Deep Dish Caramelized Onion Pizza Pie

I made a regular yeast pizza crust, rolled it out to about 12" across and put it in a lightly greased 9x2" deep, glass pie pan. I crimped the edges like a pie. Poke holes in the crust with a fork so the bottom will rise evenly.
Bake the crust at 425F for 5 minutes.
I filled the crust with a mixture of caramelized onions, mushrooms and Yves Lettuce Wrap crumbles. It's not just for wraps, says the label!

I baked the whole thing for another 15 minutes at 425F. Even though the outer crust is hard, the pie looks and smells really good.

Delicious. Very sweet with a tender crust.

Vegan Rice Pudding With Raisins

This is  my own recipe, not one that I am testing for the Blissful Chef, so I can share it with you.

I've love rice pudding so I veganized the old recipe.
Rice pudding is very versatile and can be served as a warm, filling breakfast, a side at brunch and you can serve it warm or chilled as a dessert.

Coconut rice pudding


3 c cooked br rice
1 c coconut milk
2 c water
2 tbs raisins
pinch salt (optional)

1 shot maple syrup

All ingredients except maple syrup in large saucepan.
Simmer, stirring almost constantly until very thick. Reduce heat to low, put on a lid and let it cook for about ten minutes.
Add maple syrup, stir and serve.
Adjust the sweetness to your tastes.

Makes three 1+ cup servings.

I like it just as it is but you may want to add more syrup, your favorite vegan margarine and/or milk, fruit, etc.

Rice pudding is a traditional dish that the whole family can love and a delicious way to use up leftover rice.  I used last night's dinner rice, a mixture of short grain brown rice and wild rice.
I used fresh coconut milk which is the water and soft meat of a young Thai coconut blended together.

Vegan Buttermilk Biscuit Recipe

Southern Style Vegan Buttermilk Biscuits













Pre-heat oven to 450F

2 cups flour
4 tsp aluminum free baking powder 
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

4 tbs olive oil

1 cup chilled vegan buttermilk (1 cup chilled vegan milk of your choice, add 2 tbs vinegar or lemon juice, stir well, allow to thicken in fridge about 10 minutes)

In a chilled bowl mix dry ingredients well.
Cut in oil until it's a crumbly texture. Use a cold fork, you fingers will make it too warm and you won't get the crumb-like texture you want.
Add chilled buttermilk and stir until a thick dough forms.
Turn out on a heavily floured board and sprinkle flour on top then fold dough over onto itself. Continue to sprinkle and fold until you have a workable dough that you can roll out and cut. Don't over work.
Roll out to about an 3/4" thick
Cut with a 2" biscuit cutter and arrange on dry baking sheet with the circles barely touching each other.
Bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown on top.

This recipe made 14 biscuits.

Really easy, really good, 100% veganized for your convenience.

Next time I will use 3 tbs oil and 1/4 tsp salt, but these are DEE-LICIOUS! I'm going to serve them with vegan gravy and steamed collard greens.

Super Easy, Super Cheesy Dairy Free Multi-Purpose Un-Cheese Sauce

I'm making steamed brocolli for dinner tonight so I made a vegan cheese sauce. I know I posted this recipe before but I've been making it and tweaking it each time and I think this is about the best it's ever turned out so I'm posting this new, updated version of multi-purpose cheese flavored sauce for making vegan macaroni and cheese, for pouring over vegetables, great on baked potato, nachos, quesadilla, in casseroles... I even put it on vegan pizza the other day, fantastic!

Super Easy, Super Cheesy Sauce

1/3 cup nutritional yeast

1/3 cup rolled oats

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp paprika (optional. Makes it more orange colored)

2 cloves garlic

1 tbs tahini

1 tbs ACV

2 cups water

Everything in the blender except 1/2 cup water.

Blend until liquefied.

Pour mixture into a saucepan

Put last 1/2 cup of water in the blender carafe, swirl it around and pour that in the saucepan, too. (nothing goes to waste around here)

This is the hardest part.

