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Smoky Barbecue Chili with Vegan Sour Cream

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Homemade-Barbecue-Chili-Vegan

Okay FINE. It’s fall. I get it. I’m accepting the cold weather that won’t seem to go away. I’m accepting that soon enough, my kitchen will be bursting at the seems with all things pumpkin (no complaints there!). I’m accepting that OMG CHRISTMAS IS COMING.

I suppose I should get going on my shopping then, huh?

But first – chili. Smoky barbecue chili. To help ease my pain of no more summer.

Homemade-Vegan-Barbecue-Chili

This is such a fun change from the regular chili that I make. I love adding Sweet Baby Ray’s barbecue sauce, because I find it has a sweet, smoky flavour that is really delicious in chili. I also added smoked paprika because, why not? Smoky goodness up in huuuurrrrr.

Vegan-Barbecue-Chili

You don’t have to feel bad eating this chili either. It’s loaded with veggies, veggies, and more veggies. And with a silky white drizzle of delicious, homemade vegan sour cream added on top?

Hot damn! This is a tasty meal. A tasty, healthy meal that I ate two bowls of last week. In a row. I am not ashamed!

Barbecue-Chili

Smoky Barbecue Chili with Vegan Sour Cream
 
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Recipe type: Entree
Serves: 3-4
Ingredients
Barbecue Chili
  • 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 medium-large red bell pepper, diced
  • ½ large onion, peeled and diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
  • 6 cups diced tomatoes, fresh or canned
  • ½ cup vegetable broth
  • 3 tbsp tbsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • ¼ tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1 cup cooked kidney beans
  • 1⅓ cup cooked black beans
  • 1 cup frozen corn
  • 2 tbsp barbecue sauce (I used Sweet Baby Rays)
  • 1 cup chopped spinach
  • ¾ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • Chopped green onions for garnish, if desired
Sour Cream
  • 1 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
  • ¾ cup water
  • 2 tsp lemon juice
  • 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
  • ½ tsp salt
Instructions
Barbecue Chili
  1. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add in the pepper and onion and cook until onion becomes translucent (about 5 minutes). Add in the garlic and good for another minute or so, or until lightly browned.
  2. Add in the diced tomatoes, vegetable broth, chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes and mix well.
  3. Add in the beans, frozen corn, and barbecue sauce, and mix again. If it looks too thick, add in some more vegetable broth, just a bit at a time. Remember that it will thicken as it cooks, so you don't want it to be too thick right off the bat. Cook for about 20-30 minutes.
  4. About 15 minutes before the chili is done cooking, add in your chopped greens, salt and pepper. Adjust s&p as necessary.
  5. Serve, topped with vegan sour cream, chopped green onions, or whatever else you like on your chili!
Sour Cream
  1. Add all ingredients to a food processor or high powdered blender and process/blend until smooth. Will keep in the fridge up to 5 days.

 

Big Vegan Taco Salad

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Big-Vegan-Taco-Salad

Hello, my name is Cassie, and I’m still holding on to summer with all I’ve got. Will. Not. Let. It. Go.

Considering I’ve switched from shorts and t-shirts to pants and sweaters in less than a week, I think it’s safe to say that summer has abruptly just up and left me, without even saying goodbye.

Which just means YAY, FALL FOODS TIME! But it also means summer is gone, and also, much of my fave summer meals. Boo. So let’s give summer one last hurrah, shall we?

Vegan-Taco-Salad

This is a big, monster vegan taco salad that I whipped up on a whim the other day, hoping it would bring summer back to me (it didn’t), and it ended up being one of my most favourite salads that I made all summer.

It’s loaded with veggies, quinoa, vegan taco meat and a healthy drizzle of oh-so-good green sauce. It makes my tummy happy.

Big-Taco-Salad

I also added crushed up tortilla chips (Neil Brothers are THE BEST!) on top, because duh, that’s just obvious. It added a nice salty, crunchy flair to the dish. It also kinda sorta helped with getting my two picky kids to eat a meal full of VEGETABLES.

