Onion Soup Almond Dip

 

Remember that awesome dip where you take a packet of powdered french onion soup and mix it into a giant tub of sour cream?

Delicious, right?

Really unhealthy, right?

Kind of makes you feel gross after you eat it, right?  Probably because you somehow downed half a tub of sour cream in mere minutes . . .

And so not vegan.

Introducing a really simple two-ingredient recipe for an onion soup dip you can feel good about eating! 

I found this Simply Organic French Onion Soup mix.  It's vegan.  I blended it into some soaked almonds for a nutritious and wonderful dip! 

So I basically just told you the recipe, but here it is in normal-recipe form:

serves 8

1 C raw almonds

1 packet onion soup mix

Soak almonds in water overnight.  You can peel the almonds if you want to, but I kept them on.  No need for an extra step!  Blend onion soup mix into the almonds in a food processor or high-speed blender.

Serve alongside carrot sticks, celery, chips, pita wedges - whatever you want!  I had a piece of leftover garlic bread with mine.  Wow.  :)

Nutrition facts per serving: Calories: 71; Calories from Fat: 53; Total Fat: 5.9g; Sodium: 72mg; Total Carbohydrates: 3.1g; Dietary Fiber: 1.5g; Sugars: 0.5g; Protein: 2.6g

Chai Tea Concentrate Recipe Review

I have been meaning to share this recipe for a really long time.  I think I first tried it right around the same time I started the blog.

But to me, chai tea lattes are a fall and winter treat.  So I've been waiting.  And now it's finally time!  

Thanks to this awesome recipe from The Vegan Slow Cooker, I made myself a giant pitcher of home-brewed chai tea concentrate to last me all week.  Warming and fall-like and delicious!

recipe from The Vegan Slow Cooker

serves a whole lot

6 C water

5 slices fresh ginger

7 whole cinnamon sticks

10 whole cloves

10 whole peppercorns

8 whole allspice berries

¼ t cardamom seeds

10 tea bags

½ to 1 C agave nectar or maple syrup (optional)

Throw everything except last two ingredients into slow cooker.  Cook on low 8-10 hours (I did on high 3 hours and that worked wonderfully.)  Then add tea bags, cook on high for 5-10 minutes, and mix in sweetener at the end.  I think it's fantastic without the sweetener, so I leave it out.  Your call! 

Now you've got your concentrate.  Mix equal parts concentrate and your favorite non-dairy milk (soooo good with steamed vanilla soy milk!)  You can add a splash of sweetener to a single serving instead of adding to the whole mix if you want. 

Travel version for work: Mason jar of the concentrate.  Jar of soy milk.  Mug and microwave at work - I'm all set! 

I was especially happy to have my travel version today because work was so cold that I got my picnic blanket out of my car and wrapped myself up in it.  I'm oh-so-professional :) 

Nutrition facts: I have no idea!  It's tea with spices infused!  Just enjoy and don't add too much sweetener. 

Pumpkin Pie Spiced Ice Cream

 

Happy First Day of Fall!!!!!!

Um, this is my favorite time of year.  And I have been in Southern California for the past four years, and have sadly missed my Nor-Cal falls.  I just think it's a happy, peaceful, beautiful, cozy time, and I am so excited.

Except really, in Sacramento, it's still summer.  We can say it's fall all we want.  But the high today was 90.  Ugh.

Happy solution?  Classic pumpkin pie flavors in an ice cream.

Now I'm hoping this ice cream will be satisfying even for those of you who actually have cool fall weather right now.  Being a born-and-raised Californian, I'm not familiar with a time when I don't want ice cream because of the cold.  Times when I want ice cream, and then complain about being chilly and bury my feet under a blanket are familiar.  But not wanting ice cream in the first place?  I've not experienced this.

So I'm making ice cream to celebrate the beginning of fall!  Let's face it, anything pumpkin = fall, no matter what the weather's like!

serves 6

1 C canned pumpkin puree

1 1/2 C soy milk

1/2 C  soy creamer

1/4 C pure maple syrup 

1 T ground cinnamon

1/2 t freshly grated nutmeg

Blend everything together.  Pour into an ice cream machine.  Sans-ice-cream-machine: Blend everything and pour into a glass storage container and freeze.  Thaw slightly to soften, scoop into a food processor or blender, and blend before serving.

A little topping of chopped candied pecans is ahhhh-mazing.

