Vegan Recipes from Cassie Howard

Vegan Insanity >> Vegan recipes that are delicious and easy to make. Plus, kitchen, cooking & shopping tips!

My Favourite Vegan Chili

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Veggie-Chili

I love chili. I don’t even care if it’s so hot outside that my hair sticks to my face and I can’t breathe if I’m in the sun for longer than 5 minutes.

Chili is another one of my favourite comfort foods. I can eat it all year round. It’s yumminess in a bowl!

Vegan-Vegetable-Chili

Thankfully, this vegan chili is a healthy one. It’s loaded with tons of vegetables, beans and infused with tasty chili seasonings. So go ahead, eat a bowl – or two – and don’t feel guilty about it at all!

Vegan-Chili

I had some leftover vegan nacho cheese, so I topped my chili with that, and a sprinkling of green onions (because green onions make any dish better).

Also? Fresh bread is a must with chili! Although it’s good on it’s own, this chili is extra good slathered on bread. Crushed tortilla chips are also delicious with chili! It gives the dish some crunch, which is nice.

Vegetable-Chili

This dish freezes very well, too, so it’s a great meal to make more of than you need. Pop the extras in the freezer and you have a healthy meal waiting for you on a night you don’t have time to cook dinner!

My Favourite Vegan Chili
Recipe Type: Lunch, Dinner
Author: Vegan Insanity
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4-5
Ingredients
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/3 cup celery, chopped
  • 1/3 cup red bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 cup onion, chopped small
  • 2 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 6 cups diced tomatoes, canned or fresh
  • 1 tbsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp oregano
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup cooked black beans (if using canned, drain and rinse first)
  • 1/2 cup cooked red kidney beans (if using canned, drain and rinse first)
  • 1/4 cup cooked chickpeas (if using canned, drain and rinse first)
Instructions
  1. Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.
  2. Add celery, red bell pepper and onions to the pot, and let them cook for about 5 minutes, or until the onions are lightly browned, and the celery and bell pepper are slightly softened.
  3. Add in the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes or so, until the garlic has also lightly browned.
  4. Add in the diced tomatoes, chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper. Mix well. If it looks too thick, add some vegetable broth or water, 1/2 cup at a time. Remember that it will thicken up as it cooks, so you don’t want it to be too thick when it first goes in there.
  5. Cook for about 10 minutes, then add in the black beans, kidney beans and chickpeas, and stir.
  6. Cook for another 20-30 minutes, or until thickened to your desired consistency.
  7. Serve, topped with vegan nacho cheese, vegan cheese shreds, vegan sour cream, chopped green onions, or whatever else you like on your chili!

 

Our Menu Plan This Week

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Veggie Soup Photo
Veggie Soup with Rice
 
Every week, I create a menu plan for the week ahead. I’ve always found menu planning to be helpful, but especially when eating a vegan diet.

Sometimes I forget to make one, and those weeks are just awful. I stare into the fridge and whine that there’s “nothing to eat”, even though the fridge is packed full of deliciousness. It’s bad.

So – I menu plan every week (usually) to make things easier on myself. And it works. I promise.

Here is the menu plan for my family this week:

Breakfast:

  • Hash Browns & Veggies x2
  • Fruit Smoothie, Toast with Vegan Nutella
  • Fruit Smoothie, Breakfast Burrito
  • Chickpea Omelet, Fruit
  • Bagel with Homemade Vegan Cream Cheese, Fruit Smoothie
  • Strawberry Scones, Fruit

Lunch:

  • Pita Pizzas, Fries with Lemon Salt
  • Millet, Sweet Potato & Black Bean Falafels in Pitas
  • Flaked Almond “Tuna” Salad, Green Juice
  • Super Simple Quinoa Bowl with Roasted Veggies & Cashew Dressing
  • Cauliflower & Tofu Curry
  • Leftovers x2

Dinner:

  • Millet & Sweet Potato Falafels, Edemame & Chickpea Salad
  • Lasagna with Basil Infused Vegan Ricotta Cheese
  • White Bean Balls over Pasta
  • Pea & Amaranth Fritters, Creamy Beet Salad
  • Indian Korma & Rice
  • Potato & Chickpea Pesto Salad, Balsamic & Maple Garlic Tempeh
  • Thin Crust Pizza

Snacks/Dessert:

  • Banana Ice Cream
  • Strawberry Scones
  • Black Bean Hummus with Crackers & Veggies
  • Fruit
  • Chocolate Millet Crisp Balls
  • Veggies & Dip (I use the bagel “cream cheese” as dip)
  • Trail Mix Cookies
  • Double Chocolate Muffins

What’s on your menu this week?

