Vegan Puttanesca

I recently ran across a recipe for a Puttanesca sauce that looked yummy...however it had anchovies and parmesan in it - neither of which are vegan of course. I made up a new meal today and figured I would attempt a vegan version of the Puttanesca to go with it. Both were a delicious success! The actual meal was a cheater meal - I stuffed a puff pastry from Trader Joes with some vegan meatballs (Gardein)...my meals are usually much more made-from-scratch but it was easy and very delish. The sauce was fantastic and was made from scratch...it even included tomatoes and basil I froze over the summer from my tower garden bounty:-)

Vegan Puttanesca

1 T oil
1 medium onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 t sea salt
1/2 t sugar
1/3 cup chopped kalamata olives
2 T capers
2 T fresh basil, chopped(or fresh that has been frozen - not dried)
2 cups petite diced tomatoes

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic to pan and cook until golden and starting to get tender. Add the tomatoes, cover and let simmer 10 min. Add salt, sugar, olives, capers, basil. Stir to incorporate. Cover and simmer 15 min to let flavors meld. Serve over pasta, squash, polenta...whatever you fancy! Enjoy!!

Vegan Red Beans and Rice

My sister-in-law just got married in October to a great guy from Dominican Republic. A couple of weeks ago we had the privilege of enjoying one of Andy's specialtys - Red Beans, Rice, and Chicken. I didn't sample the chicken but let me tell you, the red beans and rice were AMAZING!! Kidney beans are probably one of my least favorite types of beans because they aren't as creamy as other beans in my opinion. But this meal was so delicious, I erased my previous view of red beans and fell in love with them! I asked Andy for the recipe to try and duplicate the goodness and he gave me his "recipe" which doesn't include any exact measurements....because I think he knows this recipe like the back of his hand! After creating my version of this delicacy, I realized two things:

1. My vegan red beans and rice were pretty darn delicious.
2. My vegan red beans and rice don't come close to comparing to Andy's!

Ah well...it was worth a try! At least I have another yummy recipe to add to my vegan repertoire that is not only tasty but easy on the budget and very simple. I guess for the real version, we'll just have to invite ourselves over to Suzi and Andy's :-)

Vegan Red Beans and Rice
2 t canola oil
1/4 cup sliced onion
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 T tomato paste
2 t boullion
4 cups cooked kidney beans, UNDRAINED
2 T fresh cilantro, chopped
1 1/2 cups rice - cooked according to package instructions
Avocado slices

Heat oil in medium-sized saucepan. Add onion and garlic and cook until onion is translucent. Add tomato paste and boullion. Cook until onion is browned. Add the beans with their liquid. When the mixture starts to boil, remove 1 1/2 cups of the mixture and mash. Add 1/2 cup water and return to the pot. Stir. Add the cilantro. Remove from heat and serve over cooked rice with slices of avocado. Enjoy!

New Blog!!

Just wanted to let all of my vegan friends know that I have started a new blog...one that envelops my family's total approach to health, rather than just our vegan side! I am so excited about sharing through this blog about my "Healthy Obsessions" (exercise, veganism, essential oils...just to name a few!) and hope you will check it out. Find it here! http://healthyonpurpose.blogspot.com

Recipes

Just a note about recipes...I have been so busy lately with getting stuff ready for our upcoming school year, that I just haven't found the time to post recipes for the last couple of posts. If you see a picture in a post and the recipe isn't posted, just let me know and I will be happy to send along the recipe!

Snow peas and Thai Tofu Salad

I really love snow peas but don't often get to have them because they are so expensive. I have loved having snow peas in my tower garden this year!

I added some to my favorite Thai Tofu Salad and they were delicious!

Kale!!

I love my tower garden so much and it has exploded with growth over the past couple of weeks. I daily have the pleasure of harvesting kale or basil or lettuce or snow peas or green beans!  Though we don't like the dinosaur kale quite as much as the curly kale, both are delicious and fresh.

My first kale harvest was a little overwhelming...it filled my kitchen sink! Yum!

The other day I had a craving for some kale salad and it made me so happy to step out onto the deck and cut off a pan-full of fresh kale to satisfy my palate!

Vegan 4th of July!

I love the 4th of July! We usually don't do anything real exciting but it generally tends to be a fun day of cooking up red, white and blue taste delights, clothing the kiddos in super cute outfits and having a BBQ as a fam. This year was no exception!

We started off the morning with waffles and a tri-fruit combo of strawberries, bananas, and blueberries.

My cute boys in their festive outfits!

I was quite impressed with the dessert I devised this year - a Dark Chocolate Mousse Pie with Fresh Berries! Heavenly!

The boys decided they didn't want their dessert to be quite so chocolate-y (imagine!) so when I whipped the tofu in the food processor, I spooned out some of the creamy mousse before it had been blended fully with the chocolate. The result was cute little cups of chocolate-vanilla swirled mousse. I topped theirs with berries as well!

