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Thursday, November 18, 2010

Food For Thought

    I suppose if I'm going to be sporadic in posting I should at least make it worth your time when I do write something! So this post is all recipes. Well, mostly! At 20 days into my self-challenge, I ate meat. After a long day week, we went to dinner at a local Thai restaurant and I did not have the motivation or in all honestly the care, to order vegan. Meat sounded good. And it was, no lie. As the weekend went on, I noticed that not a single meal was vegan. And by Sunday, I noticed I felt pretty crummy. Hmmm...
    So Monday morning I decided to get right back to it. However, I'll probably be a little more lenient about it this time. A part-time vegan I suppose. ( "Real" vegans hate that!) Anyway, here are some edibles. 


Sweet Potato Fries
*this makes enough for two people

2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into "fries"
1 Tbs. canola oil
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
3 Tbs. potato starch (corn starch might work too but I make no promises)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray.
Toss potatoes with oil, salt and pepper. Sprinkle with potato starch and toss until potatoes are coated.
Place on a baking sheet in a single layer. 
Bake for 10 minutes then stir them so most of are flipped. Bake for another ten minutes or until golden. Check them every couple minutes during the second 10 minutes to make sure they're not burning.

For fry sauce:
A couple spoonfuls of Vegan Mayo, some ketchup and a dash or two of cayenne pepper. Mix well.




Roasted Acorn Squash and Mixed Green Salad

1 acorn squash
Butter or Vegan Margarine (with NO hydrogenated oils!)
Raw sugar
Sea Salt
Pepper
Chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 400°F. Cut squash in half and scoop out the seeds and stringy bits. Coat well with butter or margarine all over the inside and edges of the squash and leave a little extra in the bowl part. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and sugar. Place cut side up on a baking sheet and bake for 55 minutes. About half way through, remove from oven and poke the insides with a fork a few times. After 55 minutes, remove from oven and add walnuts into the "bowl" of the squash. Stir to coat with melted goodness and bake for another 5 minutes.

While it is cooling, shred a couple handfuls of mixed greens and toss with a mixture of 1 Tbs. Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 1 Tbs. Balsamic Vinegar and 1/2 Tbs. fresh Lemon juice. 



Vegan Blueberry Muffins 
with Streusel Topping
*makes 1 dozen or 6 jumbo muffins


2 1/4 cups whole-wheat flour 
3/4 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/8 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups plain soy milk
1/4 plus 2 Tbsp. canola oil
6 oz. container plain soy yogurt
1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 cups frozen wild blueberries
2 Tbsp. flour

For streusel:
1/2 cup flour
4 Tbsp. sugar
dash of cinnamon
dash of nutmeg
4 Tbsp. Vegan margarine

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line your muffin pan with paper liners and spray lightly with non-stick cooking spray. In a medium bowl, mix all your dry ingredients. In another bowl mix all the wet ingredients. Add wet ingredients to the dry and mix just until combined. In a small bowl, toss blueberries with remaining 2 Tbs. flour and fold into the batter. Fill your muffing tin.
In another small bowl, mix flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and margarine together with a fork, cutting margarine until it becomes a crumbly mixture. Spoon onto batter.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes if using a 12-muffin tin, 30-35 for a 6-muffin tin. Insert a knife or toothpick into a muffin to check for doneness and if necessary cook a bit longer in 4 minute increments. Let cool about 10 minutes before serving.

I'm a sucker for baked goods so you get a few pictures of these!
















2 comments:

crissy // mama boss said...

That foodie looks good....but, is it weird?, I'm admiring your plates more than the food.... you have pretty dishes, and I almost tried to steal those pretty blue plates from you once, but figured you would notice them missing, because they are so lovely. Yep. I am weird.

{sarah} said...

Not weird! I'm obsessed with pretty dishes!
*Swiper, No Swiping!