May24
Every year at the same time, I tend to get on a big fennel kick and I’m kicking hard now!!! If you haven’t tried fennel before…please don’t be afraid…just try it!
Enjoy this recipe, but please be careful using your mandolin to thinly slice the fennel. I sometimes call the mandolin the “finger snipper” since they cut so many people.
Red Grapefruit, Avocado and Fennel Salad
Ingredients
3 large ruby red grapefruits (I’m lucky and have a coworker that brings me grapefruits in huge bagfulls from their yard!)
1/4 cup macadamia oil (or grape seed oil, if you are on a budget!)
1 tbsp of lime juice
corse sea salt and fresh ground pepper
2 avocados, peeled, pitted and sliced
1 large fennel bulb sliced thinly on a mandolin
****note when using fennel, yes you can use those frilly green ends in recipes, but I don’t like it…I like to cut that all off and just use the bulb. Experiment with it though. They should taste a little like licorice when fresh
1 small bunch of mint (I currently have orange mint..one of those neato new hybrid mints…in my garden and it’s amazing!)
1. “supreme” the grapefruit….I know I know this is one of those crazy culinary terms. It mainly means you need to peel the grapefruit and then cut the little segments from the fruit membrane. Save any juices that come out! Check out this pic…
2. In a small bowl whisk together, oil, lime juice and a few tablespoons of the grapefruit juice with salt/pepper.
3. Add sliced avocado into the oil juice mixture and toss gently. Move to larger bowl.
4. Add remaining ingredients and mix it.
5. eat it!!!
May20
Garlic Mushrooms!
I can not believe that until I experienced the famous Pamela Perry’s stuffed mushrooms, I did not like mushrooms. Thanks Pam!!! Now I can’t get enough of them!
Garlic Mushrooms:
1/2 cup EVOO
2 lbs button mushrooms
1/2 dry white wine
3 sprigs of thyme
6 garlic cloves, sliced thin…(this is tough, but worth the work!)
zest and juice of 2 lemons
1. Large skillet with medium heat, heat half of the EVOO and then add shrooms, booze and herbs.
2. Cook about 3 minutes or until the booze is gone….don’t drink it!
3. Add sliced garlic and cook 3 more minutes. Remove from heat.
4. Toss mushrooms and garlic in the remaining oil. Let cool
5. Serve cooled in a nifty bowl (I like an antique seventies style glass…think amber glass!).
Jan27
Hi all!
I recently had the priveledge to compete against some of the best of the best when it comes to vegan cooking! I Zen Fitness crew, including Vegan Iron Chef…Carly Asse! Competition was tough, but I did come in third with the following recipe…
Roasted Winter Vegetable Jambalaya
Serves 6
1 cup long-grain brown rice
2 large carrots, diced
2 medium parsnips, diced
1 small sweet potato, diced
1 red beet, diced
2 Yukon gold potatoes, diced
3 Tbsp EVOO, divided
¾ tsp sea salt, divided
1 small onion, diced
1 tsp sweet or smoked paprika
½ tsp chili powder
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp tomato paste
3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
1 cup chopped canned tomatoes
½ cup fresh parsley or 2 tsp dried parsley
- Soak rice in a bowl of water overnight.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drain rice. Lightly oil baking sheet or line with parchment paper.
- Toss together carrots, parsnips, sweet potato, potatoes, 1 Tbsp oil and 1.2 tsp salt in a bowl. Spread on prepared baking sheet and roast for 20 to 30 minutes, until vegetables are browned.
- Combine onion, remaining 2 Tbsp oil, paprika, chili powder, cayenne and remaining salt in skillet; heat over medium-low heat. Cooke 5-8 minutes and until onion is soft; add rice and cook 2 minutes over medium heat or until liquid had evaporated. Stir in tomato paste, then broth and tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then immediately remove from heat.
- Stir roasted vegetables into rice mixture and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 40 to 50 minutes. Remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes. Stir in parsley, and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Serve hot or room temperature
Jan1
I use Red Ace Organic Beet juice supplements when I do my cardio and LOVE it. After a long run today, I was wanting some red ace, but also wanted something heartier for a snack. TA-DA!!!!
