Welcome Wheat Berry!

I think I mentioned this a few days ago, but I found a little natural food store near me, I had a coupon, and I happened upon some wheatberries!  I was so excited, I had been wanting to try them for them for awhile. 

If you've never tried them, I suggest picking them up if you see them when you're out and about.  They're really really good!  They turn into these plump little pillows inside a slightly chewy shell.  My family really liked this whole dish.  My mom was amazed that I was presenting them with yet another foreign grain (quinoa was introduced with hesitation), but her and my brother both really liked it.  

The recipe, is simple.  However, I also completely stole it from Nava Atlas' Vegan Express, so I cannot share.  Her recipe is for the Broccoli Salad, and I combined it with the wheat berry.    

Wheat Berry and Broccoli Salad with Pine Nuts, Cranberries, and Yellow Bell Peppers

 

If you happen to have her book (which I continue to love, no matter how many books I buy), the recipe is on p. 182.  In addition to the cranberries, pine nuts, peppers, and broccoli, there is also a really nice sesame ginger dressing that my ginger-phobe family loved...but then I also just told them it was sesame dressing and they were none the wiser.  Oh, I added, tofu, totally forgot.  So altogether:

1 recipe Broccoli Salad with Yellow Peppers, Pine Nuts, and Cranberries

1 cup wheat berry

1/2 block tofu (I used extra firm, but I almost always use extra firm)

S&P to taste 

Makes 5 servings

Nutrition Information:  336.1 Calories;  13.4g Total Fat;  1.2g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  125.9mg Sodium;  46.7g Carbohydrates;  9.1g Fiber;  11.8g Protein. 

I cooked the wheat berry on the stovetop, nothing special.  It took about 1 h 45min...don't let that deter you!!  Supposedly it doesn't take as long if you soak them first (I am not organized enough to plan this ahead), or if you use a pressure cooker (which I do not own).  The tofu I just sprinkled with salt and pepper and sauteed in a pan...I do this a lot, its simple, its easy, my family likes it.  

In fact, my brother wanted everyone to see just how much he liked it

Today's Cooking Song of the Day:  Untitled - Question and Answer

*Never heard of them?  It's my brother's band.  No no, keep reading!  They completed their first studio recording this past weekend, and the song is up on their myspace:  Question and Answer.  It should play when you open the page.  Its very catchy, and is probably one of my favorites of their songs so far.    

Jeweled Fall Split Pea Soup

I went shopping with the intention of making lentil soup and ended up with yellow split peas! I've never really used them, and decided it would be fun to make some split pea soup instead.  And, who doesn't love a good pomegranate?  I couldn't resist, so pretty!  I realize the spices on top of the garam masala seem redundant, and you could really just use more garam masala if you wanted.  It was great the next day as a cold dinner during class also.  I made it really thick, but you could probably use more water, or blend some of it to make it thinner and soupy-er. 

  

1/2 tbsp olive oil

1 1/4 cup yellow split peas

1 carrot, chopped

1 celery stalk, chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

1 tsp ginger

1 clove garlic

1/2 tsp garam masala

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp coriander

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp sea salt

*salt & pepper to taste

1/2 red pepper, chopped

1 apple, chopped

2 tbsp pomegranate seeds

1. Cook the onions, carrots, garlic, ginger, and celery in oil, in a large soup pot, until slightly soft, then add spices, saute for another minute. 

2.  Add 6 cups of water, bring to boil, then lower heat and let simmer for 20-30 minutes.    

3.  While soup is boiling, in a separate pan, cook the red pepper and half the apple until slightly soft, but still crunchy.  

4.  About 5 minutes before cooking is finished, add the sauteed apple and pepper.  

5.  Serve, garnished with the remaining apple and pomegranate seeds.  

Makes 2 Full Servings, or 4 Small Servings

Nutrition Information (for 2 servings): 229.0 Calories;  1.0g Total Fat;  0.2g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  333.8mg Sodium;  46.8g Carbohydrates;  15.2g Fiber;  11.6g Protein. 

