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Vegan Salade Niçoise for #GreensLove

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We interrupt my usual post-fee weekend for a BLOGHOP!

 

This month’s theme is #GreensLove in honor of St. Patrick’s Day.  Naturally, I got unnaturally excited.  75% of everything I eat is green!

I thought about making another green smoothie, but decided that was getting old (not to my taste buds, but after you’ve seen one green smoothie pic, you’ve seen them all).

 

 

A salad seemed too obvious.  What about an not-so-obvious version of a famous salad?  As I brainstormed ideas for my French-themed vegan book club, I knew the dinner spread would be incomplete without the famous French  salad – Salade Niçoise.

 

A traditional (by traditional, I mean Julia Childs’ recipe 🙂 ) Salade Niçoise consists of lettuce, green beans, shallots, vinaigrette, tomatoes, boiled potatoes, chunked tuna, hard-boiled eggs, anchovy fillets, Niçoise olives, and capers.

I couldn’t have tuna, potatoes, eggs, or anchovies.  That’s half the salad.  Undeterred, I set to work on recreating the dish in a fun way.

 

 

Dressing that can make or break a salad.  I wanted to light, herby vinaigrette that wouldn’t overwhelm with the stronger flavors from the olives and capers.  The lemon-thyme vinaigrette did the trick – the lemon flavors brought out the other veggies in the salad.  A high-quality olive oil allows you to use less in the recipe without compromising flavor.  This particular bottle is from my recent travels to Italy.

 

The other stand-out in this vegan-ized recipe was the “tuna” tempeh.  Meant to sub for the tuna, it doesn’t really taste like tuna (a good thing in my book).  Rather, it adds a slightly nutty, lemon-pepper protein addition.  The crunch it adds as a result of being slowly sautéed is a fun dimension to the salad.

 

 

You may think you’re going overboard with the pepper on the tempeh – and feel free to adjust to your tastes – but when it’s combined with the lemon flavors and them eaten with the other salad ingredients, it’s the perfect flavor.

 

The color of the salad is fabulous.  It was the most photogenic thing on the table!

 

 

You’ll notice I didn’t include measurements for the veggie toppings.  Add as much or a little as you like!  I simply added “handfuls” until the bowl was filled and looked pretty.

If you are unable to locate Niçoise olives, substitute Kalamata or another high-quality dark olive.  Read: don’t use your left-over pizza topping olives.

 

 

Check out these other (vegan) French dishes served that Book Club:

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Salade Niçoise

For the Salad:

  • Arugula lettuce
  • Red leaf lettuce
  • French green beans, ends removed and cut in 3-4 in pieces
  • Wax beans, ends removed and cut in 3-4 in pieces
  • Niçoise olives
  • Capers
  • Tomatoes, diced
  • Red onion (1/4-1/2 C), diced

 

Place lettuces in a large bowl.  In individual sections, add each veggie topping.

 

For the Tempeh:

  • 8 oz. tempeh, cut into 1-in cubes
  • 2 tsp olive oil
  • Juice from 1/2 lemon, plus zest
  • 1-2 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 4-5 drops liquid smoke
  • 1-2 drops liquid stevia
  • Salt, to taste

 

In a small bowl mix together remaining ingredients.  Toss with tempeh to coat well, and allow to marinate for 10-15 mins.

Heat oil in a medium pan over medium heat.

Place tempeh and any residual marinade in pan.  Cook, tossing occasionally until tempeh is lightly browned and crisped on the outside (~10 mins).

Remove from heat and allow to cool.  Once cooled, add to salad.

 

For the Lemon-Thyme Vinaigrette:

  • 1/4 C fresh lemon juice
  • 1/4 C water
  • 2 T fresh thyme
  • 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1/3 C extra virgin olive oil

 

In a small bowl whisk together all ingredients except olive oil.  Slowly pour in the oil, whisking constantly.

Alternately, place all the ingredients in dressing bottle or jar and shake to combine.

Taste and adjust the seasonings before serving alongside the salad.

