It has been a lovely Fall so far … crisp, sunny days with a light chill at night, not quite cold enough to turn on the heat, but chilly enough to warrant a warm blanket or quilt.
On morning walks the leaves seem to whisper that no matter how green they are now, they soon will be slipping into golds, crimsons and pale, dusky rose.
Pumpkins and mums announce the onset of Fall, and the river glides lazily towards the sea, resplendent surrounded by her last-of-summer greens.
The smile that flickers on baby’s lips when he sleeps — does anyone know where it was born? Yes, there is a rumor that a young pale beam of a crescent moon touched the edge of a vanishing autumn cloud, and there the smile was first born in the dream of a dew-washed morning. ~ Rabindranath Tagore
In my search for healthier, lower fat/cholesterol, non-animal based and still tasty food, I continue to come across new items which have proven quite good. For those of you who also want to eat healthier, I’m sharing some great finds.
Vegenaise – giving up mayonnaise is pretty difficult. It makes something as simple as a fresh tomato sandwich sing. I was very happy to find that Vegenaise from Follow Your Heart was, as the label states, “better than mayonnaise.” I say this as someone who had been consuming the number one brand all my life, although for years, I had been buying the “light” version. Well, Vegenaise actually does taste better than “Number One”, in my opinion, and without the suffering of egg-laying chickens and without the animal-based fat, (a major source of cholesterol.) This product is vegan, gluten-free, dairy-free, and non-GMO. Coming from a smaller manufacturer, it is pricier than standard mayo for the cost-conscious. Follow Your Heart also has a line of salad dressings and cheeses that are not animal-derived.
Better than Bouillon is an organic vegan base to use in soups and stews, which is offered in a variety of flavors. It was called for in a recent recipe I made, and worked perfectly. I just whisked the base up with the stated amount of water and voila! Delicious. It’s manufacturer, Superior Touch, also makes a variety of other soup and gravy bases, many organic, both vegan and vegetarian options.
Bob’s Red Mill makes a host of grain products, all non-GMO, and many organic. I’ve purchased flour and rolled oats from them before, but recently tried their granola – very good – and their Organic High Fiber Cereal. This is a vegan hot cereal made with a blend of stone ground oatmeal, nutrient rich flaxseed, wheat germ, high fiber oat bran, and wheat bran. There are plenty of vitamins, minerals, fiber and 1000 mg. of Omega-3! Check out the Bob’s Red Mill website for all products, including gluten-free.
And last but not least … a snack …. from Food Should Taste Good. I agree! My local supermarket is now carrying a variety of these non-GMO, mostly vegan, some organic, snacks – crackers, kettle-cooked chips, and tortilla chips. I bought the lime tortilla chips, and they are truly tasty and not too heavy on the lime. FSTG has a great line of products in a nice variety of flavors.
So there you have it – some delicious, wholesome, non-animal derived foods to try out. Enjoy!
A friend of mine mentioned the other day that every time she saw vegan food, it always seemed weird and like most people wouldn’t want to eat it. I think there are some older, outdated ideas like that but it doesn’t have to be that way. In fact, many health-conscious people are already eating almost vegan and haven’t even thought about it. Like pasta? salads? Chili over rice?
Anyway, one of the things I came to realize was that if I’m going this way, I am going to have to cook more. So I chose one of the recipes in Main Street Vegan, (possibly one of the best books about food I’ve ever read), and here’s how it went. It’s called a Lentil-Spud Burger, but I’d say “burger” quite loosely.
First, gather the ingredients … hard to find some of these organic, but I got what I could. The recipe called for whole wheat panko crumbs which I couldn’t find, so I used a mixture of plain panko crumbs and whole wheat bread crumbs.
I chose redskin potatoes because they have more flavor, and as always, steam rather than boil them.
I sautéed 2 cloves of garlic in just a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil. Meanwhile, I whisked up a little vegetable broth using an organic vegetarian base that I was happy to discover on my supermarket shelf so I wouldn’t have to waste a can or box of broth for such a small amount.
I mashed the steamed potatoes, and was, of course, happy that there was a bunch left over for some other purpose, then mixed in the lentils, bread crumbs, broth, garlic and herbs. This was a very nice selection with there being twice as much chives as oregano, parsley and basil. I mashed all the ingredients together with a fork and made 4 patties. It held together quite nicely. The mixture did need a bit of salt, but not too much.
I cooked one of the patties in a little oil along with some grilled asparagus and served with fresh-from-the-farm Jersey tomatoes and voilà!
It was quite delicious and not like something my friend described at all. (And I still have more I can cook up!)
