Vegan MoFo Red Week – Strawberries

Today I’m having some fun with my favorite berry!

Few things are as beautiful in their simplicity as fresh strawberries.

I eat an exorbitant amount of strawberries during summer months, usually in their raw form. They make a perfect portable breakfast. For example:

Strawberries and pineapple

Strawberries with coconut yogurt and hempseeds

Strawberries and kiwi

They also make a gorgeous addition to grander breakfasts, such as pancakes with Warm Strawberry Sauce.

A.Cook’s Warm Strawberry Sauce
(This recipe has been given the omnivore seal of approval by H.)
Total time: 15 minutes, including chopping and zesting

You need:
1 1/3 cups of chopped strawberries (medium to small dice depending on how chunky you want it)
1/3 cup orange juice (or you can use water in a pinch)
1/4 cup of strawberry jam
1/2 tsp. citrus zest (optional but highly recommended! I used lemon but orange or lime would be awesome too.)
optional: 1/2-1 tsp. liquid sweetener (such as agave nectar or maple syrup) or to taste

To make: Add all ingredients (except sweetener) to small saucepan and heat over medium-low heat until it looks a little bubbly, then lower the heat and cook until the strawberries cook down and the mixture has thickened, stirring frequently. Taste and add sweetener as needed (sometimes your berries will be sweet enough on their own but sometimes they might need a little help! The sweetness of your jam and whether you use orange juice or water will also be a factor.). Use on top of your favorite vegan pancakes (mine are Perfect Pancakes from Vegan Brunch/Vegan With a Vengeance…the recipe is posted here) or as a topping for ice cream or Yonanas!

This recipe makes enough sauce for one hearty pancake breakfast for two with some leftover, or for one moderate pancake breakfast for four. Try stirring any leftover sauce into yogurt or oatmeal, or incorporating it into a smoothie!

Strawberries are wonderful for dessert (obviously!)

Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream Frosting by Made Just Right (click for recipe). This recipe makes buttercream frosting by whipping Earth Balance together with fresh strawberries and confectioner’s sugar. The flavor is incredible!

In recent months I have actually become extremely fond of pairing strawberries with savory flavors and fresh herbs.

I make Strawberry Salsa by tossing chopped fresh berries with red onion, diced jicama and/or mango, chopped cilantro, and a splash of lime juice.

Strawberry and mint is another favorite combination. I love to have a simple salad with these ingredients (click for recipe):

Or throw a bunch of each in to soak in filtered water. It’s such a simple thing but it feels so luxurious.

I also think strawberry and basil is a beautiful pairing. Try my Basilberry Smoothie to use up some of the last of summer’s fruit and herbs!

Yeah, it’s more purple than red, but the main ingredient is strawberries so I’m sticking with it! 🙂

You Need:
1 cup chia gel (this is made by combining 1 tbsp. chia seeds with 1 cup water and allowing to soak at least 10 minutes, but preferably overnight)
1 cup of frozen strawberries (a little more is okay…I find these are actually pretty hard to measure!)
3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries (I used fresh)
4 basil leaves
(optional) 1/2 – 1 tsp. liquid sweetener such as stevia or agave

To Make:
Place all ingredients in blender in the order shown and blend until smooth. Taste and add liquid sweetener if necessary (end-of-summer basil tends to be a little more bitter and the berries less sweet, so sweeten as needed).

What is your favorite way to enjoy strawberries?

Sunshine and Rainbows

Happy spring everyone!!!

Check out the beautiful magnolia blooms that appeared on this tree in my yard over the weekend!

Last week was absolutely incredible in Boston (and pretty much everywhere else, too, I’m told). It actually reached 83 degrees here last Thursday, shattering the old temperature record, set in the 1940s, by 11 degrees–amazing!

Last week also marked the first week in my half marathon training program.  This will be my third half marathon and it feels great to be “in training” again.  I love being active and getting to spend a lot of time outdoors, and even more than that, I love how easy it is to eat a clean, wholesome diet while training–my body just craves that sort of food!