Note: If not using dressing right away, cover and refrigerate, bring to room temp and shake again before use.

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I’m excited to be co-hosting the #GreensLove event with the following fabulous bloggers.  Be sure to visit them, and to add your own recipe via the linky tool below!

 

ASTIG Vegan ~ Richgail ~  @astigvegan
Bon a croquer ~ Valerie ~ @Valouth
Cheap Ethnic Eatz ~ Evelyne ~ @cethniceatz
Easily Good Eats ~ Three Cookies
Oh Cake ~ Jessica ~ @jesshose

Join us in the March #greenlove by linking up any leafy green recipe below.  Don’t forget to link back to this post, so that your readers know to come stop by the #greenlove event!  The twitter hashtag is #greenlove.

Powered by Linky Tools

Click here to enter your link and view this Linky Tools list…

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I am also honored to announce that I was nominated as a “Best Healthy Eating Blog” for the 2012 Fitterati Blog Awards on FitnessMagazine.com.  You guys are the best and a constant source of inspiration.  If you’re so inclined, pretty please click here and vote for me. 🙂

 

What’s the best green food you’ve made lately?

Is anyone running this weekend?  Good luck – I’d love to hear how it goes!!!

 

Vegan Goat Cheese Stuffed Oven-Roasted Tomatoes

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Playing favorites isn’t fair.

No one ever said life was fair.

Everything I made for my vegan French book club dinner was good (I was kind of shocked)…. but we all have favorites, even if you won’t admit it.  This is mine.

These vegan Goat Cheese Stuffed Oven-Roasted Tomatoes could probably get by on their looks alone.  That isn’t why they were my favorite.  I’m not that shallow.

They were my favorite because of the cheese.

Inspired by this recipe from Alain Coumont, founder of Le Pain Quotidien cafés in France, I decided to take his concept and make it vegan.  (Coincidentally, Le Pain Quotidien offers many vegan dishes.)

Everyone has some sort of vegan “cheese” they use in recipes.  Often it’s cashew-based.  Sometimes with nooch or any array of vegan products.  It never really tastes like cheese.

With the exception of this tofu-based cheese.  Tofu makes a GREAT sub for creamy cheeses like ricotta and goat cheese.  (It made a helluva ricotta in this Eggplant Rollitini.)

This particular vegan version of tofu-cheese is a goat cheese.  I swear to you – you would NEVER miss the real thing.  The book club didn’t balk at all!

Goat cheese has a tanginess that was captured well with the lemon juice in this tofu creation.  The miso lends a salty-sweetness to it, which helps bring out the cheesy side of the nutritional yeast.

Fantastic taste aside, the other plus to this recipe is that it’s easy… yet it looks impressive.  There is a decent list of ingredients for the cheese, but you simply toss it all in the food processor.  I love a one-bowl recipe!

Just be careful not to cut through the tomatoes when you scoop out the middles!

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Vegan Goat Cheese Stuffed Oven-Roasted Tomatoes

  • 12 small-ish tomatoes
  • 1 16 oz. pkg firm tofu, pressed
  • 2 T extra virgin olive oil
  • 1.5 T yellow miso
  • 1/4 C nutritional yeast
  • 1/4 C freshly-squeezed lemon juice (~1.5 lemons)
  • 1/4 C yellow onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano powder
  • 3-4 T finely chopped basil
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Pre-heat the oven to 425.

Slice off the top 1/2 inch of each tomato and reserve the tops. Carefully scoop out the tomato cores and seeds. If necessary, cut a very thin sliver off of the bottom of each tomato to help them stand up straight. Arrange the tomatoes in a 9-by-13-inch glass or ceramic baking dish.

Crumble pressed tofu into the bowl of a food processor.  Add remaining ingredients for “cheese,” except the basil. Process until smooth.  Add basil and pulse briefly to combine.

Spoon the “cheese” mixture into the tomatoes, filling them just to the brim. Cover with the tomato tops and drizzle lightly with additional olive oil.

