Pumpkin Pie in a Bowl

From Natalia Rose

With a piece of raw cinnamon toast.

2 c carrot juice
1 cup raw sweet potato (about 1/2 of medium one), peeled and cubed
4-6 dates, pitted (depends on how sweet you like it)
1/2 avocado
Pumpkin pie spice or a dash of cloves, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg to taste

Blend ingredients in a food processor or high speed blender until smooth.

This is not an all local recipe but all ingredients can be bought trash free. For Ann Arbor residents:
-All produce can be purchased packaging free.
-Spices can be bought in bulk at the People's Food Co-op.

-Dates can be bought in bulk at Whole Foods

Spirulina Sprout Salad

Spirulina is pretty important for vegans. It is one of the only non-flesh source of vitamin B-12, a vitamin that is essential to the human body and if you become deficient side effects include irreversible nerve damage. Serious issue.


More nutritional info can be found here.


Easy way to get all that goodness into your cells? Salad dressing, duh! I found this video and followed his lead. Best part is that it makes your lips/teeth/face green...



Ingredients:
sprouts
1 carrot, grated
1/2 red pepper, julienned
1 green onion, chopped
1 c sauerkraut

juice of 1 lemon
1/4 c olive oil
1 t curry powder
1 T spirulina
pinch of salt

Directions:
Mix mix mix!

Spiced Carrot-Zucchini Bread

This bread is so good! Sweet and extremely moist. Plus you can pretend it's good for you since it has veggies in it ;)

Adapted from Hell Yeah It's Vegan!

Ingredients:
6 T ground flax seeds whisked into ½ c + 1 T warm water
0.5 c oil
0.5 c applesauce
2 c brown sugar (I used sucanat)
1 t vanilla
2.5 cups grated zucchini and carrots, (I used 1.5 c carrots + 1 c zucchini)
3 c flour ( I used 2 c whole wheat + 1 c whole wheat pastry flour)
1 t salt
1 T baking soda
1 t baking powder
1 T cinnamon

1/4 t cloves
1/4 t allspice
1/2 t ginger
1/2 raisins (optional)

any other mix-ins (chocolate chips, toasted nuts, coconut...)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F

Mix together flax seed mixture, oil, applesauce, sugar, and vanilla.

Stir in grated zucchini and carrots.

In a separate bowl, sift together remaining dry ingredients.
Add dry to wet and stir to incorporate.
If adding additional mix-ins (like chocolate chips, chopped nuts, coconut...), fold them in now.

Spoon batter into 2 greased loaf pans.
Bake for 45-75 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean (Mine was 1 hour + 10 minutes).

I only have one loaf pan so I made the remaining batter into muffins!

Muffins only need about 30 minutes to bake.

Carrot-Ginger Soup

Carrot Ginger Soup
Basic root vegetable soup for those cold, winter days. Or in my case, breakfast!

With a healthy dollop of sauerkraut on top ;)

Ingredients:
2 T oil (1)
4 cloves garlic, chopped (2)
1" ginger, sliced
1 celery root, cubed (this and the kohlrabi just happened to be in my fridge so we tossed 'em in!) (2)
1 kohlrabi, cubed (2)
9 medium carrots (3)
6 cups water
6 T soy sauce (1)
1 T maple syrup (1)
1 t pepper (1)

Directions:
Heat oil, 2 T water, ginger and garlic in soup pan. Saute for a minute or two.
Add remaining water, soy sauce, pepper, honey, celery root, kohlrabi and carrots.
Bring to a simmer.
Cook until vegetables are soft and easily pierced by a fork, about an hour.
Remove pan from heat and allow soup to cool a bit.

In small batches, blend soup in a blender or food processor until smooth.
Spice to taste, I added some ground ginger and more pepper.

(1) Bulk section of the People's Food Co-op
(2) Labelled "Local" at the People's Food Co-op
(3) Left over from Snowtest

Marinated Kale and Beet Salad

Ingredients:
Salad
1/4 c pumpkin seeds (AKA pepitas) (1)
1 bunch kale (2)
3 T olive oil (1)
1/4 of a red onion, diced
1 carrot, grated (3)
4 roasted beets, cubed (2)

Dressing
2 T balsamic vinegar (1)
1 t dijon mustard (4)
1/4 t freshly ground pepper (1)
1 t dried basil (1)
1 garlic clove, minced (5)

Directions:
Toast pumpkin seeds in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring constantly.
Remove from heat when seeds begin to pop, set aside to cool.
Wash kale and tear into bite sized pieces.
Combine kale and oil and massage kale (yes, massage) until it softens.
Whisk together salad dressing.
Place kale, onion, carrots, and beets in a bowl and add dressing.*
Toss and sprinkle with toasted pumpkin seeds.

*I prepared this for lunch the night before. I mixed the dressing with the kale, carrots and onions the night before, keeping the beets and pumpkin seeds separate. In the morning I combined all of the ingredients and off I went!

