Vegetarianism. What exactly is a vegetarian? You talk to any old school chefs and they’ll balk at the idea of someone not eating meat. My Missus is a veggie but she eats seafood and…..bacon. I know. I gave up trying to figure that one out ages ago. I still pull the piss though. Believe it or not she’s not alone, we know a couple of these types. (The bacon eating variety). Even though she labels herself a ‘fishetarian’ I still find it funny. Back when I was a yut, being a vegetarian meant you didn’t eat any meat, dairy or eggs. Seems the definition has had several rounds of changes since then and the term Vegan started the rounds as the more strict version of vegetarianism.. I found this great article about the meaning of vegetarianism. To quote:

Vegetarian

This is a general term. About 5 percent of the current U.S. population considers themselves to be vegetarian, although a number of varying dietary habits fall into this category. Usually this term refers to someone who doesn’t eat any kind of meat, including beef, pork, chicken, turkey, and seafood. However, there are many people who don’t quite match this description, but still use this label.
These include …

Pollo-Vegetarian
Pesco-Vegetarian
Lacto-Ovo-Vegetarian
Lacto-Vegetarians
Ovo-Vegetarians
Vegan
Macrobiotic
Fruitarian
Raw or Living Food Diet

Fruitarian? The first time I heard this term was in the film Notting Hill when Hugh Grant’s prospective girlfriend said picking an apple from a tree was murder. Have we lost the plot? I’ve heard of  Lacto/Ovo….can you just imagine being at a cocktail party and someone asks you why you’re not eating and you say, “I’m lacto-ovo-vegetarian”? Now, that wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility here in La La land but anywhere else, you might get a slap.
While I’m certainly not any of these, I do appreciate delicious food, even ‘vegetarian’ food. I’m a meat eater who loves veg and while having a penchant for stuffing meat, (Mr. Keyes!) I also have a penchant for soy proteins especially seitan. Strange? Not if it tastes good!

Los Angeles, being “The mecca of health and fitness” (according to Gold’s Gym), has a lot of delicious vegetarian/vegan/macrobiotic restaurants around town. I like eating at said restaurants not just because they’re healthy but more often than not, they’re using organic, sustainable & seasonable ingredients, which is a major plus in my book. While I’ve only eaten at a few of these restaurants I thought it worthy to write about them, especially since I hit up two this past weekend.

I mentioned recently about the Real Food Daily restaurant here in LA, which is my #1 go-to healthy place, which I frequent about once or twice a month. I’ve been going there for years and overall I just really like their food even though it’s totally vegan. If only I could learn to cook these soy proteins as well as they do! Tacos, meatloaf, burritos, soups and desserts—everything is meat, dairy and egg free using foods grown exclusively with organic farming methods. The owner, Ann Gentry must be doing something right ’cause the place I go to in Santa Monica is always jointed.

Last weekend we also ate at M Cafe de Chaya in Culver City, which serves macrobiotic food without any refined sugars, eggs, dairy, red meat or poultry. They have everything from sushi to salads & sandwiches to soups and of course healthy desserts. Being a macro eatery they serve fish but I’ll let you read up on that yourself. This was my second time going there and I really liked it, especially their Seitan Katsu Bowl. I don’t know what katsu sauce is but it was tasty!

Another macrobiotic restaurant we’ve tried, which came recommended to me by Meg, a fellow blogger, is actually in my Venice hood. Seed is both vegan and macro and serves delicious curries, tempeh burgers, salads and of course, amazing desserts. Now that I’m thinking about it we’ll have to pop in to try their seitan. I’m telling you, this protein is tasty. Don’t believe me–try it with my jerk recipe and you’ll be sold!

I love having the option of going to a restaurant like these and getting the type of food I want at the drop on a hat. Wouldn’t it be cool if there was a drive thru with these healthy, vegetarian & sustainable options?

Those of you who happen to live here in LA may know of the Real Food Daily organic vegan restaurant. Although I’m not a vegetarian I do try to incorporate a lot more of the veggie dishes in my everyday food. My missus being a veggie and me being the overly healthy Irish guy, we’re always on the lookout for good quality vegetarian places such as this. I’ve been going to RFD for the past 5 years or so and I really like their food. Some of our friends are nervous to try such healthy vegan food but there’s an abundance of soy meat dishes, or what I call fake meat, on the menu so I get my fix when we go. (I gotta be a good hubby and throw the girl a bone now and then, though having said that, I probably request going here more than she does…hmmm…) One of the things they do really well there are their soups, except their bowls kinda blow but that’s another post.

