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Tag Archive: Vegan

Easy Black Bean Salad

Written on April 11, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Entree

I’m usually too tired to want to cook at night; during the Summer I have the lovely excuse of not wanting to turn on a stove or a grill because it’s already too hot. That’s why I love bean salad recipes: You never have to cook them and they’re easy to throw together.

It’s really easy to make a big pot of rice and a bunch of bean salad and keep it for yourself to eat throughout the week. Most of the ingredients I used were canned, which is also a plus since I almost always keep them on hand. I’m not a big cilantro fan so I leave strong herbs like that out usually, but you could just as easily add them in. This would be best with a big plop of firecracker guacamole on top.

I left the onions out because I’m not a fan of the strong flavor. One way to get rid of the intense bitterness is to soak it in cold water for 5 minutes before dicing it.

Easy Black Bean Salad

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 2 servings):

1 1/4 cups black beans
1/2 cup corn
1/3 cup sliced cherry tomatoes
1/3 cup sliced olives
1/2 red onion, diced(optional)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro(optional)

Method:

Take all of the ingredients and toss together until the salad is evenly mixed.
Serve with rice, tortillas, or over a bed of greens.

So simple and delicious. It feels like eating at chipotle only without the drive. What could be better than that?

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Roasted Asparagus

Written on April 4, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Side Dish

It’s exciting to have fresh produce back on grocery store shelves. I was getting tired of looking at potatoes and squash, but now asparagus, berries, and avocado are all plump and on sale and it actually makes cooking seem less like a chore now.

My favorite method of cooking is still to chuck things in the oven and forget about it. I mean, how easy is that?(Cue the Ina Garten voice) Roasting also adds a lot of flavor as it cooks the vegetables through in a way that steaming or boiling doesn’t. This asparagus comes out much richer and nuttier than if it were cooked any other way.

The lemon and salt at the end brighten up the flavor and brings out the sweet side of the asparagus. The garlic powder is completely optional but a nice touch to add a comforting savoriness to the dish that would go well along side red meat and potatoes.

Roasted Asparagus

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 bundle of asparagus, washed
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder(optional)
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees
Toss the asparagus in the oil and garlic powder if using.
Roast for 30 minutes until the asparagus is slightly past fork tender
Remove from the oven and drizzle with the lemon juice. Finish with a sprinkling of salt.
Serve hot.

Alright, show of hands—who else forgot vegetables could actually taste good after the last 6 months?

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Miso Mushroom Quinoa

Written on March 20, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Entree

It always really surprises me when I find out people I know in real life read my blog; I’m not sure why since I have it connected to all my social media accounts, but still it does, and the support is always amazing.

One thing I almost always get asked by friends is where do the recipes come from? There are a whole slew of answers. Sometimes they just pop into my head; other times I’ll pass over one online that I can’t ignore. Over the weekend Whole Foods tweeted their quinoa, mushrooms and peas with miso from the Whole Foods recipe blog and for once I had all the ingredients on hand and knew I had to make it.

Miso is a paste made out of fermented soybeans. It’s available in most grocery stores. A container will last you months and months and it can be used in sauces and soups.

Mushroom Miso Quinoa(adapted from this recipe)

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

1 cup dry quinoa or 2 cups cooked
1 cup sliced mushrooms
3/4 cup frozen peas
2 carrots, diced
2 Tablespoons white miso
Juice and zest from 1/2 an orange
1/2 Tablespoon fresh ginger
1 Tablespoon sesame oil

Method:

Cook the quinoa according to box directions.
While the quinoa cooks, combine the rest of the ingredients in a large pan and mix over the heat.
Toss over medium heat until the vegetables have cooked through and the liquid mostly evaporates.
Pour the vegetables into the cooked quinoa and mix thoroughly. Serve hot or cold as leftovers.

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Cranberry Cashew Quinoa

Written on March 7, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Side Dish

It’s been a while since I posted a quinoa recipe. Not because I haven’t been eating it, but because I haven’t been doing anything interesting with it except covering it in store-bought sauce. At some point I forgot to go grocery shopping and had to get crafty and a recipe came out of it.

When I was growing up we always had fish for Friday during Lent. Actually, we usually had pizza because I didn’t like fish, but there was definitely an offering of fish. Usually it was white fish with lemon and dill. Now I don’t eat fish and I’m not Catholic, so fish on Fridays is clearly out. But the bright side of being a vegetarian is discovering new foods, and quinoa on any day is clearly in.

This quinoa recipe like most others is fairly versatile. You can eat it as a side dish with something light like fish or beans, or toss it on a salad of green vegetables and eat it as an entrée.