RED ACE ORGANIC BEET HUMMUS
1 bottle of Red Ace Organic Beet Juice Supplement
1 can of organic garbanzo beans (you can soak the beans from their dry state if you would like…I just didn’t have time today!)
2 tablespoons of tahini
2 tablespoon of lemon juice
3 cloves of garlic
1 teaspoon of cumin
zest of one lemon
S/P to taste
1. Put lemon juice and tahini in your blender/food processor of your choice and blend. Make this a lightly and airy mixture.
2. Add 1/4 of the can of garbanzo beans, garlic, cumin, lemon zest and blend again. This should be a thick mixture.
3. Add Red Ace and 1/4 more can of garbanzos. Blend blend blend! Way thinner mixture now.
4. Add rest of garbanzos a little at a time, until you are left with creamy beet hummus.
5. Add s/p to taste!
BONUS: It’s so pretty!!! It’s Pink!!!
Jan1
Anyone that has been to a party in South Florida, has been privilegeto try the latin dessert dish called TresLeche (Three Milks). similarto the italian Tiramisu, TresLeche is typically a rich buttery sponge cake that is soaked with a rich beverage.Tiramisu uses espresso, TresLechesuses three milks (evaporated, condensed and whole milk). So the attempt to make this vegan and still keep the rich milky fatty consistencyis a challenge. And if you know me…I don’t really like to turn away from a challenge (plus I had a craving for TresLeches!). I tried to make this not only vegan but also as healthy and possible! This BY FAR IS MY MOST SUCCESSFUL RECIPE CREATION!!!!!
VEGAN TRESLECHES
ingredients:
1 can of full fat coconut milk (keep it in the fridge…you need it cold for later on in the recipe)
1.5 cups of whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup of raw sugar
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1/8 teaspoon of salt
1 cup of almond milk (vanilla sweetened)
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
1.25 teaspoon of vanilla extract
3/4 tablespoon of red wine vinegar
1/2 cup vanilla soy milk
1.5 teaspoon of agave
Making the cake:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly spray 8 x 8 baking dish with spray oil.
2. Mix all whole wheat pastry flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Create a well in the bowl and add the almond milk, veggie oil, vanilla extract and vinegar. Mix ingredients together but don’t over mix. Pour into oiled dish and bake for 30 minutes.
3. Allow cake to cool for 1 hour and then stab it a lot! Technically you are making holes for the milk to soak into, but it’s much more fun to just say STAB IT!
Stabbed Cake!
4.Gently remove can of coconut milk from the fridge. Open it and scoop off the creamy fatty part of the coconut milk. This is normally the semi-solid part on the top of the can. Separate this part out and put it into a large metal bowl (one that you can whip into later on). Put this section back in the fridge to be whipped up as the last part.
5. Next you will make the milk part that you will pour over the stabbed cake. Take 1 cup of the watery coconut milk (the stuff left in the can) and 1/2 cup of vanilla soy milk and the 1.5 teaspoons of agave nectar. Mix together and then pour over cake.
6. Check it out…the cake will look weird…..
Immediately after pouring milk
7. Let cake sit in fridge for about an hour to absorb the milk.
8. Meanwhile take the coconut fat from the fridge. Whip it with a whisk to your desired consistency and pour over the top of the cake once most of the milk as been absorbed.
9. I couldn’t help myself and ate part of this cake before letting it sit. But it’s best to let sit over night.
Dec31
Everyone asks me what I crave after being vegan and it’s definitely not what I expected. I went from eating red meat about 4 times a week, to following a plant basedwhole foods diet. And my top two cravings are seafood and caesar salads. I satisfy the seafood craving by putting Old Bay Seasoning on things, haha! But the caesar dressing is something that I have struggled to master….so much that I normally just go to The Top and buy the salad instead of making my own. Well I think I got it good this time!!!
Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing
2tablespoon of lemon juice
1 tablespoonof Dijon dressing
7 cloves of roasted garlic (this seems like a lot, but roasting them mellows them out..so you need more!)
1 teaspoon of tamari
1 teaspoon of nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon of white pepper
3 tablespoons of olive oil
Mix all ingredients together in your favorite food processor/blender/ or hell…just shake it really well in a mason jar.
I like my caesar salad to include : romaine lettuce, tomatoes, pine nuts and this dressing. The pine nuts replace the nutty flavor of the parmesan cheese. Toss everything together and serve chilled. Yummy!!!
