Category Archives: Vegan

Raspberry Fudgesicles {Vegan & Sugar Free}

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 Everyone has that one friend who can’t eat anything.

Well, they can obviously eat something, but it’s rarely anything you can enjoy together. 

For me, that’s my pal, VJ. She’s a gluten-free vegan. Of course, I am one of those people who can and will eat just about anything. When we became friends, I worried that we’d never be able to eat together. Food is such an important part of all our lives: beyond preparation and consumption, there is the social aspect of sharing a meal with someone else. Due to our different diets, I wasn’t sure we’d ever be able to happily eat at the same restaurant or make dinner together. 

But I shouldn’t have worried. Not only is VJ a wizard when it comes to navigating menus for options that are both gluten-free and vegan, but she straight-up doesn’t care what anyone else at the table is eating as long as they’re having a good time. When we went to Maine last month, she stood on a rickety chair taking action shots while our friend, Liz, and I rushed around the kitchen making pie and Lemon Bars that she couldn’t enjoy. VJ came and sat with me at the Swans Island Post Office at midnight, just so I could use WiFi to post those recipes on this blog. And she regularly reads and shares my posts, even though I rarely make recipes that fall into her dietary parameters. She’s the kind of friend that everyone should be so lucky to have–one who is selfless, flexible, encouraging, and supportive.

VJ, this one’s for you. 

You’ll never believe what’s in these Raspberry Fudgesicles. There’s no dairy, and not one bit of sugar. Nope. Not even a little bit. These ice pops are completely nutritious, but they certainly don’t taste that way! 

 How does that work? It’s simple, really. Coconut milk and avocado keep them creamy. Dates make them sweet. Fresh raspberries and cocoa powder make them delicious! Add to that a bit of vanilla and a few cups of ice cubes and blend until smooth. Pour the mixture into ice pop molds, add popsicle sticks, and freeze for several hours. 

 Once you release your ice pops from their molds and take a taste, you won’t believe that they are actually good for you! These creamy Raspberry Fudgesicles are full of chocolate-raspberry flavor and melt just like those fudgesicles you got from the ice cream truck when you were a kid. Except there’s no need to feel guilty having one of these. Nope! Full of vitamins and minerals, protein and good fats, and completely free of sugar, they’re practically healthy enough for breakfast 😊

My favorite thing about these Raspberry Fudgesicles is that I can share them with just about anyone. Vegan, sugar-free, full of nutrients, and totally delicious, they’re the best way to cool down with your friends this summer. 

 Raspberry Fudgesicles {Vegan & Sugar Free}
makes about 12 standard ice pops

24 Medjool dates, pits removed
1/2 ripe avocado
1/2 cup cocoa powder (natural or Dutch process)
6 ounces fresh raspberries
1 15 ounce can full-fat coconut milk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups ice cubes

Combine dates, avocado, cocoa powder, fresh raspberries, coconut milk, and vanilla in a high-powered blender, and blend until smooth. Add ice and blend again until smooth. Divide among ice pop molds and add popsicle sticks. Freeze at least six hours or overnight.

Before enjoying, run molds until warm water for 1-2 minutes before removing ice pops.

Tropical Cashew Granola

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 It’s officially summer, and I can’t wait to get to the beach. I’m only four weeks away from a trip to Maine with a bunch of friends–it can’t get here soon enough! It’s super woodsy and we definitely won’t see any palm trees, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be eating tons of tropical fruit while we’re up there.

How, you may ask, will we have tropical fruit in the wilds of Maine? In the form of my new favorite granola! 
Yes, I am that person who packs homemade granola into her luggage. And why wouldn’t I? It’s full of whole grains, nuts, and fruit, so it’s super satisfying. It’s also refined sugar-free, gluten free, and vegan, so this is one recipe that will fit all my friends’ various dietary needs.

