My Must-Have Veggies!

To sign up for my 8/27 VEGAN 101: The System class click here! 

I am often asked what veggies to buy, so I’m writing this post to tell you all about my favorite veggies! These are what I always have on hand at home (and at work in my commercial kitchen!)

I can’t talk about shopping with gushing over my favorite store ever, Market Basket! If you get a chance click on the link above, and see how the employees and shoppers stood up for their CEO and demanded his return to the company when he was ousted! It’s an amazing story. (They buy a lot of their produce from local farms and when they were on strike, Whole Foods snatched it up and charged 4 times as much!) 

So, my love of Market Basket started way back when in 1997 when I first moved to New England. I was living in Concord, NH and noticed immediately that the both the selection and the prices were amazing. It continues to this day and each time I go, I love it even more. I can even get Umeboshi Vinegar at the store in Brockton, MA!

But I will stop swooning about Market Basket, and get down to business. These are my staple veggies.

• Red and Green Cabbage
• Kale
• Carrots
• Red and Yellow Onions
• Red Bell Peppers
• Red Radishes
• Daikon
• Avocado
• Cilantro
• Fresh Basil
• Garlic
• Avocado
• Jalapenos, Serrano, or Habanero Peppers
• Limes

I like to use kale in place of lettuce, and cabbage is pretty much my favorite veggie ever. I also buy frozen peas, frozen corn, shelled edamame, and frozen mixed veggie. When frozen cauliflower and broccoli is on sale ($.99/lb.) I usually stock up on that as well.

I like to prepare my veggies in a variety of ways so I don’t get sick of them.

Daikon, Carrot, Onion, Tumeric, Jalapeno Pickles

• Raw
• Roasted
• Grilled
• Steamed
• Spiralized
• Sauteed
• Massaged
• Soups/Stews

 

 

 

Homemade Italian Sausage (seitan) and Kale 

Asian Fusion Chickpea & Daikon Stew

Warrior Bowl 

What are some of your staples?

 

Mostly Raw Eggless Salad (Vegan)

This is one of my most popular recipes. It was featured years ago on Kris Carr’s Crazy Sexy Life blog. 

Way back in 2008, I was working as a Vegan and Raw Food Chef in a restaurant in NH. I was creating amazing dishes, but most of them relied so much on nuts and seeds. I was doing a 30 day Raw Challenge at the time, and created this recipe at home. It was so good that I served it at the restaurant and people loved it!

I despise eggs, and have only tasted egg salad once or twice in my life. This recipe is my raw stand in for tofu salad!

• 3 cups cauliflower, pulsed in food processor
• 1/2 cups sunflower seeds soaked for 4 hours, drained then pulsed in food processor
• 1 cups diced celery
• 1 cups shredded carrots
• 1/2 cups scallions or 2 T diced red onion or shallot
• 1/2 cups nutritional yeast
• 2 teaspoons dried sage
• 1 tablespoon dried dill
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 4 tablespoons tahini
• 4 tablespoons yellow mustard
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 4 tablespoons relish
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds
• 1 teaspoon black salt (or sea salt)
• 1/2 -1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cups water

1. Pulse the cauliflower in processor and set aside in large mixing bowl.
2. Pulse the sunflower seeds and add to the cauliflower. Add the celery, carrots, scallions nutritional yeast and spices (not the salt or pepper).
3. In a small bowl, add the tahini, mustard, relish, chia seeds, salt and pepper along with 1/2 cup of water.
4. Whisk well and pour over the veggies. Taste and adjust seasonings.
5. Allow mixture to chill for an hour before serving. This actually keeps for around 3 days and does not get watery because of the chia seeds.

It’s great as is, on toast, or however you would enjoy egg or tofu salad!

Raw Chocolate-Almond Pie

I made this amazing chocolate-almond pie for a party the other day and OMG, it was so delicious. It happened to be a raw, BEEgan dessert, but no one had any idea and I didn’t tell them until they were eating it and begging for the recipe. It’s just your classic almond/date/cocoa crust filled with almonds, coconut oil, honey and more cocoa..  the sauce was coconut oil, honey, and cocoa and a bit of coffee.

Raw desserts are so much easier than baked desserts! I forgot how much I love making them. I used to make them daily at one of my jobs..  One of my favorites was making a beautiful raw carrot/coconut cake..  It’s been a while since I’ve made one. That is a little harder to pull off as a “normal” dessert, so it will have to be for people who are open to experimenting.

