Guest Blogger – Rachel in Veganland: Tahini chickpeas

After her wildly successful first post on VBU!, Rachel in Veganland – Not Skinny how could I not have her back? This time Rachel is back to share her take on tahini chickpeas. You can follow Rachel’s posts through email, and find her on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Welcome back Rachel!

Living in this house in Carrboro has been a throw back to my first few days at college when I was cooking vegan for the first time in the communal kitchen of my dorm. There were 2 things I always had in my food box in those days: garbanzo beans and tofu. As the garbanzo is my favorite legume, I would eat them quite often, and in a variety of ways.

I would often sauté them up with some fresh onions and garlic, add in a few seasonings to suit my mood, then a sauce to tie it all together. This past week I’ve revisited that dish, as again garbanzos and tofu were readily available. This time, instead of the goddess dressing I would often use to tie all of the ingredients together, I used some tahini.

The result was caramelized fried-like glory with no breading, mess, or actual frying. What a fantastic and flavorful shortcut! The flavor was similar to fried chicken-like tofu but the garbanzos added a rich nuttiness to the dish that was only amplified by the tahini. Served atop a bed of fresh spinach, and it was heaven on a plate.

Tahini Fried Chickpeas and Tofu

1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed thoroughly

1/2 block extra firm tofu

1 Tablespoon olive oil

2 Tablespoons soy sauce or tamari

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup chopped onions

dash dried basil

1/2 cup tahini

Over medium heat, sauté garlic and onions until the onions begin to brown and get all caramelized. Then pop in your tofu, cut into nice sized chunks and allow it to brown slightly too. Add those chick peas and let it all mesh together for a couple of minutes, then add in your tamari. At the very end, add the tahini and remove from heat, stirring to incorporate thoroughly. Serve immediately over a bed of fresh, raw greens and eat your heart out.

Now that we’re back in Carrboro, we’ve of course been frequenting our favorite taco truck again, huzzah! This means the world’s most decadent and fantastic sauces. I always get an extra 2 oz. container to keep and smother on EVERYTHING I can. These chick peas were no exception.

Guest Blogger: Carrie on Vegan – Photo Food Journal & Vegan Delish Giveaway

Our newest VBU! contributor is Carrie Forrest, author of Carrie on Vegan. Here she is in her own words,”I am a graduate student in public health nutrition and I write about my recipes and adventures in healthy, plant-based living. I recently released an app for iPhones and iPads called Vegan Delish that features 60 simple, vegan recipes with all kinds of cool features like a digital shopping list and social media sharing options.” Carrie is the first contributor to have an app – how cool is that? Love how everyone is so creative and inventive. Keep in touch with Carrie on Vegan through: Facebook, Twitter, and RSS feed. Also check out Carrie’s app Vegan Delish: iTunes Preview page, website, and Facebook page. Please welcome Carrie!

Good morning and happy “What I Ate Wednesday“! Today I’ll be showing a picture of everything that I ate yesterday. It is always an interesting exercise to document everything I eat in a day, plus I hope you find it helpful in some way.

Breakfast was some leftover green smoothie with some buckwheat groats and almonds on top:

I went for a hike in Palm Springs around 9 a.m. Despite cloudy skies, I thought the mountains were so pretty:

Alan and I hiked further than we have ever gone before:

We then went to Costco to try and beat the holiday rush, but it was still craziness. I stocked up on all kinds of fresh fruit, frozen fruit, frozen edamame, etc. It was a huge load:

After all of that, lunch was much appreciated. I make a big romaine and vegetable salad with my Wild Blueberry Zinger Dressing, edamame and mandarin oranges for dessert:

Here’s a closer view of the salad:

Yesterday afternoon was spent catching up on work and doing a few errands. I decided to try using the pressure cooker again after my successful experience last Saturday night. This time, I just used brussels sprouts, collard greens, mushrooms, onions and water:

I checked with Jill Nussinow’s fantastic book, The New Fast Food, for the cooking times on the sprouts and the greens (don’t forget to enter to win a free copy of the ebook here!). I settled on a cooking time of two minutes for everything and I estimated about a cup of water. I added it all to the pot:

The chopped collards went on top:

I locked on the lid, set the timer to two minutes on high pressure, and sat back and hoped it would turn out okay. I figured the worst that could happen would that the sprouts would be undercooked:

While I waited, I also made a really easy cream sauce for the veggies. After all, who wants to eat plain steamed greens? To make my typical cashew cream sauce less fattening, I substituted garbanzo beans for half the nuts in this recipe. I was so pleased with the results, the sauce was still very, very creamy and flavorful:

Here’s the recipe:

[print_this]

Cashew & Bean Sauce

6 servings

Ingredients:

1/2 cup raw, unsalted cashews

1 cup cooked garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

2 teaspoons dried onion flakes

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1/4 teaspoon dried mustard

1/4 teaspoon red chili flakes

1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

Directions:

Combine ingredients in a high-speed blender and process until smooth.

