Pasta, Quesadillas, and Moo Shu Veggies with a twist

First of all, I have to mention that Chao cheese is now available in Logan, Utah, and it is by far the most amazing vegan cheese (apart from home made) I've ever had.

It's made from coconuts and other things, but wow!

I think I ate the whole block in 1-2 days... I know.

Quesadillas:
Gluten free spinach wraps
Chao cheese
Beyond meat chikn strips
homemade tomatilla salsa
hot sauce

Pretty self explanatory, but this is a super lazy meal for sure.  Grap a tortilla, put the cheese down, the strips and microwave for 1 minute, take it out and put a few spoons of salsa over top and fold the tortilla over, voila and eat with hot sauce if wanted :)

These also work good just with cheese, but too easy to eat like everything in one go, so probably best to put some good fillers in it :)

Pasta:

I made two versions of pasta over the past 2 days.

Red Pepper Pasta:
1 tbsp olive oil

2 gloves garlic

1 red pepper chopped
1 zucchini chopped
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp agave
1 tsp sherry vinegar
1 can of tomato sauce
1 tsp hot sauce
nutritional yeast

1/2 package of dried penne prepared


Saute garlic in oil, add red pepper and zucchini.  Add the seasonings through tomato sauce.  Let simmer until the sauce is fragrant and the flavors had integrated.

Add to the cooked pasta and sprinkle with red pepper flakes, pepper and nutritional flakes
I like things on the hot side-- so you can always adjust this to what you feel like.

Mexican-ish Pasta:
1/2 can of pinto beans
1/2 can of corn
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 chopped onion
1/4 tsp basil
1 tsp fresh parsley
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp sherry
3-4 tbsp tomato paste
1/3 cup of water
1/2 tsp salt
kalamata olives
nutritional yeast

1/2 package of dried penne prepared

Saute garlic, onion, beans, corn in the oil until the onions are transparent.
Add the rest of the ingredients until the sauce is fragrant and the tastes have absorbed.

Add to the pasta, and top with kalamata olives, and nutritional yeast.

if I had had cilantro and kale I probably would have added it as well :)

Moo Shu Gardein with Pineapples
1/2 package of Gardein 'Beef' chunks
1/2 head cabbage sliced
2 tbsp sesame seeds
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sherry vinegar
2-3 tbsp liquid aminos
1-2 tsp black bean sauce (found in asian food section)
1 tsp hot sauce
1 slice of pineapple chopped (middle removed)
1/2 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp minced ginger

Gluten free spinach wraps

Fry ginger and garlic in sesame oil.  Add the other sauces and liquids then add the gardein.  Saute for a few minutes then add the pineapple. Saute for 2-3 minutes than add the cabbage.  If liquids seem less, add tsp at a time of black bean sauce, and liquid aminos.  Heat until the cabbage becomes soft, and add sesame seeds.  Remove from heat.

Heat the wraps and then stuff the cabbage mixture into the wrap and use soy sauce as dip.

And I also made cookies:

Chocolate chip cookies:
 2 cups flour, 1 cup sugar, 3/4 cup coconut oil, 1 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 cup chocolate chips (I used homemade...  just melt cocoa butter-- 1/3 cup and mix in lots of cocoa powder-- maybe something like 1/3-1/2 cup and some agave--2-3 tbsp and then let dry at room temp) 1/3 cup of silken tofu, 1-2 tbsp agave and 1 tsp vanilla extract. 350 for 8 minutes.

-- copied from my fb page.  



Okay off to bed, goodnight everyone! :)

Chikn Tomatillo Quesadillas

Chikn Tomatillo Quesadillas
makes one quesadilla
3 vegan gluten free chicken strips (we used 'beyond meat' brand)
1 tortilla (the good life, rice tortillas)
3 tbsp tomatillo salsa
3 tbsp daiya cheese
1/4 tomato chopped or sliced
1/4 avocado sliced

Fry or the microwave (lazy style) the chicken strips until hot. Spread out one tortilla on a pan.  Put cheese on one side of the quesadilla.  Put it into the oven for broil, for 3-4 minutes or until the cheese starts to sizzle/bubble.  Remove from the oven, add salsa, tomato, avocado and chikn.  Fold in half and eat with sriracha sauce, BBQ sauce or more salsa :)

Quick and easy dinner.  

