Vegan Recipes and Plant Based Cooking

This is another sauce that is comprised mainly of the vegetable components. No milk. No cream. No tofu.  A little bit of water and oil help to bring everything together.  The combination of red bell peppers and tomatoes is a winning one. They complement each other so well.  Once you taste how beautifully they go together, you may never make another tomato sauce without some red bell peppers.  This is a versatile sauce that can be used on pasta, rice, salads or even sandwiches.  It's 100% vegan and 1000% delicious. Sweet, slightly acidic, a little earthy and also some heat.  You don't have to take my word for it. It's very easy to make. Just try it and see.  Ingredients 1 medium red bell pepper 1 plum tomato 1 jalapeno 1 serrano 1 habanero 5 cloves garlic 1 3/4 cups water 1 tbl oil 2 tsp basil 1 tbl salt 1 tsp black pepper Instructions Add all the vegetables to a small frying pan. Allow the veg to char over medium high heat and get some color. Stirring ...

If you love homemade mashed potatoes, but don't love all the work involved in preparing them, then fear not.  This mashed potatoes recipe requires no boiling and no peeling.  We'll bake the potatoes instead. Then it's pretty easy to extract the flesh from the skins. Plus you have the crispy, crunchy empty skins to enjoy as well. I like to tear up the skins, mix them into a salad and toss with an Italian vinaigrette. Yum! Ingredients  6 medium russet potatoes 1/2 cup almond milk 1/2 cup vegan cheddar 1 jalapeno, minced 1 serrano, minced 5 cloves garlic, minced 2 tbls oil 2 tbls salt 1 tsp black pepper Instructions Wash the potatoes and pierce the skin several times on each.  Bake them naked directly on the rack of the oven at 450 F for 1 hour.  You can speed up the process by microwaving them for 5 minutes first. This will reduce the oven cook time to 40 minutes.  Slice the finished potatoes in half lengthwise and push out the flesh into a medium sized mixin...

I recently learned that many of the foods that I consume on the regular are iodine blocking. While these foods are generally considered beneficial and good for a person, they do have some properties that can have negative effects. Particularly when consumed often and for those who may have a genetic predisposition toward hypothyroidism.  My mother had an underactive thyroid.  I noticed some of the tell tale symptoms appearing for myself.  That is when I did a little research and discovered that cruciferous vegetables and soy can inhibit iodine absorption. And since an animal product free diet means iodine intake is somewhat limited, I figured that maybe I had to cut back a little on tofu. I was eating a lot of it thinking the extra protein would be helpful. Guess I was wrong about that.  So, I started coming up with new ideas for sauces and purees that didn't use tofu.  Don't get me wrong. I think tofu is great. But I suppose too much of anything is not good....