Broccoli and Cheddar Soup (vegan)

The god of all comfort foods has to be bread bowls, in my opinion. I haven’t made this in a while because, from what I remembered, it was tedious. But after making it again a second time, it took no time at all! The hardest part is just prepping the broccoli and the bread. But you can just have this as a soup and skip the bread bowl, although I would 110% recommend doing it as a bread bowl.

Ingredients (this fills a large sourdough bread bowl, about 3 bowls of soup): - 1 box veggie broth (900 mL) - 2 cups chopped broccoli - 1/4 cup flour - 4 tbsp nutritional yeast - 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper (add more if needed) - 1/4 tsp turmeric (for colour, so this is optional) - 1/2 tsp paprika (for colour, so this is also optional) - Large sourdough or deep round bread 

Instructions: 1) Add 2 cups chopped broccoli, half of the broth (about 2 cups), salt, pepper, nutritional yeast, turmeric, and paprika to a large pot. Bring to a boil. 2) Reduce heat to a simmer. In a large bowl, add 1/4 cup flour. Slowly add the remaining broth, and whisk or stir with a fork until the flour is well incorporated and no longer clumpy. 3). Add the flour and broth mixture to the pot of soup. Leave on a simmer while you prepare your bread. This will allow it to thicken. If you prefer it thicker, prepare another bowl with a tbsp of flour and just use a ladle to take broth out of the pot to make another flour/broth mixture. You don’t want to add the flour straight into the pot because it will get clumpy. Keep doing this until you reach your desired thickness. 4) To prepare the bread, cut off the top like you would for a pumpkin. remove all the nice fluffy bread and break it up into pieces. Bake at 350 degrees C for about 5 min. Just until it’s warm. Feel free to leave it in longer if you prefer your bread a little more toasty. I left mine in for 8-10 minutes and thought it was a bit too crunchy.  5) Carefully add your soup into the centre of the bread bowl. ENJOY!

I made vegan cinnamon rolls the other day! Want a piece? #veganbaking #veganchri… I made vegan cinnamon rolls the opposite day! Desire a piece? #veganbaking #veganchristmas 🎄🐿💛

from Vegan Recipes https://ift.tt/2K7e0YR via Healthy Exercise

Crispy “Chicken” Cauliflower (vegan)

Happy Thursday, friends! I recently posted a picture of cauliflower “chicken” burgers on my instagram, and everyone was asking for a recipe. I decided to make it a second time to perfect the recipe before sharing. 

Ingredients: - 1 head of cauliflower - 2 cups flour - 1.5 cups water - Panko bread crumbs (I don’t know how much I used… I just kept adding to the bowl as I went along. Probably ¾ to 1 box all together, depending on the size of your cauliflower.) - 1 tsp salt - 1 tsp garlic powder - ½ tsp pepper - ½ tsp thyme - 1 tsp paprika - ½ tsp chili flakes (optional) - Any sauces you like (if you want to coat cauliflower afterwards)

** All seasoning can and should be adjusted to your liking! Feel free to add or take away anything.

Instructions: 1) Cut the cauliflower! After rinsing, cut in half and remove the green leaves and stock. If you want to make sandwiches, cut the cauliflower into steaks. You can also cut into large florets to give the feeling of pieces of chicken. Or you can cut them into small florets for cauliflower wings. Just keep in mind that baking time will be different if you cut them into smaller pieces. 2) In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, water, and paprika. Whisk together until smooth. 3) In a separate bowl, combine 1.5 cups of panko with the salt, garlic powder, pepper, thyme, and chili flakes. 4) Have a baking sheet lined with parchment paper ready. Dip the cauliflower in the batter, and tap off any excess. Then bread with panko. Place breaded cauliflower on the baking sheet. Continue for all pieces. 5) Bake at 450 F for 35 min, flipping halfway through. If you wish to coat your cauliflower in sauce (buffalo or BBQ, for example), remove the cauliflower 10 min before the baking is done, coat in sauce, and return to the oven for the remaining 10 min.  6) ENJOY!!!

What I Ate on New Year’s Day (vegan)

Good morning, lovelies! 

Did you have a good New Year’s? It was absolutely freezing here in Canada... so much that all of the outdoor New Year’s Eve celebrations were cancelled this year! Momo’s birthday is on New Year’s Eve, but we had a big party a couple days earlier. This year we just stayed home and watched New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. 

The next day, we just had a chilled day and watched The Last Jedi. Here is what I ate that day!

