5 recipes I’m loving lately

Posted on January 27, 2013 by Sarina @ Earthgiven Kitchen

Hi friends,

As much as I love developing recipes, I’ve been short on time these days, and haven’t been branching out beyond my repertoire of tried, tested and true recipes. In addition to full-time work, I started grad school this month! I am equally excited and freaking out. A master’s degree has been on my to-do list for a while, and this year felt like the right time to dive in. The extra activity on my plate is why you haven’t heard much from me these past few weeks, and while I may be posting less often than previously. (Though, I can be a terrible procrastinator when I’m under deadline, so perhaps when the school work gets intense, I’ll be blogging plentifully. During my last round of school I took up hand-stitching baby quilts and my house was always very clean).

I can’t take credit for any of the following wonderful recipes, but I’ve linked to the original blog post or book’s website. Here’s what I’ve been whipping up lately…..

Apple Pie Oatmeal from Oh She Glows. Recipe here. When I give my kids this oatmeal for breakfast, they think they are getting a treat. It tastes like the sweet cinnamon filling of apple pie, but with plenty of protein thanks to the oats and nuts. Filling and delicious! If you want to change it up, Angela has plenty more oatmeal recipes to choose from on her blog, like the Sweet Potato Oatmeal Breakfast Casserole.

Pasta with Easy Breezy Cheesy Sauce from Appetite for Reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz, and posted here on her blog The Post Punk Kitchen. I reduce the amount of water to make it thicker and creamier. For the fastest mac ‘n cheese ever, I keep a container of the dry mix in the pantry, then mix with hot water and a smidge of mustard, blend, and add to cooked pasta and veggies. To keep it really simple, I reserve the pasta cooking water for the sauce. Use it any place you’d use a creamy cheese sauce: over steamed broccoli, poured on baked potatoes or nachos (thanks, Mary, for that idea!). In the photo above I’ve used the cheesy sauce over perogies with fresh herbs and coconut bacon.
Cinnamon Bun Granola from Tiny Treats by Lisa Pitman and Nicole Axworthy. This granola is so good we have it for breakfast, for snacks and as an ice cream topping for dessert! I never would have thought to add buckwheat to my granola, but what a great texture it adds! You can buy the e-cookbook through the authors’ blogs A Dash of Compassion or Vegan Culinary Crusade. A lovely bonus is a third of the proceeds are donated to the Elephant Nature Park, a sanctuary in Northern Thailand, if you need one more reason to support this awesome project!

Jambalaya from Peas and Thank You by Sarah Matheny. A hearty and filling meal that’s fast and easy, if rice is already cooked. In the photo above, I’ve used a mix of brown rice and millet instead of just rice, to change it up. I use Field Roast Apple Sage sausages which add just a bit of sweetness to the Jambalaya. If you can handle spicy foods, try the Field Roast Mexican Chipotle sausages — they would compliment the jambalaya perfectly but are too spicy for me!

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Almond Cookies, another winner from Nicole of A Dash of Compassion. Recipe here. Just eight ingredients mean you can whip these babies up in five minutes. These not-so-sweet cookies are flour-less, high in protein, and their texture is like a melt-in-your-mouth shortbread! Try adding the ingredients into the pot of melted coconut oil and the heat will melt the chips into a chocolate swirl.
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In other news, I’ve organized a vegan potluck in Waterloo next Saturday, February 2nd at noon. I love potlucks and hope it will be a nice opportunity for vegans and vegan-friendly people in the Waterloo area to connect. All are welcome: vegans, non-vegans, adults, kids. If you’re able to join us, please see the event page on facebook here. Join us if you can!
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Vegan Brunch: Savory Scrambles and Sweet Parfaits

Posted on September 6, 2012 by Sarina @ Earthgiven Kitchen

Shortly after I became vegan, I learned a little tidbit I’ll share with you: Brunch is a big deal to vegans. Waffles, pancakes, scrambles, muffins, lattes, even bacon and omelets….. we can do it all vegan, deliciously!
My primary brunch staple for about a year was Oh She Glows’ Sweet Potato Oatmeal Breakfast Casserole. It’s excellent, like everything Angela creates. Then Tofu Scramble with Coconut Bacon took over as my main go-to. Click the link for the recipe.

When I hosted a brunch a few weekends ago, I wanted to create a special dish for a friend with severe allergies. Not only is she vegan, she also needs to avoid soy and gluten. Before cutting out soy, she adored tofu scramble. I wondered if I could possibly make a tofu scramble without tofu and still be delicious and full of protein? I decided to try swapping the tofu in my scramble with white beans and potatoes and I think it turned out wonderfully! All the flavours of my Tofu Scramble with potato and white beans substituting the tofu. Perfect for anyone wanting to change up their scramble or just wanting to reduce their soy intake.

White Bean and Potato Breakfast Scramble
1 cup onion, chopped
coconut or olive oil
2 medium potatoes, chopped into bite sized chunks
14 oz cooked white beans, drained and rinsed if using a can
1 heaping tbsp of spice mix (below)
3 tbsp Bragg’s all-purpose seasoning, nama shoyu or soy sauce
2 1/2 cups chopped veggies (we like red pepper, massaged kale, mushrooms and spinach)
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 tomato, chopped
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, minced

Scramble Spice Mix
2 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp Herbamare seasoning or sea salt
1 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder
1/2 tsp sage

Mix the spices together and keep in a glass jar. Makes enough for 6 servings of the scramble.

