vegan carrot soup with coconut lime drizzle

Note: This post was previously published as a part of my freelance work here

Carrots can be found in season almost year-round. Most people get tired of the classic ways to eat them, so today I want to suggest one of my favorites: pureed. When carrots are all mashed up, they make great soups. This particular recipe takes an Asian spin with cilantro, lime, and coconut. After you’ve downed it you’ll be packed with good nutrients, and full enough to get through the afternoon.

Ingredients:

Soup:

-          2 Cups Carrots, Chopped

-          2 Celery Stalks, Chopped

-          1 Yellow Onion, Chopped

-          ¼ tsp Saffron Threads

-          1 Tbs Curry Powder

-          1 ½ Cans Coconut Milk

-          10 Cilantro Sprigs

-          1 Tbs Coconut Oil

Drizzle:

-          ½ Can Coconut Milk

-          Juice from 1 Lime

Directions:

1.       Melt coconut oil in a large pot.  Add carrots & onion to cook, stirring every few minutes.

2.       After 15 minutes, or once carrots are almost fully cooked, add celery for 5 more minutes.

3.       Stir in saffron and curry powder, and sauté for another 3 minutes.

4.       Add coconut milk. Stir & let simmer.

5.       After 10 minutes, kill the flame and let the soup sit.

6.       While the soup is cooling, squeeze juice from one lime into your ½ can of coconut milk. Mix it up with a fork & set aside.

7.       Using an immersion or regular blender, puree the soup mixture. Add the cilantro sprigs right at the very end, so that they get chopped up, but are not sitting in the heat for long.

8.       To serve, garnish with coconut lime drizzle & a few pieces cilantro.

paleo squash & seafood bisque

Like everyone else, I've been eating healthier in the New Year. This is one of my many recipe creations in the venture to do so. It is a spin on seafood bisque with squash-based broth and no dairy. The seafood dresses it up, and adds healthy protein. Each bite feels like an indulgence. Things just shouldn't taste this good, and be this healthy.

Ingredients:

1 Onion

1 Large Garlic Clove

2 Acorn Squash

5 Cups Water

1 Tsp. Vegetable Bouillon or a Bouillon Cube

.4LB Scallops

10 Clams

16 Shrimp

2 Tsp Moroccan Seasoning

1 Tsp Tumeric

1 Tsp Chili Powder

1 Tsp Safron Threads

Ghee & Olive Oil for Sauteing

Salt & Pepper to Taste

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F. Slice the acorn squashes in half and lay them on a foil-lined baking sheet. Dress with a bit of oil, salt, and pepper. Roast until caramelized.

2. Remove squash from the oven. Once cooled, scoop out the innards and set aside.

3. Using hot olive oil, saute chopped onions and garlic in a large stock pot.After they are cooked through, add squash, water, and spices. Important, do not salt until the very end. Oysters add a lot of saltiness to a dish and you don't want to overdo it.

4. Using a hand blender, turn the squash and onions into a fine liquid. Let simmer.

5. In a separate saute pan, caramelize scallops and shrimp in ghee. Set them aside in a bowl when finished.

6. Toss oysters into the squash broth and cover the pot. The steam that is trapped with your lid will cook the oysters. Remove the lid once all have opened. After 5-7 minutes they should be done. 

7. Kill the flame and mix in scallops and shrimp.

8. Taste for seasoning and add as much salt/pepper as is needed.

9. Serve!

home roasted vegan tomato soup

Right now, in the depths of winter, there is nothing I love more than a bowl of hot soup. It's comforting and healthy all at the same time. I've made it a ritual to cook a giant pot of soup every Sunday during this time of year. What I do is freeze half, and then take the rest for lunches during the week. It's a great way to have easy, ready-to-eat meals around that aren't tv dinners. We all know how much I love chemically preserved resemblances of food.

Anywho, I made this guy the other day, and I have to say, I'm extremely proud of it. It tasted....orgasmic. I love creamed soups, but can't bring myself to ingest that amount of high fat dairy. So instead, I made a little experiment with some coconut milk, and it came out a vegan phenomen. There is something so satisfying about making something from scratch, and the added bonus points for making it vegan put me on cloud nine. This tomato soup is the ultimate comfort food, pair it with a piece of multigrain toast that has avocado smeared on top and your set. Your welcome. Enjoy.

Ingredients:

15 Medium Vine Tomatoes

2 Small Yellow Onions

1 Celery Stalk

7g Oregano

7g Basil

5 Sprigs Thyme

3 Garlic Cloves

1 Can Coconut Milk

1 Cup Orzo

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F

2. Cut tomatoes in half, and lay them out on a foil-lined cookie sheet that has been greased with a bit of olive oil.

3. Drizzle tomatoes with some more olive oil on top and then roast for about 20 minutes, until skins begin to shrivel and split.

