Vegan Jalapeno Zucchini Bread

I made this recipe for my husband.  He loves spicy food and he loves my bread so I married the two together!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup applesauce (unsweetened)
1/2 cup liquid from the jalapeno jar
1/2 cup your favorite oil.  I like coconut oil. 
2 1/2 cups grated zucchini
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon garlic salt
4-5 cloves of fresh garlic, minced
2-4 tablespoons jarred jalapenos, finely chopped

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350F.  Grease and flour 2 bread loaf pans.  (this may look like you could make one large loaf, but it won't cook all the way through if you don't make the two smaller loaves.)  In one smaller bowl, mix your wet ingredients together.  In a large bowl mix all the dry ingredients together.  Pour the wet mixture into the dry and mix well.  Pour into the pans.  Bake for 50-55 minutes.  Insert a toothpick in the center of each loaf.  If it's done, the toothpick will come out clean.  Allow the loaves to cool for at least 15 minutes before digging in.  I highly recommend smearing some vegan cream cheese on a warm slice of this bread!  Enjoy!

Vegan Sweet Potato Soup

Spinkle a little more parsley on top.

I wasn't always vegan.  Once upon a time, I used to love clam chowder and the comforting feeling I got from the creamy soup when it was chilly outside.  Here is a cruelty-free version of a chowder that is a great comfort food!  Perfect for chilly fall weather. ~ Renny

Ingredients:

6 cups of vegetable broth/stock
2 cans coconut milk
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large sweet potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 cup sliced mushrooms
2 medium bell peppers, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 large carrot, sliced
2 green onions, sliced
1 teaspoon dried parsley
2 tablespoons ketchup
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 cup cold water


Directions:

Pour the 1 cup of cold water into a small bowl with the cornstarch and whisk it together.  Throw everything into a large crockpot or Soup pot and allow to simmer, on low, until potatoes and carrots are fork tender.  A crockpot on low would take 2 hours - on high 1 hour.  On the stove 45 mins to 1 hour of simmering.  Stir occasionally and make sure it is not sticking to the bottom of the pot. 

Serve in a vegan bread bowl for an extra special treat.  This makes at least 15+ servings which is great for left overs.  You can freeze this in containers and it reheats well on the stove.

Vegan Tamale Pie with Pico de Gallo

Hi again!  I've been vegan now since the beginning of January and I feel better both mental and physically, not to mention emotionally.  Eating fresh food is simply better for you.  If you are looking to replace some of your weekly dinners with a healthy alternative, consider this dish.  You won't believe it doesn't have meat in it!

First off, this is cooked in a crockpot.  I'm sure you could modify this recipe for the oven. Set Crockpot to HIGH.

Pico de Gallo

-1 small onion
-1 large tomato
-2 jalapenos, remove seeds
-1/2 red onion
-1 green onion
-cilantro roughly chopped
-1/2 lemon
-1/4 tspn Garlic Salt
Finely chop everything.  Remove the tomato goo and seeds and discard or use for something else.  Mix it all in a bowl. Squirt the lemon juice and add the garlic salt and mix again.  Serve chilled or room temp.  its goo either way!  Easily double this recipe and eat on tortilla chips.

Vegan Tamale Pie

First to make the masa:

-2 Cups Instant Masa Harina
-1 tspn Baking Powder
-1/4 tspn Salt
-2 Cups Vegetable Stock
-1/2 Cup Olive Oil

Slowly mix all of these ingredients together until it has a peanut butter like consistency. Cover with plastic wrap and set it aside while you prepare the filling.

Filling:

-2 Tbspn Olive Oil
- 2 lbs equivalent of vegan ground meat substitute aka "smeat"
-1 Cup Vegetable Stock
-1 Onion, finely chopped
-3 cloves Garlic, minced
-1 can diced tomatoes, texmex style or mexican style
-1 can corn, drained
-1 can black beans, drained
-1 tspn Taco Seasoning
-2 tbspn cornstarch
-1 small can green chilis
- a generous pinch of crushed red pepper flakes if you want it spicier

1. Sautee the onions and garlic until softened.
2. Add the smeat and spices.  Heat through for a few minutes. 
3. Add the corn, beans, diced tomatoes and green chilis.
4. Pour the filling into the crockpot.  Whisk together the cornstarch and stock, pour it into the crockpot and give it a little stir.
5.  Take spoonfuls of masa and drop them on top of the filling. 
6. Let cook for 3 hours.
7. Serve with a couple spoons of pico de gallo over it.

Vegan Mexican Casserole

Ooey gooey hot from the oven!

Here's an easy and delicious casserole to make!  It makes a lot of food and is pretty economical too!

Ingredients:

- a bag of organic tortilla chips, crushed
-2 cans vegetarian refried beans (warmed in the microwave for easy spreading)
-1 can of chopped green chiles
- 1 small can of sliced black olives
-1 lb. ground meat substitute
-1 packet of taco seasoning
-1 container of vegan sour cream
-homemade salsa (see my Dragon breath salsa recipe!) or your favorite store bought salsa
-homemade guacamole
-1 package of shredded Daiya cheese (cheddar)

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 350F degrees.  In a 13x 9 inch dish, spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Place crushed tortilla chips in a layer on the bottom.  Mix in the taco seasoning with your cooked ground meat substitute according to package directions.  Spread vegetarian refried beans in a layer over the chips.  Spread the taco meat mixture over the beans.  Spread some green chile over the meat substitute.  Spread a layer of salsa over the chiles.  Dallop some vegan sour cream and guacamole in the next layer.  Sprinkle the sliced olives over the vegan sour cream and guacamole.  Last but not least, spread the Daiya cheese over the top.  Bake for 30 mins at 350F degrees.  After you remove it from the oven, let it cool for 10 minutes so the layers can set.  Serve with more salsa, guacamole and vegan sour cream on the side. 

