fricken yum – Page 9 – The Vegan Love Project

TLT Sandwich

So I know this isn’t huge on the creativity scale of vegan food preparation but with beautiful tomatoes abundant now- why complicate? I have been boycotting Lightlife Foods, as they are owned by ConAgra; a pro GMO (genetically modified organisms) Corporation, but my friend just bought a package of Fakin Bakin and brought it to the house -with a GORGEOUS heirloom tomato on the counter waiting to be dressed- I couldn’t resist 🙂 ….I use Ezekiel Whole Grain Bread, Follow Your Heart Organic Veganaise and the rest is either from my garden or someone else’s.

Tomato Lettuce Tempeh Bakin Sandwich

2 slices whole grain bread, slightly toasted

2t vegan mayo

1 small tomato, thinly sliced

baby greens

salt & peper

Pickled Beets

These keep amazingly well in the fridge- even though they may not last as long as you would like! They develop a deeper integrated flavor if you let them set overnight.They are a great accompaniment to lunches and sandwich type meals. Instead of using hot vinegar, I toss everything together while the beets are still warm and let them sit and mingle on the counter for several hours after mixing, then into the fridge.

Pickled Beets with Red Onions

3 pounds red beets, scrubbed and washed

1 small onion, sliced very thinly

3T eextra virgin olive oil

1/4c apple cider vinegar

1T red wine vinegar

1/2t salt

1/4t black pepper

2T maple syrup or raw agave or raw local honey

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4c water

1/2t salt

Trim both ends of the beet off but leave the skin on. In a large pot, place the trimmed, whole beets and cover with water. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to low, simmering for 30-40 minutes partially covered, until the beets are tender all the way into the center. Drain. The skin should slip off the beets, if not, using a peeler, remove the skins and set aside. Using a mandolin or a sharp knife, slice the beets in rounds, evenly and thin. In a large bowl, place the sliced beets, sliced red onion, salt, pepper, olive oil, sweetener, and vinegar. Gently toss with a large spoon. Adjust the seasonings. This can be eaten right away but it gets better as it sits- I recommend refrigerating at least 6 hours before serving.

Asian Cole Slaw

Asian Cole Slaw

Deliciously crisp and fresh tasting- make this and no one will know that there is anything “special” about this slaw other than it’s awesome taste.

1 small green cabbage, thinly sliced, or shredded (4CUPS)

1 carrot, grated

Salt

Dressing:

1/4c Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1T Hot Sesame Oil

3T Apple Cider Vinegar

2T Agave Nectar, or maple syrup

2t brown rice vinegar

1t ume vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

2T toasted sesame seeds

In a large bowl, place the shredded cabbage and salt it generously, allow it to sit for several hours, even overnight with a plate on top. This will release the liquid in the cabbage, which you will drain out. This removes any bitterness and makes the cabbage more digestible and more tender.

After draining, add in the other ingredients and toss well. Serve chilled.

Holy Berry Blast Power Smoothie

Holy Berry Blast Power Smoothie

1c nut milk
1T hemp seed
2t raw agave or raw local honey
1/4c blackberries
1/4c strawberries
2T goji berries
2t Maqui Berry poweder
1t vanilla
1scoop protein powder
1T flax seeds
____
1c ice
blend all ingredients together except the ice and process until smooth- taste and adjust if needed
add the ice and blend just until smooth.

Quinoa Vegetable Soup

This soup was made to feed my soul. Every vegetable in it was locally procured, if not from out of my own garden……food is healing, food is medicine.

Quinoa Vegetable Soup

1 clove garlic, minced

1small bunch kale, de-stemmed, torn into bite size pieces

—

½ onion, small dice

1small jalapeno

1 small carrot, sliced

1 stalk celery, sliced

3T olive oil

1 small potato, small dice

2c broccoli florets

3/4c cooked pinto beans

1/2c cooked quinoa or brown rice or pasta

1t smoked salt

4c water, pre-boiled in a kettle

salt and pepper to taste

In a soup pot over medium heat, add 1T olive oil and sauté the garlic, and hot pepper until golden and aromatic, then add the kale and sauté until bright green. Remove from the pan and set aside.

In the same soup pot over medium heat, add 2T olive oil and sauté the onions, carrots, and celery until golden and aromatic. Add the potatoes and pinto beans, and cover with the hot water. Add the smoked salt, reduce the heat and let simmer for 15-20 minutes.

Add the cooked quinoa, broccoli and cooked kale and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes until the broccoli is tender and bright green. Adjust the seasonings, salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately and top with nutritional yeast and crusty bread.

Smoked Tofu Vegetable Salad

This is my favorite served in romaine lettuce leaves but it also makes a great sandwich filling. It is so easy to make and I love having it in the house as a quick snack option- it light, crunchy and fresh tasting. You can try using different varieties of the baked tofu, they will all produce a slightly different taste. I ate this for lunch today on whole grain Ezekiel bread, one of my heirloom tomatoes and baby lettuce from the garden.

8 oz Smoked Tofu Lin, broken in chunks

4 stalks celery, roughly chopped

1 large carrot, roughly chopped

1/3 to 1/2c vegan mayonnaise

pink salt and pepper to taste

In a food processor or vita-mix, pulse the celery or turn on low to mince. Remove into a large bowl. Do the same with the carrot and then the tofu. Process the tofu until desired consistency, it should at least be a fine, even. meal. Add into the bowl of veggies. Add the vegan mayo, salt and pepper and with a spoon, mix all of the ingredients together until well incorporated.

