Recipes
So, you want to whip up some vegan food huh? Great! While you're at it, why not make the dishes healthy and eco-friendly? Below you will find delicious and nutritious meals that tread lightly on the planet and your waistline.
Most recipes are also:
Gluten-free | Low or No Oil | ||
Soy-free | Low or No Salt | ||
Refined Sugar-free | Low or No Packaging |
Many recipes are raw as well |
You're encouraged to purchase organic, sustainably harvested and local ingredients.
Hungry for more? Check out my favorite recipes on Pinterest
Mint Chocolate Power Bites
Serving Size: 1 truffle
Ingredients (buy organic whenever possible):
- coconut flakes: 1 cup
- cacao powder*: 1 tbsp
- coconut oil, melted: 1 tablespoon
- liquid sweetener of choice (I used coconut nectar): 1 tablespoon
- dates, pitted: 4-5
- Green Juice powder**: 1 tbsp
*cocoa powder can be subbed
** Use code "EVG" for 15% off Organifi: http://bit.ly/OrganifiEVG
Video recipe in playlist below
Steps:
- Add coconut flakes and coconut oil to food processor and blend until well combined.
- While food processor is on, add pitted dates through top, followed by coconut nectar, cacao powder and Green Juice powder
- Stop processor and check for consistency. You want the truffles to be sticky enough to roll into a ball shape. Add another date if needed
- When the consistency has been achieved, form the mixture into truffle shapes and place them on a plate
- Optional: dust the truffles with cacao powder
Store remaining truffles in fridge to keep them cool and fresh.
Learn more about Organifi's Green Juice powder in these videos:
Split Pea Soup with Sweet Potato (plus 6 other vegan recipes!)
For as long as I can remember my favorite soup has been split pea. Perhaps this is because it reminds me of my father, who also loves it and makes it regularly. Who could blame him? Split pea soup is thick, creamy and flavorful with a great salt balance. There's no need to follow the traditional recipe of adding chicken broth and ham - this soup is just as delicious when made entirely with plant-based ingredients.
The following recipe is a twist on the standard split pea soup: sweet potato and smoked paprika are added for a sweet, smoky flavor. If you're as much as a fun as the traditional recipe as I am, you're sure to love this variation. As mentioned in the video, you're encouraged to modify the recipe with whatever you have on hand (such as extra vegetables and unused spices).
And PS: this soup costs about $1.50 a serving even with entirely organic ingredients! If you want more tips on eating well on the cheap check out my ebook "Healthy, Organic Vegan on a Budget."
Green Juice Recipe: Grapefruit Dandelion
This green juice has been hitting the spot recently, so I've been making it almost every day. I love the refreshing, tart grapefruit combined with the spice of ginger and the bitterness of dandelion greens. The pear and cucumber balance out the juice with sweet, mellow flavors, and the spinach adds an extra nutritional punch.
More...
Sweet and Spicy Anti-Inflammatory Beverage Recipe
Every once in a while I'm hit with a wave of sneezing, nose blowing and sinus inflammation, and it is extremely frustrating, especially when the neti pot doesn't help. When I last found myself in this miserable state I whipped up a beverage with some anti-inflammatory ingredients in hopes it would soothe my sinuses; and low and behold it did!
This sweet and spicy beverage can help reduce inflammation in many parts of the body, and can be enjoyed warm or cold.
Servings: 1
Ingredients (use organic whenever possible):
- Turmeric - powder (1/2 Tbsp) or root (1 inch piece)
- Ginger root - 1 inch piece (or to taste)
- Cinnamon powder - 1/2 Tbsp (or to taste)
- Stevia - powder or drops, to taste*
- Water - 1 cup
* I used 4 drops of Omica vanilla stevia drops. If you don't like the taste of stevia, feel free to use a low glycemic sweetener, like coconut sugar, or none at all.
Directions:
- Blend together.
- A high speed blender is not necessary but if you do not use one you will have to grate the turmeric and ginger roots before blending.
Matcha Mango Berry Smoothie Recipe
This smoothie is one of the best I've ever had, let alone made at home! Matcha green tea powder is one of my all time favorite culinary flavors, and if you haven't tried it yet it's 'bout time! Or perhaps you've tried it in something like mochi and you just didn't realize what was behind the delicious flavor of that scrumptious dessert. For those unfamiliar, matcha is bright, vibrant green, fine powdered green tea with a rich, sweet flavor. It is high in antioxidants and gives the body a smooth, steady stream of energy for hours. It's traditionally used by whipping the powder and hot water together in a bowl to make a tea drink, which is how the Zen Buddhists prepared it back in the day. Now matcha is common in fancy tea shops and natural cafes, where I get very excited to see it on menus.
