Fall Lettuce Boats with Crispy Sweet Potato Noodles

If we're being honest this was inspired by the stragglers of this weeks organic co-op box. What could I possibly do with a cucumber, yellow tomato, 1/2 a head of lettuce, two small winter squash that I've never seen before, and 2 sweet potatoes? Make lettuce boats, that's what.

1 small cucumber
1 tomato
6 large leaves of lettuce/cabbage of your choice 
2 very small winter squash that I've never seen before (you can use 1 medium sized butternut squash)
2 sweet potatoes, peeled
Plant-Based mayo
1/2 teaspoon Smoked paprika
Cinnamon
Pumpkin Pie spice
Cumin
3 tablespoons maple Syrup
2 tablespoons plant-based butter
Salt
3 tablespoons olive oil

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Peel your winter squash using a vegetable peeler, then cut in half and scoop out the seeds. Dice into 1-inch cubes. Toss with maple syrup, a few dashes of cinnamon (about 1/2 a teaspoon or so), and a pinch of salt. Pour into a greased baking sheet and top it with the plant-based butter, bake until fork-tender, roughly 25-40 minutes depending on how ripe your squash is to begin with.

Using a spiralizer turn your sweet potatoes into noodles. Like so...

The noodles will shrink by 1/2

In a large bowl toss your sweet potato noodles with olive oil, a few dashes of pumpkin pie spice, a few dashes of ground cumin, and the smoked paprika. Spread the sweet potatoes out on a greased cookie sheet and pop in the oven and cook until crispy, 25-35 minutes.

Meanwhile, dice your cucumber and tomato. Spread a little mayo over each lettuce leaf, then evenly disperse the cucumber and tomato pieces. Once the squash is fork-tender divide the pieces evenly among the lettuce boats. Top with the crispy sweet potato noodles, another pinch of salt, and serve!

Zesty Roasted Asparagus

Once again this brilliant recipe comes from my friend Anna. Seriously girl, can't you open up your own restaurant already?? This dish will definitely be a side at our vegan thanksgiving this year! Oh, and Anna, even though I know you'll be spending the holiday in KY with your family, just know my family has extended the offer. Clearly the way into our hearts is with food!

1 bundle asparagus, trimmed and washed

Olive oil

1 teaspoon garlic powder, plus extra for later

Salt

Lemon, cut in half

2-3 tablespoons nutritional yeast

Preheat your oven to 425°F. 

Lightly spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray (I use a coconut oil non-stick). In a bowl drizzle some olive oil (a few teaspoons) over the asparagus, then sprinkle the garlic powder and salt to taste, and the juice from half a lemon, toss to incorporate. Lay your seasoned asparagus out on the prepared baking dish and roast in the oven for 15 minutes. If you're using pencil-thin asparagus adjust your cooking time to 8-10 minutes. 

Once the asparagus are out of the oven allow to cool slightly, then sprinkle the nutritional yeast over top, along with another pinch of garlic powder, extra lemon juice, and salt to taste. Give the asparagus a good toss so the seasoning is well distributed, arrange on a dish and serve.

The Ultimate Chipless Nacho Platter

Let me start out by saying these nachos are freaking awesome. Seriously seriously good. Add this to your football Sunday menu (it is football season, isn't it?), your man will love you for it.

Ingredient List Breakdown: I know this seems daunting, but everything can be done while the potatoes are roasting so it's really nothing to fret about!

Potato wedges:
2 medium Russet (baking) potatoes, sliced into wedges- I used about 6 small potatoes from my weekly co-op box
Olive oil
Smoked paprika
Salt and pepper

Black Beans:
1 can black beans (make sure to get BPA-free lining!)
2 shallots, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 bay leaves

Walnut Taco Meat:
1/2 cup raw walnuts
2 teaspoons canola oil
1-2 tablespoons taco seasoning

Cheeze Sauce: This sauce makes 1 1/2 cups, but you can freeze it and defrost it when you're craving some mac n' cheese
1 tablespoon plant-based butter
2 tablespoons flour (chickpea flour if you're GF)
1 1/2 cups plant-based milk (coconut, soy, almond- non flavored)
3/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 scant tablespoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
Pinch of tumeric
 
Sour Cream (aka Cashew Cream):
1/4 cup raw cashews, soaked for one hour
1/4-1/2 cup water
Juice from half a lemon
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar 

3-minute Guacamole:
1 ripe avocado
1/2 tomato, diced
1 shallot, diced
Juice from a small lime
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 jalepano, diced finely 


Preheat your oven to 425°F.

