This refreshing salad is packed with extra crunch from 4 crunchy veggies that are tossed with a sweet, tangy, and very slightly spicy dressing.

It is the perfect kind salad to put together for a picnic. It stays crunchy and the dressing remains lightly coating everything because it doesn’t get watered down by all the crispy veggies. It pairs as well with Thai curry as it does with taco. Add some raw pepitas on top for extra crunch and to make this salad a satisfying lunch entrée all on its own.

All that, and this salad is loaded in Vitamins A & C with a good amount of Vitamin K!

The Stuff: Dressing

• 1 mango, peeled and sliced into large pieces
• juice of 1 lime
• juice of 1 blood orange
• 1/4 sweet red bell pepper, de-seeded
• 1/4 Anaheim chili, de-seeded
• 1/4 Poblano chili, de-seeded

Combine all ingredients into a food processor, fitted with an S-blade*. Process on high until you have a thick sauce, scraping down sides as needed until smooth. Set aside.

*If you have a powerful blender (e.g., VitaMix) you can just throw everything into the blending vessel and blend until smooth.

The Stuff: Salad

• 1 small jicama, peeled and sliced into 2″ matchsticks
• 3 medium carrots, sliced thin (slicing blade on food processor works great!)
• 1/4 sweet red bell pepper, finely diced
• 1/4 purple cabbage, chopped small
• 5-6 sprigs of fresh coriander (cilantro), leaves removed and shredded by hand

Toss all ingredients with dressing in a large bowl and serve.

Makes 6 vitamin & fiber packed servings!

Nutritional Info

Serving Size: 1 cup
Calories: 71
Total Fat: 0 g
Sodium: 27 mg
Carbohydrates: 17 g
Dietary Fiber: 5 g
Sugars: 10 g
Protein: 1 g

My favorite cookies growing up were “Peanut Butter Blossoms”. My Mom found the recipe in a magazine, co-sponsored by two major brands. These cookies, sparkling a little with sugar and melty chocolate perched atop crackled peanut butter cookie, were my absolute favorite. My Mom would only make these for Christmas, during which I’d be repeatedly admonished to stop eating them all. After the holiday season was over I’d spend the rest of the year pining for them.

The nice thing about being a grown up is that I can make these cookies whenever I like. When we do manage to send out Christmas cookies to loved ones, I always try to include some of these.

The use of flax meal as a binder compliments the peanut flavor perfectly. The nice thing about making a vegan recipe for this old stand-by is that all the animal products are removed. I believe food, cookies especially, always taste better when made compassionately, hence my name for these yummy cookies, “Peanut Butter Beauties“. I’m happy to share my childhood favorite, now made vegan, as part of the So Delicious Spring Fling Dairy-Free Recipe Contest.

The Stuff

• 1 3/4 cups flour*
• 1/2 sugar (evaporated cane juice)
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt
• 1/2 cup shortening**
• 2 T So Delicious Unsweetened Almond Plus 5X almond milk
• 1/2 cup peanut butter***
• 1 t vanilla
• 2 T golden flaxseed meal whisked with 3 T water
• Extra sugar to roll cookies in
• Dark chocolate for topping cookies (see note)

  * Using whole wheat pastry flour is fine and just adds to the overall nuttiness of the cookie.
  **I like either Spectrum Naturals or Earth Balance.
  ***Crunchy or Creamy is fine. For extra special ones, get freshly ground peanut butter.

The Making

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.

Set out your shortening to warm up just a little.

Blend the 2 tablespoons of flax meal with the 3 tablespoons of water and set aside. As this mixture sits it will get thick and have a gel-like consistency.

In a large bowl, or the bowl for a stand mixer, add the shortening and peanut butter. Blend together on a low speed until they are will mixed. Add sugar and continue blending until sugar, peanut butter, and shortening are light and creamy. Add in remaining ingredients, aside from flour and blend, scaping down sides if needed.

