Easy vegan beefless wraps

Hey all,

I just wanted to share an easy and delicious dinner that I made with the new Gardein sizzling szechuan beefless strips. The strips were delicious even before we put the sauce on. We used leftover Chipotle lime rice and it took less than 20 minutes to assemble. I thought it was a strange concept to put yogurt in a wrap but I really enjoyed it once I tried it. Enjoy!

1 package of Gardein beefless strips
2 tablespoons of oil
1 cup of leftover Chipotle lime rice
4 tablespoons of hummus
2 wraps
1 cup of organic mixed greens
4 tablespoons of plain coconut yogurt

Pan fry the beefless strips in oil per the package directions. Add in the leftover rice to heat up for a few minutes. Distribute the Gardein and rice mixture, and all other ingredients between the two wraps. It's that simple! :)

Spaghetti Squash Pancakes

I will admit that I did not measure anything when it came to making these, so the amounts are pretty much just estimates! The finished product was pretty tasty though! The mister had baked a squash and we wanted to do something fun instead of just eating it plain, so the squash pancakes were created. I made a HUGE mess while forming the pancakes with my hands, so just beware that you are most likely going to get messy! Feel free to add more flour if the mixture is not sticking together.

3 cups of baked spaghetti squash insides
1 1/2 cups of flour
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 Tbsp of nutritional yeast flakes
Olive Oil for pan-frying

Set a frying pan to medium heat and add a small amount of oil. Mix all ingredients together until combined. Form the pancakes with your hands. Fry each for about 4 minutes and then flip over. They should look golden brown on each side when done. I cooked several pancakes at a time and it took about 30 minutes for all of them to be done. The mixture should make about 15 or so pancakes. We had enough to last us for 3 different dinners! They tasted great with a little bit of wholegrain mustard.

I hope that everyone enjoys this recipe! I think it would also taste great with a little bit of Daiya cheese melted on top! : )

Easy Vegan Sausage Crescent Rolls

We found a package of vegan crescent rolls and I knew that I had to try to make a version of pigs in a blanket. I used to love them when I was growing up and these were absolutely delicious and SO easy to make! 

1 package of crescent rolls(hopefully your local Whole Foods or grocery store will carry some)

1 package of Tofurky sausages

1 package of Daiya cheese slices(we used Provolone & they were on sale at Whole Foods this week!)

So this was extremely simple and pretty quick. I preheated the oven to 350 degrees per the directions on the package of crescent rolls. I used 2 crescent rolls per Tofurky. Place two crescents together to make a larger triangle to wrap around the sausage. Place the sausage on the wider end of the crescent roll. Break the cheese slice in half and place both slices down the length of the sausage and roll the crescents. Bake in the oven per the instructions of the crescent roll package. Take out of the oven when golden and enjoy!

Quick Dinner

Hello,

I just wanted to share our dinner from last night because it was super simple and tasty! I was pretty hungry so I didn't even take a picture of the finished meal, but this took less than ten minutes to make and only had a few ingredients involved.

2 Tofurkey kielbasas, in half-inch slices
1 cup of kale
2 Tablespoons of nutritional yeast flakes
1 teaspoon tumeric
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne
1 cup of cooked cous cous (we had some leftovers)
1 tablespoon of oil

Add the kielbasa slices and oil to a frying pan and sauté on medium-high heat for two minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in the kale and sauté for another two minutes. Toss in the rest of the ingredients and lower the heat to medium. Cook for about two or three minutes and mix together well. Serve in two bowls and enjoy!

Kale Salad with Black Beans, Polenta & Avocado

1 package of polenta, cut into 1/4 inch slices
6 handfuls of kale leaves (about one bunch)
1 can of black beans
1 avocado, sliced
3 cloves of garlic
Olive oil for pan frying


Sauté the garlic in oil for 3-4 minutes. Add the polenta slices to the pan, frying on medium-high heat. Fry for 4-5 minutes on each side, until they are a golden yellow color. While the polenta is cooking, wash and rip up a few handfuls of kale for each bowl. Add the polenta slices on top of the kale. Drain and rinse the can of black beans and heat the beans in the pan for several minutes. Add the beans and avocado to the salad and serve! We had some Daiya shreds in the fridge so I added those also.

