Butternut Squash Chips

Posted on | August 17, 2009 | 5 Comments

It’s 9:30 p.m. and I want some junk food. Good, healthy, vegan junk food. I searched through every nook in the kitchen and other than tofu and some brussel sprouts that have started to compost in my crisper drawer, the only thing giving me the eye like that stupid stack of money with googly eyes in the Geico commercial is a butternut squash. Not what I was hoping for.

Eating vegetarian is always a challenge or so it seems. I thought to myself about all the things I could make with this lonely gourd. Ravioli, too time-consuming. Maybe a Boulevard pale ale smoothie. I decided, and rightly so, that a beer smoothie wasn’t going to be in my or anyone’s best interest so I decided on Butternut Squash chips. About two weeks ago a lovely lady named Ellen from California Rice Oil was gracious enough to send me a sample of their Rice Bran oil. I’m going to write a more in-depth review of this oil. Please take a look at their website for full nutritional comparisons on several different types of oils and the antioxidant benefits of rice bran oil.

Poblano Pesto Macaroni and Cheese

Posted on | August 13, 2009 | 3 Comments

This Saturday, Mr. Natural here in Austin will be hosting a holistic fair and vegetarian cookoff challenge. I thought it fair to enter when I found out the top three entries will recieve $300, $200, and $100 respectively. That, and I’m the sixth entry The odds are good. I’ll be entering my Mexican Tofu Casserole. Hopefully, I won’t be going head to head with five Mexican grandmothers that have been cooking vegetarian all their life. I guess there could be some solace in placing sixth. Anyway, free massages, free food samples, and free massages (wait, I said that already). Judging starts at 2:30 and it will be held at the community center off Cesar Chavez. You can visit Mr. Natural’s web site for more details.

And speaking of contests (My friend Bogdan invented the segway. Not the cool thing you ride, but the somewhat less cool method of a continuation of one topic into another unrelated topic. It’s magical when you see him do it. Really, it is.) I’ve also entered into about seven other contests including one for best macaroni and cheese. Mind you, some of the people are nut jobs. A Granny Smith apple mac and cheese, a black truffle and bacon mac and cheese, and a lobster ravioli mac and cheese are some of the more interpretative examples. Me, I went with the leftover poblano pesto and quinoa macaroni mac and cheese. A little bit of spice, a touch of garlic, and a crunch topping made stove top and finished in the oven. No, this is not vegetarian nor is it vegan. Yes, it contains butter, milk, and cheese. Yes, it was friggin’ good. Yes, I will go back to eating vegetarian and yes, it was for a contest so I had an incredibly good reason to deviate. Much like my gin and tonic recipe challenge and my beer and hops sipping competition.

Category: Gluten Free, Pasta, Simple and Quick, Uncategorized, Vegetable
Tags: Alzheimers > Arthritis > Cancer > Depression > Diabetes > Gluten Free > Low Calorie > Menopause > PMS > Stroke > Vitamins > Women's Needs

Sweet Potato Whole Wheat Gnocchi with Poblano Pesto

Posted on | August 4, 2009 | 1 Comment

I’m on my fifth week of eating vegetarian. Cheese is my weakness. For others, it’s either chocolate or something else. We all have a weakness. But give me a good Mirableu blue cheese from Spain and get in my way; well, there will be a fork in the back of your cheese grubbin’ hand. Two things have happened since I’ve stopped eating animal protein. First, I’m not raging hungry like I used to be and second, I’ve lost ten pounds. The book “The China Study” freaked me out a bit and already a known recipient of heart disease I didn’t want to tempt the fates with cancer.

Warning: This isn’t an Italian pesto. This is a Texas pesto. And the gnocchi is made with sweet potatoes, not white potatoes. Now, I don’t have anything against Italians or white potatoes. I love ‘em both. But I am trying to stay on the complex carbohydrate trail and they guy at Central Market talked to me like an idiot when I said I was looking for whole wheat gnocchi. Gnocchi, as a reminder, is made from potato and not flour like pasta. (Duh, I pointed out to him. I said I realized that but most gnocchi makers use flour as a binder and I was asking if they had a whole wheat version. He said they didn’t. And he was wrong.) Score one for Gary!