Spicy Soba Salad and a Favorite Taco Salad

Love soba noodles so I knew I wanted to try this recipe from One-Dish Vegan. 

 Edamame, cucumbers, and green onions.

 This has a spicy, sweet dressing made with tamari (Bragg's), rice vinegar, sweet Asian chili sauce, sriracha, and agave. I left out the sesame oil and sesame seeds because of my allergies. I replaced the sesame oil with a little flax oil (it's only used to toss the soba noodles in after cooking.) 

I wanted to serve this for supper so I cooked up some Gardein Chik'n Scallopini and sliced it over the top of the salad. Yum! This tastes even better the next day after it has chilled. 

~ Spicy Soba Salad with Edamame and Cucumber ~

I was craving this old stand-by taco salad we always used to eat which had hamburger and cheese in it so I just made a vegan version. 

I sauteed a bag of veggie crumbles with a little oil and some taco seasoning. That gets tossed with a head of chopped iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, green onions, sliced black olives, a can of kidney beans, and some Daiya cheddar shreds. 

Then, you crumble about a half a big bag of original Doritos corn tortilla chips and mix it in and top that with some good old Catalina dressing. Toss everything together and dig in. I even like it the next day after everything gets a little bit soggy. 

~ Catalina Taco Salad ~ 

Three Quick & Easy Meals

Whew! I finally had my sinus surgery after dealing with this for seven months this time. My last surgery was 15 years ago so hopefully this will last for another 15! Recovery is not a breeze but it will be worth it in the long run. Cooking is the last thing I want to do but I'm slowly getting back into it. In the meantime, I just keep ordering cookbooks! heehee. I got Vegan Casseroles by Julie Hasson; OATrageous Oatmeals by Kathy Hester; Super Seeds by Kim Lutz; Thug Kitchen(!) and The Mystic Cookbook-the secret alchemy of food by Denise & Meadow Linn. The last has a few recipes (not all vegan) but more of our spiritual connection to food. It's dangerous when you're lying around recuperating with an ipad in your hands!  I'm still browsing through them making lists of what I want to cook first. Here are three fairly simple and quick meals to fill the belly without resorting to crappy fast food. 

~ Fast & Fresh Tomato Sauce ~

La Dolce Vegan

Such an easy pasta sauce using fresh tomatoes and a few spices. 

I love Beyond Meat Chicken-Free Strips. I found this recipe for Chicken-Free Salad Sandwiches in Everyday Vegan Eats.  It tastes just like I remember chicken salad should taste. 

~Chicken-Free Salad on Pita Bread ~

The hubby really liked this chicken-free salad. 

Ok, now I'm almost embarrassed to add this one. When I found out about earth balance mac & cheese I ordered some from Vegan Essentials; I got the regular and the white cheddar. This is an old standby from when my kids were little using the traditional nitrite hot dogs and kraft mac & cheese . But this version is guilt-free! And so simple it's ridiculous. Make your mac & cheese per box instructions; heat up 3 or 4 veggie hot dogs in microwave and cut in coins; mix all together and eat! 

~Guilt-Free Mac & Cheese with Veggie Dogs ~

I served my "gourmet" mac & cheese with some Dry-Sauteed Green Beans. I love these things! They taste just like the ones at P.F. Chang's. Here is the link to the recipe. 

Homemade Chick'n Salad

Where did this week go?! I signed up for Vegan MoFo 2014 starting in September. It seems like I just finished doing that! 

I found this recipe for some chick'n salad at FettleVegan.com. I used Beyond Meat Grilled Chicken-Free Strips. The texture of the chick'n really holds up in a salad. It doesn't break down and get all mushy. 

~cubed chick'n, celery, onion, almonds and parsley~

 The dressing recipe calls for way too much salt-2 teaspoons! I foolishly added the 2 tsp. and found out the hard way. I had some sweet pickle relish, so I added about 1/4 cup to the mix. That fixed the saltiness and was a great addition. I think I'll add the relish from now on. 

I toasted some Veganic Lentil Grain bread for my chick'n salad. This is the second time I've tried this bread; still not too sure about it. It kind of has a rubbery texture unless it's toasted. I still like Ezekiel bread better. 

 ~Chick'n Salad Sandwich with romaine~

The rest of the week I made some favorites:

~ Pasta with 5 Minute Roasted Red Pepper Pesto ~
La Dolce Vegan

I added some mixed veggies in this time. 

~ Light and Fluffy Pancakes ~
Give Them Something Better

There is a recipe for making up a mix which uses powdered soymilk. Great to have on hand. I needed to restock the freezer with pancakes! 

~ Cherry Almond Cookies ~
Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar


~ Lentil and Chard Ragout ~
Crazy Sexy Kitchen

Bar-B-Q Chicken Sandwich and Coleslaw

Two more delicious recipes from Give Them Something Better. I love BBQ sandwiches and coleslaw and when I attend a big event it always seems to be the usual fare along with pinto beans so I'm left with nothing to eat.  Now I can enjoy this meat-free version anytime! 

The pre-soaked soy curls along with onion and green bell pepper. 

This recipe makes a very tasty BBQ sauce for the soy curls without all the additives in a store-bought bottle. 

The coleslaw is very easy to make. After shredding the cabbage in the food processor you add carrot, vegan mayonnaise, lemon juice, green onion, sugar and salt. Yum! It tastes just like my grandma used to make. The hubby really, really liked this meal. It's a keeper. 

Chik-Style Salad

I've been wanting to try this recipe using my Butler Soy Curls.  It is absolutely delicious! I crave chicken salad every once in awhile and this satisfies that craving. You can find the recipe here. 

The usual ingredients in a chicken salad-sweet relish, Vegenaise, garlic powder, celery, onion. It also has some Butler Chik-Style Seasoning to give it extra flavor. 

Chik-Style Salad with romaine on whole grain bread. 

The hubby really likes it!

Roasted Asparagus & Quinoa Salad

Vegcookbookclub February:

This month we're cooking out of Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's cookbooks. Since February is almost over I thought I better get some posting done! These two recipes are from The Vegan Table. 

~ Pan-Fried (or Roasted) Asparagus with Lime Juice ~

The recipe gives you the option to roast the asparagus instead of pan-fried. Much tastier roasted! Lots of crispy bits of garlic and shallots and a squeeze of lime juice instead of the usual lemon. I've got some more asparagus in the fridge; I think I'll have to make this one again tonight!

~ Toasted Quinoa with Raisins and Slivered Almonds ~

My first clue that this makes alot is the 2 cups raw quinoa. Duh! But I went ahead and followed the recipe and had lots and lots of quinoa salad. Thankfully, it was very tasty but I ended up throwing some of it away and I hate doing that. I like the addition of the raisins to give it a little sweetness. 

"Tuna" Salad & Greens

Vegcookbookclub January 2014

The Happy Herbivore: "Tuna" Salad ~

I've made chickpea salads before that I love but this one really has the consistency, taste and texture of tuna "tuna" salad.  I used a pastry blender to mash up the chickpeas; it works really well. Instead of chopping the celery you shred it and then combine sweet pickle relish, kelp powder and a few other seasonings. I served it over a bed of arugula and spinach with chopped red onion, cherry tomatoes and yellow sliced mini peppers. I ate the leftovers in warmed corn tortillas with shredded spinach. 

Everyday Happy Herbivore:  Rainbow Greens ~

The recipe calls for rainbow chard but this time I used red chard. So easy, yet a delicious way to eat your greens. I saute' the chard stems with the garlic to soften them up a little. The combination of the  apple cider vinegar and the raisins helps to balance the bitterness of the greens. 

Autumn Equinox and Quinoa Salad

Aww-I missed posting yesterday. I was enjoying the first day of autumn! We were invited to a neighborhood potluck and it was such a nice, cool evening last night. It was still 80 degrees but better than 108! 

I just got The China Study Cookbook in the mail so I thought I would try a salad out of it to take to the potluck. I always like a good quinoa salad. 

Lemon Tahini Quinoa Salad

A nice, bright salad but it was a little bland tasting. I'm glad I had this to eat at the potluck because that was literally all I had to choose from other than some cooked pasta noodles with Italian dressing on them. Next time I'm going to bring a hot casserole dish with a little more substance. This salad tasted better the next day over some baby spinach and a little salad dressing.

Couscous and Veggie Medley~pg. 225

VegCookbookClub February recipes from Color Me Vegan by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau

RAINBOW

Great tasting salad and easy to make. Just takes some advance prep because the salad needs to chill for several hours. Love the Indian flavors in this-cinnamon, ginger, cumin, turmeric along with the sweet and tart additions of raisins and Granny Smith apple. Yum!

Asian Noodles with Black Vinaigrette

VegCookbookClub January 2013 recipes from Kris Carr-Crazy Sexy Kitchen:

Now that the month is half over I'm finally sitting down to post. I did have trouble downloading my pics  so I had to get that figured out. New Year's goals:  I've been loving going to the gym and getting in shape on the Pilates reformer. Trying to get my back in shape after August's back surgery and drop those pesky pounds from laying around doing nothing while recuperating. I've also been stopping by the juice bar near the gym and getting a wheatgrass shot and a green juice 3 or 4 times a week! That wheatgrass is addictive. Since I do have a juicer (Jack LaLanne but I really want a Breville). I guess I need to try and make my own green juice. So I went to Sprouts Market today and stocked up on some organic veggies and green apples. We'll see how that turns out in the morning! 

 Asian Noodles (pg. 174) with Black Vinaigrette (pg. 226)

I love buckwheat soba noodles. The only ones I can find at the store though have egg whites in them. So I stock up on them online from Eden Organics. I substituted green cabbage for the Napa cabbage and used alfalfa instead of the other sprouts it called for. The Black Vinaigrette/Basic Asian Marinade is awesome! I used plenty of fresh ginger and garlic. Yum! I used the leftovers as a wonderful salad dressing. 

I cooked up some Gardein Chick'n Scallopini, sliced it and served it over the top of the salad. Of course mine was garnished with some hot Sambal Oelek chili paste. Wow, my mouth is drooling just writing about this salad; it's been 3 weeks since I've made it. I think I need to try this one again. :)

Red Quinoa Pilaf with Kale and Corn

VegCookbookClub December recipes from Nava Atlas-Vegan Holiday Kitchen:

 

Quinoa and kale-two of my favorite power foods! I've never tried red quinoa before and also cooking it in the vegetable broth gave it lots of good flavor. This pilaf tastes delicious warm or cold.

 

 

I served the pilaf with a cucumber, red onion and tomato salad tossed in Amy's Tuscany Italian dressing.

 

Kale Salad with Maple-Mustard Dressing

VegCookbookClub November recipes from Forks Over Knives The Cookbook:

 

I'm finally making my first recipe from this month's cookbook. I've been trying to clean out my fridge, freezer and pantry and use what I have; still working on it. :) I'm always looking for new ways to use kale so I thought I would try this salad recipe. It makes a Big salad-I had to dump it in a larger bowl to get it mixed up.

 

 

I added a little more lemon juice to mine. The acidity helps cut the bitterness of the kale. This will taste better the next day after the flavors marinate and the kale softens up a little. Still not my favorite kale salad; my favorite is Massaged Kale Salad. I probably make that one once a month. But I will make this again and add more lemon juice and maybe some apple cider vinegar. I served the kale salad with some Vegan 'Sausage' Hash.

 

Easy Peasy Pasta Salad

VegCookbookClub recipe from Chloe's Kitchen:

 

Easy and yummy! My only complaint is that all of her recipes make so many servings that my hubby and I have leftovers for 2 or 3 days. At least he doesn't mind eating them. Chloe suggests using wagon wheel pasta but do you think I could find that kind? My grocery store had every conceivable pasta shape imaginable except wagon wheel; so I used shells. In fact, they worked out really well. My hubby asked me if the pasta came with the peas inside-hee hee! Next time I might try using edamame instead of the peas to give it some extra texture and protein.

 

Easy Peasy Pasta Salad with Garlicky Greens and steamed broccoli

Red Bean Coleslaw~pg. 84:Creamy Coleslaw Dressing~pg. 93

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Another hit by Wolffie! A delicious alternative to the plain old coleslaw.

Served my coleslaw with chick'n nuggets, waffle fries and sauteed spinach with sweet mini peppers.

Creamy Tropical Fruit Salad~pg. 86

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Now this was much better than the so-so potatoes! But it's a recipe from the infamous "Wolffie". Poor woman (I guess it's a woman) she should have made her own cookbook and reaped some of the profit. Great salad to take to a potluck. I did make the following substitutions~only used red grapes; left out the bananas (allergic to raw bananas); added 3 kiwis instead of 1; added 1/2 C. shredded coconut; and left out the vegan marshmallows (wasn't going to tackle making them or driving for 1 1/2 hours to buy them!) Hubby gives this one two thumbs up. :) And I'm so proud of myself; I used organic apples, grapes and strawberries. Hey, every little bit helps.

Spanish/Greek Fusion

I had some Herbed Feta from the Spinach Spanakopita I made so I thought I would try the Classic Greek Salad recipe from the same article. (VegNews May/June 2012)

This huge salad only required 3 Tbsp. of olive oil, a little lemon juice and some oregano, salt and pepper. Bright, fresh flavors and the Herbed Feta was wonderful in it.

Along with the Greek Salad I made Spanish Squash Saute' from Color Me Vegan by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. I was looking for a recipe to use the organic zucchini and yellow squash I had bought at Sprouts and this sounded good. There are so many ways you could serve this: side dish, on top of baked potatoes, with some scrambled tofu, in a tortilla... The seasonings are just a little chili powder, cumin and salt.

We even had guests to share this meal with. I invited my mom and dad over and I served these with baked potatoes (Earth Balance margarine, vegan sour cream & chives, Daiya cheddar shreds), and garlic/nutritional yeast bread with Peach Crumbcake for dessert! I'll have to say they did bring their own omnivore protein but, hey, the majority of the meal was vegan! That was the first time I cooked a vegan meal for anyone other than my wonderful husband. I need to do that more often; have guests over and cook them a vegan meal!