Friday, February 09, 2007

Guacamole, yum

Bob and I just love guacamole. Who doesn't? Last night for dinner, we decided to make some guacamole and have a great big taco salad for dinner. A few nights ago I had made some "refried" bean burrito filling: Beans, a scoop of uncheese mix, salsa, and chipotle paste. It was mixed with enough water to smash everything together to a smooth consistency.

The guacamole recipe we like is from The Grit Cookbook. If you didn't know this, The Grit is a local vegetarian restaurant. It's actually been frustrating me lately, because so many of their menu items are centered around cheese, and they offer no vegan alternative. There's even an omni restaurant in town that offers vegan cheese substitutes! All in all, though, I still love The Grit because it has the best hummus, falafel, and tabbouli salad plate I've ever had, and their specials--often some kind of spin on Thai curry--are phenomenal and usually vegan. Anyway, we love their guacamole recipe, and we whipped some up last night.


The salad, from the bottom up, contains baked blue corn tortilla chips, a heavy dose of chopped spinach, the bean mixture, guacamole, salsa, sliced black olives, chopped cilantro, and a squeeze of lime juice. It came together quickly (thank goodness, we were so hungry) and really satisfied my periodic Tex-Mex craving beautifully.

A couple hours after dinner, I really wanted to make some chocolate pudding. Sometimes I just get the itch to make something, even when I don't want to eat it. I think what I really wanted was to whip the silken tofu into oblivion, because seeing it all smooth and swirly in my food processor gives me some weird satisfaction. Anyway, I used a recipe I found originally on Fatfree Vegan, though when I went to look up the recipe last night I couldn't find it. Good thing it was simple and I remembered it: 1 package Mori-Nu silken tofu, 1/4 cup cocoa powder, 1/4 cup raw sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. After I whipped it all together in the food processor and let it chill, I toasted some coconut flakes to sprinkle on top. I wasn't hungry, but Bob wanted some, and he assured me that it was delicious. Actually, I think I may have had just a taste... It was good.

Happy Friday, everyone. This means that the weekend is looming, and it's going to be a busy weekend for me. But Bob was asking if we could make more cupcakes this weekend, so I told him to pick out a recipe. It's a really good thing that he doesn't mind eating 85% of a batch of cupcakes on his own, and that my satisfaction comes more from making them and showing them to you rather than eating them!

Have a good one!

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

That chocolate pudding is calling me!

have a great weekend!

Nikk said...

Avocados are always wonderful, aren't they?

I just made way too many cuppers the other night!

Mikaela said...

"Bob and I just love guacamole. Who doesn't?" That an excellent question! :)

HAve a great weekend!

Kati said...

Your guacamole salad looks awesome...but that pudding - oh my! I can't believe how creamy it looks. That is very tempting. Can't wait to see the cupcakes!

Jackie said...

I can't live without avos. I like them when they have that butter type consistency and are a bit sweet then you can just sit and eat them with a teaspoon as they are :)

I like the your chocolate pudding as it is so simple to make...just perfect when you get a sudden chocolaty craving.

bazu said...

Avocados rule my life! Your salad looks so good, and you always remind me that I should be eating more greens!

I know exactly what you mean about the cupcakes. I force Daiku to finish them... or else! And he's happy to oblige. =)

Have a great weekend!

urban vegan said...

What a fantastic duo of vegan creaminess.

laura k said...

Johanna and Mikaela, thanks for your comments and wishes for a good weekend! I hope you have a lovely weekend as well!

Nikki, YES avocados are the best! I am impressed with what you did with avocados this week too... Will we be seeing the pics of your cuppers??

Kati, that's why I love processing silken tofu so much--because it turns out creamy like that! Thanks for your comments!

Jackie, I do love to eat an avocado with a spoon too, when it has that perfect flavor that you described. I wish I could forget the fat content, though. But it makes a lovely treat.

Bazu, isn't it nice to have someone around to eat the food you know you didn't need to make?? :) I've been trying to eat more greens myself lately.

UV, I wish I had consciously planned the theme of "vegan creaminess," but thanks for pointing it out! Always lovely when you drop in. :)

theONLYtania said...

Haha I have the same deal.. I like to make stuff but I don't usually eat it! I swear if I ate everything I made I'd be huge. The pudding looks delicious though.. I wish I had a blender! Haha.. I'm going to be complaining about this for a while.

Hey, I'm glad you figured out your soymilk issue! Lattes are wonderfulllll :-)

aTxVegn said...

A beautiful taco salad is hard to resist, esp. with guacamole. I always keep a box of silken tofu around for puddings, pies, or ice cream - it's so creamy and easy to make.

MeloMeals said...

What a gorgeous salad.. guacamole makes everything better... and it is really, really good for you, even if it's higher in calories than other things.. you know, half a hass avocado has 150 calories, which if you're using guacamole in place of salad dressing is more than comparable, plus is has lots of fiber (who knew?), vit e, magnseium and potassium.. i've been eating avocados a lot as I've been losing weight..

laura k said...

Tania, I hear you... I love to bake. You come up with some pretty awesome looking stuff though--if I could eat your baking I would be a hopeless case!

Diann, yes, taco salad is one of the few non-desserty foods that I find I crave quite often. And guac always makes it better, especially when it's fresh. Silken tofu is just one of those pantry staples--it's great for lots of purposes, and easy.

Melody, I was intrigued to read your avocado info! I always assumed avocados had few, if any, redeeming health qualities. You're right, I never would have thought of fiber--and vitamins and minerals. Thanks for enlightening me--I shouldn't have written avocados off without doing a little research!

Anonymous said...

My fridge just feels naked without avocados. So, all in all, would you say the soy milk maker was a purchase you are happy with? Is it more work than it's worth? Marty and I usually go through a quart of soymilk every 2 days or so and I'm concerned that it would be a huge commitment to stay on top of to always have soymilk available. I'd love to hear your thoughts now that you've been using it a while.

Kate said...

I am also a lover of that amazing green mushy mixture called guacamole. It’s a shame that your favorite veg restaurant bases most of it’s items on diary products. Maybe you could talk to a manager and voice your concern for more vegan options. All and all, at least you have a some what vegan restaurant near you.

Teresa said...

That is totally annoying about that vegetarian restaurant and lack of vegan subsititutes/options. At least they have good falafel tho.

MMM, that pudding looks really good... I think that I'm going to have to make some, especially since it is so quick and simple!eevdu

laura k said...

Crystal, thanks for asking... I'll do a blog post about it!

Kate, it is very fortunate that there's a vegetarian place here at all, and that it has some great vegan choices--I know a lot of people don't have that. That is a good idea about talking to the owner about it... I've thought about that before, and it might be worthwhile. At any rate, it wouldn't hurt.

Teresa, thank goodness for quick, simple recipes, right? :) Did I spell your name correctly?

Caty said...

The chocolate pudding looks delicious, so creamy!

Anonymous said...

mmm...I love me some quac too!

laura k said...

Caty, thanks! I love the way that it looks (and tastes) so good, yet it's so easy!

Megan, it seems like everyone shares the same feelings towards guac! I think I've met one person during my entire life who didn't like it... Poor girl!