Crazy Cabbage Slaw Salad Recipe

This yummy, cold salad is my attempt to recreate a great meal I had while visiting my parents recently.

I have to say, this comes very close to the sweet, tangy, crunchy salad I enjoyed.

It lasts, too. You can refrigerate it for a few days and the cabbage stays crisp and becomes almost like a slaw.

Crazy Cabbage Slaw Salad

½-1 head of cabbage – shredded

A few handfuls of any assorted salad greens, chopped

1 can of corn – drained

About 10 pitted and chopped dates

1-1/2 cup of slivered raw almonds

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl

Creamy Citrus Dressing

About 1 ½ cup Veganaise

About 2-3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar

A splash of fresh orange juice OR ½ of an orange (squeezed)

A sprinkle of orange zest

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl

Mix the dressing into the salad, cover and refrigerate until ready to eat.

Enjoy!

*Optional - 1 chopped avocado as garnish

* Optional – Croutons

Sunbutter Bombs

These are SO good! Like healthy little brownie nuggets…no baking, super easy and all natural ingredients!

This recipe is all approximate! I do it by “feel” but this should give you somewhere to start. If it seems too dry add more liquidy stuff like dates, vanilla or agave…if it is too sticky add more dry stuff like ground nuts.

Play with it a bit until the little bombs hold together with out being oily, crumbly or loose.

Sunbutter Bombs

2 cups of nuts of your choice. I used pecans.

1 to 2 cups of pitted soft dates

3 to 4 teaspoons of vanilla

½ to 1 cup of sunflower seed butter

1 to 2 tablespoons of agave syrup

2 to 4 tablespoons cocoa (optional)

* grind the nuts finely in a small food processor or a high speed blender

* move the ground nuts to a separate bowl

For the next steps, start with the smaller amount of each additional ingredient that is listed above…

* Put the dates into the food processor or high speed blender and blend until chopped very small and sort of chewey

* Add the ground nuts to the chopped dates (if you want you can reserve a small amount of the ground nuts to dip the bombs in after they are rolled)

* Also add the vanilla and agave

* Add the cocoa if desired

* Blend all until it binds together…add dry or wet ingredients as needed

* Roll into small balls and dip in ground nuts if desired.

* Refrigerate until ready to enjoy!

…mmmm

Heavenly Vegan Eggs-Free Benedict

Since finding an awesome Veg-friendly restaurant in Providence, RI called “Julian’s”, where I have had the most amazing Vegan Eggs Benedict, I have been on a hunt to make a great vegan hollandaise sauce at home. I have used a recipe in the past that called for vegan sour cream as a base, but it didn’t taste authentic…more like a creamy cheese sauce. Not bad but not like the beautiful sauce at Julian’s.

After playing around and combining several recipes that I found on the web, THIS IS IT! In fact, I loved it so much, that the first time I made it, I didn’t even wait to photograph it! I had to make it again for my husband so I could take pictures.

It might seem like a lot of work at first, but like most of the recipes I post, once you make them they are pretty simple to recreate.

This sauce would be great over asparagus too!

Let me know what you think.
Enjoy!
Pam

Heavenly Vegan Eggs-Free Benedict

Step 1: Vegan Hollandaise Sauce

2 tablespoons vegan margarine. I use Earth Balance
3/4 cup + 1/4 cup unflavored nondairy milk, divided, I used Soy Milk
1/8 cup or less lemon juice

1-2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

teaspoon sea salt and pepper to taste
dash cayenne pepper
dash dry mustard
2 dashes turmeric

1 tablespoon cornstarch

In a small sauce pan, melt 2 tablespoons margarine. Stir in 3/4 cup nondairy milk, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, sea salt, pepper, cayenne, dry mustard, and turmeric. Simmer. Mix the tablespoon of cornstarch with the soy milk you had set aside until all lumps are gone. Add this mixture to the sauce, and bring to boil. Keep stirring consistently as sauce will thicken quickly. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

Step 2: Tofu Poached “egg”

So easy and versatile!

Any firm Tofu (I use Sprouted Tofu)
Nutritional Yeast
Sea Salt and Pepper to Taste
Shoyu (Wheat Free Soy Sauce)

Drain and pat the tofu dry. Cut a small chunk off, the size is personal preference. Mine is usually about ¾” thick by the width of your tofu block.

Sprinkle about 2 tablespoons of Nutritional Yeast on a plate or shallow bowl. Add Sea Salt and Pepper to taste and mix. Gently press all sides of the cut tofu blocks into the powdery mix.

Heat your oil of choice in a small frying pan. Carefully place coated tofu blocks in the heated oil and brown on both sides. They tend to splatter. When they are almost don, drizzle a few drops of Shoyu on the tops. Drain on a paper towel, if need be.

