Sweet Potato Quesadillas

I have made sweet potato and black bean burritos a million times and when I went to go make them this time around they turned into delicious quesadillas. Packed full of veggies, one quesadilla is sure to be enough! There is a little bit of prep work involved in this recipe but rest assure if you double or triple the recipe they freeze well and make a quick healthy meal! Taste great with Daiya Cheese!

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup cooked beans (I used black)
1 1/2 cup cooked rice or quiona
2 bell peppers, your choice, finely diced
2 cooked sweet potatoes, skins removed or not
1 cup corn
2 large bunches kale or leafy green veggie, chopped
1 cup corn
1 zucchini, diced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp fresh lime juice
1 tsp creole seasoning
Sea salt and pepper, to taste
2 tsp olive oil
8 whole wheat tortillas

Directions:

In the large skillet heat up 1 tsp oil on medium heat. saute peppers, corn, & zucchini until brown. Remove from heat and pour in large bowl. Mix in the beans, cumin, onion powder and creole seasoning and lime juice, mix well. Set aside.

In the same skillet add remaining 1 tsp oil, heat skillet on medium and add in the kale sauteing for 7 minutes. Remove from heat place in your bowl that already has your veggies in it and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat oven to 350F. Take 1 tortilla and spread a thin layer of sweet potatoes. Next add your veggie mix on top. Take another tortilla and spread a thin layer of sweet potatoes on it and place on top of the other making a quesadilla! Do this for the other 6 tortillas making 3 more quesadillas! Place on a non-stick cookie sheet and bake for 10 minutes.

Dairy and Egg Free Buttermilk Bread Recipe

This is MY go to bread... This recipe is AMAZING, soft on the inside with a thin slightly crunchy outside layer! YUM! I make it at least once a week and it is so easy!

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups of plain soymilk
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon of lemon juice OR vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons vegan buttery spread
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2-2/3 cups white bread flour
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1 pkg. (2 to 3 teaspoons) dry yeast
1 tbsp vital wheat gluten (my addition)

Directions:

Put all ingredients into your bread pan and choose the "dough" setting and press start.

Let the bread machine go through half a cycle or the full cycle if you choose. Take the bread out and put into a lightly oiled bread pan and allow to rise again for about 45 minutes.

After the bread has risen bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.


All credit goes to Heterotechno!

Baked Eggless Meatballs

Homemade meatballs seem like such a special treat so when ground turkey goes on sale I buy bulk amounts and make food to freeze for later. This recipe is super easy and the ingredients can be kept the same or you could add some oregano for an Italian flavor or creole for a Cajun flair. The whole point of this recipe is they are free from eggs and can be seasoned to your liking!

Ingredients:

2 lbs 90/10 ground turkey

2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp dried parsley or oregano

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Mix all ingredients well and roll into golf sized balls. Place meatballs on non-stick baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. 

After 20 minutes open oven and roll all the meatballs over so all will be browned evenly. Bake another 12 minutes. Insert meat thermometer and to ensure internal temperature is 160F and they are done!

Place on paper towels to drain a little. Serve immediately or freeze for later!

WUV this sandwich MOM!

This sandwich came to light when I realized my boys would eat anything smothered in ketchup and vegenaise! We were all under the weather this week and I made this up to get my boys to eat something, anything! The creamy yet, rich flavor in this recipe is sure to be a hit! My oldest son who is 4 proclaimed "I WUV this sandwich!"

Ingredients:

1 recipe seitan cutlets, diced or 1 lb. fully cooked chicken, diced
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup vegenaise
4 good squirts of worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp sea salt
pinch black pepper
1/2 t. crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 lb. mushrooms, sliced
Salt and pepper, to taste
8 buns

Directions:

While I preheat my oven to bake the buns, I wrap up my mushrooms in foil and place on the top of the oven to cook.

Prepare the WUV sauce by combining the ketchup, vegenaise, worcestershire sauce, cumin, red pepper flakes, salt, black pepper in a bowl. Min until well combined. Add the diced chicken and stir to coat.

Divide the WUV muxture evenly between the 8 buns and top with your mushrooms. Serve warm!

Whole Wheat Buns

Everyone has a recipe for homemade buns and this is one I tweaked over time and changed a million times to suite my bread needs! These buns are thick and wholesome and everyone loves them!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp active dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/3 cup oil
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
2 tsp Ener-G egg Replacer mixed with 2 tbsp warm water
1 tsp sea salt
3 1/2 cups all-purpose whole wheat flour


Directions:

I use my bread machine to do all the mixing for me. So, place the yeast and warm water at the bottom of the bread machine. Stir in the oil and sugar, and let the mixture rest for 5 minutes.

Add the mixed Ener-G egg Replacer, salt and flour into the bread machine and set on the dough setting. Wait until it forms a soft dough. If kneading by hand, knead the dough until it is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.

Divide the dough into 8 pieces, shaping into round circles.

Cover the dough with a towel and let them sit at least 10 minutes. In the mean time preheat your oven to 425F.