Dec30
1. It’s really cold out!
2. There is a nasty winter cold going out.
3. Casserole dishes = leftovers for friends/families.
All of these add together and make it perfect timing to release this recipe that was attempted 3 times before it was perfectly. WARNING: this recipe does not follow the Zenplicityguidelines of being 5 ingredients or less and simple. But it’s so worth it!!
VEGAN POT PIE
Crust:
- 3 cups whole wheat pastryflour (orignalrecipe called for white all-purpose flour but I tried this to make it slightly better)
- 2/3 cup cold water
- 1 1/3 cups olive oil (orginalrecipe called for Earth Balance, which I will admit makes a much flakier crust, but I just couldn’t bring myself to enjoy the Earth Balance knowing that there are healthier options)
Filing:
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 2 cups mirepoix (diced carrots, onion, celery…..make your life easy…Trader Joes sells this already prepped in their produce department)
- 1 large sweet potato (raw, with skin, diced)
- 1 cup of frozen pea, carrot blend, corn blend
- 1 1/2 tablespoon all purposeflour (don’t substitute another flour for this thickener, but if you have arrowroot on hand, you can use 1 tablespoon of that instead)
- olive oil, as needed
- 5cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon marjoram
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1 tablespoon of nutritional yeast
- salt and pepper to taste
- 6 ounces extra-firm tofu diced(you don’t have to have this, if you don’t want it)
How the Magic Happens:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and get an 8 x 8 casserole dish out.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Saute the diced tofu to brown on all sides (I normally cook with stainless steel cookware…but when I saute tofu, I actually use a non stick coated pan, since tofu tends to stick to the pan).
3. Add mirepoixand garlic and continue to saute(adding more olive oil if needed).Saute until the onions are clear. Do not burn the garlic…I will hate you for that!
4. Add veggie broth, peas, carrots, corn,sweet potato, marjoram, cumin, thyme, nutritional yeast and s/p. continue to saute over medium heat until potatoes are tender but not soft. Finally add flour and let mixture simmer while making the dough (hopefully it doesn’t take you longer than 5 minutes).
5. Mix dough ingredients together and then press out onto a floured surface (messy but fun!!!) Press into a 8″ x 8″ square (so that it fits th top of your casserole dish.
6. Pour veggie mixture into casserole dish and then place the dough on the top. Use a fork to press the theedges down to seal in the veggie goodness (and to create those old school pie crust patterns hehe).
7. Bake for 30 minutes (let sit for 10 minutes and then tear it apart like a great white feeding frenzing!)
Dec26
I won! I finally won!!! Hehe after tons of competingwith Carly for Vegan Iron Chef Status and only winning once. this was a big win for me. This recipe won the Zen Fitness Holiday Party Vegan Dish competition. I got the inspiration from vegetarianTimes Magazine, but of course has to make it a little better for our oh-so-sophisticated palates. hehehehe!!!
Drum roll please……..
VEGAN CHOCOLATE CASHEW BRITTLE
- 2 cupsraw granulated sugar (I prefer unrefined can sugar)
- 1 cup agave syrup
- 3 cups raw cashew pieces
- 2 tbls coconut oil
- 2 tbls baking soda
- 1 tbls vanilla extract
- 12 ounces dark dairy-free chocolate
1. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Grease the parchment withcoconut oil. Set aside.
2. Place the sugar and agave syrup in a microwave-safe bowl, stirring well to combine. Microwave on high for 3 minutes, remove the bowl and stir vigorously, then return the bowl to the microwave and microwave for 2 minutes longer. Remove the bowl and add the cashews andcoconut oilstirring well to combine. Return the bowl to the microwave and microwave on high for 30-45 seconds, or until the mixture is a deep golden amber in color. Remove the bowl carefully (mixture will be VERY hot) from the microwave, and quickly stir in the baking soda and vanilla, until the mixture is well combined and bubbles and foams. (Hello arm workout!!!) Pour the mixture onto the prepared sheet and allow the brittle to cool completely for about 30 minutes or until set. Break the brittle into pieces of desired size.
