Tag Archives: vegetarian

A Vegetarian Baby Shower…

18 Oct

My sister is about to have her first baby… the first grandson and nephew for our side of the family.  And Titi Madelyn gave herself the task to plan a baby shower for my sister.

One of my most daunting tasks for this baby shower was to plan a menu that would be pleasing to all invitees and that it would still be vegetarian and it would represent me well.  I couldn’t bear myself to say I planned a baby shower that would be filled with food and treats that I wouldn’t be able to try out or taste.  The next toughest thing was to find a caterer that would be open to create a fully vegetarian menu where the meat-eaters would never miss the meat.   

I was very lucky my sister and brother-in-law trusted me and my taste in food and didn’t even question my choices.  I only informed them of the menu selected after it was all planned.

I decided to make the Appetizers and a Signature Drink or Bull and have the lunch catered by someone professional.  I had too many things to look after to make food for 35+ people…

  

The appetizers we served were:

  

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Red Bell Pepper Dip with an assortment of whole grain crackers

  

Rosemary Almonds

Erasmo, husband to my cousin Marilyn, fell in love with these Almonds…  I gave them all to him to enjoy for later on.

  

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Asparagus Sandwiches

Spinach Pinwheels

Spinach Pinwheels

We baked these the morning of the baby shower and they kept very fresh for the party.  My sister’s nieces and nephew were cautious of these “pastelillitos” and their parents were almost sure they would not like them because spinach is not in their repertoire, but they were all surprised on how delicious they were.  I was a bit afraid they would not leave enough for the other guests at a point… that’s how much they enjoyed them.

Passion Fruit/Guava Fizzy Drink

The catered part of the lunch included:

Green Tossed Salad with Candied Pecans and Cranberries with a Balsamic Vinaigrette

Whole Wheat Rolls with butter

Butternut Squash Risotto made with vegetable broth

Penne Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomato Creamy Sauce

Green Beans with butter and garlic

     

 At the end, my sister and brother-in-law were very pleased with the baby shower we planned.  And no one  missed the meat…  at least they never mentioned it to me!!!

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Healthy Lifestyle Change for OCTOBER – Do not eat eggs

1 Oct

Eggs are filled with cholesterol and substances that are more harmful to your health than beneficial.  Eggs are very difficult to digest and if I start telling you all the diseases they could carry, we would never finish.

My plan for those of you out there that are not vegetarians yet is to at least, try to stop eating eggs in their integral form – not fried, not scrambled, not poached, not in a traditional Spanish tortilla, not in an omelet – not even the whites.

 

To replace all these forms of traditionally eating eggs, there are plenty of much healthier alternatives and some of them even with fewer calories:

Instead of Making: You’ll prepare:
Scrambles Tofu Scrambler – it’s a mixture you add to tofu and it’s available at most health food stores
Spanish Tortilla Make the tortilla using cheese or other egg-free alternatives.  Here are my recipes for Tortilla Espanola
Potato Salad Make the same potato salad with egg-free mayonnaise and without the boiled eggs.  It’ll taste just the same…
Breakfasts Eat oatmeal, hot or cold cereals, fresh fruits, toasts…

 

But just because you’ve decided to not eat eggs anymore, the world will not stop turning.  Here you’ll find several dishes traditionally made with eggs, you still can enjoy just making them a little bit differently:

Tortilla Espanola 1

Spanish Tortilla

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Eggless Mini Fritatas

Crepes

Carrot Cupcakes

 

Eggless Scramble

 

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Tuno Sandwich

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Healthy Lifestyle Change for August – Eat at least 2 fresh fruits a day

2 Aug

For the same reason we should eat more green salads, we should also eat more fresh fruits.  This was one of my new year’s resolutions a few years ago.  Just in case you are living on another planet and still need to be reminded the benefits of eating more fresh food, here are a few cues:

  •  Great source of insoluble fiber
  • Contain essential vitamins and minerals to protect you from chronic diseases
  • Is the way nature intended for us to nourish ourselves

My recommendation is to have fruits preferably in the morning with your breakfast or as a snack in the afternoon.  Another alternative is as a dinner snack if you’re not having a full-blown dinner. 