Make the potatoes: Take your potato wedges and toss them in a drizzle of olive oil, some salt and a heafty pinch of smoked paprika. Spray a baking sheet with non stick spray and roast your potatoes for fifteen minutes, then flip them and pop back in the oven for another fifteen.

Make the beans: While your potatoes are roasting start making your black beans. Rinse and drain a can of black beans. In a saute pan heat some olive oil, then over medium heat toss in your shallots and garlic, saute until they start to brown, then toss in your beans, cumin and bay leaves. Add enough water to cover the beans, another teaspoon of olive oil, and a pinch of salt, and simmer until the water cooks- about 10-15 minutes. Remember to take the bay leaves out before assembling the nacho platter.

Make the walnut meat: Coarsely chop your raw walnuts, then in small pan heat the canola oil and toss in the chopped walnuts and taco seasoning, stir until the walnuts are well coated and saute over medium-low for 4-5 minutes. Set aside in a bowl and rinse out your pan, as you'll be using it to make the cheese sauce in the next step.

Make the Cheeze Sauce: Melt the plant-based butter over medium heat in the pan you just rinsed, once melted whisk in the flour and allow to cook for about a minute while whisking so the 'floury' taste comes out. Add in your plant-based milk, yeast, mustard, garlic and onion powders, paprika, and tumeric, whisk until the sauce thickens, then pour into a freezable container, as you'll have plenty extra.

Make the Sour Cream: In a blender add the drained raw cashews, water, lemon juice, and apple cider vinegar. You want them consitency to be like sour cream, so add more water as needed. Blend until smooth.

Make the Guac: In a bowl add in the tomatoes, shallots, diced jalapenos, cumin, lemon juice. Dice up the avocado and add it to the bowl, mashing the ingredients together with a fork.

Assemble!
Lay your potato wedges on a large platter, like so:

Sprinkle the beans over top:

Add the walnut meat:

Next layer on that homemade guac:

Lastly, drizzle the cheeze sauce and sour cream over top and serve!

Sangria Saturday

This is a quick fridge sangria, nothing fancy but seriously good. I paired this drink with the Ultimate Chipless Nacho Platter and it was a success!

Sorry for the poor quality, remembered to snag a picture of the last glass!

1 bottle of red wine (1.5 liters)
1 1/2 cups fresh squeezed orange juice- I was lucky enough to find some fresh from the market today!
1/3 cup brandy
3 tablespoons sugar or agave (optional)
2 peaches or nectarines, cut into cubes
1 lemon, sliced
1 pear, cut into cubes
1 apple, cut into cubes
3 cups seltzer, chilled

Pour your wine, orange juice, brandy, and optional sugar into a pitcher and stir to incorporate. Add in your cubed fruit and lemon slices, then place in the fridge for a few hours- ideally overnight. I only had time to leave it in the fridge for 1 1/2 hours and it was still great, but I know the longer it sits the better. Before serving pour the chilled seltzer into the pitcher and give it a good stir. Enjoy!

Roasted Asparagus Soup

The other day our organic co-op delivered us an enormous amount of fresh asparagus. I was at a loss, what could I possibly do with so many? I did a bit of research and asparagus soup seemed to be the way to go. It sounded sort of strange to me, a soup made out of asparagus...? But I rolled with it and oh my it was delicious! It took 30 minutes from start to finish and was beyond good. I mean, this will seriously be a repeat meal in my kitchen.

2 lbs asparagus, ends trimmed
1/2 small onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
4 heaping tablespoons raw cashews
3 tablespoons nutrional yeast
Lemon juice to taste, I used the juice from half a lemon
Lemon peel, grated- don't skip this! It truly completes the soup.

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Place the asparagus on a sprayed cookie sheet, then lightly mist the asparagus with spray (I use coconut oil spray, but olive oil spray or pam will work). Roast for 10 minutes, then flip the asparagus and top with the diced onion and minced garlic. Roast for another 10 minutes. If you have thin asparagus start with 6 minutes, then add the onions and garlic and roast for another 5.

While the asparagus is roasting blend together the cashews and white pepper with 1/2 cup of the vegetable broth- leave in the blender. When the asparagus are done reserve a few heads for garnish. Add the remaining asparagus, onion, garlic, and broth to the blender (you may need to do this in batches), and blend until completely smooth. Pour soup into a stock pot over medium-low heat and stir in the nutritional yeast. Once the soup is hot stir in the lemon juice, then pour it into bowls and grate the lemon peel over top and add the reserved asparagus heads for garnish. Serve.

Recipe adapted from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen

Mediterranean Polenta Fries with Roasted Tomato Dipping Sauce

I'm a huge fan on polenta but instead of going the traditional route I decided to switch things up a bit, these little guys are crispy on the outside and soft on the inside.

2 cups organic polenta corn grits (I really like Bob's Red Mill brand)
2 1/4 cups water
4 tablespoons nutrional yeast
4 tablespoons capers, minced finely
Bundle of basil, minced finely
2 large tomatoes, cut into quarters
1 shallot, diced
3 garlic cloves, smashed with the back of a knife
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper

Preheat your oven to 375°F, preferably on the convection setting if you have one.  Bring your water to a boil, then remove from heat and stir in polenta, nutritional yeast, capers, and basil. Line a glass baking dish with wax paper, then pour the polenta into the prepared baking dish and pop it in the fridge to set.

Lightly oil a baking dish and toss in your tomatoes, shallot, and garlic, then pop them in the oven for 15-20 minutes.  Once your polenta has set, it will be firm to the touch, take it out of the fridge and cut it into 3-inch long by 1-inch wide strips. Spray a cookie sheet with non stick cooking spray, then place the polenta strips on the sheet and give them a light mist of the cooking spray (I use coconut oil spray rather than Pam, but whatever you have will work). Bake them in the oven for 5-8 minutes, just long enough to crisp on the outside without drying out the inside. Once your tomato mixture is out of the oven poor it, along with the juice, into a food processor and pulse, drizzling in olive oil, until desired consistency. Stir in salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm along side the polenta fries.

Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese

Oh My God. This is incredible!!  Hands down one of my favorate mac and cheeses thus far. It is so creamy, rich, cheesy, and filling. And honestly you can't even tell there is squash in this. Feed this to your children! They won't even notice the hidden squash. You can thank me later ;)

1 small butternut squash, peeled and chopped into small cubes
Olive oil
1 tablespoon plant-based butter
3/4 cup unsweetened, unflavored almond milk
1 tablespoon cornstarch
6 tablespoons nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper to taste
8 oz box of (brown rice) macaroni or other small-shaped noodles
Mix-ins of your choice: I added in a handful of raw red kale pieces and some pine nuts which were such great additions. You can also add in some steamed broccoli, pumpkin seeds, peas, etc)

Preheat your oven to 425°F (if you have a convection setting it'll cut the time in half). Toss the squash cubes into a tiny bit of olive oil, then bake in the oven for 40 minutes or until fork-tender. Remove from heat and all to cool. You will only need 1 cup of the squash, if you have extra then save it- it would be a great mix-in at the end.

Cook your pasta according to package directions. While you pasta is cooking make the cheese sauce. In a small sauce pan over medium low heat melt your plant-based butter. In a small bowl whisk together the remaining ingredients: milk, cornstarch, yeast, mustard, spices, lemon- until clump free. Then pour into the butter and whisk over low heat until it starts to thicken, about 4 minutes. In a blender blend together 1 cup of the squash and the cheese sauce, then return to the stove to reheat. Pour over your pasta and stir to coat, add in your mix-ins (I used the kale and pine nuts but I wish I had some extra squash to toss in as well), then serve.

Makes four small portions, recipe from Oh She Glows