So Good Vegan Blueberry Muffins

My friend Sondra sent me this delicious and easy blueberry muffin recipe from her mom's kitchen.  I'm not normally a muffin person, but I received a package of fresh blueberries in the produce box that was delivered to my house this week - so why not?  These are great muffins - with the perfect amount of sweetness (ie not too cakey).  Plus with whole grain flour, these are probably about as healthy as blueberry muffins get.

Makes 8 regular sized muffins

1 and 1/2 Cups whole grain flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
3/4 cup rice milk or soy milk (I prefer rice milk)
1/4 cup canola oil
1 small carton fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Sift dry ingredients together in a bowl.  Add milk and oil and mix by hand until all incorporated.  Coat blueberries in a little flour before you add them to the mixture.  Drop by 1/4 cup scoops into a greased muffin pan.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Enjoy :)

Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Quinoa is one of the ancient grains that people are super into at the moment (along with millet, spelt, etc).  Quinoa, in my humble opinion is the best one, especially for veggie dishes since its protein packed.  I use it in salads, burgers, and pretty much in anyway you can use brown rice.

My mom came across a recipe for quinoa stuffed tomatoes a while back and decided to modify it and use peppers instead.  These stuffed peppers are delicious and are great as left overs to take for lunch the next day.  I prefer having yellow or orange peppers, but any color will do :)

6 large mixed colored bell peppers (tops cut off at 1/2 inch from top - scrape out insides of bell pepper leaving just the shell, drain over paper towels)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
2-3 shallots finely chopped
2 large cloves of garlic minced or pressed
1 cup of frozen corn kernels
1 cup of quarter inch sliced asparagus
1/2 cup of fresh tomato sauce (you can use some of the the recipe posted earlier)
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
1/4 cup of chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup of quinoa (cooked in 1 cup of water for 10 minutes simmering)

Preheat oven to 350.

Heat olive oil over medium high heat in a medium sized skillet and sautee the shallots and garlic for a minute.  Add corn and asparagus and cook for another two minutes.  Add the tomato sauce, curry, salt and pepper.  Continue to stir and cook until liquid has almost evaporated.  Stir in quinoa and basil and remove from heat to cool a little bit.

Sprinkle the insides of bell peppers lightly with salt and pepper.  Then stuff bell peppers with quinoa mixture and cover with the tops.

Put stuffed bell peppers on oil coated baking sheet and bake until they soften (about 25 minutes).

If the bell peppers have trouble standing up you can cut them in half and stuff them like boats instead.

Vegan Coconut Brownies

I found a vegan recipe for mint brownies a few weeks back and it talked about how awesome it is to safely take tastes of the batter (oh the joy of brownie batter).  I thought I'd switch out the mint and make a coconut version this last weekend.  I think I might try adding in some almonds next time and then these can kind of be like almond joy brownies.  Regardless they smell and taste amazing!

2 cups flour
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup canola oil
1 and 1/2 teaspoons coconut extract
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup carob chips
1/2 cup shredded coconut

Preheat the oven to 350.  Grease a 13X9 baking pan.

Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Add the oil, coconut extract, ad vanilla extract and mix until smooth.  Add carob chips and shredded coconut.

Pour batter into the pan and bake for 25-30 minutes.  Cool and then cut into squares to serve.

Black Bean Salsa

A synthesis of my favorite flavors and using my favorite bean - my family used to make (and continues to make) this for bbqs and parties during the summer time.  I like having it as a meal with multigrain tortilla chips or brown rice.  It lasts a good amount of time in the fridge too, so having left overs isn't so bad.

2 can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 large tomatoes, chopped
1/2 a bag frozen corn (or rinsed and drained canned corn)
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 red onion, chopped
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
4 Tablespoons lime juice
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 Tablespoon olive oil
salt
pepper

Toss.  Stir.  Shake. What ever verb works for you.  You can add diced jalapenos if you want to up the heat.

Veggie Summer Rolls with Mango Salad

I first started eating summer rolls at a vietnamese place about a mile from my house in Australia.  Since then I haven't eaten a spring roll - why fry up something that is already so fresh and delicious? I decided to try making a simple summer roll at home after my friend brought some to a bbq I was at last week.

My search for a recipe led me to a lovely food blog that suggested serving summer rolls with a mango salad ( the mint in this it reminds me a ton of mango mojitos - another summertime favorite).  I made my peanut sauce posted earlier, omitting the water to increase thickness of the sauce.  I also made the agave-lime sauce posted with the summer roll recipe.  Aside from chopping up the veggies this meal was a piece of cake to make + super satisfying

Summer Rolls

• Rice Paper at least medium sized (available at asian markets or in asian food section at grocery stores)
• 1 carrot jullienned 
• 1 red bellpepper jullienned
• 1/2 a cucumber jullienned
• 1/2 a zucchini jullienned
• fresh baby spinach

Soak rice paper in warm water for 10-15 seconds.  Lay out over a wet towel and lay a handful of veggies to the bottom of the rice paper.  Roll rice paper half way up, folding sides in, and then continue to roll up (like a burrito).  Set on a wet towel and cover with a wet towel towards serving.

*Traditional summer rolls also usually include fresh herbs like mint, basil, or cilantro.  I didn't add them this time, but if you have some around toss them in.

Agave-Lime Sauce

• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 1/8-1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (depends how hot you like it)
• 2 Tablespoons fresh mint chopped

Blend all ingredients.

Mango Salad

• 2 cups Mango (I used frozen)
• 2 cups Pineapple (I used fresh)
• 1/2 cup coconut flakes - sweetened
• 1/4 cup mint chopped
• Greek Honey-Vanilla Yogurt (or soy version of this)

Mix up fruit and mint.  Drizzle with yogurt.  yum.

Recipes courtesy of littlehouseofveggies.blogspot.com

Black Bean Burgers

It is the 4th of July - no better day for eating a burger!  These black bean burgers are simple, tasty, and  versatile (can be used as refried beans or on tostadas).  I think the original recipe recommended topping them with spicy mayo and arugula - at least thats how my family started out eating them.

Makes 4 or 5 patties

1/4 cup dried bread crumbs
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1/4 teaspoon coriander
2 Tablespoons mayonnaise (or vegenaise)
2 cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
2 stalks of finely chopped celery
Optional - 1 to 2 cloves of garlic

In a food processor blend bread crumbs, cumin, coriander, and mayo.  Add 2/3 or the drained black beans and blend.

Stir in remaining black beans and chopped celery.  Using cooking spray to coat pan and heat for 1 minute on medium heat.  Cook patties 5 minutes on each side.

Shut the Front Door Vegan Chocolate Mousse

I've become a little bit of a public library fanatic this summer.  Initially it was all to keep myself entertained cheaply while I'm on a budget, but now I love the library so much I don't know why I'd ever stop using it.  From books to movies to cookbooks to tv series my library has provided me with a lot of time filler this summer.

Last time I was there I happened to pick up Sheryl Crow and her chef's cookbook (I know how ridiculous this sounds - a rock star cookbook?).  Anyways it is Shut the Front Door good.  Tons of healthy ideas - vegan, vegetarian, meaty - and all done by the season.

The first recipe I tried out was for a chocolate mousse made with avocado (hello breast cancer fighting superstar).  This mousse is so chocolate-y I might have to cut back on the cocoa powder a little next time.  It also uses agave nectar which amps up the healthy since it is a low GI sweetener.

Serves 3-4

• 2 ripe avocados
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup agave nectar
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla

Put all ingredients in food processor.

 Blend until smooth and add more agave if not sweet enough.

Refrigerate at least 1 hour before eating.

I think this is perfect with some raspberries on top to help mesh with the extreme chocolate fix you get here.

Bread Salad (aka Panzanella)

During the hot lazy days of summer tomatoes are at their peak.  So it was only natural that my roommates and I used to crave bruschetta while we lazed around cramming for tests during summer sessions.  However the idea of turning on our stove in our non-air-conditioned apartment was nightmarish.

Bright students that we were, we just decided it would be better to tear up our bread and throw it into the tomato topping we created.  And so bread salad became a summer staple.

Later I discovered a fancier name "Panzanella" and added some ingredients, but at its core this recipe is one that makes me think of summer no matter when I eat it.

• 3 cups cherry tomatoes quartered or halved (or 3 large tomatoes diced)
• 3 cups whole grain crusty bread torn or cut into bite sized chunks
• 1/2 cucumber sliced
• 1/2 red onion diced
• 1 yellow bell pepper sliced
• 1 can of chick peas rinsed and drained (or use the roasted chick pea recipe for a nice twist)
• 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped basil
• 2 to 4 garlic cloves smashed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  Toss and serve.

Peanut Noodles with Steamed Veggies

It has taken me forever to find a peanut sauce that I can make at home that rivals what I get when I go out to eat.  This quest has become all the more complicated since my mom found out that she is allergic to soy.  Trying to make the majority of asian food without soy sauce is like trying to make bread without flour.  

