More cabbage a.k.a I wanna test my new HD cam!

Start with Miso and end with Awesome

I had bought Miso to make my Mac'n'Cheese and I was trying to find a fun way to use whatever was left in a recipe. I also had some dried wakame in my pantry, so I thought "Waiiiiiit a minute here... I think this might be miso soup time!!!" And it was.

Kris loves mac'n'cheese.

When I asked Kris what some of his pre-vegan favorite foods were, he said something about how he would eat whole boxes of Kraft Dinner. I was not gonna make a regular mac'n'cheese for dinner though, for obvious reasons, so I got my beloved The Vegan Table cookbook out, and got cooking!

Now, I'm not gonna tell you Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's secrets for making this deliciously creamy mac'n'cheese, but I'm just gonna say that you would need cashews and nutritional yeast. Get The Vegan Table, it's totally worth it.

More sandwiches and more fries!

Who would wanna eat a tuna salad sandwich after tasting this?

Seriously, Colleen Patrick Goudreau is like... a Jedi Master of Vegan cooking. (Wow Vero, you're so cool...!)

Follow the Better Than Tuna Salad recipe, put it in a tasty bun with sprouts and fake blue cheese, and serve it with sweet potato fries, and you'll get this:

Même ma très omnivore de soeur Isabelle approuve!

Aux Vivres inspired me

So Friday night was the Aux Vivres night. And Saturday, I wanted to cook. Fully inspired by Aux Vivres, I got cooking!

The Vegelox we had the previous evening was just so crazy good that I had to figure out a way to make my version of it. I did some research online and although I was missing a really important ingredient (seaweed), I tried to make this vegan-version of smoked salmon. I mixed carrot pulp with capers, olive oil, green onions, salt and pepper. It wasn't as crazy as the one we had on Friday but it was more than just edible :P. I didn't stop there: I wanted to try making a cheese-like dip, something with herbs. I took out the tiny little food processor I have and mixed tofu with chives, olive oil, salt and pepper. It turned into what you can see on the right in the picture. It was really tasty! I could totally imagine this spread in a sandwich or something.

 And for my main course, with the peanut sauce that was in my meal at Aux Vivres, I wanted to do something that used peanut butter.

How about a spicy peanut butter marinade? Sounded promising! I mixed peanut butter with soy sauce, garlic, chili pepper flakes, a bit of olive oil and water. I marinated thick slices of tofu in it for a couple hours. Before cooking, I breaded my tofu in unsweetened coconut and sesame seeds. In the pan for a couple minutes on each side and BAM! Really flavorful tofu, with Thai aromas. I served it with whole wheat spaghetti with carrots, spinach and edamame, and a drizzle of sesame oil. Mmmmm!

Best. Burger. Ever.

The title says it all.

Kris and I went to the Jean-Talon market last Thursday to get inspired for our dinner. I was buying my usual tempeh and nuts and goodies. I also bought Blue Style Sheese, a 100% dairy free alternative to blue cheese. We ran into BBQ Tempeh Burgers and we had to give them a try, and Oh, My, God. Those turned out to be the best burgers we had ever had.

Imagine a really good quality bun with nigella in it (mmmm), the BBQ tempeh patty, the blue sheese, tofu-bacon (tofu marinated in soy sauce, liquid smoke and maple syrup), nayonnaise, tomato, spinach, and sprouts. It was... I don't know how else to describe it but to say that it was out of this world. We had it with a store-bought canned mixed bean salad that was really good.

If our dinner at Crudessence was described as a foodgasm, this had to be another one.

Vegan Dinner for Two

Before I talk about the food, I gotta tell you guys about Colleen Patrick Goudreau. Founder of CompassionateCooks.com, I think it is pretty safe to say that she is the reason why I am vegan. She opened up my eyes (and my heart) to the reality of the animal industry. She is very articulate, very smart and never uses a condescending tone when she talks. I beg you to check out her Podcasts, Vegetarian Food for Thought. After listening to all of her podcasts in a matter of days, I knew I was ready to follow my heart and make the switch. She also used to be a cooking instructor, and one of her videos on YouTube demonstrated her Stuffed Acorn Squash recipe. I knew I had to give it a try; it looked so simple and delicious!

