Banana Nut Bread

You may notice in the pics that my bananas look black and yucky. Well when bananas get past their prime and I don't have time to do something with them right then, I toss them in a freezer bag and freeze them. The when I have the time I thaw them on the counter about 30 minutes while I gather the other ingredients. The black peel slides right off and I'm ready to muck up some banana goodness.

• 2 tablespoons Earth Balance
• 3 bananas, mashed
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 individual serving natural no-sugar added apple sauce
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Melt butter.

Sift together the flour, soda, baking powder and salt.

Add sugar to mashed bananas.

Mix the dry ingredients into banana mixture.

Add applesauce and butter.

Stir in chopped nuts.

Pour into pans that have been sprayed with cooking spray.

Bake 45 minutes in 350 oven.

Makes 1 big loaf or 6 small loaves.

Enjoy!

Grilled Stuffed Portabellos

There are so many awesome blogs out there and one that I regularly follow is Kalyn's Kitchen her site isn't vegan but I saw these mushrooms and said "I have to make these mine." The recipe below was made Wednesday night and we loved it. So credits to Kalyn above and here is my version below.

• 4 large portabello mushroom caps 
• 4 links Field Roast Sausages (I used two Italian and 2 Chorizo)  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (for sauting onions and extra for brushing on mushrooms)
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves minced fresh garlic
• 1 can tomato sauce 
• 1 package (6 oz.) coarsely chopped spinach leaves
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil 
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 1/2 cup grated Diaya mozarella, plus extra for sprinkling on top

Saute onions in olive oil until they're starting to soften, about 2 minutes. 

Add garlic and crumble sausage into skillet with your fingers. Continue cooking until onions are starting to brown, a few minutes more. 

 Add tomato sauce and simmer 2-3 minutes while you chop the spinach.

Add chopped spinach and let it wilt and cook down, stirring so it's evenly distributed in the sausage/onion mixture.

Turn off heat and stir in 1/2 cup mozarella, chopped basil and parsley.

Remove stems from mushrooms caps (if they are attached), being careful not to break them. Scrape out brown gills from inside mushrooms if desired, then brush both sides of mushrooms with olive oil.

Put mushrooms on grill, inside facing down, and cook about 4 minutes, until mushroom is slightly browned and starting to soften.

Remove mushrooms from the grill. Carefully stuff the inside of each mushroom with sausage/spinach/cheese mixture, then top each mushroom with some grated mozarella.

Carefully put mushrooms back on grill. Cover grill and cook about 5 minutes, checking often and removing from grill when mushrooms are cooked through, and the cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

We had some leftover pasta salad to serve along as a side. Yummy!!!

Pasta and Spinach Bake

This was fast and delicious. I only had small pasta shells on hand so that's what I used but these would be wonderful with a penne or rigatoni. Since I used a ground meat substitute I was able to cut down on time, effort and pans for this dish.

• 1 package LightLife Smart Ground
• 2 cans tomatoes
• 1 jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• Italian seasoing
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 box pasta
• 1 bag baby spinach, chopped
• 1 bag Diaya mozzarella shreds

Add onion, garlic, Smart Ground, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, chopped tomatoes and spaghetti sauce  to a large pan and stir well until mixture begins to boil. Turn heat to low.

Add chopped spinach and stir frequently until spinach wilts.

Let sauce simmer on low while you cook your pasta according to the package directions. Drain, add back to hot pot and add 1/2 of the cheese.

Mix the pasta with sauce in a large bowl or one of your pans.

Pour mixture into a large (or two smaller) baking pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes so all the flavors marry and the cheese melts.

Let stand for about 5 minutes before serving. Add a tossed salad, garlic bread and your favorite vino for a perfect dinner.

Chicken Enchiladas

Mexican or Tex/Mex is one of my favorites. I think we gyrate towards ethic foods and one dish wonders for their heat and simplicity. This was originally from Southern Living, one of my favorite magazines, and by substituting ingredients it's now vegan. Enjoy!

• 1 package Morning Star Farms Chik'n Strips
• 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded Diaya Pepper Jack 
• 1/2 cup Toffuti  sour cream
• 1 (4.5-ounce) can chopped green chiles, drained
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 8 (8-inch) flour tortillas
• Vegetable cooking spray
• 1 (8-ounce) container Toffuti sour cream
• 1 (8-ounce) bottle green taco sauce
• Toppings: diced tomato, salsa, chopped green onions, sliced jalapenos, chopped cilantro

Add together first 5 ingredients.

