As I’ve said before, I’m in love with all things pumpkin. This savory dressing is no exception. Other than my Pumpkin Soup, I’d never made a non-sweet pumpkin dish before. I was very happy with the results. Start small with the cinnamon and work your way up, tasting as you go. And, depending upon how much tang you like, start with 1 TBS lemon juice and go from there. I made this for a salad in which I put pomegranate and toasted pumpkin seeds – delicious! It would also be tasty on greens like kale, or steamed broccoli and cauliflower.
A few ingredients and a couple of really ripe bananas is all you need for this easy recipe. These little bites are dense and delicious! They’re also wheat free (gluten-free if using certified gluten-free oat flour), and low-fat. I recently substituted dried cranberries for the chocolate chips for a friend who doesn’t like chocolate (can you imagine?). They were delicious even without the chocolate chips!
The only problem with these is that they don’t last long when I make them.
*gluten-free when using certified gluten-free oat flour
A few weeks ago Engine 2 (Rip Esselstyn’s baby) announced they would be conducting a recipe contest. The entries had to include at least one ingredient from the Engine 2 line of foods (available at Whole Foods – try them if you haven’t!), be plant-based (duh), oil-free, low-fat and low-sodium. I was familiar with the line of foods they offered and immediately got the idea for a recipe to enter into the contest. It was announced today that my recipe was chosen as the Grand Prize Winner!! http://engine2diet.com/the-daily-beet/ So fun and exciting!
The folks at E2 will be sharing this recipe with their readers, and I am sharing it now with you. It’s very easy, and delicious! Enjoy!
Summer Fruit Cobbler. Vegan. Oil-free. Gluten-free*
A fruit cobbler is one of my favorite desserts. I take it or apple pie over something chocolatey any day! We were having company and I wanted a dessert that would be nice for a chilly evening, and that incorporated seasonal fruit. Most fruit crisps are loaded with fat and lots of sugar, but not this one! The only fat is naturally occurring in the oat flour. No added oils or butter. I used peaches, mango and blueberries and they tasted wonderful together, all warm and saucy. For an extra special treat, serve warm with non-dairy ice cream. 🙂
*gluten-free if using certified gluten-free oat flour.
Sweetened with fruit, the whole fruit, and nothing but the fruit, so help me God! These oatmeal cookies almost shouldn’t be called cookies because they are good for you! The sweetness in these babies comes from banana, applesauce and date paste, as well as raisins and, as a treat, a few chocolate chips. Of course if you add chocolate chips, that changes things, but the heart of the cookie will still be super healthy. Be aware these are only slightly sweet. They are perfect for our family as our palettes have adjusted to less sugar/sweets (which can happen for everyone – just takes patience!). If you aren’t there yet, you may want to add more raisins and/or chocolate chips, or more date paste.
**Date paste is made by soaking whole, pitted dates until soft and much of the water is absorbed, and pureeing in food processor or blender until smooth. Here’s how: 1) Soak 1/2 lb dates with 1/2 cup water several hours, until much of the water is absorbed. 2) Use food processor or blender to create a creamy, smooth paste. Store in freezer (it doesn’t get hard!) and use in baked goods such as this one, as a fruit spread etc. Chef AJ has many recipes using dates in her great book Unprocessed.
* gluten-free as long as certified gluten-free oats and flour are used.
Who doesn’t love potatoes? Poor little guys sure get a bad rap. If any of you have read Dr. John McDougall’s The Starch Solution, you know they don’t deserve such abuse. Potatoes are a satiating, healthy food, chock full of fiber and nutrients. As Dr. McDougall says, it’s the company they often keep that turns them into a bad food (butter, cheese, oil, etc). Potatoes, without all the bad stuff, should be part of the regular diet, and they definitely are in our house. Yukon, red, gold, butter, russet, fingerling, sweet….if it’s a potato we eat it. My sister Julie loves potatoes so much her nickname(s) lovingly given to her by my husband is “tot” or “tater”. Since she is the one who came up with this recipe, I’m referring to them as taters, in her honor.
These are delicious and super easy to make. This makes a sizable batch since we had them as our entree, along with steamed broccoli – perfect meal! The amounts listed are estimates so be sure to taste test and adjust before cooking, if necessary. It’s hard to mess this one up so not to worry!
Fresh corn would have made this thick, chunky chowder even better but I was unable to find organic. Corn is one of those items I always buy organic due to the possibility of GMO’s. A very small portion of domestic sweet corn in the produce section is actually GMO, but since it’s not the law for it to be labeled (lame), it’s better to err on the side of caution. Most of the GMO corn is used in processed foods (aka JUNK) and animal feed – just another reason to stay away from that crap and eat WHOLE plant foods!
Anyway, I digress. This soup is delicious….and even better the next day. For more intense and “zesty” flavor, add more cumin and chili powder, and use medium or hot green chiles – I used mild. Jalapeños would be good here too, but as I’ve said before, I’m a spice wimp. I used 2 teaspoons of chili powder and found it to be a bit too spicy, though the fam disagreed (told ya…wimp). One of the two teaspoons was chipotle chili powder since I love that smoky flavor. In one of the pictures below you will see something green in the chowder. I stirred in some steamed kale and it was super yummy.
Update 9/26/13: I made this without the cashews (accidentally) and it was every bit as creamy and delicious. So, I’ve changed the ingredient above to OPTIONAL.
I got the idea for this recipe last weekend when we got food from the Seabirds truck, a vegan food truck in OC. Very tasty! We had it for dinner but it would be great for any meal.
Traditional quesdillas call for ooey, gooey sticky cheese but this one does not. You can use some Daiya vegan cheese if you like (it would be delicious, not gonna lie), but just keep in mind its a processed food with a lot of fat. Maybe you can use a tiny bit. 🙂 In this recipe I used a cashew cheese concoction made with cashews and green chiles. I didn’t use much since cashews are very high in fat as well. I took my “Cheesy Sauce” recipe (see in Recipes), and tweaked it a little bit to make a thicker, spreadable mixture. See below for details. You can use all sorts of different veggies in this dish; I used what I had on hand which happened to be mushrooms and spinach, along with the potatoes.
You can use brown rice tortillas to make these babies gluten free.
I’ve attempted to create granola-type bars in the past and haven’t been happy with the results. I got lucky this time. These are super easy to make and very quick. They are packed with Omega-3’s, protein and fiber.
Note: this recipe is only gluten-free if you use certified gluten-free oats and oat flour, which are both easy to come by.