(1) Bulk section of the People's Food Co-op
(2) Goetz Farm
(3) Snowman leftovers
(4) Pre-challenge stash
(5) Labelled as "Local" at the People's Food Co-op

Miso Soup

The People's Food Co-op got new bulk miso! For the past two years that I have been buying miso from them, they have had white miso in bulk. White miso is much milder than other misos and is sometimes called sweet miso. This is really good for making dressings but I definitely prefer a darker full-flavored miso.

This past Saturday my world got flipped upside down. Red Adzuki Bean Miso:

Basic Kombu Dashi
Dashi is a basic Japanese soup stock that can be made with kombu, bonito flakes, sardines, and/or dried shiitaki mushrooms. Here's a recipe for the kombu one. Kombu is a type of sea vegetable (can be bought in bulk at the People's Food Co-op).

Directions:
Soak kombu in cold water for 30 minutes in a pot.
Bring water to an ALMOST boil.
Remove kombu from water right before it boils.
Done.

Miso Soup (with Daikon, Carrot, Mushrooms, and Wakame)
There are a bajillion ways to make miso soup. You can put just about anything in it as long as you end with adding miso in. Here's my miso today!

Ingredients:
dashi (recipe above)
3 daikons (1)
greens from 1 daikon (1)
1 carrot (2)
a handful of dried mushrooms (3)
a handful of wakame (4)
4 T red or brown miso (amount depends on how much dashi you start with) (4)

Directions:
Soak dried mushrooms and wakame separately in water to rehydrate.
Heat dashi to a simmer.
Cut daikons in half length-wise, thinly slice into half moons and drop into simmering dashi.
Thinly slice carrot and drop into simmering soup.
Once daikon and carrots are cooked (soft to the touch) add in wakame and mushrooms.
Remove daikon greens from their stem and drop into simmering soup.
Allow to cook for a couple more minutes and then remove from heat.
Dilute miso with an equal amount of water.
Add miso to soup once it cools a bit.*
Enjoy!

*Letting the soup cool before adding the miso is an important step. Miso is a fermented bean paste so if you add it to simmering water, you will kill all of the happy bacteria that is so good for you!

(1) From Whole Foods Market, labelled as "Local" because they bought it from a farm in MI
(2) Left over from making snowmen yesterday :)
(3) I dried these myself from the fall. I believe I bought them from Tantre Farm originally...
(4) Bulk section of the People's Food Co-op

Carrot Bakes

Carrot Bakes
An extra healthy version of french fries, these puppies are pleasantly sweet and satisfying. However, if I would do this again I would season the carrots with some cayenne or something...

Ingredients:
carrots
oil
salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F
Peel carrots and cut them in half lengthwise (and again if using fat carrots).
Toss carrots in oil and salt.
Place carrots cut-side-down on a cookie sheet.
Bake carrots for about 30 minutes.

Miso for Breakfast

A couple of weekends ago I ventured north of campus to spend the morning and make breakfast with a dear friend of mine, Darshan Karwat. Darshan is a really cool guy, doing really cool things. For one thing, he's getting a decent amount of press for his current commitment to living a zero waste lifestyle. Yes, that's right, zero waste.

This commitment began in March and so far he's created about 2 pounds of trash. Let's compare that to the "average American" who produces about 3-4 pounds of trash PER DAY.

Darshan has been collecting all of the trash that he creates, not including TP or food scraps (which he composts). So this includes a straw that a waitress brought to him with his glass of water one night at a restaurant and every sticker on every piece of fruit he eats. For him, every piece of trash now has a story and evokes a memory.

One main way that Darshan has significantly lowered his trash is by buying local and in bulk. Therefore he's very familiar with both the Ann Arbor farmer's market and the People's Food Co-op. Also, he has become very open about his lifestyle choice at restaurants. Explaining to the waitress what he is doing and asking for no straws, disposable silverware, or napkins, etc.

Please visit Darshan's blog, Minimizing Entropy, to read more about what he is doing. He has tips and recommendations for how to reduce your waste. He also challenges readers to collect all the trash that you produce in 1 day, week, month, etc. and carry around with you!

Darshan has written an article for the Michigan Daily here.

He has also been featured in:

Lansing State Journal

Annarbor.com

Fosters

So anyways, it was waaay too early on a Sunday morning. Therefore, I felt obligated to capture the mood of the very grey, very misty morning. (I think that the fact that I am judging myself for posting these pictures is a very bad testament for the fact that I AM posting them...)

Annnndddd I hope that whoever lives here, sees this. Yes, yes I am creepin' on you...

The kind of unconventional breakfast that was decided on was Miso Soup! And gosh do I love Miso. Miso is essentially fermented soybeans. Salty and delicious. So anyways...