Add flour in slowly, in 3 to 4 batches, and blend slowly to incorporate it. You will have a nice, firm dough, not too sticky when done.

Shape dough into 1″ balls and roll each ball in sugar. Place balls 2″ apart on an un-greased cookie sheet; the cookies will spread out so don’t skimp on the spacing.

Bake cookies for 10 to 12 minutes, until golden brown and starting to crack. Remove from oven.

While cookies are still on the cookie sheet, immediately top each cookie with a piece of chocolate. Press chocolate into the center cracks of the hot cookie carefully so they don’t fall apart, but the chocolate is wedged in. Carefully remove from cookie sheet to wire rack to cool completely. The chocolate will melt further into the cookie as it cools.

Makes 3 dozen+.

A Note About Chocolate:

These cookies are traditionally made with chocolate that isn’t vegan and isn’t really that tasty anyway. I have used good bars, Theo Jane Goodall bars to be exact, and broken into rough squares or rectangles to top with. Now I’m using E. Guittard 72% Bittersweet Chocolate Couverture Wafers and they are far easier to use than breaking up the bars. I just use one wafer per cookie and they are perfect.

For a few years Christie and I’ve been trying to create a vegan version of a salad dressing from Trader Joe’s she’d loved before she was vegan.

We’d made some good dressings, but nothing quite right until I came up with this rich, tangy dressing. We’re so happy with this recipe that I’m delighted to share it for the So Delicious Spring Fling Dairy-Free Recipe Contest.

I use this dressing for my fantastic, very easy Summer Cilantro Slaw. Making both the dressing and the slaw takes very little time. The slaw recipe only uses half the amount of dressing made, so you’ll have extra to enjoy on salads for a week.

The Stuff

• 3 limes
• 1 bunch cilantro
• 1/2 c vegan mayo
• 1/2 cup So Delicious Unsweetened Almond Plus 5X almond milk
• 1 large clove garlic
• 1/2 t cumin seeds
• 1/4 c pepitas
• 1/4 t smoked paprika
• 1/4 t sea salt (Hawaiian Alaea Salt pictured)

The Making

*If you have a powerful blender (e.g., Vitamix), you can make this without having to chop anything smaller.

Cut the bottom 4 inches off the bunch of cilantro, discard stems, and wash tops. Chop roughly and put into blending vessel.

Juice all 3 limes into the blending vessel. Add remaining ingredients. If using a less-powerful blender, chop the garlic clove into a few pieces first.

Blend on low until ciltanro is mostly chopped up, then increase speed to high. Blend a couple of minutes, or more, until smooth. Scrape down sides as necessary until you have a smooth, creamy dressing.

Makes 16 servings.

Nutritional Info

Serving Size: 2 Tablespoons
Calories: 62
Total Fat: 6 g
Saturated Fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 0 g
Sodium: 83 mg (3%)
Carbohydrates: 2 g
Dietary Fiber: 3 g
Sugars: 0 g
Protein: 1 g

This is one of those recipes that when I finally made what I had in mind, the dish came out exactly what I was hoping for. Crunchy and tangy with a creamy, cilantro dressing. It is great as a side salad as well as making a great topping for tostados, your favorite vegan burger, or tacos.

Not only is it very quick to make, even if you’re also making the Creamy Cilantro Lime Ranch dressing first, but it is also packed with Vitamins C & K!

The Stuff

• 1/2 small head white cabbage
• 1/4 small head purple cabbage
• 1 small orange bell pepper
• 1 cup Cilantro Lime Ranch Dressing

The Making

Quarter the half head of white cabbage. For each cabbage quarter cut at an angle along the bottom to remove most of the core and remove outer leaves. Slice cabbage very thinly and add to a large bowl.

Core pepper and cut in very thin, 1″ julienne slices. Add to bowl with cabbage.

Give all the veggies a toss together to mix. Add in the salad dressing and toss to coat evenly.

Makes 8 servings.

