Black Bean Tacos And Cashew Cream

After a full day at work, a bike ride home, and a good bit of homework waiting for me, I was not only hungry but wanted something fast and easy. A quick look around the kitchen and it’s decided. I had a can of black beans, taco shells, and cashews. Black bean tacos with a cashew cream.

Unless you, unlike me, planned ahead and soaked your cashews for about an hour, boil some water and soak 1 cup of cashews while you do the rest of your work.

Rinse out your can of black beans and add them to a medium sized sauce pan.
I minced 1/4 of an onion (use onion powder if you don’t have an onion) and mixed it in.
I tossed in 2 tsps minced garlic (can substitute garlic powder)
Mix in 1/4 tsp pink Himalayan salt, 1 tbsp cumin, 1 tsp chili powder, and a dash of red pepper flakes
Deglaze with 1-2 tbsp water or veggie broth, mix well, and mash up some of the beans in the process.

Prepare your taco shells as instructed.

Drain your cashews, and put them in your blender. I used my Vitamix, blends it up nice and smooth in not a lot of time. Blend the cashews a bit and then add 3 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp water, 2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp minced garlic, a couple dashes pink Himalayan salt, and a couple tsps Siracha. Blend thoroughly scraping down the sides as you go to make sure you get it all nice and smooth. If it’s too thick for your liking, just add a bit more lemon juice or water.

Put your beans in the taco shells, top with the cashew cream, and enjoy!

Lentil Lettuce Wraps

Sautee 1/4 large white onion and 1 tbsp minced garlic in coconut oil until onions are becoming clear. Add 1 cup lentils and stir.
Add 2 cups water, 2 tbsp cumin, 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, 1 tsp coarse sea salt and mix until well combined.  Cover and let cook for 45 min.

Meanwhile prepare 1-2 cups brown rice.

Sautee 1/2 red bell pepper, 1/2 green bell pepper (both peppers cut into strips),  and 1/3 cup chopped baby portobello mushrooms in 1 tbsp coconut oil on medium for 8-10 minutes.

Rinse leaves of butter lettuce.

When everything is cooked, layer lettuce, rice, lentils, peppers/mushrooms,  and enjoy!

Veggie & Vegg Fried Rice

As I had said in the previous Vegg post, I thought what I had made would lend itself nicely to a rice dish. I had some leftover mix in the fridge and had to test this theory.
Yep. Amazing. It was my first time making fried rice and the Vegg added some great flavor, that even my omni eating boyfriend said tasted “eggy.”

Fried Rice
Sautéed veggies of your choice
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 tbsp grapeseed oil
3 tbsp Braggs Liquid Aminos
2 tsp sesame oil

Chop and sautee veggies and set aside. I did several asparagus spears, a couple of carrots, baby portobello mushrooms, broccoli, onion, and then added my leftovers from my first Vegg experimentation. Set aside.

Preheat a skillet or wok over medium heat and add the grapeseed oil. Add the rice and stir thoroughly. Add the Braggs and mix until well combined. Mix in the sesame oil.
Once it’s well heated and mixed, stir in your veggies and cook for a few more minutes.
Enjoy!

This recipe makes several servings and unless you’re feeding a handful of people you should have yourself some leftovers to enjoy!

Peanut butter and chocolate chunk ice cream

Today was my first time playing with an ice cream maker and it went really well.  It’s incredibly simple, so many possibilities,  and the results can be pretty delicious. If you have an ice cream maker, I’m a full believer in having it in the freezer all the time, just in case. If you don’t do this,  be sure to set the canister in the freezer the day before or at least 10 hrs before you use it.
I used:
1 can full fat coconut milk, 2 tbsp pure cane syrup, and 1/2 tsp vanilla in the Vitamix, blending for about 2 minutes.
I poured the mix into the ice cream maker and turned it on.
After about 5 minutes I started dropping 1/8 -1/4 tsp bits of peanut butter in, about 1/2 cup worth. Then I added 1/4 cup chocolate chunks.

It starts to look pretty amazing about 15 minutes after the additions, and after another 5 it should look like a beautiful bunch of ice cream.

Serve and enjoy!

The Vegg

Yesterday I got my order from Vegan Cuts for The Vegg combo pack in! I’ve been pretty curious and heard some good things,  so I’ve been pretty excited to try it out.
As soon as I heard it was in, I went and picked up some tofu,  asparagus,  baby portobello mushrooms, and fresh baby spinach.
I had started off to make an omelet, but sadly it wasn’t totally successful.  The results were super delicious though! Eggy, veggie goodness that would lend itself so nicely to a rice dish.  I just wanted a light breakfast so I scrambled it all up and enjoyed it with toast and avocado.
I can’t wait to get more familiar with the Vegg! I recommend trying it out, one dish down that wasn’t even how I intended and it was delicious!

Check out the Vegg!

Homemade Almond Milk and Gluten-free Biscuits & Gravy

I couldn’t decide what to make for breakfast,  but I wanted something filling and not too heavy. I thought a gluten-free version of a favorite would be perfect, so I made some biscuits and gravy.
For the biscuits I went with a recipe from the Babycakes cookbook ( http://amzn.to/1hXJdXU a great cookbook!)

