turmeric – The Vegan Love Project

Ellen’s Golden Milk

This is delicious as an energy boost, or a soothing night time night cap to calm nerves prior to going to bed. Lately I have been making this as a pick me up during the cold afternoons or taking it as a dessert a little bit after dinner time. Turmeric has so many amazing medicinal attributes, including anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties.

1 heaping T Coconut Manna

2c boiling water

1/2″ piece fresh ginger

1/2t cinnamon

pinch pink salt

pinch black pepper

pinch nutmeg *optional

pinch cayenne *optional

1-3t agave or maple syrup

1 1/2t turmeric

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Heat up 2 cups water in a kettle or on the stove. Pick your mug! I don’t put the turmeric in my blender as it discolors the container – a glass container should be okay!) See below.

In a high powered blender, add all the other ingredients- ginger, manna, salt, black pepper, nutmeg, sweetener, cinnamon etc. I measure the water by the mug I chose! Big mug, more water! I pour the boiling water into the mug, then into the blender then process everything for a minute or two. While that is blending, I add the turmeric into the empty mug. When its’ finished blending, pour the hot milk into the mug, Sprinkle with more cinnamon. SO TASTY!

Simple Turmeric Broth

broth

Simple Turmeric Broth for Vegetable Noodle Soup 2016

6c water

½ onion, coarsely chopped

2” fresh ginger, grated

1t turmeric

1t sesame oil

1t pink salt

Put everything in a pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Strain the broth through a fine mesh sieve into a large heatproof pitcher (I use my Vitamix container) or bowl. Discard the vegetables. Pour the broth back into the pot and then proceed to add fresh veggies, cooked rice noodles. This is the simplest, clear broth and it is just so easy and perfect for a pick me up or when you are not feeling full force to sip on.

Vegetable Noodle Soup

So ya I got.. SICK!…. like….NAILED! After 26 hours of Yoga Teacher Training that for me was a HUGE milestone ( my first TT ever)…I am now resting and eating simple foods. I have made this soup for the past two days and I am convinced that practice is mastery- the more you do, the better it turns out- this broth is PHENOMENAL. It’s a simple broth- I didn’t want that tamari or soy sauce taste and I didn’t want bouillon- I wanted that full flavorful taste of asian broths that appear almost clear, nothing floating around in it, nothing to get in the way but this one has the antioxidant, antibacterial crud busting anti-inflammatory fighting properties of Turmeric. The first night I tried making it with garlic and I found that, tho it was tasty, it had that raw garlic taste that to me seemed a little bit overwhelming. Last night I omitted the garlic and stuck with the ginger and onions. I think I am in love. The broth takes less than 10 minutes to make- less even- then I added in beautiful local veggies; Sautéed Kale, sweet potatoes, and some Chipotle Baked Tofu I had in the fridge. You could definitely play with flavors by adding mushrooms or scallions etc- this was me, in the middle of a 27 hour training, sick- and it was

D E L I C I O U S.

broth

Simple Turmeric Broth for Vegetable Noodle Soup 2016

6c water

½ onion, coarsely chopped

2” fresh ginger, grated

1t turmeric

1t sesame oil

1t pink salt

Put everything in a pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

sick-girl-noodle-soup

Vegetable Noodle Soup

3-4c Simple Broth

1/2 steamed sweet potato, sliced

1c Sautéed Kale

Sliced Chipotle Baked Tofu

1 serving rice noodles or vermicelli

1t hot sesame oil

Hot Water for noodles

optional: you could add other veggies; mushrooms, baby corn, water chestnuts etc.

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In a bowl, add the uncooked, quick cooking noodles and cover with hot water. Cover and let steam. Set aside.

In a large skillet heat up the olive oil over medium high heat , prepare the Sautéed Kale by sautéing the garlic just until golden brown. Add the salt, red pepper, and then add the kale. With a fork or a pair of tongs, move the kale around the pan cooking the kale until wilted and tender. Remove from the pan and set aside. In the same pan, add little bit of hot water and the already cooked sweet potatoes slices just to heat them through. Set aside.

In the same skillet, heat up the broth and bring to a low boil.

In a serving bowl, place the cooked noodles on the bottom of the bowl. Add the cooked Kale, the sweet potatoes and the slices of tofu. Ladle the broth over to cover.Drizzle in the hot sesame oil. Taste and adjust for saltiness.

Fricken delicious.

Cultured Vegan Probiotic Butter!

