Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Grain/Gluten-Free Vegan Mushroom Quinoa Burgers


I've been away from blogging for too long!  I've change my diet around quite a bit - I went all the way raw, then backed off to 80% raw, then the winter hit and now I'm too cold so I'm back to cooked food.  WHEW!  I've been all around kitchen!  I've been experimenting with quite a few things lately.  For Christmas I bought myself an amazing food processor - the magimix!  LOVE IT!  Anyhow....finally a new and delicious recipe!

I've recently grown a passion for mushrooms.  I try to find any way possible to put them in whatever I'm eating.  So as I made my quinoa for lunch this idea to make mushroom burgers popped into my head and they are fantastic!  I topped mine with some avocado, onion, lettuce and some dehydrated tomatoes from my garden.  YUM!

Grain/Gluten-Free Vegan Mushroom Quinoa Burgers
1 cup Quinoa
2 tablespoons Herb Stop's Beef-less Broth (or whatever broth you enjoy)
1/2 Large Onion, diced
10 Baby Bella Mushrooms, diced
1-2 teaspoons Herb Stop's Anytime Salt Seasoning
1 teaspoon Herb Stop's Garlic Granules
1 teaspoon Herb Stop's White Onion Granules
4 tablespoons Almond Flour
2 tablespoons Potato Starch
1 1/2 tablespoons Tapioca Starch/Flour
Grapeseed Oil

Rinse quinoa very well.  Add quinoa to pot with beef-less broth and cook until well done.  The quinoa needs to be a little stick which means you'll have to add extra water than normal to slightly overcook the quinoa.

While the quiona is cooking, sautee onions and mushrooms over medium heat in grapeseed oil until onions are translucent.

Once the quinoa, onions and mushrooms are all done, add to a bowl and allow to cool - I use a wood bowl here.

Add Anytime Salt Seasoning, garlic, onion, almond flour, potato starch, tapioca starch and mix until very well incorporated.

Make patties to desired size - I make 2 tablespoon patties.  Add grapeseed oil to the same pan you sauteed the onion and mushrooms in (adds a little flavor) and cook the patties over medium heat.  VOILA!

ready to eat with veggies!

close up - I love Instagram!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Grain/Gluten-Free Vegan Raw Strawberry Ice Cream (Dairy & Soy Free)

Who doesn't love strawberry ice cream!?!?!?!?!  What I hear most about my Strawberry Ice Cream......"That taste better than Hagen-Daz"!  That's the ultimate compliment!  This ice cream is creamy, flavorful, sweet and absolutely amazing...to boot it's super easy to make!

Grain/Gluten-Free Vegan Raw Strawberry Ice Cream 
1 cup Raw Cashews, soaked for two hours
1/2 cup Raw Cashews (not soaked)
1 lb. Strawberries (1 clamshell) - divided in half, greens removed
1 cup Pure Water
1/4 cup Honey
2 Tbsp.Vanilla Extract
Seeds from 1 Vanilla Bean

Add all ingredients, except 1/2 of the strawberries, to a high speed blender (like a vita-mix).  Turn on low and gradually increase until you're all the way on high.  Blend until completely smooth.  I use the tamper to check every few seconds.  Don't let the ice cream get hot, this happens quickly on high.  Turn off and return the blender to the lowest setting.  Add the rest of the strawberries and blend on low to medium to leave some of the strawberries chunky.  The size of chunks of strawberry is entirely up to you.  I like it very small and that's how I usually make mine.

If you have an ice cream maker, I'm sure this would work well in there.  I just pour the mix into a freezer safe container and let it harden over night.  The next day... voila!  Creamy and delicious ice cream!!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Grain/Gluten-Free Vegan Raw Caesar Salad (Dairy-Free)


Once upon a time, there lived a girl who said she could live on only eating Caesar salad.  She ate Caesar salad every day for long periods - sometimes months at a time.  One day this girl decided to become a raw vegan and had to say goodbye to her beloved Caesar salad..................or did she?!?!?!?!?!

