Good Eats from BeStrixed

Yes, I'm back with a long overdue post. When the weather gets gorgeous, I spend absolutely no time in front of the computer. With all the rain we're having this week, (it hasn't let up for 6 days), I figured it was time to update my blog. So, to make up for lost time, I'm going to post about some of the Best Vegan Food of 2009 and it's going to knock your socks off. And did I mention that all of these things are Eat to Live friendly? And, to boot, they all come from one of my favorite vegan Eat to Live bloggers, BeStrixed. She's got a lot of amazing vegan stuff on her blog, (not just food!), so hop on over and check it out when you can.

Since life is short, we'll start with dessert first;-)

Bestrixed Butterscotch Pudding


Click here to view the original recipe.
Now, the first time I made this I made the "all vanilla" version of this recipe (see recipe below). I made it just before dinner and wanted it to be ready to eat for dessert so I spooned it into custard dishes and set them in the freezer for about 45 minutes. After dinner I served it to my dairy loving husband who does not eat, I repeat, does not eat cooked vegetables. He exclaimed, "this tastes just like vanilla ice cream!" Since then, the vanilla version has been a staple in our house. It's great warm, chilled in the fridge, or chilled for about an hour in the freezer. Just don't freeze it for too long or it will be too firm to eat. The texture is silky smooth. You just cannot go wrong with this recipe!

Bestrixed Butterscotch Pudding

Equipment: Pot for steaming, high speed blender (Blendtec, Vitamix)

3 cups of carrots, sliced 1/2" thick

4 large, pitted Medjool Dates or 8 pitted Deglet dates

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract*

1/4 tsp Butterscotch Flavoring**

1/4 C (1 oz) Cashews

1/2 C water

Steam the carrots in water till done (about 20 minutes). While hot, combine carrots and 1/2 cup cooking water into a high speed blender with the extract and flavoring. Remove the cap from the blender cover and cover blender with a dish towel while blending to allow steam to escape without getting burnt. Blend until fairly smooth. Add dates, and blend again until smooth. Add the cashews and blend until completely smooth and creamy. Divide into 4 glass custard cups and serve warm or chill in the fridge, covered once cooled until ready to eat. Alternately, you may place in the freezer 45-60 minutes before eating for a delicious frozen treat.

* If you are making the all vanilla version, use 1/2 - 1TB Vanilla Extract. I use Frontier Indonesia Organic Vanilla Extract. If using a non-organic brand, be sure to check the ingredients label to be sure you are getting real vanilla extract without corn syrup. Most of the common brands contain high fructose corn syrup (yuck!), even the ones that say "Pure Vanilla Extract".

** I have yet to find a good quality vegan Butterscotch flavoring. Unfortunately, Frontier's Butterscotch "natural" flavoring has milk derivatives. If anyone knows of one that is vegan without corn syrup, please let me know.

Bestrixed Kale Chips


These babies are amazing! I'm going to warn you though, they are addicting. I have to limit my consumption to one cookie sheet per day of these. Click here for the original recipes from Bestrixed. If you are using your oven, be sure to set it on the lowest setting and check the temperature with an oven thermometer. Fortunately for me my circa 1974 oven goes as low as 155 degrees Fahrenheit. The recipe version that has become my absolute fave is as follows:

Bestrixed Kale Chips

Equipment: oven, cookie sheets with parchment paper or silpat baking mat, large bowl for combining kale and sauce

1 1/2 pounds kale, stems removed and leaves torn into bite size pieces (I used both dino and curly kale)
1/2 cup raw unsalted sunflower seeds (soak overnight, then drain, if using regular blender)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 large clove garlic
1 tsp onion poweder
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp wet brown mustard (I use Westbrae stone ground, no sodium)
1 1/2 tsp cumin
optional: 1 red bell pepper, 1 tsp curry powder

Turn oven on and set at the lowest temperature. Blend last 8 ingredients together and toss with kale til kale is coated. Place on baking sheets lined with silpat or parchment paper and dehydrate in your oven til completely dehydrated. (This took 6-8 hours in my oven).
*This recipe covered 4 cookie sheets for me. If you can only fit two cookie sheets in your oven at a time, reserve half of the sauce and half of the kale and make it after the first batch is done. The sauce does keep for several days, in a sealed jar in the fridge, so you can make the last two batches tomorrow, which you will need to do since you will have already eaten the first two:-)


Steamed Greens Sauce
OK, no photo here. I adapted the above sauce for kale chips by replacing the vinegar with water and toss it with a huge pot of steamed greens (about 20 ounces or 1.25 pounds in weight pre-steaming). You'll never eat kale naked again. Makes 5 servings.

1/2 cup raw unsalted sunflower seeds (soak overnight, then drain, if using regular blender)
1 large clove garlic
1 tsp onion poweder
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp wet brown mustard (I use Westbrae stone ground, no sodium)
1 1/2 tsp cumin

Blend together and toss with steamed kale (1.25 pounds pre-steamed weight).

Bestrixed Tomato Soup

Click here for the recipe on Bestrixed.
So you're craving Campbell's Tomato Soup but don't want all that added sodium and who knows what else that usually comes in that can. I used Bionaturae Tomato paste for this recipe and followed the recipe as written. I added no salt - this soup simply does not need it. Perfect for a cold, rainy day.

And what's that hangin' out next to the soup? It's Ezekiel low/no-sodium sprouted grain bread topped with:

Basil Kale Walnut Spread
A spread that only a nutritarian can love and appreciate.
Equipment: pot for steaming, high speed blender or food processor
1 bunch kale
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup water reserved from steaming kale
fresh basil leaves
Steam kale for 5 minutes then blend or process with remaining ingredients. Eat it with crisp veggies or however you like.

As for when I'll be blogging again...Oh, just give me another rainy day:-)