Step 3: Some Add-on Ideas

Sauted spinach
Vegan “meat” – Canadian bacon, sausage
Tomato

Step 4: Assemble

Toast your choice of bread or English muffin

Layer your add-ons, tofu egg and drizzle (or if you are like me, pour) Hollandaise on top

Devour!

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
The biggest inspiration for my version of Vegan Hollandaise: http://vegweb.com/index.php?topic=32284.0 submitted by oliviabeans

Vegan Spinach Dip - Recipe

At Last!

I have always loved creamy, gooey, rich spinach dip.

We used to make it for parties and it was always such a treat.

After giving up most dairy, I just sort of forgot about it but today I decided to create a vegan version of our beloved dip. I was inspired by some vegan recipe books I have been reading to expand our food repertoire. They all have some type of creamy spinach dip...sometimes with stuff added like artichoke hearts.

Some are cold...some are hot.

Below is what we did...just try it and see if you can tell that there is no dairy or eggs!

Simple and Safe Vegan Spinach Dip

1 box or bag of frozen spinach, thawed, with the water squeezed out

1 container of vegan sour cream (12 oz.)

1/3 cup vegan mayonnaise (you can add a little more if you want it creamier)

1 can drained and chopped water chestnuts

1 package of dried vegetable mix

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl making sure to break up the clumps of squeezed spinach.

Chill in the fridge for a couple of hours or so (if you can wait to dive in) to bring out the flavors.

We have used this as a dip with veggies and chips or you can use it to stuff tomatoes or olives.

Serve it in a pretty bowl, a martini glass or a scooped out loaf of bread.

Non-Dairy Premade Chocolate Syrup - AH!LASKA

So creamy and good!

This non-dairy chocolate syrup tastes great over our raw, vegan (non) ice cream as a special treat.

We found it at our local health food store.

Dairy Free

Gluten Free

Kosher

Natural or Organic Ingredients

Vegan

Wheat Free

Click here to visit the website for Ah Laska

Wheat and Gluten Free Bread and Bagel Mix - Pamela's

My son was a bagel freak!

So you can imagine his distress when he found out about his allergies to wheat and eggs.

We gave them up for a while but then found this mix...note the word "bagels" on the front!!

Yea!

They didn't come out pretty but they actually tasted really good...just like real bagels.

(Especially when they were crispy and toasted.)

Wheat and Gluten Free Pancake Mix - Pamela's

This is our favorite pancake mix...mmmmm

So simple to make and totally yummy!

We use an egg replacer and rice milk so they work within our allergy guidelines.

Click here to see my post for the Egg Replacer we use

Sometimes we use the pig griddle just for fun!

Gluten, Dairy and Egg Free Premade Cookies - Lucy's

A yummy find...

My son and I have many food allergies but were thrilled to find cookies that actually taste good and that fit within our dietary guidelines.

This company has other flavors but these are our favorites.

Wonderful dunked in rice milk...

Give them a try!

Handmade Raw Vegan Organic Chocolate Bar - Gnosis

Wow!

This special chocolate was brought to our attention by a thoughtful shop owner in New Canaan, Connecticut. What a treat.

The box packaging was so wonderful...like opening a little gift!

There were other flavors but we only tried this one.

The company mission and literature were so positive and full of love...

Click here to visit the Gnosis Chocolate website

Why Call it "Gnosis?"

(no'sis) n. [Greek for knowledge] Knowledge of the Heart, Experiential Knowledge of Truth

Vegan Caesar Dressing - Recipe

We visit a veg cafe (Native Foods in Palm Desert, CA) while visiting my parents and one time they had this recipe in their newsletter menu.

We tried it and LOVED it!!

Thought I would pass it along.

Click here to visit the Native Foods website

Let me know what you think...

Enjoy!

Creative Vegetable Party Display - Tip

This is a variation on a simple way to serve veggies and dip for your next party.

I use a large oval, glass baking dish as my base container. This time I lined the bottom of the baking dish with a coordinating, colorful napkin. You could also leave the dish exposed and fill it with streamers, holiday ornaments, glitter, tissue paper...the options are endless.

Then I find glasses in a variety of heights and widths. I have bought a few individual glasses at the dollar store to supplement what I already have.

I like to cut the veggies long and ragged and have them be sort of organic in shape as opposed to symmetrical.

You can fill tall glasses with long carrots, celery and even bread sticks. Medium glasses are great for bell peppers sliced lengthwise and strips of jicama. Short glasses work well for shorter cut veggies and olives. Specialty glasses like Martini and Margarita are perfect for dips, sliced cucumbers and marinated items.

I think it makes a pretty presentation and I like how little of the landscape the whole collection takes up. When entertaining, sometimes space can be tight.

