Tag: recipe

Recipes, Uncategorized

Mexican Quinoa Salad

veganlivingbydanielle

Vegan Mexican Quinoa | Vegan Living by Danielle

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup dry quinoa
  • 1 1/2 cup vegetable stock (or 1 1/2 cup water with 1 tsp cumin, 1/4 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic, 1/4 tsp salt)
  • 1 can of corn, drained
  • 1 can of diced tomatoes (with jalapeños if you like spicy!), drained
  • 1 can of your favorite beans (chickpeas, kidney, or black beans), drained
  • 1 can of olives, halved
  • 1/4 red onion, diced
  • 1/2 lime, juiced (approx. 1 Tbsp of juice)
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup salsa
  • 2 Tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped (1 Tbsp dried cilantro)
  • Between 2 – 4 Tbsp red wine vinegar to your taste
  • 1 avocado (optional)

Directions:

  1. Put dry quinoa and stock, or water and spices, in large saucepan over high heat.
  2. Reduce heat to simmer when the pot is boiling and cover.
  3. Let quinoa cook for a total of approximately 15 minutes, or until all kernels are open and fluffy. Stirring is not necessary or recommended. Best results come when the lid is left on during the whole cooking process.
  4. Once quinoa is thoroughly cooked, move it to a bowl. Refrigerate to cool if desired to serve salad cold.
  5. While the quinoa is cooking and cooling, prepare remaining ingredients.
  6. Combine ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
  7. Add quinoa to the large bowl and mix well.
  8. Serve cool or warm and enjoy!
  9. Option to top each serving with sliced avocado and a whole, fresh cilantro leaf.
Recipes, Uncategorized

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad

veganlivingbydanielle

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad | Vegan Living by Danielle

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup dry quinoa
  • 2 cups vegetable stock (could substitute water, but stock is much more flavorful; low-sodium stock highly recommended)
  • 1/8 cup fresh parsley, chopped or 1/2 Tbsp dried parsley flakes
  • 1/2 cup red onion (about 1/4 of a larger onion), chopped
  • 1/2 can chickpeas, drained
  • 1 med cucumber with the seeds removed, diced
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  • juice of 1/2 lemon (roughly 1 1/2 Tbsps)
  • juice of 1/4 lime (roughly 1/2 Tbsp)
  • 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 3/4 tsp black pepper
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1 cup kalamata, green, or black olives (optional – depending on your taste), halved

Directions:

  1. Put dry quinoa and stock in large sauce pan over high heat.
  2. Reduce heat to medium-low when the pot is boiling and cover.
  3. Let quinoa cook for a total of approximately 15 minutes, or until all kernels are open and fluffy. Stirring is not necessary or recommended. Best results come when the lid is left on during the whole cooking process.
  4. Once quinoa is thoroughly cooked, move it to a bowl and refrigerate to cool.
  5. While the quinoa is cooking and cooling, prepare remaining ingredients, and mix in a bowl.
  6. When quinoa has cooled, combine quinoa with remaining ingredients and mix well.
  7. Serve cool and enjoy!

 

It is the season for barbecues, picnics, and grad parties. I highly recommend doubling this recipe to bring to these events! It is definitely a real crowd pleaser. Also, quinoa and chickpeas have a good amount of protein for you, so it’s definitely a good thing to bring with you to picnics to be sure there is a vegan option for you that has a substantial amount of protein.

I like to take a bit of it with me as my lunch, or serve a few scoops on the side of dinner!

Recipes, Uncategorized

Tortilla Pizzas

veganlivingbydanielle

Tortilla Pizzas | Vegan Living by Danielle

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup veggie ground crumbles (found in the same section as veggie burgers)
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1 clove garlic or 1/2 tsp powdered garlic
  • 1/2 tsp oregano
  • 2-3 baby bella mushrooms
  • 4-5 black olives
  • 1 handful of spinach
  • 1/2 cup pasta sauce
  • 2 medium sized tortillas

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 450F with the cookie sheet in the oven to warm it for quicker, more even cooking.
  2. Slightly warm the veggie crumbles in a small pan on low heat with olive oil, garlic, and oregano, stirring occasionally. Don’t over cook it now, because it will cook more in the oven and you don’t want it to be dry!
  3. Slice the mushrooms and olives, chop the spinach, and set them aside.
  4. Take the cookie sheet out of the oven and place tortillas on the sheet side by side so as little of the tortillas are overlapping as possible, if at all.
  5. Spread the tomato sauce evenly over the tortillas, leaving a little room around the edges for crust. We don’t want too much sauce or the tortilla will not cook evenly. 
  6. Add toppings evenly over the pizzas.
  7. Place cookie sheet back in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Watch for the edges to be a golden brown, you might not even need 8 minutes! 
  8. Remove cookie sheet from oven and use a spatula to take the pizza off the sheet and put it on a plate or cutting board to cut into 4 or 6 pieces per pizza!

