Around Town: Pure Chocolate by Jinji

Hello everyone, long time no post. I am making my absence up to you by telling you about the greatest chocolate on Earth. Yes, seriously, pictured above is the GREATEST chocolate on Earth! It can be purchased at BELVEDERE SQUARE at PURE CHOCOLATE BY JINJI. The small store offers an array of healthy chocolate treats made from nutrient dense raw ingredients. The flavors of the items are bold, intricate, and very distinctive. I've tried many of their offerings and liked them all, but I'm particularly fond of the pots de creme. You must try it! For those of you in the DMV, visit Jinji's website to see where you can purchase her products in your area.

In the Kitchen: Beet Soup Recipe

Beets are one of those foods you either typically love or hate. As one who previously despised beets, I'm surprised to be sharing with you a recipe I found to be quite savory. Not only did it taste good, but it froze beautifully as well. I'll be using it as one of go-to convenience freezer foods in the future. So here's how you make it:

• Cut into chunks and roast one beet in the oven on 400 degrees, sprinkled with olive oil, salt and pepper. Remove from oven once a fork can easily pierce the beet.
• While beet is roasting boil one large red potato.
• When beet is almost done roasting begin roasting 3 garlic cloves and 3 shallots.
• Dice cooked potato and add to a simmering pot of veggie broth, then add roasted beet, garlic, shallots
• Season soup with thyme, parsley, salt, and pepper to taste
• Add 1 tbsp of balsamic vinegar (or more if you'd like) and continue simmering for a few minutes.
• Take cooked soup of stove and puree in blender or with stick blender
• Garnish soup with extra parsley, olive oil, and balsamic. You can also add pieces of goat cheese   if non-vegan.

This pairs well with garlic bread. Enjoy!

In the Kitchen: Veggie Burger Recipe

Today I'm excited to post the recipe to the best meal I've ever created. No lie folks, this burger was delicious! So good, I liked it better than a beef burger. I couldn't believe it. The hubs gave it two thumbs up too, and he's a hard one to please. So, without further ado here's how you make it:

• Heat a 50/50 mixture of cooked quinoa and black beans on medium heat in skillet. You can grease skillet with cooking oil or veggie broth. Broth is more healthy, but oil tastes better :-) I like to use avocado oil.
• Season mixture with paprika, garlic powder, salt, and pepper to taste.
• Add mixture to toasted brioche buns. 
• Top "burger" with spring mix, tomato, red onion, and chipotle mayo.

Chipotle mayo (this component is critical to the deliciousness of the burger):

• Finely dice canned chipotle peppers with adobe sauce and add to mayo to taste. These are pretty spicy, so you don't need much to add kick.

Enjoy! I absolutely know you will.

In the Kitchen: BBQ and Deviled Eggs with Caviar Recipe

Those of you who follow this blog regularly know I've been trying to clean up my diet. A lot of the dietary changes I've been making include eating more plant-based foods. I still eat animal products occasionally though, and when I do, I try to stick to anti-inflammatory animal products rich in omega-3 fatty acids.

Today I'm going to share with you an anti-inflammatory meal I concocted that was very good. It was inspired by some food I had at a Baltimore vegetarian restaurant called LAND OF KUSH. I'd planned to blog about my experience there, but the food was so good I ate it before I could take a picture :-( Ah well, maybe next time. The meal was also inspired by some wonderful deviled eggs prepared for a potluck by one of my neighbors.

So here's how you recreate the meal:

Vegan BBQ:

• Marinade pieces of seitan in BBQ sauce overnight. I use this SEITAN (in traditional) and this VERY DELICIOUS BBQ SAUCE.
• Once seitan is marinated, add 1/2 cup each of green peppers and onions to a skillet and saute with veggie broth on medium heat until tender.
• Next add seitan and desired amount of BBQ sauce to skillet and season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Cook on medium until seitan is heated to desired temperature (note: seitain is precooked, so you only need to heat for warmth)
• I like adding the BBQ to a lightly toasted brioche bun for a sandwich.

Deviled eggs:

• Boil omega-3 enriched eggs
• Cut cooked eggs in half and remove yolks
• Smash yolk with fork and mix 1 tsp of mayo with every yolk. I use Trader Joe's low-fat mayo because it's vegan (though not advertised as such), low calorie, and tastes good.
• Add a small amount of fresh squeezed lemon juice, dill weed, and freshly chopped chives to taste to yolk filling.
• Add yolk filling to eggs whites and top with a scoop of bowfin roe caviar. 

Enjoy!

In the Kitchen: Fish Taco Recipe

Today I'm posting a wonderful fish taco recipe. The mixture of sweet and spicy in this dish will leave your taste buds thanking you. Here's how you make it:

• Thinly coat pan with olive oil on medium heat
• Begin cooking fish (I use mahi mahi, tilapia works as well) over medium heat and add fresh lemon juice
• Season fish heavily with pre-made blackening season, or make your own using paprika, cayenne, garlic powder, black pepper, and chili powder
• heat tortilla in separate skillet over thin layer of olive oil on medium
• when fish and tortilla are done add shredded cabbage, pineapple chunks, raw spinach,  mexican crema, and sriracha sauce

Enjoy! This pairs well with mango juice and black beans and rice. To make this dish vegan, swap fish for black beans.