Creative Cupcake Frosting - Tip

I learned this tip...no pun intended...a long time ago and it has been very useful.

If you don't have fancy frosting tools and tips or if you simply don't want to get them all out and have to clean them you can try this simple trick.

Take a sandwich size ziptop baggie and snip a tiny triangle off of one of the bottom corners. Be sure the bottom is flat and that it doesn't have a gusset. I have made that mistake before and ended up with two streams of frosting! aghh!

This part takes a little finesse...while loosely holding the cut bag end in one hand, with a spoon, neatly scoop a bunch of frosting into the baggie through the open end. Then seal the top and carefully twist the top section of the baggie to force the frosting down towards the cut tip.

That's it. Instant frosting tool.

Not fancy and a little more homemade looking but still tasty!

I think the frosting is the BEST part of the cupcake anyway.

Cheezy Hemp Nacho Sauce - Recipe

I have NEVER liked bell peppers!

I don't like the way they taste or smell.

In fact, it is sort of a standard statement from me when ordering in a restaurant ..."no onions or peppers, please"...just automatically.

So you can imagine my utter surprise when I fell completely in love with a recipe that has peppers as one of it's main ingredients!

Shocking.

I actually like it so much I took a break halfway through writing this blog post to go whip up a batch...
can you say compulsive? It was worth it.

I stumbled upon the recipe online and it intrigued me because I haven't been able to eat dairy products for a while due to food allergies.

It is called "Cheezy Hemp Nacho Sauce" and you would NEVER, EVER know that it has no dairy and is actually a raw-vegan recipe.

We dipped chips in it, poured it over rice and my son had it with chicken...at different meals. He actually packed it in his lunch himself!

Click the link below to see a short video on how easy it is to make this and to get the recipe...

Click Here for Kristen's Raw Chezzy Hemp Nacho Dip Recipe

The wonderful creator of this recipe is Kristen Suzanne, a Raw vegan chef, author and teacher. You can visit her website for more information. http://kristensraw.blogspot.com/

Check out her books too...amazing, live, healthy, positive ideas!

Enjoy!

And please let me know what you think about this...

Righteously Raw Chololate Bars

I choose not to partake in conventional dessert...loaded with fat, dairy, refined sugars, bad oils, etc...but I do enjoy raw, live treats, made with real food.

A raw foods chef and teacher (Kristen Suzanne) turned me on to these beautiful raw chocolate bars and I wanted to pass along the gift.

I tried the Righteously Raw Caramel...which I LOVED

and the Righteously Raw Maca...which I really liked

I found them at Whole Foods and a local natural foods market while visiting my parents in Palm Desert, CA.

I visited their website and was really inspired by their mission and story. Check it out...

Enjoy!

http://www.earthsourceorganics.com/index.php

Pasta Sauce Fix Up - Tip

I recently made some pasta for my family and did a little alteration to the store bought red sauce.

My son doesn’t like chunks of tomato in his sauce so I decided to blend it to make it smooth.

While I was at it, I thought it was a good opportunity to add some nutrition.

I peeled and rough cut a couple of raw zucchinis and threw them in the blender too. I added some fresh garlic and some more fresh herbs. Once blended it was smooth and creamy and pretty pinkish-red color.

It almost looked like a Vodka Sauce.

Because he is really open to eating healthy foods (if they taste good) I told him about my additions. He thought it was so cool because he didn’t taste the zucchini but still got all of the nutritional benefits.

He isn’t a fan of zucchini on it’s own, so this was a great way to get him to eat…

and most importantly, enjoy it!

Carrot (Pulp) Cake - Recipe

We love to juice!

Anyone that has juiced carrots knows that you end up with a humongous amount of pulp/fiber.

We didn't want to through away it's goodness so I hunted for some easy recipes to utilize it.
I found one for a raw carrot cake type thing...it was amazing!

A bit more like pumpkin pie and completely decadent.

Throw all ingredients in a food processor and press in a pan.

See the link below for the forum that had the recipe we use.

After a bit in the fridge...

this is what you end up with!

Yes, that is raw carrot pulp!

http://goneraw.com/forum/carrot-pulp

(Forum post #1 by sunshineandstars )

We added a vegan (un) cream cheese frosting...recipe also found online.

Enjoy!

Dairy-Free Cheddar Cheeze Dip - Recipe

So I will start by saying that I am truly sorry that I can't give credit where credit is due. I found this recipe somewhere and for the life of me can't remember where. I searched online and didn't come up with anything. If this is yours, please let me know.

With that said, this is one of my favorite raw recipes!!!!

It is so thick, creamy and cheesy

super easy to make

non-dairy, raw, vegan...

Amazing!

We use it as a dip, a spread, a topping...whatever.

