and smoky - the perfect accompaniment to any breakfast or brunch.   

I plan to cook many more recipes from Blissful Bites and highly recommend everyone pick up a copy for themselves. If you are lucky enough to be in one of the cities Christy is visiting on her book tour you should definitely go! Here are some upcoming dates:

Thursday, March 15th @ 5:30pm - Roots Market, Washington, D.C. - book signing with food samples

Saturday, March 17th @ 4:15pm - Whole Foods Tribeca, New York, NY - cooking class and book signing

Monday, March 19th @ 6:00pm - Sun in Bloom, Brooklyn, NY - dinner, cooking demo and book signing

Tuesday, March 20th @ 6:30pm - Whole Foods Market, Dedham, MA - cooking demo and book signing

For additional info on any of these events or for additional dates, visit Christy's web site here.

*** BenBella Books, the publisher of Blissful Bites, has graciously offered to send a copy of the book to one of my readers! To enter to win, just leave a comment below saying what blissful food is to you. The deadline to enter is Saturday, March 17th at 12:00pm EDT. Good luck! ETA: We can only ship to addresses in the US or Canada on this one. Sorry international peeps, I'll get you next time! ***

Our "Superbowl Sunday" Eats

I put "Superbowl Sunday" in quotes because our household isn't really sports oriented. I  used to be a die-hard hockey and basketball fan, but over the years the appeal of sports has dwindled for me. I guess I just don't really get it... a bunch of dudes earn millions of dollars for running up and down a field with a ball. Fans get all excited when the team who happens to practice and play in the city/ state where they live wins. But really none of it matters because next year a new season will start and every team will have a chance to win the big trophy again. I'm being a little flippant and nihilistic I suppose, but it seems like there are so many people more deserving of money and accolades than athletes. Teachers for example. Where are their six figure contracts and merchandising deals?  

Needless to say, the only parts of the Superbowl we watched were the halftime show (my curiosity always gets the best of me) and a few commercials here and there. Otherwise, we devoted our time to Puppy Bowl VIII on Animal Planet and I whined and moaned about how we don't have a canine companion in our lives. Those dogs are just so freaking cute! I kept hoping one would come through the screen and bound into my arms. (sigh) Someday we will adopt a dog, I promise you this!

I did end up spending most of the day in the kitchen, but I didn't exactly cook Superbowl fare. I made some completely mind-blowing breakfast burritos in the morning (more on that recipe in the next few days) that made my tummy very happy. For dinner, our appetizer was already planned. Johnny's mom sent us a gigantic assortment from Alfonso Gourmet Olive Oil and Balsamics in Tucson and we had been patiently waiting to crack into it until Sunday night. 

I broke up a fresh baguette and we got to work mixing and matching flavors to our hearts' content. My absolute favorite thing in the whole world right now is the Peach White Balsamic Vinegar. DUUUUUDE. I mixed it with a bit of their Manzanillo Extra Virgin Olive Oil and almost had a stroke it was so good. I am absolutely going to be ordering a full bottle of that stuff once the sampler runs out. I'm dreaming up vinaigrette recipes already. It will be perfection on summer salads! Our other favorites include the Espresso Balsamic Vinegar, the sweet and thick Traditional Balsamic Vinegar (I really want to try this on ice cream!), and the Tuscan Herb Infused Olive Oil. But honestly, all of it was delicious. Thanks, Mama Mo! Such an awesome gift!

While we could have easily made dinner out of nothing but bread, vinegar and oil, I thought we should try to get something a bit healthier into our panzas, too. I'd heard wonderful things about the Mango BBQ Beans recipe from Appetite for Reduction, one of my favorite cookbooks. I felt a little guilty buying a mango in the middle of winter, but whatever. Sometimes you just need some out-of-season, far-from-local fruit! I served it over some quinoa and I sauteed a big bunch of kale and drizzled that with some of the Tuscan Herb Infused Olive Oil.  

I loved this dinner! It felt like a very modern, elevated take on rice and beans. The flavors in the bean dish run the gamut from sweet to spicy and hit on everything in between. The quinoa came out really fluffy and delicious - it's quickly replacing brown rice as my favorite accompaniment to most meals.

Johnny had his usual reaction to a plate that contained cooked greens: he screwed up his face and stuck out his tongue in disgust. It's a knee-jerk thing and I have to talk him into eating that first bite every time! He ended up liking the kale, but not being a huge fan of the beans. I'm not sure why, I thought he'd really like the bold flavors, but he just thought something didn't taste right. He's not a lover of mango, so I knew it was a risk going in. Oh well, more for me to take for lunch this week!

