I’ve served this dish to cabbage haters who loved it, and to meat eaters who went back for seconds. It’s a dish yet to disappoint, and another crock pot recipe – I love those! While it’s technically fall, it’s still really hot here but that didn’t hold me back from making this last night. I’m craving the feelings and flavors associated with autumn. If you think about it, a crock pot is a great way to cook without heating up the kitchen! Works for me.
Chili. Not the most creative dish, and almost everybody knows how to make it. There are a gazillion recipes out there, and I’ve tried many of them (the ones without meat, of course). For whatever reason, I’ve never been completely satisfied with any of the chili dishes I’ve made, whether I followed a recipe or made it up myself. I always felt like there was something missing, and I couldn’t describe or figure out what that something was. Also, I always made it too spicy, and as I’ve said many times, I’m a spice wimp. All this changed last night. Finally!
The mushrooms and cauliflower may sound like strange additions but trust me, they work. You can’t really taste them but they add a nice texture and I’m sure contribute to the overall flavor. The real secret in the great flavor, I believe, comes from the baked beans and liquid smoke. The fresh corn is a great addition, especially now when corn is in season. Add more chili powder and maybe some cayenne if you like your chili spicy. Try it and let me know what you think.
I’m all about the pumpkin. It’s one of the many things I adore about fall. I love the look of those orange beauties, and the flavor of anything pumpkin. I only wish the pumpkin bread, scones and pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks were healthy! Oh well, these little treats, along with my Pumpkin Pancakes (see Recipes), and Pumpkin Pie Minis (recipe coming soon) will suffice. They do contain chocolate chips, taking the healthy factor down a notch, but it’s a small amount and just enough to make you feel like you’ve been treated.
When I was on Maui last week, we ate at a cool restaurant called Monkey Pod. They had an interesting menu filled with varieties of different foods, all using sustainable, local ingredients. I was super excited when I saw Potato Tacos on the menu. I wasn’t super excited to see, when the server brought them to the table, that they were made with french fries. Yikes! As you can imagine, they were very greasy (don’t worry, I didn’t finish them, and I picked out many of the potato pieces). The wheels immediately began turning in my head as I thought about how best to recreate a healthy version of the dish. Here’s the recipe! It was delicious, even made without french fries. See what you think!
I know it’s not officially Autumn yet, and it’s still miserably hot outside, but I’m longing for fall, dangit!! These pancakes hit the spot, and made me look even more forward to my favorite holiday – Thanksgiving! I’ve seen several recipes for pumpkin pancakes out there but the difference between them and mine is the amount of spices; I tend to be heavy-handed in this recipe. The stronger the flavors of cinnamon, allspice, cloves, nutmeg, etc., the better! I’m tempted to crank up the AC, put on a sweater, and eat these by the fire. Make these! They’re easy and delish! Let me know how you like ’em!
I used to love chicken and tuna salad sandwiches, but I’ve have had to do without since I happily gave up animal foods years ago. Sure, there are plenty of faux-chicken and even tuna products out there but they are not what I’d call healthy since they are highly processed and contain oil. Well, thanks to Lindsey Nixon, The Happy Herbivore, I got the idea for this tasty sandwich filling. Her recipe is for tuna, but I’ve made a few changes to make mine more like a chicken-salad. Both of them use….wait for it…..smashed garbanzo beans!! Weird, right? I thought so too, but seriously people, it’s good! And since the mayo is fat free, it truly is a guilt-free, healthy treat! Try it and let me know what you think!
I knew I wanted to make some type of noodle/stir-fry dish with a sweet-spicy-savory-tangy sauce, but I wasn’t thrilled about any of the recipes I came across. So, I threw a few things together – paying attention to amounts and making notes in case it worked out and I wanted to share with you, and it worked out! I love it when that happens! Love it even more when I’m not the only one in the house who thinks it’s yummy. For lack of a more creative idea, I’m calling these Asian Noodles. Any configuration of veggies would work, and you could add tofu or tempeh as well for extra protein. To make it super easy, Trader Joe’s sells packages of pre-shredded cabbage and carrots. I’d use two packages of cabbage. Typing this up makes me want to make and eat it again!
I have always LOVED tapioca pudding. Actually, any type of pudding – I don’t discriminate! Once I gave up health-harming dairy and animal foods however (best choice I ever made, btw), I figured tapioca pudding was a thing of the past since the traditional recipe calls for milk and eggs. WRONG! I tinkered with a few ingredients and ended up with what I feel is a great alternative. I try my best not to consume or prepare things with refined sugar, but I must confess – I did use some here, the few times I made this. Next time I will try date or coconut sugar, which aren’t refined in the highly processed way white sugar is. They may alter taste somewhat, and color, but it’s worth trying.
UPDATE!!! I tried date sugar and it was an epic fail. I do NOT recommend it. I also tried Sucanat, which is dried sugar cane juice. Much better result than date sugar but not nearly as good as white sugar. It gave it a tan hue, and sort of a molasses flavor, which tastes nice but the texture ends up much thicker and not as creamy as white sugar. Next I will try raw/turbinado sugar, which I’m guessing will have the same result as Sucanat. When choosing white sugar, organic is a must! Not only is it free of pesticides, it is vegan. Why do you care about vegan sugar? Well, regular, refined white sugar requires the use of animal bone char in processing. Gross? Definitely. Due to health concerns, the FDA prohibits the use of bones from the United States’ meat industry. Further, the bones are required to come from animals that die of natural causes. While this makes theoretical sense, the ridiculous reality is bone char is predominantly imported from countries like Brazil, India, Pakistan and Nigeria and there is no warranty to the American consumer that the bone char used is indeed from ‘clean’ animals. I don’t know about you, but I like my sugar without potentially contaminated bone char!
BBQ Jack WHAT?!? If you’re thinking “She’s lost her mind. What weird vegan food is she eating NOW?” bear with me! Jackfruit, the young/unripened variety, is popular primarily in Asian countries. It can be found in Asian grocery stores and is sold in cans. It has a mild flavor and poultry-like texture. I know it sounds weird; trust me, I was skeptical too, but it’s really good this way, and a heck of a lot healthier than pulled pork! Can be made gluten-free when using a gluten-free BBQ sauce.
I enjoyed this dish off of the Seabirds’ vegan food truck and have done my best to recreate it here. Tasted the same to me, only theirs was spicier (I’m a spice wimp so I didn’t use hot sauce).
This sauce, which I adapted from Dreena Burton’s recipe in Let Them Eat Vegan, is great any way you’d use sour cream. It’s rich, creamy and a little goes a long way. Use chipotle hot sauce for a smokier flavor.
