Life-Changing Vegan Thumbprint Cookies

Makes about 4 dozen 2 inch cookies

2 cups whole almonds or other nut like walnuts, pecans, or pistachios
4 cups old-fashioned oats
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups flour (a mix of coconut and whole wheat flour). More coconut than whole wheat.
1 cup canola oil or melted coconut oil
1 cup maple syrup
Assorted jams of your choice

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a food processor, pulse the nuts until they are chopped into smallish pieces. It's OK if you have a variety of sizes, just don't grind them to a flour. I tend to leave them chunkier than most people because I like to bite into a decent piece of nut when eating these cookies. BTransfer the chopped nuts into a large bowl.

Using the same food processor bowl, grind the oats with the salt into a coarse meal. Again, I like to leave a little texture in the oats. Transfer the oats to the bowl with the nuts, then add 1 -1/4 cup of flour, reserving the remaining 1/4 cup (don't need that last 1/4 cup).

Pour the oil into the bowl, followed by the maple syrup. (Doing it in this order, and using the same measuring cup, means that all the maple syrup will glide out effortlessly.)

Mix with a wooden spoon until combined. If the dough seem runny, add the additional flour but don't worry if it is too soft, as it will stiffen up a bit as it sits. I usually let it sit for about 15 minutes.

Form the dough into rough balls about the size of a whole walnut. The dough will be slightly wet but surprisingly not too sticky. Ice cream scoopers are good here. The cookies can be fairly close together as they don't spread much.

Using the back of a round 1/2 teaspoon measure, make an indentation in the top of each cookie. Use it to fill the indentation with your jam of choice.

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the cookies begin to brown slightly. Remove from oven and let cool for about 15 minutes before moving to a rack to cool further (they're a bit fragile when they first come out of the oven).

Notes

Try a variety of jams for taste and color: red raspberry, apricot or orange marmalade.

 Inspired by: https://www.thekitchn.com/cookie-recipe-lifechanging-veg-134691

Baked Buffalo Cauliflower

Preheat the oven to 450°F. 
Prepare the batter for the cauliflower by combining:
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup Silk Soymilk
1 teaspoon garlic powder 
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
Whisk until smooth and thickened. 

Gently toss the cauliflower with the batter, being sure to coat the cauliflower thoroughly...

Line a baking sheet with foil and place a rack on top of the foil. Generously spray the rack with cooking spray and place the coated cauliflower onto the rack, being sure to leave space between each one... 

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes or until the cauliflower starts to brown. 
While the cauliflower is baking, melt 3 tablespoons dairy-free butter 
mix with 1 (5 ounce) bottle of cayenne pepper sauce and 1 tablespoon maple syrup. 
Whisk to combine. Give it a taste and adjust the flavors to your liking.

When the cauliflower is ready, remove it from the oven and toss with the hot sauce mixture.

Spray the rack with cooking spray again and place the cauliflower back on the rack. Put back in the oven for 10 more minutes until browned to your liking. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly. Transfer to a serving dish with the Dairy-Free Ranch Dip and enjoy!

Inspriation:

http://ourlifetastesgood.blogspot.com/2015/10/baked-buffalo-cauliflower-bites.html

Shepherd's Pie

Serves 6
Ingredients:
4 russet potatoes
3 carrots
3 celery stalks
1/2 yellow onion
2 cups chopped mushrooms (one package)
1 Tbsp flour
1 tsp fresh thyme
1 tsp fresh sage
4 garlic cloves
2 cups veggie broth
1/3 cup red wine
salt
pepper
almond or soy milk
vegan butter

Directions:
Peel, chop and boil the potatoes for 10-15 minutes until soft.

Meanwhile, chop the carrots, celery and onion, saute in vegan butter or oil for a few minutes. Add the mushrooms, and cook until the edges begin to darken.
Add the garlic and season with salt and pepper.
Add tomato paste, flour, thyme and sage. Slowly add the veggie broth and wine, stirring continuously. Let simmer for a few minutes to thicken.

Mash the potatoes and add the soy milk and vegan butter. Add more if needed until smooth. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Lay the veggie filling in a baking dish, then spread the mashed potatoes over the top. At this time you can get creative with designs and patterns on the top. The rougher the surface the crispier it will turn out.

Spray the top with cooking oil. Broil for 10-15 minutes or until the top is crispy.


Favorite gravy base 
3 T melted earth balance
1/4 cup flour (whisk into butter)
1 cup unsweetened soy milk
1.5 cup veg broth
2 T liquid aminos (or soy sauce)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Inspiration: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=1670865623166080&id=1614251518827491&_rdr

STICKY PEANUT CAULIFLOWER WINGS

• 1 medium cauliflower
• 1 tbsp crunchy peanut butter (sugar-free)
• 2 tsp solid coconut oil (about 20g)
• 1 tbsp tamari or other good soy sauce
• Juice of ½ lime (reserve the other ½ for serving)
• 1 tsp garam masala

PREPARATION

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
2. Cut the cauliflower into bite-size florets and combine in a baking tin or dish with the rest of the ingredients, ensuring each piece of cauliflower is nicely coated with the mixture.
3. Spread out the cauliflower evenly, without overlapping too much.
4. Cover with foil and place in the top of the oven for 15 minutes. If you use a larger cauliflower, this stage will take longer (or you’ll have more crunchy florets).
5. Remove the foil, stir, and return to the oven uncovered for 10 minutes to give the edges a nice crisp.
6. To serve, squeeze on a little more lime juice and season with black pepper.

