Vegan Recipes

Savory

Sautéed Hearts of Palm and Tomato Salad

January is the month where cookies become “so last year” and lighter fare is all the vogue. All of the New Year’s resolutioners are hitting the gym while noshing on greens and fruits as they seek to sculpt their bodies and create a better version of themselves. While I am not one to set a New Year’s resolution…

Corn, Summer Squash & Watercress Salad with Thyme

I love this time of the year! I particularly love how farmer’s markets are brimming with such a variety of produce. And even though we Californians are lucky to see fresh produce (like strawberries) year-round, there is still seasonality to a lot of what shows up in the markets. Two specifically summer veggies that caught my eye this week…

Heirloom Tomato Penne Pasta with Meatballs

This past Saturday Alex and I were having dinner with some new friends and, as these situations are wont to do, found ourselves on the topic of head traumas. Whenever this topic arises in conversation I always have a particularly pertinent (and traumatic!) story to share. It happened many years ago, when Alex and I…

Creamy Lima Bean Soup

I’m here to make more promises! Oh, yes, I am! This soup is phenomenal. Really. I’m sure you’re thinking that lima beans are the last thing you’d describe as phenomenal, but trust me this silky smooth, hearty soup is nothing short of amazing. Even if you despise lima beans…

Roasted Tomato Gigante Bean Salad

Let me just say that I might have a new favorite bean. Don’t get me wrong, I still love my pinto, black bean, cannelini, and most of all, garbanzos, but there is a new kid on my block and I’m falling hard for him. He goes by the name of Gigante, sometimes Gigande, and I’ve even seen some people use Giganti. He’s totally beefy and…

Lemony Asparagus Artichoke Pilaf

As soon as asparagus shows up in the markets we all know that spring has definitively arrived. That moment emerged a number of weeks ago in San Francisco and I have been itching to make something with it ever since. I knew I wanted to do a pilaf with rice and lemon juice, and then the red pepper caught…

White Bean Hummus with Basil Pesto

Does the world really need another hummus recipe? Yes. Yes, in fact, it does. Because while no bean can ever replace the beloved chickpea, sometimes you just need something different. A change of pace. That’s where the smooth and creamy white bean comes into play and works so well as a chickpea…

Eggplant Chips

Every year my CSA will deliver one too many eggplants to my door. Too many being more than zero. Seriously, I don’t like eggplant. Neither the texture nor the flavor appeal to me, but knowing that I should eat a variety of foods in my diet, I attempt to choke them down every so often without paying too much attention to the slimy…

Arame Cabbage Slaw with Tahini Goddess Dressing

Spring has apparently sprung (or was bypassed in favor of summer?) for my dear friends and family in Michigan where they’ve been enjoying record high temperatures. Even though it’s still possible that they’re in for a good Mother’s Day snowstorm (it wouldn’t be the first time!), for now they can savor the warm…

Red Lentil and Millet Stew with Lemon

As a vegan, I am often asked for examples of staples in my diet. In an effort to eat healthier, they want to know what kind of dishes are regularly prepared in my household. So today I figured I’d share a one-pot wonder that is frequently in our rotation. In fact, it’s so frequent that it often makes a once-a-week appearance…

Roasted Tempeh Cauliflower Quinoa

The other weekend Alex had a potluck to attend. The last potluck he went to with this particular group of people, he brought along marinated tempeh at the request of several people who had never tried it before. Since it was so well received and devoured in minutes, he considered bringing it again…

Toasted Sesame Seed Hummus (in the blender)

A while back one of my readers who has a severe nut allergy asked whether I knew of a completely peanut- and tree nut-free brand of tahini. Gosh! I had no idea that tahini was often contaminated with nuts so I checked my jar (I believe this particular jar was Once Again) and sure enough the label said, “CONTAINS SESAME…

GMO-Free Corn Millet Cakes with Basil Avocado Salsa

While there were so many awesome victories at the ballot box last Tuesday (go Maine, Maryland, and Washington!!), there is one loss that I’m absolutely heartbroken about. All week long my heart has been sinking in sadness, my pulse has been fired up in anger, and my brain has been struggling…

Roasted Sweet Potato Banana Amaranth Pudding

Amaranth? What the heck is that? My quick answer to that question is that amaranth is to the Aztecs as quinoa is to the Incans. For many years it was the staple grain in the Aztec diet and, like quinoa did for the Incans, powered their civilization. I remember when i first started cooking quinoa over ten years ago and…

Pinto Bean Hummus (ish) Dip

I spent the last week at my mum’s house in the ‘burbs of a tiny town called Baraga. To give you an idea of what I mean by tiny, the L’Anse/Baraga metropolitan area roughly consists of 4,000 people. I graduated with a class of 46 students. While it’s not quite a one-room schoolhouse story, this is a decidedly small population of…

Yummy Vegan Pancakes

When author and owner of Vegan.com, Erik Marcus, asked if I would be interested in taking on a photo shoot project for a groundbreaking new recipe from a well-known vegan cookbook author I was, naturally, ecstatic. I replied with an enthusiastic “YES!” without even knowing what the recipe was! So when he eventually sent…

