Falafel with Tahini sauce

These are fun to make...and eat! Not too much to know except that you should soak your beans the night before you cook them off ( like all beans), so this would fall into the category of "planned meal". You can add any fresh veggies you want, but you must add PICKLES! :)

To make these yummy morsels you put about 3 cups of cooked chickpeas in a food processor, and mix until chopped up well, not completely mush. Then add...

1 lemon juiced
a half a onion minced
1 clove garlic minced
2 teaspoons of ground cumin
1 teaspoon of paprika
2 tablespoons flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup parsley chopped

Mix this in a bowl together so that it looks like this....

Form into patties ( makes about 12)

Heat up about 1/2 inch of sunflower oil in a pan ( I like to use a cast iron) and fry both sides until golden. Remove from pan and place on a cookie sheet and bake in an oven on 350 for 20 minutes. Wrap up in a pita with your favorite veggies.

Tahini Sauce

4 tbsp tahini

1/4 cup water

1/2 lemon- juiced

1 tsp sea salt

4 tbsp sunflower oil

In a blend put the first 4 ingredients and blend, slowly add the sunflower oil until thickens.

Emerald City "Cheese" Cake with a Ruby Red Strawberry Sauce

This lime curd "cheese" cake is what I made for my beaus birthday. He doesn't really like cakes, more of a pie and tart kinda guy. I wanted to play around with his favorite color "green", and make something fun.

I used about 5 different recipes, this was the end result. Most recipes ask for Toffuti cream cheese, but I figured I could make a cream "cheese".

I made a lemon cheese cake for my brothers wedding "pre-vegan", and it was wonderful. Making the curd was the easy part, its getting the right flavor of the cheese filling that is difficult. So it was a taste, season, taste again adventure :)

Thinking about what to name a creation is fun, there are lots of memories linked to this particular recipe. I use to go to a restaurant in Vancouver...it was my favorite. Delilahs, the best martini's in the city! One of my favorites was called the emerald city.

When I was a kid I would always watch the Wizard of OZ, but it was always on around 8, and bedtime was around 9, so I never got to finish it. Usually I would get to the part where they fell asleep in the flower
fields ( because of the wicked witch), and it was time to brush my teeth. That is until I was an adult. A great film.

This is good, oh is it good... 

Ginger Cookie Crust

2 cups vegan ginger cookies- crushed
1/3 cup earth balance margarine- melted

Combine cookies and melted butter in a medium sized bowl.
Mix until evenly coated with the margarine.
Press into a spring form pan, and bake for 7-8 minutes.

"Cheese" Filling

1 block tofu-medium
1 pkg silken tofu
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/3 cup organic icing sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 lime-zested
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp flour
1 tsp sea salt

In a food processor mix everything together ( I did mine in batches, because I have a little 4 cuper)

Lime curd

1 tsp agar agar
2 limes juiced
1/4 c. cold water
1/2 c. sugar
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp lime zest
Pinch of sea salt

On medium high heat, whisk everything together, continue whisking until thickens (3-4 minutes)

Once you have baked your crust, pour the cheese filling in.
Scoop tablespoons of lime curd over the cheese filling, and use a skewer to pull the curd through out the filling.  Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Let cool. Keep in the refrigerator.

Ruby Red Strawberry Sauce


2 cups strawberries- cored and sliced
1/3 cup water
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 lemon-juiced


In a saucepan, combine all ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer for 5 minutes. Blend with a hand blender.

Vegan Tzatziki

I have big plans for next week, I am teaching a vegan cooking class! I am nervous because I am not the best with words...but I am also excited :) Also, my mom and dad are coming to visit for two weeks, YAY! I haven't seen them in 6 months! I will be cooking up a storm.

This is a simple but very tasty little dipping sauce recipe, it is great  for raw veggies and pita. You could even thin it out a bit more and use it for a salad dressing.  I know the bowl is a bit beat up, but it was a gift from a friend on their trip to Russia. I love it.

• 1 box silken tofu
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 lemon-juiced
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp- dried dill (you could use fresh too)
• 1/2 cucumber-peeled and grated
• sea salt
• freshly ground pepper

Drain tofu and put in blender with garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, and dill.
Blend until creamy. Stir in cucumber. Season to taste.

Its Spring...Fresh Spring Rolls with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce!

                             

We have been enjoying the sunshine this last week, and there is nothing better then fresh vegetables to celebrate spring! These spring rolls are so delicious. If they were not so time consuming, I would eat them everyday!

They are pretty versatile, you can use really any type of vegetable or protein. These are great for lunches or picnics,  because they pack well.  I made pickled diakon that I picked up at the farmers market this morning for these ones.

• Rice paper wraps
• Vermicelli rice noodles
• grated carrots
• shredded lettuce
• cucumber- cut into thin strips
• red pepper- cut into thin strips
• fresh cilantro- stem on
• seared tofu-cut into thin strips

Soak the noodles in boiling water until done. Drain and set aside

Prep veggies and place in separate containers.

Marinate tofu with tamari and sear of in a pan with a little oil- cut into strips.

Give the sink a good scrub, ,and then fill it 1/4 way up with hot water.

Place two rice papers together in the water, and soften, shake of excess water.

