Cauli Steaks, Green Beans and Potatoes

Tonight, we decided to have a fancy dinner! Cauliflower steaks with a side of green beans and potatoes. 

I used 2 cans of green beans and 1 can of diced new potatoes. Put all, juice included, in a crock pot. I used 1 tsp of Better Than Bouillon Seasoned Vegetable soup base. Mix it all together well and cook on low for 3 - 4 hours. No additional Seasoning is required. 

 Peel the leaves off the cauliflower and cut the stem off. Slice into 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices. Some fell apart, so I just cooked the pieces too!

Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning on both sides.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake for 20 minutes, flip and bake for 15 to 20 more. Keep an eye on the steaks to make sure they don't burn. It's ok if they get a little crispy though. 

Let stand for about 5 minutes and serve crispy side up!

Vegan Lasagna

I found recipes for vegan ricotta and vegan lasagna in different places. I put them together to make them my own.

The ricotta is:

1 block of extra firm tofu

1 cup of cashews (soaked over night)

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1/4 tsp salt

Juice of 1 lemon 🍋 

5 cloves of garlic

Italian seasoning to taste

Fresh ground black pepper.

Mix all in a high speed blender or food processor until smooth.

For the sauce:

1 yellow onion 🧅 

2 cups of fresh mushrooms 🍄 

5 cloves of garlic minced

Cook until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms are done.

Add 2 jars of red sauce. I used tomato basil sauce. Simmer while you make the ricotta. 

For the lasagna: 

Lasagna noodles (not all noodles are vegan) (I used oven ready noodles)

Ricotta mixture

1 tub of baby spinach

Fresh basil

Sliced roma tomatoes 🍅 

And sauce

Put a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the dish. Place noodles as evenly as possible. Then layer with ricotta, spinach and basil, followed by sliced roma tomatoes. Then more sauce. 

Continue to layer in this fashion until the dish is a little less than full, with sauce finishing at the top. I placed a few dollops of ricotta on top.

Cover with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 1 hour. 

Pro Tip:

Before putting in the oven, place the dish on a baking sheet. Put the baking sheet in the oven with the dish on top in case any sauce spills over.  This will prevent it from dripping into the oven and you can simply wash the baking sheet. 

After baking, let stand for 15 - 20 minutes. Slice as big a chunk as you wish and enjoy!

I chose not to use pre processed vegan cheese, but you can certainly add to the top if you like.

Let me know, in the comments, what you think of my recipe!

Veggie Loaf!

1 medium sweet potato and several carrots shredded. A medium onion chopped and several cloves of garlic minced.

1 can of kidney beans. Chopped collards, and 1 cup of quinoa. A handful of chopped walnuts and a handful of chopped pecans.

About 2 cups of ground flax and chia seeds, and a handful of almonds ground. I added enough veggie broth to make it sticky.

I mixed it all together, then added cumin, salt and pepper and some nutritional yeast.

I cooked 2 loaves for 60 minutes at 350 F covered with tin foil then uncovered, I bumped the heat to 400 for 15 min.

Turned out pretty good!

Once I decide on my favorite gravy recipe, I'll make this with some mashed potatoes and gravy!

Enjoy!

French Toast

I started with 5 slices of bread and cut on the diagonal.

I then took 1/4 cup of egg replacement and a cup of Almond Milk.

Add 1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon

3 tbsp of maple syrup

1/4 tsp salt

Mix until combined.

Dredge the bread in the mixture and place in pan warmed over medium high heat.

I cooked until brown on each side.

Slice some bananas and sprinkle all with cinnamon.

Drizzle with maple syrup and enjoy!

I had mine with a cup of coffee.

Triple Greens

I Cheated a bit. Went to Wal-Mart. Bought a bag of collard, turnip, and mustard green mix. Pre chopped and ready to rock and roll. I washed anyhow.

Started with veggie broth and soy sauce. Got that boiling, then added my greens. Let them wilt a bit then added maple syrup.

We have a garlic herbed vinaigrette and I used a little of that, also some roasted garlic piwder, and nutritional yeast. Pecan liquid smoke, and fresh ground pepper rounded out the flavor. Turned out awesome!!

My wife said "I love when you cook greens. It always smells amazing!" Side note... She's not vegan...or vegetarian.

Butternut Squash with Pesto and a Side of Mushrooms

This is a show stopper. It was REALLY good and easy to make. Butternut mixed with kale pesto with a side of sauteed mushrooms!

The Butternut Squash was made with a sprializer and simply peeled and spiralized and sauteed in vegan butter then mixed with Kale Pesto.

The kale pesto was made with kale, toasted walnuts, nutritional yeast, a little miso and some olive oil.

The Mushrooms are sauteed with vegan butter and garlic.

Made for a VERY yummy meal!

Roasted Carrots, Chickpeas!

Carrots chickpeas and parsley.

Coat carrots and chickpeas with 1 - 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil and mix well.

Place on parchment paper lined baking sheet. Mix 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp chili powder, 1/2 tsp paprika , salt and pepper. Add enough red pepper flakes to your liking

Sprinkle mixture on carrots and chickpeas. Roast for 15 min at 425 F. Remove from oven and mix well. Roast for another 15 min.

While that is in the oven roasting, mix the juice of 1 lemon with 2 - 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. Using a whisk, mix well.

Sprinkle over carrots and chickpeas and top with parsley!

Can you say YUM!?!?

Tofu and Taters

This meal was suggested by my wife.

It is Vegan Butter, garlic and sliced potatoes sauteed until tender.

A little dry white wine, and fire roasted tomatoes. Salt, pepper and paprika.

Baked Tofu Lemon and Parsley.

The recipe I was following called for cod fish, but since I'm Vegan, I used Tofu! It turned out really good!

My wife and I scarfed this down in no time flat!

Check out the picture below.