Barry's Wild Rice & Cranberry Salad (Vegan)

6–8 ounces wild, long-grain rice blend

1/2–1 C. dried cranberries

1 C. broccoli flowerets

4 green onions, chopped

3 celery ribs, thinly sliced

1 12-ounce jar pimientos, drained and finely diced

1/2 C. sweet & sour salad dressing*

1 C. roasted peanuts, pecans, or pine nuts

1) Prepare rice. Cool completely. 

2) Add all ingredients together except peanuts.

3) Chill at least 2 hours.

4) Add nuts just before serving.

NOTE: I add cooked black lentils for protein when I need this to serve as a complete meal.

* This recipe originally calls for sweet & sour salad dressing, a delicious store-bought salad dressing marketed by Maple Grove Farms of Vermont. The ingredient list reveals a base of refined white sugar and ketchup, however, so I will make my own next time. Once I've perfected an alternate version, I'll update here. In the meantime, if you're not avoiding refined sugars and processed oils, you can use theirs!

Here is their ingredient list: Sugar, Ketchup (Water, Tomato Paste, Vinegar, Salt, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Spices), Canola Oil, Distilled Vinegar, Water, Maple Syrup, Salt, Concentrated Lemon Juice, Xanthan Gum, Granulated Onion, Paprika, Granulated Garlic.

Red Kuri Bisque (Vegan)

I'm sure this could be made with pumpkin or any other pumpkin-like squash, but red kuri is rich and buttery and makes for the most deliciously creamy bisque! It’s worth the trouble of finding it. I get mine at my local Fresh Market. 

1 red kuri squash

1 large onion, diced small

6 cloves garlic, minced or finely chopped

1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, finely minced (or less)

1 can coconut milk

5 cups veggie broth, one cup at a time to taste

1) Cut red kuri squash in half, scoop out the seeds and pulp, then sprinkle inside with salt and pepper. Bake face down on parchment paper until tender, maybe 30-45 minutes. 

2) As squash bakes, chop and sauté onion in just enough water to prevent sticking until almost tender. Add garlic and cook till both are tender.

3) Add rosemary (the quantity is really to your taste) and stir fry—still in just a little water—until fragrant and tender. 

4) When squash is tender, cool slightly until you can handle it and then scrape the flesh from the inside of the skin. The squash will be very tender and easily removed. Discard the skin. 

5) Once all sautéed veggies are very tender, add 2 cups of the veggie broth, the coconut milk, and the squash. Still well. 

6) Add salt and pepper to taste, then add more veggie broth one cup at a time until it is the consistency you like. 

7) Those who like a smooth bisques will want to purée it smooth, but I like the little tender bits of onion in there, so I don’t. So delicious!

8) Serve with a side salad containing legumes for a complete protein meal. (Chickpeas, red kidney beans, or black beans are our favorites in salads.)

Evie's Blender Pancakes (Vegan)

2 cups nut milk

2 cups oats

2 ripe bananas

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp chia seeds

Add all ingredients to blender except chia seeds. Blend until smooth. Add chia seeds and blend on low just to mix. Pour onto griddle, flip, serve, and enjoy!

Optional:

- make nut milk by using 2 cups of water and a handful of nuts and blending before adding the rest of the ingredients to the blender

- add maple syrup or other sweetener to the batter for a no-mess option

- add spinach to the blender

- serve with almond milk and fresh fruit

Hope to Try This Vegan Cheese (Vegan)

NOTE: I haven’t tried this yet. But I needed a place to save the recipe until I do, since I couldn’t ge this one to “pin” on Pinterest. So here’s the copy and paste!

INGREDIENTS

• 3.5-ounces cashews
• 1 2/3 cups water
• 2 tablespoons psyllium powder
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

PREPARATION

1. Cover the cashews with water. Let the nuts soak for at least 6 hours.
2. Put the psyllium powder with the 1 + 2/3 cups of water in a bowl and let it soak for two hours, until it has a gelatinous consistency.
3. Drain the cashews and add them along with the soaked psyllium, lemon juice, and salt in a high-speed blender. Blend on high until the mixture is super smooth and creamy.
4. Pour into a 2-3 cup bowl and put it in the fridge for 4 hours or overnight.

