Picnic in the Park: vegan, gluten free salads

Every Tuesday for the rest of the summer there will be outdoor movies playing at Stanley Park. I LOVE to go watch these. The actual movie doesn't necessarily matter, its just the experience that I like. Its outdoor, different from the usual ways we watch movies and if you're on a date then its kinda romantical.

I whipped up a few salads to take down with us. I love having a picnic. I think its cute. :) It can get pretty chilly at night so bring extra blankets, a sweater, snacks and bevvies. 

Asian Sweet Potato Salad

Ingredients

1 large sweet potato, peeled, chopped, boiled

1.5 cups cooked edamame

1.5 cups corn

Handful Thai basil

1 cup creamy coconut dressing

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Combine all ingredients in a big bowl and serve.

Creamy Coconut Dressing

Ingredients

1 small can low fat coconut milk (160ml, Organic)

6 tbsp stone ground mustard (Organic)

1 tsp Sriracha

1 tsp tahini (raw, Organic)

3 tbsp organic shredded coconut

Directions:

Put all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until well combined. Season to taste.

I made this dressing before, which you can find here. This time I added some organic shredded coconut. That's the only difference.

SO yummy!!! 

I also put together a quinoa salad. There is no recipe for it. Just quinoa, sprouted mixed beans, carrot, celery, a little grape seed oil, sesame oil, splash of soy sauce, garlic powder, chili powder, chili flakes, 1 lemon juiced and some apple cider vinegar. I think that's it. And no idea on quantities. I was just throwing stuff in and tasting. Seeing how it all worked. It turned out yummy even though there is quite the mix of seasonings in there. 

Then I made my Avocado Kale salad. Which you can get the recipe here. The only difference is the fixings. I didn't use carrots, celery or mustard cuz they are in the other ones. All the rest is the same, which a few handfuls of grape tomatoes. I like making this one cuz you get to massage the kale. Its fun making food with your hands like that. I washed of course. 

Oh yah, I put a container of broccoli sprouts in it too. 

 There is also some hummus and rice crackers. 

My plate! Super nutritious and satisfying dinner. Lots of protein and fats to keep you full.

Lots of boys to snuggle with. ;)

This week was Zoolander. Which I haven't seen in years. So funny! Next week is Spaceballs. I'm pretty sure I've seen it but totally don't remember. Should be fun!

Check out the link for the movies here. Its a great time.

Peace

xoxo

K

Creamy Coconut Dressing

Every Sunday I go grocery shopping for the week and of course I pick up a boat load of veggies. Unfortunately I picked up waaaaayyy too much, forgetting about all the weekend getaways I've been doing. But thankfully, a lot of what I eat are greeny leafy veggies so they are easily steamed and chowed down. Since I had so many of them, I thought I'd just steamed them all and work on it over a couple days. Of course, you need something tasty to dress them with so I whipped this bad boy up. And dayum! DELISH.

If you stop by here often, you already know that I LOVE coconut milk. If you don't know, now you know....

Creamy Coconut Dressing

Ingredients

1 small can low fat coconut milk (160ml, Organic)

6 tbsp stone ground mustard (Organic)

1 tsp Sriracha

1 tsp tahini (raw, Organic)

Directions:

Put all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until well combined. Season to taste. 

I threw together a bunch of asparagus, 1/2 bunch chopped kale (stems included), and 4 cups loosely packed spinach in my wok with a little water and steamed until bright green. Doesn't take long, so watch it. :)

I also had a bucket of mushrooms. Can't live without garlic mushrooms these days. I just sauteed about 12-15 sliced mushrooms with a little garlic powder and sea salt. 

Steamed greens with Creamy Coconut Dressing

All together now

For some added protein and fiber, I sprinkled some hemp seeds on top. Super yummy light dinner which you could use as a side next to some tofu steaks, beans whatever floats your boat. I took this for lunch.

I actually ate this dish cold, but this dressing is yummy warmed up too. I had lots leftover and tossed some quinoa, mixed sprouted beans and steamed mustard greens in it. YUM!!!

