Tag Archives: plant-based

Quick Vegan Chocolate Cake

I don’t know who the heck Eva Howes is, but she makes a damn good chocolate cake!

My friend Lisa texted me this recipe:

Eva Howes' Chocolate Cake

Turns out this is her family’s go-to cake recipe and it’s simple and delicious! Passed down, clipped from a newspaper, and glued on and index card…these are my favorite kind of recipes…well worn and well loved. Dairy free, egg free, and you can literally make this anytime from what you’ve already got in your pantry.

As you can see, I made frosted cake squares, but this cake is certainly hearty enough for stacking and frosting. I substituted the 2 cups of water for 2 cup of cold coffee and I used dairy free store-bought frosting (most brands are) but jazzed it up with some shredded coconut tossed in cacao powder!

Enjoy!

5 Easy Recipes as Fresh as Springtime!

When the weather starts getting warm and the buds on the trees are bursting with life (and pollen lol), I notice a definite shift in the way I eat and cook. Flavorful local ingredients begin to appear on the store shelves, farmer’s markets re-open, and I need the right fuel to stoke energy for the longer days and a more active lifestyle. It’s exciting!

These easy fresh grain and pasta salads, full of veggies, are no April Fools – they’re easy, convenient, nutritious! Best of all, you can make these ahead to insure that you have a healthy and quick meal that can fit into everyone’s busy schedule!

 

Farro Salad with Shaved Brussels Sprouts and Pecans

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

 

Dressing (prep in a mason jar, cover and shake, let sit for a while while you chop):

1/3 cup Olive Oil

2/3 cup Sherry Vinegar (I’m not a huge fan of oily vinaigrettes)

1 teaspoon each – Tarragon, Thyme, Basil, Ground White Pepper, dry mustard

2 tablespoons Kosher Salt and a couple twists of black pepper

Juice from 1/2 a lemon

Salad:

1 cup of cooked Farro, cooled & drained well

1 lb of cleaned Brussels sprouts, shaved into a thin slaw

5 carrots, small dice or grated

1 lb of cherry/grape tomatoes – slice half, keep half whole

3/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped

1/4 cup chopped yellow onion

 

Make the dressing and cook the farro.

Chop your onion and peeled carrots, slice your Brussels sprouts in half first, then slice thin vertically but at a slight angle. Toast some chopped pecans in a small pan on medium heat – watching carefully and tossing frequently – probs about 4-5 minutes. Be careful!! Pecans burn in an instant and remember to take them off a little earlier than you think because they’ll continue cooking with the residual heat. Chop the pecan and mix all these dry veggies together and let them hang out for a while in a big bowl.

Is your farro drained and cool? Add and mix that in and halve half of your tomatoes and toss. Is it all nicely mixed? Add the dressing and toss again lightly. Serve at room temperature.

Enjoy!

 

Spring Beet Down Pasta Salad

I love using roasted beets in pasta salads because it creates a crazy natural pink color. The green beans and watermelon radishes make this pasta salad a crunchy show-stopper!!

Thug Kitchen’s Spring Beet Down Pasta Salad

 

Antipasto Pasta

Creamy, spicy, and crunchy! Inspired by an antipasto platter, the roasted red pepper, crunchy radicchio, and artichokes and olives make your tastebuds do a little dance!

Rabbit and Wolves Vegan Antipasto Pasta

 

Pho Noodle Salad

Fresh lime juice and light rice noodles make this dish one of my favorties and this is a really easy recipe and will impress the heck out of your friends!

Found this recipe in VegNews, but it comes from Hannah Kominski’s plant-based cookbook Real Food, Really Fast.

Vegan Pho Noodle Salad

 

Avocado Kale Caesar Salad with Everything Bagel Croutons

These croutons are the best!!! I used 1/3 each of kale, romaine, and arugula for a little less fiber…i’m a vegan for crying out loud, i get a bunch already. Paired with a big cup of gazpacho and a glass of white wine…this salad is gonna make you happy!

