Mock Tuna Salad-Three Ways

I know I said I couldn't blog again for a while, but I lied.

I just had to get one last blog post in before we are off on another adventure, because this blog post is so important. If you love mayonnaise, your life is about to change.

I have never been a big consumer of mayonnaise, not because I didn't like the taste, but because I was well aware of the calorie and fat content. Lucky for us, Susan Voisen, author of the Fat Free Vegan blog, has created the most incredible, most outstanding, low calorie, low fat Vegan mayonnaise out of silken tofu, cashews, mustard, lemon juice, onion powder and salt.  Susan's version is thick and creamy and tastes just like, well, mayonnaise. What a fun surprise!

I used Susan's tofu-cashew mayo this past weekend in two experiments I did with mock tuna salad. But I'm such a glutton, I had to try it three different ways-one with tempeh, one with chick peas and one with sunflower seeds. I have to say they were all excellent. I served them to a crowd of non-Vegans and each was a hit. Everyone was surprised at how tasty they were and that they were not actual tuna.

New York, New York--It's a Hell of a Town, for a Vegan.

The people ride in a whole in the ground . . .

Do you know that song? I love it. I grew up in a suburb of New York City and there were a phenomenal amount of television commercials advertising Broadway shows. It was a good thing. That lyric is by Leonard Bernstein for the musical On the Town.

But I digress.

I spent last week in The Big Apple at a trade show (The National Stationery Show) and before I went I was definitely more than a little concerned with how I would fare from an eating standpoint.

The Luscious Verde booth at the NSS. There's Megan, Marketing and PR Director at LVC.

Well, I'm here to tell you that it was a breeze. Shockingly easy actually. It gives me hope for America for the future. If New York is where the trends start, then we Americans are in for some exciting healthy trends in the near future. Here's what I experienced:

(1) FRESH juice and smoothie bars, like, everywhere. We happened upon Health King on 7th Avenue (between 38th and 39th) on our way from the hotel in Times Square to The Jacob Javitz Center. Green smoothies made with fresh fruit and vegetable/fruit juices made to order are their specialty. But I saw fresh juice and smoothie bars all over the place as we rode in cabs.

From Bánh mì to Vietnamese Tofu Lettuce Wrap: Transforming a New Classic

I'm back from New York and The National Stationery Show! I've missed all of you HGK readers and the blogging community so much. I thought about you all of the time and all of the things I wanted to share with you. Turns out it's pretty darned easy to eat healthy vegan food in The Big Apple, but more on that in a future post.

It was an enriching and exhausting trip. As tired as I was, as soon as I stepped into my own kitchen, I was beyond ready to prepare light, healthy and filling food for us. I keep hearing about these Vietnamese Bánh mì sandwiches and seeing pictures of them pop up on the Internet.

I LOVE VIETNAMESE FOOD. And yes, I am shouting at you through the computer. That's how much I love Vietnamese food.

Mushroom, Kale and Spinach Enchiladas with Roasted Poblano Cream

It was right before Mother's Day that I first spotted this enchilada casserole on Pinterest. From that moment on, I was craving it, and I knew I had to make it our way. Hold the oil. Up the greens. Add some beans.

The results were, well, ridiculous.

Ridiculously good, that is.

Can I Remain Plant Strong for a Week Inside a Convention Center?

I'm about to go out of town on business for a week. I love saying that. I feel so grown up!

My company is exhibiting at the National Stationery Show. You may not know this, but my day job is Co-owner of Luscious Verde. The NSS is our big industry trade show, and I'll be on my feet from early in the morning until late in the afternoon for a whole week, talking and schmoozing and selling. Holy cow, I'm nervous! I've got the added pressure of being Plant-strong under some really trying circumstances (convention center food is not typically known for it's health promoting properties), but I am remaining optimistic that I will make it work.

So to make the trip sweeter, my business partner Chris-Anna and I have decided to treat ourselves to lots of the delicious Vegan yumminess that is going on all over NYC. We've got reservations out the wazoo, which is SO UNLIKE ME. I'm so NOT the social coordinator type, but I felt driven to set up our Vegan Tour of  New York. That might give you a clue into how excited I am to have someone else do the cooking for me!

