21 Days Vegan - Part 3

Frozen White Chocolate & Raspberry Torte

December 8, 2018 No Comments

Frozen White Chocolate & Raspberry Torte [Vegan]

This is one of my all-time favorite desserts – don’t be skeptical of the ingredients in this vegan variation! The silken tofu gives a rich, creamy texture that would fool anyone into thinking you’d used heavy cream (with none of the fat or cholesterol and 3x the protein).

It can be a bit hard to find vegan white chocolate in shops but Amazon has a ton of options – I used the King David brand vegan white chocolate chips and found they worked very well. A spring-form cake pan is also really helpful for this recipe – my favorite is the Nordic Ware brand pan.

The chocolate leaves are optional but make a nice effect if you chose to use them!

Prep Time30

Resting Time2

Servings:

Ingredients

Crust

1 package Oreo cookies or other vegan chocolate cookies
1/2 cup Vegan butter, melted like Earth Balance or Miyokos

Filling

1/3 cup Chambord (black raspberry-flavored liquor)
1/4 tsp Agar agar powder
12 oz Frozen raspberries
1/2 cup Sugar
12 oz Vegan white chocolate many varieties are available from Amazon
1 package Silken tofu
3/4 cup Powdered sugar
1 tsp Vanilla extract
1 punnet Fresh raspberries
6 oz Vegan dark chocolate chips optional – for chocolate leaves

Instructions

For the crust: Use a food processor to grind the cookies then add the butter and blend until the cookie crumbs are sticking together into clumps and they hold together if you pinch them with your fingers. Press the mixture into a 9-inch springform cake pan, with the filling going 2-3 inches up and around the sides. You can use a deep pie dish but a springform pan makes it much easier to remove and serve the cake. Freeze while preparing the filling.
For the filling: Place your frozen raspberries in a sieve over a bowl (to save the juices) and let them fully thaw to room temperature. Once they have thawed, press them through the sieve to get a thick raspberry puree without seeds. You’ll need about 1 2/3 cup of the raspberry puree.
Place the Chambord and agar agar in a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat until the agar is dissolved and the alcohol is just smoking. Then add the raspberry puree and 1/2 cup sugar and stir over the heat until sugar is fully dissolved – about 3-5 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and add the white chocolate. The residual heat from the mixture will be enough to melt the white chocolate – stir them together until the chocolate is melted. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and chill until slightly thickened, about 2 hours.
After 2 hours, take your silken tofu, the powdered sugar and vanilla and blend in a blender until fully combined. You’ll get a mixture about the consistency of slightly melted ice cream. Fold the tofu mixture into the raspberry and white chocolate mixture.
Pour the complete filling into the frozen crust, and return to the freezer for at least 6 hours or up to 3 days in advance (cover with plastic wrap). When ready to serve, release the sides of the springform pan and decorate with fresh raspberries, white chocolate shavings or chocolate decorations.
[Optional: To make chocolate leaves to decorate your cake, grab some leaves from outside – try to pick ones that are relatively flat. Wash them well and dry them completely. While they are drying, melt your chocolate chips, either in a double boiler or in the microwave. You’ll want them just barely melted, so that it’s liquid and spreadable, but not too hot or runny. Spray the leaves with non-stick baking spray and prepare a baking sheet by lining it with wax paper. Using a pastry brush, paint the chocolate over the leaves and place them chocolate side up on the baking sheet. Pop the baking sheet with your leaves in the freezer for about 20 min then carefully peel the real leaves off of your chocolate ones.]

recipes

Leftover Cranberry Sauce and Orange Loaf

November 21, 2018 No Comments

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Leftover Cranberry Sauce and Orange Loaf [Vegan]

A perfect way to use up what's left from Thanksgiving!

Prep Time15

Cook Time1

Total Time1 15

Servings:

Ingredients

2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs freshly grated orange zest
1/4 cup vegan butter
1 cup sugar
1 flax seed egg (1 tbs ground flax seed and 3 tbs water)
3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice About 2 big and reasonably juicy oranges
3/4 - 1 cup cranberry sauce
1/2 cup fresh chopped cranberries (optional)
1/2 cup walnuts (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9x5 inch loaf pan. Make your flax egg by mixing 3 tbs water with 1 tbs flax seed and let it sit for 5-10 minutes.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir in orange zest.
In a large bowl, cream together vegan butter, sugar, and the flax seed egg until smooth. Stir in orange juice. Beat in flour mixture until fully combined.
Fold in the chopped fresh cranberries and walnuts, and pour half off the batter into prepared pan. Spoon 1/2 to 3/4 cup if the cranberry sauce over the batter and spread it evenly down the middle, but not all the way to the edges of the pan. Then pour the rest of the batter over the cranberry sauce. Finally use the remaining cranberry sauce to spread a strip about 2 inches thick down the middle of the surface of the loaf.
Bake for 1 hour in the preheated oven, or until the bread springs back when lightly touched. Let stand 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Slice and serve!