This was a quick and tasty meal and we both enjoyed it. I hope that everyone else is pleased with the results! : )

Vegan Chili

Hi there!

So, it has been awhile since we have actually posted a recipe, and I thought I would share an easy autumn recipe with everyone. I honestly don't usually measure or even keep track of what I put in my recipes most of the time, so this is somewhat estimated. I do believe that cooking should be fun and you should adjust things according to your own taste, which is definitely what I always do. It usually turns out great unless it involves baking, which should have slightly more science than creativity.

Anyways, one of my favorite fall meals is chili! So here is a recipe for chili that I made recently. I was craving chili and decided to make some even though I didn't have all of the ingredients that I usually use. I was happy with the outcome and hope that you will be too! Please feel free to mix things up and let us know what you think of the recipe :)

1 carrot, thinly sliced
1 can of black beans, rinsed
1 can of kidney beans, rinsed
1 can of pink beans, rinsed
1/3 cup of sliced sun-dried tomatoes
1/3 cup of TVP
1 cup or more of water
1 tablespoon of chopped scallions
1/2 teaspoon of dill
2 tablespoons of amino acids
2 tablespoons of red wine
1 cup of cooked quinoa

Heat a large pot on medium-high. Add about half an inch of water to the pot along with the carrots and scallions. Cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the TVP, aminos and dill. Add some more water if needed. There should still be some moisture, so as to avoid anything sticking to the bottom of the pot. Stir in the wine and let cook on medium heat for about five minutes. Be sure to stir and add small amounts of water if necessary. Add the sun-dried tomatoes, quinoa & beans. Cook on low to medium heat for another 10 minutes. Serve hot with your choice of toppings! We enjoyed ours with avocado, Daiya Havarti, and vegan sour cream.

Enjoy and let us know what you think if you get a chance to try out the recipe! We hope to add some more recipes soon including our classic chili recipe and some tasty quinoa burgers that we had last night!

Nicole

Cauliflower Puree and Steaks

 Tonight we decided to put a little more effort into dinner than we usually do. We made cauliflower steaks with a cauliflower puree and purple mashed potatoes. This was a surprisingly filling and delicious dinner. The cauliflower puree wasn't completely smooth but it had a great texture to it. As for the potatoes, who doesn't love naturally colored produce? The potatoes came out a nice deep blueish-purple, and when lemon juice is added to the top it becomes a vibrant pink. (Picture to come).

Ingredients

1 large head of cauliflower

1 teaspoon olive oil

½ cup original almond milk

2 ounces pepper-jack shredded Daiya cheese

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes

1.     Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.     Remove any excess lower leaves from the head of the cauliflower and cut in half.

3.     Cut about ¾ of an inch slices of cauliflower from each half of the head. We were able to get two cauliflower steaks out of one head.

4.     In a pan on medium heat add 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Cook each steak for about 3 minutes on each side and place on a baking sheet.

5.      Bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until fork tender, flipping after about 10 minutes.

6.     Cover the top of the steaks with Nutritional Yeast Flake and Avocado sauce and set oven to broil. Leave in oven until the edges of the cauliflower are golden brown.

7.     While the cauliflower is baking, cut the remainder of the head into smaller pieces and boil until tender.

8.     Strain the cauliflower and add to a food processor.

9.     Add ½ cup original almond milk and blend together until smooth.

10.  Transfer to a bowl and stir in 2 ounces of pepper-jack Daiya (or more if you wish) and 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes.

Purple Mashed Potatoes

1 pound purple fingerling potatoes

2 tablespoons vegan butter

½ cup original almond milk

¼ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1.     Boil potatoes until tender.

2.     Drain potatoes and mash with a potato masher.

3.     Add butter and continue mashing while potatoes are still warm.

4.     Stir in almond milk and salt.

5.     This step is optional, but after you have plated your mashed potatoes you can add some lemon juice to the top. This not only adds a surprising flavor, but it also changes the purple color to a vibrant pink.

Kale Pesto

1 small shallot

1 clove of garlic

1/8 cup slivered almonds

2 cups kale

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

8 fresh basil leaves

1/3 cup nutritional yeast flakes

2 ounces Daiya Jack Wedge Style Cheese

1.     Dice the shallot and garlic and add to a dry heated pan on medium-high heat with the slivered almonds. Stir occasionally until the shallots are translucent.

