Strawberry Parfait

Fresh Florida strawberries are in everywhere. Plump, sweet and so yummy. I decided to make a simple parfait using cream cheese, lemon juice and graham crackers for dessert last week. This is my vegan version from a recipe I found online.  I submitted this recipe to the Virtual Vegan Linky Potluck.

• 2 cups fresh Florida strawberries, rinsed, hulled and sliced
• 8 ounces vegan cream cheese, whipped (I used Follow Your Heart)
• 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
• 1/2 cup vegan plain yogurt
• 4 graham crackers, crushed
• 1 lemon juiced

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine whipped cream cheese, sugar and lemon juice.

Fold the yogurt into the cream cheese mixture.

In four wide-mouth glasses or dessert cups, evenly layer cream cheese mixture, strawberries and crushed graham crackers.

Serve chilled.

Vegan Pozole

I've only made this dish once before and it's been almost 20 years. I am not a big hominy fan but it's great in stews. I took 3 different recipes and put it all together to get this:

• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 2 poblano peppers, (seeded if you don’t want it too spicy)
• 1 jalapenos, seeded
• 1 pound tomatillos 
• 1 large sweet onion
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 small bunch cilantro
• 5 cloves garlic
• Cooking spray 
• 1 Mexican beer
• 2 loaves (1/2 a batch) homemade seitan, cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 3 cans hominy, drained
• 2 large zucchini, cut into half moons and then sliced in half

Garnish

• Radishes
• Avocado (add 2 points for a quarter avocado)
• Lime
• Cilantro

Saute seitan in a large soup pot until brown on all sides, set aside.

In a blender combine the poblano peppers, jalapenos, tomatillos, onion, cilantro, oregano, cumin, garlic, salt, and pepper and 1 cup vegetable broth. Blend until smooth. Taste and make sure it is spicy (a little spicier than you like) and well seasoned. Add more jalapenos or poblanos if needed.

Reuse the same (empty) soup pot and cook the tomatillo mixture about 10 minutes. Add beer and return to a boil.

Add zucchini, vegetable broth, seitan and hominy. Cook about 30 minutes.

Serve in bowls and add your favorite garnishes – I used radishes, avocado and cilantro with a squeeze of  lime juice.

Enjoy!!