When I bring it to parties I am ALWAYS asked for the recipe and the funny thing is, I don't even like red bell peppers! I think it is a texture thing for me. When they are all mashed up in something like this, I don't mind the taste.

I have tried substituting other nuts but it wasn't the same.

Let me know what you think.

Cheddar Cheeze Dip

1/2 large red bell pepper

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup raw cashews

1/2 cup hemp seeds

1 tablespoon tahini

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 teaspoons onion powder

1 clove garlic

2 tablespoons lemon juice

Blend all ingredients  in a high speed blender until smooth and creamy.

Dip and enjoy!

....mmmmmm

Juice Recipe - Valentine's Fruit Punch

A happy accident...

Last Valentine's Day Steve whipped up this random juice.

We simply used what felt good and what we had in the fridge.

The result tasted like sweet fruit punch and was very pretty.

The perfect color for Valentine's Day.

This recipe makes a lot...

about 4 large glasses to share!

Valentine's Fruit Punch

1-2 heads of romaine lettuce

1 lemon

3 red beets

5 or 6 apples

1 pear

1 inch of ginger

half a cabbage (we used napa)

half a cantaloupe

wash well and then run all through a juicer...

Pour and enjoy!

Let me know what you think.

Sun Butter Cups - Recipe

OMG!

These were so good!

I waited to post this recipe until I had made it a few times...

thinking it was a fluke that they tasted so good.

No way could these be "safe" for us.

They were actually better each time!

This is our altered recipe, due to our food allergies.

Try it...see what you think.

They are super easy and can be ready for a party or special event in a short amount of time.

We have plans to try different fillings...

Raw caramel? Mint? Berries?

Sun Butter Cups

This recipe looks long but it is so easy!

Once you do it once you might not even need to look at this again.

1 to 1 1/2 cups of sunflower seed butter

1/3 cup organic powdered sugar

2 to 2 1/2 cups vegan chocolate chips

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

10-14 paper or tin muffin cups

Melt about 1 1/4 cups of the vegan chocolate chips...90 seconds - 2 minutes on half power in the microwave or use a pot on the stove top. Stir. Be sure not to burn the chocolate.

Using the back of a spoon, press a thin layer of chocolate into the muffin cups... along the bottom and into the groves of the sides, stopping about half way up. If you want taller cups bring the chocolate higher up the sides. We preferred a thinner layer of chocolate to a thick one.

Don't expect them to be "perfect"...have fun, get messy.

They will taste good and some of the rouge chocolate will break away later, when you remove the muffin cups.

I placed my muffin cups on a cookie sheet or platter for easy transport in and out of the freezer or fridge.

Place the chocolate muffin cups into the freezer or fridge to harden.

In a bowl mix the sunflower seed butter and salt.

Fold in the the powdered sugar, breaking up the clumps as you go.

Make sure the chocolate cups have hardened. If they have, move on to the next step...

Warm the sun butter filling in a pot on the stove or in the microwave for about a minute. Let the filling sit for a minute.

Spoon the sun butter filling into the hardened chocolate cups, leaving room for the top layer of chocolate.

Place the filled cups back into the freezer or fridge while you prepare the rest of the melted chocolate.

Repeat what you did in step 1...melting the remaining chocolate.

Spoon the melted chocolate over the filled cups, gently working the melted chocolate into all edges.

Place the completed cups back in the freezer or fridge and wait (if you can) for them to set and harden.

Once set, peel the muffin cups off and enjoy!

After, I stored mine in the refrigerator and they kept for several days.

We couldn't tell for exactly how long because everyone ate them!

Dairy Free, Homemade, Raw Ice Cream Tip

After giving up conventional desserts about 8 years ago

and then discovering an allergy to dairy products,

I just figured my ice cream days were over.

Then I discovered raw ice cream! Yea!

By adding a few extra natural ingredients,

you can turn almost any smoothie

into creamy, delicious, decadent raw ice cream.

The best thing would be to google “raw ice cream recipes” for specifics

but most of them simply add coconut oil, young coconut meat and sometimes nuts

to a fruit smoothie type thing.

Throw it all in the blender and blend till smooth.

Then you chill it in a bowl in the fridge.

Later you can add things like vegan chocolate chips, fruit or chopped nuts.

An ice cream maker isn’t imperative

but it does help with the consistency when freezing.

I picked up an “out of the box” Cuisinart model for about $30

at a national bed and bath store.

I just load the chilled mix into the frozen bowl,

turn on and wait about 30 minutes.

Just think, in the time it takes to clean up the kitchen after dinner,

you could have a custom blended, healthy raw treat

that you feel good about putting in yourself and your family!

I store the bowl from the ice cream maker in the freezer
so that it is always ready to go!
If you put it in a plastic bag
it won't get frostbite.