Vegan Carrot and Sesame Burgers

I'm finding that its not difficult to make something good out of things in the refrigerator that need to be eaten. Some of it takes research, other times the know-how comes from previous recipes. In this case, I found 'Oh She Glows', and applied my own ingredients to a recipe that had great reviews. I found these to come out really good, and very tasty. 

Other than prep time, this is a quick meal to make.

1/2 onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 cup carrots, shredded

1 cup black beans, cooked

1 cup sesame seeds

1 cup almond meal / flour

1/2 cup parsley, chopped

1 1/2 tsp. chili powder

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. cumin

1 tbsp. nutritional yeast

salt and pepper

In a skillet, saute the minced garlic in a tablespoon of oil, then add the onions. In a mixing bowl, mash the beans and mix in all the ingredients except for the spices. Add spices and mix well. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shape burgers and set on baking sheet. Bake for 12 minutes, flip, and bake for another 15 - 20 minutes. 

Vegan Taco Dinner

It looks like a lot is going on here, but in truth it really isn't. The protein crumbles with taxo seasoning is a good trick played on anti-vegetarians. The guacamole is fresh, but I'll have to get back to you on the other mixture. A bit of hot sauce, Daiya cheese, and vegan sour cream make this a great weekly dinner.

Vegan Bolognese

We recently had dinner at The Veg in Southern Sarasota. One of their specials was a pasta with bolognese sauce, which was vegetarian, but used soy crumbles that had some milk in it. It sounded really good, but wasn't an option since it had dairy. I decided to make my own vegan version, which came out awesome. This is a great dish if you have vegetables in the fridge that need to be eaten.

1 eggplant

1 onion

2 tomatoes

6oz vegan soy crumbles

1 can tomato sauce

2 cloves garlic (minced)

salt, pepper

oregano

16oz. pasta (we like spinach pasta)

This takes about an 1.5 hours. The eggplant, half an onion (cut into pieces), and tomatoes (cut in pieces and scored) are to be roasted in the oven at 400 degrees for a little under an hour. The eggplant first has to be salted and drained which takes about 20 minutes. Brush oil on all of them before placing in oven.

While the vegetables are roasting, add minced garlic to about two tablespoons of oil in a medium-low hot preheated pan. Let that cook slowly, then add chopped onion until transparent. Add tomato sauce, salt, pepper and oregano. Cover and cook for about ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the vegan crumbles and cover. This will have to be stirred to keep anything from sticking to the bottom, but it should be at a low enough heat that it won't burn with enough attention.

Boil pasta in another pot. Drain and put aside. Once the roasted vegetables are done, add them to the tomato sauce and stir. Put everything in a pot and mix together.

Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

Recipe from the Vegan Zombie, altered to what we had in the fridge...

3/4 cups creamy peanut butter
1/3 cup Non-soy Veganiase
1/4 sugar
1/4 raw sugar
1/4 agave
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
2 cups flour
1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips
mix everything except c.chips together. Fold in c.chops. Form small balls and dip in sugar and place on cookie sheet.
350 degrees for 17-20 mins (shorter time for smaller balls)
Makes about 1 dozen large cookies or 2 dozen small cookies.
Yum!

Vegan Hummus! In 5 Minutes

Hummus is one of those foods I can eat multiple times a week. Its good as a spread or dip. Not including the cook time of the beans, this takes less then five minutes to make.

2 cups chickpeas, cooked / rinsed
1 clove garlic
1⁄4 cup olive oil, plus more for serving
1/2 fresh lemon (juiced)
2 tbsp. tahini
1 tsp. ground cumin
salt
1/4 tsp. paprika

In a food processor, puree the chickpeas and garlic with the olive oil, lemon juice, tahini , cumin, and salt until smooth and creamy. Add oil as needed to achieve the consistency you want.

Transfer to a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with the paprika before serving.

Here's a great video I found showing how to make hummus.