Tacos, Jamaican roasted veggies and fruit salad

So yesterday I invited my parent's over for a south of the border feast :)
Unfortunately I had a late start to dinner preparation so I didn't get a chance to finish all that I wanted to make. Oh well.

Tacos:
2 sweet potatoes finely chopped
1 tbsp oil

1 can of black beans
1 portobello mushroom sliced and then roughly chopped
1/2 can of salsa
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp lemon juice


Sprinkle the sweet potatoes with oil and put into oven at 400 F for 30 minutes. Place the portobello
mushroom in a large bowl.  Dump the rest of the ingredients on top of the portobello, let sit for 10-15 minutes.  Place ingredients in a frying pan until mushrooms are cooked.  Mix the mushroom mixture with the finished potatoes for the taco filling.

Garnish with:
chopped romaine
chopped tomato
ketchup -- I'm weird I know lol I love ketchup with tacos
salsa
vegan sour cream, cheese
guacemole

-- I just used romaine, tomato and ketchup and a little bit of taco sauce.
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Jamaican veggies:

1 bunch of broccolini roughly chopped
1 sweet potato diced
1 potato diced
2 carrots chopped
1 tomato diced
1 yellow bell pepper sliced
1 onion
1 slice of pineapple
1/2 cup of orange juice
1/4 cup of lime juice
1-2 tbsp of sugar (if at all)
2 tsp minced ginger
3 garlic cloves
pinch of nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
sprinkle with pepper and red chili flakes

I made two varieties of this dish, since my mom isn't a fan of pineapples. I made a version for her using a tomato in place of the pineapple, she really enjoyed it!  So basically first place the potatoes, carrots and onion on a baking dish, put into the oven at 425 F for 30 minutes covered.  While veggies are cooking blend the pineapple with the orange and lime juice, sugar, ginger, garlic, nutmeg and salt.  Once blended add the pepper and flakes.  Take the veggie tray out and add broccolini, tomato, bell pepper to the mixture and pour the juice blend over the veggies.  Re-cover and put into the oven for another 30 minutes -- could even do with possibly 20 minutes.

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Fruit Salad:
Serves 3

1/4 cup blueberries
1 pear
1 banana
1/3 cup grapes
1/2 cup unsweetened yogurt
3-4 tbsp agave
1/4 cup of orange juice
2 tbsp lime juice
Soy whip cream

Mix all the ingredients minus the whip cream.  Serve up 3 portions of fruit salad, and top with whipped cream. My family loved this, a very healthy light desert that definitely goes within the south of the border theme :)

I also served vegan chocolate chip cookies  :)

PS i was going to add mangos to this dish.. however once opened they were completely bruised inside :(

Oh well.

Cookbook references:

Jamaican veggies adapted version of the one in
Hot Vegan by Robin Robertson

Tacos inspired by seitan and potato taco recipe in
Viva Vegan! by Terry Hope Romero

Fruit salad inspired by
vegetarian.about.com recipe "Creamy Vegan Ambrosia Fruit Salad with Pineapple"

Buffalo style kidney beans

2 cans of kidney beans
2 tbsp of hot sauce ( sriracha)
1-2 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp tamari
1/2 cup cashew cream (1/4 cup ground cashews mixed with just enough water to be thick)
1 tsp thyme
2-4 drops liquid smoke
sprinkle of salt.

Mix all ingredients in a pan until hot.

Serve on toasted bread, homemade bread, or toasted buns, serve with vegan ranch and carrot sticks :)

This recipe is super fast and super easy and loved by the guys.  

One food fits all.

Have you ever wondered what goes into those feeding tubes, for patients at the hospital... or baby formula?

Okay, maybe the latter people have had more exposure to... but the former?

So my grandmother just had surgery on a tumor in her throat, so she can swallow a bit better.

The doctors gave her this liquid food... can I call it food?  Anyway, basically it was, corn syrup, cow's milk and soy with added nutrients-- calcium, and a few others.

It said 1 calorie on the label? But I have a hard time believing that.  Who knows.

Anyway, I wanted to make her another food choice that had just as much protein and nutrition.. without the sugar load, cholesterol and inflammation results other negative side affects of consuming milk.  eeeek.