Breakfast: Grilled cheese with Daiya cheddar, ketchup, and orange juice

Lunch/Snack: Cheatin’ on my New Years Resolution already and had a few pieces of Bombice (a Serbian chocolate, hazelnut dessert) and a small piece of leftover birthday cake.

Movie snack: Popcorn and iced tea at the theatre

Dinner: Quinoa taco bowl! Quinoa, kale, Tofurkey chorizo, pepper, tomato, green onion, coleslaw mix (without dressing), and a squeeze of lemon.

VegetarianHaven: Toronto Vegan Eats

Hello everyone! A couple of days ago, Momo and I made our first trip to Vegetarian Haven in Baldwin Village for Momo’s birthday dinner. Vegetarian Haven is an award-winning vegan restaurant that has Asian-inspired dishes. I love that this restaurant is the perfect balance between super healthy vegan food and “dirty” vegan food. They have salads, soups, lots of veg heavy dishes and seitan! It’s perfect!

For drinks, we had an organic hot apple cider and a ginger steamer, which was our favourite drink. The ginger steamer was fresh ginger juice with steamed vanilla almond milk. So perfect.

As our starter, we had a tempura king oyster mushroom and mock prawns in a spicy cocktail sauce. This was my favourite dish of the evening! The mock prawns were incredibly convincing, with stripes and a tail too. But the king oyster mushrooms were my favourite. They had a great meaty flavour and texture. Since some vegans prefer whole foods to mock meats, I think this is a perfect dish for anyone who wants to trick your mind that you’re having meat, without having to have seitan.

Our main dishes were the kale and quinoa salad, and the miso souper bowl. The kale and quinoa salad was perfectly balanced - kale, spinach, quinoa, seeds, cranberries, apples, beets, and a tangy vinaigrette. The miso souper bowl was a rice noodle dish, topped with lots of vegetables, homemade dumplings, and miso broth. Very simple, but perfect for a cold winter day.

If you’re ever in downtown Toronto, this is a great location. Amazing food and relatively close to the downtown core. 

Dessert Nachos (vegan)

HELLO EVERYONE! It’s been a hot minute since I’ve posted. I’ve been working a lot lately and haven’t really had a chance to post. I recently worked with Que Pasa to come up with something super delicious for instagram. I made the usual pub-style nachos but I also created a delicious sweet, dessert nachos - with vegan ganache and vanilla cashew sauce. Here’s how I made it.

Ingredients:

For the vanilla cashew sauce: - 1/3 cup soaked cashews - 1/2 cup non-dairy milk - 1 tsp vanilla extract (add more if you like) - 1 tbsp maple syrup - 1/2 tsp cinnamon

For the genache: - 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips - 2 tbsp non-dairy milk

Extras: - Que Pasa tortilla chips - Your choice of fruit (I used strawberries and bananas) - Icing sugar for dusting on top

Instructions: 1) Blend all the cashew sauce ingredients until smooth.  2) In a microwavable bowl, combine chocolate chips and non-dairy milk. Microwave in 15 second intervals, stirring between, until smooth. 3) Use a piping bag or a ziploc bag. Place the bag in a cup, with the opening wide enough to place the sauces in their own bags. Cut the tips, and drizzle over chips. 4) Add sliced fruit and icing sugar 5) ENJOY!

Easy Sesame Peanut Zoodles (vegan)

Ingredients: - Zucchini! As much or as little as you want.... I used one large zucchini - 1/2 cup peanut butter - 3 tbsp sesame oil - 1/2 cup soy sauce - 2 tbsp rice vinegar - Sesame seeds and green onions for topping

Instructions: 1) Prepare the zoodles! I used a veggie spiralizer to make the noodles. I then laid the noodles in an even layer on a baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and bake at 200 F for about 15 minutes. You can prepare the noodles however you like! Some people eat the noodles as they are, some people boil them. It’s totally up to you! This method wilts the noodles slightly but still keeps them firm.  2) To prepare the sauce, I blended the peanut butter, sesame oil, soy sauce, and rice vinegar until smooth.  3) Toss the zoodles in the sauce and top with sesame seeds and green onion!  4) ENJOY!

Watermelon Poke (vegan)

Happy Monday, friends! As some of you know, I went to Hawai’i recently and fell in love with O’ahu. I made a master post of some of my favourite places to eat on the island (click here). Although Hawai’i was extremely vegan friendly, I was a little bummed that I didn’t get to try poke! Poke is a raw fish dish that is similar to a sashimi salad, often marinaded with asian sauces. I was lucky enough to find tofu poke at Down to Earth, and saw that Island Vintage Coffee made cucumber poke... but as a foodie, it can be difficult not getting to try the real thing. I’ve heard of people using watermelon as a fish substitute, so i decided to give watermelon poke a try! With some sesame seeds, avocado, and nori, it actually tasted a lot like sushi! So I feel like it was as close to the real thing as I could get.

