It seems going plant based has somehow increased my chances of being stranded on a deserted island. Almost everyone I told when I first went made the switch gave me this hypothetical scenario. It is sweet of them to think that I have any survival skills in order to hunt my own food but in reality, I would go for food sources that did not want to attack me. This city slicker has zero skills when it comes to nature.

For this prompt, I chose three foods that I couldn’t live without: Frank’s Hot Sauce, avocados, and chocolate.  

I am a former chicken wing addict. I won second place in a chicken wing eating contest in my first year of University, mostly out of necessity because my meal card ran out of funds. I always thought it was the wings that I loved the most but turns out, it is the sauce. I love the vinegary tang and heat of Frank’s Hot Sauce. Lucky for us, it is vegan (their Buffalo Sauce is not, FYI). I put it on cold pizza, dip my fries in it, and whatever needs a little dose of heat. I have made Buffalo Chickpea Salads before but I do love when cauliflower is baked and coated in this sauce. Mark and I have eaten an entire head of cauliflower in one sitting because of this recipe. 
Avocados are now a staple purchase in my weekly grocery store trip. I use them mostly for Avocado Sourdough Toasts or adding them to my big vegan bowls with the occasional guacamole make. Mark is indifferent to avocados but I love their buttery texture and fresh taste. They are also popular in smoothies but I don’t seem to like this addition. Just lightly salted on toast is enough for me. 
Roasted Jalapeño Guacamole 

Vegan Pub Style Dips with Ancho-Lime Baked Corn Chips

And, of course, chocolate. I didn’t name my site Sprouts & Chocolate for nothing. My love of chocolate started young and I don’t plan on starting to change that. I eat a lot less chocolate than I use to but when I do have it, it is the very best quality and in a dessert that I love. I request a chocolate birthday cake every year but find recipes to eat chocolate in healthier ways.

Coconut-Chai Chocolate Pudding

Chocolate Hazelnut Torte with Nut Crust (featured on Tofu for Thought)

One-Bowl Gluten Free Chocolate Cherry Muffins

Chocolate Lovers’ Brownie Cups {Vegan & Gluten-Free}

One Bowl Chocolate-Caramel Almond Balls

Decadent Vegan Dark Chocolate Cake with Chocolate Ganache 

Since I am behind on Vegan MoFo, I can’t say 21 posts down! But I will catch up on it before the end. Stay tuned!

Stay connected on the daily by following me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.  Made a recipe from this post? I would love to see it! Use the hashtag #screcipe on your social media. 

Buffalo Cauliflower Salad w/ Creamy Garlic Dressing

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

25 mins

Total time

35 mins

 

This spicy recipe is adaptable to however you like. I put this Buffalo Cauliflower on salad or in a wrap for lunch or just by itself with the dip for celery and carrots sticks. I topped a baby spinach with shaved carrots and celery with the Buffalo Cauliflower and dressed with the Creamy Garlic Dressing for the photos.

Author: Jessica DeMarra

Recipe type: Salad

Cuisine: Vegan, Gluten Free

Serves: 2

Ingredients

• For the Buffalo Cauliflower:
• 1 large head of cauliflower, main stem removed and cut into bite sized pieces (about 6 cups of florets)
• 2 tablespoons arrow root powder*
• 1 teaspoon paprika (I used Spanish)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 0.5 teaspoon salt
• 2.5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 5-6 tablespoons Frank's Hot Sauce
• 
  
• For the Creamy Garlic Dressing
• 4 tablespoons eggless mayo (I used Follow Your Heart Brand)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and finely minced
• A few cracks of black pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment paper (or two smaller baking sheets).
2. Add the bite sized cauliflower to a large freezer bag and add the arrowroot, paprika, garlic powder, and salt. Gently shake the closed bag to coat the cauliflower in the powder mixture. Add the oil and shake to coat.
3. Transfer coated cauliflower to the prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, make the dressing. Add all the ingredients to a small bowl and whisk together with a fork. Set aside.
5. After 15 minutes, add the Frank's Hot Sauce right into the baking sheet and with a pair of tongs, coat the cauliflower with the sauce and flip the cauliflower while doing so. Cook for another 10 minutes. The sauce will stick to the cauliflower.
6. Serve however you like with the suggestions above.

Notes

*The arrowroot powder is naturally gluten free and helps the sauce stick to the cauliflower but cornstarch can be used instead.

