Avocado Mango Magic

Todays recipe comes from http://www.floridacoastalcooking.com/2011/04/avocado-mango-and-caribbean-black-bean.html. All pictures have been taken from there.

Do you ever have those days where you're just not feeling up to cooking. Those days are more common for me than I'd like to admit, but being mostly vegan the options are typically to cook or spend way too much eating out. Not to mention you can't control what restaurants put in your food, even at the best ones.

This recipe is one of my personal solutions to that problem. It's quick, very simple to make, but packs a lot of flavor. It also has beautiful coloring. The upside to this dish is that if you're trying to avoid breads you can leave out the pita, and eat it over a bed of mixed greens. One thing that any traditional vegan might find troubling is my use of honey in this recipe, but that can easily be substituted for agave nectar.

Shopping List by Department:


Produce

• 1 avocado
• 1 large mango or 2 champagne mangoes
• 1 sweet onion
• 1 jalapeno
• 1 lime
• bunch of cilantro
• fresh mint (I used spearmint)
• spring mix lettuce (I used an herb mix variety)

Dry/Packaged

• 15 oz. can of Eden Organic Caribbean Black Beans or 15 oz. can of black beans with added spices*
• extra virgin olive oil
• honey or agave
• whole wheat pita bread

*Spices (Use in place of the Caribbean black beans)

• onion powder
• garlic powder
• smoked paprika
• cumin
• cayenne
• cinnamon

Recipe

• 1 ripe but firm avocados, halved, peeled and cubed 
• 2 ripe champagne mangoes, peeled and cubed 
• 1/2 cup sweet onion, chopped
• 1 15oz can Eden Organic Caribbean Black Beans, or regular black beans*
• 1 small jalapeño, stemmed, seeded and finely chopped (leave off if you prefer less spice)
• 1 lime zested and juiced
• 3 Tbsp cilantro, chopped 
• 1 Tbsp chopped fresh mint
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt (add more to taste)
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tbsp agave or honey
• 3 cups spring mix lettuce, chopped or torn
• 3 small whole wheat pitas, split open, sprayed with olive oil and seasoned with salt (opt. leave pita in its original form and fold ingredients inside.)
• *Spices for can of regular black beans (adjust to your preferred taste)
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp. cumin
• 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
• 1/4 tsp. cinnamon

(*optional 1). If using regular black beans, place your rinsed and drained beans in a medium bowl, and add your spices.
1. Add mango, avocado,onion, jalapeno, cilantro, and mint to the bowl.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together honey, olive oil, lime juice, lime zest. Add to mixture.
3. Salt to taste.

4. Toast whole wheat pitas until just browned and crisp.
5. Top each half with 1/4 cup chopped lettuce and 1/4 cup mango mixture.

Transitioning to Meatless: My Story and Helpful Tips

A friend recently asked me about transitioning to a meatless diet, and to be honest, I hadn't ever really thought about the process enough to put it into words. I knew I had experienced different stages, but it never came together enough for me to give step by step until she asked. After answering her, I knew I had to make it a blog post because there are probably others out there who would like some help as well.

My personal journey may be different than some of yours. I grew up in Houston, TX where meat reigns supreme. Not only meat, but butter, sugar, and more or less everything that creates disease in your body. I still struggle with some of these foods today. (Yeah sugar and bread, you're going down!) This is the only way that I learned to eat. As a child, I was able to make small stands like saying no to pork chops, but I didn't know to say no to so many things. I was always sick as a kid. I never won a perfect attendance award because I was always at the doctor with either my allergies or my stomach. I was also severely anemic, but short of taking pills (which I have never been a proponent of) we did nothing to adjust my iron intake.

Then the diseases began to roll into my family. Everything from diabetes to hypertension. The thing that began my awakening was my very near and dear grandmother passing of cancer in 2002. I began searching for answers. I was always lead back to her meat and bread based diet. Not that meat and bread is a guarantee for cancer, but once you have it, that diet gives your body no ammunition to heal itself. As a result of that and then moving to Austin (which is the health beacon of Texas) for school, I began to adopt  a "do not die by your own hand" mentality, and that meant making some lifestyle changes.

Going vegetarian not immediate, and of course I sabotaged myself so many times. The only jobs I have had as an adult have required me to travel, and that can be detriment to making healthy eating decisions. Once I decided to give up meat, I went for one last hoorah: a burger from my grandmother's favorite fast food place. (I told you I was a nostalgic eater.) What I received in addition to my burger is what sealed the deal: food poisoning. Not fun. At all. That was in 2009, and I haven't eaten any meat since.

