Recipe | Vegan Apple Pumpkin Muffins

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Makes 12 muffins

2 cups brown rice flour
1/3 cup raw cane sugar
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
2-3 tbsp plain, unsweetened almond milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
*optionl* 2-3 tbsp raw pumpkin seeds

Preheat your oven to 325° F.

Combine all of the dry ingredients (brown rice flour, sugar, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, baking powder, salt) in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together the wet ingredients (pumpkin, applesauce, almond milk, canola oil) in a separate mixing bowl.

Once both are separately combined, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients gradually until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed. The batter will be relatively thick.

You can either lie your muffin tin with muffin cups, or you can just spray the tin with some canola oil cooking spray to ensure that the muffins don't stick when you try to take them out. Scoop the better into each muffin mold about 3/4 of the way up.

*If you want, you can top each muffin with a sprinkling of pumpkin seeds before you bake them off. The pumpkin seeds will roast in the oven a little bit and provide a nice contrast in flavor with the slight sweetness of the muffins*

Pop those bad boys in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, depending on your oven. Mine were perfect at 15 minutes. Just keep checking on them after the 15 minute mark by sticking a toothpick or a knife or fork through the center of a muffin to see if the inside isn't a gooey mess.

Enjoy! :)

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Recipe | Vegan Veggie Melt with Crispy Tempeh

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This recipe will yield one sandwich for a super hungry person who hasn't eaten in about 8 hours :)

about 1/3 of a baguette - you can use whatever bread you like, this is just what I had on hand. If the baguette is HUGE then just use 1/4 or whatever looks like a decent size for a sandwich for you.
4 oz tempeh (1/2 of an 8 oz. package is usually 1 serving) cut into slices
A couple tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 bell pepper, sliced
1/4 onion, sliced
1 tomato, sliced
1/2 avocado, mashed
2 oz soy mozzarella, sliced
1 tbsp or so of your favorite hot sauce
Salt and pepper to taste

I used a toaster oven to melt the cheese, but you can go ahead and use a regular oven. Set it to 450°F before you start cooking.

Set a skillet to medium heat with some extra virgin olive oil. Begin browning off the slices of tempeh on both sides - about 3-5 minutes on each side.

When they're done browning, take them out of the pan and begin sweating the onions and peppers. Add some salt and pepper and cook them down for about 5-7 minutes.

While the peppers and onions are cooking, you can get started on preparing the bread part  of your sandwich. You're gonna want to cut the loaf in half, but don't bring the knife all the way through to the other side. You want one side still intact so your filling doesn't fall all over the place when you're eating it later. Then just gut out the bread-y part so you can fit alllllllll the fillings inside. My bread was a little stale so I just popped it in the toaster oven after I did this to toast it up a bit. If your bread is fresh, this toasting step isn't necessary unless you want it extra crispy.

When your peppers and onions are done cooking, you can start assembling your sandwich. Try not to drool all over it while you're doing this though. Especially if you have guests... I found this part especially difficult to avoid.

You don't have to assemble yours like I did. I'LL NEVER KNOW. I just found this way was best to keep everything all nice and glued together once the sandwich is finished.

Start off with the peppers and onions on one side of the sandwich and the mashed avocado on the other side.

Then, go ahead and add the strips of tempeh to the peppers and onions side, and the slices of tomato to the avocado side.

Top off the tempeh, peppers, and onions with your soy mozzarella.

Sprinkle the whole thing with some salt and pepper. Toast it up in the toaster oven, or an actual oven, for like 5-10 minutes... however long it takes for the cheese to start melting and the bread to crisp up. Top it off with your favorite hot sauce and enjoy!

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Recipe | Vegetable Stir Fry with Chili, Garlic, Ginger Sauce

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Makes 4 servings

a couple tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 1/2 cups water (optional)
1 cup brown rice (optional)
1 package of fake chicken pieces (I used the Gardein brand, you could use anything, really - tofu, seitan, even a couple sliced up veggie burgers if you wanted)
1 onion, sliced
2 bell peppers, sliced
3-4 carrots, julienned (I only had baby carrots, so you're looking for about a cup of chopped carrots)
3 handfuls of saute greens (my mix had baby spinach, baby kale, and baby swiss chard)
1 zucchini, cut in half and then sliced
1 cup frozen broccoli
1 cup frozen or canned corn
1/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
3 tbsp raw agave
1 tsp chili garlic sauce (you can find this in the ethnic food section of your grocery store)
1 inch of fresh ginger, grated
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste

FOR THE SAUCE:

Make this before you start cooking everything so the flavors have enough time to love each other and develop into a delicious sauce

Combine the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, chili garlic sauce, ginger, and agave in a bowl. Whisk to combine everything and set aside. The reduced sodium soy sauce is important because you don't want your dish to turn out too salty - you should be able to control the amount of salt that goes into your cooking.

FOR THE STIR FRY:

I served mine over rice, so if you plan on doing this as well, and your rice isn't quick-cooking, start on that before you cook the veggies. For long-grain brown rice it's typically 2 1/2 cups of water brought to a boil. Add 1 cup of rice to the boiling water, cover the bot, and reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for about 35-40 minutes.

Side note: You want all of your veggies to be roughly the same size, so what I did was after I sliced the carrots and peppers, I cut those slices in half, like so:

The onions and zucchini aren't that important because they get very pliable when they're cooked so bigger pieces don't usually pose as an issue.

While your rice is cooking, set a large skillet to medium heat with some extra virgin olive oil. Start browning off your pieces of fake chicken. This should take around 3-5 minutes on each side.

Once your protein is done browning on both sides, start cooking the carrots. Cook them first for a few minutes because they will take the longest to soften up. After about 3 or so minutes have passed, add the peppers and onions. Cook for another 5-7 minutes. Add salt and pepper.

Once the carrots, onions, and peppers start softening up, add the zucchini and cook for another 3-5 minutes. Add a little more salt and pepper but refrain from salting the dish again until the end of the cooking process.

Now you can add the frozen broccoli, corn, red pepper flakes, and the sauce you made earlier. Cover the pan and let everything simmer for another 5-7 minutes. Uncover and add the greens. Turn the heat off and work them in until they're all wilted down. The sauce probably adds enough salt for the remainder of the dish, but adjust any seasonings to your taste.

Serve over rice, lo mein/rice noodles, or just enjoy on its own!

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