Recipe: Vegan Quinoa Sushi Salad

Like all of the best ones, this recipe came about completely by accident. It has since become one of my go-to recipes for weekday lunches. It's chock-full of protein, omega fats, and vitamin B12 - all that good stuff that vegans love!

Over the summer, I made these vegan sushi rolls for a friend's birthday picnic. It took a few practice rolls to get the process right. I tossed those practice rolls into a container and later had it as a snack. Turned out those sloppy, falling-apart rolls became an awesome salad. I decided to play around with the ingredients a little and came up with this recipe.

For my salad, I used a Florida avocado instead of the more common California avocado. Florida avocados are bigger and are sometimes labeled as "Lite" avocados or "Slimcados." They have fewer calories and fat per ounce than a California or Hass avocado. They're not as creamy, but the flavor of the Florida avocado is perfect and delicious in this salad.

There are a variety of packaged seaweed products available, but I found that the sushi-style nori sheets tasted best for this recipe. It really made the salad taste more like sushi. Seaweed is one of the few vegetarian sources of vitamin B12, which is often lacking in vegan and vegetarian diets.

The ingredient that really put this recipe over the top was the vegan "caviar." I'd been wanting to try it for a while so when I saw the Carviart on sale on Vegan Cuts, I was all over it! I had tried making my own vegan caviar or "roe" in the past using amaranth seed and beet juice (recipe here.) It lacked the salty flavor of the real thing. The Caviart comes a lot closer to the real deal.

You can sign up for a Vegan Cuts account if you want to try some for yourself. For more information about Caviart, check out this page.

Vegan Quinoa Sushi Salad

Quinoa Sushi Salad

Dressing:

• 4 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 tsp honey
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp low sodium soy sauce

- Combine ingredients at set aside.

Salad:

• 1 cup of quinoa - rinsed well
• 2 cups water
• 1 Florida avocado, sliced
• 1 cucumber, sliced
• 2 tbsp sesame seeds
• 2 sheets of nori sushi, broken/chopped into 1" pieces
• vegan caviar

1. Cook the quinoa by combining it with the water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until quinoa is translucent. About 15 minutes. Allow to cool.
2. Add dressing to quinoa along with seaweed, and sesame seeds. Toss to combine.
3. Top with avocado, cucumber, and caviar.

Further reading
http://nutritiondiva.quickanddirtytips.com/difference-between-california-and-florida-avocados.aspx
http://www.livestrong.com/article/18578-health-benefits-eating-seaweed/
http://www.veganhealth.org/b12/plant#seaweeds
http://thebroccolihut.com/florida-vs-california-battle-of-the-avocado/

You Can Recycle That: Strings of Holiday Lights

As you're taking down the tree and holiday decorations during your annual bout of S.A.D., don't be so quick to throw out all of the faulty strings of Christmas lights! Believe it or not, those lights can be recycled.

Not only will you feel good about keeping your lights out of a landfill, but you'll receive a coupon for 25% off a purchase of (eco-friendlier) LED Christmas lights. It's a great deal for you and the environment!

Check out HolidayLEDs.com for shipping information and details about how to get your coupon.

The Greenest Christmas Tree

Now that Thanksgiving is over and the holiday season is upon us, plenty of people are starting to put up their Christmas trees. If you're looking for a "green" Christmas tree option, here are some things to consider.

I first discovered living Christmas Trees when I was living in Santa Monica, CA. I saw the potted trees at my favorite farmers market, and asked the vendor about the service. There, you could rent a potted evergreen tree for a few weeks. The company would even deliver the tree for you, and pick it up when you were done with it. There are a number of companies that offer similar service in California and around the U.S.

In the Buffalo area, Urban Roots offers living trees for purchase (not rental.) When the holidays are over you can plant the tree in your own yard, or you can choose to donate it. If you do, someone from Urban Roots will pick the tree up for you and deliver it to the recipient of your choice (Grassroots Gardens, Buffalo Niagara Riverkeeper, or Olmsted Parks.)

Whether purchasing a living tree is actually greener than a cut tree is debatable. In most cases, cut trees come from Christmas tree farms which are replanted with new trees every year. Noone's cutting down forests to provide holiday trees for the masses.

Here in Buffalo, the city actually offers a holiday tree recycling program. If you leave your Christmas tree at the curb during the designated week, it will be picked up and used for mulch rather than winding up in a landfill. If you don't live in an area that offers a similar service, perhaps a living tree is a better option for you.

Sonrickers Christmas Tree Farm - Attica, NY

If you're trying to have a green Christmas, it's always good to know where your tree is coming from and where it's going to wind up. Happy holidays to everyone!

Further Reading

http://livingchristmas.com
http://www.treehugger.com/culture/how-to-pick-a-green-christmas-tree.html
http://www.buffalorising.com/2012/11/christmas-goes-green-at-urban-roots-too.html
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/greenhouse/post/2010/12/rentable-christmas-trees-offer-eco-friendly-option/1#.UGn1zU3Ad8E
http://jan.blog.ocregister.com/tag/living-christmas-trees/
http://www.livingchristmastrees.org/

The Big Chew in Erie County

Here in Western New York, November 6th is The Big Chew! So after you do your civic duty and VOTE today, go out for dinner and help animals. Today when you dine at a participating restaurant or business, a portion of the proceeds will be donated to the SPCA of Erie County!

 

 

Click here for more information and a list of participating vendors.

