Healthy Vegan Chocolate Banana Shake

 

Blend together 2 frozen bananas, 1/4 cup soaked cashews, 2 tablespoons cocoa powder, 3/4 cup coconut milk, 2 dates and a handful of ice cubes! Simple as that! Makes about 2 servings.

Vegan Squash Chili

I added some roasted mashed squash into some basic chili. The squash thickened up the chili and added a really nice subtle sweetness! 

Sauté 1 chopped onion, 1 clove minced garlic, and a tablespoon of chili powder in a little bit of olive oil. 

Add in about 3 cups of oven roasted tomatoes (400 degrees for 30 minutes or so), a cup of vegetable broth, 1/2 cup roasted corn, and 2 cans of chili beans (if you can find them "in sauce" I add in the sauce too. Otherwise, drain and rinse). Then add in about a cup of roasted squash (butternut, pumpkin, whatever you want!) 

Simmer in low for at least 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

These are the ingredients I had on hand, but like any other soup or stew, you can add WHATEVER you want. Some roasted chiles or some more veggies! I topped mine with some guacamole, lime cashew creme, and some tortilla chips!

Sweet and Spicy Roasted Chickpeas with Maple, Cayenne Pepper, and Thyme

 

Roasted chickpeas are a great healthy snack. Super versatile as well and can be flavored so many different ways. I used maple syrup in this recipe, but these would be nice with some brown sugar as well or any other sweetener that you may have on hand.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 

Ingredients
1 15-oz can chickpeas (drained and rinsed well)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/4 teaspoon cayenne (more or less depending on how spicy you like)
1/4 teaspoon salt (adjust and add more after baking if necessary)
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves.

Combine olive oil, maple, cayenne, salt, and thyme. Pour over the chickpeas and toss to coat. Lay chickpeas in single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet. 

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, toss to mix halfway through. Towards to end, check often to avoid burning. 

Vegan Carrot Corn Dogs

Marinated carrots, dipped in a slightly sweet cornmeal batter and fried till crisp! 

I had heard about this whole "carrot as a hotdog" thing but honestly never gave it much thought. I really wasn't sure it would taste like anything more than, well....a carrot pretending to be a hotdog! But let me tell you, this is NOT the case. The carrot has just the right texture!! These little carrot corn dog bites are SO good and I am so pleasantly surprised by this carrot hot dog idea!!

You can use full sized carrots and make regular corn dogs, or use baby carrots and make mini ones like these!!  

Vegan Carrot Corn Dogs

(makes 24 mini or 8 regular sized)

24 baby carrots (or 8 medium sized carrots, peeled)

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup water

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 clove garlic, minced

2 dashes liquid smoke

Wooden skewers

Oil for frying

2 teaspoons ground flax seeds

1 tablespoon water

1/2 cup non dairy milk

1/2 cup yellow corn meal

1/2 cup all-purpose flour (plus a little more for dusting)

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons sugar (you can use any sugar substitute you want; maple syrup, stevia, etc.)

2 teaspoons baking powder

Steam carrots for 5 minutes. You want them tender on the outside but still a little firm. You don't want mushy carrots for this!!

Mix together the vinegar, water, soy sauce, garlic, and liquid smoke. Marinate the carrots in this mixture for at least 30 minutes, up to overnight. Remove carrots, rinse, and pat dry. Insert a wooden skewer into each carrot. Set aside.

Pour frying oil into a large heavy bottomed pot. Heat oil to 375 degrees F.

Combine ground flax seeds, water and non dairy milk. Let sit for 5 minutes.

 

Combine corn meal, flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar.

Mix the wet and dry ingredients together.

Dust each carrot with a little bit of flour. This helps the batter to stick. Dip each carrot into the batter, letting some of the excess drip off. Fry each corn dog till lightly browned, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain on paper towels.

