Sweet 4th of July

I hope you had a happy 4th of July weekend! Funk and I had a little "staycation" and enjoyed the city, which we rarely get to do, even though we live here! We wandered around like tourists in Harvard Square Friday night and found this adorable bakery called SWEET. Filled with mainly cupcakes, and some cake too, SWEET is a sweet-tooth heaven. It has the standard chocolate and vanilla varieties, but Friday night there was also a carrot cake, bubblegum flavored cupcake, and 4th of July themed ones, like the yummy one I got called "Red White and You" - vanilla cupcake and vanilla buttercream frosting with jelly filling. It was delicious and topped with lots of frosting, which is my favorite part. And after reading some more about SWEET, which has another location in Back Bay, Boston, I realized they offer vegan cupcakes on Mondays and Tuesdays, which means I'll be back soon to test these out.

Family Mealtime

This past weekend Funk and I took a trip to visit his brother, sister-in-law, 11 month old nephew and 4 year old niece. Our busy weekend was filled with sidewalk chalk, Crayola crayons, a trip to the pool, and lots of make believe. We also made a stop to a popular grocery store in the Virginia/Maryland area, called M.O.M.s – My Organic Market. It was incredible – beautiful produce, large containers of whole grains like quinoa and amaranth, natural beauty products, and such good food. I picked up some En-r-g egg replacement that I’ve been searching for, amaranth, pectin to make homemade jelly, and a yogurt starter because I have big plans to one day make my own yogurt.

But even after only a few days away from my home cooking, I realized: you can take me out of MY kitchen, but you can’t take me out of any old kitchen. I was given the task of cooking dinner one night and thought it’d be fun to see what mealtime was like with a baby bouncing around and a 4 year old waiting patiently for dinner. Knowing I needed to get dinner on the table pronto, I cooked some pasta and chopped a variety of veggies, including a red onion, two zucchinis, two portabella mushrooms, a yellow pepper, cherry tomatoes, and garlic. I also had fresh basil that was picked from the garden.

I sautéed the veggies in a wok with some olive oil along with the garlic and basil. Once they were cooked, I added in the pasta and about half of a frozen bag of peas for some added protein, that defrosted on the spot. The peas were a big hit with the little ones, though I can’t say they devoured the rest of my meal.

In no time I had a 1-pot (or should I say 1-wok) meal on the table with enough leftovers for lunch the next day. I made up this meal as I went along with no plan in place, adding in veggies as I found them in the fridge, but think it turned out well. While I’m no super-mom (or mom at all, for that matter), it was a great time to see what family cooking and mealtime is like, even when crunched for time and in an unfamiliar kitchen. As long as you have healthy ingredients on hand, you can make a well-rounded meal in minutes, with time to spare for some more make believe and Crayola artwork, of course.

Diet.com video - fruity summer desserts

When you think of summertime desserts, does the ringing song of the ice cream truck come to mind? As tasty as a cool cone can be, there are lots of other treats to try. Fortunately summer’s fantastic fruit bounty makes for some tasty (and healthy!) hot-weather desserts.

In my latest diet.com video, I talk about how to make great grilled pineapple, banana ice cream (one ingredient, fat free!), sorbet sandwiches, frozen chocolate banana bites, and fruity popsicles. Check it out so you can cool down with these sweet treats.

(If the video doesn't load properly in this post, just click on the video for it to take you to YouTube.com)

Grilled Pineapple as a Tempeh Sandwich Topper

Yesterday I was busy shooting another diet.com video (link to come!). The theme was healthy summer dessert ideas, and one dessert I showcased was grilled pineapple. As my co-host Sarah and I were enjoying the pineapple pieces – after filming of course – we realized this dessert could also double as a great sandwich or burger topper for a Hawaiian-style, tangy tasting dinner. Perfect timing for me, as I was already planning on making simple baked tempeh sandwiches for dinner.

I cut my tempeh into four slices and baked it in the toaster oven for about 20 minutes at 400 degrees. Once they were cooked through and starting to toast, I spread on some BBQ sauce and cooked about 10 minutes more. Meanwhile, I layered a slice of soy mozzarella and two grilled pineapple rounds on a whole wheat English muffin. Then I added in one slice of baked tempeh and chowed down.

Grilling pineapple is effortless and delicious. Cut your pineapple (or peaches, or even watermelon!) in thin rounds or strips and grill on either side for about five minutes, or until they have those neat grill marks. I used my grill pan for this and got great results.

This sandwich was mouthwatering good! You can try the grilled pineapple and BBQ sauce combo to jazz up a veggie burger or grilled tofu. Or enjoy over salmon with a sweet and sour marinade. It’ll be a nice flavor change from the usual lettuce and tomato sandwich or burger toppers, and a great way to add fruit into your entrée.