Bake for about 10 minutes or until nice and golden brown.

Fresh Corn and Celery Relish

Who says that your veggies alway needs to be a side dish? Can't we just throw some veggies together and top our tacos with it and call it a day? I'm sure there are a million recipe for corn relish so I just made one up to suite my familys taste. It seems I go through less hassle trying to get my oldest son to eat his veggies when his whole meal is "all in one!"

Ingredients:

3 celery stalks, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 ear corn, stripped of kernels
2 scallions, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Enough water to barely cover bottom of pan

Directions:

Place everything in a small pan. Cook gently on medium heat for about 15 minutes or until corn is tender. Serve on your tacos!

Simplest Rich Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting Review

Simplest Rich Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Frosting is from a pretty cool vegan recipe book called Sweet Utopia. The title says it all! SIMPLEST one bowl cake ever! Since I was only testing the recipe I made only half but I should have made more since the boys actually took the dish and ate right out of it!! I had to snap a quick picture before it was inhaled!

Ingredients:

Chocolate Cake:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups soymilk
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Frosting:
1 1/2 cups nondairy chocolate chips
1/3 cup vegan butter substitute
1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted

To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and oil and flour two 8-inch round cake pans. Combine the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl. Add the soymilk, oil, vinegar, and vanilla extract and stir until just combined. Pour evenly into the prepared pans and bake for about 28 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on racks.

To make the frosting, melt the chocolate chips and vegan butter substitute in a double boiler over gently simmering water. Alternatively, place them in a microwave-safe bowl and microwave at medium power for 1 minute. Stir. Microwave for 25 seconds longer and stir until smooth. If necessary, microwave for an additional 25 seconds. Stir in the powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Let the frosting cool for 8 to 10 minutes.

Homemade Powdered Sugar

While I was on my quest for the perfect vegan birthday cake I ran out of powdered sugar mid way through a recipe. My google search brought me to The Vegan Chef where she gives a recipe for powdered sugar. This fascinating idea blends cane sugar and cornstarch together and voila... powdered sugar and it works! Vegan or not this is a great idea for when you are in a pinch!

Ingredients:

2 cups unbleached cane sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch

Directions:

In a blender or food processor, blend sugar and cornstarch for 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and blend an additional 30 seconds. Store in an airtight container.

Chinese Miso Soup

Here is another favorite soup that is EASY especially with left over chicken or seitan, frozen stir-fry vegetables and that cooked rice you have stored in your freezer. Everything comes together quick for and easy last weekday dinner!

Ingredients:

5 cups rich broth
1 package frozen stir fry vegetable blend (the ones I buy are 14oz)
2 cups cooked chicken or seitan
1 tsp minced fresh ginger (I mince mine and freeze for later use)
1 tsp soy sauce or braggs
1 tsp yellow miso
1 cup cooked rice or 3oz you favorite noodle
1/2 cup dry sherry

Directions:

In a large saucepan add ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat cover and simmer for 15 minutes or until heated through.

Seitan Street Tacos

Super easy dinner (period!)

Grab your food processor and take some onion and pulse it, set aside. Take some cilantro and pulse a few times, set aside. Now, it's the end of the week which means I usually make a vegetable medley of what ever we have left from the weeks vegetables I bought. I toss them in my food processor and pulse a few times, season and wrap in foil. Next, I prepare some seitan cutlets wrap them in foil and steam my veggies and cutlets together. After 20 minutes I remove the veggies and seitan cutlets and now place the corn tortillas on a piece of foil on my steamer and cover to lightly steam. Unwrap you seitan and chop into small bite size pieces or if you already washed your food processor you can use that, too! Assemble your street tacos and serve along side you veggies. Dinner done!

Chicken or Vegetable Noodle Pot Pie

This week was rainy so I made some chicken noodle soup which means I always have leftovers! Here is a recipe for all the left over noodle soup you have but would rather not freeze!

Ingredients:

1 left over noodle soup recipe
2 3/4 cups liquid from noodle soup
1 sheet puff pastry
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup nutritional yeast

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F.

Lightly oil a 9x9 casserole dish.

Using a fine mesh strainer drain out all the liquid from your left over noodle soup and place 2 3/4 cups in a small pan over med heat. Once the liquid started to boil add the whole wheat pastry flour and nutritional yeast and blend until mixed well. Lower heat and simmer until it starts to thicken. Set aside.

Pour remaining soup into casserole dish and top with with your thickened soup liquid. Please pastry puff sheet on top and place in oven.

Cook for about 20 minutes or until the pastry puffs up and turn a nice golden brown.

White Winter Chili

So last week was hot here in So Cal and we have been eating lots of fresh fruits, cut up veggies and popsicles! However, when I woke up one morning early this week the weather changed for the worse and it was cold, overcast and raining! So instead of letting the day put me down I decided to do what I love best... Cook! As I said it's cold so I opted to make Chili!

