Tuesday, July 07, 2009

A Festive Fifth of July

I’ve had a quick peek at all of your July 4th posts and you guys prepared some fantastic feasts! I didn’t get to make an All American meal on the 4th, but I did get to – finally - have a Sunday dinner on the 5th with Chase. It was just the two of us enjoying several hours of much needed quality time together. He told me he had been neglecting his intake of veggies and fruits lately, so I set about to remedy that!

I think it’s been a year since we last made this, but we made Indian spiced kabobs using the marinade from Madhur Jaffrey’s World Vegetarian. It is completely fabulous. The recipe calls for pureeing and straining the marinade, but I left mine chunky. We had all farm fresh ingredients, except the tofu. We skewered the tofu along with purple and red peppers, onions, tomatoes, zucchini, and one tiny pattypan squash.




I also had lots of red potatoes that I got from my CSA box, so I made the Potato Cole Slaw from Vegan Brunch. I only sorta liked the avocado cole slaw from VB, but I absolutely loved this one! What a fantastic concept. I used broccoli slaw instead of cabbage, and coconut yogurt instead of vegannaise (eww). The toasted cumin seeds in the slaw complemented the kabobs perfectly.


I also made yummy gluten free cornbread.


So here’s the table set for two hungry people.


And here’s my happy son’s veggielicious plate. I was lucky to get a shot just before he dove in.



I saved the Sweet Freedom strawberry and blueberry dessert for him, and he ate all of that too. I thought it was huge, but he thought it was just right. Someone asked if I put coconut on top – yes, I did!


I think I got 8 kinds of veggies in him plus two fruits – just what he needed.
Now I need some help from you. Actually, I need two recommendations.

First, I need a good protein/carb post workout drink. With this heat, I’m just too thirsty to eat within 30 minutes of my workouts. What product do you recommend that’s not pure sugar or too high in calories and vegan?

Second, we have another family birthday this weekend. I’m looking for a pure chocolate cake, preferably wheat and soy free, and not the wacky cake I just made two weeks ago. Has anyone made the Double Chocolate Crumb Cake from Babycakes? Or Dreena’s Gluten Free Vegan Chocolate Cake she posted on her site? Please recommend your own or your favorite recipes. It doesn’t have to look like a birthday cake, but it does have to be chocolaty delicious!

Thanks for your help!

17 comments:

Lisa -- Cravin' Veggies said...

I wish I was at YOUR house on the 4th!!

Hannah said...

Totally jealous- I didn't do anything for the 4th except set a few things on fire. Sigh. Your plan sounds much more delicious, to say the least.

Andrea said...

Your son's plate looks fabulous - I'd love to be sitting down to a meal like that. (though maybe not so big!)

I used to have a flourless chocolate almond torte, and if I can find it I'll pass it along. It was very light and delicious, but I just can't think where the recipe is. Darn.

Tessa said...

This meal looks so colorful and delicious! Where did you get the recipe for the gluten free cornbread? I'd love to try making it!

kmouse said...

Your food is heaven.

Christina said...

It looks like a had a good weekend! Your meal sounds yummy, the tofu sounds great, and good on you for not only getting a family dinner, but filling Chase with fruits and veggies! We were planning on going to the Veggie Hot Dog fest for the fourth, but it was just too damn hot to spend the hottest part of the day out in the sun.

I don't really have any personal advice on the first item, but there's a thread about it on the VRA forums: http://veganaustin.org/topic.php?id=3134

As for the second item, my favorite go-to chocolate cake recipe is the recipe on my blog (Gluten Free Chocolate Cake). It's the one I used to make the cupcakes at the food blogger's potluck (although those contained wheat), and it's gluten free. I recommend using coconut milk for a better texture, and if you do, it will be soy free, too! You can also substitute amaranth or sorghum flour for the quinoa flour. The recipe only makes one 8-inch square or round cake, but you can double or triple it for a layer cake. It find it to be really light and moist, and the recipe is basic chocolate, but you can use things like cinnamon, amaretto or other liquor to give it more flavor, or spread fruit preserves between layers, ice with ganache and top with fresh fruit.

Gina said...

For a post workout carb/protein mix I have been mixing protein powder with OJ for a long time. I buy a rice/pea blend from trueprotein.com that I have sweetened with stevia, and they have a ton of flavors. If you're getting pea or rice the premium flavors are best. I get those instead of soy because I eat enough other soy in my life, I figure its a good time to get something else. The best thing about them is that you control what you put in and its fairly inexpensive. You can also add carbohydrates to it, to make your own complete post workout mix, but it seems silly to me when you can just add OJ. Sun Warrior Rice Protein is good too. I don't use it but I had a sample of it and its okay.

Anonymous said...

try chocolate soy milk for after your workout

VEGAN TICKLES said...

How about a green smoothie? Spinach, frozen mango, agave, and water or any non dairy milk?

jessy said...

glad you got to have a awesome sunday dinner with Chase, Diann! hooray for lots of fruits ‘n veggies! looks like i’m going to have to get world vegetarian – the indian spiced kabobs looks rock’n! i love your idea to leave the marinade chunky! farm fresh ingredients rock, too! yay! good stuff on liking Isa’s potato cole slaw a lot – broccoli slaw is so good! i almost forgot about it – totally gonna have to pick some up! superhappyface on the gluten-free corn bread! i thought that was coconut on Ricki’s dessert – such a deeeeeeeelicious addition! for protein/carb post workout shakes – dan uses Advantage pea & brown rice protein powder – it’s so good – and he loves the vanilla flavor the most! his favorite is a smoothie with 1 scoop + a banana + a handful of spinach + g.f oats + hemp milk + water + molasses. so tasty! i believe it’s gluten-free as well, but you may want to browse the ingredients just in case i’ve totally missed something on there. kinda new with the gluten-free eyeballs! ahahahahaha! i hear the Vega powders are awesome as well – those i know are gluten-free, low in sugar, and alkaline as wel! mmmm! i haven’t made either of those cakes, but i can’t wait to see what chocolaty cake you bake up!

aTxVegn said...

Thanks, everyone, you are all so helpful with your recommendations, as I knew you would be!

Tessa, the cornbread recipe is from The Gluten Free Vegan cookbook.

Jes said...

I love the kebabs! And the cornbread! Everything just looks fab :)

About Me said...

For a post work-out snack, try frozen bananas mixed in the food processor until the texture resembles soft-serve ice cream, add a tablespoon or two of almond butter and then some non-dairy milk and blend again. Great mix of carbs and protein for post work-out recovery along with being refreshing, especially for your Texan heat!

Ricki said...

Great dinner--the coleslaw looks terrific! I'm not much help w/ the first item, but if you want something very fudgy, the GF Bean Brownies on my blog are always a hit.

Lisa said...

Oh my goodness, those kabobs look killer.

Adriana said...

I don't know about the protein/carb content but Judita's recipe for the "Popeye" looks promising.

http://rawjudita.blogspot.com/2009/06/popeye.html

Crystal said...

The kebabs look awesome with the chunky marinade.