Roasted Veggies & Peanut Sauce

With a fridge full of fresh veggies, and a rainy Fall day, I was inspired to do some roasting. Peanut sauce adds the perfect touch. Serve it over any combination of veggies. 

Roasted Veggies & Peanut Sauce served with quinoa & roasted squash

Roasted Veggies
2 onions
Half a head of cauliflower
1 pepper
1 zucchini
2 cloves of garlic
5 mushrooms
1tbsp olive oil
1tbsp tamari

Preheat oven 350 degrees.
Chop veggies. Place in baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil & tamari.
Cover and bake for 20 minutes. Uncover, mix veggies and bake for 20 minutes.

Peanut Sauce
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup warm water
1tbsp tamari
1tbsp cider vinegar
1/2 tsp red chili garlic sauce

Mix all ingredients. Pour over baked veggies.

Veggie Coconut Curry

A light coconut curry perfect for summertime with lots of fresh veggies. Originally a chicken curry recipe, my friend Janna modified it for her veggie friends, passed it along to us, and then I modified it again to come up with this one. Enjoy!

Veggie Coconut Curry

14oz unsweetened coconut milk
3tbsp green curry paste
1/2 package of tofu
1 eggplant
1 red pepper
1tbsp lime juice
2tsps brown sugar
3/4 cup fresh basil
1/2-1 tsp chili flakes or fresh chili pepper
Basmati or Jasmine rice

Heat coconut milk and whisk in curry paste till smooth. Add tofu (you can pre-fry them first if you like them a bit cruncy) & veggies, lime juice & brown sugar. Simmer till veggies are tender. Stir in basil and chilies. Serve over rice.

Sweet Potato Fries

I've always loved french fries. As a kid I was perfectly happy with the bread basket and a side order of fries... probably not the healthiest, but so yummy! Here's a nutritious and delicious take on french fries.

sweet potato fries

Sweet Potato Fries:
1 large sweet potato
1 onion
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 clove garlic
1/4 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp basil
1/2 tsp sea salt
pepper

Peel sweet potato and cut into 'fries' or cubes (depending how you like them). Boil for 5 minutes.
Cut onion into large chunks (if you make them too small they'll burn).

Mix together remaining ingredients and pour over potatoes and onion. Mix well before distributing them evenly on a cookie sheet.

Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Bake for 10 minutes, flip them, bake another 10 minutes.
Optional sauces: Ketchup, HP or Vegenaise.

Cucumber Tomato Salad

This is a light, fresh side salad perfect for a hot summer day. We served it as a side with corn on the cob and veggie dogs. Tastes best with fresh tomatoes and cucumbers from the garden or market.

Cucumber Tomato Salad:

1 cucumber

1 or 2 tomatoes

5 fresh basil leaves

5 chives

1 garlic clove

1 tbsp hemp seeds

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp olive oil

sea salt

pepper

Chop cucumber, tomatoes, basil leaves, chives & garlic. Mix remaining ingredients, and pour over chopped veggies. Stir and season to your liking. Serve immediately or chilled.

Luna Yoga Teacher Training 2012-2013

After reluctantly putting together our first teacher training last year, I am now super excited for our second one! It was such an amazing experience and we had such good feedback, that I am now thrilled to be working on Luna Yoga Teacher Training 2012-2013. We've ironed it out, condensed it to 10 months, and come up with an amazing schedule and some awesome guest teachers. We also added a volunteer day at Teja's Animal Refuge and Montreal's Yoga Mala. I feel really good about the schedule and am excited to share it.

Luna Yoga Teacher Training 2011-2012 Graduates

Maximum 20 people

Starts September 7th, 2012

http://www.centrelunayoga.com/training.htm

Gourmet Grocery Store Downtown MTL

Thanks to Natasha (Levi's favorite nanny) we just discovered an awesome grocery store right downtown Montreal called Fou d'Ici. Part grocery store, part restaurant, they carry a mix of organic local food as well as ready-made meals, soups, sandwiches and salads; makes a perfect healthy lunch spot right downtown. Fresh produce from local farms, plus lots of other goodies to explore!

