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Recipe(a) Of The Week: Cashew-Paprika Mmmm Sauce

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This week’s recipe or should I say reci-pea? is inspired by Mama Pea’s Mmmm Sauce . I have read so many good times about this recipe I had to try it but I was out of almonds so I’m going to have to try Mama Pea’s true recipe when I get stocked back up. Until then however I think that this is a pretty tasty substitute.

Recipe(a) Of The Week: Cashew-Paprika Mmmm Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup raw cashews
  • 1/2-3/4 cup water*
  • 1/4 cup chickpeas, (if canned rinse and drain)
  • 1/4 cup Parma! (raw vegan parmesan) or Nutritional Yeast
  • 1/4 cup lemon juice
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning

Directions:

Place all of the ingredients in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. Taste and season to taste with salt and pepper.

*start with 1/2 cup and increase as needed or until you have the consistency that you like.

Recipe Of The Week: Chickpea & Spinach Scramble

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The Hubz and I have been trying to avoid soy lately so I decided to make a twist on a breakfast favorite.  Instead of tofu scramble this morning I made Chickpea scramble.  This was so good and I think I like it better than tofu scramble now (plus no belly aches after).

Chickpea & Spinach Scramble
Serves 2

  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 3-4 button mushrooms, sliced
  • 1-3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 chili, minced
  • 1 cup chickpeas, cooked or canned
  • 3 cups baby spinach
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon pepper

In a large saute pan heat the oil over medium-high; toss in the onion and mushrooms and cook for 2-3 minutes until they begin to soften.  Stir in the garlic and chili and cook for one more minute. Add the chickpeas and mash them with a fork or potato masher until they are slightly broken up; stir to combine.  Stir in the spinach and cook until wilted then stir in the paprika, salt and pepper.  Serve in a sprouted grain tortilla, with a slice of your favorite bread or eat as is!

 

Presto Pesto and Pancakes!

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Nutrition Tuesday is turning into Food Tuesday this week because I’m really excited to share my recipe from tonight’s dinner. I am tired out tonight and am having a hard time focusing writing a more informative post but don’t worry things will be back on track for next week. Okay so lets talk food; first lets rewind to last nights dinner. Last night the Hubz took over dinner and made VeganYumYum’s Easy Weekend Pancakes as part of the Cookbook Club.

With our pancakes we had a side of fruit (I was too full to eat my dates) and we topped our pancakes with a little almond butter, chocolate chips (for fun) and a homemade blue-raspberry sauce. Overall we thought the pancakes were good but they weren’t our favorite; we probably won’t make them again.

Dinner tonight was all about making a nice restaurant dinner at home. The Hubz and I have been trying to have more date nights in and I am loving it because that means more time in the kitchen; as the Hubz says “I have my groove back.” So tonight I decided to make a delicious Italian inspired meal of pesto manicotti, red wine and raspberry vanilla soygurt parfait.

Presto Pesto Manicotti


Yields 4-5 Servings
Preheat Oven 350F
Cashew-Basil Pesto
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1t salt
  • 1/3 cup raw cashews
  • 2T nooch
  • 1 bunch of basil
  • 1/3 C olive oil
  • 1/4 C water
  1. In the bowl of a food processor place the garlic and salt; pulse 5-6 times.
  2. Add the cashews and nooch and pulse 5 times.
  3. Add the basil and process on low; steam the olive oil and then the water in through the feed tube.
  4. Remove from the food processor and set aside- don’t clean the food processor out though use it for your tofu ricotta!

Tofu Ricotta (make in the processor that has the pesto remains, you don’t want to miss out on any yummy goodness)

  • 1 block extra firm tofu
  • 2T nooch
  • 1/3C almond milk
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1t salt
  • 1/2t black pepper
  • 1/3 cup shredded vegan cheese (optional)
  1. To the food processor add everything to the bowl and process on low until the tofu mixture is smooth.

10 manicotti shells (cook by directions)

1/2 cup shredded vegan cheese (optional)

Assembly

In a 9×12 baking dish evenly spread a 1/4 cup of pesto on the bottom of the dish.  Fill 10 cooked manicotti shells and place in the baking dish in one layer.  Top with remaining pesto- spreading it evenly over the manicotti.  Sprinkle with shredded vegan cheese, if using.  Cover the baking dish with tin foil and bake for 25 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes.  ENJOY!

Now I’m off to watch NCIS with the Hubz! Goodnight!

Recipe of The Week: Black Bean Burgers & Chipotle-Lime Slaw

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The Hubz and I enjoyed a dinner of grilled almond butter and bee-free honee with a side of veggies and hummus so this morning we woke up with nothing for lunches.  I did a little pantry shopping and found refried black beans which I thought would make the perfect burger.  In the fridge I found red cabbage and carrots for slaw and that is how Black Bean Burgers & Chipotle-Lime Slaw came to be lunch (and breakfast).

Black Bean Burgers

Yields 4-6 servings

  • 1 (15oz) can of refried black beans (I like Bearitos)
  • 1t olive oil
  • 1 small yellow onion, minced
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1T shoyu, tamari or soy sauce
  • 1t paprika
  • 2t cumin
  • 2t chili powder
  • 1/2t salt
  • 1/4t pepper
  • dash of hot sauce
  1. Preheat the oven to 425F.  Line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper.
  2. Place the refried beans in a medium bowl. In a  small sauce pan heat the oil over medium-high.  Add the onion and saute for 3 minutes.  Add the garlic and saute 1 more minute. Add to the beans along with the remaining ingredients.
  3. Mash all the ingredients together until evenly combined.
  4. Form the mixture into 6-8 patties and place on the lined baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes, flipping half way through.