Ingredients: - Watermelon, seeds removed and cut into small chunks (use as much or as little as you want. I used about 4 cups so my family could have some.) - 1 tsp salt - 2 tbsp teriyaki marinade - 1 tbsp ponzu (could easily sub 3 tbsp of soy sauce for the teriyaki and ponzo) - 1/2 cup rice vinegar - 1/4 cup sesame oil - 2 tbsp agave 

Instructions: 1) Simply put all the watermelon and marinade ingredients into a tupperware and store in the fridge overnight (or 2-4 hours if you’re in a crunch) 2) Serve on its own or turn it into a poke bowl! I served mine with white rice, avocado, carrots, cucumber, green onion, sesame seeds, and nori. This would also go really well with spicy vegenaise!

Vegan Mint Chocolate Oats

Hi friends! My mom decided to get some mint for our herb garden this year, and I’ve been loving using fresh peppermint and spearmint throughout the day. We’ve been using the mint for teas but today I decided to try making mint chocolate oatmeal!

It’s a super simple recipe, but I thought I would share anyway.

Ingredients: - 1 cup oats - 1 cup water - 1 cup chocolate soy (feel free to adjust the amount of liquid depending on how you like your oatmeal. Also feel free to be a healthy bug and use plain dairy-free milk and cacao) - 1 tbsp agave - 1 tsp vanilla - 6-10 leaves of peppermint or spearmint (I used a combo of both) - Any toppings you may like! I used vegan chocolate chips, chia, mint leaves, and vegan apple honey that I got from the Vegan Wine and Cheese Fest

Instructions: 1) In a mortar and pestle, muddle the mint leaves. Add the oats, muddles leaves, water, vegan milk, agave, and vanilla to a sauce pan. 2) Bring to a low boil then reduce to simmer. Keep mixing until oats are cooked through to your liking. 3) Serve with your fave toppings!! 4) ENJOY!!!

Delicious Vegan Donuts

Hey everyone! It’s been a while since I posted. I needed a little break from blogging. I made these donuts today and they looked so pretty, I had to post the pics. It’s an old recipe that you can find here. Just give ‘em a toss in some cinnamon sugar. 

Vegan “Pulled Pork” (Jackfruit) Recipe

Hello friends! One of my favourite things to make is BBQ-style jackfruit, but I haven’t had it in forever because it’s kind of a trek to get to the asian supermarket to get young jackfruit. I’ve posted this recipe a long time ago (with awful pics), so I figured I could post again.

Ingredients (makes about large sandwiches): For the jackfruit: - 4 cans of young jackfruit in water - 1 tbsp oil of your choice (I used olive oil) - 2 tbsp brown sugar - 2 tbsp ground cumin - 2 tbsp chili powder - 1/2 tsp garlic powder - 1/2 tsp onion powder - salt and pepper (roughly 1/2 tsp each) - 2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari - 3/4 cup of vegan BBQ sauce 

For the coleslaw: - Pre-packaged coleslaw veg mix (you could just use cabbage and shredded carrots!) - 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar - 1/3 cup vegenaise - 1/2 tbsp mustard  - 1/2 tsp salt - 1/2 tsp pepper

Instructions: 1) Prepare the jackfruit: Drain and rinse jackfruit. Using a steak knife, remove and discard the core of the jackfruit. If your jackfruit came cut into triangles, it’s the pointy side. Cut where the spongey core meets the fibres. Gently massage the fibres to remove and discard the seed pods, which look like little garlic cloves. Wrap up some of the jackfruit in a paper towel or towel, and give it a good squeeze over the sink or bowl to remove excess water. Then add to another mixing bowl. Do this until all the jackfruit has been squeezed. 2) Add brown sugar, cumin, chill powder, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper to the jackfruit and stir to combine. 3) In a large sauce pan, heat olive oil on medium heat. Add the seasoned jackfruit, and cook for 5 minutes. I used a wooden spoon to break apart all the fibres.  Add the BBQ sauce and soy sauce. I like to leave it for 2-3 minutes at a time without stirring to get a bit of a char going. 4) To prepare your coleslaw, put all the ingredients in a bowl and mix until it’s well-combined.  5) Toast some buns, and assemble your sandwiches! 6) ENJOY!

