No Recipe but Some Begging and a Cat Photo

Fatfree Vegan Kitchen is nominated again for a Veggie Award from VegNews magazine. Last year I admit that I felt a little guilty to be nominated two years in a row, but this year...you know what...I want to win! But the competition this year is fierce, with lots of excellent blogs nominated, so if you love this blog above all others, please complete the survey and vote for FFVK. If I win, I promise to try to stop doing annoying things like talking smack about my family, falling in love with appliances, worshipping eggplant, writing bad poetry, and, above all, posting self-promoting announcements like this.* Seriously! All that will be left are recipes, nutritional info, and maybe a cat photo or two:



So vote! (And thank you!)

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In other news, I've recently set up a Facebook Page where I've been posting sneak previews of recipes and vegan and food-related news. If you're on Facebook, please consider becoming a fan and joining the conversation on our wall. (Unfortunately, there are no cat photos. So far.)

*Just kidding! I couldn't write any other way if I tried!

Labels: Cats

Continue reading No Recipe but Some Begging and a Cat Photo...

Strawberry-Blueberry Tapioca Parfaits

Red, white, and blue and good for you too!

Silly as they are, those are the words that popped into my head as I sat down to write about these luscious parfaits. I had the Fourth of July on my mind when I started planning a dessert with strawberries and blueberries, but it occurs to me now that these two summer fruits, connected by a layer of vanilla-almond pudding, are more than just a pretty color scheme: They're nutritional stars, too.

Blueberries routinely top the lists of healthiest foods, their dark blue color harboring antioxidants that are thought to reduce cholesterol and triglycerides and even reverse memory loss. But strawberries are also no slouch in the health department; their phytonutrients are associated with reduced deaths from cancer and protection from rheumatoid arthritis.

Antioxidants and phytonutrients are all well and good, but if you're looking for a fun and festive dessert for your Independence Day celebration, heath benefits may not be your primary concern. You want something that tastes as spectacular as it looks. Well, let me help you out: These parfaits will be the hit of the party. The lightly vanilla-scented tapioca is a perfect complement to the sweet, fresh fruit. They might be a little time-consuming to put together, but once they're made, they can chill in your fridge for hours until you're ready to serve dessert. And here's a bonus: Besides being loaded with healthy fruit, they're low in sugar and naturally soy- and gluten-free. Let the fireworks begin!



Strawberry-Blueberry Tapioca Parfaits
(printer-friendly version)

Stirring often while simmering over low heat are the keys to keeping the almond milk from scorching.

3 cups almond milk, divided
1/3 cup small tapioca pearls
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch (or 1 tsp. arrowroot)
3 tablespoons sugar (agave nectar can be used, but it will make the tapioca slightly darker)*
1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 pound strawberries, washed and stemmed
2 tablespoons agave nectar*
1 pint blueberries, rinsed and drained

Have ready: A deep metal bowl and a larger bowl, filled halfway with ice and water, that the metal bowl fits into with space around the sides.

Place 2 1/2 cups of almond milk and the tapioca into a heavy saucepan. Bring to a gentle boil, stirring occasionally, and then turn down the heat to a simmer. Stir well every few minutes, scraping the bottom and sides to prevent sticking. Cook until the tapioca pearls are mostly translucent, 15-20 minutes.

Mix 1 tablespoon of the reserved almond milk with the cornstarch and set aside. Add the remaining almond milk to the pan along with the sugar and vanilla bean. Increase heat and return mixture to a slow boil. Continue cooking and stirring for 5 minutes. Stir in the cornstarch mixture and cook until mixture thickens.

Remove from heat and pour pudding into a deep metal bowl. Remove the vanilla bean, scraping it down with a spoon to draw out some of its seeds, and place the bowl in the prepared ice bath. Stir it every few minutes until it cools, about 10 minutes.

While the pudding is cooling, cut the strawberries in quarters. Put them in a food processor along with the agave nectar and pulse until coarsely pureed. Divide the puree among 6 small glasses (8-oz. juice glasses or wine glasses work best).

Once the tapioca is cool, divide it equally among the 6 glasses, spooning it gently atop the strawberry layer. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes, until well chilled. Add a layer of blueberries to each parfait and serve.

*I haven't tried a sugar-free version, but I can see no reason why stevia couldn't be used to replace the sugar and agave nectar.

Servings: 6

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/6 of a recipe (5.5 ounces).


Percent daily values are based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.

Though MyPoints are calculated using a formula similar to Weight Watchers Points ^TM, this site has no affiliation with Weight Watchers and does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.

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Celebrating the 4th? Here are some other recipes you may enjoy:


Barbecued Seitan Ribz


Spicy Kasha Vegetable Salad


Red, White, and Blue Fruit Terrine

Labels: Gluten-free, Holidays

Continue reading Strawberry-Blueberry Tapioca Parfaits...

E's Samosa Wraps

Like a lot of 12-year olds, my daughter E is hesitant to try new foods—and when I say hesitant, I mean she has to be bribed, threatened, or otherwise coerced into trying them. So when I recently picked up a couple of Amy's Samosa Wraps because they were on sale, I hoped to get her to try them for a change from her usual lunches, but I figured that if she didn't like them, my husband would eat them.

