Zucchini Pasta w/ Spinach Cheese Sauce (Vegan)

As you may have read in our last post, Jenn and I have totally revamped our diet. After figuring out we don't do so well on sugar, we've been making a conscious effort to cut way back on it as well as reintroducing some animal products. So far so good! And we just wanted to honestly thank all of our readers, um you guys are seriously awesome and so supportive. We so appreciated all of your warm and fuzzy comments on our last post, gee whiz...thanks. ;)

Even though we're including animal products now in our diet. We still love our vegan meals and enjoy them on a frequent basis.

Amongst my favourite vegan meals are vegetable pastas. Pasta is the one thing that I am always in the mood for. It's always the perfect blank canvas for whatever creative, crazy concoctive sauce thing you can think up. And it's just so darn fun to eat.

This pasta dish I made is literally all vegetables, using thin spaghetti type noodles made with a julienne peeler out of zucchini. The peeler was only 7$ at a kitchenware store by the way, compared to 30$ for a spiralizer, ka-ching! And it's super quick to use and clean up too.

I was being a perfectionist like I tend to be and and peeled the zucchini first with a regular vegetable peeler before julienning so the noodles would be like white pasta noodles. Feel free to leave the skin on though because it's super healthy and stuff. :)

Noodles made from yellow and green zucchini

Why hello julienno

Save the middle parts to dip in hummus!

I've made this spinach cheese sauce numerous times in the past, it came from trying to make pesto in a magic bullet while accidentally using the cross blade; so it pureed it into a creamy sauce instead of a pesto. Don't let the green deceive you, it's all cheese. ;)

creepin' out in the sun

Spinach "Cheese" Pasta Sauce:

3 tbsp olive oil
Juice from half a lemon
1/2 cup spinach leaves, packed
3 tbsp chopped almonds
2 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes
1 clove garlic
2 tsp italian herb blend
Salt and pepper, to taste

Combine all ingredients in magic bullet, using a cross blade, or food processor (you may get a regular pesto consistency if you use a food processor). Blend until smooth and creamy.

"the rest" of the Pasta dish:

3 zucchinis peeled and "julienned"
Broccoli florets, handful
1/2 red pepper, sliced
1/4 red onion, sliced
Coconut oil, to cook with

Sautee the onions, red peppers and broccoli until tender. Add zucchini noodles. Cook until noodles have shrunken down in size slightly (make sure pan isn't too wet form cooking vegetables, wait until all water has evaporated, and add more oil if necessary). Add in sauce and cook for 1 minute or until cooked through. Top with nutritional yeast flakes and sesame seeds.

Makes 2 servings

A sprinkling of sesames and nutritionals for good measure ;)

Spaghetti and Beet Balls

We made this a loooong time ago but never got around to posting it! We made this dinner for our little sister's birthday. Our sister is the type to eat an entire pot of kraft dinner (we couldn't be more different). So we decided on something carby and rich: Classic Spaghetti and Meat Balls. Of course we had to make it vegan and gluten free, but she still liked it! This is a good ol' family meal for veggies and meat-eaters alike.

2 beets, grated (or 4 small ones)

1 can of adzuki beans

1 1/2 cups cooked red quinoa

1/3 cup oat flour

3 tbsp tamari

liberal salt and pepper

3 tbsp olive oil

chopped parsley

1 tsp dried oregano
Liquid smoke (optional)

Dump beans into mixing bowl and mash dramatically with a potato masher until thick and...mashy. Add in remaining ingredients and mix well. Roll into balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes in 350F oven. Serve with rice pasta and spaghetti sauce!

Balls!

mmmmm

really great

Oh how I've missed good ol' spaghetti and meat balls. Beet and quinoa are a waaaay healthier meat substitute to things like seitan and tvp. Plus they end up a nice purpl-y pink colour.

We submitted this recipe to Ricki's Wellness Weekends! Check it out.

Nacho Supreme Quinoa Bowl + TruRoots

You guys are gonna think this is so weird, but I had a dream last night that I made this and since I had a day off today I decided to follow my dreams and literally make them come true.

And I've recently discovered the BEST and EASIEST vegan cheese sauce. I tried it on noodles and it definitely wins for the best "Mac and Cheese" substitute. Better than our hummus and sweet potato versions.

So what are the ingredients?

Super easy.