Today's CSotD:  O Valencia - The Decemberists  

Chickpea Potato Curry

To be honest, I did not want to cook today.  I found myself seconds away from having leftover pumpkin rice pudding for dinner, but I KNEW I was really hungry, and I had a couple of crappy days because I wasn't home, so I really wanted some veggies.  All veggies.  Yum veggies.  Considering I eat a vegan diet and everyone assumes that means you only eat vegetables, I really don't eat enough.  

I was planning on making wheat berries, but they take 2 HOURS??  Sheesh.  I was too hungry for that, although I will try them soon because I was so excited to find them last week.  Instead I opted to make a curry...of sorts.  I'm not really sure exactly what qualifies something as a "curry", but I used curry powder, so to me = curry.  

1/2 onion, sliced

1/2 red pepper, sliced

1/4 tbsp lite soy sauce

3/4 tbsp water

1/2 cup chickpeas

pinch cayenne pepper

1/4 tsp tumeric

1/2 tsp curry powder

1 small yukon potato, cooked and diced

1 tbsp coconut milk powder*

2 tbsp water

2 tsp agave nectar

First, I cooked the onion and pepper in the soy sauce and water.  Then added the chickpeas, spices, adding little extra water if the pan is very dry.  Mix together coconut milk powder and the 2 tbsp water, then add the mixture with the potato, and mix until combined.  Finish with squeezing on 2 tsp of agave nectar.    

*I assume regular coconut milk would work also, but I saw this at the store last week and wanted to try it. 

Nutrition Information:  372 Calories;  6g Fat; 4g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  522mg Sodium;  72g Carbohydrates;  11g Fiber;  11g Protein.  

This was better than I expected to be.  Instead of putting it on top of some sort of grain, I had it with asparagus and broccoli.  Just the sort of thing I needed to end my weekend/start my week.  

Today's CSotD:  I Feel So - Boxcar Racer

 

My Best Protein Shake

Tonight I have class, then I am going to my friend's house for the night, and spending the day tomorrow observing her at her school.  This means a lot of food packing :), which I sort of like.  It does mean I end up eating more protein bars than usual, but such is life.  But I know I won't be cooking anything today, so I thought I'd write about my favorite macronutrient..protein!    

I'm sure everyone who eats any sort of vegan diet has been asked how they get enough protein.  Now, I spend a lot of time of forums; fitness forums, vegan forums, vegan fitness forums, diet forums, etc (also a moderator on a military girlfriend's forum, but that's a story for another day), and there is always this "debate" about protein.  How much do we need?  What kind is the best?  Is there such a thing as too much?  Can you really get enough protein to build muscle on a vegan diet?  Is vegetable protein inferior to animal protein?  

Almost all of these questions are debatable.  But I do know that it's possible to get plenty of protein on a vegan diet.  Some of my favorite whole foods sources are seitan, seeds (pepitas in particular), tofu, beans, soynuts, nut butters, whole grains, and tempeh.  But personally, I'm also a big fan of the protein shake.  I wouldn't suggest it if you don't work out, lifting or otherwise, since we all know that whole foods are way better for us, and if you are only eating 1200 calories a day, it would be hard to get all the nutrients and vitamins you need if one of your meals is a protein shake.  But I am burning a lot of calories, eating a lot of calories, trying to increase my body's muscle, and a protein shake is easy, fast, and completely convenient when I come home wiped from the gym.  My favorite protein powder is a custom True Protein mix of 50% gemma (pea), and 50% rice protein.  I avoid the soy protein isolate because I figure I get enough other soy in my diet.  

My go to post-workout shake is a scoop mixed with OJ.  I'm not going to bother with a picture because it doesn't look pretty and it isn't the most delicious thing, but it is fast protein and fast carbohydrates.  However, on my non-workout days, I still like to have a protein shake, and it is delicious.

Chocolate Banana Protein Shake

1/2 banana

1 cup unsweetened chocolate almond milk

1 scoop protein powder

Blend!  