Initially, I was what I call a carbitarian. I ate bread, pasta, and more bread. That in combination with my cheese addiction (I'm in recovery. We need Cheeseholics Anonymous. CA.) lead to me being a pretty unhealthy vegetarian. I honestly wasn't sure what I should be eating. Once I finally did some research, I found recipes that included more veggies and had more flavor than anything I had ever eaten. As of now, I am still on my health journey, but I did want to share with you what I have learned so far.

Tips for Transitioning


1. Start Slowly. Meatless Mondays is a trend for a reason. It starts you with one day of not eating meat, and use that to build and add on more days. If you take it slow, you will have time to build a strong meatless foundation. Don't get stuck on Monday. Choose a day that is most convenient for you to go meatless.

2. Be patient with yourself. You are human, and that means you are imperfectly perfect. Sometimes you will give into temptation. Be kind to yourself, and pick up where you left off. Don't let the little hiccups in your plan detour you, and don't beat yourself up.

3. Go into the battle armed. Whenever entering battle, you always have ammunition. In this case that is your recipes. Use the meatless days of your transition to build up an arsenal of delicious recipes you know you like. Also, pay attention to the ingredients you use as they will help you decide which new recipes to try.

4. Find a source of encouragement or inspiration. It is always easier to something when you feel supported. Many times it's hard to find that in your actual community, but online vegetarian and vegan communities can serve as an amazing proxy. I have learned almost everything I know from online communities and in exploration with my best friend. Know that I am always here for you. Feel free to contact me using the contact page, which is linked at the top, or leave a comment on posts. I'm super friendly! I promise.

5. Have an open mind. Try new foods. You will be surprised at the things you like. If you don't like something the first time, try cooking it differently the next time. Don't give up so quickly on a food because it looks or tastes weird. Some things you just don't like (for me, eggplant), but some things you will learn to love (peas). Also be open to trying different food combinations. Certain foods set each other off just right and create a symphony in your mouth.

6. Expect change to happen. When your eating habits change, your taste buds will too. You will find yourself craving things you didn't before. Be open to this. This is good.

7. Remember it is a process. A transition is moving from one thing to the other. Don't neglect your time in the middle. Use it to learn as much as you can about food, and about yourself.

I hope all of this helps.

Opening Day

Hello All!

Welcome to my brand new blog! Get ready to have your palette electrified with meals so great that your grandmother will want the recipe. Maybe that's a bit ambitious, but a girl can dream, right?

Now, don't run off thinking, "OMG, I just found another amazing vegan chef to add to my personal blogosphere." That's not what's happening here. This is just a platform that I use to solve a problem that I frequently have. It always starts one of two ways: 1) "This is so good! You have to send me the recipe" or 2) "Me: I just made XYZ, and it was so delicious. Friend: Oh, send me the recipe." And my response is always the same, "Ok, but you'll have to add, adjust, substitute...." you get the picture. So my best friend (who is almost always the "friend" in situation #2) suggested that I make a blog and credit all of the wonderful creators of the recipes that I find, but with my own tweaks. 

That's exactly what this blog is. I create a meal plan for my husband and me for about 4 or 5 meals per week, and after making them, I plan on posting the good ones with any adjustments I've made. A few things to note:

1) I'm a vegetarian who cooks only vegan. (I eat mostly vegan, but when traveling it can be hard to maintain that, so I allow room for some dairy. I guess I'm about 90% vegan.)

2) While I wouldn't say that I'm allergic to soy, my body is highly averse to it, so you won't find a lot of it in my arsenal of recipes. I do use tamari or soy sauce, but avoid things like tempeh and tofu. Feel free to make substitutions where they work for you, after all, that's what this blog is all about.

3) While I am vegan-ish, I will do my best to make suggestions and adjustments for you omnivores. (No, I'm not the meat eater hater.) I want you to feel just as welcome here as anyone without meat in their diet. The whole idea is for us to eat better as a community regardless of your personal choices.

4) Anyone who knows me knows that I am a detail freak. I cannot live without them, and I hope let that shine through in everything from the recipes to the organization of this blog. If I get feedback that something isn't working then I'll fix it to the best of my ability.

5) This is probably one of the biggies: I am an advocate of going with the natural flow of things, and giving the people what they want, so even though I've laid out my ideas here, I'm counting on your feedback to improve this blog. Tell me what you want to see/eat, or if you really enjoyed something that was posted. Ask questions, and PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS.

Ok, so I hope all of that has you anticipating the first recipe. I will try and get it up as soon as possible. Oh, and to be clear, I love the bloggers whose recipes I modify, and this is no way, shape, or form meant to take away from all of their hard work and talent. I have chosen their recipes because they appealed to me in their initial state and sound absolutely yummy to begin with, so please also go by those bloggers pages and show them love as well.