Green Bean Mushroom Soup

♥ So I've never made soup with Oyster Mushrooms. But it came out delicious! At least in my opinion :-) I can't wait to hear everyone's thoughts so share if you make this. This recipe makes about 2 servings.♥

Ingredients

▶ 3 handfuls of green beans with ends cut off
▶ About 1/4 lbs of Oyster Mushrooms chopped
▶ Salt & Pepper to taste
▶ 1 1/2 cups of Almond milk (I suggest original so the sweetness of the vanilla flavor doesn't overpower the intended flavors)
▶ A dash of thyme
▶ A dash of basil
▶ Optional: I added a dash of Caribbean spices.

Directions

▶ Add all ingredients to pan
▶ Cover and cook on low to medium heat for 20 minutes (stir occasionally)
▶ Add ingredients to blender and blend until smooth (I use the NutraBullet).
▶ Depending on your preference for consistency you can add about 1/4 cup of water to thin out the soup consistency.
▶ This would be a good soup to serve with grilled  "cheese"

Kale Summer Squash Soup

★ Well when squash is on sale, who can resist picking some up. I haven't made a broth soup in awhile so here's hoping it goes well!  ★

Ingredients
● About 2 cups of water
● 1 leaf of kale (remove stem) chopped
● Summer Squash chopped - your choice (I picked the round one and used a little more than half)
● 1 spoonful of minced garlic
● A couple dashes of ground coriander
● A pinch of cardamom
● Salt & Pepper to taste
● 1tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

Directions
● Add water, coriander, cardamom, salt, pepper, and vinegar to pot
● Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes
● Add the remaining ingredients,  cover, reduce heat and cook for 20 minutes
● Serve it up!

Baked Kale with Veggie Spread

Ingredients
Kale leaf
5 Mini potatoes
5 Cherry tomatoes
Onion a little less t han 1/4 cup
Olive oil about 2 tbsp
Vegan cheese

Directions
Place chopped onions,  potatoes,  tomatoes, and olive oil in blender (mix to preferrer taste)
Wash Kale leaf
Place leaf on baking pan, place veggie spread in the middle, and top with cheese
Bake on 350 for 10 minutes
Kale will be crispy on the edges
Serve up and Enjoy!

Wasted Produce or Kitchen Opportunity?????

Okay, so it's happen to the best of us. You buy produce intending to cook all these elaborate dishes and somehow you never get around to using all of the produce. What to do? Of course, just toss the unused spoiled produce into the garbage and envision your cash going into the garbage as well. Well here's an alternative: Dehydrate portions of your produce. Dehydrators are quite easy. They range from $40 to a couple hundred depending on the size of the machine. I currently use a 5 tray machine, that's not complicated at all. It's the easiest thing ever. You just chop your produce, place it on the tray, plug it in, and wait. Dehydrated fruit and veggies can be great for snacks. With dried fruit, you can add this to your cereal or granola mix. With dried veggies, you can make your own chips or even spice mix.

Tips for Dehydrating:

1. Don't dehydrate if you're expecting an immediate snack - Dehydration takes some planning as many fruits and vegetables take hours to dehydrate to the appropriate texture. However, this is helpful if you are planning a road trip and need tasty treats for the car ride. I typically set up the dehydrator either early in the day or late at night. This way I can go about my day without having to worry about the machine.

2. I find that most vegetables need to be blanched in water before going on the tray. This helps preserve the color and texture of the vegetable. It also helps kill any bacteria that may be on the produce.

3. If you live in humid areas, your dehydration times might be longer. Use your machine's manual as a guide. When testing foods, taste from different portions of the tray.

4. Don't forget to rotate the trays. This gives each tray an "even" dehydration. Otherwise, you'll be wondering why your bananas on the top tray aren't as good as the bananas on the bottom tray.

5. Don't forgot storage containers.Dehydrated food can be preserved and stored much longer than fresh. Pick containers that are air tight for pantry storage.  In addition, certain fruits and vegetables can be re-hydrated for later use in dishes.

6. Remember, it's a trial and error kitchen experience. So if it doesn't turn out great the first time, try it again and tweak something. But remember, to always have fun with it.

Let me hear about your dehydration adventures!

Tomato Cucumber Soup

Ingredients
1 Tomato chopped
2 Persian Cucumbers chopped with skin still on
1 spoonful of Garlic
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup coconut water
Olive oil for pan
-I used a mushroom spice blend,  you can use your choice of spice blend. I think a spicy blend would go well. 

Directions
Coat pan with oil
Add all ingredients except coconut water
Simmer,  covered for about 20 minutes
Transfer mixture to blender,  add coconut water and blend
Serve it up!