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tsp + 2 tsp oil
1 onion, chopped
1 T chopped garlic
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp dried parsley
2 4 oz cans diced mild green chilies
1/2 cup minced green/red/yellow peppers (your choice which you pick)
4 cups soaked white beans (Or possibly 2 cans low sodium white beans if you are in a pinch)
4 cups rich broth 

1 small bunch cilantro, chopped
2 greens onion, chopped

Directions:

While heating 2 tsp. oil in your heavy soup pot trim all fat from the chicken breasts. Please use med-low heat because the goal is to only use one pot to save time.

While the chicken is slowing browning I take out my small $10 Target food processor and "mince" my onions and set aside. Next I mince my garlic and bell peppers, set aside. Once the chicken is browned on both sides remove from pot and place right in the food processor and push the buttons a few times so the chicken gets chopped up a bit now, set aside. I personally place most everything back on the cutting board in the order it will go it the pot.

Heat the other 2 teaspoons of oil in your pot, then saute onions until they're softened and just starting to brown, about 3-5 minutes. Add minced garlic, peppers, ground cumin, parsley and saute a couple minutes.

Add 4 cups white beans, 4 cups chicken broth and canned diced chilies, turn to low and simmer. Let cook for 30 minutes.

After the chili has simmered for 30 minutes, add the chicken and simmer about 5 minutes more.

After adding the chicken, chop up the cilantro and green onions. After 5 minutes add chopped cilantro and simmer about 5 minutes more. Garnish with green onions and serve hot.

Other easy toppers are:

  Sour cream or vegan alternative, Cheese or vegan alternative and Tortilla Chips

Open Face Sushi Style Dinner

Did you know that Sushi really means “seasoned rice” which often is confused with sashimi which means “sliced raw fish.” Over the summer I became fascinated with making my own sushi! I made it every way I could think of... I made veggie rolls, chicken and fish rolls and sometimes I just made the sushi rice as a side for dinner. I never knew the one ingredient I loved so much in sushi is the rice vinegar you use to season the sticky rice. This is so easy to make really, you just boil some water for the rice, cut up some veggies and if you choose cut up some type of protein!

Ingredients:

1 cup sushi rice or brown rice

2 avocados

2 large carrots

1 cucumber

8oz salmon, 1 large chicken breast or 6 oz seitan

2 tsp rice vinegar

2 tsp raw sugar

1/8 tsp salt

Directions:

Cook rice according to package directions but add about 1/4 cup extra water. Meanwhile prepare your meat. I like to boil the chicken and steam my fish or seitan. While everything is cooking shred your carrots and cucumbers and cut the avocado up in small slivers or cubes. When the rice is done cooking add the salt, sugar and rice vinegar. Instead of mixing it up all you want to "cut" the rice up and down since mixing it makes it mushy! While your rice is cooling down your meat should be ready to be cut up anyway you prefer. Now, mix your meat and veggies together and you can either toss in the cooled rice or serve your veggie/meat mixture on your sushi rice. Serve with some braggs and wasabi!

If you have the extra time and went through all the above and want professional style rolls you can get one of these babies, Sushezi Sushi Made Easy!  It's great if you want the cute little rolls all chopped up to serve to guests or for a party.

Chicken or Vegetable Noodle Soup

I know this warm weather isn't going to last! Pretty soon it's going to start cooling down and soup season will be in full swing. So, here is an easy recipe for noodle soup. I know everyone one has their own way of cooking this but I thought I would share mine! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 medium carrots, cut diagonally into 1/2-inch-thick slices
2 celery ribs, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
1 cup peas
2 bay leaf
4 quarts rich veggie or chicken stock
13 ounces rice noodles
3 cups shredded cooked chicken (can be omitted just increase veggies by 3 cups)
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Place a soup pot over medium heat and coat with the oil. Add the peas, garlic, carrots, celery and bay leafs. Cook and stir for about 5 minutes, until the vegetables are softened but not browned. 

Pour in your stock and bring to a boil. Add the noodles and simmer for 5 minutes until tender. 

Now put in your chicken and simmer for another couple of minutes to heat through.

Season with salt and pepper. 

Sweet Utopia Sticky Toffee Pudding Rave and Review

We have a birthday coming up in few months and as Mom I get to try out new cake recipes with just cause! In my quest for the perfect vegan desert for my soon to be 3 year old, I came across this amazing recipe in a book called Sweet Utopia. This book is full of amazing and delectable desserts for people who are vegan and since my son is allergic to dairy and milk this book is also perfect for those with allergies!

Now about the cake it amazing light and rich topped with a warm and sticky brown sugar sauce. Now, I am not one to go back for seconds but this cake is so addicting everyone ate seconds and then we finished the whole thing up within 4 hours of being made! Yeah, I know we sound crazy but it really is amazing and was truly simple to make! 

Ingredients:

Date Mixture:
2 cups chopped dates
2 cups water

Cake:
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup vegan butter substitute, at room temperature
1/4 cup soymilk
1 teaspoon white vinegar

Sticky Sauce:
2 1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup vegan butter substitute
1 cup vanilla soy creamer, or 1 cup plain soy creamer plus 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

To make the date mixture, combine the dates and water in a small saucepan and simmer until the dates soften, about 5 minutes. Set aside to cool; do not drain. When cool, process in a blender or food processor until smooth.

