Quinoa - Black Bean Salad

An easy summer salad great to have made up for quick meals or get together! Goes great over a bed of lettuce, eat with tortilla chips, in a lettuce wrap with some avocado, you name it!

Egg-less Deviled Egg Salad

Before I went vegan I used to enjoy my home made egg salad and deviled eggs. I have been contemplating how to re-create the taste and texture of these in a vegan recipe. And I think this is pretty darn close, and it is delicious!

Curried Coconut Sprouted Kitchari

So, I decided to try out making my own variation of Kitchari. It is an Indian dish originally and is a dish highly recommended for cleansing by the ancient, holistic, healing principles of Ayurveda. I have been considering making it for some time now, and had a friend suggesting it to me as well, to help ease my symptoms from chemo, eating and digestion can sometimes be a challenge. Although this particular chemo was a rather mild one, which I am pretty happy about. I still have had moments of tiredness and nausea, but not nearly as much as normal. Anyhow, just feeling up to cooking is a huge thing! I attribute this to juicing!

GF Sweet & Spicy Pad Thai Noodle Bowl

Ever since I made my Sweet & Spicy Thai Coconut-Peanut Dressing I have been craving it even more! I have had it on salad a couple times and decided to make another batch. It just made me want Pad Thai even more! So for dinner tonight I decided I was going to make a quick simple version of Pad Thai. One of my favorite dishes that I love to drown in Sriracha sauce! So here it is!

Sautéed Asparagus & Artichokes With Red Quinoa

Quinoa is so simple, it really can be used in place of rice or even pasta. It's great with stir-fried or sautéed veggies. It's great so many ways really. I have been eating a lot of it lately and my appreciation for how versatile it is has grown. So today, I kept thinking about the package of frozen baby asparagus I had in the freezer and how I wanted to prepare it. Normally I just steam or roast it with a drizzle of olive oil, which is delicious but I wanted to do something different his time. I also had a package of fresh mushrooms that needed to be used up and the two together just sounded good.


Anyway, for those of you who know it is healthy and want to eat it more, but are unsure of what to do with it, here is another recipe for you!

Quinoa:
1 cup red quinoa
2 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil

Asparagus Sauté:
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp tamari or other gluten free soy sauce
3-4 garlic cloves minced
1 onion sliced
1 small pkg button mushrooms
1 pkg fresh or frozen asparagus
1 can artichoke hearts
2-3 sprigs of fresh basil

Directions:
Cook 1 cup of quinoa in two cups of water. Add the salt and simmer until quinoa is soft, about 20 minutes. Add the olive oil when all the water has cooked out. Sauté the garlic and onions in the sesame oil until they soften, add the mushrooms and continue to sauté until the mushrooms are soft. Add in the asparagus and tamari and cover to steam for about 5 minutes. Rinse and drain the artichokes. Remove cover and add artichokes and sauté until artichokes are warm. Tear up the basil leaves and sprinkle on top. Serves 2-4 people.

Quinoa With Red Lentils & Basil

This is a fairly simple and tasty recipe for quinoa. If you like lentils, you will love this. The combinations of garlic, onion, lentils and basil is YUM. I highly recommend the fresh basil for this dish. If you are not a fan of basil - you are crazy... kidding! Anyway, you could try substituting with fresh cilantro, another of my favorite herbs.

Spicy Cranberry BBQ Tempeh

I realized the other day that I had a couple of bags of fresh-frozen cranberries that my mom sent home with me. I pulled one out to defrost and was planning on making some dried cranberries. As I let them defrost something else popped into my head... and I had a new mission.

Creamy Roasted Squash Soup

I have been on a soup kick lately and squash soup is one of my new favorites. Talk about comfort food! This is one that fits the bill. Move over chicken-noodle! The great thing about this soup is that it is ..."souper" easy! Minimal chopping and dicing, to start you simply toss the whole squash into the oven! I actually use my toaster oven for this. It's far more efficient for this recipe, it has a convection setting and the squash fit perfectly. Then simply saute the onion and garlic, then toss everything into the blender and voila!

Hearty Vegan Minestrone Soup With Parsnips

I love homemade soups. There is just something comforting about them.  There is not much to say that most people don't already agree with. When I'm not feeling well, I love soup. This one is warming, filling and satisfying. I made this for visiting family and it was a hit. And so much better than Campbells! Parsnips are so delicious in homemade veggie soups, if you haven't had them before, they have a flavor similar to a carrot, they are a bit sweet but have a more "herby" flavor to them.

