Meet Christy Morgan, The Blissful Chef

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I read about Christy Morgan a couple of weeks ago when she was interviewed on the Vegan Mainstream blog. Being a self taught vegan foodie cook, her story really inspired me so I contacted her, and asked her to come and answer some questions about herself and share one of the recipes from her cookbook with us here on Vegan Chickie.

Christy’s e-cookbook is called “The Blissful Chef: Cooking With The Seasons – Spring Edition”, and is available at the special price of $5.99 to all Vegan Chickie readers, this week only, so click the link below and grab it while you can!!

Christy, How long have you been vegan?
About 7 years now.

What motivated you to make the change?
I decided to be vegetarian for a month to see how I felt. I had many friends in college that were vegetarian, so I thought what the hay! 3 months later I watched the Meet Your Meat video on PETA and went vegan right then. I then started teaching myself how to cook and discovered how much I loved it and loved feeding people.

When did you start getting interested in macrobiotic cuisine?
My friend Sue told me about an almost vegan culinary school in Austin that was macrobiotic. At the time I had no idea what that meant. So I went to check it out and fell in love with the people at The Natural Epicurean. They had such good energy. It wasn’t until I delved into the culinary program that I started to understand how food affects your health, emotions, mind, body, and soul.

Can you explain what exactly is involved with a macrobiotic diet?
It’s hard to sum it up. It’s more of a lifestyle and way of life. It’s not just about the diet, but food plays a huge role in the quality of our health, mind, body, and spirit. The diet itself is based of whole foods, organic, seasonal, no refined sugars, minimal or no animal foods depending on your condition, and eating balanced meals that are unprocessed.

Do you find that people are generally responsive to your lifestyle choices?
I’m very blessed to live in Southern California where it isn’t abnormal to be vegan and we have tons of vegetarian/vegan restaurants here. Also, most of my friends are vegetarian/vegan. When I go back home to see my family in Texas they are shocked to see how amazing I look and they tell me I look younger every year. But, they continue to have poor diets and health problems, even though I’m living proof that what I am doing works. It breaks my heart.

What new ingredients have you discovered since going vegan that you can’t live without now?
Nutritional yeast! I could put it on almost everything! And Earth Balance. And kale, which I could eat everyday.

What have you enjoyed the most since you started your blog?
Getting to share my recipes and knowledge, but mostly being able to inspire others to try being vegetarian/vegan/macrobiotic. That is why I do the things I do – to help others and be a resource for credible information and delicious recipes, from other bloggers as well.

What other vegan blogs do you love to read?
OMG look at the Blogroll on my blog. There are SO many amazing bloggers out there it’s ridiculous. I always tweet my favorite posts each day on my Twitter. I try to feature other bloggers as much as possible so you don’t have to spend hours on the computer.

What is your favourite recipe?
I get this question all the time and I really don’t have an answer. Can a foodie and chef really just choose 1 thing?

What recipe are you going to share with us today?
Mustard Arame Saute, sea Vegetables are an acquired taste. They are the one thing lacking in the American diet. They are especially important for a vegan diet. You most likely have eaten sushi before which is wrapped in Nori, but have you ever heard of Arame, Hijiki, Dulse, Wakame or Kombu before? Sea vegetables are gifts from the sea that are rich in vitamins and trace minerals. If you can sneak sea vegetables into your daily diet, you will build good blood and protect yourself against cardiovascular disease and stroke. Sea vegetables are a rich source of iodine, which is essential for thyroid function. Thyroid hormones regulate metabolism and play a role in many physiological functions, so it’s important to keep the thyroid in check.

Mustard Arame Saute

Ingredients:

1/2 cup arame, soaked 3 minutes then drained
1/2 8 oz package of tempeh, cubed
1/3 cup filtered water
Dash of tamari
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced
1 carrot, cut on diagonal
Pinch of sea salt
4 stalks asparagus, cut on diagonal
1 head broccoli, florets & remove rough parts of stalk & chop
Dash of tamari
Dash of brown rice vinegar
1 tablespoon stone-ground mustard
Dash of filtered water

Method:

1. Simmer the arame, tempeh, water, and tamari in a small saucepan for about 5-10 minutes or until all the liquid is absorbed.

