Sweet Onion Jam

Recipe

2lbs sliced yellow onions

1/2 cup veggie stock

1t maple syrup

1T balsamic vinegar

-Heat a few T olive oil over medium heat.

-Add onions and cook covered for 15 minutes stirring occasionally

-After 15 min, add other ingredients and cook uncovered for 30 minutes stirring occasionally

-Let cook and jar it up! keeps in fridge up to 2 weeks

Add to veggie sandwiches, chickpea salad, bean smash sandwiches...salads, roasted potatoes...it's good on so many things!

Mushroom Taco Meat

Ingredients:

1 lb mushrooms 

Taco seasoning:

1T chili powder

1/4t garlic powder

1/4t onion powder

1.5t cumin

1/4t oregano

1/2t paprika

1/2t salt and pepper

(mix it all in a bowl)

Chop mushrooms small.
Sauté in a pan on medium heat until they release some water. Don't use any oil it doesn't need it. After some of the water has cooked off add taco seasoning
Cook a couple more minutes then make up a taco!

If you have a mushroom hater in the fam just make them a taco and don't tell them it's mushrooms? It may work?! It's also super yummy to mix in a can of rinsed black beans to the mushroom Taco Meat and heat through. Mash about 1/2 the black beans with a fork while it's all heating in pan

Homemade Salad Dressing

Three go-to dressings so you never buy store-bought again. These are great on greens packed high with raw or roasted veg, beans, grains...whatever you like on your salads!

Lemon Dressing

1/4 cup lemon juice

4T olive oil

2t dijon mustard

1t honey

splash of water

small grated garlic clove

(this is a great one to massage into kale for a kale greens salad! Cut 1 bunch kale into strips and pour dressing over. Massage with hands for a few minutes. keep in fridge in sealed container until ready to eat. keeps pretty well for a couple days!)

Tahini Dressing

3T lemon juie

2T tahini

small grated garlic clove

1t chickpea miso paste

1/2t maple syrup
water to thin

Yummy Creamy Dressing

3T rice vinegar

pinch of chili powder

1T vegenaise

1T coconut aminos

juice of a lime

Wish each dressing, whisk all ingredients together and pour over salad. 

Keep in sealed jar in fridge for up to 1 week.

Vegan Cheese Sauce

Vegan Cheese Sauce to go on EVERYTHING. Veggie burgers, nachos, tacos, roasted veggies, pasta, baked potatoes....the list goes on. No flour thickeners. LOVING this sauce! I'm toying with the idea of omitting nightshades (peppers, tomatoes...foods that cause inflammation in joints in the body) because I have what I call "runners knees" and because I had arthritic joints during both pregnancies. I'm just curious if food exacerbate the issue....anyway, that's why the tomato paste is optional. It adds a depth of flavor but is not necessary.

3/4 cup soaked raw cashews

1 cup roasted carrots

1T turmeric

1 med sized onion

1 clove garlic

1/2t salt

2 cups veggie broth

1T dijon mustard

3T nutritional yeast

1T tomato paste (optional)

1t dried italian herbs (optional)

To soak cashews: cover with water and let soak for at least 2 hours or overnight

To roast carrots: cut in half lengthwise and then half again across the width. toss in a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and roast at 400* for 20-25 min, flipping half way through. Until fork-tender and a little browned.

-Chop and saute onion in medium sized pan over med-high heat. after a few minutes, add minced garlic and saute for another minute or so, until onion is translucent. 

-Put sauteed onion and garlic into blender.

-Add roasted carrot, cashews and the rest of the ingredients to blender. 

-Blend until smooth. If it's a little too thick, add more veggie broth 1T at a time until it reaches your desired consistency.  

Heat up the sauce on the stove if you wish. Keep in airtight container in fridge for up to a week.

Flourless Chickpea Cookies

These are so easy to make, you just need a food processor or high speed blender. Throw everything in, fold in the carob chips and then you only bake for 11 minutes! So you can have a warm cookie in your mouth 15 minutes after you decide to make them! Made with only feel good ingredients, high in protein, they are a great cookie to have in your recipe box.

