Category Archives: Vegan

Dairy-Free / Dinner / Gluten-Free / Savory / Snack / Stay Healthy / Vegan / Vegetarian

Roasted Tomato and Chile Salsa

October 8, 2013

You guys, can I just say that I am killing it with my Fall Bucket List right now?  I mean, I may or may not have spent my Saturday night organizing our hall closet.  Try not to be jealous of how exciting my life is.

In other news, we had a taco night.  Olé!  I made two kinds of salsa from the goodies that came in our CSA box — one red, one green, both nice and spicy.  I’ve made salsa one time before, and I can’t for the life of me figure out why I don’t do it more often.  It’s so insanely easy, and just plain delicious.  There’s something about fresh salsa — it tastes so much better than store-bought.  And it’s awesome that you know there’s not any weird preservatives or who-knows-what-else lurking in ingredient list.  (Like, seriously WTF is maltodextrin?  Why is it in everything?)

Roasted Tomato Salsa

Roasted Tomato and Chile Salsa

  • 1 medium to large white onion, peeled and quartered
  • Large bunch of tomatoes (I used an assortment of cherry and heirloom), sliced into large chunks
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled
  • 3 hot peppers (I used ghost peppers from our CSA box — I removed the ribs and seeds because they were insanely hot.  Hatch peppers would be good in this, and jalapenos would work in a pinch.  If you like less spice, remove seeds and ribs before roasting and/or use less peppers.)
  • olive oil
  • s & p
  • fresh-squeezed lime juice
  • cilantro (optional)
  1. Preheat oven to 425°
  2. Place onion, tomatoes, garlic, and peppers in one layer on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper, then toss to combine.
  3. Roast for 20 minutes (until tender).
  4. Turn on the broiler, and place pan under it until vegetables begin to char (it took 2-3 minutes in my oven).
  5. Remove from oven and let rest until cool enough to handle.
  6. Place roasted veggies into a food processor fitted with the blade attachment.  Add lime juice, cilantro (if using), and a bit of water (to thin it out).  Puree until desired consistency is reached (you may need to add more water if you like a thinner salsa).

red salsa

Dairy-Free / Dinner / Gluten-Free / Savory / Stay Healthy / Vegan / Vegetarian

Baba Ghanouj-Style Eggplant Dip

October 3, 2013

falafel 1First of all, yes, that’s totally the same picture from the last post.  Also, it’s the only picture I’m including on this post.  Why?  Well, this dip is a lot of things — easy, healthy, delicious… but attractive, it is not.  It’s what’s in that tall, square tupperware container at the top of that picture.  Ew, right?  Well, not really.  It’s quite tasty.  Just kind of ugly.

Plus, if you get a CSA box like I do, you’re probably up to your ears in eggplant these days.  Well, here’s how to use up two of them.  You’re welcome.

Baba Ghanouj-Style Eggplant Dip

  • 2 medium eggplant, cut into 1″ chunks
  • 2 red bell peppers, stem and seeds removed, cut in 1″ chunks
  • 1 red onion, halved, then quartered
  • 3 garlic cloves, whole, peeled
  • olive oil
  • s & p
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • juice of 1-2 lemons
  • 2-3 tbsp tahini (I like tahini a lot, so I usually add about 3 tbsp)
  • handful of fresh parsley
  1. Preheat oven to 400°.
  2. Toss chopped eggplant, bell peppers, onion, and garlic in olive oil, cayenne, salt & pepper.  Place in a single layer on a baking sheet, then bake for 45 minutes.
  3. Once roasted veggies have cooled a bit, place them into a food processor along with lemon juice, tahini, and parsley.  Pulse to blend to your desired consistency.

Spread this business on a pita or wrap and eat it with falafel!  Yum.

Dairy-Free / Gluten-Free / Savory / Stay Healthy / Vegan / Vegetarian

Homemade Baked Herb Falafel

October 2, 2013

I’m up and running with my Fall Bucket List!  I had a day of being incredibly productive in the kitchen, and made baked falafel.

falafel 3Here’s the deal: baked falafel is not as good as fried falafel.  I mean, no one in their right mind will tell you that baked anything is better than its fried version (and if they do, de-friend them immediately).  I’m not here to tell you that baked falafel is amazing and will forever replace the crispy, fried goodness that is restaurant-quality fried falafel.  I mean, I would love to be that good at lying, but I’m just not.

What these falafel are though, is easy to make, considerably healthier than their fried friends, and will most likely satisfy whatever weird falafel craving you might be having on a random Wednesday.