Creamy Coconut Cilantro Lime Dressing

I eat a lot of salads, no surprise there I'm sure! I have my favorite dressings, one being my homemade balsamic vinaigrette, and I will get on a kick for days wanting the same dressing. But I love changing things up after that. Before I became vegan, another one of my favorites was a cilantro ranch dressing. So I have been on a quest to come up with a healthy, vegan creamy garlic-herb dressing to replace that. And YUM! This dressing is everything I wanted it to be, creamy, thick, garlicy, herby with a mild hint of coconut! The ingredients that make this work are the hemp seeds and the fresh Thai coconut meat. They blend up smooth and creamy!

Creamy Cilantro Lime Dressing:
1/8 cup hemp seeds
1/4 cup fresh young Thai coconut water
1/4 cup fresh young Thai coconut meat
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 small garlic clove
1 small lime juiced
3-4 sprigs fresh cilantro
1-2 sprigs fresh parsley
sprinkle of sea salt
sprinkle of pepper

Directions:
Simply add all of the dressing ingredients except the fresh herbs to a good blender. Blend 2-3 minutes until smooth and creamy. Once the desired consistency is reached, add the cilantro and parsley and pulse a few times. The dressing makes enough for about 4-6 small salads or 2-3 large salads. I store my extra in a mason jar for to use later. It will last 2-3 days in the refrigerator.

The salad is baby spinach, tomato, shredded carrot, avocado & red pepper in a huge cabbage leaf! Now it you can eat this with a fork, but I wrapped mine up in the cabbage leaf and ate it like a giant wrap! I love using the outer beautiful leaves of fresh cabbage like this. I always pull those off and save them for wraps! I have been eating my cabbage many ways! I add it to stir-fry, soups, salads and came up with a tasty fully raw, vegan coleslaw recipe I will be sharing soon!

Summer Squash Stir Fry with Socca Bread (Gluten-Free)

Stir Fry:
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 garlic cloves diced
2 tbsp gluten-free tamari
1 summer squash sliced
5-6 button mushrooms sliced
1 small jalapeno sliced
handful of carrot matchsticks
handful or two of fresh baby spinach
2 sprigs of fresh cilantro
sprinkle of veggie seasoning
sprinkle of sesame seeds

Socca Bread:
1 cup chickpea flour
1 cup water
2 tbsp flax seed
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tsp sea salt
sprinkle of fresh cracked pepper

The great thing about stir fry is that you can pretty much toss in anything you have on hand. I was craving a mix of veggies that I love to order when I eat at an Asian fusion type of restaurant so I tossed these things together with some socca bread and yum!

You'll want to start with the socca bread first. I had some sprouted chickpea flour that I made handy. Otherwise you can find it at health food stores or online at Amazon. My socca came out a bit thicker than traditional socca, since I made my own flour it was not quite as fine as store bought, but it was really tasty! I like it browned and crispy. The thinner the better! You'll want to mix your water with the flour about a half hour before you start making it to let it absorb a bit. Then mix the rest of the ingredients together but hold 1 tbsp of sesame oil. Heat your skillet (best with an iron skillet if you have one) with 1 tbsp of oil. You'll want your batter pretty thin. When your skillet is hot, pour the batter in spreading it around filling the entire pan like a giant pancake. It's pretty much like cooking a pancake. It will bubble a bit and start to brown. Let it cook for 5-10 minutes till it's toasty brown then very carefully flip it. Toast the other side for another 5-10 minutes. Once it's a bit crispy it's done! Repeat with the rest of the batter. Alternately you can use an iron skillet in the oven, baking it, then turning on the broiler for a few to brown it. You'll get about 3-4 large socca breads out of this recipe.

For the stir fry, start with a tbsp of sesame oil and, when the pan is hot, toss in the garlic and tamari, let that cook until the garlic is soft and starting to brown a bit, add the rest of the veggies and cilantro, and let it cook, stirring frequently till the veggies are tender-crisp. Remove from heat and serve with the socca, top with toasted sesame seeds & veggie seasoning. The stir fry recipe serves one as the main entree.

