Potatoes Roasted with Fresh Herbs

Roasted potatoes make a great side dish to any meat eater's or vegan's summer meal.  These are roasted in the oven with fresh herbs from the garden and make these potatoes especially flavorful.

Potatoes Roasted with Fresh Herbs

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Servings: 2-3

Ingredients:

6 Small red potatoes
Olive oil
4 Minced basil leaves
6 Minced oregano leaves
2 Minced sage leaves
2 Sprigs of thyme
1/2 Tsp. salt
Dash pepper

Wash and dry red potatoes.  Chop them into 1 inch cubes and put into baking dish.  Drizzle olive oil over them and toss until potatoes are covered. 

Rinse and dry herbs and finely slice them on a cutting board.  Sprinkle the herbs on the potatoes and mix them in.  Add salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and bake potatoes uncovered for 30-40 minutes until tender to the touch of a fork.

Roasted potatoes just out of the oven

Tapas Tuesday at Ceviche

The last time I visited Jeff down in Tampa we decided to try out Tapas Tuesdays at Ceviche. Tapas Tuesday’s big appeal is $4 tapas, $4 sangria, and live salsa music.  

Jeff and I had a busy day and didn’t get there until about 8:00.  We’d been told there was valet parking if you get there before 7pm – someone can correct me if I’m wrong.  Ceviche’s was packed, which was good sign when trying out a place for the first time. 

Live salsa music was playing inside, we put our name on the wait list for a table, got drinks and then hung out on the patio-deck awaiting our table. 

It was a hot night but we had cold drinks, good company, and Ceviche’s had a fun up tempo atmosphere.  We waited about 30 minutes until we were seated at a table inside. 

Bread with olive oil & pesto

Inside the restaurant was hot, loud, and filled with people.  It was hard to talk across the table, but the salsa music was good and the restaurant décor had a vibrant, yet at-home flavor.

We were immediately served bread with olive oil and pesto – which is a nice change from the standard butter or simply olive oil you usually find at restaurants.  No cheese in the pesto, and it was fresh and fantastic.

The vegan and the meat eater found numerous options on the menu.  We ordered five tapas dishes:

Baba Ganoush – described as roasted eggplant with tahini, garlic, olive oil, served with toast points. 

Corazones de Alcachofas – marinated artichoke hearts, sweet onions, hearts of palm and caper berries.

Pipirrana- “beautiful salad with faboda beans, crispy cucumbers, capers, tomatoes, sweet peppers and onion in Jerez vinegar.

Champinones del Monte – Grilled and marinated woodland mushrooms with garli, olice oil, fresh herbs and sherry.

Calamares Frites – Tender squid lightly dusted in seasoned flour and fried crispy, served with lemon and paprika aioli. 

Corazones de Alcachofas on the left, Baba Ganoush on the right

I found the baba ganoush to be mostly tahini and the texture not consistent throughout, it was almost just tahini butter in places.  That being said, I couldn’t taste any eggplant, though I presume the eggplant gave the dish it’s light and fluffy consistency.  It had a nutty flavor and I preferred it with the veggies rather than the toast points. The toast points don’t do it any favors and Jeff simply did not like the dish at all.

 

Corazones del Alcahofas

The capers, artichoke hearts, hearts of palm, and onions in the Corazones del Alcahofas were an excellent combination together mixed in a light oil and vinegar marinade.  The vegetables were tender and had a refreshing crisp flavor.

  

Pipirrana Salad, eggs on Jeff's side, cucumber on mine.

The Pipirrana salad was indeed a beautiful array of colorful vegetables.  It did come with hard boiled eggs, but I just turned them towards my meat eater’s side of the table and we shared the salad. The vinegar on the salad was just the right amount and overall the salad had great flavor. The faboda beans and capers were excellent additions that really made the salad. 

Champinones del Monte

The Champinones del Monte can best be described as the best marinara sauce you’ve ever had, prior to it being sauced. This was probably my favorite and a great blend of veggies in oil and vinegar.  

I was most impressed with the freshness of all the dishes and how light the oil and vinegar were - just enough to compliment the veggies and blend the flavors.  The marinades were never heavy and oppressive.  Just right.

  

Jeff with his Calamares Frites & Sangria

Jeff will have to add his comments [here] on the Calamari Frites – we took notes in the restaurant but I can’t read his writing and wouldn’t want to confuse “dusting” with “disgusting.”  I do know, however, he had some strong words for the baba ganoush. 

