Vegan Recipes

Vegan Chipotle Chili

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As y’all know, cooking healthy, pleasurably nutritious meals is one of the corner stones of my self care. Here’s an easy and delicious meal I whipped up the other day in no time..

Ingredients:

– 1 cup of corn
– 1 can of beans
– 1/2 large can of whole tomatoes
– cilantro
– 1/4 cup green peppers
– 1/2 chipotle pepper (de-seeded)
– 1/4 cup “no egg” powder (thickener)
– cumin
– black pepper
– sea salt
– splash apple cider vinegar
– dash of garlic
– tofutti sour cream
– chives

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a pot with about 1 cup of water. Cook on medium/high heat, stirring frequently, for about 25 minutes.

Serve with gluten free toast, garnish w vegan sour cream & chives.

That’s it.

Makes about 4 hearty servings. This chili has more of a smoky flavor than spicy, per se. For an extra kick, add a little more pepper – or a bit of Chipotle Cholula 🙂 Enjoy!

Vegan Recipes

Non-Dairy Veganish Quiche

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K and I had a hankering for quiche the other day and decided to experiment with using non-dairy products. We swapped out cow’s milk and cheese for almond milk & daiya. We also tried our luck with vegan pie shells from Whole Foods.

We modified this recipe and ended up with this gorgeous masterpiece:

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Now, granted, we still used eggs & pancetta, but the end result was a mostly vegan & totally dairy free, ahhhmazingly delicious quiche.

Ingredients:

– 1 prepared vegan pie shell
– 5 eggs
– 1 cup daiya cheddar
– 1 and 1/4 cup almond milk
– 1 small container of pancetta or chopped ham (optional)
– 1 cup of frozen spinach
– 1/2 chopped onion
– minced garlic
– sea salt
– black pepper
– garlic powder
– parsley
– hot sauce (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In a large bowl, whip 5 eggs and combine with almond milk, daiya cheese and spices.

3. Cook pancetta along with chopped onion in a small pan. Drain and set aside.

4. Cook spinach with garlic.

5. Stir spinach, pancetta & onion into the egg / milk / cheese mixture.

6. Pour everything into the pie crust, sprinkle with another handful of cheese and bake for 25 minutes.

7. Increase temperature to 375 and cook for another 15 minutes (check frequently to prevent over-cooking).

We found that we had to cook this longer and at a higher temp than in the original recipe. Frankly, I was surprised with how good this was. It was right up there with the quiche I had at Café Un Deux Trois last week. In particular, I was impressed with the vegan pie shell. A little Louisiana hot sauce really set it off, too.

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Enjoy! Let me know if you try this out!

Food, Vegan Recipes

Vegan tofu scramble with gluten free toast

Learned this ridiculously delicious and easy recipe from my mom during our trip to Maine earlier this month.

Ingredients:

  • Silken tofu (firm)
  • Tumeric
  • Sea salt
  • Black pepper
  • Coconut oil
  • Onion
  • Spinach or kale

Directions:

1. Chop up tofu, set aside.

2. In a pan, sautee onion and kale (or spinach) in coconut oil.

3. Add tofu to pan. “Scramble” as you would with eggs.

4. Sprinkle with tumeric, sea salt and papper.

5. You’re work is done, my friend.

I really hate the idea of eggs, but, being a hypocrite, I like the taste on occasion.  I was shocked — shocked — at how delicious this was. It’s just as good as eggs – except better, because, you know, it’s not.. eggs.  You can even use this to make egg sandwiches. Thank me later!  Better yet, thank my mom!

Food, Vegan Recipes

Healthy Canapés

When I first started dating K, I found myself making her elaborate cocktails, tapas and canapĂ©s.  It was so much fun coming up with delectable, relatively healthy, bite-sized, fanciful dishes for us to nibble on over candlelight and jazz. Four seasons later, and we’re still nibbling.

Vegan "tuna" salad on gluten free crostini, garnished with capers.
Vegan “tuna” salad on gluten free crostini, garnished with capers.
Drinks
Basil sangria sparklers
Tapas
On the left: spinach cashew cheese, kalamata olives & marinated tomatoes. On the right: yam, cinnamon apple jam & crushed black pepper.

For me, the key to producing cute, delish appetizers is working creatively with whatever you have on hand while also paying attention to color, taste and presentation. What are some of your favorite healthy(ish) small-plates?

Food, Vegan Recipes

Veganish BBQ “Chicken” Pizza

Pizza

The lady and I made this a while back. Super easy.

 

Ingredients:

  • Coconut oil
  • One handful of kale
  • 1/2 red onion
  • 1/2 cup mushrooms
  • Vegan “chicken” strips (seitan)
  • Daiya shreeded cheese
  • Pizza dough
  • BBQ sauce
  • Salt/pepper
  • Hot sauce

Directions:

In a pan: sautee onion and mushrooms in coconut oil.  Add in vegan chicken strips. Sprinkle with salt, pepper. Pour in BBQ sauce and cook on medium heat for about 5-7 minutes. Make sure vegan chicken strips are fully cooked (check box for instructions). Side aside.

Pour a dollop of coconut oil into your (clean) hands and massage the kale.  In a separate pan, lightly sautee the kale with a little oil, sea salt and lemon juice.  Do not overcook.

Cook the pizza dough according to its instructions.  Remove from oven. Coat with bbq sauce. Add vegan chicken/onion/mushroom mix evenly.  Distribute the kale over the pizza and garnish with daiya cheese.

Bake until the cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

 

 

Academic Musings, Food, Vegan Recipes

BBQ Brussels Sprouts & Baked Yam with Calvados

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One of those nights where I’m too tired to cook anything complicated. Still in the final throes of grading. Craving ribs due to some tweet I saw about BBQ joints on Long Island but couldn’t actually work up the desire to eat meat, though. Had just enough energy to make this simple, delicious and vegan meal instead. The Calvados – a gift from my lady – transformed the simple yam into a sophisticated accompaniment / dessert / nightcap in one fell swoop.

BBQ Brussels Sprouts & Baked Yam

Serves 1

Ingredients

BBQ sauce

1/4 cup ketchup or tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped bell pepper
1 tablespoon EVOO
sea salt
black pepper
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar
5 dashes worcester sauce

Baked Yam

1 yam
nutmeg
cinnamon
sea salt
coconut sugar
Optional: Calvados

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400. Wash yam. Poke with fork. Bake for 40 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil Brussels sprouts until tender. Set aside.

Combine all ingredients for the BBQ sauce in a small sauce pan. Cook for about 8 minutes. Turn off the heat.

Toss the Brussels sprouts in the sauce. Cut the baked yam down the middle and garnish with spices and, if you’re adventurous, a bit if Calvados or brandy.

Yummmmmmmmm.

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Food, Vegan Recipes

Broccoli, Sweet Potato & Tofu Stir-Fry

 

 

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No time to provide a full on recipe, but the basics:

  • Heat 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in skillet
  • Add: chopped onion, garlic, sea salt, broccoli, mushrooms & bamboo shoots
  • Spray with Braggs aminos and douse with a bit of soy or teriyaki sauce

I added a sweet potato pancake to the mix — which made it delicious but also made it not-vegan. Anyway. The whole thing took about 6 minutes.

Smooches.