Vegetarian Tacos

Hey Everybody! Long time no post, but that means that lots of goodies are stored and ready to be shared.

Today we're going to take a trip around the world, with a recipe from Mexico : tacos, of course! This is really easy and simple to make, because you can put virtually anything into your taco and still call it a taco. I'm going to list some ideas for ingredients (the star next to it means that I used it in the photos below)

Ingredients :

Tacos or tortillas
*Chopped zucchini
*Chopped carrots
*Chopped celery
*Chopped bellpeppers
*Chopped onions
Eggplant
*Diced tomatoes
*Lettuce
*Chili pepper seasoning
*Guacamole
Cheese for non-vegans, tofu for vegans

1. First grill all your vegetables, except for the lettuce and the tomatoes if you don't want to (I like mine fresh!) To grill them, toss them into a platter with olive oil and salt, and place in the oven at max temperature.

Another option is to cook/stir fry the vegetables.


2. Second, make your taco by stuffing it with the grilled and fresh veggies! I like eating tacos with lots of pepper and guacamole, but it's all up to you. That's one of the beauty of serving tacos for a meal, people get to choose what they put in.

If you're using a tortilla, here's a tip for closing it. Don't over stuff the tortilla and gently fold one of the tips into the taco, so that when you close it, one of the ends is closed. That way it won't leak as much. But yes, eating tacos is still pretty messy :)

Next tour around the world will take us to the Middle East! Don't miss it!

Vegan New Year traditions around the world

Being a foreign student has its perks, and one of them is meeting other foreign students that share pieces of their culture with you. And sometimes, they stick. I spent New Year's eve with a very special Korean friend, and we celebrated many cultures (and many midnights) in their own special ways. The first one we did was this:

#1. Did you know. . .? That the tradition in Spain is eating twelve grapes as the grand clock in Madrid strikes midnight?
Well, me neither. We watched on TV as the Madrid's Puerta del Sol square was crowded with people in the rain, ready with their little stash of grapes. For each of the clock's chimes at midnight, they ate a grape (believe me, it's actually harder than it looks, our mouths were very stuffed! It took me a minute to swallow and finally shout out HAPPY NEW YEAR!)
Tradition brought to you by my Spanish friend that studies with me.

#2. Ah, the Brazilian tradition of wearing white! Not really a vegan tradition, but for the sake of it I'm posting it. I think it's one of the only countries that has this tradition. Since it's summer in Brazil during this time, wearing white is fairly easy: you can wear a white top, a white dress, a white bermuda, a white bathing suit (hey, it was hot this year down there). Wearing white means a peaceful year to come. Another brazilian tradition is jumping seven waves fos good luck or sending roses out into the sea. Not feasible in the Northern Hemisphere, but pretty all the same.

#3. The New York tradition - need I say more? As a kid I loved to watch the silver ball drop in Time's square - hey, as a grown up too. It just means so much more to me now. I can pratically hear people chiming glasses and fireworks going off when I see the ball dropping. There is a time difference of 6 hours from France to U.S, and we got up in time just to see the ball drop.

#4.The French tradition: Champagne! As I don't drink alcohol we improvised on the spot with a bottle of chilled sparkling water in a pretty green bottle.

#5. Korean tradition: Dressing up and eating special, traditional foods! We also didn't do this one, lack of time and means, but we did make cookies like half an hour before midnight. You can check out the recipe here.

Anyone like to share their New Year tradition?

Painting above is 'Cherries and Peaches by Paul Cezanne, especially famous for living where I'm living now.

Easy vegan sugar cookies

Hey guys! Happy New Year! This is what I made in just before midnight with one of my exchange student friends, to celebrate the French New Year (later we celebrated the East Coast New Year too). It's another one of those recipes that you don't have to think much: just toss everything in a bowl and add some decoration. Plus it tastes really good.

Ingredients:

 

2 cups of white flour

3/4 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of almond, rice, soja or oat milk

1/2 cup of canola oil

1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 teaspoon salt

Optional:

Raisins

Chocolate chips

Other dried fruits 

Nuts

Mix the dry ingredients together, add the wet ingredients slowly. Mix and drop on greased cookie sheet. Decorate however you like! I added a drop of apricot jelly to each cookie. Bake for half an hour on medium temperature. It has a cakey-like texture, which I love, and also it packs quite a lot of sugar per cookie, so I'd recommend eating eat only after dinner or a very well balanced meal.

Enjoy!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Oatmeal raisin cookies, a Christmas classic! Yum! This is one of my favorite recipes because:

1.       The ingredients are easy to find and you probably have them at home already

2.       It’s one of those classic ‘toss everything in’ recipes,

3.       It smells like Christmas in a box.

4.        It’s healthy and has a good dose of iron in the oatmeal.

Did I convince you to make them now? J

Oh, and they’re the soft type of cookie, not the crunchy type, which is my personal favorite.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 3 cups of oatmeal
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• ½ cup white sugar
• ½ cup soy milk
• ¾ cup margarine
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 teaspoons of all spice, or 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ½ nutmeg and ½ cloves
• 1 cup raisins

Add both sugars with margarine and mix until fluffy.  Slowly add the soy milk, mix well. Add flour, baking soda, and spices. Mix until smooth, and add the remaining ingredients.

