Thug Kitchen Cookbook – Healthy & Delicious

10 years ago • 0 Comment • Live Well, Recipes

My sister bought me the Thug Kitchen Cookbook! It’s by the authors of the wildly popular Thug Kitchen blog, and filled with delicious plant-based recipes. Their approach is whole foods oriented, with lots of fresh produce leading to recipes that are as healthy as they are delicious.

A word of caution: as you might expect from a cookbook with the slogan “eat like you give a f*ck”, there’s a [more than healthy] dose of profanity on each page. The casual, no-nonsense vibe complements my mood at the end of a long day when I’d like to be swearing myself, but its appropriation of the word “thug” has been controversial. I worry that repeated exposure to the f-bomb is going to cause me to swear in front of my impressionable young children next time I drop something on my foot. I went through a rather pirate-esque phase in college, and would prefer not to have a relapse.

If you can’t handle having someone tell you to “puree the f*ck” out of the pumpkin or “pour it into a dish pan or some sh*t”, then the Thug Kitchen cookbook isn’t for you. Head on over to Oh She Glows where the sweet and talented Angela Liddon is creating recipes titled “Life-Affirming Warm Nacho Dip”. Her work is so delicious that I can almost say life-affirming with a straight face.

From a recipe standpoint, the Thug Kitchen cookbook is a welcome addition to my shelves because the recipes have a different feel to them than many of my other cookbooks. There’s a lot of diverse food like pad thai, pozole rojo, and roasted sriracha cauliflower bites with peanut dipping sauce. I like having more recipes with a mexican or asian flare to them, and the cookbook contains lots of food choices that would pair better with beer than with wine. If I were serving a bunch of college guys dinner, this cookbook would nail it. Since I like to eat like a college guy, I’m pretty in love with half these recipes already.

I will say that the flavor profiles aren’t as kid-friendly as some of my other cookbooks. Heaven forbid you try to feed your kid something spicy that actually has different textures in it and a complex flavor profile. That’s on them.

If you want healthy food with fantastic flavor and an urban feel to it, Thug Kitchen is a great option. Make yourself some cumin spiked pinto bean dip (pg 108), grab a cold beer, and wait for your pumpkin chili (pg 97) to cook while you pat yourself on the back for caring about what you’re eating.

A colorful plate of pad thai toppings allows everyone at the table to customize their noodle bowl. With an emphasis on fresh produce, these recipes are as good for your body as they are your taste buds.

You can put a lot of veggies in these, dip them in homemade thai peanut sauce, and feel down-right decadent.

They even convinced me to try my hand at rice wrappers. I felt like a culinary genius.

Biscuits made with coconut oil as the fat – delicious and healthier than other oil options! Page 17 of the Thug Kitchen cookbook.

Vegetable pad thai with dry fried tofu. (pg 153)

My New Go-To Post Workout Smoothie

10 years ago • 0 Comment • Recipes

I read an article in Women’s Running recently that stressed the importance of getting enough protein after a long or intense workout in order to promote muscle recovery. If I’m eating a meal soon after I worked out, I don’t worry about it, because there’s usually enough protein there to give my body what it needs. But sometimes I’m rushing into the shower, then off to preschool pick-up, then home to start making lunch, and it can be several hours before I’ve eaten anything.

That’s when it’s helpful to have a protein powder on hand that I can toss in the blender with some coconut milk, ice, and a banana. My favorite is Vega sport performance protein. It’s plant-based, and was developed by Brendan Brazier, a plant-based endurance athlete who take a whole foods approach to nutrition. Perfect. It’s not cheap, but my local Whole Foods sometimes has it for $10 off, and that’s when I try to buy it. And if you consider that a glass constitutes enough protein to be a meal replacement, it’s a reasonable price. I can eat a lighter lunch later, and know that my body isn’t missing the opportunity to build muscles post-workout just because I didn’t have time to prep a hearty meal or snack.

My New Go-To Post Workout Smoothie:

1 banana

12 oz coconut milk

1 scoop chocolate Vega sport performance protein powder

5 ice cubes

Blend until smooth. Try to keep your toddler from stealing it.

Kale & Cilantro Mexican Rice

10 years ago • 7 Comments • Recipes

Gathering with family and friends for a delicious meal is one of the best parts of the holiday season. Here’s a dish that you can bring to any pot-luck, or just serve to friends!

This recipe is excellent served warm or at room temperature. A healthy dose of kale is coated in a delicious, creamy, cholesterol-free cashew sour cream, and mixed with rice and beans to make it a filling main course. Antioxidant packed red peppers add color and crunch when layered on top, with bright, vibrant cilantro packing a flavorful punch and making the dish look beautiful. It’s made with whole foods, filled with flavor, and travels beautifully because it tastes just as good at room temperature as it does right after you make it.

Kale and Cilantro Mexican Rice

Makes plenty to share 🙂

4 cups cooked white or brown rice

3 cups cooked black beans (or two 15 oz cans, drained and rinsed)

1/2 cup mild salsa

3 cups fresh kale, cut into ribbons

1 cup frozen corn, cooked (the microwave simplifies cleanup)

2 red peppers, chopped

1 packed cup of cilantro, major stems removed

lime (optional)

For the cashew sour cream:

1 cup cashews

1 1/2 cups water

1 Tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

———————————————-

3-6 hours ahead: soak the cashews in water. Rinse and drain. (This makes them softer and easier to digest, as well as making their nutrients more available.) Combine rinsed cashews with other sour cream ingredients in a high speed blender and process until creamy and smooth.

