Tuesday, August 05, 2008

A few favorites

Not much new in the world of my kitchen recently... though I have made a few of my favorite foods to enjoy.


First and best of all, I made Fantastic French Toast from Vive Le Vegan! Cooking a fun breakfast on the weekends used to be one of my favorite things to do... This was fabulous--I made it with slices of whole wheat sourdough bread, and I made a strawberry-maple topping. A breakfast like this puts me in a good mood for the rest of the day.


Another long-time favorite is Quinoa Spring Salad, also from Vive! It's so easy to make and so refreshing and so healthy, I can't understand why I have not been making it for myself all summer. A simple dressing of fresh lemon juice and olive oil is all you need to allow all of the wonderful flavors to come through. This contains green peas, roasted red peppers, diced cucumbers, scallions, cilantro, and toasted pine nuts.


I had a fun sandwich idea one evening after work--slice up some portobello mushrooms, zucchini, and red bell pepper and sear them in a hot pan with olive oil and a glaze of balsamic vinegar. Then make a batch of Lemony Cashew-Basil Pesto (Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan) and spread a nice layer of that on a slice of bread. Heap the seared veggies on top, and you have a fabulous dinner.

Here's something I've been meaning to blog for a while. Like many of you, I received a sample of Vegan Pro Bars in the mail a while ago. I received five flavors--cherry pretzel, maple pecan, kettle corn, cocoa pistachio, and sesame goji. I was anxious to try them and to share my thoughts on my blog... but somehow it fell by the wayside. But better late than never, eh?


This is the kettle corn bar, though I think my favorite was the cocoa pistachio flavor. In any case, I was quite impressed with this product. You can probably tell from the picture that it is made from whole, recognizable ingredients such as dried fruits, almonds, and sesame seeds. It is healthy and filling, providing plenty of protein and healthy fat. I found it to be an excellent breakfast, and I typically try very hard to make breakfast pack a powerful nutritional punch to start the day. The down side? They are quite expensive, to the point of being cost prohibitive. I don't know that I could ever fit Pro Bars into my food budget... Still, I'm glad to have been able to try them and be impressed with the fact that there actually are healthy, whole food snack options available out there.

Peace!

15 comments:

Animal-Friendly said...

French toast- yummy! I love your idea of the strawberry maple topping and I will definitely try something like that next time I make French toast, pancakes, or waffles since maple syrup can get a little repetitive.

While I haven't tried the new varieties of Probars, I tried one for the first time last week and I love them (even though they are sooooo pricey...). I can't wait to get my hands on these new flavors!

Jes said...

Those sandwiches look amazing!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

That French Toast looks INSANELY luscious - yum!! Oh and thank you for the ProBar review!

Anonymous said...

It is great to see you posting again! All of your meals look delicious--the sandwich looks especially yummy! With all those roasted veggies, how could it not be amazing?!

Courtney

aTxVegn said...

That french toast looks so delicious! And the salad, and the sandwich.

I haven't tried a ProBar yet. They are pretty hi cal too, maybe two meals for me.

MeloMeals said...

I miss making brunch for my family on the weekends... your french toast looks so good.

as does your sandwich!

I loved the probars as well... I wish they weren't so expensive, but I would definitely buy them if I was on the road and needed a healthy snack..

Darius T. Williams said...

I'm TOTALLY stealing your quinoa recipe...i hope you don't mind - lol. This is a great idea and um, i absolutely adore green peas...absolutely adore!

-DTW
www.everydaycookin.blogspot.com

Carrie™ said...

Great idea for the sandwiches! French toast looks and sounds delicious.
A few bloggers have posted about these bars and I've looked in stores, but I haven't seen them yet. Chances are we'll never see them in Canada. We don't seem to get all of the veg*n stuff you have in the US. If they're pricey, I doubt I would buy them anyway. Clif bars are over $2 here and I never buy them either. Maybe for a splurge.

Sarah said...

That sandwich looks so good. Probably perfect for a slow day, quick meal, but nice and warm. :)

Susan G said...

Laura! So glad to see you back again. Hope things straighten out for you soon. Your food looks delicious as always!

Susan

JENNA said...

woah!! that sandwich looks and sounds incredible. it is such a great idea!

Anonymous said...

I just bought a copy of Vive le vegan... now I know which recipes I want to try today!

Jackie said...

The French toast sounds yummy.

Wish I had found Quinoa years ago as I am enjoying it both hot and cold dishes....and so healthy against most grains. Your salad sounds a wonderful mix and looks really good too.

prashant said...

Those sandwiches look amazing!

Work from home India

Philadelphia personal injury attorney said...

Mmmm all of your dishes have looked so flavorful and there's so much variety! I love it. Thanks.