Roasted Red Pepper Hummus

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PER ITALIANO

Hello everyone,

Hummus is one of the essential foods in a plant based kitchen for its versatility. We can prepare many different variations of it by using different legumes and various vegetables and spices.

I published a more traditional Hummus recipe which was also compatible with whole food plant based diet. Today, I will be sharing our delicious Roasted Red Pepper Hummus recipe.

You can either grill or roast your peppers, I roasted mine. They lose liquid during cooking obviously so make sure that you use minimum 600 - 700 g of fresh peppers.

Ingredients:
750 g cooked chickpeas
250 g roasted and then peeled sweet red capia or bell pepper
75 g chickpea cooking water
60 g whole sesame tahini
40 g freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 cloves of pressed garlic
2 TBSP nutritional yeast

1 tsp smoked paprika

Optional, little salt

Preparation:

Brown Rice Salad with Chickpeas and Nuts

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PER ITALIANO

Hello,

Is it too hot and you don't feel like eating anything? We have just the recipe for you!

Brown Rice Salad with Chickpeas and Nuts is a lifesaver for us for many reasons. The first of all it is delicious and refreshing! It is easy to prepare. It works great as take away food. We can pack and take it to anywhere.. to the beach, picnic, our travels. A good lunch idea also for those who take their own food to the office.

I used ribe rice for today's recipe because it was what I got at the moment. I previously made this with organic and brown basmati, jasmine, red, black and wild rice or with a mixture of them.

Why is it important for us that our rice is both brown and also organic?

-Brown rice is a whole grain, instead white rice is a refined grain which loses much of its fiber and nutrients during the process. Brow rice is higher in fiber, protein, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals while it has a lower glycemic index.

-Brown rice, unlike white rice, contains all parts of the grain — the bran, germ, and endosperm. This may mean higher exposure to pesticide residues when it comes to conventional rice production which uses over 40 different pesticides to control weeds and insects.That's why we prefer to use organic rice products. As a matter of fact I use organic whenever its about whole grains.

I was inspired by a recipe in Gaz Oakley's beautiful cookbook "Vegan 100". I've made a few changes and additions to the original recipe, adapted it also to our whole food plant based diet.

Ingredients (for 6):
250 g organic brown rice
30 g unsweetened shredded coconut
30 g lightly toasted hazelnuts, roughly chopped
30 g pecans, roughly chopped
4 spring onions, chopped into small pieces
50 g dried apricots, chopped into small pieces
150 g green - red - yellow bell pepper, chopped into pieces
150 g corn, no sugar added
300 g cooked chickpeas
Fresh juice of 1 lemon

1 TBSP dry mint and 1/2 TBSP dry oregano

Additionally if you'd like;

1 - 2 TBSP dried blackcurrants

Red pepper flakes

Black pepper

Little salt

Curly lettuce for garnish

Preparation:

Vanilla and Hazelnut Nice Cream

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PER ITALIANO

Hello,

It is really hot outside, isn't it? How about a big bowl of yummy Vanilla and Hazelnut Nice Cream?

You may have already heard about it, if not, you really should! Nice Cream (or N'ice Cream) is a healthy and delicious ice cream alternative which doesn't contain any refined sugar or dairy. When you blend frozen bananas, its main ingredient, together with a flavor or fruit you'd like, in a matter of seconds you make very healthy and flavorsome ice creams.

I wanted to make something basic so we've made vanilla and hazelnut-cacao flavoured nice creams today.

Once you learn tips and tricks about how to make nice cream, you will see how easy it is to create your own beautifully flavored nice creams.

Tips to make delicious Nice Creams :

1-  Our main ingredient should be frozen RIPE bananas. There are mainly two reasons for that:
     a) Bananas are the ones that make our nice cream really creamy.
     b) We don't add any sweetener, so the riper the bananas the sweeter the nice cream.

2- We can flavour our nice creams by adding some spices or powders like vanilla, cacao, cinnamon...etc.