Simple is as simple does. 

Peace

xoxo

K

Super Food Green Salad with Tahini Dressing

I was just whipping up a quick salad for lunch the other day, nothing special. When all of a sudden it turned into the most delish, creamy dressing I've made yet!! OMG I could not get enough of this Tahini dressing. Its a spin off of an earlier one that I created, which you can check out here.  I added a few extra things to make it even better!

And I didn't even take a pic of the finished product cuz I gobbled it up so fast. But here's the recipe anyways.

Tahini Dressing

Ingredients

1/4 cup raw tahini

1/4 cup water

1 lemon

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp chili flakes

1 tsp agave nectar

1 tsp Gluten Free Tamari

Directions:

Place all ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth. Adjust spices if you want it hotter or not at all. This wasn't spicy at all. Well, according to me. :)

This is the tahini I used. You can definitely use a roasted version. But this is the BEST tahini I've ever tried. SO good!

For the salad part, I wanted to do a lot of green leafy veggies, but didn't want them to be raw. So I steamed them for 4 minutes. Should have been 3 but it was still good. But a little crunch would have been better.

Super Food Green Salad

Ingredients

1 head broccoli, chopped

1/2 bunch kale, chopped

6 cups spinach

1 cup shelled edamame

2 green onions

10 mushrooms, sliced

2 cups black beans

Hemp seeds

Sunflower seeds

Directions:

Steam broccoli, kale and spinach for 4 minutes. If using frozen edamame (like most) then throw those in there too. Let cool before adding the remaining ingredients. I put mine in a big bowl and into the fridge for 15-20 minutes. Once cooled, toss with dressing and remaining ingredients. ENJOY!!

This will make a lot. Enough for a couple salads or a side to any meal for 4 people. I ate mine for lunch and with my dinner. Its creamy and satisfying. :)

Here was a little snack I ate the other day. Like I've said before, I often boil up a couple different types of legumes at the beginning of the week so I can easily incorporate them into my meals. I had this as a late night snack the other night and it packed a good protein punch and satisfied me.

It is 1 cup of black beans, sprinkle of Daiya cheese, some guacamole and salsa. Of course hot sauce. That goes without saying. lol

Peace

xoxo

K

Food Prep Sundays! Get fresh.

I love food prep Sundays. They make me feel so healthy, in control and organized. This week I took a different approach. I'm really big into smoothies and salads right now. I pretty much always have at least one smoothie a day but lately I've been having more. With the weather getting warmer and the sun shining, I feel like I need more raw foods. So this week I bought lots of lettuce and salad fixin's.

Instead of rice and quinoa, I made cauliflower rice. You can get that recipe here. This time I didn't add the onion, but only because I was lazy to chop it. lol But I also added garlic instead cuz I wanted to test out my new garlic mincer thing. I'll tell yah about it later.

I cooked up 2 cups of dried chickpeas and baked some tofu for added bites of protein and fiber for my salads. To 'beef' them up, if you will.  I also peeled 2 oranges and a grapefruit, washed an apple and made my morning smoothie in advance (So I could go for a run before I leave for the day). On Saturday I made a big crockpot full of refried beans as well.

Woot woot! I'm all set to take on this week. :)

My salad is SO good! I made 2 HUGE ones and ate one on Sunday.

Spinach Tornado Salad

Ingredients

2 cups packed spinach

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 1/2  cup chopped celery

1 carrot, sliced

1 green onion

1 cup chickpeas (see recipe below)

1/2 cucumber, chopped

Baked tofu

1/4 avocado

Dressing:

half a lemon, juiced

3 tbsp mustard

sriracha

Directions:

Combine all salad dressing ingredients together and mix until smooth. Pour over salad and toss. :)

This was the biggest salad EVER! I ate half for lunch and half for dinner. It sure was amazing though.