Before I could do anything I had one little snag:
We ran out of almond milk, and I haven’t gotten to the store to pick more up, but I did have a bunch of slivered almonds! I started soaking them this morning for just about 30 min, drained them, added more water,  blended until smooth,  and added more water as needed to get the right consistency.
Once it was ready I was able to make the gravy.
1/4 cup spelt flour
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
2 cups almond milk
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp pink Himalayan salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp parsley

Combine flour and nutritional yeast in a small saucepan,  mix well. Add almond milk and stir until smooth. Add remaining spices, mix until combined add turn heat to medium. Mix until thickened. If yours thickens too much, easy fix: add 1 tbsp of water at a time until your gravy is the right delicious consistency. 

Add to biscuits (or to just about anything really!)

Spelt biscuits and gravy with homemade almond milk.

Seed!

We have a new vegan restaurant here in New Orleans, and you need to get over there immediately!  Local, organic,  natural ingredients. Brunch, Lunch, Dinner, Gluten-free,  Raw, Comfort Food. So much goodness.

Southern Fried Nuggets
Shown with ranch, buffalo, and BBQ sauce (ranch mixed with buffalo is so good!)

Vegetable Spaghetti (raw, gluten-free)

Grilled Cauliflower Sandwich

Southern Fried Poboy and Mac n Cheese

BBQ Sandwich (house made seitan!)

Apple Crumble with Caramel

Chocolate Avocado Smoothie & Strawberry Smoothie (delicious milkshakes!)

Seed

Roasted Cumin Cauliflower

This morning I wanted to make some cauliflower for lunch,  but it had to be something that didn’t take too much time or attention as I was getting ready for work.
I preheated the over to 400°, made my breakfast smoothie,  chopped up 1/4 a head of cauliflower and 1 carrot and went to making it.

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp cumin
1 tsp kelp granules
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp nutritional yeast

Place chopped cauliflower in a casserole dish,  toss with olive oil, and add all ingredients listed.  Toss until all are well coated. Cook for 25 minutes.

Simple and delicious! Double recipe to make this as a main dish for 2 or a side for 4.

Shredded Tofu Stir Fry

This was my first time playing with tofu shreds/noodles (Thank you for them, JeAnne!!), and they are wonderful! These are definitely going to be used pretty frequently now.
Because they are tofu, they absorb flavor extremely well, even better than normal since the pieces are so thin.
This is a quick and easy recipe for them.

1 package tofu shreds (or you can use shirataki)
Toasted sesame oil (or pure)
1 carrot, chopped
1 cup cauliflower, chopped
1/2 cup chopped eggplant (I used 1 whole Indian eggplant)
1-2 leaves cabbage, rolled up and sliced into thin ribbons
1-2 tbsp Braggs Liquid Aminos (or more to taste)
Several dashes kelp granules
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
A couple dashes hot pepper sesame oil

If noodles require prep, prep them and have them ready for use.
Preheat a skillet or wok over medium heat.
Lightly coat with toasted sesame oil.
Sautee cauliflower, carrots, eggplant, and cabbage for several minutes.
Add tofu and mix until veggies are well dispersed in the noodles.
Add 1 tbsp Braggs, kelp, and pepper. Mix.
I added a bit of hot pepper sesame oil to give it a little heat. Mix well and taste.  Add 1 more tablespoon Braggs if needed.  Cook until cauliflower, carrots,  and cabbage are cooked through.

Ridiculously easy and so full of flavor. I’m very much looking forward to playing with these noodles more!

Veggie Hash and Watermelon Dessert Bowl

I couldn’t decide what to make for dinner, but I wanted something easy, filling,  and veggie filled.
I decided that a carrot, a couple of fingerling potatoes, half an onion, a handful of mushrooms,  a few brussel sprouts, and some tofu would do the trick. 
I also had the urge to make something fun.

I heated a skillet with grapeseed oil to medium heat, diced the half an onion, and threw it in.
Then I sliced (lengthwise) the larger fingerling that I had on hand. 2 of them were enough thanks to their size.
With the pieces that were wide enough, I took my little star cutter to them to get some cute star shapes and to seed them in the skillet. I then diced up the scraps and put them in as well.
I cut a cleaned carrot into coins and then cut little bits out to give them a flower like shape. Much faster to do than it sounds. You can toss the little cut outs in the hash, I gave mine to my carrot craving pup by sprinkling them in her bowl. Put the flowers in the skillet. Mix veggies making sure nothing is sticking.
Julienne the mushrooms and toss them in.
Cut the ends off the brussel sprouts and then cut lengthwise and toss them in.
The tofu I used was a fried tofu from the Hong Kong market. It didn’t require much cooking just a bit of heating up, so I cut out a couple of hearts and tossed them in last.
I then added several pinches freshly ground black pepper,  pink Himalayan salt, a sprinkled layer of garlic and onion powder, and nutritional yeast. 
Cook until brussel sprouts and carrots are cooked through, should just be a few more minutes.

Afterwards I was cutting a watermelon into hearts and stars to have on hand in the fridge for easy snacking. I decided to take the scraps and dice them up.
I then cut up a bit of dragon fruit.
I had some leftover coconut milk whipped cream,  just a small bit. I tossed the watermelon and dragon fruit into the container with some blueberries,  mixed until they were lightly coated, poured it into a bowl, and had a delicious dessert!