I’ve been making good progress in my writing cave on book 2 in the Green St. Girls so I wanted to pop out to share a healthy (ish) and totally delicious vegan dessert recipe that’s perfect for a crowd or if you just need something tasty nearby to keep those creative juices flowing.
We had some overripe bananas, which I’m starting to think is a ploy on my husband’s part to get me to make banana bread or banana cookies or any of the other vegan recipes I’ve used bananas for. Sneaky, sneaky.
Luckily for him that I love him, and that cookies are the perfect low calorie vegan dessert, at least if you can manage to just one or two.
When it’s time for a party, you have to have a dip. Or two or three, actually. Whether its salsa, a vegan yogurt dip, cheese dip or hummus, there’s no party without something creamy to dip your carrot sticks and broccoli tops into. Right?
The great thing about vegan party dips is…they aren’t just for parties. Recently we went to see Avatar 2: Way of the Water and we went after a long day spent amongst people. You don’t know this about me but I’m not much of a people person. Between the noise and germs and bodies, it just becomes a lot pretty quickly. So by the time the movie was over–really great, by the way–I was over it all. And it was late-ish, as in a few hours before dinner so I decided that instead of whipping up a big ole lunch, we should do a quick dip.
I bought a baguette and I knew we had cucumbers and tomatoes already for a quick side salad. So there it was, a quick and easy vegan dip made from scratch and oil free.
Dips are great. They are fun and there are so many different ways you can whip up a few, quickly and easily.
Today’s dip is easy and let’s the oven do most of the work.
Over the years, even before I became vegan, I have had a love-hate relationship with frozen pizza. Simply put, it’s kind of gross. Sure it’ll do in a pinch if you just need sustenance but honestly I’d rather have anything else like a cold sandwich, or a few sticks of celery. Anything.
ANYTHING.
As a vegan this continues to be true. Whenever a new vegan pizza hits the frozen food aisles, I try it out, hoping for the best. But the dough is never quite right and the toppings almost always leave a lot to be desired. The vegan cheese is….weird and nothing about it makes it worth the calories.
Until now.
I gotta tell you guys that I wasn’t jazzed about trying today’s pizza even though I really like the Naturli brand. But I grabbed a box anyway and crossed my fingers.
This Naturli Mexicana pizza has bell peppers, vegan mince and a cheese that was actually pretty tasty. I added salt, black pepper, dried oregano and garlic on top because vegan pizza, frozen pizza in general always lacks flavor to me.
Served with hot sauce on the side, of course.
I really enjoyed everything about this pizza. The dough tasted like the kind that’s cooked in those pizza ovens under a fire, minus the burnt taste. The toppings were flavorful and the cheese was tasty. It wasn’t gooey or anything but it was delicious.
Let’s just say that I liked it enough that I’ve been looking for it since and guess what? I can’t find it anywhere so I guess I’ll be ordering it online.
Do you have a favorite vegan pizza brand? Drop names and links in the comments section!
Check out some of my other vegan pizza recipes below!
What does that mean, exactly? It means we have the best of what fall vegan recipes have to offer from herbs and spices, to locally grown ingredients that make your fall vegan soups the best they can be.
When it comes to making seasonal vegan stews, I love knowing that my big supermarkets and even the local farmer’s markets will have fresh thyme, rosemary and oregano to add to my favorite autumn recipes. Toss in a few seasonal vegetables and you have everything you need for the perfect hearty vegan stew.
When it comes to buying vegan soup recipes in the fall, I like to pick up what I can find. Whether that is corn or zucchini, eggplant, celery or cabbage, whatever I can find locally and at a reasonable price is a top candidate for my favorite vegan soup recipes.
Today I decided to shoot for a hearty white bean vegan stew which is perfect for any level of vegan home cook because all you need is a few vegetables, some herbs and spices and you’re ready to feed your family or a big crowd for football Sunday!
Let’s dive into this quick and easy vegan fall stew recipe that is guaranteed to satisfy a hungry crowd.
