Spicy Sriracha Tofu

Yum

Vegan Coleslaw

Coleslaw is a total potluck staple and barbecue necessity and I spent a good portion of my life thinking that I hated it (as I’m sure plenty of others can relate). Well, turns out….I realized I just hate the heavy mayonnaise drowning the coleslaw. Cabbage and carrots are delicious, but that soggy, nasty mayo really doesn’t do it any favors.

I was looking for a lighter, vegan version of the old classic that brings out the flavors of the veggies instead of drowning them, so I came up with this recipe.

Bring this to your next BBQ and I promise your friends will like you more for it. Especially your vegan friends, because they can totally enjoy this recipe too. This is the absolute best when served with my Jackfruit Pulled Pork (look for that recipe on the blog next week!)

Ingredients
First, the slaw:
1 small head green cabbage, finely shredded
1/2 small head red cabbage, finely shredded
3 whole carrots, finely shredded
(These are very easy to shred w/ the shredder attachments on a food processor…but if you don’t have one, you can save yourself a lot of misery by buying it bagged and pre-shredded.)

For the dressing:
1/2 cup vegan mayonnaise (Vegenaise is a good one)
1/3 cup unsweetened coconut yogurt
3 tbsp white or apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp white onion
2 tbsp honey
2 tsp of dry mustard (or the yellow kind works too)
1/2 tsp celery salt
Salt & pepper, to taste

Instructions:
1. Shred all cabbage and carrots in a food processor, or skip this step entirely by purchasing the pre-shredded coleslaw mixes.
2. Using your food processor (or a separate bowl for mixing with a whisk), combine all dressing ingredients and blend until very smooth. (Be sure to grate the onion before adding it to the dressing if you’re not using a food processor)
3. Pour over shredded cabbage and carrot mixture and stir well until all cabbage is evenly coated
4. Taste & add salt and pepper as needed
5. Store in the fridge for at least an hour before serving, so all the flavors can really combine. It tastes even better the next day and will store well for several days!

One of my favorite variations on this recipe is to add about 4-5 shredded broccoli stocks to my slaw. When buying whole broccoli, don’t just use the florets and toss their stocks in the trash! These stocks are still packed full of vitamins and fiber and can easily be saved in the fridge for several days. Run ’em through the shredder in your food processor or chop them up into little matchsticks for some extra boost to your salads and slaw.

Tofu & Veggie Breakfast Scramble

Oh man guys…some mornings, the struggle is just so real. Fortunately, a solid breakfast is pretty good motivation to get up and moving quickly and this one is pretty darn good.

This breakfast scramble is packed with protein but doesn’t have any of the cholesterol because it’s doesn’t contain any eggs, making it a fantastic vegan option.

Ingredients:
1 block of firm tofu (crumbled)
1 tbsp turmeric
1 clove of garlic
2 tbsp of nutritional yeast (optional)
A drizzle of olive oil
A few handfuls of chopped veggies (I used broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, and bell pepper.)
And Sriracha to top it off(duh).

Directions:
1) Prepare the tofu by draining the liquid and then wrapping the block in a towel and pressing between two plates to remove some of it’s moisture.
2) Prepare veggies by washing and chopping into bite sized pieces.
3) Heat olive oil in a skillet on medium heat.
4) Mince the garlic and add to the pan, letting it sauté for a minute or two.
5) Add the chopped veggies to the pan and sauté for a few minutes, until they start to soften a bit.
6) Crumble the tofu into the hot pan with the veggies and immediately sprinkle in turmeric and nutritional yeast. Stir well to combine.

Feel free to mix it up too, you could put just about any veggie in here and it would be delicious. This scramble also stores well in the fridge (unlike eggs), so it’s an easy recipe to make up at the beginning of the week and then stuff into tortillas for breakfast burritos all week!

Quinoa Tabouli Salad

Here’s a fresh and easy lunch that’s all sorts of delicious. It gets bonus points in my house for making great use of leftover quinoa from the previous night’s dinner, and this can be thrown together in less than 5 minutes. Here’s a quick recipe for one serving, but multiply it as needed (it stores great all week if you want to make a huge batch ahead of time):

Ingredients:
1/2 cup white quinoa, cooked
1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
1 roma tomato, diced
1 tbsp green onion, chopped
1 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp lemon (or more, to taste)
Salt & pepper, to taste

Directions:
Cook the white quinoa and allow to cool. Finely chop parsley and green onion and dice the tomato. Combine the quinoa and veggies. Drizzle in the olive oil & lemon juice, add salt and pepper, and mix well.

 

Strawberry Chia Seed Jam

Store bought jam is packed full of sugar and weird stuff, and ain’t nobody got time to can it themselves. Here we have a super easy, raw strawberry chia seed jam packed full of fiber & protein that can be made in less than 5 minutes. No cooking required!

Strawberry chia seed jam:
Ingredients:
1 cup strawberries
1/3 cup chia seeds (run these through a cleaned coffee grinder until they’re powder for smoother jam)

Directions:
Combine strawberries and chia seeds in a food processor and blend until smooth (or desired consistency). Store in jars in the fridge for 2 hours until jam thickens & slather it on all your favorite things.

Chocolate Chip Cashew Cookie Balls

I don’t about you guys, but I’m a big fan of eating constantly…meaning I basically don’t leave the house without lots of snacks on me. These chocolate chip cookie dough balls are one of my go-to snacks when running out the door or for throwing in a backpack.