To make the cake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and oil and flour a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. In a separate large bowl, combine the sugar and vegan butter substitute and beat with a wooden spoon until fluffy. Beat in the soymilk and vinegar. Stir in the flour mixture and date mixture and mix until smooth. Pour the batter into the prepared pan. Bake for about 35 minutes, or until the cake is light brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

To make the sauce, combine the sugar, vegan butter substitute, and half of the soy creamer in a medium saucepan and mix well. Bring to a boil, stirring often with a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Whisk in the remaining soy creamer. If you are using plain creamer, stir in the vanilla extract.

To serve, poke many holes in the top of the cake using a fork and pour half of the sauce over the top, allowing it to soak into the cake. Cut the cake into 3-inch squares. Keep the remaining sauce hot and spoon over the warm cake. Sotre leftover suace and cake tightly covered in the refrigerator.

Seitan Cutlets

Some people have never tried seitan for a number of reason such as the term wheat meat sounds unappetizing. I am here telling everyone... ITS NOT GROSS! The first time I prepared this dish I was asked what "it" was by my boys and I simply said meat (passing on the word wheat)! Not a single person said it tasted funny, that the texture was weird or anything. Everyone liked the wheat meat and now I keep vital wheat gluten as a staple in my pantry for a quick, easy meal! Depending on how you season these, seitan can be used in a variety of ways. You could use seitan for tacos cut up or ground, cutlets, soups, breaded and fried or on sandwiches!

Here is a very basic recipe that makes 12 oz. You can make 4 medium cutlets or 6 small cutlets. I prefer making 8 since I have kids it makes portioning easier.

Ingredients:

1 cup vital wheat gluten
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder
1 warm water mixed with a heaping tsp of better than bouillon vegetable base

Directions:

Place the dry ingredients in a food processor and pulse so everything mixes well.  Add wet ingredients.  Blend until you have one large ball which is soft seitan dough.  Divide the dough into 6 cutlets. Wrap each cutlet loosely in foil and press it a down a bit to thin them out. Steam for 20 minutes. Your cutlets are now ready to eat or be used in a recipe!

Refreshing Almond Noodles

This recipe is a twist on the classic southeast Asian combination of peanut sauce and noodles. Traditionally this recipe would be made with peanut butter and sesame oil but since son #2 is allergic to both, I came up with this recipe inspired by love of Asian cuisine. This recipe has been a weekly quick lunch, dinner or snack all summer! My boys LOVE it and I love it since it's so simple! This dish is also great for bringing over to someones house for dinner. It serves a lot and can be prepared ahead of time! Just remember to keep the sauce separate until serving since the noodles will absorb the sauce pretty fast!

Ingredients:

10.5 oz. buckwheat soba noodles
4 tablespoon creamy or crunchy almond butter
1/8 cup hot water
1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp braggs liquid aminos
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 tsp turbinado sugar
Veggies, my boys favorites are: cucumbers, red bell pepper, snow peas and carrots. All raw sliced thin or small.

Directions:

Cook the udon noodles according to package directions.

Meanwhile prepare the almond sauce by blending together the hot water, almond butter, soy sauce, braggs, rice vinegar and sugar. Prepare any vegetables you plan on using.

Once noodles are done cooking rinse them under cold and transfer the noodles to a serving bowl. Stir in the veggies and mix with your almond sauce. Best if served chilled or at room temperature.

Crostini with Vegan Cream Cheese and Caramelized Onion Cranberry Chutney

I woke up CRAVING these and Googled a vegan version. It took no time at all to find a intriguing recipe and went and bought everything the same day! The recipe I found is from the Petite Chef and pretty amazing! It was everything I had hoped for and more! The flavors were all there sweet and tangy and really rich thanks to the vegan cream cheese recipe! I love this recipe and have thought about it every day since I made it!!!! Really! The directions and ingredients are taken directly from the site so you can get everything exactly right! I doubled the chutney recipe to feed my family of 5.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, halved, peeled, and cut crosswise into thin slices
coarse sea or kosher salt to taste
freshly ground black pepper
2 medium-large cloves of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
4 tablespoons dried cranberries
4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
optional: 1/4 teaspoon or so of dried thyme or minced rosemary (use about 3 times more if using fresh herbs)
vegan cream cheese (purchased) or vegan goat "cheese" (see recipe below)
small piece of good bread, like ciabatta, grilled or toasted or sturdy whole grain crackers

In a large cast iron skillet over medium-high, heat olive oil to shimmering. Add onion, salt and pepper and saute, stirring frequently, until soft and beginning to turn golden. Add garlic and continue sauteing and stirring frequently until onion is golden-brown. You may add a little splash of water during the cooking process to speed it along if desired. Stir in cranberries, balsamic vinegar and optional thyme or rosemary, and cook just another minute or until cranberries are slightly softened. Remove from heat and serve atop small toasts or crackers spread with vegan cream cheese.

