Tag: vegan

Sweet Potato Carrot Soup

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Sweet Potato Carrot Soup

This pureed soup uses few ingredients but is big on flavor. It’s a great way to add more veggies into your kiddo’s lunch or dinner, and introduces spices in a mild way to suit picky preschool tastebuds.

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 5 ounces shredded carrots
  • 1 and 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  • 3 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
  • 1/2 (15-ounce) can coconut milk
  1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes.
  2. Stir in the carrots, sweet potatoes, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, and broth. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 25 minutes.
  3. Transfer the soup to a blender and process until smooth. Pour into a bowl and whisk in the coconut milk.

You can prepare the soup in advance and reheat portions before serving.

Olympic Medal Cookies

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Olympic Cookies (8)

On the heels of our Olympic crafting, we made edible medals to enjoy during the opening ceremony of the Games (and needed to taste test them today, of course).

The recipe is care of High Five magazine. It needed a few vegan tweaks (we don’t have the convenience of pre-made sugar cookie dough logs or colored frosting), but the tweaks were easy to make.

Start with a box of sugar cookie mix (try Cherrybrook Kitchen), and bake according to package directions. Travis loves being my helper when we pull out the stand mixer!

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Make sure the cookies are very round balls as you put them into the oven, so you have round medal-shaped cookies at the end. Let cool completely.

To prepare the filling, place 5 medium frozen strawberries (thawed) in a bowl and crush with a potato masher.

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Combine the strawberries in a food processor with 1/2 cup non-dairy cream cheese, 1 tablespoon powdered sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract. Process until smooth.

Spread the strawberry filling onto half of the cookies; set aside the remaining cookies.

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Carefully guiding your child’s hand with a butter knife or plastic knife, cut strips of fruit leather into two pieces. Arrange the pieces over the strawberry filled cookies like the tails of a ribbon. Top with an additional cookie.

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From this point, you can have fun with toppings any way you’d like. We decided we needed to frost our cookies in yellow for gold medals. I added yellow food coloring to a store-bought vanilla frosting (try Dollop) in a plastic bag and kneaded until golden. Cut a small hole in the corner of the bag and pipe onto the cookies.

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Topping the frosting with sprinkles was Travis’s favorite part, eating sprinkles along the way of course.

Olympics kick off on February 9 – what sport will you and your kiddos be watching the most?

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Meatball Soup with Farro

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This hearty bowlful is a surefire way to warm up on a winter night!

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 package Gardein meatballs
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 cup chopped onion
  • 1 medium bell pepper, chopped
  • 4 oz. green beans
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
  • 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
  • 1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes
  • 1 and 1/2 cups cooked farro
  1. Cook the meatballs according to package directions. Cut into quarters and set aside.
  2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, bell peppers, and green beans; cook for 5 minutes.
  3. Add the Italian seasoning, broth, tomatoes, cooked meatballs, and farro to the pan, continuing to cook until warmed through.

Top with vegan Parmesan sprinkles for serving, if desired!

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Kitchen Sink Cookies

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This recipe is exactly what the title says it is: a way to use up everything in your pantry except the kitchen sink! Never before have I found a recipe that so perfectly uses up all the bits and bobs of baking ingredients I have lying about. You can prepare the dough now, freeze it in four separate batches, and enjoy cookies for ages to come. The stir-ins below are just a template: add up to 2 cups of whatever you have on hand: shredded coconut, chopped nuts, baking chips, raisins. Anything, in sum, except the real kitchen sink.

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

  • Cooking spray
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 and 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1/2 cup melted Earth Balance butter
  • 1 and 1/2 cups brown sugar
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1 cup canola oil
  • 2 tablespoons Ener-G egg powder
  • 1 tbsp. vanilla
  • 4 cups rolled oats

For the stir-ins:

  • 3/4 cup shredded coconut
  • 3/4 cup mini non-dairy chocolate chips (such as Enjoy Life)
  1. Line a 13×9-in baking dish with parchment paper and coat the parchment with cooking spray; set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.
  3. In a second bowl, whisk together the butter, brown sugar, sugar, and canola oil.
  4. Separately, whisk the Ener-G egg powder with 5 tablespoons warm water until well combined. Add to the butter mixture, along with the vanilla.
  5. Add the oats, along with the stir-ins of your choice. Press the batter evenly into the prepared pan, and cut into quarters with a knife, cutting all the way down to the parchment. Lightly score each quarter into 12 squares, cutting only halfway into the dough. Freeze for 1 hour.
  6. Transfer each quarter of the dough to a zip-top plastic bag, and store in the freezer until ready to use.
  7. To bake the cookies, remove from the freezer and separate along the 12 squares. Bake at 350 degrees F for 16 minutes. The cookies will be soft coming out of the oven but will harden as they cool. Cool on a wire rack before serving.

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Chocolate Mousse Dip

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Mousse Dip (1)

A dessert dip where tahini and tofu dress up in chocolate? Yes, please!

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup tahini
  • 1 cup non-dairy chocolate chips
  • 1 cup silken tofu
  • 2 tablespoons agave nectar
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  1. Combine the tahini and chocolate chips in a large glass bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir, then return to the microwave for an additional 30 seconds. Stir until the chocolate is melted.
  2. Combine the tahini mixture in a blender with the tofu, agave, and salt; process until smooth.
  3. Garnish with additional chocolate chips, if desired, for a pretty touch.

