Raw Hemp Avocado Pesto

Summer on the horizon has me all sorts of excited. I LIVE for farmers market season, and this year, I got a bit over eager and started toying with one of my fave recipes a bit early. The results were delicious. This raw zoodle dish is a perfect meal on a warm day, and keeps perfectly for leftovers for the next day’s lunch!

What you’ll need:

• 3-4 zucchini
• 1 avocado
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 2 tbsp. Bragg nutritional yeast 
• 2 tbsp. Manitoba Harvest hemp hearts
• 1/2 tsp. sea salt
• 1 tsp. cracked pepper
• 1/4 c. artichoke hearts
• 1/2 c. fresh basil
• 5 garlic cloves
• 10 cherry tomatoes
• Spiralizer
• Blender

What to do:

Spiralize the zucchini (I use the KitchenAid spiralizing attachment – it’s so worth the $!) and set aside in a large bowl. Combine all the rest of the ingredients except for the cherry tomatoes in the blender and pulse until well combined. Pour over the zucchini and stir lightly. Slice the tomatoes and add with a bit more hemp as a garnish if you prefer! Store in the fridge for 1-3 days and enjoy! This is such a yummy and light summer dish that is so delicious without even being heated! 

Vegan Egg Muffins

Goooood morning and happy Monday! This busy week is off to a great start with these amazing, quick, and delicious vegan egg muffins that I have ready to go for my breakfasts! Sorry for the grainy photo, I seriously couldn’t wait to get a picture so this was taken just before sunrise!

Get crackin’ on these little power-packed goodies that are under 50 cals each! Here’s how:

What you need (makes 8 cups):

• 2 vegan eggs (4 tbsp. Follow Your Heart VeganEgg + 1 c. ice cold water)
• 1/2 tbsp. vegan butter (Earth Balance)
• 1/2 shallot
• 1/4 c. almondmilk
• 1/4 c. vegan cheeze (Daiya Mozzarella)
• 2 c. fresh spinach (I used a lot, but you can use less if you prefer)
• 1.5 scoops unflavored protein powder (The Natural Citizen)
• pinch of sea salt
• pinch of black pepper
• Coconut oil cooking spray

What to do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat muffin tin with coconut oil. While oven is heating, melt butter over medium heat, and add in shallots and saute until transluscent. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk vegan egg powder with water until well combined. Add in almondmilk, salt, pepper, protein powder and shallots. Fold in spinach and cheeze until well-combined. Fill muffin cups 1/2 to 2/3 of the way full, and bake for 25-30 minutes, until tops are slightly browned. Cool before removing from tin. Store in refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Let me know what you think of these little guys! They’re great topped with fresh tomato, avocado, with a yummy sweet potato hash or on their own on the go!

Green Goodness Smoothie Bowl

Smoothie bowls. You know ’em, you love ’em. I just wanted to share one of my favorites, and a few tips I’ve learned along the way to make a bowl that’s a great consistency, and sneaks in at least two servings of veggies, even for those very picky, very finicky eaters!

First, this bowl. It’s got all the goods: healthy fats, iron-packed greens, whole food carbohydrates, and superfood supplements. Plus, it tastes just divine.

Make it:

1 frozen banana
1 c. frozen cauliflower
1/2 tsp. The Natural Citizen Organic Energy
1 scoop vegan protein powder (I use The Natural Citizen, Aloha or Garden of Life)
1/2 tsp. The Natural Citizen Organic Greens
2 c. packed, fresh spinach
8-10 oz. Califia Farms Toasted Coconut Almondmilk
1/2 tbsp. hemp hearts (I use Manitoba Harvest)
1/2 tsp. cordyceps (I use SunPotion)
1/2 tbsp. maca powder (I use Terrasoul)
1/2 tsp. ashwaghanda powder
1 tbsp. Crazy Richard Peanut Butter
1/2 GoMacro Protein Paradise Cashew Carmel bar
A few tablespoons water, as needed for consistency

Liquefy greens and coconut almondmilk in blender. Add in maca, cordyceps, ashwaghanda, protein powder, energy powder and greens powder. Add banana and cauliflower on top, and pour in a bit of water. Blend, adding more water as needed to get desired consistency (I like them more ice-cream consistency!). Chop protein bar. Top smoothie bowl with hemp, PB, and protein bar pieces.

Here are the quick tips to make this (and any smoothie bowl!) like the ones from the juice shops:

1. Liquefy the fresh greens with the liquid you’re using before adding any other ingredients.
2. When adding other ingredients into the blender, put powdered ingredients in first, and then frozen fruit on top.
3. If you like a thicker consistency, after you pour your smoothie into the bowl, place the bowl in the freezer for a minute as you prepare the topping ingredients. This prevents the frozen elements from melting as you prep.
4. Top your smoothie bowls with chopped protein bars, nut butters and hemp for a great texture component!

Very Veggie Quiche

All right, dear friends. This is about to change your brunch game, permanently. When I first went vegan, I figured that meant I was swearing off all savory breakfasts as I knew them. Now that I’m knee deep in tofu scramble recipes, I know that isn’t the case, but still, something was missing. Something flaky, warm and serve-able.