3- If we'd like to have fruit nice creams, we can add the real thing itself. We can blend frozen ripe bananas with previously cut and frozen fruits like strawberries, blueberries, peaches, apricots, melon...etc.

4- The consistency in fruit flavoured Nice Creams may change due the type of the fruit and quantity that we use. If our nice cream is high in bananas it will be creamier. The more and the juicer fruit you use it will tend to have icier consistency.

5- You can flavour your Nice Cream with nut butters like hazelnut or peanut butter or any butter you'd like.

6- While preparing our Nice Cream time is of the essence. We need to be fast attentive so that it won't melt. We like its creamy consistency right after we blend it and we have it fresh as soon as it's done. If you'd like to eat it later or if you think it became too soft, you can put it back in the freezer to eat it later.

7- If you'd like you can serve your Nice Creams with fresh fruit cuts, raw cacao, chocolate pieces or pistachio, walnut crumbs... etc.

NOTE: Make sure your blender is compatible to process ice and frozen pieces of fruit!!

Here comes the recipe of today.

Ingredients (for 2):
400 g frozen RIPE banana slices
30 g Almond Milk (or another plant based milk)
1/4 tsp vanilla powder (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
1 TBSP Hazelnut Butter
1 TBSP raw cacao powder (or unsweetened dark cacao powder)

Preparation:

Roasted Mushrooms

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Hello,

We will roast mushrooms today to use them in many different ways.

For this time I picked brown large portobello mushrooms and oyster mushrooms. I also use brown cremini mushrooms when I can find them. Champignons work fine too but our favourites are the first three that I mentioned.

We try to avoid oil and salt as much as we can so I've tossed them with half a tablespoon of oil and tamari only.

Ingredients:
300 g brown portobello mushrooms
1/2 TBSP extravirgin olive oil
1/2 TBSP tamari or soy sauce

300 g oyster mushrooms
1/2 TBSP extravirgin olive oil
1/2 TBSP tamari or soy sauce

Preparation:

Cashew Mayonnaise

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PER ITALIANO

Hello everyone,

Today I'd like to share with you a great recipe that you can use in your Whole Food Plant Based kitchen: Cashew Mayonnaise.

As you can guess already from the title its main ingredients are cashew nuts. When you blend raw cashews with some water in a high powered blender, they melt and turn into a very beautiful smooth cream. Raw cashews have a very mild flavour, that's why they are often used to prepare plant based creams, cheeses and milk.

You can use this recipe not only as a mayo alternative but also as a cream to dress your pasta with or a cheesy spread on your slice of bread. You can thin it with a bit of plant milk when you use as pasta sauce. You can add nutritional yeast to give it a cheesy flavour.

I wanted this mayo to have a mild taste so I've limited my use of spices for this time not to create a strong flavoured mayonnaise. You can make any additions as you'd like. You can create distinctive flavours by adding fresh or dried herbs like dill, basil, thyme or spices like turmeric, curry, smoked pepper etc.

For those who don't like mustard, Dijon is a mild tasting mustard and adding 1 teaspoon into your mixture won't make your mayonnaise taste like mustard. So I'd say, don't be discouraged by the use of mustard in the recipe, it is up to you of course.

Yes, Cashew Mayonnaise is a healthier alternative to the classic one buy let's also remember that it is high in calories as well as nutrients. Even though our mayo has no refined oil but healthy fat, it is always wise to consume such nut containing calorie dense creams in small amounts.

About measuring cups and spoons I use in my recipes... I have a set that I bought from Amazon. As a person who likes trying new recipes I am a bit of perfectionist so I need to measure my ingredients with precision. They make my work so much easier. I have different sets of cutlery at home but none of them is the same in size. Besides, if you are copying recipes from cookbooks they almost always have such sets.  Owning one would give you consistency and piece of mind. They could be easily bought in many stores or online.