Despite that temperatures are back to a normal Boston March level today, it certainly feels like my life has been all sunshine and rainbows recently.  Check out some of the bright and colorful things that have made their way across my plate!

BREAKFAST
Normally, I’m not a huge breakfast eater, but when in training this meal becomes a crucial part of my day.  I try to find things that are quick and portable, but also contain a respectable balance of carbs, protein, and healthy fats.

Banana Flapjacks from Vegan Brunch by Isa Chandra Moskowitz

This has recently become my go-to weekend breakfast, mostly because I never seem to run out of must-be-used-now bananas.  For this batch, I added shredded coconut and spread a smidgen of Earth Balance on top.  This recipe is a sure bet any time you are making breakfast for non-vegans who cannot imagine what vegans eat for breakfast if not pig patties stacked with various globs of eggs and cheese.  The recipe produces pancakes that are soft and creamy from the banana and just the right amount of sweet.  Very highly recommended.

Later in the week, I used leftover flapjacks to make breakfast roll-ups.  I spread a small amount of pecan butter in the center of each, rolled it up, and just like that, it was ready for me to take along on the train!

Freakin’ so delicious, and filling too!

Homemade Yogurt Parfait
It is rare that I eat strawberries so early in the season, but I found a carton of incredibly fragrant, perfectly ripe specimens at Russo’s and couldn’t resist.  I cut them up along with some banana and layered it with Whole Soy & Co.’s Strawberry Banana (which has replaced Apricot Mango as my favorite flavor) yogurt for a sweet treat of a breakfast that was pleasing to both the eyes and the palate.

LUNCH
In keeping with what I mentioned in my last post about trying to fit in more high-volume cooking, I’ve been buying produce that looks good and cooking it up on the weekends, then finding random ways to use it throughout the week.  My latest experiment involved roasting a small butternut squash with maple syrup and olive oil, as well as a batch of gorgeous beets that I found at Russo’s (where else?)–they were only 98 cents for the whole bunch, leaves and all!  The result was this delicious concoction, which I’ve dubbed The Rainbow Sandwich. 

Look at those beautiful colors! Earthy roasted beets, sweet maple-roasted squash, baby spinach, and incredible fresh-baked Russo’s “rustic bread” make for the most delightful and spring-appropriate sandwich imaginable.  Sunshine in every bite!

I would be lying if I said I did not eat this same sandwich for lunch 5 out of the last 8 work days.

I have a lot more cooking to chronicle and recipes to review, but time is short, and this post is already very long!  Thanks for reading if you’ve gotten this far.

A final thought: we all know that life can’t be all sunshine and rainbows all the time.  But that is exactly why I treasure weeks like these so much when they do come around.  I hope you all do, too!

Purdy Pancakes

Since I’ve only just started this blog and have therefore accumulated a handful of food photos wanting posts, I’ve decided the best way to do this will be to cluster them for the time being.  Hereafter I’ll be posting things as I cook them but bear with me 🙂

Polenta Pancakes from Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan by Dreena Burton

I’ve made these babies twice and on both occasions they were very much enjoyed.  The first time my sister and I ate them as “sandwiches” with banana slices and maple syrup, and the second time I served them to Dad and E with strawberries and blueberries, along with the sliced bananas and syrup.  I love how they’re just slightly sweet.  They remind me a little bit of matzah meal pancakes (weird, I know).  Really, really simple and quick and something I will definitely be making alot of when I start law school…

Banana (Walnut) Pancakes (this is Jenna’s banana walnut waffle recipe modified, at her suggestion, to a pancake recipe by adding slightly more soy milk)

I have made these again and again, always playing with the ingredients.  These are never-failingly delicious! Here are Banana Blueberry Pancakes (nixed the walnuts on this one occasion):

Warm Raspberry Sauce from Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan

This one is made with strawberries and served with plain banana pancakes (Jenna’s recipe):

This sauce was AMAZING. I made these for my dad for Father’s Day breakfast and they definitely made it feel like a special occasion. I used the leftover sauce as jam for the rest of the week. I have lots of plans for this one, including making a pineapple variety to put over banana coconut pancakes…..