Posts in vegan
roasted sweet potatoes, red onions + pine nuts with tahini

 

As you may know, I am a huge fan of Yottam Ottolenghi. His books are a constant source of inspiration for me, and I frequently daydream about having lunch at one of his London restaurants.

My first introduction to Ottolenghi was unusual. On a visit to Maine a couple of years ago, my Aunt + Uncle took me to this fabulous book store in Portland, Maine that sold just cookbooks. Just cookbooks. Dangerous. 

Out of the mounds and mounds of gorgeous cookbooks, I could not tear myself away from this one vegetarian focused book with an attractive pillow-like white cover. The recipes were different. Unique. A wonderful combination of mediterranean + middle-eastern flavors. When I went to checkout, the cashier owned the book already and went on and on about what a great book it was. I couldn't wait to get home and make every single recipe. 

I bought Ottolenghi's book Plenty before it was released in the US, not knowing what a hit it would end up being here. That also means my book is in grams and celcius, and although it is slightly inconvenient, I look it as a badge of honor for discovering this book before it's US debut. 

After cooking my way through Plenty, I couldn't wait until I had the opportunity to eat at one of his London restaurants. This summer I had my chance, and it lived up to everything I had expected. I went to his restaurant in Notting Hill and order as many things that would fit onto one plate. I sat outside in the rain (because that was the only seat open) and I was in heaven. While I was there I was also able to pick up a signed copy of his original book, Ottolenghi: The Cookbook which features the recipes made at his restaurants, and it too has become a staple in my kitchen.

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gluten-free, salad, side dish , veganJodi Morenopine nuts, red onion, ssweet potato, tahini Comments
quince crisp

As soon as the temperature starts to drop, it's only natural that you and I start to crave certain things. More soups, more roasted vegetables, more blankets, more nights in watching movies, more baked fruits, more fireplaces, more crisp. 

It's no secret, I love a good crisp. 

Crisp is the prefect dessert for a crisp fall day. Maybe that is where is got it's name?  No?  Okay ... I know ... it's from the crispy top that pairs so nicely with the soft fragrant fruits hiding underneath. 

I'm fairly new to cooking with quince. If you are unfamiliar with this fruit, it is best described as a cross between a pear and an apple, therefore (in my opinion) making it ideal to bake with.

Pears and apples are two of my favorite fall fruits, and now quince will obviously be making it's way to that list as well.

The thing to note about quince is that is has particularly tough flesh which means it is not so good to eat raw, and it needs to bake on it's own for some extra time before being incorporated into a crisp, or pie, or any baked dessert for that matter. 

The upside to having to bake the quince longer? You will have that delicious smell of quince baking in your home for for that much longer, creating the perfect ambiance for a fall day. 

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dessert, fall, gluten-free, veganJodi Morenooats, quince Comments
acorn squash stuffed with a warm farro and pine nut salad

Since moving to nyc, I have been fascinated with the unlimited amount of choices and variety in grocery stores farmers markets, speciality stores, and produce. I walk around this city like a kid in a candy store. Anything I can think of, I can find it here. It is wonderful, exciting, and at times can be overwhelming. 

Back where I lived in CT, there were not many choices. I had a Whole Foods down the street which was my go-to. There was also a small Italian speciality store that I enjoyed going to for fresh pasta and interesting produce. That was really it. I was always able to find what I needed. Comforting and predictable, but not very exciting.  

Now, I live a walking distance from the Union Square Greenmarket which is one of the great food experience of nyc. It runs 4 days a week, all year round. I try to make it there at least once a week, more if I can. I always end up with way more {ahem ... pastries} than I need. 

The following are some shots from my visit last week.  

 

While I was there I picked up a few acorn squashes, some lovely herbs, a couple of gorgeous golden apples, and a few vegan and gluten-free plums tarts + corn bread {which are not pictured because they were promptly devoured}.

I had some farro at home and was looking to stuff the squashes with a warm farro salad. It seemed like the perfect lunch for these brisk fall days that we've been having recently. 

