Coming Soon..

Sorry for the delay everyone!

Currently working on many recipes including juice & smoothie recipes, desserts & more so check back soon! 

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Carys

Sushi

When I decided to pursue a vegan lifestyle, eliminating meat, turkey, pork & chicken from my diet was a no-brainer. Dairy has been a challenge, especially when I dine-out, but it was simple to leave out just the same.

Sushi, however, is a whole different story. I LOVE sushi - raw fish, cream cheese, avocado, seaweed, ah - I can hardly contain myself. The problem with fish isn't immediately apparent, especially if you love seafood like I do. Still, despite the healthful properties marketed by the seafood industry, mass-produced fish live & die in horrid conditions. Apart from the abuse of the animal, the fish raised in farms are also laden with hormones & antibiotics; they are packed into tiny pens with a ton of other fish & their waste. Mmm..

To my delight, vegan sushi is just as satisfying & delicious. And as with any homemade meal, it contains a fraction of the fat & calories that store-bought sushi does! I fill my sushi with quinoa & brown rice, which provides plenty of protein, fiber, & essential minerals without anything fishy....ok, bad joke.

The blend of the grains with vegan cream cheese and the avocado is the perfect combination of good fats & unrefined carbs that our bodies crave. You'll be happy & full without the bloat & "ugh-I-overate" feeling that animal protein gives. 

This is a great dish to make when you want something light yet filling, & you have some time on your hands. I love cooking to entertain my loved ones, & this recipe really brings people around the table. Who doesn't love sushi?! Feel free to explore making different rolls with different veggies. The sauces are a cinch to make too and soooo much tastier & nutritious than their dairy counterparts, trust me! 

Quinoa Avocado Cucumber Roll 

Makes 2-3 rolls

1 cup quinoa, cooked

1/2 cup plain vegan cream cheese

1 avocado, sliced 

approx 1 cucumber, peeled & julienned or cut in long thin slices

1 sheet Nori Seaweed, toasted

Shoyu (or soy-sauce), to taste 

Small bowl with water

Brown Rice Avocado Cucumber Roll

Makes 2-3 rolls

1 cup brown rice, cooked

1/2 cup plain vegan cream cheese 

1 avocado, sliced

approx 1 cucumber, peeled & julienned or cut in long thin slices 

1/2 jalapeño, seeded & sliced 

1 sheet Nori Seaweed, toasted

Shoyu, to taste

Combine cooked quinoa & cream cheese in a medium bowl. Mix in a couple drops of shoyu. Set aside. Place toasted seaweed on a flat surface. Take 2 heaping tablespoons of the quinoa mixture & carefully spread over half of nori sheet. Arrange avocado & cucumber (or other veggies) on top of quinoa mixture. Be sure that you don't fill it too thick, or the sheet will tear & fall apart when you try to roll it. 

Once your veggies are set, wet your fingers with a bit of water from your bowl - this will make the rolling much easier. Carefully pick up the side of the sheet with the veggies & quinoa mixture. Begin to roll slowly & tightly, like you would a taco, and use water to seal the edges of the sheet when you're through. 

Take a sharp knife & with minimal pressure cut into bite-size rolls. Repeat with the brown rice mixture & your favorite veggies! (I personally need cucumber & avocado in each one.)

Dynamite Sauce:

4-5 tablespoons vegan cream cheese

3 tablespoons Sriracha hot sauce

Shoyu

Combine all ingredients. Add shoyu or soy sauce to taste. 

"Eel" Sauce:

4 tablespoons soy sauce

2-3 tablespoons agave nectar (or to taste, depending on how sweet or thick you want it!)

Combine to taste.

Prepared soy sauce:

4-5 tablespoons soy sauce

3 tsp fresh ginger root, peeled & sliced 

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Combine.

Open-faced avocado & tomato sandwich

Summer is officially here! I have spent the last couple of weeks relaxing and enjoying the fine company of my loved ones back in Texas. 

One of the luxuries I appreciate most about moving back into my mother's house is the spacious kitchen I have to work with! All the pots & pans I want, all the utensils I want, and the list goes on. I love summer cooking for its freshness and the way it renovates my taste buds. Winter eating keeps me pretty one-dimensional, but summer inspires me to try all sorts of new flavors that I get too cold (read: lazy) to experiment with in Boston. 