Vegan Goat "Cheese"

14 ounces regular firm tofu (not silken)
2 garlic cloves or roasted garlic cloves
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast (optional, but it makes the "cheese" extra yummy)
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon Amino Acids
1/2 teaspoon salt or to taste
1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
pinch granulated sugar or raw sugar (optional, but I like it for balance)
zest of 1/2 a lemon

Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade and process until smooth and creamy. Store in refrigerator in an airtight container.

Happy Herbivore Rave and Review

I have NOT been feeling very creative lately! So not creative I wont even try to tweak my tester recipes! When I start feeling this way I go and try out new recipes by people who inspire me. See how that works? I read Lindsay's blog Happy Herbivore for the advice and fun recipes geared toward people such as me - vegan! This week I made it a point to try out 4 of her recipes! So far I have made three with one waiting in the side lines since my organic bananas are a week old and still green as the day I bought them! That's a first for me! So, black bean brownies go on my list for next week but I will get them done!

Here is the Lidsay's Hippie Loaf. The hippie loaf in my opinion is veggie twist on the classic meatloaf. In this recipe she calls for black beans as the base mixed with veggies. I love black beans so I really enjoyed eating this plus its fat free! I topped it off with some vegenaise (not fat free), ketchup and chopped chilled tomatoes! This particular recipe is the "best" veggie loaf I have tried and I have tried many.... none worth posting about until now! I had this the next afternoon for lunch as a sandwich and it was still tasty being cold! I love recipes like this that you can re-use the next day in a different way.

 

Next, I made her tofu chilaquiles! This dish is a fat free Mexican meal, all in one! My kids ate this dish with no fuss which was surprising since the dish had a little kick to it! Lindsay suggests serving with chips but we skipped them since I knew the chips would be the only thing eaten. Instead, I topped it off with chilled tomatoes. avocados and vegenaise. I will be making this dish again and next time making it as a taco/burrito filling served with my taco sauce... oh my, I'm already to make it again! I LOVE tacos!

Last and certainly not least I made her vegan spinach artichoke dip. Some foods such as spinach artichoke dip has always held a special place in my heart! TRULY! I can still recall going to a restaurant, ordering spinach artichoke dip and eating the whole thing unwilling to share! Unfortunately, I thought that would never happen again! But, what did happen is this recipe! HELLO! I made a double batch and used it all week on everything from sandwiches and rolls as a spread, salad dressing, I ate it cold with veggies as a dip, I warmed it up again and ate it with chips! This recipe is super versatile and stayed fresh for 5 days in fridge. I could have stretched it out longer but I was really feeling this recipe!

Don't let the picture fool you, I am not a professional photographer!!!!

Wheat Berry Salad Review

This recipe was on the Food Network. I usually only watch for ideas and inspriation but since most everything is not vegan I usually pass on experimenting! This Elli Kriegers recipe is all about CRUNCH and accidentally VEGAN! Of course it was calling me saying.... make me.... and I did, of course, I can't say no to good food!

Alright, this recipe was really easy to make! Here in California it is finally summer with temps going over 90 finally! With that in mind I really choose not to cook or cook as little as possible. With this recipe I just boiled the wheat berries and chopped up some veggies..... and dinner was done! 

What I love, love, LOVE about this recipe is all the texture and layers of flavor! It was crunchy and chewy yet somehow melted in my mouth! If that is even possible and though this recipe was meant for de-stressing with all the crunching and chewing, in way it felt like comfort food because it was so satisfying to eat!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups uncooked hard wheat berries
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
2 stalks celery finely chopped
1/2 cup tart dried currants
1/2 cup finely chopped parsley leaves
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp chia seeds
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large pot combine the wheat berries and enough water to go a couple inches over the wheat berries. Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for until tender, about 1 hour. Drain and let cool.

Toast the walnuts in a skillet over medium-high heat until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine the wheat berries, currants, celery, walnuts, parsley, chia seeds, olive oil and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper.

Chickpeas A’la King Review

I found this recipe at the FatFree Vegan and here is the link to the recipe if you feel inclined to try it out! I love reading Susan's blog since everything is healthy, low or fat free and VEGAN! Now, I would like to say I did not look forward to making this recipe! Every evening I would look at what I had planned for the week and this would go to the back of the list! Boy, do I regret that choice! This recipe is like an open faced chickpea pot pie which my family LOVES. You can fool around with the recipe and any veggies you like as long as they are proportioned to the recipe, I bet it would still be great!

Some things we are eating this week...

I am planning on making portobello and pineapple teriyaki burgers, wheat berry salad (really this time I know where the wheat berries are!), classic vegan quiche and from the Happy Herbivore black bean brownies, hippie loaf, tofu chilaqules and spinach artichoke dip!

YUM!

Vegan Potato "Gatto" Review

This recipe was flavorful but I felt it was missing something. Oh, wait maybe it was the mushrooms I forgot to add? I am posting it anyway because overall this dish is healthy, fat free and well from the FatFree Vegan Kitchen which I love so, here ya go!

