Goatless Goat Cheese

This “cheese” makes a great cracker spread or is fantastic in a salad.

• 1/2 cup raw cashews, preferably soaked in warm water an hour or 2 in advance, then drained
• 1 – 2 Tbsp lemon juice (juice of 1/2 lemon)
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil
• pinch of salt
• water, as needed (about 1/4 cup)

In a blender (high speed blender like a Vitamix would be best), combine all ingredients, added as little water as possible and blending until smooth.  (Let the blender run a couple of minutes to get it as smooth as possible.)

Place a standard coffee filter in a colander and place on a plate.  Pour the cashew blend into the coffee filter and place in the fridge.  Allow to chill and drain any additional water.  (The less water you have to add, the less that needs to drain.)  Once the consistency of a soft cheese, transfer to a container in the fridge until you need it.

Banana Nut Granola

A delicious granola to snack on, eat like cereal or top your favorite non-dairy yogurt or ice cream.

• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 banana, mashed well

• 3 cups rolled oats
• 3/4 cup chopped raw walnuts
• 3/4 cup chopped raw pecans
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 Tbsp cinnamon
• 2 tbsp flax seed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a small sauce pan combine maple syrup and coconut oil and gently heat on low until melted.

While that’s heating, combine oats, walnuts, pecans, salt, cinnamon and flax seed in a bowl and stir well.

Once the coconut oil has melted, add vanilla and banana to the sauce pan and stir well.  Pour liquid mixture over oat mixture and stir until well coated.

Prepare a baking pan with parchment paper.  Spread granola mixture over pan (if it’s too crowded, use 2 pans to help it crisp up better).  Bake 23+ minutes or until slightly browned and crisping up, breaking up and mixing around about half way through.  If you need to bake longer, check every minute or two as it can burn quickly.  Allow to cool on pan.  Once completely cool, transfer to glass bowl and store covered.

Sweet Potato Coconut Energy Cookies

This clean, healthy cookie is great for a end-of-dinner treat or in place of an energy bar when hiking/biking/running.  And, if you use GF oats, it is gluten free!

• 2 Tbsp flax meal
• 5 Tbsp warm water
• 1 cup sweet potato mash without skin (I roasted a large whole sweet potato, pierced several times, for 400 degrees for about an hour and it yielded 2 cups of mash)
• 1/2 cup melted coconut butter **See Chef’s Note**
• 2 Tbsp melted coconut oil
• 3 Tbsp maple syrup
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup almond meal/flour
• 1/2 cup oat flour (you can blend/process your own)
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 cup finely chopped raw unsalted walnuts
• chocolate chips

Combine flax meal and water in a small bowl and allow to sit.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.

In a medium/large mixing bowl, combine sweet potato, coconut butter, coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla.  Stir well.  Add the flax meal/water mixture.  Stir well.

To the liquid mixture, add all remaining ingredients except chocolate chips and stir until combined.

Drop tablespoon sized blobs onto the baking sheet, pressing down slightly.  They won’t change much in size, so you can crowd them a bit.  Press 4 chocolate chips into the top of each one (a great job for a kid!).  Bake 15 – 17 minutes or until slightly browned and not super soft.  Cool for 2 minutes on the baking pan and then transfer to a cooling rack.  Keep refrigerated so that they last a few days.

**Chef’s Note** – You can buy coconut butter at most natural food stores, maybe some grocery stores, in the nut butter section generally.  OR, if you have a Vitamix or high powered blender, you can make your own for way cheaper!!  Buy a bag of shredded unsweetened coconut.  Dump it into the Vitamix (I use a 1 lb bag) and blend, increasing the speed slowly up to high and tamping regularly.  In a minute or so, POOF, MAGIC, you will have liquid!  Continue to blend for another minute or more so it gets nice and smooth.  Store in a glass container in your cabinets.  It will harden upon cooling.  When you want some, just cut out how much you want and heat it up in a glass bowl (microwave for 30 sec works for a small serving).  Delicious as a dip with apples (add cinnamon, too!), on toast with banana, or on dates for a decadent treat.  AMAZING.

Based on this recipe.

Gluten-free Corn Bread

This was delicious and paired nicely with Joe’s Chili.  You wouldn’t have guessed it was gluten free!

• 2 Tbsp ground flax meal
• 6 Tbsp warm water
• 1 cup almond milk (I used unsweetened original)
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/2 cups corn meal
• 1 cup oat flour (I processed rolled oats to make this)
• 1/4 cup almond flour (you could process almonds to make this)
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1/4 cup melted coconut oil or oil of your choice (you can taste the coconut if you use coconut oil)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup

Combine flax and water in a small bowl.  Combine almond milk and vinegar in a 2 cup measuring cup or medium bowl.  Set aside a few minutes while you prepare the next step.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, combine corn meal through paprika and stir well.

Dump the flax-water mixture into the almond milk mixture.  Add melted coconut oil and maple syrup.  Stir well.  If your coconut oil solidifies, heat up a bit.

Add the liquids to the dry mixture and stir until combined.  Prepare your pan (I used a glass pie pan) with a light greasing.  Pour mixture into the pan and bake about 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Based on this recipe.