Cultured Probiotic Vegan Butter

This recipe was worked off of Homemade Artisan Vegan Butter by Miyoko Schinner. My friend sent me the link and I knew I had to try it! In her recipe she calls for several ingredients that I wouldn’t necessarily want to use; soy lecithin, refined canola oil, store bought almond milk…. I like to eat, use, buy food that has value in it if I am going to put it in my body. I have always had a hard time when making food, using crap ingredients- don’t get me wrong, I love junkie vegan foods but I really only eat them once in a while, I just don’t have them readily available in my kitchen. Butter is a staple, so I felt it was important to make it a good one. I recipe tested several batches and there is still some room for improvement. The biggest problem I was having was separation when it was setting up. I figured out it was the water content in my homemade nutmilk- although I have not tried culturing a prepared dairy free milk and using that, it was neat to figure out where the break down was happening- the taste was always good but then it would separate! With this recipe, I made a thicker almond milk, with less water and then cultured it. During the culture process, the “kefir” separates from the solids- the solids are what I ended up using for the butter. Reserve the kefir for drinking or for adding to smoothies.

For the ALMOND KEFIR CREAM:

1/3c raw almonds, sprouted (soaked overnight, drained)

1c water

1 capsule vegan probiotic, opened into the milk and stirred

In a blender, combine the nuts with the water and blend until completely smooth. Pour the cream though a nutmilk bag or through a fine mesh strainer into a glass pitcher or wide mout ball jar- discard the pulp or make use of it in smoothies, crackers etc.

Add in the probiotic and gently stir with a wood spoon. Cover with a cloth and place in a warm spot overnight to let the culture do its thing. When ready, the “kefir” will be under a layer of fatty almond cream- do not shake or disturb the separation! With a spoon, spoon out the ½ cup needed for the butter. Use the rest for a delicious probiotic rich addition to your morning smoothie.

*vegan butter on toast — this was one of the first trials- delicious but hard!!! The final recipe is quite spreadable!

The BUTTER

1c unrefined coconut oil (you can use refined if you want no coconut flavor)

½c almond kefir solids

1/4c safflower oil

1/2t pink salt

1t brown rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar

teeny pinch turmeric

2t sunflower lecithin- I used liquid

1T nutritional yeast

Combine everything in a blender and let the machine run until the mixture has emulsified. Pour this into butter molds or into smallish crock-pots or even into jars. Transfer immediately into the freezer to allow the butter to set without separation- give it about 20-30 minutes before transferring into the fridge.

Recovery Broth/ Noodle Soup Broth

I have been addicted to this broth the past several days. I have made it both with fresh turmeric and with powdered- the fresh offers a much more vibrant looking broth but both are equally healing. Perfect to make extra to have to sip on or make 1/2 the recipe and make the perfect amount for a bowl of buckwheat ramen & veggies.

Recovery Broth

6c water

½ onion, coarsely chopped

2” fresh ginger, grated

1” fresh turmeric, grated OR 1t turmeric powder

1t sesame oil

1t pink salt

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Put everything in a pot, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Strain the broth through a fine mesh sieve into a heatproof container. Discard the vegetables. Pour the broth back into the pot and then proceed to add the sesame oil. You can add fresh veggies, cooked rice noodles, buckwheat soba or ramen. This is the simplest, most gorgeous orange broth and it is just so easy and perfect for a pick-me-up or for when you are not feeling full force to just sip on.

Simple Red Lentil Soup

Simple Red Lentil Soup

Seriously fool proof- red lentils are a mainstay in my vegan lovin diet. They cook really fast and you can have a gorgeous meal in 20 minutes flat from start to finish. Today I literally grabbed some kale and parsley from the garden and put it into the soup after the heat was turned off to let it steam/cook/mingle. DELICIOUS. Going into the colder days, I always have this soup in the house, I eat it for breakfast!

1 medium onion, *coarsely chopped

1-2 stalks celery, *coarsely chopped

1 carrot, *coarsely chopped

1c red lentils

2” piece of fresh ginger, *coarsely chopped

1 vegan bouillon* optional

1/4t black pepper

1t pink salt OR smoked salt (nice change) or more to taste

1/2t cayenne pepper flakes

1t turmeric (cause it’s just so awesome for you)

3T extra virgin olive oil

4c boiling water

Bring 6c of water to a boil in case you need more.

In a large soup pot, add the olive oil and sauté the onions, carrots, celery and ginger until golden and soft. Add the red lentils, and black and red pepper. Continue to sauté until the lentils are well coated in oil. Add the boiling water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes partially covered, stirring occasionally. When the lentils are completely cooked, add the salt. In a blender, puree the soup until completely smooth (Or not!!!). Adjust your seasonings as needed.

*Coarsely chopped – if you are not going to puree this soup, then cut your veggies more uniformly to fit on a spoon!

OPTION-Add fresh greens like fresh spinach or kale in the last minutes of cooking if you like.

Sprinkle with nutritional yeast and fresh black pepper. YUM