Lunches Archives - Page 8 of 10

America’s Top Ten New Sandwiches-Veganized! And my Contribution

February 18, 2011 by epicureanvegan

300th Post! Woo-hoo!

Last month, Endless Simmer did an article on their top ten new sandwiches, and as you can guess, none of them were vegetarian, let alone vegan. Big surprise. So Marly of Namely Marly, posed a fantastic challenge to food bloggers, to veganize these cancer-licious sandwiches. I rarely turn down a challenge to veganize a recipe, so I went with #8: Crispy Drunken Chicken Sandwich. Check out my veganized version as well as another version from Veggie Num Num. Thanks, Marly for this really fun challenge and putting it all together. I’m excited to see the rest of the healthier versions of all the sandwiches in the coming weeks!

Thai Green Curry Chickpea Burritos

February 7, 2011 by epicureanvegan

When we were visiting my sister in Northern California recently, she made us these fabulous burritos. The ingredients are from Trader Joe’s, so I was sure to pick the items up before returning to Trader Joe’s-less Colorado. 🙁 Taste of Thai makes a green curry paste though that could be substituted in with some coconut milk. However, a sub for the Cumin and Chickpea mix also required for the recipe, was hard to locate. So if you’re lucky enough to live near a Trader Joe’s, or have a generous relative to send you TJ loot, this recipe is for you. Are you listening, sis? 😉

INGREDIENTS:
1-12 oz jar Thai Green Curry Simmer Sauce
1-8 oz pkg Cumin and Chili Chickpea mix
1 medium zucchini, sliced, then quartered
1-15 oz can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
Olive oil
Flour tortillas
Optional: Tofutti sour cream, fresh cilantro

DIRECTIONS:
I sauteed the zucchini and can of drained chickpeas for about 3-4 minutes. Add the bag of seasoned chickpeas and jarred curry sauce. Stir well to combine. Reduce heat to low and simmer covered for 20-25 minutes.

Serve in a flour tortilla with sour cream and cilantro and enjoy!

Portobellos with Tomatoes and Truffle Cheeze Sauce

January 11, 2011 by epicureanvegan

We got some beautiful portobellos and tomatoes from Green Buffalo Food Co. and this came together so fast. The truffle cheeze sauce is amazing! I could have eaten it with a spoon—it is rich, creamy and perfect for veggies, pasta, or by the spoonful!

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 Tbs olive oil
2 Portobello mushrooms, stem and gills removed
2-4 large basil leaves (I used spinach, but I think I’d prefer basil for more flavor)
4 tomato slices
Sauce:
1/3 C almond milk
1/2 C Daiya mozzarella
1/8 tsp (or less) white truffle oil

DIRECTIONS:
Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Place portobellos, face down, in the pan and lightly saute for about 2 minutes. Turn over and saute the other side. Add the basil leaves and 2 tomato slices per mushroom. Reduce heat to low and cover.

To prepare the sauce, bring the almond milk just to a boil, reduce heat to medium and whisk in the cheeze and truffle oil. Whisk until smooth—it’ll only take a couple of minutes.

Serve the portobellos with sauce drizzled on top and enjoy!

Portobellos with Tomatoes and Truffle Cheeze Sauce

Author: Epicurean Vegan

Ingredients

½ Tbs olive oil
2 Portobello mushrooms, stem and gills removed
2-4 large basil leaves (I used spinach, but I think I'd prefer basil for more flavor)
4 tomato slices
Sauce:
⅓ C almond milk
½ C Daiya mozzarella
⅛ tsp (or less) white truffle oil

Directions

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Place portobellos, face down, in the pan and lightly saute for about 2 minutes. Turn over and saute the other side. Add the basil leaves and 2 tomato slices per mushroom. Reduce heat to low and cover.
To prepare the sauce, bring the almond milk just to a boil, reduce heat to medium and whisk in the cheeze and truffle oil. Whisk until smooth---it'll only take a couple of minutes.
Serve the portobellos with sauce drizzled on top and enjoy!

Garden Wraps

January 10, 2011 by epicureanvegan

I’m no June Cleaver, but I will go that extra mile to make sure the kid eats a healthy and delicious lunch at school. As I’ve mentioned in an earlier post, it’s important to include kids when making meals, especially when it comes to eating vegan. We’ve been lucky that The Sixth Grader has embraced veganism so willingly and he loves participating in cooking and meal-planning. So he was getting a little bored with St. Ives ham sandwiches, so together, we came up with a new idea: Garden Wraps. Yes, there is work involved—I spent some time Sunday afternoon making them, but golly, Wally, they are so good and worth it!

INGREDIENTS:
Spinach wraps/tortillas
Hummus
Cucumber, diced
Carrots, julliened
Red onion, chopped
Celery, sliced
Tomato, diced
Avocado, sliced
Daiya cheese
Optional: cooked Boca “chicken” nuggets, diced

Layer 2-3 spoonfuls of hummus on a tortilla, then the rest of the ingredients.

Fold in the sides first, then roll from the bottom. Slice in half and wrap with plastic wrap. I made several for both The Sixth Grader and I for lunch this week—it’s a quick and healthy snack/lunch to grab, especially if you don’t have a lot of time. Enjoy!

Ready to grab and go!

Amazing Mac ‘N Cheez Sauce

January 7, 2011 by epicureanvegan

Guess what? You’ll never guess where this recipe came from! That’s right . . . how’d you know? The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook. All right, I have one more recipe from the book in the queue, then that’s it. Promise. I just can’t help it; these recipes are amazing. As vegans, we all know how difficult it can be to find tasty “cheese” so when you find what works—go with it. This sauce is delicious, creamy and ready in less than 10 minutes. I added some vegan Worcestershire and some light miso, but feel free to tweak the recipe to your liking because it’s a pretty basic sauce. You can serve it over pasta, potatoes, or other veggies.

INGREDIENTS:
1/2 C flour (any kind)
1/2 C nutritional yeast flakes
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp paprika, sweet, hot, smoked or regular
2 C nondairy milk (I like almond milk)
1/4 C olive oil
1/2 tsp prepared mustard, any variety (I used Dijon)
Optional: 1 tsp vegan Worcestershire, 1 Tbs light miso

DIRECTIONS:
In a medium saucepan, combine the flour, nutritional yeast, salt, onion powder, garlic powder and paprika. Gradually whisk in the nondairy milk, olive oil, and mustard. Combine well, then add the optional ingredients, if using. Cook over medium heat stirring with a whisk constantly until the sauce is smooth and thick. Enjoy! Oh, and when it comes to leftovers, like most nondairy cheese sauces, I recommend heating the sauce in a saucepan on the stove. Otherwise, it gets dried out.

Pesto and Almond Feta Pizza

December 26, 2010 by epicureanvegan

After the craziness of the holidays, a quick, easy meal is a welcome reprieve. I usually have homemade pesto in the freezer, so it paired perfectly with the almond feta I made a few days ago. I had one flat bread left and a loaf of French bread which made the perfect pizza “dough.” You’ll love the softness of the cheese and the absence of all grease–this is probably my favorite kind of pizza.

INGREDIENTS: (For 3 pizzas)
3 flat breads or 3/4 of a loaf of French bread
1 C basil pesto
1-1/2 to 2 C almond feta
2-3 tomatoes, diced
1 C black olives, sliced
Shredded vegan mozzarella, optional

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400. On each piece bread, layer 1/3 C of the pesto, then equally divide the rest of the ingredients among the pizzas.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until the feta begins to brown. Enjoy!

Easy Flatbread

November 6, 2010 by epicureanvegan

Vegan MoFo, Day 6

How many times have you gone to make a panini or quesadilla and you find there’s no bread? Happens all the time, right? 😉 Well, have no fear, an easy and tasty flatbread is here! The original recipe, from Vegan Planet uses cumin, but I decided to use garlic salt and dried basil. It also called for frying them in a pan, but I opted for baking them.

INGREDIENTS:
2 C flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 C water, or as needed (I needed just a smidge less)
Olive oil for brushing
2 Tbs sesame seeds
Garlic salt
Dried basil

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400. Using a mixer, combine the flour and salt. Add the water little by little until the dough holds together. Knead until smooth, about 5 minutes. Wrap in plastic and set aside. Divide the dough into 6 pieces.

Shape the dough pieces into balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each ball to 6″ in diameter. Brush lightly with oil, the sprinkle with sesame seeds, garlic salt, and basil. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake 8-10 minutes.

The Sixth Grader made a type of grilled cheese with Tofutti slices:

The Husband made a couple of quesadillas in the oven using Daiya cheese, onions, and salsa:

And I went with the panini maker using roasted red pepper, Vegan Rella, and some jarred olive tapenade:

Enjoy!

Potato-Spinach Bake and Pesto Pizzas

October 17, 2010 by epicureanvegan

I stared at a bag of small red potatoes, wondering what I should make with them before they go bad (and before getting more tomorrow from our CSA). It’s hard not to think of comfort food when making something with potatoes, so I threw together an easy casserole using stuff just sitting around in the fridge and pantry. I was going to make just regular garlic toast with some pesto butter, but the Sixth Grader had the idea to make little pesto pizzas and they were amazing!

INGREDIENTS:
Olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
4-5 C red and/or russet potatoes, diced
5 C fresh spinach, chopped
8-10 mushrooms, quartered
1-1/4 C Tofutti sour cream
1 C vegan cheddar, divided
1/4 C almond milk (or other nondairy milk)
1-1.8 oz pkg. leek soup mix
2 Field Roast Italian Sausage links, diced (optional)
Pesto/tomato pizzas:
2 round flat breads, each cut into fourths
1/4 C pesto
1/3 C Earth Balance margarine
1 /2 large tomato, thinly sliced
3/4 C vegan mozzarella, shredded
Olive oil
Garlic salt

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350. Heat olive oil and garlic in a large skillet. Add potatoes and cook until somewhat soft, about 10-15 minutes. In the meantime, combine the sour cream, 1/2 a cup of the cheddar, milk, and the leek soup mix. If using, add the Field Roast to the skillet and cook just a few minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the potato mix, spinach, mushrooms, and sour cream mixture. Pour into a 9×13″ baking dish, cover, and bake for 40 minutes.

Add the rest of the cheese and bake uncovered until cheese melts, about 2-3 minutes.

To make the pesto pizzas, preheat broiler on high. Combine pesto and butter in a small bowl.

Brush flat bread with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic salt. Spread about a tablespoon of pesto onto flat bread pieces, then some cheese and a tomato slice.

Place under the broiler about 3 minutes, or until they begin to brown. Enjoy!

Pasta with Marinated Mushrooms and Cashew Cheese

September 12, 2010 by epicureanvegan

I have been making this dish for years, usually using vegan Parmesan or mozzarella, but since I have a huge hunk of cashew cheese, I decided to use that (which by the way, shreds beautifully). This dish also makes great leftovers for the next day’s lunch. The amounts of each ingredient isn’t specific, but dependent upon how much you want to make.

INGREDIENTS:
Pasta
mushrooms, sliced
tomatoes, chopped
red wine
minced garlic
olive oil
cashew cheese, shredded
Earth Balance margarine
Salt, to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Marinate the mushrooms in some red wine and let sit 15-20 minutes.

Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile heat olive oil and garlic in a small saute pan, then add mushrooms. Saute a few minutes—I don’t like to cook them until they’re shriveled. You may have to drain some leftover marinade.

Drain pasta and add 1-2 tablespoons of Earth Balance to pasta pot and coat the drained pasta. Add the mushrooms and tomatoes and combine well. Season with salt. Serve with cashew cheese and enjoy!

Quinoa Wraps

August 18, 2010 by epicureanvegan

My favorite vegan restaurant, Tasty Harmony, makes the best quinoa wraps and I wanted to duplicate it at home. I think I did a pretty good job, but theirs are just plain awesome and hard to totally copy. You can serve these warm or cold and ordinarily I would use whole wheat wraps, but I didn’t have any. I served these with a spinach salad and it made a quick and healthy meal (especially after all those cupcakes)! They are also ideal to pack for a picnic–don’t forget, quinoa is a great source of protein!

INGREDIENTS:
1 C quinoa
1 avocado, diced
1/2 pkg baked tofu, such as from Westsoy, diced
1 plum tomato, diced
Sandwich wraps
Caesar dressing:
1 Tbs Vegenaise
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp vegan Worchestershire sauce
1/4 C olive oil
1 Tbs nutritional yeast
Salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Add quinoa to 2 cups of boiling water. Stir, cover, and reduce heat to low for 20 minutes. If you want a cold wrap, make this earlier and keep refrigerated. If you’re in a rush, place pan of quinoa in a sink of cold water. To make dressing: Whisk together all ingredients. Pile on the quinoa, avocado, baked tofu, and tomato onto a wrap and drizzle with the dressing. Enjoy!

America’s Top Ten New Sandwiches-Veganized! And my Contribution

Thai Green Curry Chickpea Burritos

Portobellos with Tomatoes and Truffle Cheeze Sauce

Garden Wraps

Amazing Mac ‘N Cheez Sauce

Pesto and Almond Feta Pizza

Easy Flatbread

Potato-Spinach Bake and Pesto Pizzas

Pasta with Marinated Mushrooms and Cashew Cheese

Quinoa Wraps

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