Guilt & Gluten-Free Spaghetti With Zucchini Noodles

This is a pretty basic recipe, but instead of regular, empty calorie, carb filled noodles, I substitue for much healthier zucchini noodles! I still do noodles once in a while, but I do organic, whole grain, gluten free pasta like quinoa or brown rice. They are higher in nutrition than regular wheat pastas, but still are heavy in carbs. Zucchini noodles remove the guilt and are delicious, especially since I love spaghetti!

Now, I am not a calorie counter, I eat for nutrition, but here is a comparison of calories- 1 cup of zucchini has about 30 calories, 1 cup of regular spaghetti noodles is about 220. That is a HUGE difference. Zucchini also has a lot of health benefits, it is very high in vitamin A, B6, and C, it is also high in potassium, fiber and water. I can eat about one medium zucchini cut into noodles with sauce. I think it is fairly safe to plan for about 1 zucchini per person for the average eater when planning a larger meal.

Sauce:
1 jar of your favorite organic spaghetti sauce
10 button mushrooms sliced
3-4 garlic cloves minced
1/2 of a medium onion diced
1 tsp dried basil or a couple sprigs of fresh
1 tbsp coconut, safflower or other high heat tolerant oil

Noodles:
3-4 medium to large zucchini's

Add the oil, onion & garlic to the pan and saute on medium heat until tender. Add mushrooms and saute for about 5-10 minutes until they start to reduce in size. (a healthy tip I learned from The Detoxonista's blog.. instead of adding more oil to the pan if you need more liquid, add a splash of water instead to keep the amount of oil lower) Add sauce and simmer on low for 15-20 minutes to blend flavors and reduce the liquid. Prepare your zucchini noodles while sauce is simmering. You can make your noodles with a spiralizer or julienne them with a mandolin which is what I do currently, or you can cut them all by hand if you don't have either. If you love pasta I highly recommend investing in a spiralizer, you can get one from Amazon for about $35.

When your sauce is ready, toss in the noodles and fresh basil, mix gently. I find tongs to be the best way to manipulate the zucchini pasta. Let this simmer for 5-10 minutes, as soon as the pasta is warm it is ready! You can cook it longer if you like, but I prefer mine crisp and not mushy so I only let it cook long enough to get warm and soften the noodles. They should be "al dente". Zucchini contains a lot of water, so you'll want to keep that in mind anytime you cook them. Cooking them less helps, and making sure your sauces are thicker also helps. They are tasty, pliable like regular pasta, you can spin them around your fork, sauces cling to them nicely, and they are a bit crispy. Caution! You just might get addicted to these once you try them. I know I am, I am so happy I discovered them in my searches for healthy recipes!

I try to eat a least 75-80% raw. Some days I eat fully raw, and other days I will have one meal cooked. After a lot of research on both raw and cooked foods I feel that there are benefits to both. A lot of nutrients are depleted with cooking, but then there are some that are increased, like lycopene in tomatoes, calcium absorption from spinach, the anti-oxidants in broccoli to name a few. I feel to keep things in balance, both cooked and raw are beneficial. Raw has so much to offer with the enzymes, so it's really important to eat plenty of raw fruits and veggies!

Mushroom Basil Veggie Pizza - Dairy, Gluten & Egg Free

I know... pizza without cheese... I watched my daughter eat it that way for years and thought she was crazy. But now that I am dairy free, I still enjoy pizza! The key for me is lots of good sauce, garlic, mushrooms, fresh basil and a crunchy tasty thin crust! Here I used purple basil so it looks dark in the photos but it's so yummy! I also love artichokes on my pizza, spinach, olives, really there isn't veggie I don't like! This is a personal pan size pizza so it serves only one. To make a larger pizza you could just double the crust recipe and toppings.

Crust:
1 cup millet flour
1/2 cup oats or oat flour
1 tbsp ground flax
2 tbsp nutritional yeast (not active yeast and this is optional)
1 tsp sea salt
1 sprig of minced fresh rosemary
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup water (more or less)

Toppings:
organic spaghetti or pizza sauce
1 sliced fresh tomato (sundried would be delish!)
1/2 cup of sliced marinated mushrooms
1 slice red onion
1 small sliced sweet yellow or red pepper
1-2 sprigs of fresh basil

Marinated Mushrooms
1/2 cup of sliced mushrooms
1/8 cup of balsamic vinegar
1/8 cup of gluten free tamari
1-2 minced garlic cloves

