Tag: vegan

Even Better Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies

I posted a recipe for chocolate chip cookies a long time ago; I have been using the same recipe for ages, and it is delicious! However, in the last year I learned a few things about chocolate chip cookies thanks to Food Lab and my BFF Kenji (yes this friendship is all in my head). The two things that I have incorporated into my recipe are the refrigerate the dough overnight, and to finish the cookies with salt. These two simple steps are a game changer. The texture of the cookies is a bit softer, and they develop a deeper flavor. Yummy. The salt, I feel is just the perfect addition to bring out the flavor of the cookie, and as a counter point to the sweetness.

If you are in a rush you can bake these right away, but I would only bake as many as you need and save the rest of the dough for the next day.

Even Better Chocolate Chip Cookies

 Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup neutral flavored oil (I use refined coconut oil)
  • 1/2 cup Earth Balance buttery sticks
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup white sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 3 TBL water
  • 2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 1/2 – 2 cups chocolate chips
  • kosher salt, or other coarse salt for finishing

Instructions

  1. In a medium bowl cream together oil, Earth Balance, brown and white sugar, vanilla extract, and water mixing until smooth and creamy.
  2. Add flour, baking soda, and salt giving dry ingredients a stir before combining with the creamed mixture. Mix dry and creamed mixture just until combined.
  3. Add chocolate chips and stir to incorporate.
  4. Place covered mixture in an airtight container and refrigerate overnight.
  5. The next day remove the cookie dough from the refrigerator and allow to sit for about 20 minutes so you can scoop into it.
  6. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  7. Drop cookie dough by the spoonful onto ungreased cookie sheets leaving 2″ between each cookie.
  8. Bake for 8-10 minutes until golden brown.
  9. Sprinkle cookies with salt, just a few grains per cookie, then transfer from cookie sheet onto cooling rack immediately.
  10. Wait a few minutes before eating to prevent burning your mouth on hot chocolate chips.
  11. Enjoy responsibly.

Easy Gluten Free 2 Ingredient Frozen Yogurt (vegan or not)

Easy Gluten Free 2 Ingredient Frozen Yogurt (vegan or not)
Easy Gluten Free 2 Ingredient Frozen Yogurt (vegan or not)

My oldest daughter calls sunscreen “ice cream.” Super cute, and funny as it means I have yet to convince her that ice cream is a totally different item. I decided to make this with her to give her a small taste of what ice cream is. I usually don’t even let her have yogurt with sugar in it (she loves plain), but I made an exception here. She thought it was pretty great.

This is a super simple combination of frozen fruit and yogurt that makes a creamy, fruity, frozen concoction that fills any need for ice cream. It works with both vegan and dairy yogurt. I like to use the sweetened yogurt here, but plain would be fine if you are ok with a fairly tart yogurt. If you use sweetened yogurt and it isn’t sweet enough for you add a touch of agave or maple syrup. It will depend on how sweet the fruit is that you use. I used peaches for this batch, but pretty much any frozen fruit will work. I haven’t met one yet that doesn’t.

Happy summer!

Easy Gluten Free 2 Ingredient Frozen Yogurt (vegan or not)

 Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup sweetened vanilla yogurt (non-dairy is fine)
  • 2 cups chopped frozen fruit (I used peaches)
  • Optional – sweetener such as agave, honey, or maple syrup
  • Optional-Vanilla or almond extract 1/4 tsp or so

Instructions

  1. Place yogurt, then frozen fruit in a high powered blender or food processor and blend until smooth.
  2. You will need to stop several times to scrape the sides.
  3. Serve immediately. It doesn’t freeze well. You could keep it in the freezer for an hour or so, but much longer it gets very hard and doesn’t thaw consistently so it is best eaten in one sitting.

Vegan Mud Pie Ice Cream

Vegan Mud Pie Ice Cream
Vegan Mud Pie Ice Cream

Tomorrow is national ice cream day! Oh boy, what a wonderful thing to celebrate. I haven’t created any new ice cream flavors in a while so I decided to put some thought into it. Here is my creation: a creamy coffee ice cream with bits of Oreo, best served topped with hot fudge sauce and coconut whipped cream. A vegan mud pie!

My ice cream recipe is versatile and I have a post on making vegan ice cream without a recipe if you want to experiment. For this coffee base I used my whiskey cold brew, but any strong, cold coffee would work.

If this flavor isn’t your jam, check out the vanilla, peanut butter cup, Irish cream, or Mint. I do love ice cream!

 

Vegan Mud Pie Ice Cream

 Ingredients

  • 1 can (13.6 oz) full fat coconut milk
  • 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 3 TBL agave nectar
  • 3 TBL cold brew whiskey coffee, or cold coffee
  • 6 Oreos, smashed
  • pinch of salt

Instructions

  1. Blend all ingredients together briefly.
  2. Freeze in ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions.
  3. After ice cream has been churned fold in the crushed Oreos.
  4. Scoop ice cream into freezer friendly container and freeze for at least 2 hours before serving.
  5. Top with vegan hot fudge sauce for a delightful treat.

Vegan Kale Stem and Sun-dried Tomato Pesto

Vegan Kale stem and sun-dried tomato pesto
Vegan Kale stem and sun-dried tomato pesto

We eat a good amount of kale; I know, so trendy. However, I actually love the stuff. Eating all that kale, and being me, I have had a hard time throwing away all the stems. If you compost maybe it doesn’t hurt so bad, but I live someplace where that isn’t a possibility right now, and it hurts to waste. When I heard about kale stem pesto a light bulb went off for me. The perfect, and delicious way to use up my kale stems. This is a super simple recipe that comes together in a flash. I’m leaving it up to you for how you want to use it. So far we have done a kale stem pesto pasta with sauteed vegetables, put it in a power bowl, topped homemade veggie burgers, and I have been stirring it into vegenaise for my sandwiches. How will you use it?

Kale Stem and Sun-dried Tomato Pesto

Ingredients

  • 2 cups roughly chopped kale stems, about 4oz
  • 1 cup toasted walnuts, about 3.5 oz
  • 2 medium cloves garlic
  • 1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes in oil
  • 1 tsp salt

Instructions

  1. Combine ingredients in a food processor and blend until a smooth paste forms.
  2. Store in a covered container in the refrigerator until you are ready to use.

Vegan Macadamia Nut Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce

Vegan Macadamia Nut Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce
Vegan Macadamia Nut Cheesecake with Raspberry Sauce

Happy Fourth of July! This is a delightful summer recipe perfect for cooling off at the end of the day. The base is similar to my Key Lime Pie Cheesecake, but the macadamia nuts make it richer with an almost white chocolate feel to it. The raspberry sauce is a good contrast with its bright fruitiness brings the proper balance to the dish.

Vegan Macadamia Nut Cheesecake

 Ingredients

  • For the crust
  • 3/4 cup graham cracker crumbs (1 sleeve of whole graham crackers-make sure they are vegan) I used the blender to grind them into crumbs
  • 1 TBL brown sugar
  • 3 1/2 TBL vegan butter, melted
  • For the cheesecake filling
  • 1 cup roasted, unsalted macadamia nuts
  • 1/2 cup raw cashews
  • 1 cup coconut milk (full fat from a can)
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/8 tsp pure almond extract
  • pinch of salt
  • 1/4 cup agave nectar

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 325.
  2. Prepare muffin pan with 12 liners.
  3. Mix graham cracker crumbs, brown sugar, and vegan butter in a bowl until combined.
  4. Divide evenly into prepared muffin tin.
  5. Press crumbs down into pan with the bottom of a cup or you fingers.
  6. Bake 6-8 minutes until lightly golden.
  7. Cool completely.
  8. While crust is cooling, place macadamia nuts and cashews in a small saucepan and cover with water.
  9. Bring to a boil, and boil for 5 minutes.
  10. Drain and set aside.
  11. In the container of a high powered blender combine the coconut milk, coconut oil, vanilla, almond extract salt, and agave and blend until thoroughly combined, about 30 seconds.
  12. Add the cooked and drained nuts to the blender. Start your blender on a low speed and slowly turn it up to high, then blend on high for 1 minute until completely smooth.
  13. Divide batter evenly over the prepared crust.
  14. Freeze for at least 3 hours before serving. Store in the freezer and allow them to thaw about 20 minutes on the counter before eating for the best texture.
  15. Top with Raspberry sauce before serving.

