Weekend Fruit Bar

Avocado on the side for the main course

I love fruit; always have and always will. Since I always have fruit and enjoy having people stay over: breakfast is always needed and my favorite thing to impress them with is a colorful fruit spread. It's delicious, nutritious, and everyone can always find something that they like with the variety.







MY TIPS:
~Go seasonal with the fruit you use. It is less expensive and has a ton of flavor.
~Variety and color are key to making a dynamic spread
~Separate foods that run away. Things like blueberries go everywhere if you have them on the platter in higher amounts and become a hassle so portion out.
~Make the fruit manageable in size and if there are inedible parts, remove them before serving.

Fruit Ideas:

Apples ~ Berries ~ Pitted cherries ~ Kiwi ~ Grapes ~ Melon ~ Stone fruits ~ Something new?

Smoothie in a Jar

Stumbled upon this idea, tried it, and some how it worked! I love it since I can now portion my smoothies. I can't be the only one who goes to make a smoothie just for themselves and makes enough for two if not three people. These make for great customized and easy access breakfasts or snacks and are transportable.

These are super simple to put together too. Fill a small mouth mason jar with everything you want, cap and freeze. When you're ready to make the smoothie add vegan milk and blend. The base of most blenders should separate from the bowl and fit the jar.  Blending can take a while depending on how full the jar is and how good your blender is.







Tips and tricks:
~Don't fill too full. The milk needs to be able to go everywhere to aid in blending.
~Don't let the milk freeze. I don't know how I did it but it wasn't fun. I think the bottom was packed to tightly and wasn't being Incorporated well which allowed my milk to freeze next to the frozen greens.
~Yogurt drops work better than trying to add yogurt to the frozen jar. Simply lay out a lined sheet and make small drops of yogurt and freeze.

Beyond Burger!

It was all over the internet, the Beyond Burger. A vegan burger that mimicked actual hamburger meat. It sizzles, It drips and it tastes like meat. Or pretty darn close as verified by me, my carnist sister, and the rest of my family.


I've had it plain and as a LOADED burger.
Here's what we had loaded style. Spinach, sauteed onions, Sauteed mushroom, tomato, and avocado. Oh, and sweet potato fries on the side. By the end it was barely able to fit in my mouth but it was delicious!

Nadine's No Bake Chocolate Cookies

Long ago before she became a vegan Nadine made these cookies. I got the recipe from her and morphed it in to a vegan one my using non dairy milks. I like to make them when I want a simple chocolate cookie. They are super easy to make and aren't super crumby cookie so they are great for on the go.

2 cups sugar
4 Tbsp cocoa
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup milk
2 1/4 cup minute oats
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup grated coconut

Mix sugar, cocoa, and salt in a 1 1/2 qt sauce pan. Add milk and bring to a simmer, stirring with a wooden spoon.  Remove from heat and sample (see note below). Mix remaining ingredients. Drop spoonfuls on to lined cookie sheets and let set until firm and enjoy. Store in an air tight container.

Notes:
Only once has it ever happened to me but I have cooked it and then it turned in to a brick in the fridge There was no way to cut it and I had to throw it away and lost all of the ingredients. Remove a small sample of heated mixture and place on to a small piece of parchment paper. Place sample in the fridge to see if it remains soft after 10 minutes of longer. If hardened do not use the heated mixture, you will get hard cookies. If still soft continue making cookies.

Cooking with Nadine: Vegan Chik'n Pot Pie

  
Seeing as this is a meal most desired in the winter months, I am a little late to the game to discovering....Vegan Chik'n Pot Pie!

As I'm writing this, it's cooking in the oven and my mouth is absolutely watering! I tried a similar recipe before, but it was too soupy, the dough was too yeasty, and there was no flavor!
   But these ones, these one's I cannot stop taking a bite of the creamy, thick stew-y, flavorful filling! Plus, since I have extra filling, and since I usually have left overs: I totally make the left-overs into a Vegan Chik'n and Dumplings!