Pumpkin Cheese Sauce

Equal parts:

Canned pumpkin puree
Tahini
Nutritional Yeast and
Water
+ a hefty pinch of sea salt

For the bowl I used about 2 tbsp of each as well as a little bit more water cause I wanted to be able to drizzle it. This would equal about 1 serving I'd say.

Here's the sauce mixed w/ some noodles, KD style

But this isn't what you came here to see!

Presenting the Nacho Supreme Quinoa Bowl


1/2- 3/4 cup of cooked quinoa
1 tsp chili powder

Chopped red pepper
Chopped green onion
Black beans
Salsa
Diced avocado
1 sprouted corn tortilla (Baked in a 350F oven for about 10 minutes and crumbled)

1 serving of Pumpkin Cheese Sauce (recipe above)

First you layer the quinoa that has been mixed with chili powder on the bottom of the bowl. Next add your veggies, salsa and avocado (Add vegan sour cream if you're into that kind of thing). Top with tortilla pieces.

Drizzle on cheese sauce and garnish with a lime.

Yum!!!

I didn't have black beans so just pretend they're there

Na na na

Quinoa peeking through

If you don't have sprouted corn tortillas just use crumbled tortilla chips.

Tru Roots sent us some Sprouted Quinoa! You can really tell the difference when the grain is sprouted. It's a more hearty grain. Perfect for bowls!

I was also thinking you could put in some other nacho-ish stuff like maybe some smoked tempeh or shredded lettuce.

Chili-Lime Guacamole Mac + RISE bar

Hello lovely readers! We've been receiving some great stuff to review lately including these RISE bars which is the old pranabar "reinvented", hope you don't mind all the products. We're kind of nerds that way, we could spend hours browsing the aisles of health food stores. It's the packaging that gets us! Why is health food always in such pretty packaging?... I think they're onto something marketing wise...

I made the most random weirdest dish because I was basically out of normal food and all I had was an avocado, brown rice noodles and limes. So what did I make??...

Chili-Lime Mac!

I know I know, it's almost like we make an effort to be weird...

It was pretty good! Basically like guacamole mixed into pasta.

For the sauce:

1 large avocado
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
A very generous pinch of salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Whizz up in your blender (I used my magic bullet of course)

Enjoy over some piping hot pasta!

Oh and one more thing, we received a whole package of rise bars in the mail!

What could be inside!

These are comparable to lara bars except they have more of a texture to them. They are primarily comprised of fruit and nuts with some popped amaranth for extra chewiness.

Lots to choose from!

Our favourite was definitely the coconut-acai and we loved how unique the flavour combos were.

Flickering in close up 

Order your own box of RISE bars HERE

Miso-Tahini Pumpkin Noodles + Pudding + King Soba

You probably already know we are big fans of tahini. 1. because it's cheap 2. because it has a low glycemic index and 3. because it actually tastes really good! I made a super yummy asian inspired miso-tahini sauce that you can use as a dressing or poured over top of noodles. In this case I used King Soba's Pumpkin-Ginger Noodles. We love this gluten-free noodle company (especially the packaging) and they're organic too! Double score! They sent us some other noodles to try so we'll also be posting recipes for those when inspiration strikes.

So to make your noodle dish first mix together the sauce:

2 tbsp of tahini
1 tsp miso paste
1/4 cup hot water (or more depending on consistency of tahini)

Mix together the miso and hot water. Add in tahini and stir until well combined. It should have a dressing consistency.

Pour over cooked noodles and wilted spinach or arugula (or whatever greens you'd like). Toss in the dressing. Eat!

Into the miso abyss

Greens!

I hope you guys don't mind the simplicity of the dishes we've been making. Hopefully when the holidays come we'll get a bit more crazy.

King Soba! 

Here's a pudding I made...guess what's in it...

It's avocado and kiwi! (w/ cinni and hemp seeds on top). Simple, low-glycemic and filling. We love our avos!

Creamy Hummus Pasta w/ Spinach and Nuts + Cookies

Looks like we've been in a bit of a temporary hiatus, don't freak out though it's just temporary (30 Rock fans?) It feels kind of weird to not be posting almost everyday like we've been doing this past month for Vegan MoFo. It was fun to figure out something to post everyday but I'm also glad that the pressure's off!

I came up with an absolutely delicious, easy vegan and gluten-free lunch. It tastes like pasta in Alfredo sauce (basically...)