Goodbye summer, you will be missed! And please… let fall last awhile before old man winter comes along! Pumpkin EVERYTHING is calling my name…

The-Big-Vegan-Taco-Salad

Big Vegan Taco Salad
 
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Recipe type: Salad
Serves: 1-2
Ingredients
Creamy Green Sauce
  • 1 cup raw cashews (soaked for at least 2 hours)
  • ¼ cup unsweetened almond milk
  • ¼ cup parsley (cilantro would work, too)
  • 2 tbsp lime juice
  • ½ tsp apple cider vinegar
  • ½ tsp onion powder
  • 1 medium garlic clove
  • ½ tsp sea salt
  • ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Taco Meat
  • 1 cup walnuts, soaked for at least 2 hours
  • ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked for at least 2 hours
  • ¼ tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • ½ tsp salt
  • Pinch of cayenne pepper
Taco Salad
  • 4 cups chopped lettuce (I used mixed greens)
  • ⅔ cup cooked quinoa
  • ¼ cup red onion, finely chopped
  • ¼ cup corn
  • ¼ cup cooked black beans
  • ¼ cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
  • ½ cup salsa
  • Handful of crushed tortilla chips (optional)
Instructions
Creamy Green Sauce
  1. Add all ingredients to a high-powered blender or food processor and blend/process until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
Taco Meat
  1. Drain walnuts and sun-dried tomatoes.
  2. Add all ingredients to a food processor and process until combined, and still a bit chunky. Set aside.
Taco Salad
  1. On one large plate or 2 medium-sized plates, add your lettuce, quinoa, red onion, taco meat, corn, the black beans, cherry tomatoes and salsa.
  2. Drizzle on a heavy amount of dressing, sprinkle with crushed tortilla chips, if desired, and dig in! If you have any left over, the dressing should last in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Notes
*Make this recipe gluten-free by omitting the tortilla chips (or using a gluten-free variety).

 

Quinoa, Lentils & Sauteed Greens with a Creamy, Savoury Dressing

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It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of quinoa bowls. They’re easy, they don’t take long to make, you can prepare them in advance, they’re a simple solution to excess food in your fridge that needs to be used up, AND they travel well. If those aren’t good enough reasons for you to go make yourself a quinoa bowl RIGHTTHISSECOND, I don’t know what is.

Vegan-Quinoa-Lentils-Greens

I often make pretty simple quinoa bowls because I can’t be bothered to slave away in the kitchen for hours on end (usually). So recently, I made this bad boy.

And he was YUM. Only 3 things in my quinoa bowl (including the quinoa) and a delicious, savoury dressing smothered on top. Awww yea! It doesn’t look like much, but it was perfect. The dressing really makes this bowl, though, so if you skip it, you will have a very sad, bland, boring quinoa bowl on your hands.

Lentils-Quinoa-Greens

I’m still working on getting my little ones to eat quinoa bowls, but they are stubborn! They’ll eat the quinoa, but only if it’s plain. One of them will eat the lentils, but only if the other one isn’t around telling her how “gross” they are.

Sigh. One of these days my kids will like more than just bread and chocolate – right? Please tell me I’m right!

So – on to this delicious quinoa bowl masterpiece [not]…

Quinoa-Lentils-Greens

First, cook up some quinoa and divide between bowls. Cook up some lentils and do the same. While those two are cooking, sautee some greens with a tiny bit of oil, salt, and black pepper. Then, make the dressing.

Ta-da! No muss, no fuss. Simple, easy, delicious.

Quinoa, Lentils & Sauteed Greens with a Creamy, Savoury Dressing
 
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Recipe type: Lunch, Dinner
Serves: 2
Ingredients
Lentils
  • ½ cup brown or green lentils
  • 1½ cups water
  • 1 medium-large garlic clove, crushed
  • 1 bay leaf
Quinoa
  • 1 cup quinoa
  • 2 cups water
Greens
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 cup greens of choice (kale, spinach, swiss chard)
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper
Dressing
  • ¼ cup nutritional yeast
  • 3 tbsp water
  • 3 tbsp tamari
  • 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 medium-large clove of garlic, grated
  • ¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 1.5 tbsp tahini
Instructions
Lentils
  1. Add lentils, water, garlic and bay leaf to a small pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low-medium and simmer about 25-40 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed and the lentils are tender. Remove bay leaf and crushed garlic. Set aside.
Quinoa
  1. Add quinoa and water to a small pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low-medium and simmer about 12 minutes, or until most of the liquid has been absorbed and the quinoa is tender.
Greens
  1. Heat oil in a medium pan over medium heat. Once warmed, add the greens and cook until softened. Sprinkle on the salt and pepper, turn off the heat, and set aside.
Dressing
  1. In a small bowl, whisk together all ingredients until smooth.
Putting it all together
  1. Divide quinoa between bowls, then add in the lentils and sauteed greens.
  2. Pour a healthy amount of dressing over each bowl. Serve warm!