3. Melt the chocolate in a double boiler, a stainless steel bowl set over a pan of boiling water, or the microwave. Using a fork, drizzle and sling that chocolate all over your brittle. Allow the chocolate to set completely before serving, about 1-2 hours (this can be expedited by placing the candies in the refrigerator if necessary). Serve at room temperature.
Nov26
One of the questions that I get asked the most is “well if you are vegan…what do you actually eat!?!”. As much as I would love to ask “tree bark with a side of grass”…I know that is my sarcasm coming out, and that I should be a little more patient. Afterall, not everyone knows what a planted based vegan is.
I remember when I first began eating vegan, I got “stuck” on a few different dishes that I loved and I ate them time after time after time. But one of the most important things, and one of the most rewarding, is that a vegan diet should consist of a variety of many different things. I specially like to eat seasonally and I tend to prefer salty over sweet. So on that note…here is a sample week meal plan from me!
Sample Unsupersize Me Daily Eating
**We intentionally did not put serving sizes on these meals, because you can have as much of it as you would like!
**Recipes can be found on the Unsupersize Me By Zen Fitness Blog
Monday
Breakfast: Oatmeal with cashew butter, all fruit preserves and agave nectar, Coffee with Almond Milk, OJ
Snack: Raisins and Pistachio mix
Lunch: Spinach Salad with Tomato, Avocado and Balsamic Dressing.
Snack: Lemon Garlic Hummus with Grape Tomatoes and Pita Chips
Dinner: Sautéed Squash, Red Onion, Zucchini, and Bok Choyin Sesame Oil and Tamari, Served over brown rice. Topped with Pine Nuts
Dessert: Frozen Blueberries with Almond Milk and Pecan Butter
Tuesday
Breakfast: Peaches and Cream Oatmeal, Coffee with Almond Milk, Ruby Red Grapefruit Juice
Snack: Energy Date Coconut Balls
Lunch: Vegan Asian Caprese Salad with Tofu, Tomato, Basil and Mint
Snack: Spicy Kale Chips
Dinner: Vegan Sheppard’s Pie
Dessert: Strawberry Banana with Almond Smoothie
Wednesday
Breakfast: Whole Wheat Rice Cake with Macadamia Nut Butter, Coffee with Almond Milk, Citrus Ambrosia Juice from Farmers Market
Snack: Seasonal Fresh Apple
Lunch: Black Bean and Corn Salsa over Mixed Greens
Snack: Vegan Cheesy Popcorn
Dinner: Black Bean Soup with Yucca
Dessert: Frozen Grapes
Thursday
Breakfast: Tropical Fruit Salad, Coffee with Almond Milk, OJ
Snack: Apple Ginger Coleslaw
Lunch: Brussels Sprout Salad with Avocado and Pumpkin Seeds
Snack: Cashew Cheese Dip with Veggies
Dinner: Green Tomato Pasta Sauce over Brown Rice Pasta
Dessert: lemon Coconut Squares
Friday
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Strawberries, Chai Tea with Soy Milk, Apple Cider
Snack: Mint Watermelon Salad
Lunch: Mango Quinoa Salad
Snack: Greek Lemon Potatoes
Dinner: Vegan Pizza
Dessert: Baked Apples
Saturday
Breakfast: Whole Wheat Rice Cake with Cashew Butter and Agave, Chai Tea with Soy Milk, Apple Cider
Snack: Cucumber Mint Salad
Lunch: Sliced Avocado, Tomato, with Wasabi Green Goddess Dressing
Snack: Yucca with Nutritional Yeast
Dinner: Wild Mushroom Saute over Wild Rice
Dessert: Vegan Almond Joys
Sunday
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Strawberries, Chai Tea with Soy Milk, OJ
Snack: Mint Watermelon Salad
Lunch: Crock Pot Beans and Greens (save left overs for lunches!)
Snack: Spicy Roasted Sweet Potato Chips
Dinner: Pumpkin Curry Red Lentils
Dessert: Carrot/Apple/beet juice
Nov26
These Recipes are from older posts! Enjoy them like they are new to you!!!
Wasabi Green Goddess Dressing
Ok guys, I really whipped this up based on some flavors that I was craving and from a raving review from Carly on The Top’s dressing.
