Edamame Salad

I spent the last week cooking for 150 people. I should clarify, I was one of three cooks. I was excited that 4 of us were vegan/vegetarian. But since I spent 16-20 hours a day in the kitchen while at girls camp, I haven't had a chance to blog since returning. I have been spending most of my time sleeping (imagine that).

                                             

Today I made  edamame salad. It was a recipe my sister made for me when I was visiting her last month. This recipe is so good I have already made it 2-3 times since returning home. Here is a link to her awesome recipe.

Mushroom and Spinach Stuffed Shells

I love to cook. I went to lunch with my good friend Nancy yesterday and on the way there she said that since she cooks for everyone else, she doesn't like to cook for herself. I am all for cooking for others, but if I get to the point where I don't wanna cook for myself - I don't get to eat. Being vegan in an extremely rural area means making most of my food all of the time. I am so excited to tell you that this recipe comes together in about 30 minutes of prep time and just needs 30 minutes to bake. Here is what you need:

 

18 jumbo shells

1 can of Hunts Garlic and Herb Pasta Sauce (or your own favorite sauce - keep in mind making it from scratch will add time to the recipe)

1 cup Daiya shreds (mozzarella flavored)

 

Filling:

5 oz frozen spinach (cooked according to package directions)

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 cup sweet onion, diced

1 Tbs olive oil

1-2 cloves garlic

1 block of super firm tofu (refrigerated kind)

2 Tbs lemon juice

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes

 

Sauté the mushrooms, garlic and onions in the olive oil. While that is cooking take a fork and crumble the tofu. Once the onions are tender and translucent stir the onion, garlic mushroom mixture as well as the cooked spinach, lemon juice, nutritional yeast flakes, salt and pepper. It should look something like this.

 

The next couple of steps should be pretty obvious, but you will want to take the cooled shells, don't try to do it with hot shell, and stuff them.  You will need to grease a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and place a layer of sauce in the bottom of the pan. Next using a spoon fill the shells and place them in the pan. A 9x13 pan will fit 18 shells.

Pour the rest of the can of sauce over the shells once they are all in the pan and sprinkle with the Daiya mozzarella shreds.

Bake 30 minutes at 350 degrees. Serve while hot and enjoy!

Pulled Jackfruit

This week I have been doing everything I can to prepare for girls camp. I have done loads and loads of laundry, as well as shopping and even some cooking ahead of time. I got the menu this week and I noticed pulled pork on the menu. In the last 3 years I have made a lot of things, but veg pulled pork wasn't one of them. So I turned to my good friend (the internet) for some ideas. Let me just say there are some extremely creative people out there when it comes to this. I saw some using seitan or other mock meats, others using oyster mushrooms but the most interesting, to me at least, was canned jackfruit. It was new to me which I found scary but also a little exciting. So I took myself to the Asian food market and plopped down $1.49 for a can of green jackfruit in brine. All the blogs said not to get the one in syrup but instead to get one in either water or brine, so that's what I did. 

Next I opened the can and drained off the brine and rinsed it we'll. the next thing I did was take the center more firm part off. Now some people used knives for this step but I just used my hands. I also shredded the fruit as I went and removed any seeds or pods as I went. It looked something like this.

Next I mixed together a rub. I used:

1tsp granulated garlic

1tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp chili powder

1tsp paprika

1/2 tsp ground mustard

I just stirred all the spices together and rubbed it into the "meat". Next I cut up some onion and cooked it in a little bit of olive oil until it was soft and starting to caramelize. Add in the seasoned "meat" and continue to cook an additional 5 minutes. Next you add in about 1/2 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce. Simmer for about 20 minutes. Spray a baking sheet with oil and spread in a thin layer. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve on your favorite roll. Enjoy and Happy Independence Day!

Red Pepper and Bacun Cashew Cream Cheeze

This stuff is amazing! I made this for my birthday breakfast and I was not disappointed. I chose to spread it on an everything bagel- it was so good. You will need a high speed blender or food processor. Here is what else you need:

1 1/2 cups raw, organic cashews (soaked overnight)

1-2 cloves garlic

1/4 cup pure water

2 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp bacon salt ( I like JD's)

1/4 cup minced red bell pepper

Drain soaking liquid off your cashews. Add the first 5 ingredients and process until smooth. Stir in the diced pepper. Refrigerate before serving. Enjoy!

Ps. I know I usually have a picture for ya, but I accidentally ate it all without photographing it. It's that good!