This sandwich is one of many variations. The wonderful thing about sandwiches in general is the room to improvise & be spontaneous. I like starting with the basic avocado & tomato idea & building from there. For heartier sandwiches, add tempeh or soy ham slices. For a nice crunch, add your favorite greens! 

The thing about recipes is that you only have to follow them ingredient by ingredient if you really want to - sandwich recipes are so flexible. Use what you have in your fridge already & go crazy! Try a new kind of bread, spread, and different fillings. You may be surprised with what works for you. And as always, share your creation with someone you love. 

Makes 1 serving

Ingredients:

2 slices of your favorite bread, toasted (optional)

Small handful of fresh greens mix

1/4 large cucumber, sliced (peel if not organic!)

2-3 slices tempeh bacon

1/2 avocado, sliced

1/2 tomato, sliced (fresh or sautéed with a pinch of salt!)

1-2 slices favorite vegan cheese

Earth Balance or other vegan mayo, to taste

Dijon mustard, to taste

Preparation:

Cook the tempeh bacon as directed on the package while your bread is toasting. Spread the mayo & mustard on each slice of bread & set on a plate. Arrange the rest of the ingredients as you wish on each slice.

 If sautéing tomato, warm a bit of safflower oil over medium heat on a pan. Take your tomato slices & place in pan, cooking about 2-3 minutes on each side- sprinkling with sea salt. Place the tomatoes on your sandwich towards the end. Put the both slices together (if you can manage it!) & enjoy! 

*You could also try the salad version of this by using a large bed of mixed greens in a medium-sized bowl & tossing with the remaining ingredients! 

Homemade Granola

One of the beautiful things about coming home to Texas for the summer time is being able to cook all day for the people I love.

I've been so excited to make my own granola for weeks, and this one came out so delicious! I like mine slightly toastier so I left it in the oven just enough time to let it bake to smokey perfection. If you prefer a sweeter granola, I suggest leaving it in for less time & using a bit more agave in the preparation.

I like sprinkling flaxseeds and hemp seeds into my food to help my body get all the important nutrients and oils that animal-based products have but without the nastiness of flesh or cruelty! Hemp seeds in particular contain the perfect balance of essential fatty acids our bodies require -- a blend of omega 3, omega 6, and gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) which helps with inflammation. They also help to maintain the health of our organs and digestive system. Yay!

Flaxseeds also contain a great mix of omega fatty acids, and it has a brilliant nutty sweet taste. I love adding it to smoothies, yogurts, and oatmeal for an extra healthy kick!

I had the pleasure of visiting my sister in San Francisco last week, and I came across an amazing little store called Spice Ace. Naturally, I had to step in and find out all about it. I was in spice heaven! I discovered so many new spices that I can't wait to put in recipes this summer! I found an array of sea salts infused with things like Merlot and Espresso. You could walk around and sample as much of the spices you fancy. I used the espresso sea salt in this recipe and it is divine.

Have you ever made your own granola? I'd love to hear about it!

I love summer <3

Carys's Homemade Granola

1 cup quick rolling oats
1/2 cup ground milled flaxseed
3/4 cup hemp seed
1/2 cup sliced almonds
1 1/2 cup agave (or maple syrup)
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon espresso sea salt (or just regular sea salt)
2 tablespoons sunflower oil (safflower or canola works as well)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup raisins, if desired

Preheat the oven to 375º. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper. If you don't have any, aluminum foil works fine, just be sure to spray it with some non-stick spray or spread some earth balance over it. :)

Mix the oats, flaxseed, hemp seed, and almonds in a large bowl. Next, stir in the cinnamon, agave, sea salt, sunflower oil, and vanilla extract. Stir with a wooden spoon until oat mixture is covered evenly.

Spread the mixture onto the baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes and mix it up with a spatula. Set for another 15 minutes. You can mix it up and leave it in for an additional 10-15 minutes if you're going for the smokey taste. Otherwise just take it out and mix in the raisins if you're using them (I recommend it). Serve warm with a glass of your favorite non-dairy milk. Mmmm..

Tofu Ricotta "Cheese" Stuffed Tomato

Hello again!

