Spicy Tomato Pasta

So I got a spiralizer and wanted to test it out tonight - I chose eggplant

which wasn't such a good idea because it was too mushy to create

good results. I spiralized what I could and then chopped up the

remaining eggplant and added it to the sauce.

I then proceeded to sautee the eggplant pasta in a separate pan from the sauce. This was really good and I love eggplant pasta... but there wasn't enough so I should have made some regular pasta as well. Oh well live and learn!

Spicy Tomato Pasta

1 box sliced mushrooms

1/2 large eggplant chopped

1 can sliced black olives

2 cloves garlic, minced

2-14 oz cans diced tomatoes

1/2 tsp. hot red pepper flakes

2 Tbsp. fresh basil for garnish

Sautee garlic, mushrooms, olives, and eggplant until softened and slightly browned

Add the 2 cans of tomatoes with their juice, red pepper flakes, and salt/pepper to taste.

Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered 15 minutes.

My end result was sauteed eggplant pasta topped with my vegetable and tomato sauce with a side of steamed broccoli and spiralized carrots (aren't they cute??). I loved it but it would def be good with some pasta as well =]

And of course for dessert I had a piece of chocolate tart!!!

You know you want to make the tart!!!

Brownie Batter Pancakes

So who doesn't love pancakes? I love subbing some of the flour for the pancakes with some amazing grass powder. I always mix one scoop of the chocolate amazing grass powder with almond milk in the morning for a pre-workout shake... but this stuff is even MORE awesome in pancakes! If you don't have this powder you can sub any chocolate protein powder that you have or just plain old cocoa powder =] Adapted from Katie's Blog

Amazing Grass Chocolate Green SuperFood

From their website: A full spectrum of alkalizing green superfoods, antioxidant rich fruits, and support herbs unite with organic Acai, Maca and Cacao to provide a powerful dose of whole food nutrition with a delicious dark chocolate taste. Complete with pre & probiotics and digestive enzymes to ensure rapid nutrient absorption and healthy digestion.

Brownie Batter Pancakes - Serves 2

1/2 cup of whole wheat pastry flour

4 scoops (32 grams) of Amazing Grass Chocolate Green SuperFood

1 tsp Ener-G egg replacer

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 cup applesauce

1 Tbsp maple syrup

3/4 cup almond milk (or any non-dairy milk)

1/4 cup grain sweetened chocolate chips

Blend all ingredients together with a hand held mixer (or by hand with a whisk)

Use a big spoon to spoon pancake batter onto a hot pan and cook at medium-low heat. You want to make sure that these are cooked through pretty well otherwise you're going to have a hard time flipping them.

Makes 10 pancakes! For half of the recipe listed above, these are only 263 calories for 5 pancakes!

Yummm so chocolately

Serve alongside a huge latte and ENJOY!!!! =]

Sweet Potato Fries and Hummus Salsa Dip

So this is called pimp my leftovers. Basically I used my leftover veggie fajitas and added some new stuff to make a delish lunch the next day!

Sweet Potato Fries

Pre-heat oven to 400

Take 1 sweet potato: wash, poke holes, and pop into the microwave for 2 minutes to pre-cook it

Slice the sweet potato into wedges and assemble on a cookie sheet lined with tin foil or parchment paper

Spray with non-cook spray

Then attack the sweet potatoes with as much paprika, cinnamon, and cayenne pepper as your little heart desires

Pop into the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown

Hummus Salsa Dip

Combine a 2:1 ratio of salsa to hummus

You can do a small portioned sized amount for one meal, or make a huge bowl of it for a party

For New Year's Eve I did Chipolte Salsa with Jalapeno Hummus and it was to die for

Put hummus/salsa dip on top of salad with leftover veggies. Make some room for delish sweet potato fries as well and drench with ketchup. YUM!

Veggie Fajitas!!