Anyway, so... A lot has happened to me in the past week. Without really getting into details, I have a new guy in my life, and I'm glad to say that he's vegan too, so it was with a lot of pleasure that I prepared us a really, really gorgeous vegan dinner!

The stuffed squash came out beautifully. I changed the recipe from the video a tiny little bit, using a butternut squash instead of an acorn squash, and changing the spices and herbs as well. But believe me guys when I tell you that it was simply incredible, and so so so easy to make. Plus, it makes a very elegant meal. I served mine with a mixed green salad topped with soy nuts and squash seeds. 

And now, the dessert. Isn't this sexy? It's a raw vegan brownies, topped with coconut, served in a mango-peach soy dessert you get from grocery stores and blueberries. The raw vegan brownies are crazy simple to make:

In a food process, mix 1 cup of dates, 1 cup of walnuts, 1/4 cup of cocoa powder and a table spoon of coconut oil. Mix really well and press into a pan. Let it cool in the fridge before serving. Top it (or not!) with coconut. DONE!

J'avais amené des brownies crus végétaliens chez mes parents le weekend dernier, et ma mère les a particulièrement aimé. Je pense l'avoir rarement vu aimé autant un petit plaisir sucré. Et ils sont tellement simples à faire!

A newly vegan girl back in her hometown

I spent last weekend over at my parents' house in Loretteville, a beautiful suburb of Quebec City. As a newly vegan though, I was a bit nervous about going back home and having to deal with questions and concerns about my new way of life.

Everything went really well! My mother showed some sincere interest into what I had to say about veganism. My dad took me to the grocery store so that I could buy food I would want to eat, and I had brought a huge bag full of vegan basics like nutritional yeast and dates and nuts.

I was lucky enough to be there for a really warm and sunny weekend; I got to use the pool and go on bike rides. It felt good to be alive! I also made this little video to show you guys what it's like to live with my new body.



And nooowwww, the noms!

I made this delicious iced chocolate and coffee drink. I simply blended cold coffee, vanilla soy milk and cocoa powder into this smooth, sweet and decadent treat!

The best meal I had over the weekend was definitely my tofu skewers. I marinated the tofu in orange juice, tahini, soy sauce, chili pepper flakes and garlic. I had the tofu with cumin vegan sausages, bell peppers, eggplant, butternut squash and onions.

Mes soeurs se sont bien amusés à mettre leur grain de sel dans mes vidéos ;) Mais à voir leur réaction devant mon hummus de fèves noires, je pense qu'elles ne peuvent pas juger mon végétalisme :P

For the love of good bread

I've been craving the bread Sean and I had gotten at the Première Moisson bakery at the Marché Maisonneuve; it's an olive oil bread with herbs. It's not exactly a focaccia, not exactly a ciabatta either. Although I can't really figure out what it is, I decided that I should still make something similar to it to satisfy my craving. So, armed with a lot of research on the fabulous Internet, I decided that today would be the day I'd make my very own focaccia.

Like I said in my last video, I got myself a Larousse Gastronomique, often referred to as THE book any aspiring cook should have in his kitchen. Here is what the Larousse Gastronomique says about "focaccia":

An Italian olive-oil flat bread, of very ancient origin, since it dates to bakestone days. It is a hearth bread, traditionally flung into the oven just after the fire has been raked out, when the temperature is still too high to bake a larger loaf without burning the crust.

I made my focaccia with part whole wheat, part white flour and I added some dried herbs on top. Other than that, I pretty much followed the recipe on HubPages. Making bread is a labor of love; it takes time and a bit more effort than if you were just grabbing a slice of bread from the fridge. The kneading, how you wait for the dough to rise, the baking, and mostly, the anticipation...

When I took the first bite from my homemade herb focaccia, I understood how worth the efforts all this was. I enjoyed mine with olive oil and balsamic vinegar, and some leftover smoked salmon from dinner last night. What a perfect way to spend this warm Sunday afternoon!