Game plan:
Took a tablespoon of wasabi powder (VEGAN!) and dissolved it in a few tablespoons of hot water
half an avocado
teaspoon of sesame oil
1/4 of white wine vinegar
lime juice (if you juice a lime for sauces of dressings…always zest it first! the zest tastes stronger than the juice and it rocks)
Then I raided my garden and pulled a bunch of herbs that would go well with the dressing:
garlic chives
cilantro
lemon balm
parsley
I put it all into my NINJA (if you don’t have one of these, I don’t consider you a friend….go immediately and buy one here http://www.ninjakitchen.com/cgi-bin/livew/site.w?location=b2c/retail-shop-list.w&cartaction=update&in_QB1004W=1&src=F156&payplan=NKM01A&frames=no&target=main&sponsor=000007
I blended it all up and it made a creamy herby dressing that had a kick at the end. YUMMY!!!
Vegan Peaches and Cream Oatmeal
Sometimes I get stuck in a rut and eat the same thing for a few days in a row. I like a new recipe, so I eat it until I hate it. This hasn’t happened with this breakfast yet, so I figured it might be worth a posting.
It’s such a simple dish, I feel silly for not thinking of it sooner.
Quaker Oats (regular, no sweetener, not quick oats, just the plain damn oats)
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup almond milk
handful of sliced peaches (you can use fresh….or you can buy the bag of frozen peaches)
a little agave
Throw everything in a small pot and heat it until the oatmeal has absorbed the liquid. Come on guys, you know how to make oatmeal!
Enjoy!! I probably eat this 4 mornings out of the week and it still hasn’t gotten old. Sometimes I throw some blueberry’s in there too
Caribbean Flava Chili with a Mango Plantain Salsa and Yucca Chip
Sorry I haven’t posted any recipes lately…I will make it up to you!!! haha
Ok here goes…..
Chili:
1 can red kidney beans drained
1 can black beans drained
1 can pigeon peas (find in the Goya section) NOT drained
**yeah, yeah, I know I should be starting with raw beans, but who has time for that!?!?!
1 Green Pepper
1 Red Pepper
1 Red Onion
1 Yellow Onion
6 cloves of garlic
2 jalapenos
coconut water
3 tomatoes diced
1 small can of tomato paste
Cumin
Paprika
Red Pepper Flake
Chili Powder
***friendly reminder that all ingredients should be organic, if you can afford it!****
1. Chop and Drop, Mr. Asse Style of cooking, onions, peppers, garlic, jalapeno into a pot and saute until the onion are almost translucent. This should take about 10-15 minutes and will make your house smell like onions. Fun!
2. Add tomatoes, fresh and paste. The liquid from the fresh tomatoes will work with the thick paste to form a nice thick sauce. Add the dry seasoning at this time. If you want it to be more smokey, add more cumin. More spicy, add more Chili powder, you get the idea….
3. Simmer for about 10 minutes, and when it thickens add some coconut water to thin it out.
4. Add red and black beans and simmer for 10 more minutes
5. Add Pigeon peas last (they are dainty and don’t need as long as the other beans) and simmer for the last 5 minutes
***rotate covering the pot and leaving it uncovered throughout the steps. When you cover it, it will make the sauce thin, lid off = thicker sauce***
Salsa for topping:
2 bananas
3 mangos
2 plantains (buy these from the freezer section from Goya)
1 jalapeno
Cilantro (come steal it from my garden if you want some fresh!)
Lime juice
1. Ok i’m going to keep this easy, chop everything, put it in a bowl and mix it up. If you would like, add a little Agave Syrup if you would like to sweeten it up.
Yucca Chip:
1. Buy a bag of the frozen yucca and boil a few of the pieces for about 15-20 minutes
2. Cut the yucca crosswise, to form small yucca chips
3. Place the cut yucca onto a oiled baking sheet (you know all about the olive oil rage…go with it)
4. Bake about 15-20 until crispy
5. Salt and use the pieces as garnish
Simple part:
1. put the chili in a bowl
2. put the salsa on top
3. place a few yucca chips on the side
4. put spoon in bowl….eat it!
I didn’t win the chili cook off with this recipe, but it was still enjoyed! I WILL win next time 🙂
Mocktail time!