Happy little taste of fall :) 

Nutrition Facts per serving: Calories: 132; Calories from Fat: 50; Total Fat: 5.6g; Sodium: 57mg; Total Carbohydrates: 18.4g; Dietary Fiber: 1.8g; Sugars: 14.6g; Protein: 0.5g

Orange & Red Onion Salad

Hello, lovely readers!  I have a few quick updates about the blog before I get on to the food!  First, I'm working on updating my pages to make them a little more viewer-friendly (super exciting changes like altering fonts and adding pictures on my recipes page - I'm quite the techie.) 

I'm adding more pages - my Tips & How-Tos page is brand new.  I've only done a few posts like that recently, and I plan to do a lot more!  Flora Foodie will always be food-centric, but I have lots of tips to share and don't have any good reason for not having done more yet. 

A couple exciting additions to look forward to: I'm trying to work on a logo, and I'm putting together a rather monstrous "recommended reading" page for y'all!  So take a look as I'm making changes and please give me your feedback!  Let me know what new changes you like, and what else you want to see as I continue to improve Flora Foodie!

Okay.  Food.

Today's recipe is a piece of cake.  Oranges and red onions pair together so nicely, you don't need much else to make a delectable salad!

Now this salad is not exactly for a romantic date-night or lunch at the office.  It's more of a single-lady-eating-dinner-with-her-cat-and-not-leaving-the-apartment kind of a meal.  At least that's what I did last night.  :)

serves 1

2 1/4-inch thick slices red onion

2 small navel oranges, peeled and sliced

1 T chopped chives

2 t orange juice

2 t champagne vinegar

2 t agave nectar

nice pinch each of salt & freshly ground black pepper

Slice your red onions and then take a teeny nibble of one.  You want to test just how strong this sucker is before you dive into a salad that's half raw onion.  If it's too strong to eat raw, then soak your onions in ice cold water for about 10 minutes.  I think it works best if you separate the onion rings before doing that.  Taste them after 10 minutes and soak a little longer if they're still too strong. 

Combine orange juice, vinegar, and nectar in a small bowl.  Arrange your onion and orange on a plate, pour dressing on top, sprinkle with chives, salt, and pepper.  There's your salad! 

To be completely honest with you, I made the salad like this because it's prettiest this way.  To make it a little easier to eat, I usually segment the oranges (when you take off the rind and then cut out the individual segments away from the white pith inside) and slice the onions into half circles instead of those big ones.  That way, you can segment the orange over a bowl and you'll get a lot of extra juice in the bowl.  Use that to start your dressing!

Nutrition Facts per serving: Calories: 145; Calories from Fat: 2; Total Fat: 0.3g; Sodium: 1mg; Total Carbohydrates: 36.1g; Dietary Fiber: 4.9g; Sugars: 29.6g; Protein: 2.2g

How to Make Boba at Home (and Vegan!)

Got any boba lovers out there?  Got any confused people out there?  You know those drinks you see with weird black bubbles in the bottom?  That is called boba!  Or bubble tea.

It sounds like such a strange thing - a tea with balls of tapioca (yes, they're made out of tapioca!) at the bottom that you slurp up through over-sized straws.  Oh, but it's just so yummy.

But you know, those milk teas that they're traditionally served in are not vegan.  Plus they have a rather high calorie count and tons of sugar.  So I'm showing you how to make your own boba at home.  You can avoid those nasty sugar-, calorie-, and dairy-loaded powdered milks they use at tea houses, save your money, and have healthy vegan boba at home!

The key of course is getting your tapioca pearls.  I buy them at Asian markets (see my Asian Market Guide post!) or online.  There are actually a lot websites where you can buy boba online, like tenrenteatime.com or bobateasupply.com.  I buy from Boba Tea Supply through Amazon.  You can also buy the straws - love that!  Free shipping too.  Fantastic.  Note for boba newbies: you definitely want the special straws.  It's just not the same if you have to spoon out your boba.  You need these giant made-for-boba straws (they're great for thick smoothies too!)

Once you have your boba, the hard part's over!

Boba is best if you just make what you plan on drinking now.  But you can also prepare some ahead of time so it's ready to go whenever you want it.  I'll tell you how to do both!

single-serve:

1/3 C tapioca pearls

as much brewed tea as you want

sweetener of choice (see more below!)

splash of creamy element of your choice (see more below on this one too!)

to prepare ahead of time:

serves 4

1 1/3 C tapioca pearls

1/2 C brown sugar

1/2 C water

(you'll add the other components at the time you assemble your drink)

[picture: uncooked boba - up close and personal!]

Tapioca pearls: boil water for the tapioca pearls.  You want enough water for them to move around, like you're making pasta.  You'll bring the water to a boil, add your tapioca pearls.  When they rise to the top of the water, cover with a lid and allow to cook for 5 minutes.  If you're making some to save for later, cook 15 minutes - and stir a few times while they're boiling.