Ended our day with a BBQ dinner eaten on the porch!

Fresh Salsa!

I love summer! Since spring and fall are such short seasons around here, summer is probably my favorite season of the year. One of the very best parts of summer, in my opinion, is the abundance of fresh produce at local farmers markets. I frequent several in our area and sometimes end up going to the farmers markets 2-3 times a week! I love fresh fruits and veggies!! This past Saturday, the boys and I headed to the market and picked up fresh tomatoes and jalepenos to make fresh salsa to eat as a treat along with our fresh tortilla chips (also a farmers market find!). I used my food processor to blend fresh tomatoes, jalepenos, cilantro, lime juice, garlic powder, sea salt, minced dried onion (I can't do raw), and a few homemade pickled peppers from last year's garden.

The results were fresh, summery and delicious!!!

Sizzling Szechuan Beefless and Broccoli...Brussels Sprout Chips...Vegan Meat Lovers Pizza...Vegan Loaded Veggie Pizza

I must say, I love Gardein! I think they make the most fabulous meat substitutes and recently they have come out with so many new items. I love that the ingredients in Gardein are delicious foods rather than a huge list of things I can't even pronounce. I recently picked up a bag of Sizzling Szechuan Beefless Strips.

I cooked it according to the package instructions but I also added a bunch of fresh broccoli to the pan (which is shown in the picture on the package but not included in the package). I served it over sticky rice and it was AMAZING!! My hubby (who absolutely loves Chinese food) said it was the best Chinese food ever and that it was every bit as good as any restaurant Chinese dish! SCORE!! It was really amazing and a new family favorite. My boys loved it too!!

I am always on the lookout for a good Brussels sprouts recipe and I came across a recipe for Brussels Sprouts chips and decided it was a must-try. Though a time-consuming dish, it truly is delicious and loved by all three of my boys! I modified the recipe a bit and these things are delicious! All you have to do is cut the stems off your sprouts and then peel the leaves off layer by layer (thus the time-consuming part). Once you have a sufficient amount of leaves (they cook down so I would recommend doing at least a pound of sprouts. The bigger the sprouts the better for this dish), drizzle them with oil and a sprinkle of sea salt and nutritional yeast. Then bake them at 400 degrees for 15 min or so - if you want them crispier, you might want to cook longer.

 The other day I decided pizza sounded really good and I wanted to make some creative ones. I had some leftover onion/poppy seed roll dough in the fridge that I used as the crust. I made the crust thin so it would crisp up nicely. On one pizza I spread pizza sauce over it and then layered it with Lightlife Pepperoni, Field Roast Italian Sausage and Tofurky Polska Kielbasa (all sliced and browned in a bit of oil beforehand). On the second pizza I spread a layer of balsamic reduction (1 cup balsamic vinegar simmered for 20 min on low until it becomes a syrup and then mixed with 1 T maple syrup) over the dough and then layered it with artichoke hearts, chickpeas, and pine nuts - a funny sounding combo but it was delicious! I baked them both at 425 for about 10-15 min until the crust was browned. Yum! Once again, loved by all!

 

Tower Garden Harvest and Mandarin Peanut-Crunch Salad with Crispy Wontons

One of my favorite purchases last year was my Juice Plus Tower Garden. It is the most incredible way to grow veggies (and fruit if you choose) that are delicious, low maintenance, and yield a lot of produce!! This year I am growing peas, green beans, basil, lettuce, tomatoes (cherry and heirloom), dinosaur kale and curly green kale (multiples of everything). My tower is doing amazingly well this year and I got to harvest my first bunch of lettuce yesterday.

Of course fresh lettuce gave me the perfect opportunity to serve delicious salads for dinner!

Making crispy wontons

I tried out the Mandarin Peanut-Crunch Salad with Crispy Wontons from Chloe's Kitchen, with many modifications! It turned out fresh and delicious!

Mandarin Peanut-Crunch Salad with Crispy Wontons (modified from Chloe's Kitchen)

Dressing: 1/4 cup vinegar (I used white because it's all I had)
2 T canola oil
2 T brown sugar
1 T agave
2 t orange zest
1 1/2 t sriracha sauce

Mix ingredients together and set aside
Wontons:
Gyoza wrappers
canola oil
Place 10 gyoza wrappers on a cookie sheet coated with cooking spray. Use a pastry brush to lightly brush oil on surface of each wrapper. Flip wrappers and repeat on opposite side. Cut eat wrapper into strips using a pizza cutter. Bake at 400 degrees for 5-7 minutes or until crisp. Set aside.

Salad:

4 oz lettuce of choice
2 cups green cabbage
2 carrots, peeled and shredded or julienned
1 11oz can mandarin oranges, drained
1/2 cup peanuts
1/2 cup shelled, cooked edamame

Mix salad ingredients in a bowl and toss. Pour dressing over salad and toss to combine. Top with crispy wontons.