Ingredients:
300 g raw unsalted cashews
180 g water
2 TBSP fresh lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon Mustard
1/2 tsp salt*
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder

Notes:

1. If you don't want to compromise from Whole Food Plant Based diet leave the salt out.
2. If you'd like your mayo to have stronger flavors, you can increase the amount of lemon juice, mustard and spices up to your taste. You can even prepare different flavored mayos by adding different herbs like dill, oregano, different spices like turmeric, smoked pepper, nutritional yeast or squeezed fresh garlic etc.
3. If you are using Thermomix or the container bowl of your Blender is as large as Thermomix's one (2 liters), you'd better to use minimum 300 g of cashews. Such large container blenders don't work well enough with small amount of ingredients and it is hard to obtain a smooth cream. Instead, if your Blender has a small container bowl you can reduce the amount that you plan to prepare.
4. I prepared a thick mayonnaise. If you'd like to have a thinner one add a little water up to your preference.
5. If you let it rest in the fridge for a couple of hours it will taste even more flavorsome.

Preparation:

Yogurt Ice Cream with Fresh Strawberries and Blueberries

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PER ITALIANO

Hello friends,

Today we are preparing a flavorful ice cream with soy yogurt, fresh fruits, pistachios and coconut flakes.

Before going plant based, I used to make my own yogurt at home. I wanted to make also a plant based yogurt myself and tried different recipes with nuts, rice, soybeans or plant based milks. However I wasn't happy with neither taste nor the consistency. 

Among the plant based yogurt brands we've tried so far our absolute favourite is Sojade natural soy yogurt. It is delicious, tastes really yogurt-like and is also organic. Another brand we use is Sojasun natural soy yogurt. I read both Sojade and Sojasun make part of the same group, while the first one is organic the other one is not.

I live in Italy and I can find them quite easily. I don't know from which part of the world you are reading this blog, you may have different brands.

If you live in a place where soy yogurt is out of reach for you or if you can't find one that you like, it is not a big deal for this recipe, you can replace yogurt with the same amount of frozen banana.

We won't add any sweetener at all to our healthy ice cream. The most important tip I can share with you is to have some frozen RIPE bananas in your freezer. As long as you have ripe bananas you won't need use any other sweetener or thickener. No need to count calories as well ;)

I follow discounts and when bananas are discounted I buy in bulk, let them ripen and then slice and freeze them. Sometimes, mostly in summer, supermarkets want to get rid of their overripe bananas fast so they sell them at a pretty discounted price at their discount corners, so keep in mind.

Ingredients (for 2):
300 g frozen RIPE banana slices
100 g frozen soy yogurt cubes
1/4 tsp vanilla extract or pure vanilla powder
Fresh strawberry slices
Blueberries
Raw pistachios
Coconut flakes

Preparation:

Salad with Grilled Vegetables

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PER ITALIANO

Hello everyone,

You may remember that we are salad lovers and we have salad at least once a day, often twice. Today I am sharing one of our favourite summer salads: Salad with grilled vegetables.

Eggplants and zucchini are in season. I'd say don't miss it out before summer is over.

When the temperature gets high we often don't feel like eating much. A light meal feels just about right. If it is one of those days for you, you can enrich this salad by adding some tofu or legumes like beans or chickpeas. This way you'll have one light but also satisfying and delicious meal that contains greens, veggies and protein.

Lettuces of today's salad come directly from the producer: our tiny garden :) We enjoy the luxury of having a tiny piece of land next to our building. There is nothing like the taste of your own freshly harvested lettuce.

We planted different varieties of lettuce after each harvest. So far we've tried over 15 varieties which had different tones of green, red, curly leaves, flat leaves, soft leaves and crispy ones... Using different lettuces improve your salad visually and nutritionally.

Among the ingredients below I haven't written the exact amount of eggplant and zucchini. Add as much as you wish.

