Apr 2 2013

Healthy Banana Nut Bread Muffins

by Angela

Summary: These delicious muffins are good for you, have very little sugar, and are wonderful for breakfast or as a snack!

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 cup wheat germ
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 cup non dairy milk
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 cup mashed banana
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons pecan or walnut pieces, optional

Instructions

  1. 1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. 2. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, wheat germ, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside. In a medium size mixing bowl, combine non dairy milk, applesauce, mashed banana, and vanilla extract. Mix wet ingredients into dry mixture until thoroughly combined. This will make a thick batter. Stir in 1/2 cup of nuts, if using.
  3. 3. Spray muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray, or use liners. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full. Sprinkle remaining nuts on top of each muffin. Bake for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan; transfer to a cooling rack.

Preparation time:

Cooking time: 15 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 12

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Jul 23 2012

Beefless Stew

by Angela

Summary: A delicious warm and hearty stew that is incredibly satisfying!

Ingredients

  • 8 small red potatoes (cut into 1″ cubes)
  • 1 Large Onion (chopped)
  • 8 Ounces Mushrooms (quartered)
  • 5 Medium Carrots (peeled & sliced thick)
  • 2 Bay Leaves
  • 1/2 tsp. Thyme
  • 1 tsp. Rosemary
  • 1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
  • 2 tsp. Poultry Seasoning
  • 1 1/2 tsp. Salt
  • 2 Tbl. Tamari (soy sauce)
  • 1/2 tsp. Fresh Ground Pepper
  • 1/2 cup Red Wine
  • 1 to 1 1/2 cups Gardein Beefless Tips or TVP Chunks (beef colored/flavored)
  • 1 cup Frozen Peas
  • 4 Tbl. Cornstarch

Instructions

  1. Fill a large pot with 10 cups of water.
  2. Add the first 13 ingredients, potatoes through pepper, and bring to a boil.
  3. Simmer uncovered for about 20 minutes, until onions are cooked and the potatoes and carrots start to soften.
  4. Add 1/4 cup of red wine (if desired).
  5. If using Gardein Beefless Tips, brown them in a pan in oil and set aside.  Or if using TVP chunks add them in now.
  6. Add the peas.
  7. Mix the cornstarch with 1/4 cup red wine (or water).
  8. Stir the mixture into the stew and cook until the stew thickens slightly.
  9. If using the Gardein Beefless Tips add them in now.
  10. Serve in bowls with plenty of fresh bread!

Preparation time: About 15 to 20 minutes

Cooking time: 20 to 30 minutes

Number of servings (yield): 8 to 10

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Jun 25 2012

Creamy Carrot Soup

by Angela

 


Summary: This is a incredibly flavorful, really easy to make, delicious creamy soup!!

Ingredients

  • 1 tsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
  • 1 T Red Wine Vinegar
  • 1 lb. Carrots (peeled & chopped)
  • 1/2 Medium White Onion (chopped)
  • 1 Veg. Bouillon Cube (dissolved in 2 cups of water)
  • 1/4 tsp. Cumin
  • 1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder
  • Dash of Cayenne Powder

Instructions

  1. Heat oil in a 2qt saucepan.
  2. Cook onions in the oil until soft.
  3. Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until carrots are soft.
  4. Take half of the soup and put in the blender until smooth and creamy.
  5. Then take the other half of the soup and blend until it is almost creamy but has some texture left.
  6. Then add back together and stir until well mixed. (*If you prefer a completely smooth and creamy soup you can blend all of it together until smooth.)

Variations

To add a little crunch and texture to the soup you can add some drained canned corn into the soup once it’s blended.

Preparation time: About 15 to 20 minutes.

Cooking time: About 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Number of servings (yield): 4

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May 4 2012

Stuffed Peppers

by Angela

 

Ingredients

  • 4 bell peppers
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice (you can use white rice, quinoa, or couscous)
  • 1 1/2 cups veggie burger crumbles
  • 1 medium to large onion (diced)
  • Tops of bell peppers (diced)
  • 4-6 mushrooms (chopped up)
  • 1/2 of a large can of corn
  • 1/2 large can of diced tomatoes
  • 1 cup pasta sauce (whatever your favorite is, and you can add more o
  • r less to your taste)
  • 4 tsp. nutritional yeast (optional)
  • 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. italian seasoning
  • Pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Slice the tops off of the bell pepper, and remove the seeds from inside. Chop up any usable part of the top and set aside.
  2. Boil a pot of salted water, put the peppers in, and cover. Reduce to a simmer and let cook for 5 to 7 minutes, then remove and carefully drain the water.
  3. While pepper are simmering, in a large pan saute onion and chopped up peppers in a little bit of oil, until the onion softens a bit.
  4. Then add in the mushrooms and saute for a minute or two.
  5. Then add in veggie burger cumbles and saute for a few more minutes.
  6. Then transfer to a large bowl, add in pasta sauce, rice, corn, diced tomatoes, nutritional yeast (if using), and spices.
  7. Mix it all up really well, then stuff into peppers.
  8. Place peppers in a glass dish and place filled peppers in it, pop it in the oven, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour. Then you can snack on the leftover filling while you’re waiting for it to cook! = )

Preparation time: 15 to 20 minutes

Cooking time: 45 to 60 minutes

Number of servings (yield): 4

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Mar 23 2010

Tarka Dal

by Angela

This is a delicious vegan Indian dish best served with basmati rice!

