Gluten Free Quiche

I was never big on eggs...however, I did love quiche.  This is a delicious, fluffy, and cruelty free version of a classic quiche!

You will need:
-1 Gluten free, vegan pie crust
-1 block of firm tofu (very well drained)
-2 tbl nutritional yeast flakes
-2 tbl garbanzo flour
-2 tbl tahini
-1 tbl lemon juice
-1 tbl tumeric (for color)
-Black pepper (to taste)
-Salt (to taste)
-Toppings (for this recipe, I used 1 cup of chopped Beyond Meat chicken, 3/4 cup quartered grape tomatoes, 1/2 cup of daiya cheddar, and 1/2 cup white onion)
-1/2 cup of daiya (to top it off)

What to do:
-Preheat oven to 350
-Combine all ingredients (except crust, toppings, and last 1/2 cup of daiya) into a food processor and blend until smooth and creamy.  Your mixture should be thick...like a combination of cookie dough and pancake batter.
-Once the mixture is smooth and creamy, pour into a bowl and stir in toppings.
-Pour mixture into pie crust
-Top with the 1/2 cup of daiya
-Bake for about 45 minutes, or until it is golden.
-Let cool for 10 minutes.  It will firm more once it has cooled.

Carb Conscious "Rice" and veggie salad

Someone turned me on to hemp hearts and I will never look back.  Imagine if rice, lentils, and sesame seeds decided to have a baby...that is a hemp heart.  I look forward to using them more and more.  If you have to watch your carbs or just want to cut down, try using them instead of rice.

What you will need:
-2 cups dry hemp hearts (or shelled hemp seeds)
-1 cup fresh brussels sprouts (chopped)
-2 large shallots (chopped)
-1 cup grated or Julianned carrots
-1 tbl minced garlic
-1 1/2 cup Beyond Meat, Lightly Seasoned "chick'n" strips (chopped)
-Salt and Pepper (to taste)

What to do:
-Combine hemp hearts and water in saucepan and bring to a light boil
-In the meantime, lightly saute the veggies and garlic in a pan with some olive oil.  I recommend leaving them crunchy but sauteing them enough to soften slightly and bring out the flavor.
-Drain hemp hearts well.
-Combine with veggies. Add additional olive oil, if needed. Add Salt and pepper.
-Combine the Beyond Meat Chicken
-Chill overnight
-Enjoy!

Gluten Free Biscuits and Gravy!

My friend decided to make this for me.  I had been craving a good biscuits and gravy recipe.  This definitely satisfied my craving!

You will need:
Biscuits:
-2 cups gluten free flour
-1 cup unsweetened, unflavored almond milk
-4 tbl Earth Balance butter
-1 tbl baking powder
-1/2 tsp baking soda
-1/2 tsp sea salt

Gravy:
-2 cups raw cashews
-1/2 cup almond milk (may need more depending on how thick you want the gravy)
-Salt and pepper (to taste)
-Vegan sausage crumbles (he used Gimme Lean)

What to do:
Biscuits:
-Preheat oven to 450
-Mix the dry ingredients together
-Add the butter
-Slowly add the almond milk to the dry mixture, stirring constantly until a soft dough forms.  This will be runnier than normal biscuits....its okay!
-Pour mixture into cooking pan in 6 parts, forming small circles
-Cook for 13-15 minutes

Gravy:
-Place sausage crumbles in skillet and brown
-Take the rest of the ingredients and place in VitaMix or blender and blend until smooth.  If you like your gravy thick, use the measurements provided.  However, if you want it a bit runnier, add more almond milk.

When the biscuits are done, place into a bowl or a plate and drizzle the gravy on top of them.  Top that off with the sausage crumbles and you're ready to stuff your face!

Root Vegetable Enchiladas

Want something hearty with a kick?  Well, these are for you!

You will need:

-1 large sweet potato (diced)

-3 carrots (diced)

-1 red beet (diced)

-1 white beet (diced)

-1 large turnip (diced)

-3 parsnips (diced)

-8 tortillas (I used gluten free ones)

-1 cup of daiya

-“cheez” sauce (see mac n cheez recipe for cheez sauce recipe)

-Enchilada sauce of your choice (or make your own)

What to do:

-Preheat oven to 375

-Grease a 14” casserole dish

-Line the bottom with 4 of the tortillas

-Pour 1/3 of your sauce on top of the tortillas

-Place 1/3 of your diced veggies on top of that

-1/3 of your cheez sauce on top of that

-Repeat with tortillas, sauce, veggies, cheez sauce

-On top, sprinkle the daiya

-Bake for 20-25 minutes.  I prefer my veggies firm…bake longer if you prefer softer ones.

