Eat your greens, Davie.

I eat a lot of salad during the summer, partially because summer produce rocks and partially because I can’t bring myself to turn on the oven–a.k.a the hellfire monster of heat–anymore. Kale has taken over my meals, making me a little green vegan kale monster. I was a doubter at first, but it’s now making regular appearances in my green smoothies, salads, and even sandwiches. These super-healthy greens may be a bitch to prepare, but it’s mucho worth it. It’s hard to complain with all those vitamins, yet only 36 calories per cup.

My basic salad most often includes: greens (*if using kale, marinated for a few hours in homemade vinaigrette), whatever veggies are in the fridge, sunflower seeds (for the crunch), and marinated tofu/tempeh. Here’s a few from the last two months that I’ve been meaning to blog.

Tempeh bacon (from Isa Chandra Moskowitz' Vegan Brunch), shaved carrots, and kale

Pretty enough for another picture, no?

This is a salad very loosely based on the BLT salad by Vegan Yum Yum, but I opted to make my own tempeh bacon, substitute extra-virgin olive oil for the Vegan mayo in the dressing, and add shaved carrot instead of icky cherry tomatoes. I mostly just used her method of cutting kale, which includes helpful, high-quality pictures of the process. And I have to say, my version was awesome! My mom said it tasted “gourmet,” whatever that means.

No dressing and still delicious

I’m quite proud of this veggie slaw, which consists of shaved carrot, shaved zucchini, boiled corn cut off-the-cob, and boiled edamame (a.k.a soy beans). Because I used no dressing, fresh, in-season corn is a must as it sweetens the entire salad. The zucchini shavings add moisture and the carrot shavings give crunch. This is one dish that proves less is more.

Made with love <3

Props to my mom who made this arugula salad (based off a Cooking Light recipe) with onions, white canellini beans, and finely chopped red peppers in a mustard vinaigrette. My parents never have any idea what to cook for me as a vegan, but this salad wasn’t half-bad. While arugula may not be my favorite and the sharp aftertaste of raw onions isn’t my thing, it’s the thought that counts. So thanks, Mom.

*It’s very important to marinate the kale for as long as possible–at least an hour–to allow the kale to soften and absorb the flavors of the vinaigrette. The longer it sits, the better it gets- trust me!

Summer Eats

With the temperature starting to rise, it’s officially salad season. Something about the hot weather makes me crave raw veggies and little else. It’s fulfilling the image of the stereotypical “salad vegan”, but who the fuck cares? This particular salad contained plain tofu (I blame laziness), broccoli, carrots, and sunflower seeds (for the crunch).

Tofu is camera shy.

The balsamic vinaigrette was homemade and delicious. I eyeball all the ingredients so I can’t really give you a recipe, but here’s the gist of it: Constantly whisk about 3 parts olive oil into 1 part balsamic vinegar, adding garlic (fresh or dried), salt, and cracked black pepper to taste. Sometimes I add a bit of sweetener if I’m serving this to others. Add a dollop of stone-ground mustard if you really want to get fancy. Because of its simplicity, this dressing can really suck without high quality oil and vinegar- so don’t be cheap!

(Crappy photo, I know)

So what else tastes better out in the sun than ice cream? And vegans don’t have to miss out thanks to the wide variety of non-dairy options on the market. In fact, I can barely keep up with all the options vegans have to choose from. My favorites include  Tempt hemp milk ice cream (product review coming soon), Purely Decadant coconut milk frozen treats, and Double Rainbow soy products. So when people assume I can’t eat ice cream because I’m vegan, I almost want to chuckle. Silly omnivores thinking they get to have all the fun.

Recently I visited an excellent local ice cream parlor, Here’s the Scoop, with my family. It’s the only Sacramento ice cream parlor that stocks vegan flavors so I make a point to go as much as possible. For me, it’s a treat just to be able to order something other than sorbet at an ice cream joint. As much as I love a nice fruit (MANGO) sorbet, it’s nice to have a rotating variety of 4-5 Double Rainbow soy flavors to choose from.

This time I sampled the Blueberry (fantastica!), but decided on my favorite Very Cherry Chocolate: cherry ice cream with dried cherries and dark chocolate chunks (sorry, no pic). I buy this stuff all the time at Trader Joes because it’s way cheaper than at Whole Foods. Mmmmmm it hit the spot let me tell you. The other vegan options were Mint Chip (which even my picky brother loves) and Vanilla Bean.

Stolen from the Googlez

And what better way to end the outing than bon-bons? Here’s the Scoop offers two varieties of vegan bon-bons: Mint Chip and Very Cherry Chocolate. I got a 6-pack of house-made Very Cherry Chocolate bon-bons for $3.50, a steal with each bon-bon costing less than 60 cents.

A little tub of heaven

Come to me my pretties!

These lived very happily in my freezer for the short 2 days that they survived. My mom wanted one, but asked right after I ate the last one. What can I say? I’m an ice cream fiend; you can bet I will be back for more.

This is what I like to call the money shot.