The recipe on SusanV's site can be found here. Her pictues makes this look amazing, my picture makes this dish look ordinary. I am NO photographer, that's for sure!

I made minor changes like forgetting the mushrooms, oops! I added 4 times the garlic she called for since we LOVE garlic here and used red, yellow and red bell peppers. My family of 5 ate half the casserole and I froze the rest for another time. When I defrost this dish I will make potato cakes out of them and serve with a salad! Overall for the cost of this dish and getting two meals out of it makes the effort worth it to me!

Some things we are eating this week....

I am planning on making chickpeas a la king and potato grato from the Fat Free Vegan, sweet potato burritos, baked potatoes topped with veggie chili and baked tofu crusted with teriyaki panko crumbs.

Eggless "Mmmm" Muffin

This is an easy one! Everyone (well people who don't or can't eat eggs) has made one of these but I am posting anyway since it is yet another family favorite.

Ingredients:

Vegan cheese of choice

Muffins

Olive Oil

Extra firm tofu

Garlic powder

Nutritional Yeast

Tumeric

Salt 

Pepper

Veganaise

Directions:

Cut a block of tofu into 4 or 5 square thin pieces. Place on towel to drain.

Once the water is mostly gone from the tofu, lightly oil your frying pan and turn onto medium heat. Place tofu onto pan and start to fry. 

Sprinkle a bit of any or all of the nutritional yeast, garlic, turmeric, salt or pepper. Heck add some cajun seasoning if you like but just make sure you use enough so your tofu tastes like something. Fry about 3 minutes.

Turn the heat down to low and flip the tofu over and add some seasoning. If you are adding vegan cheese do it now so it can start to melt a bit. (I can't stand most vegan cheese so I skip it).

While the other side is heating up on low put your muffin in toaster to heat up. Once warm add some veganaise and place tofu on muffin. 

Most people put smart bacon or add some morning star sausage but I feel this recipe is great without adding anything else.

Spring Rolls

My son is allergic to peanuts and sesame seeds which are used primarily in dishes such as spring rolls or pad thai and obviously I can't go out and pick some up for him to try. Since my son is still so young I think it is important for him to try new things even though we are limited to what we can eat. I feel even though it just food keeping an open mind in everything you try is a good virtue! So when I find something I think he may like such as spring rolls I try to make them so he can try them! I thought after reading all the recipes and comments on many sites that this would be a daunting task but I did it anyway! I'm not posting "my" recipe since it was pretty bland for my taste and isn't worth sharing. What is worth sharing that it was super easy to make spring rolls! All you do is place the wrappers in warm water until the soften up. I got in a mode where while I was filling and rolling one the other wrapper would be soaking and I filled 20 up pretty fast! They may not be perfect but I was pleased to see my son trying something "new"!!!

Avocado and Garlic Noodles

This dish is inspired by my nieces grandma who has the best recipe for garlic noodles! I love making this meal when I'm in a pinch since all I really need to do is mince some garlic and cut up avocados! Everyone in my family loves it and we never have left over!

Ingredients:

1/2 pack angel hair pasta
1/2 pack rice noodles
2 ripe hass avocados
6 cloves garlic
olive oil

Directions:

Rehydrate rice noodles in a bowl with hot water.

Cook angel hair pasta according to package directions.

In the mean time mince the garlic and lightly in fry in wok with a bit of oil until the garlic starts to become fragrant and barley starts to brown. Turn off stove.

Drain cooked angel hair and rice noodles in colander and place in wok.

Cut avocados into squares and mix well with everything in the wok.

This dish goes great with raw macadamia nuts, tomatoes or even wilted spinach! YUM!

Sweet Potato Black Bean Quinoa Burger Review

This is another recipe found on the fabulous FatFree Vegan Kitchen blog. I think I'm addicted to finding new recipes for burgers or maybe I'm looking for the perfect veggie burger and haven't found it yet but here is yet another burger recipe.

Unfortunately, I did not take any pictures. Why, you ask? Well, I am not quite sure but the kitchen was crazy the day I made these and everyone gobbled them up so fast I didn't have any left over for pictures! 

 To say the least I really enjoyed eating this recipe. I used english muffins instead of buns for something different and they were a hit! I will defiantly make these again and take pictures! Here is the recipe.

Some things were eating this week....

I am planning on making spring rolls, grilled avocado sandwiches, pasta with avocado and tomatoes, egg-less mcmuffins, huluski (cabbage and noodles), carrot spaghetti!!!!!!! 

Split Pea Soup

I know its summer right now and I intended to make wheat berry salad BUT the wheat berries disappeared! So..... Per hubbys request I made split pea soup just for him! My hubs likes his soup creamy and t-h-i-c-k as you can tell by the picture below where the soup is practically standing up! So by all means add a cup or two of water.

Ingredients:

8 cups water
2 cups green split peas
1 small onion
1 rib celery
3 large carrot
1/4 teaspoon thyme
Sea salt
Pepper

Directions:

In a food processor shred the celery, carrot and onion.