Chipotle-Lime Slaw

Yields 4 servings

  • 3 cups red cabbage, shredded
  • 1/2 cup carrots, sliced
  • Slaw Dressing:
    • 3T reduced fat vegenaise
    • 1T lime juice
    • 1t red wine vinegar
    • 1/2t chipotle chili powder
    • 1/4t garlic powder
    • 1/4t salt
    • 1/4t pepper
  1. Whisk the slaw dressing together. Taste for salt and pepper.
  2. Place the cabbage and carrots in a bowl and toss with the slaw dressing.

Roli Boli

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I picked up my favorite whole wheat pizza dough yesterday when I was grocery shopping and debated for awhile what I would make with it. I wasn’t in the mood for your standard pizza and I contemplated calzones and then I decided why not a stromboli?

Then I began to reminisce over the Roli-Boli  that used to be at the mall a billion years ago when I was a child and I used to love to steal samples. Does anyone else know what I am talking about? Well here is my Roli Boli Redux and veganized.

Ingredients:

  • 1 whole wheat pizza dough (1 large pizza)
  • 1 cup salsa
  • 1/2 T olive oil
  • 1 medium sweet potato, small dice
  • 1 medium onion, small dice
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • 1 tsp chipotle chili powder
  • 1 tsp ancho chili powder
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 2 T nutritional yeast
  • 2 T tahini
  • 2-4 T water

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 450F.

Roll out your pizza dough to form a large circle about the size of a large pizza.  Top with the salsa and spread out leaving about a 1 inch border.

In a large saute pan heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and add in the onions, sweet potato and garlic; saute for 4-5 minutes.  Stir in the corn, chili powders, salt and pepper and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes until the sweet potatoes soften.  Stir in the nutritional yeast and tahini and enough water to incorporate all of the ingredients together.

Once everything is cooked and combined pour the sweet potato mixture onto the pizza dough.  Roll up the pizza dough tucking in the edges at the end and flipping the mixture so that the seam is on the bottom (this can be tricky so take your time and be gentle).  Cut 3 small slits in the top of the stromboli and if you’d like you can brush the top with a bit of olive oil to help it brown. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until browned; remove from the oven and let rest 5-10 minutes before cutting.  Enjoy!

Candle Cafe Inspired: BBQ Sweet Potato & Black Bean Sandwich

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One of my favorite things to do is take restaurant menus and use them for inspiration to create recipes at home.  It allows us to enjoy a restaurant meal in our own home at a fraction of the cost and allows us to experience restaurants we aren’t able to visit on a regular basis.  So today when I received the Candle Cafe Newsletter with their Spring 2011 menu I was inspired by one of their sandwiches:

Instead of making a BBQ Tempeh & Sweet Potato Sandwich I made a BBQ Sweet Potato and Black Bean Sandwich.  I baked the sweet potato and glazed it with BBQ sauce. I grilled the kale and red onion on our little George Forman Grill and I whipped up a variation of my smoked paprika aioli, I added roasted garlic and roasted shallot to the aioli- YUM!.  I then layered up the sandwiches and grilled them on the George Forman Grill to make them nice and toasty and served a green salad along side.

Q: Where do you find recipe inspiration?

Recipe: Chorizo & Mushroom Potato Skins

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Upton’s Naturals sent me a variety of their seitans for review last week and I have been working my way through the flavors.  Last night I decided to make stuffed potato skins with the chorizo along with mushrooms, onions, garlic and topped with vegan cheese.  The chorizo was really delicious, nice and smoky and the texture was great.

Chorizo and Mushroom Stuffed Potato Skins

Yields 3 servings as a main, 6 as a side or appetizer

Ingredients:

  • 3 baking potatoes, baked at 350F for 1hr 15 min and cooled
  • 1 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 4-5 button mushrooms, sliced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 package of Upton’s Naturals chorizo seitan
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/3-1/2 cup shredded vegan cheese
  • Garnishes: diced tomato, arugula, thinly sliced green onions and my smoked paprika aioli from my latest e-book

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 425F. Slice the cooled potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out the insides just enough to stuff with 2-3 tablespoons of filling; place on a baking sheet and set to the side.
  2. In a large skillet heat the olive oil over medium-high heat; stir in the onions and cook for 5-6 minutes until soft and translucent.  Stir in the garlic and mushrooms and cook for 3-4 more minutes. Stir in the chorizo, salt and pepper and cook for 2-3 minutes- vegetables should start to caramelize and everything combine.
  3. Scoop 2-3 tablespoons of the mixture into each of the potato skins; using all of the filling.  Top with shredded vegan cheese- as much or as little as you like.
  4. Cover the baking sheet with aluminum foil- making sure to tent the foil so that the cheese does not stick ot the foil. Bake for 15 minutes.  Remove the foil and bake for 5 more minutes until the cheese has melted and the potato skins are lightly brown.
  5. Plate and garnish with your favorite toppings.
Disclaimer: Upton’s Naturals provided me with a their seitan for product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so chose.  Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway. For more details read my bylaws.