Nutrition Information

Serving size: 2

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Tomatoes are, and always will be, my favourite thing about summer. The long days and warm nights are great but seeing the large bushels of summer tomatoes come into the farmer’s market makes my heart flutter. Even as a child, I could bite into a ripe tomato like an apple, adding a sprinkle of salt after each bite. This grossed out my picky sister so I was sure to do it in front of her every time.  Most of the year, I buy canned tomatoes, usually this brand, since winter tomatoes are tasteless. I was always told that roasting tomatoes was reserved for those bland tomatoes, but I am glad I did not listen to that advice. Roasting summer tomatoes concentrates its natural sweetness and intensifies its flavour.

If you are having a little deja vu about this post, you are right. Last year for Vegan MoFo I posted this recipe for a slow roasted tomato pasta sauce. A reader suggested it for a soup and that is where the inspiration for this recipe comes from. The problem with most tomato soups is the cream. I feel the extra fat from cream masks the flavour of the roasted tomatoes however adds some body to the soup. I wanted to keep this recipe nut and gluten free so I used a trick from an old recipe. Blended cauliflower adds all the benefits of cream but does not overpower the flavour of those sweet tomatoes. 

Some may think I am crazy for keeping my oven on for so long while the days here are still warm but it is worth it. While I enjoy quick meals as much the next person, there is something special about waiting for your favorite. The way your house fills up with a delicious scent, you check the oven on occasion to make sure things are going well, texting your loved ones that you are making something great for dinner, and perhaps even setting the table with some fresh bread or wine instead of sitting and eating in front of the TV. This is what summer tomatoes mean to me.

What is your favourite summer produce?

16 posts down, 14 more to go! See you tomorrow for Day 17: Local Eats. Missed Day 15? Check it out here.

Stay connected on the daily by following me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest.  Made a recipe from this post? I would love to see it! Use the hashtag #screcipe on your social media. 

5.0 from 1 reviews

Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup (Nut-Free)

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

1 min

Total time

21 mins

 

Roasted summer tomatoes are one of my favourites and this soup allows that sweet, intense tomato flavour shine though. This soup is made creamy with blended cauliflower so it is nut free, gluten free, grain free, and soy free. This recipe makes about 11 cups of soup.

Author: Jessica DeMarra

Recipe type: Soup

Cuisine: Vegan, Gluten Free

Ingredients

• 5 pounds ripe on the vine tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 2½ teaspoons fine grain sea salt
• 1 head of garlic
• 1 Spanish onion, peeled and diced
• 3 cup bite sized florets of cauliflower
• 5 cups vegetable stock
• ½ cup lightly packed basil leaves
• Cracked black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 3 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Cut the stems out of the tomatoes with a pairing knife. Cut the tomatoes in quarters and divide them amongst the baking sheets. Remove the outer papery skin of the garlic and cut the top of the head just to expose the cloves. Drizzle everything with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 1 hour, turning the tomatoes halfway through. The tomatoes should be shrivelled and sweet. Set aside to cool.
3. Meanwhile, in a large pot over medium heat, add the onions and a few splashes of stock so the onions don't stick. Cook for 8-10 minutes until onions are tender.
4. Add the cauliflower and the rest of the stock and bring to boil. Cover with a lid and cook until the cauliflower is very tender.
5. Add the roasted tomatoes (reserving some for garnish) and roasted garlic (removed from their skins). Cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in the basil and stir.
6. In batches, blend the soup in a blender until completely smooth. Transfer blended soup to another pot or large bowl. Continue until all the soup is blended. Adjust seasonings if you like with cracked black pepper or red chilli flakes. Top with chopped roasted tomatoes and serve.

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The post Day 16 Vegan MoFo: Creamy Roasted Tomato Soup (Nut-Free) appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

As a Canadian, I only have a foreigner’s opinion of President Obama’s policies but from where I stand, he seems like a pretty cool guy. He recently tweeted his Spotify playlist for summer jams and I think I like him even more. And who doesn’t find these amazingly funny? 

While some may disagree, I admire a lot of the work he has done with the issues of gender equality and same sex marriage equality. I hope that the future President will uphold these policies and continue to move forward for human rights. But what to make him for dinner? I wanted to create something a little more elegant than my typical meal or my current obsession with bowls (exhibit a, b, and c). I Googled the President’s Dinners of the past for inspiration for the recipe. The main course of these lavish dinners usually consisted of beef with potatoes so I went with Portobello Steaks and Cauliflower Mash. I like mushroom steaks with a sauce and decided to make a parsley basil pesto; it is fresh, quick, and tastes fancier than it is. 

I think the First Lady would approve of this vegetable-filled meal for the President.