Sautée the onion in a bit of oil over medium heat in a large pan and cook for about five minutes. Add the potatoes and white beans to the pan with the onion and continue cooking, stirring frequently. Add 1 tbsp of the spice mix to 3 tbsp of water, stir, then add to pan and stir well. Add the Bragg’s, veggies and nutritional yeast to the pan and cook for another several minutes, until the potatoes are fork-tender and veggies are soft. Use a metal spatula to scrape the bottom if the beans start to stick. Taste and add more Bragg’s, spice mixture or nutritional yeast if desired. Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm topped with chopped tomatoes and cilantro.
The scramble also makes a great entrée.

I also served my traditional Tofu Scramble with avocado, fresh fruit, raw almonds (brought by a friend from California where nuts are unpasteurized and truly raw), and cherry coconut parfaits! The parfaits can be nearly sugar free if you choose no-sugar added jam and granola, making it a not-too-decadent treat for breakfast, brunch or dessert.
Cherry Coconut Parfaits

cultured coconut milk (also called coconut yogurt. I used So Delicious brand)
your favourite jam (I used homemade chia-berry jam)
granola (I used homemade raw coconut granola, recipe coming soon)
one cherry per parfait to top

Spoon about a two tablespoons of cultured coconut into the bottom of a glass cup or wine glass. Top with two tablespoons of jam followed by enough granola to cover the jam. Repeat the layers of coconut, jam and granola, then top with a cherry. Serve immediately.

I am submitting my White Bean and Potato Breakfast Scramble to the Allergy Friendly Fridays, Gluten Free Fridays, Healthy Vegan Fridays, Foodtastic Fridays, Wellness Weekends and Meatless Mondays blog hops. I’m sharing the Parfaits with the Slightly Indulgent blog hop.
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Vegan at the cottage

Posted on July 31, 2012 by Sarina @ Earthgiven Kitchen

Our family vacation this summer was a week at a cottage in beautiful Muskoka, Ontario and the ten of us had a wonderful time.

I’m grateful that even though I’m the lone vegan in the family, the rest of my family members are either nearly vegan, semi-vegetarian or veg-supportive. All family meals were predominantly vegan. We saved time and stress by preparing many of the meals ahead of time and freezing them, like my BBQ burritos and my sister’s delicious vegan shepherd’s pie. I made sure to pack with me all the foods I wouldn’t want to go a week without and wouldn’t be able to find in the nearest grocery store, like my sandwich spread (Vegenaise + mustard + fresh herbs from my garden), Tofurky slices, hemp seeds, organic fruit, almond milk, etc.

So, for What I ate Wednesday‘s submission #2, here is what I ate one day last week at the cottage:

Breakfast: Raw cherry almond granola. Recipe coming soon. We adored getting to see this view every day as we ate. So peaceful. August’s WIAW theme is “summer staples”, celebrating the foods in season right now. For me, nothing says summer like fresh berries, and I used both raw strawberries and cherries in my granola. Summer food staples in my house are also burgers and anything else barbecued, which we certainly enjoyed at the cottage.

Lunch: Mountain Veggie Burger with Daiya, relish and tomatoes and almonds and watermelon for dessert. This was my first time trying this brand and I really liked it. It’s made from vegetables and beans and only 3 grams of fat per burger, a nice break from the fatty and soy-based (though delicious) burgers out there. They were bought at Organic Garage in Oakville. Snack of tortilla chips and salsa, Barbara’s blueberry fig bars and dried apricots.

Dinner: Sweet potato black bean burritos with cilantro lime sauce! Recipe coming soon. These were a big hit. I made them a few weeks before hand, wrapped them individually in aluminum foil and froze them before the trip. They defrosted over night in the fridge then barbecued about five minutes each side so they will be hot all the way through. We served them with Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream, guacamole and salsa. Delicious! Easily my favourite meal at the cottage.

Dessert: Birthday cake! We treated ourselves to Sweets from the Earth chocolate cheesecake for my son’s birthday celebration. I adored cheesecake before I went vegan and so far have not had lucky myself creating an excellent vegan cheesecake, but that’s okay because we can always get a delicious Sweets from the Earth cake to satisfy our cheesecake cravings. Their very best cake, in my opinion, is their carrot cake. Completely addictive. All Sweets from the Earth foods are made from natural vegan ingredients; no preservatives, GMOs, hydrogenated food or refined sugars. And they are from Toronto! Sweet indeed.

Thanks, Jenn from Peas and Crayons, for hosting another WIAW.

Favourite New Toy

Posted on May 17, 2012 by Sarina @ Earthgiven Kitchen

Since receiving an Excalibur dehydrator for my birthday a few weeks ago, I’ve been using it daily and loving how easy it is to make tasty raw snacks.

Some of the goodies I’ve made so far include Nacho Kale Chips, Hazelnut Pear Granola, Cacao and Coconut Granola, potato/beet/sweet potato chips and several varieties of granola bars.

Cacao and Coconut Granola in progress (recipe here from Kelly Child)

A year ago, I joined a local raw food meet-up to meet other vegans (and almost-vegans) who are interested in learning more about the benefits of a raw food diet. I’ve been inspired to include a green juice or smoothie most days, relegate the microwave to the basement and only use it rarely, try raw restaurants like the amazing Live Organic Food Bar, choose organic produce as much as possible and eat more fresh over cooked veggies. I still eat plenty of non-raw foods like baking and pasta, but having learned so much about enzymes and nutrients that are lost in the cooking process, I’ve made a commitment to eating at least 50% raw every day.

I’m not a raw food expert, so to learn more about raw cuisine, check out great blogs like Kristen’s Raw or books like Raw Food for Real People by Rod Rotudi, Live Raw by Mimi Kirk, anything by Ani Phyo, Crazy Sexy Diet by Kris Carr.