Mix cooked rice, beans, salsa, kale, corn and cashew sour cream together. Pour into a large casserole dish. Top with chopped red pepper and fresh cilantro. Garnish with wedges of lime and a side of salsa, if desired.

Serve warm or at room temperature! Remember to notify anyone with a nut allergy that the creaminess comes from cashews rather than dairy. If there are no nut allergies, then you can decide if you want to tell them that delicious creaminess is cholesterol free 🙂

Kale, cilantro and red pepper all add texture, flavor and health to this delicious and filling main course.

More Healthy School Lunches

10 years ago • 0 Comment • Recipes

I’ve fallen into a pattern with my school lunches for Will. I pack him a fruit, a vegetable, a protein (usually hummus, sun-butter or beans, since we don’t eat meat or dairy) and a carb or starch.

It’s not as creative and exciting as I hoped my school lunches for him would be, but it gives him options, keeps him full, is easy to prepare (wash the raspberries, put them in a container!) and is pretty healthy.

Will’s school has a wonderful policy of sending everything home with each child, so I can see exactly what he did or didn’t eat for his lunch. That policy has helped me recognize which items he really prefers not to eat at school (I don’t send bananas) and which items he loves.

I’ve played around with sending him warm lunches in his thermos, like baked beans, vegetable fried rice, and even spaghetti (sorry, my wonderful amazing preschool that had to deal with pasta sauce!). I’ve found that he doesn’t eat as much of those as he does the little snack type foods like fresh fruits, vegetables, and crackers with hummus.

I now send warm meals less frequently, since they’re more work, he eats less, and he’s going to have a hot dinner every day and often a hot breakfast.

Here are three of his recent school lunches:

Hummus and pretzels, raspberries, snap peas

Vegan baked beans, apple slices with cinnamon and a hint of sugar, rice cakes

Whole grain sweet potato crackers, hummus, carrots, strawberries and grapes

I worry sometimes that I send too much hummus, but then I realize that kids often eat the same thing for breakfast six days a week – why worry if twice a week he has hummus with lunch? If he likes it, and I’m packing a variety of fresh produce to go with it, this is NOT a problem. This is a solution!

Find the easiest, healthiest options your kids enjoy, and pack away!

Recipe: The Best Breakfast Sandwich I’ve Ever Had

10 years ago • 4 Comments • Live Well, Recipes

You don’t have to be vegan to know that grabbing a bacon egg and cheese sandwich on an english muffin every morning on your way to work is a BAD idea.

Finding a healthy but satisfying breakfast sandwich was a bit of a challenge. I like hummus and tomato on an english muffin sprinkled with fresh dill, but that wasn’t high enough in calories or protein for Greg. We needed something that had enough protein and healthy fats to get us through our busy mornings.

We finally found the perfect solution. We substituted tofu for egg and added avocado for healthy fats, with tomato and a little red onion for flavor. A little vegenaise or Just Mayo (so delicious that my non-vegan parents now stock it in their fridge for themselves) makes this sandwich even more delicious than a traditional breakfast sandwich. I would eat rather eat this than a traditional breakfast sandwich with meat, egg and cheese – even if you took all the health, environmental and ethical considerations out of it. It tastes fresh but satisfying, filling yet not greasy or heavy. It’s pretty much perfect.

The only problem with this breakfast sandwich is that you can’t buy it on your way to work! Ok, and also they’re not nearly as beautiful when I arrange the avocado slices instead of Greg (he’s a sandwich master).

Recipe: Our Favorite Breakfast Sandwich

Firm or Extra Firm Tofu

Small amount of chopped red onion

Avocado

Tomato

Ezekiel English Muffins

Vegenaise

Vegetable Broth

Salt & Pepper to taste

The night before: Slice your tofu into 1/2 inch thick squares about the size of your Ezekiel english muffin*, and put in a container. Cover with vegetable broth and soak overnight. One pound of tofu makes 6 breakfast sandwiches for us, with the last day having a little irregularly shaped tofu. We cut the pound all at once and leave it in the fridge in the vegetable broth, making sure we use it within 3 days. (It’s also great cubed and tossed into a stir fry.)

Morning of: Remove your tofu from the vegetable broth. You can pan sear it lightly on each side in a pan over medium heat with a little oil, OR you can microwave it for about a minute until it’s warm all the way through. I tend to microwave it, because it greatly simplifies the breakfast sandwich process and I often lose the nicely browned tofu sides in the pan, which defeats the purpose of searing the tofu.

Note: This really is excellent if you pan-sear the tofu. For a great article on how to dry-sear tofu, check out what Isa Chandra wrote on the ppk.com!

Toast your english muffins (otherwise they’ll get soggy) and put a tofu square on the bottom one. Add diced onion, sliced tomato, sliced avocado, and spread vegenaise on the top English muffin. Salt and pepper to taste if desired (I often don’t). If you want an easier sandwich to eat, you can mash the avocado instead of slicing it, then the pieces won’t slide out. Put on the bottom English muffin piece and add the tofu on top for a more stable sandwich.

Consume, and enjoy the energy boost!

*I recommend the Food for Life “Ezekiel English Muffin” because it’s a flourless, sprouted grain english muffin that not only tastes amazing, but is low on the glycemic index and high in protein. It’s a whole grain solution that doesn’t taste like cardboard, and I think we can all get behind that!

For more healthy and delicious breakfast ideas, check out my Healthy Breakfast Ideas.

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