Aunt Pat's awesome vegan, all fruit, gluten free pie

My dad's side of the family are all pretty into health, so they were most supportive when I went vegan and tried to make sure that what they cooked was ok for me to eat. My aunt Pat even went vegetarian herself, after looking into the topic. She also has celiac's, so she can't have most typical deserts unless she makes them herself or buys something special. So when I went out to visit and celebrate my college graduation, she made these delicious pies that everybody (even my extremely health conscious dad) could eat.

Crust:
In a food processor, mix about 2 cups raw pecans and about 6 pitted dates together. Then

press the "dough" into a pie pan.
(Or if in a rush, (and if you don't care that its not gluten free) you can use a keebler graham cracker crust, which is vegan)

Filling:

For the filling, mix in a blender 1-2 bananas and a bunch of strawberries. Try not to get it too runny. If the bananas are too green, it won't have as good of flavor.

Putting it all together:

Cover the bottom of the "pie crust" with sliced bananas.

Then decorate on top of the filling with sliced fruit: sliced bananas, sliced strawberries, sliced kiwi, blueberries, blackberries, and

raspberries. (those are the fruits I use...you could experiment with others if you like).

Chill and serve.

The filling might turn out a little runny (usually for me it looks a little like yogurt), but really its still delicious.

My little cousin wanted to eat while he was watching tv in the bedroom. He grabbed his plate and everyone was like "nooo..." He tripped and it landed face down on my aunts white carpet. It was kind of funny, in a tv sitcom kind of way.

Three great Chicago-area Vegan/Vegetarian Restaraunts

In the past few days I have been to three Veggie restaurants that are amazing, two in Chicago and one in Evanston. I'd like to give them each a little plug and explain why I think each are great.

The first, and I think my favorite place for vegan dining, is the Pick me up cafe, on clark street in Wrigleyville. One great thing about it is that about half the menu is vegan, and most options could be modified to be vegan. If you need a place that will provide something for everyone, both meat eating and not, this place is great. Nobody has to be short on options, and everything is delicious. Their vegan pancakes are delicious. The vegan pizza is ok, but I'm not a fan of soy cheeses and would rather just have mine without cheese. They have this amazing falafel wrap that I get cravings for. So good! My boyfriend is vegetarian, and he loves it because they don't try to replace everything with fake meats and cheeses. And my meat eating friends are always happy too. Plus, they have a jukebox and a cute decor.

This morning after trying to sled in the cold, I went to the Blind faith cafe with some friends up in evanston. Its on Dempster, near main st. Its a very organic place, they are completley meat free, and they have a lot of vegan options too. I had a really great black bean tostada (I just told them to hold the dairy). It was better than what I've had at the chicago diner. They still had the brunch menu up (breakfast items are usually tricky because they almost always have eggs), but their dinner items are amazing. There's this vegan "meatloaf" made with cashews and shiitake mushrooms for the base which is so delicious! And they have a vegan bakery too, for the desserts. Mmm, we had peanut butter chocolate cake, and the frosting tasted a little bit like puppy chow.

Tonight, for my one year vegetarian anniversary we went with some friends to the Chicago Diner. They are a vegan staple in this area, and are usually very busy. Their desserts are so good too. My absolute favorite is their vegan cookie dough milkshake. I've had their cheesecake too which is really good. One of my most carniverous friends absolutely loves it and says that its the best pulled pork he's ever had (including the real thing). For appetizer's try their barbecue chicken wings. When I first had them a few days after going veg, I couldn't believe that they weren't real meat.

Quinoa Quorn Corn

This is a recipe I came up with for lunch the other day. I'm really not good with measuring, so I eyeballed what seemed right proportion wise.

In a pot, I prepared about a cup of quinoa, which is a seed that not many people have heard of. Its great for Vegans because of its high protein and iron content.
While this was cooking, I put a little olive oil in a frying pan, enough to coat the bottom. I added some diced red and white onions, maybe about 1/4 cup, and let these cook a little longer to soften them(3min).
I cut the corn off an ear and added that, so about 1/2 cup.
Then, one can add either peas or black beans, depending on the style wanted. Both are pretty good, and both have a fair amount of protein. Or one can do both.
I added as well as quite a few chunks of Quorn*, which is a delicious chicken substitute. It is also high in protein, and comes from a mushroom. Its one of the rare things that's soy and gluten free in the vegetarian world. I use the pre-cubed kind.

Basically, everything in the frying pan just needs to be heated up and browned a bit. Add salt, and a little chili powder was also pretty good in there too. Keep it warm, but don't let it burn. When the Quinoa is done, add it to the frying pan, mix it up, and serve.

Protein content:
Quinoa: 9g
Quorn 11g
(Black Beans: 6g)
(Peas: 5g)
everything else: 2g
Total protein: 28g


*Quorn is technically not vegan (they use a small amount of cage-free egg), but because of said soy free and gluten free qualities, I think its important to support it, so that vegetarianism can be brought to a wider audience. (those with soy allergies and celiac's disease especially) I have emailed the company and they said that they are working on finding a different binding agent. Its better than the company not existing and making it harder for some people to not eat meat.

Thesis

I'm a recently turned vegan, so I've been enjoying immensely the process of delving into the world of animal-free cooking. As I find and test delicious recipes, I'd like to share them with anyone interested. At my work, I've been able to cook up a vegan dessert once a month, so I'll include those too. I'll probably also pepper my work with interesting articles I find and other things that catch my fancy.