Stir Fry Detox

After a few days of eating at stellar seafood restaurants while away on a mini-vacation, a dinner meeting, dinner dates with friends and Funk, and a Father's Day treat out at a restaurant, I was suffering from dining out overload. I love eating out and trying new restaurants, but can only take so much in a week before I can hear my kitchen calling me. My favorite meal to get back on track, stuff some nutrients back into my stomach, and fill up on fresh veggies is with a quick stir fry. This time around I tossed in a pan some mushrooms, red, yellow and orange bell peppers, broccoli, and string beans with a light teryaki sauce and diced firm tofu. This dish is my favorite way to detox after my own personal Restaurant Week comes to a close.

The Veggie Table on Healthy Eats

I recently got a great opportunity to be a Blogger for the fantastic food blog, HealthyEats.com. Along with three other dietitians, I’ll be posting about food finds, recipes, and healthy eating suggestions. If you’re a Food Network fan, you may recognize fellow HealthyEats.com food Blogger Katie Cavuto MS RD as one of the contestants on The Next Food Network Star!

Each month I’ll be posting vegetarian recipes and healthy food information in The Veggie Table (get it?! ha!). Check it out and let me know what you think!

Here's a sneak peak at my first post: Going Veg? Don't Make These Mistakes

When I switched cold-turkey (pun alert!) from a meat-eating to a vegan diet, I was pleased to see I could still eat fries, chips and salsa, and my secret guilty pleasure, Swedish Fish (it’s not real fish, you see). But I quickly realized I’d stumbled into a common veggie pitfall — eating junk food in place of fresh, whole, plant-based meals.

Here, I’d adopted a vegetarian diet for health reasons but was barely eating my good-for-me vegetables. I started experimenting with vegan and vegetarian cooking, and my mind — and my palate — quickly opened up to a delicious world of whole grains, legumes, vegetables, nuts and fruits. A good, healthy mantra for anyone is “all things in moderation.” Jumping into a junk-food vegetarian diet without any balance was definitely not that.

If you’re new to vegetarianism or looking to test it out, don’t make my same mistakes. Here are common pitfalls to avoid.

Coconut Lime Corn and Rice

I had been creating this recipe in my head for a few days but had no idea how it'd turn out when I actually brought it to life in my kitchen. Since summer is supposed to be here (the weather in Boston indicates otherwise), I was in the mood for something tropical tasting. I had about 1/3 cup of light coconut milk stashed in the freezer that I wanted to put to use and what better combo than coconut and lime?

Ingredients:
1 pack Trader Joe's pre-cooked wild rice (equals 3 cups cooked)
3 cups frozen corn
1/3 cup light coconut milk
juice of 2 limes
zest of 1 lime
salt to taste
a few sprigs of cilantro

I was wondering how my wild ride would taste in this dish, but I was going for ease of preparation here and Trader Joe's wild rice comes pre-cooked. Next time I make this dish, I'd use brown rice, or maybe even Jasmine rice because I think a "softer" rice would soak up the flavors more. Despite the coarseness of my wild rice, it exceeded my expectations in this dish. I started by microwaving my pre-cooked rice for a few minutes, but if you're starting from dry rice, this is where you'd cook it up in boiling water!

In a large pan, I added the whole package of frozen corn, 1/3 of a cup of light coconut milk, the juice of two limes and the zest of one lime (I finally have a zester in my kitchen!), and salt and cilantro to taste. I let this mixture simmer until the corn was cooked and then I added in the cooked rice.

I let this simmer for a few more minutes so all of the flavors had time to meld.
When I took my first bite I must have had a look of surprise on my face - this was actually REALLY good! I mean, I didn't create any culinary masterpiece but I did hope for the best by adding some ingredients that were lying around my refrigerator and cabinets. Success! It tasted tropical, and like it should be paired with a good Margarita. I think I'll try this dish cold tonight for dinner to see how it tastes as a cold rice salad. If I were eating this as a main dish instead of a side, I might add some grilled tofu for a 1-dish dinner.

Cook this dish if you want to taste summer, even if you can't quite feel summer yet.

Bulgur Burgers with Chickpeas and Tomato Chutney

Lately I’ve been looking a lot more thoroughly at the ingredient list of the foods I buy. Many processed vegetarian foods contain a long list of ingredients with hard to pronounce words. Even some veggie burgers contain ingredients that go far beyond basic veggies. Processed food is processed food, whether it contains meat or not, and I like to keep my intake to a minimum and stick with eating whole foods as close to their original state as possible. So I set out to make a simple veggie burger with some basic ingredients I had on hand.

