Spaghetti with meatballs

Spaghetti with meatballs:
serves 2 very large portions
1/2 package of gardein meatballs
1 can of tomato sauce
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp agave
1 tsp white wine vinegar
1 tsp oil
dash of black pepper and red chilli flakes
1 head small cabbage chopped
1 handful of spaghetti (I used organic hand made ramen! way good :) )

top with nutritional yeast to serve.

Heat meatballs in tomato sauce plus all seasonings until the oil.  Boil Spaghetti until done or whatever pasta you choose to use.  Once the meatballs are cooked add the cabbage until the desired consistency.

This recipe is super fast and filling.

No-so-Gnocchi, Greens and Portobello Steak

This reminded me of gnocchi, even though it's totally not, but I enjoyed it none the less :)

Not-so-gnocchi, steamed greens and a portobello steak
serves 1

3 red potatoes 1/4 inch cubes
1 small bunch of greens chopped
3 green onions
1 can of tomato sauce
1 portobello mushroom
2 tsp coconut aminos (soy sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
6 dashes garlic powder
5 dashes black pepper
3 dashes red pepper flakes
2 tsp vegan worcester sauce
1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp italian seasoning
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp white wine vinegar
2-4 tablespoons of nutritional yeast

Cut potatoes up and throw in a steamer for 30 minutes, add the greens + green onions for a minute at the end.
heat 1 can of tomato sauce with 3 dashes of garlic powder, 3 dashes of black pepper, red pepper flakes 1 tsp oregano, italian seasoning and apple cider and white wine vinegar.  Let it simmer for 2-3 minutes.
Place portobello mushroom on a baking tray, remove stem, make sure gills are face side up, drizzle aminos, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar on top.  Then add 3 dashes of garlic powder, 2 dashes of pepper, 1 tsp of oregano and pop it in the oven for 10 minutes at 400 degrees.

Once the potatoes and greens are steamed put them on a plate and generously scoop tomato sauce on them, take out the portobello steak and put it on your plate -- either to cut up to put on top or eat on the side, can drizzle worcester sauce on top.. leave it on the side as a dip.

and finally generously top with nutritional yeast
:) 

And it's Monday again

For breakfast I had:

Apricot Mesquite chia cereal
2 tbsp chia seeds
soaked in 1 cup water
4 sliced apricots
1 sliced mango
1/2 tbsp of mesquite

I also had a small bowl of millet cereal with flax milk-- at breakfast late and wasn't sure when I'd be getting lunch.

Fo lunch I made:

Refried Black Bean Quesadilla with pumpkin seed cheese smothered swiss chard
Makes 2

2 rice tortilla
1 tomato chopped
6 tbsp refried black beans
1 small bundle swiss chard

cheese--
1 cup pumpkin seeds
 2-3 tbsp water
3 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons agave
1 dash braggs

Mix the cheese ingredients in a blender until chunky -- consistency of ricotta.

Wash and chop the swiss chard, and pour cheese mixture on top, mix well.

Spread out 3tbsps refried beans onto the middle of the tortilla and put it in the oven
or broiler for 5-7 minutes until rice tortilla gets soft in the middle and crispy on the outside.

Remove tortilla from oven and spread tomatoes, in the middle and half of the swiss chard cheese mixture.


Dinner:

Veggie burgers
Sauerkraut
Daiya swiss cheese
ketchup
bread
bread and butter pickles

I got home late tonight.. so picked up some of my favorite veggie burgers, put on the cheese -- can throw them in the oven or microwave and then add the rest of the ingredients :)

Super easy.

Fruity Rainbow Seaweed Salad

Picture is to come.

This serves one :)

1 avocado pitted and cubed
1 mango pitted and cubed
1/2 cup strawberries halved
2 tbsp sauerkraut
2 shakes kelp flakes
1 tbsp fresh mint chopped
2 shakes nutritional yeast
juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup kelp noodles

Toss all the ingredients together. Enjoy :) 

The pizza creation

This recipe makes a bit of extra veggies that can be placed in a separate pan to bake at the same time as the pizza.  