Well as most of you already know, I gave up drinking (I know, I know, you can hardly believe it!). Every once in a while I still want something fun to knock back though. Tonight was one of those nights and this is what I came up with:
Put the following into a glass:
– 4 squeezed limes (this gave me about a cup of fresh squeezed lime juice)
– handful of Blueberries
– a small squirt of agave…not much and this could be eliminated if you wanted something really tart
– Ginger (fresh…grated with a microplane). I like the spice from Ginger so I grated about an 1/2 inch of the ginger root into the glass, but if you don’t like the “bite” from ginger, you shouldn’t do that much.
– Filled the glass with san pelligrino.
I then sat on my back patio and watched two squirrels attack one another until one of them finally just ran away. Sipping this mocktail and watching the squirrels made me realize that today wasn’t all that bad and that we all are lucky to certain people surround us. Enjoy!
Italian Style Black Bean Burgers
Ok so recently I was asked to make dinner for a bunch of personal trainers (read: a crowd of hungry guys that worked out all day and don’t necessarily find a big salad appetizing). I wanted to make something that is traditionally “manly” = burgers, but is still healthy and vegan. So I gave this recipe a shot….and it kinda worked, but be warned, they will fall apart, eat them open face style with tons of toppings and your guests won’t realize that the burger didn’t hold its form.
1. Saute following ingredients over medium heat in EVOO until soft
1 whole Yellow Onion
1 whole Green Pepper
1 whole Red Pepper
6 cloves Garlic
Set aside to cool
2. Cook brown rice as package describes
3. Mix the following ingredients in a large bowl:
(equal parts rice and beans)
Brown rice
Black Beans (drained and rinsed)
sautéed veggies
chopped sundried tomatoes (if these came in a jar, use the oil from the jar to moisten the rice…yummy!)
1/2 cup of basil (seems like a lot, but it’s good, so why skimp on it)
1 tbsp of chopped fresh oregano (the fresh stuff if stronger than dried, so be careful!)
Garlic Powder (to taste)
Onion Powder (to taste)
Red Pepper Flake (to taste, if you are making these for me….I like it spicy!)
secret ingredients that helped it bind together (1-6oz can of organic tomato paste)
Secret step that helped as well: cover bowl with all mixed ingredients and let sit overnight in the fridge. I originally did this just because I don’t have time to prep dinner and cook a dinner in the same night, so I prep the night before an event and then throw it together the day off. But in this case, it helped the ingredients to meld their flavors together and the “burgers” were easier to form.
Form mixtures into patties and BAKE. please don’t take something that is this healthy and then pan fry it….bake them! I put 9 on a sheet pan, so that they touched each other and held together when they baked. I baked them for 15 minutes on one side, then flipped (or tried to) and cooked for another 15 minutes. temp = 350.
I topped these with tons of different stuff!!
Roasted artichoke spread
sundriedtomatoes tempanade
carmelized red onions
sweet pepper bruschetta
Go crazy and have fun with this!
Vegan Stuffed Cabbage
For some reason, I felt like stinking up my entire house tonight with some stuffed cabbage. This is first time I made this recipe and it ended up being one of those that tasted good but looked bad. Oh well, I was so hungry by the time I finished that I ate it despite its appearance.
First, take one large head of cabbage (I like savoy cabbage because of the wrinkly leaves….holds the sauce better)
Boil the entire head of cabbage for about 5 minutes and then “shock it” (put it in a large bowl of ice water and cover with more ice) This will keep the cabbage bright green and pretty.
After cabbage has cooled remove the large outer leaves and dry them. Cut the vein out of the middle of the leaf, but don’t cut all the way through the leaf (just remove the stem vein).
Filling:
In a pan saute:
Pepper trio : red orange and yellow (these are my favs…I normally can pass on the green pepper, but do what you like)
Onion duo: red and yellow
Shallot
Garlic
EVOO/S
In a separate pot make some instant barley (make as much as you want, it holds well).
Once sauteed ingredients are nice and soft, mix in with barley.
Add small amount sesame oil, tamari, small amount chili oil, garlic powder, chopped parsley, and toasted pine nuts (chopped if you would like to stretch your dollar on this item, pine nuts aer expensive but have a strong flavor, chop them before adding into a dish to make the flavor go further).
This mixture should be wet and sticky but not sloppy (HAHA!)
