Recipe 19: Banana Ice Cream Pie

Another Pinterest recipe inspiration, which I repined from VegNews Magazine. This recipe took a lot longer than I expected, and I was much to impatient to wait for it to be fully complete. I've never made an ice cream based dessert so I didn't know just how long it takes! It still tasted wonderful and it's much healthier than an ice cream cake or pie!

Recipe adapted from This Misfit Baker blog. Check out her vegan baking in a not so vegan world here.

Banana Ice Cream Pie, with Cookie Crust

For the Banana Ice Cream:

• 3/4 cup Pureed Banana
• 3/4 cup Coconut Milk, well shaken (full fat)
• 1/4 cup Agave Nectar

For the Crust:

• 1 cup Cookie Crumbs of your choice.
• 2 tbsp Coconut Oil, melted

For the Ganache:

• 3 tbsp Coconut Milk
• 1 tbsp Peanut Butter
• 1 ounce (6 teaspoons) Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips

1. In a food processor or blender, puree bananas. Add coconut milk and agave nectar. Process until thoroughly combined and smooth. Pour mixture into a shallow container with lid and place in freezer. After about 1 1/2 hours, stir mixture and return to the freezer until fully frozen (this could take 5 – 8 hours).
2. After ice cream has frozen, stir the cookie crumbs and oil together until combined. Press firmly into an 8 inch pie plate. Place in freezer and chill for about 10 minutes (this could also be done a head, covered tightly and frozen until ready to use).
3. When crust is chilling, remove ice cream from freezer. Spoon into food processor or blender and process until smooth and looks like soft serve. Pour into chilled pie crust and smooth surface. Return to freezer.
4. To make the ganache, bring milk to a simmer, in a small pot. Stir in peanut butter. Remove from heat and stir in chocolate until melted and thoroughly combined. Allow to cool then pipe onto pie. Return pie to freezer until ganache has firmed (5 – 10 minutes).
5. Cover pie tightly and return to freezer until fully frozen (2 – 4 hours).

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Recipe 18: Tempeh of the Sea

Tempeh of the Sea 

With this summer heat wave in California I wanted to avoid turning on the oven or heating up the kitchen in order to make dinner tonight. This tempeh of the sea salad was perfect for avoiding heating up the kitchen. I put it on my panini press and voila! The heat wave is going to continue the rest of the week, and I will have plenty of this salad to eat leftover in the fridge. 

Before I was vegan, I used to love a great chicken salad sandwich. I found this tempeh of the sea recipe from my new favorite friend to follow on Pinterest... VegNews Magazine. Check out VegNew's boards here. VegNews Magazine is the only vegan lifestyle magazine that I've come across. VegNews got this recipe was from the blog For the Love of Food. Check out the original recipe here.

Tempeh is used to replace the “tuna.”  (If you are unfamiliar with tempeh you can read more about it here). You can eat this in cold/hot sandwiches, on top of romaine salads, with crackers, or just plain. 

   

Tempeh of the Sea

Serves 4

• 1 -8 oz package plain tempeh, crumbled
• 1/4 medium red onion, diced
• 2 green onions, diced
• 3 celery ribs, diced
• 3 Tablespoons sweet relish
• 1 cup vegan mayo
• 1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Crumble tempeh and mix with the red onion, green onion, celery, relish, mayo and brown mustard.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve cold or grilled.

 

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Recipe 17: Chickenless Dumplings

I found this total comfort food recipe for Chickenless Dumplings on Pinterest (I have about a million more recipes pinned to try, but doesn't everyone on Pinterest!). The recipe is adapted from Molly Alice Nests, a recipe blogger from LA. I just signed up for her newsletter! This meal was requested by my boyfriend, a lover of comfort food as you can see by some of my other posts when I've mentioned him. It made our apartment smell like winter and chicken noodle soup. Enjoy this hearty meal!

Ingredients

for the roux

• 2 c your choice of fresh or frozen vegetables (I used peas, carrots, and corn)
• 1/2 of a sweet onion (chopped)
• 2-4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 c water
• 1/2 c flour
• garlic salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil 

for the dumplings

• 1 c flour
• 2 tbsp cold margarine or shortening
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 c soy or almond milk

Method

1. Pour veggie broth into a medium pot and bring to a boil. 
2. Sautee chopped onion in a pan with a little olive oil for approximately 2 minutes. Season with garlic salt and pepper.
3. While waiting for the broth to heat up, make your dumplings! Whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl. Cut in margarine or shortening until crumbly. Add soy or almond milk and stir to form a thick dough. You may need to take it out and work it with your hands.
4. Transfer dough to a nonstick surface and press flat, about 1/4″ thick. Cut into squares and gently drop dumplings into the broth. Cover and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 10-15 minutes.
5. Add your sauteed onions, vegetables, cover, and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes, or until vegetables are cooked.
6. Remove from heat and use a slotted spoon to gently spoon dumplings and vegetables into a large, heat-proof bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together water and remaining flour and add to leftover broth. Return to heat and bring to a boil to form a thick roux, stirring constantly to avoid clumps.
7. Remove from heat and add vegetables and dumplings, gently stirring to coat. Add salt, pepper, or any additional seasoning to taste.

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Recipe 16: Vegan Lasagna

This lasagna is definitely something I will be making for my kids one day. It's easy, can be prepped, and put in the oven in just 30 minutes!  

