Tag Archives: easy vegan

Falafel Pizza

This is a fun & fresh lunch to share and it’s super easy to make.

Where I live there are some amazing falafel places, so I don’t bother making my own. You can for sure, but for this recipe I use Fantastic World Foods Falafel Mix – you just add water and wait a few minutes until it firms up a little.

Prep Time: 20 minutes / Cook Time: 20-25 Minutes / Total Time: 1 hour

For the Falafel Crust

Preheat Oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

Packaged Falafel Mix – I use Fantastic World Foods Brand – Prep according to package directions. Instead of making balls, line a cookie sheet with parchment and gather the firm mixture and flatten it out. You should end up with about a 12” crust, about ½” thick. Bake in a 375-degree Fahrenheit preheated oven for about 25 minutes. The bottom should be lifting from the parchment and it should slide, not stick, when pushed. Let cool at room temperature.

Herbed Yogurt Dressing

1 cup plain plant-based yogurt (regular…greek-style is too thick)

2 Tbsp lemon juice

Sprinkle of dried dill, oregano, black pepper, and salt

Stir and let rest

Veggie Toppings

I go with the classics, Kalamata olives, tomatoes, cucumber, a little spring mix, spiralized zucchini, red bell peppers, red onion…etc.

The Build

After the falafel crust cools spread a layer of your hummus of choice. At this point, I prefer to cut the crust into 6 or 8 slices and plate them and build the salad on top (as pictured)…slicing through all those layers will just crush the whole thing. Pile the veggies on and dress with the yogurt sauce and a grind or two of black pepper.

Just a note: Do not expect to pick this up like a slice of pizza…better to serve with a fork. Variations are endless – adjust to your taste and imagination!

Enjoy!

Orange & Radish Salad with Mint

This recipe for my Mom. She loves radishes! My Mom & Dad will plant these first thing every spring and see how many crops they can get in before the weather stops cooperating. With a salt shaker handy, they’ll eat them like popcorn while they wait for the next batch to get big enough to harvest.

This citrusy salad will make a flavorful, fresh (and inexpensive) complement to your holiday table!

Prep Time: 10 minutes / Refrigeration Time: 2 hours

½ cup lemon juice

2 Tbsp sugar

¼ tsp salt

4 large navel oranges

1 bunch red radishes

2 Tbsp chopped fresh mint

2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Zest of 1 lemon & 1 orange

In a small bowl combine the lemon juice, sugar, and salt and stir until the sugar and salt dissolve. Set aside.

With a sharp knife, slice the tops and bottoms off of the oranges. With one of those flat sides on the cutting board, guide your knife under the peel from top to bottom to remove the peel and pith. Hold the now naked orange in the palm of your clean hand and over a large bowl slice out the sections, letting the juice and orange segments fall into the bowl. Clean, trim, and thinly slice the radishes (I use a box grater). Combine and toss with the oranges. Chop the mint and parsley and add to the bowl along with the lemon juice mixture. Toss gently and chill for at least 2 hours. Toss gently again and serve with freshly zested lemon and orange.

Enjoy!

Hummus + variations

Total Time: 5 minutes

 

1 15oz can garbanzo beans, drained and lightly rinsed

2 cloves garlic

Juice from 1 lemon

1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 Tbs tahini

1 tbs kosher salt

2 tsp cumin

In a high-speed blender or food processor combine all ingredients and mix to your desired texture. Make it more/less garlicy or lemony or cuminy to your taste.

That’s it…why are you buying pre-made hummus?? Seriously…. This is soooo much better and you will impress your family, friends, and neighbors.

(note – if it’s not mixing well or is too thick, don’t be scared to gradually add a little water to get it moving again)

(another note – don’t be afraid of tahini, just think of it as sesame seed “peanut butter,” keep it in the fridge, and always mix it up really well before using)

Experiment with this basic recipe by using different beans, beets, or even carrots. For instance, I love making black-eyed-pea hummus with a little creole seasoning. You can add a little jalapeño, red peppers, sriracha, more garlic, etc. The one thing you’ll need to be aware of is your moisture level – reserve some bean liquid in case you need to thicken it up a bit after your add-ins.

Enjoy!

Roasted Red Potato Salad

Prep time: 15 minutes /Cook time: 30 minutes/Total Time: 60 minutes

6 medium red potatoes

½ cup frozen shelled edamame – thawed (you can use peas too)

½ copped yellow onion

½ cup chopped celery

Pinch or two of salt, black pepper, white pepper, dried oregano, dill, thyme, crushed red pepper flakes, celery seed, and caraway seed, plus ¼ tsp of dry mustard

¼ cup olive oil

Juice of half a lemon and a splash of red wine vinegar

½ cup vegan mayo (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Place the whole red potatoes on a parchment-lined baking sheet and sprinkle them with a little grapeseed or other high heat oil and with salt and pepper. Roast for about 30 minutes. Let cool.

Chop your veggies and, in a big bowl, combine with all the ingredients except the mayo.

