Coconut Cauliflower Chana

This is a great recipe to make when you have lots of veggies in the fridge. I didn't have any cauliflower when I made it this time, so I substituted with zucchini. Chick peas are good source of protein. I've been told if you rinse them before cooking they'll give you less gas (not sure if that's true, but worth the rinse!). I usually omit the shredded coconut since I haven't found any non-sweetened kinds that I like. If I don't have any cilantro on hand, I'll substitute with parsley. This recipe calls for 1-2 tbsps of curry powder... I think 1 is enough, otherwise it tastes powdery.

Served over rice, with fake chicken from Yuan, and a spring roll & mango chutney

Coconut Cauliflower Chana from Jae Steele's Get it Ripe cookbook

Vegan Rhubarb Muffins

My Mom gave me some fresh rhubarb from her garden, so I searched for a vegan rhubarb muffin on the internet and found this one on The Venice Vegan. They're delicious! I didn't have any "Egg Replacer" (Ener-G), so I used banana & sunflower oil, and then added some extra soy milk until it came out the right consistency. Although it only made 11 muffins, they're well worth it... the ginger & cinnamon give them a hint of spice and make them extra special.

Vegan Rhubarb Muffins from The Venice Vegan blog

Vegan Rhubarb Muffins

• 1 C Fine Chopped Rhubarb
• 2/3 C Brown Sugar
• 1 1/2 C Flour
• 1 Portion Egg Replacer (Ener-G)
• 1/3 C Unsweetened Soymilk
• 1 t Baking Soda
• 1 1/2 t Vanilla
• 1/2 t Cinnamon
• 1/2 t Ginger (powdered)

Streusel Topping

• 1 t Earth Balance (or preferred Vegan margarine)
• 3 T Sugar
• 1 T Flour
• 1/4 t Cinnamon
• 1/4 t Ginger

Preheat oven to 350.  Mix all dry ingredients thoroughly then incorporate wet into dry.  Combine streusel ingredients and mix with fingers until combined.  Divide into 12 lined muffins, and top with streusel mixture.  Bake for 35 minutes.

 Check out more recipes on The Venice Vegan blog

Quinoa Vegetable Stew

My Mom made this for our Mothers Day dinner, it was yummy and light. She used sweet potato, spinach, mushrooms, onions and a can of tomatoes (we both agreed fresh tomatoes would have been nice), served with a lettuce salad with avocado and walnuts.

colorful and yummy

Quinoa Vegetable Stew from Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites

Vegan Apple Crumble

Here's one of my favorite recipes from my #1 vegan cookbook Get it Ripe by Jae Steele. Quick, easy and delicious! Best time to make it is autumn with fresh apples, but it's so good I make it all year round.

Get it Ripe by Jae Steele available at Luna Yoga

Get it Ripe by Jae Steele available at Luna Yoga

Portobello Mushroom Burger

Portobello Mushroom Burgers make a great summer dish. They're great for a BBQ, but they can also be done in a cast iron frying pan (that way you get the tasty looking grill lines).  My grandmother was a very old-school, European lady who grew up on meat and potatoes. After a lengthy stay in the hospital, my mom asked her what she'd like for her first dinner home, to our great surprise she replied "Portobello Mushroom Burgers". Not only are they tasty, but they're super easy to make.

Portobello Mushroom Burger with homemade coleslaw & asparagus

Portobello Mushroom Burgers:
4 portobello mushrooms (use the whole top as a 'pattie')
1 red/yellow/orange pepper & onion (optional)
1 clove of garlic
pinch of salt and pepper
olive oil
balsamic vinegar (to your taste)

Wash the mushrooms and cut off the stems. Place them in a large dish. Cut pepper & onion in large chunks, add them to the dish. Mince garlic, mix with balsamic vinegar and olive oil, pour marinade over veggies. Let stand for 10-15 minutes (or cover and put in the fridge till you're ready to start grilling). Grill for 5 minutes each side, mixing up the peppers & onions when needed. Place them on a bun (or on their own if you prefer no bread), with Veganaise & mustard, sprinkled with grilled veggies and slices of fresh tomato. Serve them with a side salad and/or greens.

Note: if you like to use a BBQ, you'll need a grill tray for the veggies

Vegenaise from Viva Vegan Store

Cowgrrrl Cookies

Awesome vegan cookies... People ask me for this recipe often. You can make them with chocolate chips or raisins, or both. If I don't have applesauce on hand (or if the dough turns out a bit dry) I'll use soy or almond milk.