Next take the cabbage leaves, add about 2 tbsp of the mixture into the middle of the leave and roll up like a burritos Put cabbage rolls into a baking dish (open side down). Place them somewhat tightly next to one another. Remember that since this is vegan, it’s missing the binding agent of the egg, so they will tend to loosen up when you bake them. Once all of the cabbage leaves are rolls and the baking dish is filled, bake at 300 for about 20 minutes.
Sauce for top (optional!)
Mix/mash all of the following ingredients in a sauce pan and simmer until warm:
Can of organic manzano tomatoes (mash them into the pan to make you own sauce)
garlic paste (buy this in the tube, yes, it is expensive, but so worth it!)
red pepper flake
onion powder
brown sugar (gasp!….every italian known that red sauce has sugar in it)
golden raisins (just try it!)
Pour sauce over the cabbage rolls and bake for 10 more minutes.
you are done and have successfully stunk you your house. Invest in a kitchen candle 🙂
Cucumber Mint Salad
Got a sh*t ton of cucumbers this morning at the Farmers Market. BTW, if you are in Gainesville and go to the Farmer’s Market, please go to the one on Saturday and Sundays at 441, it’s not as pretty but you get the best deals, and the real farmers are there, not just the hippy chicks selling their soaps.
Ok cucumber mint salad is something that I eat regularly and I have served it for a vegan brunch item, so here goes it:
4 large cucumbers (you can peel them if you like)
1 small red onion
1 tbsp of fresh chopped dill
1/4 of a cup of torn mint leaves (don’t chop mint, because you bruise it and it’s ugly then…tear it!)
2 tbsp of EVOO
1/2 tsp of agave
lime juice (as much as you like)
Chop cucumbers and onion, put in bowl. Mix dressing separately and then pour over cucumbers. Top with mint. Some people take the seeds out of the cucumbers before mixing. I personally hope that if I eat the cucumber seeds I will grow a cucumber in my belly, so I eat them 🙂
Creamy Roasted Shallot Dressing
This is a dressing that was amazing on a huge spinach salad. To be honest, when I made this salad I honestly just had spinach, tomatoes and this dressing. A little boring, but the flavor is good!
2 whole shallots (peeled) Roast in tin foil with a little bit of EVOO in the in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes. Make sure to wrap the shallots in foil with a little bit of the oil
1 tbsp of cashew butter
1 tsp of lemon juice
chopped chives from my garden (yeah you can come by and steal some from my garden if you live close enough)
After the shallots have cooled off, put all of the ingredients into the food processor (You all know how I love my Ninja), blend away. If this dressing is too thick, add more EVOO.
Enjoy
Vegan “honey” mustard dressing
I’m going to use this notes section in Facebook to jot down some of my favorite recipes. People have been asking me for them, and honestly I forget them after I make it once. Now I’m going to try to keep track of them and share with everyone!
Vegan “Honey” Mustard Dressing
2 tbsp of PublixGreenwise Tangy Dijon Mustard
1 tbsp of Light Agave
1 tbsp of Normandy Cider Vinegar (yes this is picky and only available at Fresh Market, but I love it. You can substitute any apple cider vinegar)
1 tbsp of EVOO
S/P
Whisk while putting the oil into the bowl so that it doesn’t separate (some fancy folk call that emulsifying the dressing….but get it over it, just whisk it in the bowl so that it doesn’t separate).
I just realized that I’m able to add photo’s to this notes section in Facebook. Too bad I already ate all of this dressing while typing this! But I promise to have more photos with future recipes.
Black Bean and Corn Salsa….I put this on everything
I recently noticed that there is a stable friend in my fridge that never leaves but is always eaten. It’s the black bean and corn salsa that is easy to make and can be eaten alone, on a salad, on veggies, with chips, with your hands, on your shoe….you get the idea!
1 can black beans drained and rinsed (you can use fresh if you want)
2 ears of roasted corn cut off the cob (you can use canned if you want)
1 bunch of cilantro (from my garden…please don’t steal all of it! haha)
2 limes squeezed by hand (don’t be a wimp and use those juicer)
4 Roma tomatoes diced (I like romas but you can use anything you want)
Garlic! Raw or roasted, you can choose
Salt
This should use Mr. Asse’s “chop and drop” method. Chop up everything, put it in the bowl and mix it up. I eat it cold and love it!