Best part? It's ready in an hour!


Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 large sweet onion, diced
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 package Quorn chik'n cutlets (or 4 Vegan chik'n cutlets of your choice), diced
1/3 cup non-chicken seasoning
3 Tablespoons flour
2 cups vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
1 teaspoon basil
2 teaspoons thyme
1 teaspoon rosemary
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 package frozen vegetables (I prefer a mix of corn, carrots and peas)
1 package of 2 pre-made Vegan Crusts (or vegan crust of your choice)

Instructions:
Pre-heat your oven to 400°F

1) In a large pot, drizzle oil in pot and add diced onions. Turn stove onto medium-high heat and saute onions. Add garlic and diced Quorn Chik'n.
2) Add non-chicken seasoning and mix, then add flour and mix together with mixture in pot. When no flour sticks to the pot, add vegetable broth and whisk until combined. Add in bay leaves and other seasonings.
3) Let simmer for 10 minutes. Add in frozen vegetables and let simmer for 10 more minutes.
4) While mixture is simmering, prepare crusts in a 9-inch pie dish or in individual pie tins.
5) Once mixture is ready, scoop a cup of the mixture into the prepared pie dish. Place in oven for 25-30 minutes.
Enjoy!

Customized Rice Bowls

Rice Bowls are one of my favorite things to make. There are so many things that can be added or subtracted to each person taste; making for a great get together meal option. Also, depending on what you put in it, can be taken to work or school with out worrying about refrigeration.

I haven't settled on a favorite sauce so I don't have and specific recommendations to give. Have fun building your bowl and adding flavors.



The rough order I follow to make my bowl is grain, protein, veggies, and extras. Some examples of what I use, but not everything is listed below.
Grain- rice, quinoa
Protein- beans, cooked tofu
Veggies- sauteed bell pepper, sauteed onion, roasted butternut squash,
Extras- avocado, sauces

Vegan Cooking with Nadine: General Tso Cauliflower

Sesame Tofu & General Tso Cauliflower

Well, I have a bit of a confession: I'm not a good fryer. I've worked in a deli and was never placed to actually fry the food... for a reason. But good news for those of you who are like me: this is pretty simple to make!

I first tried the cauliflower recipe a while back, and although it was my first attempt at frying food at home, it wasn't a failure at all! Which means it can't be too hard, right? It was good, but needed to be spiced up, so I added some the second time around.

A TIP for those who are just starting to fry or are not yet comfortable at frying food: don't add water to a pan of oil! THIS MEANS FIRE. If anyone has any tips for frying food (again, I am new to this), please comment below and leave how-to tips!

REMINDER: NEVER ADD WATER TO HOT OIL!!!

General Tso Cauliflower

For the sauce:

1 Tbs Canola oil
2 tsp ginger, minced
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
5 dried red chili peppers (add more or less depending on how much spice you like)
1/2 Tbs Shaoxing wine (this is what gives it the flavor, try and buy the real thing)
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1 1/2 soy sauce
3 Tbs sugar
1 cup vegetable broth
1 Tbs cornstarch, mixed with 1 tablespoon vegetable broth
2 green onions, thinly sliced diagonally, optional

Combine all the ingredients for the sauce, hold the cornstarch mixture until ready to heat in saucepan. Don't combine before, otherwise the cauliflower will not get a good, thick coating. Directions continue below, after cauliflower has been fried.

For the Cauliflower:

1 head cauliflower
2 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 cup vegetable broth
1 cup rice flour (It about $2.50/lb at the store)
2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
3 cups of oil for frying (I prefer avocado, it gives me more flavor and has a higher burning temperature)

Pull apart the cauliflower into bite-size florets. In a large bowl, mix cornstarch, baking soda, salt, sesame oil, pepper, broth, and 3/4 cup of rice flour until a batter is formed. Toss the cauliflower in the batter until the cauliflower is coated. Toss the remaining rice flour in, until there's no longer batter on the edge of the bowl. Sprinkle the sesame seeds and toss again.