Soba Buddha Bowls (vegan)

A super easy vegan dish that I’ve been loving lately! Something about laying out a “Buddha bowl” is so therapeutic. This is also pretty cost efficient, since Soba is fairly cheap. You could also swap our some of these veggies for frozen edamame or canned chick peas to make it extra efficient for your budget.

Ingredients: - Soba (the T&T brand one comes divided as four servings. I made two servings, one for me and one for Momo) - Veggies of your choice! I used Diced cucumber, halved cherry tomatoes, chopped green onion, sliced bell pepper, and torn kale massaged with sesame oil and a sprinkle of salt.  - Per serving: 1 tbsp rice vinegar, 1 tsp sesame oil, salt and pepper to taste - Extra sauce: 2 tbsp sesame oil, 3 tbsp rice vinegar, 3 tbsp soy sauce

Instructions: 1) Prepare the soba as instructed on the packaging. Drain and since well with cold water. Transfer into a large bowl (if making more than one serving) and drizzle with 1 tbsp rice vinegar and 1 tsp sesame oil (per serving). Sprinkle a pinch of salt and pepper. Use tongs or your hands to toss the noodles. 2) Prepare all your veggies and set aside. 3) To prepare the Buddha bowls: Add your noodles to the centre, and arrange your veggies around. You can get creative with this! 4) I liked to prepare an extra sauce to drizzle on top as a dressing. In a squeeze bottle, I just combined 2 tbsp sesame oil, 3 tsp rice vinegar, and 3 tbsp soy sauce. I gave it a good shake, and just brought the squeeze bottle to the table with the Buddha bowls. That way everyone can use as much or as little dressing as they want. 5) ENJOY!

Vegan Tofu Feta and Spinach Pastry

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I can’t believe it’s been so long since I last posted a recipe! I have a really good one for you today. It’s a Greek spanakopita inspired tofu feta and spinach pastry. I don’t really feel comfortable calling it spanakopita because I used some untraditional ingredients. Feel free to used this tofu feta on any other dishes you’re making! It would go great on a salad or on a charcuterie spread!

For the tofu feta: Ingredients: - 1 block extra firm tofu, diced into cubes - 1/2 cup almond milk - 1/2 cup water - 1/4 cup white wine vinegar - juice from 1 lemon - 3 tsp salt - 3 tsp basil

Instructions: 1) Simply combine all the ingredients in a deep tupperware and store in the fridge over night to marinate!

For the rest of the dish: Ingredients: - 1 pack of Ternderflake puff pastry, thawed (or any other vegan puff pastry) - 1 pack of spinach (roughly 11 oz) - 1 tsp salt - Flour for rolling out pastry

Instructions: 1) In a large saucepan or frying pan, cook down your spinach on medium, low heat. Add salt and 1-2 tbsp of the tofu feta marinade. This shouldn’t take long. 3-5 min max. 2) Add spinach to a large mixing bowl. Crumble tofu feta into the bowl as well. For good measure, add 2-3 tbsp of the marinade and 1 tsp of salt. 3) On a well floured surface, roll out your pastry. The tender flake comes in two rolls. Roll each one out into a square, about 15 x 15 inches (or as thin as you can without it ripping). Cut each into three strips that are 15 x 5 inches. 4) Add filling to each strip of pastry and roll into a log. Then spiral the pastry onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Don’t spiral it too tight. But not too spaced out that it’ll leave gaps once it’s done baking. 5) Continue with the rest of the pastry, and then bake at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes, or until golden. 6) ENJOY!!!

Eating Vegan in Cancun

Hey guys and gals, some of you might know that I visited Cancun with my family back in October . I’ve been posting vlogs on my YouTube channel for anyone that’s interested! I thought I would just do a quick post about some of the restaurants we visited in the Cancun area. We also did a lot of cooking at our hotel, which is always one of my top tricks for eating vegan when travelling. Try to get a hotel with a kitchen and cook your own meals, if you can!

1) LA SENDA VEGANA, Playa Del Carmen - This was my favourite vegan place we visited. I had the aztec cake, which was layers of veggies and corn tortillas smothers in tomato salsa, with vegan sour cream. I also had a Mayan drink with blended ice, coffee, cacao, vanilla, and cinnamon. Mailee had the verdurous pibil, these incredible tacos that used veggies as pulled pork. 4 huge dinner portions with 4 smoothies/juices only came up around 550 pesos.... Less than $40 CAD! 