Miso Soup

Wakame. Mmm, you know I love sea veggies.

Darshan's onion choppin' in action.

Ingredients: (and oh gosh, these are an estimate)

8 c + 4 T water

1 c wakame, rehydrated in 1 c water

1 onion, sliced

2 c dried shitake mushrooms, rehydrated and chopped

2 carrots, chopped

2 handfuls of spinach

4 T miso

Why yes, chop sticks are keepin' the asian moood.

Directions:

Bring 8 c water to a boil.

Reduce to a simmer and add in onions and carrots.

Add in wakame and mushrooms.

Add in spinach.

Once all ingredients are cooked through, softened, add in the spinach.

Dissolve Miso in 4 T water.

When spinach starts to wilt, pour Miso mixture into soup.

Remove from heat, garnish and serve.

Garnish options:

chopped scallions

toasted sesame seeds

fried soba noodles

garnish of choice!

And yet it does not end there. This day was a day of new experiences for me. Tea-wise. Everyone knows the words "Earl Grey." But I doubt that many know what those words actually mean... (And I will allow you to explore (google?) as you wish).

Working at a cafe, one would think that experiencing Earl Grey tea would be assumed of any employee. But there were no assumptions for me. And no Earl Grey... Until now.

My first Earl Grey experience!:

So beautiful. But still not... my cup of tea... (Yes, I am embracing that pun). And I am not a black tea fan. But that's personal preference. I can totally see a black tea  lovah to loving Earl Grey. However I am not there yet.

Vinology

At the beginning of this local food journey I had assumed that I would only be able to eat food that I had cooked for myself but low and behold, I am singing a new tune after the events of last night. To conclude Marcy's Birth Week, the Zatz family ventured to Ann Arbor and took Hadas, Marcy, and I out to Vinology.

After scoping out the menu online, I was very hopeful that I would be able to actually order a dish. Not only does their menu rotate seasonally, these wonderful words are printed at the bottom:

To support our environment and local economy, 

we focus on local and sustainable ingredients whenever possible. 

Participating farms in this menu include: 

Eat Local Eat Natural, Guernsey Dairy, Calder Dairy, Miller Amish Chicken Farms, 

Gunthorp Farms, Werp Farms, Mighty Good Coffee, Avalon Organic Bakery

Nevertheless, I called in to see the extent of local purchasing Vinology takes part in. I learned that about 90% of their produce is from local sources. I was directed towards Aaron, one of the chefs, to discuss just what that meant.

I ended up talking to Aaron both on the phone and at the restaurant. He helped me navigate the menu to see my vegan options but when he offered to make me something special, how could I say no? Considering I am a far from picky eater, he surprised me with this beautiful creation:

Photo Credit: M Ziggity

Rice pilaf with saffron, topped with huckleberries, micro greens, and thyme.
A salad of dandelion greens, carrots, cucumber, and heirloom tomatoes, tossed in a vinaigrette dressing.
Roasted zucchini and asparagus in a roasted red pepper sauce.
All of which was grown in Michigan (except the rice...)

Although this will obviously not be a typical dining out experience for me (Hello college student budget), it made me realize how accommodating people will be if you are open and honest about your lifestyle. I could have easily kept my mouth shut and ordered the veggies salad, the only dish on the menu that explicitly is from Werp Farm, but I'm glad that I didn't. Not only was Aaron more than willing to make me something special because of my dietary restrictions, he saw it as an exciting challenge!

All I can say is, don't be embarrassed about your personal goals or what you consider important, you'll be surprised to find how many people want to know more or actually share them!

Feeling hot hot hot

At the Farmer's Market the other day I was drawn to a table full of hot peppers. The vibrant colors were reminiscent of the summer heat, plus I could not pass up an opportunity to make hot sauce...

Habanero Hot Sauce
Ingredients:
0.5 large red onion
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 T oil
2 carrots, chopped
1/8 c water
12 Habanero peppers, stemmed and seeded, chopped
(If you want it hotter, do not seed it. But believe me, it's hotttt)
0.5 c white vinegar
Juice of a lime*

Directions:
Heat oil over medium-low heat. Add onion and garlic and saute until soft but not brown.
Add carrots and water and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Cook until carrots are soft.
Chop peppers in a food processor (or blender). Transfer carrot mixture to the food processor and blend until smooth.
Mix in vinegar and lime juice and transfer all back to stovetop.
Simmer hot sauce for 5 minutes and pour into sterilized containers for storage.

WARNING: Hot peppers are a natural source of capsaicin, an irritant that produces a sensation of burning on any tissue that it comes into contact with (hence them being spicy). Wash your hands after handling the peppers but if you are still burning like I was, apply rubbing alcohol (capsaicin is soluble in alcohol) to your skin and follow with oil or aloe.


*From my pre-challenge stash. I am not quite sure what I will do when they are gone but I will worry about that when the time comes...