Tostones, or Fried plantains

Tostones, or Fried plantains is a side dish in Latin Amercan countries. Like french fries are served here. It is basically a unripe plantain fried twice. I use the ripe plantains too. They come out tasting sweet, almost like a funnel cake.

1/2 to 1 Green plantain per person
oil

Heat oil. Slice into 1/2 to 3/4 inch thick pieces. Place in the hot oil and let them lightly brown on both sides. About 5 to 6 minutes. Take them out dry some of the oil off. Let cool and then smash them. Put them back in the oil and let fry for another minute of two till they brown again. Let cool a little. If you are using the green plantains the traditional topping is salt or a garlic sauce. Some people even put cheese on them. So if you find a vegan cheese to make a cheese sauce out of you could try that.

I have never tried them with cheese.

When I use a yellow plantains I eat them without a topping, kinda as a dessert. But you could serve with powder sugar, vegan vanilla icecream, homemade vegan caramel. But I still enjoy them plain. :)

Easter Dinner side Dishes

Alot of stuffings have chicken, turkey, clam or pork in them. So make sure to get a brand that doesn't. Watch out for milk additives too. I can find stuffing but regular bread crumbs normally have milk & egg listed.

Vegan Sausage Stuffing

1- Light Life Vegan Sausage
4- Servings Stuffing Bread of choice
Veg Broth
Vegan Butter
Olive oil

Heat olive oil in a skillet. Cook the light life sausage while breaking it up into small pieces about the size of the stuffing. Brown & set aside.
I make mine in the microwave normally. Even though our bag doesn't give instructions for the Microwave. I use the bread & broth measurements on the bag. I Put the Veg Broth & a Table spoon or 2 of butter into the microwave till it boils. Bring out and add the bread stuffing. Mix well make sure it is all wet and that there is enough moisture to make it soft. Then pop it back into the Microwave for a few more minutes. After taking it from Microwave place the Casserole lid over it to keep the moisture in to soak into the bread.


Baked Cauliflower

Whole Head Cauliflower
Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Garlic- Optional

Preheat oven to 350F
Cut up the whole head of cauliflower into bite size pieces around the same size.
Place in a large bowl and drizzle with enough oil to coat all florets. Add your salt & pepper. I add garlic by just crushing a few cloves and throwing them in. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until soft and lightly browned. I also turn it at least once so it can brown more.

Baked Sweet & White Potatoes

2 Sweet Potatoes
2 White Potatoes
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Herbs- Optional

Preheat oven to 350

Chop Potatoes into bite size wedges. Place in bowl with drizzled Olive Oil to coat. Add salt & Pepper. Add the herb of choice. I used Oregano. Turn at least once or twice. To help brown. Bakes for about 1 hour. ( These are actually very pretty when cooked. Don't look at he blurry picture and think it wasn't. Just a crappy photo :) oops. )

BBQ Burgers, Homemade Onion Rings , BBQ Sauce

BBQ Burgers

What you need

Boca's Vegan Burgers -This is the brand they use. But they don't use a vegan version.
1 Recipe of Onion rings- Listed below
1 Recipe of BBQ- Listed below
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Olive oil
Kaiser Buns or Bread

Poor small amount of oil into your frying pan. De-thaw burgers in microwave. Then fry the burgers up. nicely. Vegan burgers don't have really any fat in them to make them brown So the oil will make them brown nicely. Now you can add a little BBQ sauce to each burger and caramelize it or just take it out of the skillet. At the restaurant they don't caramelize the burgers with BBQ sauce but it is really yummy. Toast your buns, with butter in the skillet or plain in the toaster. Put some yummy BBQ sauce on the bun, then add the burger, lettuce, and tomatoes, and don't forget to put some onion rings on the sammie. I also put a little BBQ sauce in a small cup for dipping. If you don't want to toast your bread before you make the sammie its also a great Idea to put this sammie in a panini press. It is really yummy!

Homemade Onion Rings

All you need

A couple baking sheets or cooling racks
1 Medium onion Per person - This make a good amount
A couple cups of flour
A couple cups of Bread crumbs
And some non-dairy milk. I used almond milk.
And any seasoning you want to add to the flour for extra taste.

Very easy. No measuring. Just enough to role the onion rings around in. Don't put to much in your bread crumb bowl at once though. If the bread crumbs start clumping they will not stick to your onions any more.

So slice the onions in sections so that it makes rings. Place them in a bowl and set aside. Put the flour, bread crumbs and milk in separate bowls for dredging. Place the onions in flour then milk. after the milk put them into the bread crumbs get a good coating. Then put them back into the milk and bread crumbs again. Lay the ring aside and do the same thing with all the rings. I lay the on a baking sheet or cooling rack. After you are finished. Leave them in a single layer on the baking sheet to freeze. It will not take long for them to freeze and they will keep at least 3 months in an air tight container.

