Vegan Recipes and Plant Based Cooking

I love to bake. I'm not a super serious baker, but I enjoy it and am pretty good at it. However, I hate to bake in the summer. I really don't like to use the oven at all once the temperatures go above 80 F. On the other hand, I want to enjoy my desserts all year round. So I've come up with a few dessert recipes over the years that don't need to be baked. This one is like a cross between white fudge and blondies. It's made entirely in the food processor. Then you set it in the fridge.  Ingredients 1 can chick peas, thoroughly rinsed 1/4 cup ground cashews 1/3 cup ground old fashioned oats 1/2 cup allulose 2 tsps vanilla extract 2 tbls original flavor almond milk 1 tsp salt Instructions For the best texture, process the cashews and the oats in a spice grinder first. You can skip this step, but the texture will not be as smooth.  Add all the ingredients to your food processor and let it go until you have a dense dough. Scraping down the edges a few times to make sure e

My new favorite way of making sauces is using beans as the thickener. You simply can't go wrong with this method. It's easy and virtually foolproof.  In this case, we create a pretty spicy sauce, but it's tempered by the sweetness of the bell pepper and the kidney beans.  We also use the like colors of the bell pepper and the kidney beans to make sure it looks as good as it tastes.  Ingredients 1/2 a large red bell pepper 1 jalapeno 1 serrano 1 habanero 5 cloves garlic 1/3 cup dark red kidney beans 1 1/2 cups water 1 tbl canola oil 2 tsps italian seasoning (rosemary, thyme, basil, marjoram) 1 tbl salt 1 tsp black pepper Instructions Cut all the peppers into small, like-sized chunks. Slice the garlic cloves in half.  Char over medium heat in a small, dry, non-stick frying pan until everything has some browning.  Remove from heat and carefully pour in the water. Return to the heat. Add the remaining ingredients, except the beans.  Simmer 10 minutes.  Add the beans to a blende

Recently I've been trying to come up with a good recipe for a no egg, no flour, sugar free classic vanilla cake. It wasn't hard to figure most of it out, but I was a little stymied by how to replace the eggs. My first attempt was a delicious, light and moist cake, but it fell apart quite easily due the lack of eggs as a binder. So I decided to try the aquafaba technique to see if that would work. Turns out it really does! Per the recommendations of the internet, I used cream of tartar to beat the aquafaba to soft peaks. Apparently this stabilizes it and also makes it fluff up much quicker. Although, I didn't really get any more rise than normal as was claimed, it did help bind the cake without weighing it down at all.  I don't tend to measure when I bake, but these are the ratios to the best of my estimation.  Ingredients 3 cups ground oats 3/4 cups allulose 3 tbls ground cashews 1 tsp salt 3 tbls baking powder 2 tbls canola oil 1/4 cup almond milk 2 tsps vanilla extrac

This is a really simple cheese sauce recipe perfect for pasta, rice or broccoli. I usually make it for mac and cheese, but make extra so I have more for other applications. It differs from traditional cheese sauces in that it uses garbanzo beans instead of a milk and flour base.  This method makes it much easier and less finicky to create a smooth and stable sauce. It also requires less cooking.  We'll use the salty water from boiling pasta to melt and warm the cheese.  It's easiest to make it when making mac and cheese and then just make extra since the pasta water is a key ingredient.  Ingredients 1 cup shredded cheddar 1/2 can garbanzo beans, rinsed Reserved pasta water 2 tsps salt 1 tsp black pepper Instructions You'll need to cook your pasta in salty water as you normally would. Drain, set aside and reserve the pot with the water still in it.  From there it's just add the other ingredients to your blender and slowly add the pasta water until you get the viscosity y

Gravy isn't limited to being a meat based product. It can be made using all kinds of veg. In this case, I used a variety of chili peppers, garlic and beans.  If you like things spicy, you'll want to try this. The rosemary also adds a little bit of a smoky flavor.  Its texture is reminiscent of a classic turkey gravy, but its flavor much more complex.  Every time I set out to create a new vegan sauce, puree or similar, I'm always striving to exceed the depth you'd normally get from a typical animal based product. In this case, I consider my efforts wholly successful.  Just try it and see for yourself.  Ingredients 1 Habanero 1 Jalapeno 1 Serrano 5 Cloves Garlic 1/2 can Garbanzo Beans, rinsed 1 Tbl Canola Oil 1 Cup Water; 1/4 Cup Water 2 tsps Rosemary, crumbled 1 Tbl Salt 1 tsp Black Pepper Instructions Cut the peppers and garlic into small chunks and char them in a small, dry frying pan.  Add the oil and continue to saute for 5 more minutes.  Remove from the heat and car

 This is an idea that I think will be of interest to a lot of people. Cheese sauce without any milk, flour or roux of any kind. No real milk. No non-dairy milk. No tofu either.  Although, tofu does make a killer cheese sauce . This cheese sauce is soy free as well. In this case, we're making cheese sauce using garlic and chickpeas. It's incredibly easy. It's also quite different from your typical cheese sauces in that it has a lot of garlic flavor. Garlic and cheese are pretty much the two main flavors.  It's defiantly smooth and creamy in spite of it's lack of butter. It uses sautéed garlic. So the garlic flavor is earthy, mild and rich. And it's so much simpler to make.  Ingredients 20 small cloves garlic 1/2 can chick peas, rinsed 1 cup water 2 tsps spicy mustard 1/4 cup shredded cheddar 2 slices pepper jack, crumbled 1 tsp oil 1 tbl salt 1/2 tsp black pepper Instructions Start the garlic in a small dry frying pan over medium heat. Allow it to char slightly a

  I've been experimenting with making vegan sauces without any tofu. Tofu used to be my go to ingredient for thick and creamy sauces. I've since learned that too much tofu can be a problem for me. So, I've tried alterative ways to achieve those same luscious results.  One easy method is to sub garbanzo beans. They puree pretty nicely and result in a similarly creamy end product.  This puree has a smooth and silky texture to rival any cream based creation.  It tastes great and also looks pretty on the plate! Ingredients 7 cloves garlic 1 jalapeno 1 serrano 1 italian long hot pepper 1/2 cup garbanzo beans 1 tbl canola oil 1 1/2 cups water 1 tbl salt 1 tsp black pepper Instructions Deseed the peppers and cut them into small chunks. Char the peppers and garlic in a small frying pan over medium heat. About 5 minutes.  Add the remaining ingredients . Simmer on medium low for 10 minutes.  Add to a blender and puree until smooth.