"Beef" Kebab Sandwich.

First thing, make this blend and keep it in an airtight container or jar. You only need about 1/2 tsp. of this for the sandwich.

Saute about 1/3 bag of Gardein beefless tips in olive oil, garlic and onions. Sprinkle the 1/2 tsp of shawarma seasoning blend and cook until browned. Season with salt and pepper.

Stuff the beef tips into two pita halves and add any veggies or condiments you want. Mine has hummus, tahini, olive salad, tomatoes, cooked squash, lettuce and hot sauce.

Seriously this was amazing. Make it today.

Kale salad again!

Addicted to the kale right now. Made this one last night with kale, red cabbage, carrot, red peppers and red onion.
The dressing I got from The Happy Pear's kale salad recipe (find it on youtube!) which has tahini, cashew, lemon, honey, cumin, coriander, paprika and chili. I omitted the cashews and honey, used maple syrup and added more water and lemon to thin out the dressing a bit. Delicious!

Super Healthy Kale Salad and Mushroom Masala Curry.

Made a delicious kale salad tonight with tahini dill-chive dressing. Scrumptious! It has kale, arugula, carrots, red onion, red bell pepper, toasted walnuts and dried cranberries!

First I massage my kale with a tiny bit of olive oil, salt and lemon juice. This will make the kale leaves tender. Then I added all the other veg and tossed with the following dressing. I let it chill for about 15-20 minutes. The flavors are amazing and the kale leaves softened just enough.

Tahini dressing:
1/3 cup tahini
1/2 lemon, juiced
2-3 tablespoons water
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp dried dill
pinch of cayenne
fresh chopped chives
salt and pepper
Whisk all ingredients until smooth. Add more water if too thick.

Great curry with mushrooms and peas. I love curries. They really are the very best kind of comfort food. I had an idea today that L.A. needs a veggie friendly curry house. Wouldn't that be wonderful? And not just indian curries, but curries from all over.

Quick Falafel.

I was craving falafel so hard today (as most days it seems lately...) and I had to have it tonight. I still had greek beans leftover but I promised myself that I would finish those off tomorrow at lunch. I didn't feel like making falafel from scratch with chickpeas and chopped onions etc. I got home from a long day at work and I just didn't want to put that much effort into it. I wished I had one of those falafel mixes where you just add water. I didn't have any but I did have this...


Chickpea flour! All it is is ground up chickpeas. I figured that's what those pre-made falafel mixes are made from anyway. I went online and found a recipe by Bob's Red Mill here. Bingo. Exactly what I was looking for. So with a little chickpea flour, a few shakes of spices and baking soda mixed with some hot water and lemon juice I had falafel batter ready to go!


I cut the recipe in half and fried up 5 golden brown patties in sunflower oil.


While they were cooking, I made a quick tahini sauce with equal parts tahini, water, lemon juice and a dash of salt and garlic powder.


I stuffed them into whole wheat pita with lettuce, onions, pickles and drizzled them with the tahini sauce.


Mid bite. They were pretty good though I must be honest, not as good as homemade from cooked chickpeas. They were nice and crispy but a tad dry in the middle because of the chickpea flour. Not bad though. It worked very well for a craving and I'm glad I tried it!

Eat Your Greens!

Mmm, kale! I sure do love this dark green leafy that I've been eating a lot of lately. I'm sure to some of you, the idea of eating a serving of dark green vegetables plain is not desirable in the slightest. Which is why it's a good idea to pair it with something that will make you love your greens. Today I made two sauces that I ladled over steamed kale. Both were absolutely wonderful!


First up is this delicious garlicky sauce that was invented by my friend Lauren. She eats kale by the ton and uses this sauce that she whipped one day. She is addicted to it and I think I will be too! She ran the recipe by me today and I came home and made it. It takes not more than 3-4 minutes and is worth the preparation. This is what you do: Chop finely a few cloves of garlic. Heat some olive oil (I used about 2TB) in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add some Earth Balance margarine, just a bit for some saltiness. Add chopped garlic and saute until it lightly browns. Then add nutritional yeast flakes(I added only 1/2 cup, Lauren uses a full cup!) and then add some water little by little while stirring to make a sauce with the thickness you prefer. Season with black pepper and cayenne. Pour over steamed kale and toss to coat.


Second sauce is the Tahini Dill sauce from Veganomicon. Super easy to make as well in your blender. It's a wonderfully smooth and creamy sauce made with tahini, dill, garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, water and vinegar. The recipe called for balsamic but I used red wine vinegar instead. Very good on fresh salad too.