 

Simple Fennel Slaw with Grapefruit and Olives

This is a lovely, refreshing side dish that will compliment many meals. I sliced a couple fennel bulbs and tossed them with red onions, smoked sea salt, black pepper and a tiny pinch of coriander, then sectioned a grapefruit, squeezed the juice and massaged lighting with my hands. Oil cured olives, a touch of olive oil and parsley finished it off.

You can make this in 10 minutes, and it just gets better as it sits. I loved it the next day in a wrap with roasted red pepper hummus.

Homemade Coconut Milk

Canned coconut  milk is so decadent and delicious in curries and desserts, but in my day to day life, I don’t really want all of the fat, so I like to make my own alternative.

I use unsweetened, dried coconut flakes. I like to make big batches and freeze them in 1-2 cup containers. The milk goes bad after a couple days, so the freezer is my friend for sure! I have a Vita Mix; I have never done this in a normal blender, so I don’t know if it will work. My intuition tells me it will, as long as you let the coconut steep.

This makes 8 cups.

1.5 cups dried, unsweetened coconut flakes (I use Bob’s Red Mill)

7 cups boiling water

Pinch salt, sweetener and vanilla are optional , depending on what you are using it for. You can definitely divide it into two quart mason jars and make one sweet and one plain.

Method: Pour boiling water over coconut in glass or metal bowl. Let steep until mixture is room temperature. Blend until it is very smooth, then strain through cheesecloth or a paint straining bag. Add pinch salt and vanilla/sweetener if desired.

1 cup milk has around 75 calories, 7 grams of fat and 1 gram of protein.

You can use the leftover pulp in baking or veggie burgers.

How To Build A Raw Kale Salad

I have made A LOT of Raw(ish) Kale/Collard Salads in my days!  Having worked in two restaurants that were inside of health food stores, I had access to a lot of produce all of the time, so depending on my mood and ingredients on hand, I have sort of a template, which I would like to share with you.  Most of my recipes are really just templates I color with this spice or that grain, etc.

Basic Raw* Slaw

• 4 cups sturdy leafy greens (kale, mustard, chard, collards, spinach, escarole)
• 2 cups red or green cabbage
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 1/4 cup diced red onion
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons vinegar or citrus juice
• 1 tablespoon oil (olive, sesame, flax, coconut)

Massage together for 5 minutes or until the veggies start to break down

You are essentially ‘cooking’ the greens here and not paying attention to flavor. The carrots/onions add a nice dimension to the greens as they break down, creating a vegetable broth.

The greens are super juicy now and I take advantage of that juice and don’t drain it. If you want a cleaner flavor, just strain for 5 minutes before proceeding.  I like to add some of these ingredients that soak up the juice and create a delicious dressing without a lot of extra oil (add around 1/4 cup each or 1 cup all together)

• toasted sesame seeds
• sunflower seeds
•  toasted dried coconut
• nutritional yeast
• sun dried tomatoes
• dried mushrooms
• raisins
• dried cranberries
• apricots
• toasted walnuts
• toasted pumpkin seeds
• crystalized ginger
• chopped apples or pears (Dried would be great too)

Spices:

NO matter what I’m doing, I always add a small pinch of nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon toasted cumin seeds.

You can add 1/2 teaspoon of these:

• Basil, marjoram and rosemary for an Italian Salad (great with sun dried tomatoes, walnuts and nutritional yeast)
• Lemon Pepper, Coriander and Curry for Indian Slaw (great with coconut, and raisinis)
•  1/4 teaspoon Cardamom,  1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (with pumpkin seeds and crystalized ginger, apples and raisins)

Other ad ins:

• 2 cups seasonal fruit
• avocado (this creates an amazing creamy yummy dressing!)
• 1/2 cup Fresh Herbs  (basil, cilantro, mint, parsley or whatever you have on  hand)
• Various Raw Veggies  (Broccoli, peppers, celery, sprouts, lentil sprouts, anything you have that needs to be used)

Finally, taste and add to taste:

• Soy sauce/tamari/braggs or
• Seasoning Salts
• Pepper
• Acid (vinegars, citrus juices, tamarind umeboshi)
• Your favorite spices
• More nutritional yeast
• Your favorite oils (I add more oils last… and usually the best quality oils I have..)
• Hummus or your favorite bean based spreads

You basically want to get a nice balance of savory, acidic, sweet, crunchy..

*rawish because not all the ad ins are raw

• Make sure your hands are VERY clean before making this salad
• This will keep (as long as you NEVER double dip or use the same tasting spoon) for up to 4 days in the fridge.

I hope you play around with what you have on hand.  That is how the BEST creations are made.

Do you have a favorite Raw Kale Salad?