I don’t know why, but chili is just one of my favorite things to make. And when it’s pouring rain outside?? Sign me up!

1/2 red onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 can black beans

1 can kidney beans

1 can diced tomatoes

2 tbs coconut oil

2 tbs chili powder 

1 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 package soy taco meat

dash cayenne pepper & red pepper flakes

Step 1- Sautee onion, garlic, bell pepper, and jalapeno in coconut oil for about 5 minutes. 

Step 2- Add tomatoes, stir.

Step 3- add kidney beans and black beans

Step 4- add vegetable broth (start with about 1/4 cup, then add more as needed. I usually end up adding at least 1 cup)

Step 5- add spices and salt

Bring to a boil, and simmer for at least 20 minutes and thennnn,

Step 6- add taco meat, stir well. Simmer for at least another 10 min!

Add a litte Cheddar Daiya…enjoy!

But hey guess what goes really well with chili…….

Roasted Jalapeno cornbread muffins!!!! (Pay no attention to my super cool sports themed paper, it’s all they had ok??)

2 tbsp ground flax seed

6 tbsp water

1 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1/8 cup evaporated cane juice (sugar)

3 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp sea salt

1 cup almond milk

1 1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup coconut oil (melted)

2 roasted jalapenos (I chose to only de-seed one), chopped

Start by heating your oven to about 400 and place 2 jalapenos on a cookie sheet and roast until the skin starts to darken. Once they are done, allow them to cool before seeding (if you’d like) and chopping.

After Jalapenos are done, turn oven to 425. 

1.In a bowl, stir together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder and salt.

2. Combine apple cider vinegar and almond milk and set aside

3. Bring 6 tbsp of water to a boil in a small saucepan, stir in ground flax seed and reduce heat. Stir until you reach an egg-like consistency.

4. Add flax mixture, almond milk, jalapenos and oil to the flour mixture. ( I also added a handful of corn) Stir until everything is well combined, but don’t over stir! It will be thick.

Pour into muffin tin and bake about 20 minutes. 

***Fun fact/advice- Slice these in the middle and stuff a little of Earth Balance’s new coconut spread in there while they’re hot…you will not regret it!***

Yes, its true, you can bbq without meat! What we have here folks, is a phenomenal grilled vegan meal. And I must say, it was delicious!

Cut zucchini/squash lengthwise and toss with olive oil and a generous amount of spices. (I believe we used garlic salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper….and to be honest I can’t recall what else) Do the same with asparagus. And then do it again with a block of tempeh cut into strips (add bbq sauce to your tossing concoction). Throw them on the grill for about 10 min or until you feel it’s good and ready.

Now for that quinoa….basically cook it as you normally would, but instead of veg broth or water, use canned coconut milk (make sure you shake the can first!!) mixed with water if necessary. And just for fun, toss in some fresh chopped broccoli, bell pepper and jalapeno. 

Do you see that steam coming off the soup??? Yummmm! I just love making soup, especially when the temperature starts to drop outside. 

1/2 onion, finely chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbs tomato paste

1 or 2 zucchini, chopped

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1 15oz can diced tomatoes

1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped

1 15oz can black beans

1 package soy taco meat (I used the Trader Joe’s brand)

4 cups veggie broth

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

salt to taste

1 or 2 small tortillas, cut into strips (toss with olive oil and a little salt and bake til crispy)

Sautee onion, garlic, jalapeno and bell pepper in a little coconut oil for about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste, cumin and chili powder. Add black beans, tomatoes, and soy taco meat and stir. Add zucchini and broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the zucchini is tender, about 15 minutes. Top with your toasted tortilla strips and serve!

I got a little excited at the arrival of Fall and collaborated with my lovely neighbors and cooked up this delicious pre-Thanksgiving-style feast.

Meatless Meatloaf (don’t scoff at it ‘til you’ve tried it):

2 Egg replacers

1 Tbs soy sauce

1 (12 oz) box med-firm silken tofu

1 packet dried onion dip mix

3/4 cup walnuts, chopped

1 tsp oil

2 cups mushrooms, chopped

1 1/2 cups onion, chopped

3/4 cups celery, chopped

1 1/2 tsp dried basil

1 1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp ground sage

1 1/2 cups bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350. Mix Egg replacer, soy sauce, tofu and onion dip mix in a blender. Add walnuts and blend until smooth.