Nutritional Info

Serving Size: 1 cup
Calories: 83
Total Fat: 6 g
Saturated Fat: 0.5 g
Cholesterol: 0 g
Sodium: 133 mg (6%)
Carbohydrates: 6 g
Dietary Fiber: 2 g
Sugars: 3 g
Protein: 2 g

Last year I came up with a quiche recipe that highlights the delicious winter veggies we’re still enjoying in early spring. However, spring 2014 Portland  has been unseasonably, but gloriously, sunny and warm. With the appearance of fresh asparagus in the market I was inspired to make this colorful spring quiche for the So Delicious Spring  Fling Dairy-Free Recipe Contest.

This recipe makes two whole quiches in pre-made pie shells which makes it a star recipe for a brunch gathering. I use pre-made pie shells to speed up the preparation of this beautiful dish. I recommend Wholly Wholesome for pre-made pie shells. They have organic vegan, white & whole wheat pie shells as well as a gluten-free shells! I’ve used the wheat crusts, both white and whole wheat, and they’ve come out wonderfully every time.

The Stuff:

• 1 small, red, sweet bell pepper, 1/4″ dice
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 small red onion, 1/4″ dice
• 1 medium zucchini, diced
• 1/2 pound asparagus, sliced in thin rounds (reserve 12 of the tips, cut at 2″ for garnish)
• 12 grape tomatoes, sliced in thin rounds
• 12 grape tomatoes sliced lengthwise, set aside for garnish
• 2 T fresh basil, chiffonade
• 3 T chopped parsley
• 1 t dry oregano
• 1t dry marjoram
• 12 oz firm, water-packed tofu
• 1 package firm, silken tofu
• 2 T cornstarch
• 1/4 c nutritional yeast
• 1/3 cup So Delicious Unsweetened Almond Plus 5X almond milk
• 1 T champagne vinegar
• 1/2 t turmeric
• 1/2 t dry mustard
• 1/2 t black salt* (optional)
• fresh pepper & sea salt
• 2 pre-made pie shells

*Black Salt, or Kala Namak is usually found at a Desi market or a good pan-Asian market that features ingredients popular in Indian and other South Asian cuisines. It is mostly sodium chloride, but it also contains sulfur in addition to the other minerals. It is pink or light purple in color and imparts a more subtle flavor cooked. It can be skipped, just add 1/4 t of sea salt, but it worth the effort to seek it out. If you don’t have any suitable markets in your area, Kala Namak Salt can be purchased online.

The Making

Bake the pie shells according to the directions and set aside.

Bring a saute pan to medium-high heat and lightly coat with spray oil. Add onions and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes, add garlic and continue to saute until very fragrant, about 3 more minutes. Add zucchini, asparagus, and bell pepper, sauteing for 7 minutes before adding dried herbs, sea salt, and freshly ground pepper, to taste. Saute for another 7 minutes and remove from heat.

Squeeze out water from water-packed tofu. No need to press for a long time, just squeeze out a little of the excess water with your hands. Crumble into large mixing bowl and add sauteed veggies, fresh herbs, and sliced tomatoes.

Put silken tofu, cornstarch, nutritional yeast, almond milk, vinegar, turmeric, dry mustard, and black salt into the container for a high-speed blender. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides to be certain all dry ingredients are incorporated well with wet. Add contents of the container to the mixing bowl with the tofu and sauteed veggies.

Mix together all ingredients until evenly combined. Pour mixture into pre-cooked pie crust. Garnish each quiche with the reserved asparagus tips and sliced grape tomatoes.

Place filled pie crusts onto a baking tray. Bake in an oven pre-heated to 400 F for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the comes out clean.

Let quiche stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 12 servings (six generous slices per pie crust)

Nutritional Info (with crust)

Serving Size: 1 slice
Calories: 238
Total Fat: 14 g
Saturated Fat: 6 g
Cholesterol: 0g
Sodium: 242 mg (10%)
Carbohydrates: 20 g
Dietary Fiber: 6 g
Sugars: 4 g
Protein: 12 g

*Want a lower-calorie & gluten-free version?