recipes

Cranberry Ginger Muffins

November 7, 2018 No Comments

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Cranberry Ginger Muffins [Vegan]

These muffins are the perfect level of sweet and tangy, with surprise ginger and cranberry bites throughout!

Prep Time10

Cook Time25

Total Time35

Servings:

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cup sugar
1 tbls baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup lemon juice about the juice of one whole lemon, assuming it's reasonably juicy
3/4 cup almond mik
2 tbs flaxseed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup whole, fresh cranberries halved
1/3 cup dried, candied ginger
chopped walnuts

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray 12 muffin cups with non-stick spray, or line with paper muffin liners.
Add 2 tablespoons of flaxseed and 6 tablespoons of water to make your flaxseed eggs. Let sit for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, while you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Chop your cranberries and ginger. The cranberries should be in halves and the ginger pieces should be about half the size of a cranberry half.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Mix lemon juice and almond milk in a measuring cup, to sour milk; then whisk the flaxseed eggs, oil, and lemon-almond milk mixture in a bowl. Stir wet ingredients into flour mixture until just moistened; fold in cranberries and ginger. Fill prepared muffin cups two-thirds full; sprinkle with walnuts.
Bake in preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack.

recipes

Cranberry and Apple Chia Seed Jam

November 6, 2018 No Comments

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Easy Cranberry Apple Chia Seed Jam [No Added Sugar]

This tart yet sweet jam only takes 15-20 minutes to prep and lasts for 2-3 weeks in an airtight container in the fridge. Enjoy!

Prep Time10

Cook Time20

Total Time30

Ingredients

2 cups fresh cranberries
2 medium apples use a sweeter variety like Gala or Fiji to balance out the cranberries
2 tbs chia seeds

Instructions

Peel the apples and dice them into smallish pieces, then add them to a saucepan with the whole fresh cranberries and the juice of a whole lemon.
Let the fruit simmer over a medium heat for about 10-15 minutes. It will seem like nothing is happening to the cranberries at first, but they'll start to soften and burst after a few minutes.
Once the fruit is quite soft and mushy (you should be able to burst any still-whole cranberries easily with the side of a spoon), pour the fruit and all liquid into a food processor and pulse until as smooth as you can get it.
Add the fruit back to the stove and turn the heat to low. Add the chia seeds, and stir constantly for about 5 minutes while the chia seeds start to absorb the fruit juice.
Finally, remove the jam from the heat and pour it back into the food processor and pulse, again trying to get it as smooth as possible. This will give it a much more jam-like flavor rather than keeping the chia seeds whole. Let the jam cool before serving with toast or scones.

recipes

Baked Eggplant Sliders

November 6, 2018 No Comments

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Baked Eggplant Sliders [Vegan, Sibo Phase 1]

This is another vegan and Sibo Phase 1/Low FODMAP compliant recipe. I wanted to find meal options that would work for both me (the vegan) and my friend who is on the restricted diet phase of a Sibo diet. This is part of a series of vegan Sibo meal options.

Servings:

Ingredients

1 small eggplant If possible, try and find one that is relatively uniform width, or at least doesn't get too wide down at the bottom compared to the top.
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup coconut flour
1 tbs nutritional yeast
salt and pepper
1/2 cup coconut milk
2 tbs mayonnaise (if you are following a sibo diet, you can't have any of the vegan mayo brands as they all have soy or thickeners)
1 tsp harissa
iceberg lettuce or which ever lettuce you prefer for wraps

