Vegan Shepherd's Pie

No meat. No wheat. No sweets. No dairy. No alcohol.

Vegan Recipe

Topping:

Mashed potatoes

Garlic poached olive oil

Mash potatoes with olive oil and fill pastry bag.

Filling:

1/2 cup lentils (cooked according to package)

1/2 onion

1/2 zucchini

2 carrots chopped

1/2 cup frozen peas

1/2 package mushrooms (minced)

3/4 cup vegetable stock

2 sprigs fresh thyme (reserve some for garnish)

salt to taste

Saute onions, carrots until soft (7 min.) Add Mushrooms, vegetable stock, & thyme until cooked down (4 min), finally add zucchini for additional 4 min until cooked through.  Frozen peas add for 1 min.  Mix in lentils and distribute to individual serving dishes and top with pipped pastry bag. Heath through with last 2-3 minutes in broil mode to brown the tops. 

Black Bean (mock) pasta from Trader Joes

No meat. No wheat. No sweets. No dairy. No alcohol. 

Vegan recipe

Ingredients:
Trader Joes Black Bean Rotini
1 zucchini
10-12 small cherry tomatoes
1/2 onion
1 yellow or red pepper
1/2 cup cashews soaked in water overnight
2 Lemons
Basil

Bring Rotini to a boil. Package says 8-10 minutes. I recommend 6-7 minutes. It gets weird if overcooked.

Meanwhile, sauté onions 6 min. Add zucchini at last 3 minutes, and cherry tomatoes for the last 2 minutes.,

In a high speed blender, put water soaked cashews (strained)
1/2 cup fresh water
lemon juice
Salt & pepper to taste
Blend until thick

Once the rotini is cooked and strained, toss with the cashew cream and plate. Top with the vegetables, basil and yellow pepper.

No meat. No wheat. No sweets. No diary. No alcohol.

I took on this personal venture as a challenge. I wanted to see if I could actually make good tasting, filling food, void of the list of some of my most enjoyable vices.

I recently went for my annual physical and got my blood work done and when the results came back, my doctor said, "your numbers look great! Your triglycerides are a little high but other than that, you're fine. Keep doing what you're doing."  This was wonderful news! I was healthy and could keep doing what I'm doing! Yay for me!

Then I took my blood work results to my acupuncturist,  Ida Mat Aris. She went line item by line item on my panel of blood work and showed me that I was on a ledge ready to go overboard. Her response was, "keep doing what you're doing and within 2 years you'll have diabetes." Stunned, I bitterly retorted, "but they said I was FINE!"  She calmly responded, "Angel, doctors will tell you you're fine until you're not. They are not in the practice of preventative medicine."

The very next day I begun implementing changes to my diet. The first thing to go, after I finished what I had left was the vanilla coffee creamer. I knew sugar had to go. I began reading labels and quickly discovered, sugar is in almost everything!  In removing sugar from my diet, I eliminated a lot of processed foods. The removal of this one ingredient had an amazing effect on me. I hadn't realized I was living with so much pain. My joints ached. My back hurt. Every morning when I got out of bed, I felt like the tin man in need of oil for my stiff joints, hips, and back. I chalked it up to age and accepted it as part of life.

What I hadn't accounted for was the absence of pain. It's gone! I can pop up out of bed again like when I was in my 20's. I had no idea that sugar was being infultrated into my diet more than I had agreed to. It's everywhere and in everything!  I've had to make a consorted effort to avoid it.

After feeling so great from the absence of this one ingredient, it raised my curiosity. What if, I detox from OTHER stuff too? From this question, my challenge was born. I made myself accountable by posting my challenge on Facebook and posting my food daily.

I have been able to make amazing, beautiful, filling food. I am shocked. I didn't believe it was possible. With the inspiration of Chef Jeff Kawakami, Cyndi Boyd, Ida Mat Aris, and others who have been instrumental in my life, I think it has been a total success with lots of positive feedback from my Facebook community. This experience has forever changed my relationship with meat, wheat, sweets, diary, and alcohol.  I will be posting pictures and the recipes, partly for myself so I don't forget them.

The Junction Port Chop

This is A 2 lb. bone-in chop that is sous vide for 15 hours, then grilled for a light char and finished with a citrus glaze that has notes of sweet and salty. It is absolutely amazing! From The Junction located in the Village in Claremont, CA.

Red O Restaurant at Fashion Island in Newport Beach is a slam dunk. You leave a busy parking lot to enter, what feels like, holiday. It's an all encompassing, mouth watering, visually stunning experience from the food to the decor. Wait staff is pleasant and eager to meet your every need. A girl could get used to getting spoiled. The bartender whispers sweet nothings in my ear with words like, "specialty margarita ma'am?" or better yet, "can I get you a refill?" Swoon...

Everyone Needs to Try Pot

Everyone needs to try Pot at least once in their lifetime. Roy Choi pulls it off again. The swanky, hip vibe of his new restaurant Pot somehow just makes you feel happy. Perhaps its the excellent music playing in the background or the cool lighting throughout. It contains elements of fine dining but with Roy's "down to earth" sense of humor intertwined in the experience. The food was amazing with Roy graciously walking around and thanking patrons for stopping by. He's so cool! The food was amazing. I tried a side of squid and a hot pot with beef. The food is vibrant in colors and flavors. The entire experience is simply fun and delicious and I highly recommend it with one small warning: Pot may be like a gateway drug. Pot is located in Korea Town at the Line Hotel.

This was prepared by Chef Jeff Kawakami of Season 2 of The Taste on ABC. I snapped pictures and took video footage of him while he cooked. He's got great technique and amazing talent. I enjoyed every bit of it! Check him out on www.JeffKawakami.com and check out the video we made: Stuffed artichoke using everyday ingredients: Breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, bacon, garlic, & parsley.