Fou d'Ici 360 BLVD. DE MAISONNEUVE WEST MONTREAL, QC, CANADA, H3A 0G6

Levi enjoying a leisurely stroll through the aisles

some of my favourite picks; nutritional yeast & hemp bliss

Banana Pancakes

I made these for Levi's 1st birthday. He loved them! They're super easy to make, and they're delicious. I hope to continue to make them a Saturday morning tradition...

banana pancakes served with fresh fruit

Banana Pancakes recipe from Jae Steele's Get it Ripe cookbook

Vegan Mac 'N' Cheese

This is the best vegan Mac 'n' Cheese recipe I've ever tasted. It's super quick to make, and requires no fake cheese. Instead it uses nutritional yeast; an excellent sourse of protein, vitamen B12, and lots of other good stuff. Plus there's broccoli, which lightens a sometimes heavy meal.

Levi loved it... baby approved!

Vegan Mac N' Cheese recipe from Chef Chloe

Vegan Mac 'N' Cheese by Chef Chloe

1 pound elbow macaroni or piccolini

3 cups broccoli florets

¼ cup vegan margarine

1/3 cup all-purpose flour (or gluten-free all-purpose flour)

3 cups soy, almond, or rice milk

½ cup nutritional yeast

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 teaspoons sea salt

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon agave (sweetner found at most health food stores)

Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add macaroni and cook according to package directions. Add broccoli for the last 5 minutes of boiling and let cook until broccoli is fork tender. Drain and return to pot.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, make a roux or paste by whisking the margarine and flour over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes. Add nondairy milk, yeast, tomato paste, salt, and garlic powder to the saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking frequently. Reduce heat to low and let simmer until the sauce thickens. Adjust seasoning to taste and stir in lemon juice and agave. Toss the noodles and broccoli with the sauce and serve immediately.

Check out Chef Chloe's web site for more vegan recipes.

Summer Salad

A nice, yummy salad you can make when you've got lots of fresh veggies in the fridge.

summer salad; season to your liking

Summer Salad

Tomato

Cucumber (I used Lebanese)

Sunflower sprouts

Carrots - grated

Cilantro

Sesame seeds

Lemon juice

Olive oil

Dijon

Sea salt

Pepper

Date Sweet Potato Muffins (Vegan)

Frances made these muffins for our 9th anniversary party at the studio. They were so good we were all asking her for the recipe. I finally got around to making them yesterday. They are delicious and nutritious! It makes a big batch of 20 muffins... since I only have one muffin tray, I cut the recipe in half.

delicious & nutritious

Date Sweet Potato Muffins

Wet Ingredients:

4 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup sunflower oil

Add to the wet ingredients: 

3/4 cup unbleached cane sugar
1 cup chopped dates

Dry Ingredients: 

3 cups spelt flour (or regular flour)
1 3/4 cups oats
1 tablespoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 cups cooked sweet potatoes, cubed

Directions: 

1 Preheat oven to 375.
2 Combine the wet ingredients (mashed bananas and sunflower oil) in a bowl. Add the cane sugar and chopped dates. Set aside.
3 Combine the dry ingredients.
4 Bake at 375 for about 18 or until a toothpick comes out clean.
5 It's normal for these to appear crispy and golden on top. That does not mean they are overcooked. The crispy top is part of what makes them so delicious!