Bake the tomatoes for 30-35 minutes, until beginning to brown in spots and the cheese is hot. Let stand for at least 15 minutes. Serve warm. (They’re also good leftover!)

Notes:

  • I do not have a tofu press.  Instead I drained the tofu, cut it in half horizontally, and wrapped it in paper towels.  Then I stacked a load of cookbooks on top and let it press for 10-15 mins.
  • The cheese mixture can be made up to 2 days in advance.  In fact, they are better on day 2 once the flavors fully marry.  If you do this, do not add basil until just before you bake.

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Tomorrow is Eggplant Bruschetta!  Next week is the Salade Niçoise with Tempeh “Tuna”… then you’ll have a fully vegan-ized French-themed party spread! 🙂

What’s your favorite “veggi-tized” recipe?  Or is there one you’d like to see made vegan/vegetarian?

What other dishes would you use a vegan goat cheese for?  I’m making another batch this weekend!

Provençal Tomato Spread + WIAW

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Is it just me…

or are more people are going plant-based?

I started reading restaurant menus (because that’s what I do for fun) to see who has veg-friendly offerings and it has really impressed me that most restaurants offer some sort of vegetarian/vegan dish that is more than pasta drowning in oily stir-fried vegetables.

It warms my plant-based, cleansing heart.

Jenn has also warmed my heart by hosting this month’s What I Ate Wednesday (WIAW) in the theme of  vegetable.

Breakfast:

I post a lot of smoothies… most of them are really good despite their color.  In case you ever questioned my honesty/sanity/taste-buds, I must admit to you that this smoothie was not great.

Blueberries do not go with avocado.  The.  End.

On happier note, I did get confirmation that my Valentine’s Roasted Beet and Orange Smoothie was indeed good.  Check out this pic from reader Ashley, who tweeted: “The verdict is in… yummy!”

Thanks to Ashley for the feedback a lovely pic!

Lunch:

Monday night’s french-themed book club left me with some leftovers (thank god because I woke up LATE).

See that pretty stuffed tomato?  I promise to share the recipe with you tomorrow.  It was really friggin’ good… and deserving of it’s very own post. 🙂

I ate that atop a leftover eggplant-seitan stir-fry and some lentils.

Snacks:

Kombucha!  Whole Foods was out of my favorite Buchi Fire, but they were having a sale on GT’s.  I was sad to see this bottom of this bottle.

Snack time was a bag full of veggies with a simple, herb-y Provençal dip left over from the par-tay.  I loved the colors in this dish, and the briny saltiness from the capers and sun-dried tomatoes were perfect paired with crisp veggies for dipping.  (Recipe at the bottom of this post)

How cute is the reusable baggie?  My mom got it for me… it’s from Snack Taxi, but I think she got it at The Container Store.  I’m going green left and right!

Dinner:

I felt like I needed more raw food in my life after a heavier lunch, so dinner was a colorful salad.  A massive, colorful salad.  This was not served on a tiny salad plate:

In my ensalada:

  • Arugula
  • Broccoli and radish sprouts
  • Shredded brussels (raw)
  • Grapefruit
  • Beets
  • French green beans
  • Cucumber
  • Red onion
  • Tempeh croutons 
  • Lemon-thyme vinaigrette
  • Sprinkle of cardamom, salt, and pepper

If you haven’t eaten beets with grapefruit before, you should do so immediately.  I’m not talking those sour grapefruits – get the vibrant pink sweet ‘fruits that are in season right now.  #Nom 

Dessert:

This Sweet Potato Pie Chia Pudding I posted earlier this month made an appearance.  I added a pinch of cardamom to the mix last night, which was fabulous.  However…

I didn’t take a picture because I was too pissed at myself for doing this:

Another one bites the dust…

At least I’d just had a relaxing Hour of Happiness after work so the string of words that came outta my mouth weren’t as bad as they could have been. 😉

Diffusion de Tomate Provençal (Provençal Tomato Spread)