When the potatoes have cooled, slice (skin and all) into big chunks. With the medium ones I used I got about 6 pieces per potato. Add the potatoes to the crunchy veggie mixture and mix well. Let this sit for about 30 minutes and stir it around occasionally. Do not add the mayo yet!

The mayo is optional. If you don’t like mayo..want to keep this salad a little more defined, etc…it’s great without it. If this is what you choose, I would add a little more olive oil and lemon, mix it up a little more, and call it a day.

If you want a creamy, more traditional potato salad, add the mayo. BUT, the reason I don’t want you to add the mayo right away is that you want the starchy potatoes to pick up all the flavors you put in there, so give it some time to make this happen. If you add the mayo in right away, you’re going to be flavoring the mayo, not the potatoes.

After you’ve tasted it and have adjusted the seasonings, chill it for a while in the fridge. It just keeps getting better, but make sure you stir it up really well every time before serving.

Enjoy!

Kidney Bean Meatballs

OK. So I’m probably getting an eye roll from my grandmother from her heavenly kitchen in the sky, but when I started eating vegan I missed my homemade spaghetti and meatballs! Sure, you can buy frozen plant-based balls from your grocery’s deep freeze, but those are made to taste like frozen store-bought ground meat meatballs … kinda weird with an odd rubbery texture. One of the joys I take away from cooking and experimenting with plant-based recipes is avoiding highly-processed foods, and nothing screams “processed” more than a store-bought frozen vegan meatball. So make ’em yourself! They’re cheap and easy, they hold up nicely in a sandwich or on top of a big bowl of pasta, and are packed with protein, flavor, and texture.

Vegan eggs. This recipe calls for a couple vegan eggs. In it I use a flax egg…pretty simple…add a little warm water to ground flax seeds and let that protein firm up. You’ll also see i’m keeping in a little of the “Aquafaba” (bean water) from the canned beans. You’re welcome to use other egg substitutes such as “Just Egg”, chia seed, “VeganEgg”, but this one worked right for this application. Essentially you’re looking for some binding properties.

Marinated cashews. I roughly hand crush some raw cashews and marinate them in a 2018-10-14 11.52.46couple teaspoons of high-heat oil (like grape seed) with a dash of rice vinegar, liquid smoke, vegan Worcestershire sauce, and a pinch of black pepper. Let it sit for a couple hours at room temperature. I used these for the texture and for something to carry the smokey flavor rather than just mixing it throughout.

Kidney Bean Meatballs

½ cup chopped raw cashews, marinate (see above)

2 15 oz cans dark red kidney beans, partially drained, lightly rinsed, and slightly fork-mashed

2 cups of whole wheat dairy-free bread crumbs

1/3 yellow onion

2 cloves garlic

1 or 2 small cherry (or other hot) peppers

2 Flax eggs (1 Tbs finely ground flax seed and 2.5 Tbs of warm water, stir and let sit 5 mins before adding to recipe)

1/2 cup vegan parmesan

Chopped fresh parsley and basil – about 1/4 each

Dried spices – fennel seed, oregano, garlic, and onion powder

2018-10-14 12.57.27Roll into balls. Place about 2” apart on a parchment lined cookie sheet and bake on 400 degrees for about 30 mins. Makes about 12 large balls.

Make sure they have a little crust on the outside and are cooked & warm throughout…just taste one! You’ll have plenty for pasta, sandwiches and, my favorite, pizza topping!

Buon Appetito!

 

Oatmeal Two Ways

Can I share a secret? It was only about 5 years ago that I realized that oats looked like an actual grain and not a little feathery disk that came out of an envelope with freeze-dried apples and tons of sugar. Now that that’s out in the open, I admit that I have never been much of a fan of a “sweet breakfast.” But when I started eating vegan over 4 years ago I wanted to start re-exploring whole grains and so oats were a natural fit. When you start making homemade oatmeal you quickly discover that it doesn’t have to be overly sweet and that it doesn’t just need to be some gloppy pasty bowl of mush, but rather a dish you can design to be sweet, nutty, crunchy, and even savory. It doesn’t have to be hard to prep either, here are a couple recipes (pretty standard stuff) that you can start the night before to make your hectic mornings easier…and nothing is more satisfying than a warm bowl of customized goodness!

Overnight Oats

1 part rolled oats

1 part almond milk

Mix ingredients and stir. Separate into single portions and chill overnight. Will last about a week in the fridge with fresh almond milk

Choose your own adventure: sweetners and add-ins … dates, raisins, nuts, seeds

Makes about 4 servings

Steel Cut Oats – Overnight Style

Bring four cups water to a boil. When the water comes to a boil, add 1 cup of steel cut oats and simmer for about 3 minutes, stir occasionally.

With about one minute left, add a pinch of salt. I like to add about a ½ cup of raisins here too.

Cover, remove from heat and let cool. Then refrigerate overnight.

The next morning take the pot out of the fridge and simmer to re-warm on med-hi heat for about 15 minutes.

Add Tasty Things!

Makes 4 hearty servings

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