Vegan Avocado Caesar Salad with Everything Bagel Croutons

 

Tofu Scramble

Prep time: 5 minutes /Cook time: 8 minutes/Total Time: 15 minutes

 

Half a block of Extra Firm Tofu, drained under weight

4 Tbs grape seed or other high-heat oil

1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp turmeric

½ tsp black pepper

½ tsp kosher salt

Pinch of sugar

Splash of rice wine vinegar

 

½ Red or Green Bell Pepper

½ cup Red or Yellow Onion

 

Weight and drain your tofu (I use an inexpensive tofu press) and crumble into, for lack of a better term, “scrambled egg size” pieces. In a bowl, toss the crumbled tofu, oil, spices, sugar and vinegar together and let it marinate for about 10-15 minutes while you chop your bell pepper and onion.

Tofu Scramble 2

Crumbled and seasoned tofu for Scramble

With a little oil and kosher salt in a non-stick skillet, sauté the onion and bell pepper on medium-high heat until softened but still colorful (about 3 minutes). Then add the marinated tofu, stir and toss to heat, combine, and brown. This will be take about 5-6 minutes, adjust your heat as needed but it should be consistent around medium heat.

This will make about 3 servings and is great in breakfast burritos and sandwiches, or just alone with some nice toast and coffee!

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!

Yes Karen, bread is vegan

I’m not the best baker. I’m a little too “a dash of this and a dash of that” to go it on my own. So that’s why i was really excited to find this perfectly easy recipe for delicious crusty mini-loaves! With only four ingredients and minimal fuss, impress your family and friends with a warm homemade loaf and a kitchen that smells like fresh bread and love

Vegan Mozzarella

Loved this quick and easy recipe for dairy-free mozzarella! One of the key ingredients here is Kappa Carrageenan – I ordered from Amazon.

Tip: Once you add the boiling water – work quickly! it starts to firm up instantly. I poured mine into 8oz ramekins.

Here’s the link to Vegan Blueberry where I got the recipe! Great site! Thank You!

Ready to grate
Melted goodness!

 

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!

Vegetable Roasting Tips

Prep time: 15 minutes /Cook time: Varies/Total Time: Varies

You’ll start noticing that my recipes usually have a few more steps and a little more combining ingredients toward the end of the process. For instance, I’ll caramelize mushrooms for risotto and fold them in at the end instead of adding the mushrooms to cook with the rice. While this may cause a few more dirty dishes, I’m a big believer in texture and cooking veggies with different methods really allows you to explore mouth feel, crunch, etc.

Roasting is a great way to cook veggies, it can bring out a lot of different flavor tones and gives you opportunities to build complementary flavors and textures within the same dish or with each bite.

What you’ll need:

Vegetables (about 2-3 lbs for an uncrowded baking sheet)

A preheated 400 degree oven

Baking sheet

Parchment Paper

Your nose and your eyes

When roasting veggies of any kind make sure to cut them in relatively consistent sizes and if you’re roasting different types of veg, make sure they have about the same density and water content…roasting carrots and potatoes together is gonna be fine, roasting zucchini with turnips is going to be a mixed-up watery mess.

Note: if you’re not comfortable using parchment at higher temps, please use a silicone mat…foil tends to stick and will rip off that nice crispy caramelization.

The spice palate is going to depend on what you’re trying to achieve. For example, if I’m roasting potatoes for a snack or a side, I’m going toss them with olive oil, S&P, a little Italian seasoning, red pepper flakes, and some paprika, before I lay them out on the parchment…if I’m adding roasted cauliflower to a curry recipe, I’ll spice that a little differently and use a neutral flavored oil.

In the pictures I’ve posted here, I was clearing out my fridge. I had some big loose beets, some aging carrots, and a random head of cauliflower. I broke apart the cauliflower and peeled and cut the beets and carrots, tossed them with EVOO, S&P, garlic powder, oregano, and dill and stuck them in the oven for about an hour and 15 minutes.

Your senses will tell you when they’re done! You’ll smell the warmth and goodness of roasted vegetables and you’ll see the edges getting crispy and browned without even opening the oven. I don’t recommend a lot of flipping and tossing because part of the joy from roasting is you get some different textures and flavors that come about naturally, but rotate the baking sheet in the oven about 3 times throughout the process.

Cut
Seasoned
Done!

Happy Roasting!

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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