Sweetener: make a simple syrup to sweeten the boba.  This is a great place to play around with natural sweeteners and low-sweeteners.  One of the most common ways I found when I started making these and looked up about a billion recipes online is equal parts brown sugar and water in a small saucepan to make a simple syrup.  You only need about 2 T each for a single serving.  See recipe above for leftovers.  Bring to a boil until the sugar dissolves.  Turn heat off and allow to cool.  When the boba are done, you drain them and pour the simple syrup over them and allow it to soak in while the boba cool, about 15 minutes. 

For a single-serving: I've played around with different and healthier sweetener options.  I haven't yet tried for a big batch.  You can keep the same amount of water and use less sugar for a lightly sweetened option.  You can also sub brown rice syrup for the brown sugar for a more natural sweetener.  My favorite alternative is to use a natural sweetener - I boil and drain the boba, then pour a little agave or maple syrup over the boba pearls in the glass I plan to drink out of and let them sit while they cool for about 10-15 minutes. 

Tea: you can use any kind of tea you want.  My favorites are plain green tea or mango teas.  But you can use absolutely anything!  Matcha is also a great thing to use here.  Just prepare your tea, let it cool while your boba are cooling. 

Put boba in a glass, add tea and a splash of soy milk or creamer if you want it to be milky like store-bought boba.  Or coconut milk!  [The first picture on this page shows: matcha tea with a splash of soy milk, mango tea with a splash of creamer, black tea with a heavy pour of coconut milk! Yum!]

For your make-ahead batch: Cover with plastic wrap and keep refrigerated.  To make a glass, stir up the boba, scoop however much you want into the bottom of a microwavable glass.  Microwave 30 seconds on high, add your tea, and drink up!  I don't recommend keeping a batch around for more than a few days.

Nutrition facts for 1/3 C boba (varies depending on brand): Calories: 110; Calories from Fat: 0; Total Fat: 0g; Sodium: 60mg; Total Carbohydrate: 27g; Dietary Fiber: 1g; Sugars: 0g; Protein: 0g

Creamy Curried Potato Salad

I did something pretty strange.  If you've looked at my blog, like . . . at all, you've probably noticed that I love my spicy foods.  So curry seems like a natural thing for me to make.  But I made a mild, cool, creamy curry dish. 

And it's fantastic.  It still has a nice bold and recognizable curry flavor, but paired with fresh veggies, potatoes, and herbs.  Plus my awesome creamy sauce is made creamy with soaked cashews.  Mmmm.

serves 4

4 medium red potatoes

1 C cashews, soaked in water overnight

1/2 C water

3 T  mild curry paste (I used an Indian curry, but Thai curries would probably be great too!)

1 large carrot, shredded

1 stalk celery, diced

1/3 C chopped red onion (or one small shallot)

1/2 C chopped fresh dill

pinch of salt

Wash and cube potatoes in nice large potato-salad-sized chunks.  Place them in a saucepan with lots of cold water and bring to a boil.  Cook about 15-20 minutes until they're fork tender.  Drain. 

While the potatoes are cooking, prepare your sauce and chop all your veggies.  Combine soaked cashews, water, and curry paste in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth! 

When the potatoes are done and everything else is chopped and ready, combine everything in one bowl.  You can do this when the potatoes are still warm and have a warm potato salad or allow it to cool.  I think it's wonderful either way! 

*Note: after I made and ate a hefty amount of this, I noticed that my curry paste label says it should be cooked before consuming.  Of course.  I'm not sure why that is, as the ingredients are all edible raw - just spices and oil - and I ate a nice big portion of this with no problems.  If it worries you, try putting your curry paste in a small saucepan and heating on low before using.  I tested this out and it doesn't seem to affect the flavor or texture, so have at it!  

Nutrition facts per serving:  Calories: 432; Calories from Fat: 189; Total Fat: 21.0g; Saturated Fat: 3.2g; Sodium: 87mg; Total Carbohydrates: 54.8g; Dietary Fiber: 6.8g; Sugars: 5.2g; Protein: 11.4g

Leftover Makeover: Baked Arancini

Got leftover risotto?  Perhaps from my last post?  :)  It's just never as good re-heated.  Sad fact. So here's what to do with your leftovers. 

 

Arancini are one of those decadently amazing foods that I had to indulge in every now and then in my pre-vegan days.  Sadly, it's pretty much impossible to find vegan arancini.

So I have to make my own.  I'm ok with that.

If you have not had arancini before, here's the deal: leftover risotto.  Rolled into a ball.  Cheese in the middle.  Deep fried.

Yup.