Recipe: Tarka Dal

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup red lentils
  • 3 cups water
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 1 small onion chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic finely chopped
  • 3 tbs. vegetable oil
  • 1/2 tsp. garam masala
  • 2 tsp. finely chopped cilantro

Instructions

  1. Wash the lentils in several changes of water.
  2. Then put the lentils in a pot with the water and salt.
  3. Bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered skimming off any froth.
  4. Then partly cover the pot and simmer for about 45min. to 1 hour (should be a pale yellow soup like consistency, you can add more water if needed).
  5. Fry garlic and onion in oil until pale brown (you should start this about 15 to 20min. before the lentils will be finished cooking).
  6. When garlic and onion has turned a pale brown add the garam masala and cook for 2 to 3 seconds.
  7. Pour garlic and onion into cooked dal and add chopped cilantro.

Meal type: dinner

Culinary tradition:

Indian (Southern)

 

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Aug 25 2009

The Best Vegan Carrot Cake

by Angela

Vegan Carrot Cake SliceCarrot Cake Slice w/fork

One of mine and Daniel’s favorite desserts is carrot cake.  But we wanted to figure out how to make one of our favorite sweet things vegan.  Here is the best version we came up with, and I am positive you could fool anyone!  It tastes just like a regular carrot cake and is delicious!!

Recipe: Vegan Carrot Cake Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp. baking soda
  • 2 tsp. cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. allspice
  • 1 tsp. baking powder
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 3/4 cup light brown cane sugar
  • 3/4 cup cane sugar
  • 3 egg equivalent in Ener-G egg substitute
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 cups finely grated carrots
  • 3/4 cup applesauce
  • 1 cup shredded coconut
  • 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1/2 cup raisins

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, spice, baking powder, and salt.
  3. In a large bowl, mix sugar and prepared egg replacer until creamy (it works best with an electric mixer)-add vanilla, then add vegetable oil.
  4. Mix wet and dry ingredients together, then add the applesauce.
  5. Add carrots, coconut, walnuts, and raisins.
  6. Grease two 9 inche round cake pans and smooth batter out equally between the two pans.
  7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean (be sure to let the cake adequately cool before frosting).

Next is the recipe for the faux cream cheese frosting.  Once the cakes are cooled you can put a layer of frosting between the cakes, and then use the rest of the frosting to frost the top and the sides of the cake.

Recipe: Faux Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

  • 1 8oz. package of vegan cream cheese (I prefer Toffuti better than cream cheese)
  • 1/3 cup vegan soy margarine softened (I prefer Earth Balance)
  • 2 cups vegan confectioners sugar

Instructions

  1. With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and margarine.
  2. Add vanilla, then add sugar.
  3. Beat until smooth.

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Aug 13 2009

Vegan Baked Ziti

by Daniel

Baked Ziti

When I was a wee lad my mom would make delicious tofu lasagna.  I have tried to make it myself but I just don’t have the patience.  This stuff is similarly satisfying but seems like less work to me.  Try it out and let me know what you think!

First you need to make the cheesy filling:

Recipe: Italian Tofu Ricotta Filling

Ingredients

  • 1 Pkg of firm Tofu (drained)
  • 1/3 c. raw cashews
  • 1 T. lemon juice
  • 1/2 t. sea salt
  • 1/2 t. dried basil
  • 1/2 t. dried oregano
  • 1/2 t. garlic powder
  • 1/8 t. dried thyme

Instructions

  1. Put the cashews in your food processor and grind into a fine powder.
  2. Add the tofu and all remaining ingredients.
  3. Blend until smooth.

Preparation time (duration): 5-10 mins

Next you’ll need to make the breadcrumb topping.  This adds a nice satisfying crispy layer on top of the dish.

Recipe: Cheesy Breadcrumb Casserole Topping

Ingredients

  • 1/2 c. panko bread crumbs
  • 1/4 c. nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 t. sea salt
  • 2 T. olive oil

Instructions

  1. Place all ingredients in a small bowl.
  2. Stir until evenly distributed.

Preparation time (duration): 3 mins

Now for the final assembly.  Here’s where we see it all come together.  For the pasta you can use any large, tubular pasta.  I personally prefer rigatoni to ziti.  For the sauce I used a vegan, off the shelf tomato basil sauce.