Lentil "Meat" Loaf

A lovely, vegan, gluten free spin and a comfort food favorite. This one is sweeter and more moist than my previous recipe. 

Ingredients:

Lentil Loaf:

2 cups dry lentils 

3/4 cup rice 

1 cup shredded onion

1/2 cup shredded pepper

1 medium apple

1 cup oats

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour

1/4 cup maple syrup

Salt

Glaze:

1 cup ketchup

2 tbl apple butter

2 tbl sriracha

1 tbl braggs liquid aminos

What to do:

Lentil Loaf:

-Cook lentils based on instructions. Generally, it'll be 4 cups water for 2 cups of dry lentils.

-Cook rice based on instruction.  

-While those are cooking, shred up the apple, onion and peppers in food processor. If no food processor, you can grate it by hand.

-Use blade in the food processor to grind up walnuts and oats. Add in garbanzo bean flour to mixture.

-Ensure the lentils are sufficiently drained after cooking. Place in bowl and mash them up with potato masher. 

-Add in veggie/apple mixture and rice

-Add in oat/walnut/flour mixture

-Add maple syrup and salt

-Mix all together until mixture could be formed. It'll be sticky, but the main objective is to ensure it will stick together. If it's still too wet, you can add more oats and garbanzo flour.

-Once all mixed, pour mixture into 14" glass casserole dish. 

-Bake at 375 for 45 minutes

Glaze:

-Add all ingredients together. Place on loaf 30 minutes into its cooking time.

Pictured with daiya mashed potatoes and corn, edamame, and peas.

No Bake Pumpkin Pie

This is a quick and easy no bake treat.  I am totally one of those "Pumpkin Spice People"...when it hits October 1st, I want all things pumpkin!

You will need:


Crust:
-2 cups raw walnuts
-1/2 cup of dry dates
-1 tbl coconut oil
-1 tsp cinnamon

Filling:
-1½ cups pumpkin puree 
-¾ cup pitted dates, soaked in warm water for 30 minutes, then drained
-1tbl Stevia
-¼ almond milk
-1/2 cup raw walnuts
-1 tsp cinnamon
-1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
-1 tsp pure vanilla extract
-¼ cup coconut oil, melted

What to do:
-Mix all crust ingredients in a food processor.  Mix until all blended.
-Spread the crust mixture into a pie pan until the bottom is covered.  

-Mix all filling ingredients, except coconut oil in food processor
-As it is mixing, pour the coconut oil into the processor.
-Mix until smooth-ish
-Spread the mixture into the pie pan.  
-Place into the freezer until firm.

-Put the pie into the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before serving.

Curry Stuffed Acorn Squash

This is a perfect meal to warm your bones as the temperatures drop. It is also aesthetically pleasing and is bound to impress your friends.  

You will need:
- 2 acorn squash
-1 yellow onion, diced
-1/2 cup acorn squash (use the scrapings when you go to hollow them out. Dice them)
-1 cup diced peppers
-1 curry cube (I used Golden Curry sauce mix)
-1tbl Sriracha
-1 cup water
-1 pack of sausage crumbles (I used Helen's brand)
-1 cup dry rice (I used black rice)

What to do:
-Pre-heat oven to 400 

-Start the cooking process for the rice.

-Cut the the top 1/4 of each acorn squash off.
-Cut the points off of each squash bottom to ensure they will stand up.
-Scoop out the guts of each squash and disregard.
-Take the spoon and scrape the insides of each squash.  Do this for the tops as well.  You will want to make the holes bigger to allow for more stuffing.  Keep the scrapings for the curry.

-Sautee the onion, peppers, "sausage", and squash.  Once it is softened, add the curry cube and water. Add the sriracha. Let this simmer for 10-15 minutes.  By this time the rice should be done and the oven preheated. 
-Add the rice into the mixture fold all in together.

-Rub each squash down with olive oil.
-Fill each squash with the "sausage" curry mixture
-Put the cap on and put into a glass baking dish.
-Bake on the center rack for 45 minutes.