Vegan and nearly vegan recipes I've either found and tested, or created myself. If the recipe isn't mine, I will do my best to credit the creator.
I just made my first green smoothie/juice
I’ve been making juices for a while, with carrots, oranges, ginger, and sometimes mangoes and celery, but I did something different this time. I don’t have time or money to make juice every day, so I usually make a few days worth of juice at a time whenever I can make it, and keep it in the fridge.
I juiced just under a pound of organic carrots, 2 apples, and a couple inches of fresh ginger. Then added it to a blender with a few giant handfuls of kale and a couple handfuls of spinach. My blender isn’t super powerful, and actually broke during the making of this juice, but it still turned out super well.
Today’s super quick “I’m so busy I can’t stop doing things long enough to eat lunch much less make it oh my gosh” lunch
This is a super quick, healthy, and filling snack or lunch that takes about 45 seconds to make and one hand to eat. Today I’m packing, cleaning, and cooking massive amounts of other things, so I didn’t have time to make a fancy lunch, but I also needed some good, healthy fuel to keep me going.
Ingredients:
A tortilla
You favorite hummus. A few giant, giant spoonfulls of it.
A carrot
Some corn (canned, roasted, raw, whatever you have)
Spread hummus over the entire tortilla (I used one with lots of spinach, red peppers, and garlic).
Shred the carrot right over the tortilla. Dishes use too many hands, too much space, and too much time. Spread the carrot around a little so it also covers the whole tortilla.
Toss some corn over the whole thing.
Roll it up.
Eat with one hand while getting things done with the other hand.
Bacon Biscuits
This recipe is based off of a different but equally delicious biscuit recipe in the book How it All Vegan (which I highly recommend to everyone. It’s full of easy, short recipes and they all taste incredible to vegans and omnis alike).
They are delicious little biscuits and are great served with vegan butter or olive oil for lunch or dinner, and maple syrup for breakfast.
The recipe makes between 6 and 8 filling biscuits.
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Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 salt-free all purpose seasoning
1/2 teaspoon adobo (a hispanic seasoning I use in cooking quite often. It should be easy to find in most supermarkets, but if you can’t just add a little more salt and all-purpose seasoning)
1/4 ground black pepper
2 tbs vegetable oil
1 cup sour milk (non dairy milk + 1 tsp vinegar)
2 slices of vegan bacon (cooked until crispy and cut into small pieces)
Preheat the oven to 450.
In a medium bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Gently mix in the wet ingredients (and bacon).
Spoon into lightly oiled muffin tins (fill them about 3/4).
Bake 12 - 15 minutes, serve warm.
Potato, Carrot, and Bacon Soup
This soup is creamy, filling, and full of flavor. It’s pretty simple to make as well. As with most of my recipes, the measurements are approximate in that it is ok to add more or less of most ingredients to meet your preferences and taste.
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Ingredients:
- Half of a small onion, chopped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4 or 5 slices of vegan bacon (I used Upton’s Naturals Seitan Bacon), cut into small pieces
- 5 medium/small potatoes (use your favorite baking or cooking potatoes) partially peeled and chopped into large chunks
- 5 medium organic carrots, cleaned and chopped into large chunks
- 5 to 6 cups of veggie stock/water (I keep homemade veggie stock in my freezer for this sort of thing)
- 2 bay leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon of any salt-free all purpose seasoning
- 2 tablespoons of flour
- salt and pepper to taste
Saute the onion and 2 slices of bacon in a large pot.
When the onions start to become clear and the bacon is getting crispy, add the veggie stock/water (I usually use a half and half mix of the two). Bring to a boil and add carrots and potatoes. Add the bay leaves. Cover and simmer until the veggies are soft.
Spoon about 3/4 of the veggies and half of the stock into a blender. Be sure not to get the bay leaves into the blender. Blend until smooth, and add back to the pot.
In a small bowl, whisk together a few spoonfuls of the soup with flour. Return to the pot and stir well.
Meanwhile, cook the rest of the bacon in a small skillet until crispy.
Serve the soup and garnish with the rest of the bacon.
Makes about 4-6 big servings.