As we enjoyed our meal and the night went on, it became significantly less noisy with fewer people and Ceviche's was really quite pleasant.  The best features of Tapas Tuesdays were the live salsa music and $4 tapas – and of course good company makes it all the better.  I highly recommend you try it out, but get there early! 

 

Easy Stuffed Mushrooms

Jeff and I went to his parent's house to celebrate his grandma's birthday, and Jeff's mom had found this recipe for Jeff to make.  It was super easy to adapt the recipe to suit both the vegan and the rest of the family. And after cooking on the grill, it was super delicious!

 

Stuffed Mushrooms

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 25 minutes
Servings: 6

Ingredients:

6 "Stuffable sized" portabella mushrooms
1/2 C. Diced red onion
4 Cloves minced garlic
1/2 C. Sliced black olives
2 T. Lemon Juice
1 T. Minced fresh Oregano leaves
4 Minced fresh Basil leaves
2 T Olive oil

Adding the feta

Salt & Pepper to taste
1/2 C. Feta cheese

Directions:

Wash and shake off mushrooms and place them in a lightly oiled baking dish, baking sheet, or on foil, with tops down.


Mix all ingredients in a bowl except for the feta. 

Spoon heaps of the mixture into as many mushrooms as you want to be vegan.  You want the mushroom cavity to be full.  Mark those mushrooms with a toothpick (or kabob stick works too).

Stir in feta cheese to the remaining mixture.

Using heaping teaspoons, fill the remainder of the mushrooms.

Preheat oven or grill to 375 degrees.  Cook for 25 minutes until the mushrooms are tender and the insides are hot.

Vegan mushroom marked with the stick

These made a great appetizer that everyone enjoyed.  Let me know how yours turn out!

Sweet & Healthy PB Granola Treats

I was at Jeff's house one day, and while he was working, he declared he needed something sweet to eat.  Having nothing better to do, I looked in his bachelor-bare cupboards and found just enough ingredients to put together this sweet and healthy treat.

 

 

 

 

 

Sweet & Healthy PB Granola Treats

Prep time: 20 minutes
Servings: 20 treats

Ingredients

1 C. Peanut butter
1/2 C. Brown sugar
3 T. Honey
2 tsp. Cinnamon 
1 C. Shredded sweetend coconut
1/2 C. Dried cranberries
2 C. Oats
1/3 C. Finely chopped nuts (optional)

 Directions 

Put peanut butter in large bowl and microwave for 30 seconds.  Mix in the remaining ingredients in the order listed. Use a spoon to scoop mixture and form two-inch balls. Place on a sheet or in a sealed container. 

These are super easy to make and very addicting.  This batch did not last long at all, and Jeff has even made them himself!

Welcome to Iowa, Whole Foods!

The first Whole Foods store in Iowa opened today (18 July, 2010) in West Des Moines. From everything I heard and read it was a huge success and insanely busy all day long.

I went to a Whole Foods for the first time when I was visiting my aunt & uncle in Boulder (I was probably high-school aged).  I was a relatively new vegan then was enthralled by all the vegan food options Whole Foods provided -- not just in the aisles but also in the deli and bakery.  I am certain I packed on a few pounds that trip.

When I got back to Iowa I remember I sat down at my computer, looked up Whole Foods' corporate headquarters and wrote them a letter.  Whole Foods needed to come to Iowa. I recall talking up all the great things about the state - fields full of soybeans from which all kinds of vegan and vegetarian products are made.

Today after work, I drove over to the new store to check it out. Weary of crowd of people just trying to get in the door, I cautiously ventured in.

I went straight to the deli and bakery to make sure it was like all other Whole Foods Stores.  The deli and salad bar may have been a few selections smaller than other whole foods. No smoothie bar.  And I was a bit disappointed in the bakery, but granted, it was the end of the day.

There were not the usual amount of vegan bakery items.  There was a vegan blueberry muffin, which I bought for $2.39 and was concluded it was delicious upon consumption.

I picked several prepared vegan salads from the salad bar, 0.96 pounds worth to be exact, at $7.99/pound for anything you put in the recycled card board containers. The food is very fresh and it is all kept very clean. It is also infinitely healthy with the variety of fruits, veggies, and grains they use.

I was mostly comparing prices because the local Hy-Vee food stores here do as good a job as any stocking vegan and vegetarian products. Veganaise mayo was $4.99 - about a dollar more at HyVee; Tofutti Better than Sour Cream was $2.69 is about what it is at HyVee; one liter of Whole Foods brand olive oil for $5.49!