You can't even see all the goodness that is in there. It is jam packed full of variety so that this salad is NOT boring and would fill up anyone. :)

I was cooking a bunch of chickpeas to just have on hand and maybe whip up a chickpea spinach curry but that didn't feel right. I knew I needed another protein source for my salad so what better way than to throw on some chickpeas! I didn't want just plain ones so I jazzed them up a bit.

Spiced Chickpeas
Ingredients
3.5 cups chickpeas
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili flakes
Sprinkle garlic powder
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tsp Vega EFA Oil

Directions:
Toss all ingredients together until well combined. Add to salads for protein and fibre.

I also sliced up a package of tofu, sprinkled garlic powder and lemon-pepper seasoning and baked at 375 for 25 minutes. I then chopped this tofu up and added it to my salads. I also snacked on a couple slices. Mmmmmm. :)

Its kinda nice to have beans and tofu like this all ready to go. Makes it easier to snack on healthy food. I like to just throw these onto salads or just eating them on their own.

Do you do Food Prep Sunday's as well?

Peace

xoxo

K

Chipotle Coconut Quinoa Salad

This week I went to a potluck with a few of the girls from a group I'm a part of on facebook. Great group of women and it was really cool to be able to meet some of them. We don't all live in town but 4 of us were able to make it to the potluck. It was non-stop chatter about nutrition, life, goals and more. So great to talk with some like minded people. We all brought a dish but I will just share my recipe.

Chipotle Coconut Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

2 cups quinoa

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 carrots, diced

2 green onions, chopped

Dressing

Ingredients

1/2 cup tahini

1/2 cup low fat coconut milk

3 dry chipotle peppers, soaked

1/2 lemon, juiced

1 tsp chili flakes

1 tsp garlic powder

3 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup water

Optional topping: Hemp seeds

Directions

1. Cook quinoa according to package. Spread out in a pan or big bowl to cool. To cool faster, put in fridge.

2. Dressing: Put tahini and chipotle peppers in a food processor and processor for 15 seconds. Add all remaining dressing ingredients and process until smooth.

3. Combine quinoa, veggies and dressing until well mixed. Serve immediately. If not serving right away, don't mix in the dressing until ready to serve. Sprinkle hemp seeds on top for added protein.

I picked up this tahini recently for the first time and LOVED it. Never used this brand before. Love that its raw too.

Chipotle Coconut Dressing

The dressing was delish. Very creamy.

All ready for the potluck!

So in the potluck we had a sweet potato black bean salad, basil quinoa veggie salad and stuffed Belgium endives. So yummy!! Potlucks are so awesome!!! Not everyone was vegan but we all brought vegan dishes. Which worked out great for me and Abigail as we were the vegans. Yah! Love not being the only one. LOL

Well I gotta get out for a big run and workout. Its my last workout in my 20's so I gotta make it count! LOL I'm thinking I'll run a 10km then head over to the Y and bang out a good upper body workout. My legs and bum are pretty freaking sore from the other days workout. And yesterdays 8km run. Then I gotta get ready for tonight! Its my big bday party! Woot woot! Dirty thirties here I come!

Peace

xoxo

K

Daily Eats

I went to Costco yesterday to pick up toilet paper and body wash. So I zipped over to T&T to grab a few Asian foods that I can't get anywhere else. I had none in mind, just love eating Asian food so I took a look. I found these cool Soy Sheet Twists. I've never seen them before. And am I glad I saw them! They are so fun and so good!

Here's what I picked up:

King Oyster Mushrooms, shredded seaweed (sea tangle), rice noodles, Shirataki style Konnyaku noodles and Soy sheet twists.

I immediately ran home to make something with my new food. I was also starving after a workout. I just tossed them together and came up with this:

So inside that delish bowl is soy sheet twists, broccoli, king oyster mushrooms, garlic, green onion and the sauce is chili flakes, soy sauce and garlic powder. I didn't use any oil. I used water. Although, sesame oil would have been awesome!