Recipe: Baked Ziti

Ingredients

  • 1 lb. rigatoni pasta
  • 2 1/2 c. – 3 1/2 c. tomato pasta sauce
  • Italian Tofu Ricotta Filling recipe from above
  • Cheesy Breadcrumb Casserole Topping recipe from above

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400.
  2. Spray or grease a 9 by 13 glass casserole pan.
  3. Boil pasta until firm (al dente) according to instructions on box.
  4. Drain pasta and put it in the casserole dish.
  5. Add sauce and stir until pasta coated.
  6. Gently fold in Tofu Ricotta Filling leaving nice chunks of cheesy goodness.
  7. Sprinkle breadcrumb mix on top.
  8. Cover with foil and bake 25 minutes.
  9. Uncover and bake until top is golden brown. (5-10 minutes)

Cooking time (duration): 35 mins

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Aug 8 2009

Vegan In Public: The Present Moment Cafe

by Angela

Angela at Present Moment Cafe

Daniel and I were in St. Augustine, FL for a friends art show when we decided we wanted to have dinner.  I had been wanting to go to The Present Moment Café for a long time now but had never made it there.  It’s an all raw, vegan, and organic restaurant, where none of their food is heated over 118 degrees.

We were both kind of skeptical of this, because we love to cook and have no problem with actually “cooking” our food.  So of course we figured how can this be good, the menu sounds delicious, but almost too good to be true for raw food.

Well we went for our anniversary dinner and it was one of the most incredible meals I have ever eaten!  Everything from the atmosphere and décor, to the service, the presentation of the food, and most importantly the taste were oh so amazing!  We were both blown away and so impressed by everything there.

My only complaint is that the place is about 45 minutes or so away from our house and that I can’t eat there at least once a week!  We were first greeted with a carafe of lemon cucumber water on the table, followed by a super friendly and knowledgeable server.

We ordered the Kale Avocado ala Present Moment salad, it had a avocado and lemon garlic oil dressing massaged onto kale with red pepper, tomato, and candied pecans. It was large enough for both of us to split and one of the tastiest and most unique salads I’ve ever eaten.

Then for the meal we ordered the Dinner Sampler Platter, which allowed us to pick three dinner entrees off the menu and get smaller portions of them.  We figured it was the best way to taste multiple things and share, and the waiter also informed us that it included a salad or soup and that we could just count the salad we already had as part of it. So for our three entrees we chose the Pad Thai, Herbed Nut Loaf & White Truffle Cream Pasta, and the Mango Samosas.

All three things were incredible and so delicious, but we both felt the Herbed Nut Loaf was our favorite.  It was so rich and had this incredibly flavorful marinara sauce on top of it and was served with zucchini noodles (we had no idea that was possible) topped with a pine nut “parmesan” sauce.  The Pad Thai was so full or flavor and had curried cashews on top that just made the dish, and it was made using sea glass noodles, I had never heard of them before, but man now I totally want to buy some to use at home.  And the third thing we had, the Mango Samosas, they were Indian curried vegetables inside of a mango coconut wrapper that was so yummy.

We seriously wondered about everything we ordered, how did they do it? We were perplexed that food like that could be prepared without actually cooking it. They also had quite a few desserts to choose from, but we were so stuffed we couldn’t do it.  But next time I am definitely going to try their desserts, because every single one of them seemed so creative and sounded so delicious.

After being so skeptical of the whole raw foods thing, the kicker is that when we left we both felt so great.  Unlike when you usually eat and feel kind of weighed down and sleepy and sometimes bloated.  Not with this food, it must be true that raw foods really make you feel good, because I felt like I could do anything after we ate, I wasn’t dragging and ready to sit down like usual, I wanted to walk and enjoy the evening.

I highly highly recommend The Present Moment Café, check out their menu online, and if you live nearby or somewhat close, it’s worth the drive. I look forward to our next trip there!!!

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Jul 21 2009

Tempeh and Zucchini Curry in Pita Pockets

by Daniel

Tempeh and Zucchini Curry in Pita

Somewhere near the middle of the day I began to feel hungry and wandered into the kitchen.  We had some tempeh, zucchini and pita pockets from a local bakery.  Angela suggested these tempeh curry pockets and so we began.  This is loosely based on a recipe I found a while ago but we made some changes to simplify it.  These things are really delicious and pretty easy to prepare.

Recipe: Tempeh and Zucchini Curry in Pita Pockets

Ingredients

  • 2 T vegetable oil
  • 1/2 t cumin seeds
  • 1/2 t mustard seeds
  • 2 garlic cloves (minced)
  • 1/2 large white onion (chopped)
  • 2 t curry powder
  • 1/2 t chili powder
  • 1/4 t salt
  • 1 zucchini (diced)
  • 8oz tempeh (diced)
  • 1 tomato (diced)
  • 1 T tomato paste
  • 1/2 t garam masala
  • 1/2 t curry powder
  • Pita bread

Instructions

  1. Heat vegetable oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.
  2. Add cumin and mustard seeds and fry them until they begin to pop. (About 2 minutes)
  3. Add garlic and onion and stir to coat. Cook until onions soften. (About 10 minutes)
  4. Add chili powder, 2 t of curry powder, salt, zucchini, tempeh, tomatoes and tomato paste. Stir well to distribute ingredients. Cook, stirring occasionally, until zucchini is cooked but still crunchy. (About 15 minutes)
  5. Add garam masala and the other 1/2 t curry powder. Stir well and cook for another minute.
  6. Serve it in a warm pita. (I like it topped with tofutti sour cream.)

Cooking time (duration): 30

Number of servings (yield): 4

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