Tag: vegetables

Vegan Cruelty Free, Vegan Food

Easy Instant Pot Vegan Chana Masala (Vegan Chickpea Curry-oil-free)

Samantha

I am a 1.5 generation child. A what? I was born in India and moved to California with my family when I was 6 years old, old enough to know how to use the toilet (but still run into walls) and young enough to be extremely impressionable. Growing up as a 1.5 generation child meant finding the right balance between being American without losing my culture. God bless my parents they wanted me to learn English quick [all I knew was yes, no, hi, and thank you–man was I polite ;)] so they forbade me from speaking Telugu at home. Before they knew it, Valley Girl Samantha was born, with am “um, like” this and a “no. way.” that.

As I grew up, I fought hard to retain my culture, but with little success, EXCEPT, and it’s a big EXCEPT (all caps worthy), when it came to the food. I lived Indian food. We ate it day in a day out with lots, and LOTS of rice. After I moved to college and then to Southern California for grad school, then all over the nation after that (long story), I ate less and less Indian food with every move and every passing year. I did however try every Indian restaurant which compelled me more to try cooking Indian food at home, minus the ghee, dairy and all other non-vegan stuff. Welcome to my journey I hope you enjoy these vegan chana masala–instant pot version.

INGREDIENTS for Oil-Free Vegan Chana Masala

Chickpea Curry-2

2 tbsp. vegetable broth

1 white or yellow onion (diced)

1-2 tbsp. garlic ginger paste (to your taste preference)

2 tbsp. curry powder

a handful of spinach

1 can of fire roasted diced tomatoes

1 can of lite coconut milk

1 can of garbanzo beans

Chickpea Curry-1

DIRECTIONS to make Delicious Vegan Chickpea Curry

  1. Set your instant pot to saute mode, and add the vegetable broth.
  2. Once the broth starts to sizzle a little, add your diced onions and sautee until they turn semi-clear.
  3. Add the garlic ginger paste and let it cook for up to 2 minutes, or until aromatic.
  4. Add the curry powder and toast it for about a minute.
  5. Add your can of drained garbanzo beans, diced tomatoes, and cocnut milk.
  6. If you prefer it spicy (add in a bit of red chilli pepper flakes–you can just as well add it directly to your dish at the end).
  7. Close the instant pot lid and cook it on high pressure for 6 minutes.
  8. Once time is up, release the pressure, open the lid and stir in the spinach.

If it’s more watery, you can easily enjoy it as a soup, but I personally think it’s best served with some rice or cauliflower rice.

Chickpea Curry-3

Question of the Day

What’s your favorite Indian dish?

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Vegan Cruelty Free, Vegan Food

Vegan Taco Ring – Easy Vegan Dinner Recipe

Samantha

 

Photo Sep 09, 4 38 32 PM

I became vegan a few months after my husband and I moved to Illinois. January 1, 2016 marks my vegan birthday (cue balloons). As many vegans will tell you, the hardest part was finding fun recipes and thankfully, Instagram came to the rescue. I found a recipe similar to this ageees ago, but what I learned is that so many of these recipes can easily be tailored to your own. I especially love this one because it’s literally a garbage pile, in that you can throw all your leftovers into the mix, wrap it up, bake it and voila: taco ring.

A couple weekends ago, it was raining like crazy, and I wanted to bake and cook and just be around a warm oven. So I made the taco ring. What’s best about this is, you can easily make it for a potluck or a bring it to a party as your go-to meal because it’s literally SO easy to make and can be made really quickly too depending on the ingredients you use. The one I’m showing you guys below is a little more involved because it includes potatoes. Take out the potatoes and that literally cuts down about 20 mins of time. So, let’s get started!

Taco Ring Ingredients

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 roll of crescent rolls (Pillsbury is accidentally vegan, but Annie’s makes vegan options)
  • 1 packed of Soyrizo (soy chorizo)–I get mine at Trader Joe’s (it’s the cheapest there too)
  • 1/2 packet of taco seasoning (also from Trader Joe’s)

OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS

  • 1 pouch of potatoes
  • Veggies of your choice

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut up all of your veggies and start sauteeing them.
3. Open your crescent rolls and lay them out to create a sun shape. The point side should be the outside of “the sun” and the wide side will overlap from piece to piece like below:

TR-3

4. Cook the soyrizo in a separate pan for about 5 minutes. Then toss the mixture with 1/2 packet of the taco seasoning.
5. Mix the soyrizo with the veggies and whatever else you want to fold into the mix.
6. Scoop the soyrizo mix onto the ring like below:

Photo Sep 09, 4 00 55 PM

7. It will get messy, but that’s ok. After you’ve scooped as much as that will fit, fold the point side into the wide side, like below:

Photo Sep 09, 4 01 55 PM

8. Optional: Add vegan cheese to each ring on the top:

Photo Sep 09, 4 03 56 PM

9. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes, then let it cool.

If You’re Using Potatoes

  1. Cut the potatoes into bite size pieces.
  2. Throw them in boiling water for 15 minutes, then drain and let them cool for 5 minutes, before tossing them into your taco ring mix.

Photo Sep 09, 4 38 32 PM

Question of the Day

Have you tried this kind of recipe before? What’s your go-to potluck meal?

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Vegan Cruelty Free

Vegan Memorial Day: Vegan BBQ

Samantha

Memorial Day is one of the few days out of the year you can rock an American flag on just about anything: your headband, your booty shorts, your pool floaties and your grill, even the one in your mouth. But also synonymous with Memorial Day is meat, and lots of it. People LOVE to grill on this holiday and it’s no wonder…suns out, (burger) buns out, right? BUT we can do without all that meat, murder and cruelty (sorry omnivores) and pay homage to our veterans with some delicious eats that are so nutritious that you’ll keep the backyard “bbq” party goin’ all night long. SO with that said, here is the first edition of my Vegan Memorial Day eats (appetizer and dessert, entree to come tomorrow!).

Easy Memorial Day Appetizer:

Vegan Pigs in a Blanket, without the Oink

These “pigs” in a blanket make the easiest and quickest appetizer (or meal because you won’t be able to stop poppin’ these “piggies” in your mouth). All you need to do to pre-heat your oven and prep your ingredients. Once you assemble, bake and take. The best part is, you can personal these to your flavor profile. Read below to find out exactly where the personal touch fits in:

Image result for vegan pigs in a blanketPC: livekindly

INGREDIENTS

1 pack of vegan hot dogs
2 packs of Pillsbury crescent rolls (accidentally vegan)
Dijon mustard or other sauce (to taste)
Everything but the bagel seasoning (from Trader Joe’s) or sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat your over to 400 degrees.
  2. Prepare your dogs: cut each dog into quarters. Cut them in half width-wide, then those two pieces in half length-wise.
  3. Prepare your cresent rolls: Pull apart each of the crescent roll pieces and lay them out so they look like triangles on your flat surface.
  4. Take the sauce of your choice and spread them across each of the triangle pieces–it doesn’t hurt to be generous here because once you bake these the flavors tend to steam (bake?) away.
  5. Now place each of those quarter hot dog pieces on the fat end of the triangle, then roll them up toward the pointy end.
  6. You should now have little pigs in a blanket! Repeat with each piece.
  7. Lay them out about 1-inch apart on a baking sheet (I line mine with a silpat)
  8. Take your seasoning or sesame seeds (optional) and sprinkle them on top of each of the little “Pigs” in a blanket.
  9. Place them in the oven and bake for 20 minutes.
  10. You’ll know they’re done when they’re golden brown. Let them cool for about 5 minutes, and then they’re ready to serve, with an extra side of mustard for those rebels in your party. 

vegan dessert

Pina Colada in a Bowl (my vegan pina colada in edible (not drink) form) 

This is my take on a pina colada in food form. All you need for this is three ingredients, one of which is purely store bought…unless you want to be really extra and over-the-top, then I got you covered too.

Grilled-Pineapple-Coconut-Cream-2PC: floatingkitchen

INGREDIENTS

Fresh pineapple slices or canned pineapple slices
Full fat coconut milk
Dairy free ice cream OR frozen bananas and almond extract
Unsweetened coconut flakes

DIRECTIONS

  1. If using canned pineapple slices, try to get them as dry as possible before placing them on a grill. If using fresh, place them on a grill with a little bit of coconut oil on either side. Grill for about 5 minutes on each side.
  2. While grilling the pineapple slices, separate the thick part of coconut milk from the liquid into two separate bowls. Whisk the thick portion until it turns light and fluffy and voila, you have vegan whipped cream. For an added taste, add a few drops of vanilla extract.
  3. Place a scoop or two of ice cream in a bowl OR 3A. Blend frozen bananas with some water or a little bit of almond milk with some almond extract until it turns into an ice cream consistency.
  4. Place your grilled pineapple on top of your “ice cream.”
  5. Top with your coconut whipped cream and top that with some unsweetened coconut flakes.

Pina colada in a bowl. You’re welcome.

Question of the Day

What are your go-to vegan recipes? Share–we want to know!

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