Between easy breakfasts and snacks, I know we will go through the full two-quart batch in no time. I mean, who can resist this Tropical Cashew Granola?! It’s loaded with dried mango and pineapple, toasted coconut, and cashews–perfect for any day at the beach. 
Normally, I am not a huge fan of dried fruit (especially in granola), but I make exceptions for dried mango and pineapple. I’ll eat a whole six-ounce bag in a day! The sweet mango, tangy pineapple, and toasted coconut work incredibly well with the crunchy oats and cashews. A moderate amount of sweetener and a full teaspoon of salt keep it all just sweet enough to enjoy with your favorite yogurt and fresh fruit. I can’t get enough. 

Having made a lot of granola in the last few years, I can tell you that the homemade stuff is a snap to put together and infinitely better than any boxed variety. When you make something from scratch, you can control the ingredients and customize it to your taste.

For instance, I love my Maple Pecan Granola (which I used as the base for this recipe), but sometimes I want my granola to have more clusters than that recipe allows. So, I took the basic formula and swapped half the maple syrup for brown rice syrup. It’s super thick and allows the oats and cashews to cluster a bit without adding excessive amounts sweetener. And since brown rice syrup has a mild flavor, the maple is still front and center!

Tropical Cashew Granola is like summer in a bowl! Don’t be surprised if the combination of mango, pineapple, coconut, and buttery cashews has you packing a jar for your vacation, too! 

  Looking for more granola? Check out my Peanut Butter Granola!

Tropical Cashew Granola
makes about two quarts

1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup brown rice syrup*
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt
3 cups old-fashioned oats
2 cups raw unsalted cashews, chopped
1 cup unsweetened flaked coconut
6 ounces unsweetened dried mango, chopped into bite-size pieces
6 ounces unsweetened dried pineapple, chopped into bite-size pieces

Preheat oven to 300F. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together olive oil, brown rice syrup, maple syrup, and salt. Use a silicone spatula or wooden spoon to fold in oats, cashews, and coconut. Spread mixture on prepared pan. Bake 40 minutes, stirring at the 15 and 30 minute marks to prevent burning.

When granola is done baking, let cool five minutes before stirring in dried mango and pineapple pieces. Let granola cool completely in the pan on a rack.

Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three weeks.

Note:

Brown rice syrup can be found near the honey and syrups at most well-stocked grocery stores, or on Amazon. If you cannot find it or do not wish to use it, you may use an equal volume of mild honey or maple syrup. Your granola will not have many clusters, but it will still be delicious.

Blueberry Compote

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 For all the things I love about baking, the time commitment is not one of them. It’s rare that I make anything that can be done and ready to serve in under 90 minutes. I pride myself on my patience, but sometimes the idea that a batch of cookies is going to take four hours is enough to make me insane. 

Enter this Blueberry Compote. It only has four ingredients, involves almost no actual work, and takes 20 minutes start-to-finish. And oh, is it good–burst blueberries in a not-too-sweet lemon-scented syrup. It’s just begging to be stirred into yogurt or poured over pancakes or ice cream. It’s a sauce that can be used on any breakfast or dessert item you can imagine. 

 This is my kind of mid-week recipe–the kind that goes from “just” ingredients to absolute magic in almost no time at all. Simmer a cup of water and a little sugar together until it thickens slightly and becomes a thin syrup. Fold in two pounds of fresh blueberries and simmer a few more minutes until they start to burst. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the juice and zest of a lemon. Ladle it into a jar, and you’re done. Seriously. That’s it. 

Blueberry Compote works almost anywhere you can think to use it. It would be divine with cheesecake or waffles, but it’s also healthy enough to eat with yogurt for a quick weekday breakfast. Oh, and it is absolutely amazing with angel food cake, pound cake, or the Vanilla Bean Ricotta Cake I’m posting later this week! Stay tuned… 

 Blueberry Compote
makes about one quart

1 cup water
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 lbs fresh blueberries
juice and zest of 1 lemon

In a large saucepan, bring water and sugar to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer 7 minutes, until slightly thickened. Stir occasionally to keep crystals from forming.

