Oats and Barley Scramble to the Rescue

For the last week, mom and I have been rearranging furniture, organizing, and cleaning. In the midst of all this new-year readying around the house, The Veganishta managed to whip up two delicious breakfasts.

I got to thinking, for the last ten months, I've actually also been "rearranging, organizing, and cleaning up" my insides. LOL Yeah, I'm laughing but really, I'm serious. Since making my green smoothies, I have more energy and my vegan diet has aided my detoxification process along. I'm thoroughly blessed by the wonderful food God provided for us and try my best daily to nourish my body as He would see fit.

Having always loved oatmeal since a child, and still do, I now just leave out the white sugar and add some extra goodies—diced apple, cinnamon, and walnuts. A little Stevia, if needed, adds to the tastiness. I have really grown to live okay without sugar. Really, folks, it is possible. I just had to take a picture of my breakfast the other morning, as you will see here—Veganishta Morning Oatmeal. I realize this oatmeal dish is nothing new and unique, but just wanted to share. It makes me feel good.

Since I'm out of tofu and trying to limit that a bit, I made another great morning scramble. My daughter calls me the "Queen of Stir-Fry," 'cause it seems I do a lot of it. So, instead of tofu or quinoa, I decided to cook some barley. I added some of my usual ingredients and dished up some good scramble. I shoved some in the face of the Mister, who immediately poured barbecue sauce on it (to disguise the taste of the spinach), but he ate it all and was strengthened plenty for his mountain hike. I had learned that the Roman gladiators ate barley before a contest. The Veganishta Barley Scramble fed us plenty of protein and other needed nutrients to get our day going.

Veganishta Barley Scramble
1/2 cup uncooked barley (makes 1-1/2 cups cooked)
1/4 of a large yellow bell pepper sliced or diced
1/4 of a large red bell pepper sliced or diced
1/4 cup of sliced or diced red onion
2 tsp. fresh cumin, ground with the mortar and pestle
1/2 tsp. tumeric
1/4 tsp. red chili pepper flakes
sea salt to taste
2 cups fresh or frozen leaf spinach

Saute red onion for one minute in olive oil; add bell peppers and saute all for two minutes (medium heat); add the seasonings, stir, continue sauteing on low-med heat; add the spinach for the last minute. Then turn heat off; add the barley and scramble it all together. Serve with toast (Ezekiel bread is good). I use Earth Balance (soy free) butter. Be strong for the day!

The Veganishta

Smooth Going to Green Smoothie

This morning, I finally developed a system to make green smoothies with my regular Oster blender. It's not a fancy blender, although I intend to get one of those monsters sometime soon. Trick is to put in the liquids first, then cut up your fresh kale and spinach in little shreds or pieces. This worked for me. I bought organic baby spinach leaves and just tossed them in as they were, but I did cut up the kale. Here's what I made and it was smooth and tasty.

Veganishta Morning Green Drink
1 large leaf fresh curly kale
3 large handfuls of fresh, baby spinach leaves
6 oz. orange/pineapple juice
6 oz. cherry juice
1 radish
1 tsp. sushi ginger slices (pickled, from the jar, 'cause I ran out of fresh)
2 scoops "Life Greens" plant protein mix

Pour in your juices first; then add the other ingredients one at a time and blend; add the protein powder last and blend all again to your desire of "smoothiness."

Enjoy and be healthy!

Hate Grocery Shopping

Well, I am sitting here preparing a grocery list. This is the part I absolutely hate about food and cooking. The cost of groceries is so unbelievably high, and I wish I were in an environment where I could grow my own veggies. I suppose I could grow them here, but it would be a whole new way of learning how to do it. I think I will try to grow some in large pots out on the patio. It may be time to start growing greens and herbs. I've got a crock pot of great northern beans cooking with some wakame seaweed and a touch of olive oil. Since discovering how to make good beans in the crock pot two weeks ago, I am now planning on doing this and freezing a supply so they'll always be on hand for cooking up interesting recipes and meals.

With colds and flues and the like going around this time of year, I also am amazed at a new remedy I discovered that knocked out my sinus infection/cold in one day. I put some honey in one teaspoon and sprinkle 3-4 shakes of cayenne pepper onto it (about 1/8 tsp.) and then just swallow it down with one swallow. Wham bam, slam, next day no runny nose, no stuffy nose, and no runny eyes. It's marvelous friends. I am doing this a few times a day to keep germs away. I think it's actually helping with inflammation and arthritis as well.

Okay, on to the grocery list now. Wish me luck!

The Veganishta

Soup's Up

What to make for dinner tonight turned into a "toss it in the pot" and "serve it hot" meal.

A Veganishta version of pasta e fagiole was born. Water, vegetable stock base, small shell pasta, white cannellini beans, canned diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and onion made its way into the pot. Sauteed diced yellow onion and fresh ginger also jumped into the mix. Several shakes of some sweet basil and some white pepper along with a few pinches of sea salt topped it all off. Then the asparagus made its way in, and the meal was complete. Simmered for only 20 minutes and served hot, this fast soup creation had a nice light broth, but proved tasty and satisfying for both The Veganishta and her Veganishter.

Not always so unique, but easy and quick, The Veganishta likes to share how delicious meals can be created from food stuffs on hand.

Until next thyme,
The Veganishta

Perfecting the Bean

So, the other day I decided to try a recipe from a cookbook I bought recently, Vegan Planet, by Robin Robertson. While faced with the dilemma of "soaking the beans overnight" or "not soaking the beans," I also referred to another cherished whole-foods cookbook.

I decided to not soak them. Instead, I rinsed them (pintos, by the way) and then covered them with water in a pot and brought them to a rolling boil and boiled them for seven minutes. Then I gently rinsed them with warm water and placed them into the crock pot. I added some seaweed flakes, covered it all with water, and cooked on high for 6 hours. The beans turned out soft in the middle but firm on the outside. They were some pretty good looking beans, I must say. I finally learned how to perfect the bean!

I then put together the recipe from Vegan Planet, "Red Bean and Sweet Potato Curry." This dish was absolutely delicious. I really loved it. The suggestion was to serve some over jasmine rice, but I skipped the rice. I ate this for two days in a row. I am planning on having some over jasmine rice for supper tonight. This was an amazing recipe. I replaced the red beans with the pinto beans, but still, this was great. And, I learned that not soaking them too long actually preserves the enzymes needed to digest the beans so that there are no musical tendencies after eating them.

Happy New Year Veggie Lovers

Okay, The Veganishta went missing or must have been buried in the snow. I know that's what you're thinking. Well, she made her way back and is thawed out now to room temperature.

The crock pot is going today with pinto beans and a few scatterings of seaweed. Later today, the mixture will become a curried, sweet potato delicacy for dinner.

Homemade bread has been keeping The Veganishta busy since the holidays, not to mention the three parties with company ranging from 20 - 60 at each event. Resting and catching up is the theme for this first week of the new year.

More veggie creations will be coming soon.

Checking the crock pot now . . .