One of the best parts of this recipe is that it makes a lot of cookies, so you can freeze half of them and then when you want them you just put them on a cookie sheet and pop them in the oven (great for when you have lots of hungry musicians coming through your home).

vegan chocolate chips from Viva Vegan Store

second batch for the freezer

from Jae Steele's Get it Ripe cookbook

Miso Glazed Eggplant

This is a really nice marinade and glaze, salty and sweet, plus it's super quick to make. We've made it before with eggplant and it's really good, but you can put it over anything. I rarely have sherry in the house, so I just omit it.

served with couscous, brussel sprouts and a spring roll

miso glaze over carrots, zuccini, broccoli, red pepper, onion,  and whole cloves of garlic

there's lots of different miso flavors, this is a good one

miso-glazed eggplant from Moosewoods Simple Suppers for the Weeknight Table

miso-glazed eggplant from Moosewoods Simple Suppers for the Weeknight Table

Breakfast Smoothie & Cereal

Smoothies are great, especially in the summer when you can get local fresh fruit. Frozen fruit works well too, but fruit starts to release vitamins as soon as it's cut, so the fresher the better. If you like it cold, just add some ice.

Jason's been making smoothies in the morning for the whole family and baby Levi loves them! He throws a bunch of fruit in the baby bullet and blends it with mint and orange juice (most people use a blender, but a baby bullet works too). If you prefer something creamier you can add a non-dairy milk or yogurt (soy milk, almond milk, coconut yogurt, etc).

choose your favorite mix of fruits... blend... and voila!

banana, mango, blueberries, fresh mint from the garden and orange juice

Nature's Path cereal with banana & flax seeds (a good source of fiber & omega-3's)

Nature's Path makes lots of different kinds of cereal, it's organic and the packaging is Eco-friendly too!

Barbecued Tempeh or Tofu

I love this recipe. I throw whatever veggies I have into a baking dish and put them right into the oven (skipping the pre-sauté) for 20 or 30 minutes covered, while I make the sauce, then I uncover it, mix it, and add the sauce and bake it for another 20 or 30 minutes. During the second half of the baking I make the rice/quinoa/couscous and salad or throw some spring rolls in the oven while the veggies are cooking. I usually make it with tofu, but this time I didn't have any in the fridge, so I just made it with fennel, zucchini, yellow pepper and tomato.

Served with couscous and a spinach salad with avocado & flax seeds

Super colorful and saucy

Barbecued Tempeh or Tofu from New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant Cookbook

Lunchtime Vinaigrette, Salad & Sandwich

My staple lunch. I love hummus and bread (and so does Levi). Here I made a hummus, cucumber, tomato, avocado and Dijon sandwich, with a spinach salad topped with yellow pepper, flax seeds and our favorite vinaigrette. The recipe gives the choice of several different vinagers... balsamic is my favorite.

Levi and I eat half the container of hummus while making sandwiches, he even like the garlic flavored one

flax seeds are a good source of fiber and omega 3

Moosewood has a whole bunch of amazing vegetarian cookbooks (I think they were probably my first), this recipe is from New Recipes from Moosewood Restaurant

Butternut Squash Risotto

Here's a nice recipe for when you feel like spending a little more time in the kitchen. I always find cooking grounding, especially when making risotto... the constant stirring is a meditation of its own.

I usually add some veggies when making this recipe, in this one I added broccoli, tomatos and mushrooms. I used traditional Arborio Italian rice instead of the suggested brown rice.

butternut risotto with spinach salad and spring roll

recipe from Get it Ripe by Jae Steele available at Luna Yoga

Vegan Brunch

Jason makes an awesome brunch. Usually he does it with tofu scramble, but we didn't have any tofu when we put this one together, so here's what we came up with...

spicy veggie sausage, baked beans, homefries, mango

we got these at Rachelle-Bery, but you can also get beans in maple syrup at the depanneur

spicy veggie sausage from Rachelle-Bery

home sweet homefries

recipe from Jae Steele's Ripe from Around Here vegan cookbook

Dragon Bowl

One of our favorite meals. It's quick to make and super versatile. We switch from using quinoa, couscous or rice, with whatever veggies we have in the fridge. If it's cold outside we'll fry/roast/boil some onions, carrots, zuccini, sweet potato and layer it with kale/spinach (grain, then greens, then veggies, topped with sauce), and if it's warm out, we'll go more raw with shredded carrots, beets, peppers, bok choy, and occasionally some fried tofu or tempeh. You can pretty much put this sauce over anything. I often cook by color, making sure I have a combination of reds, yellows, greens, etc.