Makes 2 tortilla pizzas.

If you’re like me and like to dip your pizza in ranch or some type of dressing, I recommend the vegan dressing: just ranch. You can find it at most Target stores!

Enjoy!

Recipes, Uncategorized

Power Packed Quinoa

veganlivingbydanielle

Power Packed Quinoa | Vegan Living by Danielle

Ingredients:

  • 1 bunch kale (sub spinach if desired)
  • 1 lg sweet potato
  • 1/2 cup dry quinoa
  • 1 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp chili powder
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1/2 sm yellow onion
  • 3 Tbsp olive oil
  • 1-2 cloves garlic (sub 1 tsp powdered garlic)
  • 1 sm zucchini
  • 1 can of garbanzo beans
  • 1 cup of pine nuts
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1 Tbsp of plain hummus per serving as topping (optional)

Directions:

  1. Cut all leafy greens of kale from stems into pieces roughly the size of a playing card. (The best way to cut kale is to slice directly along the stem, on both sides of the stem, removing the leafy green from the stem entirely. Then cut the greens into desired size. The stems are edible, so feel free to add them to the meal if desired. I like to put the greens into a colander after cutting to rinse.) Set greens aside for later.
  2. Cube the sweet potato and put in a pot with the dry quinoa.
  3. Add 1/4 tsp cumin and 1/4 tsp chili powder to the pot.
  4. Add water and put the pot on high heat.
  5. Cover pot and set a timer for 20 minutes, but reduce heat to medium-low once it reaches a boil. (No stirring is necessary while quinoa is cooking.)
  6. Chop onion and place in pan over medium heat with olive oil. **If using garlic cloves, mince garlic and add to the pan now as well. Add powdered garlic later with the other spices.**
  7. Slice zucchini, then cut slices into quarters. Add zucchini, kale, garbanzos, pine nuts, and remainder of the spices (add powdered garlic here).
  8. Cook until all veggies are tender, stirring occasionally.
  9. Serve veggies on a small bed of the quinoa and top with a tablespoon of hummus and a sprinkle of cumin or chili powder if desired.
  10. Enjoy!

Makes approximately 4 servings.

Recipes, Uncategorized

The Best Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

veganlivingbydanielle

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies | Vegan Living by Danielle

CAUTION: These cookies are highly addictive!! Even my dad, who refuses to eat anything vegan and identifies highly with Ron Swanson [see Parks and Rec], cannot get enough of them even though he knows they are vegan! My omnivore family and coworkers always request that I bring these cookies too.

After baking these cookies year-after-year for Christmas presents and parties, I have a few tips to add!

  • Using metal sheets helps make the cookies more cake-like which seems to be the most popular. Bake time will vary depending on sheet type
  • One 15 oz can of pumpkin puree makes about 5-6 dozen cookies. Using a full can requires the recipe to be quadrupled.
  • I use mini chips so there are more chocolate chips per cookie
  • Substitute King Arthur’s Gluten Free measure for measure flour for a gluten free version!

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 Tbsp applesauce
  • 1/2 Tbsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice, or 1/8 tsp each of ginger, cloves, all-spice
  • 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips (Enjoy Life chips are allergen friendly. Also Stop and Shop’s organic semi-sweet chocolate chips are “accidentally” vegan)

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F.
  2. Stir thoroughly pumpkin, sugar, oil, applesauce, and vanilla.
  3. In a separate bowl, stir thoroughly flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and other spices.
  4. Slowly pour flour mixture into pumpkin mixture and blend well.
  5. Once all the flour mixture is blended, stir in the chocolate chips.
  6. Scoop dough in 1-inch balls onto a lightly greased cookie sheet spaced 1 inch apart, they don’t expand too much.
  7. Bake for about 12 minutes. I recommend testing a few cookies before to make sure you’ve got the right time for your oven. They should come out a bit cake-like.

Makes approximately one dozen cookies.

Enjoy!!