Vegan MoFo Day 3 - "Papa Tofu Loves Ethiopian Food" Review

Hello my friends! For Day 3 of Vegan MoFo I wanted to bring your attention to an awesome new cooking zine I got my hands on recently. It's called "Papa Tofu Loves Ethiopian Food" and it's written by Miss Kittee Berns. Anyone who is a vegan and is also gluten-free has GOT to know about her. Kittee is an absolute rockstar when it comes to cooking and baking without animal products or gluten. In fact, she even coined the term "xgfx" as the shorthand for "vegan and gluten-free". Pretty ingenious, huh?

Kittee writes a blog called The Cakemaker to the Stars, is also a founder and contributor to the site xgfx.org, and she is one of the organizers of Vegan MoFo. In her spare time, she self-publishes a series of cooking zines that are quite legendary in the vegan-verse. Her latest, "Papa Tofu Loves Ethiopian Food" focuses on... Ethiopian food! It's a topic which has never been fully covered in any vegan cookbook before, and as I read through the zine I came to realize what a fascinating cuisine it truly is.  

Personally, I've been a fan of Ethiopian food since I first set foot in Zemam's, a wonderful little restaurant back in Tucson. It feels more like you're eating in someone's home than in a restaurant. For those not familiar with Ethiopian food, you order several dishes to try (either on your own or as a group) and the food is served in heaps on top of a big piece of airy flatbread called injera. You get extra injera on the side and you scoop up and eat the food with it. No flatware! Eating with your hands may seem strange, but as they say at Zemam's, the majority of the world's inhabitants eat with their hands and it's quite fun! Most Ethiopian food is highly spiced (but not necessarily spicy) and the flavors are unlike any other cuisine I've tried. It's the perfect food for vegans and vegetarians because they offer a lot of lentil and vegetable based dishes. Yum!

Anyway, back to Papa Tofu! Kittee really did her research on this one. She starts off by giving a very helpful intro to the spices and ingredients you'll need to make the recipes. Two of the most important items are berbere, a spice blend, and niter kibbeh, a spiced butter or margarine that is used in place of cooking oil. I was able to find berbere at Kalustyan's, my neighborhood ethnic foods market, but the niter kibbeh has to be prepared at home. 

The meal I made thanks to Kittee!

There are so many amazing dishes to choose from in this zine, it's hard to narrow it down! I decided to cook the Lentils in Spicy Gravy and Collard Greens. I actually planned on making the Black Eyed Pea Sausages, but I was out of black eyed peas. Those are definitely on my radar for next time!

All in all, I found the recipes really easy to follow and spot-on with the measurements. Anytime I was confused by a word or term, I referred back to the intro. As everything cooked, the scents kept luring Johnny into the kitchen to check out the action and say, "It smells so good in here!" The lentils had so many flavors and the fresh tomatoes were a perfect ingredient. The overall dish turned out a little spicier than I anticipated, but neither of us mind a little heat. And the collards, cooked with a touch of cinnamon, were so delicious. Since I didn't get to cook the Black Eyed Pea Sausages, I served the lentils over some brown Basmati rice and the flavors went together quite well. And, since I cooked this on a weeknight and was short on time, I didn't get to tackle her recipe for homemade injera (she calls 'em Injera Fakeouts since they are GF). I bought some frozen Chaptis (Indian flatbread) and grilled them up and they were delicious. It was a cross-cultural dinner for sure, but everything worked together nicely. "Eaters Without Borders" I like to call us.

And can I just take a minute to say how cool it is that zines still exist? Zine culture was so big in the 90s (as everyone knows, my favorite decade) and the thought that you can still have a great idea, cut and paste it into a booklet, photocopy it and distribute it to the masses warms my little heart. Kittee does such a good job adhering to the feeling of those old zines while making it look polished and modern. Well done!

I can't wait to make more of the recipes from "Papa Tofu Loves Ethiopian Food" as the weather cools. I highly recommend picking up a copy of your own! You can purchase it on Kittee's web site here.

Recipe Review - Super Veggie Lentil Taco "Meat"

Good morning, peeps. I wanted to share a recipe with you from one of my favorite blogs, The Ordinary Vegetarian. It's written by a lovely young lady named Sarah from the Chicago area. She was a vegetarian when she started the blog in 2009, but made the switch to veganism in January 2010. I have tried and loved several of her recipes including the Pumpkin Black Bean Chili (seriously good) and the Super Veggie Lentil Taco "Meat". Sarah has been nice enough to let me share her Taco "Meat" recipe with you all!

