Potatoes

Easy Vegan Weeknight Dinner Recipe!

Posted on April. 2024April. 2024 by writinstuff

As you may or may not know, I am self-employed as a writer and a ghostwriter in addition to being a published author (mostly romance books). Why am I giving out my CV all of a sudden? Exposure, of course!

Just kidding…but seriously if you want to buy my books you totally can.

Anyway back to vegan food. I’m bringing up my schedule because it is often jam packed. Most days I know exactly what I have to do and what I need or would like to do from one day to the next, but some days I’ll take a quickie assignment if the price is right or the client is someone I enjoy working with and that will throw my schedule all out of whack.

But a writer girl still has to eat, doesn’t she?

This one does! And when things get a little too crazy and it’s my night to cook, I have to find ways to be creative. My go to vegan recipes when I’m busy and/or lazy? A good vegan Harvest Bowl or a vegan Tray Bake recipe. I like to have a few things on my plate and I want most of them to be healthy, whole and plant based.

And that’s where today’s recipe enters. This isn’t really a bowl or a tray back but it’s vegan and it’s plant-based. Even the two tiny vegan balls hiding out next to the potatoes are made from beet and pea protein!!! Can you tell how excited I am about this vegan weeknight dinner?

It’s easy but it doesn’t taste like it’s easy. This is where you’ll let your kitchen appliances do what they do while you supervise. Livin’ the dream, right?

Right?

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Bowls, oil free vegan recipes, Plant Based, Potatoes, Salads, Vegan

Easy Vegan Salad Recipe! ~ Spring Veggie Salad

Posted on April. 2024April. 2024 by writinstuff

You all know that I am a big, big fan of salads. Toss’em with noodles, rice, bulgur, couscous, mushrooms or your favorite vegan meat alternative. Add a vinaigrette or a creamy vegan yogurt salad dressing and I am a happy camper.

After a couple hours spent playing tennis, I wanted something nutritious and satisfying, but substantial enough to maintain all the calories burnt while channeling my inner Serena Williams. This salad totally fit the bill!

Recently I came across this gorgeous looking recipe when I was scrolling on Pinterest (yes people still do that) and I knew that I was going to find a way to veganize it. It was so gorgeous with bright, vibrant spring colors, lots of veggies which means lots of nutrients and so simple it was irresistible.

I know that salads, particularly vegan salads, often get a bad rap but the truth is that salads are healthy pizza. What did I just say? You heard me. People always say that pizza is the perfect food because it combines all the food groups but…have you ever heard of a salad? You get tons of vegetables either raw or cooked, or raw and cooked, grains, beans or vegan meat alternatives, fruit and vegan salad dressing! That’s like everything except dessert.

And this one is wonderful so let’s stop talking about and just get to making this vegan Spring Salad. No fancy name, just simple vegan goodness.

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Bowls, oil free vegan recipes, one pot recipes, Plant Based, Potatoes, Vegan

Smoky Vegan Potato Salad – One Bowl Vegan Recipe

Posted on March. 2024March. 2024 by writinstuff

The title is a bit clunky isn’t it? Yeah, I know but that’s the point here. The vegan potato salad is a whole meal on it’s own so you can make double to eat it for dinner or the next day for lunch.

There’s no story behind this recipe (you’re probably thankful for that!) other than I really wanted potato salad. I love it and I don’t have it often enough because potato salad, even vegan potato salad, can be quite the calorie bomb, at least in my opinion. Even if you swap out the vegan mayonnaise for vegan yogurt, there’s only so much you can do to make it calorie friendly so that you can add something else to turn it into a meal.

Obviously back in the day at a family barbecue nobody was thinking about calories so we happily piled on barbecue family favorites beside.

Yeah, I’m not doing that.

But potato salad is my thing so I had to figure it out. And instead of going crazy or considering it a “cheat” day because honestly, who am I cheating, I decided to make it a one bowl vegan meal. It’s like a one pot vegan meal only…in a bowl.

So, grab your cutting board and knife and let’s get started!

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Bar Food, Bowls, Cheese, one pot recipes, Potatoes, Vegan

Cheesy Vegan Potato Bake

Posted on December. 2023December. 2023 by writinstuff

You know, there’s something to be said about simple vegan dinners beyond the simplicity of them. Things in my house have been very busy lately. I’ve been participating in several book events online, working on Emerald Creek book 2 and often other necessary things like food end up taking a backseat. I spent all evening Sunday putting together ornaments for a giveaway in my book group, along with sending out stickers and magnets, which meant labeling a ton of envelopes and packages for international shipping.

Save me, please!

Just kidding…sort of.

Anyway the business of this time of year means that dinner doesn’t always get the fancy vegan dinner treatment it deserves. On this night in particular, my hubs made dinner and it was a pleasant surprise.

His dish was the epitome of an easy vegan dinner recipe and it was so dang delicious that nothing else mattered.

These Cheesy Vegan Potatoes had 2 main ingredients–vegan Feta cheese and potatoes–and that was more than enough for this potato lovin’ vegan! I was so busy in the writing cave right until the plates (silicon baking dishes) came out and then I had this steaming hot dish of potatoes and vegan cheese.

Um, yes please!