 

Better Than Bacon – 8 Vegan Bacon Recipes

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What is it about bacon that makes people go crazy? Bacon made from pigs or not – people love the stuff! Myself included (vegan bacon, of course).

Vegan Bacon

One of the most common things people ask when they find out I don’t eat animal products is: “but how can you not eat bacon?!”. They are seriously confused as to how I could give up strips of pig fat (because really, that’s all bacon is).

It’s one of the main reasons a lot of my friends and family won’t go vegan. THE BACON. And THE CHEESE. They’re so addicted to these “foods” that they can’t even fathom giving them up, ever.

So I decided to find a bunch of vegan bacon recipes, to show them that you can be vegan AND eat your dang bacon!

8 Vegan Bacon Recipes

Tofu Bacon Pic

1. Easy Tofu Bacon

Mushroom Bacon Pic

2. Crispy Mushroom Bacon

Coconut Bacon Pic

3. Crazy Good Coconut Bacon

Bacon Almond Slivers Pic

4. Bacon-Flavoured Almond Slivers

Tempeh Bacon Pic

5. Easy Tempeh Bacon

Vegan King Bacon Pic

6. Vegan Bacon from King Oyster Mushrooms

Shitake Bacon Pic

7. Delicious Shitake Bacon

Raw Vegan Bacon Pic

8. Raw Vegan Bacon

Take a look at all of that yummy vegan bacon! Who wouldn’t be satisfied with so many options for bacon? My favourite is coconut bacon & tofu bacon – they are both super easy to make. Mushroom-based bacon is tasty, too!

What is your favourite vegan bacon recipe?

Fruity Wheatberry Salad with Greens & Chickpeas

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Have you ever made a recipe that was SO GOOD that you just couldn’t wait to shout it from the rooftops and tell all of your friends? Well, I have. (Often.) And this is one of those recipes.

fruity-wheatberry-salad

This past weekend, I was struggling with my menu plan. Nothing on it sounded interesting to me. I needed to change it up. So I did what I always do when I can’t think of what to make: I turned to my dear friend Pinterest. She gets me. She solves all of my [food-related] problems.

While I was browsing Pinterest, I came across this older recipe from Angela – Heat Wave Summer Salad. I wouldn’t say we were having a heat wave that day, but we certainly were experiencing a really hot summer’s day, so  I checked out the recipe.

vegan-wheatberry-salad

And…. I’m not gonna lie, I almost went back to searching Pinterest. Wheatberries with peaches and berries? Plus chickpeas and sauteed greens? What? How does that even work?! And the dressing has mustard and CINNAMON.

Everything just sounded so… weird. Like, there’s no way that combination of food would actually work.

wheatberry-salad-vegan

And then I remembered that it was Angela sharing the recipe, not some random person that just started a food blog 2 weeks ago. Angela is a well-respected vegan food blogger, and has been for years – there’s no way she would post a recipe that tasted weird!

So, I decided to give it a go.

vegan-fruity-wheatberry-salad

And all I can say is – YOU HAVE TO MAKE THIS RECIPE. Holy wow is it ever good. The ingredients combine so well, and it’s like a flavour explosion in your mouth with every bite. The dressing, as weird as it sounded to me in the beginning, really helps pull everything together and make it a well-rounded, satisfying dish.

This recipe makes a lot, but I don’t suggest cutting it in half, unless you’re just making the recipe for one person. Because, hello – LEFTOVERS!

I had leftovers of this yummy meal for lunch yesterday and it was marvelous. Just as good as when I’d made it the day before.

wheatberry-salad

So don’t be weirded out by the ingredients in this dish. Just trust me (and Angela) when I say that this recipe is AMAZZZZZING.

