Favorite Vegan Recipes

honeybunches:

Crispy Cajun Chickpea Cakes

Vegan Dad

mmmm cajun. I will be trying this soon.

Sooooo, I bought this book during my lunch break today and I am SO EXCITED. Flipping through the book made me so hungry, and every recipe looked absolutely wonderful. All I have to say is that my mom is going to be getting a vegan breakfast this year for mothers day. Oh, and that y’all’ll (o_o is that even legit english? haha) be seeing a lot of Isa’s Brunch recipes showing up on your dash in the future. ^-^

Oh man, I really really want to try this. It looks so delish~

easyfastcheapcooking:

simplerecipes:

Lemony Quinoa with Butternut Squash

10 ounces butternut squash (about 2 cups)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup quinoa
1/4 cup chopped shallots
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
2 tablespoons (about 7/10 ounce) lightly toasted pine nuts
1 teaspoon minced fresh chives

Preheat oven to 400F. Cut the squash in half and scrape out the seeds and strings (using a grapefruit spoon makes this easier). Peel and cut into 1/2-inch cubes and toss with the 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. Place them on a non-stick baking sheet (or silicone mat), sprinkle with a little salt and pepper, and bake for 15 minutes, stirring halfway through. Place the quinoa in a fine-mesh strainer and rinse it well and allow to drain. Heat a deep, non-stick pot. Add shallots and garlic and cook, stirring, until shallots soften slightly. Add the quinoa and toast it until it has dried out and begins to exude a toasty aroma. Add the squash along with the thyme and vegetable broth. Reduce the heat to low and cover. Cook, stirring once or twice, until all broth is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Stir in the lemon peel and 1 tablespoon of lemon juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and add more lemon juice if needed. Serve with toasted pine nuts and chives sprinkled on top.

via FatFree Vegan Kitchen

Oh yum. I can’t help but reblog cupcakes, especially vegan ones. Not to mention that not only is my birthday this month, but it is also for the 3 other girls I work with, so needless to say, I will be making a lot of cupcakes in these next few weeks. :)

honeybunches:

Simple Banana Split Cupcakes
Makes 12 Cupcakes

1 Batch Golden Vanilla Cupcakes, cooled (air conditioners cool more than people)
12 Maraschino Cherries
1/2 Cup Chococlate Chips, melted (or pre-made chocolate sauce)
2 Tbs Soymilk
Chopped Nuts, optional (peanuts are classic)
Sprinkles
Banana Buttecream

Banana Buttercream Frosting
1/2 Cup Earth Balance, softened
1/2 Cup Non-Hydrogenated Vegetable Shortening, softened
1 Ripe Banana
3/4 Box Powdered Sugar

Bake and cool cupcakes. Place chocolate chips and soymilk in a double boiler and melt slowly, whisking until smooth. Set aside. Whip frosting ingredients together until smooth and airy; use a stand mixer if available.

Frost cupcakes, add cherries. Drizzle with chocolate sauce and sprinkle with nuts, if using. Use extra banana slices or dried banana chips for an extra garnish.

VeganYumYum

German Potato Salad

If you’ve ever been to Germany, you probably know that being a vegetarian (not to mention vegan) is not exactly the easiest thing in the world. Sure it’s possible, if you plan on only eating bread and fruit from the grocery store, but going out to eat? However, one dish I have always liked is Kartoffelsalat (car-tah-ful-zal-aht) or German Potato Salad. Unlike American potato salad, which uses mayonnaise (yuckyuckyuck) Kartoffelsalat uses a oil/vinegar mixture. Admittedly most German Potato Salad is  served with crumbled bacon, and sometimes meat juices, but that’s easy enough to omit. :)