Sooooo let's not waste any time on this one.  Recipe!

serves 4

2 C leftover risotto

1/2 C vegan mozzarella (you need a kind you can cut into cubes)

2 T regular bread crumbs

2 T panko bread crumbs

tomato sauce for dipping

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

First you can test if the consistency of your risotto allows you to roll it into a ball.  If it does, you've saved one step!  If not, here's my super-inauthentic cheater method that avoids adding eggs (the traditional method): puree about 1/3 of your risotto and mix it with the not-pureed part.   Works great!

Take a spoonful of risotto and form it into a ball.  You can make them any size you want - they're traditionally finger food, and when you bake the risotto it firms up so you can pick them up.  But I had them in a restaurant once where you needed a fork and knife, and for some reason I just love them that way.  

So take your risotto-ball, poke a hole in the middle of the ball and put one of your cheese cubes inside.  Seal the ball back up.  Roll in bread crumbs and place on a cooking-sprayed baking sheet.

Bake for about 30 minutes, until warmed through and golden and crispy!

Nutrition facts per serving: Calories: 340; Calories from Fat: 75; Total Fat: 8.3g; Saturated Fat: 1.5g; Sodium: 922mg; Total Carbohydrates: 49.7g; Dietary Fiber: 3.8g; Sugars: 2.7g; Protein: 11.0g

Saffron & Peas Risotto

I don't really have any story behind this dish.  I just love risotto, and I make it kind of a lot.  I wanted to make sure y'all know how surprisingly easy it is to make! 

Enjoy :)

serves 8
8 C vegetable broth
3/4 t saffron threads
2 T Earth Balance
1 large shallot (or 2 small ones)
2 C arborio rice
3/4 C white wine (whatever you want to drink cause you'll have most of a bottle left!) 
1 1/2 C frozen peas
salt & pepper to taste

Heat vegetable broth and saffron threads over medium-low heat in a large saucepan.  Meanwhile, in a large high-sided skillet or another saucepan, melt the Earth Balance.  Then add the shallot and saute until soft, several minutes. Add the rice and cook just a couple of minutes until coated in the Earth Balance and lightly toasted.

Pour in the wine and stir vigorously for about 30 seconds.  Then let all the wine absorb into the rice.  When it's absorbed, give it another good stir.  Then add a ladleful of the veggie broth.  Stir vigorously again.  You're going to repeat this process with the broth until the rice turns creamy and is cooked through.



Stir in the peas until they're warm.  Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

I think I was inspired to add the peas because of the gorgeous saffron color - reminds me of putting peas in blue box macaroni as a kid.  Anyone else do that?  Plus I love the contrast of classy risotto with saffron and peas that people tend to not think of as a particularly elegant food.

Next up, I'm posting a leftover makeover for this!  So hold on to some of that extra risotto :)  

Nutrition Facts per serving:  Calories: 280; Calories from Fat: 43; Total Fat: 4.8g; Saturated Fat: 1.3g; Sodium: 817mg; Total Carbohydrates: 43.8g; Dietary Fiber: 3.0g; Sugars: 2.3g; Protein: 9.6g

Strawberry Kiwi Smoothie + Freezing Fruit Trick

Time for a crazy-easy 3-ingredient recipe! 

Of course, I'm posting this recipe to give you a delicious smoothie recipe you can try.  But I actually have an ulterior motive here: to show you a super-simple kitchen trick!  It's called: freeze stuff. 

I'm using frozen kiwi in this recipe - because, let's face it, the combination of strawberry + kiwi is classic and wonderful!  But you might be wondering where I got frozen kiwi.  The answer is easier than you might think: I bought some fresh kiwis when they were ripe and on sale, and I peeled, chopped, and froze them.

Hmmmm.

So simple, but sometimes we just don't think of these fairly obvious tricks.  It took me a really long time and far too many pieces of thrown-out fruit to realize that you can just freeze your fruit when it is slightly overripe and then it doesn't go bad!  And you have smoothie (or maybe baking?!) ingredients ready and waiting when you want them.

This is especially helpful for those of us who have to buy some of our favorite fruit when they're on sale, even if that means we're buying way too much food.  I don't know why I can't exercise self-restraint sometimes!  Oh well.

Hey, here's a recipe!

serves 1

5 large frozen strawberries

1/2 C frozen kiwi cubes

1 1/4 C vanilla soy milk

optional add-ins: 1 T chia seeds or freshly ground flax seeds - get your Omega-3s!

Directions: blend everything together.

Okay, back to my freezing advice: What can you freeze?  Ummm pretty much anything.  Right now I have frozen cantaloupe, watermelon, more kiwis, strawberries, blueberries, bananas, white nectarines, and cherries that I bought fresh and froze to prevent them from going to waste.