Fruity Wheatberry Salad with Greens & Chickpeas
 
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Recipe type: Lunch, Dinner
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
Salad
  • 1 cups wheatberries
  • 1½ cups cooked chickpeas
  • 1 cups chopped peaches, skins removed
  • 1 cup blueberries
  • 1 cup sliced strawberries
  • 4 cups chopped raw kale or spinach (I used kale)
  • ½ cup almonds, chopped
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Dressing
  • 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1½ tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tsp hemp oil
  • 1 tsp flax oil
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • ¼ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp salt
Instructions
Salad
  1. Cook your wheatberries by combining 1 cup wheatberries and 3 cups water to a large pot. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to simmer, cover, and cook for about 1 hour.
  2. Sautee your kale in a pan of water (just a bit of water is fine), until wilted. Set aside.
  3. Chop your almonds and add to a large bowl with peaches, blueberries, strawberries, chickpeas, sauteed kale and cooked wheatberries. Add in the dressing (all of it), and mix well, being careful not to smash the fresh fruit.
  4. Serve cold or at room temperature (I think it tastes best at room temperature).
Dressing
  1. Add all ingredients to a small mason jar (or small bowl) and shake/whisk until combined. Taste and adjust seasonings, if needed.
Notes
Recipe slightly adapted from Oh She Glows.

*For a nut-free dish, omit the almonds. Replace with sunflower seeds.
*If you don't have hemp or flax oil, replace either with extra virgin olive oil.

 

Vegan Caesar Salad with Homemade Croutons

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I have never met a Caesar salad I didn’t like, but this recipe – this recipe is the best. BEST Caesar salad recipe ever, ever, ever.

That is no lie. It’s the absolute best vegan Caesar salad I have made, and every Caesar lover that has tried it agrees.

Vegan-Caesar-Salad

The dressing is smooth and creamy, perfectly coating every piece of romaine lettuce. With just a hint of liquid smoke, the dressing gets that bacon taste that traditional Caesar salad has – without using bacon. Yippie!

Liquid smoke, where have you been all my life?

Caesar-Dressing

I like to keep my Caesar pretty simple, with dressing and homemade croutons, but you can definitely add other things, such as meat substitutes, sprouts, chickpeas, or lentils.

Vegan-Caesar-Dressing

If you’re a big Caesar salad lover like me – you MUST try this recipe! Then report back and tell me what you thought!

Also, some big news ’round these parts: this is my 100th post on the site! 100 posts since I first started blogging about delicious vegan food in March of this year. YAY!

Thank you so much for reading. I love sharing my passion for vegan food, and I appreciate you for reading these words that I write, scoping out the photos that I take (that are nowhere near as awesome as my favourite food bloggers photos are), and trying out the recipes that I create. I’m honoured that you visit me each week!

Vegan Caesar Salad with Homemade Croutons
 
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Recipe type: Salad
Serves: 2-4
Ingredients
Dressing
  • 1¾ cup cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours, then drained
  • ½ cup water
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 tbsp tamari
  • 1 tsp liquid smoke
  • Salt & pepper, to taste
Salad
Instructions
Dressing
  1. Add all ingredients into a high-powered blender or food processor and blend/process until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
Salad
  1. Add lettuce to a large bowl and add ½ of the vegan Caesar dressing. Mix very well.
  2. Divide salad among bowls and top with croutons. Enjoy!

Caesar-Dressing-Vegan

Tofu Teriyaki Bowl with Broccoli & Peppers

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Vegan-Broccoli-Rice-Tofu If you were to to ask me a year ago if I liked tofu, I would have responded with one of the following things: EWWWWWWWW TOFU, YUCK YUCK YUCKY YUCK. GROSS, NO! ARE YOU CRAZY?! Today, tofu is one of my favourite things to eat. Love it. Any excuse to eat tofu now and I’m all YES PLEASE, GIVE IT TO ME NOW! Vegan-Broccoli-Tofu-Rice My favourite way to eat tofu is with a big pile of rice. Rice, tofu, veggies, sauce. Awesomeness in a bowl. This dish is filled with yummy things: Crispy baked tofu Flavourful rice Steamed veggies The most delicious teriyaki sauce ever Eat it up, then eat some more. A satisfying bowl of delicious food. Time to eat!

