Tag / Vegan Recipes

Try any of these delicious recipes and allow yourself to get creative with going vegan. Most of these recipes have been taste tested by myself and my family

by Chantel Chansa

Summertime Mock Chicken Salad

This Mock Chicken Salad is really good. My mom found this recipe a couple years ago from one of her magazines, probably Forks Over Knives. Anyway, this mock salad is made with chickpeas. If you truly do not like the taste of chickpeas, then this is not for you. It does have a slight taste of chickpea but not overwhelming. You can also taste like a nutty, but smooth, creamy texture. If you don’t like the texture that you get with your first try, then you can process it a little more to take the lumps out, or you can make it chunkier by less processing. This will need to be decided while you have the chickpeas in the food processor, not after you have made the complete salad. You can change any of the ingredients to fit your taste. My mom has made this with four different types of mayonnaise and found that we enjoyed using Duke’s, Vegan Mayonnaise, Miracle Whip, and this last time we used Hellmann’s. All of them tasted really good, but my favorite is the Miracle Whip because it is light in texture and is a salad dressing, not a mayonnaise. You can use whichever mayonnaise you like with yours. I also like to add more pickles to my sandwich and load my sandwich with Alfalfa and Cilantro. Oh, and I like to lightly toast my sourdough bread.

Here are a couple of tips that we have noticed that makes a difference in the texture of the salad’s final results. First, allow the chickpeas to rest in the colander for 30 minutes after rinsing, this helps make the salad mixture not so watery. Second, while you are waiting for those to dry up a bit, you can take the waxy coating/protective hull off of the chickpeas. Just slightly pinch the pea and the hull will come off. Discard the hull in your empty can. Do about half the peas or you can do all of them if you want. We have noticed by doing this, it gives the salad a smoother consistency and it is easier to digest, in our opinion.

Mock Chicken Salad

INGREDIENTS:

  • 2 (15oz) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 cup vegan mayo
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 1 TBSP lemon juice
  • Salt & Pepper
  • 2 celery ribs, finely chopped
  • 1/3 cup pickles, chopped (dill or sweet)
  • 2 scallions, sliced thin
  • 2 TBSP freshly minced dill, parsley or tarragon
  • bread or crackers

HOW TO MAKE

  1. Process 3/4 cup chickpeas, mayo, water, lemon juice, and 1/2 tsp salt in food processor (FP) until smooth, approx. 30 sec. Scrapping down the sides as needed.
  2. Add remaining chickpeas to FP and pulse until coarsely chopped with chunky bits remaining, about 4 pulses.
  3. Combine chickpea mixture, celery, pickles, scallions and fresh choice of herbs in a medium bowl. Add salt & pepper to season with taste.
  4. Spread mixture on bread, toast, or crackers.

Curried Chickpea Salad

Add 1 TBSP curry powder to mixture in FP during step 1 and substitute 1/2 cup golden raisins for the pickles.

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by Chantel Chansa

SCRUMPTIOUS CHOCOLATE CAKE

This chocolate cake is one of the best I have ever made. This recipe is made without butter and eggs, and is so incredibly quick and easy to make, imagine that!!!! I stumbled upon this recipe on YouTube several years ago and decided to try it. I didn’t know that this recipe was vegan, I just wanted to try it. Well, I am so glad I did because this is my favorite chocolate cake recipe. I am not a huge fan of chocolate but this cake will have you addicted to just this cake. I believe the oil in the cake is what makes it so incredibly moist. You can use any oil you choose but I opt for the Olive Oil. This recipe also calls for lemon juice or vinegar. Either one is good but I prefer fresh squeezed lemon juice. Fresh lemon juice gives it a wonderful flavor vs the vinegar or even bottled lemon juice. The type of Coco (Caco) powder you use is up to you but any unsweetened will be good. One day I would love to try this recipe using unsweetened Carob powder. When I first made this recipe I used regular granulated white sugar versus now I use organic cane sugar. Any substitute sugar or sugar alcohol will work fine, just adjust the measurements if needed.

I should type these next words in bold but I’ll trust that you will be sure that you DO NOT miss this one very important step when you are placing your dry ingredients into the mixing bowl. Make sure you aerate the flour. Doing this will make a world of difference on how your cake will turn out.

I will include the icing but I have only made it once and DID NOT like it at all. So, I never make it when I bake this cake. If you make it, you may like it but to me the cake alone is delicious and truly doesn’t need any icing, in my opinion. Sometimes I’ll sprinkle Confectionary sugar on top of my slice before I eat it. I don’t suggest sprinkling it on the entire cake unless you will be serving it in expectation of it being devoured.

This cake will probably become your favorite and a favorite with others who you share it with. It was always a popular dessert wherever I took it. So be prepared to share this simple and quick recipe with others.