Bacun, Spinach and Tomato Tofu Scramble

Ok so I admit I added a few more veggies to the scramble than just spinach and tomato, but I was going for a BLT kinda scramble. Here is what you need:

a handful of spinach, chopped
2 mushrooms, sliced
1 Roma tomato, chopped
1/8 cup diced red onion
3-4 pieces of tofu bacon
a small piece of bell pepper, diced
1/2 block of tofu ( I used extra firm, refrigerated tofu)
1/2 Tbs soy milk powder  plus 4 Tbs of water (I was out of soymilk, you could just use 4Tbs of your favorite non-dairy milk)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes

I placed the tofu, soymilk powder, water, and nutritional  yeast flakes in a small food chopper to blend. If you like a chunkier scramble you could just mash your tofu with a fork and leave out the milk, but please don't leave out the nutritional yeast. Mix all the rest of the ingredients together and add to the tofu mixture. Add to a heated and oiled skillet and cook until brown on one side, about 5-6 minutes, before stirring up. Continue cooking until at least half of the tofu is browned. Serve immediately. Enjoy!

Bacun Tofu

This is such an easy recipe I almost feel guilty calling it a blog post/recipe.  I took a lot of pictures though, so maybe that will help make up for the fact that it is super simple and not really a recipe. I will say that having the right stuff on hand is imperative. The first thing you need is JD's Bacon Salt. It is totally veg and tastes amazing.

Ok next item is super firm tofu, the refrigerated kind.  I like to buy organic, but that is up to you. You wanna slice it as thin as you can. I usually do a half a package at a time. If you are feeding 1-3 people a half a package is plenty - but if you are cooking for more (or like leftovers- feel free to slice the whole package). I took a picture of the tofu sliced. Don't worry if it isn't perfect. It will still taste really good!

The next step should be overly obvious - You need to get the bacon salt on the tofu. I like it on both sides. So I usually lay it out and sprinkle it on (yes the container has a shaker top) and then flip over all the pieces and shake some more on. You can over do it with the bacon salt, so try not to over coat it (or else it will be really salty - it is called bacon salt after all). I included a photo so you can see how heavy I season it.

 

You guessed it the next step is to fry the tofu. I use a skillet and a little olive oil over medium high heat. Let the skillet and oil get hot, but not smoking before adding the tofu to the skillet. I usually cook it about 4-5 minutes on each side ( or until it gets a good crust).

 

I like to put the cooked tofu on a paper towel, to rest while cooking the rest. I don't have a skillet big enough to cook it all at once. You can serve right away, or continue to let it rest. It is great in a vegan quiche, tofu scramble, or even a BLT. Enjoy!

 

 

Quinoa salad

I made this salad for a branch dinner on the grounds a few months ago and didn't realize that I never posted it. I know it has been a while since I posted and honestly it didn't feel like almost a year to me. I started substitute teaching last year and while I loved it- I have never had a job without a regular schedule. I worked a lot of days (more than most I'm told). Some day's I knew in advance if I was working and where, but there were more days than I would have liked I got a call the morning of to tell me which school I would be working at. It was an interesting school year. I worked at 6 different schools in my county throughout the school year and also managed to get an afterschool job 2 days a week, where I actually got paid to teach students how to play soccer. It was a blast! Ok enough about me -  Here's the recipe:

                                                   

Ingredients

1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled

1/2 pound asparagus (raw)

1 ear of corn (kernels cut off, but not cooked)

1/2 onion

1/2 lb of cherry tomatoes (cut in half)

1/4 cup lime olive oil (I got mine at the Olive Oil Store)

1/4 cup grapefruit vinegar (I got mine at the Olive Oil Store)

 

Whisk oil and vinegar together to make a dressing.  Mix all the other ingredients together in a large bowl and drizzle with the dressing. Mix well and serve immediately or refrigerate overnight before serving. Enjoy!

Almond Joy Cookies

I made these cookies twice last week! They are so good. Before going vegan almond joy candy bars were my favorite. These cookies are chewy and delicious and fill my chocolate, coconut and almond cravings perfectly. Here is what you need:

2 cups flour

1/4 cup cocoa powder

1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

1/2 cup vegetable shortening 

1/2 cup Earth Balance or your favorite non-dairy butter substitute

1 tsp baking soda 

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup of sugar

3 tsp vanilla extract

3tsp egg replacer powder mixed with 6 TBS water

1 cup chocolate chips 

1/2 cup of almonds, chopped

1/2 cup almonds whole

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Str together the flour, cocoa powder, coconut, salt and baking soda in a large bowl and set aside.

In another bowl beat together Earth Balance, shortening, sugar, vanilla and egg replacer powder mixture. 

Add in the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until combined. Stir in chocolate chips and chopped almonds.