Recipe from www.food.com

Homemade Végépâté

In one of my past posts I wrote about Fontaine Sante's yummy végépâté. I also mentioned that I hadn't found a good végépâté recipe. A friend of ours sent us this one, so I tested it out. It's quiet different from the store bought one, but still super tasty and extra healthy since it's homemade. There's a lot of grating required; I used an old food processor that my Mom gave me that has a grater option, so it was quick and easy. Best part is it makes a lot! We go through the store bought one in a couple of days, this recipes makes about 4 times as much.

homemade Végépâté - one quarter of the recipe

Végépâté
½ cup raw unsalted sunflower seeds
2/3 cup nutritional yeast
¾ cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sunflower oil (don’t use olive or other, as it will affect the flavour)
1 carrot, grated
1 potato, grated
1 stalk celery, grated
2 onions, grated
2 cloves garlic, grated
4 tblsp tamari
2 tblsp lemon juice
pinch of thyme
pinch of basil
½ cup hot water

Grate all vegetables into a bowl, add other ingredients except the water, and stir well.

When all ingredients are well mixed, gradually add hot water, little by little, stirring well in between each addition.
Bake uncovered in oiled square 8x8” pan @350ºF for 45 minutes.
Allow to cool and refrigerate.

Back to Work

For my last week of maternity leave I decided to cash in a gift certificate I got (from my amazing man) for Mother's Day. So I headed down to the Rain Spa for a deep tissue massage. What a treat! Oddly enough it's sometimes hard to find the time to take extra care of ourselves, yet it is so important. As I move into this next transition in my life, I strive to continue to find balance in work and play. With iPhones, computers, etc. it's so easy to get caught up in work, but now with Levi around I know I can rely on him to literally unplug the computer. What an amazing year it's been.

Starting back with a party: 9th Anniversary Yoga & Live Music Party, Friday, July 13th 

Treat yourself to a Weekend Yoga Retreat at Eastman Spa, July 27-29th, 2012

Mango Pineapple Crumble

This is the last post for my daily recipes for the month of June. Thank you for all your interest and feedback, its been a pleasure sharing our meals with you all. I will continue posting weekly blogs on notes, ideas and thoughts about life as a modern yogini in Montreal, as well as vegan recipes. I think I might need a new title and catch phrase for my blog... let me know if you have any ideas.

We had some mangoes and a pineapple that needed to be used, so I googled it and found this recipe. Half way through mixing, we opened up the pineapple and found out it had gone bad, so I substituted with some frozen fruit (pineapple, strawberry & mango mix), fresh strawberries and an apple. I also substituted the margarine with sunflower oil, and left out the pecans and coconut since I didn't have any. I ended up doubling the topping as I was sending half of it to my brother and sister-in-law who just had twins! I highly recommend this one, it turned out to be a delicious & perfect recipe finale.

I did have some help in the kitchen...

Fruit Crumble from Vegetarian Times

Mango Pineapple Crumble:

             A home-style dessert gets a tropical twist by baking spiced mangoes and pineapple beneath a crunchy crumble topping. Serve with non-dairy, vanilla ice cream.

• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ⅓ cup old-fashioned rolled oats
• ¼ cup plus 3 Tbs. packed light brown sugar, divided
• 1 ¼ tsp. ground cinnamon, divided
• ¾ tsp. grated nutmeg, divided
• ¼ tsp. ground allspice, divided
• ¼ tsp. salt
• 5 Tbs. chilled vegan margarine, cut into pieces, divided
• ½ cup raw pecans, coarsely chopped 
• 2 Tbs. unsweetened shredded coconut
• 3 mangoes, peeled, pitted, and cut into 1-inch cubes (2 ½ cups)
• ½ pineapple, peeled, cored, and cut into 1-inch cubes (2 ½ cups)

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat 8-inch-square glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Combine flour, oats, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, 1/8 tsp. allspice, and salt in medium bowl. Add 4 Tbs. margarine, and rub with fingertips until mixture forms coarse meal. Press together until mixture begins to form moist clumps. Stir in pecans and coconut.
2. Combine remaining 3 Tbs. brown sugar, 3/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg, and 1/8 tsp. allspice in large bowl. Add mangoes and pineapple, and toss to coat. Transfer to prepared baking dish; dot top with remaining 1 Tbs. margarine. Sprinkle oat topping over mango mixture.
3. Bake 40 minutes, or until topping is golden brown and juices bubble. Cool 10 to 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Tilghman Island Stew

It was the first time I made this recipe so I cut down on some of the ingredients (in case we didn't like it), but it turned out delicious! I left out the Old Bay Seasoning, kale & okra (since I didn't have any) and replaced the green beans with peas. We served it over couscous, but it would be great on its own too.