  •  Fruits are best eaten early in the morning.  They’re the best way to “awaken the stomach” after not having had any food while sleeping. 
  • Snacking on fruits is a delicious way to help keep your metabolism going while consuming natural sugars.
  • Try not to eat fresh fruits as dessert… because fruits are mostly water and they slow down your digestion.

 

If it’s difficult for you to eat fresh fruits, here are a few ideas:

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  • Buy fruits you can eat without having to peel, just as they are, like grapes, apples, pears, apricots, peaches, strawberries.  Just make sure you wash them well to take off any dirt or wax.
  • Add fruits in your breakfasts – like adding bananas to your cereal, blueberries to your pancakes, etc.
  • Make freshly-squeezed juices
    •  A citrus juicer is a great investment to juice oranges or grapefruit

                

  •  
    • The best juices to consume while eating are apple, pineapple or papaya because they contain enzymes that help digestion

 

 When making a fruit salad, it is important to know which fruits go well with other fruits.  When we eat fruits that are incompatible, usually produces uncomfortable gas.  Here are some good comphbinations:

  • Papaya, mango, apple, pears, peaches, bananas, plums, etc.
  • Strawberry, kiwi, grapes, passion fruit, pineapple, starfruits, green apples, orange, grapefruit, and other citrus fruits.
  • All melons should be consumed by themselves – watermelon, cantaloupe, honey dew, musk, etc.

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Healthy Lifestyle Change for JULY – Eat whole grain brown rice

1 Jul

Keeping with the theme of consuming more whole grains… it’s better to eat whole grain brown rice than the regular polished white rice because:

  •  It has more nutrients – Vitamin B1, B3, Iron and Magnesium naturally found in the hull of the rice grain
  • It has more fiber – helping you of any constipation issues
  • It is very flavorful
  • It comes is a variety of formats – Basmati, short grain, long grain… just like white rice.

 

All these benefits, yet you prepare it basically the same way you make white rice – you just need to add a bit more water.

 Here’s a few tips:

  • You can purchase whole grain brown rice at any major supermarket – I buy frequently Uncle Ben’s or Mahatma Brands of brown rice.  Lately I have also been purchasing Texmati brown rice, available at health food stores or at Costco.
  • To me it’s easier to make rice in a  rice cooker – but if you are used to making rice in a regular pot, all you need to do is follow these measurements:
    • 3 cups of water x 1 cup of rice
    • When you make more than 1 cup of rice, you add 1 cup of water for each cup of rice + 3 additional cups of water  SEE TABLE
BROWN RICE WATER
1 cup 3 cups
2 cup 5 cups
3 cup 6 cups

 

  • If you’re using a rice cooker, my rule of thumb is to add ALMOST twice the water you would need for regular white rice.
    • Something about Texmati rice… it only needs a bit more than the water you would need for regular white rice.  So it cooks faster than other brown rices.
  • You can make any rice dish you usually make with white rice using whole grain brown rice.

Here a few recipes you can try:

 Provencal Rice

 Arroz Provencal

Spinach Asparagus Casserole

 

Stuffed Bell Peppers

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Cheese Rice Burritos with Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

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Pizza Contest – a Canvas for some interesting flavors

14 Jun

For the last few weeks I have been preparing myself for a Pizza Contest being held at our yoga center.  The 1st prize was nice, worth $500 – the entry fee for one of our yoga retreats. And in this economy… that’s a HUGE prize.

There were a few rules we needed to stick by:

  • The crust needed to be wheat-free.  Spelt flour was allowed.
  • If using cheese, it needed to be organic and rennet-free.  Vegan cheeses were allowed.
  • If baking the pizza at home, to make sure nothing had been exposed to any meat-products ever.

