Easy Zucchini Bites Appetizer

Ingredients

2 cups shredded zucchini (squeeze out any excess moisture with a paper towel)
2 flaxseed eggs
1 small yellow onion
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 cup Italian style bread crumbs
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Salt & pepper

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray.
In a large bowl, add the eggs and then add the zucchini, onion, cheeses, bread crumbs and seasonings.

Fill muffin pan and bake for 15-17 minutes until the tops are a deep golden brown.
Serve with marinara sauce or ranch dressing for dipping if desired.


Adapted from The Naptime Chef   http://www.eatdrinkeat.com/2012/08/easy-zucchini-bites-appetizer.html

Mushroom Gravy

Ingredients

• 1/2 large onion, minced
• 10 regular-sized or 6 large mushrooms, sliced or chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 – 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed (optional)
• 1/4 -1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon sherry (optional)
• 1 tablespoon liquid aminos or soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons unbleached flour (substitute with arrowroot for gluten-free)
• 1/4 cup non-dairy milk
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. In a medium-sized non-stick saucepan, sauté the onion until beginning to brown, about 5-10 minutes (adding a pinch of baking soda speeds things up). Add the mushrooms and 1 tablespoon of water, and cook for another 3 minutes. Add the garlic, and cook, stirring, for another minute.
2. Add the vegetable broth, herbs, nutritional yeast, sherry, and soy sauce. In a bowl, whisk or blend (with a hand blender) the “milk” and flour together until smooth. Add it to the saucepan and stir well. Simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve.

Credit and inspiration: Author: Susan Voisin, FatFree Vegan Kitchen

Serves: 6

Cauliflower and Sweet Potato Soup

Sweet Potato Cauliflower Soup

yield: 6 to 8 servings

• 1 large head cauliflower (the one I used was at least 7″ in diameter
• olive oil for drizzling
• Few dashes garam masala (optional)
• 3 medium to large sized peeled sweet potatoes, cut into 1″ pieces
• 1 sweet onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 7 cups filtered water

• Garam Masala spice mix:
  1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper

First, preheat your oven to 400 °F and cut up your cauliflower into bite sized pieces. Sprinkle cauliflower lightly with garam masala. Place cauliflower onto ungreased cookie sheet and lightly drizzle with olive oil. Place in oven and let roast until golden brown on the tops and tender, but not mushy, about 20-30 minutes. There’s no need to flip ’em. Just remove from oven and let cool while you cook the rest of the soup.

In large stockpot, bring sweet potato, onion, garlic and water to a boil. Salt (abt 3/4 tsp) and stir. Reduce heat and allow to remain at a constant simmer until sweet potatoes are tender. Add in cooked cauliflower and divide soup into two parts. Include the broth in the first part. 

Let soup cool and then blend one part soup in blender until very smooth. Combine with second part soup and stir. Only use the vegetables from the second part to add to the pureed soup. Salt to taste and warm up over stovetop if needed.

Inspiration: http://www.allysonkramer.com/2011/10/sweet-potato-cauliflower-soup/

Beet burgers

Yields: 6-8 big patties

• 1 cup cooked brown or green lentils, cooled, drained well
• 1 cup shredded beets
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Fresh black pepper
• 1 teaspoon thyme, rubbed between your fingers
• 1/2 teaspoon ground fennel (or finely crushed fennel seed)
• 1 onion, very finely chopped
• 4-6  cloves garlic, minced
• 3  tablespoons smooth almond butter
• 1 cup very fine breadcrumbs

Peel beets then set aside. Pulse the shredded beets and lentils about 15-20 times until the mixture comes together, but still has texture. Now transfer to a mixing bowl and add all the remaining ingredients. Use your hands to mix very well. Everything should be well incorporated.

Place the mixture in the fridge for a half hour to chill.

Preheat a cast iron pan over medium heat. Now form the patties. Each patty will be a heaping 1/2 cup of mixture. To get perfectly shaped patties, use a 3-1/2 inch cookie cutter or ring mold. Otherwise, shape them into burgers with your hands.

Spray a thin layer of oil into pan and cook patties for about 12 minutes, flipping occasionally. Burgers should be charred at the edges and heated through.

Serve immediately. But they taste great heated up as well, so if you want to cook them in advance, refrigerate, then gently heat in the pan later you can.

Inspiration: 

http://lawsonwellness.com/2012/10/04/fresh-beet-burgers/

Pistachio Muffins with secret ingredient

Pistachio Nut Muffins with secret ingredient
Makes 9 muffins

1 Cup Shelled, Toasted Pistachios, Divided

1-1/2 Cups Oat Bran or Whole Wheat Flour

1/4 cup of Spinach

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda

1 Teaspoon Lemon Zest (optional)
1/3 Cup Maple Syrup

1/4 Cup Unsweetened Applesauce (originally Canola Oil)

1/2 Cup Unsweetened Applesauce

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, and either lightly spray or line 9 standard muffin tins with paper wrappers. Set aside.

Dry Ingredients:

- Place 1/2 cup of the pistachios, along with 1/2 cup of the flour and all of the spinach in a blender or food processor. Pulse the mixture until you achieve a coarse but even meal. Transfer into a large mixing bowl.

- Add the remaining 1 cup of oat bran (or flour) and 1/2 cup of pistachios (crushed), plus the baking powder, baking soda, and lemon zest. Stir to evenly.

Wet Ingredients:

- Whisk together the applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla before pouring these wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients. Stir to bring the batter together as little as possible … don’t overwork it (or you may end up with tough muffins).

- Spoon batter into the muffin tins

- Put muffins into the oven and immediately reduce the heat to 375 degrees. 

- Bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown on top and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool for at least 10 minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire rack.