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entree, veganJodi Morenoacorn squash, farro, pine nuts Comments
raw fudge brownies with a vanilla raspberry puree

let's talk truths. 

truth: I love NY

truth: sometimes I try and tell myself that the green smoothie I had for breakfast will negate the french fries I had at lunch 

truth: I'm uncomfortable with the question: "what's your favorite recipe?" because I do not have a favorite recipe 

truth: I love my husband more and more every day (yes, I am one of those people)

truth: I just ate an entire container of hummus and mary's gone crackers and I was not even hungry

truth: I hug my dog on average 7 times a day 

truth: I make raw brownies all the time, however, when coming up with this new raw brownie recipe it took me 4 tries to get it all just right

truth: these raw fudge brownies are gooey, chocolaty, and addictingly delicious

truth: raw cacao (like the kind you use to make these brownies) has the highest amount of antioxidants per serving of any "superfood"

truth: raspberries and chocolate are totally meant for each other

truth: these brownies and the vanilla raspberry sauce are made without butter, eggs, sugar, and guilt 

truth: these brownies will definitely cure chocolate cravings and impress friends 

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dessert, gluten-free, raw, veganJodi Morenoavocado, cacao, dates, raspberries, walnuts Comments
pumpkin & beet salad with a carrot ginger dressing

I love Fall. 

We're only a few days in, but I have already began to embrace putting on vest and scarf in the morning to walk the dog, and I am so excited to start to see fall fruits and vegetables make their way to the farmer's markets and grocery stores. 

I planted some pumpkin this summer (note: some = a lot), and I am going to have to have to get very creative with the dozens of pumpkins I am going to have this October. 

Starting with this recipe right here which I created for the fall issue of a beautiful, new online magazine, Delighted. 

There are a few other really good-looking recipes using pumpkin in the issue, and I will likely be trying them all. Go check them out, and be sure to browse all of the other great articles on life and style and tips on setting a beautiful table for the fall season.

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gluten-free, salad, veganJodi Morenoarugula, beets, carrots, ginger, pumpkin, pumpkin seeds, quinoa Comments
garlic + rosemary socca crepes with creamy leeks and roasted tomatoes // gluten-free + vegan

Gluten-free, although it might not be a new term in the world of food, it is a new term in my kitchen. With many friends and family who have become gluten-free recently, I found myself having to come up with gluten-free meals to make at home. No biggie, right?

Well, I have found this particularly tricky since, as you may know from following my blog, I avoid dairy as much as possible mainly because of dairy allergy I discovered I had about a year ago. 

Bread & cheese, two of the most wonderful and easy foods to throw together. Who doesn't love bread and cheese?

People who have to live gluten and dairy free, that's who. 

 

I always thought to myself ... okay ... I can sacrifice most of the butter and cheese as long as you don't take my bread away from me. Please.do.not.take.my.bread.away.from.me. And thankfully, I have zero sensitivity to gluten. However, I am discovering more and more that friends, and friends of friends, and family are having trouble with the gluten. So, you know what that means. Dinners and dinner parties around here are including less and less gluten. And, you know, it might not be such a bad thing. 

Luckily, there are tons of great recipes and alternatives out there for doing things both gluten and dairy free.  

 

Sometimes I just want to take a giant piece of bread and slap some soft, tangy, gooey goat cheese on top and call it a day. I had yet to find anything that really replaced that taste and gorgeous texture. I really needed to come up something that would nix that craving.

This recipe right here might be the answer. 

Let me start with the "creamy" leeks. The creaminess comes from a tofu base. I know that might not sound so exciting, but hear me out. The tofu is blanched to get rid of any bean-like taste. Then a lot of other delicious seasonings are added to give it a lovely flavor. Once you throw it in with the caramelized leeks, it's heavenly. 

Socca, if you're not familiar with it, is a crepe that is made with garbanzo bean flour and then baked. It is super easy to make, high in protein, and it's gluten-free.  

Slap those leeks on top of the rosemary and garlic socca, place some roasted tomatoes on top, and you have one yummy, creamy, delicious, gluten-free and dairy-free snack or party-time app that everyone can eat. 

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appetizer, gluten-free, party food, veganJodi Morenogarlic, leeks, rosemary, tofu, tomato Comments
grilled pear and eggplant salad with a honey mustard dressing

As I was making {and eating} this salad, I thought to myself ... I am going to start off this post by saying I am not one who likes fruit in my salad. Then I thought ... well ... that's not really true. Ever since I had my first watermelon / tomato / feta salad, I can no longer say that I am a person who "does not like fruit in their salad".

I generally do feel like there is a place for fruit, and there is a place for vegetables. Sometimes it's keeping them separate, and sometimes they go so well together it seems like it was meant to be. 

Eggplant and pear might not seem like a likely combination, but you have to trust me on this one ... these two were totally meant to be. 

The savory eggplant enhances the sweet pear, the sweet pear enhances the savory eggplant. With grilled fruit, there is something about those caramelized, charred grill marks that seems to play so nicely with vegetables.