Heat oil, and saute onion, celery and mushrooms until mushrooms are transparent. Add basil, oregano and sage while the veggies are cooking. 

Thoroughly mix blender ingredients, cooked veggies and breadcrumbs together in a large bowl. 

Pour contents into a greased loaf pan. Bake for 75 min. (I took it out and coated the top in ketchup at 60 min and let it cook in for the last 15 min). Let cool, then slice and serve. 

Herbed Stuffing:

5 cups stale bread cubes (I just used fairly fresh sourdough bread, cut up into cubes)

1-2 cups cooked quinoa

1 cup onion, finely chopped 

2 cups celery, finely chopped

1 1/2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped

1 tsp fresh sage, chopped

1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

1 cup veggie broth

salt to taste

Preheat oven to 375

In a large bowl, combine bread and quinoa

Saute onion in a little water or oil for 5 min, add celery and cook until soft.

Stir in cooked veggies and fresh herbs into the bread/quinoa mixture, and salt to taste

Cook, covered, for about 25 min, then an additional few min uncovered until top is crispy.

The Best Damn Gravy:

2 tbs Earth Balance

1 yellow onion, diced

2 tbs flour

1 tsp garlic salt

2 tbs corstarch

1 1/2 cups veggie broth

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbs nutritional yeast

Heat Earth Balance in skillet. Saute onion for about 2 min. Add flour and garlic salt and saute about 5 more min.

Add cornstarch to the broth and mix well, then add to the skillet. Mix well. Bring to a boil, reduce to simmer, stirring frequently to make sure there are no clumps (except the onions of course)

Add nutritional yeast and soy sauce and cook for another minute or so. 

Yep. Very yummy. 

Knowing that the Wynn had stepped up their game (since Steve Wynn himself went vegan) made me one determined little lady when I arrived in Vegas this weekend for my lovely friend’s wedding. I dragged my whole crew of 6 over there and they didn’t even complain! I chose La Cave after scanning all the menus at home and finding that it was the least expensive. I later found out that the only reason for that would be the size of their portions. Very small. But still delicious nevertheless. Not being able to choose and not knowing when I’d be able to come back and try the rest, I ordered 3 things and split them with my mother (vegetarian, and vegan friendly).

We chose the flatbread-

The mushroom tortellini-

And the Gardein Chick’n with celery root puree and lemon caper sauce-

All 3 were scrumptious! The flatbread was my favorite! 

Well done, La Cave @ The Wynn!! I can’t wait to come back and try the rest of the restaurants and their vegan options at the Wynn!

Let me just start by saying I’ve never had REAL eggs benedict. I was never a fan of poached eggs or any style of egg other than scrambled. So I have nothing to really compare this dish to. I just know that I loved it. I left Las Vegas with a little bit of disappointment because I didn’t make it back over to the Wynn to try their vegan eggs benedict, and so I came home and decided I’d try and make it. I found a recipe for a hollandaise sauce and was on my way to the kitchen.

-Tempeh bacon

-Tomato- sliced

-English muffin

-Avocado

-1 lb tofu- well drained, and sliced in 1/4” slices

-Vegan Hollandaise-ish sauce (recipe below)

Vegan Hollandaise-ish Sauce 

-2 tbs Earth Balance

-3/4 cup + 1/4 cup non dairy milk (I used Coconut Milk), divided

-1 lemon, juiced (I used half of the lemon since I didn’t want it too lemony)

-2 tbs nutritional yeast

-1/8 tsp sea salt

-dash cayenne pepper

-dash dry mustard ( I didnt have any soooo I left this out)

-dash turmeric

-1 tbs cornstarch

Add the cornstarch to the 1/4 cup of coconut milk and stir. Let it sit til the clumps are gone.

Melt earth balance in a small sauce pan. Add 3/4 cup coconut milk, lemon, nutritional yeast, salt, cayenne and turmeric. Add the cornstarch mixture and stir while heating until it gets thick.

