Dear As Salt

The cooking triumphs and failures of a twenty-one-year-old, salt loving, always hungry, vegan.

[dearassalt]

Raspberry & Chia Parfait

If, as they say, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, then you will be set up well with this raspberry/chia breakfast pudding/parfait. My only caveat is that the pudding has to be chilled overnight, so I made it last night when I was on the brink of exhaustion, knowing I’d be falling asleep immediately, so it was kind of like I got to eat it right then…Anyhoo here is what you need:

  1 banana

1 cup of almond milk

¾ cup of chia seeds

2 heaping handfuls of raspberries (I would guess 2 ½ - 3 cups)

½ teaspoon of vanilla powder (Double this if you’re using extract)

  Toss all of the above in a food processor or blender, place in a covered bowl, and chill overnight.

  I used raspberries because it seems this time of year in Calgary they are growing in every backyard, alleyway, etc., but strawberries, blackberries, or I’d assume any kind of fruit would work just fine. I haven’t personally tested any out yet though.

  I love the taste of coconut milk, and had I had some on hand I would have used that as an alternative to almond milk. I think it would have given the pudding a more creamy texture.

  Overall, I was really happy with the result and it kept me full all morning. Try it out, make adjustments, and let me know what you think!

[dearassalt]

A game changer in the world of vegan cooking entered my kitchen today, and I couldn’t be more excited. Welcome to my life spiralizer, or to be exact, welcome to my life Spirooli. I bought this sucker at Bed, Bath & Beyond for a cool $29.99 (http://www.bedbathandbeyond.ca/store/product/spirooli-reg-spiral-slicer/1041703885), because quite frankly I couldn’t afford to wait the two days for shipping from Amazon. I wanted pasta and I wanted pasta now. And let me tell you, the Spirooli delivered. I’m not one to read instructions, which is probably why I’ve never successfully set up Ikea furniture in my life (that, or I don’t speak Swedish, but that’s another post in itself), so my first attempt at using the Spirooli was unsuccessful. I may have even used some choice words against it, that I now seriously regret, because once I watched this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6WFHqKTI9Lo) I realized a baby could probably spiralize veggies into pasta-like noodles.

  I have tried grating different vegetable like zucchini, squash, and cucumber as a pasta replacement, and the results have always been fairly..meh. But the spiralized noodles are outta this world. The Spirooli is here to stay.

[dearassalt]

Nice Cream

This is without a doubt my all time favourite desert (if you can even call blended up fruit a desert!). It is all the magic of ice cream, minus all the dairy and processed sugar, and all you need is a couple frozen bananas and a blender. I’ve served this as a desert, as well as on occasion enjoyed this for breakfast, and it is so easy to make.

  Steps:

1. Cut up two bananas into medium sized chunks, and throw in a Ziploc bag. Freeze overnight. (I like to have a big bag of banana chunks stored in my freezer, so I don’t have to wait whenever I’m craving some ice cream!).

2. Place bananas in a blender or food processor and if you want, add additional flavouring (I’ve added other fruits, ½ teaspoon of vanilla powder or cinnamon, a tablespoon of peanut butter, the possibilities are endless)

3. Blend and enjoy! 

[dearassalt]

More Chickpeas Please

As many vegetarians and vegans will know, a commonly asked question is: “are you getting enough protein”, or some other variant along those lines. Because meat is the only source of protein, right? Wrong. But this is not the time to get into the “can you, or can you not adequately get all the protein you need from plants” debate (which for the record, I would adamantly argue yes). So instead I will talk about one of my favourite sources of vegan protein: chickpeas, or as my dad affectionately refers to them “sawdust balls”.

  On their own, I will admit, chickpeas are not the most appealing thing in the world, BUT these legumes pack about 7 grams of protein into half a cup, and it is not hard to eat this much (or more), when used for hummus, falafels, or my all time favourite treat – salt and vinegar chickpeas.

  S&V chickpeas are a much healthier alternative to chips, and are great to top off soups or salads, or to simply eat on their own. To make them I follow this recipe: (http://ohsheglows.com/2010/08/03/easy-salt-vinegar-roasted-chick-peas/) and always reach for a can or two of Eden Organics (http://www.edenfoods.com/) chickpeas, as all their cans are BPA free.

  I promise after tasting these, S&V chips will be a thing of the past…and so will the nickname “sawdust balls”. 

[dearassalt]

Doughnut Worry, Be Happy

Since becoming a vegan, most days go by without me ever regretting the shift to plant based foods. But occasionally there are days where I crave the sweet baked goods that are synonymous with eggs, milk, and sugar. I’ve never had much of a sweet tooth, but I will never forget summers at my cabin in British Columbia when my parents would take my sister and I to the local bakery and let us each choose one treat – I could never turn down an apple fritter. And it is on days like this that I long for a doughnut. Thus my quest for the perfect vegan donut began, and it wasn’t long before I found the golden ticket in Angela Liddon’s The Oh She Glows Cookbook, aka The Bible.

  I used the Out The Door Chia Power Donut Recipe from her cookbook, which is well worth the buy, but if you’re feeling thrifty, this vegan queen has hundreds of free recipes available on her website (including more doughnut ones) here: http://ohsheglows.com/.

  Sweetened with maple syrup and cinnamon, and baked instead of fried, these are doughnuts you can feel good about munching on. Like most of Liddon’s recipes, these were ridiculously easy and quick to make, so while the doughnuts cooked I felt inspired to make a “glaze”. My glaze consisted of a couple chunks of frozen banana (which I always keep stored in a Ziploc bag in my freezer, for banana “ice cream” or occasions such as these), blended with a dash of cacao powder.

  I let the doughnuts cool out of the oven and then spread the thick banana/cacao mixture on top, finishing each doughnut with a sprinkle of coconut, slivered almonds, or leftover blended banana.

  I doughnut have to feel guilty about eating these vegan treats, which I would argue, are even better then the apple fritters of my childhood.