Vegan Cashew Mozzarella

Making cashew mozzarella is crazy simple!  Making cheese from cashews, who knew?!  I thought making nut butter for the first time was exhilarating; that's old news. This mozzerala fantastic on pizza, can't wait to try it in lasagna.

I obtained this recipe off the internet a while ago.  Unfortunately, I don't recall the source.  Thank you, to whomever was generous enough to share this recipe.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup raw cashews, soaked for 1 hour

1 cup hot water 

2 T plus 1 t organic tapioca starch

1 organic garlic clove, minced

3/4 t sea salt 

1 t organic lemon juice

Method:

Blend all ingredients together in a food processor until smooth.

Place mixture into a small saucepan and cook over medium heat.  Keep stirring the mixture as it cooks.  Cook until the cheese becomes really thick, and stretches.

Use immediately.

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Vegan Stuffed Peppers with Chickpea Salad

Have you ever stood in the middle of your kitchen with hands on hips while releasing a huge sigh because you don't know what to make for lunch or dinner?

Today I had one of those moments!

I looked in my refrigerator for ideas, then in my pantry, bouncing back and fourth trying to think of a meal to make.

In my mind, I was thinking something simple and quick, something delicious, and something filling.  Luckily, lunchtime was saved by making these stuffed peppers.

Ingredients:

2 organic peppers

1 bag of FIG brand organic chickpeas

1/4 cup organic onion, diced

1 T organic extra virgin olive oil

1 t organic garlic powder

1 t organic dried dill weed

1 t organic dried parsley 

1 t organic dried oregano 

Sea salt and pepper to taste

Method:

Wash and dry peppers; cut the top off of each pepper and remove all seeds from the inside.

Drain the liquid from the chickpeas in a strainer and rinse with cool waster.  Place chickpeas into a medium sized bowl.  Use a fork to lightly mash the chickpeas.  Stir in remaining ingredients.

Stuff each pepper with the chickpea salad, and enjoy!

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Organic Sunflower Seed Butter

This was my first attempt at making a seed butter, just like making a nut butter it's super easy!  Just make sure your sunflower seeds are roasted to ensure a flavorful butter.

Ingredients:

2 cups organic sunflower seeds, roasted

2 T organic sunflower oil

Sea salt to taste

1-2 T organic maple syrup (opitional)

Method:

Place roasted sunflower seeds into your food processor.  Grind until the seeds begin to form a paste.  Stop, and add 1 T oil, salt, and maple syrup, if using. Continue to blend until creamy.  Add another tablespoon of oil if the butter won't blend properly.  Store in a air tight container.

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Cherry Fig Smoothie

For smoothies in the winter, I tend to buy up all the different types of frozen organic fruits that I run across in the market. Today, I wanted to try using a couple of fruits that are outside of my "normal" smoothie rotation, namely figs and cherries. The figs are frozen whole ones, which require a complete thawing before putting in the blender. I am so psyched to try this new combination of flavors again soon. Hope you enjoy it too!

Cherry Fig Smoothie 

 

3 organic figs (if frozen, thaw completely)

1/2 cup organic dark cherries (frozen)

4 ounces organic hemp milk

4 ounces water 

2 T organic oatmeal

1 t organic matcha powder

2/3 cup organic kale

1/3 cup organic spinach

In the above order, in a Vitamix or high speed blender, mix the ingredients from low speed to high. Mix for 30 seconds on the highest speed. 

This post was written by guest blogger Jeff. 

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Vegan Walnut Butter Bon Bons

Valentines Day is in a few days and I wanted to make my husband a unique sweet.  Normally, I would use peanut butter in these Bon Bons but my husband is avoiding peanuts.  So today I made walnut butter for the first time.  To my surprise, it's really good!  Full of flavor and thin, this butter won't get stuck on the roof of your mouth.

These Walnut Butter Bon Bons are decadent! Your loved ones will love them!

Ingredients for walnut butter:

2 cups organic walnuts

1 T walnut oil

Sea salt to taste

Method:

Add walnuts, oil, and sea salt to a food processor and blend until smooth.  I use a small 3 cup processor and it takes me about 5 minutes.

Ingredients for candy:

2 cups organic walnut butter 

3 T organic maple syrup

3 T organic coconut flour

Sea salt to taste

1 cup vegan chocolate chips

1 T organic coconut oil, melted 

Method:

Line a small baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper; set aside.