Mix well. Spoon chicken mixture evenly over each tortilla, and roll up.

Arrange in a lightly greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish. Coat tortillas with vegetable cooking spray.

 Bake at 350° for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown.

Stir together sour cream and taco sauce.

Spoon over hot enchiladas, and sprinkle with toppings.

 Serve with your favorite beverage. You could also add refried beans or Mexican Rice as a side dish but two of these really filled us up.

Tomato, Cucumber and Onion Salad

The farmer's markets have so much beautiful, fresh produce right now that I wanted to do a simple salad to go with lunch today. My pictures are blurry today, sorry bout that, but the dish is delicious and fresh.

•  2 large tomatoes
• 1 large cucumber
• 1/2 large sweet onion
• 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• salt and pepper to taste

Peel and remove seeds from cucumber. Slice in half and then cut each half into halves (it's quartered lengthwise), then slice into 1/4 inch thick or a little thicker slices.

In a small bowl mix the vinegar, water, sugar, salt and pepper. Whisk well to dissolve the sugar.

Into a large bowl dice tomato then slice and pull into sections the onions. Add cucumber and stir well. Toss in the dressing and let marinate in the frig for about an hour before serving.

Again, the pics suck today, but the dish is delicious!

Stuffed Jalapenos

lOur jalapeno plants are doing great. Here is a  basket of peppers I picked on Saturday.

I pickled 4 jars of peppers to go with Mexican dishes (we actually eat them on everything!) Then, I decided to put a tray of them on the grill. We love stuffed peppers. I didn't get step by step photos but TRUST me, you want to make these.

• jalapenos (the number needed will depend on size)
• 1 container Toffuti Cream Cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup Diaya cheddar cheese shreds
• maybe a dash of garlic powder and/or onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

Mix everything EXCEPT for the jalapenos in a bowl until mixed well. Spoon into a sandwich bag, snip the corner off one end so you have a piping bag.

Be sure to wear gloves when messing around with hot peppers. Cut the jalapenos in half lengthwise. Remove seeds and membranes.

I put my peppers on a wire rack and place that rack on the grill so I can add and remove all of them at once.

Cook on grill (medium heat) until the cheese starts to bubble and the peppers soften. I cooked mine for about 8 minutes total. Remove rack from grill and let cool slightly. (You have to be patient because you want to dive right in.)

Enjoy!

Chick'n and Snow Peas Stir-Fry

This recipe was adapted from MyKitchenAddiction website I made it vegan by substituting Bragg's for the soy sauce, Morning Star Farm's Chik'n Strips for the chicken tenders and used Rice Sticks because that is what was in the pantry :-)  This sauce is awesome!!! I would recommend doubling it and maybe only using 1/2 to start with, but then you will have more if you like a wetter stir-fry. The first time I made this I used all Chik'n Strips. However I only had about a 1/2 of a package and 2/3 of a package of tofu. So, I used what I had on hand and the ingredients listed reflect that (you can use whatever chicken/tofu/etc product you want that would be the equivalent of about 1 pound of chicken. Enough talking, lets get cooking.

• 2 tablespoons Braggs
• 1 teaspoon corn starch
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon chili and garlic sauce
• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 1/2 package MorningStar Farms Chik'n Strips
• 2/3 package firm tofu, pressed, then cubed
• 2 tablespoons ginger, grated
• 2 large cloves garlic, minced
• 6 ounces snow peas, trimmed and cut in half
• 1 small onion, sliced
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• Rice sticks

Put water on to boil for the noodles.

Combine the Braggs,  corn starch, brown sugar, hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, and chili and garlic paste in a small bowl.  Whisk until smooth. (Remember you may want to double this part of the recipe)

Heat oil a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the pressed tofu (I tossed mine in a little corn starch) and cook til a nice brown color on the outside.

Add the chik'n strips and cook for about 3-4 more minutes.

Remove tofu and chik'n mixture to a bowl and add the snow peas and sliced onion, and continue to stir fry until the vegetables are slightly tender.

Add the tofu/chik'n mixture, garlic and ginger to the skillet and cook for a few minutes.

Check to see how long your noodles/sticks need to cook and add to the boiling water at the appropriate time so that the stir-fry and noodles are ready at the same time. Add the sauce to the skillet and continue to cook for a minute or two, until slightly thickened.

Drain the rice sticks.

Serve stir-fry over rice sticks and garnish with the sliced green onions. Pour a glass of wine and enjoy.