A note before we get on with the recipe — you’ll probably want to use a food processor for this one, it will make your life 1000x easier (that’s an actual scientific measurement — I did the math.)  ← Nope.  Not true.

falafel 1

Baked Herb Falafel

  • 1 15oz can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 small or 1/2 large yellow onion, roughly chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • generous handfuls of parsley, cilantro, mint (or other herbs of your choice), roughly chopped
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp ground coriander (optional)
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne
  • large pinch of salt
  • black pepper
  • juice of 1 lemon
  • 1-2 tbsp. flour (use a gluten-free flour here to make these g-free)
  1. Combine all ingredients and half the flour into a food processor.  Pulse until the texture is sandy.  Add in flour as needed until the mixture comes together (don’t worry if it looks wet, it just needs to be cohesive enough to be scooped and stay together.  It should set up more in the oven).
  2. Using a cookie scoop, scoop mixture onto a baking sheet, then refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
  3. Preheat oven to 375º.
  4. Bake falafel for 40 minutes, flipping patties halfway through (20 min per side).

*Note: These are best right out of the oven, but will save in an airtight container in the fridge, or can be freezed after baking.  For best results, reheat in the oven or in a toaster oven to get the crispy texture on the outside.

falafel 2A baba ghanouj-style eggplant spread to go along with the falafel is up tomorrow!

Dairy-Free / Gluten-Free / Savory / Stay Healthy / Vegan / Vegetarian

Holy Guacamole

September 25, 2013

Things you should know about me (not really, but go with it): 1.) I love avocados.  I used to hate them; now I wonder what was wrong with me for missing out on their deliciousness for so many years.  2.) When I buy avocados, I usually buy them in a 4-pack from Trader Joe’s, and set them in some random basket in my kitchen to ripen.  Following that, there is like an 87% chance I will forget about them until they are juuuuust about to go bad.  (Or maybe have already started to go bad… and I’ll most likely eat them anyway.  Whatever.)

And that’s what happened here.  4 avocados, on the brink of going bad in my kitchen = crapload of guacamole.

guacamole 1

My “recipe” for guacamole is a standard base + whatever else I have lying around (y’know, about to go bad, probably).  So doctor yours as you will.  Also, I never measure anything for this, it’s all about eyeballing and tasting as you go.

Guacamole

       Base:

  • Avocados (nice ripe ones)
  • Garlic (1-2 big cloves, minced)
  • Red onion (minced)
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Fresh lime juice

Add Ins (what I put in mine often/this time):

  • Fresh tomatoes (small dice)
  • Corn (fresh + roasted or flash-boiled, or frozen + defrosted)
  • Spicy peppers, minced (jalapenos, chilis — mine had some kind of extremely hot, small, red chili that came in our CSA box.  I don’t know what it was, but it almost burned mine and my sister’s face off.) and/or hot sauce
  • Black or pinto beans
  1. Make the base by combining avocados (peel and pit removed), garlic, onion, lime juice, salt and pepper in a bowl — mash with a fork until fully combined and desired consistency is reached.
  2. Add in whatever add ins you have, stir to combine.
  3. Add salt/pepper/hot sauce/lime juice, as needed (to taste).

guac 2Beer + chips are optional, but obviously recommended.

 

Budget-Friendly Weekend Fun / Cocktails / Date Night at Home / Drinks / Gluten-Free / Happy Hour / Sweet / Vegan / Vegetarian

Date Night at Home Ideas: Cocktails

March 21, 2013

Now that I’m sure y’all are gung-ho to have your very own date nights at home, I thought I’d post some recipes and/or links to a few ideas for the various parts of the evening.

Part 1: Cocktails

Let’s get liquored up.

  1. Mixed Citrus Margaritasmarg
  2. Skinny Mojitos: in a highball glass, muddle together the juice of 1/2 a lime + 1 tsp sugar + a few mint leaves.  Add 1 shot vodka (or gin, or rum) and ice.  Top with sparkling water.IMG_2162
  3. The Cuke: in a pitcher, combine and muddle 1 English cucumber, sliced + 3 limes, sliced + juice of 2 limes + 1/2 cup sugar + big bunch of mint.  Add 2 cups gin, then let sit for at least 30 minutes.  When ready to serve, pour over ice and top with sparkling water.IMG_2134
  4. Blended Strawberry Lemonade Margaritas: in a blender, combine 1 3/4 cups lemonade + 1/2 bag frozen strawberries + 1 cup tequila (silver recommended) + juice of 1 lime + small bunch of mint + squeeze of agave (optional).  Blend and serve.IMG_2045
  5. Vodka Lemon Sparkler: to make sparkling lemonade, combine 1 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice + 1/4 cup sugar + 5 cups sparkling water.  Add 1 shot vodka to a glass with ice, top with lemonade and serve.IMG_1678