I'm convinced that if people realized that vegan food is just plain good food (while combating global warming, preventing disease, giving more life energy and enthusiasm, all while limiting the suffering of animals), we'd all see the benefits and bliss of being vegan. 

However, everyone is on their own path, and my path includes making tasty food that just happens to be cruelty free to feed to people whenever I can. :)






Kale and Mushroom Quiche
(makes 2 quiches)

2 store bought pastry crusts (check ingredients for vegan crust)

2 tbsp sunflower (or any kind) oil
2 medium cooking onions
2 cups of any kind of mushrooms, sliced
4 medium cloves of garlic
4 or 5 large leafs of kale, washed, stems removed and ripped into small pieces 
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper

1 block of drained firm tofu
3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 cup loosely packed parsley 
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
2 tsp curry powder
3 tbsp light miso
3 tbsp tahini (optional)
2 tbsp soy sauce or Bragg's liquid aminos

2 large tomatoes, sliced into 1cm slices. 
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Take pie crusts out of the freezer and allow to sit while preparing the ingredients.

Preheat oven to 375F.

Heat oil on med-high heat in a large frying pan and add onions when oil is hot. Saute for 5 minutes until onions are golden, then add sliced mushrooms and minced garlic. Turn heat down to medium and saute mushrooms until they are wilted. Add kale, and stir for a few minutes until kale is soft. Stir in curry powder, pepper flakes and salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a blender, add roughly crumbled tofu and remaining ingredients (except tomato). Blend ingredients together until the tofu mixture is at a smooth consistency with no lumps. You'll probably have to scrape down the sides often and perhaps add more almond milk if mixture isn't blending easily. Season to taste with salt and pepper if necessary.  

Add pureed tofu mixture to the pan of veggies and mix together. Divide mixture between two pastry crusts. Top with tomato slices and sprinkle salt and pepper over tomatoes. Place quiches in oven on upper rack and allow to cook for 45min-1 hr, depending on how moist your mixture is. 

Allow to cool 5-10 minutes before eating. 

This meal is great with a kale salad on the side! 
Enjoy! 

People often talk about clean eating as a way of describing their dietary choices. From my perspective clean eating means choosing foods that have the most nutritional density per calorie (greens!) while being the most efficient, least taxing and lowest acid forming in your body during digestion and metabolism. A diet rich in whole, unprocessed plant foods would be my definition of clean eating. 

This wrap is a good example. 





Collard Wrap with Rice and Greens
(makes 4)

4 large collard leaves, washed, dried and lower stems removed
rice and bean mixture
kale
guacamole
sliced sweet onion
hot sauce (optional)

Rice
1 cup of brown short grain rice, cooked in 2 cups of water with sea salt
1 can of black beans, rinsed
1/3 cup of chopped parsley 
1 tbsp chili powder
salt and pepper

Cook rice according to instructions. While still on stove, add black beans, parsley, chili powder, salt and pepper. Stir together.

Kale
1 bunch organic kale
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce (I use Braggs Liquid Aminos)
1 tsp sesame oil

Wash kale and tear leaves away from steam into small pieces. Put pieces (without drying) into a pot with a lid. With your stove on med-high heat, steam kale for 3-5 minutes, or until kale is brighter in colour. Take off heat and add soy sauce and oil and mix. 

Guacamole 
2 ripe avocados
1/2 small white onion, diced 
1 large roma tomato, deseeded and chopped
juice from 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper

Cut avocados in half and scoop the insides into a bowl. Add the onion, lemon, salt and pepper and mash ingredients together with a fork. When mixed, add in the tomato and mixed gently again.


To assemble wraps, lay collard green with stem horizontally on plate. (Remove lower steam that is too rigid and tough to roll.) Layer kale, rice, guacamole, onions and hot sauce along the stem in the middle, leaving enough room on each right and left side to fold leaves in. To wrap, begin by gently folding in the right and left sides of the leaves, then fold the bottom portion of the leaf over the filling and sides and pull the filling gently toward yourself, wrapping to completion. 

Yesterday I did something for the first time ever- I made lasagna! And not just any lasagna, but a wonderfully delicious and nutritious vegan lasagna. The great thing about lasagna is that I don't really see how you can go wrong. The not so great thing is that preparing all of the different layers can seem like a lot of work... but I'd say that the pay off is worth it. I'm still so thrilled with how this one turned out!

Instead of a recipe, I'll have to simply give you the basics of each layer. I think anyone could perfect this in any way, shape or form, but for some inspiration I'll give you the ingredient lists.

Here's a look at the layers I used.

1: Butternut Squash: Roast de-seeded halves of butternut squash face down on a pan with some oil in the oven at 400 for about 45 min. Cool, remove skin, puree with salt and pepper, oregano and I used a little coconut oil (optional).

2: Cashew Cream: Soak unroasted cashews for at least an hour. Next, blend until smooth with salt and pepper, some of their soaking water, and lemon juice. I also added green onion. 