Ann Gentry, RFD’s owner, came out with a cookbook a couple of years back so this is one of her recipes that I slightly adapted. The use of quinoa here is brilliant. Quinoa is all over the shop these days and for good reason, esp. for vegetarians since it contains high quality protein. It’s the bomb diggity.

NOTE: I made this soup last night for dinner but I played around with it a little mainly due to not having all the ingredients in my house. So for my version I marked them in red below on the recipe. An for my own little touch I added some fresh kale that I had in my fridge. I removed the stalks and chopped those in place of the celery. I added the chopped leaves at the end a few minutes before serving.

RECIPE:
Makes a big o’ pot

3/4 cup quinoa (I used Inca Red)
1 tbsp canola oil (olive oil)
2 onions, finely chopped (1 1/2 onions)
3 carrots, peeled & finely diced (omitted)
3 celery stalks, finely diced (omitted, used 6 Kale stalks instead)
2 zucchini, diced
1/2 cup yellow corn kernels (1 ear of fresh corn) (1 can low-sodium since it’s not corn season)
1 red pepper, finely diced
1 tbsp garlic, minced
2 tsp sea salt
12 cups (3 quarts) vegetable broth (I used about 10 cups of 1/2 stock, 1/2 water)
1 (28 oz) can whole tomatoes
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Black pepper
6 Kale leaves – washed, stalks removed & chopped, leaves rolled & chopped
1 jalapeno – seeded, fine dice

DIRECTIONS:

Rinse the quinoa well in cold water then drain. Heat a large, heavy skillet over medium high heat. Add the quinoa and stir constantly for 10 minutes or until all the moisture evaporates and the quinoa crackles and becomes golden. You’ll be able to smell them toasting. Transfer quinoa to a bowl and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large heavy stockpot over medium high heat. Add onions, carrots and celery. Saute for 12 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add zucchini, corn, bell pepper, jalapeno, garlic and salt. Saute for 3 minutes longer or until vegetables begin to release their juices. Add stock, cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in the toasted quinoa and simmer over medium low heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the quinoa is tender. Squeeze the tomatoes into the soup and add the juices from the can, then stir in the cumin and coriander.
Simmer uncovered over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally or until the quinoa is tender. Stir in the cilantro and kale leaves and season to taste with pepper and more salt if needed.

Recipe Courtesy: The Real Food Daily Cookbook

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

There are a few dishes that are well known Irish dishes: bacon & cabbage, Irish stew and the old reliable potato (in any form). This soup has one of those staples and is probably one of the easiest soups to make. I had all the ingredients in my CSA box and I promise, making this soup with recently picked fresh ingredients makes it really delicious. The earthiness of the thyme works a treat here and if you’re still looking for a quick appetizer for Santa Day, look no further.

RECIPE:
Makes about 4 cups

2 large leeks – whites only, sliced & rinsed (But keep the greens for your homemade stock)
2 white potatoes – peeled, chopped
1 tbsp thyme
1 quart low-sodium veg broth or even better, homemade stock
2 tbsp olive oil

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat soup pot on medium heat for 30 seconds. Add olive oil and leeks and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add thyme and potatoes and combine with sauteed leeks.

Add broth and stir. Partially cover with lid. Bring to a boil and once boiling reduce heat to simmer. Cook for 20 minutes or until potatoes are fork tender.

Puree in food processor in batches.

NOTE: Do not fill your blender above half way with hot liquid. Hot liquids expand when pureed so be careful. Place a kitchen towel on the lid when blending so you don’t burn yourself when the liquid expands.