I have had the craziest last couple of weeks. The bombings kept me out of school for a whole week, and while that may sound nice, it has only added to the unsurmountable stress finals season brings around as it is.

I'm working on 7 different projects right now for both film scoring classes and my sound design classes as well as my own production work outside of class. Its always around this time when I ask myself WHY I took on such a heavy combination of majors..like who in their right mind doesn't sleep for 4 days straight to write music? Who runs on a meal (if you can call a tray of bad takeout a meal) a day for two weeks? I would have never thought I'd be able to say I do. The twenty hour days are tough, the music isn't always good, I completely depend on GrubHub and naps (IM SO SLEEPY), and yet......there is nothing else I could imagine myself doing. Go figure.

On the afternoons when I'm out of class before the film scoring labs at school open up, I try to take advantage to cook something healthy -- even if I don't get the chance to blog about it a couple weeks later (oops).

I whipped this up in about 30 minutes and there was barely anything to clean up -- a major plus for me.


Have you ever tried vegan versions of cheese? This fresh one made of tofu is delicious. It makes a bit more than is needed for the tomato, but you can use it as a spread for a sandwich later or even as a dip with your favorite chips or crackers. Yum :)

Ingredients:

1 tomato of your choice
handful of arugula

Tofu Ricotta "Cheese"
1/2 block extra firm tofu, cubed
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
juice of half a lemon
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons fresh minced garlic
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon white pepper
sea salt, to taste


Preheat oven to 350º.

Combine tofu, oil, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, garlic, onion powder, coriander, white pepper, and sea salt in a food processor and pulse until semi-smooth.

To prepare the tomato, carefully cut the top off first. Use a small knife to break apart the tomato from its outer shell around the inside, and then use a spoon to scoop out the rest. (You can use this part in a salad, guacamole, or even stuffed in a wrap.)

Fill the tomato shell with the tofu mixture. Place on a baking sheet and bake for about 15-20 minutes. I left mine in for 25 minutes and it had completely fallen apart. I didn't particularly mind, but if you're a picky eater, keep an eye on it after 15 minutes.

Serve over arugula and enjoy! I happened to have mine with a nice glass of white wine. It was just that kind of Monday.

Love.

We are all feeling multiple emotions right now..I, for one, am deeply baffled, angry, sad, and scared. No matter where we were at the time of the explosions, we have all been equally as impacted emotionally.

To have our campus right in the middle of such destruction is terrifying.

Although our minds have the tendency to implode to desperately find any iota of insight and comprehension into these life changing events, we must remember that we are not our thoughts or our circumstances.

April 15, 2013 has undoubtedly made a mark on our life experience, however, we must find a way to make this painful disaster useful to us. We are artists. We are musicians, writers, painters, & visionaries. For years the human race has turned to art to quantify the pain that is unquantifiable and make it into something therapeutic, beautiful, and timeless.

It's events like these that serve as an undeniable reminder to be grateful for every moment. We are also reminded of Who We Really Are .. who we want to be.

Let's take this time of sadness and use it as fuel to create something of beauty. Something that will contribute to something even greater than we are. Art that will uplift the souls of others as well as our own.

There will always be someone vying for significance, and whom will use negative vehicles to fulfill this basic human need. It is up to us to condition the world to look for the greatness in themselves, so that they may use this power to give the world great gifts of love and not misery.

The following is an excerpt from Eckhart Tolle's A New Earth. I hope you take the time to read it. We'd love to hear your thoughts in the comment section. Consider this a safe place for free discussion.

 Stay safe & be kind to one another. Namasté.

"The Peace That Passes All Understanding

     There are many accounts of people who experienced that emerging new dimension of consciousness as a result of tragic loss at some point in their lives. Some lost all of their possessions, other their children or spouse, their social position, reputation, or physical abilities. In some cases, through disaster or war, they lost all of these simultaneously and found themselves with "nothing." We may call this a limit-situation. Whatever they had identified with, whatever gave them their sense of self, had been taken away. Then suddenly & inexplicably, the anguish or intense fear they initially felt gave way to a sacred sense of Presence, a deep peace and serenity and complete freedom from fear. This phenomenon must have been familiar to St. Paul, who used the expression "the peace of God which passeth all understanding." It is indeed a peace that doesn't seem to make sense, and the people who experienced it asked themselves: In the face of this,  how can it be that I feel such peace?