This recipe does make a lot, as I warned, but you could easily freeze single serving portions for later!  I hope you enjoy this one!  I know I did!

Vegan Sheppard's Pie

I am of Scottish decent.  I was raised by an Irish step-dad, so I am and always will be a "Meat and Potatoes" kind of woman!  Today while browsing through a recipe website with my boyfriend, David, trying to get some menu ideas for the upcoming week, we ran across a Sheppard's Pie recipe.  David didn't know what this was, but it looked yummy to him!  I explained what it was, glanced through the recipe (pretty standard one) and decided I HAD to make a Sheppard's Pie and I had to make it NOW.

Into the kitchen I went to find the ingredients I needed to make such a delicious concoction.  (I should probably also mention that I already had my own recipe for said pie ingrained in my DNA already lol)  Allow me to share the deliciousness with you!

You should place on a cookie sheet to catch the bubbling over goodies.

Ingredients:

- 5-6 medium Potatoes, peeled and cut into 3rds (easier to boil)
- 1/2 small Onion
-1&1/2 cups of Vegetable Stock (I had some homemade I had in the freezer)
-1 Lb. Ground Meat Substitute
-1 can of Carrots (drained)
-1 can of Green Beans (reserve the liquid)
-2 tspn All-Purpose Flour
-1/2 small container of Vegan Ricotta Cheese
-2 tbspns Earth Balance vegan butter
-1/2 tspn Salt
-1/2 tspn Onion Salt
-1/2 tspn Garlic Salt


Directions:

Boil the potatoes with a generous pinch of salt until they are tender and easily come away when poked with a knife or fork.  In a medium sauce pot, throw all of the meat substitute, Vegetable Stock, Carrots, Onion, Green Beans and Liquid in and set it on medium heat.  Stir occasionally.  Preheat the oven to 350F.  Drain the potatoes when they are done.  Mash them up.  Add the earth balance butter and vegan ricotta cheese, salt, garlic salt and onion salt.  Sprinkle the 2 tspns of flour into the sauce pot mixture and mix it really well. (We don't want globs of flour in this.)  In a 9x13in. pyrex dish (or something of similar size and depth) pour in the stock mixture.  Spoon the mashed potatoes over the top.  You can try to make it look pretty if you want.  I personally like the rustic look as shown in the picture above.  Place your baking dish on a cookie sheet because this dish likes to bubble over.  Bake for 30-35 mins until the top turns a golden brown.  Remove from the oven and allow it to cool for 15 mins before serving.

This is a really hearty meal and very comforting!  I really hope that you enjoy it.  It's what I had for lunch and you better believe that I'm going to eat it for dinner too!

Homemade Vegan Pizza

I am a downright pizza FIEND! It is one of my favorite foods, hands down.  So, as much as I adore pizza, it just makes sense to know that I indeed know how to make it vegan... from scratch!

Vegan Mozzarella & Tomato Pizza

How to make the dough:

Ingredients:

-3 Cups of All-purpose Flour
-1 1/2 - 2 Cups of warm (not hot) water
-2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
-1/2 teaspoon Salt
-2 teaspoons Sugar
-1/4 teaspoon Garlic Salt
-1 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning
-1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder
-1 package of instant active yeast (about 1 & 1/2 teaspoons of yeast)


Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 425 F.  In a large bowl, put all the dry ingredients in a mix around.  Make a little funnel in the middle of the dry ingredients and slowly pour in 1 Cup of the warm water.  Pour the yeast into the water.  Mix it around with a spatula for now.  (We will get our hands in there soon enough!)  The dough should still be be crumbly at this point.  Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil (set aside the other tablespoon for later).  Mix in the olive oil with the spatula or spoon.  Slowly add in a little more water until the dough is no longer crumbly and becomes a little more sticky.

Now its time to get your hands in there.  Make sure they're clean first.  lol  Start kneading the dough, roughly.  Work out some aggression here!  Smack it around, punch it, pinch it, squeeze it.  Do this for only 3 minutes.  Roll the dough into a little round ball. Spray some plastic wrap with non-stick cooking spray.  Put the dough ball in the bowl and cover with the plastic wrap spray-side down.  Place the bowl near the stove so it can get some warmth from the oven.  Let dough rest for 10-15 minutes while you prepare the toppings.

Vegan Mozzarella and Tomato Pizza:


Prepare all of your toppings, making sure to slice very thinly, especially the tomatoes.

Get your dough ball and start gently stretching and pulling at it until it forms a round thin disc to your liking.  Using the pizza pan you plan to cook it on helps in stretching out the dough if you press the dough with your hands onto it and get the shape and size right.  I don't use rolling pins on my pizza dough, just my hands.

Spread a very thin layer of vegan pizza sauce or marinara onto the pizza to 1/2 inch from the edge.  Place veggies in a thin layer.  Place shredded Daiya mozzarella on top. Take the olive oil we set aside and brush the outer crust with it.  Put pizza in the oven and cook for 15-18 minutes.  Remove pizza from oven.  Allow it to cool for a few minutes!  That is important as we don't want the ingredients to slide off while we try to slice it.  5 minutes should be long enough to cool.  Slice pizza and serve.  Enjoy!

Renny's Dragon Breath Salsa

Renny's Dragon Breath Salsa