Vegan Garlic Naan served with Indian-Spiced Cauliflower and Potato Casserole
This recipe doesn’t use yeast which means no waiting for the dough to rise. When serving with a casserole like the one in the photo above, this bread can easily be prepared while the casserole is in the oven.
Dough divided into 4 portions
Once the dough has rested for around 15 minutes, divide it into 4 portions.
Dough rolled out of a floured surface
I prefer the dough rolled out fairly thin, it does puff up a bit in the skillet. You can brush the naan with butter, or sprinkle with additional garlic or cilantro if desired.
Homemade cinnamon rolls have long been a holiday and special gathering favorite. It is a long process, but the wait and the work is worth it. Over the years I have discovered that you can make them ahead and freeze them before they are frosted. Then you just need to pop them in the oven until they are warmed, take them out and frost them. Still there is nothing like fresh warm homemade cinnamon rolls and a cup of coffee on a cold winter morning.
Traditionally my recipe called for eggs, real butter and real cream cheese. It wasn’t until I was told about pureed silken tofu as an egg substitute that I was able to “veganize” this recipe and have it turn out so close to the original no one could tell the difference.
I must admit that these do not fit in the category of plant based with all of the vegan butter, vegan cream cheese, vegan vanilla pudding, and sugar, these are simply vegan. Much like Oreo cookies are accidentally vegan and not the healthiest of snacks we realize the same about the beloved cinnamon rolls. This puts them in the category of a special treat, much like that favorite dessert.
This recipe does make a lot and the first few times I made these many years ago, I ended up with oodles and we went knocking on doors looking for neighbors who wanted to be test tasters. So if you end up with bunches, share with your neighbors. Enjoy!
This has been a labor of making and tweaking and making and tweaking. I have pages of crossed out notes and things that I added and tried. Finally this is it! The finished product!
In our meat eating days, we enjoyed Hickory Farms turkey sticks. They were sold as a seasonal item and we waited with anticipation. Let me just say its been a long time since those days but this is a similar taste to what my family and I remember, albeit not as rich.
This recipe makes two medium sized logs. They are easy to slice for sandwiches and wraps. I recently added slices to a veggie stir-fry. We have served slices with crackers and vegan cheese as a game snack. I’ve put chunks into vegan Mac and cheese. The possibilities I am discovering are endless. Anywhere you would typically have used processed meat, this is a perfect plant-based alternative.
The recipe calls for a block of tofu drained. Drain the tofu, wrap it in paper towels to pull off the excess water, it doesn’t need to be pressed. There are two flavors of liquid smoke available I have used both, so you can use whichever you prefer. The more flavorful BBQ sauce you use the more flavorful your logs will be, so select based on your tastes.
I froze seitan log in slices and it thawed just fine. The pieces I thawed I used in a stir-fry so perhaps the best way to use seitan log that you have frozen is in something you are cooking.
Begin by placing a large pot of water on medium heat so its heating while you are preparing the seitan logs. In a food processor, add everything except for the vital wheat gluten. Once you have the tofu and the seasonings pureed add in the vital wheat gluten and just pulse until it’s incorporated. Take it out and knead it just a bit until it’s not crumbly and its more like dough.
Seitan log dough before kneading
Once you knead it a few times, it gets a smoother surface. Don’t knead it too much as it will make the meat log have a rubbery texture. Tear off two sheets of aluminum foil, and divide the dough into two equal portions.
Two equal portions of seitan log dough.
Roll the dough with your hands until you have two log shaped pieces.
Two log shaped pieces.
Wrap each log in aluminum foil, twisting the ends closed. If you don’t roll it up and seal by twisting the ends the cooked log looks more like a loaf than a meat log, so twisting the ends is an important step.
Seitan logs with the ends twisted and folded down.
Place the seitan logs in boiling water and allow to simmer on a low boil for 1 hour. Then just cool and enjoy. Store them in the refrigerator or freeze in an airtight container.
Solo traveler yet again, and even after all these years of hopping planes I still can work up a healthy case of anxiety. Did you know pistachios have a high healthy fat content, lots of fiber and tons of antioxidants to keep blood vessels open and relaxed during stressful moments? 2 pistachios are equal to .03mg of melatonin which is the physiological dosage (within the range of concentrations that occur naturally in your body) using that equation 33 pistachios are equal to a 5mg dose of melatonin which is the pharmacological dose. We eat far fewer pistachios when we have to shell them ourselves…does it slow us down so our body has time to say hey I’m full or is it the heap of shells in front of us? Regardless a few pistachios now and then when traveling help me stay calm, cool and collected, and a few before bedtime help with falling asleep. ❤️ur❤️🌱
Our kitchen has been full of hummus lately. We have been experimenting with different flavors of hummus, always starting with a can of rinsed, drained chickpeas. Save the liquid when you drain the chickpeas, if the mixture needs a little liquid you can use this (aquafaba) in small amounts until you get the desired consistancy. I have read several recipes recently where the author discusses to peel or not to peel the chickpeas. Most of the time I hardly see any skins in the canned chickpeas so I don’t bother taking them out. Just pop them in the Vitamix with everything else and mix away. Most hummus recipes use tahini and I have used it in the past, it will give your hummus a more creamy texture. However, tahini is basically oil and adds about 90 calories per tablespoon so we skip it. The orange juice and orange zest mixed with chickpeas gives this hummus a slight hint of sweet and a follow up of tang. Serve up some hummus with your favorite chips or veggies and enjoy!