On Prop 37

I don't live in California anymore, so I can't vote on proposition 37. This post is for all my friends and family (and other readers) who can!

Prop 37 will dictate that all genetically modified foods require a label.
Here are some details about proposition 37.

If you have a short attention span and don't feel like reading about Prop 37, here's a video that explains it.



And here's a super adorable video that is way shorter.



Most of us may not live in California, but that doesn't mean that Prop 37 won't affect us. If it passes, it won't be long until we start to see GMO labels across the country.

Wondering why anyone in their right mind would vote against Prop 37? So was I. Here's what I found.

If you don't live in California, you can help by calling your own friends and family who do, and encourage them to vote YES on Prop 37.

Deals For Me, Deals for the Planet

Like just about everyone else, I love a good deal. When daily deal sites started to become popular, I ate it up. I bought deals for things I never would have considered buying before. Of course I eventually realized that buying deals for things I wouldn't use wasn't helping me, and it certainly wasn't helping local businesses.

What took me a little longer was stopping my habit for fashion deals online. I received emails from sites like Gilt Group and Ideeli for daily fashion sales. My conscience (and my bank account) eventually got me to cancel those accounts and the tempting emails.

But I still miss the deals.

So imagine my delight when I discovered that there is a plethora of more responsible deal sites! Sure, I'm trying to curb my shopping. I know people don't need most of the things we purchase. But it's fun to let ourselves splurge on something a little indulgent every once in a while. Especially when that indulgence is a more responsible or sustainable one.

So here's a list of sites you can use to find great deals for yourselves.
I hope you'll cancel your regular daily deal and fashion sale emails and accounts, and stick to these more planet-friendly alternatives.

• BlissMo feaures daily sales on a range of ethical products. They also offer the BlissmoBox, which is a subscription service that offers a monthly surprise box of personal and food products.
• borganics will feature sales on organic and eco-friendly products, but does not appear to have sales live on the site yet. (as of 10/21/2012)
• DealGooder donates 50% of profits from each daily deal to a featured charity. They feature primarily businesses that operate out of Orange County, CA.
• ethicalDeal offers daily deals in various cities across Canada and the U.S.
• Ethical Ocean is one of my favorite new shopping sites. They feature reduced prices on all kinds of awesome stuff like clothes, gadgets, beauty products, food, and more.
• GreenDeals.org is known as the "Groupon for Greenies." It features deals from responsible companies and is run by Green America.
• Green Box Top currently only has local deals in San Francisco, but you can subscribe to receive information about national deals. Hopefully they'll expand soon!
• JP Selects offers daily sales, most featuring eco-friendly fashion.
• Loving Eco features greener brands and products, and gives 3% of net proceeds to a social or environmental cause.
• Pure Citizen is an online marketplace featuring ethical and sustainable brands. There are daily sales on clothing, wellness brands, food, gifts, and more.
• Strawberry Earth is based in Amsterdam, and features one ethical sale every week on things ranging from jewelry, to travel, to bicycles.
• The Ultimate Green Store touts itself as "The ultimate web-based destination for eco-conscious shoppers." It also features sales and a green deal of the day.
• Vegan Cuts has a daily offer, but also features a marketplace chock full of responsible products including fashion, food, beauty, and more.
• WinWin features deals in the Greater Los Angeles area.

Vegan Kugel for Yom Kippur

G'mar Hatimah Tovah!

Today is Yom Kippur. It is a day of self-reflection, and the holiest day of the year in Judaism. Though I don't consider myself Jewish, my father was raised Jewish and our family celebrates the High Holidays by having dinner together. My favorite Jewish dish has always been the noodle kugel that my aunt makes on Yom Kippur. I may not be fasting, but I'm still very much looking forward to indulging in that meal tonight! I've experimented with a few vegan versions of noodle kugel and though this one doesn't taste exactly like the real thing, it's pretty good!


Vegan Lokshen Kugel

• 1 pound wide noodles **
• 1/3 cup vegan "butter" such as Earth Balance
• 1 (6 ounce) container of plain nondairy yogurt
• 1 (8 ounce) tub of vegan cream cheese such as Tofutti
• 1 (12 ounce) tub of vegan sour cream such as Tofutti
• 1/4 cup turbinado sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Pinch of cinnamon

** I've always used the Manischewitz brand of wide egg noodles, but they are of course not vegan. There are some vegan kosher noodles available, such as the Gefen brand. If you can't find them you can certainly use regular old linguine or fettucini.

1. Preheat your oven to 400 F.
2. Grease a 9x12 casserole dish
3. Cook pasta according to package directions, and drain.
4. In a large bowl, toss the hot pasta with the butter, yogurt, sour cream, sugar, cinnamon, and vanilla until combined.
5. Pour noodle mixture into prepared casserole dish.
6. Bake for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Strawberry Sauce

• 1 pint of fresh strawberries
• 1/3 cup sugar

1. Combine the strawberries with the sugar and simmer until mixture thickens and reduces by about 1/3.
2. Pour the strawberries over the slices of kugel and enjoy!!!

 Yield: 12 servings


Remember, vegan doesn't mean good for you! Here is a nutritional analysis of the kugel without the strawberry sauce.
Calories per serving: 440 Calories from fat: 227 Total Fat: 25.2g Saturated Fat: 8g Cholesterol: 43mg Sodium: 385mg Total Carbohydrates: 44.9g Dietary Fiber: 1.5g Sugars: 10.2g Protein: 7.4g