Knock-Off "Thai One On" (Vegan)

The yummy vegan dish "Thai One On" (from Food for Thought restaurant in Williamsburg, VA) is sooo delicious! This version is nowhere near as good as theirs, but it does in a pinch in between visits to Williamsburg to enjoy the real thing! The quantities are flexible.

1 "bricks" of brown rice ramen per person (or other GF asian noodle)

Pad Thai veggies, thinly sliced into pinky-length strips:

Onion

Mushrooms, finely diced

Carrots

Broccoli (stalks and florets) 

Celery

Bok choy (stalks and greens)

Colored bell peppers

Snow peas

Etc.

Sauce, made of:

1 can coconut milk (shake well)

natural peanut butter, creamy, to taste (maybe 1/4–1/2 C or so?)

2 limes (lemons will do in a pinch)

tamari sauce and/or coconut aminos, to taste (maybe 2-3 Tbsp. or so?))

Little bit of honey or agave, to taste

1) In large pot (Dutch oven) put water on to boil for the noodles. Add some salt.

2) While waiting for that to boil, begin sautéing onions with SPG in a large skillet, adding each veggie as you get them chopped. No need for any oil. Just add a little water if they begin to stick. Stir frequently. Chop and add the veggies quickly, doing the harder veggies first and faster-cooking ones later. Cook all until al dente tender.

3) Once water begins to boil, continue chopping and adding veggies but also cook noodles according to package directions. For brown rice ramen, add bricks to boiling water. After 1 minute, separate with a chop stick. Boil for 2–3 more minutes until tender, then drain and rinse immediately with hot water.

4) In the same Dutch oven, whisk together the sauce ingredients to melt and warm the sauce through.

5) Add the noodles and the veggies to the sauce and stir well to combine.

6) Serve with salted Virginia peanuts and lime wedges.

Optional: Serve with grilled tofu for higher protein count and "meat-like" chunks of texture. I never bother.

NOTE: This is NOT good leftover (at least not with the brown rice ramen. The sauce gets pasty and the noodles fall apart when reheated. So if you wind up with extra sauce, save it and make a new fresh batch instead of leftovers already assembled. 

Roasted Root Veggies Winter Sheet Pan (Vegan)

1 large onion, diced

6 C. diced root vegetables* (potatoes, sweet potatoes, etc.)

1 can chickpeas, drained (save the aquafaba!)

BASTING SAUCE:

1/4 C. water or coconut aminos (to taste)

1/4 C. tahini

1/4 C. aquafaba

3 Tbsp. nutritional yeast (opt.)

1 Tbsp. poultry seasoning

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper, or to taste

Optional: chili powder or cayenne pepper, to taste, for kick

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Take a large sheet pan with edges and line with parchment paper.

2) Wash and dice 6 cups root veggies of your choice*.

3) Whisk together ingredients for basting sauce. Add root veggies and stir to coat.

4) Transfer to lined sheet pan. (Use spatula to rescue every bit of basting sauce from the bowl and transfer to the veggies on your sheet pan.)

5) Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes by lifting parchment paper and flipping veggies over.

NOTE: This is yummy as a main dish or as a delicious side dish with BBQ Cauliflower Steaks.

*You can use any root veggies you like alongside the onions, including any kind of potatoes or sweet potatoes, carrots, butternut squash, cauliflower, rutabaga, turnips, parsnips, etc. You can also substitute cubed tofu for the chickpeas if you prefer.

This recipe is adapted heavily from this original from The Hidden Veggies.

Evie's Banana Cookies / Breakfast Bites (Vegan)

2 ripe bananas

1 C. organic rolled oats

1/2 C. raisins or other dried fruit of choice (cranberries, dates, etc.)

Anything else you want to add*

1) Mash bananas in a bowl.

2) Stir in oats, dried fruit, and nuts. (Chopped dates with walnuts is my favorite!)