Instructions

Preheat over to 425 degrees and prepare a baking sheet by lining it with tin foil and spraying it with non-stick baking spray.
Slice the eggplant into rounds about 1/2 inch thick. You will likely have more eggplant than coatings - that's fine, you can either save it to make the recipe again, or double the volumes for the coatings and have more servings.
Put the coconut flour, nutritional yeast, and a hearty pinch of salt and pepper in a bowl and stir together with a fork so it's completely mixed. Now in a second bowl, add the coconut milk.
Coat your eggplant by dunking them in the coconut milk, then the coconut flour mixture. I like to double coat the eggplant but a single coat is fine too. Once covered in the coating, place the slices on your prepared baking tray.
When you have done as many slices as you can with the coating (between 4 and 6 depending on whether you double coat or not), place the tray in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Halfway through the cooking time, remove the tray and flip each slice over. They're done with the coating has started turning a dark golden brown.
While the eggplant are baking, wash and dry big leaves of the lettuce to wrap your sliders, and make the harissa mayonnaise by mixing both ingredients together in a bowl.
Serve the sliders by placing an eggplant slice and a dollop of the harissa mayo on a lettuce leave and wrapping in either taco-style or in a parcel. You can add other garnishes, like the caramelized onion from the Carrot, Ginger and Caramelized Fennel Soup, green onions, or sundried tomatoes.

recipes

Carrot, Ginger and Caramelized Fennel Soup

November 5, 2018 No Comments

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Carrot, Ginger and Caramelized Fennel Soup [Vegan, Sibo Phase 1]

Prep Time15

Cook Time30

Total Time45

Servings:

Ingredients

1 bulb fennel
1 tbs coconut oil
1 lb baby carrots
1 tbs grated ginger
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp ground ginger
3 cups vegetable broth or stock
1/4 cup coconut milk
chives for garnish
salt and pepper

Instructions

Start by roughly chopping your fennel into thick slices. Then add the coconut oil to the bottom of a saucepan and add the chopped fennel and a heavy pinch of salt and pepper. Let the fennel get brown and caramelized, about 10 minutes. Stir regularly so it doesn't burn.
Once the fennel has caramelized, removed about 2/3 of it and set aside to garnish the soup. Add the carrots, spices and broth to the pan, and cover. Let it come to a low boil for about 30 minutes.
After 30 min on the stove, turn off the heat and add the coconut milk. Then, using an immersion blender, blend the soup until it is completely smooth. This might take a few minutes for the carrots to be completely pureed but you definitely want it as smooth as you can. Add more salt, pepper and ginger (fresh or ground) to taste.
Serve the soup garnished with the remaining caramelized fennel, fresh chives, and a drizzle of coconut milk.

recipes

Burnt Eggplant and Tomato Soup

November 4, 2018 No Comments

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Burnt Eggplant and Tomato Soup [Vegan, Sibo Phase 1]

Prep Time20

Cook Time20

Total Time40

Servings:

Ingredients

2 large eggplants
1 small eggplant
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 tsp ground cumin
4 green onions green part of the stems only
4 large heirloom tomatos (can substitute one can of dice tomatoes)
2 tbs tomato paste
1 lemon
1/2 tsp chili flakes (optional
1 1/2 cups water

Instructions

First line a baking try with foil and set the oven to broil. Pierce the skin of the two large eggplants all around with a fork, then place under the broiler for 45 min, turning every 15 min or so. They should look burnt and blackened. This is normal!
While the eggplants are under the broiler, take the remaining, small eggplant, dice it into about 1/2-1 inch squares and add to a fry pan with half the olive oil, salt, pepper and the juice of half a lemon and fry them up until brown and crispy. Set aside.
Remove your eggplant from the oven and let them cool slightly. When you can handle them, slice them in half and scoop out the eggplant flesh and set aside.
Now add the rest of the olive oil, green onions, cumin and tomato paste to a big pot on the stove over a medium heat. Once it begins to be fragrant, add the diced tomatoes, and the juice of the other half lemon if you don’t want too strong a lemon flavor then only give it one squeeze. You can also add some chili flakes at this stage if you want it a bit spicier. Let it cook for 5-10 min, then add the broiler eggplant and water. Let come to a simmer then turn off the heat and use an immersion blender to purée the soup until smooth.
Serve with the crispy eggplant on top and chopped chives.

recipes

Cinco de Mayo Breakfast with Scrambled Tofu and Rosemary Hashbrowns

May 5, 2018 No Comments

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Cinco de Mayo Breakfast with Scrambled Tofu and Rosemary Hashbrowns

Prep Time30

Cook Time30

Total Time1

Servings:

Ingredients

1-2 potatoes
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 red onion
2 cloves garlic
6-10 cherry or grape tomatoes
6 oz firm tofu
2 tsp sauce from a can of chipotle peppers in adobo sauce You can sub your favorite hot sauce
1 tbs chopped cilantro
1 jalapeno pepper optional