Easy enough, right??  NOT!!!  Not when you are a challenged pizza dough maker.  I am a pizza fan, but as you may have seen around this blog, when I make pizza at home, I make it on alternative crusts, namely flatbreads and pita bread.  But I gave myself the opportunity to build the perfect wheat-free crust – crispy on the outside, with certain chew on the inside. Without the need of stand mixers to help me knead…

That’s why I turned my attention to no-knead doughs…  I tried several recipes with NO SUCCESS!!  I tried a recipe from foodwishes.com and a recipe from Paula Deen using the food processor to knead the dough instead of doing it by hand.  I’ll be honest, the foodwishes one was more successful, but not where I wanted it to be.

So I moved my attention to at least try out the toppings recipes – if at least I could get the flavors combinations on point, I knew that the crust issue at some point would be resolved.  I tried out a few tried and true recipes, and then experimented a few of my own.  These were my possible entries into the contest:

A take on the pizza Rosa from Pizzeria Bianco in Phoenix Arizona.  People all over brag about how good these pizzas are.  People make lines for them… and believe me I will go there if I ever visit Phoenix…

A simplified version of Co.’s Popeye Pizza

An eggplant pizza I had while in Montevideo, Uruguay – seasoned eggplant on a perfect crust, no cheese, no sauce.

Absolutely delicious.

A white pizza using garlic olive oil, topped with cheese and a few scallions – I got my inspiration from foodwishes.com and I thought it would be easy enough to try it out on the grill, instead of in the oven.  I thought it would give me some edge…

 

Unfortunately, my crust experiment was a BUST and I decided to participate in the contest as a reporter for all of you.  I was not going to put my name on something that I wasn’t completely proud of.  I learned this from my Top Chef /Hell’s Kitchen/Kitchen Nightmares/Iron Chef /Next Food Network Star watching experience…  And it was a shame because at least 4 people, some contestants among them, told me they were really looking forward to my pizzas and that they were even thinking I was a surefire winner if I was participating… apparently my reputation precedes me.

Fortunately, my fellow yoga people did have more success with wheat-free crusts than I did, (or they just have different standards) Anyhow, I want to share with you some of the contest entries and winners:

 1st Prize

Chorizo Pizza by Yazmín Cabrera

This was a true trip back memory lane when we used to eat pizzas with real chorizos.  The oily grease on the bottom of the crust was exactly as the judges remembered it.  The crust is filled with cheese too…

2nd Prize

Stuffed Pizza by Manolo Velazquez

With two crusts filled with delicious goodness – broccoli, scallions, cauliflower, mushrooms… and topped with tomatoes, peppers and lots of cheese.  The judges loved it!!!

 

3rd Prize

Mediterranean Pizza by Mili Ortiz

Even though the crust felt apart when we cut into it, the flavors impressed the judges – onions, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, black olives…

4th Prize

Tofu Pizza by Emma Lebrón, who is also Manolo’s mom

This was a true tofu-lovers pizza – using fried tofu, tofu pups, tomatoes and other pizza favorites.

I think it even has potatoes on it.

 

Some notable and interesting mentions…

Cheese Pizza on Rice Flour crust by Angie Cruz

This one was very delicious, but it did not win for being too simple… a hint for next year’s contest, Angie!!!

The Everything Pizza by Carmen Gonzalez

The judges said this felt like a whole meal on top of a pizza crust.  It was a mile-high piled with ingredients such as a border made from tofu dogs, black and red kidney beans puree.

Now you be the judge…    would you like to try some of these winning recipes??  Do you think I stood a chance with any of my planned flavors of pizza??  Which ones do you prefer??  Tell me all about it…

Stay tuned for some of the recipes…

I would like to thank the yoga center, Centro Cultural Yoga Devanand, for allowing me to take pictures and report on this Pizza Contest.  If you live in Puerto Rico, Miami or NYC and you would like more information about the Devanand Yoga Center, please email me at karmafreecooking[at]yahoo[dot]com.

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