In a cast iron skillet, heat oil to 375 degrees. Fry the cauliflower, a few pieces at a time, until golden brown throughout, no more than 4 minutes. Transfer to a large plate, lined with paper towels to absorb the remaining oil left on cauliflower.

In a small saucepan, combine all of the ingredients for the sauce over medium-heat for 3 minutes. Turn the heat on low, letting the mixture simmer for a minute, or until the mixture resembles a thick sauce, like gravy.

In a separate bowl, combine the sauce and the cauliflower. Gently toss the cauliflower in the sauce until coated. Serve over rice and with other Chinese cuisine inspired sides.

Date Balls

After seeing pictures and recipes for date balls and having dates in my cupboard waiting for me I decided to meld a few together to create my own. It took two tries for me to land on this recipe as my favorite mash up. The requirements when I was looking for reference recipes: no coffee, ingredients I already have, nutritiously dense, few ingredients. After comparing recipes I came up with this a 5 ingredient and simple recipe. You can omit the coconut if you want but with the addition of coconut it reminds me of Samoas Girl Scout Cookies.

1 cup pitted dates (I use Madjool)
1 cup oats
1 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp flax meal
2 tbsp unsweetened coconut shreds


Place dates, oats, flax meal, and cocoa powder in a food processor and process together. It will eventually form a ball within the food processor which is perfect for shaping. Shape into balls, roll in coconut shreds and enjoy. Store in the fridge

Make ahead breakfasts

In the mornings it can be hard to get up early enough to make quality food. So here are some ideas for what to make the night before. The great thing is if you use the right container you can take it with you too.

 CHIA SEED PUDDING:
1 cup non dairy milk
2/3 cup chia seeds
Splash vanilla (optional)
Toppings

Mix together everything except the toppings and refrigerate. Wait at least 5 hours to eat. Top with desired toppings and enjoy.

OVERNIGHT OATS:
1 cup non dairy milk
1 cup oats
1 1/2 tbsp chia seeds
2 tbsp peanut butter
Toppings
Mix everything together in to a container of your choosing. Refridgerate for at least 5 hours or overnight. Top and enjoy.



Notes:
Chia seed pudding: It is good to eat in a few hour (4-5) if desired. Also if it turns out too think of too runny change the amount of chia seeds as desired. The more chia seeds the thicker it becomes.
Overnight Oats: I made my first cup (pictured) in a peanut butter jar when only a little bit was left.

Vegan Baking with Nadine: Peaches and Cream Macaroons

Makes about 20

My recent discovery has been Aquafaba! Where do you find it in the grocery store though? Surprise! It's in your can of garbanzo beans (or chick peas) for about a dollar! Just drain the liquid into a separate bowl instead of washing it down the sink and save the beans/peas for another use!

With this relatively cheap and healthy alternative, imagine how many delicious recipes you can make? This opens up so many more options for vegan-friendly sweet treats! And if you've already succeeded in making macaroons, this should be a breeze! If you're newer or this is your first time, it's tedious, but so worth the treat in the end!

I highly recommend reading the instructions first!

If you omit the filling portion of the recipe, this is a basic recipe for vegan macaroons. Feel free to explore recipes and share in the comments!

Peaches and Cream Macaroons

Ingredients:
1 15 oz can of chickpea water (aquafaba)
1/2 Cup sugar
1 1/4 Cup almond flour
1/2 Cup powdered sugar
1/2 Cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
peach colored food gel

For the filling:
1 Tbsp vegan friendly cream cheese, room temperature
2 Cup powdered sugar
2 Tbsp dairy free milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 Tbsp favorite peach jam

Macarons:

