Thursday, October 18, 2012

Clean Food, Recipe 15- Skillet Cornbread

Ahh, cornbread.  Who doesn't love cornbread?  It is one of my favorite foods to make this time of year and it goes especially well with soups and stews.  I have an abundance of peppers and fresh corn right now, so I decided to make this as the side dish for the Apple Squash Soup the other night.  It's very simple to throw together and bakes up in a cast iron skillet in about 20 minutes, so you don't have to wait long to enjoy it.  You follow the basic pattern for baking- first combine the dry ingredients (corn flour, cornmeal, unbleached all-purpose flour*, powdered egg replacer, baking powder, baking soda, and salt).  Then, you combine all the wet ingredients and veggies (rice milk, maple syrup, extra-virgin olive oil, jalepeno, red bell pepper, and fresh corn).  Mix the wet into the dry and the batter is done.  This gets poured into an oiled and preheated cast iron skillet and baked for 20 minutes at 375 degrees.  If you want to jazz it up a bit you can add in some cheddar flavor Daiya shreds too.  The batter comes out VERY thick- almost too thick.  I knew this was an indication that the final product might be a little off.  Unfortunately, it was.  The flavor in this recipe was good, and I love the pop of the fresh corn, but it was SUPER dry and crumbly in texture- not what you want in cornbread.  The texture really ruined it for me- it was just so dry that it really needed to be slathered in earth balance just to get it down- it was rough.  I think this recipe just needs some tweaking to add back some moisture- it just cannot be eaten as written.  For now, I think I'll stick with Alicia Silverstone's recipe for cornbread in The Kind Diet- that is DELICIOUS!

My rating- 4.5

*I used brown rice flour instead since I am currently avoiding gluten.

Clean Food, Recipe 14- Apple Squash Soup

My favorite time of year has arrived.  I love Fall.  I REALLY love the food in the Fall- squash, apples, pears, pumpkins, potatoes, etc...All so comforting and yummy.  This soup makes good use of seasonal produce (something I have an abundance of right now thanks to my CSA!).  It is also REALLY easy to throw together- another bonus on a busy school night.  To start, all you do is saute some onion in grapeseed oil until soft.  Then you add in some cubed butternut squash, cubed apples, a quart of vegetable stock, some rice milk, coconut milk, and ground nutmeg.  This just simmers in the pot for about 20 minutes, or until all the squash is softened.  Puree with an immersion blender, season with salt and pepper, and you are good to go.  I love the simplicity of this dish- it is crazy easy.  I also like the clean, simple flavor of the soup.  It isn't crowded with heavy spices- just a touch of nutmeg does the trick.  (Some of these kinds of soups can have curry, cayenne, cinnamon etc...I find that really takes over and clouds the pure flavor of the squash.)  The one thing I don't like about it- it's pureed.  I'm not a huge fan of pureed soups (it's a texture thing), but I did like this soup better than some other pureed squash soups I've tried.  If you have very little time to fuss with cooking and you have an abundance of Fall produce, this is the soup for you!

My rating- 7

Friday, October 5, 2012

Forgot my rating!

Totally forgot to write my rating for the Quick Brown Rice Breakfast recipe- I give it a 9!  Totally worth trying out and chances are you have everything you need to make this in your pantry right now- so go make it tomorrow morning!  Enjoy!

Honorable Mention, Recipe 8- Quick Brown Rice Breakfast

This was my breakfast yesterday and I am so happy to share it with you all.  This is from Tosca Reno's Eat Clean Diet Vegetarian Cookbook and it is vegan as well as gluten-free- a double whammy!  The fact that it only takes 5 minutes or so to whip up just makes it even better.  Think of this as a quick rice pudding- only it's WAY healthier and only subtly sweet.  For a single serving you start with 1 cup cooked brown rice (I just made mine the day before- this is also a great use for leftovers), and add to that 1 cup unsweetened soy milk, 1/8 cup sliced raw almonds, 1/2 tbsp. ground flaxseed, 1 tsp. pure maple syrup, and a pinch of ground nutmeg.  She doesn't say to heat it up, but I did since it was a chilly morning and I wanted something warm.  This could easily be eaten either way though and you can even make it all the night before and just grab and go in the morning.  Super fast, super convenient, super healthy, and super yummy!  You can't go wrong with that!  That's what earns this dish it's honorable mention- it had everything that I look for in a recipe, and as a bonus it's a great alternative for those who gluten intolerant.  Who says you can't have a warm bowl of goodness in the morning?  With this recipe you can!

Update

Just wanted to post a quick update about where I've been and what my thoughts are on a vegan lifestyle.  First, the last few months have been SUPER busy for me.  I have been away on vacation twice and my daughter just started full day kindergarten this September, so getting used to a new schedule has been pretty hectic, to say the least.  I have also been battling some health issues (nothing too serious, but enough to see the doctor about and enough to know that my body is out of balance), SO because of that I am trying to methodically go through my diet and pin down any food sources that may exacerbate my symptoms.  Because of eliminating other foods I have been eating more meat lately.  (I started this blog fully convinced I'd be vegan forever, but it just isn't feasible at the moment for me- I consider myself at this moment a flexitarian and I do eat vegetarian as much as I can.  I also only eat organic meat from a local farm when I do eat meat.)  This month I am eliminating gluten from my diet.  Next month will be dairy products (which won't be hard for me- the only dairy I ever consume is Greek yogurt, kefir, butter, and the occasional cheese), in December I plan on eliminating all meat again.  I'm hoping that going through my diet methodically like this will help me find some answers and maybe even some solutions.  Anyway, I will still be making delicious vegan meals, and I'll be here to write about them as usual.  I'll be focusing on my Clean Food book by Terry Walters and the Kind Diet by Alicia Silverstone.  I do have other vegan/vegetarian cookbooks- so there will be honorable mentions here and there as well.  I have to admit that I did feel a HUGE sense of guilt when I began eating meat again, however, I know now that each body is different and I have to trust and listen to my OWN body.  That being said, I've learned MUCH from all the documentaries etc...that I've seen and my perspective is forever changed- I do feel that I approach food in a whole new way now- if I don't know it's origin I don't want to eat it and I prefer things from my local CSA (whether meat, dairy, or produce) and my own garden.  I'll take a piece from Alicia's book and say that I may not be living the Kind Diet to a tee, but I'm definitely living KINDER and I plan on continuing to improve.  Be kind to yourselves and the earth everyone- enjoy life and find what works for you and the planet to the best of your abilities- no guilt, just enjoyment of life and respect for what we've been given.