I find that the cookies taste better after the batter is refrigerated for at least half an hour, but you can bake them now.  Drop them on a greased cookie sheet, making round balls.  Bake for about 20 minutes to 180°C.
And wait for them to cool down before eating or they'll be all crumbly!!! Sheesh. I've done that 3 times now until I've learned my lesson.

Strogonoff Vegano, versão número 1

Oi pessoal!! Faz um tempinho, né? Espero que todo mundo esteja curtindo as férias !! As minhas estão cheias com estudos e muitas horas de sono, rsrs. Mas agora estou recuperada, e tá na hora de publicar receitas gostosas para comemorar o fim do ano ! Festas de fim de ano sem comida boa não dá, né ?

Presente para vocês !! Uma amiga compartilhou uma receita muito boa de strogonoff vegetariano. Fiz algumas modificações e voilà, receita vegana com cogumelos frescos! Segue abaixo os ingredientes e instruções.

Versão número 1 de Strogonoff vegano, de uma série de 4. Sim, gosto tanto assim de strogonoff

Ingredientes :

• 1 Cenoura
• 1 Cebola
• 2 dentes de alho
• 2 colheres (sopa) de margarina
• Extrato de tomate
• Cogumelos (usei cogumelos frescos + champignon. Sim, sou fã de cogumelos)
• Milho em conserva
• 1 colher de sopa de mostarda
• 1 lata de creme de soja (sei que é dificil achar, você pode fazer você mesmo com leite de soja, margarina e trigo, ou então usar leite de coco)

Modo de Preparo:

1. Cozinhe a cenoura. Cozinhei no vapor, mas pode ser com agua fervendo também. 

2   2. Refogue a cebola e o alho na margarina. Adicione os cogumelos frescos e cozinhe até soltar agua. Adicione a cenoura, o milho, a mostarda e refogue.

      3. Acrescente o extrato de tomate, deixe ferve por uns 5 minutos. Tire do fogo e adicione o creme de soja ou o leite de coco. Sirva com arroz e batata palha.

Essa receita é excellente em quantidades de proteína.

Bom apetite ! 

Vegan Stroganoff, version #1

Hey guys!! Long time no write. I hope everyone had a very happy holiday break! Mine were filled with studies and sleep a-plenty. Now that I’ve rested enough, time to make a batch of tasty recipes! Because besides meeting up with family and loved ones, that’s what holidays are for, right?

Today my gift to you is a special stroganoff vegan recipe! The original idea is from a friend of mine and I tweaked it around into a vegan version. It’s very tasty and the mushrooms do an excellent meat impersonation. Below are the ingredients and instructions. Instead of heavy cream, I used soy cream. It’s the first time I used it, and it worked perfectly. It’s not that easy to find however: you can make your own with soy milk and butter too. Coconut milk is also a good fix.

Vegan Stroganoff, version number 1 of a series of 4. Yep, I love stroganoff that much.

Ingredients:

• 1 Carrot
• 1 Onion
• 2 Garlic cloves
• 2 table spoons of vegan margarine
• Mushrooms (can be any type, really. I used button mushrooms and the canned version)
• Corn
• 200 g of tomato extract
• 1 tablespoon of mustard
• 1 can of soy cream or coconut milk, or make your own soy cream by mixing margarine and soy milk and a bit of maizena. Will be making a post on that later.
• Pepper & Salt

Instructions:

#1. Chop and cook the carrots. I chose to cook them with vapor, but they can be boiled too.

     #2.  If you’re using tomatoes, put them in the blender with a cup of water and blend until smooth. I don’t have a blender, so I used tomato extract, which works fine.

    #3. Cook the onions and garlic in the melted margarine. Add mushrooms (if using fresh mushrooms, cook until they release lots of water). Add corn, mustard, salt, and cook for about two minutes. Add tomato extract and bring to a boil.

    #4.Take off heat, and add soy cream. Tada! Serve with rice and potato chips if you got them J

This recipe is excellent for protein, but not so much for iron. If you’re making this for a main meal, try to accompany with a good source of iron. 

Thanks for the idea Mayara!! 

Have a great holidays, and awesome 2013!

Curry de grão-de-bico

A ideia original não é minha. Procurei um tempão pela receita e como não achei, tentei reproduzir ela como eu lembrei. Ficou simples e gostoso !!

Você precisa de :

• 1 Cebola
• 2 copos de grão de bico
• Salsão
• 2 colheres de cha de curry
• 1 caixinha ou metade de uma lata de leite de coco
• Azeite e sal

Primeiro passo : Deixe os grãos-de-bico de molho na noite anterior. Como feijão , os grão precisam ficar de molho por pelo menos oito horas.

Segundo passo: Cozinhe os grãos-de-bico na panela de pressão por vinte minutos após emitir vapor, ou duas horas numa panela normal, até que fiquem macios.

Terceiro passo : Refogue a cebola picada em uma frigideira com azeite. Adicione o salsão picado e o curry e sal. Cozinhe até a cebola estiver amarela. Adicione os grãos de bico e cozinhe por 15 minutos no fogo baixo. Desligue o fogão e adicione o leite de coco, mexendo para absorver o sabor.

Sirva com arroz! Bom apetite!