I'm not sure if you know this about me but I'm kinda a chip addict. Well a recovering chip addict. When I do fall off the wagon its usually pretty hard. Lol I'm always on the lookout for low cal, low fat, low crap chips or chip like snacks. Anything to give me that salty, crispy satisfaction that a good greasy chip does. Popchips and Cheecha puffs are my faves. But I am also a lover of chips and salsa. I was at choices the other night and saw these babies! Only 120 cals per serving, gluten free, organic, vegan, nut free....um the list goes on. AND they are delish!

They have other flavours too, but not all vegan. These went quite well with my salsa. YUM. ALSO, just an FYI to any Vancouverites out there, at Choices on Davie, the collard greens are 2 for $3!!! Crazy cheap! Its usually more than that for one. YAH.

This lead to my next little quicky meal I whipped up today.

This is the sauce. I put 2 tsp of tahini, 1 lemon, juiced, 1 tsp tamari, 1 tsp agave nectar, 1 jalapeno, 3 garlic cloves and a splash of water. Blend and YUM!

Then I tossed it with some steamed collard greens, kale, soy bean sprouts and hemp seeds. It was super yummy.

It was seriously yummy. I used 6 collard green leaves, 1/4-1/2 bunch kale and a couple handfuls of bean sprouts. I've been eating WAY too much soy lately. I'm not sure what's up with that. I usually don't. Its about 2 times a week typically. Maybe because I've found all these cool soy products. But I'm also thinking its cuz I haven't been eating a lot of beans and because I was off my VEGA whole health optimizer while on a cleanse. I'm back on VEGA and just prepped some dried adzuki and pinto beans to create something beany. Lol

There you have it, a look inside what I eat on the regular. The next few days will be packed full of kale, collard greens and sui choy. I've got a lot of it. Can't wait. EAT YOUR GREENS PPL!!

Peace

xoxo

K

Roasted veggie salad and 3 bean chili

Kevin and I watched Glee last night because Enrique was on. Love that man. He's so purdy. I never watch Glee anymore, its boring. I do love singing and dancing but its gotten so predictable. We stopped after season 2 I think but every once and a while, a guest star will pop on that I wanna see. Or they dedicate a show to you know, Britney. So I watch then. Lol.

I made a massive pot of chili in my crockpot. I never write chili recipes down because every time I make it different and its so easy to make chili. But here's a guestimate of what I put in there.

3 Bean Chili
Ingredients
4 cups mixed beans (navy, black, and pinto)
2 bottles of tomato sauce
1-2 cups water
3 tsp veggie stock (dry)
3 celery stalks, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
1 large onion, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 tomatoes, chopped
2 jalapeno's, diced
4 tsp chili powder
2 tsp chili flakes
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp garlic powder
pepper

Directions:
Combine all ingredients into your crockpot (slow cooker) and cook on low for 10 hours. I do it while I'm working for the day. I also used dried beans so I soaked them overnight, rinsed, then soaked again during the day. I did this on a Saturday and used them on Monday for the chili.

I roasted some broccoli, carrots and yams in lemon, garlic powder, sea salt and Italian seasoning for 30 minutes. Threw them on top of a bed of spinach and drizzled some of my lemon-mustard dressing. I sprinkled hemp seeds on it all. If you don't recall, I don't roast my veggies in oil. I just use a lemon.

Lemon-Mustard Dressing

1 lemon, juiced

2-3 tbsp mustard (any kind)

Sriracha, to taste

Combine and drizzle on your salad, your veggies, whatevs!

This was a perfectly filling dinner with tons of fiber to keep things moving smoothly. Plus its gluten free, healthy and DELISH.

Peace

xoxo

K

Thai Stuffed Delicata Squash

It was my Dads birthday this weekend, so I made him dinner. We always talk food and recipes so it was high time I had him over for dinner. We usually go to Panz Veggie lately because we both love it so much. I was going to make my Thai Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms but I recently acquired a couple of Delicata squashes so I thought I'd use those instead. You can get the recipe here.  