This is enough for 2 people:

2 fist fulls of brown rice pasta (I used spaghetti)
1/4 cup hummus (store-bought or homemade)
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
Liberal sprinkling of sea salt and pepper
Splash of olive oil (optional)

2 handfuls of spinach
About a quarter cup of chopped nuts (I used almonds)

Boil noodles until tender. Drain in a colander, rinse off starchiness and set aside. Add a bit of water (a couple tbsps) to the pot and return to stove. Add in spinach, cover and steam for about 30 seconds. Remove pot from stove, add in hummus, water, yeast, sea salt and pepper. Add in noodles, and drizzle with a bit of oil (optional). Stir in nuts. Serve!

Creamy tangle

This was a perfect lunch! Feel free to add any sort of vegetables or legumes or nuts to the pasta.

And we made the best chocolate chip cookies! Aren't they cute? We're thinking about opening an Etsy store to sell our baked goods. We'll keep you updated with that endeavour.

Also check out our cousin's blog! She does catering in Ontario!

Cheez-y Crepes

We have been obsessed with crepes lately and there's good reason! First of all they are so so easy to make. All you need is buckwheat flour, water and salt. Easy. And you just fill em with whatever you fancy. We made pumpkin cream crepes a couple weeks ago and they were to die for.

We decided to go the savory route this time and made a cheez sauce using sweet potatoes.

Heres the recipe for the cheez sauce:

1 large sweet potato, steamed and peeled

1/2 cup almond milk or water

1 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp miso paste

1/2 tsp sea salt

Blend it all up and pour over a stir fry of whatever veggies you like. We used potatoes, broccoli and red onion. 

For the crepes:

1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1 cup water

pinch of sea salt

Mix ingredients together and pour into a hot and oiled frying pan over medium heat. Cook for about 1 1/2 - 2 minutes on each side. Makes 3 crepes.

Spoon the filling onto one side of the crepe

classic combo of broccoli and cheese

Then fold it over and top with cheez sauce and crunchies

Cha cha cheezie

The crepe possibilities are endless!

We submitted this recipe to Ricki's Wellness Weekends, check it out!

Coconut Curry Quinoa Croquettes

We recently received a very generous sampling of "Mary's" crackers in the mail. My favourite GF crackers ever! I went through a phase of addiction with these, for real, thank god they were gluten-free!! These crackers are so so crunchy, and all of the seeds and whole grains give it a nice varied texture and create different dimensions of crunch.
It was hard to think of a recipe that uses crackers as an ingredient, but then I remembered seeing "croquettes" on the food network once and then came up with the genius idea of making quinoa croquettes! Not to mention Coconut Curry Quinoa Croquettes.

2/3 cup quinoa, cooked
1 large carrot, finely shredded
2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
Pinch of cayenne
1 1/2 tsp cumin
2 tsp psyllium husk (for sticky-togetherness)
1/2 tsp salt

For crumb crust:
1/2 cup mary's crackers, ground finely (or alternative gluten-free cracker)
1/4 cup ground unsweetened shredded coconut

Cook the quinoa in a small pot. Once it's finished cooking add the carrots, psyllium and spices and let it sit for about five minutes with the lid on. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until cool. Prepare the crumb coating. Roll quinoa mixture into balls and flatten slightly. Roll in crumb coating, brush both sides with water and then roll once more in the coating. Fry in coconut oil on both sides until golden. Serve with chutney or whatever sauce you fancy!

 I put ground up shredded coconut in with the cracker crumbs and it makes the coating toasty and golden.

Coconut Fields Foreva

Serve these little guys with a generous helping of mango chutney or whatever sauce you care for.

It's Daaaavey Croquette!

Puttanesca Sauce w/ Rice

What does Puttanesca mean? I think it means very few ingredients, which is exactly my kind of meal.

This is a super quick vegan supper if you are in a time crunch and the ingredients are super simple, you probably have most of them in your cupboard right now!

This was inspired by a recipe by Jamie Oliver. I made it a couple years ago when I first began experimenting with "meat-free" recipes and it was so yummy! I love the taste of the black olives with the oregano and tomatoes. It's a very tangy, sweet, herbal sauce that can be spooned on top of rice or gluten-free pasta.