Fat Free Microwaved Plantain Chips

I have an interesting relationship with my microwave. Perhaps you’d call it an unwanted dependence? For example, every morning I use it to quickly cook my oatmeal. When I’m on the ball and actually bring my lunch to work I use it to reheat my leftovers. Even in the evening I find myself using it to heat…

Sweets

Maple Filled Kisses and Hearts

Right now Alex is peacefully sleeping and I will be off to work before he wakes so I won’t get to see his reaction to the Valentine’s gift I left him this morning. And actually I’m okay with that as it might be more enjoyable for him to open it without me hovering over him. It might afford him the time to just relax and enjoy it…

Oatmeal Cream Pies

Yes, I admit that I ate a lot of crap in high school. While I certainly enjoyed a variety of snack cakes like Ding Dongs, Swiss Rolls, and Devil Squares, one of my all-time favorite crap-snacks were Little Debbie’s Oatmeal Creme Pies. My girlfriend, Beth, and I would eat those things by the box and, if memory serves me correct…

Vegan Lime Cheesecake Bars

These tasty little lime bars are such a great hot weather treat. With minimal baking required (only a few minutes in the oven for the crust), you don’t need to be slaving over a hot kitchen in the middle of summer’s heat to whip up a batch of these insanely delicious treats! Plus, they’re super quick and very easy to put together…

Chocolate Covered Cherries

This holiday season marked my first foray into making chocolate candies. I must admit that once I get an idea into my head, it’s very easy for me to get so carried away that I have to spend serious energy reeling in my mind that has left the gates at a pace far too fast for a marathon. Sometimes my mind…

Vegan Cream-Filled Ginger Molasses Cookies

It’s DECEMBER!!! Bring on the Holidays! And the cookies. Piles and piles of cookies. At least that’s what happens in my house during the holidays. I become a baking fiend, and ultimately, providing a constant source of tummy ache for Alex. So this year I promised that I’d share my baking heroics with co-workers and friend…

Chocolate Marshmallow Surprise Cookies

Marshmallows and chocolate. In the shape of eggs. To my 5 year old mind, that’s what Easter was all about. For some reason, late March and early April is the only time of year you could find those chocolate covered marshmallows that came in styrofoam egg cartons. Of course there were peeps, but…

Peanut Butter Blossoms

Oh, lovely cookies. As a kid these cookies were one of my all-time favorites. I first recall having them at my after-school babysitters and I didn’t even know what they were called (and frankly, didn’t even think to ask…probably because my mouth was stuffed full of ‘em) so I always referred to them as “the cookies with the Hershey…

Sunbutter Cups

Once you’ve gone “all the way” with your sunbutter like my hot night of passion, or even just had a quickie by picking up a jar at the market, you’re ready to take your relationship to the next level and dress your little sunbutter up in some chocolate! This goes for coconut too, though, it holds…

Vegan Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

It’s been an exciting, touchdown-filled month for the sales team at my company. For the month of November the other two sales managers and I organized a football/Thanksgiving themed contest across the entire sales department. While there are two football teams, each member contributes individually to their…

Coconut Cups

I made both of these bad boys over the holiday break and gifted (I know that Alex is going to cringe when he reads me using “gift” as a verb, but I stand by this use as it’s now perfectly acceptable—the dictionary confirms this, thank you very much) my co-workers with a variety of chocolate goodness that you can read more about here…

Fruit

Green Machine Smoothie

I have been eating this smoothie every day (for weeks) as a post-lunch snack. By using seasonal fruit and taking advantage of the luscious kale that is in abundance at the markets right now, you too should enjoy this nutrient powerhouse. The great thing about the Green Machine is that even if you abhor kale you’ll still love…

One-Ingredient Banana Ice Cream

OMG! I’m obsessed! Obsessed with my newest discovery of one-ingredient banana ice cream. Yes, it’s just bananas and it’s as creamily smooth as soft serve ice cream. I readily admit that I’m an ice cream addict. I’m pretty sure that it runs in my family as my brother and sister are severely afflicted as well so I think it’s safe to blame…

Spices, Condiments, Dressings

Homemade Curry Powder

Nothing beats a warm curry dish on a cool winter evening. And nothing beats curry powder like homemade curry powder. Seriously, ever since I started making my own curry powder 9+ years ago, I’ve not once purchased a store bought blend. Even when I’ve been in a time-crunch and realized I was almost out of the stuff…

Homemade Sunbutter

It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of nut butters. I love ‘em all. In fact, I publicly proclaimed my love of the nut in it’s buttery form years ago here. And this is still true today—my unwavering love of nut butters has not changed; however, this love has evolved. It has evolved to include a cousin of the nut, seeds, and just like nuts…

Dairy-Free Nut-Free Basil Pesto

I remember my first taste of pesto. It was a warm summer night on an island off the coast of Maine after I had just completed the 8th grade. My mom and I were on an epic, two week road trip along the East coast with my maternal grandmother. There are a few memorable moments seared in my brain from that trip. Like when my grandmother told my mother that I was ungrateful…