I also steamed some kale and spinach and tossed it in my tahini dressing. I've really been loving that dressing lately. Its so easy to make and adds a real creaminess to my salads and steamed veggies. Its pretty much never that I have creamy sauces so its a nice change. And the majority of my sauces and dressings are soy sauce based (its the Japanese in me I guess) lol.  My Tahini Dressing is here.





Afterwards I went over to the new nut store on Denman. Its called Ayoub's Dried Fruits and Nuts and is really awesome!!! There are so many different kinds of nuts, seeds and dried fruits. Also some sweet baked goods, cookies, spices, I don't even know what else.

I wasn't sure on the pricing so I only grabbed a scoop of the spicy cashews and the raw mixed nuts. YUM! The 2 bags came to 7.56 I think, under 8 bucks. Not bad actually, pretty good considering its a specialty shop and the quality and variety is amazing. I love being able to get raw nuts and unsalted nuts. LOL I love nuts. Ha. There's so many jokes in here I don't even know where to being. HAHA



If you live in the hood, meaning the West End, then you should definitely saunter down to Ayoub's. Its worth it.

Peace

xoxo

K

Super Avocado Dressing

I have been craving avocado lately but haven't had any ideas on what I would do with it other than eating it on salads or Mexican food, until last night that is. I made this delish dressing that can go on so many things: Drizzled on roasted veggies, salad, brown rice, anything Mexican, quinoa, beans, etc. Could be used as a dip if you add less water.

Super Avocado Dressing
Ingredients
1 avocado
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp chili flakes
3/4 cup water (more if you want it more liquidy)
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 tsp spirulina

Directions:
Put all ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth. Add more seasoning if you want or more water, depending on the consistency you desire.

I used this super food dressing to make a super food quinoa salad. Super healthy. Super delish. Super creamy. Lol

Super food quinoa salad
2 cups dry quinoa, cooked according to package
1 cup dry TruRoots Organic Sprouted Bean trio (or any other quick beans, lentils or legumes), cook according to package
1/2 cucumber, chopped
4 tsp pine nuts
3 tsp pumpkin seeds
2 tsp hemp seeds

Directions:
1. Put the pine nuts and pumpkin seeds in a dry pan and toss in garlic powder and half a tsp of Bragg's or soy sauce. Toast until crispy, but don't burn.
2. Combine all ingredients and refrigerate.
3. Once chilled, stir in the avocado dressing. Taste and add any seasoning you may need. ENJOY!

Super food salad

Thai Curried Split Pea Soup

 This is the delicious soup that I made the other night. You can get the recipe here.  It was SO good! I love lemongrass. Seriously, it adds so much flavor I can't even handle it. LOL

Banana Chocolate Delight

I eat about 6 times a day, so I need a snack at night. I decided to smoothie it up and made this delish creation.

Banana Chocolate Delight
1 frozen banana
1 cup low fat almond milk
2 tsp natural peanut butter (no sugar or salt added, just nuts)
1 tsp hemp seeds
1/4 tsp stevia
1 tsp cocoa powder
handful of ice

Directions:
Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. I like mine cold so I added more than a handful of ice. Use what you prefer. It made more than I expected so I only had half. But boy was that baby ever satisfying.

Peace

xoxo

K

Summer salads

One thing I love about summer is fresh, fresh, fresh fruits and veggies. I obvs eat a lot of fruits and veggies, it would be weird for a vegan not to. (they are out there though). Last night after a workout at the gym and a run around the park I made a big salad.

Krystle's Big Summer Salad

- romaine lettuce, chopped
- celery
- carrots
- blueberries
- strawberries
- walnuts
- sesame seeds



Usually I'd make my own dressing which is:

Asian Sensation Dressing

2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon ginger powder
Sesame oil to taste (I used 4 tablespoons)
5 tablespoons rice vinegar
5 tablespoons tamari (or any soy sauce, this is gluten free)
Couple splashes of VEGA EFA oil blend
½ tablespoon agave nectar
¼ cup low fat coconut milk

 Wisk, shake, or stir all ingredients together and toss with the ingredients below or your favourite salad!! If you don't have the VEGA oil either get it or use olive oil.

