Blackened Tofu Bowl

Quinoa pilaf and arugula with apples, shredded carrots, and chickpeas. Topped with blackened tofu and drizzled with creamy garlic-nutritional yeast dressing!

I pressed my tofu then cut it into 8 pieces...triangled. Then marinated my tofu in soy sauce... wont do that again... can you say SALTY?? Next time, I will not marinate.  Then I placed Emeril's Blackened seasoning on a plate and pressed the tofu into it on all sides. Then placed the tofu in a hot pan and cooked covered on each side. Watch to ensure it doesn't scortch the pan.

The dressing is BOLD but suits the dish well. Drizzle on top.

INGREDIENTS

1 cup nutritional yeast

1/3 cup + 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup coconut aminos (or low-sodium tamari or soy sauce)

3 cloves garlic

pinch of sea salt

ground pepper, to taste

Blend together until smooth then add 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil slowly while blending on low.

I used about ½ cup water to thin a bit.

Yellow Curry With Chickpeas and Broccoli

1 large red onion chopped 

3 cloves minced garlic 

1/4 inch peeled and minced fresh ginger

2 tbsp broth or oil 

2 15 oz cans of chickpeas (drained and rinsed) 

1 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes 

1 small bag of frozen broccoli

1 tsp yellow curry powder (I used more)

1/4 tsp cumin (I used more)

1/8 tsp turmeric powder 

2 lemons squeezed (or more to taste)

Pinch of black pepper 

1/2 tsp salt (more or less to taste)

Cream Mixture:

2 cups unsweetened nondairy milk 

2/3 cup raw cashews

Blend together until creamy

Cook the chopped onion, minced garlic, and ginger in the broth or oil over med high heat, until translucent and fragrant. Add the chickpeas, broccoli, and tomatoes. Add the rest of the spices. Cook until heated through. 

Add the cream mixture and stir. Lower the heat and simmer for 8-10 min.

Serve over rice.

Hope you enjoy!

Creamy Cashew Pasta

This is an AMAZING dinner. Quick to make and very yummy. I served this to my wife last week. Her comment... "When can we have this again???" So, I served it again tonight!

 Add pasta to boiling water... we used Angel Hair. 

Heat a large skillet to medium-high. Add olive oil, fresh minced garlic and one minced chili pepper. I didnt have a pepper and we don't really like spicy, so i used about a half to a teaspoon of red pepper flakes. Cook until fragrant and browning just a bit.

Take a cup of raw cashews and blitz in a food processor, or. Blender until fine with bits and pieces. Take 1/2 cup of the ground cashews, and 1/4 cup of nutritional yeast and add both to the skillet and stir. Add the juice of 1-2 lemons and stir until a very wet paste forms.

Turn the heat off. Using tongs, move the cooked pasta to the skillet, and add 1/2 to 3/4 cups of pasta water to the skillet also. Stir to combine. Add baby spinach and fresh basil. Stir until the spinach and basil have wilted. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Plate... add a couple pinches of leftover ground cashew, and nutritional yeast. A good squeeze of lemon, and serve.

An option is to add frozen broccoli to the mixture rather than spinach. The heat of the pasta should cook it a bit. If it is  not done to your liking, heat on medium adding more pasta water as necessary until desired doneness. 

This dish should be very thick and creamy!

Cauli Steaks, Green Beans and Potatoes

Tonight, we decided to have a fancy dinner! Cauliflower steaks with a side of green beans and potatoes. 

I used 2 cans of green beans and 1 can of diced new potatoes. Put all, juice included, in a crock pot. I used 1 tsp of Better Than Bouillon Seasoned Vegetable soup base. Mix it all together well and cook on low for 3 - 4 hours. No additional Seasoning is required. 

 Peel the leaves off the cauliflower and cut the stem off. Slice into 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices. Some fell apart, so I just cooked the pieces too!

Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning on both sides.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for 20 minutes, flip and bake for 15 to 20 more. Keep an eye on the steaks to make sure they don't burn. It's ok if they get a little crispy though. 

Let stand for about 5 minutes and serve crispy side up!

Vegan Lasagna

I found recipes for vegan ricotta and vegan lasagna in different places. I put them together to make them my own.

The ricotta is:

1 block of extra firm tofu

1 cup of cashews (soaked over night)

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1/4 tsp salt

Juice of 1 lemon 🍋 

5 cloves of garlic

Italian seasoning to taste

Fresh ground black pepper.

Mix all in a high speed blender or food processor until smooth.

For the sauce:

1 yellow onion 🧅 

2 cups of fresh mushrooms 🍄 

5 cloves of garlic minced

Cook until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms are done.

Add 2 jars of red sauce. I used tomato basil sauce. Simmer while you make the ricotta. 

For the lasagna: 

Lasagna noodles (not all noodles are vegan) (I used oven ready noodles)

Ricotta mixture

1 tub of baby spinach

Fresh basil

Sliced roma tomatoes 🍅 

And sauce

Put a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the dish. Place noodles as evenly as possible. Then layer with ricotta, spinach and basil, followed by sliced roma tomatoes. Then more sauce. 

Continue to layer in this fashion until the dish is a little less than full, with sauce finishing at the top. I placed a few dollops of ricotta on top.

Cover with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour. 

Pro Tip:

Before putting in the oven, place the dish on a baking sheet. Put the baking sheet in the oven with the dish on top in case any sauce spills over.  This will prevent it from dripping into the oven and you can simply wash the baking sheet. 

After baking, let stand for 15 - 20 minutes. Slice as big a chunk as you wish and enjoy!

I chose not to use pre processed vegan cheese, but you can certainly add to the top if you like.

Let me know, in the comments, what you think of my recipe!

Vegan Reeses egg

This recipe by Brittany Jaroudi of The Jaroudi Family... with a twist. You can access her video by clicking here

I used 1 cup date paste, 1 cup oat flour, 1 can of chickpeas and 2 tbsp creamy peanut butter. Mixin a food processor until smooth.

I then froze for 20 minutes and rolled into balls and formed. Put on a silicone mat and froze for another 20 minutes. 

I took vegan chocolate and melted in the microwave. Dip, or submerge, or drizzle. 

Turns out amazing!!

Asheville, NC for my birthday

We took a trip to Asheville, NC to celebrate my birthday at a vegan restaurant called Plant. My beautiful wife planned the date. She is not vegan, but LOVED every bite! 

Happy James!!

This dish is a vegan take on shrimp and grits. It has fried mushrooms and a cheesy flavored grits!

Grilled beets with a horseradish mayo with balsamic herbs, and onion tumbleweed. This was REALLY good.

A vegan cheese dish. THIS was the star of the show! Cheeses made with cashew nuts. Apples,  golden beets, dates and toast bites all contributed to a dish we will go back for.

This is a peanut curry dish. It was really good too. Fried tofu, red cabbage, roasted red peppers, eggplant and sweet potato with peanut curry sauce. I could drink this sauce by the gallon it was so good.

This was a smoked portabello with fennel salad, greens and cauliflower  sauce as well as a red pepper steak sauce. The greens are hiding under the mushrooms. While this dish was good, it was my least favorite dish of the night.

We told the server we were celebrating my birthday. She made sure to end the evening on a special note... or WITH a special note.