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix the walnut butter, maple syrup, flour, and sea salt.  Scoop out teaspoon sized amounts, roll into balls and place on lined baking sheet.  Put baking sheet into the freezer and let Bon Bons firm up for 10 minutes.

In the meantime, melt chocolate and coconut oil together.  Once thoroughly melted remove from heat.

After 10 minutes remove Bon Bons from the freezer.  Using a fork gently place one Bon Bon at a time in the melted chocolate.  Roll it around so it's completely covered in chocolate.  Remove and place back on lined baking sheet.  When all the Bon Bons have been dipped in chocolate, return them to the freezer for another 10 minutes to set the chocolate.

Remove from freezer, with a spoon gently drizzle each Bon Bon with more melted chocolate.

Keep Walnut Butter Bon Bons in the refrigerator until you are ready to enjoy.

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Vegan, Gluten Free and Yeast Free Pizza

Just when I thought my husband and I couldn't enjoy pizza anymore, BAM!  I was able to create a pizza crust we both can eat and love!

My husband is avoiding wheat and I am staying clear of wheat and yeast.

Replacing wheat in a pizza crust recipe is fairly easy, but yeast?  Yes! Yes you can!

I made this pizza last night, and we enjoyed it so much I am tempted to make pizza again tonight!

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill gluten free all-purpose flour

1 1/2 t sea salt 

1/4 t baking soda

1/2 t organic garlic powder 

1 T organic dried oregano 

1 1/2 t organic extra virgin olive oil

1/4 t organic lemon juice

1/2 cup cold water

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

Line a baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper; set-aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, garlic powder, and 1/2 t of the oregano.  To that, add the oil, lemon juice, and water.  Mix until a dough forms.

Lightly oil the parchment paper; place dough onto the center of the baking sheet.  Use your fingers to gently spread out the dough.  The dough will not cover the entire baking sheet.

Lightly coat the dough with oil.  Start laying down your toppings and sprinkle remaining oregano over the entire top of pizza.

Bake 30 minutes or until the crust is nicely browned.

After removing the pizza from the oven, I drizzled extra olive oil over the top.

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Vegan and Raw Lemon and Garlic Salad Dressing

Whoever thought you could make salad dressing from cashews?  Not me!  This was my first attempt and I am in love!

This is a great recipe, not only because it's delicious, but the soaking time for the cashews is only 1 hour.  Many recipes you have to soak the nuts for 4-8 hours.  By the time you prepare your main course and assemble your salad the nuts will be ready.  Place all the dressing ingredients in a food processor and in a few minutes you have your dressing.

Ingredients:

2/3 cup raw cashews, soaked in filtered water for 1 hour

1/4 cup organic extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup cashew water

Juice from 1 large organic lemon

1 T organic garlic, minced

1/2 t sea salt

1 T organic onion powder

Method:

Place all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy.  

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Curried Mixed Nuts

My husband and I eat nuts everyday; we enjoy them as a snack, bake, and cook with them.  In a previous post, I wrote about my husband eating a mold free diet.  Some of the nuts I used to buy were grown in another country. By the time these certain nuts arrived to my market they were several months old. So, to insure we eat the freshest nuts possible, I researched purchasing nuts directly from nut farms. Last week we received a nut haul from Braga Organic Farms, located in California.  We received raw cashews, raw pecans, raw walnuts, raw pastashios, natural almonds, and raw sunflowerseeds.

As my husband and I took each bag of nuts out of the shipping box we oohed and aahed. The nuts and sunflower seeds were much larger than the ones I've been buying at market, and they all were fresh!  You can definitely taste the difference.  We are very pleased with this farm's products.  

We store the nuts and sunflower seeds in the refrigerator to help keep them fresh.

My husband is a big curry fan so I made these curried mixed nuts this morning for him and I am sure they will gone by this evening.

Ingredients:

2 cups organic mix nuts

2 T organic lemon juice

2 T organic curry powder

1 t sea salt 

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees.

Line a large baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper; set-aside.

Place nuts in a large bowl and mix in lemon juice, curry, and salt.  Pour nuts into the lined baking sheet and bake for 25 minutes.

Store cooked nuts in a tightly sealed container.

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