2) VEGAN PLANET, Cancun - This place is rated one of the best vegan places in Cancun! To be honest, out of the three restaurants I’m posting about, this was my least favourite, but still so yummy! I had the Tex Mex burrito, which was veggies, beans, and rice in a flour tortilla. My sister had enchiladas in mole sauce. I also had a matcha lemonade (kind of a weird but cool combo), and a raw cashew ice cream for dessert. I don’t remember the exact pricing for our meal, but it was definitely more expensive than La Senda.

3) YALA FALAFEL Y MAS, Playa Del Carmen - I’m not a huge falafel lover, to be honest. But this is definitely one of the best falafels I’ve ever had. So fresh and delicious! A generous amount of falafel and veggies in a pita with tahini, and you also get to pick sides of pickles veggies and jalapeños. We also got some lemonades. Again, I don’t remember the exact pricing... But it was definitely less than 400 pesos for the four of us.

We had such a lovely trip, and it was so amazing to see all the new vegan places! Don’t ever feel discouraged about travelling if you’re vegan or vegetarian. Vegan food is on the rise, and you can always plan ahead and pack your own snacks. Happy travelling!

Easy Miso Noodle Soup (v/gf)

Here’s a quick and easy recipe for you guys! I love making rice noodles or udon with miso soup because it takes no time at all to make. I also made a quick video showing how I made this. Hope you like it!

Ingredients: - Rice noodles (I used about 1/2 a pack. Follow the cooking instructions on the package) - 3 cups boiling water - 3 tbsp gf miso - 1/3 cup extra-firm tofu, diced - 1 tbsp green onion, sliced - 1/2 sheet of nori, crushed or sliced with scissors - 1 tbsp sesame oil - Handful of spinach - Sesame seeds and sriracha to top (optional)

I ended up adding a bit of salt to my bowl. That’s up to your personal preference.

Instructions: 1) Cook the rice noodles according to the package instructions. Set aside. 2) Bring 3 cups of water to a boil and then remove from heat. 3) Mix in the rest of the ingredients and serve hot with your noodles. Add additional toppings, and salt if needed. 4) ENJOY!

Lazy Sushi Bowl

Yesterday I had a job interview!! The office building was in the same plaza as my favourite sushi place, and I really wanted sushi after the interview. But it was only 10:20 am... I finally decided NOT to get sushi because it was “too early”. Let me tell you, it’s NEVER too early for sushi. Instant regrets when I was halfway done my walk home. 

I’ve posted a photo of a sushi bowl on this blog before, but I didn’t really go into detail about how I made it. You can find that post here. That sushi bowl was full of veggies, piled onto sushi rice actually cooked in rice vinegar and sugar... And I thought THAT was considered a lazy sushi bowl. I didn’t have any sushi rice at home, and I seriously needed a sushi fix. So this here is my ultimate, watching-Netflix-in-bed-with-no-pants-on, lazy girl sushi bowl because sometimes you just have one of those days, and you can’t be bothered to go to a restaurant.

A behind-the-scenes look at what goes on when I’m taking pictures of my food. Ponyo is so sassy! Ingredients: - Approximately 1.5 cups of cooked white rice. (Leftovers are perfect, but I quickly cooked some in my rice maker) - 1 tbsp rice vinegar - 1 tbsp sugar - Tiny pinch of salt (The rice vinegar, salt and sugar can all be adjusted for your preference) - 4 slices of extra firm tofu, approximately 1/4 of the package - 1-2 tbsp teriyaki sauce - 1 tbsp coconut oil - 1/2 avocado, sliced - Nori and sesame seeds (you can add as little or as much as you like. I have a jar of pre-shredded nori and sesame seeds that I bought at an Asian grocery store, but you could easy crumble nori in your hands or cut thin strips using scissors) - Soya sauce or tamari - Sriracha (optional... However, this goes great with sriracha mixed with veganaise. It tastes just like spicy Japanese mayo) Instructions: 1) Combine rice, rice vinegar, sugar and salt in a bowl. I think a sushi chef would kill me if they saw me do this. It won’t be as great as properly cooking short grain sushi rice, but it still works.  2) In a separate bowl, combine the sliced tofu and teriyaki sauce. Evenly coat the tofu. In a frying pan, heat the coconut oil on medium-high heat. Add the marinate tofu and cook for 3-5 minutes on each side. Cover with a lid to prevent splashes. 3) Assemble your sushi bowl! I decided only to use avocado and tofu. But you can definitely get creative with this! Cucumber, steamed kale and carrots would also be great additions. 4) Drizzle soya sauce or tamari, and add nori, sesame seeds and sriracha (if using) 5) Get comfy, and ENJOY!