1. Start by boiling the aquafaba in a small pan over medium heat, reduce until 1/3 cup is remaining, this takes 5-7 minutes. Transfer to mixing bowl and set aside until room temperature, about 10 minutes.
2. Prepare the dry ingredients. Sift the almond flour and powdered sugar together until no clumps remain, discard any pieces too large to pass through.
3. Once the aquafaba is at room temperature, attach a balloon whisk and whisk on medium speed until fluffy (should not take more than 5 minutes). Add the sugar and whisk on high until the meringue is extremely stiff and glossy (5-10 minutes). Preform a simple ribbon test, it should take the ribbon 5 or more seconds to disappear in the mixture.
4. Add vanilla and color gel, whisk until combined.
5. Fold in half of the dry ingredients to the meringue mixture, using a spatula, go slowly. Continue folding until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Fold in the second half and repeat. Preform a simple ribbon test, the batter should take 3-5 seconds to disappear into the mixture. If your mixture takes less than 3 seconds to disappear, you've over mixed and have to restart.
6. Spoon the mixture into a piping bag, snip off the end, and pipe one-inch circles on backing trays lined with parchment paper.
7. Once the trays are lined, pick the tray up to elbow height, and drop on the counter. This process is important because it gets the extra air bubbles out of the mixture. Repeat twice more.
8. Leave the macaroons to dry out at room temperature for one hour.
9. Firstly, place your first tray in the oven and then set the temperature to 210F. Bake for 30 minutes. Do not take the macaroons out of the oven yet!! Turn the oven off and leave the macroons in the oven for 15 minutes. Then open the oven door and leave the macroons in the oven for 15 more minutes. Take the tray out and let cool fully on counter. Repeat the process with remaining tray(s).
10. Pair like-sized macaroons together, placing one upside down to easily pipe frosting

Filling:

1. Cream together the cream cheese, vanilla and powdered sugar.
2. Add almond milk until mixture is a thick, smooth cream.
3. Place into a piping bag.
4. Pipe around the edge of the macaroons, creating an empty center.
5. Dab a small amount of jam in the center.
6. Gently sandwich the top shell with the base shell. Repeat until all macaroons are filled.

Recipe: Barbeque Pulled Jackfruit

It's crazy how with plants you can recreate so many different textures and flavors. This was so similar to pulled pork that I was shocked when I tried it. I will definitely be making it again in the future. The jack fruit doesn't have the same color as cooked meats do so be careful when adding barbecue sauce. It adds flavor quicker than it does color to the pale fruit. Adjust the sauce to your taste, it doesn't take a lot to get a good flavor though. 
You can pair it with so many different things, when making this we didn't want to get anything special so tortillas were used; perfect for other dished since I don't eat a lot of bread in my household. 
Some recipes you find will use fresh jack fruit. After looking over multiple recipes we found that it was easier to use canned jack fruit and not worth it to use fresh. This has to do with the ripeness of the fruit and the preparation can be labor intensive. 

2 20 oz cans of young green jack fruit in water

2 cloves minced garlic

Olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1/2 top cumin 

2 try paprika powder

1 top chili powder

1 pinch red pepper flakes

2 top brown sugar

1/2+ cup Barbecue sauce

Black pepper, to taste

Drain and rinse jack fruit. Remove the core from the prices but do not shred.Stir in spices and brown sugar until evenly coated.

In a pan heat olive oil over medium heat and sauté onions until translucent. add garlic and cook until fragrant. add the jack fruit and cook for 3 minutes. Add barbecue sauce and vegetable broth and cook for 15 - 20 minutes. shred the jack fruit and add more barbecue sauce if desired. 

Serve in a bunch or in vessels of choice, top and enjoy.

Chickpeas and Spinach

I saw this online and decided to make it and it turned out great. It's a simple and inexpensive meal to make while being filling and nutritiously dense.

Olive oil
1 can chickpeas, drained
3 tsp paprika (see note)
2 cups spinach

In a heated pan saute chickpeas in olive oil, sprinkle with paprika. Add spinach, cover with a lid to wilt the spinach. Mix together and add more paprika as desired. Enjoy.

Note:
There are many kinds of paprika and they can range to being spicy to just colorful. Keep this in mind for when you make this dish and keep in mind your preferences.