3) Plop tablespoon-sized dollops onto a cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 10-12 minutes. (I cook mine probably 20 minutes in the end. I like them kind of crispy and not as soft in the middle.)

*NOTE from Evie: I often triple this recipe. You can add anything you want (chopped apple, nuts, stevia, vegan chocolate chips, cinnamon, etc.)

*NOTE from Laurie: You can't really press these flat and cook them and cut them up later, as they'll be too mushy and moist in the end. They need to be cooked individually to get to the right amount of doneness. These freeze beautifully. Just freeze them individually and then put them in a ziplock in the freezer and pull a few out to take on the go. They will be a bit crumblier once they've been frozen.

Copycat Chick-fil-A Kale Crunch Salad (Vegan)

For the SALAD:

1 bunch baby broccoli

8 cups (1 bag) chopped kale, massaged

juice from 1 lemon

roasted nuts of choice (almonds, walnuts, pecans)

For the DRESSING:

2-3 Tbsp. pure maple syrup

2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1 scant Tbsp. dijon mustard

juice from 1/2 lemon

salt & pepper, to taste

1/4 C. high-quality olive oil or tahini

1) Roast nuts in oven on 350 degrees until just fragrant and toasting. (Keep an eye on them so they don't burn! Stir frequently.)

2) Get a large bowl of ice water ready, but set aside.

3) Remove any large, hard stalks of kale from the bag of chopped kale. Massage well (for 2-3 minutes) with lemon juice to soften. Set aside.

4) Boil baby broccoli in small saucepan filled with salted water for 2 minutes.

5) Pour off salted water, then plunge broccolini into ice water bath for 1 minute. Drain and chop coarsely.

5) Combine all vinaigrette ingredients except oil or tahini, then whisk the oil or tahini into the dressing until it thickens up.

6) Toss together the massaged kale, chopped broccolini, roasted nuts, and vinaigrette. Serve immediately.

Molly's Instant Pot Chili (Vegan)

1 medium onion, diced

4 C.+ sweet potatoes, diced (if thin-skinned organic, I don't peel)

2 medium red (or other colored) bell peppers

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tbsp. chili powder

1–2 tsp. ground cumin

1–2 tsp. kosher salt

2 1/2 C. vegetable broth

1 can tomato sauce

1 can petite diced tomatoes, undrained

1/2 C. uncooked* quinoa (if using instant pot)

1 can organic black beans, drained

1 can organic red kidney beans, drained

1 can organic pinto beans, drained

1 can organic cannellini beans, drained

Toppings, for serving:

diced avocado

chopped fresh cilantro

shredded cheese (omit for vegan)

crushed tortilla chips

plain yogurt or sour cream (omit or use plant-based for vegan)

Cooked brown rice, for serving (optional)

1) To a 6-quart or larger Instant Pot, add onion and a bit of water on the SAUTE setting. Cook until the onion begins to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the sweet potatoes, bell peppers, garlic, chili powders, cumin, and salt. Cook for 1-2 additional minutes until the garlic is fragrant.

2) Add half the veggie broth and stir, scraping up any stuck-on bits of food. (This will prevent a burn warning!) Stir in the remaining broth and the quinoa. Pour tomato sauce on top (do not stir again).

3) Cover and seal the instant pot. Cook on manual (HIGH) pressure for 8 minutes. Immediately release the pressure and carefully open the instant pot.

4) Turn the instant pot to OFF. Stir in the beans. Place the lid back on and let stand 10 minutes to thicken. Uncover. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. Serve hot with any and all toppings.

NOTE: I once added a can of pumpkin puree to the tripled batch, and it was yummy. It is a thicker broth that way, but doesn't taste of pumpkin at all. 

NOTE: This recipe also works well with butternut squash instead of sweet potato.

This recipe is modified from the original at Well Plated by Erin.

*STOVETOP VERSION: This recipe is delicious. I needed to feed a crowd too big for the instant pot, so I tripled the recipe and cooked it on the stove in a large pot, and it worked fine. I think next time I would pre-cook the quinoa and add it already cooked, though, as I had to cook the chili a long time to get the quinoa tender, and the veggies got cooked down more than I would like.