     The answer is simple, once you realize what the ego is and how it works. When forms that you had identified with, that gave you your sense of self, collapse or are taken away, it can lead to a collapse of the ego, since ego is identification with form. When there is nothing to identify with anymore, who are you? When forms around you die or death approaches, your sense of Beingness, of I Am, is freed from its entanglement with form: Spirit is released from its imprisonment in matter. You realize your essential prior to all forms, all identifications. You realize your true identity as consciousness itself, rather that what consciousness had identified with. That's the peace of God. The ultimate truth of who you are is not I am this or I am that, but I Am.

     Not everybody who experiences great loss also experiences this awakening, this disidentification from form. Some immediately create a strong mental image or though form in which they see themselves as a victim, whether it be of circumstances, other people, an just fate, or God. This thought form and the emotions it creates, such as anger, resentment, self-pity, and so on, they strongly identify with, and it immediately takes the place of all the other identifications that have collapsed through the loss. In other words, the ego quickly finds a new form. The fact that this new form is a deeply unhappy one doesnt concern the ego too much, as long as it has an identity, good or bad. In fact, this new ego will be more contracted, more rigid and impenetrable than the old one.

     Whenever tragic loss occurs, you either resist or you yield. Some people become bitter or deeply resentful; others become compassionate, wise, and loving. Yielding means inner acceptance of what is. You are open to life.

     Resistance is an inner contraction, a hardening of the shell of the ego. You are closed. Whatever action you take in a state of inner resistance (which we could also call negativity) will create more outer resistance, and the universe will not be on your side; life will not be helpful. If the shutters are closed, the sunlight cannot come in. When you yield internally, when you surrender, a new dimension of consciousness opens up. If action is possible or necessary, your action will be in alignment with the whole and supported by creative intelligence, the unconditioned consciousness which in a state of inner openness you become one with. Circumstances and people then become helpful, cooperative. Coincidences happen. If no action is possible, you rest in the peace and inner stillness that come with surrender. You rest in God. " 

Chloe O's

Baking calms me.

Everything around me could be crashing and burning down, but there is something about making a mess in my kitchen for the sake of playing with cookie dough that just rubs me the right way.

It took me this whole week to finish this recipe. I could only work in segments at a time in between work and school and watching my friends' gigs at the bars downtown (alcohol also calms me..what?).

These oreos are supposed to yield about 20 cookies, but at a certain point you get tired of eating cookie dough and you just want the real thing. So I made my cookie bases a bit bigger than they're probably supposed to be... They ended up like crunchy little moon pies though and were no less satiating.

Crunchy, chocolatey, creamy, sweet.. oh, sugar. you just GET me.

Chloe O's
Recipe by Chloe Coscarelli
from Chloe's Vegan Desserts

Makes about 23 sandwich cookies
(or 16 moon pies)

Sure, Oreos are technically vegan, but its much more fun to make Chloe O's from scratch! Plus, this recipe is all natural and great for kids with allergies. 

Make Ahead Tip:

Cookie dough can be made in advance or kept refrigerated for up to 1 week or frozen for up to 1 month.

Cookies
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup vegan margarine
3 tablespoons soy, almond, or rice milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Filling
1/4 cup non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening
1/4 cup vegan margarine
2 cups powdered sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

To make the cookies: In a food processor, pulse flour, sugar, cocoa, salt, and baking soda until combined. Add margarine, milk, and vanilla. Process until the mixture comes together and forms a dough. Chill the dough in the refrigerator, covered, for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper or Silpat. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and place onto prepared baking sheets, leaving about 3 inches between each ball. Evenly flatten the dough with the palm of your hand so that it is about 1/4 inch thick and bake for about 12 minutes. Let cool on the pan.

To make the filling: Using a handheld or stand mixer, beat shortening and margarine until smooth and fluffy. With the mixer running on low, add powdered sugar and vanilla, and beat until incorporated. Increase speed to high and beat for 2 more minutes until light and fluffy.

To assemble the cookies: Spread a layer of filling on the flat bottom side of a cookie. Place the flat bottom side of another cookie on top of the filling. Lightly press the cookies together. Repeat with remaining cookies.