[/print_this]

I used the quick-release setting on the PC when it was done and here’s what it looked like:

I was so happy that everything was cooked to perfection! It’s not exactly a beautiful dish, but here’s what the final product looked like:

I’m telling you, this was a hit and I’ll be making the same exact thing tonight for dinner.

For dessert last night, I made a version of my Chocolate Cherry Bomb that I’ll be posting in ice cream form on Friday. It was so decadent and yummy:

That’s it! I hope you enjoyed this photo food journal.

To wrap up today’s post, I’m doing another giveaway of my recipe app Vegan Delish! I received 50 promo codes from Apple when we did our last update and I want to share them with you. If you already own Vegan Delish, you can still enter and you can give the code to one of your friends or family members. So, I’m giving the code to 50 readers selected at random who leave a comment on this post and who do any of the following things:

1. Tweet this message to your followers on Twitter “Check out Vegan Delish, the healthy #vegan recipe app for iPhones and iPads: http://bit.ly/TNOWnc.”

2. If you already own the app, leave a review on iTunes. Note: if you downloaded the app using a promo code, then Apple won’t let you leave a review.

3. Do something else to help me promote Vegan Delish, like tell your co-workers about it. Tell me what you did. I trust you.

You can do any or all of these things, just leave a separate comment telling me what you did. You have until Sunday, December 23rd, to enter.

Thank you for all of your support!!! I hope you have a great rest of your week and I’ll see you back here on Friday.

Guest Blogger: V is for Vegetables – Lentils and Basmati Rice with Caramelized Onions and Spiced Pita

Please welcome back Vanessa, author of V is for Vegetables. You can read her previous post here a recipe for Zucchini Boats. Check V is for Vegetables on Twitter as well. Please welcome back Vanessa!

My new iPhone finally arrived in the mail. Can you believe the camera on it? I love how many different uses the iPhone has and the camera might be my favorite part on the new one. The camera has facial recognition technology on it which is nothing new but I loved how it kept finding faces in the rice. Do you see a man’s face to the left of the center onion ring? I didn’t see it at first until I realized my phone was trying to tag him as a person. The phone is almost too smart.

This Middle Eastern dish is often called Mujadarah which is a fancy way of saying “rice, lentils and onion.” I adapted this dish from Veganomicon, the excellent cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero. The one downfall of this cookbook is the lack of pictures. When I first made this dish, I thought, “No wonder there are no pictures… This looks like kitty litter.” With a little garnish, this dish ends up looking as delicious as it tastes.

Ingredients for rice, lentils and onion:

• 3 large red onions, peeled and sliced into thin rings
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 1 cup long-grain basmati rice (brown or white), rinsed
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground allspice
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 cup red lentils, rinsed
• Basil leaves for garnish

Directions for rice, lentils and onion:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Lay the onion rings flat and separated in a large roasting pan. Toss in olive oil. Roast for 25-30 minutes, stirring every 5-10 minutes until translucent and slightly burnt.

3. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add rice, cinnamon, allspice, and cumin. Return to a boil then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Uncover and gently stir in the lentils. Bring to a boil again then lower heat, cover and simmer. Cook until all water is absorbed. For me, this takes 12-15 minutes. Allow the dish to cool for 10 minutes then fluff with a fork.

5. Fold in the caramelized onions, garnish with basil leaves and serve with pita bread.

Ingredients for spiced pita:

• 4 whole wheat pitas
• 4 Tbsp olive oil for brushing
• 2 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp salt

Directions for spiced pita:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Slice the pita bread into 1/8ths like a pizza.