Bacon
One of my favorite vegan meat imitations across the board is bacon. For some reason, vegan bacon just tastes better and cooks better than the vast majority of other vegan meat substitutes. Also, though real bacon is so awful for you healthwise, vegan bacons (particularly minimally processed seitan bacons) aren’t. So it’s ok to cook some up for breakfast and not feel too bad about it afterwards.
I’ve been experimenting a little this week with vegan bacon, particularly Upton’s Naturals Seitan Bacon (though there are a ton of brands and types out there that will work just as well, I definitely prefer seitan bacon). The next few recipes are the results of those experiments, and I promise that they are delicious.
Stay tuned.
Baked Spicy Sweet Potato Tots with Chipotle Aioli
These sweet potato tots are baked instead of fried, and filled with tons of Vitamin A; pair it with a chipotle sun-dried tomato aioli and you’ve got a winning combination!Get the recipe at Vegan Yack Attack!
Definitely giving these a shot.
Seitan?
A lot of fake meats out there are heavily processed, contain a TON of ingredients, and are soy based (which in small doses is fine, but large amounts of soy are dangerous. Plus, most of these fake meats are still mushy and have a strange “off” taste to them.
Seitan is none of those things. Often with just a few ingredients, most of which being natural seasonings, seitan is healthy, simple, and has none of that slimy texture or taste. In fact, if you were to eat a big piece of it, you’d need a knife. A steak knife.
Seitan is made from wheat protein in a very simple process of kneading water and wheat gluten until it gets a meaty texture.
Lately, I’ve become a bit seitan obsessed. I’ve tried a few different kinds, and so far my favorite is Upton’s Naturals’ traditional seitan, made in Chicago. All of Upton’s products are delicious, but the traditional is the only one that comes in chunks, which are perfect for making my favorite meal of the month - fried sweet and sour seitan.
I create a batter with water and flour mixed in a small bowl until just thin enough to evenly coat the pieces of seitan, and then add a teaspoon or so of baking powder, a pinch of salt and sugar, and a dash of ginger.
I dredge the seitan pieces in flour, then coat them in the batter and fry until just golden.
My version of sweet and sour sauce involves mixing a couple chunks of fresh ginger, about 1/4 each of vegan sweet and sour and bbq sauces, a half cup of water, a clove of minced garlic, and a dash of paprika. I simmer until reduced.
12. Harvard says so. I’m being cheeky here, but Harvard’s new “Healthy Eating Plate” food guide has pushed dairy off the plate, based on Harvard’s assessment that high intake can increase the risk of prostate cancer and possibly ovarian cancer, and also suggesting that foods like collards, bok choy, and baked beans are safer choices than dairy for obtaining calcium.
11. Cancer Prevention. Prostate, breast, and ovarian cancers have been linked to dairy consumption. And, if you’ve read The China Study, you’re aware of the link between casein (the main protein in milk) and cancer. Think about how often children are pushed to eat milk, yogurt, and cheese. Childhood diets rich in dairy products are associated with cancer in adulthood. For more, watch this video from Dr. Colin Campbell.
10. Cheese is addictive. That’s why it’s so darn hard to stop eating the stuff. But, as you’ll learn in Julieanna’s brief video (and through this list), it’s best to kick the cheese (and dairy) habit.
9. Osteoporosis. Seems counterintuitive. We’re supposed to drink milk to protect against osteoporosis, right? So why do the countries that guzzle the most dairy have the highest osteoporosis rates? We now know that it’s not just calcium intake, but absorption and loss. When we eat diets high in animal protein (milk included), our bodies become acidic and calcium is drawn from our bones to neutralize that acidic environment - cheese is particularly acidic. Ditch the dairy (and the meat) to help maintain a more alkaline state in your body.
8. Plant-Based Calcium. Speaking of calcium sources and absorption, did you know that kale contains more calcium per calorie than milk (90 grams per serving) and is also better absorbed by the body than dairy? And that’s just ONE plant food you can eat. Other plant-foods boosting calcium include: beans, nuts like almonds and seeds like sesame, broccoli, collards, whole-grains, and tofu. (And if you think eating leafy greens is hard, start making green smoothies. It will change your leafy green intake forever!)
7. Heart Disease. All that cheese and milk (and other dairy products) pack a wallop of cholesterol and saturated fat to one’s diet. A low-fat plant-based diet has been shown not only to prevent heart disease, but also reverse it. And, before you think low-fat dairy is okay, it has been linked not only to increases in allergies, but also type 1 (childhood-onset) diabetes.
6. Constipation. Milk and cheese have no fiber. (Neither does meat.) Dairy is constipating for children. Our children have never been constipated, yet I have heard parents talk about poo problems over and over. And, grownups, if the kiddos get constipated from dairy, you will too (maybe you are right now). There’s no need for laxatives. Eat a plant-based diet (rich in whole foods), and you’ll poop easy. There, I said it.
5. It stinks. Okay, there is nothing scientifically or even ethically sound about this argument. But, have you ever just smelled milk? Put aside the fact that you’ve been drinking it since your wee years. Take a glass and smell it. It has a stink. You can say what you want about non-dairy milks, but if you had been drinking rice milk your whole life and then took up a glass of cow milk, it would be putrid to you. And, that’s before it goes sour.
4. Antibiotics and hormones. The mass production of milk requires cows being stressed to unnatural levels. This stress results in mastitis in the cows, which requires antibiotics, which make their way into the milk in our markets. As well, synthetic hormones such as recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) are commonly used in dairy cows to increase the production of milk. Do you want to drink growth hormones and antibiotics? Do you want your children to? You may bypass this one point by choosing organic milk products - but that’s just one issue here.
3. Animal cruelty. Dairy production might be the most offensive and heinous of all animal farming. Baby calves are pulled from their mothers at birth. Mother cows will bellow and search after being separated from their young. While female calves are slaughtered or kept alive to produce milk, male calves are taken, chained in tiny stalls and raised for veal. And, since is unprofitable to keep dairy cows alive once their milk production declines, they are usually killed at 5 to 6 years of age (though their normal life span exceeds 20).
2. Lactose Intolerance. I would guess that if any of us were tested, we would be deemed ‘lactose intolerant’. It is estimated that about 75 percent of the world’s population are ‘lactose intolerant’, and those that aren’t (primarily Caucasians) tolerate milk sugar because of an inherited genetic mutation. That’s because the milk is meant for cows, not people…
1. It’s COW’s milk. Why are we all drinking milk from a cow when we wouldn’t drink the milk from our lactating dog or cat… or milk from a horse or pig?! Would you go out into a field and suckle from a cow?! Probably not! Think about that connection. Just think about it.
(Source: shut-in-at-a-stand-still)
Facts you just can’t ignore!!
If you consider yourself a critical thinker and are an advocate of reason, logic, health, the environment, and /or ethics in general, here are 64 of the most important and interesting facts you may ever hear and cannot ignore:
*The Hunger Argument
-Number of people worldwide who will die as a result of malnutrition this year: 20 million
-Number of people who could be adequately fed using land freed if Americans reduced their intake of meat by 10%: 100 million
-Percentage of corn grown in the U.S. eaten by people: 20
-Percentage of corn grown in the U.S. eaten by livestock: 80
-Percentage of oats grown in the U.S. eaten by livestock: 95
-Percentage of protein wasted by cycling grain through livestock: 90
-How frequently a child dies as a result of malnutrition: every 2.3 seconds
-Pounds of potatoes that can be grown on an acre: 40,000
-Pounds of beef produced on an acre: 250
-Percentage of U.S. farmland devoted to beef production: 56
-Pounds of grain and soybeans needed to produce a pound of edible flesh from feedlot beef: 16
*The Environmental Argument
-Cause of global warming: greenhouse effect
-Primary cause of greenhouse effect: carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels
-Fossil fuels needed to produce meat-centered diet vs. a meat-free diet: 3 times more
-Percentage of U.S. topsoil lost to date: 75
-Percentage of U.S. topsoil loss directly related to livestock raising: 85
-Number of acres of U.S. forest cleared for cropland to produce meat-centered diet: 260 million
-Amount of meat imported to U.S. annually from Central and South America: 300,000,000 pounds
-Percentage of Central American children under the age of five who are undernourished: 75
-Area of tropical rainforest consumed in every quarter-pound of rainforest beef: 55 square feet
-Current rate of species extinction due to destruction of tropical rainforests for meat grazing and other uses: 1,000 per year
*The Cancer Argument
-Increased risk of breast cancer for women who eat meat daily compared to less than once a week: 3.8 times
-For women who eat eggs daily compared to once a week: 2.8 times
-For women who eat butter and cheese 2-4 times a week: 3.25 times
-Increased risk of fatal ovarian cancer for women who eat eggs 3 or more times a week vs. less than once a week: 3 times
-Increased risk of fatal prostate cancer for men who consume meat, cheese, eggs and milk daily vs. sparingly or not at all: 3.6 times
*The Cholesterol Argument
-Number of U.S. medical schools: 125
-Number requiring a course in nutrition: 30
-Nutrition training received by average U.S. physician during four years in medical school: 2.5 hours
-Most common cause of death in the U.S.: heart attack
-How frequently a heart attack kills in the U.S.: every 45 seconds
-Average U.S. man’s risk of death from heart attack: 50 percent
-Risk of average U.S. man who eats no meat: 15 percent
-Risk of average U.S. man who eats no meat, dairy or eggs: 4 percent
-Amount you reduce risk of heart attack if you reduce consumption of meat, dairy and eggs by 10 percent: 9 percent
-Amount you reduce risk of heart attack if you reduce consumption by 50 percent: 45 percent
-Amount you reduce risk if you eliminate meat, dairy and eggs from your diet: 90 percent
-Average cholesterol level of people eating meat-centered-diet: 210 mg/dl
-Chance of dying from heart disease if you are male and your blood cholesterol level is 210 mg/dl: greater than 50 percent
*The Natural Resources Argument
-User of more than half of all water used for all purposes in the U.S.: livestock production
-Amount of water used in production of the average cow: sufficient to float a destroyer
-Gallons of water needed to produce a pound of wheat: 25
-Gallons of water needed to produce a pound of California beef: 5,000
-Years the world’s known oil reserves would last if every human ate a meat-centered diet: 13
-Years they would last if human beings no longer ate meat: 260
-Calories of fossil fuel expended to get 1 calorie of protein from beef: 78
-To get 1 calorie of protein from soybeans: 2
-Percentage of all raw materials (base products of farming, forestry and mining, including fossil fuels) consumed by U.S. that is devoted to the production of livestock: 33
-Percentage of all raw materials consumed by the U.S. needed to produce a complete vegetarian diet: 2
*The Antibiotic Argument
-Percentage of U.S. antibiotics fed to livestock: 55
-Percentage of staphylococci infections resistant to penicillin in 1960: 13
-Percentage resistant in 1988: 91
-Response of European Economic Community to routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock: ban
-Response of U.S. meat and pharmaceutical industries to routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock: full and complete support
*The Pesticide Argument
-Common belief: U.S. Department of Agriculture protects our health through meat inspection
-Reality: fewer than 1 out of every 250,000 slaughtered animals is tested for toxic chemical residues
-Percentage of U.S. mother’s milk containing significant levels of DDT: 99
-Percentage of U.S. vegetarian mother’s milk containing significant levels of DDT: 8
-Contamination of breast milk, due to chlorinated hydrocarbon pesticides in animal products, found in meat-eating mothers vs. non-meat eating mothers: 35 times higher
-Amount of Dieldrin ingested by the average breast-fed -American infant: 9 times the permissible level
*The Ethical Argument
-Number of animals killed for meat per hour in the U.S.: 660,000
-Occupation with highest turnover rate in U.S.: slaughterhouse worker
-Occupation with highest rate of on-the-job-injury in U.S.: slaughterhouse worker
*The Survival Argument
-Athlete to win Ironman Triathlon more than twice: Dave Scott (6 time winner) (vegan)Source: http://www.vegsource.com/