SCRUMPTIOUS CHOCOLATE CAKE

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 cups All Purpose flour (earache flour)
  • 1 cup sugar ( any kind)
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened coco powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt ( do not use coarse)
  • 1 cup cool water
  • 6 Tbsp oil ( I used Olive)
  • 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice or distilled white vinegar
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate Frosting

  • 2 Tbsp salted butter (room temp)
  • 1 cup confectionary sugar
  • 1Tbsp coco powder (unsweetened)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • about 3 tsp milk

Mix all ingredients together except the milk. After mixing, you will add 1/2tsp of milk at a time to the mixture until you have a frosting consistency. I ended up using a total of 3 for my consistency. Since I did not care for the frosting, you may like it. I also think that it needs to be adjusted to that persons liking, which I did not do, for the fact that I loved the cake without it. I hope that you enjoy this recipe.

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by Chantel Chansa

LENTIL SLOPPY JOES

Let me tell you about this recipe. If you don’t like lentils, don’t know if you like lentils or just want to try something different using lentils, then this is the recipe to try. In my opinion, it tastes like just like sloppy joes. The only difference is that you are replacing the ground beef with lentils. Another opinion I’ll give is, this recipe actually tastes better than any canned sloppy joe or any seasoning packets that there is out there. I can say that adding ketchup to your sandwich seems to add great balance of flavors. The photo above is of my sandwich. I love adding pickles, mayo and ketchup to finish off my sandwich before I devour it. Of course, you add your own favorite toppings that you would like.

This recipe makes a lot. If you are feeding a family of six with each of them having one sandwich, you’ll still have leftovers. You can store leftovers in the fridge for about four days or you can opt to freeze the remaining for another day.*

HINT: If you don’t have time to chop up those veggies just buy the chopped frozen bell peppers and onions.

lentil-sloppy-joesDownload

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by Chantel Chansa

HOMEMADE MARINARA STASH

I am aware that there are many, awesome tasting marinara out there and this one takes about an hour to achieve its beginning flavor. Many times, you will find those at restaurants on your pasta or pizza. I do not know any restaurants that would share their famous sauce recipe with just anyone. So, my mom stumbled upon this recipe and decided to try it. Let me tell you just how delicious it is. This marinara is one of the many great tasting marineras that can be used on anything that requires a tomato sauce. We use it mostly as spaghetti sauce. We have also used it as a marinara for cheese sticks, pizzas, and pasta dishes, such as lasagna and baked ziti. I have also used this marinara on English Muffin Pizzas. I will post that recipe at a different time but just use your creativity with that one. This recipe has great flavor and great consistency. In my opinion this marinara has the taste of slight sweetness, garlic and onion but all is perfectly balanced. One time I did add about 2 tablespoons of plant-based of heavy cream. This made it rich and creamy but it did take away slightly from my favorite flavor of garlic. I do like it either way but my favorite is without the heavy cream.

This recipe makes a lot and is so easy. Whatever you do not use, you can store in the fridge for about four days or freeze the unused portions in a freezer safe container. Thaw in the fridge is the recommended way but for a quick thaw, thaw in a bowl of cool water. In the first photo, I made spaghetti squash for our marinara and topped with vegan cheese crumbles. Second photo is the beginning stage of cooking the sauce. We have never been disappointed with this recipe. Once you make this marinara, you will make this all the time and will reach for that extra frozen sauce to make that quick meal. This recipe is also traditional, vegan, vegetarian, and plant based. The recipe is below to view or a PDF if you choose to download.

Start to finish time: 1hr 25min Makes: 12 cups

HOMEMADE MARINARA STASH

INGREDIENTS

  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
  • 2 Vidalia onions, peeled, and coarsely chopped ( any sweet onion is fine)
  • 6 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 2 tsp dried oregano
  • 4 (28oz) cans whole peeled tomatoes
  • 4 tsp Kosher salt, plus more
  • 1 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
  • sugar of choice to sweeten if desired

COOKING DIRECTIONS

  1. Heat oil in a Dutch oven pot over medium heat. Cook onion and garlic, stirring occasionally – being careful to not let it brown-before becoming aromatic, approx. 3 mins. Add oregano and stir to combine.
  2. Using your hands or a potato smasher, crush whole tomatoes and add to the pot along with the juices; season with 4 tsp salt and 1 1/2 tsp blk pepper.
  3. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and bring to a gentle simmer.
  4. Cook uncovered, stirring occasionally, until sauce is reduced slightly, about one hour
  5. Remove from heat and blend with an immersion blender, food processor or blender until smooth. Place back into the Dutch oven and season with salt & pepper.
  6. Sauce can be stored in fridge up to 5 days in an airtight container or freezer up to 6 months.
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