fast and easy Archives - Page 21 of 24

Vegetable Soft Tacos/Fajitas

September 9, 2010 by epicureanvegan

Between school, tae kwon do practice, errands, and well . . . life, I love meals that make themselves. Ok, well, they don’t exactly make themselves, but pretty close. I had lots of veggies to use up, so fajitas/tacos were perfect. I added lime juice and cilantro for a flavorful combination. I served them with some warmed refried beans topped with vegan cheese for some protein.

INGREDIENTS:
1 small summer squash, cut into 2″ pieces
1 small zucchini, cut into 2″ pieces
1/2 large onion, cut into 2″ pieces
1 red bell pepper, cut into 2″ pieces
1-2 Tbs olive oil
1 avocado, sliced
1-oz pkg fajita seasoning
1/8 C water
1/8 C lime juice
1 C fresh cilantro, chopped
Salsa
Vegan cheddar, shredded
Tofutti sour cream
Flour tortillas, warmed

DIRECTIONS:
In a large skillet heat the olive oil. Add the squash, zucchini, bell pepper, and onion.

Saute covered for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened. Combine the fajita mix with the water and lime juice. Add to the vegetable mixture and combine well. Stir in the cilantro.

On a warm tortilla, layer on some sour cream, veggies, avocado, salsa, and cheese. Enjoy!

Mediterranean Olive Bread

September 1, 2010 by epicureanvegan

The fresh rosemary in this bread reminds me of Christmas. Love it. I love this bread for many reasons: a.) it was fast and easy to make, b.) no need for yeast, c.) no kneading required and d.) it’s delicious.

INGREDIENTS:
4-1/2 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer
6 Tbs water
1-1/2 C flour
3/4 C whole wheat flour
2-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped
1 tsp fresh basil, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1 C nondairy milk (I used almond milk)
1/4 C olive oil
1/3 C finely chopped walnuts
1/3 C chopped pitted black olives
1/3 C chopped sundried tomatoes

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350 and lightly grease an 8 or 9-inch loaf pan. In a food processor, whip the egg replacer and water together until thick and creamy. In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, rosemary, basil, and salt. In a separate bowl, combine the egg replacer mixture, nondairy milk, and olive oil.

Add the wet mixture to the dry and fold until dry ingredients are moistened. Add the walnuts, sundried tomatoes, and olives; fold in just until the pieces are distributed. The batter will be stiff and sticky.

Scrape batter into the loaf pan and spread evenly.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the pan on a rack for 5-10 minutes before taking out of the pan, then let cool completely on rack. Enjoy!

Recipe source: The Joy of Vegan Baking

Pesto Pizza with Artichokes and Sun-dried Tomatoes

August 27, 2010 by epicureanvegan

This is an easy pizza to make and will please even the non vegans–I guarantee. The recipe makes about 6 personal-sized pizzas so I tend to either refrigerate/freeze half the dough for another night, or make up all 6 pizzas for the next day’s lunch.

INGREDIENTS:
Dough:
2 C flour
1 C whole wheat flour
1 pkg quick-rise dry yeast
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried rosemary
3/4 C hot tap water, divided
2 Tbs olive oil
The rest:
1-14oz can artichokes, chopped
6-oz jar sun-dried tomatoes, diced
8-oz vegan mozzarella, shredded
1-1/2 C pesto
Optional toppings: mushrooms, olives, spinach, roasted red peppers

DIRECTIONS:
In a small bowl, combine yeast with 1/4 C of the hot tap water; set aside. In a large bowl, combine flours, salt, and rosemary. Add yeast and olive oil to the flour mixture and combine, adding the remaining 1/2 C of hot tap water. You may need a little more. Once ingredients are thoroughly combined, place in a large greased bowl and let rise for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400. Punch the dough down and knead for 5 minutes. Divide into 6 sections; roll out each section and place on a greased pizza pan or baking sheet. Using a fork, stick each piece of dough several times. Bake for 4 minutes.

Spread each baked crust with a layer of pesto, then top with cheese, artichokes, and sun-dried tomatoes. Bake 8-10 minutes. Enjoy!

Tempeh and Peanut Stir-fry

August 25, 2010 by epicureanvegan

This is another quick meal to make when you’re short on time. You can substitute the soba noodles with rice if you’d like and add other ingredients such as bamboo shoots or Chinese snow peas.

INGREDIENTS:
1 pkg tempeh, diced
1 Tbs olive oil
1 med zucchini, sliced then quartered
1 red bell pepper, cut into large pieces
1/2 a med onion, cut into large pieces
8-10 mushrooms, quartered
1/2 C lightly salted peanuts
12-14 oz soba noodles or 2 C cooked rice
Sauce:
1 Tbs cornstarch
1/8 C water
1/2 C shoyu, tamari, or soy sauce
1 tsp mirin
1/2 tsp brown rice vinegar
1 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/4 tsp ginger
2 Tbs Hoisin sauce

DIRECTIONS:
Heat olive oil in a large skillet. In the meantime, cook the noodles or rice. Add the zucchini, tempeh, onion, and bell pepper to the pan and saute for about 15 minutes. Drizzle with a little mirin. While these are cooking, combine the cornstarch and water in a small bowl. In another small bowl, combine all of the sauce ingredients, then whisk the cornstarch mixture into the sauce mixture. Add the mushrooms to the skillet and cook just a few minutes–I don’t like shriveled mushrooms, so I always add them last. Stir in the sauce and the peanuts and combine well. Let it simmer a couple of minutes, then serve on the noodles or rice. Enjoy!

Steamed Broccoli with Craisins and Pine Nuts

August 20, 2010 by epicureanvegan

The flavors in this side dish mingled beautifully together and was a nice change from just plain old steamed broccoli! If you’re not a big broccoli fan, try this with other veggies like chard, spinach or asparagus.

INGREDIENTS:
2 heads of broccoli, trimmed
Handful of craisins
Handful of pine nuts
1 Tbs Earth Balance margarine
Truffle oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Steam the broccoli for about 10-12 minutes. Add the craisins and pine nuts and mix them well with the broccoli; steam another 4-5 minutes. Transfer to a serving bowl and stir in the margarine. Drizzle with truffle oil and stir to combine. Add a little salt and pepper, if desired 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!

Quick Szechuan Stir-Fry

August 12, 2010 by epicureanvegan

CAUTION: this can get hot very quickly—that is, when I make it. I tend to get a little heavy handed with the hot spices, much to the dismay of the rest of family. Once again, I put a little too much heat on this stir-fry, earning a few glares from the Husband and 6th Grader. They agreed that it was really tasty and liked the udon noodles a lot, but the numb lips interfered a little. Next time I’ll go easy on the szechuan sauce.

INGREDIENTS:
1-8oz pkg Koyo Organic round udon noodles
1/4-1/2 C szechuan sauce like San-J brand
1/4-1/3 C tamari sauce
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1″ pieces
1 garlic clove, minced
1-2 Tbs olive oil
1 small summer squash, cut into small pieces
1 can sliced water chestnuts
8-10 mushrooms, sliced
4-5 green onions, sliced
Toasted sesame seeds

DIRECTIONS:
Cook noodles according to package instructions (they take about 7-8 minutes). Heat olive oil and garlic in a skillet. Add bell pepper, water chestnuts, and squash; saute for about 15 minutes, or until softened. Add mushrooms, green onions, tamari, and szechuan sauce. I’d start with about a 1/4 cup of the szechuan sauce and go from there. Cook for another 5-7 minutes, then add the cooked noodles to the pan and stir to combine everything. Top with sesame seeds. Depending on how hot you make it, serve it with a hankie to wipe the brow! Enjoy!

Vegetable Soup

August 10, 2010 by epicureanvegan

I have been craving soup for two days now and since I’m not big on the canned variety, I finally made my own fresh batch. It was exactly what I’ve been needing. This has got me all geared up for fall soup season!

INGREDIENTS:
8 C vegetable broth (you can substitute up to 3 cups with water if you wish)
3 organic potatoes, peeled and diced
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced thin
3 celery stalks, sliced thin
1 small onion, diced
6 mushrooms, sliced thin
1/2 C white wine
1/3 C fresh parsley, chopped
2 Tbs fresh chives, chopped
1-1/2 Tbs fresh oregano, chopped
1 tsp dried tarragon
1 Tbs dried minced onion
1 Tbs garlic powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
DIRECTIONS:

In a large soup pot, bring the broth to a boil. Add the potatoes, carrots, onion and celery. Cook for about 20-25 minutes, or until the potatoes, carrots, and celery soften. Add the mushrooms, fresh herbs, tarragon, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and wine; cook another 5-8 minutes. Voila! You’re done and ready to enjoy!

Easy Cole Slaw

August 3, 2010 by epicureanvegan

We received a head of cabbage in our CSA this week, and as I stared at it, wondering what to do with it, I ended up with the obvious: cole slaw. The original recipe is from Bobby Flay and all I had to do was veganize it—pretty simple. I really like the flavors in this slaw—not too tangy, but not bland like some slaws tend to be.

INGREDIENTS:
1 head green cabbage, finely shredded ( I think a combo of red and green would be great)
2 large carrots, finely shredded
3/4 cup Vegenaise
2 tablespoons Tofutti sour cream
2 tablespoons grated Spanish onion
2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
2 tablespoons white vinegar
1 tablespoon dry mustard
2 teaspoons celery salt,
Salt and freshly ground pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Combine the shredded cabbage and carrots in a large bowl.

Whisk together the mayonnaise, sour cream, onion, sugar, vinegar, mustard, celery salt, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl.

Add to the cabbage mixture. Mix well to combine and taste for seasoning; add more salt, pepper, or sugar if desired. Enjoy!

Portobello Burgers

July 12, 2010 by epicureanvegan

This is my kind of burger! They took no time at all to prepare—you can saute or grill the portobellos and use your favorite toppings. I went with Hawaiian-style.

INGREDIENTS:
4 portobello mushrooms, cleaned and patted dry
1 avocado, smashed
4 Tbs Tofutti cream cheese
4 pineapple rings
4 burger buns
Olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS:
Coat portobellos with oil and salt and pepper. Saute in olive oil for 5-7 minutes on each side over medium heat.

Spread 1 tablespoon of cream cheese on one bun and about a 1 tablespoon of avocado on the other. Top bottom bun with a portobello and then a pineapple ring. It’s that easy! Enjoy!