I realize hummus recipes are a dime a dozen, and store-bought versions are widely available. However, the one thing they all have in common is a lot of fat. The average prepared hummus contains 4 grams of fat for 2 tablespoons. I don’t know about you, but I could eat that much in a few bites! Most varieties contain oil, which as I’ve said before, is not a health-promoting food. It’s concentrated fat and calories (14 g of fat for just a tablespoon), and truly unnecessary in a dish like this. Prepared hummus also contains tahini, or sesame seed paste. My recipe does too, but only 1-2 tablespoons for the whole batch, which is much less than other recipes or store-bought versions. Use 1 if you want a really low-fat version, or 2 for a little more fat. You’ll see I list truffle oil as an optional addition. You don’t need it but it adds wonderful flavor. I like mine on the lemony side so I use 3 tablespoons lemon juice. Also, the amount of water you add is dependent upon how thick/thin you want the hummus. I always have a batch made up and ready to go. Recently, I spread about 2 TBS on a piece of whole grain bread, laid sliced tomatoes and sweet onion on top, drizzled with balsamic, and sprinkled with basil and pepper. I broiled it for 6-7 minutes. DELISH! See photo below.
2/21/13 UPDATE: I’ve always known cooking your own beans, as opposed to using canned, was a nutritionally superior way to go but I didn’t fully grasp how much better a dish would taste!! Oh my. I recently got a pressure cooker (best. thing. ever.), and after soaking my chickpeas during the day (8 hours), I cooked them with water in the PC for 14 minutes. Then I made my hummus. SO creamy and flavorful. I really had no idea there would be such a marked difference. You don’t need a PC to make your own beans, but you do need to plan ahead. The forethought and time is worth it, trust me. If you use your own beans, use about 2 cups cooked for this hummus.
This recipe is from Dreena Burton’s Eat, Drink & Be Vegan, an excellent book, written by a great lady. I omit the oil when I make this dish because I just don’t think it needs it. We’ve been making these for years and it’s become a standard snack in our house. So good!!
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.
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 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.
Back when I ate animal foods, I never ate pork – except on rare occasions if it was in the form of a BLT. Bacon alone grossed me out but on that sandwich…yum! How silly is that? Reminds me of the mentality I had towards chicken – I could eat a boneless chicken breast no problem, but give me chicken on the bone and forget it! It’s amazing what we can talk ourselves into, or out of, in order to ease our conscience. Anyway, when I discovered tempeh bacon I was so excited to be able to eat BLT’s again, and more than occasionally since it’s not unhealthy! There are several varieties of ‘fake bacon’ out there, but the majority of them are highly processed and not what I’d call healthy (with the exception of Fakin Bacon by Lightlife, which is made from tempeh).
In case you aren’t familiar with tempeh, it is a traditional soy product originally from Indonesia. It is made by a natural culturing and controlled fermentation process that binds soybeans and usually a grain into a cake form. It has a high content of fiber, protein and vitamins and a unique, earthy flavor with a very firm texture. I recommend steaming the tempeh prior to cooking to remove some of the bitterness, as well as to help it absorb flavors of marinades, etc.
In a pinch I will buy Fakin Bacon, however it’s about double the cost of making it myself from plain tempeh. If I do use the pre-made bacon, I never cook it according to the package instructions as it calls for frying in oil. See recipe below for details.