3. Combine olive oil with the seasonings. Brush the mixture onto the insides of each pita crisp.

4. Spread the pita crisps out on a baking sheet and bake for 8-10 minutes until light brown.

Serves 4-6

Slightly adapted from: Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook

Guest Bloggers: In Vegetables We Trust – Slow Cooker Chili, Roasted Butternut Squash and Fennel Flatbreads

I absolutely love when I see young people embracing veganism and making it a central part of their lives. One such amazing man is Alexander Harvey. He is our newest blogger to join the VBU! family. Alexander is the author of the blog In Vegetables We Trust. He has been vegan for three years and has worked for Hillside Animal Sanctuary in the shop and vegan cafe. He was raised by a baker and since becoming vegan has started his own culinary adventure. Please join In Vegetables We Trust through the blog and Facebook account. Welcome Alexander!

Fennel Flat Breads.
Roasted mini butternut squash

Slow cooker chilli

Ingredients:

1 tbsp chipotle oil
1 onion, sliced into thin half moons
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 stalk of celery, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 sliced birds eye chilli
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 cup of vegetable stock
1/2 tin of kidney beans
1 tsp garlic poweder
red and black pepper to taste

1 tsp cocoa powder

Method:

set your slow cooker and heat a saute pan with the oil to a medium heat, saute the onion, bell pepper, celery, chillis and carrots untill the onion is translucent and the bell peppers softened, add the paprika, cumin, pepper and salt followed by the tomato paste and stir through. Add this to the crock with the tinned tomatoes, veg stock, kindney beans, garlic and red and black pepper. cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours, stir through cocoa powder shortly before serving, serve over roasted squash or sweet potato mash or however you want!

Guest Blogger: Earthgiven Kitchen – Tomato Cashew Pasta

Please welcome back Sarina from Earthgiven Kitchen, formerly called Earthgiven. Please see her previous contribution post called “Kale is the new bacon”. For this post Sarina will delight us with a vegan gluten free recipe for Tomato Cashew Pasta! Join Earthgiven Kitchen’s blog and Facebook page.

A spin on traditional tomato sauce by adding creamy, nutritious cashews. This recipe was inspired by Vegan Yum Yum’s Super Quick Tomato Basil Cream Pasta.

Tomato Cashew Pasta

1 package (454 gm) pasta (we like Tinkyada rice pasta best)
1/2 cup cashews
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp oil
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
1 1/2 – 2 cups tomato sauce (we like Neal Brothers Arrabiata sauce)
4 large basil leaves, minced
black pepper

Soak the cashew in filtered water for at least one hour, then drain and rinse. (You can read here why nuts should be soaked first.) If you’re short on time, you can soak them in hot water for ten minutes but the longer, the better.

While the pasta is cooking, sautée the garlic in the oil. When soft, combine the garlic and cashews in a food processor until pulverized. Drain the cooked pasta and return the hot pot back to the stove. On low heat, warm 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce, then add the sun-dried tomatoes, cashew and garlic. Add more tomato sauce if you want to thin the sauce (it will make it lower in fat, calories and protein). Add the basil leaves and stir. Pour in the drained pasta and turn gently to coat. Serve topped with black pepper and extra basil leaves if desired.

This is Vegan MoFo post #5!

Guest Blogger: A House Full of Health – Such a busy day! Testing!

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving to my fellow Canucks. Hope everyone is enjoying the magic that is Vegan Mofo. Please welcome back a veteran VBU! contributor – Marsha, author of the blog A House Full of Health. You can see her first post for VBU! here, second and third. Connect with her on Facebook, Twitter and of course her blog. Welcome back Marsha!

First day of Vegan Mofo and here I am blogging at 7pm! Yes, I’m behind! But, let me tell you about my day.

I woke 12 hours ago ready to start my day. For the last 2 weeks I’ve been “testing” recipes for a business venture I’m looking to pursue. Plant-Based Personal Chef. Today was another testing day. My steps are simple. Go grocery shopping, pick up fresh bread (if needed), cook, package, dishes (interlaced throughout the day). Sounds easy, right?

Wow! It’s hard work! Rewarding. But, taxing. Maybe I’m just getting old??!!

Last night I took some time to prepare my menu for the week. I used to do this on Thursday evening to subsequently shop on Fridays but with shopping on Mondays, for the time being, busily worked on it last night. Anyway, when preparing a menu I decide on what we will be having for dinner each night as well as ingredients I need to get and at which store. I then wrote down each item I would be cooking including all the “kitchen gadgets,” I would need and all the ingredients for each. This makes it easier to know how many total carrots (or other item) I would need. This makes prep that much easier.

Menu:

Monday: BBQ Ranch Quinoa Salad. This is a recipe I was so excited to try off of Wendy Polisi’s page Cooking Quinoa.  This is to be served with chips and salsa. Guacamole too!