I had a little bit more than a cup of leftover cooked bulgur in the fridge and it was sticky enough (probably because I overcooked it) that it made a good binding ingredient. I mixed that with a can of mashed chickpeas, a little bit of shredded soy cheese, and about two tablespoons of jarred tomato chutney that has a little spicy kick to it.
Ingredients:
1 1/4 cup bulgur, cooked
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and fork mashed (any canned beans will do!)
¼ cup shredded soy cheese
2T tomato chutney (you could also use ketchup or BBQ sauce)

Made 5 patties

Mash all ingredients together until they’re well blended. Form into patties and place on a baking sheet, sprayed with cooking spray. Bake patties in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes, then flip and bake for about 15 more minutes on the other side.

We enjoyed these burgers open-faced on a piece of naan bread (I thought this was fitting with the spicy tomato chutney) and some sautéed mixed greens. I spread on some more tomato chutney for an extra zing of flavor. I made enough burgers for leftovers and we had them again last night on some toasted whole wheat english muffins with slices of grilled zucchini and BBQ sauce.

These four-ingredient burgers were filling, satisfying, and far from any processed product. They were so simple to make and can be attempted with a variety of ingredients. Try swapping the bulgur for couscous or brown rice. Enjoy on a whole wheat bun, in a pita pocket or English muffin. Use mashed black beans or white beans in place of chickpeas, and flavor the burgers with salsa or BBQ sauce instead of chutney. Whatever ingredients you choose, I guarantee you’ll love these homemade veggie burgers.

Approximate Nutrition Information Per Patty: 180 calories, 2g fat, 440mg sodium, 32g carbs, 6g fiber, 2g sugar, 8g protein.

I Like Granola: Bake Like a Vegan!

One of the most fun things about being a food blogger is discovering other great food blogs out there, and learning more about the writers behind them. I recently answered some questions about vegan baking for the I Like Granola author, Jamie Walker. She was curious to learn about some egg, butter and milk substitutes in vegan baking and I offered her my novice vegan baking input and ideas.

My favorite tip to offer in baking is to use a ground flax mixture in place of eggs. Jamie was intrigued by this replacement:

The most interesting replacement technique (at least to me) was eggs. I never realized that you could use flax meal as an egg replacement and I’m a flax seed addict. Janel says she uses 1 TBSP ground flax mixed with 3 TBSPs water per egg. (You can read the rest of the post here)

I'm looking forward to reading future I Like Granola blog posts where Jamie experiments with new vegan baking techniques! What have you tried that works well as a healthy vegan baking substitute?

Strawberry Rhubarb Cake Bake

Lately I’ve seen so many recipes for rhubarb that I was craving a crisp, muffin, or anything that contained the tart fruit. I had never baked with rhubarb before and was excited to try something new. Fortunately I found a beautiful bunch of rhubarb at the Copley Square Farmers’ Market last week. Since strawberry and rhubarb is such a popular fruit combination, I picked up some perfect strawberries at the Haymarket Farmers’ Market in Boston over the weekend too ($1 for a container of strawberries – can you believe it!? Love farmers’ markets).

I gathered four different strawberry rhubarb recipes, from crisps, to muffins, and cake bakes. I couldn’t decide which recipe to go with, so I wound up combining a few and tweaking them enough to create my own Strawberry Rhubarb Cake Bake. Funk and I had this straight out of the oven last night for dessert when the strawberries and rhubarb were piping hot and oozing throughout the cake. This recipe was so good, and with whole wheat flour and real fruit filling, it is good for you.

I think it’d make a great breakfast cake, and did a recipe analysis to make sure it met my breakfast approval. This cake has only 180 calories per slice, and is a good source of fiber with 3g. While the sugar content is a bit higher than I’d choose in say a breakfast cereal (I like to see 10g of sugar or fewer), I think this cake will make a great breakfast treat topped with some strawberry soy yogurt. And did you know? June 9th is National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day! Of course you knew that, right?! Bake this treat to celebrate and enjoy the fruit of spring.

Ingredients:
3T soy margarine
1 bunch rhubarb chopped (about 3 cups)
1 container strawberries, sliced (about 1.5 cups)
3/4t salt
¾ cup sugar
½ cup vanilla soymilk
1 egg substitute (I used 1T ground flax mixed with 3T water)
1.5 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2t baking powder

1. Melt 3T margarine and pour into pie pan
2. Mix rhubarb and strawberries with ¼ teaspoon salt and ½ cup sugar
3. Add fruit to pie pan and stir until coated with margarine
4. Add milk and egg substitute and mix well.
5. In a separate container mix flour, baking powder, ¼ cup sugar and ½ teaspoon salt.
5. Mix dry ingredients with the fruit mixture until well blended.
8. Bake at 375F for 25 minutes on a baking sheet. Reduce heat to 275F and cover with foil and continue baking another 20 minutes.

Nutrition Information per 1 slice (makes 8 slices): 180 calories, 2.5g fat, 0g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 410mg sodium, 38g carbohydrate, 3g fiber, 21g sugar, 4g protein