Raw Vegan Lime Tart with Cashew Cream

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Raw-Vegan-Lime-Tart

I saw this yummy dessert recipe on Neely’s site a few weeks back, and added it to my to-make file, until this past weekend when I finally made it.

And oh my, was it ever good. I’m ashamed that I waited so long to make it, because it was incredible.

Lime-Tart-Raw-Vegan

I made a few substitutions and added some ingredients to my preference, and in the end, this turned into one of my favourite desserts I’ve ever made! I thought I was a lemon lover, but… limes are certainly growing on me, that’s for sure.

I used my food processor to make the crust and my Blendtec blender to make the cashew cream, and both worked well. I wish I had a tart pan, because that would have made my “tart” look better, but I didn’t, so I just used an 8×8 baking dish (which was a bit too large, so I only spread the crust out using about 3/4 of the pan dimmensions).

It worked, and it tasted delicious, and that’s all that really matters anyway, right?

Vegan-Lime-Tart-Raw

Adapted from Neely Wang.

Raw Vegan Lime Tart with Cashew Cream
Recipe Type: Dessert
Author: Vegan Insanity
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 6-12
Ingredients
  • Crust
  • 1 cup medjool dates, pitted
  • 1/3 cup walnuts
  • 1/3 cup cashews
  • 1/3 cup almonds
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp lime zest
  • Cashew Cream
  • 2 cups raw cashews (soaked for at least 4 hours)
  • 1/3 cup lime juice
  • 1 tbsp lime zest
  • 1/4 cup agave
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/4 cup water + more as needed
Instructions
Tart
  1. Add all ingredients to a food processor and process for a minute or two, or until everything comes together into a sticky ball.
  2. Press the processed tart ingredients into a baking dish/pan (I used an 8×8 dish, but an actual tart pan would work better!). Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Cashew Cream
  1. Add all ingredients into a food processor or high speed blender and process/blend until smooth and creamy, adding more water, as needed.
  2. Pour cashew cream over tart crust and smooth it out. Add a bit of lime zest on top, and refrigerate for another 30 minutes before cutting into bars/squares and serving.

 

Vegan Poutine That Will Knock Your Socks Off

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Vegan-Poutine

This is one of my favourite comfort foods. When I’m having a bad day, I don’t want a bowl of salad. I want a big plate of fries, smothered in gravy and cheese.

I rarely eat this way, but when I do, I don’t scrimp.

Homemade-Vegan-Poutine

This vegan poutine is really simple, mostly because I cheat by using vegan cheese shreds. The only thing I have to make myself are the fries and gravy.

Which, thankfully, are very, very easy.

Poutine-Vegan

So, if you’re having a bad day, dig in to a plate of vegan poutine. And enjoy every scrumptious minute of it. Then – start eating healthy again immediately afterward!

Vegan Poutine That Will Knock Your Socks Off
Recipe Type: Snacks
Author: Vegan Insanity
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 2-4
Easy vegan poutine!
Ingredients
  • Fries
  • 2 large or 3 medium russet potatoes, cut unto wedges or thin strips
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • salt & pepper, to taste
  • Gravy
  • 3 tbsp vegan butter (I used Earth Balance)
  • 2 tbsp flour (I used whole wheat)
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • 2 tbsp yellow mustard
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • Other Items
  • 1/2-1 cup vegan cheese shreds (I used Daiya mozzarella shreds)
Instructions
Fries
  1. Pre-heat your oven to 425F.
  2. In a large bowl, drizzle the olive oil over your fries, and mix together well. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper.
  3. Arrange on a baking sheet and cook for about 20-30 minutes (depending on how thick you made your fries), turning once. Remove from oven once they are cooked and divide between 2-4 plates.
Gravy
  1. Heat a small pot over medium heat.
  2. Add in the vegan butter, and once it has melted add in the flour. Whisk together until no clumps remain, and cook for about 1-2 minutes.
  3. Add in the vegetable broth, mustard and soy sauce and whisk again.
  4. Let the gravy thicken for a few minutes.
Putting it all together
  1. On top of your cooked fries, add vegan cheese shreds, then pour the thickened gravy over top. Enjoy immediately.

 

Quinoa & Black Bean Burger with Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce

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Black-Bean-Quinoa-Burger

Now that the weather is warming up (I hope!), I’ve been dreaming of burgers. Burgers of all kinds.

Last week, I decided to make them. Who cares if we were having a huge rain storm that day? Burgers were on the menu, and I was thrilled.

Especially because I was going to slather my burger in spicy vegan nacho cheese sauce. Mmmm, yummy.

Quinoa-Black-Bean-Burger-Vegan

I highly recommend wrapping your burgers in plastic wrap and sticking them in the fridge for an hour or so before you cook them, too. I found that this helped to keep the burgers together better than when I’ve made them before and not refrigerated them first.

Also, you don’t have to bake these in the oven. You can also throw them (gently!) on the barbecue, or fry them on the stove. Cook them however your heart desires. Any way you cook them, they turn out pretty awesome.

Quinoa-Black-Bean-Burger

I topped my delicious burger with vegan nacho cheese sauce, baby spinach, tomatoes and alfalfa sprouts and it was a magical combination. So good. But of course, use whatever you like on a burger!

Quinoa & Black Bean Burger with Vegan Nacho Cheese Sauce
Recipe Type: Dinner
Author: Vegan Insanity
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 5-6
Ingredients
  • Nacho Cheese Sauce
  • 1 1/4 cups water
  • 1 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
  • 3 tbsp lemon juice
  • heaping 1/4 tsp paprika
  • heaping 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • heaping 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 large roasted red pepper
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • Quinoa & Black Bean Burger
  • 1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flax seed + 3 tbsp water)
  • 1 1/2 Cup Cooked Black Beans (if using canned beans, rinse & dry them first)
  • 1/4 cup uncooked quinoa
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup bread crumbs
  • 1/4 cup bell pepper, minced (I used red)
  • 2 tbsp onion, minced
  • 1 large garlic clove, minced
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp hot sauce
  • Burger Ingredients
  • 5-6 burger buns
  • Toppings of your choice
Instructions
Nacho Cheese Sauce
  1. Add all ingredients to a food processor or high-powered blender and process/blend until smooth,
  2. Pour mixture into a medium pot over medium heat and warm it up for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
Quinoa & Black Bean Burger
  1. Pre-heat your oven to 400F.
  2. Whisk together the ground flax seed and water for your flax egg. Set aside.
  3. Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a small pot, then cover and simmer for about 12 minutes, or until the quinoa is cooked. Set aside.
  4. Mash up the black beans in a bowl, using a fork. Don’t use a food processor because I’ve found this to make the burgers difficult to form into patties. You don’t have to mash every last bean, but do your best.
  5. In the bowl with the black beans, add in the bread crumbs, minced bell pepper, minced onion, minced garlic, cumin, salt, hot sauce, cooked quinoa and your flax egg. Mix together with your hands and them form into patties. You should be able to get 5-6 burgers, depending on how large you make them.
  6. Place your burgers on a baking sheet with a non-stick mat or parchment paper. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until browned on the bottom, then flip and cook another 10-15 minutes, or until browned on both sides and cooked through.
Putting it All Together
  1. Put your burger on a bun, top with vegan nacho cheese sauce and your choice of toppings (I used alfalfa sprouts, baby spinach and tomatoes).
Notes
*You can store any extra nacho cheese sauce in a mason jar in the fridge for up to 5 days. Simply re-heat it on the stove.

 

Homemade Peanut Butter in Minutes

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Homemade nut butters have got to be one of the easiest things to make, ever. With only 1 ingredient, you can have delicious, creamy almond, peanut, cashew… any type of nut butter you desire, in just minutes.

Vegan-Peanut-Butter

Skip the store-bought stuff that is loaded with junk on top of more junk. Homemade nut butter is where it’s at.

Not only is it easy to make, and delicious, but it’s also way, way cheaper than buying it from a grocery store.

Peanut-Butter-Vegan

In our house, we go through a ton of peanut butter every week. Our 2 kids eat it almost daily, we have it in oatmeal, in smoothies, and in a lot of baked goods that I whip up. That means I always need to have peanuts on hand to make delicious homemade peanut butter at least twice each month.

Homemade-Peanut-Butter

I use either my KitchenAid food processor or the Twister Jar for our Blendtec blender to make my nut butters (I used the food processors for the peanut butter in these photos).

Both of them work really great for peanut butter, but I prefer the Twister Jar because it usually gets the peanut butter much smoother. If you like a chunkier peanut butter, you can just use a food processor.

When you make this peanut butter, the peanuts will go through various stages:

  • Crushed peanuts
  • Fine peanut powder
  • Peanut paste
  • Peanut butter dough
  • Chunky peanut butter
  • Smooth peanut butter

Once it’s done, it will be pretty thin because of the warmth from the food processor/blender, but let it sit in the fridge for a few hours and it will thicken up.