15 posts down, 15 more to go! See you tomorrow for Day 16: Late Summer Favourites! Missed Day 14? Check it out here.

Stay connected on the daily by following me on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest. Made a recipe from this post? I would love to see it! Use the hashtag #screcipe on your social media.

Portobello Steaks + Cauliflower Mash w/ Parsley Basil Pesto

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

45 mins

 

This recipe is a little fancier than my usual fare but it is a great dish to make when people come over. It serves 3 large servings with lots of sauce. This recipe is gluten free, grain free, and nut free.

Author: Jessica DeMarra

Recipe type: Main

Cuisine: vegan, gluten free

Serves: 3

Ingredients

• For the Parsley Basil Pesto:
• 1 cup parsley leaves
• ½ cup basil leaves
• 2 small garlic cloves, peeled
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• ½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• Pinch of red chili flakes
• 5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 
  
• For the Portobello Steaks:
• 6 portobello mushrooms, destemmed and gills scraped off gently with the spoon
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil + 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, mixed together
• ¼ teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 
  
• For the Cauliflower Mash:
• 1 large head cauliflower, main core removed and cut into bite-sized pieces.
• 2 tablespoons vegan butter, softened
• 3-4 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• Cracked black pepper, to taste

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. While the oven preheats, make the pesto. Add the parsley, basil, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and chili flakes to the bowl of a food processor. While the food processor is running, slowly add the oil in a steady stream until combined. Transfer to a glass container and set aside until you are ready to serve. Clean out the food processor bowl.
3. Set the mushrooms on the baking sheet and rub the mushrooms in the oil + lemon juice mixture. Sprinkle with salt and cook for 30 minutes, turning halfway through the cooking time.
4. Meanwhile, set a steamer basket in a large pot with a few inches of water at the bottom. Over medium-high heat, cook the cauliflower in the basket until very tender and can be easily poked with a fork (not a knife).
5. Once the cauliflower is fully cooked, add half of the mixture to the food processor with 1 tablespoon of softened butter,1 tablespoon nutritional yeast, 2 tablespoons of milk, and ½ teaspoon fine grain sea salt. Process until it resembles mashed potatoes. Transfer to a bowl and repeat with the other half. Pepper the mash as you like.
6. Pile the mashed cauliflower onto the plate, add 2-3 of the mushrooms, and top with sauce. Serve and enjoy!

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The post Day 15 Vegan MoFo: Portobello Steaks + Cauliflower Mash w/ Parsley Basil Pesto appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

Whenever someone at work bugs me, since I work in a restaurant this occurs as frequently as breathing, my friend Maeghan and I play the game “You know what grinds my gears?…” I think I saw it on a Family Guy episode though I am not crazy about the show. It is just a silly way to rant about the shenanigans that happen like:

“Why are we waiting on salad?”

“Oh em gee that kid barfed all over the table!”

“I AM MAD WEEDED!!”

“Yes, I will have a well done steak…” ordered five minutes before we close.

“That guy just snapped his fingers at me”

“Don’t ask me for my number and stiff me when I say no thank you….”

“That table just called me something really offence while speaking French”

As ridiculous as things seem, they happen on the regular. The last one happened to a friend of mine and she speaks fluent French so unfortunately heard all the nasty things that the table was saying about her.

It helps to say these things out loud to her since usually it is just ridiculous things that get my blood boiling. Sometimes I tell her to hop aboard the Complain Train when I feel like being a whiner. To you all reading this, hop aboard because we are going on a trip!! CHOO CHOO!!

My friend Katie was at Starbucks last week and ordered a fancy latte but with half of the sugary syrup they normally put it. The barista asked her, “Oh are you trying to be healthy?” She handled it better than I would have and simply said that she just didn’t like how sweet the drink was normally served. Katie told me that she was being judged for her size and this person was assuming she is unhealthy. Katie is a champ, does yoga and eats healthful meals all while working and going to school full-time. My gears were grinding so hard that sparks were flying!!  

This reminded me of a similar incident I experienced at the grocery store checkout when I first started my site. I was sipping on a mason jar filled with my green smoothie, cause that’s just how I do, and the rather buff man behind me questioned my drink. I told him what was in it thinking maybe he just wanted the recipe but instead he asked me if I had lost weight. I said no since I was just starting out and was just in shock that a stranger would ask me that.

 “Some people will try anything,” he muttered to his companion.

I said nothing, paid for my purchases, put on my sunglasses and cried the whole way home. It seems crazy that I let this strangers comment affect me in such a negative way but it did. At that time in my life, I was very self-conscious about my appearance since I did not look like the “typical” vegan.