Combine water, peas, celery, carrot, onion and thyme in large stock pot.

Boil for 15 minutes then reduce heat and cover. Simmer until split peas are tender and the water is basically gone.

Remove from heat and blend all ingredients in a food processor until creamy.

Add salt and pepper to taste per bowl or the whole batch!

Orange County Veggie Sandwich

This recipe is for my favorite all time sandwich! I like this sandwich to have mushrooms, squash, zucchini and bell peppers but this recipe can be altered to use any vegetable you like! Get creative and use a leek... whatever you prefer!

Ingredients:

1lb loaf bread

2 zucchini sliced

2 squash sliced

1 bell pepper sliced

14 oz mushrooms sliced

8 oz spinach

Garlic mayo

Directions for baking:

Preheat oven to 400F.

Lightly oil your baking pan with olive oil.

Place your vegetable on baking pan and drizzle with olive oil. Cover with foil.

Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until the vegetable start to soften and remove from oven keeping the foil over the vegetable so they remain warm.

Turn off the oven and spread some of the garlic mayo on the flat, cut side of your bread loaf.

Place bread in oven for a few muinestes until the bread starts to get a bit crispy.

Remove from the oven and cut each side of the loaf to size for each person you are serving. Place the vegetables on your loaf and enjoy!

Directions for grilling:

Set your grill to high heat.

Brush vegetables with olive oil on both sides. Brush grate with oil.

Cook for about 3 minutes, turn, and cook for another 3 minutes. The peppers may take a bit longer.

Remove from grill and set aside.

Spread some of the garlic mayo on the flat, cut side of your bread loaf.

Place on the grill garlic mayo side up and cover with lid for 2 minutes until the bread is warm and slightly crispy.

Remove from grill and cut each side of the loaf to size for each person you are serving. Place the vegetables on your loaf and enjoy!

Easy Garlic Mayo

This is my favorite recipe for using on any veggie sandwich! It is so easy and requires minimal prep I made it often for lunch and occasionally for dinner. This recipe is for a 1lb loaf of bread sliced in half for sandwiches.

Ingredients:

1 head garlic
1 cup Vegenaise
1-2 tbsp lemon juice to suite your taste
Olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400F.

Cut the top part garlic head off and place in tin foil. Drizzle with olive oil and wrap up in tin foil.

Place garlic in oven and bake at 400F for approximately 45 minutes or until the garlic is soft.

Once garlic is soft remove from oven and open foil to let the garlic cool off.

Once cool enough to touch squeeze garlic cloves out of their skins and place in vegenaise. Smash the garlic and mix in remaing ingredients.

Place in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it!

Middle Eastern Rice with Black Beans and Chickpeas Review

While using the ingredient search on allrecipe.com I found this recipe. It is an easy rice and bean recipe and the person who submitted it on allrecipe said it came from a friend from Bethlehem! I made some minor change to make the recipe vegan and I thought for as little work the recipe required it tasted great!

Ingredients:

1-1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1/2 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup uncooked basmati rice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup TVP
2 cups garbanzo beans
2 cups black beans
1/2 bunch chopped fresh cilantro
1/2 bunch chopped fresh parsley
2 tablespoons pine nuts (optional)
salt to taste
ground black pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir in garlic, rice, cumin, coriander, turmeric, and cayenne pepper. Cook and stir 5 minutes, then pour in vegetable stock. Bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 20 minutes.

Rehydrate TVP.

Gently mix TVP, garbanzo beans, black beans, cilantro, parsley, and pine nuts into the cooked rice. Season with salt and pepper.

Some things were eating this week....

This week I am planning on making veggie tortilla wraps, the vegan dad's lunch meat, quinoa and black bean burritos with my favorite sauce, wheat berry salad, veggie garlic sandwiches, middle eastern rice with black beans and chickpeas, quinoa and tomatoes!!!

Moroccan Chickpea Patties Review

While researching factory farming for FUN I came across The United States Humane Society and their End Factory Farming Campaign. Not only is this site full of useful information it also has a recipe section promoting humane eating! That is right up my ally and started looking through the recipes and found this little gem! You can find the original recipe here since I switched a few on the ingredients out due to food allergies.

I thought this recipe tasted great! The ingredient list seems daunting but it was a cinch to put together and the taste was insane! The flavors really went well together and since I just made a whole pound of garbanzo beans I went out and bought two more fennel bulbs and made more for freezing! My kids ate them and made no comment of their unique taste but then again my kids are very used to NEW! The hubby thought they were similar in texture to potato patties which I won't argue but the taste made up for it! If you are looking for something you have never tried before that is exciting to taste then this recipe is for you!

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium fennel bulb, minced
1/2 cup fresh dill from fennel plant
1⁄8 tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/2 cup mixed bell pepper chopped
2 cups cooked garbanzo beans
1 medium clove garlic, chopped
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp olive oil for mixing
2 tsp fresh ginger
1⁄2 tsp sea salt
1⁄4 tsp cumin
3⁄4 tsp paprika
1⁄8 tsp cinnamon
1⁄3 cup sliced green onions
1/2 cup good quality breadcrumbs
3 tbsp chia seeds
1⁄8 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp olive oil for frying patties

Directions:

Heat the oil on medium heat in a fry pan. Fry the fennel bulb and dill for about 5 minutes. Add the peppers and cook until the fennel has softened. Set aside.