Quinoa Corn Salad

First - there won't be any pictures with today's recipes. I'm trying to something with the new Vine App! So if you're on Twitter, there's a small video that goes along with the recipe so Check it Out!

Ingredients 

• 1/2 cup corn
• 1/2 cup black beans
• 1/2 water Quinoa
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 Eggplant Spread from Trader Joe's

Directions

• Cook Quinoa and water together on medium heat until water is absorbed
• Add all other ingredients to a bowl
• Add cooked Quinoa, stir, chill, and serve

http://t.co/KnUI8L3SaY #vegan https://t.co/3TmJsj2PxX

— Ashley Fiorilli (@AshNFio) June 16, 2013

Sea Kelp Quinoa

Ingredients
☆ 1 cup quinoa
☆ 2 cups water
☆ 1/4 chopped onion
☆ 2 tbsp minced garlic
☆ 3 tbsp sea kelp
☆ Olive oil to desired consistency

Directions
☆ Add quinoa and water to pot, cook until water is absorbed
☆ Blend onions,  garlic, sea kelp,  and oil together (I used my nutra bullet)
☆ Remove quinoa from heat and mix with kelp sauce
☆ This can be served by itself or as a great filler for wraps

Spicy Butternut Squash Polenta

Ingredients
- 1/2 cup corn meal
- 2 cups butternut squash soup
- 3/4 cup of water
- red pepper flakes to taste
- garlic to taste
- salt & pepper to taste

Directions
- Mix all ingredients in a medium size pot
- Bring mixture to boil
- Reduce heat and cook until all liquid has been absorbed,  stir frequently
- Can be served hot or when cooled will harden and you can slice it to eat like a loaf

Pineapple Honeydew Drink

So I recently bought myself a nutrabullet. Therefore I'll be playing around with different things I can use this for.  I made yesterday's "Not So Tuna Salad" with the nutrabullet also.

Ingredients
- chopped pineapple
- chopped honeydew
- chia seeds about 2 tbsps
-omega oil (I used Barleans Omega Twirl - it's vegan) I put in about 3 squirts

Directions

-Put ingredients into blender for about 15 seconds and you have your drink!

Advice: depending on the consistency you like you may want to add a touch of water to make it more like juice

Not So Tuna Salad

Ingredients
- 1/2 small onion chopped
- 1/2 tbsp sea kelp
- 1 lemon juiced
- 1/2 water
- 2 cups almonds chopped

Directions
- Add all ingredients to processor or blender
- Blend until smooth
- Season to taste with salt and pepper
- Serve with crackers

Green Salad

Ingredients

• Asparagus (about 6 stalks - I used a peeler on mine)
• Green Beans (about a handfull)
• Garlic (1 spoonful)
• Onion (1/4 cup)
• Tempeh (1.2 package)
• Vegan Mayo (about 2 spoonfuls)
• Cilantro (1/4 cup)

Directions

• Chop vegetables
• Mix all ingredients into bowl 
• VOILA! 

Cinnaholic!

So Cinnaholic may be one of my new favorite places! It's a nice size store in Berkeley that is 100% vegan. I was so excited to find this. Often tooling through airports, the wafting smell of Cinnabon makes me want one.   Now finding Cinnaholic, this craving is fixed! In addition, this shop will even ship their rolls and frosting. Great to know for Holidays when sometimes finding Vegan baked goods is hard. I highly recommend this if you are in the area. It's definitely becoming my Saturday morning routine to go and get a Cinnamon Roll while walking around downtown Berkeley.

This was today's special in honor of the Star Wars Day! A Wookie Cookie!

Quinoa, Kumquat, and Asparagus Salad

Here's a nice recipe for a cold summer salad.

Ingredients 

• 1 cup Quinoa
• 2 Cups Water
• About 6 to 7 Kumquats seeded and chopped
• About 3 stalks of Asparagus sliced
• 1 Scallion sliced 
• Chia Seeds - about 1 to 2 tbsps
• Lemon Juice about 1 tbsp
• Olive Oil about 1 tbsp
• Spice Mixture (I used a mushroom spice mixture)
• Add salt and pepper to taste

Directions

• Boil 2 cups of water, add quinoa
• Prepare the kumquats, asparagus, and scallions
• Mix kumquats, asparagus, scallions, and chia seeds in bowl 
• Add spice mixture to quinoa - make sure the water has not been absorbed yet
• Once the water has been absorbed remove Quinoa from heat and let cool
• Add quinoa to veggie mixture, add lemon juice, and olive oil
• Stir mixture and chill
• Serve Cold

Tacos!

Don't forget how easy tacos are for a vegan! Grab your meat replacer, taco seasoning and go! I like to use Tempeh.