Put toppings of your choice and fold up like a burrito:P

(it will be difficult to fold up if the surface is too wet)

Peanut Sauce

• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp fresh ginger-minced
• 2 limes-zested and juiced
• 3 tbsp peanut butter
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tbsp tamari
• 1/4 cup water
• pinch cayenne pepper
• sea salt

In a food processor or blender add garlic and ginger. Mince it up nice a small. Add peanut butter, lime juice, syrup, tamari, and water. Blend up until smooth and sauce like consistency.Adjust the water as needed. Season with cayenne pepper and sea salt.

Poutine

When I was living in Montreal,  there was poutine everywhere, those who are not familiar with it, basically its fries with gravy and cheese curds. This is my vegan version of it.

Potatoes cut into wedges, drizzled with sunflower oil, sprinkled with sea salt, pepper, dried basil, and garlic powder.
Baked in a 425 oven for 25-30 minutes

Mushroom Gravy:

• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1/2 onion- sliced
• 5 mushrooms- sliced
• 2 tbsp flour
• 3 cups water
• 1/4 cup tamari
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp sugar
• sea salt
• freshly ground pepper

In a small pot, heat oil, add onions saute for 5 minutes. Add mushrooms. saute until soft. Sprinkle flour over top mixing it in with a wooden spoon, Slowly add water, so that it thickens. Adding water as necessary to control thickness. Add tamari and vinegar. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. Season to taste.

Use whatever vegetables you enjoy eating and saute.

Holy Hummus, Batman!

I have been lazy buying premade hummus from the store, I don't know why when it is so easy to make.
So I decided to make a batch today, and just as I suspected  it turned out creamy and fluffy, better then store bought. My little one loves the stuff (especially on cucumbers:)

• 1 can of chickpeas( drained and rinsed)
• 1 lemon-juiced
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• water( enough to blend)
• sea salt
• freshly ground pepper

Throw everything in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Chickpea Tower with Tahini & Cucumber sauce

This is my attempt at creating a upper scale falafel, I am quiet pleased with the results. I used tomato slices for the tower, but you could use roasted eggplant or zucchini.

Chickpea Patties

• 1 small onion- small diced
• 2 cloves garlic- minced
• 1 can chickpeas-drained and rinsed and crushed
  
• 1/4 tsp tumeric
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 lemon-juiced
• 2 tbsp fresh parsley-chopped
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp flour
• sea salt
• freshly ground pepper
  
• 1 cup panko (Japanese bread crumbs)
• sunflower for frying

I used my small food processor for the chopping, if you don't have one, you can just chop and mush it all together. Mix it all together, form small patties and dip them into the panko. Heat oil in frying pan and fry patty's until golden.  Place in an oven at 350 for 20 minutes.

Tahini & Cucumber sauce

• 1/2 cup silken tofu
• 3 tbsp tahini
• 1/4 sunflower oil
  
• 1/4 cup grated cucumber
• 1/2 lemon-juiced
• 2 tbsp fresh mint-chopped
• sea salt
• freshly ground pepper

In a food processor or blender, blend the tofu. Add the tahini and puree until smooth with the sunflower oil.
Add the rest of the ingredients, blend again until mixed.

"Meat"loaf

For dinner last night I made a "meatloaf", roasted potatoes, onion gravy,with steamed asparagus and broccoli. It was tasty.
I dont like to use to much of the faux meat products,but with anything in your life...everything in moderation.

Meatloaf

• 1 onion- finely diced
• 1 carrot- finely diced
• 2 cloves of garlic- finely diced
• 1 package of veggie ground round
• 1/2 cup of ketchup
• 1 slice of bread
• 4 tsp of dried mustard
• Tabasco-a few shakes
• sea salt
• pepper
• freshly chopped parsley
• 1 egg

preheat oven to 400,place all ingredients in a bowl, combine.
grease loaf pan, and put mixture into it.
bake for 45 minutes, or until it forms a crust on top.

Onion Gravy

• 1 onion
• 6 mushrooms
• 1/2 cup tamari
• 2 cups of water
• freshly ground pepper
• 1 tsp of ground sage
• 1 1/2 tbsp of cornstarch
• tiny amount of water
• 1 heaping tbsp of brown sugar

saute onions and mushrooms in a pot, add sage.
deglaze with tamari, add water. bring to a boil.
in a small bowl, cornstarch and water, just enough to make a goopy consistency.
add to pot, and stir on medium heat.
until the gravy thickens, add brown sugar.

Tomato sauce

We are going to a friends place for dinner tonight, and this morning I am going to make some lasagna, with homemade noodles!

Below is my all purpose tomato sauce... keep in mind that I don't think cooking is all about rules and hierarchy... so when I don't have an ingredient, I go without or make up a new one!

All purpose tomato sauce

• olive oil to saute the onions and garlic
• 2 medium onions finely diced
• 2 cans of crushed tomatoes
• 5-8 garlic cloves crushed, and chopped finely
• dried oregano
• a few splashes of balsamic vinegar
• freshly ground pepper
• organic sugar a heaping tbsp
• sea salt..be generous with it, to taste!

saute onions and garlic and oregano. add the rest.
simmer for 10 minutes or 2 hours, the longer the tastier!
hint: use a little water in your empty canned tomatoes and give it a swish, and pour that into the sauce, no waste!