Well, it has been found. Allow me to introduce you to this, the vegan quiche.

This took ten minutes to put together, an hour to cook, and about 5 minutes for my fiancé to devour. He could not believe it was vegan!

Here’s the deets (adapted from Follow your Heart):

6 tbsp. Follow your Heart VeganEgg™ powder
1 frozen Wholly Wholesome Whole Wheat pie crust
3/4 c. Califia Farms Toasted Coconutmilk
1 1/2 c. very cold water
2 shallots
2 cups fresh chopped spinach/mixed greens
1/2-3/4 c. Daiya mozzarella
1 tbsp. Earth Balance vegan butter
3/4 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. cracked black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place pie crust in oven for just a few minutes, until golden. While pie crust is warming, finely chop and sauté shallots in vegan butter just until translucent. Set aside. After crust is warm/slightly golden, remove from oven and turn oven down to 350 degrees. Combine VeganEgg™ powder, sea salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper in a medium-sized bowl. Pour in water and whisk until smooth, then add in coconutmilk for creaminess. Fold in shallots, cheese and spinach, just until combined. Pour mixture into crust and place back in oven. Bake for 1 hour or until golden on top with browned crust.

Slice up and serve that goodness!

 

Cashew Curry

One of my resolutions for 2017 (aside from get better at keeping up with this blog) is to learn more about Indian food. And to me, that begins with curry. I have been playing with a few vegan curry recipes, and this is becoming my new favorite. It’s so creamy and delightful on a mountain of cauliflower rice and steamed veggies, or with some zoodles and spiralized carrots (caoodles?).

Make it:

2 c. raw cashews (I soak mine for an hour)
3 cloves garlic
4 oz. reduced fat coconutmilk
4 oz. coconut water (I use Harvest Bay)
1 1/2 tsp. curry powder
3/4 tsp. cayenne powder
1/4 tsp. cracked pepper
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1 tsp. red curry paste

Combine all ingredients in food processor or blender. If too thick for your taste, add extra coconut water. That’s it!! This stuff can be enjoyed raw or cooked, and I’ll say it’s great either way!

Chai Apple Crisp

Apples showed up at our local farmers’ market earlier than expected a few weeks ago, and I may have been a bit over-eager… surprise, surprise. I bought two large bags and proceeded to sauce them, bake them, but most importantly: crisp them. Cheers to the smells and flavors of fall making their arrival!

 

What you’ll need:

• 1 large bag of crisp, tart apples (about 20 medium)
• 2 tbsp vegan Earth Balance butter
• 1.5 c oats
• 1 tbsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp cardamom
• 1/2 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 c raw honey or agave
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 handfuls walnuts or pecans

Simple steps:

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Core apples and cut into cubes. (I do not remove the skin.)
3. Combine oats, vanilla, cardamom, brown sugar, allspice, nuts, nutmeg, 1/2 tbsp of the cinnamon and 1/4 c of the honey/agave in a small bowl and mix.
4. Coat a baking dish with a bit of vegan butter or coconut oil.
5. Melt vegan butter and mix with other 1/2 tbsp of cinnamon and apples, adding more butter and cinnamon to taste.
6. Pour apple mixture into baking dish and coat with oat mixture, mixing only slightly.
7. Bake 45 minutes or until oats become crunchy and apples have browned and softened.
8. Serve hot over SoDelicious vanilla coconut milk ice cream and a bit more cinnamon/cardamom for a perfect sweet treat!

Rosemary Seitan Zoodles

Seitan is full of surprises. It’s so versatile, so protein-packed and so flavorful when done right. I love a good marinara and simple dinner, so here’s my take on a vegan classic with a simple Italian sauce.

Makes 8 servings

What you need:

• 2 cups vital wheat gluten
• 1 pint low-sodium vegetable broth (I use Pacific)
• 4 cups water
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tsp. onion powder
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. cracked pepper
• 1 tsp. dried rosemary
• 1/2 tsp. oregano

Simple steps:

1. Combine gluten, spices and 2 cups of the water in a large bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon until mixture becomes doughy.
2. Knead mixture until dough becomes very elastic.
3. Bring vegetable broth and other 2 cups of water to a boil in a large pot. While heating, add garlic cloves.
4. Place large ball of dough carefully into boiling liquid. Cover and reduce to simmer.
5. Stir occasionally and simmer for 45 minutes or until dough is no longer soft, but springs back when prodded.
6. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Refrigerate leftover seitan in the remaining broth (which can be used for amazing other recipes too, so don’t throw it away).

The seitan can be sliced and served like this, and it will be of a chewier, more meatloaf-like consistency. I personally like it best when sliced thin at this stage and cooked on the stove in a bit of olive oil and balsamic glaze, to give it a bit of a crunch and caramelization. If you choose to make it crispy, do not return it to the broth for storage, just refrigerate it in a sealed container for up to a week.

Above, I served mine with zoodles cooked with balsamic glaze, cracked pepper, fresh basil, olive oil, wilted spinach, garlic, sweet onion and heirloom tomatoes!