Category Archives: Vegetarian Recipes

Quick Pickles

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Here’s a recipe for a quick pickle; no cooking or waiting. A great way to use fresh cucumbers which will be plentiful now that summer has arrived. These are also salt-free, unlike those dubious jars from the grocery store. I can remember eating these growing up, so I have to thank my Mom for the inspiration on this one. Try them at your next BBQ.

Procedure:

Slice three medium-sized fresh cucumbers very thinly using a knife or mandoline.  Add them to a mixture to 1 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/2 cup olive oil, 1/2 tbsp each of sugar, dill and red pepper flakes. Stir to combine and refrigerate until you are ready to eat them, which could be immediately.

 

Chocolate Avocado Pudding

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I’ll be the first to admit this sounded strange when I first heard of it but it is awesome. Even if you are an avocado hater (I know they exist but I haven’t figured it out) I really encourage you to give this a try. The texture is smoother and creamier than any dairy-based pudding I’ve ever tasted. Plus it packs on the vitamins, minerals and healthy monounsaturated fat from the avocado and fiber, antioxidants and minerals from the cocoa powder. Jacquie says it had a hint of ripe banana flavor which I agreed with after refrigerating for a day or two. Even though the honey and cocoa make this fairly rich, I guarantee it won’t last long.

We served ours with our CSA strawberries. You could also try adding some banana or other fruit. Some cinnamon would also be good.

Ingredients

Recipe from freecoconutrecipes.com.

  • 2 ripe avocados
  • ½ cup honey
  • ½ cup cocoa powder
  • 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Procedure

Mash the avocado and blend with the rest of the ingredients in a blender or food processor. Enjoy immediately of refrigerate in an airtight container.

Vegan Pancakes

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Vegan Pancakes

Pancakes are perhaps one of my top 5 guilty pleasure foods.  As soon as I found out how to make perfectly round and fluffy ones at home, Mary and I would frequently have them for brinner and weekend brunches. Then I stopped eating butter and had to start the journey of perfecting the recipe all over again. After countless batches, I believe I found it!

The key to fluffy vegan pancakes is to mix equal parts baking soda and baking powder. This creates just enough rise so you are not eating syrup slathered bread (well, I guess technically you are…) and enough air pockets inside to get that fluff.

For liquid ingredients, you can use any non-dairy milk, or even water if you had too. My favorite is unsweetened almond milk.

Do not forget to add the vanilla!

Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons vegan sugar (I use Florida Crystals)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups almond milk
2 tablespoons melted vegan butter
1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Sift together all of the dry ingredients, including the sugar, in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, combine the melted butter, milk, and vanilla.  Pour the wet into the dry, being careful not to over mix.  If it is too dry, add another splash of almond milk.  At this point, you can add berries or chocolate chips.

Heat a lightly oiled griddle over medium-high heat. Drop the batter by large spoonfuls onto the griddle, and cook until bubbles form and the edges are dry. Flip, and cook until browned on the other side.

Makes 8-10 three inch wide pancakes.

Grilled Sweet Potato Salad

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Vegetables are often overlooked when grilling. And with beer in hand, grilling is what I like to do on warm Sunday afternoons. So next time you throw those steaks on the grill, consider grilling some veggies to go with it.

I used to make this salad with red potatoes or yukon golds. Since going paleo, I decided to try it with sweet potatoes and it came out great. I used to add some honey to the vinaigrette but I left it out of the sweet potato version. For even a bit more bite (a little less sweetness) I might try replacing the cider vinegar with red wine or rice vinegar. For our non-vegetarian friends, may I also suggest some bacon?

Grilled Sweet Potato Salad

(Serves 4-6)

Ingredients

For the salad…

  • 4 sweet potatoes
  • 1 red onion
  • 2 jalapenos
  • 6 green onions
  • ~1/4 c. parsley + more for garnish
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper

For the vinaigrette…

  • 6 tbsp olive oil
  • 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tbsp whole grain dijon mustard

Instructions

  • Wash the sweet potatoes and slice about 3/4″ thick. Boil the sweet potatoes until they are barely fork tender. Don’t overcook them since they will be going on the grill. I think if I could cook a vegetable medium-rare, that’s about where these would be.
  • While the sweet potatoes cook, trim the ends from the green onions and peel and slice the red onion about 3/4″ thick. Don’t go too thin with them since all of this is going on the grill. I get about 3-4 slices per onion.
  • Prepare the vinaigrette by mixing all of those items well.
  • After the sweet potatoes have cooked drizzle all the veggies with a little bit of oil and season them with salt and pepper. Throw them all on the grill. Pull the green onions off after a quick char (that will go pretty quickly). Cook the sweet potato and red onions on each side until they have a nice char as well. Turn the jalapenos frequently until the outside skin is blistered and charred. The jalapenos, onions and sweet potatoes take about the same amount of time, about 6-10 minutes total.
  • After the veggies are done dice the jalapenos and onions. Cut the sweet potatoes into bite-sized pieces. Combine the veggies and dress with the vinaigrette while everything is still warm. Mix in the fresh parsley and serve while still warm or at room temperature.

 

 

Easter Eggs and Vanilla Mashed Sweet Potatoes

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easter_eggs

Easter Eggs!

I haven’t dyed Easter eggs in I’m going to guess 15 years. Why not get some friends together and go for it? And this time let’s do it with beer! A fun time for sure, and now I have breakfast/lunch for the better part of a week. I also got a Cadbury egg but I haven’t eaten it yet.

We’re not big on celebrating Easter but I will take advantage of making a nice meal for a Sunday evening. I’ve been searching for a good ham for weeks now. A local farm who does some ham ran out before we got there. I saw uncured ham at Trader Joe’s last week. When I went back yesterday they were sold out. I guess it wasn’t meant to be. I gave up on the ham quest and bought a grass-fed beef roast from a local farm yesterday. I’ll cook it rare with some garlic, thyme, salt and pepper and I’m sure it will be wonderful.

I also wanted to talk about my most recent side-dish discovery… vanilla mashed sweet potatoes. Although a google search tells me I’m not the first one to combine these ingredients, it’s worth restating because the hint of vanilla made these stand out as one of my favorites. To make them, add about a half cup of cream or coconut milk and about 1-2 tsp vanilla extract to about 4 cups of boiled sweet potatoes as you mash them up. I also added some grass-fed butter to make them a little bit richer. A touch of honey would also bring out the sweetness. A perfect addition to your Easter dinner.