This sauce is pretty amazing - and I was able to substitute broth and some salt for the soy sauce so my mom and other soy sensitive folks can have it too.  To make this a great healthy meal, serving the sauce on whole grain spaghetti with steamed veggies is the perfect combo.  

Peanut Sauce

1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

1/4 cup broth (vegetable, chicken, beef) or 1/4 cup soy sauce

1/4 cup water

2 Tablespoons seasoned rice vinegar

2 Tablespoons lime juice

1 scallion, cut into pieces

3/4 inch fresh ginger, finely grated

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1/2 teaspoon salt (if not using soy sauce)

Blend until smooth.

Toss 2/3 of the sauce with whole grain linguine and drizzle remaining sauce over a healthy portion of steamed broccoli florets, snow peas, and sugar snap peas.  Sprinkle with sesame seeds and/or roasted peanuts.

This recipe is courtesy of Ellie Krieger with modifications including omission of brown sugar.

Easy Funky Black Bean Soup

Black Beans are by far my favorite legumes - they are dense and meaty and full of antioxidants.  I love using them to make burgers, dip, salsa, you name it.

When I was visiting some friends down south we had a dinner where people contributed dishes from their unique repertoires.  As my friends are pretty diverse, the meal turned out to be pretty diverse too (with japanese, vietnamese, and other random cooking).  My vegan buddy made this delicious and easy black bean soup with a ton of spices and PINEAPPLE.  Seriously, I would have never thrown it in there, but it blended perfectly into the soup.

• 2 cans black beans not drained
• 1 can diced tomatoes with juice
• 3/4 cup of frozen corn (or 1/2 can of corn drained)
• 1 Tablespoon chilli powder
• 1 Tablespoon cumin
• 1 Tablespoon corriander
• 2 cloves of garlic smashed
• Splash of red wine vinegar
• Splash of lime juice
• Can of pineapple tidbits

Throw all ingredients except pineapple into a large soup pot.  Cook over medium heat until warmed through.  Right before you turn the heat off add in the pineapple.  

Eat with crushed tortilla chips or on own.  Then go brag about eating a vegan meal to some animal lovers :)

Spicy Chick Pea Burgers

I love burgers.  I remember spending a good year or two in L.A. trying out the top rated burger joints on yelp/citysearch/whatever it was.  Venturing out to these places and sampling their menus was always an adventure, some adventures much better than others.

When I started this year of flirting with vegetables, I was worried about what I could get to replace my burger cravings.  Little did I know how delicious veggie burgers can be.

This burger is made of chick peas and sweet potatoes - and it is good enough that my meat-and-potatoes type brother requests it when he comes home for a visit.  Plus with all the quinoa its just so pretty looking.

• 1 small sweet potato (baked)
• 1/4 cup dried red quinoa (you can use white if you want)
• 1/4 cup dried barley
• 15 ounce can chick peas, rinsed and draines
• 2 tablespoons parsley
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Toppings : Thinly sliced red bell pepper, red onion, greens, ketchup.  Or whatever you like on burgers.

To bake sweet potato you can stick it in the microwave for 6 minutes.  Remove from microwave and wrap in foil.  Set aside for ten minutes.  Unwrap and scoop out contents into a food processor.

Cook barley and quinoa according to directions on packaging - barley takes 3X the amount of time to cook generally.

Add chickpeas, spices, flour and 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the food processor.  Add cooked quinoa and barley to the food processor.  Blend.

Form 4 patties using the mixture.  Cook over medium heat using the other tablespoon of olive oil.  It takes about 3-5 minutes each side to brown.

Serve with the suggested toppings or others that you like (cheese? pickles? mayonaise?).  These burgers are pretty flavorful on their own so they don't need a lot to finish them off.

Pesto Pizzas (includes dairy free version)

I'm not a fan of cheese overload and so when it comes to pizza, I love making it at home.  Its easy enough to stop by the grocery store and pick up a bag of pizza dough (my fave is Trader Joe's whole wheat dough).  Then all you do is bake the dough for a bit, cover with toppings, bake the dough a bit more and your done.

I started making my trader joe's pizzas with the fresh tomato sauce blogged about earlier.  But then we tried using pesto instead.  OMG.  Pesto pizza is perfect - garlicy, basily, and just slightly cheesy.

The Pesto Recipe that follows is the one we use at my house - its thicker than usual pesto (better for spreading on pizza) and it uses less olive oil (better for spreading on your arteries).  A few friends who have dairy allergies more severe than mine have asked for an adapted cheese-less recipe.  This can be done using nutritional yeast as a substitute for the parmesan.

