Vegan Chocolate Banana Milkshake

 

Vegan Chocolate Banana MilkshakeDSC_0700

 this recipe is vegan, naturally gluten-free, and can be made raw

Ingredients:

-almond milk (enough to almost cover banana in blender)

-2 dates

-1 ripe banana (you can also use a frozen banana and omit the ice)

-1-2 tsp cocoa powder *this recipe can be made raw using raw cacao

Throw all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth.  Serve on ice or alternately  try adding some ice into blender.  Enjoy!

Other websites with similar recipes include: blissfulbasil.com, thesweetlifeonline.com, mindbodygreen.com, theothersideofthetortilla.com and veganyackattack.com.

 

Vegan Bran Muffin Recipe

This recipe is vegan.  Makes 1 dozen muffins.

Vegan Bran Muffins (6)

I tried this recipe for the first time the other day and loved it!  These muffins are moist and delicious any time of day!

Here’s the website I got this recipe from: http://plantfueled.wordpress.com/2012/03/27/recipe-whole-wheat-low-fat-vegan-bran-muffins/

At first I was a bit skeptical.  I’ve tried vegan recipes before and have often been disappointed and left with that ‘it just doesn’t taste the same’ feeling.  This recipe surprised me so I thought I would share it here.  Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!  

Ingredients:

– 3 cups wheat bran

– 2 cups non-dairy milk (I used almond, but you could use rice, etc. – I wouldn’t recommend soy as it’s an estrogen mimicker and can throw your hormone balance off)

– 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce (I made my own but store-bought is fine as well, just try to get one without all the additives)

– 1/2 cup molasses (I used a combination of molasses and honey when I made these, but then it’s not considered vegan, so do with it what you will 😉 )

– 3 teaspoons ground flax seeds

– 2 teaspoons baking soda

– 2 teaspoons baking powder

– 1 teaspoon salt

– 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

The original recipe also called for 1 1/2 cups of raisins; I left these out as I prefer my bran muffins raisin-less, but it’s up to you.

Here are the instructions straight from the original website:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F.

2. Mix wheat bran and milk in a bowl. Let sit for 15-20 minutes. You want it to get reallymushy and gross.

3. Add in applesauce, molasses, and flax. Mix. Add in baking soda, baking powder, salt, and flour. Mix until all flour is moistened. Fold in raisins. This will be very thick…more like cookie dough than muffin batter:

4. Pour into muffin pans. I use silicone, so I don’t have to grease them. If you are using metal, than either grease of use muffin liners.

5. Bake for 30 minutes. To see if they are done, insert toothpick. It should come out clean. If not, put them back in the oven for a minute or two.

Vegan Bran Muffins (13)

I found the batter wasn’t really any thicker than typical muffin batter…maybe it was just because I didn’t add the raisins…?  There’s enough batter to fill 12 muffin cups and they work out to be nice and large (but not hugely jumbo).  Happy baking! 

Raw Vegan Spaghetti Recipe

This recipe is gluten-free, vegan, and raw.

Preparation Time: about 45 min

Serves: 4, more or less, depending on how hungry you are 🙂

 

 

This recipe for what I like to call ‘raw spaghetti’ is composed of zucchini pasta topped with an altered version of raw sundried tomato marinara sauce found at feedlife.ca.

 

For this recipe, you will need a spiralizer (such as the Paderno World Cuisine Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer) or another piece of kitchen equipment that can make noodles out of zucchini.  If you don’t have a spiralizer, you can check out this blog post on ohsheglows.com which details how to make veggie pasta with a julienee peeler: how to spiralize vegetables.

 

Here are the ingredients you’ll need:

For the pasta: about 3 zucchinis to serve 4 (I used 2 which made 2 large bowls of pasta)

For the sauce:

-9 fresh medium-sized on-the-vine tomatoes

-1 red bell pepper

-a handful of fresh basil leaves

-a couple sprigs of fresh parsley

-2 tablespoons lemon juice

-1 clove of garlic

-a dash of cayenne pepper, more or less depending on your taste preferences

 

Start with making the pasta.  Below are pictures of the zucchini being spiralized…

 Next, prepare the tomatoes, pepper, herbs, garlic, and lemon juice for putting into the food processor…

 And dump them in. 🙂 

Pulse until blended but slightly chunky for the sake of texture.