I first stumbled on a pear and eggplant recipe in last month's issue of Food & Wine magazine. I was intrigued, but I also had a hunch that this combination would be amazing. And it is. My rendition here is a little different, omitting the butter and cheese and adding some greens and a honey mustard dressing. A different, and if I might add - more healthy, way to enhance the pear and eggplant combo.

This salad would make a great starter for a fall dinner party. It's a bit of a conversation piece. Feel free to declare the eggplant and pear is the new watermelon, tomato, and feta. I surely will be. 

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gluten-free, salad, veganJodi Morenoeggplant, frisee, pear, spinach, walnuts Comments
how to make a green smoothie

Recently, I've been getting asked [a lot] what it is that I have for breakfast. My answer is: on most days, a green smoothie. Then, the question that usually follows is: aren't you hungry shortly after? To which I answer: Nope. Not with the amount of veggies and greens I'm consuming. 

Because of this, I decided to post the recipe [well, actually it's more of a guideline] for how I make my green smoothie. I have to warn you though, there is no exact science to this, and some days it tastes amazing and some days it's ... well .... to be frank, not so amazing. It all depends on the freshness and/or the ripeness of certain ingredients. But the one thing remains the same is that I love the way I feel when I drink a green smoothie in the morning. 

Smoothies are different than juices. There are definitely stronger arguments that smoothies are better simply because the vegetables are being consumed whole, the way they were meant to be. I also find that for a meal in the morning, the green smoothie is much more filling and will hold you over better than a green juice. 

So what are the benefits when you drink green smoothies most mornings? Lots. Besides getting a boat load of vitamins and minerals from the gorgeous variety of greens, you are also getting a hefty dose of our best friend, fiber. Fiber helps us detoxify, and helps keep our insides happy. When our insides are happy our outsides look happy ... simple as that. 

With that, I bring you some directions for crafting your smoothie. Play around with different ingredents, see what you like and what you don't like, and always switch things up depending on what you find is fresh, local, seasonal, and organic. 

Happy Smoothie-ing!

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gluten-free, raw, smoothies, veganJodi Morenocilantro, cucumber, kale, parsley, spinach Comments
raw zucchini "pasta" with an avocado & pea pesto // raw, vegan

I probably wouldn’t describe myself as someone with a green thumb.  It’s not that I am not one with nature, or have no instincts when it comes to plants, it’s probably more because I approach growing things the same way I approach cooking. I prefer to go in blindly with little direction and see what works and what does not.

I planted my first garden this summer and it was very apparent that this approach probably does not work as well in the garden as it does in the kitchen.  Or maybe it does, depends on how you look at it. I did make a lot of mistakes, and I learned some key lessons from those mistakes, so maybe that will make my garden next year that much better? I sure do hope so.

Last summer I volunteered one day a week at The Stone Barns Center for Agriculture in their dooryard garden hoping to learn a little from the experts: the passionate farmers and gardeners who work there. I did learn to make a killer trellis from found objects, and I learned about all kinds of plants and vegetables that I had never heard of, but most of all I learned that I had a lot to learn. 

It was kind of overwhelming, especially for someone with very little knowledge of gardening.  So when it came time to build and plant my garden this summer, I decided that I was not going to try and learn everything. I was just going to plant some seeds, give it some love, and see what happened.

The result? An out of control amount of zucchini, cucumbers that are popping up in and around my grape tomatoes, and enough pumpkins to charge for hay rides and pumpkin picking in my backyard this October. As well as a bunch of lettuce that never surfaced, and carrots and scallions that I’m certain were eaten by some sneaky little creatures.

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entree, raw, veganJodi Morenoavocado, basil, garlic, peas, zucchini Comments
strawberry peach cobbler

Ahhhh Summer.  I never want it to end.  

I love spending mornings at the beach, and afternoons in the pool.  

I love going to the farmers market and picking out uber ripe tomatoes, and super sweet corn.

I love eating lobster and drinking rosé.

I love wearing flip flops and bathing suits.

I love having cocktails at sunset and eating dinner outside. 

I love summer foods. Summer fruits, summer vegetables, and summer recipes. 

There are some recipes that are strictly for summer. And some that are just better in the summer. Fresh fruit crumble is just better in the summer. Simply because the fruit and berries ... are .... fresh. 

On a trip to the farm stand the other morning, I was so happy to find my first bunch of squishy ripe peaches, which just happened to be sitting right next to a pint of bright red, beautiful, ripe strawberries. Heaven in a little green bio-degradable container. 

ripe peaches + ripe strawberries = delicous summertime dessert

And we all know what happenes next .....  

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dessert, veganJodi Morenooats, peach, strawberry Comments