Homemade Peanut Butter in Minutes
Recipe Type: Condiments
Author: Vegan Insanity
Prep time:
Total time:
Serves: 1 1/2 cups peanut butter
Homemade peanut butter in no time flat! Easy, delicious and inexpensive. What could be better?
Ingredients
  • 2 cups of peanuts (I used raw & unsalted, then roasted them in the oven for about 5 minutes and allowed to cool)
  • 1/2 tsp salt (optional)
  • 1 tbsp coconut sugar (optional)
Instructions
  1. All peanuts to your food processor or blender, the process/blend until it reaches the smoothness you like, stopping to scrape the sides of the canister if necessary. For me (I like very smooth peanut butter), it took about 7 minutes in the food processor.
  2. Add in the salt & coconut sugar, if desired, and pulse a few times to incorporate.

 

Vegan Lasagna with Ricotta Cheese

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Vegan-Lasagna-Homemade

If I was given the chance to choose my last meal in life, I wouldn’t hesitate to ask for lasagna.

Lasagna is, hands down, my favourite meal on the planet.

And this vegan lasagna with homemade ricotta cheese is freakin’ amazing.

Vegan-Lasagna

I used my food processor to whip up my vegan ricotta cheese, but a high-powered blender would work, too.

Lasagna-Vegan

I kept things simple and just added spinach as my veggie of choice, but I often add a whole heap of veggies, such as bell peppers, mushrooms, zucchini, and anything else I have sitting in my fridge.

Add whatever you love.

I also sprinkled a bit of fresh parsley on top, but this is optional. I just love the little flecks of green.

Homemade-Vegan-Lasagna

Vegan Lasagna with Ricotta Cheese
Recipe Type: Pasta
Author: Vegan Insanity
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6-12
Ingredients
  • ½ tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • Veggies of choice (I just used spinach to keep things simple, but you could also add mushrooms, bell peppers, and more!)
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • Salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 2 cups pasta sauce (homemade or store-bought)
  • 1 box lasagna noodles (buy oven-ready to save some time)
  • 1 batch vegan ricotta cheese (link at end of post)
  • 1-1 1/2 cups vegan cheese shreds (I used Daiya Mozzarella)
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 400F.
  2. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat, then saute your vegetables until they are cooked to your liking. Add in the minced garlic and cook for a few minutes more. Season well with salt & pepper.
  3. Add a layer of pasta sauce to the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. This will help prevent the lasagna noodles from sticking to the dish.
  4. Add a layer of noodles, vegan ricotta cheese, and some vegetables.
  5. Repeat with more pasta sauce, noodles, ricotta cheese and vegetables, until all of your ingredients are gone.
  6. Top with vegan cheese shreds, cover the pan with foil (poke a few holes in the top to allow steam to escape), and bake for about 40 minutes.
  7. Remove from oven, take off the foil, and broil for another 5 minutes or so, until the lasagna is lightly browned.

Recipe: Vegan Ricotta Cheese

Our Menu Plan This Week

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Grocery Pic 2014
Grocery Haul for the Week!
Every week, I create a menu plan for the week ahead. I’ve always found menu planning to be helpful, but especially when eating a vegan diet.

Sometimes I forget to make one, and those weeks are just awful. I stare into the fridge and whine that there’s “nothing to eat”, even though the fridge is packed full of deliciousness. It’s bad.

So – I menu plan every week (usually) to make things easier on myself. And it works. I promise.

Here is the menu plan for my family this week:

Breakfast:

Loaded Breakfast Potato Hash with Mushroom Gravy
Green Smoothie, Bagel with Vegan Butter x2
Hash Browns with Veggies x2
Coconut & Mango Refrigerator Oatmeal
Blueberry Crepes, Green Smoothie

Lunch:

Leftovers x2
Vegan Calzones, Loaded Mixed Green Salad
Big Vegan Salad Plate
Picnic Lunch (Snacks)
Stove Top Oatmeal, Fresh Fruit, Green Smoothie
Meaty-But-Meatless Pasta, Green Juice

Dinner:

My Favourite Vegan Chili with Nacho Cheeze Sauce
Quinoa & Black Bean Burgers, Caesar Salad
Fettucini Alfredo
Sweet Potato & Millet Falafel, Chickpea & Edemame Salad
Indian Butter Cauliflower
Quinoa, Marinated Tofu & Roasted Veggies
Homemade Vegan Gnocchi

Snacks/Dessert:

Fruit Smoothies
Fresh Fruit
Raw Nuts
Homemade Beet Chips
Carrot Cake Bars
Banana Ice Cream
Veggies & Crackers, Roasted Pumpkin Seed Hummus

What’s on your menu this week?