As they say, be careful what you wish for. Not only did she try them, she loved them so much that she wanted to eat them every day. As far as processed foods go, Amy's wraps are, nutritionally, not so terrible, and when they're on sale, the price is not bad (I got two for $5.00). But I don't want E eating any one food every day, so when the current stash of on-sale Amy's Samosas is depleted, she'll have to go back to eating "boring food" for lunch.

The ingredients listed on the Amy's wrapper looked fairly simple—potatoes, wheat flour, tomatoes, onions, peas, tofu, oil, and spices—so I decided to make a copy-cat version that maybe I could get E to enjoy as much as the original. The one major change I made (besides leaving out the oil) was using frozen tofu instead of fresh. As you know, freezing tofu gives it a spongy, chewy texture, and I thought it would help the wraps hold up better and not be mushy. Well, it turns out that E likes the mushier texture of Amy's samosa filling. She describes the tofu as "more like scrambled tofu" and missed that quality in my homemade version. She also wasn't a fan of the Ezekiel tortilla that I used in the first wrap I made (pictured in the photos) but she promised to try it again in a "normal" wrap. In the end, she gave my attempt "4 out of 5 crumbs" on her Num-Crumb Scale, and I'm hoping that if I use mashed tofu in my next attempt, she'll give me that 5th crumb!



E's Samosa Wraps
(printer-friendly version)

You can make this with crumbled, non-frozen tofu but you may not need much or any water. Or, if you're avoiding soy products, double the amount of potatoes and leave the tofu out altogether. This mixture would also be good stuffed into a pita or rolled into a homemade chapati.

1 pound (450 g) red or gold potatoes (about 2 medium)
14 ounces (390 g) extra-firm tofu, frozen for 24 hours and thawed
1 medium onion, minced
1 cup (236 ml) frozen green peas
1 medium tomato, diced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced
1/2 - 1 jalapeno pepper, stemmed, seeded and finely diced
1/2 - 3/4 cup water
1 teaspoon salt to taste
2 teaspoons curry powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
1 tablespoon lemon juice
6 whole-grain tortillas (may use gluten-free)

Cook the potatoes, unpeeled, in boiling water until they're tender (pierce easily with a fork). Remove from water and set aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, peel and cut into 1/4-inch pieces (6mm).

Squeeze tofu to remove as much water as possible. Cut into 1/4-inch cubes.

Heat a deep non-stick skillet and add the onion. Cook on medium-high until onion begins to brown. Add peas, tomato, ginger, jalapeno pepper, and 2 tablespoons water. Cook, stirring, until peas thaw.

Add potatoes and tofu to skillet along with 1/2 cup water, salt, curry powder, coriander, cumin, cayenne, and lemon juice. Cover and simmer for about 10 minutes, adding more water if necessary. Remove cover and cook until most liquid has evaporated. Check to see if more salt or lemon is needed.

Warm tortillas according package directions. Place 1/6 of filling in center of wrap, fold bottom edge up, and fold sides over filling. Serve with mango chutney, if desired.

Servings: 6

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/6 of a recipe (8.7 ounces) using 8-inch whole wheat tortillas:


Percent daily values are based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.

Though MyPoints are calculated using a formula similar to Weight Watchers Points ^TM, this site has no affiliation with Weight Watchers and does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Note: If you use the filling without tortillas, the nutritional breakdown is as follows: 153 calories, 4.25g fat, 427g sodium, 21.56g total carbohydrates, 3.9g fiber. Calories from fat: 35.52 (23%). My Points: 2.56.

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Wrap it Up! Here are some other lunch ideas you may enjoy:


Sweet Potato Falafel with Yogurt-Tahini Sauce


Pav Bhaji (Spicy Mixed Vegetable Sandwiches)


Chipotle Chickpea Wraps

Labels: Eat to Live, Gluten-free, Higher-fat, Soy

Continue reading E's Samosa Wraps...

Potato-Green Bean Salad with Lemon and Basil

Potato salads can be dangerous. I'm not just talking about Aunt Mabel's mayo-laden concoction sitting outside at the picnic all day, growing an army of bacteria. No, I mean the less immediately life-threatening danger that typical potato salads present to those of us who love, love, love them but don't love the added fat they normally are bathed in. Just because a salad—potato or otherwise—is vegan doesn't mean it's low in fat; most of them depend on a base of oil or vegan mayonnaise for moistness, flavor, and mouthfeel. It's easy to take in much more fat than is healthy by doing a supposedly healthy thing and "filling up on salad."

So, what to do? Instead of relying on fat, I've been taking advantage of the summer availability of fresh basil to make a potato salad that's full of flavor but has zero fat.