On the side, we'll have brussel sprouts, dumplings, spring rolls, or Jason likes fake ginger chicken from Yuan.

we like to rate recipes... this one got a 12 on 10

Dragon Bowl served with red quinoa and dumplings

Dragon Bowl recipe from Jae Steele's Ripe from Around Here vegan cookbook

Vegan Challenge

A little while ago I wrote a blog about a documentary called Vegucated, I liked it so much I decided to screen it at the studio. It's a "feature-length documentary that follows three meat- and cheese-loving New Yorkers who agree to adopt a vegan diet for six weeks". To follow up the movie, Frances (one of our lovely Jivamukti teachers) suggested we host a vegan challenge of our own. I thought it was an amazing idea... We invited as many vegan/vegetarian friendly businesses to get involved and created a fun filled Vegan Challenge for the month of June, 2012.

As part of my duties I will be posting vegan recipes daily on my blog throughout the month of June. Most will be tried and tested by myself & family, with a couple recipes submitted by our generous sponsors.

Good luck to all those who are taking the challenge! 

Vegan Challenge
June 1st-30th, 2012
In honor of the Vegucated screening, we will be holding a vegan challenge throughout the month of June. If you’ve ever considered being vegan, here’s your chance to be part of a group exploring the realities of veganism, and debunking the myths.
The month will include:
- Unlimited yoga for the month of June at Luna Yoga
- A Screening of Vegucated
- Get it Ripe vegan cookbook
- A guided trip to the grocery store
- Discounts on local vegan restaurants and shops,
- Daily recipes (posted on Jennifer’s blog)
- A vegan cooking course
- Weekly gatherings 
June 1st-30th
Cost: $100
Take the challenge

Vegan Challenge participants will also receive discounts from Crudessence, Green Panther & lole, samples from Tonic, Rise Kombucha & Cocos Pure, 2 week gift membership from My Yoga Online, and 25% off at the Yoga Festival Montreal 

Thanks to all our sponsors for their generosity! 
Please feel free to add your comments, feedback and questions

Get Vegucated

We recently showed the movie Earthlings in our teacher training. It's a heavy duty documentary about animal abuse (factory farming, scientific testing, etc). They showed it to us in the Jivamukti training, and it had such a huge impact I thought it was important to pass it on. Although it is a hard movie to watch, the trainees proudly made it through it. After the screening, most of the trainees felt sad, angry, and frustrated. They wanted to share the information with their family and friends, but weren't sure if everyone would be up to watching it... 

This week I downloaded (on iTunes) another documentary called Vegucated. It focuses on vegetarianism, with 3 meat-eaters taking a 6 week vegan challenge. I highly recommend it! It's less harsh than Earthlings, but still informative.

Rent or buy Vegucated on iTunes (super easy!)

Watch Earthlings free online

Montreal Mock Meat

I have lots of vegetarian and non-vegetarian friends who love mock meat (simulated chicken, fish, etc. usually made with soy). Although Chu Chai is a great Montreal mock meat restaurant, there are also several places you can buy it to bring home and cook yourself. Two of Jason's favorites are: Tiende Santé Végétarienne on Duluth (mock ginger chicken) and Yuan on St Denis (it's a restaurant and grocery store). It makes a nice side dish, and is a good option if you're making the transition to vegetarian.

Tiende Santé Végétarienne on Duluth

Thinking of bringing a Tofurky for the family gatherings this Christmas... If you have a good one to recommend, let me know (it's gotta be good, otherwise I'll never hear the end of it!).

Sample Veggie Brunch

People often tell me they'd like to eat more vegetarian meals but don't know where to start. Here's a delicious veggie brunch Jason put together last weekend...

Tofu Scram from Jae Steele's cookbook

Baked beans in maple syrup (from a can)

Bavarian Veggie Sausage (St Yves)

Baked Potatoes with garlic and herbs

Bon Appetit!

Viva Vegan

Last weekend we discovered Boutique Viva Vegan on St Laurent. It's an adorable little shop with all kinds of vegan delights: dried goods, snacks, sandwiches, cosmetics, books, DVD's, jewelery, clothes, frozen goods, etc.

Boutique Viva Vegan 

4148 St Laurent, Montreal, Qc

yummy vegan treats

they even have vegan chocolate chips (not so easy to find)

was inspired to try out a new vegan banana bread recipe... YUM!

(I substituted the walnuts for chocolate chips since I have a bit of a sweet tooth)