Form cookies on the sheet and one whole almond on top of each cookie. Bake 7 minutes, remove from heat and cool. Enjoy

Makes about 20 cookies

Mac n Cheese

I have my nieces this weekend and we are doing a vegan cooking school. Two years ago, the week before I went vegan, we did a cooking camp at my house and we made mac n cheese with ham in it. The girls were in heaven and it was my last hooray so to speak. I felt awful that whole week. I had already committed to changing the way I eat before they came, but the menus were planned and the shopping done. This year we decided to have cooking school again this time it's vegan cooking school! We don't have a whole week this time since school is in, but we do have a whole weekend. We took extra caution to plan meals my 3 year old niece would eat since she does not like veggies and will be eating the older girls cooking while her parents are out of town. It was of course decided that we needed to make mac n cheese again. I would say it was a hit. Everyone ate seconds and Ava ( the 3 year old) asked for and ate most of her third plate. This is definitely a kid friendly dish and super easy to make. Mom's please don't shake your head at me I also fed them a huge salad and everyone but Ava ate the salad.

Here is what you need:

1 1/2 lbs macaroni noodles

1 1/2 cups soy milk

1 1/2 cups nutritional yeast flakes

1 cup water

1 cup oil

3 oz tofu ( not silken tofu)

1 Tbs. garlic powder

1 Tbs. paprika

2 tsp. salt

1 dollop of mustard

Boil water in a large pot and cook pasta according to directions on box. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place all ingredients ( minus the macaroni) in the blender and process until smooth. I use my Blendtec  and the sauce button. Pour "cheese" sauce over the cooked pasta. Bake until the top of the pasta is slightly browned and crispy, about 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Cornbread

This is the only cornbread recipe that I have ever made that came out right. I found the recipe on food.com and adapted it slightly to fit what I had on hand. This is literally the best cornbread I think I have ever had! Here is what you need:

3 tsp Ener G egg replacer powder
6 Tbs water
1 cup unbleached flour
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup sugar
4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup soymilk
1/4 cup oil                                                  

                                          

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Spray an 8x8 baking dish with Pam. Mix together the Ener G powder and the water until frothy. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and mix until combined. Pour into pan and bake for 25 minutes. Enjoy!

 

Homemade Ranch Dressing

1 cup of tofu sour cream
1/2 cup grapeseed oil veganise
2 Tbs dill weed

Mix together and enjoy

Potato Pancakes

A few weeks ago I had Potato Pancakes at Ethos Vegan Kitchen and while they were good they tasted a bit sweet. Ever since that day I have been thinking about what I would have done differently. Now don't get me wrong the potato pancakes at Ethos are delicious, but they are more pancakes with potatoes in them than cakes made of potatoes. I set out to make the perfect potato pancake. I even invited my mom over for breakfast so that I would have the non veg perspective on these. The recipe made 10 and we ate each and every one of them! They turned out really well, here is what you need:

 

2 cups shredded potatoes

1/2 cup diced onion

1 Tbs Freeze dried chives or 3 Tbs fresh chives, chopped

1 1/2 tsp Ener G egg replacer powder

2 Tbs water

3 oz shredded vegan cheese

Olive oil ( for cooking)

 

In a larger bowl mix the egg replacer powder and water together until frothy. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Heat some olive oil in a large skillet and add the potato mixture in the shape of patties. Cook until golden brown on both sides. Serve with homemade ranch dressing.

 

 

Chickpea Salad

This year for my birthday my mom gave me one of her mixing bowls I have been coveting for 25 plus years. She has had the bowl as long as I can remember and as a young girl I always dreamed it would be mine. I always thought it was special when she would let me use it growing up and knowing my love for the bowls she gifted them to me.

July was also a special month for me because I hit my 2 year vegaversary. I went to lunch yesterday at Ethos in Winter Park to celebrate. While the food was good- I kept thinking: my food is just as good! 

One thing is for sure the longer you cook veg the better it gets! This is a take on "tuna salad" from the Happy Herbivore cookbook. I didn't have some of the ingredients they called for so I rolled up my sleeves and put on my thinking cap. Here is what you need:

1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed 

1 stalk of celery, finely diced

1/2 small onion , finely diced

1/4 cup chopped olives ( green or black)

1 tsp smoked salt

Pepper to taste

Veganise ( the amount needed depends on how wet you want your salad)

In a mixing bowl mash the chickpeas with a fork. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix. Serve immediately or chill first if desired. Enjoy!