Cranberry Cashew Quinoa

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 4-6 servings):

1 cup dry quinoa, cooked to box’s directions
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup cashews, raw or roasted
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
2 Tablespoons dried dill or parsley
3/4 teaspoon salt
Honey to taste(optional)

Method:

Rinse and wash your quinoa before cooking.
Cook using the manufacturer’s directions for water and time.
When the quinoa has finished cooking, remove it from the heat.
Add into the pot the rest of the ingredients and mix until evenly combined.
Serve hot or cold as a side with fish or beans.

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Easter Egg Peppermint Patties

Written on February 29, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

If there’s one candy that can rival my love of chocolate and peanut butter, it’s peppermint patties. As soon as I made my egg-shaped Reese’s cups, I wondered why no one ever does the same with peppermint patties?

The ratio of filling to chocolate coating is a little ridiculous here; if you’re not a fan of super sweet desserts, this probably isn’t for you. I am, however, so I thought these were great. The chocolate coating certainly could have been prettier but it’s mostly my fault for hastening the process; this works best if you let the patties freeze well before being coated.

Easter Egg Peppermint Patties

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes a dozen):

2 1/4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 1/2 Tablespoons agave nectar(or any liquid sweetener)
1 1/2 Tablespoons water
1 Tablespoon coconut oil, softened or melted
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
8oz bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chips

Method:

In a large bowl, mix together the powdered sugar, sweetener, water, coconut oil and extract completely until it forms a dough-like consistency.
Break off pieces of the filling and roll it into a log in your hands. Gently press down until the shape resembles an egg. Lay this on a non-stick surface and repeat with the rest of the filling.
Refrigerate the filling until it’s cold and hard—about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a microwave or over a double-boiler.
Cover the filling eggs on both sides and all around in the chocolate. Try to work quickly since the filling will soften the longer it’s out and near the chocolate. Lay the eggs on a non-stick surface one by one.
Once you’ve used all the chocolate and filling, refrigerate the eggs until the coating hardens. These will last up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

These are like after dinner mints on steroids. I could never choose between these and Reese’s cups. Thankfully, we live in a world where no one ever has to.

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Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter

Written on February 14, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Snack

I pretty much eat the same things for breakfast every morning. Either it’s a bowl of gluten-free oats with eggs, banana and peanut butter or a coconut flour breakfast bake topped with peanut butter, unless I’m in a sweets mood in which case I’ll make a paleo mug cake and top it with peanut butter.

Are you seeing a pattern? I really love peanut butter at breakfast time.

The only thing that I enjoy as much as peanut butter at breakfast is chocolate. Naturally, the two can only be better together.

I actually made this recipe last year around this time and completely forgot about it until I was shopping for ingredients. I figured it was time to remake it and take better photos, anyway. And I could never say no to having chocolate peanut butter on hand.

Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 16oz):

12oz(about 1 1/4 cup) plain peanut butter
6 tablespoons powdered sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
1/2 teaspoon salt(omit if you’re using salted peanut butter)

Method:

Combine all of the ingredients together and mix until smooth
Store at room temperature in a sealed container for up to 2 week.

I’ll give you a tip: It’s not going to last 2 weeks once you start tasting.

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Pumpkin Seed Trail Mix

Written on February 8, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Snack

I’m constantly eating during the day. I can never understand those people who “forget” to have a meal or go 6-7 hours without eating; the roaring of my stomach would not let me or anyone else in the room forget to eat. It just wouldn’t happen.

On Monday I have a class for 5 straight hours in the afternoon. Considering I can’t go 2 hours without needing to eat something, that alarmed me at first. I knew I’d need snacks—lots and lots of snacks—to keep focus. Something portable and nutritious, just like trail mix.

Trail mix can really be anything. When I was thinking of what to make mine like, I thought about the pumpkin seeds I had in the pantry and all the things I’d put in pumpkin bread: walnuts, ginger, raisins, chocolate if I felt like it. So why not make a pumpkin bread trail mix? Only without the bread. Because bread doesn’t make great trail mix.

Besides being delicious, this trail mix has a lot to offer. Iron-deficiency is commonly associated with vegetarianism because of the lack of red meat. But that doesn’t have to be the case with a good diet. Pumpkin seeds and raisins are both high in iron*. Walnuts are a great source of omega-3s as everyone knows by now. And ginger is a cold-fighting ingredient(not to mention tastes great when it’s candied, just like anything else).

Pumpkin Seed Trail Mix

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients:

1/2 cup shelled pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup walnuts
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup diced candied ginger
1/4 cup dark chocolate, white chocolate, or cinnamon chips

Method:

Toss all of the ingredients together and enjoy.

*I got all of those facts about iron off of Wikipedia, just like a good student would.

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Easy Vegan Cheese Sauce

Written on February 6, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Sauce

I used to have a teacher who loved Cheese Wiz so much, he kept a tube at his desk. I’m pretty sure there’s no actual cheese in Cheese Wiz, just like there’s no actual cheese in this recipe. But I promise you this is a much healthier way to get a cheesy fix.

I didn’t like sunflower seed butter the first couple of times I tried it. I think most people feel the same way if you try to enjoy it like peanut butter or almond butter or even cashew butter; it’s oddly savory and unenjoyable. But once I tried it in savory ways it grew on me.

Sunflower seed butter makes a better “cheese” sauce than any other nuts I’ve tried. It gives the sauce a rich and velvety texture, and the nutritional yeast and seasonings create a flavor that doesn’t taste exactly like the real thing but delicious nonetheless.

Easy Vegan Cheese Sauce

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 3/4 cup sauce):

6 Tablespoons sunflower seed butter
3 Tablespoons water
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Method:

Mix all of the ingredients together.
Store in an sealed container in the refrigerator. As it cools, the sauce will get thicker. Either bring it to room temperature before using or mix in a little extra water until it gets to the desired consistency.

There are plenty of ways that this would taste good. I made cheesy vegan burritos with corn flour tortillas, scrambled tofu, and steamed kale.

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Raw Chocolate Raspberry Ganache

Written on February 3, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

From time to time I like to make “chocolate” with coconut oil, agave, and cocoa powder to keep in the refrigerator for a snack. It’s tasty and I can almost tell myself it’s healthy because I made it from scratch instead of peeling off a wrapper and eating a whole Hershey’s bar.

The last time I went to make it, I remembered about the flavored agave nectar I picked up a while back and had yet to use. Have you seen these? They’re popping up more and more places; I think I found mine at Ocean State Job Lot or Market Basket but now even Whole Foods is making their own store brand flavored sweeteners.

And then I remembered the best dessert ever and decided why make chocolate when you can make ganache? Adding a little almond butter into chocolate prevents the coconut oil from fully hardening and gives it a nice, soft, fudgy texture.

If you don’t want to buy specialty flavored agave, you can substitute that for 6 Tablespoons of plain agave and 2 Tablespoons of seedless raspberry jam. If you want to keep this fully raw, you can use 2 Tablespoons of raspberry puree instead. I haven’t tried either of these yet but I’m fairly confident they’d work, albeit with a slightly less intense flavor.

Raw Chocolate Raspberry Ganache

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes(allow 30 minutes to harden)

Ingredients(Makes 36 1-inch squares):

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup raspberry agave nectar
1/2 cup + 2 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1 1/2 Tablespoons creamy almond butter

Mix the coconut oil and agave nectar together.
Slowly incorporate the cocoa powder until it’s completely mixed in, too.
Lastly, add in the almond butter and mix to completion.
Pour the ganache into a 6×6 pan.
Refrigerate for 10 minutes until it’s semi-soft. While it’s still soft, cut the ganache into 1-inch squares. Then continue to refrigerate for another 20-30 minutes until it’s completely cooled.

I just put this into a pan and let it harden and have been eating it like a fudge, but you could make a crust and use it as the filling for a chocolate torte, or even use it as a filling for some chocolate wafers and make sandwich cookies. There’s really no way this wouldn’t taste good.

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The Amateur Gourmet’s Quinoa Converter

Written on February 2, 2012 by Wannabe Chef in Entree

If you’ve been reading this blog for any amount of time, you probably know that I love quinoa, have for a long time, and certainly don’t need to be “converted” to it. But when I saw Adam’s Quinoa Converter recipe(and hilarious cartoon), I knew I wanted to give that recipe a try because it just looked so darn good.

I’ve made quinoa for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I don’t understand how you couldn’t love it. Sure, it’s plain; that just makes it easier to add other flavors to spice it up. And yes, it is something of a “health food” food; Adam, if you’re reading this then you can have a laugh over the fact that I made this after coming home from yoga.

I only made a few changes to the recipe. I used 2 Tablespoons each of apple cider vinegar and olive oil for the vinegar and oil listed in the recipe to cut down on the fat. And instead of the fresh parsley I used about 2 Tablespoons of dried Herbes de Provence.

This reminded me a lot of tuna salad, which I used to love. I find vegetarian/vegan “tuna” salads are usually hit or miss, and this was definitely a hit. Swapping in mayo for the oil next time wouldn’t be a bad improvisation.

This was pretty damn delicious. Every time we have relatives over I usually make my vegan quinoa stuffing; now I have a new recipe to work into the rotation. If you still need convincing to try quinoa, try this recipe.

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