Je n'aurais pas pu trouvé meilleur compagnon pour le saumon fumé qu'il me restait du repas d'hier soir avec mes parents. Mon focaccia est bien croûté avec un centre moelleux, les herbes et le sel relèvent son goût de farine de blé parfaitement. En plus, il faut avouer qu'il est vraiment beau, non? :)

From black beans to squealing

In my last entry, I mentioned WHFoods.com and how every week, I pick a food item from their list and try to add it to my diet. Last week, I let Sean pick an ingredient for me. He looked at the list and picked black beans because he likes them. Ok, black beans... How can I use black beans without going for the obvious Mexican food? And then it struck me: hummus. Black bean hummus. Oh I could just taste it already; the beans, the soft sweetest of the tahini, the potency of the garlic. Yes, black bean hummus sounded like such a good idea! I quickly Googled it and realized that I was not the first one to think of this brilliant combination. I stumbled upon this recipe and it was love at first sight: the recipe called for cumin. SOLD!

Now, whenever I would buy hummus at the grocery store, I'd also get tzatziki and nacho chips and just have a "dip" kind of a meal. So since I was going to make my own hummus, I might as well make my own tzatziki. I found this nice little video on YouTube by DedeMed. Simple enough!

Now, the chips... I was not going to make nacho chips, especially since I was trying to get away from the Mexican-food idea in the first place. What else could I use to dip into those two delicious mixtures? Toasted pita bread! Could I be adventurous enough to make my own whole-wheat pita bread? According to this recipe, they're simple to make. I guess I can give it a try! I'm not used to baking though, I'll have to be careful with these.

Being a real foodie, I thought about my pita bread, hummus and tzatziki for days. I figured I'd spend my usual food-minded weekend around it. Saturday, I went to the Jean Talon market, the Maisonneuve market and two different grocery stores to pick up the very best ingredients. I went to bed that night with only one thing on my mind... am I being too adventurous? What if I forgot something? What if the pita breads don't puff up?!

Sunday, full of confidence after a life changing weigh in, I put my apron on and got ready to cook.

I started out with the pita since they would take the longest to make, and while the yeast was doing its thing, I worked on the hummus and the tzatziki. I pretty much followed the recipes, with my own Vero-twist of course, like a lot more tahini and lemon juice in my hummus and a ton of fresh mint in my tzatziki. So far, so good. And then it was time to put the pita dough in the oven. I swear, I squealed when I saw the round piece of dough puff up in the oven. I had made pita bread. 

J'étais tellement fière de moi quand j'ai vu mon beau panier, rempli de pain pita au blé entier, de hummus aux fèves noires et de tzatziki. Je suis vraiment une perfectionniste; je réfléchis longtemps avant de faire quelque chose, j'essaies d'anticiper tout ce qui pourrait arriver de "croche", de prévoir toutes les possibilités. Je n'ai pas l'habitude de faire de la patisserie ou de la boulangerie, donc évidemment, j'appréhendais le résultat de mes pitas. Et j'ai réussi mon beau projet. Parfois, il ne suffit que de se faire un petit peu plus confiance qu'à l'habitude et on arrive à faire à peu près tout ce qu'on essaie!

Indian food is my comfort food

When you Wikipedia "comfort food", you get this:

The term "comfort food" refers to simple, familiar food that is usually home-cooked or eaten at informal restaurants. More generally, comfort food can be defined as food that brings some form or measure of comfort, sense of well-being, or easy satisfaction, usually from being warm and filling such as a dish made with a staple food, or basically pleasing such as sweets or desserts. Comfort foods may also involve foods that have a nostalgic element either to an individual or a specific culture.

Of course, my mother's spaghetti sauce  and her "boeuf bourguignon" are also some of my comfort foods, but Indian cuisine really strikes me as simple cuisine that "brings some form or measure of comfort, sense of well-being, or easy satisfaction, usually from being warm and filling".  Sean and I have this little routine when he comes over; we simply have to get Indian food or else his stay here is not complete. Maybe that's why it feels like comfort food! :P

Anyway, as much as I love Butter Chicken (and Sean knows how much I love it), there are other things in Indian cuisine that I love and one of them is Saag Paneer. I made my Saag with kale, a super green vegetable, with a earthy flavor, topped with homemade Paneer, an Indian cheese. I served it with some Quinoa and there it was: a perfect meal with quality carbs,  protein and fat, and quality taste, of course!