I make my crust in a food processor but you can easily do this by hand. A food processor makes mixing the dough really quick and easy. To start, add the dry ingredients, the flour, oats, flax and salt, I add whole oats and it chops them a bit, rather nicely, Add the rosemary and pulse a couple times to mix it. Then add the olive oil, vinegar and water and mix on slow until the dough starts to ball up. You want to start out with just the 1/4 cup of water, if your dough is not balling up then add more water at a tablespoon or two at a time. You don't want soupy dough. When it's balled up, remove it, kneed it a few times to make a nice ball. You can then roll it out on flour if you like, but if you are lazy like me, then you can toss some flour in a non-stick pan, put the ball of dough in the center and press it out with your fingers. This is quick and easy and less mess. Bake at 325 on a convection setting if you have one, for about 20-30 minutes till it's just about to get crispy. I use an 8 inch non-stick cake pan and bake this in my toaster oven. No sense heating up a huge oven unless you are making more than one or are making a large size! After the crust is baking I slice the mushrooms and add the other marinade ingredients so they can marinate a few minutes. If you've ever tried making your own pizza, you know that when adding fresh mushrooms they sometimes end up a bit dry, this helps them stay moist. Then I slice up the rest of veggies and wait for the crust.

What is nutritional yeast? It is a yeast that is grown on sugar cane and then heat treated to deactivate it. It is a source of protein and really high in B complex vitamins and is a staple in a vegan diet. It also has a really cheesy flavor. It can be used in about any recipe that requires a cheesy flavor.

After baking the crust, add your marinara sauce and veggies, strain the liquid off the mushrooms, add those and the garlic to your pizza. You can always re-use the marinade (or make it into a home made salad dressing by adding some oil & water) Hold the basil until until the last few minutes of baking. Bake this at 350 on a regular setting for about 10-15 minutes then add the basil. Bake another 5-10 minutes and voila! The crust comes out really dense and crispy. I like millet flour and oats, but you can try other gluten free flours. Bob's Redmill has many different kinds of flours and a gluten-free pizza dough mix (not organic that I've seen though). Click the photos for a close up!

Creamy Mushroom Noodles - Mushroom Stroganoff

I used to make homemade beef-mushroom  stroganoff on a fairly regular basis. It was a favorite around here, and still is with the meat, dairy lovers. Since I love the creamy mushroom sauce, I decided to try coming up with a vegan version and was extremely happy with my results!

This is a pretty simple raw dish really, but very tasty! The sauce after a warm marinating period, becomes like a creamy mushroom soup! You could easily just make the sauce and add more water, the mushrooms and onions and let it marinade for a raw creamy mushroom soup! And you could easily substitute the hemp for soaked cashews, and this sauce would be great over a quinoa or brown rice pasta or kelp noodles. This serves 2, or one really hungry person!

Sauce:
1/4 cup hemp seeds (alternately you could used soaked cashews)
1/4 cup tamari
2 garlic cloves
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp tahini (optional)
2 tbsp water
Sprinkle of cracked pepper

Noodles:
2 large zucchinis
1/8 cup diced red onion
10 button mushrooms

Add all of the sauce ingredients to your blender and puree till smooth and creamy. It should be a bit thick. Slice mushrooms and dice onion and toss them in a bowl with the sauce while you make the "noodles" to start the flavors combining. Use a spiralizor or mandolin and julienne the zuchinni in long narrow strips like spaghetti. Toss noodles into the bowl and mix together. Now, you could eat this just as is, it's already delicious! But it gets even better if you let it marinate for a while. I made mine early and let it marinate in the dehydrator at 105 degrees for about two hours. You can just take it out and eat it at any time after an hour! It's warm but still raw since nothing was heated above 115 degrees! Just like in cooking, the veggies shrink and it makes more liquid which tastes like cream of mushroom soup!

Now, if you don't have a dehydrator, you can still marinate it without the heat. Just put it in the fridge for at least an hour, then gently warm it on the stove top prior to eating. If you have a toaster oven with really low settings, you can marinade it in there in a glass bowl, set at 100 degrees. You do not want to go over 115 degrees.

Photos: Top - Left overs! I ate had some left over so I stored it in the refrigerator and ate it the next day. Middle - Just after mixing and assembling all ingredients. Bottom Left - after marinating in the dehydrator for about two hours. Bottom right - close up of left overs. (click images for a closer look!)