Archives for July 2010

Pomegranate Martini

Pomegranate Martini (makes 1 drink)

Ingredients:
1 oz vodka
1/2 oz Cointreau orange liquer
3 oz pomegranate juice

Directions:
Combine ingredients with some ice in a shaker and shake away.  Strain into a cocktail glass.  Drink!

 

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Fried Green Tomatoes

I picked up some green tomatoes at the Farmer’s Market last weekend, and the first thing I thought when I saw them was fried green tomatoes!!!

The basic recipe for fried green tomatoes is pretty darn simple.  Slice the tomatoes.  Dip in milk or buttermilk, then flour, then egg, then cornmeal.  Fry in some oil.

My conundrum lies in how to make it vegan…  the milk part is easy.  It’s the egg part that is a little more tricky.  I couldn’t decide weather I wanted to replace the egg with flax or try the Ener-G egg substitute.  I decided to go with the flax because flax is super good for you with all its omega-3 deliciousness.

So here’s what I came up with…

Fried Green Tomatoes (vegan style)

Ingredients:
2 or 3 green tomatoes
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup soymilk or almond milk
2 Tablespoons ground flax + 6 Tablespoons water, whisked together
salt and pepper

Directions:
Line up an assembly line of each of these in bowls: soymilk, flour, flax + water mixture, cornmeal.

Slice your green tomatoes.

Dip them in the soymilk, then coat in flour.  Then into the flax mixture, then the cornmeal.

Then either fry them in a little oil in a cast iron skillet (I used canola oil), or you can can give them a spritz from an olive oil mister and bake them. (next time I will bake them, but this time I wanted to see what they would taste like fried the good old fashioned way.  I’m usually not much of a fryer though- it’s too greasy and too messy for me.)

Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper right after you take them out of the frying pan while they are still hot.

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Serve ‘em up however you like- we’re simple, we like ours with a little ketchup.  But if you are wanting to get a little fancy, I’d say they would be delicious served over some greens with a drizzle of that really delicious aged, syrupy balsamic vinegar!  Ooh, or even over some grits with that same drizzle of balsamic- yum!

 

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Something exciting is coming!

Hey boys and girls- something exciting is coming to the blog!!  Go here to find out more info and enter your email address and my blogs title (sarahsnacks.com) and you could win something cool!  Do it!

Farmer’s Market Fun

Sarah + Farmer’s Market = one VERY happy vegan!!

I think this is the first time I’ve been to a farmer’s market since I’ve been a grown up.  My mom used to drag take us to this little farm stand place in Cleburne all the time when we were kiddos.  And there’s a produce place here in Joshua (Parks Produce), but he doesn’t always have a huge amount of stuff and most of it’s not local.  But the guy that owns it is really nice and I shop there quite often, because even if his produce isn’t always local I’m still supporting a local business and that makes me happy. 

But it’s nothing like the experience you get at a real live farmer’s market!  It wasn’t ginormous but it was pretty awesome.  (top secret vegan fact… we don’t need to do drugs- we get plenty high when we come upon mass quantities of beautiful vegetables!!)  Oh what fun I had wandering and looking at all the pretty veggies and handmade goods.  And ALL of the stuff there is all produced within 150 miles of Fort Worth- ALL completely local stuff!  I also got some advice about my zucchini from a nice farmer dude(I’m having trouble with my poor little zucchini plants!).  He said that a good organic fertilizer for your plants is coffee grounds- anyone know anything about this?  I might give it a try and see what happens.

Anyway, I could have very well bought everything.  Yes that’s right- I said everything!  ;)  But alas, I’m not made of money, so I stuck to around $30 worth of goodies.  And here’s what I got for my moo-lah…

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These are the BEST blueberries I’ve ever had!  I’m serious.

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Green tomatoes!  I’ve already made fried green tomatoes- recipe coming soon!!

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Homemade jams!!  I don’t know what I thought I would need Jalapeno Raspberry jam for, but I just couldn’t resist!  And who doesn’t love blackberry jam?!  I think I’m going to be busting into this one in the morning!  Nom nom nom!

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Bell peppers.  I have some growing in my little garden, but they’re not quite ready yet.  These’ll tide me over until they are hopefully.

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mmmmm!  Peaches!  They taste like little pieces of heaven!  (I’ve already used most of them actually- we chowed down on a blueberry peach cobbler about an hour ago and it was fantastic!)

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My little okra plant has only given me three little okras so far, and they’re hanging out in the freezer waiting for more of their friends to join the party.  So until then, some lovely okra from the farmer’s market will have to do!

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Same thing goes for my zucchini and squash.  I think the summer heat is just eating them up- they shrivel up and die before they are getting a chance to get much bigger than a few inches.  Poor little things!

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All in all I had a fun afternoon- after I got home and unloaded all my goodies I made some fried green tomatoes and a blueberry peach cobbler.  Then did a little homework.  And now I’m listening to all the stupid people with their fireworks and the poor dogs are going nuts.  I love 4th of July but I hate fireworks. 

Anyhoo- new recipes coming soon.  Get excited!

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Spicy Black Bean Soup

This soup is so delicious!  It makes a nice big pot of soup, so you can keep munching it for days!  I think this is an old weight watchers recipe- I’ve had it forever, so who knows where it came from.

Here it is!  Make it now- you can thank me later!  😉

 

Spicy Black Bean Soup

Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
3 (15 oz) cans of black beans, undrained
big pinch of red pepper flakes
1 tsp ground cumin
14 oz vegetable broth (I go a little shy on this- I like my soup a little more on the thick side)
1 can of rotel (if you  don’t like rotel, you can just use a can of plain diced tomatoes or fire roasted tomatoes would be quite tasty as well)
1 can yellow corn, drained (frozen or fresh corn would work well too)

 

Instructions:
Sautee onion and garlic until onions are soft. (about 5 mins)

Put one can of beans in the blender; add sautéed onions and garlic, red pepper flakes, and cumin.  Cover and blend until smooth.  Pour mixture back into stockpot.

Place second can of beans and vegetable broth into blender and blend until smooth.  Add to stockpot.

Stir in third can of black beans (do not puree first), rotel, and corn into pot.  Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 20-25 mins.

Yields about 1 1/2 cups per serving.

 

 

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Favorite toppings:  salsa, Daiya vegan cheese, vegan sour cream, crushed up tortilla chips