tahini cardamom granola.

Made a small batch of this granola and it was delicious.

1 1/2 cups oats
dried coconut
almonds
hemp seeds
pistachios
1/2 tspn cinnamon
1/4 tspn cardamom
1/8 tspn ginger
1/8 tspn salt
pinch of black pepper
2 T Maple syrup
2T coconut oil, melted
2T tahini
1/2 tspn vanilla

Preheat oven to 350.
Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl.
Mix the oil, syrup, tahini and vanilla in a bowl.
Coat the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients and mix well.
Bake for 20 minutes, and mix halfway through. 

 

 

healthy peanut butter granola.

This is my go-to granola!

• 2 cups old-fashioned or quick cooking oats*
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp sea salt
• 6 TBS natural peanut butter
• ¼ cup maple syrup (I do a little less than this – you could also use honey or agave)
• ½ tsp pure vanilla extract

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a large cookie sheet and set aside.
• In a small bowl, mix together oats, salt and cinnamon. Set aside
• Melt the peanut butter and sweetner together until smooth in the microwave or stovetop. Stir in vanilla.
• Stir in dry ingredients and mix until well combined.
• Spread mixture on prepared cookie sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until granola is lightly browned, stirring the granola once gently half way through. Store in airtight jar and enjoy! I sometimes add peanuts or chocolate chips afterwards.

garlic tahini kale.

The Whole Foods salad bars in Portland carry this salad and it is one of the best things I have eaten in a salad bar. I tried to recreate it and it was so delicious. Would be great to bring to a potluck!

1 bunch raw kale, washed, de-stemmed and dried
2 Tablespoons tahini
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
4 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
1-2 cloves minced garlic
sesame seeds

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INSTRUCTIONS

1. Make kale into bite size pieces and place in a large bowl.
2. Puree all the ingredients (except for seasame seeds) in a blender for the dressing.
3. Pour dressing over kale and massage into the kale with your hands until all pieces of kale are coated. You can eat immediately, or let it sit for about an hour, but kale will wilt some, so up to you and your preference of how you like your kale!
4. Sprinkle on some sesame seeds before serving if so desired.

seasame tofu

• 14 ounces extra firm tofu
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil

FOR THE SAUCE

• 1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons water
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1 1/2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce (if you like it less spicy, stick with 1 teaspoon)
• 1/2 teaspoon rice wine vinegar
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
  
• 2-3 cloves garlic, sliced thinly

• Start with pressed, extra firm tofu. Cube the tofu and coat with seasame oil and cornstarch and cook in air fryer for about 12 minutes, or until crispy.  Alternatively, pan fry.
• Mix together all ingredients for sauce.
• Add some oil to the pan ( seasame oil would be great for this) and add the garlic and cook until soft, but not burning. Add some green onions and cook for about a minute more.
• Add the tofu to the pan – and add the sauce to the skillet and it should start to thicken immediately. Toss the tofu around to coat then remove from heat. Top with seasame seeds, and serve with steamed brocolli, over rice.

Healthy banana bread

This is my go-to banana bread whenever I have bananas laying around that need to be put to use. It doesnt use any oil or processed sugar, and I’ve made it using all kinds of  healthier flour before and it turns out great.

• 2 cups flour (I often do 1 cup white, 1 cup spelt)
• 2 cups mashed overripe banana
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 cup finely chopped dates
• 2 tbsp flax seed powder + 6 tbsp water
• 1-2 tbsp sesame seeds

 

Pre-heat the oven at 325 degrees.

Mix flax seed powder with water, stir well and leave it aside till gooey.

Mash the banana well.

In a big bowl add the flour with baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and mix well. now add the chopped dates and stir together. Add the mashed banana and flax seed powder mixed with water and stir till it’s combined.

Fold this into a greased loaf pan and sprinkle sesame seeds on top.

Bake for 45min – 1 hour until its golden on the outside.

 

chocolate zucchini cake.

This is a family recipe from my late aunt bebe. She used to make this cake when i was young and bring it to my grandmothers house on tuesdays when she would bring my great grandmother to visit. I hadn’t had it since I was a kid, but made it to bring to my family’s christmas eve dinner, and it was everything I remembered. Its very easy to half the recipe and make in an 8×8 pan, and easy to sub vegan ingredients.

