Scraps and Snippets ~ Vegan Thai Coleslaw

Thai Coleslaw

1 16 ounce bag of coleslaw shreds (this is about 5 handfuls if you like to shred your own cabbage)

½ Red pepper thinly sliced and chopped into 2 -3 inch pieces. (So slice pepper lengthwise then chop in half.)

2-3 TBSP finely chopped fresh cilantro

3-4 (use all of it, not just the green part) green onions/scallions, chopped

1 tsp lime zest

1 TBSP lime juice

1 TBSP rice wine vinegar

⅓ Cup Vegan mayo

¼ Cup peanut butter

1 Cup coconut milk (I used canned full fat without chilling)

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1-2 teaspoons of red pepper flakes (use to taste, I used 2 and it was a nice burn)

Optional:

1 Cup peanuts

1 Cup chopped meatless chicken if desired

Prep, rinse, chop all your veggies.

In a large bowl pour in coconut milk, add peanut butter and mayo and stir until combined. Add salt, garlic powder, pepper flakes, lime juice, vinegar and lime zest. Finally stir in all the vegetables and add-ins and mix until coated.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Pumpkin Pasta Salad

Pumpkin Pasta Salad

16 ounce box of macaroni cooked according to package and rinsed

3 TBSP minced onion

2 TBSP minced celery

1 Cup pureed pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling with the seasonings)

1 Cup mayonnaise

1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder

1 ½ teaspoon salt

1 ½ teaspoon sage

Mix pumpkin, mayo and spices together with chopped veggies. Toss in pasta and stir well. In addition you could add some of the following. pepitas (toasted pumpkin seeds), diced mushrooms, chopped kale, fresh chiffonade sage instead of the dried (use 3 Tablespoons)

Scraps and Snippets ~ Maple Ginger Broccoli Slaw

A little tart, a lot refreshing. 

Maple Ginger Broccoli Slaw

I package of broccoli slaw. (I used Trader Joe's organic. It was probably 4 cups unleashed.)

1 good sized Granny Smith apple matchstick sliced (I left the skin on) 

2 TBSP maple syrup 

2 teaspoons rice vinegar

1 TBSP soy sauce

1 teaspoon ground ginger (or shredded fresh would be great if you've got some and love ginger)

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

salt to taste

Toss all items together. 

Add dried cranberries to make it extra festive. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Vegan Classic Burger Sloppy Joes

Classic Burger Sloppy Joes (Serves 8 ish)

2 Cups hamburger replacement (Gardein or Beyond Meat or homemade)

⅓ Cup ketchup

3 TBSP yellow mustard

2-3 TBSP dill pickle relish (or a mix of dill and sweet, or if you like your sloppies sweeter, go with all sweet) (I used 3 TBSP but I love pickles so use your taste buds as a guide.)

1 TBSP apple cider vinegar

1-2 TBSP finely diced onion (again, to taste)

Mix all the ingredients together and heat until warmed through. Or put it in a crock pot on low for 2-3 hours. Serve with buns. Add vegan bacon, lettuce, tomatoes, onion or vegan cheese slices, pickles and ketchup and mustard.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Flexi-Veggie Salad

Fresh Veggie Toss Salad

⅓ Cup red wine vinegar

1 TBSP lemon juice

2 ½ TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP Italian seasoning

½ to 1 tsp of garlic powder (to taste)

½ tsp salt

6 Cups of veggies (grape tomatoes, chopped broccoli, chopped cauliflower, black olives, diced cucumbers, small dice onions, carrot medallions etc.)

1 Can (or 1 ½ Cups home cooked) drained, rinsed chickpeas

Toss everything together and enjoy. Let it sit overnight for best flavor.

To mix this up make it Greek style or Mexican style by making a few changes:

Greek - switch out the Italian seasoning for 1 TBSP each of chopped fresh mint and chopped parsley. Sub the juice of a full lemon for vinegar and toss in feta if you’d like.

Mexican - sub black beans for chickpeas. Sub juice of one lime for vinegar. Sub 2 TBSP of chopped fresh cilantro for the Italian seasoning.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Vegan Potato Breakfast Casserole

Vegan Potato Breakfast Casserole

The night before prep cashews for the cream sauce 
1 1/2 Cups cashews
2 Cups water
3/4 Cup non-sweetened, unflavored non-dairy milk (you could probably get away with more water instead) 

NOTE: You will not discard the water. 


In the morning place the nut mixture into a food processor and whir until creamy and add the following:
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon hot sauce (I used Siracha)
1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 TBSP lemon juice
4 TBSP nutritional yeast
Mix well.

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a 9 x 13 pan.


2 Bags (16 ounces each or 1 large) shredded or diced frozen potatoes
1 Onion fine dice 
1 Pepper fine dice 
6-8 mushrooms fine dice 
Faux sausage bits (I used Upton's)

Place one bag potatoes in the pan and press down. 

Saute the onions, peppers and mushrooms until tender.
Place the veggies over the potatoes. Top with the sausage and the rest of the potatoes. 

Pour the cheesy sauce over the potato layer. 

Bake for 45 minutes. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Vegan Lemon Pasta Carbonara

You've seen the one pan pasta dish, right? The one all over Pinterest? Where you dump all the ingredients for a pasta meal into a pan and cook away? I've been experimenting. This was pretty tasty. I'm going to try adding olives and more lemon juice (replacing equal amounts of water) next time.  

Lemon Pasta Carbonara

8 oz pasta (I used rice spaghetti and broke it in half)

1/2-3/4 cups onion (diced)

1 pepper diced (I used half of a green and half of an orange pepper)

6 slices of vegan bacon (I used Upton's strips)

1 Cup vegetable broth

2 Cups water

1/2 Cup lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste) 

2 teaspoons of lemon/garlic pepper blend (or 1 tsp of dried or fried garlic, 1/2 tsp of pepper, 1/2 tsp of lemon peel)

2 tsp oil (I used garlic infused grape seed oil)

Chop bacon into small pieces, toss in frying pan. Add onion and peppers and fry until bacon is cooked and veggies are browning and translucent. Add the additional ingredients. Bring to a boil, turn down the heat, stir frequently until pasta is cooked and the liquid has turned into a sauce. About 9 minutes. Serve. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ BBQ Sauce and Vegan BBQ Beets and Franks...

Natural Grocers is a new chain grocery store in our area. It's small. Kinda like a cross between a Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, a local mom and pop store and a traditional hippie health food store. In the past few visits I've scored some great organic past-their-prime fruits and veggies for various and assorted uses. The bargain produce bin is really a great deal. Last week we made the discovery that the freezer and refrigerated section have clearance, too. 

I scored $.50 non-dairy yogurt and 1/2 price tempeh, vegan hot dogs, and seitan. 

Now I needed a use for vegan hot dogs that doesn't involve a bun, mustard and ketchup. 

Rob likes BBQ sauce and keeps asking me to make BBQ for him. I had a sweet potato to use and a golden beet. 

BBQ Beets and Franks for dinner.

I sautéed the chunked sweet potato with small dice onions and leeks and the beet. I chopped two vegan hot dogs into slices and added them to the sauté. 

BBQ Sauce

5 TBSP tomato paste (I used frozen TBSP chunks from a previous can I opened. This was a great idea I saw somewhere.)

5 TBSP water

1 1/2 TBSP vinegar (I used red wine)

1 1/2 TBSP soy sauce

1 1/2 TBSP agave, brown sugar or maple syrup

1 teaspoon chili powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder

1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/4 teaspoon smoke seasoning (I used Trader Joe's smoke blend grinder)

two pinches salt

We dolloped BBQ sauce over the sauté and ate up. 

This is a hint of sweet, smoky, rich, garlicky BBQ sauce. It's thick and makes about 1/2 cup. Rob and I both liked the flavor. So I think I'll use it for various assorted BBQ needs in the future. Pulled Jack sandwiches, roasted BBQ cauliflower tenders. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Quinoa Muffuletta...Fun with Quinoa Part Two

Quinoa and Easter.

I took this cold quinoa muffuletta salad to one location and the ring to the other.

Follow the directions below for the basic quinoa to make either dish. The amount of cooked quinoa will be slightly over 2 cups.
1 Cup quinoa
1/4 Cup dried mushrooms
1/4 Cup diced onion
2 Cloves garlic minced
2 Cups veggie broth

Toss all in a pan and bring to a boil. Turn down to simmer and cover and let simmer about 15 minutes.

The ring recipe is here. 

Cold Quinoa Muffuletta Salad

Dressing: 

3 TBSP lemon juice

2 TBSP olive oil

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon of agave or maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon of yellow or brown spicy mustard

dash salt

Mix well. 

Add the following:

1/2 Cup chopped mushrooms

1/4 to 1/2 Cup chopped green olives

1/4 to 1/2 Cup chopped kalamata olives

1/2 Cup shredded kale

The dressing 
The cooked quinoa mixture

Mix well. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Quinoa Ring...Fun with Quinoa Part 1

First prep the quinoa to make enough for two separate dishes. This amount makes a quinoa ring and a medium sized side salad. I'd definitely cut it in half if you only want to make one or the other. The amount of cooked quinoa will be slightly over 3 cups. If you want to make just the ring follow the directions in the parentheses and this will make approx a cup.

1 1/2 Cup quinoa (1/2 Cup)

1/3 Cup dried mushrooms (2 TBSP)

1/3 Cup diced onion (2 TBSP)

3 Cloves garlic minced (1 clove)

3 Cups veggie broth (1 Cup)

Bring to a boil, turn down to simmer and cover and let simmer about 15 minutes.

Split the cooked amount into thirds into two separate bowls (one of them can be the pan) 1/3 for ring, 2/3 for salad. The salad recipe is here. 

To make the Quinoa Ring you also need the following. 

1/4 of a container of vegan cream cheese (2 oz or 2 TBSPish)

1/4 Cup chopped mushrooms

3/4 teaspoons garlic powder

1/2 TBSP finely chopped onion

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 TBSP nutritional yeast

Add all these to the smaller amount bowl full of the quinoa and mix all together very well.

Crescent rolls (1 can, make sure it's vegan) You could also use your favorite pizza dough and make this a pocket or calzone. 

To make a crescent roll ring separate the 8 triangles of dough. Lay each of the  longest pointiest ends over the rim of a large pie plate or round baker. The shorter two point ends will overlap each other and there will be a hole in the center. It's going to look kind of like a stick drawing of a sun. Press the overlapped edges in the pan together. 

Scoop the quinoa filling onto the flat inner circle of dough. Then take each outside point and pull it over the mixture and tuck it slightly under the inner ring of dough. 

Bake at the temperature called for on the can (or in your pizza dough recipe) Bake approximately 4 - 6 minutes longer to make sure everything is done. You want it golden and cooked through. 

Serves 8 slices.   

Scraps and Snippets ~ Easy Thai Dressing

I was in a creative mood yesterday and had lots of veggies hanging out wanting to be eaten. The snow was falling and I have a column coming up soon that will require some recipes. So. I went for it. One recipe (which I won't be able to share til after March 10th or so) required Coconut Whipped Cream. I love Trader Joe's brand. It's almost fully coconut cream and little to no water so it doesn't require days of chilling to separate. However, I didn't have TJ's on hand and had another brand in my fridge where it had been for months. No issues with separation there. But there was probably four ounces of water in the can. 

I hate to waste it, I gave half to the dogs. They totally love it. And I made a dressing for a gourmet salad blend. 

Easy Thai Dressing

2 ounces of coconut water or light coconut milk

1 TBSP peanut butter

1/2 to 1 tsp siracha sauce or hot pepper sauce of choice

1/2 to 1 tsp of lemon juice

1/8 tsp garlic powder

Nice and flavorful. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Wild Rice Caulifredo Soup - Vegan

Wild Rice Caulifredo Soup

Ready for this? The base of the soup is pureed steamed cauliflower and garlic. And it's so creamy. Makes 4 big servings or 8 smaller servings.

10 cloves of garlic

1 head cauliflower (cut the leaves off but leave the white branches. Break into chunks.)

1/2 onion diced

1 tsp salt

1 tsp lemon juice

4 Cups broth/cauliflower steam water

1 TBSP fat of Earth Balance

3 Cups unsweetened, unflavored non-dairy milk

1 Cup wild rice (rinsed and uncooked, or chopped broccoli)

1 Cup chopped mushrooms (or other item that sounds tasty to you)

Steam cauliflower for about 20 minutes. ( I have a saucepan that has a metal colander that fits on top and a lid. I fill the base of the saucepan with water, drop the chunks of cauliflower into the colander, put the lid on and turn the heat on. The water steams and softens the cauliflower.)

Let the cauliflower cool a bit. In another pan melt half the Earth Balance and add onions and diced garlic, sauté until caramelized and golden. Place cauliflower, salt, lemon juice, onion and garlic in a food processor or super blender. Puree. Add a little cooking liquid to the mixture if it bogs. When pureed add the mixture to the rest of the cooking water and make up the difference with broth. In the same pan you sautéed onions and garlic in add the rest of the Earth Balance and toss in mushrooms. Heat until they change texture and color. Add to the soup pan with the wild rice. Simmer this for approximately an hour until the rice plumps. Add milk to get the consistency you want in the last 15 minutes before serving.

Serve with crusty chunks of bread.  

Scraps and Snippets ~ Mushroom Stroganoff

Mushroom Stroganoff 

I love mushrooms. Yum. So I usually buy a big package of them at Costco and then have to come up with ways of using them up. I also brought home some Vegan sour cream from our trip to Minnesota. Michelle is so accommodating and spoiling when we visit. She's way more adventurous and generous than I am ingredient wise. She seriously bought a luxury non-dairy cheese for a recipe. I'm like, yeah, we'll just cut out the cheese. I don't usually buy vegan sour cream unless I have a very special use for it because it doesn't last long once it's opened. So I had this partial container of sour cream languishing in my fridge. No way I was letting that go bad. The picture is before the corn starch and sour cream so it was much thicker. 

2 Cups vegetable broth

2 cloves minced garlic

2 Cups chopped mushrooms

1 TBSP soy sauce or liquid aminos

2 TBSP nutritional yeast

1 tsp of lemon juice

1/2 tsp of mustard

1 TBSP corn starch or arrowroot  (mix with a TBSP of cold water to make a liquidy paste)

Non-dairy sour cream (I used a cup, next time I may up it a bit - plain unflavored, unsweetened yogurt would work, too)

Prepared quinoa, pasta, rice, potatoes or toast

Add garlic and mushrooms, lemon juice, mustard and soy sauce to the vegetable broth in a saucepan. Simmer until mushrooms change color and density. Add the cornstarch and simmer until the broth thickens. Remove from heat and add the nutritional yeast and stir well, then stir in the sour cream. 

Serve over your pasta, quinoa, rice, toast or potatoes.

Serves 4ish

Scraps and Snippets ~ Vegan Green Bean Casserole

Goodness. Let me give you one large chunk of advice…if you want to use fresh or frozen fresh green beans in a green bean casserole…steam them first. 

I did not. And they were a bit….crunchy, even after baking for 45 minutes. 

Green Bean Casserole

Approximately 3-4 Cups of fresh or frozen green beans (2-3 cans)

1 Cup of cashews soaked in 2 cups of non-dairy, unflavored, unsweetened milk

2 Large or 4 Medium mushrooms

1/4 of a medium onion

1 Clove of garlic

1/2 tsp salt

Vegan french fried onions. 

Steam the green beans if needed. See above note.

Lightly spray a 9 x 13 pan.

Dump beans in the pan. 

In a food processor add everything (including the milk the cashews soaked in) but the mushrooms and french fried onions. Whir everything until all is smooth. Toss in mushrooms and give it another whir until they are bits.

Pour this mixture over the green beans. Top with the french fried onions. 

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Deviled Potatoes

Makes 8 deviled potatoes

Preheat to 350

Wash and remove eyes from 4 smallish potatoes. I used red and I left the skin on, but you could peel them.

Pierce the potatoes and place in a covered baker. (It's important to cover them, the potatoes need to stay moist.) Bake for 30 minutes, test for tenderness. When tender remove from oven and let cool.

Into your food processor place the following.

1/2 of a small onion 

several good shakes each of salt and pepper

3 TBSPS of vegan mayonnaise 

1 TBSP mustard to the onions. Give it a few whirs.

When the potatoes are cool, cut the potatoes in half longwise and scoop out a large section from the middle of each of the potatoes and add the scoop to the mixture in the food processor.

The potato shell should look a lot like a deviled egg without the filling. Kind of...a cross between a twice-baked potato and a deviled egg and potato salad. Whir the mayo/onion/potato mixture until creamy. Taste it. Make sure you are happy with the blend. Now, if you are a fan of German potato salad, or have a favorite egg salad, deviled egg or potato salad recipe feel free to use it here. No sense in reinventing the wheel. Also, if you prefer an idea of chunky go for it.

Scoop the filling into the potato wells/holes, heaping it up a bit. Then, come up with some garnishing ideas. I used paprika sprinkled over the top. Coconut bacon would be delicious.

Scraps and Snippets ~ Jack "Tuna"

Jack "Tuna"

1 Cup vegetable broth

1 Can green jackfruit packed in brine (not the ripe in syrup)

2 tsps of your favorite seaweed, which I do NOT have...I did some research, then ended up not having much choice at the store. So I got hijaki

3 TBSP vegan mayo

3 tsp mustard

1/2 tsp garlic powder

2 TBSP minced onion

3 TBSP minced celery

1 TBSP sweet pickle relish

1/4 Cup sunflower seeds (optional if this would kill a family member, XTA)

Drain jackfruit. Place jackfruit in a saucepan and add the veggie broth. Simmer until the fruit softens and most of the broth is absorbed. (20 minutes or so.)

Shred the jackfruit into a bowl. (You can dump out the extra liquid if any remains).

This makes quite a bit. Enough for 8 sandwiches or so. Serve with crackers or scoop out a tomato and fill it with the tuna. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Edamame... The Little Green Giant...

I have a recipe that is a fall back. I got if from my mother-in-law years ago. And I make it often. But not so often that I have actually committed it to my memory. It's a shadowy-in-my-mind kind of recipe. 

And here's the deal. It counts as Americana in my book because the dang hand-written, blurred recipe is at least twenty years old. And it probably came from a newspaper which was equivalent to Pinterest back in the day. Kinda. 

Anyhoo. I couldn't find the recipe to adapt and use as a centerpiece for edamame. Nope. The picture may give you a clue. I have this HUGE binder recipe book. When I am organized the book is as well. However, when I'm not, which is more likely, the recipes end up in four or five other places like one of the many other cookbooks on my shelf. You can see the classic red and white gal, and beneath her an entire shelf of cookbooks, and out of sight is another shelf. Ugh. So after looking for 30 minutes I decided to rely on the shadow memory and throw together what I think is the recipes. Tastes like it, and pretty dang good which is why I've held onto the original for twenty years (until recently parted, of course). 

1/2 to 1 cup edamame (I used frozen raw)
1 head of broccoli florets (or I'm thinking a package of broccoli slaw would be great, too)
grape, cherry or chunks of tomato (I used about a cup and 1/2)
1/2 to 1 cup Kalamata olives (or any olive will do, or use onions, or cauliflower or mushrooms etc.

Dressing:

3 TBSP red wine vinegar
2 TBSP olive (or your favorite) oil
1 TBSP lemon juice
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp Italian seasoning blend

This is a totally adaptable recipe. I usually use the veggies I have on hand. A summer squash or zucchini cubed would be excellent. As would cucumbers. Mushrooms are amazing in it. You can use any type of bean, too. White/Navy or garbanzos would be especially yummy. Toss in nuts if you want the extra protein or mouth feel. Speaking of protein. Not only is there 29 grams from the edamame in this salad...but broccoli has approx 4 grams a cup, too. Tossing brown rice into the mix would give you 8 additional grams for the salad. Tomatoes are worth about 2. So if four people nosh on it your looking at 8-10 grams a person. And don't forget that Edamame is a complete protein source, too. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Watermelon Cauliflower Ceviche

One of the meat dishes I miss the flavor and texture of is Shrimp Ceviche. 

However, I don't miss it enough to cave. So. I considered what was in the dish that I liked. Texture was a biggie. The slight give, the crunch, the different mouth feels. 

The flavor. The fishy shrimp wasn't really the flavor I wanted, it was the refreshing lime and cilantro bite. This all came together for me when I ran across a recipe for Shrimp and Watermelon Ceviche. 

Ah ha. Here we go. Cauliflower and Watermelon Ceviche. Why not? I had both on hand. The cauliflower gives it a nice fleshy bite to mimic the shrimp and a strong flavor as well.

If you want a sweeter version, you might want to consider adding a little agave. I loved the bite of lime, my husband thought it a bit harsh. Depends on your taste buds. But here's what I came up with and I think it's a keeper. 

2 Cups of small cauliflower florets
2/3 Cups of lime juice (about three limes)
2 Cups of seedless watermelon cubes
1/2 Cup finely diced onion
1 TBSP cilantro paste or 1/2 Cup of chopped fresh cilantro
1 TBSP minced jalapeño 

Put all together in a bowl and let marinate at least an hour, overnight would be even better. 

Snippets and Scraps ~ Cilantro Lime Brown Rice and Quinoa

I discovered something pretty fabulous. I think I'll share. 

I make cilantro lime rice whenever we are going to do a feast of sautéed veggies and guacamole etc. etc. 

It's pretty easy. I use the Trader Joe's quick version of organic brown rice. Good enough ehhh?

But I was needing to make a huge batch and noticed that next to my skimpy bag of brown rice lay a bag of quinoa. Hmmm. The cook times and ratios were similar. And the nutritional boost. Win. Win. 

Take equal parts of brown (quick rice) and quinoa. (I used a cup and 1/2 of each)
Liquid you need to make the amount you want. I went a bit shy on the liquid because drier is better than gummy. Ya know. I used veggie broth and the juice of a lime for my liquid (about 6 cups). I dumped in the rice and quinoa and let it simmer up til the liquid was absorbed and the quinoa grew tails (about 20 minutes give or take). I added the juice of another lime and chopped cilantro. And that's it. Easy peasy delish. 

Scraps and Snippets ~ Flawless Brussels Sprouts

Brussels Sprouts. So tasty. Unless they are wimpy mush. This guarantees no mush. Preheat oven to 425.

Peel the top layer off, chop the dry stem end off. 

Bring water to a boil. 

Drop the sprouts into the water and boil for two minutes. 

Grease a pan large enough to hold your sprouts.

Place sprouts in pan and drizzle with a little oil and spice of choice. I used garlic flavored oil. 

Roast for approx 25 minutes. Some of the outer leaves may crisp and darken which only makes them more tasty. Check sprouts for preferred texture. If you want them more tender, add a few more minutes.