Broccoli-Tofu-Rice

Tofu Teriyaki Bowl with Broccoli & Peppers
 
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Recipe type: Entree
Serves: 2-4
Ingredients
Rice
  • 1 cup rice (I used basmati rice)*
  • 2 cups water*
Baked Tofu
  • 1 block extra firm tofu
  • 1 tbsp oil (I used avocado oil)
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
Veggies
  • 1 small head broccoli, chopped small
  • 1 small bell pepper, thinly sliced (I used yellow)
Teriyaki Sauce
  • ¼ cup soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp sweet rice wine vinegar
  • 2 tbsp coconut sugar
  • ½ tbsp sesame oil
  • ½ tbsp fresh ginger, minced
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • ½ tbsp cornstarch + 2 tbsp water (mixed well)
Putting it all together
  • Sesame seeds
  • Green onions, chopped
Instructions
Rice
  1. Cook rice according to package directions (usually 1 cup rice to 2 cups water*). Set aside.
Tofu
  1. Preheat oven to 425F. Wrap tofu in a clean towel, add something heavy (I usually use a few heavy cookbooks), and set aside for about 15 minutes to press out some of the water in the tofu. Slice your tofu into cubes or thin squares (like I did).
  2. Mix together cornstarch and oil. Add the tofu and coat each piece evenly. Spread tofu on a large baking sheet, lined with parchment paper or a Silplat baking mat. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, then flip and bake for another 20 minutes until browned (a nice deep brown is ideal, but not black!).
Teriyaki Sauce
  1. Whisk together the soy sauce, sweet rice wine vinegar, sugar, sesame oil, ginger, and fresh garlic. Then add the cornstarch/water mixture. Bring to a simmer in a small pot. Simmer for 3-5 minutes, until the sauce thickens. Remove from heat and set aside.
Broccoli
  1. Steam broccoli & sliced peppers until fork-tender. Set aside.
Putting it all together
  1. Add rice to your bowls, and top with tofu, broccoli and peppers. Drizzle the teriyaki sauce on top, then sprinkle some sesame seeds and green onions on top.

Broccoli-Rice-Tofu

Beer-Battered Cauliflower Tacos with Lime-Infused Cashew Cream

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What’s this? Two cauliflower recipes in a row?

Yes, yes, that’s right. Because I can’t get enough of the dang stuff. CAULIFLOWER FOR THE WIN!

Last week I bought 2 heads of cauliflower because I was off in cauliflower land, dreaming of all the cauliflower meals I wanted to make. This was one of them. Cauliflower tacos. With a beer batter. Because, duh. Everything is better with beer. That’s what my husband tells me, anyway.

Cauliflower-Tacos-Ingredients

Cauliflower-Taco-Bites

These vegan tacos are both soft and crunchy at the same time, and when they’re served with the lime-infused cashew cream – well, watch out! They are crazy good.

Vegan-Cauliflower-Tacos

Who needs fish when you’ve got cauliflower?

Vegan-Cauliflower-Beer-Tacos

Beer-Battered Cauliflower Tacos with Lime-Infused Cashew Cream
 
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Recipe type: Entree
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
Lime-Infused Cashew Cream
  • ⅓ cup raw cashews
  • 2 tbsp lime juice
  • zest of 1 lime
  • 1 garlic clove
  • ¼ cup water
  • ½ tbsp chia seeds
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp black pepper
Beer Batter
  • ½ cup kamut flour
  • ⅓ cup cornstarch
  • ½ tsp garlic powder
  • ½ tsp chili powder
  • ½ tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 flax egg (1 tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 tbsp water)
  • ⅓ cup beer
  • 1 tsp cooking oil (I used avocado oil)
  • 1 tsp lime juice
Putting it all together
  • ½ large cauliflower, cut into "steaks" or bite-sized pieces
  • corn or flour tortillas (I used flour)
  • lettuce of choice
  • 2 large roasted red peppers, thinly sliced
  • 2 green onions, chopped
  • ½ cup cooking oil (I used avocado oil)
Instructions
Lime-Infused Cashew Cream
  1. Add all ingredients to a high-powered blender or food processor and blend/process until smooth. Set aside.
Beer Batter
  1. Combine flour, cornstarch, garlic powder, chili powder and smoked paprika in a large bowl. Add in the flax egg, beer, oil and lime juice. Mix together very well, making sure everything is combined.
  2. Add about ½ cup oil to a medium pan over medium heat.
  3. Once the oil is nice and hot, dip each piece of cauliflower into your batter and then place on the pan (you will need to do this in batches to prevent over-crowding the pan). Fry for about 3 minutes on each side, or until browned.
  4. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels and sprinkle with a bit of salt.
Putting it all together
  1. Add one cauliflower steak (or a few bit-sized pieces) to each tortilla, top with lime-infused cashew cream, the lettuce of your choice, some roasted red peppers and a few green onion pieces. Repeat with remaining cauliflower. Eat and enjoy!
Notes
*Adapted from Fork and Beans.

Cauliflower-Tacos-Vegan