Dairy Free Hot Fudge Sauce

1/2 C cocoa

2 C sugar

1/8 tsp salt
1 C boiling water

1 tsp vanilla
Whisk together cocoa, sugar and salt in a medium sized saucepan. Add boiling water and whisk together. Boil for 2-3 minutes. The ingredients will rise while boiling.
Remove from the heat, let cool. Add vanilla.
For a thinner mixture add more water. To thicken let boil longer. The sauce will thicken as it cools.  

Vegetarian Enchilada Sauce

Enchiladas are a quick dinner that can be prepared ahead of time. Finding a canned sauce can be tricky for a health conscious vegetarian. Most sauces I have found contain chicken stock, corn starch or other ingredients I try to avoid. This recipe is simple and can be made gluten free by using gluten free flour. 

Enchilada sauce

2 T olive oil

1t. cumin

¼ c flour

4T tomato paste

16 oz water or veg. broth

½ t. onion powder

½ t. garlic powder

½ t. salt

½ t. cayenne pepper

Heat oil, stir in cayenne and cumin. Add flour, cook for a few minutes, add the remaining ingredients. Stir until smooth or slightly thickened about 10 minutes.  Use immediately or store in the refrigerator for 3 days. 

I used this sauce to make layered enchiladas by layering corn tortillas with a mixture of black beans, onions, broccoli, and carrots that were sautéed with a little cumin and salt. 

Vegetarian Tom Yum Soup

I have been trying hard to find a great Tom Yum soup recipe that is vegetarian. The soup seems so simple in restaurants yet I have failed every time I attempted to make it. I finally found a great recipe by merging several recipes. This satisfied my craving for Tom Yum soup and is relatively easy to make. It can be made vegan using a different broth, although the mushroom broth adds a lot of depth. It does contain dairy. 

5 cups veg. stock (better than bullion mushroom)

¼ c sliced galangal

6 kaffir lime leaves

3 stalks of lemongrass, white parts sliced

3 thai chilis sliced

1 c fresh mushrooms

1c broccoli

½ c carrots

½ c bok choy

1 c fried tofu, cubed

1 clove diced garlic

3 TB lime juice

2TB soy sauce

2TB palm sugar

2 TB sriacha sauce

1 chopped tomato

2 kaffir limes leaves chiffonade

scallions

cilantro

Pound lime leaves, galangal and lemongrass in the bottom of a pan with 1 t oil until aroma is released. Add veggie stock, bring to a boil then simmer 40 minutes, covered. Strain lime leaves, galangal and lemongrass from the pot. Add chilis, mushrooms, tofu and veggies. Cook until the veggies star to get tender. Add garlic, lime juice, soy sauce, palm sugar, sriacha sauce, tomato, and the rest of the lime leaves. Cook for 2 minutes. Serve, garnished with scallions and cilantro.

Moroccan Spiced Spaghetti Squash

My sister made this recipe for Thanksgiving one year. It was so good and easy to make. I added chickpeas for protein. With kale on top it's a one dish meal. The recipe was originally from Gourmet magazine. Adapted by a blog, then further adapted by myself to make it dairy free. 

Roast or boil the spaghetti squash, then shred it by pulling it from the shell with a fork. I like to add cooked chick peas then sautee kale afterwards in the same pan used for cooking.

Serves 4

1 (3 1/2- to 4-pound) spaghetti squash


4 tablespoons) olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced


1 teaspoon ground cumin


1/2 teaspoon ground coriander


1/8 teaspoon cayenne


3/4 teaspoon salt


1 can of drained and rinsed chickpeas

Kale, washed and cut to sautee

To roast the squash, two methods: If you’d like to roast the squash whole, pierce it all over with a small sharp knife to prevent bursting and bake it in a 375°F oven for one hour. If you are good with a big, sharp kinfe, you can save some time by cutting the squash in half lengthwise, scooping out the seeds and roasting the halves face-down in an oiled baking pan for about 40 minutes in a 375°F oven.

Meanwhile, warm the olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until it is barely golden. Stir in spices and salt and remove from heat.

If you have roasted your squash whole, carefully halve it lengthwise (it will give off a lot of steam) and remove the seeds.

Carefully halve squash lengthwise (it will give off steam) and remove and discard seeds. Working over a bowl, scrape squash flesh with a fork, loosening and separating strands as you remove it from skin. Add cooked chickpeas. Toss with the spiced oil. Sautee kale in pan and place on top of the squash when serving.  

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Vegan Cookies

These cookies are moist and chewy. They do not taste like typical vegan cookies that are dry and crumbly. The peanut butter holds the cookies together so egg is not needed. 

Ingredients


2/3 c crunchy peanut butter
4 T safflower oil
1 1/2 c brown sugar
2/3 c unsweetened almond milk
2 t maple syrup
1 1/4 c almond flour
1 c all-purpose flour (can substitute with gluten free flour)
1 t baking soda
1 t salt
2 c rolled oats
1 c semi-sweet chocolate chips 


Directions


Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together first five ingredients.
In a small bowl, thoroughly stir together flours, baking soda and salt.
Stir into batter.
Stir in oats and chocolate chips.
Drop batter by rounded tablespoonfuls onto parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake for 10 minutes or until set. Do not let the cookies get too brown.
Remove sheet from oven and let cool on tray for 5 minutes.