Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label recipes. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Fav Vegan MoFo Product: Sunshine Burgers

Even as a kid I wasn't a big fan of burgers.  The texture of ground beef grossed me out, so when I explored  vegetarian burger options, it wasn't necessary for me to find a "burger" that resembled a beef burger.  Actually, the further it is from a beef burger, the better.  


When I discovered Sunshine Burger's Garden Herb in the natural foods store, I found my perfect burger.  The ingredients are very simple and nutritious: Organic Ground Raw Sun-flower Seeds, Organic Brown Rice, Organic Carrots, Organic Herbs and Sea Salt.  
The herbs are understated, but pronounced enough so that the burger isn't bland at all.  You can definitely taste the sunflower seeds, but they are balanced nicely with the rice and carrots, and not overwhelming.  Some people might not like the texture.  It is not firm like a burger, but soft.  I'm guessing that it wouldn't work well on a grill.  However, it is not dry like falafel and doesn't fall apart easily.  The ingredients work together as if egg binds it, even though it is vegan, so it functions like a burger better than some vegan varieties do.  
The burger takes very little time to cook, so it is the perfect meal on the go.  And, it tastes great in wraps and between bread.  I'm still enjoying the tomatoes from my garden, so delicious, ripe tomatoes have accompanied these burgers in a lot of meals the last two weeks.  Here is Saturdays's recipe:

Sunshine Burger w/ Garden Fresh Tomatoes Wrap
  • 1 Garden Herb Sunshine Burger
  • 1/2 medium tomato, chopped
  • handful of mesclun or any young greens
  • 1/3 onion, sliced
  • 1 1/2 T hummous
  • 1 tsp. salsa
  • olive oil or olive oil spray
  • chopped kalamata olives (optional)
  • 1 medium-large size tortilla shell

Spray pan with olive oil spray or add 1 tsp. olive oil to medium sized cast iron skillet or non-stick pan.  On medium-high heat, saute onions for 3 minutes.  Turn heat down to medium and add burger to skillet. Cook burger and onions until burger is gently browned on both sides, adding more olive oil if needed.  When burger is cooked, remove from heat.  Warm shell thoroughly on both sides.  Spread hummous and salsa on shell.  Crumble up burger, add onions, tomato, kalamata olives and green.  Fold and serve.  


Friday, February 25, 2011

Winter Kale Salad

I made this the other day & loved it!  Perfect for winter, because few veggies are involved and kale & carrots are easy to come by in the winter.  The almond butter dressing is warming, as well.

salad
1/2 lb. firm tofu
small-med sized bunch of kale, chopped in thin ribbons
2 large carrots, grated
olive oil

almond butter dressing
3 T almond butter (I used raw)
1 tsp. soy sauce
1 T rice vinegar
water, as needed
1 T honey
1 T grated ginger
1 tsp. minced garlic, or more to taste
few drops sesame oil, optional

Drain tofu and wrap in dishtowel for 5 minutes to absorb some of the water.  Cut into small 1/2" cubes.  Add 1 tsp. olive oil to frying pan (I use cast iron) set on med-high heat and stir fry for 5-10 minutes, until lightly browned.  Remove from heat.
Mix together all of the ingredients for almond butter dressing.  Add more soy sauce if desiring a saltier dressing.  Add enough water so that the dressing is a little thinner than ranch dressing and stir well.
In a large bowl, mix together dressing, carrots and kale, and tofu.  If mixture is lacking flavor, add a little bit more almond butter and rice vinegar.  Considering how large your bunch of kale is (or isn't), it's better to play with it a bit.  Let sit for 2 hours and enjoy.  Keeps well in refrigerator for several days.







Saturday, January 8, 2011

Mila Banana Smoothie

My son and I have been drinking Mila smoothies about every other day for the last few weeks. Mila is basically chia seed that is ground (therefor easier to drink and tastier) but still raw and unprocessed. The extra fiber does us well and chia seeds are touted as a super food.
Usually we make a shake with banana only, but today we added some frozen raspberries. I prefer it this time of year over my usual smoothie because it's at room temperature, whereas most of my smoothies contain a great deal of frozen fruit.
If you want to make a raw shake, use fresh coconut water (not coconut milk from a can).

Mila Banana Smoothie

3/4 c vanilla soymilk (or any milk)
3/4 c water
1 banana
1/3 c frozen (or fresh) raspberries

Add ingredients to blender and blend for about 20 seconds. Super easy and delicious. If you don't add the raspberries, use a large banana or two small ones.





Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Super Moist Vegan Banana Bread w/ Coconut Flour

Being fairly new to vegan baking, I was surprised when this banana bread ended up tasting absolutely fabulous. This bread is soooo moist! The coconut flour adds fiber and a slightly sweeter flavor. My son loved it and we didn't miss the eggs or butter at all.

3 1/2 cup white flour (unbleached)
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
2 tsp. cinnamon
7 mashed ripe bananas
3/4 vanilla soymilk (can sub any other milk)
1 cup canola oil (I only had 1/2 cup, so I used 1/2 olive oil)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cane sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Grease 2 bread pans (or 1 large & two small).  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Mix wet ingredients in large bowl and dry ingredients into medium sized bowl.  Slowly fold dry ingredients into wet.  Do not overstir.  Pour into well greased bread pans.  My oven temp swings high and low, so your baking time might differ from mine.  I baked the small loaves for about 30 minutes and the large about 50 minutes.