Tuesday: Since I’ve gotten in the habit of salads on Tuesdays I’m keeping with the theme. Big Ole Salad night! With a Country French bread.

Wednesday: Pita sandwich. Filled with a quinoa, chickpea salad. With black-eyed pea hummus. Sweet potato fries as a side dish.

Thursday: Chili (oh yes! It’s that time of year again. I can finalize my recipe!) with rice. Cornbread as a side dish.

Friday: Spaghetti with “meatballs.” Garlic bread as a side

Saturday: Tunisian Bean Stew with Country French Bread. Salad as a side dish. I was wanting to use pumpkin since it’s October and all so I found a great recipe on Susan’s website, Fat Free Vegan.

Sunday: Roasted Squash stuffed with quinoa. Cranberry green beans (getting ready for Thanksgiving too!) as a side dish.

One thing I learned in Culinary School (among many, of course) was getting everything ready for prep. Mis En Place. If I need carrots for 4 of my recipes it would be best to get them all prepped at once. It does seem to make things a tad easier.

I felt as though I had an assembly line going on for produce. I had 7 onions to cut!

One of my favorite kitchen gadgets, my egg slicer. Although, I never use it for eggs. Funny, huh? I use it for mushrooms. Sometimes black or green olives. It’s so convenient and easy to use!

For my chili I roast up some red bell peppers and jalapenos. Today, I did something a little differently. I cut the red bells into large slices. The jalapeno, I cut in half. I roasted that way, it was actually easier than doing them whole. I love roasted veggies!

I believe I sauteed a pound a half of mushrooms today. I guess I like to incorporate mushrooms. They are so flavorful, meaty, and full of great nutritious value.

Today’s cook took 8 hours. That’s not including the 2 hours it took to shop. I’m still learning and I’ve realized this one every recipe I chose had many components. Each one took longer than anticipated which is why my 5-6 hour cook time ended up being extended. I’m in learning mode, that’s for sure.

But!

I’m wiped!

We are certainly prepared for the week. And, the hubby got dinner on the table tonight. He did the finishing touches so I could spend some time with my little one.

This is why I do this! More time with the family. So, yes, a little late on my blog but I have a good excuse, right? And, I now have dinner for the week! Yay!

What time savers do you do in the kitchen?

Do you ever prepare meals ahead of time?

Marsha
~PlantStrongMoma
http://www.ahousefullofhealth.blogspot.com
http://www.ahousefullofhealth.com

Guest Blogger: Veggietorials – Kalbi Style Baked Tofu + Pajeon {Scallion Pancake}

Please welcome back the lovely Pacific Islander Kobi and her blog Veggietorials, which is full of beautiful and tasty recipes. I can’t get over how pretty her pictures are and how perfect the lighting is in her photos. You can see her previous contribution to VBU! here, it was a very pretty Cucumber Wakame salad. Do check out her out on all channels: Veggietorials, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube. Welcome back Cobi!

So this is how my crazy train of thought arrived at this recipe: I read an article about a photographer that was recreating death row prisoners “last meals”.Which then prompted me to think about what I would want as my final meal. And the no-brainer answer is Kalbi. My K-peeps understand that Kalbi (Korean BBQ) is a taste that’s hard to give up. For me, it’s more about the marinade and less about the meat. Heck, everything will taste better after a swim in this marinade. It’s the perfect balance of savory-salty-sweet. I used the Hey Shuga organic cane syrup and really liked the flavor. Sometimes I blend in some grated Korean pear, but a lot of times I don’t have it and the marinade tastes just as amazing without it.

• Perfect for portobellas before you pan fry or throw them on the grill
• Use a reduced sodium soy sauce for the Kalbi marinade and try it on seitan
• Marinate tempeh overnight and pan fry

The baked tofu will have a deep flavor and chewy texture. I like to slice the baked tofu thin for banh mi style sandwiches. For salads and stir fries, I prefer the tofu cubed up. And for a quick dinner, I enjoy a Kalbi tofu “steak” with pajeon, kimchi, rice and a salad.

Pajeon (Scallion Pancake) is a savory side dish that looks fancy shmancy but is quite easy to make. I use scallions, green onions, chives or other seasonal veggies from my garden. Dip pajeon into kochoojang sauce for a little heat and a spicy kick. This Pajeon recipe was adapted from Maangchi, the internet demi god of Korean cooking. I was surprised that her original recipe was actually vegan♡. When I tried it without the Vegg and baking soda, my pancake was a globby mess even though I used a non-stick pan. The results were perfect once I added baking soda and The Vegg – Vegan Egg Yolk gave it the flavor of the pajeon my grandma used to make.