Veggie Pot Pie

Before going vegan I would eat chicken pot pie at least once a month; it was one of my favorite foods. It hit me this week that I could totally make it without the chicken- so I did! I'm not sure why it took me almost two years to figure it out, but I will say I won't let that happen again . Here is what you need: 

2 pre-made crusts ( be careful to check for animal products when buying I didn't see any in the Publix brand. 

1/2 bag of frozen peas and carrots

1 onion, diced

8 oz mushrooms, sliced

1/2 cup of tofu 

1/8 cup of non-dairy milk

1 Tbs olive oil

1/2 Tbs diced garlic 

1-2 potatoes, diced and cooked ( can used can potatoes in a hurry)

1-2 veggie bouillon 

In a blender puree the tofu and non-dairy milk. 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and pre-bake your bottom crust ( about 10-12 minutes)

Sautée your onion, mushrooms  and garlic in the olive oil, once onions are translucent add in the frozen veggies, tofu mixture, bouillon cubes and potatoes. Cook for a minute or two to heat through. Pour into pre-baked crust and cover with remaining crust. Poke a couple of vents into the top crust and bake until golden brown (10-12 minutes). Enjoy!

Cookie Butter Oatmeal

I like to read VegNews as soon as it arrives I am tearing through it... maybe it's because I feel even more isolated now that I've moved. It's weird for me to be home and vegan. My dad is trying not to tell me I'm crazy too much I'm sure but it's way more obvious I'm different daily living with him. The differences weren't as apparent while I was living alone, but back to the oatmeal. Living with dad we eat a lot of oatmeal. While reading through the latest VegNews I saw an article about vegan teens I found it inspiring as most of them admitted that their friends are not vegan. A few of them were asked what their favorite foods are and I was slightly surprised to see oatmeal listed. I was also excited for a new way to make oatmeal. While reading her ingredients I was perplexed as I had no idea what cookie butter was, my mom and I had a discussion about it and instead of turning to my good friend Mr. Internet we assumed it was a typo. Let me assure you it is NOT a typo. Cookie butter is amazing. We drove to Gainesville for my birthday last week and while wondering around Trader Joes I was surprised and delighted to see cookie butter sitting on the shelf. The only mistake I made was not buying more than one jar. Back to the oatmeal - here us what you need:

1 cup oatmeal

2 cups chai tea( next time I won't sweeten it)

2tsp cookie butter

1 handful of dried cranberries

1/4 cup walnuts

Now if you have the magazine you will see some slight variations ( I used what I had and didn't add the peanut butter), but trust me on this and use 1 tsp less cookie butter and replace it with peanut butter if you like.

Brew the tea and then cook the oatmeal in the tea. Stir in the rest of the ingredients and enjoy!

Pear Crisp

A super easy but delicious dessert. I was at Vive La Verde this week picking up some produce and the owner gave me 4 pears on my way out the store. He was a little perplexed when I told him I like my pears crunchy, but thought that they were perfect for baking (he is a raw vegan). Perfect for baking they were. I just peeled and sliced them and placed them in the bottom of a loaf pan. Poured a small amount of brown sugar over them. For the topping I used:
 2 tablespoons of Earth Balance Spread
1/4 cup of chopped walnuts
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of Oats

I melted the spread in the microwave and then placed all the ingredients in a bowl to mix it together and poured it on top of the pears. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees. Enjoy.

One Pot Pasta

This is a super easy and delicious one pot meal. Anyone who knows me, knows that I love a meal all in the same pot cause I hate to do dishes. Here is what you need.

 

1 pkg of fresh mushrooms sliced

1 can of diced tomatoes with basil and garlic with liquid

2 tsp olive oil

1 large sweet onion

2 pkg of asparagus

3  cloves of garlic, diced

I box of Fettuccini noodles

4 1/2 cups vegetable broth ( or 4 1/2 cups of water and two veggie bullion cubes)

1 tsp red pepper flakes

5 oz fresh spinach

1/8 cup of fresh basil cut into strips

 

 

Put all ingredients into the pan and bring it to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer, place a lid on it and cook 10 minutes. Stirring every few minutes. I served with crescent rolls and pear crisp.

 

 

Happy St. Patrick's Day

This was always my favorite holiday growing up. We never had a lot of money and for some reason my mom only bought corned beef brisket once a year. It was my favorite of all meats. I am still not sure why I loved it so much, but my obsession got so bad that I used to order it whenever I was somewhere that offered it on the menu.  It became a compulsion to try the corned beef no matter where I was. My best friend used to pick on me because it didn’t matter if it came in a sandwich, a hash or as a main course I would order it wherever we went.

