Caprese Salad Stack

My wonderful older sister is visiting for the summer. She very much enjoys my cooking, and I am trying to teach her everything I know. She is not vegan, but she is eating like one this summer. Today, she decided she wanted to make something as a guest chef on my blog. Here is her delicious caprese salad stack.

Contents:

Vegan Mozzarella

Basil

Organic Tomatoes

Balsamic Vinegar (not photographed)

Slice of vegan mozzarella

Slice of Tomato

Stack it.

A couple basil leaves.

Another slice of mozzarella.

Another tomato slice.

More delicious basil!

Drizzle balsamic vinegar over stack.

Voila! Scrumptious stacks!

Tofu and Veggie Enchiladas

This recipe is awesome!

Contents:

Organic tofu, pressed

Olive oil

Salt to taste

Mushrooms

Red onion

White onion

Spinach

Tortillas

Can/bottle of enchilada sauce

Cheese replacer (I used Daiya)

First, press your tofu. I don't have a fancy press, but something heavy will do. I use steel cut oats.

White onion, sliced.

Mushrooms.

Sliced.

Red onion.

Sliced.

Spinach.

Chopped.

In a large pan, brown mushrooms w/ about 1 tbsp of olive oil.

Add red onions and cook until translucent.

Meanwhile, crumble the tofu.

and..

Add the tofu to the pan.

In a sauce pan, brown the white onion in about 1 tbsp of olive oil.

Then add the enchilada sauce, a dash of salt, and bring to a boil.

Brown the tofu.

Add the spinach to the pan. Cook until it wilts.

Tortillas. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Add vegetable/tofu mixture, some sauce, and some daiya cheese.

My sister is visiting and she wanted to take some photos! So, she caught me in the act.

Fill all of the tortillas and roll them.

Cover with sauce and sprinkle cheese over.

Bake for 5-7 minutes (or until the cheese melts).

Voila! YUMMMM.

Healthy Cookie Dough Dip!

I have been obsessing over baked goods made from unlikely sources such as black bean brownies. Well, I found this recipe recently and finally got around to trying it!

"Blondie Batter" Dip from Chocolate Covered Katie (recipe from her website)

1 1/2 cups garbanzo beans (1 can, drained)

heaping 1/8 tsp salt

tiny bit over 1/8 tsp baking soda

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup nut butter

1/4 cup plus 3T nondairy milk (or more or less, as needed) (Use less if omitting flax)

Sweetener 2/3 cup (brown sugar, maple, stevia, agave, etc)

1/3 cup chocolate chips

Optional: 1/4 cup flaxmeal for omega 3s and a fun texture (you can also add quick oats!)

The recipe does not call for cinnamon, but I seriously add it to everything!

Garbanzo beans

Food processor

Almond Butter

Hazelnut Milk

Baking soda, salt, vanilla extract, agave, and flax. Blend.

Add chocolate chips and stir.

Yumm.

Delicious, safe, and healthy cookie dough!

I refrigerated it overnight, and the consistency was way better after it set a little bit!

Sweet Potato Pancakes

For Father's Day, I made these delicious sweet potato pancakes for brunch! I hadn't ever made them before, but they turned out successfully. Next time, I will change a few things (and I will post the changes here).

Recipe (this is doubled, makes roughly 14-16 small-medium pancakes):

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

2 tsp baking powder

4 Tbsp brown sugar (vegan, next time I plan to use agave nectar)

1 tsp nutmeg

2 tsp cinnamon

2 cups rice milk (next time, I plan to use hemp or almond milk)

2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

2 small precooked sweet potatoes

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 Tbsp ground flaxseeds

4 Tbsp water

1 tsp sea salt

Mix the rice milk and the apple cider vinegar, and let it stand for 10 minutes.

In a separate bowl, mix the ground flaxseeds and the water, and let it stand too.

In the meantime, mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sea salt).

In the vitamix, or any food processor, blend the two sweet potatoes with the skins! The skins are one of the best sources of beta carotene, providing four times the recommended daily intake! I used two Japanese sweet potatoes! They are delicious!

Nice and smashed.

Combine the two wet bowls (flax and rice milk mixtures), and add the sweet potatoes and oil. Then pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones very slowly. Mix, but do not overmix!

Perfect. If you over mix, you won't get fluffy pancakes!

Pour the batter onto pan or griddle (medium heat). When you start to see the sides roll and the middle bubble, flip the pancakes.

Yum.

Voila! Delicious sweet potato pancakes!

And maple syrup! Yum. Perfect brunch for father's day!