vegan recipes

New toy + an extremely addictive hummus wrap

March 9, 2011 by Sarah 4 Comments

First thing’s first… I got a fun new toy!!!

My department at work won a contest and we each got a $100 visa gift card! I had been looking at a yogurt maker so I decided to go ahead and get one! I got it from www.CHEFScatalog.com

TADA!!!

I got it all washed up and ready to go for my first batch!

I decided to try rice milk for my first batch. So I had a quart of rice milk, a tablespoon of organic sugar (the rice milk was unsweetened so I added a little sugar so that the bacteria would have some food), and some non-dairy yogurt starter (I ordered it from www.culturesforhealth.com).

So I heated the rice milk + sugar to 110 degrees, then mixed in 1/4 tsp of the starter.

Then I poured it into the yogurt maker and turned it on.

Now I wait for 6-8 hours! I’ll let you know tomorrow how it turned out!

Now onto that addicting wrap!

Oh. Em. Gee.

This is maybe more addicting than heroine.

And it’s so simple! I just took a Lavash wrap (found it at Whole Foods) and spread some hummus on it. Then I sprinkled on some Daiya Mozzarella.

Rolled it up and threw it in the skillet until both sides are crispy and brown.

WOWIE! Great for a snack or for lunch paired up with a salad.

Try this ASAP!

Happy Snacking!

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Tofu Sesame Noodle Salad

March 7, 2011 by Sarah Leave a Comment

This is great for a main meal salad or a side dish. I expect I’ll be making this a lot this summer because I loooooove a nice cold salad when it’s hot outside! The original recipe is from Whole Foods- I’ve only modified it slightly.

Tofu Sesame Noodle Salad

Ingredients:
1/4 cup tamari soy sauce
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
1 tablespoon agave nectar
3 cloves minced garlic
2 teaspoons chili oil (I make my own by simmering a couple of teaspoons cracked red chilis in about a cup of canola oil for a few minutes then straining the chilis out)
1/2 pound dried rice noodles
1 cup thinly sliced green onions
2 small carrots, thinly sliced
1/2 English cucumber, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
6 ounces baked tofu, cut into 1-inch cubes (I hear you can buy it already baked but I’ve never been able to find it, so I cube it and bake it myself before I use it)

Directions:
In a large bowl, whisk together tamari, sesame seeds, agave nectar, garlic and oil to make a dressing; set aside.

Meanwhile, soak noodles in a large bowl of cold water until pliable, about 15 minutes; drain well.

Add noodles to boiling water and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and rinse thoroughly in cold water.

Transfer to bowl with reserved dressing; toss well.

Add green onions, carrots, cucumbers, peppers and tofu.

Toss gently to combine.

Serve it up with some cilantro to garnish (I totally forgot that I had cilantro on hand- oops!)

This gets even better the next day after it’s had some time to hang out in the fridge! YUM!

Happy snacking!

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Kale? Chips?

March 5, 2011 by Sarah 3 Comments

Both!!

ZOMG these are amazing! I ate the whole pan in one sitting. No joke. It sounds weird, but trust me as soon as you taste these you’ll be hooked!

Kale is an amazing thing. It’s full of antioxidants, vitamin K, vitamin C, and is rich in calcium. It’s also related to cabbage!

Here’s how I made mine…

Kale Chips

Ingredients:
1 bunch of kale
olive oil (or cooking spray)
sea salt
nutritional yeast

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 F.

De-stem your kale and tear it into big pieces.

Wash it and send it through your salad spinner- make sure it’s really really dry!

Place kale on a pan spritzed with cooking spray.

Drizzle with a couple of teaspoons of olive oil (or spritz with a little more cooking spray). Sprinkle on some sea salt and nutritional yeast.

Bake in oven for 15-20 ish minutes until they get brown and crispy(keep your eye on them!).

Crispy like a chip. But so much better for you!

These are great dipped in a little ketchup (seriously!) or doused with frank’s red hot!