Adorn your zucchini pasta with the fresh tomato sauce and a decorative basil leaf or sprig of parsley and you’re on your way to a delicious and healthy meal!

 

Raw Oatmeal

Okay, so we’ve all been taught that oatmeal is healthy, right?  But is there a way to make it even healthier?  One suggestion is to eat it raw.  Instead of cooking all the nutrients out, you can simply soak the oatmeal overnight and have it ready for the next morning – perfectly quick, perfectly nutritious, perfectly raw.  Just add the same amount of water as oatmeal – a 1:1 ratio (1 cup of oatmeal = 1 cup of water).  Top it with your favorite fruit and spices and drizzle on a healthy sweetener like maple syrup – yum!

 

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad Recipe

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 This recipe is gluten-free and vegan

Prep Time: About 1/2 hr.

Ingredients:

225 g (uncooked) Quinoa

Cucumber (1 large or a few small)

About 1/4 – 1/2 cup of Peas (frozen)

2 Bell Peppers

Onion – green or red

Fresh Dill

 

Cook your quinoa as directed on the package.  Chop the onion, cucumber, bell peppers, tomato, and dill.  For the peas, you can either lightly cook them or pour boiling water over them to defrost.  Mix together and enjoy!

 

Raw Vegan Brownie Recipe

This recipe is gluten-free, raw, and vegan

I attend a raw vegan potluck once a month, and when I came across this recipe on youtube I thought it would make the perfect contribution.  You can find the original video for the recipe here.  I topped these brownies with a vegan chocolate ganache (not pictured), found at rawmazing.com (scroll to the end of the strawberry pie recipe for the ganache directions).  The original recipe for the ganache is raw, but I swapped some of the ingredients to make do with what I had.  Anyway, here’s the recipe:

 

 

Prep Time: about 30 minutes

Fridge/Freezer Time: minimum 1/2 hr.

 

Ingredients:

3/4 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup walnuts

1 cup dates, pitted (I halved mine as I pitted them)

4 tbs melted coconut oil

2 tbs cacao powder (I used cocoa powder as I didn’t have cacao)

1 tbs chia seeds

1 tbs flax seeds

pinch good salt (such as sea or Himalayan – not table salt! :))

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

 

 

When melting the coconut oil, please do not use the microwave!!  It’s not good for you or the food, and we definitely don’t want our raw brownies to become cooked :).  Coconut oil is a solid at room temperature (except during warm, summer weather) and has a low melting point, so an easy way to melt it is by putting it in a dish and placing the dish in hot water (pictured left).  If its warm and sunny out and the coconut oil is still solid, try putting it in sunlight – near a window, etc.

 

 

To make the brownies…

Start by placing the rolled oats and walnuts in a food processor.

 Pulse them until they form a powder, as seen below.

Next, add all the rest of the ingredients…

…the dates, melted coconut oil, cacao powder, chia seeds, flax seeds, salt and vanilla.

Continue to pulse these ingredients until they have a gooey texture and appear fully combined.  You will still see white bits and whole flax seeds (if you didn’t pre-grind your flax).  You can refer to the picture of the batter in the pan if you want to see what the it should look like (shown 2 pics down).

Line a pan with foil – I used an 8 x 8 in. square one, but you can use whatever you have depending on the size and thickness you want your brownies to be.

Then spread your brownie batter evenly in the pan.

The batter should go in the fridge for at least 2 hours or the freezer for at least 1/2 an hour to firm it up.

And there you have it!  Cut them up and enjoy!

 

I also added a chocolate ganache topping (just before eating the brownies) from a recipe found at rawmazing.com.

The original recipe calls for 1/4 cup raw agave nectar, 2 tbs melted coconut oil, and 1/4 cup cacao.

I substituted the agave for maple syrup and, again, the cacao for cocoa powder.  The ganache will be quite runny at first; if you want it to get thicker, let it cool in the fridge for a while before serving.

Simply whisk the ingredients together and drizzle them over your brownies!  Yum!