Tofu Vegetable Crust-less Quiche

VOTE FOR THIS “FOLLOW YOUR HEART VEGAN CHEESE SHREDS RECIPE CONTEST” HERE!!!

This is so so good, super easy to make, only takes some prep work; chopping, getting your ingredients in order. I woke up knowing I wanted this for brunch today after Lora’s class at the studio so I got up, walked the pups and got it started straight away. Pressing the tofu helps to release extra water, the cornstarch however will help to absorb some of the water that will be released by the more water dense ingredients; tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms etc. This morning I had on hand Yellow squash, red pepper left over from the Thai Fresh Rolls, baby spinach, Kalamata olives and fresh herbs, mostly all from the garden. I use Follow Your Heart Monteray Jack style vegan cheese, I like the subtle flavor the best out of the vegan cheeses. You can absolutely omit the faux cheese, the base has a cheesiness on its own!

25 mins prep, 60 minutes bake time

Tofu Vegetable Crust-Less Quiche

1/4c olive oil, divided

1 red or yellow onion, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic divided, minced, divided

1/4-1/2c kalamata olives, chopped, halved or sliced

2t pink salt, divided

1/4t red pepper flakes

1/2 small red bell pepper, finely chopped

1T Tamari or shoyu

1t raw agave, or maple syrup

1 lb firm tofu, drained and pressed

¼c nutritional yeast

1 small summer squash or 2c chopped broccoli

2c baby spinach

3T fresh basil

3T fresh parsley

1T cornstarch

2T lemon juice- 1/2 lemon

2T tahini

1t rice vinegar

1/2t ume vinegar

up to 1T of water only if needed to process

1/2c vegan cheese, shredded + 2T to top the quiche (Daiya, Follow Your Heart)

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a 9″ pie plate, loaf pan or 8″ square baking pan. Set aside.

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat 2T of the olive oil, adding the onions once hot. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are lightly caramelized, about 4-5 minutes. Add garlic, zucchini, peppers, 1t salt and red pepper flakes and cook until the garlic smells fragrant and the mushrooms have lightly browned, about 5 minutes more. Add the fresh herbs. Remove from heat and transfer the mixture to a bowl.

In a blender or a food processor, process the tofu, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, corn starch, tahini, rice vinegar, ume and remaining garlic and salt until smooth. Season to taste. Both the veggies and the tofu mixture should have a good seasoned flavor.

In the bowl of veggies, fold in the tofu mixture and the vegan shredded cheese, stirring until evenly mixed. Pour the filling into the pan and bake for 30 minutes covered with tin foil, 15-20 minutes without, and bake until golden brown and set. Can be served hot or cold.

You can use any combination of vegetables you prefer, you want to end up with at least 3 cups of fresh veggies to go into the skillet.

Mushrooms,
Peppers
Broccoli
Carrots
Tomatoes
Spinach
Kale
Swiss Chard

Fresh Thai Basil Peanut Rolls with Sweet Hot Chili Lime Dipping Sauce

These really are not difficult to make, they are definitely more time consuming than throwing pasta in a pot of boiling water, but they are so worth it. They are more of an “occasion” meal or made per a craving request. I was definitely craving them, so I made them for myself after yoga this morning. After already having made the Thai Basil Pesto with the Thai basil out of my garden, half the work was already done and in the fridge! I made a Peanut Sauce earlier today, which takes no more than 5 minutes so the rest of the prep is all about getting the components gathered and ready for you to roll (hehehe). What you put inside the rolls is really personal preference; my standard go to’s are:

grilled or smoked tofu, sliced into thin strips
red peppers, sliced into thin strips
rice vermicelli or glass noodles, cooked and drained
hoisin sauce or pesto and or peanut sauce- I use both!
fresh cilantro, fresh basil, fresh mint
fresh lettuce
crushed roasted peanuts

I use the water that I boil the noodles in to soften the rice wrappers. You can purchase the wrappers in almost every main stream market now a days, or in asian specialty stores, they are also easily found online at specialty markets.

On a clean surface or cutting board, lay your dampened rice wrapper, making sure there are no hard edges, if there are, try to moisten them with the heated water. Now you are ready to fill- my rhythm is as such:

lay down about one 2 teaspoons of pesto
then plenty of fresh herbs next to the sauce, above or below (they look pretty showing through the transparent skin when fully rolled)
then lettuce
then tofu stacked on the lettuce
then peppers stacked
then peanut sauce gets spooned over
then crushed peanuts

Roll from the bottom edge up towards the top to encase the tower of yum. Fold in the sides, the rice wrapper will help you by sticking in place. Once both sides are folded in, roll up to the top to close the package. They don’t keep well, the wrapper tends to stiffen overnight, thus lending to their name, fresh rolls. Dip into both the peanut sauce and the sweet chili lime sauce. FRICKEN YUM.

Sweet Chili Lime Dipping Sauce

3T raw agave, or local raw honey

2T apple cider vinegar

1T lime juice

1/2t pink salt

1t red chili flakes

Peanut Butter Maca Chocolate Chip Power Smoothie

Peanut Butter Maca Chocolate Chip Power Smoothie

Fricken CRAZY delicious.

I use Sun Warrior Raw Vegan Vanilla Protein in my shakes.

1c nut milk
2T cacao nibs
1T raw agave or raw local honey
2T peanut butter
1t vanilla
1scoop protein powder
2t Maca powder
1T chia seeds
1T hemp seeds
pinch Himalayan sea salt

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1c ice
blend all ingredients together except the ice and process until smooth- taste and adjust if needed
add the ice and blend just until smooth.