Puttanesca Sauce:

1/4 red onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
1/3 cup kalamata olives, de-pitted and halved
1/2 tbsp green capers
1 tsp dried basil
2 tsp dried oregano leaves
6-7 whole tomatoes (from a can) chopped
A couple spoonfuls of liquid from can of tomatoes
Salt and pepper to taste

Saute onion, garlic, olives, capers and spices in a frying pan until soft. Add salt pepper, tomatoes and juice. Let simmer for about 5 minutes. Add more liquid if need be. Serve on rice or pasta!

Saucy brown rice!

Pile on the Puttanesca!

Black Bean-Pea Burgers

Are you one of those people who like peas?? Well if you are, this is your lucky day! :) Veggie burgers are one of my favourite ways to fulfill that "hearty protein" meal I usually crave a few times a week. Peas blend really well and add that much needed starchiness to keep these burgers sticking together. 

Burger in a salad nest

1 1/2 cups black beans
1 1/2 cup cooked peas
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp tahini
1-2 tbsp tamari
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp sea salt
Freshly ground pepper


Combine black beans, peas, water, tamari, and tahini in a food processor until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and stir in spices, and flour. Form into 7-8 patties. Bake for 20 minutes in a 350F oven. Serve over salad or in a whole-grain bun. Top with tahini sauce.

Green Tea Soba Noodles w/ Ginger Quinoa Crunchies (Vegan, GF)

We have always loved soba noodles and when I found these black soba noodles at the health food store I knew I had to make something crazy with them. I'm not a fan of soup which these are usually used in so I decided to make a japanese inspired green tea sauce. I know it sounds scary but it tastes so fresh and flavourful. The green pepper gives it a delightful green hue and the tea sort of mellows out the boldness of the coconut aminos. This noodle dish tastes like spring especially with the gingery quinoa crunchies on top! You could substitute the green pepper and sunbutter for an avocado as well for supreme creaminess.  


Green tea sauce:
1 green pepper
1 tbsp sunflower seed butter
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove of garlic
2 tbsp coconut aminos (or tamari)
1 inch chunk of fresh ginger
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp ground green tea leaves


Combine all ingredients in a blender. Let "steep" in the fridge for at least a half hour. 

Gingery Quinoa Crunchies
2 tsp ground ginger
1 cup quinoa puffs
2 tbsp coconut oil (melted)
2 tsp chia gel (made from ground chia seeds) you could also use flax seed gel


Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix together with your hands. Spread onto parchment paper and bake at 325F for 25 minutes. Let cool. 


Cook noodles according to directions on package. Strain noodles and put back in pot with sauce. Heat through and serve with crunchies on top. 

This sauce has style

Green Pea Alfredo Socca Pizza (Vegan, GF)

I have officially jumped on the socca bandwagon and can't believe I didn't do it sooner! It makes the perfect pizza crust! I was inspired by Ashley from edible perspective's post. I made my crust more thin and crispy by spreading it out thinly in a cake pan. I threw together a cauliflower based alfredo sauce that is amazing. I was eating it with a spoon after spreading it on the crust. I kind of over did it on the garlic though. For some reason I thought 4 cloves was an average amount to put in. After roasting in the oven, the garlic became sweeter and I was glad I put in the extra punch. 


Socca Crust
3/4 cup chickpea flour
3/4 water
2 tbsp olive oil


Pour into oiled cake pan. Bake on 375 F for 40 minutes. Set aside.


Cauliflower-Almond Garlic Alfredo Sauce:
1 cup steamed cauliflower
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp water
4 cloves garlic
1/3 cup peeled soaked almonds
Salt and Pepper


Whizz in a blender until smooth. Spread on crust.

Pre-oven

 Top with green peas, green peppers and onions. Drizzle additional sauce on top and a sprinkling of oregano and shredded basil. Bake for 20 additional minutes or until topping are cooked through. 

Post-oven

Roasted garlic slice

Raw Avocado Primavera (Vegan, GF)

It seems that there aren't enough zuchini pasta recipes out there that don't require a goopy sauce. I made a dressing of simple olive oil, lemon and garlic leaving room for the salad booster! I was excited to try the Vegan Cheesy Salad Booster I received from Living Intentions. If you're on your last salad nerve and are tired of a mundane salad routine, these boosters will definitely bring some new life and excitement to your lunch. Living Intentions is one of the cleanest and environmentally conscious vegan food companies I've ever come across. I really like the Vegan Cheesy one because it's like parmesan cheese with a nice wholesome greens taste. Please check them out if you've never heard of them. This was like eating a fine italian meal, sans starch or gluten!