I love this! I picked up this tray from Pier 1 and have been using it as a decorative piece on my coffee table and recently, I looked at it with a new vision. I started by covering the inside with cute pumpkin cloth napkins to protect the wood detail. Moving on, I filled two bowls with The Better Chip brand chips from Gordon Food Services(GFS), I have spinach and kale in the red bowl and Jalapeño (Yes, real Jalapeño and they DO kick) in the green bowl, both are whole grain and vegan. Two types of hummus in the white bowls in the center, roasted red pepper family style from GFS and garlic family style from Costco. A bowl of guacamole, store-bought from Costco..all three of the containers fit into my one bowl, and a plate of veggie sushi from my local Kroger. On the other side a bowl of mixed nuts, a bowl of honey nut clusters (not vegan by all standards), a bowl of olives, and a bowl of dark chocolate covered pretzels. I filled in with lots of fresh veggies, mushrooms, cauliflower, green cauliflower, orange, yellow and red peppers, and carrots. The left over holes on one side got filled in with grape tomatoes and the other side was filled in with grapes. I almost forgot all the Mary’s Gone crackers! We go through box after box of these over the holidays. Costco has them in a 20 ounce box with 2 bags of the original flavor, certified vegan. Such a party hit and so much food. A perfect tray to put out for the holidays! I served this at home, the tray might be a little hard to take somewhere once you have it filled. Let this serve as an example of what you can bring when you’re invited to a get together with friends this holiday season.
As a child the only way I had ever seen beets served was in pickled beet eggs. That tradition is from an old Pennsylvania dutch recipe where boiled eggs are refrigerated in pickled beet liquid along with the pickled beets and allowed to marinate until the eggs turn a deep red color, they are then both served together. As a child these red eggs with the yolk sections stained pink and their accompanying beets were less than appetizing. As it turns out beets are rich in natural nitrates, which your body uses to make nitric oxide (NO). Nitric Oxide is important for your body because it helps dilate your arteries, delivering more oxygenated blood to your organs. My husband carries a small bottle of nitroglycerin to take if he begins to experience chest pains, nitroglycerin is converted by the body into NO and dilates the coronary arteries, allowing more blood to flow to the heart muscle Recently it was discovered that NO actually enables your body to extract MORE energy from that oxygen. A recent study quoted in Dr. Gregor’s “How Not to Die”, states that men and women eating one and a half cups of baked beets seventy-five minutes before running a 5K race improved their running performance while maintaining the same heart rate and they even reported less exertion. While I haven’t tried that out for myself, it is good to have a little extra blood flow to the most important organ of the body, the brain. Studies also show that researchers have been able to get a 10 point systolic blood pressure drop in volunteers within hours of their consuming beet juice – an effect that lasted throughout the day. Roasted beets are so easy to make and keep easily in the refrigerator to be chopped up and added to salads, budda bowls, stir-fries, or just plain throughout the week. As a grown up I have now aquired a taste for these roasted beets.
1 bunch of red beets ( usually 3 beets) scrubbed clean, green tops removed
1 bunch of golden beets ( usually 3 beets) scrubbed clean, green tops removed
white balsamic vinegar ( I use lemon grass white balsamic)
salt
In my photo I used a lidded corning ware dish, previously I have made them using foil in my dish, either way works, however there was a lot of scrubbing to get that dish clean that I hadn’t lined with foil. This photo is when they were fresh from the oven and still have their skins on.
Directions
Pre-heat oven to 400° and line baking dish with foil.
Rub beets with balsamic vinegar, sprinkle with salt, place in dish and cover with another sheet of foil.
Roast for 1-2 hours. After 1 hour test them with the tines of a fork. Typically average sized beets take an hour and a half. Once the fork tines slide in easily the beets are tender and ready to be removed from the oven to cool.
After the beets have cooled a bit but are still warm, peel off the outer skin.
While on a frequent business trip my husband picked up a vegan cookbook for us. It is packed full of vegan recipes from many different restaurants around the world. Although each recipe needs a slight tweaking to be whole food, plant-based, no oil. This past weekend we tried out our version of zucchini hummus and it was wonderful. We made some veggie stuffed grape leaves and used this hummus as a dip, it was fantastic. We also tried some with our favorite original flavor Mary’s gone crackers, as you can see in the photo.
Being on such a strict diet means there aren’t very many options for sweet indulgences. These cookies are great to have sitting around, and my husband loves them! || I adapted @susanffvk’s Banana-Maple Oatmeal Cookie recipe from her fat free vegan blog blog.fatfreevegan.com . I added nutmeg in addition to the cinnamon for flavoring and used chocolate chips in place of raisins in Susan’s original recipe. Tip: Make sure you flatten the cookies before putting them in the oven because they won’t change shape during baking. I love using the silicon mats I purchased at Costco in place of parchment paper. These cookies can easily double as a quick breakfast when you are on the run, or a healthy exercise snack at the gym.
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips ( I prefer Enjoy life semi-sweet mini chips)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup maple syrup
2 bananas, mashed
1 tsp lemon juice
Directions
Preheat oven to 375℉
Combine ground chia seeds with water and set aside.
Mix the oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a mixing bowl. Add the vegan chocolate chips.
Mix the maple syrup, vanilla, mashed bananas, and lemon juice. Mix in the ground chia seeds. Pour into the dry mixture and stir well.
Drop by heaping teaspoons onto a baking sheet lined with a silicon mat or parchment paper. Flatten each cookie slightly with a fork. Bake for 8-12 min. or until bottoms are lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack before serving.