You can also ditch the gluten and the calories in the crust by distributing the quiche into two dozen silicone baking cups that have been lightly sprayed with oil first.

Bake 30-40 minutes at 400 degrees, until a toothpick inserted into the comes out clean. This makes a whole pile (e.g., 24) of gluten-free mini quiches to enjoy!

These pack well for lunch or picnics, just don’t remove the silicone baking cup and stack into a container. They retain their shape well and are quite tasty chilled or at room temperature.

Nutritional Info (without crust)

Serving Size: 2 mini-quiches
Calories: 91
Total Fat: 3 g
Saturated Fat: 0 g
Cholesterol: 0g
Sodium: 109 mg (5%)
Carbohydrates: 8 g
Dietary Fiber: 3 g
Sugars: 3 g
Protein: 10 g

Only recently have I been taught by a lovely Thai friend how to make pumpkin curry. I’ve even simplified it further by employing a slow-cooker. I’ve also reduced the amount of oil and sugar my friend uses at her restaurant. We just love the results and the hardest part of making it is prepping the pumpkin!

The “trick” I learned from my friend is the cooking of the curry paste in oil for a while. This is the magic of Thai curry paste, which having made Indian food a few times, what with the cooking of spices in oil, I get.

Prep the Curry Paste

In a sturdy pot (I use a cast iron wok) heat up 1/2 cup of oil and add a 14 oz tub of red curry paste (I like Arroy-D, which is reliably vegan)*. Reduce heat to low and cook until curry is highly fragrant. Put into larger jar, cool, put in fridge to use as needed. That’s it, that is the magic.

The Stuff

• 1 can full fat coconut milk
• 1 can of water (use warm water, helps to rinse coconut milk out of can)
• 1/4 – 1/3 cup of red curry paste, prepared per the above note
• 1 2-3 pound kabocha squash, peeled and in bite-size chunks
• 1 package of water-pack, extra-firm tofu (12-14oz), cut into 1″ cubes
• 1 pound of green beans, stringed and snapped into bite-sized pieces (or 2 crowns of broccoli)

The Making

Into a slow-cooker set on high add the green beans, coconut milk, water, curry paste, and pumpkin.

Cook for a 2 hours and add tofu*. Cook another 45 minutes. *If you’re using broccoli instead of or in addition to green beans, add it now)

Enjoy with rice noodles, rice, or with a spoon.

*A note about oil:curry paste ratio. The 1/2 cup to 14 ounces of curry paste works out to around 2 teaspoons per ounce of curry. The smallest jar you can purchase is 4 ounces, which would be just a little more than 2.5 Tablespoons needed to cook it. Since it keeps for a while in the fridge once prepared, I always just use a 14 ounce tub of curry paste and use it as needed.

File under effin’ EASY! If you happen to have all the ingredients prepped, this comes together in minutes and makes for a delicious dinner.

On Sunday I’d gone into a kind of Mise-en-Place Production Frenzy. Setting up the ingredients to make tofu salad, chickpea salad, split pea soup (for Christie and I), and a braised portobello sandwich (for Mom, who hates peas).

In addition to all the chopping we’d been cleaning up and doing errands, so I found I was pretty tired and put the ingredients for the chickpea and tofu salads in the fridge. I also put half the carrots int he fridge after deciding to use up a parsnip that had been lurking in the veggie drawer for a while in the soup. The next day Christie made up her awesome tofu salad, but the rest of the onions and celery went back into the fridge with the chickpeas.

Having all the ingredients prepped for this dish meant all I had to do was throw stuff in a pot, simmer for 25 minutes, chop up the tomato and kale, throw in the kale and tomato, simmer for another 15 minutes or so. I had some with a toasted English muffin for dinner and it made my whole lousy day better. Good soup can do that.