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible

For the next week or so I’m going to be giving you guys some Christmasy recipes that are perfect for this time of year. A lot of the Christmas food I grew up eating is similar to the Thanksgiving food here as it seems the two holidays are very similar food-wise. You have all the usual suspects of turkey, ham, gravy, stuffing, spuds, veggies, cranberry sauce and whatever other family tradition you might have. With Thanksgiving done and dusted I’ve already made some great seasonal turkey recipes that are also interchangeable for the Crimbo, like my Persimmon & Couscous Stuffed Turkey or Rice n Herb Stuffed Turkey along with other seasonal bits n pieces like a delicious seasonal Persimmon Salad or Pumpkin Soup. I’ve got lots of ideas throughout the blog though I’m always on the lookout for some new variations of the old reliables and this green bean recipe is definitely a festive idea.

Although I’d love to take credit for this recipe…..I can’t because I saw it in Cooking Light Magazine. They used the dish as a salad but I’ve made it a few times now as a side dish at home. It’s not only delicious but the colours are vibrant and Christmasy yet most of all it’s also healthy.

Enjoy!

RECIPE:
Serves 8 servings (serving size: about 3/4 cup)

1 1/2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2  garlic cloves, minced
3  tablespoons pine nuts, toasted and divided
2  tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
16 large basil leaves (about 1/2 cup)
1 1/2  pounds haricots verts
3 tablespoons chopped ready-to-use sun-dried tomatoes

DIRECTIONS:

Heat oil and garlic in a small skillet over medium heat; cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Combine garlic mixture, 1 tablespoon nuts, vinegar, 1/4 teaspoon salt, pepper, and basil in a food processor; pulse until well combined.
Cook beans in boiling water 4 minutes or until crisp-tender; drain. Rinse under cold water; drain. Place in a large bowl. Add basil mixture and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt; toss to coat. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons nuts and tomatoes.

NUTRITIONAL INFO:
Calories:              76
Fat:                       4.9g (sat 0.5g,mono 2.5g,poly 1.4g)
Protein:               2.3g
Carbohydrate:    7.6g
Fiber:                  3.3g
Cholesterol:       0.0mg
Iron:                    1.3mg
Sodium:              150mg
Calcium:             40mg

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

Winter is arriving if not already here for a lot of you (apparently there’s snow in Houston?) so this is defo soup season. You all know there’s nothing better than a delicious bowl of homemade soup with a nice sangwich. I remember growing up in the tropical Isle of Ireland and the odd day it might be cold and wet my Mum would always make us soup for lunch. It’s always been one of those things that was a staple in our house as any leftover veg from dinner would be made into a delicious soup the next day. Those were the days.

This soup recipe is one of my faves and you’ll definitely love the fresh pea flavour and earthy texture. Off you pop and get the pot out.

RECIPE:
Yields: A big ol’ pot.

1 lb bag of green split peas
3 small-med sized sweet potatoes – peeled & diced
1 white or yellow onion – chopped
1 cup celery – chopped
2 fresh carrots – chopped
2 bay leaves
8 cups veg stock or water
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:

Begin by emptying the bag of peas into a colander. Run the cold water over them and rinse thoroughly. While rinsing sort through the peas for any foreign objects, like dirt or even little pebbles. Once rinsed let drain in the same colander.
Preheat a large soup pot for 1 minute on medium heat. Once heated add olive oil along with celery, carrots and onion. Saute on medium, stirring occasionally, for 4 minutes. Do not brown onions.

Add rinsed peas, potatoes, bay leaves and stock. Increase heat to high and bring to a boil. Once boiling reduce to a simmer and partially cover. Cook for 20 minutes approx or until peas are cooked through.

Using a hand blender, if you have one or a food processor if not, pulse. Don’t puree totally but leave some veggie chucks in there. It creates a more rustic texture (which I like).

Taste and season with S&P.

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients.

Did everyone have a good Halloween? Now what to do with all those pumpkins? You could try this idea–

(How cool is that?)

Or you could make some tasty dishes such as these:

Fresh Roasted Pumpkin Puree
Southwestern Pumpkin Burgers
Pumpkin Risotto Cakes
Pumpkin Banana Bread

I’ll be making some more pumpkin recipes soon so keep checkin’ back.

Cheers!

I’ve recently rekindled my infatuation for peanut butter. A few weeks ago you would’ve caught me eating the stuff straight out of the jar. Then one day whilst perusing the vast varieties of  ‘nut butters’  I came across almond butter. Just so happens I love almonds and recently I even switched to almond milk so why not give almond butter a go? Of course I’ve seen it before but this time I was ready to delve in. The outcome is…..smashing.