This recipe makes 1 pitcher full of serious nutrition-- I wasn't going for taste, but it actually was very palatable.. could have had it as a soup or a sauce !!

Extreme Healing Smoothie Juice 
-- Designed especially for beating cancer

1 cup cooked white beans
1 cup cooked quinoa

1 brazil nut
1/4 cup cashews
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds

3 carrots
4 leaves of kale
1 orange beet
1 lime with peel
1 handful of parsley
1" peeled fresh turmeric
1" peeled fresh ginger
1 garlic clove
2 cups lettuce
3/4 cup cabbage
7 mini bell peppers
1 tomato

1 oz aloe vera juice
1 tsp nutritional yeast
1 tbsp raw coconut oil
1 tsp flax oil
1 tsp spirulina
16 oz coconut water
8 oz sun tea (unheated water with herb diffused over 20 minutes-- I used a tsp mixed of alfalfa tea, calendula and spearmint)
1 tbsp of Organic Life Vitamins 
2 tsp Calcium Magnesium Citrate 

The day before, I soaked the white beans all day, and then put them in the crockpot overnight 4-5 hours -- it helps to plug it into a timed power outlet.
Soak the nuts and seeds in water while you juice the vegetables.

Prepare vegetables so that they can fit into a juicer.

Once vegetables are juiced, add them to a high powered blender.  Drain the nuts and seeds and add them, add the oils, spirulina, beans and quinoa.  Blend on high for 1 minute.  Add the rest of the ingredients, again blend on high for 1 minute.

After everything has been blended, strain the contents through a nut milk bag or a fine sieve-- only if it's for a feeding tube, otherwise it doesn't need to be sieved.

Voila, all in one magical food.  I was too afraid to try it after it was made, even though it smelled really good. My husband gave it a go, and thought it tasted like a thai curry! Go figure :)

The simple dinner

I really didn't feel like putting much effort into cooking yesterday, so this was a minimalist effort kind of throw-together.

Steamed Asparagus and Radicchio
1 package of asparagus chopped in 2 inch pieces
1/2 medium radicchio roughly sliced

Yes, radicchio is bitter especially cooked with only water, but I think it's important to strengthen our tolerance for bitterness in our meals :)
Steam for 5-10 minutes, just before wilting point of radicchio.

Chopped Greens
3/4 bunch of red lettuce chopped/ripped into bite size pieces

as simple as that, the table needed something fresh looking :)

Seasoned Mixed Potato Rounds
7 small purple tomatoes roughly sliced
1 large sweet potato roughly cubed
1 large yam roughly cubed
2 tsp of oil
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp sage

Preheat oven at 375 F. Mix all of the chopped potatoes in a bowl add the owl and seasonings and mix.  Place in a pan or a baking dish, and bake for 30 minutes.  Take potatoes out, stir well and put them back in the oven for another 30 minutes.

Scrambled Chorizo in Tomato Sauce  
1/2 cup of chorizo
1 can tri- bean mix
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/4-1/2 cup of water
1/4 tsp of basil
1/2 cup of sliced cabbage

Mix all ingredients together in a pot.  simmer until cabbage softens.


I invited our friend to dinner, who brought along chips and salsa, which made a perfect contribution to the meal :)

I took equal servings of salad, vegetables, potatoes and chorizo and it was the best all mixed together with a spoonful of salsa and a couple chips :)

Tri-bean and Falafel Salad with Strawberry Chipotle Salsa

I ended up making this salad because I wanted some kind of a taco salad, but I had no tomatoes, but I did have strawberries.  It may sound like a pretty strange combination, but it's amazing.

Tri-bean and Falafel Salad 
5 servings

5 cups of chopped romaine or other salad greens
1 yellow bell pepper chopped
3 celery sticks chopped
1 can of tri-beans
5 roughly chopped falafels


Strawberry Chipotle Salsa 
8 oz strawberries chopped or roughly food processed
1/4 cup of cilantro chopped
2 tbsp of adobo sauce
juice of 2 lemons
1 tsp of lemon zest
1 tbsp of oil
4 dashes of pepper
2 dashes of salt

Garnish
1-2 sliced strawberry
1-2 peel streaks of lemon

Toss the ingredients of the salad together.  Mix the ingredients for the salsa.  Combine both the salsa and the salad together, garnish the top of the salad (optional) and serve.