Ingredients (for 1):
100 - 125 g mixed lettuce
1/2 apple
2 - 3 artichoke hearts (jarred)
2 - 3 sun dried tomatoes (jarred)
Grilled eggplant slices
Grilled zucchini slices
Spring onion (chopped)
2 pitted green olives
2 pitted black olives
1 tsp sunflower and pumpkin seeds
3-4 pecans
Balsamic vinegar

Notes:

1. My artichoke hearts were preserved in oil. You can use a no-oil brand to make even a better WFPB version of this. If also yours are jarred in oil, strain them thoroughly.
2. My sun dried tomatoes were also preserved in oil. I strained the oil well before using them. If you have dried tomatoes at home you can soften them by soaking in warm water. 
3. As I mentioned before, if you'd like to have only salad for your meal, you can enrich protein content of your salad by adding some tofu or legumes like beans or chickpeas.

Preparation:

Almond Butter

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PER ITALIANO

Hello everyone,

Today's leading actor is again almonds. A few days back we made a plant based milk with them and now it is time for butter.

If you have a high speed blender or Thermomix you can make your own nut butters. Not only will you easily prepare delicious and healthy nut butters at home, but you will also save on the kitchen budget.

You can prepare you butter with raw or lightly toasted almonds. I often use half raw and half toasted.

All you need for this recipe is your almonds and a bit of patience. In the beginning they will look more like a crumbly mess than a creamy butter but given enough time your butter will eventually become very creamy as you can see in the photos.

Ingredients:
500 g raw or lightly toasted almonds

Preparation:

Tofu Arrabbiata Sauce

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PER ITALIANO

Hello everyone,

Today I'd like to share with you the recipe of one of our essential tomato based sauces which goes with almost anything.

I've got the inspiration from an Italian classic: arrabbiata sauce. There is not tofu in the original recipe obviously.

If you are looking for a recipe to use your leftover almond pulp after making your almond milk, add Tofu Arrabbiata Sauce into the list.

I prefer to prepare a good amount of this sauce and store it in the freezer. I'd recommend you all to do so for its practicality.

You can use this sauce with many vegetable dishes besides pasta. It goes great with legumes such as beans, chickpeas and lentils. If you have some precooked legumes in your fridge or a can in your pantry, you can have a very delicious and healthy meal in a short amount of time by simply mixing them with the sauce and warm it for several minutes. Do you also have some precooked grains? Add them into the mixture too! This could save you a lot of time and energy and present you the chance to eat well after a exhausting working day.

Today I used my sauce with gnocchi, another italian classic. Gnocchi is a type of fresh pasta made of mainly with potatoes. I am planning to share the recipe for a whole food plant based version of it in future.

Ingredients:
100 g onion
50 g garlic
Red pepper flakes to taste (optional)
80 g parsley leaves
400 g organic natural tofu
4 cans diced tomatoes ( 1 can = 400 g)
Little or no salt, black pepper to taste (optional)
600 g water

Notes:

1. In the blog I mainly prepare whole food plant based recipes so I don't use oil in the recipe. If you prefer to use oil, you can add some extra virgin olive oil while sauteing onions.
2. I couldn't get used to "zero salt" policy in WFPB recipes. I still add a little.
3. If you'd like to make this sauce without tofu, reduce the amount of water by half. Add more in case it's needed.
4. If you have some leftover almond pulp, you can add it into the mixture together with diced tomatoes.

Preparation:

Broccoli Greens and Red Lentil Sedanini Stuffed Winter Squash

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PER ITALIANO

Today's recipe has a long title. It is very easy to prepare if you have your Roasted Winter Squash Sauce ready in the fridge.

Each meal I prepare with this sauce tastes a little different because I enrich the sauce by using whatever I have in the pantry and the fridge at the moment.

The day I prepared this dish a friend of ours brought us some broccoli greens freshly picked from her garden, so I used them. As pasta I opted for red lentil sedanini.

