Vanilla Cardamom Ice Cream

As much as it hasn't felt too much like summer lately,  ice cream is essentially part of my year round life, so cold or not, if the urge happens to be felt, I whip up a bowl or two.

This flavor combination is one of my absolute favorites.  The vanilla and cardamom complement each other very well, although most would think this a rather odd pair. I found it in a raw vegan restaurant I used to work at, although theirs was a combination of coconut and cashew, I prefer a much lighter version made with frozen bananas. If you like it a bit richer, just add some coconut milk!

You cna also easily sub the vanilla pods for vanilla extract, just try finding one that is just vanilla and alcohol as the base. There are many out there that have artificial everything and additives galore.

Vanilla Cardamom Ice Cream

Ingredients:

- 6-10 frozen bananas

- 1/2 tsp scraped vanilla seeds or 1 tbsp vanilla extract

- 1/8 tsp ground cardamom

In a food processor or high powered blender, blend all ingredients until smooth. It might take awhile and you might need to let the bananas defrost a bit depending on the appliance that you're using.

Vegan Travelling: O'Hare and Dulles Airport Reviews.

I see so many posts in vegan groups about how to travel as a vegan. People get very anxious about being able to find options in transit and at destination. Which is totally understandable because who wants to be stuck in an airport ravenous and desperate for a bite to eat?

While travelling back from Costa Rica to Ottawa, I "documented" my food adventures on the way. With 23 hours of travel time, I knew that I had to be decently prepared. I scoped out a few options, and seeing as I got in late to Washington, and had an overnighter, I had to make sure I could find food fast enough before everything closed. We shall start in Chicago though...

In Chicago, there are options galore for vegan food. I chose to make a stop at CIBO express that was rumored to have awesome vegan options. I was definitely not dissapointed, and to be honest, I went a little over board! Not everything I had was gluten free, but they had a few options available. You can see the Med platter above, which had 2 salads, hummus and some corn chips. It was a welcome fresh snack after a long flight.

The bean and rice chips we're pretty darn tasty, we don't have these in Canada and they were a nice treat to try out. They definitely have a nacho taste going for them, with almost too much flavor on the chips. The peanut butter cup are so so good, too hard to resist!

This buffalo tofu is the best I have ever had. Hands down. I even ate it cold and could have had 2 more. If you pass through this airport, definitely get this. I'm still attempting to recreate it (without the weat and oil).

My faithful companion on the trip, this little ball of fur is my emotional support animal so she gets to travel in cabin with me. She was a champ the entire time! She hates cars, but apparently planes are easy peasy.

That was food adventure in Chicago O'Hare Airport!

Washington Dules was actually my first stop. Like I said I got in late and didn't have much time to get food. I dashed to Zpizza to grab a vegan organic pizza and grabbed some liquids and I also had some snacks with me to keep me sustained through the night.

The next morning I just grabbed an odawala smoothie and a Chai Latte while waiting for my 6AM departure. All in all, travelling vegan is not even near a problem in these 2 airports!

Pulled Jackfruit

Summer and BBQ sauce are things that go hand in hand for me. I always liked things drowning in sauce, and with BBQ sauce and pulled Jackfruit, it's supposed to be that way. 

This recipe is ridiculously easy to make, even if you make your own BBQ sauce (which I did).

Its also quite the hit at any potluck, The jackfruit, if roasted or slow cooked, has a great texture for sandwiches, wraps, tacos or as a salad topper.

Going the extra mile and making you own sauce is definitely worth it here.  You get to choose exactly what flavors go into your masterpiece, without all the typical additives of store bought sauces.

Pulled Jackfruit

- 1 can green jackfruit (in brine)

- 1 1/2 cups bbq sauce

Pre-heat oven to 400F

Rinse the green jackfruit very well under room temp water. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and shred the jackfruit with you hans. You could also use a food processor of you're not the hands on type. Spread it out evenly.

Roast the jackfruit for about 35-40 minutes, stiring halfway. Keep an eye on it so that it doesn't burn!

When that's done and slightly cooled, you can toss it with the bbq sauce in a large bowl. At this point, you can either marinate it in the sauce for up to 24 hours, or just roast it in the oven for another 25-30 minutes, until nice and caramelized.

Serve on buns with coleslaw, in tacos or any other way you fancy.

Enjoy!

Nacho Cheeze Sauce

This is one of those posts that doesn't even need many words. This recipe is ridiculous. By that I mean, while I was eating it, I couldn't even believe how much it tasted like cow based cheese sauces. If I hadn't made it with my own bare hands, I would not have eaten it cause I wouldn't believe it was vegan.

Now my pursuit of veganism and developing awesome vegan foods doesn't usually entail making things that taste exactly like their standard diet counterparts. This one pretty much just happened.

The key ingredient here is pretty exotic, but replacing it with nutritional yeast still makes a great sauce. Thevnoni juice I used was fresh, but the fermented kind will give it an even sharper cheese taste. If you can get your hands on it, you have to try this.

No more words are needed.

Nacho Cheese Sauce

- 3 cups fresh coconut meat

- Water, as needed.

- 2 roasted red peppers

- 1 roasted jalapeno, de seeded.

- ½ cup noni juice or ~1 cup nooch (to taste)

- Salt, to taste

Blend the coconut with the water until very smooth, you may also use a food processor. This is going to take awhile, so do in it stages not to overburden your blender.

Add in the rest of the ingredient and blend till smooth again.

Serve over everything and anything.

Enjoy!