½ cup butter
½ cup oil
1-3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
½ cup sour milk (add 1 Tbl. vingar to milk)
2-1/2 cup unsifted flour
4 Tbl. cocoa
½ teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground cloves
2 cup shredded zucchini
½ cup chocolate chips

 

Cream butter, oil and sugar; add eggs, vanilla and sour milk. Beat. Next mix together all dry ingredients and add to creamed mixture-beat well.

Stir in zucchini then spoon batter into 9 x 12 x 2 pan. Sprinkle top with chocolate chips. Butter and flour pan.

*there were no baking instructions but this is what i did for an 8×8 pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

 

chocolate chip tahini cookies.

I made a half recipe of these and they turned out pretty good. The recipe below makes about 8-9 cookies, and theyre a little fragile, so let them cool a bit before taking off the pan. I keep them in the freezer and eat them frozen and they are the perfect treat when craving a little something sweet.

• 1/2 cup tahini
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar (might do a little bit less next time – these were plenty sweet)
• 1 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup oat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/8 cup filtered water
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F

• Add the tahini and coconut sugar, and cream together using a mixer.
• Add the vanilla extract and beat for a few seconds.
• In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together the oat flour, baking soda, and sea salt.
• With the mixer off, add the oat flour mixture to the tahini mixture, pour the water over top, and beat until just incorporated.
• Stir in chocolate.
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes.
• Let cool completely on pan before enjoying or moving.

spaghetti carbonara with shitake bacon.

 

I had seen this recipe floating around on the internet for quite some time now, and added it to my list to make. Glad I did. this was EASY and delicious. We served some roasted broccoli with it. You would think you slaved for hours making this dish – when it really comes together in no time!

SHIIITAKE BACON

• 1 pound shiitake mushrooms,
  trimmed and thinly sliced
  (about ¼ inch thick)
• 2 T olive oil
• 2 T soy sauce
• 1 tspn maple syrup
• 1/2 tspn liquid smoke
• 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

PASTA CARBONARA

• 1 pound long pasta
  (spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 14 ounces soft tofu
• ½ cup water
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2½ teaspoons sea salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Chopped fresh Italian parsley for garnish
• vegan Parmesan Topping

For the shiitake bacon:
Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Mix together the ingredients for the mushrooms. Slice mushrooms long-wise and thin and coat with liquid. Spread them on  a large rimmed baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes, turning frequently with a spatula, until lightly browned and crisp.

For the pasta:
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook according to package directions. Drain and return to the pot.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion and let cook until soft. Add garlic and let cook a few more minutes. Remove from heat.

In a blender, combine onion, garlic, tofu, water, lemon juice, and salt. Process on high until very smooth, about 2 minutes.

Add sauce to pasta and toss to coat. Season with pepper and add more salt to taste. Let pasta sit for about 5 minutes to allow sauce to thicken slightly. Top with shiitake bacon, parsley, Parmesan topping, if using, and serve.

 

cheesy veggie soup.

This is a pretty easy soup you can make from a variety of vegetables in your fridge. I havent done it, but I imagine you can interchange veggies to what you have in stock.

What I did:
1 onion
4-6 cloves of garlic
1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed
3 stalks celery
3 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 cups brocolli
6 cups vegetable broth
olive oil
4 T nutritional yeast
salt and pepper

saute chopped onion and garlic in some olive oil in a soup pot and sautee until translucent, about 5 min. Add vegetables and sautee about five more minutes. Add salt and pepper then add broth, cover and let cook about 15 minutes until veggies are soft. stir in nutritional yeast and transfer to blender – puree until smooth. add salt and pepper and more nutritional yeast to taste – Serve with crusty bread or garlic crutons or garlic toast!

almond meal chocolate chip cookies.

Im always looking for something gluten free to make for friends who avoid gluten, but i don’t always have the ingredients on hand. But I always have almonds, and for these cookies, you just have to blend some almonds in the vitamix, and you are well on your way. I used coconut palm sugar in replacement of the brown sugar, and halved the amount and these were sweet enough for me. I also used grain-sweetened chocolate chips, to keep the sugar down as much as I can. These will make a good little snack when I get a sweet craving in my day – and overall they are pretty healthy for you, and gluten free, and contain no refined sugars!

you can find the recipe and instructions here. 

• 1 1/4 cups almond meal (ground from raw almonds)
• 1/4 cup vegan chocolate chips ( I used grain sweetened, linked above)
• 1/2 cup finely shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/3 cup brown sugar (I used half this amount and used coconut palm sugar)
• 1/4 cup aquafaba (the brine/liquid in a can of chickpeas); if not vegan, use one egg
• 3 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract