Original Recipe - Caper & Black Olive Dressing

This is one of my most favorite salad dressings 
so I'm sharing it with you! 

Yes, it's salty. 

It has a caesar vibe to it and works great over romaine.

I use a magic Bullet type mini blender and I recommend using whole black olives because then you'll be left with lovely chopped chunks of olives in your salad!


Shelly's Caper & Black Olive Dressing

1/3 cup olive oil
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp capers
2 tbsp black olives (7 large)
1 tbsp soy sauce (or tamari or Bragg's)
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp water
1 tsp minced garlic

Original Recipe - Gyro Salad with Pita Croutons

I recently discovered Skye Michael Conroy, The Gentle Chef and bought his cookbook.

The first recipe I made was the gyro seitan roast and it was delicious. The first time I enjoyed it, I made a traditional gyro on a pita but it kept falling part so when I decided to eat it again, I came up with a fabulous idea - all the yummy components of a gyro sandwich on a salad!

You'll need to get your hands on Skye's cookbook for the gyro seitan recipe. If I can't find a recipe online already, I won't give it out. These folks need to sell their cookbooks!


Shelly's Gyro Salad

You'll need some of Skye's gyro roast, sliced and pan fried in a little olive oil until it's warm and slightly crispy. Cut into bite sized pieces.

Note: if you don't want to make your own, I suppose a commercial seitan would work as well here. You can try and locate some greek type seasoning to jazz it up.

Salad components:
mixed greens
tomatoes (I recommend campari)
cucumber, sliced
kalamata olives, pitted and cut in half
red onion, sliced

Pita croutons:

Cut a pita into small squares. Melt a tablespoon of Earth Balance (or Skye's Better Butter)  in a fry pan, add the pita squares and toss to coat, Cook until they are lightly brown. Sprinkle the croutons with a couple pinches of garlic powder and nutritional yeast to taste.

Cucumber dressing

Note: Skye has a recipe for sauce in his cookbook and even a recipe for sour cream!

1/2 cup Tofutti Sour Cream* (or similar)
* you can use Vegenaise here but the result is a thinner dressing.
1/2 fresh cucumber, peeled and grated
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp dill
1/4 tsp salt
couple pinches nutritional yeast
pinch pepper
pinch onion powder
pinch garlic powder
pinch or two of sugar

Mix together until it tastes good!

Original Recipe - Curried Black Eyed Peas with Tempeh Sausage

My uncle turned me on to black eyed peas mixed with vegan sausage and curry ... his recipe was super simple and featured the vegan sausage crumbles available in the frozen food section but I wanted to re-create the dish using freshly made, and more importantly, no oil sausage made from tempeh.

I recently decided to drop added oils from my diet. I'm not sure how long I'll last but I'm giving it a go!

I found the sausage recipe in the Everyday Happy Herbivore Cookbook by Lindsay Nixon.

You can certainly use seitan-like Gimme Lean Sausage or Boca crumbles in this, it's your call.


Shelly's Curried Black Eyed Peas with Tempeh Sausage

1 15 oz can black eyed peas, drained and rinsed well.
4 oz cooked vegan sausage (I used the tempeh sausage recipe from Everyday Happy Herbivore)
1 to 2 Tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp dijon mustard

Combine it all!  You can eat this at room temp, chilled or warmed up. It's good inside a tortilla or even over a baked potato. It can be served as a side dish or main entree with some roasted veggies.

Original Recipe - Chickpea Enchiladas

I originally came across a recipe for white enchiladas in the Everyday Happy Herbivore Cookbook and I messed around with the recipe enough that it became a whole other thing so I'm sharing my original recipe

with you! 

I like to mix up a batch of the filling and sauce and then keep it in the fridge for quick meals! 

I could eat this everyday!

You'll need a package of whole wheat tortillas in the bigger size, some pico de gallo and some guacamole if you so desire. If you can get your hands on the Daiya Wedges in the Havarti or Jack flavor.. slice some up and stick it inside .. it's sooo good.

I linked you to my original taco seasoning mix recipe but you can use what you have as well.

Shelly's Chickpea Enchiladas

Filling:

(1) 29-32 oz can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 cup salsa verde

1 Tbsp taco seasoning

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 to 1/2 tsp salt (to taste - be careful)

Place drained and rinsed chickpeas into a food processor and blend until it's flaky and there are no whole beans but do not process as much as you would for hummus. You want some texture. Place beans into a larger bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. Set aside.

Sauce:

2 cups water

1 tsp no chicken bouillon

1/2 to 3/4 cup nutritional yeast

1 to 2 Tbsp cornstarch (start with one)

1 tsp lime juice

1 tsp taco seasoning

1 tsp soy sauce

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp salt

In a medium saucepan, combine the ingredients and cook over medium heat, whisking until it starts to thicken. If it stays too thin, use the extra tbsp of cornstarch. You want this sauce to be on the thin side. It's done when it will coat the back of a spoon. 

To assemble: Take one large whole wheat tortilla and place the filling along the middle. If you want to add Daiya wedge slices in Havarti, do it now.. it's fabulous in these! Then roll it up and place the fold side down on a microwave safe plate. Microwave for 30 seconds to a minute until the filling is hot. Top with warm sauce and pico de gallo, green onions and guacamole, if desired.

You can also roll it like a burrito as shown in the photo. I like to do that because the filling stays in there better.

Note: for leftovers, I've found it works better to warm the filling on it's own and then add it to the tortilla and heat just long enough to warm the tortilla and then pour the reheated sauce over it.

Original Recipe - Garlic -Ginger Brown Sauce

I love a good stir fry!

Here is my own yummy basic brown sauce that works over any veggies you have.

Serve over brown rice and you're done!

I like mine with fresh broccoli and baby bella mushrooms! 




Shelly's Garlic-Ginger Brown Sauce

2 cups veggie broth (see note)
4 Tbsp soy sauce (see note)
2 Tbsp cornstarch
2 Tbsp teriyaki sauce, like Soyaki (see note)
2 tsp garlic
2 tsp nutritional yeast (see note)
1 tsp ginger paste (see note)

Whisk everything together in a medium saucepan, bring to a boil, lower heat to a simmer and whisk until thickened.

Notes:

- you can use water with some no beef bouillon in place of the veggie broth. Water works too but the sauce is more flavorful with broth.

- you can use tamari or Bragg's Aminos for the soy sauce.

- If you don't want to use a teriyaki sauce, sub in some molasses or brown sugar instead

- the nutritional yeast is optional but it makes the sauce more rounded.

- you can use fresh minced ginger or a smaller amount of dried ginger.

Original Recipe: Taco Seasoning Mix

I have no problem paying for good quality herbs and spices but when it comes to blends, I often think to myself ... 'I can make that!' 

So, I decided to try to make my own taco seasoning. Sometimes the retail mixes aren't vegan or it has junky ingredients that I just don't want to eat but I like the convenience of having a ready mixed blend that I can just toss into a recipe.

This is my knock-off clone of Penzey's Original Taco Seasoning. 


Shelly's Taco Seasoning

Makes 1/2 cup

1 TBSP + 1 tsp Paprika (I used regular)
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp Tomato Powder (see note)
1 Tbsp + 1 tsp Onion Flakes
1 Tbsp Sea Salt
2 tsp Cumin
2 tsp Oregano
2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Cornstarch
1/2 tsp Cocoa Powder
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
1/8 tsp Cinnamon

Mix in a bowl with a whisk until fully blended.  Add to beans, vegan meats or sauces as desired.

Note: You can find the Tomato Powder at Firehouse Pantry