 

Vegan Lasagna

 (adapted from Jessica on Allrecipes.com)

Prep Time:
30 Min

 Cook Time:
30-40 mins

Ready In:
1 hour

Ingredients

• 1 package (12 ounces) of meatless ground beef 
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 chopped onion
• 5-6 bella mushrooms
• 4-5 cloves of minced garlic
• 1-2 cans (approximately 28 ounces) of marinara sauce (I used Trader Joe's Toscana Marinara Sauce)
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/2 cup chopped parsley
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 (16 ounce) package lasagna noodles
• 2 pounds firm tofu
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• ground black pepper to taste
• 1 or 2 (10 ounce) packages frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• dried Italian herbs 

Method

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil the lasagna noodles for 9 minutes, then drain and rinse well.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
3. Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a pan. Add chopped onion and cook for 2 minutes. Then, add in mushrooms and continue to cook for approximately 3-4 minutes. Season mushrooms and onion with salt, pepper, and Italian herbs. Remove from heat. Place mushrooms and onions in a food processor and blend for 2 minutes (Note: If you do not have a food processor, you can add the mushrooms and onions into the sauce or tofu mixture unblended).
4. Place the tofu blocks in a large bowl.  Add blended mushrooms and onions. Add the garlic, basil and parsley. Add the salt and pepper, and mash all the ingredients together by squeezing pieces of tofu through your fingers. Mix well.
5. Assemble the lasagna: Spread 1 cup of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9x13 inch casserole pan. Arrange a single layer of lasagna noodles, sprinkle one-third of the tofu mixture over the noodles. Distribute the spinach evenly over the tofu. Next ladle 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce over the tofu, and top it with another layer of the noodles. Then sprinkle another 1/3 of the tofu mixture over the noodles, top the tofu with 1 1/2 cups tomato sauce, and place a final layer of noodles over the tomato sauce. Finally, top the noodles with the final 1/3 of the tofu, and spread the remaining tomato sauce over everything.
6. Sprinkle some nutritional yeast and dried Italian herbs over the top for some extra flavor!
7. Cover the pan with foil and bake the lasagna for 30-40 minutes. Serve hot and enjoy.

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Recipe 15: Vegan Fried "Chicken"

My boyfriend is a huge fan of comfort food! Fried chicken cutlets and fried rice is one of his favorite meals that his Mom made for him growing up. This was my trial run to make sure this fried chicken was up to par. I found the recipe from Pinterest done by The Sweetest Vegan. I adapted the recipe a little bit using what I had on hand. It turned out well, but lacked seasoning. I think next time I'll try some Lawry's seasoning salt, Louisiana chicken wing seasoning, onion powder, and garlic powder to season the batter. Check back to see an update on the fried chicken!

Vegan Fried "Chicken"

(Yields: 2 Vegan Fried "Chicken" Breast)

Ingredients

• 2-3 cups canola oil, for frying
• 2 teaspoons salt free seasoning blend or seasonings of choice
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 3 tablespoons yellow mustard
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 tablespoon baking powder
• 2 vegan "chicken" breasts (I used Gardein chick'n scallopini)

Method:

Heat canola oil over medium - high heat in a large pot or deep fryer.

Whisk your seasonings, all purpose flour, and nutritional yeast in a shallow bowl.

Mix together mustard and water in a separate bowl. Stir 1/3 cup of the flour mixture to the mustard.

Whisk baking powder into the remaining flour mixture.

Dredge, dip and coat, the chicken breast into the mustard and then the flour, one at a time.

Fry the chicken until crispy and golden brown.

Serve with some maple syrup, ketchup, hot sauce, or BBQ sauce! Yummy!!!

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Recipe 14: Vegan Pesto Fettuccine

I celebrated my birthday earlier this month, and my boyfriend got me a Cuisinart 4-Cup Mini-Prep Plus Processor. I finally can make homemade sauces, salad dressings, marinades, hummus, and much more! I'd been waiting to receive the processor from an acquaintance who got us an awesome discount on the product. I knew the first thing I was going to make as soon as I got it was pesto! Vegan pesto is hard to find premade at health food stores, and if it is premade it is usually quite costly. Plus, fresh pesto is much better!

 

 

Vegan Pesto

(modified from Cuisinart 4-Cup Mini-Prep Plus Processor Recipe Booklet)

"It is a favorite for dressing pasta but is also wonderful on boiled or steamed potatoes, steamed fresh vegetables, or as a spread on a fresh tomato and mozzarella sandwich. You may vary your pesto by using other herbs such as cilantro, mint or parsley and by using other nuts such as almonds, pecans or hazelnuts."

Makes enough for 4-6 servings on pasta

• 2 cups nutritional yeast
• 1 cup toasted pine nuts or walnuts (heat in non-stick pan on medium until golden brown to toast)
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 cups (packed) fresh basil leaves, washed and dried completely
• 2⁄3 cups extra virgin olive oil

Place the nutritional yeast in a bowl and set aside. Add the nuts to the work bowl and pulse on chop 5 times; remove and place in bowl with nutritional yeast. Add the garlic and salt to the work bowl and process 5 seconds on chop; scrape the bottom and sides of the work bowl. Add the basil leaves and half the olive oil. Pulse on grind 10 times, then grind continuously for about 15 seconds. Scrape the work bowl. With the machine running on grind, add the remaining oil slowly, in a steady stream, through one of the holes in the recessed area of the lid. After all the oil has been added, process on grind for an additional 10 seconds. Add the reserved nutritional yeast and nuts to the mixture. Pulse 10 times on chop to blend. You may need to stir and add a little bit of olive oil if the nutritional yeast is not completely blending. Let the pesto sit for 30 minutes or longer to allow the flavors to develop. Pesto sauce will keep refrigerated for up to a week, or may be frozen. Transfer the sauce to an airtight container.

For the Vegan Pesto Fettuccine meal I used Organic Fettuccine - Whole Foods Brand. I also mixed in some finely diced sauteed zucchini and broccollini into the pesto sauce before serving. Then I served the pasta with a mixed green salad dressed with Follow Your Heart vegan caeser dressing (which I also purchased at Whole Foods).



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