Ketchin' Up

I am so, so sorry for the lame post title. I guess I am trying to make up for the fact that I have been neglecting the blog. And sorry to disappoint you again, but this post has nothing to do with ketchup.

It does have something to do with tomatoes, though -- at least in this first photo:

We have a new-ish completely vegan deli in our town, and it is the only all-vegan restaurant here. Their entrees rotate/change daily, and since I've never had vegan lasagna, I thought I would try theirs. It was delicious and very filling! I wasn't sure that lasagna only would do it for me, but my belly was very happy. And it was even happier after it had dessert, too (which I ate in the car and neglected to take a picture of -- I am so disappointing today!).

My friend Jess and I went back to the same deli again today for lunch. Lately when we've eaten out together we each order a different entree and split them, so today we shared a Jamaican Jerk Burger and a raw Hemp Granola Salad. You can't really see the hemp granola, but it tasted a lot like Nature's Path Hemp Plus Granola to me, which is one of my favorite granolas ever (although I admit I am no expert in this subject). The hemp granola was mixed with grated carrot, avocado, and sliced cucumber. It came with a orange dressing but I didn't like the orange flavor and I don't like salad dressing in general (Annie's Goddess Dressing is an exception, though!), so the container of dressing was cast aside and ignored.

I had to get dessert:

This deli makes awesome Chocolate Chip Muffins!

Oh, speaking of chocolate chips:

I love Nana's Cookies! They are my favorite packaged cookie of all time. The one is the picture is the plain ol' Chocolate Chip, just because it was the only flavor I could find that day, but the true stars of the Nana's line are the No Wheat Chocolate Chip (barley flour is sooo good in cookies!) and the Coconut Chip is pretty fartin' good too. Wow, that was inappropriate and unnecessary. But I don't feel like deleting it. Anyway.

I have a recipe for you, today. Recipe sharing is a rare occasion on this blog, and it's usually breakfast-related, but breakfast is what I do best. So here goes:

Fig & Cashew Oat Bran

Serves one hungry appetite

1 cup water
Pinch salt
39 grams (1/3 cup) oat bran
1 small-medium banana
2/3 cup unsweetened soymilk
1/2 medjool date, chopped small
1 dried Turkish fig, chopped small, divided
a hefty dose of cinnamon (as much as your heart desires -- maybe a teaspoon for big cinnamon lovers?)
1 tablespoon cashew butter (I use a local raw cashew butter that's blended with safflower oil -- the brand is Eastwind and it's the best cashew butter I have ever had -- I get it from a tub in Whole Foods' bulk aisle)

*This oat bran also rocks if you sprinkle unsweetened shredded coconut over the top! But coconut is optional.

*Also optional: 1 tablespoon ground flax, which I like to add for yummy vegan omega-3's. You would stir this into the pot after the oats have cooled from cooking, right before pouring into your serving bowl.

Bring the salt and water to a boil in a pot on the stove. Add oat bran after the water boils and stir with a spatula. After the oats reduce a little, turn the heat down to medium-high and add your banana, sliced very thinly. Whip the banana into the oat bran and turn the heat to medium after a minute or so.

Add the soymilk to the pot, little by little -- think risotto technique. After the oat bran accepts the soymilk and everything reduces, add a splash more of soymilk. Throw the chopped date into the pot and keep stirring. Throw in about 2/3 of the total quantity of your chopped fig.

After the oat bran achieves a thicker consistency, turn heat to medium-low and plop some cinnamon into the pot and stir, stir, stir. When the oats reach your desired consistency (I like mine on the thicker, slow-pouring end of the spectrum), cover the pot and turn the heat off. Let sit for 1 to 3 minutes, covered and removed from the heat source.

Pour the oats into your serving bowl. Top the oat bran with the rest of your chopped fig. Swirl a small chunk of your cashew butter into the top layer of the oats (like a cashew butter swirl ribbon, in oat bran instead of in ice cream!). You can add shredded coconut at this point too if you would like. It's great with coconut, but it's fab without as well!

Further directions for the devouring of your breakfast: After you eat the top layer and gobble up all the cashew butter, take out another chunk of your cashew butter tablespoon and spread that on the newly revealed top layer. Continue this process until the nut butter is all gone, but don't use it all too fast or there will be no cashew flavor in the bottom of your bowl!

This is one of my favorite breakfasts, on par with Carob Chip Cookie Dough Oat Bran (with toasted walnuts and a peanut butter swirl ribbon!). The recipe for the carob oat bran is here -- it is an adaptation of Chocolate Covered Katie's lovely Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Oatmeal.

Speaking of Katie, I made another one of her recipes recently, with my own twist. I tried her Blended Grains Technique!

I had the grains with dinner, though, so I made them savory. All I did was blend a serving of cooked kamut berries with a little water. Next I reheated the blended goodies in the microwave with some nutritional yeast and sea salt, and then I stirred in a dab of Earth Balance (vegan margarine) after that. Blended grains are really good! Thank you so much for inventing blended grains, Katie! I've also tried a sweet version of blended kamut berries with bananas and soymilk, but the picture was horrible. Katie's also holding a giveaway contest, which you can read more about here!

Wow, that was exhausting! Okay, RRV over and out! See you next time. :)