Addictively Good Farro Tabbouleh

I've had a cup of dry farro hanging around my pantry for a while, plus this recipe in my files for a few years. I decided to put the farro to good use this past weekend in a creative and unusual version of the grain salad known as "tabbouleh."  I was blown away by the results. This dish is absolutely going to be one of my new go-to recipes.

My Fantasy Mother's Day Brunch Menu

This menu is probably going to remain a fantasy for my whole life, but I thought it would be fun to share with you my idea of a great Mother's Day Brunch menu.

It's Mother's Day, so the moms should not have to do the cooking, right? This fantasy comes with a husband (or private chef, or spectacular children who just got out of culinary school) who cooks. Not just cooks, but happily prepares no-oil vegan food.

Circumstances as they are, this isn't happening in my lifetime. This Mother's Day, my sister-in-law, with three young kids of her own, has graciously invited the family over for your typical American barbecue fare. I'm called upon to make an "alternative" dessert (that makes me really happy) and whatever other food I feel like bringing that falls in line with my "unusual" dietary preferences.

But back to my fantasy.

Thoughts on The Pleasure Trap

Many, many weeks ago, the fine people over at Happy Herbivore were doing a book club. The selection was The Pleasure Trap by Doug Lisle, Phd and Alan Goldhamer, D.C. This book happened to have been on my radar for quite some time, and I was inspired to finally read it. I promised that I would share my thoughts as I made my way through the book.

Well, that didn't quite work out.  But I bring up The Pleasure Trap again because it is an extremely important book, one that every single reader of HGK should get their hands on.

The basic premise of the book is that humans operate under a basic motivational triad: the pursuit of pleasure, the avoidance of pain, and the conservation energy. There's A LOT more to the book than that, but for our purposes, I want to focus on that.

Here's how that motivational triad operates in our lives: let's say you get home from work, tired and very hungry (sound familiar?). Why is it so hard to start making a healthy dinner, and not start snacking, at that point in the day? Why is it almost impossible to eat celery sticks while you are ravenously hungry? Why do you want to grab something tasty and high in calories (maybe your kids' dinner food or other less desirable food that you have around) as you are getting your dinner together?

This is the Best Kind of Motivation

Get tissues.

Enjoy.

Love to you all!

Here's the Plan, Stan. What Plan? The Healthy Eating for a Week Plan.

So you know last weekend, the weekend where I spent a lot of time in the kitchen making food so that my week would be easier and my diet healthier?

Well, it worked.

With some careful planning and preparation, and some time in the kitchen, I stocked our refrigerator with enough food for that weekend and the entire following week.

And that was a really good thing, because my kids had activities at their schools multiple nights last week. Normally, I get home from work pretty ravenous. And between having to make separate food for my little kids, no-oil Vegan food for myself, husband and oldest daughter, and then racing out to an evening event . . . well that would have been my undoing when it comes to making great food choices.

But I'm beginning to turn that around. I've been seeing other bloggers talk about doing bulk cooking on the weekend and I thought I would give it a try.

Little did I know, it was so much easier than I had ever imagined. And I never in a million years would have thought I would get it right on the first try. And the second go around was even easier.

Tofu Cacciatore

I'm going to be honest here, I've never been a big fan of Chicken Cacciatore. Maybe it's because it's just not a food that I grew up on, or maybe it's because peppers are not on my list of favorite vegetables. I don't know, but when my friends Chris-Anna and Jill suggested to me that a vegan cacciatore would be something that they could get into, I felt I was up for the challenge.

Pea and Avocado Guacamole

We are enjoying the fruits of my labor this past weekend and the effort already seems to have paid off.


One of the things that I prepared has actually been on my food bucket list for quite some time: a fantastic alternative guacamole. You see, ever since making guacamole with edamame (soy beans) and dumping it in the trash (is it just me or is that stuff nasty?) after our Plant-strong Superbowl party in 2011, I have been searching for the miracle guacamole. You know, the one with less fat and calories? Because who do you know that doesn't love guacamole?