Vegan Raw Caramel Bars

This recipe is from Livekindly.com. It’s keto, vegan, raw, gluten-free! What?!? Yup! I made mine in a springform pan for easy release, then cut them up and froze 3/4 of them. They are so tasty!

Ingredients

For the base:
• 1 c raw organic cashews, soaked for an hour and drained
• 6 organic medjool dates (pitted)
• 1 c organic shredded coconut 
• Sprinkle of Himalayan pink rock salt

For the caramel:
• 1/2 c organic tahini
• 1/2 c agave syrup
• 1/4 c organic coconut oil or coconut butter (liquefied)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract l
• Large pinch Salt

For the chocolate topping:
• 1/2 c cacao butter or coconut oil
• 3 tbsp organic raw cacao
• 1/2 tsp organic cinnamon
• 2 tbsp organic dark agave syrup
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Base: blend or process all base ingredients together, until a doughy texture is formed. If using a blender, make sure it’s a powerful, heavy duty blender to handle the nuts. Press into coconut-oil greased dish and put in the fridge.

Caramel: blend all caramel ingredients together except coconut oil. Once well blended into a thick, smooth consistency, blend in the coconut oil until combined (should only take 15 – 25 seconds or so). The texture should be very gooey now. Pour on top of the base immediately and put back into the fridge.

Chocolate topping: in a saucepan, gently melt the cacao butter OR coconut oil. Do not overheat or let it boil, as this destroys the nutrients. The cacao butter/ coconut oil should only be lukewarm, not at all hot. Once melted, take off the heat and sift in the powders. Stir until combined. Add the agave and vanilla and stir well. Immediately pour the chocolate over the caramel. Return dish to the fridge.

Wait a few hours for all the layers to set properly, cut into squares and store in an air-tight container in the fridge. Enjoy!

Advertisement

Truffled Mushroom Mac and Cheese

This is so good and it’s vegan and gluten free. It is a super quick meal and it’s filling. There will be extra sauce you can use for another quick meal.

Cheese Sauce

1 c raw macadamia nuts, soaked for 8 hours

3/4 c water

3 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 c nutritional yeast

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/4 tsp mustard powder

1 clove garlic

Pepper

Place all ingredients in a high speed blender and process till smooth. Add water 1 tbsp at a time if too thick.

Mac & Cheese:

• 1 package zita miracle Noodles, rinsed
• 2 tsp avocado oil
• 6 oz mushrooms, chopped
• 1/2 c cheese sauce
• 1 bag baby spinach
• Nutritional yeast
• Truffle oil to drizzle

In a medium pan heat oil and sauté the mushrooms until brown.

Add noodles, sauce and spinach, cook stirring until spinach has melted.

Serve with nutritional yeast sprinkled on top and truffle oil.

Serve 2.

Lentil Gyros

These Lentil Gyro recipe is from Pretty Simple Cooking – these are so yummy!

Gyros:

• 16 oz cooked gyros (I use TJs) or 1 1/2 c lentils cooked
• 8 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 3-inch sprigs of rosemary, leaves stripped off
• 8 oz Cremini mushrooms
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp dried cilantro
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 c rolled oats
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp ground flax seed in 6 tbsp water or 2 eggs

2 tbsp vegan butter

For serving:

• Tzatziki sauce (from TJs)
• 1 red onion, sliced thin
• 1 english cucumber, sliced thin
• 1 head romain
• 1 tomato, sliced thin
• 8 pita breads
• Feta if not vegan

Preheat oven to 425. Line a pan with parchment and spray with olive oil.

Mix all the dry herbs in a small bowl.

In a large pan heat the oil and the mushrooms, garlic, rosemary in a large pan and cook over medium heat until mushrooms release their liquid. Stir in spices and cook for 1 minute.

Add all remaining ingredients and mushroom mixture in a food processor and pulse until uniform in shape and crumbly.

Spread in lines pan and cook for 30 minutes until browned, let sit for 10 minutes. Cut into strips and assemble pitas with remaining ingredients.

Serves 8.

Oyster Mushroom Po’boy

This is from Vegan Comfort Classics – and it is so good! It looks like a lot of work but it comes together pretty quickly. I served on lettuce wraps, feel free to use your favorite roll.

Oyster Mushrooms

• 2 tbsp ground flax
• 6 tbsp water
• 1 c nutmilk
• 1/4 c Apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp vegan Worcestershire
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp pepper
• 8 oz oyster mushrooms, cleaned and stemmed
• Olive oil spray

Mix flax and water and set aside. Combine the remaining ingredient, stir in the flax and then coat mushrooms. Let marinate for at least 20 min – overnight.

Breading

• 1/2 c panko
• 1/4 c cornmeal
• 1/4 flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cayenne
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Combine in a bowl. Set aside.

Thousand Island Dressing:

• 1 c vegan mayo
• 1/2 c pickles
• 2 tbsp ketchup
• 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp hot sauce
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 2 tbsp chopped chives
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper.

Combine in a food processor and pulse to chop pickles and combine.

Preheat over to 350 in convention mode or air fryer

Toss mushrooms in the breading – a few at a time. Place on a sprayed “air fryer” sheet with a pan under neath. Spray with olive oil. Cook for 10 -15 minutes flipping half way through until crispy on the outside.

Serve with lettuce, sauce on a bun.

Serves 4.

Split Pea Slow Cooker Soup

This soup is so easy – dump everything in the slow cooker and you are done in 8 hours! I topped with some coconut bacon.

• 1 lb dried green sloppy peas
• 2 carrots, minced
• 1 onion, minced
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp better than bouillon
• 1 bay leaf

Combine all ingredients with 6 c of water in the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours.

Remove the bay leaf and run an immersion blender in the pot to purée it a bit.

Serves 8.

Corn and Pepper Tortillas

These are so good – they are considered raw since they are dehydrated!

• 3 c corn, of frozen thaw and rinse
• 1 1/2 c chopped red pepper
• 3/4 c ground golden flax meal
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground cumin

Toss all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until almost smooth.

Use a 1/4 – 1/2 c measuring cup and spread with an off set spatula on a teflex lined dehydrator tray. Don’t spread too thin, they shrink.

Dehydrate at 115 for 4 – 6 hours, flip carefully and dehydrate for another 2 – 3 hours.

When dry and pliable, remove and use or refrigerate.

Makes 10 – 14 tortillas.

Spinach Wraps

These are a healthy alternative to tortillas – so good! Keep them in the fridge and heat slightly when you are ready to eat them.

• 4 medium zucchinis
• 3 cups spinach
• 1/3 cup ground flax
• 1 tsp salt
• Pepper to taste

• Chop the zucchinis into large chunks and add them to a high speed blender.  Blend until it is running smoothly through the blades.
• Add the spinach and blend again until smooth.
• Add the flax, salt, and pepper, and blend briefly to combine.
• Pour onto parchment-lined dehydrator trays, and spread into 6-8 inch circles with a spatula, leaving the edges thicker than the center.
• Dehydrate at 115 degrees for approximately 8 hours, or until they lift off the parchment paper and are dry throughout.
• Turn the dehydrator off and leave the wraps inside overnight.  They should be soft.

Makes 6.

Vegan Shawarma Wrap

This recipe comes from Liveakindly – it uses mock duck by Companion. This company only uses non-GMO wheat gluten, and the only extra ingredients are oil, sugar, soy sauce, and salt. You can get this is most Asian supermarkets. It does not taste like duck; it’s more the texture is formed like duck. It was quite taste. I used 1/2 for this and 1/2 for another recipe.

Tzatziki:

• 4 oz of vegan yogurt
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon
• Salt & pepper to taste
• 1 cucumber
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tablespoons Toffuti sour cream
• Mock Duck:

• 1 can of mock duck
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 3 tbsp Tamari
• Black
• 2 tsp garlic powder

Additional Wrap Ingredients:
• Pita wraps, toasted
• Chopped tomatoes
• Shredded red cabbage
• Sliced cucumber
• Chopped lettuce

For the tzatziki:

Grate cucumber and squeeze excess juice out. Mix all ingredients together and pop into the fridge.

For the mock meat:

Drain and slice the mock duck thinly, then mix well with all the mock duck ingredients to coat evenly.

Fry in a little oil until it starts to get brown and crisp up.

To Assemble the Wrap

Pile on the mock duck and wrap filling ingredients into the (toasted) wraps or pitas. Drizzle on the tzatziki 

Serves 2 – 4

Mushroom Pasta

This may be my new go to pasta – the sauce is rich and creamy, it’s packed full of veggies and is the perfect winter comfort food! The recipe comes from Vegan Comfort Classics.

The Sauce:

• 1 1/2 c raw cashews soaked in hot water for 20 min
• 1 c water
• 1 tsp Apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp lemon juice

Place in a blender and blend until smooth

The Parm:

• 2/3 c raw cashews, almonds or pistachios
• 1/4 c nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp salt

Pulse in a food processor until it resembles fine meal.

The Pasta:

• 6 oz pasta
• 1 onion, sliced thin
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 portobellos, sliced thin
• 10 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced thin
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• Salt and pepper
• 1/2 c dry white wine or stock
• 1/4 c chopped basil
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• 4 c baby spinach
• 1/4 c the parm

Cook pasta according to package.

Heat oil in a 12 skillet over medium heat, cook the onion till soft. Add the mushrooms and cook until they release their moisture. Add the garlic and season with salt and pepper, cook for 3 – 4 more minutes. Once mushrooms have started to shrink, stir in wine or stock and simmer for 7 minutes. Reduce to low and stir in the basil, parsley, spinach and cashew sauce, stirring slowly. Cook until heated through and spinach is wilted.

Add pasta and stir to coat, cook for 2 minutes.

Serve with The Parm.

Serves 4.

Skillet Taco

This is a quick and easy one skillet meal! I used vegan meat, but use beef or turkey if that’s your jam. This one is inspired by What Gaby’s Cooking with some vegan modifications.

• 1 tbsp oil
• 1 onion, sliced thin
• 3 bell peppers, diced
• 1 lb vegan or ground meat of choice
• 1 packet Taco seasoning
• 1 14oz can fire roasted tomatoes with chilies
• 1 c frozen corn
• 1 can black beans, rinsed
• Vegan shredded cheese
• 1 avocado, diced
• 3 green onions, chopped
• Black olives, sliced

Combine onions, peppers and oil in a 12 inch skillet and cook over medium heat until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in “meat” and seasoning and cook until brown or heated through. Add tomatoes, corn and beans and cook over medium heat for 19 minutes, stirring a few times.

Scoop into bowls and top with cheese, avocado, green onions and olives.

Serves 4 – 6.