Vegan Cooking with TLC

This week didn't go to plan regarding making a recipe to post because I forgot to buy some key ingredients. I was a bit frustrated about it, but life goes on. As I thought about what to do to salvage my post for the week, I stepped outside for a few minutes. The chill in the air made me crave Hot Spiced Apple Cider , so I decided I'd just share my recipe for anyone else who needs a warm treat on a cold winter day. Hot Spiced Apple Cider 2 cups apple cider* 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon** 1 teaspoon ground ginger 2 whole cloves 2 cardamom pods*** 1 whole small star anise, optional Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan or Turkish coffee pot .  Bring to a simmer stirring often, especially until the powdered spices are incorporated. Be careful not to bring it to a full boil.  Simmer for 6-10 minutes, stirring often to infuse the spices. Remove the whole spices, or strain, if desired. Pour into cups.  Serve. * Apple cider is a fruit juice...

We love to eat Indian food, and several years ago I bought an Indian cookbook. It had so many great recipes in it that I used it so much broke the binding! But, alas, we adopted a whole food plant based diet, and the cookbook set on the shelf gathering dust for the most part. Then one day I pulled it off the shelf and started looking at the recipes. I started thinking about how I could adapt some of our favorites to fit our plant based diet. This recipe was adapted from a Shrimp Korma recipe in the book and went through several iterations before we found one that worked well for us. I'd even forgotten what recipe I adapted this from until I added the hazelnut mixture and immediately remembered as the odor wafted up from the pan. Chickpea Mushroom Korma ½ cup hazelnut pulp 1 cup hazelnut milk 1-2 teaspoons garam masala 1 teaspoon chili powder 1 6-ounce can tomato paste 1.5 -2 cups cooked chickpeas 2 portabello mushrooms 1 tablespoon ground flax seeds 1...

Rice is such a staple that it hadn't occurred to me to share a recipe before now. As I cooked rice to accompany this week's recipe, I realized I needed to share my rice recipe. Basic Rice 1 cup rice* 2 cups vegetable stock ** Add rice to a pan . Cover with stock. Bring to a boil. Let boil until stock is just below the rice.  Reduce heat to simmer. Simmer until all the rice has absorbed all the liquid. Depending on the type of rice this can take anywhere from 30 minutes to 50 minutes. Serve. * I used Volcano Rice for this particular meal. It's one of my favorite rices. But the same idea works with brown rice, black rice, jade rice, and a host of other rices. I avoid eating white rice because it's not healthy. ** I prefer to use stock in this recipe, but water will work just as well. The stock elevates the flavor and adds a bit more depth to the nutritional value. Note: I use organic ingredients whenever possible.

This very basic chickpea recipe is for cooking chickpeas to be used in other recipes. I cook them with water because it makes them more versatile. Stock can give them a more savory flavor that won't work in desserts, such as Chocolate Chip Chickpea Blondies . One savory option is Chickpea Mushroom Korma . Chickpeas 2 cups dried chickpeas 6 cups water 1 bay leaf * 6 cups of water Place chickpeas in a bowl . Cover with 6 cups water. Cover the bowl.  Let soak at least 8 hours or preferably overnight. Chickpeas will expand in size considerably as they re-hydrate. Drain chickpeas. Cook using either of the two methods listed below. Method 1 – Crockpot **: Place chickpeas in the crockpot. Add 6 cups of water. Add bay leaf. Cook for 8 hours until soft. Method 2 – Stovetop: Place chickpeas in a large pan . Add water (you might need more water with this version). Add bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Lower heat to medium-low and cook for 1....

I have created so many variations of banana bread, I've lost count. Banana bread feels like a basic to me, so I tend to build off it to create other recipes. I do this with many recipes. Start with a basic, traditional recipe and then start experimenting with little tweaks and big changes combining ideas from multiple sources and looking for ways to make it as healthy as possible. Chocolate Banana Bread is quite sweet and definitely dessert-like. Adding the spices to this recipe elevated its flavor profile nicely adding a bit of interest without the spice overwhelming the other flavors. Chocolate Banana Bread 2 cups spelt flour* 1 cup whole wheat flour* 2 tablespoons ground flax seed 2 tablespoons hot water 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon cinnamon ½ teaspoon ground ginger ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves 1 cup mashed banana (approximately 3) ½ cup date sugar ½ cup hazelnut pulp 1 ½ cup unsweetene...

Traditionally, a bisque is made with cream and/or milk, and I originally adapted this recipe from one I downloaded from The Oprah Winfrey Show's website years ago. The original recipe never quite suited us, so I changed it quite soon after we first tried it. After we adopted a whole-food plant-based diet, I worked to find a way to adapt this recipe to suit our needs because we liked it so much. I tried several plant-based milks and many worked, but we liked the walnut milk the best. Butternut Squash “Bisque” 1 medium butternut squash 1 small red onion 1 celery stalk 1 carrot 1 large parsnip* 1 tablespoon rosemary, preferably fresh 2 garlic cloves ½ inch piece of ginger 1 tablespoon flax seed ¼ cup water 3 cups vegetable stock 1 cup walnut milk ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds 1 tablespoon sunflower seeds 2 tablespoons pecans Peel squash and remove seeds Cut into chunks. Chop onion, celeriac, carrot, parsn...

We enjoy this Pumpkin Custard during the Fall and Winter as a fairly easy to make dessert that also is quite healthy. The ingredients are simple and easy to find, for the most part. It tastes, unsurprisingly, a bit like pumpkin pie without the crust. Pumpkin Custard 1 can pumpkin* 2 ripe bananas ¼ cup date sugar** 1 teaspoons cinnamon ½ teaspoon ginger ¼ teaspoon nutmeg 1/8 teaspoon cloves 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg ½ cup pecans Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place all ingredients except pecans in food processor. Blend until smooth. Break pecans into small pieces. Spread pecans evenly over the bottoms of 4 large ramekins or 8 small ramekins.  Spoon pumpkin mixture on top of pecans. Spread evenly. Bake 20-25 minutes.*** Remove from oven. Cool on counter until easy to handle.  Further cool in refrigerator for 2-3 hours to set into a custard-like texture. * I use canned pumpkin for this recipe because it saves ...