Really, why didn’t I try this earlier? Do we get stuck liking what we like we become afraid of trying new things–even me, as a foodie guy? Gotta say I’m glad I broadened my horizons as almond butter is delicious and nutritious (and yes, now I’m hooked).

With my new infatuations fully in heat, I came across this brilliant idea from our friend Sheila at LiveWell360. In a nutshell (pretty good, right?), don’t toss your empty PB jars–instead, pour in some cooked oatmeal! This morning I remembered to save my jar (with extra scrapings just for the cause) and was I delighted I did. Truth be told I’m a bit miffed I didn’t think of this first!

MY VERSION:

Oatmeal
Nearly Empty Almond Butter Jar
Almond Milk

Cook oats on the stove per directions. Pour into Jar and swirl a drizzle of almond milk. Done.

Can’t get any easier than that!

TIP: When choosing any nut butters be sure to read your labels. All you want to read is “dry roasted almonds” or “roasted peanuts.” Nothing else, not extra oil, salt and certainly not extra sugar. These nut butters will have oil separation (you’ll see a layer of oil on top) which is natural. A quick stir and you’re good to go but be sure to keep refrigerated since there are no preservatives.

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

Well, the first rain of the season in Los Angeles has been a doozy. I’m talking real rain people! I’ll admit, there’s something nice about coming home to a warm cozy house with dinner on the stove, rain dancing on the roof and my missus dancing on the ceiling but I’m thankful it doesn’t happen that often. You should see how these people drive in the rain! Not pretty. Apparently rain and electricity don’t mix over here either because as soon as it kicked off, our power decided to do the same….for hours. Good thing we had finished dinner or that would’ve blown! Lucky for us we had this delicious soup to dive into. Rain and a blast of cold wind (to be read sarcastically—it was all of 70° yesterday!) makes for perfect soup weather.

RECIPE:
Serves 6-8

2 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion – fine dice
4 garlic cloves – minced
2 tbsp fresh rosemary – chopped
2 tsp red curry powder
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 x 1lb bag lentils – rinsed
1 x 14 1/2 oz can organic diced tomatoes
1/4 cup sun-dried tomato paste
10 cups water (or veg/chicken broth)
1 lb cubed butternut squash
4 cups Swiss chard – de-stalked, chopped, washed
1/2 cup fresh parsley – chopped
2 tsp sea salt
freshly ground pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat large soup pot for 1 minute on medium heat. Add in olive oil. Add onions and saute for 4-6 minutes or until translucent & soft, stirring–do not brown. Add in garlic, rosemary, curry powder, bay leaf and cayenne and mix through. Cook for 2 minutes and add lentils. Stir. Saute mixture together for 5 minutes until lentils are coated and toasted.
Next add in tomatoes, sun-dried paste, 1/2 the butternut squash and all the liquid (water 0r broth). Bring to boil and once boiling reduce to simmer, partially covered. Simmer for 25 minutes until lentils are tender. Stir in Swiss chard, parsley, the rest of the butternut squash and sea salt. Simmer for a few more minutes to wilt the chard and soften the squash. Taste the squash and when it’s nice ‘n’ tender you’re good to go. Finally, taste and season with S&P.

NOTE: We had a couple dried chili peppers lying around (gifts from our neighbors) that we threw in whole to see if they’d give off some heat. They certainly did, but lucky for us it was the perfect amount of kick. Do you dare?

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.

The weather here is getting chilly (for LA standards anyway), which gave us a hankering for some tortilla soup to warm our bones. As you may have seen on my Facebook page, I also threw on a pot of fresh veg stock, killing two birds with one stone since I was in the kitchen anyway. I can be smart sometimes.

With soup season finally having made its way here to Cali, I want to show you not only how to use up all your leftover veggies but as importantly, how you can save money by making your own stocks. For me, veg stock is the easiest since we eat vegetables like crazy, meaning we always have scraps available. Instead of chucking the scraps into the green bin, we save them over a week’s time and make a pot of stock on the weekend. It’s really easy and once you do it once you’ll be hooked since this is all organic, fresh (not sitting on a shelf for who knows how long) and homemade by YOU!