Maybe that seems like a bit much, because clearly I am not good at judging how much fresh fruit I'm going to eat and I buy too much.  But now that summer's winding down I am getting pickier with my fruit.  I don't walk by displays of strawberries or cantaloupe that smell so strongly sweet and ripe that I am urged to buy them.  The sales prices aren't as ridiculously tempting as they were at the beginning of summer.  Nonetheless (yep, I said it.  I did go to law school, I have to use these archaic words somewhere), I have a nice stock of wonderful fruit.  Lucky me!  Sadly, it won't last all winter as it tends to get icy and/or frostbitten.  But in my experience, most frozen fruit is great for about 2-3 months. 

So try it!  Freeze stuff.  I'm obviously focusing on fruit here, but freeze your leftovers, chopped up veggies you're not going to use before they rot, tofu you don't feel like using now.  I think I'll have to post more on other freezer tricks later.  For now, focus on end-of-summer fruit!  Freeze stuff!  

Nutrition facts per smoothie (sans the chia or flax): Calories: 129; Calories from Fat: 25; Total Fat: 2.7g; Saturated Fat: 0.6g; Sodium: 152mg; Total Carbohydrates: 22.6g; Dietary Fiber: 2.7g; Sugars: 15.7g; Protein: 6.0g

Drunken Tuscan Pasta w/ Pan-Roasted Tomatoes

I got to do something pretty exciting yesterday!  I joined the brilliant planners and participants for the 2nd Annual Sacramento Vegan Chef Challenge for a little meet-and-greet.  The Vegan Chef Challenge ("VCC") is a month-long event here in Sacramento in which a bunch of restaurants have agreed to provide a vegan menu.  They'll make an appetizer, entree, and dessert different than what they have on their normal menu, just for the challenge. 

So for the month of October, I will be dining out more than usual to see what these fantastic chefs come up with!  For the next couple of weeks, I'll be interviewing some of the participating chefs to hear their thoughts.  I'll post the interviews I conduct (hopefully with a recipe!), so watch for those.  Look for the rest of the interviews on the VCC website, or on the other participating bloggers' sites: LimeTreeLife, What Runs Lori, and Eat Well Live Free.

Okay, now onto food! 

I must start by saying thank you, Rachael Ray, for this beautiful idea.  My "drunken" pasta was cooked in wine.  That's right.  Boil wine, cook pasta in it.

Wow.

I'm pairing this pasta with a really simple sauce.  It's almost the end of tomato season!  Sad.  But this is a simple way to cook tomatoes to help bring their sweet flavor out.  I roast them in a pan.  In some really good olive oil.  With garlic.

Quick side note about my olive oil, and another little tip for my fellow Sacramentans! You should try this place: The Chefs' Olive Mix in Old Sac has olive oil and vinegar pairings.  Yes.  Obscene amounts of flavored olive oils and vinegars, and a nice long list of delicious pairing ideas, like these:  Fig Balsamic + Mushroom & Sage EVOO.  Blackberry Ginger Balsamic + Persian Lime EVOO.  Coconut White Balsamic + Dark Chocolate Balsamic + Almond Oil.  Look how fun!  (You can also order online.)

I bought a bottle of Tuscan Herb olive oil.  So. good.  Goes well with anything Mediterranean.

So that's what I'm using to pan-roast these end-of-summer tomatoes. The oil is part of the sauce, so use whatever oil you like best.

serves 2

1 bottle red wine of choice (this recipe just screams for a Two Buck Chuck!)

4 oz whole wheat pasta

2 T olive oil

2 C assorted cherry or pear tomatoes

3 cloves garlic, smashed and peeled (but keep whole)
salt & pepper

1/4 C basil

Pour entire bottle of wine into a large sauce pan.  Fill the pan the rest of the way up (as far as you need to cook your pasta) with water.  Bring to a boil, and cook your pasta!

Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium-low heat.  Add the olive oil, tomatoes (you can halve them or keep them whole), garlic, and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have burst and their skins are withered and slightly browned.  Throw out the garlic.

If your tomatoes are already lacking in flavor, a splash of balsamic vinegar right before you turn the heat off is a fantastic addition.

Toss pasta, tomatoes, and fresh basil together. Simple and delicious!

Nutrition facts per serving: Calories: 348; Calories from Fat: 140; Total Fat: 15.5g; Saturated Fat: 2.0g; Sodium: 11mg; Total Carbohydrates: 45.0g; Dietary Fiber: 5.8g; Sugars: 2.0g; Protein: 7.2g

*I have no idea how cooking the pasta in wine affects the nutrition facts - these don't include the wine in any way.