Ingredients

• Tempeh 
• Tortilla Wrap
• Taco Seasoning
• Black Olives
• Rice
• Tomatoes

Directions

• Chop and crush Tempeh into crumbles. 
• Add water and taco seasoning. Heat on medium for about 10 minutes. 
• Remove and add to your favorite shell or tortilla wrap.
• I like to forgo the lettuce and each my tacos with black olives, tomatoes, and rice! 

Cucumber Salad - Adapted from Pinterest

This looked like a cool easy recipe. It can either be a dip or grab a pita and make a sandwich.

Ingredients

• Cucumber
• Onion
• Tomato
• Vegan Sour Cream
• Lemon Juice
• Garlic
• Lime Juice
• Cilantro
• Cumin 
• Red Pepper Flakes

Directions

• Peel and Seed 1 cucumber
• Seed 1 Tomato
• Finely Chop 1/4 cup of onion
• Mix vegetables together in bowl
• Add 1/4 cup of sour cream
• 1 spoonful of garlic
• Dash of cumin
• Red pepper flakes to taste
• 2 tbsps of lemon and lime juice
• 1/4 cups freshly chopped cilantro
• Mix together in bowl, chill, and enjoy! 

Red Curry Quinoa

Ok. First I want to say it's been 6 months since making the switch to Vegan Eating.  Overall, I feel great! Today's recipe was inspired by my love for curry. But recently I found out that many Thai places use shrimp paste or fish sauce in their curry. With that said, the one thing I realized about vegan eating is that it is a continually learning process, so anyone traveling down this road understand you may make unknown mistakes from time to time but learn from them and move on. So here's my go at Red Curry Quinoa!

Ingredients

• 1 cup Quinoa
• 1 cup water 
• 1 cup almond milk and 2/3 cup almond milk (You can use coconut milk for this - I just didn't have any in my fridge and Almond Milk worked just fine)
• Red Curry Paste Mixture (I got it from Whole Foods)
• Yellow Peppers
• Orange Peppers
• Green Beans

Directions

• Place quinoa, 1 cup of water, and cup of almond milk in sauce pan and cook on medium heat
• Chop peppers and beans (I like big chunks for curry) and place in skillet
• Add 2/3 cup of almond milk to vegetable mixture cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes
• Add desired amount of curry paste (I used about 2 tbsps)
• When Quinoa has almost absored water and milk, add 1 tsp of curry paste
• Remove vegetable mix from heat and add to quinoa
• Stir and Serve! 

Basmati Rice and Sauteed Kale

Ingredients

• 1 cup of rice
• 2 cups of water
• 2 kale leaves deveined and chopped
• Onion Slices
• Olive Oil for pan
• Vegan Butter about 1 tbsp
• Herb de Provance about 1 tbsp
• Veggie Burger of your Choice chopped

Directions

• Mix water and rice together and cook on medium heat to stir frequently
• Coat pan with olive oil, add kale, onion, and veggie burger
• When rice is about done, add Herb de Provance seasoning and butter, Stir
• Remove rice from heat
• When onions are brown, remove from heat
• Add kale mixture over rice and ENJOY!

Kale Pepper Salad

Ok All... I'm finally feeling settled in my new apartment in the East Bay Area. So it's back to the cooking.

Ingredients

• Orange Pepper (quarter of the pepper)
• Yellow Pepper (quarter of the pepper)
• Onion about 1/4 cup
• Kale two leaves deveined
• Chia Seeds about 2 tbsps
• Vegan Mayonnaise about 1/4 cup
• Peanut Sauce about 1/4 cup
• Salt Pepper to Taste

Directions

• Chop peppers, onions, and kale
• Mix all ingredients in a bowl  and Stir (It's as simple as that!)

Simple Sweet Potatoes

Well here's something super simple

Ingredients 

• Sweet Potato
• Olive Oil
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Salt/Pepper (Optional)

Directions

• Cook the Sweet Potato (simple way - wet a paper towel wrap the potato cook in the microwave for about 4 to 5 minutes)
• Mash out of the skin
• Drizzle with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar

The fun part about this is you can experiment with different oils and vinegars. First, I tried a peach balsamic vinegar with a regular oil. Then I tried a Basil Oil with a Fig Balsamic Vinegar. So many options!!! ENJOY!

Not So Egg Salad

Ingredients
- Cubed Tofu
- Chopped Onions
- Chopped Green Peppers
- Spoonful of Vegan Mayonnaise
- Chopped Zucchini
- 1/4 Cup of Peanut Sauce
- 2 Tbsps of Hot Sauce

Directions
- Mix ingredients together until mayonnaise and peanut sauce are well blended. 
- Serve cold with your choice of bread
- You can use noncubed Tofu but mash it thoroughly while mixing ingredients

Tofu Black Bean Portobello Salad

Need a quick easy meal, give this a go!