6 ounces fresh basil (rinsed, with large stems removed)
1/2 Cup pinenuts
1/2 Cup walnuts
1/2 Cup parmesan cheese (or nutritional yeast for allergies or vegans)
4 cloves of garlic
2 to 3 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1/8 teaspoon of black pepper

Blend ingredients.  Use as a dip or spread on pizza dough.

I like to cut bell pepper and red onion in 1/4 inch slices and use this with sundried tomatoes as a topping.

Sidenote: My dog is obsessed with garlic.  Whenever we eat anything with pesto she becomes the ultimate begging machine.

Vegan Peanut Butter, Oatmeal, and Banana Treats

A few months ago I thought I'd try to make my own vegan cookies.  I found this recipe and gave it a shot.  I enjoyed them, but I wouldn't exactly call them cookies.  They remind me more of soft chewy granola bars mixed with banana bread.  They are still good and pretty light (under 100 calories each).

• 1/3 Cup peanut butter
• 2 ripe bananas
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 Tablespoons soy milk
• 2 Tablespoons honey
• 2 and 1/2 cups quick cooking or rolled oatmeal
• 1/4 cup flour
• dash of cinnamon

In a large bowl, mash bananas with a fork until smooth.  Add peanut butter, soy milk, flour, vanilla, and honey and mix well.  Add remaining ingredients and stir until well combined.

Drop spoonfuls of dough onto an ungreased cookie sheet and bake 13-16 minutes at 350 degrees or until done.

If you want a more chocolate-y version, instead of a 1/4 flour I substitute 1.5 Tablespoons of cocoa powder and 1.5 Tablespoons flour.  You can also throw in some chocolate chips or raisins to amp up the deliciousness :)

Fresh Tomato Sauce and Cucumber Salad

It's almost summer and it's business time for tomatoes (to be honest it's always business time for tomatoes in my kitchen).  After spending years laying down wads of cash for sunscreen each summer, I recently learned that tomatoes are kind of an ingestible sunscreen.  So now I have a solid reason to want to eat pizza, salsa or spaghetti for every meal during the summer or perhaps for every meal until eternity.

The tomato sauce recipe below is one my family put together while making personal pizzas a few years back.  We make this sauce all the time now and use it with pasta, as pizza sauce, and as part of salad dressing.  I'm a big fan of having it on cucumber salad with falafels from trader joes.

Fresh Tomato Sauce

• 1 quart cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 cup sundried tomatoes (the kind in oil)
• 4 or 5 cloves of garlic
• 1 tablespoon of hoagie spread/pickled cherry peppers
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Blend until smooth.  Lasts a few days in the fridge.

Cucumber Salad

• 1/2 a cucumber sliced
• 1/2 a red onion sliced thin
• 1/2 a cup of Fresh Tomato Sauce
• 1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Toss ingredients together.  Serve with falafels or along side other dishes.

Yellow Split Pea Dip

Split peas are protein packed and lean - there's just 1 gram of fat per 350 calorie serving of these little guys.  This makes them an awesome addition to any meatless meal.

Yellow split peas are often confused with chick peas since they look a little like a mini-me version of them.  This confusion is also well explained by the recipe below, which ends up tasting and appearing similar to hummus.  It is good used the same way as hummus - either as a spread on bread or as a dip with veggies and pita chips.

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1/4 Cup chopped onion
• 1 Tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped
• 1/3 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
• 1/2 Cup yellow split peas
• 2 1/2 Cups water
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 Tablespoon lemon juice

Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan.  Add onion and saute until soft (about 3 minutes).  Add garlic and cook one more minute.

Add oregano, thyme, split peas and water.  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until peas are tender, but still hold their shape (30-45 minutes).

Remove from heat and add lemon zest, salt, and lemon juice.  Set aside to cool to room temp.

Puree in a food processor or blender.  Taste for seasoning.  Add salt if necessary and hot sauce if you like to kick it up a notch.

Fantabulous Roasted Chick Peas

These are simple, delicious, healthy, crunchy snack heaven.  And you know when you were little and everything tasted "like chicken"?  These chick peas, through some crazy cooking voodoo, taste like fried chicken.

• 1 can chick peas rinsed and drained
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon ground corriander seed
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 425.

Toss chick peas in olive oil.  In a small bowl combine flour, corriander, cayenne, and salt.  Pour dry ingredients in with chick peas and toss till coated.

Spread coated chick peas out on a jelly roll pan.  Roast for 13 minutes, stir.  Roast for another 13 minutes.  BAM - your done!