Super Green Pizza with Red Pepper Cashew Cheese

Toppings

1 head of broccoli finely chopped

4 cups of greens (kale, spinach) ripped into bite size pieces

2 heirloom tomatoes diced

1/2 green pepper chopped

1/2 jar/can of tomato paste

1/4 tsp italian seasoning

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 garlic clove minced

1/4 cup parsley

1/2 cup to 1 cup daiya

Cheese Sauce

1 red pepper

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tbsp oil

2 tbsp agave

1 cup cashews

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp amchur (dried mango) (2 tsp lemon juice can be used instead)

Dough

1 tsp salt

2 tsp yeast

1 tsp sugar

1/4 cup warm water

1 cup wheat flour

1 3/4 cups garbanzo bean flour

1/4 cup ground flax meal

1 1/4 cup warm water

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp italian herbs

1 tsp oregano

To make the bread, first mix the yeast, with 1/4 cup warm water and sugar. Let it stand for 10 minutes.  Mix the rest of the dry ingredients together.  Add the yeast mixture to the dry mixture plus 1 1/4 cup of water.  Knead the dough with flour on your hands until elastic and smooth.  Place the dough ball into a container and cover with a cloth for 1 hour.  

Spread the dough out onto an oiled pizza pan.  Lather the tomato paste on top.  Evenly spread the tomato pieces and the green bell pepper on the pizza.  Sprinkle the garlic powder and the italian seasonings over the pizza.  

To make the cheese sauce, blend the ingredients together (from red pepper to salt). Sprinkle the amchur atop.  Pour the cheese sauce into a bowl with the greens, broccoli, minced garlic and parsley.   

Put this mixture evenly on top of the pizza --- there will be extra of this cheesy greens, so they can be put in another pan in the oven :) 

South Asian Noodle Extravaganza

makes about 4-5 servings

Cook enough noodles enough for 2
leftover quinoa and beans (1/4 to 1/2 cup each)

2 tsp oil
1/2 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp hing (Indian Spice, garlic powder can be used in place of)
1/2 tsp amchur or mango powder (indian spice, optional)
2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp sriracha sauce
1/2 tbsp red thai curry paste
1/4 cup of water
 1 small cauliflower chopped
1 tomato chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 bunch broccolini chopped
2 tbsp tahini
3 tbsp peanut thai sauce
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbsp cilantro

Heat the oil with the cumin and the hing.  Add the cauliflower and the rest of the vegetables.
Add the mango powder, coriander, salt, and nutritional yeast and water.  Cook for 5-10 minutes.

Mix the tahini, curry paste, peanut sauce, tomato paste,sriracha, and vinegar in a separate container.

Add the mixture to the vegetables and stir.  Add a can of beans, package of mushrooms or some leftover quinoa or rice -- if you have it. Let the sauce and ingredients heat up for 5 minutes.

Once vegetables are desired consistency and temperature, take off the stove and mix in the lemon juice and cilantro.

Serve :) 

Green Mania

Green Mania

2 baby bok choy

1 bunch of kale or other dark leafy greens

1 bunch of asparagus

1 yellow pepper

1/2 tsp lemon zest

juice of half of a lemon

juice of 1/4 of an orange

1 tsp fresh sage

1 tsp fresh oregano

3 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp oil

2 garlic cloves

1 inch ginger

1/2 -1 tsp salt

1 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)

At bare minimum, add the salt, balsamic and lemon zest... and for added flavor add the garlic and ginger.  

Fry the garlic in oil along with the stems of the leafy greens.  Add the ginger and asparagus.  When the asparagus becomes bright green add the yellow pepper and the rest of the seasonings and vinegar.  Add the leafy greens, when the leaves become just wilted, add the fresh herbs, lemon and orange juice-- if using.  

Serve :)

Jambalayan Fry

It's seriously unfortunate my camera is out of batteries, because it looks absolutely amazing.