The Stuff

• 3 stalks celery, diced fine
• 1 medium to large sweet onion, diced fine
• 1 large carrot, chopped
• 2 t diced garlic
• 1 large tomato, diced small
• 1 bunch of kale, in thin ribbons
• 2 cups cooked chickpeas
• 2 cubes veggie bullion
• 1/4 nutritional yeast
• 1 T poultry seasoning
• 2 T champagne vinegar
• freshly ground black pepper
• 5 cups water

The Making

Heat a 6 qt. pot on medium-high heat and add a spray of canola oil. Add onions and saute 5-7 minutes before adding garlic. Saute together for another 5 minutes and add carrots, celery, and chickpeas. Mix together bullion cubes with water, add to pot along with the poultry seasoning.

Simmer on low for 25 minutes.

Add kale, tomatoes, nutritional yeast, vinegar, and pepper. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes until kale is tender.

Enjoy the chilly autumn evening!

This delicious and hearty stew is so easy to pull together and let cook in your slow-cooker while at work. It makes a great one-pot meal that we love so much that we often double the recipe so we have leftovers for lunches.

The yams give this stew a sweet flavor and the addition of peanut butter gives it a creamy, rich taste. You can use canned chickpeas, or homemade. Prep time is about 20 minutes, which is why we tag it as a “Quick Meal”.

This recipe is adapted from ‘African Peanut Stew’ in Becoming Vegetarian. We’ve modified it to include more chickpeas and greens, and to use quinoa instead of rice. The recipe would work well with cashew butter in place of peanut, and we’re curious to try it with other grains like amaranth or teff.

The Stuff

• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cups peeled, diced yams
• 2 cups cooked chickpeas
• 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed
• 1/4-1/3 cup smooth peanut butter
• 2 bunches of kale or collards, chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• tarmari or braggs, to taste

The Making

Sauté onions on medium heat until they are translucent, about 5-7 minutes. Transfer onions to your slow-cooker pot.  Add chickpeas, yams, and veggie broth. Mix in peanut butter and add quinoa.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours, or on high for 4.

30-60 minutes prior to serving, add chopped greens, lemon juice and black pepper.

Season with tarmari or Braggs aminos, to taste, at the table. Also great with a little hot sauce added!

We love the mini crustless quiches from Fat Free Vegan, but have been on a quest for a full-sized quiche with a little more varied texture. For several weeks now I’ve been experimenting with quiche recipes on the weekends and finally have something I’m happy to post a recipe for. You can feel free to vary the veggies you add, changing them to fit the seasons, but the mix I include is pretty tasty.

The final version featured fresh kale raab we’d picked up the same morning at the Farmer’s Market. If you can get kale raab in the spring it is particularly lovely to find. Tender, sweeter, and so delicious, raab is a real treat when the spring veggies start coming in. Here in Portland we often see raab arrive before asparagus.

The Stuff

• 1 large, sweet bell pepper (red or orange)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 small red onion
• 1 medium zucchini
• 1 bunch kale or kale raab OR 1 large head broccoli
• 4 T chopped chives
• 4T chopped parsley
• 2t Herbes de Provence
• 12 oz firm, water-packed tofu
• 1 package firm, silken tofu
• 2T cornstarch
• 1/4 c nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup vegan milk*
• 1 T champagne vinegar
• 1/2 t turmeric
• 1/2 t dry mustard
• 1/2 t black salt
• fresh pepper & sea salt
• 1 pre-made pie crust

The Making

Pre-bake the crust according to the directions and set aside. This recipe honestly makes a bit more than the pre-made crust and pan will hold, so I usually make a half dozen crustless quiches in silicon baking cups too.

Finely dice all veggies. Shred kale thinly or dice leaves along with the raab.