And for the Tofu…

-3 tbs all purpose flour

-1 tbs nutritional yeast

-pinch turmeric

-1/2 tsp sea salt

-1/4 tsp black pepper

-1 tbs canola oil

Mix the flour, nutritional yeast, turmeric, salt and pepper in a bowl. Coat the tofu slices in the mixture and set aside. 

Heat the canola oil in a pan, add tofu and cook about 4 min on each side, until it’s crispy. Set aside when done and add a little more oil and cook the tempeh bacon til crispy.

Toast english muffin and lightly spread some earth balance on top. Add a slice of cooked tofu and top with a slice of tomato, a few slices of avocado, tempeh bacon and finally…..some sauce!

SO YUMMMMMY!!!! And a guaranteed party pleaser for vegans and non-vegans! 

1 jar of water packed artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped

1 handfull of fresh spinach, finely chopped

1/2 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tub of Vegan Galaxy Cream Cheese

2 cups Vegenaise (no one said this recipe was healthy! haha)

Sea salt to taste

1 tbs nutritional yeast

Combine spinach, artichoke, vegenaise, cream cheese in a bowl and mix together. 

Saute onion and garlic in about 1 tbs coconut oil for about 5 min, until onion is translucent. Then add it to the rest of the ingredients in the bowl. Add a little sea salt, cayenne pepper and black pepper and the nutritional yeast and mix. Transfer to an 8x8 baking dish and bake at 350 for 45 min until the top gets nice and browned. Let cool for 10 min and then dig in!!!! 

Quick. Painless. Simple. Easy.

1 tortilla- lightly sprinkled with Cheddar Daiya vegan cheese and baked for a few min to melt.

2 pieces of tempeh bacon- cooked in a little coconut oil until crispy

Avocado- as much as you would like

Tomato

Red Onion

Lettuce

Wrap it up…enjoy! (Don’t be afraid of a little hot sauce!)

This recipe comes from www.juliemorris.net, a lovely blog that I have recently discovered. I saw a blurb about her book in VegNews magazine and googled it and found her blog. After making this recipe, I was sold and promptly ordered her cookbook, Superfood Cuisine. The book is fabulous!!! Everything I have made from it has been so delicious!

INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs spaghetti squash (about one medium)
1 cups chopped onion
3 medium cloves garlic, minced
2 Tbsp coconut oil
3 cups deseeded and chopped tomatoes (about 5 medium)
¼ cup red wine
1/8 tsp green stevia,* or ½ tsp agave nectar (I used the agave)
½ tsp mesquite powder (optional)
3 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano
2 Tbsp parsley, plus 2 Tbsp extra for garnish
¼ tsp sea salt
½ tsp black pepper

Prepare the squash: 
Cut the squash in half, lengthwise. Place face down in a baking pan, and fill pan with a half inch of water. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.
While squash is cooking, make the 3 step sauce:
1. In a large sauce pan, sauté the onions and the garlic for about 5 minutes, or until the onions begin to become translucent.
2. Stir in all the other ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 20 minutes.
3. Place the sauce in a blender and puree until fairly smooth. Return the sauce to the pan, and keep at a low simmer until ready to be served.

When the squash has finished baking:
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a couple minutes. Flip the squash over, and scrape the flesh with a fork to extract the angel-hair like strands from the shell.

To serve:
Place a mound of spaghetti squash on a plate and top with sauce as well as extra chopped fresh parsley for garnish. Or, combine the squash with the sauce directly in the pan and sauté for a couple minutes to reheat and remove any excess moisture.

I believe my boyfriend’s exact words were, “this may be the best soup you’ve ever made!” So FREAKN YUMMY!

1 onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 celery stalk, chopped

4 cups low sodium veggie broth

8 cups chopped fresh broccoli

1/2 can organic lite coconut milk

Heat 3 tbs safflower oil over med heat in a large pot, add onion, celery and garlic and simmer about 5 min. Add broccoli and broth and bring to a boil. I seasoned with cumin, cayenne pepper, sea salt, black pepper, a pinch of thyme and another pinch of rosemary. Simmer for about 20 minutes, then pour into blender (you may have to do it in batches, depending on your blender), add nutritional yeast and blend til smooth. Return to pot and add coconut milk. Reheat if necessary. Mmmmmm so good!

The photo does not do it justice. It was delicious!