Recipe:

1.5 cups chickpeas

1/2 cup plus 2T peanut butter

2 big scoops carob powder

2t vanilla

1t aluminum free baking powder

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/2 cup carob chips 

Place all ingredients but the carob chips into the blender and blend into a dough. Empty dough into bowl and fold in the carob chips. Form the dough into flattened circles (about 1/5-2" diameter, helps to wet hands) and bake on greased baking sheet at 350* for 11 min.

Raw Kohlrabi Salad

Kohlrabi is one of my favorite vegetables. Eaten raw, it is refreshing with the same crunch as an apple and a mild, crisp, easy to love taste. It is low in calories and rich in vitamins and dietary fiber. To prepare the bulb to eat: cut off the greens and stems (save for smoothies or saute!) and peel the outer layer (purple or green) off. The outside layer is tough but the inside of the bulb is white and tender.

This salad is yummy and refreshing and super quick to throw together. Use a mandolin to julienne the Kohlrabi and apple if you have one.

Raw Kohlrabi Salad:

3 medium Kohlrabi bulbs peeled and julienned 

1 large apple julienned

1 large carrot, grated

handful of cilantro

2 green onions, white and light green parts chopped

2 radishes thinly sliced

lemon vinaigrette

Toss all together in a bowl and enjoy!

Lemon Vinaigrette:

2T olive oil

Juice of a lemon

 1t dijon mustard

1t sweetener (agave, honey, maple syrup)

pinch salt

Add all to mason jar and shake

Fresh & Easy Phyllo Dough Strawberry Pie

 This is a great light and easy pie to bake for your family for an afternoon treat or weekday dessert. It's one you want to eat right when it comes out of the oven...not one I would make and take to a party or potluck. It's a super yummy, quickly made, really fresh tasting, won't weigh you down pie!

Phyllo dough Strawberry Pie Recipe:

2.5 cups fresh strawberries

6 1/2 sheets phyllo dough

2 T melted coconut oil + 1T for greasing cookie sheet

2 T maple syrup

1T tapioca flour

-pre-heat oven to 350*

-Generously grease rimmed cookie sheet with coconut oil

-Dip your fingers into the melted coconut oil and rub a little oil on each sheet of phyllo dough, layering them on top of each other in a clockwise formation on the cookie sheet. Rub a little more coconut oil all around the outside edge of the layered phyllo dough and roll it up to create the circular outer crust.
- Blend up two cups of the strawberries, the maple syrup and the tapioca flour until strawberries are broken down a bit and all ingredients are combined. No need to go crazy blending here.
-Pour the blended strawberry mixture into the phyllo dough
-Slice up the rest of the strawberries and arrange however you would like on the top of the pie. 
-Cover loosely with tinfoil and bake 20 min
-Uncover and bake another 5-10 minutes until edges are golden brown. Check on it while its baking the last 5-10 so the edges dont burn

I had about 1/4 cup of strawberry mixture leftover this time (because of the size of my pie...they always turn out a little differently because you're just rolling the outer edge by hand) and made these SUPER easy little phyllo dough rectangle tartlet things (based off a My California Roots recipe). I'm giving you all the recipe I came up with because they were really yummy and even easier than the super easy pie above!

Phyllo Dough Tartlet Recipe:

(makes 3 tartlets but you can easily make as many as needed)

3-4 strawberries
2 sheet of phyllo dough
1T coconut oil, melted
1/4 cup leftover strwberry mixture from above

-Preheat oven to 425*
-Grease a rimmed cookie sheet generously with coconut oil and set aside
-Slice the two phyllo sheets in half and then slice those in half again so you have 4 long rectangle shapes.
-Place the four rectangles on top of one another and slice those into 3 sections. You should have 3 small rectangles now, each with 8 layers of phyllo.
-Take one of the small rectangle piles and pull off the top 4 layers. Use your fingers and rub coconut oil on the top of the bottom pile. Add back the top four layers and rub with more coconut oil (you are not greasing every layer. Only the middle and the top of the pile). Place on greased cookie sheet.
-Slice a strawberry and arrange on top of the coconut oiled rectangle pile, then spoon on 1/3 of the strawberry mixture. 
-Repeat with the other two phyllo dough piles. 
-Bake at 425* for 10-15 minutes, careful not to burn.