One of the most versatile staples in our vegan diet is tomato soup. You really can do pretty much anything with it: my mom uses it as a base for borscht, I’ve used it in sauces, and sometimes I just throw in random ingredients to make a basic soup more intriguing.
Some of my favorites (you can mix and match or improvise for yourself, the options are pretty much endless):
Let me know if you come up with any amazing ingredients/recipes/combinations, what have you.
no shit, my first reaction to seeing this recipe was literally, “oh my god you stop it right now.”
i made these cookies once for a family reunion: vegan, gluten-free, wheat-free, sugar free walnut-cranberry cookies.
i researched and revised the recipe over and over, hoping it would come out halfway decent, although i knew this was going to be an extremely delicate baking endeavor.
anyway, the point is, i used 2 cups of applesauce as an egg-replacement, and sweet rice flour. the cookies came out a consistency halfway between paper and saran wrap. they tasted awesome, but you could literally stretch and tear them apart, and when you bit into them there was an unpleasant ripping-plastic sensation. they were just gross, basically.
so you should read this piece before undertaking any overly-ambitious cooking adventures, and hopefully your cookies won’t turn out like mine.
i’m taking a mental health day: at-home mani/pedi, the newest issues of cosmo and women’s health, a cup of green tea and a teriyaki tofu scramble:
Early spring snack: whole wheat toast, jalapeno hummus, avocado & tomato slices.
Sorry about the slow posting; school’s started back up and my laptop is inconveniently broken at the moment
Guacamole
3 just ripe Haas avocados, 1/4 cup finely diced sweet onion, 1 clove finely diced garlic, juice of 1 large lime, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp Cumin, 1/4-1/2 tsp. Cayenne, 2-3 tsp. finely chopped coriander, 1/3-cup diced seeded tomato. Pasilla chili powder to garnish.
Mix all the ingredients except the avocados and tomatoes. Gently mash the avocados until the texture is creamy, but with nice chunks. Fold in the diced tomatoes. Adjust seasoning if needed.
vegan burritos!!!!
was going to throw in some spinach but we were out. i would have added lemon juice, too, but my boyfriend hates it :/
Just had to share this stir fry; look how pretty it is!!
Bean sprouts, crimini mushrooms, carrots, bell pepper, broccoli, spinach, teriyaki sauce
Oatmeal is gross, until you add delicious to it.
One of the best unexpected benefits of going vegan is learning to like new food. One of the foods it took me longest to warm up to was hot cereal, specifically: oatmeal.
For me, oatmeal was one of those foods I always wanted to get along with but simply didn’t. Oatmeal is healthy, filling, and super cheap. So I hoped that one day, when I tasted oatmeal, it would be like a new awakening. But it never was. It wasn’t until last year that I really started liking oat meal and there are a few reasons for why.How to like Oatmeal:
- Keep trying. One of the hardest things about learning to like new food is that you don’t like it. But there are hundreds of ways to prepare foods. You can’t give up on a food just because it wasn’t prepared the way you like the first few times you tried it. So…
- Experiment. Oatmeal changes a lot depending on how you cook it. I think this is the main reason I thought I could never like oatmeal. My mom usually cooks oatmeal by adding the oats and water in at the same time so that it becomes creamier. Since this is how my mom does it, this was my first introduction to oatmeal. Probably to most people, this is the best way since it is creamy and smooth. But I learned (accidentally) that I liked oatmeal best after the water boiled and only lightly cooked. Apparently I don’t like that nice creamy texture.
On the other hand, if you usually add oatmeal once the water boils, you can try it my mom’s way and see how it goes.- Oatmeal loves company. Oatmeal is okay on it’s own, but much better with tasty friends. Remember, nuts/nut butters, fruits, and spices/extracts.
Also remember that cooking your ingredients into your oatmeal will give you a totally different flavor than adding them later. Even pouring hot oatmeal on top of your fruit can change the taste, so pack to step 2 (experiment!)
Some of my favorite oatmeal combos below*- Add Granola. Granola is just oatmeal that hasn’t gone soft. Sprinkle granola on top for a different texture. The sweetness of the granola can also help you from overloading on brown sugar. You can even boil granola to make oatmeal if you’re low on oats (although it is usually a little too sweet for me).
Some of my favorite flavors of granola for oatmeal are cinnamon raisin, vanilla, pumpkin, and banana.**Easy oatmeal combos:
- Peanut butter, apple, cinnamon - One of my favorite culinary discoveries was peanut butter and oatmeal. It changed my breakfast forever.
Choice of apple is important, green apples are usually not very good in oatmeal, they get sour. I like to use honeycrisp apples (the super sweet queen of the apple kingdom).
In addition to the obvious ingredients, I sprinkle granola on top, usually cinnamon raisin.- Crunchy banana - Walnuts or pecans, fresh banana, and vanilla/banana granola. Feel free to use cinnamon liberally. And go ahead, add some peanut butter.
- Pumpkin granola - This is my favorite granola for the fall. Mix 2 or 3 spoons of fresh or canned pumpkin in to your oatmeal as you cook. Add raisins and pumpkin pie spice (cinnamon, ginger, clove) So super good!
It has been proven in over 40 studies that oatmeal helps lower cholesterol. It is the perfect choice for those of us who have (or are at risk for) heart problems. Oats also boost your immune system, help stabilize blood sugar, and are high in fiber that may actually help prevent certain cancers. All that, and oatmeal is really quick and cheap. And now, you know how to make oatmeal really delicious.
(via alexasdarling)