Whether you’re having a birthday or anniversary party, Super Bowl or Australian Open party, you’ll need to be able to feed a crowd. Feeding a crowd a bunch of vegan appetizers is easier than you might think, as long as you stop thinking of party food in traditional ways.
The first party I threw after going vegan was to celebrate Wimbledon (Hello, I am a tennis nerd! :P) and I was thinking like an animal eating party thrower. My mind immediately went to things like meatballs and buffalo wings, spinach & artichoke dip and all those other party snacks filled with dairy and flesh. No bueno.
As time went on, I became more comfortable just thinking about vegan appetizers and ways to veganize old school party foods. That was (almost) five years ago and now, I feel like a pro.
I mean, I’m not a pro but I feel less stressed when making food for a crowd. Then again that could be because I haven’t attended many crowded events for…some time now.
Tasty vegan appetizers to feed a hungry crowd!
Feeding a mixed crowd of vegans and non-vegans isn’t something I worry about. Why? Because my husband and I are both vegans and so is our household. If you come to our house, you should expect to be served vegan food. Period.
But you know what? Even if it’s just you and your family, however big or small that is, vegan appetizers are a great way to have a snack fest all day on special days. This particular spread of vegan party food was for me and the hubs on New Year’s Eve.
What do these yummy dishes all have in common? They are delicious vegan dips!
I don’t know about you guys, but I am always looking for different things to dip-ify. My favorite is salsa, followed up with hummus but I can totally get down with a nice tapenade if the olive selection is appealing enough. But any one of these vegan dips can get boring after a while and I find it’s nice to switch things up once in a while, so when my father-in-law brought A LOT of white plums back from a trip to the Romanian countryside, it was the perfect time to improvise.
White plums are not just for sweet vegan dishes
To be fair, white plums are not all that delicious on their own. The texture is very similar to the plums you can find in most supermarkets around the world, but the taste is so mild that it’s almost nonexistent. If you give them a day or two after they’re perfectly ripe, they are much sweeter and perfect for this vegan relish I created. Well…maybe someone else created and I just made it up in my head. Either way, this one is mine and I’m claiming it.
Quick & easy vegan dips don’t have to be complicated. Just add chips!
The ingredient list on this vegan dip is super simple. All you need is: banana pepper, shallot, white plums, fresh lemon juice and rice vinegar. The only seasoning I added was salt, black pepper & garlic granules.
Nothing else.
Start with the shallots, because you want to give him a little bit of pickling so they don’t overpower the other ingredients. Dice the shallots and add them straight to a bowl, along with salt, pepper, lemon juice and vinegar. Give it a little stir and let it sit while you chop the banana peppers and plums.
I used jarred banana peppers because that’s what I had on hand, and truthfully I don’t think I’ve seen any fresh banana peppers since moving to Romania. Add the banana peppers to the bowl and give a good stir before moving on to the plums.
For the white plums, you can peel the skin off but I kept them on because, you know, fiber. Give them an even dice and add to the bowl. Give everything a quick stir and refrigerate. I let them sit in the fridge for a few days so the flavors could get together and have a little party, but you can dig right in if you want.
And now you have another easy vegan dip added to your repertoire.
And what’s even better? It is SUPER calorie/figure friendly!
I’ve made no secret on this blog about my attempt to eat healthier. I started a vegan lifestyle in May 2017 and since then I’ve lost more than 45kg, I have increased my muscle mass and have almost no jiggly skin remaining. Yay me.
But I’m not telling you this just to brag or clap myself on the back, I’m telling you because I have worked really hard to maintain a healthy diet at all times without going overboard. But, a person with more than 45 kilograms to lose has a clear love and/or addiction to food, right?
Soooo right.
But that doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy a little bit of junk every once in a while. And whenever there are new vegan products that hit the market, I try them out to see if they’re worth breaking the calorie bank. Newsflash: They usually aren’t.
But let’s dig in and see, shall we?
Before I get into my vegan junk food haul, let me tell you a little bit about the healthy things I do to keep the weight off and stay healthy & fit.
Today’s post is kind of a brag-post or rather, a way for me to gush about a really great vegan cookie recipe I came across recently.