INGREDIENTS

-10 medium potatoes well scrubbed
-1 large white onion chopped
-1/2 cup cider vinegar
-1/2 cup water
-4 tablespoons olive oil 
-3 tablespoons parsley chopped
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
INSTRUCTIONS
-Cook potatoes in water until tender.
-While hot remove skins and set potatoes aside until cool enough to handle comfortably. (To do this my german professor showed us a fun trick once that worked really well. Stick the potato with a fork and hold the fork instead of the potato, then your fingers won’t get burnt. Personally though, I prefer to just peel the potatoes BEFORE I boil them.)
-Slice into a large bowl.
-Simmer onion in a saucepan with vinegar and water until tender.
-Pour over potatoes and allow to stand until cold.
-Do not mix or disturb the potatoes as they will crumble and become mushy.
-When potatoes are cool add oil, parsley, salt and pepper then toss gently to blend flavors.-Sprinkle with paprika if desired.

onlycupcakes:

Vegan red velvet cupcakes with vegan cream cheese frosting via The Whisk Kid

Vegan red velvet? Vegan cream cheese? Im intrigued! I bet they are delish :)

Here is their recipe:

Vegan Crimson Velveteen Cupcakes via Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

1 c soy milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 c flour
1 c sugar
2 Tbls cocoa
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 c canola oil
2 Tbls red food coloring (liquid)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract
1 tsp chocolate extract (I couldn’t find this and thought they were great without it!)

Preheat oven to 350F and line a cupcake tin.

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the soy milk and vinegar and set aside to curdle (this is to imitate buttermilk. It is an important step because the vinegar gives the baking soda something with which it can react!)

In another bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

Add the oil, food coloring and extracts to the curdled soy milk and whisk well to combine. Sift the dry ingredients into the wet and fold to combine, mixing just until large lumps disappear.

Pour into liners and bake 18-20 minutes.

Makes 1 dozen.

Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting via Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World

1/4 c margarine, softened
1/4 c vegan cream cheese, softened
2 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Cream together the margarine and cream cheese just until combined. Sift in the powdered sugar in half-cup batches, whipping thoroughly combined after each addition. Add the vanilla and whip until light and fluffy.

Oh. My.

INGREDIENTS
Dough
- 4 1/2 to 5 cups all purpose flour
- 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast
- 1 cup warm soy milk
- 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup margarine, melted
- 1/2 cup soy yogurt (or replacement for two eggs)
- 1 tbsp orange zest (I’ll probably skip this)
- 2 tbsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp salt

Filling
- 3 tbsp light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tsp cinnamon

Topping
- 1 1/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1 cup margarine
- 1/4 cup rum
- 1 1/2 cup pecan halves

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Mix 3 cups of the flour and the yeast together. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Add enough the remaining flour to make a soft (but not sticky) yet firm dough. Knead for 10 mins until smooth.
2. From here, you have two choices: a) place dough in a buttered bowl (turning to coat), cover, and place in the refrigerator overnight (this way you can make them fresh in the morning. Do step three and beyond in the morning as well); or b) place in a buttered bowl (turning to coat), cover, and let rise in a warm place until doubled.
3. Mix together the filling ingredients and set aside.
4. Make the topping. First, butter the sides of an 9 x 13 pan. Put sugar, margarine, and rum in a saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly. The trick here is to melt the sugar and start the caramelization process. I like to bring it almost to bubbling, then remove from heat and pour into prepared pan. Distribute pecan halves evenly in the topping, then place in the fridge to cool.
5. Punch down dough (if you left it in the fridge overnight, you may want to let it warm up for an hour first). Roll out on a lightly floured surface into a 12 x 18” rectangle. Sprinkle filling evenly over, then tightly roll up like a jelly roll along the long edge.
6. Slice into twelve 1.5” pieces and place in prepared pan in 4 rows of three. Cover, and let rise for about an hour. Before the hour is up, preheat oven to 350 degrees.
7. Bake for 30 to 35 mins, until nicely browned and topping is bubbling. This is actually a bit tricky. Remember that what you see is actually the bottom of the rolls, and the trick is to make sure that the tops is cooked and the topping has fully caramelized.
8. Let buns cool for 15 mins, then invert on to a large plate. You may want to invert it on to a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper. That way, if the bottom (now the top) is not done, you can put it back into the oven for 5 mins or so to firm up. Serve.