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oil free vegan recipes, one pot recipes, Plant Based, Potatoes, Vegan

Veggie Loaded Creamy Vegan Potato Salad

Posted on September. 2023September. 2023 by writinstuff

It’s already September and I haven’t had any potato salad this summer…or maybe I have? If I have then I don’t feel like I’ve had a good vegan potato salad this summer and I was desperately in the mood for one.

And when I say desperately I mean that I’d been thinking about it for a couple of days. Not because I was craving it but because there were other veggies like lettuce that needed to be used before they started to wilt, so I put the potato salad recipe on the back burner, which only made it all the more delicious when I made it.

This is a pretty simple vegan potato salad recipe and I loaded it with extras because I wanted to turn potato salad into a one pot meal all on its own. Cool, right?

So let’s not waste any more time.

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Bar Food, International vegan cuisine, Plant Based, Potatoes, Travel, Vegan

A Quick Trip to Iulia Hasdeu Castle & Vegan Nibbles

Posted on August. 2023August. 2023 by writinstuff

When you work at home like I do, sometimes it can feel as if you rarely venture into the outside world. I go shopping and run errands but if I’m not careful days upon days will pass where I haven’t left the house. I work out a home. Cook often and rarely eat out because vegan eats are hard to come by where I live so, home is where I am most of the time.

But once in a while my husband will put his foot down and insist we get out of the house and it usually means a pretty good day.

On this particular day it meant a trip to Castel Iulia Hasdeu, a cute little folly in Campina, Romania not far from where we’re staying.

Iulia Hasdeu was a poet and her father was a scientist, of sorts. This castle was built after her early death and her father claimed that the designs for it came to him from her after her death because it seems the entire family was very much into spiritism and ghosts and stuff like that.

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Asian Food, Bar Food, Desserts, Plant Based, Potatoes, Travel, Vegan

Weekend at the Black Sea featuring PlantEat /it/

Posted on August. 2023August. 2023 by writinstuff

That’s right, you read the title right. I spent this past weekend at the Black Sea. I have lived in Romania for a few years now and I have heard tons of stories from my husband about all the fun he and his cousin and friends had there over the years. So when the opportunity (and the weather) permitted, we decided to hop in the car and head east…to the sea!

The drive was great(ish) with very little traffic, lots of sun and lots of talking.

We stopped in Constanta on the way to Mamaia (beach/resort town right on the sea) and on the way back home because they have several delicious vegan restaurants and we were excited. Fully vegan? Not just sides to order? SOLD!

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Bowls, oil free vegan recipes, one pot recipes, Plant Based, Potatoes, Vegan

Lazy Vegan Meals ~ Jerk Spiced Oven Roasted Veggies

Posted on July. 2023July. 2023 by writinstuff

Picture this: it’s hot. You’re feeling lazy but also hungry and you’re not in the mood to order out, if that’s even an option.

What do you do?

The simple answer is slap together your favorite vegan sandwich, which is an option I often endorse (check out this Vegan Tofurky Sandwich or this Vegan Tuna Tapenade Sandwich). But some days you want to still feel like an adult and by that I mean you want to make a meal that is delicious and nutritious instead of spending money on takeout when you have ingredients in the fridge. Yeah, that fun part of adulting.

My go-to lazy vegan meal when I want something warm or when I refuse to let my fresh produce sit too long, is oven roasted vegetables. In fact, this is one of the best parts of veganism. You can grab a few veggies, pop them in the oven and be totally satisfied with this meal. Sure, there are some non-vegans out there who can do this but the number one question I get asked by friends and family is, “Where’s the meat?” and “Is that all?” comes a close second.

Anyway we’re feeling hungry and lazy but you have to put in a little bit of work to feel like you’ve done something and I have just the thing for you: chopping veggies. So grab your favorite kitchen knife and the sturdiest cutting board you have on hand, and let’s get chopping.

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Casseroles, oil free vegan recipes, one pot recipes, Plant Based, Potatoes, Vegan

30 Minute Vegan Tray Bake Recipe

Posted on May. 2023May. 2023 by writinstuff

Hey there vegan food lovers!

As you read this, I am off in Italy playing tourist so I’m going to keep this week’s recipes short and sweet.

As much as I love to cook, and I really do, sometimes I need to nourish my body and do it easily or quickly. Sometimes that means one pot meals and other times it means something similar, a tray bake recipe.

Vegan tray bake recipes are absolutely perfect when you want to eat good and eat well with very little effort. Today’s recipe features TVP, sweet potatoes and carrots. And I threw in a small batch of kohlrabi greens because I wanted to use them before they started to turn yellow and bitter.

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oil free vegan recipes, one pot recipes, Plant Based, Potatoes, Soup, Vegan

Creamy Vegan Potato & Corn Chowder Recipe

Posted on April. 2023April. 2023 by writinstuff

The weather lately has been so sporadic that it’s hard to know what to make from one day to the next. It’s annoying but I guess it can also be seen as an adventure. If that’s your thing.

A recent run of rainy days meant that the Hubs and I were both in the mood for something warm and with fresh corn on the cob on hand I knew it was the perfect weather for creamy corn & potato chowder.

Before going vegan I wasn’t really a fan of chowder because I was never a fan of milk or anything that tasted a lot like milk so for me, chowders were never an option, not even when I lived in the northeast. But lately I’ve been looking for ways to recreate chowder without the gross milky taste.

I think this version comes pretty dang close.