Raw Chocolate Matcha Truffles Recipe
When I'm craving a chocolately treat this is my go-to recipe. It was inspired by an expensive raw dessert I was buying until I realized how simple it was to make at home. Once I started playing with the ingredients the addition of matcha green tea, one of my favorite flavors, took these bites over the top! The truffles take 5 minutes to prep and after a little time in the freezer they're ready to pop into your mouth! They're great to share with kids, romantic partners, friends and colleagues; be sure to let me know what everyone thinks! Oh, and the video demo of this recipe is coming soon.
Durian Tropical Fruit Smoothie Recipe: Vegan MoFo
In honor of Vegan MoFo (Month of Food) I'm doing a video every day of September on the What A Vegan Eats YouTube channel. Yesterday I made one of my new favorite treats: a durian smoothie. If you've never tried durian this is a great introduction - it's not only easy to make, but it's sweet and creamy. It makes for a filling breakfast and a healthy snack!
Candy Cane Chocolate Tortilla Chip Recipe: video
What a great way to use up all those lingering candy canes - would be a lovely treat for New Years Eve! I found an organic, corn syrup-free variety at Whole Foods and they were perfect for this! The recipe results in a sweet, decadent, salty and crunchy dessert that will delight children and adults alike.
It's free of gluten and soy, and it can be relatively low in sugar if you use a ultra dark chocolate, a raw chocolate and/or one sweetened with stevia or xylitol. It can also be low in salt if you use salt-free tortilla chips and even low in oil and nut-free if you leave out the coconut oil.
Way Better Chestnut & Kabocha Squash Chip H'orDip (video)
I'm not kidding when I say this is one of the best recipes I've ever made. Unfortunately I can't take all the credit because Jason Wrobel is mostly responsible for this creation, which probably explains why it tastes so darn good.
Imagine the crunch of an amazingly flavorful sweet potato chip paired with a creamy, salty, buttery squash dip and the sweet tarty taste of pomegranate seeds. This is a dish that will knock the socks off you and anyone you serve it to, so I highly recommend you take it to a party to impress anyone who snags a bite before they fly off the plate. Jason and I created this right after Thanksgiving and think that it makes a perfect holiday hors d'oeuvre, but it's great at any point in fall, winter or early spring. Heck, you might even crave it in the summer!
As usual, it's gluten and soy-free but it contains oil (coconut) and a tad of salt - you can omit the latter two if you'd like (perhaps with veggie broth), just don't count on it being as flavorful. This is a super easy and simple recipe, but it will take 45 minutes to an hour to finish due to oven time.
Way Better Baked Mac 'n' "Cheese" (video)
I'd like to say that a drop in temperature is responsible for the desire to eat comfort food, but let's be honest - when do you not want macaroni & cheese? OK, maybe it isn't that appealing on a super hot day, but you can always serve it cold right? It's nearly impossible to resist the creamy texture and buttery taste. The only catch is that most mac 'n' cheese is loaded with oil, salt, soy and gluten, which can leave you feeling weighed down and bloated. Fortunately it doesn't have to be that way - this recipe puts a healthy. spin on the classic favorite.
The "cheese" sauce is free of salt, oil, gluten and soy. However, the "secret" ingredient (tortialla chips by Way Better Snacks) adds a tad of the former two - it's totally worth it in my opinion. The flavor is cheese-like and tangy (remiscent of kale chips), the texture smooth and crunchy, and it is extremely filling. Inspired by a recipe in the Forks Over Knives cookbook, this dish is relatively low in fat and can be even more so if you cut back on the amount of cashews you use. Or, if you feel like indulging, double the amount of cashews to make it extra creamy!
Way Better SouthWest Salad (video)
The is the first of a series of recipes featuring Way Better Snacks' tortilla chips now that I'm part of their ambassador team (read more on that here). My goal is to find unique ways to use them and inspire you to get more creative - there's so many ways to enjoy chips other than in dips and nachos. This is a twist on the traditional SouthWest Salad - it is free of salt, oil, sugar, gluten, soy, and corn and is raw (however, the chips are made from organic, non-GMO corn and contain a bit of oil).
I served it to my family and they really enjoyed it. They're not used to salt and oil-free dressing so if I were to make it for them again I'd add in more garlic (2 cloves instead of 1) and perhaps use a bit more dressing. We all agreed that the crunch and flavor of the Way Better chips were the best part. It was more than enough salad for a filling lunch for each of us.