Grain/Gluten-Free Vegan Raw Caesar Salad (Dairy-Free)
1-2 heads Lettuce of choice (Romaine hearts are standard)
1/3 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 cloves Garlic
Splash Coconut Secret Aminos
1/2 large Lime, juiced
1/2 teaspoon Brown Mustard
Couple of dashes Himalayan Salt
Couple of dashes Cayenne Pepper
1/3 cup Raw Vegan Parmesan Cheese

Wash lettuce well, spin dry and store in the refrigerator to make the leave crispy while preparing the dressing.  In your salad bowl (I love wood for this), add olive oil and press garlic into the oil.  Add aminos, lime juice, mustard, salt, cayenne.  Blend very well and add Parmesan Cheese. Mix in salad and sprinkle a little extra Parmesan on top, if you like.  ENJOY!!

Grain/Gluten-Free Vegan Raw Parmesan-Style Cheese (Dairy-Free)


Cheese is always something missing from the raw food diet - BUT....who knew it could be this easy to make a tasty replacement?!?!?!?  I love sprinkling this on everything I make - I use it liberally over veggies, salads, and when I desire some cooked food, on top of my black bean burgers.  Yummy Yummy!!

Grain/Gluten-Free Vegan Raw Parmesan-Style Cheese (Dairy-Free)
1 cup Cashews
1 clove garlic
1/4 tsp. Himalayan Salt
1 tablespoon Nutritional Yeast (not raw and optional)

Add cashews to food processor.  Mash garlic clove into the food processor, add salt and yeast (if using).  Blend until it resembles grated Parmesan, but be careful not to over process and make cashew butter! 

Monday, May 21, 2012

Grain/Gluten-Free Vegan Awesome Apple Pie


Along my raw vegan journeys, I'm starting to look for easy recipes.  I was searching for apple pie recipes and they all had a dozen ingredients.....I just wanted apple pie!  I came home one day and my husband was working on his truck (typical man stuff) and I decided .... it's time to create an apple pie.  I thought apples pair well with raisins, walnuts and of course cinnamon....voila!  The reviews by my husband and his buddies were "better than regular apple pie" and that convinced me to post this one!

Grain/Gluten-Free Vegan Awesome Apple Pie
The Crust:
1 cup Seedless Thompson Raisins (trader joes has a great organic one)
1 cup Walnuts
the seeds from 1/2 Vanilla Bean
dash of Himalayan Salt

In a Medium bowl gently mix all ingredients.  Grind the ingredients until they are stuck together and mostly ground but still a little chunky.  Press into an 8 or 9 inch pie plate.

The Filling:
5 Gala Apples - peeled, cored and sliced very thin
1/2 cup Raw Agave Nectar
1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
1/2 teaspoon Herb Stop's Pumpkin Pie Spice
dash of Himalayan Salt

Mix the agave, lemon, pumpkin pie and salt until well mixed.  Pour mixture over the apples and gently toss until very well coated.  To make things easy, I just poured them into the crust.  If you want a pretty pie, you'll have to lay them individually into a circle. (waaaaay too much time for a hungry vegan!)

The Topping:
1/4 cup Pecans
1/4 cup Walnuts
1/4 cup Seedless Thompson Raisins
dash of Himalayan Salt

Grind the ingredients together until crumbly and a little sticky.  Sprinkle over the top of the apple pie.  ENJOY!!!!

The crust

yummy apple filling!


Monday, April 23, 2012

Grain/Gluten-Free Vegan Raw Garlic Zucchini Hummus


Oh hummus.  What can you not do with hummus?  You can dip, spread, indulge....bathe in it!  Just kidding on that last part, but sometimes I think I can eat an entire package of hummus - truth be told, sometimes I do!  Lets be honest....chickpeas (the base of hummus) gives you gas.  Sometimes it can even give you bloating.  That's no fun.  So!  This fixes that!  No chickpeas here!  This recipe is so delicious, 100% raw and full of yummy things like calcium and healthy fats.  Dip with Quinoa Tortillas, spread on flax crackers, sky is the limit!

Grain/Gluten-Free Vegan Raw Garlic Zucchini Hummus
1 good sized Zucchini, peeled and chopped (I use the julienne on a mandoline slicer)
1/2 cup Tahini
2 tablespoons Raw Sesame Seeds
Juice from 1 small Lemon
3 small cloves/1 large clove Garlic (vary depending on taste)
1/4-1/2 teaspoon Himalayan Salt (vary depending on taste)
2 dashes Cayenne (I use Herb Stop's 30,000 HU Cayenne)
1/4 teaspoon Cumin Powder
1/4 teaspoon Hungarian Paprika
1/4 cup (or so) of Purified Water
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Pine Nuts (optional)
Extra Paprika for color (optional)
Zahtar Seasoning to sprinkle on top (optional)

In a blender (I use my vita-mix) add all the ingredients except for water, olive oil, pine nuts, extra paprika and zahtar.  Start blending and add a little water at a time until the consistency is thick, but not clumpy and process until smooth.  Make sure to taste.  You may want to add more garlic, tahini, spices, etc.  Be creative :)

Place into a dish and make a well in the middle and add olive oil.  Sprinkle with a few pine nuts, a couple dashes of paprika and some zahtar.

