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Valentine’s Crafting + Baking

Last weekend, I headed over to Christie of KiKiMac‘s gorgeous house with Danielle of Goat and Spoon, and we had a perfect “Galentine’s Crafternoon.” She had posted some Valentine’s craft ideas here and here. As you’ll see in Christie’s post, we ended up creating these pretty hearts. Please soak in all of her gorgeous touches – like the place settings, menus, and delicious vegan, gluten free food!

Of course, with this festive holiday approaching us quickly, there are lots of DIY and decor inspirations posted across the web. Oh So Beautiful Paper’s Valentine Crafting Party ideas include some of my favorite! I adore these printables from Oh So Pretty x Sugar & Cloth.

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If you’re looking to have or host a Valentine’s girl’s brunch, be inspired here. This Glitter Guide get-together is seriously perfect. I love the bubbly bar and the glitter LOVE letters.

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Another gorgeous Glitter Guide crafty party is featured here. Every single detail (and craft) is perfect. Every one.

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I also love this cupid’s arrow cake idea! Sasha and I would never finish that big of a cake, but I think a scaled down version would be perfect. I could even use our new favorite vegan chocolate beet muffin recipe for the cakes!

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Another fun vegan Valentine’s Day recipe are these chocolate cake balls. I love finding vegan and gluten free recipes – perfect for a dinner with me and my brother-in-law, Carl, who has Celiac disease.

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Vegan Chocolate Beet Muffins

I think that everyone needs their signature baked good. Unfortunately for me, I’ve never had one, and as a health-focused vegan, it has been hard to find recipes that fit the bill for nutrition while tasting delicious. That is, until I came across Minimalist Baker. This blog is my everything! I found two chocolate beet muffin/cupcake recipes and have fallen in love (as has Sasha, my toughest vegan critic!). I slightly adapted this one – replacing the all purpose flour with Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free flour, using Stevia vs. sugar, canned beets, and adding Attune bar chocolate crumbles. Sasha gave them two big thumbs up. I highly recommend you give this recipe a try! If you do, please let me know what you think.
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Ingredients
  • 3/4 can of beets (pureed)
  • 1 cup unsweetened soy milk
  • 1 tsp white or apple cider vinegar
  • 
3/4 cup baking Stevia (or coconut sugar)
  • 1/4 cup melted coconut oil
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup + 1 heaping Tbsp gluten-free flour (or regular all-purpose if you don’t want them GF)
  • scant 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • pinch salt
  • 3 vegan Attune bars (found at Central Market or Whole Foods next to probiotic yogurts)

 Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375°F
  2. Open can of beets and puree them until they are in liquid form. Measure out 1/2 cup and set aside.
  3. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.
  4. Whisk together the soy milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the Stevia, coconut oil, vanilla extract, and 1/2 cup beets and beat until foamy.
  5. Add the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt to a sifter and slowly sift it into the wet ingredients while mixing with a hand-held or standing mixer. Beat until no large lumps remain.
  6. Put vegan Attune bars (amazing chocolate filled with antioxidants!) into Ziplock bag and break into small pieces with a wooden spoon. Pour small chocolate crumbles into the mix.
  7. Pour batter into liners, filling 3/4 of the way full. Bake 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool completely. Do not try and unwrap them or they’ll stick to the wrapper.
  8. Once cooled, store in an airtight container to keep fresh. Optional: Dust with cocoa powder.Vegan-Chocolate-Chocolate-Chip-Muffins-minimalistbaker.com-vegan-chocolate

Recipe adapted from The Minimalist Baker (obsessed with her recipes!), and pictures are from here and here. If you try them, please let me know what you think!

Black-Bean-Beet Burger

I love black bean burgers (especially Adair Kitchen’s), and I love beet burgers (especially Tiny Boxwood’s). So the other day, I began to search the internet for the perfect black bean and beet burger. I found a number of recipes, but this one stuck out. I tried it. The burgers are heavenly. I made one swap – I replaced the rice for barley, and oat flour for quinoa flour. They still taste amazing. While I’m a full time vegetarian, Sasha only observes Meatless Mondays, so 3 black-bean-beet-burgers are packed in his lunchbox today. Pair them with whole wheat buns (for him), or bunless (for me), with a grilled veggie salad, and you’ve got the perfect meal.

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Patties (makes 6):
8 ounces beets, steamed or roasted and peeled*
1 (15 ounce) can garbanzo beans, washed and drained
1 (15 ounce) can black beans, washed and drained
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
1/4 cup rolled oat flour**
1/2 red onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon sumac
1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
Salt
Pepper

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Pulse beets in a food processor until roughly chopped. Add beets to a large bowl, along with the garbanzo beans, black beans, brown rice, oat flour, red onion, garlic, sumac, thyme leaves, ground cumin and ground coriander. Mash with two forks until all the beans are incorporated. Salt and pepper to taste. (I added about one teaspoon of kosher salt and half of a teaspoon of pepper.)