Ingredients:
1 cup raw cashews (soaked 1 hour-overnight)
1 cup dates, pitted
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:
Soak 1 cup of dates in warm water for 1/2 hour & 1 cup of cashews for at least an hour (but overnight is most ideal for easy blending). Drain the dates and the cashews & blend in a food processor until it forms a sticky, even consistency and holds together well. The mixture should start to form a big ball in your food processor when it is ready.

Stir in chocolate chips (optional, or you could add dried fruit, coconut, more nuts, really whatever you want)  & roll into balls. Let refrigerate for an hour before eating or packing for best results!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Hummus

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Hummus

Growing up with a Lebanese grandmother, hummus was always a family favorite and could never be store bought if you didn’t want to face her wrath. After years of making hummus from scratch and experimenting with numerous “savory” versions (hello,  jalapeño cilantro, avocado lime, and roasted red pepper garlic) it was time for a “sweet” variation. I replaced the traditional tahini (sesame seed paste) with another seed/nut butter (peanut butter) and added some other sweet touches, and I must say…holy chickpeas this stuff turned out DELICIOUS!

Not to mention, it’s gluten free, vegan, and packed with fiber and protein. I did the nutritional analysis on this recipe, and for something so sweet it’s much less sinful than you might think. In a 3 tbsp serving (though, let’s be real…I usually eat the whole bowl) this dip provides 22% of your recommended daily fiber, 7.3 grams of protein, and 12% of your daily iron at only 176 calories. Feel free to indulge, my friends.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup garbanzo beans (or 1 can, rinsed and drained)
3 tbsp peanut butter
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp honey
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips
1 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp cinnamon

Directions:
▪   Combine your rinsed garbanzo beans, peanut butter, coconut oil, honey, vanilla extract, and cinnamon and process them in a food processor until smooth.
▪   Remove from food processor and stir in chocolate chips by hand.
▪   Pour into serving dish

Really easy and super delicious! I like to serve this cookie dough dip with apple and pear slices, but it could also be really awesome as a dip for graham crackers. If you don’t do peanuts, you could easily replace the peanut butter with almond butter, sunflower seed butter, or whatever else you like. 🙂

This recipe makes about 8-10 servings of around 3 tbsp each.

Here are the nutrition facts, in case anyone was wondering. 🙂

Chopped Kale Salad w/ Vegan Béchamel Sauce

This salad is so decadent, I could seriously eat it every day. It’s hard to believe it’s totally vegan & gluten free. It’s almost like the salad equivalent to mac and cheese….that good.

Add to salad bowl:
-2 cups raw chopped kale, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, red & green cabbage (Trader Joe’s “Cruciferous Crunch” salad blend is awesome!)
-1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

Make the vegan béchamel sauce using the following ingredients:

-1 tbsp Earth Balance vegan margarine or olive oil
-1 tbsp ground cashews or cashew meal
-1 tbsp nutritional yeast
-1/2 cup vegetable broth
-Pinch of sea salt & cracked pepper

Add the above sauce ingredients to a saucepan, whisking constantly over low to medium heat. Make sure that it doesn’t boil, but rather melts and reduces. The sauce will become smooth, creamy, and thick.

Remove from heat, immediately pouring piping hot sauce over bed of greens, allowing them to wilt a bit.

Enjoy!

Black Bean Brownies

Black Bean Brownies

I’ve been experimenting with finding a delicious, healthy, and gluten free brownie recipe and I think I finally have succeeded! This recipe is glutenfree, grain free, high fiber, and doesn’t have ANY flour or white sugar. It can also easily be made vegan by replacing the eggs with flax or chia seed eggs (which I will cover in another post).

So…it freaked me out a lot at first….but it turns out black beans are the perfect replacement for flour. I know what you must be thinking; “there is no freaking way that is going to taste good…you can’t put beans in brownies!” I thought the same thing, but I was happily mistaken when these came out ofthe oven. The black beans serve to cut out the unnecessary white flour and replace it with something less processed, low in fat, high in fiber and protein, and full of vitamins. It effectively takes out the empty nutrition from the beloved baked good and replaces it with pure, healthy goodness.

These brownies are totally gooey, and chocolately; everything that a brownie should be. What I was most pleased with (and the main reason these are my go-to brownies) is that for being gluten free, they didn’t have the same texture that most gluten free boxed mixes have. Many gluten free brownies I’ve had in the past have been made from processed tapioca or corn flour mixes and end up with a very dense texture and almost sandy mouth feel. These had no such issue, and don’t actually taste like they’re missing anything (which is pretty incredible considering how much healthier these variety are).

Ingredients (makes about 10 brownies)
1 1/2 cup black beans (or 1 can, rinsed and drained)
3 eggs (replace with flax egg for vegan baking)
3 tablespoons coconut oil
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup pumpkin puree or apple sauce
¼ cup agave or honey (or whatever your sweetener of choice may be)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
Cooking spray (or additional oil)
Shredded coconut (optional)

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Rub or spray a baking sheet with oil (so your brownies don’t stick) and set the dish aside. I used an 8″square baking pan.
• Take your rinsed and drained black beans and process them in a food processor until smooth.
• Add eggs, oil, cocoa, baking powder, vanilla, agave and pumpkin, and process until completely blended. (Be sure to stop and scrape down the sides a couple times during this step, if needed).
• Add 1/4 cup chocolate chips and pulse a few times.
• Pour into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle top with remaining chocolate chips. Top with shredded coconut, if desired.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Put on a wire rack and let cool completely before serving.

I like to sprinkle shredded coconut and dark chocolate chips on top, it gives it a little “Samoa girl scout cookie” taste. 🙂

Here are the nutrition facts, in case you guys were wondering: