We have been experimenting more with vegan cheese sauces. A lot of them have a cashew base but this one is a little different. We made this sweet potato “cheese” sauce in our Vitamix. It is a quick and easy recipe. The Vegan Mac & Cheese doesn’t even need to bake.   To make the vegan cheese sauce combine the following and blend until smooth: 2 cooked sweet potatoes (we trimmed the skin off ours and steamed in the instant pot but you can also bake or boil) 1/2 cup coconut milk 3 tbsp vegetable oil 3 tbsp soy sauce 2 tbsp nutritional yeast 1 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp…

We were inspired by the Jerk Seitan Philly that Eric had at Sanctuary in Knoxville recently to come up with our own jerk seitan rub. I love Caribbean flavors especially in the summer when its so hot outside.  Eric started by making a batch of his Basic Chick’n Seitan. While that was baking he made the Pineapple Corn Relish and the Jerk Sauce. To make the Pineapple Corn Relish mix together: 1 cup roasted corn 2 cups minced pineapple 2 tsp minced jalapeno pepper 2 tbsp chopped cilantro 1 tbsp minced red onion juice from one lime To make the Jerk Sauce mix together: 2 tbsp agave syrup 3 tbsp…

We use seitan in our meals quite often. It is a great protein source meat substitute and also an alternative to frozen soy-based products you might buy at the store. You can buy pre-made seitan at the store but it is easy to make yourself and homemade taste so much better. We will tweak the flavor profiles sometimes but most often we just start off with this basic recipe and then we change the flavor of it with a sauce or grilling glaze after the seitan is fully cooked. To make the Seitan you need: 1 cup vital wheat gluten (we buy ours in bulk online) 1 tbsp chickpea flour…

We are having a great time on vacation in Virginia. Yesterday we explored Shenadoah and today we went wine tasting. The resort we are staying at is doing their 4th of July fireworks show tonight so we wanted to make something easy for dinner. We bought a pack of Field Roast Frankfurters and sauted them in a pan. Then we topped with vegetarian chili. With the hot dogs Eric whipped up a simple brussels sprout slaw. The slaw was mostly brussels but was mixed with radishes, grated parmesan cheese, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. We also made a box of Daiya dairy free Alfredo Style Cheezy Mac. This…

We have been trying to eat extra healthy on weekdays. I have been taking my lunch to work more and Eric has been cutting back on weeknight beers. Those extra calories add up faster than you would think. But it’s hard to be good all the time so weekends are our cheat days. Friday night for dinner we made patty melts. To make the vegetarian patty melt you need: Gardein ultimate beefless burgers sliced sourdough bread 1 small white onion diced Velveeta cheese (or Field Roast Chao slices to make it vegan) about 1 tbsp vegan butter This can be made all on one skillet. Start by cooking the diced…

For these simple vegan sandwiches we used: Ciabatta rolls Arugula Sliced Tomato Broccoli Sprouts Chopped Basil Dijon Mustard Light Olive Oil First we used a mortar and pestle to to combine the fresh basil with maybe a tea spoon of olive oil and then we mixed it in with the mustard. Spread liberally on the sliced ciabatta rolls. Then layer on arugula, tomato, and spouts. We ate these with some grapes for a simple and fresh lunch. If you like this post also check out: Tomato Salad Fried Green Tomatoes

We were excited to find fresh peas at Pepper Place farmers market this weekend but when we got home with them we were unsure what to do with them. When I searched pea salad on Pinterest all that really came up was peas covered in mayonnaise and that’s not what I was looking for so we just put this together with what we had on hand.  For this salad we used: fresh peas spicy lettuce mix radishes juice of one lemon fresh mint fresh basil  olive oil salt and peppper We blanched the peas by cooking in boiling water for just one minute and then rinsed in cold water. The…

One of my favorite things to eat growing up was a killer tater from Dixie BBQ. My friends and I would walk down Boyscout road to their trailer in Middle Valley and order these with all the fixins and sides. This is my vegetarian version loaded up with seitan.  For the seitan I am useing the same recipe I use for my BBQ Seitan but just adding more sauce. Check out the link to the origianal recipe if you want to see the drier ribs version. http://vegetariansouth.blogspot.com/2012/06/bbq-seitan-with-broccoli-salad.html To make the seitan:  “dry ingredients” 1 cup vital wheat gluten 1/4 cup nutritional yeast 1 tbls chickpea or soy flour  1 tbls…

This is what we made for brunch yesterday. We had originally planned to have it for dinner the night before but we got lazy. We started roasting the beets too late for dinner so we turned them into brunch. Grits are one of those things that go well with breakfast or a savory dinner. That’s the true beauty of grits. We bought local Alabama grits and goat cheese to make this. The McEwen & Sons grits are from Wilsonville, AL. The Stone Hollow goat cheese is made in Harpersville, AL. Cooking the beets ahead of time made this a little easier on Sunday morning. Saturday night we roasted the golden beets for about…

This can be made ahead of time so it is an easy lunch option. You know I love a good sandwich. For this sandwich I used: One can of white beans 1/2 cup of mayo 1/4 cup grated carrot  1/2 tea sp dill dash of garlic powder dash of onion powder clover sprouts  white bread Drain and rinse the beans. Mix together with the mayo and grated carrot. Then mix in dill, garlic, and onion powder. When everything is well mixed chill until you are ready to use. Just spread on bread and top with sprouts. I used clover sprouts but any kind of sprouts will do.