I know, this is ridiculously easy and it sounds silly, but most vegan proteins get a bad rap for being gross and chalky (because...most of them are), but this masks the chalkiness and is yummy chocolate deliciousness.  

So, if I'm not home, like I know I won't be tonight, I do resort to protein bars.  One of my favorites is the Odwalla Super Protein bar.

As far as the calorie to protein content ratio..it can't compare to many of the non-vegan bars out there.  But...they're non-vegan, so who cares?  I don't know if you can see, but I think this one is pretty good, 230 calories, 16g protein.  The protein is soy, the sweeteners are grape juice concentrate, brown rice syrup, and date puree.  I know that Clif Bars and Larabars, and some Luna Bars are vegan, but Clif Bars are more energy bars, the calorie to protein ratio isn't high enough for me, Larabars are essentially cookies in a bar shape, and Luna Bars aren't enough calories for me to have as a meal.  The calorie count of this bar allows for some fruit or veg to be added to the meal too, which I thoroughly enjoy.

For anyone who is curious, I average 100g of protein a day right now.  I'm also eating between 1700 and 2000 calories.  

So, that is how I feel about protein.  It's important, and it is NOT hard to get enough of it.  

What's Brown and Gold and Yummy All Over?

If you've figured it out already good for you!  I think it is pretty easy to see that the gold is curry powder.  And the messiness of the brown is explained by it being grated chocolate.  So, what is brown and gold and curry and chocolate all over?  

The Savory Chocolate Seitan Pie from the new VegNews website is!  This was so delicious.  I used a half recipe of Seitan O' Greatness, and it came out like...yum.  The only modifications I made to the original recipe was that I didn't use any oil or margarine, and instead sauteed the seitan, onions, and carrots in cooking spray.  This honestly isn't an effort to cut back on fat, I welcome healthy fat in my diet, but in a heavier dish like this, it was just an effort to cut calories...and sometimes fat is the easiest place to cut calories.    

Nutrition Information:  404.8 Calories;  8.6g Fat;  3.0g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  703.1mg Sodium;  62.8g Carbohydrates;  10.0g Fiber;  27.2g Protein.

I did indeed cut this into four servings, and it was definitely a filling portion.  The chocolate was, of course, unsweetened, but it gave it a great rich flavor, and the curry gave it a nice subtle kick.  Very bold, very different, very good!  I have to admit I was a little nervous when I tasted it before putting it in the oven, but once everything was all cooked together...yum.  Have I said yum enough?  To top it all off, it's high in protein and fiber!  

Today was a very food-centric day for me.  Normally I go to the gym on my days off of school, but because of my eye bothering me on Monday, my schedule is off this week, which leaves me being extra busy on days that I have school and nothing to do on my days off.  So I went to a new grocery store, which was okay.  One of the guys stocking the shelves told me I should get laser eye surgery because my eyes were too pretty to be hiding behind glasses.  He told me they were...very brown.  That doesn't really sound like much of a compliment, does it?  Anyway, after that I went to a little natural foods store that my mom cut a 10% off coupon out of the paper for me.  It was really into tea and herbs.  I did find wheat berry though!  I had been wanting to try it for awhile.  They also had a lot of interesting homeopathic stuff and essential oils, but I wasn't in the market for it at the moment.  The best about this store though, was that it was in an area that I rarely go to.  In fact, I don't think I've been to this particular strip mall since I have been back at home (which has been over a year now).  Anyway, what used to be a Ground Round restaurant is now an Indian place!  So exciting!  We really don't have any ethnic food near me besides bad Mexican, so this totally made my day.  Now I need to talk someone into going with me.    

Anyway, today was also, admittedly, not a very creative day.  Everything I made was 100% completely borrowed.  I didn't even really modify anything.  Ah well, right?  At least everything was delicious...like this Pumpkin Rice Pudding from Vegan Mouse.  I left out the raisins, and I used brown rice, but it was still really good.  I highly suggest it.  