Ingredients
- Portobello Mushroom
- 1/2 cup cubed Tofu
- 1/2 cup black beans
- 1/4 cup finely chopped red pepper

- 1/4 cup of Daiya Mozzarella Cheese
- Less than 1/4 cup chopped onion
- Peanut Sauce to taste (about 1/4 cup for my tastes)
-Salt and Pepper to taste
- I also add Chia seeds and Vegan omega blend

Directions
- Cook black beans, onions, peppers,salt, pepper in medium sauce pan on low heat for about 15 minutes stirring occasionally
- Remove from heat and cool, chop mushroom
- Mix Tofu, Mushroom,  and black beans together. Serve cold and enjoy!
- If you're adding omega blend add when cool

Peanut Kale Salad

Sorry about the lack of recipes lately,  life gets a little hectic from time to time. 
Ingredients
* Washed Kale (about 2 cups)
* 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
* 1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
* 1/4 cup of peanut sauce
* 2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
* 1 Tbsp of Chia Seeds
* Salt & Pepper to taste
* Mix together and chill for a few hours before serving

Mushroom, Asparagus, & Red Pepper Soup

The color of the soup doesn't come put looking very appetizing but it's really delicious (if I say so myself)

Ingredients (I was hungry so I only made one serving of soup - for larger batches just increase your veggies)

• 1/4 chopped red pepper
• 1 portobello mushroom steak chopped
• about 5 stalks of asparagus chopped
• 1 tbsp of oil
• about 1 1/2 cup of Almond milk
• pepper to taste
• salt to taste

Directions

• Saute veggies for about 5 minutes in the oil
• Add 1/2 cup of Almond milk, cover, and cook for about 20 minutes
• The milk should be almost absorbed by the veggies 
• Transfer to blender and add the additional 1 cup of Almond Milk
• Puree veggies and milk until smooth - add in pepper and salt to taste at this time
• Serve!

Cheesy Quinoa

Ingredients

• 1 cup of Quinoa
• 3 cups of Almond Milk
• 2 cups of Vegan Cheese (I used Cheddar Daiya Cheese)

Directions

• Cook in a Slow Cooker on high for 3 hours, stirring occasionally

Variations 

• Add salsa
• Add Vegan meat
• Add Broccoli 

Penne in an Avocado Cream Sauce

Ingredients 

• Penne Pasta (I used a gluten free pasta)
• 1 avocado
• about 1/2 cup of vegan cheese (I used Daiya Chedder Cheese)
• 1/2 tbsp cilantro
• 1/4 tbsp sage
• 1/4 cup of Almond Milk
• Lime Juice about 1/4 tbsp
• Apple Cider Vinegar 1/4 tbsp
• Pepper

Directions

• Blend all ingredients besides pasta together

• Cook Pasta and Drain, once pasta is drained add mixture to pasta and cook until cheese is melted on a low heat

Spicy Tofu Portobello Mushroom Salad

Ingredients

• 1/2 block of  Firm Tofu
• 1/4 chopped Onion
• 1 Portobello Mushroom grilled and chopped
• 1 tbsp of Chia Seeds
• Pepper to taste
• Hot Sauce to taste (I used about 2 to 3 tbsp)
• 1/2 tbsp liquid smoke
• 2 tbsp Pumpkin Seeds

Directions

• Mix all ingredients together in a bowl
• Chill and Serve

"Breakfast Balls"

So I tried my hand at the sweets! They come out almost like a shortbread ball, but still chewy in the middle. 

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup flour (I used white rice flour, which I guess makes thes Gluten Free also!)
• 1/2 cup of Coconut Sugar
• 1/2 Almond Milk
• 2 tbsp of Vanilla Extract
• 3 tbsp of Vegan Butter
• 3 Spoonfuls of Peanut Butter
• 1/4 cup chopped Walnuts
• 2 Dashes of Pumpkin Pie Spice

Directions

• Beat together until mixed and looks "crumbly"
• Preheat over to 375
• Spoon cookie mixture out and roll into balls
• Bake for 20 minutes 

   

Orzo in a Red Wine "Cream" Sauce

Ok - So here's another Orzo recipe!

Ingredients

• Orzo Pasta
• about 1/4 cup of Red Wine Cooking Vinegar
• about 1/4 cup of Almond Milk
• Asparagus
• Mushrooms
• Onions
• about 2 to 3 tbsp Vegan Worcester Sauce
• Basil
• Pepper
• Vegan Goat Cheese

Directions

• Make the cheese the night before
• Saute Onions, Basil, Pepper, Mushrooms, and Asparagus in the Red Wine Cooking Vinegar and Worcester Sauce
• Cook the Pasta
• Add the Milk and let cook together for about 5 minutes
• Add Pasta to Mixture
• Serve and Top with Goat Cheese