Tag Archives: smoky

Warm Smoky Tempeh Salad

As some of you may know, I spend the past weekend (plus a couple of days) in San Francisco. If you’ve been there before, you can imagine how excited I was about trying out some more vegan restaurants and delightful food! Not to mention, the whole point of my trip was to visit some amazing friends and check out the scenery. There were many firsts during this trip, one of them being that it was my first time flying there and boy, do I love 1 hour flights!

Once I got there, my lovely friend Caroline picked me up and we jogged a couple of miles in preparation for the weekend of crazy feasting! I just have to say, as reluctant as I was to jog before breakfast, it sure set the tone for the weekend. So, thanks again, Caroline! We went to Source for brunch, to visit the always awesome Jenny (who’s the pastry chef there) and left feeling slightly food drunk. The rest of the weekend included trips (including but not limited) to Souley Vegan, Pepple’s Donut Farm, Gracias Madre and St. Francis Fountain.

As you can tell, it wasn’t the healthiest of times, but I did squeeze in a recipe while I was there! After one of our morning runs, Caroline and I decided to make some lunch at home. We wanted something healthy, but substantial, that would fit the cool but beautiful weather. First, we thought salad, then it kept evolving with different ingredients and methods, until finally we settled on a wilted, warm salad. It’s essentially between a saute and a fresh salad, perfect!

Here, you have your protein-packed tempeh, some caramelized onions, crunchy romaine, and don’t forget about those adorable baby bellas! This recipe is very simple, and comes together in no time. It was really my first time experimenting with wilted lettuce, for myself, but I’ll definitely be doing it again. :)

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Filed under Healthy Recipes, Savory Recipes

Cajun Mac ‘n’ Cheese

 

 This dish started out with me staring into my crisper drawer at a bag of okra that I’ve had sitting, neglected, in there for a little too long. I had never cooked it, myself; just enjoyed it in gumbos from Disneyland and Doomie’s. But, a couple of weeks ago I had seen Kristy from Keepin’ It Kind’s post on roasting okra; that way it doesn’t get super slimy. So, I looked around some more and found a lonesome red onion and some red bell peppers in desperate need of being roasted. I through them together on a baking sheet and while they were roasting, I contemplated what I would use them in.

Soup? Eh, I don’t know if I have everything for a good soup. I look in the pantry, OH! Fall-themed pasta noodles made from durum wheat! Well, this goes along with my month of grains theme for Vegan MoFo. Since I had some Daiya Cheddar shreds tucked away, I decided that it was time for some sort of macaroni and cheese hybrid mess. Now, we have Cajun Mac ‘n’ Cheese! Not bad for using a bunch of ingredients that I may have ended up throwing out otherwise. ;)

The rest of this Friday has been used up making a Shepherd’s Pie for the cookbook which is seriously so good- and changing out the bulbs in my headlights! Oddly enough one went out right after the other, and thank goodness for YouTube, I was able to find a video that helped me change them out myself. Especially since the owner’s manual doesn’t give any information. Hmmph. So, today has been victorious and I have too much food hanging out in my fridge. Who wants to come by and help me with some of it? :D

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Filed under Savory Recipes, Vegan MOFO!

Grilled Summer Stacks with Smoky Almond Cream

It seems as though, lately, I have been somewhat of a grilling machine. I just can’t stop! With this month’s love bloghop theme being #tomatolove, I knew right away that the first recipe would involve grilling them; but, I wasn’t sure exactly how I was going to use them after the preparation. I have a few different ideas, but I’ll make them later this month once I’ve made a few trips to the farmers market.

First off, these stacks may look a little fancy, but they are super easy to make and put together. They make for a great appetizer for an outdoor dinner party or BBQ, and as I experienced last night, people will be pretty impressed by their presentation (just make sure to not relay how easy they were to make ;) ). As you can see, you can interchange the veggies to whatever you prefer most, as long as you can cut it into somewhat of a circular shape.

I was able to use some more zucchini from my garden, thankfully; I’ve been giving these damn things away! Before this recipe, I had never tasted grilled avocado, but now I feel like this will be a common occurrence for the rest of the season. All of these grilled veggies paired with a little homemade BBQ sauce and a light, smoky almond cream make for a winning combination.

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Filed under Healthy Recipes, Savory Recipes

Smoky Pumpkin Mac & Cheeze

The weather had finally become consistently cooler down here in Southern California and I couldn’t be happier; well, minus the 100 mph winds that blew throughout several counties this past week. It’s this time of year that I find myself wanting to eat heartier foods that have great flavors. This recipe is great for satisfying your appetite and sticking to your bones without sticking to your love handles (unless you don’t have love handles, in which case I am very jealous!).

I was inspired by Oh She Glows’ Butternut Squash Mac ‘n’ Cheeze recipe, really only changing a couple of the ingredients and adding a couple of my own. I have to warn you though, once you have the sauce made, remember to finish making the dish instead of sitting there with a spoon eating it out of the blender. My mom and I could have polished off the cheeze sauce for dinner if we had the chance, it’s that good!

Ingredients:

  • 3 Cups Cooked Pumpkin (Canned/Unsweetened Pumpkin is an option)
  • 3/4 cup Raw Cashews, Soaked for 2 hours
  • 1 cup Water
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 tsp. Smoked Sea Salt
  • 1 tsp. Sea Salt
  • 6-7 tbsp Nutritional yeast
  • 1/2 tsp Chipotle Mustard
  • 1/2 tsp or a bit more of dried Italian seasoning
  • 1/4-1/2 tsp Turmeric powder, optional (gives the orangey colour)
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 1/4-1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika + more to season
  • 1/2 tsp. Liquid Smoke
  • Your pasta of choice (I used 3 Cups Dried Wagon Wheel Noodles)

Directions:

  1. Take all ingredients, with the exception of the noodles, and place them into a high-powered blender or food processor. Blend at medium or high-speed until the contents make a smooth sauce with no cashew chunks left. Taste the sauce and add more of whatever spices you feel it may be lacking.
  2. Heat a medium/large pot that is filled 3/4 of the way with water, over medium/high heat until it is boiling. Add in noodles and cover with lid, leaving room for air to escape so that it does not boil over. Cook until noodles are soft, but not mushy, roughly 10 minutes.
  3. When the noodles are done cooking, drain them of all water and stir in the “cheeze” sauce. You really only need to cook this for 5-10 minutes so that the sauce is warmed and the noodles soak it up. Serve warm, straight from the pot; or bake in a dish and top with a bread crumb/panko mix.

Look at that cheezy goodness!! If there was ever a thought in your mind that you couldn’t be vegan because of the dishes you’d be missing out on, one look at this picture could surely change your mind. To be honest, I drooled just looking at it. :D This is a dish that I’ll definitely be making again.

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Filed under Healthy Recipes, Holidays, Savory Recipes