Let me just say, I know it sounds strange - lentils and tacos generally don't go together. As someone who grew up a stone's throw from Mexico, I know what authentic Mexican food tastes like and I'm sure everyone in Tucson must think I've gone all "east coast" by suggesting that lentils can taste good in a Mexican recipe. But suspend your disbelief because you'll be blown away by how satisfying the end result is! And if you've never cooked with lentils before, don't be scared! They are available in any bulk-food section and are cheap as can be, or you can buy them canned. I love the fact that you don't have to soak them overnight like you do with dried beans, it makes them that much easier to prepare. Lentils are little nutrition bombs, they are low in calories and fat, but full of fiber and many vitamins and minerals. They are also a decent source of protein for all of us vegans and vegetarians. ("Hello daddy, hello mom I'm your l-l-l-l-l-l-lentil bomb!")

In this recipe, the lentils are simmered just long enough so that they're not crunchy, but they stay firm enough to make it a bit toothsome. The spices are spot on, it totally tastes like the seasoning you would get on ground beef at any Mexican restaurant. Smoked paprika works wonders, this is far and away my new favorite spice - if you don't have any, I would invest in some. I got a nice jar of Spanish sweet smoked paprika from Whole Foods for about $7 and I think it'll last awhile because a little goes a long way. The best part is that there are a TON of veggies in here, but they are incorporated so well that you hardly even notice them. And it uses no fat or oil so it's very low-cal and virtually fat-free. 

I wanted to share this particular recipe because it is so adaptable. When I cooked this, we made "burrito bowls" like you would get at Chipotle. I layered some brown rice, taco "meat", and simple guacamole (avocado mashed with canned green chiles, lime juice, and salt), and then I made a toppings bar so Johnny and I could put on what we wanted. I chose chopped tomato, cilantro, and Tofutti Cream Supreme (a pretty good sour cream substitute). Johnny isn't a fan of sour cream so he just used tomatoes and I'm happy to report that he loved it! He said this was by far his favorite Mexican-type dish that I've prepared as a vegan, and was better than even Soyrizo or fake meat crumbles. This recipe made a lot of "meat", so the next day I just ate it with some tortilla chips as a snack. It would also be great in burritos, tacos, on top of tostadas or nachos, or even in a quesadilla with some Daiya non-dairy cheese. I also wanted to share this because it is a nice way to avoid all those processed fake meats you can buy at the grocery store. Don't get me wrong, there can be a time and place for those products, but I try to steer clear of anything processed as much as I can. Plus this is soy-free for anyone who wants to or needs to avoid soy. Have I convinced you to give this recipe a try yet?? C'mon, you know you want to!

This was my finished version. I want some more right now!

Super Veggie Lentil Taco "Meat"
from The Ordinary Vegetarian
(stuffs about 10-12 tacos)

1 cup brown lentils, rinsed and picked over (I used french lentils because that's what I could find)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 large bell pepper, chopped (any color)
1 cup sliced mushrooms (any kind)
1 carrot, peeled and sliced
2 ribs of celery, sliced
1-1/2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp oregano
1 bay leaf
dash cayenne
2 cups vegetable broth
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp lime juice

Heat 1/4 cup water in a large skillet. Saute onion for 3 minutes. Stir in the garlic, bell pepper, and mushrooms and cook for another 3 minutes. If the pan starts to dry up and the contents start sticking, add a tablespoon or two more of water. Add in the lentils, carrots, celery, chili powder, cumin, paprika, oregano, bay leaf, and cayenne, and saute for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in the broth and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to medium low and cover. Simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. If the mixture starts drying out, add 1/4 cup water or broth.

Remove from heat and carefully drain off any extra liquid (a little bit of liquid is fine, excessive liquid is not desirable). Remove bay leaf and stir in tomato paste and lime juice. Transfer to food processor or blender and pulse a few times, until a crumbly texture is achieved--do not puree (*note - watch yourself here. I got distracted and was looking somewhere else while pulsing and I almost blended it too much!). Serve hot.

Nutrition info per serving (based on 10 servings): Calories 85, Fat 0.1g, Saturated Fat 0g, Trans Fat 0g, Cholesterol 0mg, Sodium 143mg, Carbohydrates 15.8g, Dietary Fiber 3.8g, Sugars 3.2g, Protein 5.7g, Vitamin A 48%, Vitamin C 53%, Calcium 3%, Iron 7%.