Bring a saute pan to medium-high heat and lightly coat with spray oil. Add onions and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes, add garlic and continue to saute until very fragrant, about 3 more minutes. Add zucchini and bell pepper, sauteing for 7 minutes before adding 2 tablespoons each of the parsley and chives, Herbes de Provence, sea alt & freshly ground pepper, and kale. Saute for another 7 minutes and remove from heat.

Squeeze out water from water-packed tofu. No need to press for a long time, just squeeze out a little of the excess water with your hands. Crumble into large mixing bowl and add sauteed veggies & herbs. Add in remaining parsley and chives.

Put silken tofu, cornstarch, nutritional yeast, vegan milk, vinegar, turmeric, dry mustard, and black salt into the container for a high-speed blender. Blend until smooth, scraping down the sides to be certain all dry ingredients are incorporated well with wet. Add contents of the container to the mixing bowl with the tofu and sauteed veggies.

Mix together all ingredients until evenly combined. Pour mixture into pre-cooked pie crust. You will have enough to fill 6 silicon baking cups that have been sprayed with oil first. Place filled pie crust and baking cups onto a baking tray. Bake in an oven pre-heated to 400 F for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the comes out clean.

Let quiche stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Makes 8 servings.

*This recipe also featured a new product from So Delicious, a lovely, creamy Barista-Style Coconut Milk Creamer. A few weeks ago So Delicious graciously offered to send me some to try out, so I’ve used it in a few places where I’d otherwise have used soy or almond milk.

Christie has totally fallen in love with the Unsweetened Vanilla Coconut Milk to add to her smoothies. There should be a smoothie recipe coming soon.

So far the creamer has been a good stand-in and adds a nice richness to the dishes I’ve made with it. It might be boring, but I’m just loving the creamer added to my black tea in the morning, even more so than the  is really wonderful in my black tea in the morning!

There’s also been an experiment with Irish Soda Bread, using both the Barista-Style Creamer for a savory bread and the Vanilla Coconut Milk for a sweet bread with dried blueberries.

In honor of St. Patrick’s day I thought I’d try to make some potatoes and cabbage for us. I found myself really wanted roasted potatoes rather than boiled. I was inspired to add some herbs and mustard and the result was so fantastic that I quickly snapped a photo with my phone and jotted down the recipe. Such an easy recipe it is too!

This was the first time I think I’ve used the roast feature, one of the convection options, on our oven in the new house. Wow, such a great feature. My “convection oven” before was a decent toaster oven with a convection setting, having an oven that has “regular” and “convection” modes is a treat. The upgrades to our kitchen are such an improvement!

The Stuff

• 1 pound small red potatoes
• 1-2 t dijon mustard
• 1/4 t thyme
• 1/2 t dill
• 1 T olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• black pepper and sea salt to taste

The Making

Preheat oven to 350.

Scrub potatoes and quarter. Toss with other ingredients in a bowl and pour out on to a baking sheet. Distribute evenly

Roast potatoes at 350 for 35 minutes, turning at 25 minutes, or until tender. Serve alongside more delicious food or eat right off the pan.

I served this alongside some cabbage and Gardein beefless tips, inspired by a recipe from Meet the Shannons. I say inspired by because I didn’t start early enough or have pickling spice on hand. Really, I remembered seeing the recipe online and being really intrigued by it, but only decided to make it while I was at the market and only could remember that it used the Gardein beefless tips.

Here’s my kind of short-cut of their very cool recipe:

I just tossed the beefless tips in a bowl with 1/4 cup pickle brine (from a jar of Bubbies Bread & Butter Chips) with some mustard seeds, ground coriander, allspice, and cloves, along with some minced garlic and a splash of nigori-style sake (I didn’t seem to have a bottle of white wine in the house, how the hell did that happen?!). I used half a sweet onion and sauteed the marinated tips with it, getting some nice caramelized bits on the bottom of our 3-quart saute pan, before adding some broth (2 cups hot water + 1 no-salt bullion cube) and putting the cabbage in to simmer with a little Alaea salt.