Add blueberries and let simmer 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Turn off the heat and stir in lemon juice and zest. Cool completely. Transfer to an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

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New York City is not the place to move if you’re a salsa snob.

I should know. I’ve lived here almost nine years and have yet to find a Mexican restaurant whose salsa is not obviously from a jar. The worst experiences have been one that was mostly ketchup and Tabasco, and another that contained basil.*

*Note to Mexican restaurants everywhere: salsa and marinara are not interchangeable.

Luckily for me, I love to cook, so I have not been doomed to only eat subpar salsa for my tenure in NYC. I’ve learned to make several different varieties–my red Restaurant-Style Salsa is the favorite among my friends. I could definitely make that and some tostadas for Cinco de Mayo and have a perfectly good dinner. But lately, I’ve been seeing gorgeous green tomatillos at my favorite vegetable market, and they are just begging to be made into salsa. Being a total salsa fiend, I am happy to oblige.

This Roasted Tomatillo Salsa is my favorite salsa ever. It’s a little sour from the tomatillos (but not overly so) with pops of freshness from the cilantro and lime, and has a rich, smooth texture. Thick and chunky salsa is not my style.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa takes slightly more work than the Restaurant-Style Salsa, but it’s still a breeze. Most of the 35 minute prep time is just waiting for everything to roast and cool, so it really is a snap.

  Slice some fresh tomatillos in half and place them on a baking sheet with half an onion, two fresh jalapeños, and a couple of cloves of unpeeled fresh garlic. Drizzle everything with olive oil and roast it in a 425F oven for about twenty minutes. Let the vegetables cool for ten minutes, squeeze the soft garlic from its peels, and blitz everything in a food processor (or high-powered blender) with some fresh cilantro, lime juice, and salt. That’s it! This salsa is hardly any work at all, and is infinitely better than any prepared salsa you can imagine.

  Serve Roasted Tomatillo Salsa with nachos, quesadillas, tacos, tostadas, or tortilla chips. Use it as the base for an amazing chicken soup! Pour it over chicken enchiladas before they go in the oven. Spoon it over eggs scrambled with tortillas and cheese and have migas for breakfast <– did that yesterday. Highly recommend.

Any way you serve it, this Roasted Tomatillo Salsa will be a new favorite.

 Roasted Tomatillo Salsa
makes about 2 cups

1 1/2 pounds fresh tomatillos,* husked and rinsed
1-2 fresh jalapeño peppers, stems removed
1/2 medium white onion, peeled
2 cloves garlic, not peeled
olive oil, for drizzling
1/3-1/2 cup fresh cilantro, washed
juice of 1 lime
1/2-3/4 teaspoon Kosher or sea salt

Preheat oven to 425F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.

Slice tomatillos in half. Slice jalapeños in half, and seed if desired. Place on baking sheet along with onion and garlic. Drizzle all vegetables with olive oil. Roast for 15-20 minutes, until starting to brown. Let cool ten minutes.

Squeeze garlic out of its skins. Place roasted vegetables in the bowl of a food processor or high-powered blender. Add cilantro, lime, and salt. Purée until smooth.

Serve immediately, or refrigerate in an airtight container for up to five days.

Note:

Tomatillos and green tomatoes are not interchangeable.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

Olive Oil Marinated Broccoli

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Updated 05/16/2019: This post was edited to add better photos, to make the make blanching & shocking the broccoli mandatory, and to reduce the olive oil. It’s still my favorite side dish. You should double it.Olive Oil Marinated BroccoliLet’s take a sugar break. It’s been a while since I’ve posted anything on the real food side of things, and I’ve honestly overdone it with all the treats lately. But who can blame me? There were Peanut Butter Cupcakes with Oreo Buttercream to be had! I don’t care to admit how many I ate in three days…

It was seven. I ate seven cupcakes in three days 😁 Olive Oil Marinated BroccoliSo, let’s eat some broccoli. Really good, crunchy broccoli coated in a salty, spicy, garlicky marinade. 