Vegan Ginger Blueberry Muffins with a Blueberry Glaze

Ingredients
(makes 12)

For the muffins:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon ground flax seed
2 tablespoons water
1 1/4 cup soy milk (or any other non dairy milk)
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup oil (vegetable, coconut, etc.)
1/2 banana, mashed well
2 tablespoons whole organic chia seeds
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup fresh or frozen organic blueberries
1 tablespoon chopped crystallized ginger

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine flour, baking poweder, salt, and sugar in a mixing bowl. In separate bowl, combine flax seed with water. In another bowl, combine milk and vinegar. Let both sit 5 minutes to thicken. Combine flax mixture, milk mixture, oil, mashed banana, chia seeds and vanilla together. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix just until combine. Gently fold in blueberries and ginger.

Lightly grease a muffin tin, or use paper liners if you would like. Fill each muffin cup 3/4 full. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, til lightly browned. Let cool.  

For the icing:
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 cup frozen blueberries, thawed
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mash the blueberries and strain out all of the juice. Add to the powdered sugar. Add vanilla and mix well. Adjust consistency by adding more sugar or juice if needed.

Dip each muffin top into the icing and enjoy!!

Vegan Lasagna

I used this recipe as the starting point for my lasagna.


Ingredients
Makes 8 to 10 servings
 
1/2 to 1 pound lasagna noodles
2 10-ounce packages frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 zucchini, seeded and roughly chopped
1 large potato, peeled, cooked, and cubed
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 package 16 oz package firm tofu
1/4 cup nondairy milk
1/4 cup homemade cashew cheese (recipe here)
Juice from 1/2 lemon  
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil
1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano
1 teaspoon salt 
4 to 6 cups tomato sauce
1 cup vegan mozzarella cheese, shredded


Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cook lasagne noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Squeeze as much water from the thawed spinach as possible. 

Saute the onion, zucchini, potato, and garlic in a pan over medium high heat with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Set aside.

Place tofu, nondairy milk, cashew cheese, lemon juice, basil and oregano in a food processor and blend till smooth. Transfer to a large bowl and add in the spinach and sauteed vegetable mixture. At this point, taste the mixture and season with salt, adding more if needed. 

Spoon a small amount of tomato sauce in the bottom of a 13 by 9 inch baking dish. Place a layer of noodles (use 1/3 of noodles). Top with 1/2 of the tofu mixture and some of the mozzarella cheese. Continue to layer your lasagna in this basic order. Sauce, more noodles, the rest of the tofu mixture, more cheese. You should finish off with a layer of noodles, more sauce, and the rest of the mozzarella cheese. (This is not crucial though! Layer it all in, and it is going to taste great however you do it!)

Bake for 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool a bit before serving. 

Vegan Cinnamon Sugar Churros with Dark Chocolate Maple Dipping Sauce

Ingredients 

3 tablespoons ground flax
6 tablespoons water
1/2 cup Earth Balance vegan butter
1 cup all-purpose flour 
1/2 cup water 
Oil for frying
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon
1/2 cup soy milk (or any non dairy milk of your choice)
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1/2 cup dark chocolate chips


Combine ground flax seed with water. Let sit at least 10 minutes. Meanwhile, melt Earth Balance vegan butter in a small saucepan. Add in all-purpose flour and 1/2 cup water. Stir quickly with a wooden spoon. Add the flax mixture to the flour mixture and stir to combine. You will have a soft dough/batter. 

Heat a large pot of oil to 375 degrees F. Combine sugar with the cinnamon and have ready when frying. Place dough into a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip. Pipe batter right into the hot oil, using a knife to separate from pastry bag. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes till nicely browned. Transfer to paper towel to drain. Let cool a minute and toss in cinnamon sugar. 

For the chocolate dipping sauce, heat soy milk and maple syrup. Pour over dark chocolate chips. Let sit and stir to combine. 

Dip your little churros into the chocolate and enjoy!! These churros are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. Slightly different than a traditional churro, but still awesome and delicious! This recipe makes enough for 2 or 3 servings. I made mine small, like churros bites. If you want large churros, I would make a double batch!