Baking is not my strong suit in the kitchen, not really. I can mix and match flavors with the best of’em, but I need a base recipe to work from because I am very good at following a recipe.
So today I’m doing a little thank you and a little brag to the blog Loving It Vegan for this easy chocolate chunk cookie recipe.
This is a quick and easy vegan cookie recipe and chances are good that you have all he ingredients you need in your pantry.
I used chocolate chunks because I have yet to come across vegan chocolate chips here in Romania and I like having big chunks in some bites and tiny slivers in others.
I haven’t been this satisfied with a vegan cookie recipe since I veganized my favorite peanut butter cookie recipes, and that was one of the first dessert recipes I veganized back when I was a new vegan.
These cookies are crispy on the edges and super soft on the inside, reminding me of why I don’t make cookies all that often. They are, honestly, too good and I had to do a long, grueling workout today to make up for how many I tested out yesterday.
Thank you, PopSugar.
What’s your favorite cookie recipe? I don’t eat them often, but I make them a lot because my partner and my in-laws seem to love’em.
I love a good dip. Maybe it’s because I love chips and vegan dips are the perfect way to enjoy them, or maybe it’s just because I love the act of dipping things into vats of creamy goodness.
Who knows?
Well I was really in the mood for a vegan spinach & artichoke dip but thanks to ‘world events’ a few weeks had gone by without any artichokes–fresh or jarred–so I was forced to improvise. And since I’ve been on a kick making vegan squash and vegan pumpkin recipes, you can imagine that I had quite a bit to use time and time again and I was like, “Well, squash can be made cheesy, right?”
The answer, folks, is yeah. It can.
As you can probably tell by the photo there is a lot of squash in this recipe, because it’s part of the dip as well as the queso, if that makes sense?
I know we all love to make fun of those who go a little crazy when pumpkin spice season rolls around, but the truth is these people are just taking advantage of an abundance of a spice blend that really should be available all year long. I mean, ask yourself, what is so wrong with any of these:
Cinnamon GInger Cloves Allspice Nutmeg
I can’t think of one reason to hate on these spices, especially when you have every type of squash and pumpkin at your disposal! It’s like being mad that your market has broccoli, cauliflower and romesco! Unfathomable, that’s what it is.
All I’m saying is, embrace the season and not just because we are all living in the Upside Down known as 2020, just enjoy because it’s tasty, easy to make and readily available.
All you have to do is take your favorite vegan pumpkin cupcake recipe, or a vegan cake recipe, or any other vegan autumn recipe and add the pumpkin spice blend to the dry ingredients. It really is just that simple.
And if you’re feeling really sauce, like I apparently was, add a pumpkin spice glaze by adding the same blend to powdered sugar along with almond milk, or any other nut milk, plus pinch of bourbon or brandy. For these vegan cupcakes, I used a splash of Apple Pie Moonshine because it has that extra hint of sweetness and booze that turn these vegan cupcakes into something truly amazing.
Want to make’em?
Here we go:
250g All Purpose Flour 225g Brown Sugar 1 tsp Baking Soda 1 tsp Baking Powder 1/2 tsp Salt 3 and 1/2 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice (homemade or store bought) 335g Pumpkin Puree (not pumpkin pie filling) 1 tsp Vanilla Extract (I’m in love with this Madagascar vanilla from Dr. Oetker. 60ml Coconut Oil (or other oil, like EVOO) 1 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar 1 Vegan Egg (I like Archeor Megga Exx, both are German brands if you’re interested)
Mix the dry ingredients together and pour the wet into the dry, stirring until bend but be careful not to overmix or you’ll end up with tough, dense vegan pastries.
Bake at 180C for 20 to 25 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Now you’re done and ready to gobble up your vegan pumpkin spice cupcakes!
If you plan to add a glaze, let the cupcakes cool for 15 to 20 minutes or you’ll end up with a big, gooey mess.
What do you like drink with your vegan cupcakes…beer? Cocktails? Almond milk?
How to cook "with visual instructions" "using familiar ingredients from your local grocery stores" healthy, traditional and delicious Japanese dishes!!
the-spicy-spatula.com 
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