Tomatillo Salsa

Between our garden and our CSA, we’ve had an overabundance of tomatillos.  I haven’t particularly liked tomatillo salsa that I bought in the store, but I thought this was quite good.  I’m a tomato salsa gal all the way, but this is good if you are out of tomato-based salsa.  😉

This recipe makes 1 salsa jar.  Increase as you’d like.

• 1 lb tomatillos, husked and halved
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 3/4 of a jalepeno pepper, finely chopped
• 2 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro
• 1 Tbsp fresh oregano
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt

Using a food processor (or Vitamix on speed 4), puree the tomatillos until it has a chunky consistency.  Put pureed tomatillos in a pot with all other ingredients and bring to a boil.  Turn down and simmer about 30 minutes, covered.  Towards the end, you might choose to uncover if it is too liquidy for your liking.  Refrigerate and enjoy!

 

Apple Oatmeal Muffins

These are delicious not-too-sweet muffins that are perfect for your fall apple bounty.  Makes about 14 – 15 muffins.

• 1 Tbsp ground flax seed
• 3 Tbsp warm water
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup succanat or other natural sugar
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce (Since we have so many apples, I threw two cored apples, with skins, in my vitamix and processed while tamping on 5 for a bit until the consistency of applesauce)
• 1 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 medium apple, cored and diced

Combine ground flax and water in a small bowl and set aside.

Prepare a cupcake pan as you prefer.  Preheat oven to 375.

Combine flour, oats, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and nutmeg in a mixing bowl and mix well.

Add applesauce, melted coconut oil, vanilla and flax-water mixture.  Stir until everything is combined.  Add diced apple and stir until just combined.

Fill muffins about 1/2 to 2/3 full.  Bake for 14 – 18 minutes or until done (slightly browned and toothpick comes out clean).  Enjoy!!

 

 

Rice Energy Bars

I’m an avid mountain biker (and racer) and sometimes it’s easy to let the WHOLE FOODS aspect of my lifestyle slide on a ride or in a race.  Luckily there are some decent energy bars out there that have a good ingredient list.  But, they can be pricey.  Here is an option that’s a lot cheaper.  They are a little bit sweet and a little bit salty and a very mild flavor.  Not nearly as sweet or strong tasting as most commercial options.

• 2 cups uncooked brown rice, prepared as you wish or as shown here
• 1 cup raw or roasted peanuts (or nut of your choice), unsalted  (If salted, back off on salt in this recipe)
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 2 Tbsp raw sugar
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Once rice is done, allow to cool for a bit.  Then combine all ingredients in your food processor.  I had to do mine in two batches to make it fit.  Run the food processor until everything is combined and crumbly/mushy.

Prepare a 9×13 pan with parchment.  (Mine turned out a bit too thick using the 9×9 pan.)  Dump the mixture in and press down with a spatula.  Refrigerate overnight.  Then cut into squares.  I wrapped each square in foil and then put them in a big ziploc in the freezer for easy grabbing!

A biking friend gave me this recipe – from some cookbook that I don’t remember and I modified it a bit.

Oatmeal Cookies

Not a super sweet cookie – more like a sweet snack than a dessert.  (Although in our house, these do pass for dessert…)  This recipe only makes 12 cookies – increase as you wish!

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup oat flour (processed from a heaping cup of rolled oats)
• 1/3 cup raisins
• 2 Tbsp hemp seeds (or replace by more shredded coconut)
• 2 Tbsp unsweetened finely shredded coconut (or replace by more hemp seeds)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• pinch of nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup maple syrup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.  Combine all ingredients in order listed and stir until mixed.  Drop cookie clumps of your size choice on the baking sheet – I made 12 cookies.  Bake for 13 – 14 minutes or starting to brown.  Transfer to a cooling rack a couple of minutes after removing from the oven.  Enjoy!

Modified from the cookbook Let Them Eat Vegan.

 

Date Muffins

These delicious muffins (or use them as cupcakes if you frost them!) are only sweetened with dates, so you can feel great about this dessert.

(Makes about 18 muffins.)

• 12 oz pitted dates (2 packed cups)
• 1 cup non-dairy milk of your choice (I used unsweetened almond)
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup spelt flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp baking soda

In a blender or food processor, puree dates and milk until smooth as you can.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine date mixture with remaining ingredients.  Scoop into cupcake wrappers, about half full.  If you want the final product to have a smooth top, smooth out the tops of each.

Bake for 20 – 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on a wire rack.

ENJOY!

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Don’t try to compare it to the non-vegan thing because it tastes pretty different, but it’s yummy in its own right.  🙂

• 1 can artichoke hearts, rinsed and chopped
• 2 cups spinach (4 1/2 oz), chopped
• 1/4 cup onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• black pepper

• 1/4 cup raw cashews
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 2 Tbsp slightly heaping tapioca starch (or starch of your choice)
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp paprika

Preheat oven to 350.

In a baking dish, combine the first list of ingredients.  The spinach will take up a lot of space right now and it will be hard to stir.  Don’t worry about it – as the spinach wilts in the oven you can stir it up some more.

In a blender combine the second list of ingredients and process well until completely smooth.  Pour into a saucepan and heat on low stirring constantly until thick and gooey.  Pour into baking dish and stir as best as you can.  Bake for about 30 minutes or so, making sure spinach is fully wilty and everything is heated through and top is slightly browned.

Enjoy with chips/crackers/veggies of you choice.

Modified from this recipe.