Modified from this recipe by Kathleen Flynn

  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 medium red bell pepper, finely chopped
  • 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 5 cloves of garlic, pressed or finely chopped
  • 2 tomatoes, seeded and chopped
  • 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, rehydrated and chopped
  • 15 Nicoise olives (or Kalamata), chopped
  • 2 tsp capers, chopped
  • 2 T rosemary
  • 1/2 -1 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 C fresh basil, chiffonade (cut into thin strips)

Warm olive oil over medium heat in a small pan.  Add bell pepper and onions, and sauté until soft.  Add garlic and cook a minute more until fragrant.  Add chopped tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, capers, rosemary, red pepper flakes, and vinegar and cook over low heat for another 7-8 mins.  Remove from heat.

When cool, add basil.  Add pepper to taste.

Note: This can be made up to 2 days in advance.  If making in advance, do not add basil until just before serving.  Taste again and adjust spices as they settle.

This is delicious with crackers, veggie sticks, or even atop grilled tofu or chicken.

Serves 8-10 as an appetizer/dip.

***

The floor is still sticky from that spill.  I swear I’ll clean it up before the next dinner at my house tonight.

Can anyone relate.. any recent mishaps?

Do you find that the world is becoming more vegetarian and/or vegan-friendly?

Butternut Squash Chia Pudding

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Book Club dinners when you’re on a cleanse are hard.

They’re even harder when you’re hosting and therefore responsible for food.  The icing on the cake is that the theme is French (to go with this month’s book selection).  Who ever heard of French vegan food?!

This may have had me sweating a bit.

So I said to myself:  Man up.  You can do this thing.  I think. 

Predictably, I’m got a late start today so the details will have to come later, but it went really well!  Like, 100x better than I expected.

The menu included:

  • Provençal Spread and Veggies
  • Salade Niçoise with Tempeh “Tuna”
  • Oven-Roasted Tomatoes Stuffed with (vegan!) Goat Cheese
  • Roasted Eggplant Bruschetta

I warned everyone ahead of time that it would be a clean dinner… and they subsequently brought meats, desserts, and wine. 🙂

French wine Dessert was the saddest thing for me to miss.  There are so many possibilities for making French desserts that would have been fun to create.  There will be many other dessert opportunities in my life though.  And bottles of French wine.

In order to feel a little less left out, I created my own dessert to enjoy.  And you know what… I can honestly say it was satisfying.  (But I did swoon a little over homemade banana pudding.)

 

Chia pudding has long been a breakfast favorite.  As of last night, it’s been upgraded to dessert.

No this isn’t chocolate cake.  But it is good.

Made like a traditional chia pudding (chia + liquid + congeal in the fridge), the twist here is the sweet squash and a quick blend at the end.

The cocoa-flavored stevia did give it notes of chocolate-y goodness.  I also loved the classic pie flavors the vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg lent the dish.

A spin mix in the Magic Bullet at the end smoothed out the chia to make this like the pudding you grew up eating,  (Thanks to Kasey @ Power Cakes for the idea!)

Yes, you can have your pudding even if you don’t eat your meat.

 

Butternut Squash Chia Pudding

  • 1/2 butternut squash, roasted
  • 3/4 C unsweetened coconut milk
  • 1 T chia seeds
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg
  • 7-8 drops cocoa stevia
  • Shake of salt

In a small bowl, mash up butternut squash until it becomes a puree (some small pieces are ok).  Stir in remaining ingredients.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 mins (or overnight for breakfast).  The chia will absorb most of the liquid.

Place mix in a blender (I used my Magic Bullet) and blend until smooth (about 20 seconds).  Remove, place in bowl, and enjoy!

Note: This would make a great post-workout snack!  Just add a scoop of protein powder and increase the amount of liquid you mix in.

Unfamiliar with the benefits of chia?  Click here for my post on why they rock!

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I cannot wait to share the rest of the meal with you all!

For those with diet restrictions, do you ever feel left out in food-centric social settings?  How do you navigate?

Has anyone ever been to France?  I’m thinking that may be this year’s big trip…

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