Speaking of sitting on a shelf, you may have noticed there are different color prepackaged veg stocks available. A typical stock (be it chicken or veg) mainly uses light vegetables to retain a light colored broth, but with veg stock you can really use any scraps. Stalks and stems are gems and you can even use onion peels. A great rule of thumb is to use what you’d eat, meaning don’t use rotten scraps. You’d be surprised how quickly you’ll accumulate scraps in a week!

BASIC STOCK RECIPE:
onion
carrot (though it’s not technically light it will add flavor without adding much color)
celery
leek
couple of bay leaves
herbs such as parsley and thyme (use calmer flavored herbs that won’t overpower the broth)

ADDITIONS (FOR A DARKER TINT):
tomatoes (love to add tomatoes to my veg stock)
mushrooms
leafy greens (kale, chard, spinach)
asparagus
broccoli
sweet or mild pepper scraps

NOTE: On one occasion I threw in hot pepper scraps such as a  jalapeño. With all the cooking time the stock had a serious kick to it so I wouldn’t neccesarily do that again. I like my broths to be mild yet flavorful so I can add in spices when I’m cooking. Sometimes adding in hot ingredients throws off this balance.

DIRECTIONS:
Put all scrap ingredients into a large soup pot and fill entire pot with cold water, covering the veg as much as possible. Stir. Bring to a boil then reduce to simmer. Cook uncovered for a couple of hours to extract the vegetable flavors. Strain over another soup pot or large bowl, separating the scraps from the broth. Toss the scraps into the green bin and let the broth cool completely.

I like to divvy up the broth into containers and freeze until needed but will last for up to a week in a covered container in the fridge. Makes a great economical way to use up veg scraps and is perfect for soups, stews or in place of butter when making mashed potatoes. Told you I was a smarty-pants!

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients.

This week I’ve been talking about what has come in our CSA box(es) and the diamonds so far have been sweet peppers, which have been turning into hummus. Any day now the Missus will be turning into hummus herself so I got the idea to try pairing it with something a bit healthier than crackers. I’ve been hearing rumblings about kale chips for a while now and though I was skeptical, I decided to give it a go with both elephant and curly kale. Tossed in a drizzle of olive oil, S&P and baked for nearly 10  mins at 350F (in case you wanted to try them out for yourself)….these were….em….interesting. Did they make a nice “chip?” Eh no. Would they make a nice garnish cut in strips? I’m thinkin’ that’s a much better idea. But I just wanted to show you that even the so called ‘pros’ like myself  learn by trial ‘n’ error. The real star here is the hummus!

RECIPE:
Makes 1 1/2 cups

1 can garbanzo beans
1/4 cup +  1 tbsp. roasted sweet peppers
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp cold water

First things first, roast your peppers. I used a variety of sweet peppers in this batch as well as a jalapeno from my garden. I used 1/4 cup of roasted plus a tbsp. total in the recipe. There’s no science here so just use what you have and as little or as much as it makes once roasted. Let your taste buds do the talking!

YOU NEED: Assorted sweet peppers & olive oil
ROASTING DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 420F. Toss the whole peppers in a drizzle of olive oil. Lay them on a foiled sheet pan in a single layer. Pop in oven for 20-25 mins, turning occasionally, until the skins are dark and charred. Once all sides of the skins are browned, put them into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap for 10 mins approx. Remove peppers and peel skins, discarding. Next remove stems and seeds and rough chop.
NOTE: Though it’s easier to peel peppers under running water, DO NOT do it. Rinsing roasted peppers under the tap will wash away most of the flavor. Bad idea!

HUMMUS DIRECTIONS:
Put the roasted peppers, garbanzo beans, S&P into a food processor and blend. While running, add in the water in a steady stream followed by the oil, same way. Taste and season.

Now in our second CSA box there were more sweet peppers so of course I knew I’d be at this again. This time we only had two peppers so I robbed a beautiful red bell from the neighbors (thanks Kitchens!!) and roasted them off. I added a squeeze of lemon, a couple squeezes of M’lady’s favorite hot sauce and a touch more olive oil and man, this was fantastic! It only took 2 days before it was gone so best of luck keeping it in your house!

All recipes are made with the finest quality farmers market whole foods, natural and non-processed ingredients as much as possible.