Kalbi Style Vegan Baked Tofu & Pajeon {Scallion Pancake}

by Veggietorials

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Keywords: bake fry entree side sandwich snack appetizer dairy free nut-free vegan vegetarian tofu Meatless Monday Korean

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Ingredients (4 servings)

For the Baked Tofu

• 1 block firm or extra firm organic tofu,pressed
• 1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 4 tablespoons organic liquid cane sugar syrup or agave nectar
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger,minced
• 3 tablespoons green onions, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds
• optional-half Korean pear, grated. When using the pear, place all marinade ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth

For the scallion pancake

• 15 thin green onions, cut into 5 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon miso
• 2 tablespoons The Vegg,pre mixed
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil

Instructions

For the Tofu

Drain tofu.Remove excess water with a tofu press or wrap the block of tofu between two kitchen towels and place heavy books on top for about 20 minutes. Slice the tofu block in half so that each piece is about 1 inch thick. This process will allow the marinade to be easily absorbed.

Mix all the marinade ingredients together in a small bowl. Adjust seasoning and add black pepper to taste. Place the tofu in a rimmed dish and pour the marinade on top. Refrigerate and marinate for at least 2 hours, overnight is best.

Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place tofu in the middle of the sheet and bake for one hour total. Flip the tofu over after 30 minutes to cook and brown evenly. Remove from oven and cool slightly before slicing.

For the scallion pancake

Mix together all the pancake ingredients (except the oil and green onions) to create the batter. Heat 1 tablespoon coconut oil over high heat and place half of the scallions in even layer in the pan. Pour just enough batter over the scallions to cover them. Cook for about 2 1/2 minutes, until the edges start to form bubbles. Flip the pancake, reduce heat to medium high and cook for an additional 3 minutes. Repeat to make another pancake. Serve with kochoojang sauce if you like it spicy.

Please watch the video to master the technique.

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Guest Blogger: Vegan Masquerade – Maesri Curry Recipe

We love when bloggers come back for more guest posts. Here is the lovely Marissa living in North Dakota with her husband and two guinea pigs named Sage & Basil. You can enjoy her pervious post here. Keep up with her blog Vegan Masquerade via: Twitter, and the blog itself. Welcome back Marissa!

Disclaimer – This is my friend Brian’s recipe. @BrianLoeb on twitter. We went vegan within a week of each other. He’s pretty much pure awesome.

Ingredients:

(2) 19-oz cans of coconut milk + 1/2 can water

(1) can Maesri Prik Khing Curry Paste

(1) tsp. cayenne pepper [more or less/this stuff ishot]

A few shakes dried mint leaves -(or)- 3-4 fresh mint leaves

(1) c. spinach

(1) c. mushrooms

(1) c. zucchini

(1) block of tofu – drained & cubed

A giant pot of brown rice

Start by bringing the cans of coconut milk to a boil [I kept the heat on medium high] – stirring frequently. I couldn’t find 19-oz cans so I bought three 14-oz cans and made it work.

Once the coconut milk is boiling, add the entire can of curry paste. Stir until dissolved.

Once the liquid is blended, stir in the spices. Warning – watch out with that cayenne. I think I added a bit more than a teaspoon and my mouth regretted it later. Less.Is.More. If you use fresh mint leaves, make sure you remove them before serving.

You could really use any veggies that you have lying around. I have a bunch of zucchini lying around that I haven’t figured out what to do with yet so I threw a cup of those in there.

Mushrooms – which I did saute first in some olive oil.

Spinach – which you can either throw in the pot and let it wilt… or lay a bed on the rice to help retain some of it’s nutrients.

Finally, tofu – which for me, is a must for curry.

Let everything simmer at a medium heat until heated through and the tofu has sucked in the curry-flavor.

With this much coconut milk, it will be a soupy-consistancy. Serve hot over brown rice. This makes a lot – and is even better leftover.

Enjoy!

