Avocado Potato Toast with Almond Hollandaise

Vegan Month of Food 2017

"Lines and Light" 

(a line or two of original poetry or a photo of Michigan light every day in October)

Day 28: Brunch

I served my Avocado Potato Toast on a lightly dressed chopped salad.

Did I invent Avocado Toast? No. Did I invent Avocado Potato Toast? I was hoping so, but a quick google search reveals other home cooks who have already put these two favorites together. (But truth be told, mine was pretty delish! We scarfed.) 

The hollandiase was simple and very lemony and light. It would be great on a tofu scramble or even in a falafel sandwich. 

The star of the meal is the huge roasted potato chip. Bake it till it's nice and crispy. 

(Below, is today's photo of beautifuul Michigan light. Taken at Art Prize in Grand Rapids in 2015)

"Me and Starry Light"

Here's what you need:

large russet potatoes, sliced lengthwise about 1/3 inch thick. Use only the nicest pieces for the best 'chips' . Drizzle olive oil, salt, and pepper and roast at 400 degrees until golden. Flip them over once in a while. 

ripe avocados

ripe tomatoes

For the hollandaise: (recipe from Hot for Food)

1/2 C raw slivered almonds

1/2 C soy milk, plus more to thin

1 T coconut oil

1 1/2 T fresh lemon juice

2 T nutritional yeast

1/2 t dry mustard

1/4 t trumeric

pinch of salt

Put all the hollandaise ingredients in a high speed blender and continue to blend until it is completley smooth and emulsified. Heat super gently on very low heat, adding more milk if necessary. 

Orange Black Bean Taquitos and Chickpea Avocado Salad (Forks Over Knives)

It’s hard to say when my eating preferences changed. It’s hard to say why they changed. As I have  mentioned before, I do know there were a few events all occurring at once, 4 ½ years ago, that motivated me to try eating a vegan diet. My daughter was living with a vegan at the time, and we were super curious about her food. She shared her recipe for potato tacos with roasted jalapeno crema, and we were in love.

Also, at that same time, some health issues arose in the family- some small, some large – but enough to be a wake-up call regarding our health. Less cholesterol and more green stuff.

Thirdly, my blog was in need of a boost, and participating in Vegan Month of Food (the VeganMoFo….which I loved then and still love to this day) seemed like the right amount of challenge. One month of vegan meals. What could happen?

Well, what happened was that I became vegan.

Along the way, I was inspired by books and podcasts and blogs and cookbooks and one movie in particular. It’s called “Forks Over Knives” and if you have not viewed it, I highly encourage you to check it out. It’s not a scary ‘animal rights’ film or a film that makes you feel guilty for eating cheese. It’s simply an explanation of why eating animal foods is harmful to our health. It changed my life….yes, a movie changed my life.

Here are two recipes from the Forks Over Knives website. I’m positive they won’t mind me sharing them with you.

Orange Black Bean Taquitos (original recipe HERE)

1 large yellow onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 t cumin seeds, toasted and ground

2 chiptole peppers in adobo sauce, minced

Zest and juice of two oranges

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed

Salt

Corn tortillas

Toppings (guacamole, salsa, spicy sour cream, etc. )

Sauté the onions in a tiny bit of water for a few minutes until they begin to soften and brown. Add water 1 tablespoon at a time to keep them from sticking. Add the garlic and continue to cook. Add the cumin, peppers, orange zest and juice, and the black beans.

Salt to taste and puree in a food processor. It doesn’t need to be completely smooth.

Soften the tortillas in a dry, hot, non-stick pan and spoon about 2-3 T of the bean mixture in each tortilla. Roll them up and brown them in a hot, non-stick pan until they are toasted.

Chickpea Avocado Salad (original recipe HERE)

2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 small red onion, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced or passed through a press ( I usually omit raw garlic, as I do in this recipe)

Zest of 1 lime and juice of 4 limes

1 jalapeno pepper, seed and veins removed for less heat

½ C chopped cilantro

Salt to taste

1 avocado, coarsely chopped

Combine all the ingredients and mix well. Add the avocado carefully just before serving. 

Smashed Chickpea and Avocado Dip - Forks Over Knives

This recipe is genius! It's everything 'guacamole' plus the beloved chickpea all rolled, or in this case, smashed, in to one. Seriously, if you need to impress, and you're totally OVER hummus and guacamole, (well, who can entirely ever be over those?) - try this recipe. You won't regret!

You can find the recipe HERE on the Forks Over Knives website. Don't change a thing! 

Avocado Toast

Day 6: Recreate a restaurant meal.

Has avocado toast taken over the world? My gosh - it's literally everywhere! Even in my own kitchen.  It's the simplest of concepts: take an avocado and serve it on toast. But, oh, how wonderful that can be..... read on!

I recently devoured Toasted Avocado Tartine at Le Pain Quotidian in Georgetown, DC , and knew it would be the perfect restaurant meal to recreate at home.

While in DC, we toured the  Newseum which was fantastic for those of you who love to read newspaper headlines from American history. And when I say history, I mean all the way back to colonial times. I read with my own eyes the newspaper account of the Boston Tea Party written and published and printed the very week the event happened. This photo is from the deck of the Newseum - check out that view!

Le Pain Quotidian is very chic and hip....my kitchen is more simple and homey... .and I'm going to state clearly, that my avocado toast was equally delicious as the tartine in Georgetown.

1. Basically, take delicious bread (brown bread would be better, sliced very thinly) and toast it.

2. Spread some ripe avocado over the toast.

3. Arrange slices of avocado over the toast.

4. Make a simple salad of shaved carrots and baby kale. Dress simply with lemon juice.

5. Arrange salad over avocados.

6. Drizzle good olive oil over all.

7. Sprinkle sandwich with sea salt and chia seeds.

8. I see on the  LePain Quotidian website that they use cumin salt and lemon zest on their avocado tartine, but I don't recall those flavors. Both would be good, especially the zest.

Chickpea Avocado Salad - Forks Over Knives

The sun was shining yesterday and I felt the hope of spring. I feel encouraged and ready to open windows, walk outside and eat lighter meals. Here's the perfect salad to wake up the spring in you. It's amazingly simple and incredibly delicious. Find the original recipe here posted at Forks Over Knives on their Super Bowl 2015 menu. (Looking back at the recipe just now, I realize I did not include the jalapeno pepper and I can't decide if this salad needs the heat or is perfect as is.)

Asian Salad with Coconut Curry Noodles - Vegan Month of Food

A path near my house. 

The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—

I took the one less traveled by,

And that has made all the difference.

Quintessentially American.
     Rugged New England.
         Mended fences and good neighbors.
                Little calves standing by their mamas.
 Horses that shake their harness bells on a snowy night.
       John Kennedy’s inauguration.
                 Robert Frost.

I think this might be my favorite poem: I love it for its simplicity. I love that it speaks truth to my heart. I love how it challenges me to live my life as I believe I ought, even in the face of pressure to conform. As I write these words I realize that one of my favorite Bible verses, really my life verse, is from the second chapter of Romans the 12^th verse. “Do not be conformed to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”

“Way leads on to way,” and we can’t turn back time to re-live our lives. Make the most of every day….and serve your loved ones delicious and healthy food.

This salad is delicious. We ate it for dinner two nights in a row – the second time adding some teriyaki tofu.  And yes, the dressing has 16 ingredients. A simple poem. A complex recipe.

Here’s what you need: (adapted from Chris Scheuer at thecafesucrefarine.com)

For the coconut curry noodles:

1 can light coconut milk

2 T green curry paste

10 ounces long pasta noodles

2 t olive oil

For the salad:
6-8 C Bib or butter lettuce or Romaine

Cubes or slices of teriyaki baked tofu or other similar protein

1-2 ripe avocados, peeled and sliced

1 -2 ripe mangos, peeled and sliced

½ C salted peanuts

For the dressing: Simple combine all the ingredients and mix well.

2 Cloves garlic – minced

1 T fresh, grated ginger

1 T red onion, minced

¼ C rice vinegar

1 t Dijon

1 1/2 T brown sugar

1 1/2 T honey

1 T soy

1 t sesame oil

1 t Sriracha sauce

2 T sesame seeds

2 T poppy seeds

1/3 C olive oil

¼ C Canola Oil

1 t salt

½ t pepper

Here’s what you do:

Combine the coconut milk and green curry paste in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil, lower heat, simmer for about 10 minutes. In the meantime, cook the pasta according to the package. Drain the pasta and place in a large bowl. Drizzle olive oil over pasta and toss with two forks. Pour the coconut curry sauce over the pasta and set aside.

Prepare the salad by arranging the avocados, mangos and peanuts on a bed of lettuces. Serve the pasta in the same serving dish for a fabulous presentation. Drizzle the dressing over the lettuce part of the salad. 

(printable recipe)