I remember a few years back that I was probably the unhealthiest person ever; I chained smoked, drank only diet drinks when I wasn’t drinking huge quantities of coffee and took over the counter diet pills everyday. I was skinny but definitely not healthy and no one said anything about it, even when I had a cigarette between my lips and double-fisting a Diet Coke and a Red Bull. This image did not get a rise out of people enough for them to say anything to my face about how unhealthy I was because I was thin but as soon as a curvaceous girl has a green smoothie in hand, everyone seemed to have a damn opinion about it.

I have a high self-esteem when I am alone and this is common occurrence. I think I am beautiful and love my green eyes, bright smile and my great curvy body but this all goes down the drain when people make comments like that. I start to question my self-esteem, maybe I am not as pretty as I think? Maybe I could lose some weight?

I decided that I had to practice confidence for the sake of my self-esteem. People are always going to be rude and unforgiving but I needed to change my reaction. I would not longer beat myself up for not being their ideal, I am my own ideal person and I am enough and guess what?? So are you!! 

 I used this recipe for the sauce. To go nut-free, substitute the cashews for soaked sunflower seeds. 

The post Roasted Asparagus Bowl with Lemony Hollandaise Sauce appeared first on Sprouts & Chocolate.

When the weather is a damper and you feel chilly down to your bones, it is always best to eat a bowl full of soup to warm up. A simple soup somehow brightens an otherwise miserable grey day.

I have tweaked an older recipe that I use to make with heavy cream and veganized it to make it better. It tastes fresher and more satisfying than my previous recipe.

Cauliflower is my new go-to for making soups creamy and dairy free since this white vegetable blends so well and adds a lot of body to the dish. Other than adding an extra dose of vitamins, it is a great substitution for those with gluten or nut allergies since there is no need to make a roux or add nuts to thicken things up.

I don’t make soup as often as I would like because Mark is a weirdo and only likes soup when he is in a “soup” mood. I on the other hand like soup almost always, hot rich soup in the wintertime and fresh ice-cold soup in the summer (remember summer? It feels like a distant memory).

Though nothing is easier than opening and heating a can of soup, very few canned versions are as good as homemade. This recipe is simple to make and though it does require the extra step of roasting the peppers. Fear not it is super easy to do, check out my How To Roast Peppers recipe. I have tried this recipe with sautéed red peppers but it was lacking the flavour I wanted so don’t skip the roasting.

The cashew cream is not absolutely required for this recipe but it does add a delicious flourish to the dish making a humble bowl of soup look gourmet.

Notes:

• You can use frozen cauliflower instead of fresh. No need to thaw, just add the frozen cauliflower to the stock and add a few minutes to the cooking time.
• I like to also add some crushed red pepper flakes and pine nuts or pumpkins seeds but these toppings are optional. Need some protein? Stir in some cooked quinoa.
• Like most soups, this recipe tastes better the next day.

 Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Soup with Lemon Cashew Cream

Makes approx. 7 cups

 Soup

•  2 roasted red peppers (see How to Roast Peppers)
• ½ tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 2 cups diced Spanish onions, about 1 large onion
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
• 2 teaspoons fresh chopped thyme
• 1 teaspoon Hungarian paprika
• 4 cups low sodium vegetable stock
• 4 cups chopped cauliflower
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Over medium heat in a large pot, heat the olive oil until shimmering and add the onions, salt and pepper; cook until onions are softened, about 6 minutes. Add the thyme and paprika and coat the onions with the seasoning; cook for 1 minute. Turn up the heat to medium high and slowly add the stock. Once the stock is simmering add the cauliflower and roasted peppers; cook for 12-15 minutes until the cauliflower is very tender.

Carefully transfer the soup to a blender and blend until very smooth. If you have a smaller blender you may have to do it in batches and always make sure you leave some room at the top for steam build up to escape.

Transfer soup to a serving dish and top with some lemon cashew cream.

Lemon Cashew Cream

Makes approx. 150mL

•  ½ cup raw cashews, soaked for 2-8 hours or quick soaked (bring some water to a boil in a pot, add cashews, cover with a lid and take pot off heat. Let cashews soak for 1 hour. I usually do this when I’m prepping my ingredients for the soup)
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
•  ½ cup water

Add the cashews, juice and salt to a high power blender. Turn the blender on high and through the top slowly add the water until very smooth. Leave at room temperature if you are using it right away or store in the refrigerator if making it ahead of time. It will thicken as it cools.

Dig in and dream of springtime…

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