Using a half cup measure, form six patties. Cover them with plastic wrap and transfer to the refrigerator to chill for 30 minutes. (Since we aren’t using egg to bind the mix, this step helps the patties hold together.) Melt butter or olive oil in a non-stick skillet. Toast the hamburger buns for 1-2 minutes. Remove and set aside. Add more butter or olive oil if needed. Add the patties and cook on both sides for 3-4 minutes and until the tops are lightly golden brown. Optional: Place slices of cheese on top of each burger and cook for 1 minute longer, until cheese is melted.

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Making a Pass at Provisions

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After hungrily lusting at Provisions for far too long, Sasha and I finally had a double date  there on Saturday. Housed in the old Gravitas building (and the even older original Antone’s PoBoy Deli location), this dual-intentioned restaurant (both The Pass and Provisions) tickles all audiences’ fancies, with an elaborate sit-down 7-course meal dinner at the former, and a more relaxed dish-sharing atmosphere for the latter.

The walls are covered with repurposed floorboards from a nearby gymnasium, which gives Provisions a very retro, cool vibe. On one wall, the original lightbulb-ringed Antone’s sign is on display, which is a nice commemorative touch to the building’s original tenant. The entire middle row of tables is adjustable, so you can make one long, communal table or have a dozen two-seaters. In addition to the restaurant’s decor, the unisex bathrooms have a looped soundtrack of Julia Child, whom I adore (partially due to my love of Meryl Streep, who played her in Julie & Julia).

The Pass and Provisions was recently named the #6 best new restaurant in America by Bon Appetit magazine, and I now see why. While not the most vegetarian friendly menu in Houston, our waitress was more than happy to remove the duck eggs from the Brussels sprout appetizer, which was one of the most delicious Brussels sprouts dishes I’ve ever tried. I ordered the Arugula Cress Salad, which was very tasty, but definitely an appetizer sized dish (cue another bowl of Brussels sprouts being ordered for the group).

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Owners Terrence Gallivan and Seth Siegel-Gardner

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Authentic gymnasium wood floors act as wall panels

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The communal table in the middle of the restaurant

Provisions-910x606The Antone’s sign on the far wall

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Click on all images to link to the source

Houston’s Healthy Vegetarian Guide

Houston's Healthy Vegetarian Restaurant Guide | Snapshots & My Thoughts

Houston used to have a rap as being a steakhouse city – a place that vegetarians would avoid while en route to hippie, vegan-friendly Austin. Recently, with the food movement in our city, vegetarian options are becoming more and more prevalent. I’ve made a list of my favorite healthy vegetarian options at some of the best restaurants in Houston. You’ll notice there’s no pizza or pasta options, as I don’t eat either!

Adair Kitchen (Galleria) – Black Bean Quinoa Burger (Lunch), Kale Salad (Dinner)

Baba Yega (Montrose) – Portabella Burger

Backstreet Cafe (River Oaks) – Portabella Burger, Spectacular Veggie Platter

Barnaby’s (Various) – Garden Salad (Without Bacon) and Falafel Patty

Benjy’s (Rice Military and Rice Village) – Curried Quinoa

Cafe Brasil (Montrose) – Hummus and Falafel Plate, Goat Cheese Salad

California Pizza Kitchen (River Oaks) – Roasted Veggie Salad, Quinoa and Arugula Salad

Canopy (Montrose) – Baby Spinach Salad (Substitute Quinoa for Chicken)

Carrabas (The Original on Upper Kirby) – Ensalata Fiorucci

Coppa (Rice Military) – Burrata appetizer, Insalata Tricolore

Corner Table (River Oaks) – Earth Burger (without the bun), sub fries for side salad

The Counter Burger (Rice Military) – Build-Your-Own Vegan Veggie Burger

Harvest Organic Grille (Memorial) – Harvest Eggplant, Veggie Mixed Grill, Chard o Yay

Indika (Montrose) – Paneer and Eggplant Chaat, Vegetarian Tasting Dish

Kiran’s (Highland Village) – Organic Kale Salad, Baby Eggplant, Pindi Channa

Latin Bites (Memorial) – Quinoa Salad

Maryz (Richmond) – Hummus (Best in Houston), Falafel

Pondicheri (Upper Kirby) – Curried Popcorn, Barley Salad, Vishnu Thali

Radical Eats (Montrose) – Knocked Up Avocado Salad

Relish (River Oaks) – Beet Salad

Roost (Montrose) – Fried Cauliflower, Ma Po Tofu

Ruggles Green (CityCentre, Upper Kirby) – Texas Goat Cheese Salad

Uchi (Montrose) – Uchi Salad, Brussels Sprouts

Zoe’s Kitchen (Various) – Vegetarian Kabobs (Hummus Side)

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images via Sprouted Kitchen