This recipe is a riff on a side dish that an old boyfriend’s dad used to make all the time. We had dinner with his parents every Sunday, and while everything they served was good (I still dream about the arroz con pollo), the marinated broccoli was always my favorite. And while that boyfriend didn’t last, my obsession with this side dish has continued for years.Olive Oil Marinated BroccoliYes, I get psyched up over vegetables. His dad also made the best peach pie I’ve ever had, but that’s a story for another day. Olive Oil Marinated BroccoliOlive Oil Marinated BroccoliThis broccoli is super easy and so good it’s ridiculous. There’s hardly any cooking involved. All you have to do is warm up some olive oil with garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes, and then pour it over a ton of broccoli florets that have barely been cooked.Olive Oil Marinated BroccoliOlive Oil Marinated BroccoliOlive Oil Marinated Broccoli Toss it all together, cover it in plastic wrap, and let it sit for an hour or two at room temperature. That’s it–barely even a recipe. The broccoli softens just slightly and it soaks in all the salty, spicy goodness from the marinade. Olive Oil Marinated BroccoliThis recipe makes a lot. Like 8-10 servings a lot. But that means your vegetable side is done for at least two days, depending on how many you are feeding. Also, like soup and stew, the longer this sits, the better it will be. It’s great on day one, but the leftovers are *amazing.* The broccoli pictured only sat for two hours, and it was good, but when I went back for more later that night it was truly fantastic. Olive Oil Marinated BroccoliMarinated broccoli is great with chicken, pork, fish, beef, tofu, mac and cheese…it literally goes well with any main you can imagine. I’ve been known to eat a giant pile of it with a hunk of bread and some cheese and call it dinner.

This is the kind of side dish that will make you want to eat your vegetables. I made some for my nine year-old friend last week and she went back for seconds. Of broccoli. Her main dish that night was pizza, so that’s practically a miracle.Olive Oil Marinated BroccoliOlive Oil Marinated Broccoli is a great side for weeknight dinners, and is great in packed lunches. I’ve served it at casual dinner parties and am planning to bring it to picnics in Prospect Park all summer long! Add this to your list of easy side dishes–it’ll be a favorite in no time! Olive Oil Marinated Broccoli

Olive Oil Marinated Broccoli
makes 8-10 servings*

8 cups broccoli florets (about 5-6 crowns)
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
10-12 cloves (about 1 head) fresh garlic, peeled and crushed
1-1 1/4 teaspoons Kosher or sea salt, or to taste
1/4-1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Season well with salt. Add broccoli and let come back to a boil for one minute. Strain broccoli and plunge into a large bowl of ice water.

Once cool, strain broccoli well (I like to set it on paper towels) and place in a large mixing bowl. Set aside.

Place olive oil, garlic, salt, and crushed red pepper flakes in a small pot. Heat over medium-low heat just until the oil starts to bubble and the garlic begins to sizzle. Do not let garlic brown. Remove pot from heat. Pour oil mixture over the broccoli, using a silicone spatula or wooden spoon to scrape any remaining spices from the bottom of the pot into the bowl. Use a large spoon to coat the broccoli in the oil mixture. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and allow to sit 1-2 hours at room temperature, tossing occasionally. It may also be marinated overnight in the refrigerator; let sit at room temperature for for at least 30 minutes before serving.

Use a slotted spoon to serve. Broccoli is best served at room temperature.

Cover and refrigerate leftovers in marinade for up to four days, bringing them back to room temperature before serving.

Notes:

  • This recipe halves and doubles easily, should you like to make a smaller or greater amount.
  • Olive Oil Marinated BroccoliOlive Oil Marinated Broccoli