Grilled Vegetable Fajitas

Marinade:

1/4 cup lime juice (or juice from 2 limes)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

salt and pepper to taste

Fajita vegetables:

1 large red onion, cut into wedges

3 bell peppers (red, orange, yellow, green whatever you want!) cut into 1/2" strips

2 yellow or zucchini squash, halved and cut into 1/2" strips

box of button mushrooms sliced

whatever other veggies you want to add!

Combine all marinade ingredients together in a large bowl.

Add chopped up veggies and toss to coat.

Roast veggies on the grill or inside your oven.

I baked mine at 400 for 20 minutes and then turned on the broiler for a few mins to brown them up a little bit.

Mine made this tray x2 so I had plenty of leftovers!

Serve on a tortilla with lettuce, salsa, guac, hot sauce... whatever you want!

Or make a huge ass fajita salad! Put the veggies on top of a bed of romaine with guac, salsa, and hot sauce!

Adapted from "The Vegan Table"

Ginger-Miso Yam Wraps

The tofu and edamame (or peas in my case) add lots of protein to these wraps! And the miso has good pro-biotic bacteria in it! The different combination of flavors in these wraps is absolutely amazing, I can't get enough of them!

Ginger-Miso Yam Wraps

2 small sweet potatoes (yams)
2 Tbsp. white miso paste
1 Tbsp. peanut butter
2 Tbsp finely chopped shallot
1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
2 tsp minced garlic (about 2 small cloves)
1 cup frozen shelled edamame (or edamame and pea combo like I did because I ran out of edamame!)
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 cup firm silken tofu crumbled (6 oz)
2 Tbsp chopped cilantro
8 collard green leaves, stems removed

Poke small holes into the sweet potatoes with a fork and pop into the microwave for 5-6 minutes until they are throughly cooked through and mushy inside
Halve the yams, scoop out the potato into a bowl with miso paste and peanut butter

miso on the left and PB on the right inside the bowl


Meanwhile, coat skillet with non-stick spray and saute shallot, ginger, and garlic over medium heat for 3 mins

Add edamame, 1/4 cup of water, and cayenne pepper and cook 3 more minutes

Remove from heat and stir in tofu, cilantro, and yam mixture


Place 1/3 cup of filling into 1 collard green leaf and roll up like a wrap!



Enjoy!! mmmm


From "Vegetarian Times" Sept 2009

Curried Tempeh-Mango Salad

So I just want to start off saying how awesome tempeh is. It's fermented soy so it's not controversial like some processed soy products are. Just like your yogurt has good bacteria in it, so does tempeh because it's been fermented! YAY and it packs some awesome fiber and protein as well! 17 grams of protein per serving!!!

This is one of my favorite things to have for lunch because you can put it on top of a salad, put it inside of a big wrap, and even put it on top of a big baked sweet potato!

Curried Tempeh-Mango Salad

1 (8 oz) package of tempeh

1 cup of frozen mango chopped into 1/4 inch chunks

1/4 cup of scallions chopped

• Cut the tempeh into bite sized chunks and steam for 10 minutes
• You could also place the tempeh in a small sauce pan, cover the tempeh with water, cover the pot and bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes. Drain the water when tempeh is finished cooking.

Meanwhile mix together all the ingredients for the dressing:

3 tablespoons of any oil based mayonnaise

2 teaspoons curry powder

1/4 cup of lime juice

2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

1/2 - 1 teaspoon hot sauce

Last, add the chopped mangoes, scallions, and tempeh to the dressing. Cover and put in the fridge for at least an hour or overnight to let the flavors meld together.

On top of my salad I had for lunch (that's broccoli slaw underneath it, not cheese lol)

Adapted from "Veganomicon"

Grilled Salad Pizza

I made this the other night with some baked butternut squash fries and I literally ate half the pizza because it was that good.

Grilled Salad Pizza

Preheat the oven to 375. I bought pre-made dough from the freezer section and let it defrost during the day. I spread the dough out onto a pan and baked it in the oven for 20 minutes (or until golden).