The left over ends I chop up and place back in the fridge so I can use them that week. Or you can freeze them to be used later.
To cook these fresh preheat the oven to 425F and bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Watch them for the last 5 minutes. Depending on the amount of bread crumbs and the thickness of the ring it will take various baking times. You can bake the rings the same way from the frozen state. The first couple times you bake them. watch them to make sure you do not burn them. Turn your oven down to 375F if you oven is a "hot" oven... These do come out tasty but they do not have any oil. So they can be a little dry. I like them this way though. If you want you can use oil spray and spray them before you put them into the oven. This way they do fry a little from the oil.

To fry just heat oil. Test to make sure it is hot. I like to use a wooden spoon. Place the handle in the hot oil. If the oil bubbles its ready for the food. Ok put the fresh onion rings in for 3 minutes. If frozen add on extra minute. Just take them out when brown. try not to leave them to long. They will soak in a good amount of oil.
Organic BBQ Sauce

So this again is quick and easy. This is a double batch. So just chop it is half for just one dinner. Or freeze it for when ever you want it.

• Tip put it in an ice tray and then pop it out into a baggy. Then you have individual serving sizes.

1 Cup Organic Ketchup
1 Cup Organic Agave ( It calls for Kero syrup which is corn syrup, you take your pick, Make sure the brand you use is thick)
1/2 Cup Vegan worchestershire, Like Annies or the Wizard one
1/4 to 1/2 cup Organic apple cider vinegar (Depends on the taste you like)
2 Tbsp Organic Chili powder

Combine all ingredients into a pot. Heat till it bubble. Stir. Turn back to a simmer. Let cook for a few minutes while stirring. Take off heat and place in fridge to cool. It will thicken back up. If you want a really thick sauce while it is still on the stove add a little cornstarch. This will make it pretty thick.

Roasted Edamame Salad

Roasted Edamame Salad
From Elton Brown's Edamame Show

Recipe link above. I skipped the scallions & the basil and this still turned out tasty. Wasn't a big hit the first time I ate it. but the next day I craved the red wine vinegar that was all over the salad but I really liked it on the tomatoes and that more I ate of it the more I enjoyed it. It's a nice fresh crisp taste. But would also be great to take on a trip or as a picnic, or maybe just for lunch. It was really nice. I will definitely make it again. But I will still leave out the basil.

Can't wait to have this as a nice side dish in the summer.
But its good all year round!

Sweet Potato & Bean Burritos- Makes 4 Burritos

Mashed Sweet Potatoes- for the burrito

1 Large/1.5pd Sweet potato or Yam

Prep One
Peel Sweet Potato and slice into thin, round disks.
Bring big pot of water to boil.
Drop in Sweet Potatoes and let boil 15 to 20 minutes, till fork Tender.
Put in boil and mash into a smooth mashed potato.

Prep Option 2- Preferred Method
Preheat oven to 400F
Peel Sweet Potato and cut into small, square chunks, or disks. Place in bowl with 1 to 2 tsp oil, coat well. Place flat on a baking sheet. Bake till soft. Depending on size of pieces 30-50minutes. You can let them caramelize a little bit but don't let them burn. Cook cover for the first 15 minutes, Flip potatoes. Uncover, Put them back into the oven and bake for another 15 minutes take out and flip. Keep doing this till they are done and somewhat carmalized. Take out and Mash. Add a small amount of water if needed.

• Optional: You can add a small amount of chili seasoning to these when you add the oil. If you do this don't let the chili seasoning burn.

• If you leave them plane and made double you can use them to make Sweet Potato Perigees the next day. Of just leave them in chunks and eat as a side dish.

• A facebook friend put these instructions up for cooking Sweet Potatoes that I have never tried. This is exactly what she said..."i can give you a tip on cooking sweet potatoes that I have used for years... I think it is easier then peeling them first and then boiling.... plus.. you don't boil all the nutrients out of the potatoes..... Bake them at 400 for about 30 to 45 minutes.... then peel them... peeling is so much easier :-)"

So there are many ways to cook them. Or just purchase a canned or frozen sweet potatoes.

After they are mashed set aside.


Preparing Dried Kidney Beans

Pour dried beans into a colander. Pick through to make sure there are not rocks. Rinse the beans. Put the beans a a bowl 3 times as deep as the beans. Fill the boil with water that goes over the beans by a couple inchs. Let set over night. Check to make sure the beans have not sucked up all the water before you go to bed. If they have add more water. It is better to have to much water then not enough. The beans will double in size.

Drain them inthe morning. Put in fresh water in a pot. Place on stove and let simmer 4 to 6 hours. Try not to over cook them if you are going to freeze the extra. They will get mushy and not unthaw good. Take off stove when they are tender and the texture is palatable.

This works for most beans. Different beans have different cooking times though. So keep a watch for doneness.