Raspberry Sauce

 Ingredients

  • 3 cups frozen raspberries
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 3 TBL agave nectar

Instructions

  1. Combine ingredients in a saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat.
  2. Cook, stirring frequently, until the raspberries are soft and falling apart, and the mixture has thickened, about 10 minutes.

Father’s Day Roundup

Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Ice Cream

I took a poll for my husband’s and my father’s favorite recipes on the website. I’ll share in case you are in need of some inspiration for Father’s Day, and you don’t feel like making the chocolate cake from last week.

My Husband’s top picks are:

Chocolate Peanutbutter Cup/Swirl Vanilla Ice Cream

Mexican Food with These Refried Beans 

Pot Pie

Chocolate Chip Cookies

My Dad said:

Lasagna

Quiche

and Chocolate Cake 

BBQ Tofu Tacos with Honey Mustard Slaw – Vegan and Gluten Free

BBQ Tofu Tacos With Honey Mustard Slaw
BBQ Tofu Tacos With Honey Mustard Slaw

I first made these tacos while we were staying with some friends. We don’t get to see them often and I honestly didn’t know what they liked to eat, but wanted to surprise them with dinner after work. I saw several bottles of honey mustard in their refrigerator and decided to make something that would go with that flavor. Thus the slaw was born, and the BBQ tacos soon followed to make a full meal. I think it’s a super fun combination. It also has the benefit of being fairly nutritious and tasting naughty; perfect for Father’s Day.

BBQ Tofu Tacos With Honey Mustard Slaw – Vegan and Gluten Free

 Ingredients

  • 2 TBL olive oil
  • 1 LB extra firm tofu cut into strips
  • 1 TBL tamari or soy sauce -gluten free if needed
  • 1/3 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce -gluten free if needed
  • 6 small tortillas, I prefer corn tortillas -gluten free if needed
  • 1/2 recipe prepared honey mustard red cabbage and green apple slaw (vegan version if you are vegan)
  • 1 recipe guacamole (optional but delicious)

Instructions

  1. Heat a large skillet over medium high heat.
  2. Add olive oil, swirl to coat the bottom, and add the tofu in a single layer.
  3. Cook until the first side of the tofu is golden brown, and it easily comes off the pan to be flipped. If you have to scrape at it, just let it cook a little longer.
  4. Flip/stir tofu and continue to cook until most sides are golden brown.
  5. Remove the pan from the heat and add the tamari stirring to coat the tofu.
  6. Add BBQ sauce and stir again to coat tofu.
  7. Divide tofu evenly between warmed tortillas, top with cabbage slaw and guacamole if using.
  8. Serve warm.

Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Brownies Made With Black Beans

Vegan Gluten Free Black Bean Brownies
Vegan Gluten Free Black Bean Brownies

Sometimes you need a brownie. I gooey, deeply chocolaty, fudgy brownie. Perhaps you want to make a special father in your life something for Father’s Day. Maybe, just maybe, you also want to pretend to do something decent for your body. This is the answer. These are delightful brownies in their own right, and they are gluten free, vegan, and made with black beans! You would never guess that there are beans here, and the texture is a delight. These would be a lovely contribution for any party, grill-out, or picnic.

Vegan Gluten Free Chocolate Brownies Made With Black Beans

Adapted from Chocolate Covered Katie

 Ingredients
  • 1 1/2 cups black beans (1 15-oz can, drained and rinsed very well)
  • 1/4 cup cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup pure maple syrup
  • 2 tbsp coconut or granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup coconut oil
  • 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 tsp pure almond extract
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup chocolate chips plus more for top

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
  2. Place the rolled oats in a food processor and blend to a flour, about 1 minute.
  3. Add the rest of the ingredients except for the chocolate chips and process until very smooth, another 2-3 minutes stopping and scraping the sides occasionally.
  4. Stir in the chips, then pour into a greased 8×8 pan.
  5. Sprinkle a few tablespoons of extra chocolate chips over the top.
  6. Cook the black bean brownies 15-18 minutes until the top looks dry and they feel firm to the touch.
  7. Allow to cool at least 10 minutes before trying to cut.