2.     Add the 2 cups of kale and stir occasionally.

3.     Once kale has wilted remove pan from heat and add the almond milk.

4.     Add the mixture to a blender or food processor. Add the fresh basil and pulse until smooth.

5.     Add the mixture back to the pan and stir in the nutritional yeast flakes.

6.     Add the Daiya cheese and stir until melted.

Grape Tomato and Daiya Sauce

1 cup grape tomatoes

1 small shallot

1 clove of garlic

1/8 teaspoon liquid aminos

½ cup almond milk

2 ounces Diaya Jack Wedge Style Cheese

8 fresh basil leaves

1.     Dice shallots and garlic.

2.     Cut the grape tomatoes into quarters.

3.     Add the shallots and garlic to a dry preheated pan on medium heat. Stir occasionally until the shallots are translucent.

4.     Add the tomatoes to the pan and continue to stir occasionally.

5.     Add the liquid aminos when the tomatoes have softened.

6.     Add the almond milk to the pan and stir continuously for 3-5 minutes until the milk has thickened slightly.

7.     Add the Daiya cheese and stir until it has melted.

8.     Roll the fresh basil leaves together, cut into ribbons, and top the sauce. 

Vegan Bacon and Havarti Stuffed Seitan

What’s better than seitan? Stuffed Seitan! This recipe uses our Super Big Batch of Garlicky Seitan or you can use your favorite seitan recipe. Sometimes you can get away with just using nutritional yeast flakes for some cheesy flavor in recipes like soups and sauces. For this kind of recipe you need something that melts into a gooey cheesy mess. And for that we have only one choice; Daiya.

We love the melted goodness of Daiya cheese on almost anything – as you could probably tell from our pancake recipe. Unlike some other cheeses Daiya actually melts instead of staying in little cubes of cheese-ish flavored sponges.


• 1 Batch of seitan
• 4 – 5 slices of Lightlife Smart Bacon
• 3 ounces of Daiya wedge style Havarti Cheese

1. Slice all of the seitan pieces in half – originally we tried to only slice ¾ of the way through so the seitan would be sort of like a sub so it would have a hinge but they just fell apart for the most part.
2. Arrange all of the seitan pieces in a baking dish. Place half of a slice of bacon on one half of each seitan.
3. Slice the Diaya and place a slice on each piece of seitan opposite the bacon.
4. Broil in the oven until the Daiya begins to melt and is golden brown.

We served these with our butternut squash soup – there may have been some dipping of the seitan into the butternut squash soup which only added more flavor.

Super Big Batch of Garlicky Seitan

You will need a VERY large pot for this recipe, as it will make a very big batch of seitan. 

• 3 ½ cups of vital wheat gluten
• 2 ½ cups of vegetable broth (cold or warm, not boiling)
• 1 teaspoon of dried dill weed
• 1 cup of nutritional yeast flakes
• 10 cloves of garlic
• ¼ teaspoon of cayenne pepper
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• ¼ cup of olive oil

For the broth:

10-12 cups of water

Vegan vegetable broth mix or bouillon cube (I used about a tablespoon and a half of a jarred kind, but you can add according to how much flavor you want.)

1. Mix the wheat gluten, yeast flakes, and spices in a large bowl.

2. Mix the rest of the ingredients in a smaller bowl. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and combine with a wooden spoon or spatula for about a minute. Now knead the dough for several minutes. You can add a little more broth if there is extra dry ingredients that did not combine yet.

3. Once the dough is kneaded, separate into smaller clumps, about the size of your fist or a little smaller than that. The important thing to note is that the seitan dough expands a lot while cooking. I ended up with 8 or 9 clumps of seitan.

4. Bring about 10-12 cups of water to a boil in a large pot. Add in some vegetable broth mix or bouillon cubes and stir until combined. Add the seitan and then lower the heat to a simmer (I usually use medium heat, where it’s just barely bubbling) and then add a cover, yet make sure that there is room for steam to come out.

5. Cook the seitan over medium heat for about 1 hour. If you cut into it and the inside seems dry then you can cook it for some more time.

Hope you enjoy : )