Put the saucepan of liquified ingredients on low-med heat and stir constantly until it reaches the desired thickness, about 10 minutes.

This mixture will continue to thicken even after you are done cooking. Behold the power of Oatmeal!  Store in the fridge in a covered container and add more water as needed to thin.

Avocado "Fries" & Sprouted Amaranth Cracker Recipes

I love to make raw snacks. Healthy raw oils like those from seeds, nuts, avocados and olives are very important in a vegan diet, especially if you are endeavoring to eat more raw foods.

These are sprouted amaranth seeds. They are tiny and very hard to deal with and hard to photograph.

These are about 2 days old sprouts.


















Sprouted amaranth crackers
1/2 cup sprouted amaranth 1/2 cup flax seed
pinch of salt
1 tsp cumin
water as needed (not much)
In food processor until a thick smooth paste
Turn out and evenly spread on dehydrator sheet, score for the size crackers you want.
Dehydrate at 115F until stable on top (about 1 hour) then turn out on rack and continue to dry until they are as crisp as you want them.

I also made some avocado fries today.

Avocado "Fries"
Slice one avocado into strips
sprinkle with nutritional yeast on both sides.
Sprinkle w whatever other spices you want, a pinch of salt, cumin, black pepper, lemon, garlic, etc.
place on dehydrator rack and dry at 115F for approx 1 hour until you are able to handle them w/out them falling apart.

Red lettuce with avocado fries, sprouted amaranth crackers, turnip pickles and fermented cashew cream.

Cantaloupe Seed Milk Smoothie

This super easy, ONE ingredient smoothie recipe is one of my all time favorites.
Next time you get a cantaloupe, save the seeds, strings and any little pieces of the meat you have left over.















Store the seeds, etc in an airtight container in the fridge. Sometime in the next few days put the seeds, strings and flesh of the cantaloupe into a blender add a cup or two of water (depending on how thick you want it) and blend until smooth and frothy.















Strain, decant and enjoy.















Groovy Cantaloupe Nutrition Facts

Serving size 1/2 cup, diced (78g)
Amounts Per Serving % Daily Value
Calories 25
Calories from Fat 0
Total Fat 0g 0%
Saturated Fat 0g 0%
Cholesterol 0mg 0%
Sodium 10mg 0%
Total Carbohydrate 6g 2%
Dietary Fiber 1g 4%
Sugars 6g
Protein 1g
Vitamin A 50%
Vitamin C 50%
Calcium 0%
Iron 0%

Groovy Cantaloupe Warning

I used to not like cantaloupe because I got a stomach ache every time I ate it. Now I know that cantaloupe must be eaten alone. Because it digests so quickly that any other food in the stomach with cantaloupe will cause fermentation of the stomach contents which means, gas, pain, bloating etc. Now when I get a big, ripe aromatic and juicy cantaloupe I mono-feast on the meat one day, save the seed and mono-feast on a creamy seed milk smoothie a couple days later.

I drink this smoothie on an empty stomach and don't eat anything for 4 hours after I finish it. If I combine this with any other foods I get some harsh intestinal difficulties. You might not, I'm just saying. The rule of thumb for me with melon is "Eat it alone or leave it alone".

Stay Groovy.

February was a good month!

3/2/10 Blast off!

Grapefruit and orange juice with a GlassDharma straw.















It was a great month, February. I won a couple of contests so that was fun.

I just heard that I won a Bob's Red Mill contest.
I won a Glass Dharma contest. I got four reusable glass straws out of that one. Beautiful, functional and reusable. I got blue, green, red and amber 12mm straight straws. Perfect for a smoothie. The boy drank his apple juice with one but he said it's too big. Fun, though. I don't have to worry about him breaking it because they are made of thick, heat tempered glass. I was actually thinking if anything, the straw might crack the juice glass! If you are a big straw user these are perfect for reducing your waste output with style. They are guaranteed for life so if you do break one, send it back and they will replace it FOR LIFE!

















Two Murano glass bracelets at GW, 99c each.

















I also found these kick ass slippers at GW for 99c.














They have non-skid spots on the bottom, heh.


Anyway it's been a nice month.

We registered a business name and we'll start working hard on that soon. I'll let you know when we unveil. Exciting stuff.

Oh, and Grant Butler is staying vegan. Yes.

Brussels Sprouts for dinner tonight :)

Reuse. It comes between Reduce and Recycle.

Being vegan is about reducing unnecessary suffering. I became a vegan as a direct off shoot of my desire to produce zero waste. Food that doesn't come in packages is mostly raw and vegan, really. The no-poo, the paperless kitchen, composting, and a bunch of other stuff are all about putting out less trash.

Reusing things is important. The less we buy new, the less we throw in the landfill.

Today I made a pitcher to hold my kitchen utensils out of an old blender carafe.

I took the bottom ring off the carafe, removed the blade (important!), replaced the blade with a with a small mouth canning jar lid then screwed the ring back on.


















































Ta-Da!















Leave a comment and tell me about your fabulous DIY Recycling by Reusing projects.

Dinner last night was cabbage and carrots with steamed with cumin, polenta, spinach and a three color tomato and cuke salad. A very good dinner all around.

Eggplant for Dinner Last Night

Every week I make an eggplant for dinner. Every week I freak out all day about what am I going to do with it and then wind up making it pretty much the same way. Sliced and salted/marinated/fried and baked in some kind of sauce. This week was no different but it was especially delicous. Here's what happpened:

Weekly Eggplant Baked in Some Kind of Sauce

Pre-heat oven to 400F and put on a frying pan to heat about the same temp as you would make pancakes. On my electric stove that's about a 4.

Peel and slice one eggplant.
Marinate 1/2 inch eggplant slices in the marinade of your choice. I used the juice from a jar of olives. Really. It was pretty good.

Inspired by a recipe from Elena at Eat Healthy!!! Be Happy!!! Vegan Recipes, I made this batter:














Dip the marinated eggplant slices in the batter one at a time and cook them in the hot, lightly greased skillet pretty much like pancakes. (woo-hoo, I hear it's pancake day again! Color me confused)


Fry the coated slices in well heated cast iron pan until they are crispy on both sides, about 3-4 minutes per side. I used about 2 tsp of olive oil for the whole batch.
















Place the fried slices flat in pan and put about 2 tsp of lightly salted fermented seed cheese on top of each one.















You can use whatever kind of vegan creamy style cheese you have around. Raw Ricotta would work well.

Top each slice with 2 tbs or so of marinara. (I used DeCecco Pasta Sauce cuz it was on sale at BigLots! I love finding vegan food at BigLots!) and bake at 400F for about 20 minutes.















Served with red lettuce, sliced tomatoes and a heap of fried potatoes and onions.
















You're right, there are no sliced tomatoes on that plate.

Vegan Pancake Dinner on International Pancake Day!

In honor of International Pancake Day we had pancakes with cauliflower salad and steamed yams for dinner last night.















That is pineapple chutney on top of the pancakes.

This is for all of you who think vegans can't eat pancakes. Another myth exploded into a million delicious pieces.

Leave a comment below and let me know how you like YOUR vegan pancakes!

RAW! Cabbage Kale and Broccoli Coleslaw

So pretty and so tasty.
















Cabbage Kale Broccoli Coleslaw

1 c shredded green cabbage
1/2 c chopped curly kale
1/2 cup chopped broccoli
1 tbs olive oil
Juice of one lemon (about 1/4 cup)
1 clove garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp organic cane sugar
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
Pinch of salt (optional)

Makes two cups, enough for 4 sides or two entrees.

Vegan Dinner Last Night Roasted Eggplant over Pasta with Morel Mushroom Cream Sauce

This is what we ended up eating for dinner last night:













Roasted eggplant with morel mushroom sauce over pasta with a lovely green salad sporting fresh tomato and basil.



Here is the technical stuff if you are so inclined.


Roasted Eggplant
Preheat oven to 400F

Peel and slice an eggplant, lay the slices on a board.
Sprinkle some salt all over the top and put a towel on top of all the slices.
Put a cutting board on top and a heavy bowl full of water on top.
Let it rest for an hour or so then put sliced onion on top of the eggplant, cover with a kitchen towel, weight and let rest for 1 more hour.
This process draws some of the liquid out of the eggplant and begins the cooking process. It is optional, you can just roast fresh eggplant.

Oil a cookie sheet with olive oil and lay your eggplant and onion slices on the pan.
Spread a light layer of oil on the vegetables.
Bake in 400F oven for about 12 minutes until eggplant and onions start to get brown at the tips.
Remove from oven and turn vegetables over.
Drizzle with olive oil or add a tbs of water to the pan if you think they look a little dry.
Bake an additional 20 min or until the veges are tender.


Morel Mushroom in a Cashew Cream Sauce

1 med yellow onion chopped fine
4 cloves garlic chopped fine
1 tbs olive oil

.5 oz dried morel mushrooms soaked in 1 cup water for 20 min.
1/2 cup fresh basil
Salt to taste.

4 tbs dry cashews soaked in clear water.

Coarsely chop mushrooms and save soak water for making cashew cream :)
Saute onion and garlic in oil until they are a caramelized.
Add chopped, soaked morels and chopped basil to onions and let them cook a bit. Add a tbs of water if it seems to dry.

















Once mushrooms and basil are cooked, add cashew cream made from mushroom water and cashews in blender and blend until very smooth. The smoother, the better.
Add cashew cream to veges and stir until thickened. Add more water if you find the sauce gets too thick.

Mild Sweet Corn Salsa Raw Vegan Side Dish

Corn Salsa

1/2 cup frozen corn
1 roma tomato
1/2 med yellow onion
juice of one lime about a 1/4 cup

Pulse tomato and onion separately in processor or chop fine.
Transfer to bowl.
Add corn and lime juice
Mix well and chill for one hour or more
Drain before serving.

Raw Vegan Grilled Vegetables

Raw Vegan "Grilled" vegetables

thinly slice:
seeded yellow bell pepper
1/2 seeded jalapeno
1 seeded tomato
coat with a mix of 1 tbs soy sauce, 1 tbs olive oil, sprinkle of cumin and sprinkle of dried cilantro
Put coated veges in dehydrator until they begin to soften.
Remove from dehydrator before they start to get crisp.
May be re-warmed in dehydrator in a shallow bowl before serving.
















Serve as a side dish or in wraps with spicy walnut meat.

Raw Vegan Spicy Walnut Filling

Spicy Walnut Filling:

1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 seeds from 1 jalapeno (a pinch of cayenne will do)
1 tsp soy sauce
3 cloves garlic
Pulse in Food processor until lumpy consistency is achieved. Do not over process, it should be a lumpy texture, not pasty.

Makes and excellent taco filling or salad topping.

My Raw Vegan Dinner Last Night: Enchilada Salad

@snarkyvegan on twitter linked to @tofu666 's blog where I found this Raw Vegan Enchilada recipe and modified it, thusly:
















Clockwise from 12 o'clock: Red lettuce, sliced avocado, failed tortilla chips, grilled vegetables, sauerkraut, spicy raw pickles and in the center is spicy walnut filling and mild sweet corn salsa. All over the top is cashew sour cream.

Fantastic.

I tried to wing a raw tortilla recipe but the tortilla failed so we had Enchilada Salad and used the fail as chips. It worked out deliciously, I must say. The show must go on and all that.

White Bean and Avocado Fajitas Vegan Lunch or Dinner Idea

Cooked white beans seasoned with olive oil and salt
Sliced ripe avocado
1 or 2 tortillas
Put one tortilla in a medium hot, dry skillet. Fill with beans and avocado on half of the tortilla. Fold the other half over and heat about 4 minutes on each side.

Shown with sauerkraut, lemon jalapeno pickles and cashew sour cream.

Seitan Nuggets Recipe!

As promised, my Seitan Nuggets recipe.

1 1/2 cup vital wheat gluten
2 tbs nutritional yeast
1 tbs sage
1 tbs garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbs dulse flakes (it's a seaweed, optional. I think the salty, ocean-y flavor adds itself well to the seitan)
1 tbs olive oil
approx 1/2 cup water.

Put all ingredients in a bowl.
Stir until it all comes together.


















Knead 15 minutes or so.

It will be juicy at first but all the liquid will be absorbed.


Let the ball of dough rest while you make a broth.

Broth for steaming Seitan Nuggets

















4 cups vegetable broth or water
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 rough chopped onion
1/2 beet root, chopped (optional. I just had one that needed to be used. It added a great color!)

Bring this to a boil while you cut the seitan into small pieces.

Method 1. Cut the ball in half, then in half, then in half until you have approx 24 or so balls about 2 tbs each or about the size of your thumb.














Method 2. Do it however you like, in whatever shape and size you like. I wouldn't make them much bigger than the palm of my hand but you might be braver than I.

Make them smaller than you want the finished product, they will swell when you cook them.














Put the gluten hunks in the boiling broth about ten at a time, don't over crowd them.














They will sink at first then puff up and float. Let them cook in the broth for about 30 minutes.

Remove seitan nuggets from the boiling broth and add more water to the broth. If you think it needs it, you might add a tbs or so of soy sauce to the broth for flavor. Salty stuff.

Bring broth back to a boil and add more seitan chunks. Repeat until done.

Save the amazingly tasty broth for another recipe.

Put the hot, cooked nuggets on a slanted board to drain until cool.














I press them between two clean towels to remove more liquid. I think they keep longer if they are dry.


Now you have nuggets.
















Store covered in the fridge for about a week.

I'm going to serve mine with steamed veges and rice tonight. I think I might BBQ some this weekend.
What are you going to do with your nuggets?

Raw Vegan Fermented Cashew Sour Cream or Yogurt Recipe

This recipe changed my life!
Blend a cup of soaked cashews (or any other nut you like) with enough water to make a thick paste about the consistency of sour cream. More water if you want a thinner kefir, yogurt or buttermilk consistency
Put the nut paste in a jar. Leave about 2 inches of room at the top of the jar because it will GROW.

Put the jar in your dehydrator (remove the trays) with a loose lid. Set it at about 95F. (This can be done in any warm place but it may take longer. See note below)

Leave it over night and it should look like this in the morning:

















See the bubbles? It's alive!















Stir it down and add salt or other seasonings if you like. I like it plain.
Store covered in the fridge almost indefinitely. Use just like you would sour cream in just about any recipe, as far as I know.
The longer you let it set the more sour delicious it gets.

I like to take a jar of this on road trips with me. It tastes better every day!

Note for those of you who don't have a dehydrator: If you don't have a dehydrator keep it in a warm place and it will ferment, it just may take a bit longer. My MIL preheats her oven to the lowest temp, turns off the oven then puts the jar in a water bath in the oven overnight and that method works for her. I also know someone who uses a heating pad on low heat in a box. A home yogurt maker might work, too.

The Fruity Trinity 3,2,1 Smoothie

Today's Smoothie!

















3 very ripe bananas
2 granny smith apples, chopped
1 orange (juice and pulp only)
1 head of celery
1 clove garlic
2 tbs flaxseed
2 tbs Renewme!
2 cups or more of water

Put it all in the blender and blend well.

This is a very creamy smoothie that utilizes the fruity trinity of banana, apple, orange. On the sweet side with just a hint of garlic.

I'm eating more raw garlic these days to try and help boost my immunity. The man had the flu or some kind of stomach bug but I will remain healthy.

So mote, it be.
:)