Last year for St. Patrick’s Day I had my first stumble. I was about six months into being Vegan and so far I had done really well and not cheated at all. I went to Brunch with a friend from college at Biscotti’s in Avondale. I took one look at the Brunch menu and my heart sunk. There it was corned beef hash with eggs and toast. My go to menu item. I frantically started searching the menu for something else to order, the only problem was that once I saw the hash I couldn’t get it out of my mind. I did see fresh fruit on the menu, but not another item that would be vegan. Thinking I had made it six months and deserved a treat I made the decision to order the hash. To this day I am not sure if it was the eggs or the corned beef, but I got sick! Needless to say I was not ready to cheat again for quite a while.

Arriving at church today and seeing a sea of green I realized that my favorite holiday had snuck up on me this year. I of course was NOT wearing green but worst of all I didn’t have a meal planned for dinner. After returning home from church I started looking online for recipe ideas. I came across a recipe for vegan corned beef on The Peaceful Kitchen and had most of the ingredients, so I decided to modify it a bit and give it a try. The flavor was really good, but it didn’t hold together quite as nice as I would like, so I stirred some into my cooked cabbage instead of eating it on the side. I had potatoes earlier, so I didn’t see the need to have them again, but did cook some green beans to go along with my cabbage and vegan corned beef. I am excited that there is enough left over “corned beef” to make hash in the morning. I should have time too since I start my new job tomorrow, but not until 9:30 am. Here is what you need for the corned beef:

1 15 ounce can Kidney Beans

1 cup cooked brown rice

½ cup walnuts

½ cup nutritional yeast flakes

2 Tablespoons of coconut flour (I put coconut into my wheat grinder, not a great idea, it got a little sticky)

1 teaspoon ground caraway seed (I threw this into the wheat grinder to try to force out the coconut, it worked but not well)

1 teaspoon of Spike brand seasoning

½ teaspoon of mustard powder

½ Tablespoon of Onion Powder

¼ teaspoon of ground cloves

1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar

½ Tablespoon molasses

1 Tablespoon of Bragg’s liquid amino acids

2 Tablespoons olive oil

In a food processor pulse the walnuts until broken down. Add in the rest of the ingredients and run until well combined. Form mixture into a load and place on a well-oiled cookie sheet, oil the sides and top of the loaf and bake for 40 minutes in a 350° oven. Take out and slice thinly and bake another 10 minutes. Mine kind of crumbled, so I am not sure if I needed more liquid. If you want you could add up to a half a cup of vegetable broth for a moister loaf.

Rejuvelac

I was out having dinner with friends tonight and the topic of veganism came up, not surprising. We were talking about making cheese and then i saw a post on twitter about Rejuvelac. I decided that it was as good a time to post this recipe as any, since it is a starter ingredient for making your own cheese.
To make your own Rejuvelac all you need is 1 cup of whole grains, a glass jar and filtered water. I used 1/3 cup brown rice, 1/3 cup rye berries and 1/3 cup of wheat berries. Put grains in a jar and cover with water, put a paper towel over the mouth of the jar and tie off with a rubber band. Let soak 8-12 hours before draining. Add a small amount of water and keep in a warm place out of sunlight until tails form (about 2-3 days) rinsing the grains twice a day.

Divide sprouts into two jars and cover with 3 cups of filtered water in each jar. Cover with paper towels and rubber bands and leave in a warm place out of sunlight for another 2-3 days. It will look kind of cloudy and white and smell tart like lemon juice when done. Strain liquid into clean glass jars and store up to 4 weeks in the fridge.

I'll be posting a cheese recipe in a few days. Enjoy!

Let them eat spinach

Soup that is! The weather turned cool again today, which surprised me since it is the middle of March in Florida. Typically this time of year the weather is warm to downright hot! Since that is not the case, I thought I would take what may be my last chance to eat soup while the weather is still cool. Soup always reminds me of my childhood, where we only had soup whenever the weather was cool, and never in the summer. My mother used to say that she didn’t want to eat something hot while the weather is warm. Maybe it was growing up in the South, where when the weather is hot it is scorching, but more likely it was the fact that we didn’t have central heat and air. This soup is quick, easy but most important delicious. Here is what you need:

1 can of Great Northern Beans
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 cups of sliced mushrooms
1 onion, diced
2 Tbs olive oil
2 tsp minced garlic
3 cups of Vegetable Broth
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 Sweet Potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes
8 oz Spinach
 

Start with a large soup pot and add in the oil, garlic and onion. Cook about 5 minutes before adding in the potatoes. Continue cooking until potatoes are soft but not mushy add in the rest of the ingredients and simmer 10 minutes. Enjoy!