Ingredients (for 2):
120 g red lentil sedanini
Broccoli greens, chopped
2 winter squash halves, previously roasted and scooped out leaving a cm of flesh around the edges
Roasted Winter Squash Sauce
Plant milk (only if necessary)

Preparation:

Sorghum and Spinach Stuffed Butternut Squash

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As promised, I start posting a series of dishes created by using Roasted Winter Squash Sauce. My intention here is to give you some ideas to inspire so that you can come up with your own creations using whatever you have in your pantry with a touch of imagination.

In today's recipe I used two butternut squash halves. They are two of the 6 halves I roasted in the oven to make Roasted Winter Squash sauce and scooped out the flesh, leaving a cm of flesh around the edges.

I stuffed my squashes with sorghum and spinach. I previously cooked 100 g of sorghum. Since the spinach had very fresh and delicate leaves I didn't precook them..

Ingredients (for 2):
2 halves of butternut squash, previously roasted and scooped out the flesh, leaving a cm of flesh around the edges
Sorghum, previously cooked (100 - 120 g dry)
Fresh spinach leaves, cut into small pieces
Roasted Winter Squash Sauce
Plant milk (only if necessary)


Yapılışı:

Roasted Winter Squash Sauce

TÜRKÇE İÇİN TIKLAYIN
PER ITALIANO

Hello again everyone.. It's been a while...

Today I'll write about a delicious sauce which we love and prepare very often this period of the year.

I've got the inspiration from Gaz Oakley's yummy Cheesy Stuffed Squash recipe. After many trials and several changes I've managed to come up with a very delicious and versatile sauce. Don't get me wrong, the origial recipe also is just good as it is. My intention was to create a sauce which would be as tasty and good for a whole food plant based diet.

You'll have a good amount of sauce with this recipe which is very helpful to have something ready in the fridge. You can always freeze the excess amount if there is any left.

You can use our Roasted Winter Squash Sauce in many different ways and serve very beautifully stuffed in the halved / emptied squashes.

Within the next days I'll share some of the dishes I prepared with this sauce so that I can give you some ideas and inspiration.

These days in the supermarkets and farmer markets you can see a wide range of winter squashes that come in many different types, colours and sizes. The ones I come across more often are Butternut Squash and red or green squashes (They are all just called winter squash so I don't know the exact type of the squash but judging from the look I believe they are kabochas, mantovana, delica.. etc)

When I buy squashes to make our Roasted Squash Sauce I try to pick smaller ones. Because, as I use the flesh of the squashes for the sauce, I use the halved and emptied squashes as a bowl to serve meal and they look just gorgeous.

I don't mind much about the exact weight of the ingredients in this recipe. There are different varieties of squashes and even the ones from the very same variety come in different sizes. In today's recipe I used 2 butternut squashes and 1 green winter squash. I try to find squashes that weigh between 1 kg  - 1 kg 250 g. Of course you can use bigger sized ones as well, however, if you'd like to use them as serving bowl per portion, I'd recommend you not to go over 1.5 kg.

I use 3 winter squashes for this recipe and 2 of them are always butternut squashes.

Here come the ingredients...


Ingredients:
2 butternut squashes (1 kg each)
1 green winter squash (1 kg 300 g)

700 g leek
10 - 15 fresh sage leaves (20 - 25)
4 Tbsp nutritional yeast
10 g freshly squeezed lemon juice

Spices, Optional;*(1)
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Bechamel sauce:
1 L organic soy milk
100 g organic brown rice flour*(2)
50 g organic whole sesame tahini
1/2 - 1 tsp salt
10 g freshly squeezed lemon juice*(3)

*(1) I don't always use the spices, sometimes I leave the garlic powder out. It is up to your preference.

*(2) I use a variety of flours depending on what I have in the kitchen. To give you an example, in my previous bechamel I used 40 g of tapioca flour, 40 g of whole buckwheat flour and 20 g of chickpea flour.

*(3) In a whole food plant based diet the consumption of salt is discouraged. Even though I've reduced our use of salt a lot I couldn't manage to go entirely salt-free. You can leave the salt out or try to use the least amount possible.

Preparation: