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Vegan Mofo Wraps Up!

Wow, what fun and what a challenge. I was and continue to be truly inspired by all of the amazing individuals out there in the vegan community. Thank you to Kittee for allowing us to participate! And for doing an amazing job of organizing all of the participating blogs into one single reader. You are the bomb!

And thanks to everyone who checked us out during this month. We really appreciate all of the positive feedback. 

I can see now I'm going to be busy trying out new recipes and expanding my vegan menu.

And finally, thank you to Melinda for allowing me to guest post this month. It's really been fun.

Raw Chili from goneraw.com

Yummy. This is especially good now that the weather is turning colder. Even though this dish is raw the spices will warm your insides.

2 medium tomatoes
1/2 avocado
1/4 cup sundried tomatoes soaked
1 clove garlic
1 handful cilantro
1 tablespoon chili powder (more or less depending on the heat you like)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon sea salt or herb sea salt

Puree these ingredients until smooth.

Then dice:

1/2 red bell pepper
1/4 cup green onion
1/2 avocado
1/2 tomato
1 handful of cilantro (chopped)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon lime juice
pinch of sea salt to taste
pinch of cayenne (optional)

Add this chunky mixture to the puree and stir well.

Serve with toasted brown rice bread and garnish with fresh cilantro leaves.

Hot 'One Bite' Brownies With Cayenne!

These brownies have a slight kick depending on how brave you are with the cayenne.

1 1/2 cup walnuts14 large pitted (not soaked) dates
Powdered vanilla (teaspoon or to your taste)
1 tbls Mesquite powder (full of nutrition!)
1/2 cup Cacao powder (Not to be confused with Cocoa powder...there is a difference)
Pinch (Large pinch of sea salt)
1 or 2 pinches cayenne pepper. More if you really like hot chocolate! Ha.

I dust my brownies with a mixture of cacao nibs that have been ground with coconut sugar to taste.

Press the mixture into a pan and shape it to your desired thickness. Then put in the fridge or freezer to firm up.

Raw and Vegan Icing

Soak 1 cup cashews in filtered water overnight and then drain and rinse well.

Blend in a food processor the soaked cashews along with a generous squirt of agave nectar and the juice of one lemon. Blend until smooth and creamy. You may have to add more agave nectar or lemon juice depending on the consistency you desire.

I didn't really measure my mixture so I had to add more agave and lemon juice but I eventually landed with a super creamy icing that I used to spread on my hot 'one bite' brownie recipe which will post tomorrow.

Goji Berry Green Smoothie

Add to your blender a generous handful of one or all of the following: spinach, carrot tops, kale, chard or any other green you like (Remove the leaves from the fibrous stock).

1 fully ripe (black skin) banana
3 dates soaked and pitted
1 tablespoon ground flax seed
1 teaspoon chia seed
3 tablespoon goji berries soaked
1 cup goji water (use the water you soaked your berries in)

Goji berries are high in beta carotene and other nutrients.

Blend until smooth. You might need to add filtered water for a better consistency. 

(This photo is of a smoothie made with the addition of 1 teaspoon spirulina powder. Therefore your drink may not be so dark green.)

Vegan Mofo continues with Brownies from Angelica's Home Kitchen

I used to make these brownies every chance I got. For some reason though I've been more of a cookie person these past few years. Well maybe now is a good time to resurect this incredibly easy brownie recipe.

1/4 cup wheat flour
1/4 cup white flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
6 tablespoons succanat
1/4 cup pure cocoa powder (regular cocoa powder is fine here. No need for the raw stuff.)
1/4 cup canola or olive oil
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons plain soy milk
1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Combine dry ingredients and mix well. Combine wet ingredients and mix well. Combine the wet and dry and mix until ingredients are incorporated.

Spoon into an oiled 9 inch pan and bake for 15 to 20  minutes. A toothpick should come out clean when testing if the brownies are done.

Chocolate Smoothie Delight

Need a refreshing and nutritious pick me up? Try this super charged chocolate drink instead of a soy latte.

1 cup water
20 soaked raw almonds
1 teaspoon cacoa powder (Remember, cacoa is not cocoa. Cacoa is raw)
4 prunes soaked and pitted
1 teaspoon prune water
1 teaspoon agave nectar
lemon juice to taste

Blend, strain and drink!

Raw Broccoli Soup

From Alissa Cohen's 'Living on Live Foods'

3 cups water
1 cup almonds
1 teaspoon honey or agave
2 cups broccoli
1 avocado
1/2 to 1 clove garlic
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 green onion chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin powder
pinch of black pepper

In a blender or Vita-Mix blend water, almonds and honey until smooth

Add the rest of the ingredients and blend until creamy

Season with more salt to taste.

This is an unusual recipe. Some might not like the texture as it can be a bit grainy if you don't have a Vita-Mix. It's super nutritious and very refreshing so maybe more of a summer soup.

Tangy Sweet Walnut Spread Sandwich with Lettuce and Tomato on Toasted Brown Rice Bread

It's not easy coming up with recipes every single day. Phew. So, today I thought I'd cheat a little. Plus, I don't really prepare different foods every single day. So for example I use this spread as a stuffing for mushrooms and then the next day I'll use the left overs for sandwich spreads. In fact I had this particular sandwich two days in a row. It was that good!

1 cup soaked almonds
1 hand full pine nuts
2 cloves of garlic
3 scallions (trim the ends but use all of the green and white onion part. Chop in 1 inch pieces so they blend better when you process everything.)
4 whole sun dried tomatoes or 8 halves (soaked)
1/2 cup basil leaves
2 tblspoon cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon light miso
1/2 teaspoon cumin seed or ground cumin
Juice of one lemon
2 tablespoons agave nectar (you can omit this if you want your mixture more tart and tangy)

Blend until smooth in a food processor. Serve on toasted brown rice bread and serve with a raw nut of your choice. 

Mock Salmon Pate

From Alissa Cohen's 'Living on Live Foods'

2 cups walnuts
2 stalks celery
1 large red bell pepper
1 large scallion
1 teaspoon sea salt or dulce (sea vegetable)
lemon juice to taste

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Serve with raw vegetables, in wraps as a filling, or on crackers.