Vegan MoFo Day 27 - Dressings

Vegan MoFo Day 27 - Dressings

Earlier in the month I shared my easy tofu method which I love to have on salads. Even though some people seem to think all vegans eat are salads, it's still ok to love a salad. Kind of like how I didn't want to become a nurse because I didn't want to do any traditionally female jobs. Then I realized as a feminist I can do whatever job I want! So enjoy your salad! 

The key to a great salad is a variety of fresh ingredients - and a tasty dressing! I keep a couple store-bought dressings on hand, but prefer the taste of the ones I make from scratch. They are super easy as well - provided you have a blender. 

I've really come around to fruity salad dressing. I started off as more of a ranch girl. Start with a tasty vinegar, some juice like orange or pomegranate and add in some soaked cashews or hemp seeds to make it a little creamy. 

One of my favorite dressing is about a cup of pomegranate juice, handful of cashews, 1tbsp to 1/4 cup of berry vinegar and enough blueberries to thicken it up. So fresh! 

If you want to get a little fancier (and need actual measurements) you can't go wrong with the Orange Peanut Dressing from Dr Fuhrman. He has written several books and works with patients to reverse and manage chronic diseases like diabetes. I highly recommend his book Eat to Live and it has a meal plan and recipes in it. Of course if you have medical conditions and/or take medications, consult with your healthcare provider when making big lifestyle changes. Your medications may need to be adjusted - down!

Orange Peanut Dressing/Dip

from www.DrFuhrman.com

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/8 cup peanut butter

1/8 cup raw cashew butter or almond butter

1 teaspoon Bragg Liquid Aminos or low sodium soy sauce

1/4 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled

1/4 clove garlic

Instructions:

Blend all ingredients in blender until smooth.

This recipe is excellent on kale chips! Wash and spin your kale and tear it into bite size pieces. Then mix the dressing onto it evenly. Either dehydrate or bake at low temperature until dry and lightly browned (if cooking in oven). It's also wonderful as a dip for salad rolls.

Part of my vinegar collection - and big jar of nooch.

Do you have a can't miss dressing recipe? Or a favorite vinegar? As you can see, I buy a lot of mine at Trader Joe's. They really should be sponsoring this blog!

Tumalo Falls in Bend, 97 feet high.

Vegan Mofo Day 4 - Watermelon

Vegan Mofo Day 4 - Watermelon

I love watermelon. No, really. I don't care if you think you love it or if you know someone you think loves it, no one can compete with my deep and abiding love for watermelon. My parents have this pic of me about age 2 sitting on top of a picnic table in Panama with my face full in a wedge of watermelon larger than my head. I have never looked back.

Even when I was 5 and I believed if you swallowed a watermelon seed that a watermelon would grow in your belly and take over,  I continued to eat as much of it as I could. I relished becoming an adult and buying as many as I wanted and...not always having to share! When I find a good one I will go back to that store and buy 2 or 3 more. I consider a full size seedless watermelon 2 servings. Pro tip - cut it in half and eat it with a grapefruit spoon. Trader Joe's often has the best price and they are usually good. 

This delicious fruit may even help you prevent muscle soreness from working out and could help one spice things up in the bedroom. Watermelon is a good source of Vitamin C and pre-Vitamin A. At a minimum it will get you hydrated - don't eat a lot of it too close to bedtime!

But even without any health benefits, it's delicious and I'm hanging onto the last vestiges of summer by indulging! I say indulging, but the following recipe is super healthy. 

Watermelon Gazpacho - the elixir of life!

This simple and tasty cold soup recipe was shared (I think) in Dr Fuhrman's newsletter several years ago. They served it at one of his retreats which I haven't been able to attend yet. The recipe suggests blending your watermelon and cucumber and then straining it. I hate straining, so I just use my juicer. The watermelon makes a bit of a mess, but I still think it's faster and easier. 

Watermelon Gazpacho

1 seedless watermelon, 1/2 cubed and 1/2 diced

5 cucumbers, 3 chopped, 2 diced

3 limes, juiced and zested

1/2 bunch mint, finely chopped

Instructions:

Puree cubed watermelon and chopped cucumbers in a blender. You will need to work in batches. Strain juice and allow it to chill at least one hour. Add diced watermelon and cucumber to the juice along with lime juice, zest and mint.