3: Pumpkin Seed Tofu Mixture: In a food processor I added half a block of firm organic tofu, about a cup of raw pumpkin seeds, salt and pepper and a couple big handfuls of parsley. Blend until mixed but not creamy.

4: Sauteed kale: Saute a couple onions until browned, then add lots of garlic. Next, add washed and chopped kale with a little water and salt and pepper and let steam for a few minutes with the lid on until kale is soft. 

5: Tomato Sauce: I used one large can of organic diced tomatoes added to a pot and simmered for about 45 min until thick. I added salt and pepper, oregano and a teaspoon of cumin during the cooking, and a splash of vinegar at the end. 

Layer all these ingredients in any order that feels right between the lasagna noodles. For this I used kamut noodles cooked and then left in cold water until I was ready to use them. When assembled, put baking dish in an oven at 350 for about 30 minutes and then serve! Yummy!

That's all folks! Easy as pie (lasagna). 

This is a gem of a 'one-pot' meal that I came up with this summer while on a road trip from Nova Scotia to Ontario. I was hanging out at a friend's place for a few days in Toronto, which turned into a week, and I spent it cooking, reading and relaxing. Inspired by some ingredient in her fridge, I had this meal waiting for Anna when she arrived home from work one evening. I just love cooking for people. :)  I'll give the secrets away before we even start- the secret ingredient is miso, and the secret method of this meal is under-cooking it! 



Hearty Lentil Pasta
(serves 4) 

olive oil
1 med. cooking onion
3 cloves of garlic
1 medium yellow or green zucchini
3 tbsp light miso paste
1 large can of diced tomatoes
1 cup of red lentils
2.5-3 cups of rice pasta shells
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
salt and pepper

Under-cook the rice pasta shells in salted water, about 3 min undercooked. They don't take too long, but you want them well undercooked. You can rinse and set aside in a little water when they're finished.

As the rice pasta is cooking,  saute a chopped onion in olive oil on medium heat for a few minutes, then add the minced garlic and continue cooking for a couple minutes. When soft, add a diced zucchini and stir-fry until medium-soft (about 2 minutes). Add the canned tomatoes and rosemary and bring to a simmer. When the tomatoes are simmering, add the uncooked, and rinsed, red lentils and stir.  Add enough water as they're cooking to be simmering without excess liquid but not sticking to the bottom. You want to under cook the lentils so taste them often. After about 12-15 minutes of cooking the lentils you can add the rice pasta and stir and cover.  Cook together for about 4 minutes until everything is slightly undercooked, then remove from heat and season with the miso, salt and pepper.  They key to this dish is to have everything al-dante (under-cooked) so there is a nice chew in the rice pasta and lentils.

This dish is vegan and gluten free so it can satisfy everyone!  

This vegan Mac and Cheeze is the perfect mix of warm comfort food, deliciousness and health. What's not visible to the naked eye is the health boosting foods of butternut squash and nutritional yeast in the sauce. I've also thrown in some kale for good measure which truly completes this nutritious and delicious meal. 








Butternut Squash Mac and Cheeze 
(Serves 4)
2 cups roasted butternut squash (Peel, de-seed and cube the squash. Place in a roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil and salt and pepper and mix. Roast at 425oF for 40 minutes, flipping the squash once.)

3 Tbsp Earth Balance (or other vegan butter)
2 Tbsp cornstarch or arrowroot powder
2 cups unsweetened dairy free milk (I used almond)

3/4 cup nutritional yeast
5 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp garlic powder
5 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tsp light miso
2 tsp salt
pepper

1 cup cheddar Daiya brand vegan cheese
2 cups steamed kale
16 oz rice noodles (I used penne)

While the butternut squash is roasting, over medium heat, add the Earth Balance butter. When bubbling, whisk in the cornstarch, then slowly add 2 cups dairy free milk. Let thicken by simmering for a few minutes over low heat.
When mixture has thickened, add in nutritional yeast, dijon, garlic powder, lemon juice, miso and salt and pepper. Stir to combine, then take off heat.

In a blender, add 2 cups of squash and the sauce mixture together and blend until smooth.

Wash kale and rip it away from the stem into bite sized pieces. Steam kale for about 5 minutes or until bright green, but not dark green as then it's overcooked.

Cook noodles according to package instructions. (Time this so you can add other ingredients as soon as the noodles are done as they can become sticky.)

In a large pot, to the drained noddles add 3/4 or all of the sauce, 2 cups of kale and one cup of Daiya cheese. Mix together. You can eat the mac and cheeze as is, or transfer to a baking dish, top with a breadcrumb mixture (1 cup of breadcrumbs, paprika and 2 Tbsp Earth Balance and salt), bake for 10 min at 350F and then broil the breadcrumbs at the end for colour. 

Write your grocery list, put some time aside, and invite some friends over to enjoy this wonderful meal!