So we welcome Whole Foods to Iowa, 10 years after I wrote them that letter making the case for a store here.  I'm under no illusions anyone ever even read my letter. I firmly believe, however, they will quickly see that Iowa was a great choice.

Its Hot! How About Some Ice Cream?

As I left drill last Saturday, I was like, "Oh man, it's hot." It was 100 degrees at the bank and 113 in my car.  Naturally, I was also hungry at 4:00 in the afternoon, and I had run 4 miles for PT that morning; so I thought, "I deserve ice cream." Vegan ice cream of course.

I don't eat vegan ice cream often. Don't get me wrong, its delicious - which is why I try to avoid it.

When I got to the local grocery store, I found these little bites of heaven (right):

Rice Dream Bites. I've never tried these before but they were thrown in the basket, along with a pint of Tofutti brand Butter Pecan.

The Rice Dream Bites didn't all make it home. [I'm aware, my nails did not meet the standards of AR 670-1 that drill weekend -- which consisted of  me and four other dudes doing PT and mandatory online training].

Rice Dream Bites are 1 inch bites of "ice rice-cream" covered in chocolate - like itty bitty chocolate-covered ice cream nugget on a stick, minus the stick.

And they were glorious. 

Creamy melting ice cream centers covered in chocolate shells exactly hit the spot. Didn't taste like fake anything, and the ice cream didn't taste like frozen ice water.

Nutrition Info
1 Serving = 15 pieces (67g) = 220 calories
15 grams, 23 % total fat
10 grams, 50%  saturated fat
0 mg Cholesterol
1 gram protein

-- First time in a LONG time I've seen any amount of saturated fat on anything I eat! Yikes! It likely mostely comes from the coconut oil in the yummy chocolate coating though.


I have never tried the Rice Dream before but do LOVE the Soy Dream brand -- absolute best soy ice cream I've ever had.  My parents served Soy Dream Strawberry Swirl at my high school grad party and I served it to my non-vegan friends for my Quarter Century Crisis Birthday party -- and it was a huge hit.

My all time favorite ice cream flavor is Butter Pecan - and Soy Dream makes a fantastic one.  Soy Dream brand seems to be (erroneously) slowly disappearing from the stores so last Saturday at the store I came face to face with a pint of Tofutti Butter Pecan.

Again, having run 4 miles in 90 degree heat that morning, I justified the purchase.

Tofutti "Better Pecan," as its called, looked smelled, scooped fantastically like real ice cream.  It's butter pecan flavor is fantastic. Its creamy, melts nicely.

Nutrition Info

1 serving = 250 calories for 1/2 cup. 

4servings per container

15 grams or 23 % of your daily allowance of fat; 

3 grams or 15 % of your daily saturated fat

23 grams sugar  

2 grams protein

0 mg cholesterol (its vegan!)

However, it had just a hint of that sort of gummy, sea-weed collagen taste-texture.

My only recent comparison, is again, Soy Dream, which is a thoroughly creamy-ice cream taste and texture through and through.

Two days later however, and the Tofutti "Better Pecan" is gone. And not because the trash guy came today.

In conclusion, the Rice Dream Bites were indeed dreamy, and the Tofutti ice cream was OK but not may favorite.

Vegan Cheese Cake

I warned my meat eater this was not like regular cheesecake, but the closest I've come to developing something like it over the last ~ 10 years I've been experimenting.  He agreed, it wasn't quite like cheesecake, maybe more like custard -- but -- it was wonderful!

Vegan Cheesecake with Berry Sauce

Servings: 10
Prep time: 1 hour
Ingredients:

1 Keebler, pre-made, graham cracker crust
1, 8 oz. Container, Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese
1/2 pkg. Firm silken tofu
3 T. Lemon Juice
2 T. Maple syrup
3 T. Cornstarch
1 T. Vanilla

Put all ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until creamy and smooth.  Pour into graham cracker crust. Bake in preheated oven at 350 degrees for 50 minutes, or until cracks appear at in the center of the top of the cheesecake.

Berry Sauce

1 1/2 C. Sugar
2 C. Strawberries, sliced
1 C. Blueberries
Splash red wine

Cook all ingredients in saucepan over med-high heat. Let boil for 5 minutes then remove from heat and cool.

 ***

Remove cheesecake from oven, let cool completely and refrigerate at least 1 hour or over night. Put one slice on a plate and pour Berry Sauce over it and serve.

Delicious!