ENJOY!!!

Grain/Gluten-Free Vegan Quinoa Tortillas


I don't want to call corn tortillas a waste of calories, but they kind of are - high in carbohydrates/sugar and not much protein..  So after slandering the good name of corn (sorry!) I must admit I love them!  I recently decided to become way more raw.  I have to remember to eat cooked foods (about 20%), because I'm eating mostly raw  feel so good that I forget that I need somethings cooked!  So these little puppies are my cooked food awesomeness as of late!  Plus - quinoa is full of protein and nutrition!

These little guys can be a little tricky to make at first, but I promise by your 3rd or 4th batch you'll totally get the hang of it :)  I have a tortilla press that works really well for this.  If you don't have one you can roll between well floured wax paper.

These remind me of whole wheat tortillas.  I don't know if that's true at all because I haven't eaten wheat in over 6 years, but somewhere in the taste part of my brain it says "wheat", lol.

Grain/Gluten-Free Vegan Quinoa Tortillas
1 cup Quinoa Flour (I use the flakes and grind myself)
Extra Quinoa Flour to be used to flour the press and coat the tortillas before cooking
1/4 teaspoon Himalayan Salt
1/4-1/2 cup Purified Water
2 squirts of Fresh Lemon Juice
1 teaspoon Grapeseed Oil

In a medium bowl, add quinoa and salt.  Mix well with a fork.  Make a well in the middle and add lemon juice, grapeseed oil and 1/4 cup of the water.  Using the fork, combine until the consistency is like a crumble top of a pie.  If there is dry quinoa flour slowly add more water - add by the teaspoonful.  If the dough becomes too sticky, it's nearly impossible to make tortillas.

Preheat two small cast iron skillets on the stove at medium to medium high. I have a gas stove and it's different than an electric range.  Start with medium and if the tortillas are not cooking and creating brown spots, adjust the temperature higher.  If the tortillas are burning, reduce heat.  Do not use oil.  This is a dry cooking process.

While the pans are heating up, it's time to make tortillas.  Make small balls - about 1 tablespoon or so - out of all the dough.  Using a piece of wax paper, make sure both sides of the tortillas press are covered.  Flour the bottom very well with the extra quinoa flour.  Take each ball and roll in the quinoa flour first.  Place in the tortilla press and press until flat.  Carefully remove and coat both sides with quinoa flour.   Place in the skillet for 2-3 minutes on each side.  Depending on your heat this will vary.  You will notice the color changes on the tortillas - that's perfect!  Flip and cook for a couple more minutes.  Continue until all those little balls have become tortillas!

YUMM!
perfect consistency

right out of the press

perfect little tortilla

ideas of what to do with these fun guys - salsa with a garlic sauce and salsa with an avocado

another idea - add a giant dollop of my zucchini hummus!  YUM!

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Grain/Gluten-Free Vegan Amazing Kale Chips (Tuscan Kale)



Thanks to my buddy Tara for this idea!  She does the recipe differently and I tried it her way first, which was very yummy!  Then I wanted to make them a little spicy and cheesy.  These are so wonderful that my Mom and I ate an entire bunch of kale in one sitting, haha!  These require very little work and are such an amazing alternative to potato chips!

Grain/Gluten-Free Vegan Amazing Kale Chips (Tuscan Kale)
1 bunch Kale
1 tablespoon Grapeseed Oil
2 teaspoons Nutritional Yeast
1 teaspoon Herb Stop's Hot Garlic Salt

Preheat oven to 250 F.  Cut the vein in the middle of each kale leaf out.  Depending on how big you want your kale chips, leave them long or cut into 3 inch sections.  I find that the kale naturally scallops in and I rip it there - about 3 inch pieces.  Make sure you wash the kale really well.  Using a salad spinner make sure they are nice and dry.  In a large bowl add oil , yeast and hot garlic salt and mix well.  Add in kale and for about 3 minutes roll the kale in the sauce.  Don't massage the kale, just keep rolling it so that the sauce covers evenly.  Place on a baking sheet (I use a slipmat/silicone baking mat) making sure the leaves don't overlap - keep it one layer.  Bake for 30-35 minutes or until crispy.  Enjoy warm or allow to cool.