Tip ** never steam or boil your vegetables long enough that they lose more than 70% of their original crunch.  They should only ever be cooked enough so that their colors brighten and as much of their crispness is in tact.

I made a mistake yesterday and I overcooked my broccoli for the holandaise dish.  I know, seriously a pity.  I think it's the main reason why after a few hours the broccoli gave off that typical funny broccoli smell.. so sad.  Don't overcook veggies :):)

Unfortunately the chilled version of my dish yesterday was a no go.  So best advice, serve it FRESH or, make the amendments that I made today, and you got yourself a whole new thing!

Jambalayan Fry
1 to 2 cups of leftover Ultimate Hollandaise Veggie Toss
1 tbsp of nutritional yeast
1-2 tsp of smoked paprika
1 tsp of mixed herbs
1 tsp of sriracha sauce

Mix everything together in a nonstick pan.  Fry for just enough time to get it sizzling and even a little crispy.  This is an excellent dish, in fact if you made the same mistake as me.. and made the veggie toss recipe to be served a couple hours later.. best is to make these amendments to it, so it can be a new exciting and flavorful dish for hours to come!

Ultimate Hollandaise Veggie Toss

I went to a potluck yesterday, as I am the only vegan that I know at my work/school I had to choose something that could work even if it was the only thing that I could eat.  I thought about bringing dessert too, I just didn't have that much time to do it as well.

I had a bunch of veggies in the fridge, but I wanted a really nice sauce to go along.

I wanted the sauce to remind me of a hollandaise sauce.

Surprisingly I did a really good job at getting that 'eggy' flavor and consistency.  Not quite sure how I did it, but the interesting this was, this sauce could also be made with a little less liquid and really tastes reminds me of deviled eggs! It would be interesting in future recipes to play with this recipe a little more.. and combine it with some kind of a tofu recipe to actually make vegan deviled eggs!! It would certainly be a fun experiment.

Ultimate Hollandaise Veggie Toss:
Serves 8-10

1 small head of broccoli chopped
1 bunch of kale chopped
1 small head of cauliflower chopped
1/3 head of purple cabbage chopped
3 carrots chopped
1 bunch of asparagus chopped

1/3 cup of tahini
1/4 cup of oil
1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
Juice of 1 1/2 lemons
1tbsp of 1/4 tsp of agave
1/2 tsp of salt
1 tsp of tapioca starch
1/2 tsp of mustard or powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp of broth powder
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 tsp of black pepper
1-2 tbsp of smoked paprika
1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper
1 tbsp of all purpose herbs

Steam the asparagus, carrots, cauliflower, and broccoli together in a pot until a bit softer but still with a crunch. Put steamed veggies in a big bowl to stir.  Then steam kale for a minute, add to the other vegetables.  Steam the cabbage for a very short time, 1-2 minutes, it shouldn't lose it's dark purple color. Let the cabbage cool a bit before blending it with the other vegetables so it doesn't bleed its color onto them.

Whip the rest of the ingredients together, if it's looking anything but creamy, keep whipping :)

If it's still too bitter, you can always add more agave, salt, and apple cider vinegar.
If it doesn't have enough flavor, you can always add more smoked paprika, salt, mixed herbs and
cayenne.

mix the sauce with the veggies, and serve hot!

Unfortunately a couple hours had past before it was served at the potluck and it didn't hold up as well. I may have been overly judgmental of it, because I was very disappointed, but someone did still come up to me and complimented me on the dish... so it's possible that it was fine but I was too critical of it.
I will find out today, if chilling before serving would have improved it.  Some dishes are really incredible once chilled, so I am crossing my fingers on this one! I will let you know as soon as I eat this for lunch if chilling it prior is the best method for this guy.

Also, the hosts were so gracious and made the two main dishes vegan--- I'm pretty sure for me, because I'm the only vegan I know in that circle.  Amazing, it's these small -- to me big-- acts that really touch the heart!

Best!!

Esther