Living Intention's Salad Boosters

1 zuchini's worth of pasta
1 avocado
4-5 large sundried tomatoes
Handful of soaked almonds

Dressing:
1 large clove of garlic
4 tbsp olive oil
3 tsp lemon juice
Water
Salt and Pepper to taste (if not using a salad booster)

Top with: Vegan Cheesy Salad Booster, or Nutritional Yeast Flakes

Chickpea-Edamame Burgers with Tahini-Dill Sauce (Vegan, GF)

These started out as Edamame falafels, but I didn't feel like fried oil-ness so I made baked chickpea burgers instead. And these turned out so so good! I went to a burger restaurant  in Toronto and being the little veggie that I am, I ordered a chickpea burger. It was horrible and dry and tasteless, so I figured this was my chance to give chickpea burgers another try. I used half chickpeas and half edamame which gave it a nice springy green colour and lighter texture. The dill sauce came about from eating one of the burgers plain with a salad mix that had dill in it, it went so well together and I'm not even usually a dill person. You can eat these with a salad, wrapped in a collard leaf or on a bun of course!

Perched atop salad mountain 

1 1/2 cup cooked chickpeas
1 1/2 cup shelled edamame beans (defrosted and steamed until soft)
1/4 cup water
2 tbsp tahini
1/2 cup quinoa flour (or brown rice flour)
2 tsp coconut aminos (optional)
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp ground coriander
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
Freshly ground pepper


Tahini-Dill Sauce:
1 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp water
2 tsp lime/lemon juice
Pinch of sea salt to taste
1 tsp dill


Combine chickpeas, edamame, water and tahini in a food processor until smooth (it's ok if the edamame is somewhat still a bit chunky) Transfer to a bowl and stir in spices, aminos, and flour. Form into 7 patties. Bake for 20 minutes in a 350F oven. To make sauce combine ingredients in a small bowl. Makes enough to dress two burgers.

Smoked Tempeh Pizza w/ Carrot Pesto (Vegan, GF)

Pizza is one of our greatest loves, but it's harder than you think to make a gluten-free pizza crust without using chemicals. We decided to try to make a crust out of our Brown Rice Flax Tortillas and it worked perfectly! We topped our pizza with smoked tempeh crumbles which we were inspired to make after having tempeh bacon at Fresh Restaurant in Toronto. It is a couple minutes away from a musical theatre workshop we are currently taking downtown so we will definitely be going back. Here is how we made the pizza!

GF Pizza Crust

1 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp sweet rice flour

1/4 cup rice bran

2 tbsp finely ground flaxseed

3/4 tsp baking powder (add if you like thick crust)

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4-1 cup warm water

1/2 tbsp agave or raw honey

Combine all ingredients and form into a flat disc shape. Add more water if it's too crumbly. Press onto an oiled cookie sheet (we think coconut oil works best) and prick with a fork. Bake in a 325F oven for 20 minutes. Set aside.

Smoked Tempeh Bits

2 tbsp safflower oil

1 tbsp tamari

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/4 tsp cayenne

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp dried basil (optional)

1/4 tsp liquid smoke

Sea salt and pepper

Pour over 1 cup of crumble tempeh and let marinate while you prepare the pesto.

Carrot Pesto Sauce

1 large carrot (rough chopped)

1/2 cup of parsley

2 tbsp chopped red onion

1/2 tsp oregano

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tbsp lemon juice

1 clove garlic

Sea salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in a food processor until it is a "pesto consistency". Set aside.

Hummus "Cheese" Sauce

1/2 cup hummus

3 tbsp nutritional yeast

2 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp sea salt

Combine ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.

After you have baked the crust. Spread carrot pesto onto crust. Sprinkle on tempeh bits and sliced red onion in an even layer. Pipe on "cheese" by putting sauce in a ziploc bag and cutting off one of the corners. 

Bake for 30-35 minutes in a 350F oven.

I know the crust looks crackly, but I promise it only LOOKS that way, it actually stays together really nicely.

 Ok, so we just tried the pizza and OMG the smoked tempeh is ridiculous! This is definitely one of the best vegan things we've ever made!