The vegan chickpea salad is my go-to, quick and easy vegan meal. It is
the most versatile, accessible recipe that can easily become whatever
you want depending on how you make it. In the video, I made a chickpea-pasta salad, which tastes great by itself, in sandwiches, or with chips & crackers.
VARIATIONS
Suggestions:
The chickpea salad is a vegan version of the classic tuna salad, egg
salad, pasta salad, and potato salad that can easily emulate any of those "salads" based on the seasonings and ingredients that you have in your home. For
each of these variations, you can use what you have. For instance, if you don't have
chickpeas, try it with tofu or potatoes or pasta.
For more of a "tuna" salad, add seaweed. Dulse flakes are a popular choice to emulate that fish or sea-like flavor. Mashed chickpeas make a good texture. For egg-less salad, add more vegan mayo, use tofu, make it creamy. Add pasta and/or potatoes and your favorite seasonings for more of a classic potato or pasta salad.
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| Chickpea sandwich with avocado, tomato, vegan cheese, and spike seasoning. |
INGREDIENTS
These are the ingredients I usually use and they are all optional
- chickpeas
- celery or bell pepper, if I have it
- vegan mayo and/or mustard
- relish - I like mine sweet with lots of relish
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- nutritional yeast
- paprika or turmeric
METHODS
Mash chickpeas or tofu // Cube cooked potatoes // Cook pasta // Mix with veggies and seasonings.
It's often different every time I make this because it's based off of what I currently have. So there have been times where I made it without vegan mayo and just used more relish and mustard or used tofu instead of chickpeas. I don't measure, but add ingredients and season to taste.
SNACKS/MEALS
This recipe, however you make it, is good by itself, as a sandwich, as a dip with chips or crackers, wrapped in a tortilla, in a lettuce wrap. The choices are endless.
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| Chickpea salad sandwich with avocado, tomato, and sprouts. |
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| This is more of a tofu scramble, but chickpea salad could go in tortilla as well |
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| With chips |
Black Rice also known as Forbidden Rice is a nutrient-dense rice that has many antioxidant properties and has recently become highly revered in mainstream health-related media, referenced and acknowledged in daytime shows like Dr. Oz and the Doctors. It's an amazing rice with an interesting history.
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INGREDIENTS
Forbidden Rice, prepared according to instructions.
SAUCE
1-3 Tbsp turbinado or organic vegan sugar, can use agave or coconut sugar as well
I used starfruit, plum, and apple for my 'sauces'. Use any fresh fruit of choice.
Simmer the fruit in a saucepan with water and turbinado sugar for a few minutes until it becomes syrupy.
Easy. This sauce can be used on the last rice pudding post as well.
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| Simmering plums- sugar water turns colors |
If you like rice pudding, want a slightly healthier and much sweeter alternative, I suggest to try this recipe.
Awesome vegan coconut vanilla chocolate chip cake bars that are super easy to make!
INGREDIENTS
Dry
1 cup - Flour
1 cup - Raw sugar or brown sugar
1/2 teas - Baking powder ( can use sodium-free)
1/8 teas - Sea salt (I make this without salt)
Wet
1/2 teas - Vanilla
3/4 cup - Blended banana
1/2 cup - Almond milk or other non-dairy milk
Add-ins
1/2 cup - Shredded coconut
1/2 or 3/4 cup - Vegan chocolate chips
Blueberries could also be added to this, along with a crumb-cake topping.
METHOD
Just mix together the wet and dry ingredients then pour into a baking dish.
Bake on 350 for 25-30 minutes. Times may vary.
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| After mixing all ingredients, it looks like this.. |
This recipe was adapted from one I found from this coconut bliss bar recipe. I omitted oil/earth balance, used banana as an egg substitute, and added almond milk, which is why the texture and look of the two recipes are completely different.
Not particularly healthy, but vegan and delicious.
Next time I make this, the photos won't be as blurry. Better camera in the future.
Lately, there have been a lot of raw vegan pies appearing on several of the vegan-raw vegan blogs I follow. So once I had finally obtained some good dates (could only get a few since quality dates are expensive) AND persimmons, I decided to make- something sweet especially since I had a really, really ripe hachiya persimmon that needed to be eaten. This single-serving pie is small, but it is super sweet.
INGREDIENTS
FILLING
1 or 2 Medjool Dates
1/2 Frozen Banana
1 Hachiya Persimmon, if you have the Fuyu persimmon use two
CRUST
3-4 Dates*
1 Slice Apple**
A pinch cinnamon
Coconut sugar, enough to roll the "crust-dough"
*I only had four dates left when I made this recipe, which is why the crust looks so faint. I recommend using anywhere from 3-6 dates and using a food processor or really good blender for the dates.
**I used only a little bit of apple since I was eating apple when I made it and thought it would be a good addition to the crust. I suppose you could also use pecans, cashews, or some other nuts to make it more of a crust, the pie just won't be fat-free.