I have regular and chocolate mint growing right now. Hmmm, would chocolate mint work or destroy this? 

And now I'm really going to blow your mind. Take a bunch of watermelon and cut it into large chunks. Put it in freezer safe containers in 2 cup amounts and put it in the back of your freezer. Do your best to forget it is there. 

Then when you are in the midst of winter despair, come upon said watermelon and make a watermelon frosty! It may just help you survive until Spring! I got this recipe from a now defunct blog so I can't credit it. Note - I use just a dash of maple syrup or none. The fruit is already so sweet!

Lime Watermelon Frosty

2 cups frozen watermelon

1 large ripe banana

2 Tbsp agave syrup (or maple syrup)

4 Tbsp lime juice (about 2 limes)

1/2 tsp lime zest

1/2 cup+ water as needed to get blender moving

optional: a few dashes of cayenne for a spicy sip

optional: a few ice cubes for an extra frosty sip – perhaps even coconut water ice cubes

Blend. Serve!

Diesel, resident of Wildwood Farm Sanctuary, says he doesn't trust people who don't like watermelon. 

I know it's after Labor Day, but how are you holding onto summer? Any foods that keep summer's spirit alive a little longer? 

Vegan MoFo Day 3 - Salad Time

Vegan MoFo 2018 - Salad Time

VeganMoFo has done a great job of providing theme prompts and ideas for posting. I plan to follow some, but likely will mostly do my own thing. Partly because I procrastinate instead of planning! 

I'm new to blogging. I've mainly blogged in the past to share with my friends my trip to St Vincent and the Grenadines where I spent the last 5 weeks of my residency. Those posts are still up and there are some about eating vegan in a small island country. Check them out if you like! 

But being pretty inexperienced at blogging I didn't even add the subscribe links (top right column) until I was looking over the blog for Vegan Mofo. So thanks for being kind! I do welcome any tips or constructive feedback!

One of the suggested themes for this week is inspiration. I don't know what could be more inspiring than fresh, local produce. Nothing beats a fresh tomato right now. Especially if you grow it yourself. I just bought my house in the winter and didn't feel prepared to get a garden in the ground by Spring, so I did container gardening again this year. So easy and no weeding! 

Hazel supervises early planting.

I kept buying more containers. It was addictive!

First strawberry harvest, 2 plants are still producing 4 months later. 

I bought these lettuce starts and they thrived! Ate off them a couple months.

Tomatoes, lettuce, herbs, cucumbers, strawberries, and more!

I always plant marigolds to keep aphids away. 

Regular and chocolate mint.

Early tomato harvest - plus one yellow cuke!

Plant a variety of tomatoes to get more flavors and prolong harvesting!

Many people think all vegans eat is salad. And that is FAR from true. But I'm not going to lie. I love a good salad with some fresh summer produce. And when you grew it somehow it tastes even better!

One of my favorite simple meals is to prep a fresh salad with whatever veggies I have on hand. Then I press some firm or extra firm tofu (I have a tofu presser and love it) and dice it into small squares. On a hot skillet I spray a small amount of oil using a pump. Then I sprinkle herbs directly onto it - whatever you like works, but I usually use an Italian herb blend. Put the tofu in the pan, then sprinkle more herbs on the top. Sauté while rotating so several sides of the tofu get brown. I usually put half of the tofu block on my salad warm and then eat the rest the next day cold. I love it either way.

My dogs love tofu!

I often make my own dressing, but keep some on hand for when I'm feeling lazy. 

Sorry Hazel - all gone!

Many of my tomatoes never even made it in the house. Most of the sungolds and black cherry tomatoes I ate while standing next to the plant! There are so delicious while warm from the sun!

You can container garden on a patio or even just put some basil in your window. Do you garden or have a small space you could add some containers? Now is the time to plant for fall and winter gardens! Many greens do great late into the year. 

Stick tug of war!