Re-fried Beans

1/2 Small Onion, chopped
Water, to simmer onions in
1 Clove Garlic
2 Cups prepared Kidney beans, Beans only
1/3 to 2/3 cup of water
1/2 Tsp Cumin, ground
1 Tbsp Chili powder
Pinch cayenne pepper, optional
1 tsp Mustard
1 Tbsp Soy sauce, Reduced Sodium

Cook on Medium heat
Put oil in the pan, Let it heat, add onions and garlic. Don't burn the garlic it will be bitter. Cook onions till soft. Add the beans and mash with a potato masher of the back or a ladle of big spoon. Let cook a few minutes. Then add half the water. It will look pretty liquidy at this point. But when you let it simmer a little it will thicken. The more water you add the longer it will need to simmer to thicken up. If you only add half or 3/4 of the water it will only need like 10 minutes. After the water has heated add the seasonings, mustard, and reduced sodium, soy sauce. Let simmer till desired thickness is reached.

















Now to bring it together.

Flour Tortilla
Vegan Butter, I use Smart Balance light

• Heat a skillet with a small amount of butter. Place tortilla shell on top of butter and move it around so the outside of the shell is covered. Add some Sweet Potato mash & beans to the shell; Less potatoes then beans. Take a fork and fork your shell into a burritos and after the under side gets some round toasty marks flip so the top can do the same.

• Or you can warm the flour shell and put the potatoes & beans in. Place in a casserole plate and stick into a 350F preheated oven. Top with some vegan cheese like Daiya. And let it melt in the oven for about 10 minutes.

• You can use corn tortilla shells to. Fry them, Lawyer them into a casserole dish with the topping and bake till desired doneness.

• You can also turn this into a liared dip. And dip freshly made chili tortilla chips.

• Or make it as a pizza topping or calzone adding daiya cheddar cheese. And ater it comes out you can add veggies like: lettuce, tomatoes, etc... and taco sauce.

Nother Use for Mashed plain sweet potatoes.. Yummy Sweet potato Pasta sauce!

Saurkruat w/ Veggie dogs & Fruit Crisp

There are 2 basic ways I know of that you can cook Sauerkraut. Or you can eat it the way it is cold. But you can simmer or fry it. I usually simmer mine. Just dump it and the juice straight from the packaging into a simmering pan. Add the sliced up veggie hot dogs or just eat it alone. Let it simmer long enough to get warm or hot. If you let it just get warm alot of the vitamins will stay intact. Then serve. If you would like you can cook the veggie dogs first then through them in while the sauerkraut heats that way the veggie dogs are nice and cooked. Then serve with mashed potatoes and roles... Yum!

Or you can fry it. I have never had it this way till this New Years. I simmered mine and seen that my mother had fried hers. So I went home and took some of my left overs and fried them. It does soak up a fair amount of oil. So it can be fattening. It takes alot more of the veggie dogs flavor when you fry it. It drys out and turns a little brown. My mom cooks hers alot more even past what my picture shows. I liked it but to me it just had a little to much oil. Serve with you mashed potatoes and roles again.



I also had a ton of apples that needed used. So for dessert I made a very yummy Fall Fruit Crisp. I used the recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking; PG 142. But I made a few minor changes. I used almonds instead of walnuts and I added ground Flax for an Omega- 3 Boost. Next time I will make double the topping. The picture in the book looks like there is a ton of topping but in a 8x8 baking dish it only puts a thin layer. The almonds worked very nicely with the recipe. Also I cut up the entire 8 cups of apple and it wouldn't fit in my baking dish. So if your dish is 8x8 or 9x9 and isn't more then 2 inches deep don't cut up the whole 8 cups. I put the extra in a separate small baking dish and made another double serving. So I didn't waste any. The topping although kinda thin was really yummy and could be used on the top of any crisp. Or even a topping or side for just a plane baked apple or other fruit. The texture was really nice too. I really enjoyed it.

If you click the link above it will take you to google books. This is a cool feature that lets you browse through alot of different books. It will take you straight into The joy of vegan baking to the cobbler & crumble page. Scrole down to page 142 and the recipe is there.

Incase that link moves here is another link to the recipe another blogger has listed it out. The blog is called Gastronomers.

Potato Soup

1 to 2 large Potatoes per person, Peeled & Chopped; I like Yukon Golds
Water
1 Medium Onion, Chopped; Optional

Almond Milk
Vegan Butter; I like Smart Balance Light
Salt & Pepper

This is very easy and can be made for any number of people without a real recipe change. Use 1 to 3 large potatoes per person. I like to make extra so I can have left overs.
Place large pot full of water on stove. Bring to boil while You and peeling and chopping the potatoes & onion. Boil the potatoes in water till they are fork tender but not falling apart. Drain.

Put onion in bottom of pot with a small amount of water. Let the onion cook till translucent. Then add potatoes back. Cover the potatoes with Almond milk. Let the almond milk be about 1 to 2 inches above the potatoes so you have enough soup for all potatoes. Let the milk heat up but not boil. Boiling could curdle the milk. Add a couple Tbsp of butter to the soup. About 1 Tbsp for every 2 people. Add salt & pepper to taste. Serve with Saltine crackers.

• You could also wilt some kale down into the soup; Potatoes & Kale are always yummy together
  
• Or peas would be really good too
• You could also thicken the Milk w/ a roue of butter & flour or oil & flour and add the peas to have Peas & Potatoes in Gravy. Which is also really good.