Sunday, August 2, 2009

Healthy Eats

After gorging on sweets and snacks at Veganstock and downing many a Diablo Dog for dinner last week, I needed a little healthy food to balance my diet. So I started most mornings last week with a comforting bowl of Carrot Cake Oats:

I got the idea from Shelby at La Belle Vegan, but my recipe varied a bit from hers since I didn't have all the same ingredients on hand that her version called for. Here' s what I did:
1/4 cup steel cut oats
1 carrot, shredded
1 cup water
splash of Oat Dream maple brown sugar milk
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. allspice
1/8 tsp. cloves

1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1 Tbsp. agave nectar
1 Tbsp. Mighty Maple peanut butter (by PB & Co.)

I always soak my dried steel cut oats the night before, so they're practically instant the next morning. I place 1/4 cup oats and the cup of water in a pot (and in this recipe, I also put my shredded carrot in the night before), bring it to a boil, and then remove from heat and cover overnight. The next day, all you have to do is add a splash of soymilk (or in this case, oat milk) and re-heat for a few minutes.

While at Veganstock, I'd planned to make this Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango from the Veganomicon:

I brought my dad's little campstove and I thought it could be my contribution to group dinner on Sunday night. But everyone ended up going into town for dinner that night, rather than cook at camp. So I brought the ingredients back home to Memphis with me and ate the salad for dinner several nights.

It was the first time I'd tried this recipe, and though I'd read mixed reviews on various blogs, I really, really liked this! The mango really adds something special to a plain ole' black bean quionoa salad.

17 comments:

dirtyduck said...

i love food that grows a tail when you cook it!

Chocolate Covered Katie said...

Eating carrot cake oats tastes like eating cake batter! And yours even *looks* like cake batter!

Lisa said...

that salad has such great colors. I haven't tried it yet but I bet it would make a great potluck dish.

Anonymous said...

Mmm, carrot cake oats are one of my very favorites! Thanks for the shout-out girl! =)

Anonymous said...

i am going ot have to try these carrot cake oats! I like mighty maple pb

A said...

Love the idea of carrot cake oats!! Also, the salad sounds good too! I love mango!!!
-A

nora said...

Yum, your version of the carrot cake oats looks great! I'd like to try that special oat milk too!

I agree--that salad is the bombbb.

Heather said...

I love that quinoa recipe from Veganomicon :) I use the red quinoa just because it's pretty.

Anonymous said...

your carrot cake oats look heavenly! and i really should buy some mangoes before summer is over and all the good ones are gone. that quinoa salad looks really good! i've been meaning to try mango and avocado together in a salad. veganomicon is the best, so i bet avocado would be really good added to that exact recipe.

Jen said...

i'll have to try the quinoa salad next week. i like following crazy not-so-healthy food days with a nice cleansing smoothie. i'm usually pretty good though with juxtaposing vegan "junk" food with reasonable meals, and i keep the portions fairly small.

jd said...

Those carrot cake oats look sooo delectable!

I *heart* oatmeal, so I can't wait to try them...

And that Mighty Maple PB?! Sounds incredible!

jessy said...

we love that quinoa salad as well - it's so delicious! i agree that the mango adds some extra mmmmmm factor. i'm glad you made it upon your return - not letting ingredients go to waste = the best, and quinoa is one of my favorite grains!

dan & i are detoxing a bit this week after stuffing ourselves silly at the beach. i'm gonna try your carrot cake oats, Bianca - they look stellar and sound oh-so yummers!

Sheree' said...

Oh my this really looks good!!!!!!

Mihl said...

I love the colours of the quinoa salad! And I love to soak my grains too. It saves so much time and some engergy.
Even though I'm not such a huge fan of carrot cake, I'll definitely try adding some peanut butter to my oats, maybe even with a splash of maple syrup.

Sal - AlienOnToast said...

carrot cake oatmeal sounds amazing, i'll have to try that.

I haven't made that salad yet but the colours are so pretty!

Mary said...

I love that quinoa salad, mango and all. Carrot cake oats, that's so creative!

Erin said...

Nice! I made that quinoa salad last week too.