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425F and line a baking tray with foil.
Wash and dice the potatoes, and put them in a bowl of water for 20-30 min to remove some of the starch and get a crispier hash brown. Meanwhile, combine the sea salt and rosemary, using a mortar and pestle if you have one. Once the potatoes have soaked, remove them from the water, pat them dry and toss them with half of the olive oil and the herb salt mixture. Place the diced potatoes so that they aren't touching on the baking tray for added crispiness, and place in the oven for 25-30 min.
While the potatoes are cooking, dice the red onion and jalapeno if using, and place over medium heat with the rest of the olive oil and cook until the onions are soft and translucent.
Dice the tofu into small cubes and cut the tomatoes into quarters and add them both to the onions. Cook for a few minutes - the tofu might not brown and that's fine but you want any excess liquid to evaporate.
Add the sauce from the chipotle peppers or hot sauce as well as the crushed garlic cloves and stir to combine. Cook for another 1-2 minutes until the hot sauce is fully incorporated then turn off the heat and add most of the cilantro, saving a bit for garnish.
Remove the potatoes from the oven and serve alongside the tofu scramble. Garnish the whole place with the remaining cilantro and serve with ketchup or your favorite hot sauce.

recipes

Tofu and Spinach Spanakopita

May 5, 2018 No Comments

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Tofu and Spinach Spanakopita

Prep Time30

Cook Time15

Total Time45

Servings:

Ingredients

1/2 large yellow onion
1 tsp olive oil
2 cups fresh spinach
3 cloves garlic
6 oz firm tofu
2 tbs pine nuts
2 oz soft vegan cheese Use your favorite, or sub 1 tbs nutritional yeast
salt and pepper to taste
8 sheets vegan phyllo pastry sheets Trader Joes has them in the freezer section
2 tbs vegan butter I used Earth Balance

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375F and line a baking tray with foil.
Dice the onions and place in a pan over a medium heat with the olive oil. Cook until just nearly done - they should be translucent and soft. Crush the garlic cloves and add to the onions and immediately, with the heat still on, add the spinach and let it wilt. It will wilt quickly so keep an eye on it and toss it with the onions and garlic. Remove from heat once the spinach is wilted, 1-2 minutes, and pour from the pan into a food processor or blender (but don't blend yet)
Using the same pan, turn the heat back to medium and toast the pine nuts for a minute or two until fragrant. Add the toasted pine nuts to the same food processor as the vegetables.
Add the tofu, vegan cheese or nutritional yeast, salt and pepper to the food processor and pulse until the ingredients are combined. It should have the consistency of a wet cookie dough - it won't hold its shape but it's not runny.
Lay out two sheets of phyllo dough flat on top of each other and set the other sheets aside for now. Using a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut 3-4 long strips of the dough so that you have strips of dough that are about 3 inches wide and 12-14 inches long (depending on the size of your phyllo sheets).
Place the vegan butter in a small bowl and microwave it until just melted. Brush the phyllo dough with the melted butter, and place a generous spoonful of the filling in the bottom left corner. Fold your pastries by making triangle folds to encase the filling, first bringing the bottom right corner over the filling, then folding up along the length of the phyllo. Repeat this process with the remaining dough and filling, brushing the tops of the completed triangles with the melted butter as well.
Bake at 375F for 12-15 min or until the pastry is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool before serving - serve warm.

recipes

Lemon, Fennel and Pomegranate Quinoa

May 4, 2018 No Comments

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Lemon, Fennel and Pomegranate Quinoa

Prep Time10

Cook Time30

Total Time40

Servings:

Ingredients

2 heads fennel
2 stalks celery
2 carrots
1 white or yellow onion
3 cloves garlic
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
1/2 cup pomegranate seeds
1 lemon
salt and pepper
5-6 leaves lemon basil optional - you can also use parsley

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425F. Thinly slice the fennel, saving the top stems, and toss with half of the olive oil, salt and pepper. Place on a baking tray lined with foil and roast in the oven for 20-25 min, until lightly browned.
Dice the celery, carrots and onions and saute them until soft and the onions on translucent. Remove from heat. Meanwhile pour 1 1/2 cups water and the 1/2 cup of quinoa into a separate saucepan and add a thick slice of lemon and one or two of the fennel stems.
When the quinoa has fully absorbed the water, remove the lemon slice and fennel stems and add to the pot with the sauted veggies. Add most of the pomegranate seeds and stir to combine.
Serve on plates and layer the roasted fennel on top. Sprinkle with remaining pomegranate seeds and roughly torn basil or parsley if using. Server warm.

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