Nutrition Information:  251.3 Calories;  2.5g Fat;  0.6g Saturated Fat; 0.0mg Cholesterol;  16.5g Sodium;  52.6g Carbohydrates;  4.4g Fiber;  5.8g Protein.  

Today's Cooking Song of the Day:  Brainwascht - Ben Folds

[me] & goji

I would like to thank Shelby at La Belle Vegan for mentioning the [me] & goji website a few days ago.  The website is a "mix your own cereal" site.  Its pretty cool, you get to choose a cereal base, grain mix ins, fruit mix ins, and nut/seed mix ins.  Plus, it calculates the nutrition for you.  I love stuff like this.  

Because I am me, I spent a long time trying to get the most protein in these as possible so that I could justify buying them.  I ended up with 3 mixes (the shipping was a lot, I figured I might as well get a few), and they all showed up in their pretty capsules today.  

The one I tried today was my Wheat Germ Muesli mix (I named it myself!...not very creative, haha) and it was a Muesli base with barley flakes, wheat germ x2, cacao nibs, dried strawberries, and amaranth.  

Nutrition Information (For 3/4 cup):  136.2 Calories;  2.8g Fat; 0.0g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  26.3g Carbohydrates;  5.4g Fiber;  6.5g Protein.  

For a snack tonight I had a cup of it with a cup of unsweetened chocolate almond milk, and microwaved it on half power for 4 minutes.  I don't have a picture of it because I ate it without planning on blogging about it, but I had to when I saw that even Zoe liked it:

Isn't she CUTE!??!

I guess, as I write this, I also should acknowledge our new president.  I'm not really sure how I feel about it, even though I wanted him to win but...congrats to Obama!  A minority president.  Amazing.  Fantastic.  At the very least, maybe we'll get some kind of the change, since that's what he's been proposing.  

No cooking song today, since I didn't really cook at all.  I did listen to the latest "Vegetarian Food for Thought" podcast on my way back from class tonight though.  I really like Colleen's podcast, since she talks more about food than politics.  

Roasted Garlic Soup and Edamame Burgers

So, once a week I cook dinner for my family.  I tend to borrow recipes for these meals because I don't want to subject them to what may be a disaster.  

Tonight we had a completely borrowed, but nonetheless delicious dinner menu:  

White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup

This is from Vegan with a Vengeance.  It involves lots of garlic...yum!  This was seriously delicious.  I am not kidding when I say I licked the blender, haha.  I had also never used fennel seeds before, and I love how they smelled like Italian sausage and peppers.  I never liked Italian sausage though, just how it smelled...my grandparents always used to get sausage and peppers when we went to the state fair.  You can't taste the fennel too much after you blend it though, but the soup is so delicious. 

I eliminated the oil and just sauteed the onion in a saucepan with cooking spray.  

Nutrition Information:  178.8 Calories;  0.6g Fat;  0.1g Saturated Fat;  0.1g Cholesterol;  520g Sodium;  34.2g Carbohydrates;  7.0g Fiber;  10.5g Protein

 

We also had Joni's Edamame Burgers

They were a challenge for me, mainly because I don't have a food processor (yet!  Christmas, hopefully).  Also, I used soy flour instead of chickpea flour, which ended up being fine, I just think I used a little too much.  I baked them, 15 minutes on one side, 10 on the other.  I'm not big on bread, but my family ate them mini whole wheat pitas. 

Nutrition Information:  212.8 Calories;  9.1g Fat; 1.6g Saturated Fat;  0.0mg Cholesterol;  110.5g Sodium;  21.1g Carbohydrates;  9.0g Fiber;  15.9g Protein

All in all, this was a great meal to end a not so great day.  My left eye has been swollen all day.  I took some Benadryl and I can open it now, but it's still really sore.  It also didn't water when my other eye did when chopping my onions...creepy!!  I'm hoping it will be better tomorrow because I skipped the gym this morning because of it.    

Today's Cooking Song of the Day:  Ocean Breathes Salty - Modest Mouse