Gluten-free banana bread

This recipe came out a little more complicated than perhaps I would have liked, however, the ingredients I had on hand needed a little assistance to balance the tastes.  Using flours other than wheat, can give the bread a grainy or other interesting flavors that need a bit of adjustment in some cases. It's possible that by only using sorghum flour, many of the flavor adjustments and sweeteners could be reduced.

Banana Bread:
3 mashed bananas
1/2 cup of oil
2 flax eggs (2 tbsp of ground flax seed per 3 tbsp of water for 1 egg)
1/3 cup agave
3/4 cup of garbanzo bean flour
1 cup of sorghum flour
2 tbsp of tapioca starch mixed with 1/4 cup of water
1/4 cup of whole oats
1/4 cup of sucanat ( or sugar)
1/4 cup of lucuma powder
1 T cinnamon
1/2 tsp baobab powder (optional or tamarind paste could be used)
1 tsp vinegar

Mix all of the wet ingredients together.  Mix the dry ingredients separately and then add them to the wet ingredients.  Bake at 350 F for 30-45 minutes.

The simple dinner

I really didn't feel like putting much effort into cooking yesterday, so this was a minimalist effort kind of throw-together.

Steamed Asparagus and Radicchio
1 package of asparagus chopped in 2 inch pieces
1/2 medium radicchio roughly sliced

Yes, radicchio is bitter especially cooked with only water, but I think it's important to strengthen our tolerance for bitterness in our meals :)
Steam for 5-10 minutes, just before wilting point of radicchio.

Chopped Greens
3/4 bunch of red lettuce chopped/ripped into bite size pieces

as simple as that, the table needed something fresh looking :)

Seasoned Mixed Potato Rounds
7 small purple tomatoes roughly sliced
1 large sweet potato roughly cubed
1 large yam roughly cubed
2 tsp of oil
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp sage

Preheat oven at 375 F. Mix all of the chopped potatoes in a bowl add the owl and seasonings and mix.  Place in a pan or a baking dish, and bake for 30 minutes.  Take potatoes out, stir well and put them back in the oven for another 30 minutes.

Scrambled Chorizo in Tomato Sauce  
1/2 cup of chorizo
1 can tri- bean mix
2 tbsp tomato paste
1/4-1/2 cup of water
1/4 tsp of basil
1/2 cup of sliced cabbage

Mix all ingredients together in a pot.  simmer until cabbage softens.


I invited our friend to dinner, who brought along chips and salsa, which made a perfect contribution to the meal :)

I took equal servings of salad, vegetables, potatoes and chorizo and it was the best all mixed together with a spoonful of salsa and a couple chips :)

Tri-bean and Falafel Salad with Strawberry Chipotle Salsa

I ended up making this salad because I wanted some kind of a taco salad, but I had no tomatoes, but I did have strawberries.  It may sound like a pretty strange combination, but it's amazing.

Tri-bean and Falafel Salad 
5 servings

5 cups of chopped romaine or other salad greens
1 yellow bell pepper chopped
3 celery sticks chopped
1 can of tri-beans
5 roughly chopped falafels


Strawberry Chipotle Salsa 
8 oz strawberries chopped or roughly food processed
1/4 cup of cilantro chopped
2 tbsp of adobo sauce
juice of 2 lemons
1 tsp of lemon zest
1 tbsp of oil
4 dashes of pepper
2 dashes of salt

Garnish
1-2 sliced strawberry
1-2 peel streaks of lemon

Toss the ingredients of the salad together.  Mix the ingredients for the salsa.  Combine both the salsa and the salad together, garnish the top of the salad (optional) and serve.