You can serve this dip with fruit, or even animal crackers for dipping. My preschooler occasionally likes it just by the spoonful!

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Note: The dip will solidify if refrigerated. You can make it creamier again with a quick 10 second re-heat in the microwave.

Veggie-Packed Mac ‘n’ Cheese

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For kids who won’t eat their vegetables, mac and cheese is the perfect venue to slip in a little extra veggie goodness while they are none the wiser. Here’s my super-speedy version, starting with your favorite store-bought mac ‘n’ cheese mix.

Ingredients:

  • 1 package vegan macaroni and cheese
  • 1 large sweet potato
  1. Prepare the mac and cheese according to package directions; set aside.
  2. Meanwhile, peel and cube the sweet potato, and cook in boiling water for 20 minutes, or until very tender.
  3. Transfer the sweet potato to a blender, along with a little of the cooking liquid; process until smooth.
  4. Stir 1/2 cup sweet potato puree into the mac and cheese; reserve the remaining sweet potato for another use. (Note: The puree is perfect for babies, if you’re feeding kids of multiple ages!).

From here, the varieties are almost endless. You could also use the same amount of butternut squash puree, cauliflower puree:

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or carrot puree:

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Sometimes I also leave the veggies a little chunkier, as with the carrot version shown here.

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Cheesy Cauliflower Soup

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Cauliflower Soup

This soup has so many hidden good-for-you ingredients it’s like a gold mine! I simply use plain white cauliflower, but feel free to get fancy and use an orange variety if you want a more vibrant color to the soup. To suit my preschooler’s taste, a mixture of half water and half veggie broth keeps the soup from being too salty. Use 4 cups broth instead if you prefer.

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 chopped yellow onion
  • 2 minced garlic cloves
  • 1 head cauliflower, chopped
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • 2 cups water
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 (15-ounce) rinsed and drained can navy beans
  • 6 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • 1 tablespoon tahini
  1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic; cook for 5 minutes, until the onion is translucent. Add the cauliflower, stirring well, then the broth, water, smoked paprika, and beans.
  2. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes.
  3. Remove from heat and stir in the nutritional yeast and tahini. Working in batches, transfer the soup to a blender and process until smooth. Return to the saucepan to heat through before serving.

Add croutons for serving, if desired!

Molasses Muffins

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Molasses Muffins (1)

I probably don’t need to sing the praises of molasses to most vegans – we’re all familiar with this powerhouse of B vitamins and iron. I try to keep molasses on hand – it’s great in smoothies! – but had just a little bit left in a jar that I wanted to use up. Enter this perfect little recipe that only yields a half dozen muffins. It’s exactly right for when you only have a little bit of an ingredient on hand or don’t need to feed a crowd!

Ingredients:

For the topping:

  • 1 and 1/2 tablespoons Earth Balance butter
  • 1/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • Pinch of ground ginger

For the muffins:

  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 6 tablespoons applesauce
  • 1 tablespoon canola oil
  • 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/8 teaspoon ginger
  • 1/2 cup raisins
  1. To prepare the topping, melt the butter and place in a large bowl. Add the remaining topping ingredients, combining with a fork; set aside.
  2. In a bowl, whisk together the molasses, applesauce, and oil. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and ginger. Stir in 1/3 cup of the topping mixture, along with the molasses mixture, and the raisins, stirring just until combined.
  4. Divide the muffins evenly among 6 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with the remaining topping mixture.
  5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes – a wooden pick inserted in the centers should come out clean. Cool on a wire rack, or serve warm.

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Breakfast Nachos

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Breakfast Nachos (2)

As the name of this recipe suggests, this twist on nachos is just right for starting the day before kids head off to school. Of course, nothing wrong with serving the nachos for dinner, either! Check your tortilla chip bag for the suggested serving size, which will depend on the size of the chips and particular brand. Generally “one serving” makes the right-sized base for the rest of these ingredients. The portion below will serve two little tots, or one hungry big kid (or grown-up!)

Ingredients:

  • 1 serving tortilla chips
  • 1/3 cup scrambled tofu (store-bought or homemade)
  • 1 tablespoon guacamole
  • 1 tablespoon salsa
  • 1/4 cup shredded Daiya cheddar
  1. Arrange the tortilla chips in a pile on a foil-lined baking sheet.
  2. Top evenly with the tofu scramble, guac, salsa, and cheese.
  3. Bake at 425 degrees F for 5 minutes, just until the cheese melts.

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Upside-Down Mini Banana Muffins

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These inverted muffin bites couldn’t be cuter – or tastier! A few of them make a great breakfast or snack.

Ingredients:

  • 24 teaspoons Earth Balance butter
  • 24 teaspoons brown sugar
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup canola oil
  • 2 Ener-G eggs
  • 1/4 cup non-dairy milk
  • 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 banana
  1. Place 1 teaspoon butter and 1 teaspoon brown sugar in each of 24 mini muffin cups. Bake at 375 degrees F for 5 minutes; let cool slightly.
  2. Meanwhile, combine the flour, 1/3 cup brown sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon in a large bowl; set aside.
  3. In a second bowl, whisk together the canola oil, Ener-G eggs, milk, and vanilla. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, stirring until combined.
  4. Thinly slice the banana into 24 slices, and place 1 banana piece over the melted brown sugar in each muffin cup. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and bake for an additional 12 minutes, until set. Let cool slightly in the pan before transferring to a wire rack.

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