In a food processor, combine the chickpeas, fennel, peppers, garlic, vinegar, olive oil, ginger, salt, cumin, paprika and cinnamon and puree until the mixture is smooth. Set processor in fridge until ready to make your patties or at least an hour so they are firm.

Mix the breadcrumbs, chia seeds and sea salt, and pour onto a plate. Take 1/3 cup and form patties then dip both sides in the breadcrumb mixture.

Heat the oil on medium heat in a fry pan and fry the patties for about 7-9 minutes on each side, until lightly browned, flipping only once!

Your patties are ready to be served as a burger, over a salad or anything you can come up with!

Some things were eating this week....

This week I am planning on making Moroccan Chickpea Patties, "Wieners" and Beans, Fiery Penne,  Lentil Burgers, Singapore Noodles, Stroganoff (requested), Rice and Rice noodles, Sloppy Joes (requested). Anything that is worth posting I will share as always!

Vegan Blueberry Banana and Walnut Pancakes

I have posted a recipe for  vegan pancakes before and if you read that post you would know we love pancakes! Every week I always make new things so, we have repeats almost never! If what I happen to be making that night is just awful I always turn to pancakes so I suppose pancakes is the only repeat we have around here! With that being I came across this recipe in my quest to liven up our pancakes and I changed it up a little to fit our needs and I must say these little things are amazing! I wish I would have made a double batch to freeze! This recipe is for my family of 5!

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached flour
4 teaspoons non-aluminum baking powder
1 banana, mashed
2.5 cups milk (I use almond milk)
2 tbsp turbinado sugar
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 cup fresh blueberries

Directions:

In a large bowl mix the flour and baking powder together.

In a small bowl mash the banana with a fork and add 1/2 cup of the milk. Mix the bannana and milk until it is pretty smooth.

Now add the banana mix, walnuts, blueberries, sugar and remaining milk to the flour and baking powder and mix together.

Heat a a lightly oiled frying pan. Place desired amount of pancake mix on pan ( I use 1/3 or 1/2 cup) and let cook till light brown. Flip and cook other side ti light brown as well.

Quinoa Burrito or Taco Filling

I have been getting really creative with nutritional yeast lately! Trying it everywhere and frankly I just love the stuff. Usually when we make these burritos I don't add the the yeast but tried it tonight and loved it! Thought I would share..... by the way, there were none left over and I usually have a salad with dinner but skipped it tonight and had seconds YUM!

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa
2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup cooked black/red/pinto beans
1/4 - 1/2 cup nutritional yeast (to taste)
Sea Salt (to taste)
White Pepper (to taste)
Garlic Powder to taste (optional)

Directions:

Toast dry quinoa in pan until fragrant. Add vegetable broth and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer until tender. Add remaining ingredients cover, and heat over low flame until beans are warm.


I served these topped with our go to homemade taco sauce and they were AMAZING!!!!

Some things were eating this week....

Another week, another menu!

This week I am planning on making: dairy-egg free potato salad, benedict sandwiches with homemade hollandaise sauce, tofu chik-n nuggets for my sons birthday, Cajun quinoa burritos, Blueberry and Banana Walnut Pancakes, ocean-like cakes.

Vegan Stroganoff

Growing up stroganoff was a regular dish in my Moms home. I loved it so much and have fond memories of eating this dish with my family. I'm not sure if this is only my experience but eating dishes that I enjoy somehow make the moment and memory stand out for me! Am I the only one? Not sure but, I want my kids to have those same fond memories eating great dishes together as a family. So I made this dish in hopes of bringing back that memory and sharing it with my kids.

Ingredients:

8 oz pasta of your choice

Tofu coating
1lb extra firm tofu, cut into small cubes
1.5 tsp creole seasoning
2 tbsp flour
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp organic cornstarch 
oil for frying
 
Sauce 
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 shallot, minced
1 tbsp butter
3/4 cup white wine (I used Riesling)
2 tbsp organic cornstarch
1 tsp Better Than Bouillon Vegetable Base
1 ½ c almond milk
Fresh ground pepper to taste


Directions:

Cook pasta according to package directions.
 
Place tofu coating ingredients and tofu in a bag, shake well until all pieces are evenly coated. Heat oil in large fry pan and fry the tofu turning as each side gets crispy. Once fried remove from pan.

Next, place butter in hot pan to melt and add shallots til they turn translucent. Next add the mushrooms and wine in hot fry pan and reduce by half.

Add almond milk and bouillon, mix well. Next, add the cornstarch slowly and mix while adding so there are no clumps.

Simmer until the sauce thickens.

Pour sauce and tofu over pasta or mix everything together and enjoy. Serve with a nice salad!