Red Cabbage and Green Apple Slaw With Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

red cabbage and green apple slaw
red cabbage and green apple slaw

Happy Memorial Day Weekend everyone! I have just the thing to top those veggie burgers to jazz them up with minimal effort, or to serve as a beautiful side. This delightful cabbage and apple slaw. It is pictured here over a store bought veggie burger (field roast). I used store bought as they hold up better on the grill, at least compared to the homemade burgers I make.

This slaw is easy, beautiful, quick, and can feed a crowd and will please the majority of eaters. My 9 month old loved the cabbage and even my picky toddler tried it.

To make your slaw instagramable rinse it a few times in cold water before mixing with the vinaigrette, and only toss together right before serving. The rinse step is totally useless for taste, but makes it prettier as the cabbage doesn’t bleed its color as much if rinsed.

Red Cabbage and Green Apple Slaw

 Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 TBL honey, or agave if vegan
  • juice from half a lemon, about 1 TBL
  • 1 TBL white vinegar
  • 1 TBL olive oil
  • 2 TBL dijon mustard
  • salt to taste
  • 1/2 a small head purple cabbage, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 green apple,cut into thin stripes

Instructions

  1. Whisk together the honey, lemon juice, vinegar, oil, mustard, and salt.
  2. Add cabbage and apple and toss to combine.
  3. Store in the refrigerator until serving.

Vegan Potato Salad

 

Vegan Potato Salad
Vegan Potato Salad

Summer decided to stop by this week on the East Coast and it’s been hot! I hope it isn’t a preview of real summer; I’m not someone who enjoys the heat. However, now that that it has calmed down to seasonably warm I am a happy lady. It is perfect outside for picnicking and barbecuing. We just had our first family cookout last night. It was lovely! The girls played and ate a bit and my husband and I both got to sit and eat a leisurely dinner. I made this yummy potato salad and had veggie burgers on the grill.

This potato salad is a riff off of a very classic potato salad. I used J. Kenji López-Alt’s recipe from his cookbook The Food Lab.  I am completely slightly obsessed with Kenji, or as I call him, my BFF. The idea of using science and the actual scientific process to make better food is my happy place. Not a place I use myself, but one I like to read about.  Anyway, I digress. He has some super tricks and I have used them as well as most of his recipe for potato salad. I hope you enjoy.

This doesn’t make a very large batch, a side for maybe 4 people. It is easily doubled or tripled for a crowd.

Vegan Potato Salad

 Adapted from The Food Lab cookbook

 Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 inch cubes
  • Kosher salt
  • 2 tsp sugar
  • 4 tsp white vinegar, divided
  • 1 rib celery, finely diced (about 1/4 cup)
  • 2 TBL finely minced red onion
  • 1 scallions, green parts only, thinly sliced (optional)
  • 2 TBL fresh parsley leaves, washed and minced (optional)
  • 2 tsp whole grain mustard (more or less to taste)
  • 1 tsp dijon mustard
  • 1/3 cup vegenaise or other vegan mayonnaise
  • Fresh ground black pepper

Instructions

  1. Place cubed potatoes in a large saucepan, cover with water to 1″ above teh potatoes.
  2. Add 2 tsp kosher salt, 2 tsp sugar, and 2 tsp vinegar.
  3. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce to simmer, and cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes.
  4. Drain potatoes, then sprinkle with the remaining 2 tsp vinegar. Allow to cool to room temperature, about thirty minutes.
  5. Combine the celery, onion, scallion (if using), parsley (if using), mustards, and mayonnaise in large bowl. Stir with rubber spatula to combine.
  6. Fold in potatoes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and rest in fridge for at least 1 hour and up to three days before serving.