Or when I'm lazy I wisk together a fresh lemon, a few tablespoons of soy sauce, a few tablespoon of rice veingar, splash or 2 of sesame oil, agave nectar and sesame seeds. I eye ball all this and taste test. Next time I'll measure it out so there is an actual recipe. Its light and refreshing with the lemon.

Big Salad

People often ask me what I eat. I guess cause I'm vegan they think I just live off salads. Well as you can see from my blog, I def don't live off salad. That being said, I love salad. And I try to eat a big one as often as I can. My new eating plan is to have a BIG green smoothie for breaky and a big salad for lunch along with a cup of soup or chili. I make big amounts of soup in my crockpot so that I always have something that I made for lunch without as much daily effort. I make a big batch and freeze them in individual tupperware containers.

Smoothies and big salads are great ways to take advantage of raw nutrition. Nothing is heated and therefore contains all the nutrients in tact and all the enzymes. Eating more raw foods makes me feel good so I figure I should eat as much as I can. Not all raw but whatever feels right. 

I made some Tahini Dressing this week for my salads but usually I'll have nothing, fresh lemon or salsa on top. I love salsa. Its so good on salad. Try it. 

This salad has spinach, kale, sui choy (napa cabbage), broccoli, carrots, cucumber and mandarin oranges. And topped with the dressing and hemp seeds. I usually chop and make enough salad for 2 or 3 days. Makes it easier to do the right thing when its readily available. 

I thought I'd share a couple pics of this wonderful red wine chocolate cake that a coworker brought into the office. This girl is the best baker I've ever known. Her baked goods are so professional looking its almost unfair. LOL plus the taste Phe-nom. Now this cake is not vegan so I cud not taste it but I hear its awesome. I really want to try a red wine chocolate cake. Sounds right up my alley. Red wine and chocolate are 2 of my favorite things. For reals. Take note if you wanna buy me a gift. HAHA

Red wine chocolate Cake

It was apparently light and fluffy. YUM! Jealous. 

Get your raw veggie on. And eat some chocolate too. :)

Peace

xoxo

K

Tahini Dressing

In the veggie world, Tahini is used a lot. Tahini is a paste of ground sesame. Its delicious. Most people know it as being an ingredient in hummus. I have some in my cupboard at all times because I often make hummus myself but have never ventured in using it in salad dressings......until that is when I picked up a couple of salads from Capers on Saturday. I got a kale salad with Tahini dressing, OMG was it ever tasty! I have tried to recreate something similar even though I didn't have all the ingredients. It turned out pretty tasty.

Tahini dressing

1/4 cup tahini

1/2 lemon

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 cup water

1 tsp soy sauce

Directions:

Put all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth. Add more water if its too thick. 

TIP: If you have nutritional yeast, add a tablespoon. It will add a nice flavour to the dressing, make it creamier and "cheesy".

I put this over my salad on Saturday and now today. Super yum! Tahini has omega's, fiber, protein, vitamins, lots of goodness to make it a powerhouse seed. Its quite high in calcium content actually.....in a quarter cup it has 35% of your daily intake of calcium! Sesame seeds that make up tahini provide a massive amount of 1,160 mg of calcium/100 g serving!  That's about 10x the amount of calcium vs. milk for the same serving size.  Cow's milk provides roughly 118 mg of calcium/100 g. Crazy right?

I then sprinkled some hemp seeds and black and white sesame seeds on top. No osteoporosis for this gal. My salad had sui choy, spinach, kale, mandarin oranges, cucumber and broccoli. Mmmmmm

I do have some restaurant reviews and recipes for yah, but I forgot to bring my camera cable thingy. So you will have to wait until tomorrow for that. I wanted to get in some posts this weekend but it was Super hectic. And this week is insane too! Its funny how some weeks can fill up so far in advance and others I'm all spontaneous. It gets like that as the holidays get closer. Sigh, Christmas is almost here again. I'm just not ready.....nor in the spirit. Lol

Peace

xoxo

K