Vegan Recipes and Plant Based Cooking

Recently I discovered polenta. What a wonderful food. Simple. Cheap. Delicious. I scoured the Internet for polenta recipes. They all seemed so complicated. But polenta is supposed to be simple. And it can be. It is. My polenta is easy, inexpensive and tastes great. I like to use it as a condiment. A vegan mayonnaise if you will. It adds great flavor to sandwiches and helps to keep the other ingredients on the bread. Bean sandwiches work much better with some polenta to keep everything intact. It also add texture, lots of flavor and nutrition. Simple vegan polenta that's fast and tasty. 1 can vegetable broth 1 cup corn meal 5 cloves slice garlic 2 tbls vegan margarine 2 tbl nutritional yeast black pepper, paprika, onion powder and garlic powder Warm your broth in a whisk safe sauce pot. When its hot begin slowly whisking in your corn meal until it has all been incorporated. Continue whisking while heating over medium heat until it has reached the consistency of thin mashed potatoes....

Peanut butter is much more versatile than most people give it credit for. It shouldn't be relegated to just coupling with jelly. It can do so much more. Like hummus it makes a great sandwich spread. It helps hold beans on bread and readily integrates with savory flavors like garlic and pickles. Give it a try. I enjoyed it. Spread peanut butter on both sides of bread, roll or bagel. Add kosher pickle slices. Cover with black or pinto beans. Top with black olives, red pepper, garlic and onions. You'll be amazed as how great these flavors coalesce. It sounds crazy and it probably is, but it tastes delicious.

Here's a really simple hummus recipe that doesn't require tahini, but tastes pretty much like the real deal. It's also way lower in fat than classic hummus, yet nearly as delicious. 1 can chick peas, drained, reserving 1/4 cup canning liquid 2 Tbls white vinegar 1-2 Tbls peanut butter 3-5 cloves roughly chopped garlic Zest and juice from one lemon salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder and chili powder to season In a blender, food processor or with a stick blender combine chick peas, canning liquid and vinegar until fairly smooth, but still a little chunky. Scrape down sides of container and stir lightly. Add garlic, lemon juice and 1 Tbl peanut butter. Blend a little more. Add a little bit of all the seasonings and the lemon zest. Stir lightly. Taste and add more seasonings and other tablespoon of peanut if desired. Remember, the flavors will taste somewhat different after chilling in the fridge. So keep the seasoning and flavors light. A few hours mingling together in...

When I googgled macaroni and cheese vegan style I was overwhelmed. All the recipes were so complicated. They had thousands of ingredients and about a million steps to complete. C'mon people... it's mac and cheese. It's supposed to be simple and easy and quick and just plain tasty. Stop over-complicating everything. Delicious vegan mac and cheese does exists and it tastes great. 1/2 box of pasta cooked 1/4 cup almond milk or other dairy free milk 2 tbls vegan buttery spread 5 tbls nutritional yeast 1 tsp spicy mustard 2-5 tbls white vinegar some reserved pasta cooking water garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper Cook pasta. Small pasta shapes with hole or indents work better, but any kind can be used. Drain pasta and reserve the cooking liquid. Add drained pasta back to hot pot on hot, but turned down to very low burner. In a mixing bowl whisk together softened buttery spread, almond milk, nutritional yeast, mustard, 1 tbls of hot pasta water and spices. You c...

Black bean and corn salad. Not a new concept by any means. But this is streamlined and simplified and 100% vegan. I also added some rice to bulk it up. Veggies are great, but rice costs less. This salad still contains plenty of crisp and crunchy produce. The rice adds filing bulk, saves money and layers on another texture. Ingredients 1 can black beans well rinsed 1 cup frozen corn niblets 2/3 cups frozen red/green bell peppers 12 cloves fresh garlic 1 cup jasmine rice 1 3/4 cups water 1 lime olive oil hot sauce chili powder, onion powder, paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper Cook rice in water. When rice is done cooking add garlic, frozen corn and frozen peppers. Return still hot pot to still warm, but turned off burner on stove, cover and let sit about 5 minutes. When frozen veg are thawed, remove from stove and pour pot contents into a heat/fridge safe storage container. Add zest from lime and all the juice you can squeeze from it. Add a drizzle of olive oi...

The secret to making everyday cooking easy is timing. Whenever possible make protein, starch and veg all in one pot. The trick is not to overcook them in the process. Combining foods with contrasting colors is always nice too. It can be quite appetizing and even enhance the psychological taste of the food. A simple example is in the photo. It's garlic mashed potatoes with peas and carrots. the red dust is paprika. A attractive and delicious garnish in this case. Frozen peas are really easy. Just add them after your food is done cooking. Add them to the hot pot of food. Gently stir in. Cover pot and return it to the warm burner. Let sit at least 3 minutes. Green peas are so small it doesn't take much to defrost and warm them through. Frozen carrots, broccoli, cauliflower... items of that density take much longer to cook. Generally about 5 minutes of strong heat to thaw and heat up. In the case of instant mashed potatoes you can add them to the water from the get go. Bring...

10 quick and delicious vegan/vegetarian sandwiches Simple, tasty and inexpensive sandwiches that make healthy and satisfying meat-free meals.