Tilghman Island Stew served over couscous

recipe from Moosewood Restaurants New Classics cookbook

Vegan Camper

We spent a lovely weekend at our friends Pat & Marissa's camper. In the evening Pat made us Smores over the fire, and in the morning we all pitched in and put together the Kent Family Brunch for Jason's first Father's Day. 

roast marshmellows, add chocolate, press between graham crackers = heaven

Father's Day Kent Family Brunch at the camper

Here's another version of the Kent Family Brunch:
1 can beans in tomato sauce
Bavarian veggie sausage (from IGA)
potatoes - lightly boiled, then barbecued with onions & garlic
tofu scramble - fry marinated tofu (crumbled tofu marinated in tamari, garlic & fresh ginger) with peppers, sprinkle with nutritional yeast
1 slice of bread - served with peanut butter and/or jam
slices of fruit - pear

Summer Ice Tea

Jason makes a delicious & refreshing ice tea; here's his secret ingredients...

refreshing ice tea with strawberries and mint

Summer Ice Tea:
3 bags of decaf Earl Grey or Orange Pekoe
1/2 lemon (sliced)
mint leaves (fresh mint or mint tea bag)
optional vegan sweeteners: agave nectar or maple syrup


Boil water, add ingredients, let cool. Refrigerate and/or add ice cubes.

Pad Thai

One of our favourite meals to make. Serve with a side of dumplings, seitan or spring rolls.

Pad Thai with seitan

Sauce:
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp chili paste
2 tbsp tamari
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp water
1 tbsp molassis
2 tbsp peanut butter

Veggies:
3 green onion
3 garlic cloves

red cabbage

celery
1 zuccini
1 pepper
broccoli
tomatoes
other suggestions: tofu, bok choy, chop suey, 

Toppings:
cilantro
lemon juice
crushed peanuts

Mix sauce ingredients together. Set aside.
Lightly fry veggies. If you're using tofu, add it at the beginning with the onions and garlic.
Add sauce to veggies.
Boil rice noodles. Add noodles to veggies and sauce. Mix together.
Serve topped with cilantro, lemon juice and crushed peanuts.

Roasted Vegetable Curry

This is a delicious curry from Moosewood Restaurants Simple Suppers; fresh ideas for the weeknight table cookbook. All the recipes from this book are designed to be quick and easy. While the veggies are roasting, there's time to make the sauce and side dishes. We've been making recipe for a couple of years and still enjoy it.

roasted vegetable curry with basmati rice and fiddleheads

recipe from Moosewood Restaurants Simple Suppers; fresh ideas for the weeknight table cookbook

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

I had a whole bunch of strawberries that needed to be used, and a bag of rhubarb from my moms garden in the freezer (plus I have a sweet-tooth) so this turned out to be the perfect recipe.

strawberry rhubarb crumble - yum

recipe from Jae Steele's Get it Ripe Cookbook

I think there's a typo in the fruit bottom ingredients; it calls for one cup of sugar but doesn't mention it in the preperations, so I just sprinkled the fruit with a bit of sugar, but it doesn't really need it since there's 3/4 cup sugar in the topping.

Quinoa Tabouleh

Quinoa Tabouleh makes an awesome side salad for lunch or dinner. I usually use the suggested cucumber, but since I didn't have one in the fridge, I replaced it with celery. It makes a nice big batch, so there's plenty left over.

fresh herbs from our garden

left over Quinoa Tabouleh

recipe from Jae Steele's Get it Ripe Cookbook