Guest Blogger: The Unintentional Vegan – Roasted Tomato Artichoke Spaghetti

We love to welcome first time contributors. Meet Ashley, she is the author of blog The Unintentional Vegan, here she is in her own words,”My name is Ashley and I’ve been completely vegan for a little over a year now after being vegetarian for a year. I love creating new recipes that are (mostly) made from scratch, but are still easy enough for any skill level to make them. Making vegan food fun and accessible is my main goal and I love to share my vegan dishes at work potlucks and family gatherings. I have a cat and while I love him dearly, at heart I’m a dog person.” You can keep in touch with Ashley through her Facebook page, Twitter and of course her blog. Please welcome Ashley!

Annnnnnd we’re back to the work week! I hope you all had a fun and/or restful weekend. The fam and I went for a long hike yesterday and discovered some new trails, which was a blast. We were planning on going camping, but the weather has been sort of gross here – raining off and on with ridiculous heat and humidity – so we opted for a long day-hike instead.

Today’s recipe was born out of the husband’s desire for a new pasta dish. He loves pasta, but since I’ve been experimenting so much in the kitchen we rarely have it anymore. So, I thought I’d indulge him while still doing an experiment or two.

If you have a lot of tomatoes around from the farmer’s market or your own garden, then feel free to substitute the canned tomatoes for fresh ones – though I suggest boiling and peeling them before you roast them. One can is equivalent to about 4 medium-sized fresh tomatoes.

The balsamic gives the dish a nice tang and the overall dish seems a bit more refined than the normal spaghetti with marinara sauce. Serve with French bread and sprinkle a bit of Italian seasoning over the top for a yummy pasta dish!

Guest Blogger: Chronicles of Passion – Unmexican Burritos

Who doesn’t love burritos? Great comfort food and easy on the budget if you want to stretch a dollar. Laura, author of Chronicles of Passion, is a: runner, lover of cooking, baking and traveling. She is someone who enjoys being social, meeting new people, and gaining new experiences. By taking on challenges Laura discovered she enjoys participating in hot yoga – pretty healthy revelation! With hugs and boundless creativity she plans to take on the world; right after finishing University. Please welcome Laura!

Let’s be serious: the only thing Mexican about these burritos is that I called them that.

They are made with fava beans, not black beans or refried beans.

They have sweet potato, red cabbage and apple. A great combination together, but who puts that in burritos?

They are served in homemade 100% wholewheat flour tortillas. Semi-burrito-like I suppose.

They are a nice mix of spicy and sweet – not just all-out-burning-my-mouth-spicy like a lot of burritos.

Oh and they have kale. Healthified as my brother would say.

But really, they are just my own version of burritos. One that is a little different, a little uncharacteristic of said Mexican classic, and a whole lot original. Be original. Make whatever you want and call it whatever you want, because sometimes it’s not about being the same, conforming to the normal, going with the flow. It’s not about doing what every one else is doing, making what everyone else says and having the same thing over and over. It’s about being spontaneous, trying something new, making something different. Yeah you might mess it up (don’t worry, I mess up a lot of recipes, and they just never make it on here . . . ), sometimes it might just be a total flop (remember my sourdough bread?), but at the end of the day, you fail, mess it up, try again, start again and eventually succeed. And when you succeed in something a little out of the ordinary, it’s a little bit sweeter. Because it was nobody else’s successes that you were running after or coming second to. It was all your own.

Unmexican Burritos

Quite unmexican ingredients, but just as messy and awesome as the standard. Be original.

Ingredients (2 Burrito fillings)

• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 small red onion, sliced
• 1/2 portobello mushroom, sliced
• 1/4 cup red cabbage, diced
• 1/4 cup sweet potato, cut into match sticks
• 1/4 cup stewed tomatoes, with juice
• 1/4 apple, sliced
• 1/4 tsp ground Fenugreek
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 1/4 tsp garam Marsala
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 tsp honey mustard
• 1 tbsp apple wine (or juice or cider)
• 2 flour tortillas (homemade or store bought)
• 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup fava beans, drained
• 3 kale leaves, torn into pieces

Instructions

• In a small saucepan, cook onion and garlic over medium heat until fragrant.
• Add red cabbage, mushroom, sweet potato, stewed tomatoes and spices. Cover and let simmer until vegetables are mostly cooked.
• Add apple wine, balsamic vinegar, mustard and apple and continue to cook on medium heat until vegetables are fully cooked.
• Add fava beans, kale and tomato sauce to thicken. Cover and simmer until kale has wilted.
• Spoon into two flour tortillas and roll into burritos.

Don’t worry, these burritos are still just as messy as the classic kind. I guess that’s kind of normal.