4. While your tomatoes are roasting, finely chop your onion and celery keeping them separate  and then clean and chop the herbs. 

5. Once you take your tomatoes out of the oven, begin sauteing onions and whole garlic in a bit of olive oil over a low/medium flame.

6. Once your onions are completely see through, kill the flame, stir in herbs, and let sit.

7. Now you will want to peel the skins off of your tomatoes. Because you roasted them, they should come off very simply by just using your fingers. Be careful, they might still be a bit hot, but it's easiest to peel when they are.

8. Using a hand blender (or food processor if you don't have one) puree onion and garlic mixture.

9. Add in 2/3 of your tomatoes and coconut milk, and then puree until creamy.

10. Add the rest of your tomatoes, and then puree just a bit, so they are still a slightly chunky (if you like some chunk, if not, just add all of the tomatoes in step 9).

11. Put everything in a pot back on the stove over a low flame, and add orzo and celery.

12. Stirring constantly so that you don't get exploding soup, cook for another 15 minutes. 

13. Let sit until orzo is fully cooked, and then serve or let chill and freeze.

vegan spicy thai seitan salad

I finally recreated a dish that I used to love before turning vegetarian! When I decided to go veg I did it party to avoid processed foods which also meant no imitation meat. Some of my old favorite dishes could be pulled off with tofu, but for spicy Thai beef salad, it just didn't quite cut it. 

I then discovered seitan about a year ago, and heard that it was possible to make at home using whole wheat flour and vital wheat gluten. Anything that I can cook up in my own kitchen by stirring a few whole ingredients together and adding heat is unprocessed enough for me. 

This was my first time cooking with the stuff, and I'll admit, I didn't make the seitan myself this time around. I will surely try, but for now, I just wanted to see how it acted. I was very, very pleased with the results and even made my coworker try the salad out because I needed to share it with someone. It tastes much like the original spicy Thai Salad - bright with a kick of spice - and makes a great lunch option. An added bonus for all you vegetarians out there, it's also chock full of healthy protein.

Ingredients:

18 oz. seitan

3 scallions, sliced fine

1/3 cucumber, shredded

3 baby carrots, shredded

15 sprigs cilantro, minced

1 tbsp white vinegar

1 tbsp chili sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

Directions:

1. Mix all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl

2. Place in the refrigerator over night, and serve on large leaves of lettuce.

*Tip: wrap it up like a burrito for a fun way to eat

potato salad with black radish and basil mayo

This recipe combines two recent fascinations of mine: flavored mayo and black radishes. You heard it right, black. These winter radishes are by far the most interesting vegetable I've come across in a while. Put one in your mouth, and you think it an ordinary radish. Until...it starts to turn spicy on you! A horseradish-y flavor kicks in at the end and it's such a fantastical surprise. If you life in a climate like the northeast, pick them up at your local farmer's market. In Philly, I got mine from one of my favorite farmers, Tom Culton, of Tom Culton Biologique. I've deemed him the "Willy Wonka" of vegetable farmers for the amazing creations he brings to market such as these guys.

What's more, I bet you never knew that radishes were great detoxifiers and cleansers! They're especially great at breaking up phlegm in the body. I've had a bit of a cold, and there's nothing like some radishes to help loosen things. In Chinese medine they're also used to promote digestion for this very reason. Another bonus, radishes are rich in water, so they're great at filling you up in a low cal way. 

By way of the mayo, I've been experimenting with fun flavors over the past year. Have you ever had a sandwich with chipotle mayo, or perhaps garlic? Amazing, right? This guy is a basil mayo, mmmm. Of course, there's a little guilt here, but the good news is that it has so much flavor that a little bit goes a long way. I've been messing around with some healthier, vegan options. So stay tuned until I get that guy perfected. Until then....

Basil Mayo Ingredients (Makes a mason jar-full to have on hand)

3/4 Cup lightly chopped basil

3 Medium garlic cloves, lightly roasted

1 Cup mayo

1 Tsp vinegar

1 1/2 Tsp salt

1/2 Tsp pepper

2 Tbsp pesto

Directions:

1. Place garlic and basil in a food processor and chop until fine

2. Add all other ingredients and mix until well blended

Potato Salad Ingredients:

1 Cups chopped fingerling potatoes

1 Black radish, quartered and sliced

3 Tbsp basil mayo

1 Tbsp white vinegar

1/3 cup olive oil

2 Celery stalks, chopped small

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F 

2. Spread potatoes out on a greased foil-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake until tender.

3. Mix potatoes, radish, celery, basil mayo, and white vinegar in a large bowl

4. Chill in the refrigerator over night and eat