Hot Hawaiian Pizza

Hot Hawaiian Pizza

Yields 8 servings

• 1 batch of whole wheat pizza dough, enough for a 12-inch pie. You can make your own, but I just used Trader Joe's pre-made whole wheat dough to save on time. It was good!
• 3/4 cup of your choice of marinara sauce
• 1 8 oz. bag of Daiya mozzarella style shreds
• 4 canned pineapple rings, drained and cut into eighths
• 3 slices of Lightlife brand ham style vegan deli slices, cut into pieces
• jalapeño slices to taste (I used ones from a jar, but you could use fresh)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Prepare pizza dough as instructed on packaging. Lightly oil a pizza pan or cookie sheet and roll out dough to form a 12-inch pie. I rolled mine out past the edges of the pizza pan and then folded over the excess to make a crust at the ends. Spread with marinara sauce, then sprinkle with Daiya shreds. Conserve a little Daiya to sprinkle over the toppings. Spread vegan ham, pineapple, and jalapeños as liberally as you would like. Sprinkle on extra Daiya shreds. Bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until crust is crispy and Daiya shreds are melted. 

Apple & Beet Salad with Sweet Corn & Quinoa

Apple & Beet Salad with Sweet Corn & Quinoa

Serves 4 as an appetizer

• 1/2 a head of romaine lettuce, chopped
• a large handful of fresh baby spinach
• a large handful of fresh kale leaves, separated from stems
• 1/4 of a red apple, sliced thinly
• 1 15 oz. can of beets, drained and sliced
• 1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
• 3-4 tbsp of your favorite balsamic dressing (I used Trader Joe's fat free balsamic)
• about 1 cup frozen or fresh sweet corn
• black pepper, to taste

Bring 1 cup of water with 1/2 cup of quinoa to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer about 10 minutes or until the water has evaporated and the quinoa germ (the little tail) has separated from the seed. Salt lightly during cooking. Once cooked, transfer to a bowl and let quinoa cool completely. If using frozen corn: microwave corn and a small amount of water for about 1.5 minutes. Drain any extra water and allow to cool. Once corn and quinoa are completely cooled, combine with all other ingredients. Add balsamic dressing and black pepper about 15 minutes prior to serving. Toss well and let the salad sit for a while to blend the flavors.

Mighty Muffins

Mighty Muffins

Makes 12 mini-muffins or 6 larger muffins

• 1.25 cups whole wheat flour
• 1.25 tsp baking powder
• 0.75 tsp baking soda
• a pinch of sea salt
• a large dash of cinnamon
• 1/2 cup shredded zucchini, with peel
• 1 medium carrot, shredded
• 1 medium, ripe banana, mashed
• 4 pitted prunes, chopped into small pieces
• 1 generous tbsp almond butter or other nut butter
• 0.25 cup unsweetened almond milk or other non-dairy milk
• cooking spray or Earth Balance, for greasing

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a muffin pan and set aside. Combine shredded zucchini, shredded carrot, mashed banana, prunes, almond butter, almond milk, and cinnamon in a mixing bowl. Stir until ingredients are well combined. In a separate mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in three batches, stirring in between until completely combined. Spoon the batter into the muffin pan, filling the 12 wells hallways for mini muffins or filling 6 of the wells to the top for larger muffins. Bake 18-20 minutes for mini-muffins, or 20-22 minutes for larger muffins. Use the toothpick check to check if the muffins are done. 

Savory Spinach Oats

Savory Spinach Oats

Serves 1 

• 1/4 cup uncooked steel cut oats
• 1 cup (~80 grams) frozen spinach
• 1/4 cup marinara sauce
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/3 cup ground beef style vegetable or soy protein crumbles (optional)
• salt and pepper, to taste

Boil 1 cup of water and then stir in oats, reducing heat to medium. Let cook for about five minutes. Taste test the oats; they should be about halfway done, so still pretty chewy. Stir in frozen spinach and nutritional yeast. Continue to simmer on medium heat about five minutes or until spinach is thawed and oats are at your preferred chewiness level. Stir in marinara, protein crumbles, and salt and pepper. Cook another 1-2 minutes to evenly heat all ingredients. Serve immediately, adding more salt or pepper if desired. 

Eggplant Gyro with Arugula & Tofu Feta

Eggplant Gyro with Arugula & Tofu Feta

Serves 1

• 1/2 a large pita pocket (I used Trader Joe's soy pitas for extra protein!)
• Four large eggplant slices
• 2 tablespoons of my kalamata olive and sun dried tomato hummus, or your favorite variety
• 1 large bunch of fresh arugula (however much you can stuff into a pita pocket)
• 1.5 oz extra firm tofu
• 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• liberal amounts of sea salt, black pepper, onion and garlic powders
• olive oil or cooking spray

 First you need to sweat the eggplant. Sweating the slices will draw out the bitterness and enhance flavor. To do this, salt both sides of eggplant slices and let them rest on a plate for at least 15 minutes. You should begin to see beads of moisture on the eggplant. After the 15 minutes is up, thoroughly rinse the slices and pat dry with a paper towel. You can either remove the skin, keep it on, or carve little strips out like I did (for aesthetic value I guess). Place eggplant slices in a frying pan over medium heat with a little olive oil or cooking spray. Sprinkle with garlic powder, sea salt, and pepper. Press tofu well to release extra water and crumble into feta-sized pieces with your hands. Combine vinegars and a a dash each of onion powder, garlic powder, sea salt, and black pepper in a separate container and whisk. Drizzle the mixture over the tofu and set it aside to soak. As the eggplant is frying, taste test your tofu feta and add ingredients as needed. (I realize that there are more sophisticated tofu feta recipes out there, but I did the best with what I had and it came out pretty good.) At this point, the eggplant should be ready to be flipped. Flip the slices, add more cooking oil as needed and more spices. It should be soft but not soggy and browned but not burned on the flip side. While the other side's a-frying, microwave your pita pocket for about 40 seconds, or until warm and soft. Coat the inside with hummus. Once the eggplant is done, place the slices inside the pita pocket and top with fresh arugula and tofu feta. 

Kalamata Olive & Sun Dried Tomato Hummus

 Tribe, you've got yourself a competitor. 

Kalamata Olive & Sun Dried Tomato Hummus

Makes a little over 1.5 cups

Ingredients

• 1 15-oz. can chickpeas 
• 2 tbsp tahini
• 6 pitted kalamata olives (or more, to taste)
• 2 tbsp sun dried tomato bits
• 1 tbsp lemon juice, fresh or bottled
• a generous sprinkling each of sea salt, black pepper, and garlic powder

Strain chickpeas over a bowl to catch and reserve the canned chickpea water, set water aside. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend for several minutes or until creamy. Taste and add more lemon juice, salt, pepper, or garlic powder as needed. To achieve a creamier texture, add small amounts of chickpea water at a time until desired consistency is reached. (It should be thick, creamy, and spreadable, but not runny.) Enjoy with warm pita, crudités, or pretty much anything. 

Spiced Carrot Butter

Spiced Carrot Butter

Makes a little less than 1 cup (about 12 1-tbsp servings)

• 6 medium carrots, peeled and rinsed
• 1/2 cup raw turbinado sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• a dash of sea salt

Grate all six carrots into slow cooker bowl, then add all other ingredients and stir. Cook on low setting for about 8 hours, or until the butter is soft, spreadable, and fragrant.