vegan

Chocolate Cranberry-Walnut Clusters

November 15, 2013 by Erica

Chocolate Cranberry-Walnut Clusters

I’d say it’s only right that we finish the week off with some chocolate – what do you think?

I hope we’re all in agreement. Say hello to these chewy, chocolaty clusters of cranberry-walnut goodness.

Chocolate Cranberry-Walnut Clusters

Here is the deal with these chocolate clusters: They are the cranberry-walnut version of the no-bake quinoa cookies I posted a few weeks ago. Basically, I liked those quinoa cookies wayyyy too much not to make a few more versions of them. And you guys seemed to like them, too! I knew I wanted a chewy, nutty version of those cookies, and after a bit of experimentation, I declared this simple combination of dried cranberries and toasted walnuts the clear winner.

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Nutted Wild Rice

November 11, 2013 by Erica

Nutted Wild Rice

Good morning! It’s Monday again, isn’t it?

Well, I take that back. Some of you lucky folks probably have Veteran’s Day off, making this just another day in a niiiice long weekend for you. Well hurumph. The rest of us have to work.

Nutted Wild Rice

It’s finally hitting me that Thanksgiving is right around the corner. Just two and a half weeks! My whole family is coming out to Salt Lake this year (minus one sister and brother-in-law! we will miss you Cait and Ben!), and my grandparents get here in less than two weeks. Cah-razy. I am psyched to have everyone out here. I am also realizing, though, that I’ve been considering Thanksgiving as an informal deadline for having our apartment totally put together… and that has not quite happened yet. Do you think we should finally get a living room rug after 3 months of living here? Let me think about that, better put it off a little longer. Not. Time to get on all of that.

Luckily, even with family visiting, I won’t be doing all of the Thanksgiving cooking. My parents and aunt and uncle are renting a house, where prepping a Thanksgiving meal for 20 will be much more successful than it would be in my minuscule kitchen, which boasts all of 20 square feet of standing room. (Think about that for a second, lucky homeowners and even fellow apartment-dwellers… 4 feet by 5 feet.) Anyway. I get to play sous chef to my mom, which is a relief, as I would definitely be terrified of coordinating a whole Thanksgiving dinner myself. Once my parents get into town, we’ll kick things into high gear with grocery shopping, pie making, and turkey brining. A holiday centered around food is a holiday well-celebrated in my family!

Since I’m starting to get in Thanksgiving mode, I thought I would share one of my favorite holiday side dishes with you all.

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Vegan Quinoa and White Bean Chili

November 8, 2013 by Erica

Vegan Quinoa and White Bean Chili

When I say chili, something meaty and tomato-based probably comes to mind. Or, if you like veggie chilis, you at least probably think of something tomato-y and darker in color than this. Wellll, I love that type of chili, but I decided it would be fun to make a semi-albino variation – no tomatoes here! – featuring white beans and (naturally) quinoa.

Quinoa chili has been on my to-cook list for quite some time, and now the weather is finally cool enough to make it. And as anticipated, I love the texture of the quinoa mixed in here! It thickens up this chili quite a bit, soaking up all that cumin-y broth. Along with the beans, it makes this dish super filling, not to mention being fun and chewy (which of course I have to mention anyway, because that is always what I love about quinoa). But the quinoa doesn’t take center stage like it did in Monday’s recipe – that is reserved for the veggies and spices.

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Chipotle Butternut Squash and White Bean Dip

November 6, 2013 by Erica

Chipotle Butternut Squash and White Bean Dip

We got our first snow of the season yesterday. I woke up in the morning, changed into my running clothes, and looked out the window… uh ohhh. WHY is the ground covered in 4 inches of snow?! I am not much of an outdoor runner when it’s slippery outside. I took about 10 steps before I went back in, changed into shorts, and went to the gym to run on the treadmill.

First treadmill run of the season in the books! It’s gonna be a loooong winter.

As a side note, our neighbors still had their sprinklers on. What?!

Chipotle Butternut Squash and White Bean Dip

I’m clearly not thrilled about the quick transition to winter that we’re having around here, but it does mean I get to roast butternut squash to my little heart’s content. Our apartment is already freezing, so I’m a happy girl when the oven is on. I’ve already posted a few butternut recipes so far this fall, and I’m showing no signs of slowing down. This is just the most recent way I’ve been getting my fix.

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Lebanese Lentil-Spinach Soup

October 30, 2013 by Erica

Lebanese Lentil-Spinach Soup

So yesterday I asked on Facebook whether you guys would prefer a soup or muffin recipe today… and somehow soup won. What?! You guys are crazy. But soup it is. Rest assured we’ll do muffins on Friday.

Speaking of choosing soup over pastries… I just found out that a donut shop is going in below my yoga studio. And I’m conflicted.

On the one hand, I like donuts. I can’t say I’m opposed to donut-y aromas wafting up into the studio as I lie in shavasana.

On the other hand, I don’t feel like yoga and donuts really go together. I can’t imagine I’ll want to pick up a donut on my way out of my power class at 8 pm… which is probably a good thing. Just cancel all those chaturangas right out, will ya?

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