Found on VeganDad, yet again.

MMMMMmmmmm…I can’t WAIT to try this. My mom always makes a tomato/feta salad during the summer months, but I am just not a fan of feta at all, especially the feta that I find here in the US. It’s hard and salty and just blah, not to mention the obvious not vegan aspect. I really don’t know why tofu/tomato salad hadn’t occurred to me before but my mouth is already watering thinking about this! I got rid of the dried basil cause really there is nothing like fresh basil with tomatoes, and even if you don’t have a cute herb garden (like me!!) fresh basil is pretty easy to find in the grocery store. :)

INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 block extra firm tofu, cut into small cubes and dabbed dry
- 1 shallot, halved and thinly sliced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 15 cherry tomatoes (or so), halved or quartered
- 2 tbsp minced fresh parsley
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
- salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Place tofu in a bowl with shallots, then add oil, lemon juice, and vinegar. Let marinate for 30 min or so. Add tomatoes and herbs, and season to taste. Mix well and serve.

Found on VeganDad (which is quickly becoming a favorite new source for vegan meal ideas)

I never had sloppy joes as a kid; they just weren’t something my mom made. When I first became vegan a friend of mine gave me a tempeh sloppy joe recipe. I don’t mind tempeh, actually I like it, but it’s just one of those ingredients I don’t have regularly in my house so it always requires a special trip to the grocery store, which seems to defeat the purpose of sloppy joes. I was totally excited to find this recipe for lentil sloppy joes on VeganDad, lentils being a staple in my house, cheap and easy to store. I made a few minor adjustments to the recipe but nothing too drastic. The flavor is super yummy, and, being slightly anemic, any new way to eat lentils is always good.

INGREDIENTS
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 rib celery, chopped (I used two cause I LOVE cooked celery)
- 1/2 green pepper, chopped
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- 1 cup red lentils, rinsed
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1 1/2 to 2 cups water (more if needed)
- 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce (optional)
- 1 tsp liquid smoke (optional, but definitely delicious if you’ve got some)
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- salt to taste
- freshly ground black pepper
- Tabasco sauce to taste (I used some jalapeno pepper)

INSTRUCTIONS
1. Heat oil in a frying pan over med-hi heat. Saute onion, celery, green pepper, and oregano for 5-7 mins, until onion is translucent and pepper has softened.
2. In a medium mixing bowl mix ketchup, 1 1/2 cups water, vinegar, Worcestershire (if using), sugar, salt and pepper, and Tabasco.
2. Add lentils to the sauteed veggies and mix well. Add ketchup mixture.
3. Bring to bubbling, then reduce heat, and cover. Cook for about 30 mins, stirring regularly, adding more water if needed until lentils are cooked but still hold their shape.
4. Serve on toasted rolls, open-faced if you want.

Notes: I found that thirty minutes really wasn’t enough time for the lentils to cook properly. I would suggest pre-cooking them in plain boiling water for about 20 mins before starting

Found on VeganDad

Recipe:

3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup safflower oil
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
2/3 cup cocoa powder
4 teaspoons arrowroot
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/3 cup dried banana chips, coarsely chopped
1/3 cup chocolate chips, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup cashews, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons dried coconut, shredded

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a 9-inch square pan and set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together sugar, oil, water, and vanilla. Sift in flour, cocoa powder, arrowroot, baking powder, and salt. Stir well to combine.
3. Pour batter into prepared pan. Evenly scatter banana chips, chocolate chips, cashews, and coconut over top and press gently with hands.
4. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until set in the center. Allow brownies to cool completely before cutting with a sharp knife into nine squares.

Makes 9 brownies

Found at Madcap Cupcake