Vinaigrette

(feel free to increase or decrease the oil and water ratio as you please, the original recipe called for 3 Tbsp oil)

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tsp honey

1 tsp dijon mustard

1 small clove garlic minced

2 Tbsp olive oil + 1 Tbsp water (or used garlic infused oil and leave out the minced garlic)

• Whisk together all the ingredients and season with salt and pepper if you want
• Let rest for 30 minutes while pizza crust is baking

Pizza Topping

2 cups of arugula

2 cups of sliced romaine lettuce

1 head red endive, halved and sliced (I couldn't find this so I just added more of everything else)

1 cup thinly sliced fresh fennel

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion

• When the crust is done baking, brush it with 3 Tbsp of vinaigrette. Toss pizza topping with remaining vinaigrette

• Top the pizza with the salad mixture and put under the broiler for 2-3 minutes or until the greens begin to wilt

Adapted from "Vegetarian Times"

Flourless Chocolate Tart

I love this recipe because it's so RICH and decadent, but fairly healthy bc there's no added sugar or oils! I like to use a 10 oz bag of grain sweetened chocolate chips and then 6 oz of 100% unsweetened dark chocolate. My family described this dessert as "death by chocolate" mmmmm

Flourless Chocolate Tart

Crust:

1 cup of raw walnuts

1 cup of raw pecans

2 cups of pitted dates

• Pre-heat oven to 375.
• Pulverize all ingredients in a food processor until finely ground; press into an 11 or 12 inch tart pan.
• Bake the crust for 10 minutes or until slightly browned around the edges.

Chocolate Layer:

16 ounces of nondairy semisweet or dark chocolate chips or bar

2 cups of nondairy milk

2 tablespoons of cornstarch powder

1/4 cup of water

• Melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave.
• In a saucepan, heat the milk over medium heat until hot but not boiling.
• While the milk is heating, combine the cornstarch and 1/4 cup of water in your measuring cup until the powder is completely dissolved. This is the thickener for the chocolate cake part.
• Add the melted chocolate to the hot milk and whisk to combine (I like to use my hand held electric mixer). Whisk in the thickener as well and keep stirring occasionally for 10 minutes.
• Once the chocolate mixture has thickened up, pour it into the baked tart shell and chill for 2 hours or overnight.

Adapted from "The Vegan Table"

Tofu Spinach Lasagna

I've made this a few times and decided to steam fresh spinach instead of using frozen! This is def one of my favorite recipes and you can freeze the leftovers for another time. I try not to eat too much tofu, but it's such a healthier alternative to ricotta cheese.

Tofu Spinach Lasagna

1/2 to 1 pound lasagna noodles (I just count out 12 sheets)

20 ounces of chopped spinach (steamed or squeeze the water out of defrosted frozen spinach)

1 package (16 oz) firm tofu (not silken)

1/4 cup nondairy milk

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

2 rounded tablespoons chopped fresh basil

1/2 tsp sea salt

4 to 6 cups marinara or pasta sauce of choice

1. Preheat oven to 350. Boil the lasagna noodles according to the package directions. I've used no-boil noodles and even after baking it, they were still hard so I always boil them first now.

2. Chop and then steam (or blanch in hot water) spinach

3. Add tofu, nondairy milk, garlic powder, lemon juice, basil, and salt to a food processor until creamy

4. Stir spinach and tofu ricotta together in a bowl.

5. Get out your jars of marinara!

6. Cover the bottom of a 9x13 pan with a thin layer of tomato sauce, then a layer of noodles (1/3 of your noodles), and then half of the tofu filling. Repeat sauce, noodles, tofu filling.

7. Cover final tofu filling with last 1/3 of noodles and then top with the last of the marinara. I sprinkled the top with the remaining basil that I had.

8. Bake in the oven for 40 to 45 minutes until hot and bubbling!

This makes 8 servings at less than 340 calories per piece =] (and 16 g of protein!)

Adapted from "The Vegan Table"