CRUST
- Blend or process dates, pieces of apple, and pinch of cinnamon until at crust-like, blended consistency.
- Then roll crust into ball and roll that ball in a bowl of coconut sugar to coat the outside. When coated, flatten the "dough" as shown in the two photos below:
FREEZER
About 30+ minutes after letting in set in the freezer it should look like this
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| Frozen version |
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FILLING
1 or 2 Medjool Dates
1/2 Frozen Banana
1 Hachiya Persimmon, if you have the Fuyu persimmon use two
CRUST
3-4 Dates*
1 Slice Apple**
A pinch cinnamon
Coconut sugar, enough to roll the "crust-dough"
*I only had four dates left when I made this recipe, which is why the crust looks so faint. I recommend using anywhere from 3-6 dates and using a food processor or really good blender for the dates.
**I used only a little bit of apple since I was eating apple when I made it and thought it would be a good addition to the crust. I suppose you could also use pecans, cashews, or some other nuts to make it more of a crust, the pie just won't be fat-free.
METHOD
FILLING
Blend persimmon, dates, and banana in blender- set aside.
CRUST
- Blend or process dates, pieces of apple, and pinch of cinnamon until at crust-like, blended consistency.
- Then roll crust into ball and roll that ball in a bowl of coconut sugar to coat the outside. When coated, flatten the "dough" as shown in the two photos below:
About 30+ minutes after letting in set in the freezer it should look like this
Not only is this an easy crust/pizza to make, it doesn't take up too much time and it is delicious!
INGREDIENTS
CRUST
3 cups grated Cauliflower*
1 Cup+1Tbs Gluten-free All-purpose Flour
3/4 Cup blended ripe banana (which I actually forgot to put in crust)**
A few dashes of cornmeal to keep the crust from sticking.
If you use parchment paper, I imagine this won't be a problem
SAUCE
1 6OZ can of tomato paste (no salt added)
1 Cup Water
Spinach
Seasonings: Garlic powder, onion powder, italian seasoning
TOPPING
I used one whole tomato, spinach, and orange bell pepper.
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*You can ground the cauliflower with a grater, in a blender, or in a food processor.
**Ground flaxseeds are also a really good binding substitute for egg.
METHOD
- Grate cauliflower and put in mixing bowl, mix flour and ground flaxseeds.
- Knead the 'dough' and place 1-cup sized portions onto foil, cookie sheet, or parchment paper to bake in the oven for 15 minutes on 450 F. You can use a layer of cornmeal to coat the bottom of the crusts so that they don't stick.
- Simmer sauce and add your toppings! Place the pizza back into the oven for another 10-20 minutes.
I had a hunger for burritos... healthy vegan burritos. If you're looking for something quick and easy with only few ingredients that you probably already have, vegan burritos are the way to go.
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Vegan Black Bean Burrito (1 serving)
INGREDIENTS
Org. black beans, 1 can
Potato, 1 medium
Corn, 1.5 cups
Onion, 1/4
Tomatoes, 2
Green pepper / jalapeno pepper (I used poblano instead of jalapeno and added 2 oz)
ADD-INS
Tomato, lettuce, avocado.
I even used a few drops of sriracha for extra spice.
All ingredients and amounts for each depend on preferences, alter it any way you want
I even used a few drops of sriracha for extra spice.
All ingredients and amounts for each depend on preferences, alter it any way you want
BASE
Half of the ingredients will be blended or processed for sauce texture while the other half will remain in a chopped state.
1- Drain beans, set aside.
Liquid from beans can be used to cook potatoes
2- Cut potato in small chunks, cook and set aside.
You could use the water from boiling the potato to cook chopped onions
3- Slice onions and cook until clear.
When warmed, add the sauce mixture to the pan.
4- Add half of the potatoes and half the can of beans to a processor or blender and pulse with tomatoes,
green pepper, and corn to make the sauce.
5- Add chopped veggies (green pepper, corn, tomatoes) to caramelized onions.green pepper, and corn to make the sauce.
When warmed, add the sauce mixture to the pan.
6- Mix everything together and wrap in tortilla
'SAUCE'
WRAPS
I wanted to use tortilla wraps that did not have any artificial additives and were made with sprouted grains and few ingredients so I tried the Food for Life and Engine 2 Diet tortillas (you can find them in the freezer section). These are great alternatives to regular tortillas with many additives and artificial flavors, and corn syrup. The only disadvantage is that these sprouted/ancient grains are more expensive, but they taste great and add a new flavorful dimension to the conventional, bland-tasting tortilla.
Cooking/Preparing
The third time I made this, I ran out of tomatoes but the burritos still turned out great without them. I still recommend tomatoes though. Just goes to show that you can use whatever ingredients you have to make these.
Assembling
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| Almost Deconstructed-style |