1 bunch of organic kale

sauce

de-veined and ready

spread out and ready to cook

fresh from the oven

Monday, February 27, 2012

Grain/Gluten-Free Vegan Hearty Split Pea Soup

Hearty soups in winter...what could be better?  This wonderful soup - really more of a stew - tastes so hearty and almost like what I remember my mom's beef stew tasting like!  The nice thing about this soup is that you can add/substitute any of the veggies for other root veggies.  I like to cut everything into cubes - gives a nice look :0

Grain/Gluten-Free Vegan Hearty Split Pea Soup
1 cup Green Split Peas, rinsed
1-2 smaller medium Russet Potatoes, diced into cubes
1/2 cup Yellow Onion, diced
1/2 cup Celery, diced
1/3 cup Carrots, diced
1/2 Parsnip, diced (optional)
4 cups Vegetable Broth (I like Fresh & Easy's Organic one)
1 Bay Leaf
1-2 tablespoons Herb Stop's Beef Flavored Broth (Vegetarian)
Herb Stop's Hot Garlic Salt (very optional) or Salt/Pepper (optional)

Combine all ingredients, except the Hot Garlic Salt in a large stock pot.  Bring to a boil , then reduce heat to low (simmer).  Cover and simmer for a minimum of 45 minutes, or until everything is soft.  The peas take the longest :) I like to sprinkle Hot Garlic Salt on my soup, but any salt and/or pepper would work.

yummy ingredients

almost done

Friday, February 10, 2012

Grain/Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Cream Pie (Raw-ish)


Oh comfort food!  This can be a little difficult to accomplish without sugar, artificial flavors, gelatin and all the other nasty-ness that just tastes so good!  After I received some bad news this week, I decided that I was going to make this comfort food business happen!  Thank god it was delicious because I really needed that piece!

I recently discovered the joys of chocolate mousse made with avocados and it's hard not to eat it all day!  Last night I decided to make a pie out of the mousse and oh man am I glad I did!

I will admit that the crust is a little sticky, but it is really tasty that way.  With this pie, I used coconut milk and coconut shavings sprinkled over the top for a little extra flavor.  I'm going to try coconut flour for the crust as well.  The options are limitless - you could use oranges, raspberries, etc.

Grain/Gluten-Free Vegan Chocolate Cream Pie (Raw-ish)
The Crust:
2 cups + Almond Flour - blanched if possible
1/4 cup Agave Nectar
1 1/2 - 3 Tablespoons Earth Balance Soy Free Butter Substitute (amount depends on how buttery you would like the crust) - If you wanted to be completely raw, you could substitute with coconut/grapeseed oil.
1/4 teaspoon Fine Unrefined Salt - I used Herb Stop's Sel Gris Fine

Place all ingredients in a medium bowl and mix well until the crust is well blended.  I had to add an extra couple tablespoons of the almond flour because it was a little too sticky.  Use your judgement.  Using an 8 or 9 inch pie plate, push the blend into the plate, with wet fingers, to create a pie crust. Store in the refrigerator.

Chocolate Mousse/Cream
1/4 cup Maple Syrup
3/4 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 mashed Ripe Avocado - about 3/4 cup
6 tablespoons Dutched Cocoa Powder (any unsweetened cocoa powder works)
1/4 cup Coconut Milk
Chocolate Shavings (optional)
Dry Shredded Coconut (optional)

Place all ingredients in a food processor except the chocolate shavings and shredded coconut - I used my magic bullet.  I would guess that if you didn't have a food processor, as long as you mashed really really well, you could make this without one.  Blend until creamy.  This can be a little tricky because it's thick.  I tap the and shake the magic bullet.  If using a traditional food processor, scrape down the sides.

Pour the Chocolate Mousse/Cream in the previously made pie crust and top with chocolate shaving and coconut.  Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.  Serve cold.

DELICIOUS!

pie crust
chocolate mousse/cream
with chocolate shavings
yummy!