SESAME GLAZED CAULIFLOWER "WINGS"

Ingredients

For the sauce:

• ½ c liquid aminos or soy sauce (or tamari for gluten free)
• ¼ c maple syrup 
• ½ T grated fresh ginger
• 1 T sesame oil
• ¼ c rice vinegar
• 1-2 sliced scallions
• 1 T sesame seeds

For the cauliflower:

• One large head cauliflower
• ½ c flour (I used brown rice flour, but I have seen similar recipes where regular all purpose flour was used)
• ½ c almond, hemp or soy milk
• ½ t garlic powder
• Optional additional sesame seeds and/or scallions for garnish

INSTRUCTIONS

For the sauce:

1. Combine all of the sauce ingredients in a bowl and whisk together. Set aside.

For the cauliflower:

1. Preheat your oven to 450°F, and spray a baking sheet with oil or cooking spray.
2. Cut the cauliflower into florets. The smaller they are, the faster they will cook and softer they will get.
3. Whisk together the remaining ingredients in a bowl.
4. Toss the cauliflower in the batter until thoroughly coated.
5. Arrange the cauliflower on the baking sheet in a single layer.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until slightly less done than you want them.
7. Remove from the oven and pour the sauce over the cauliflower (see Note).
8. Return to oven for another 5 minutes.
9. Remove from the oven and gently flip and toss the cauliflower in the sauce on the sheet.
10. Return to the oven for another 5 minutes.
11. Place the cauliflower on a serving plate or bowl, and if desired, sprinkle with some additional scallion and/or sesame seeds.
12. If desired, pour any remaining sauce off of the baking sheet into a bowl for dipping.

NOTES

This does make quite a bit of sauce. I like to pour it all over and let it cook down a bit in the oven, but you can pour over less, and save some for dipping.

Orange Cauliflower

Healthy Benefits

Cauliflower’s anti-inflammatory abilities- found especially in its supply of Vitamin K, Vitamin C, various antioxidants, and omega-3 fatty acids- help to keep arteries and blood vessels free from plaque build-up, lessening the chances of high blood pressure and out of control cholesterol levels developing.

Servings: 2-3

Ingredients   

Produce

1/2 cup Bell peppers
1 Cauliflower broken into florets, medium sized2 cloves Garlic1/4 tsp Ginger, ground2 tbsp Green onion1 tbsp Orange zest

Canned Goods

• 3/4 cup Vegetable broth

Condiments

• 2 tsp Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce)

Baking & Spices

• 1/2 cup All-purpose flour
  1/4 tsp Black pepper1/2 cup Corn starch1 tsp Salt1/2 tsp Sesame seeds2 tbsp Maple Syrup

Oils & Vinegars

• 1 TSPB Oil

Drinks

1/2 cup Orange juice, freshly squeezed

Liquids

1/4 cup Water

Preparation

        In a first pan

• In frying pan, heat half tbsp. oil and add the diced peppers. Sauté them for a one or two minutes until they turn golden. Make sure that you are not overcooking the peppers. Set aside and leave in the pan.
  
  In a bowl
• Mix the corn starch and all-purpose flour with a pinch of salt and water to make a thick batter.
• The batter should be thick enough to coat the cauliflower florets evenly.
  
  In a second pan
• Dip each cauliflower floret into the batter and add them into hot oil for frying.
• Fry them in batches so as to not overcrowd the pan.
• Once the batter covering the florets turns crisp, drain them out of the oil and place them on paper towels.
• Once you are done frying all the florets, you have to keep them crisp until you are ready to toss them in the sauce.
  
  Sauce
• For the sauce, heat 1/2 tbsp oil in the pan you roasted the peppers in (the first pan). Add minced ginger and garlic.
• Sauté them for a minute until they turn golden. Add the orange zest in.
• Add the broth, orange juice, Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce), maple syrup and mix.
• Meanwhile, mix 2 tbsp of corn starch in water to make a thin paste.
• Once the broth-orange mixture begins to boil, lower the heat. Add the crushed black pepper and salt.
• Add the corn starch paste into the boiling mixture in a slow steady stream. Make sure you are constantly stirring the simmering mixture with your other hand while adding the corn flour paste.
• Once the mixture thickens, toss in the fried cauliflower and the sautéed bell peppers.
• Mix well and increase the heat up a notch. Heat for one or two minutes.
• Transfer it to a serving dish and garnish with sesame seeds and sliced green onions.

Modified from http://yummilyyours.com/