2. Meanwhile, heat oil in medium skillet over medium flame. Saute celery and carrots for a few minutes, cover with lid and stir occasionally. Add in a pinch of salt, asparagus, and broccoli stems and saute for a few more minutes. Add a splash of water if the veggies begin to stick.

3. Lastly add in the broccoli florets and the rest of the ingredients. Simmer with lid on for a few minutes. Taste and season with tamari if needed.

To watch a video featuring Christy as she makes this dish, visit The Blissful Chef blog.

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Carrie’s Carrot Cupcakes

[tweetmeme source="VeganChickie"]I’m happy to welcome my friend Carrie as our guest blogger this week, who is here to share her carrot cupcake recipe with us. Carrot cake is my absolutely favourite cake so I’m really looking forward to giving this recipe a try. Thanks for sharing this with us Carrie!

Vegan Carrot Cupcakes

½ cup (115g) Nuttelex
1 cup soft brown sugar
¼ cup apple sauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
½ teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
¼ cup soy milk
1 cup carrots, finely grated
1 ¼ cup plain flour

Preheat oven to 180 degrees. Grease and flour a muffin tray or line muffin tray with cupcake papers.

Cream nuttelex and brown sugar until smooth and creamy. Add apple sauce, vanilla extract, salt, baking powder, spices and soy milk and carrot and mix together well. Add plain flour and stir until combined.

Spoon batter into muffin tray and bake for 15 – 20 minutes or until cooked through. Cool completely before icing.

Vegan Cream Cheese Icing

¼ cup Nuttelex
¼ cup Tofutti
2 cups icing sugar, sifted
lemon juice to taste

Cream together margarine and cream cheese. Add the icing sugar in 2 batches. Mix until smooth and creamy, then add the lemon juice.

Mama Ogg’s Ethiopian Lentils and Vegetables

[tweetmeme source="VeganChickie"]I’m very pleased to welcome Mama Ogg as our first guest blogger on Vegan Chickie. You can check out Mama Ogg’s food blog HERE. Mama Ogg was also the inspiration behind the wonderful vegetable ‘stoo‘ recipe which appeared on my blog last year.

Without further ado, here it is:

Mama Ogg’s Ethiopian Lentils & Vegetables

Ingredients:

1 small onion, diced
1 tsp each ginger powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 cup red lentils
water
1/2 large sweet potato, cut into small dice
3-4 medium potatoes, cut into small dice
1 tsp ginger powder,
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp turmeric
1/4 green cabbage, finely shredded
1/4 zucchini, cut into small dice (optional)
4-5 shallots, snipped

Method:

1. In a large pot saute onion til transparent, add spices and fry for a minute or two. Add lentils and 3-4 cups of water and bring to the boil. Simmer for about 30 minutes, checking the water level occasionally.

2. In the meantime, in a separate frypan saute the root vegetables until they brown. Add spices and fry for a minute or two, then add a little bit of water until it’s about 1cm deep. You want to steam the vegetables but cook the sauce off by the end of the dish, so start with a little bit of water and add more if necessary. Cover and simmer gently until the vegetables are almost tender, checking on the water level occasionally to make sure it doesn’t stick. Then add the cabbage, zucchini and shallots and stir to coat thoroughly in divine-smelling yellow sauce. Add a bit more water if necessary (only enough to dampen the mix and make sure it doesn’t stick) then cover and simmer for five minutes until vegetables are cooked through but still vibrant.

3. Serve with rice.

Note: Mama Ogg just told me that today she used the leftovers as the filling in samosas with great success. The recipe tastes even better after a night in the fridge.

**If you have a great vegan recipe that you would like to showcase, and would like to be a guest blogger on Vegan Chickie let us know! We’d love to share it (and you!) with the world!