Makes 9 Muffins
Modified from bittersweetblog.net

Ooh-La-La Lasagna From "Chloe's Kitchen"

INGREDIENTS

Garden Ricotta
2 Tbsp. of vegetable broth (to sauté onions)
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic
14-ounce package extra-firm tofu, drained
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1 Tbsp. white miso paste
3 cups fresh basil

Sauce
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
8 oz. crimini mushrooms, sliced
24 oz. jar marinara sauce
1/4 cup soy, almond, or rice milk (I used almond)
1 Tbsp. brown sugar or maple syrup
Sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
5 oz. baby spinach
1 lb. lasagna noodles (boil them as per box directions)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x13 casserole pan.

Garden Ricotta
1) In a large frying pan, heat the vegetal broth over medium heat. Saute the onions until their clear, and remove from heat.
2) In your food processor combine the onion, tofu, garlic, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and miso paste.
3) Pulse the mixture until it's right at that point of smooth but with a little bit of texture.
4) Add the basil to the mixture and pulse it just a few more times, getting the basil mixed in.

The Sauce
1) Heat oil over medium head in a medium skillet and saute the mushrooms until softened. Add the marinara sauce, nondairy milk, and maple syrup (or brown sugar). Stir and heat through. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Assembling the Lasagna
1) Spread a thin layer of sauce in the bottom of the 9x13 pan
2) Arrange 5 lasagna noodles across the pan, overlapping just a tad on each one.
3) Spread half of the Garden Ricotta over the noodles.
4) Sprinkle half of the spinach over the Garden Ricotta.
5) Arrange 5 more noodles over the top of the spinach.
6) Spread another layer of sauce across the noodles, saving some for the top layer of the lasagna.
7) Spread the rest of the Garden Ricotta across the noodles.
8) Sprinkle the rest of the spinach over the Garden Ricotta.
9) Cover with the last layer of noodles across the top.
10) Spread the rest of the sauce over the noodles.
11) Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes, or until the noodles are cooked and the sauce is piping hot and bubbly.

Inspiration: http://www.thehippyhomemaker.com/there-is-no-way-that-lasagna-was-vegan-just-no-way/

Sweet Enchiladas with Cilantro Avocado Cream Sauce

Sweet Potato, Black Bean, Spinach, and Pepper Vegan Enchiladas

Yield: 4 Enchiladas

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 1 onion, chopped (~2 cups)

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 cup sweet potato, chopped (or zucchini)

• 1 bell pepper, chopped

• 2 handfuls spinach, chopped

• 1 can black beans (~2 cups), drained and rinsed

• Enchilada sauce or Pasta sauce (about 2.5 cups)* see note

• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast

• 1.5 tsp ground cumin

• 1-2 tbsp fresh lime juice, to taste

• 1/2 tsp kosher salt, or to taste

• 1/2 tsp garlic powder

• 1 tsp chili powder, or to taste

• 4 whole grain tortilla wraps (I used Food for Life Ezekiel)

• Cilantro Avocado Cream Sauce, to pour on top (recipe below)
• Green onion & chopped cilantro, to garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grab a baking dish large enough for 4 enchiladas. Pre-cook the chopped sweet potato, by simmering it in a small pot of water for about 5-10 minutes until just tender. Do not overcook. Drain and set aside.

2. In a large skillet or pot, add 1 tbsp oil and bring to medium to low heat. Add in the chopped onion and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring often, until translucent. Add in garlic and reduce heat to low and cook for a couple more minutes. Now add the chopped pepper, pre-cooked sweet potato, drained black beans, and chopped spinach. Cook for about 5-7 more minutes on medium-low heat.

3. Now add in your enchilada or pasta sauce. Stir well, and add in your seasonings: nutritional yeast (optional), cumin, fresh lime juice, salt, garlic powder, chili powder- all to taste. Adjust seasonings if necessary. Stir well.

4. Scoop about 3/4-1 cup of the mixture onto the bottom of your casserole dish and spread out in a thin layer. Scoop about 1/2-3/4 cup of the mixture onto each tortilla and wrap, placing the fold down on the casserole dish. Repeat for the remaining 3 tortillas and leave a bit of filling left to spread over the top. Sprinkle with vegan cheese if preferred.

5. Bake tortillas at 350F for 18-20 minutes. Meanwhile, make your Cilantro cream sauce (see below). When enchiladas are cooked, remove from oven and pour the sauce over top. Garnish with chopped cilantro and green onion. Serve immediately. Makes 4 enchiladas.

Note: Depending on what kind of sauce you use, you will have to adjust the seasonings to taste. I used a pasta sauce so I likely needed more seasonings to achieve the taste I desired.

Read more: http://ohsheglows.com/2011/05/04/vegan-enchiladas-with-cilantro-avocado-cream-sauce-2/#ixzz3PgcdqUJG

Cilantro Avocado Cream Sauce

Inspired by Kathy’s Cashew Cream Sauce.

Yield: ~1.25-1.5 cups

Ingredients:

• 1 & 1/4 cup avocado flesh
• 2 tbsp water, or more as needed to thin out
• 2-3 tbsp lime juice, to taste
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar (optional)
• 1 cup packed fresh cilantro
• 1 tsp kosher salt, to taste
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 3/4 tsp ground cumin
• Black pepper, to taste
• Red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper, to taste

Directions:

1. In a food processor, process the avocado flesh and water until creamy. Now add in the rest of the ingredients and process until smooth and well blended. Use immediately for best results.

Read more: http://ohsheglows.com/2011/05/04/vegan-enchiladas-with-cilantro-avocado-cream-sauce-2/#ixzz3Pgcjafen

Adapted from Time Crunch Vegan Enchiladas.