To make the Paneer,  feel free to follow the instructions on WikiHow. It's pretty much the way I did it and it was really easy. As for the Saag itself, I simply cooked some onion in a pan, added the kale with salt, pepper and cumin and put the lid on for a few minutes. I like my vegetables al dente so my kale Saag still had a bit of a crunch. Top it with pan-fried Paneer and you're done! Quick and easy comfort food!

La bouffe Indienne est vraiment irrésistible. Elle est savoureuse, simple et nutritive. Le Saag Panir, il fallait y penser. Faire cuire un légume vert en feuilles, généralement des épinards, avec des oignons, du sel, du poivre et du cumin, et le parsemer de cubes de fromage indien, le Panir, ça paraît presque enfantin comme idée mais bon Dieu que c'est bon!

I'm a magician: I can make fried rice without using any rice. Woooooo, spoooooky!

Ok, I confess: I'm not really a magician. I'm just a girl who found a great recipe idea on Fatsecret. Tammyme, a Fatsecret user, posted a great Cauliflower Fried Rice recipe. But here's the catch: it's rice-free. The fun part of this meal is that the cauliflower serves as rice, so you get the taste and great texture of fried rice plus the benefits from the cauliflower without all the empty calories from the traditional white rice we would normally use.





Simply use grated cauliflower instead of rice, and then do everything you would normally do to make fried rice! I make mine with an egg, chives and reduced-sodium Kikkoman soy sauce. You can add whatever else you want, like other vegetables or even chicken. But to be completely honest, the best part about this meal is that since the amount of calories in cauliflower is ridiculous compared to what's in white rice, I can indulge in a really big bowl! Don't be scared and give it a try!

Ma mère saurait vous dire à quel point j'aime le riz, probablement autant que ma soeur Nathalie aime les "patates pilées"! Donc évidemment, trouver une idée de recette qui me donnerait l'impression de manger un énorme bol de riz, sans les remords, c'était bien sûr un très grand moment de joie. On n'a qu'à remplacer le riz par du chou-fleur rapé et on prépare comme si on faisait un riz frit traditionnel. On frit le chou-fleur râpé avec un oeuf qu'on brouille et de la sauce soya, et c'est tout! Je viens d'en manger un gros, gros bol et j'ai déjà hâte d'en remanger.

Turning cravings into yumminess!

Yes, I still have cravings. Almost 12 months after starting my weight loss journey and completely changing my lifestyle, I still have almost uncontrollable cravings for some food. But cravings are actually fun now: when I get a craving for something I shouldn't even think about, I try to come up with a super healthy alternative for it. That's what I did tonight. I had a craving for pizza and I'm sure you can understand why! The crispy crust, the melty cheese, the bold flavors. I just had to have it!

My alternative healthy-tasty pizza! The best part about this pizza is that it is completely guilt-free! Whole wheat tortilla instead of that big gooey dough, sun-dried tomatoes that bring a lot of flavor, the garlic, the basil, the cheese... Mmmmmm!

1 whole wheat tortilla

5 sun-dried tomatoes, in pieces

2 teaspoons of minced garlic

140 grams of mozzarella cheese, grated

A couple leaves of basil

1 teaspoon of parmesan

Preheat your oven to 350. Grab your tortilla, rub your minced garlic all over it and spread it all around. Add your pieces of sun-dried tomatoes and cover with the mozzarella cheese. Top your pizza with the basil leaves and the parmesan. Pop in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes, keeping an eye on it. Be careful; the pizza being pretty thin, the crust will burn quickly if you leave it in there for too long. When the cheese is melted and golden, take it out and enjoy a tasty, healthy pizza! I personally eat mine with a salad or some roasted veggies.

Belle pizza, hein? Et elle n'est pas que belle. Elle est bonne! J'adore transformer mes envies de malbouffe en repas nutritifs avec de vrais ingrédients. C'est toujours un véritable défi. Comme j'avais vraiment envie de pizza aujourd'hui, je me suis amusé à faire une pizza pour laquelle je n'aurais aucun remord. Le problème avec les pizzas, c'est souvent la grosse croute bien moelleuse. Le problème est vite éliminé quand on la remplace par une tortilla de blé entier, qui en plus d'être nutritive, devient rapidement craquante au four. On garnit la tortilla de vrais ingrédients, comme des tomates séchées, de la mozarrella, du parmesan et des feuilles de basilic, et le tour est joué!