The flavor comes from the basil, garlic, and lemon juice, and the substitute for the fat is the potatoes themselves. I make a pesto-like dressing in the food processor with the basil and garlic, but instead of using nuts or olive oil, I use a couple of the cooked red potatoes to give the dressing body and a slight creaminess. Lemon juice adds zing, and a little Shiro miso contributes a savory, umami flavor. And if you're carb-shy, notice that the green beans lighten the glycemic load while adding fiber. I don't think you'll find a lighter potato salad than this!



Potato-Green Bean Salad with Lemon and Basil
(printer-friendly version)

24 ounces (680 g) small new potatoes
8 ounces (240 g) raw green beans
¼ cup (10 g) basil leaves, packed
1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1-2 garlic cloves, peeled
2 teaspoons light-colored miso (or salt to taste)
1-2 tablespoons water
½ red bell pepper, sliced
additional lemon juice, salt, and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Scrub potatoes well and cut into bite-size pieces. (Halve very small potatoes and quarter larger ones.) Bring a pot of water to a boil, add potatoes, and cook until just tender but not falling apart (10-20 minutes, depending on size of potatoes). When done, drain and rinse briefly with cold water.

Meanwhile, prepare the green beans. Trim ends and cut beans into bite-sized pieces, 1 to 1 1/2-inches long. Bring a pot of water to a boil, add the green beans, and cook until tender but still bright green and crisp, 5 to 10 minutes. (Or steam in pressure cooker: place in steamer basket over boiling water, seal cooker, and cook for 3 minutes; use quick release to bring pressure down.) Drain water from beans and immediately plunge them into a bath of ice and water to stop cooking.

To make the dressing, place 2 ounces of the cooked potatoes (60 g) into a small food processor or mini blender. Add basil, lemon juice, garlic, miso, and 1 tablespoon water. Process until creamy, scraping down sides and adding more water if necessary. Drain the green beans and add them to the potatoes in a large serving bowl. Gently fold in the dressing. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, to allow flavors to blend.

Before serving, add the sliced red bell pepper. If you like, you can roast the strips of pepper briefly under a broiler to soften and sweeten their flavor. Taste for seasoning and add additional fresh lemon juice, salt, and freshly ground pepper as needed.

Servings: 6

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: ⅙ of a recipe (6 ounces).

Percent daily values are based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.

Though MyPoints are calculated using a formula similar to Weight Watchers Points ^TM, this site has no affiliation with Weight Watchers and does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.

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Other salads you might enjoy:


Creamy Chickpea Salad with Fresh Herbs


Grilled Asparagus and Spinach Salad

Continue reading Potato-Green Bean Salad with Lemon and Basil...

Blueberry-Banana Bread

Q: What's black and yellow and soft all over?

A: The bananas on our kitchen counter when we got home from the beach on Sunday.

Of course, when we left on Thursday, the bananas were firm and yellow, even a little green. I'd meant to take them with me, but in the rush of packing I forgot. By the time we got home, our bananas were so overripe that I could actually smell them as we entered the door.

But you know the old saying: When life gives you mushy bananas, make banana bread! Well, I may have just made that "old saying" up. Nevertheless, it's true that the riper the bananas, the better the banana bread, so finding several overripe bananas on my kitchen counter was not a hardship at all but an opportunity to make a treat for the family. And since it's blueberry season here, I saw it as a double opportunity and filled my banana bread with some of the plumpest, sweetest blueberries I've ever tasted. The result was incredible: The bananas make the bread extremely moist and lightly sweet, and the blueberries add a fruity surprise to every other bite. If you like bananas and blueberries, I think you'll love them together.

Before I hit you with the recipe, I want to let you know that the Tried & Tasted roundup has been posted over at Holy Cow. I mentioned before that people would be making recipes from this blog and then sharing them on their own blogs. Well, I'm just overwhelmed at the response: I counted 39 different entries, some of them of recipes I'd forgotten I made. It's going to take me a while to go through them all, but I will! Please visit some of them yourself--and tell them I sent you.




Blueberry-Banana Bread
(printer-friendly version)

3 large over-ripe bananas
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/3 cup (80 ml) vanilla soymilk (or apple sauce)
1/2 cup (120 ml) agave nectar
2 cups (240 g) white whole wheat flour (or regular whole wheat flour)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (240 ml) blueberries

Preheat oven to 350F. Spray or wipe a 9x5-inch loaf pan with oil (I used a silicon loaf pan).

Mix the soymilk with 1 tablespoon of the lemon juice and let stand until it curdles. (If using apple sauce, skip this step and add the lemon juice to the bananas.)

In a large bowl, mash the bananas and add the remaining lemon juice, soymilk, and agave nectar. Stir well to combine. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the banana mixture, and stir just until the mixture is well-combined. Fold in the blueberries.

Spread the mixture evenly in the prepared pan and bake until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean, about 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool before cutting and serving.

Servings: 12

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1/12 of a recipe (3 ounces).


Percent daily values are based on the Reference Daily Intake (RDI) for a 2000 calorie diet.

Though MyPoints are calculated using a formula similar to Weight Watchers Points ^TM, this site has no affiliation with Weight Watchers and does not guarantee the accuracy of this information.

Continue reading Blueberry-Banana Bread...