11 posts from February 2016

Flower sprouts over lupines

Man always strives to do newer and greater things, sometimes with more success than others. Flower sprouts and lupine-based food products, I can tell you, are definitely two success stories! A flower sprout, I learned, is a “new” vegetable that is a cross between Brussel sprouts and kale. (Not cauliflower and sprouts, as the name might lead you to believe. Even though along with broccoli and cabbage, they are all part of the brassica oleracea family.) And because they come from the ... Continue Reading

Facon and (v)eggs

I have a confession to make. I broke one of my own little rules when I wrote the title to this post and recipe. Sorry, about that - sometimes it's hard to come up with a catchy, fitting name. I've lost count of the number of times that people have asked me why we use terms like "hot dogs" or "cheese" or "insert name of anything that people think we shouldn't be able to use anymore" when making a vegan, plant-based version of a dish.  While part of me can understand the confusion of ... Continue Reading

Planticized baked potato pizzas

I've said it before and I'll say it again - bring on the carbs! It's really a shame that carbs have gotten such a bad rap. Quite often it's not the carbohydrates in your meals that are the problem, it's what you are eating with them. On a plant-based diet (diet as in "what you eat every day" not "what I'm going to eat for 3o days and then go back to eating exactly what I ate before") you don't have to worry about that. So carb up! And what better way to do that then with giant baked ... Continue Reading

Eggless chickpea and kale quiche

There are lot of ways to replace the different properties of eggs in plant-based recipes, and this one makes use of three of them. If you've been following Planticize, you'll recognize the use of freshly ground flax seeds that were also in my vegan powerhouse cookies. The main reason for using ground flax seeds is due to their binding properties when mixed with water. But if we are going to planticize a quiche, we'll need more than that. And that's where chickpea flour comes in. ... Continue Reading

Raspberry Vanilla Hearts

Have you ever seen those people on shows like MasterChef, that have to make something they've never even made or tried before, and then somehow everything turns out nearly perfectly? Well, maybe "perfectly" is a little bit of an exaggeration, but that's not so unlike how it was with this recipe. I was walking around my 'hood and popped into a small store that sells a variety of kitchen and cooking items. I thought I'd get a little inspiration and I always like checking out fun ... Continue Reading

Homemade chocolate hearts

I'm sure you've all heard of "milk chocolate", but did you know that there's milk in so many chocolates that don't have the word "milk" in the title? In order to find milk-free chocolate, you need to look at chocolates that have a cacao content of over 85%. And unless you're in a specialty store, once you find some nice dark chocolate, there probably won't be a lot of variety. Another thing that some people have to think about are nut allergies, specifically peanuts. As most chocol... Continue Reading

Semla (Shrove Tuesday) wraps

The semla takes its name from semolina, the finest wheat flour, and is (normally) a bun, flavored with cardamom and filled with whipped cream and almond paste. You’re hooked already, aren’t you? Another name for this cream-filled treat is “Shrove Tuesday Bun” which doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, does it? Way back when, semlas were only eaten today – the final day before fasting during Lent. But the semla was too irresistible and the Swedes, not known for being ... Continue Reading

Peking (not really) Duck

So, I promised to continue my Chinese story that I started a few posts ago. For a good 8 years, from my late teens to my mid 20s I think I ate Chinese food and drank Chinese beer most days of the week. Often, it would be my 4th meal of the day (or my first, depending on where your day starts) sitting in the back room of my Chinese friend’s restaurant around a large round table, after closing hours, with the workers. It’s often the custom that all the food goes in the middle and its ... Continue Reading

Planticized jalapeño poppers with smoked tofu

When some people hear the word "vegan" or "plant-based" they think, "What is there to eat, grass?" But nothing could be further from the truth, especially these days. And while a spicy, little, green vegetable is at the center of this recipe, all the things around it are going to make you go, "Ohh and Ahhh..." Not only are there great-tasting, 100% plant-based cheeses available nowadays, there is an ever-growing variety of them. For these poppers I used a cheddar-style cheese (which ... Continue Reading

Vegan Powerhouse cookies

I guess another, slightly less catchy name for these would be "everything but the kitchen sink" cookies. These cookies are not for the fainthearted. They are not for anyone looking to lose weight. They are packed with energy. The kind of energy you might need on a winter hike, in-between periods when you’re playing a game of ice hockey, before a cross-fit workout, when you’re chopping wood for the fireplace or if you’re a bear waking up from hibernation. None of them applies to you? ... Continue Reading