Hope you love these as much as I do.

Happy snacking!!

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Make your own almond butter!

March 1, 2011 by Sarah Leave a Comment

First of all, I’m in the library at school and the campus is on lock down. I’m kind of freaking out. There was a shooting threat, so they locked us down. So instead of studying like I’m supposed to be doing, I’m blogging. I totally can’t concentrate on A&P right now.

On to happier things…

Like almond butter…

I love almond butter, but I don’t love paying $10 a jar for the good stuff. Especially when I can make it at home for a fraction of the cost!

So I buy the big bags of almonds at Costco and just make my own! It’s so simple you won’t believe you haven’t been doing it all along! It’s a teeny bit more work that peanut butter, but not much. And it’s totally worth it!

So here’s what you need…

About 2 cups of almonds (make sure they’re not salted)
canola oil (about 1/2 tablespoon- you can omit this but you won’t get quite the smooth consistency if you do)
pinch of salt
agave nectar or maple syrup (to taste. also optional.)

And here’s what you do…

Put your almonds on an ungreased baking sheet.

Roast in a 300 F oven for about 25 mins, stirring occasionally. (skip this step if you have almonds that are already roasted)

Into the food processor they go!

Here’s how the next few steps go. This will take around 10 ish minutes, depending on how powerful your food processor is…

First they will grind to a crumbly consistency. Keep going!

Then they will start coming together a bit. Keep going!

Then it will clump together in a big ball. Keep going!

Then it will start coming together and looking like almond butter. Don’t be fooled- it’s not ready yet! Keep going!

Keep going till it’s a nice smooth creamy consistency, like this.

Then add in your 1/2 tablespoon of canola oil, a few pinches of salt, and a drizzle of agave nectar, to taste.

Give it a few more seconds and you’re done!

Store in a jar with a lid and you’re good to go! When I first started making my own nut butters I stored them in the fridge because I was afraid they would go bad. Not necessary- we go through a jar in about a week, they don’t have time to go bad around here! But if you don’t eat much nut butter then you may want to think about stashing it in the fridge.

Oh, and you want to know what an almost empty jar of almond butter is best for?

To eat your oatmeal out of!

Just pour in the nice hot oats, top with your fav toppings, and the almond butter on the sides and in the little nooks and crannies of the jar just melts into the oats! Mmmmmm!

That was what was for breakfast this morning!

Hope you are inspired to start making your own nut butters!

Happy snacking!!

P.S. Update on the lock down… after about an hour and a half, they just lifted it. I have another class this afternoon, but I’m in no mood for that- I’m going home!!

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Biscuits and gravy

February 27, 2011 by Sarah Leave a Comment

This is not a healthy recipe. This is for when you’re craving old school biscuits and gravy like you had when you were a kid, but you’d like to make an animal friendly version. I love a good Sunday brunch, and this recipe definitely hits the spot! So here goes- enjoy!

Biscuits

Ingredients:
1 cup AP flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp Earth Balance
3 Tbsp Earth Balance Shortening
2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 F.

In a large bowl mix together flours, baking powder, and salt.

Cut in the shortening and earth balance until it’s crumbly. You can use a fork or a pastry cutter, but it works best if you just use your fingers!

Sir in the milk. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and roll out to about 1/2 inch thickness. Using a biscuit cutter or a glass cut dough into circles and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Depending on how big you cut them, you should get somewhere around 10 biscuits.

Bake in your 450 F oven for 15 minutes or until nice and brown on top.

Serve with your favorite jam/preserves or top with a nice country gravy!

Country Gravy

Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons Earth Balance shortening
3 Tablespoons AP flour
2 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 cup coconut milk creamer (or soy creamer)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Melt in your shortening in a skillet over medium heat.

Whisk in the flour and let mixture simmer for a couple of minutes.

Whisk in the almond milk and creamer.

Turn up the heat a little (medium high) and let it bubble until it is nice and thick and gravy like. You have to babysit it a little, whisking it occasionally.