Buffalo Tempeh Salad

Hi friends! Hope you are all having a wonderful week! I am loving the sun, summer fruits, and beach lately and that's pretty much all I want to do. Sit at the beach, eat tons and tons of fruit, and soak up some vitamin d!  Does it really get any better than that?
A few upcoming things I am working on...

• Stay tuned for an upcoming post geared towards children and healthy snacks!
• some pre planned menu ideas for a weekly menu
• and upcoming recipe for lentil tacos that is so yum! We loved it!!!

All exciting and fun things I am adding soon!  Until then,  you can feast your eyes and taste buds on this buffalo tempeh salad! This is spicy and fresh and a great way to introduce tempeh into your life! If serving this to young children, you can serve the baked tempeh (without the buffalo sauce) on a plate with some of my vegan ranch to dip it in along with some cut up carrots, jicama, and a little bowl of black beans.  They will love it! Give it a try  and tell me how you like it! have a great week!

Buffalo Tempeh Salad

Serves 4-6

Printable recipe

What you will need:

1 recipe for boiled and baked crispy tempeh (recipe below)

1 recipe for buffalo sauce (recipe below)

1 recipe for vegan ranch (recipe below)

6 cups (or large handfuls) of  spinach

1/2 of a large jicama, peeled and given a small dice

2 15-ounce cans black beans (or cook your own dried beans, about 3 cups) drained and rinsed well

8-ounces of frozen corn, thawed.

1 red bell pepper, diced

1/4 red onion diced

1 ripe avocado, diced

Step 1: Prepare the vegan ranch

2/3 cups Veganaise (vegan mayo)

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic salt

fresh cracked pepper

1/2 cup finely chopped Italian flat leaf parsley

Whisk all ingredients will in a bowl and set aside until ready to use.

Step 2:Prepare the boiled tempeh:

1 8-ounce pkg. of tempeh

5-6 cups of water

1/4-1/2 cup soy sauce

Using a large skillet pan fill it half way up with water. Start adding enough soy sauce to make the water subtly salty, but not overly so. Just add slowly and taste the water as you go, until it is barely salty. Bring the water to a boil, and then add the tempeh. Turn the temperature down to the low and simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove the tempeh fro the water and set aside to cool for about 10 minutes.

Step 3: Make the crispy tempeh

boiled tempeh from step 2

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup plain unseasoned breadcrumbs

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Get a baking sheet ready. Dice the boiled tempeh into small bite sized pieces. Get 3 shallow plates or bowls out and in one add the almond milk. In another add the whole wheat flour mixed with the onion powder, chili powder, and garlic powder. And in the last bowl add the breadcrumbs.  Now bread the tempeh pieces by dipping in the almond milk, then the flour, then back into the milk, and then finish by dipping into the breadcrumbs. Lay the pieces on the baking sheet for baking. Bake the tempeh for 18-20 minutes until crispy on the outside. While the tempeh is baking prepare your salad.

Step 4: Prepare the salad

In a large salad bowl combine the spinach, black beans, corn, bell pepper, red onion, and avocado. 

Step 5: Making the Buffalo Tempeh

Baked crispy tempeh from step 3

1/4 cup Louisiana Hot Sauce

3 Tbsp. Earth Balance butter

1 tsp garlic powder

Melt the 3 Tbsp. of Earth Balance butter. To that add the Louisiana Hot Sauce and garlic powder.. Whisk well. Pour into a large bowl and add the tempeh. Toss to coat.

Step 6: Add buffalo tempeh to the salad

Add the tempeh to the salad and top with vegan ranch. Then take a little visit to sweet sweet salad heaven y'all. ENJOY!!!

Side Note: If serving to young children,  just don't toss their tempeh in the buffalo sauce. Serve it plain with ranch for dipping and some other dipping veggies! They will love it!!

Stuffed Shells with Sun-dried Tomato Tofu Ricotta, Spinach, and Garlic and Herb Tomato Sauce

Oh yeah! Stuffed shells baby!!

Happy Friday! I am so excited for the weekend! For starters, I am married to a sexy man and it is his birthday. So I need to bust out some of my baking skills and make him something delicious! Also going to hit up the beach which I always love!  I'm also pretty excited that LA is getting a new drive thru, all vegan restaurant! Definitely going to visit them and taste test! What are your plans for the weekend?

The winner of the Bee Free Honee giveaway was chosen today at random through Random.org, and the winner is  KATHY HESTER. Please contact me with your mailing information and I will mail this right out to you! You will love it!

So you are in for a treat! My stuffed shells will most definitely be a hit with your veggie and non veggie friends and family! They are so delicious, very satisfying, healthy, and for you Mom's and Dad's, they re really kid friendly! I know because not only did my kids thoroughly love making and stuffing the shells all by themselves, but they loved eating them too! It is so important to include children in the kitchen while cooking to give them skills in making and preparing healthy food! It will help them develop healthy habits and learn to enjoy preparing good meals, plus, I have found that if they help prepare the meal, they are much more likely to want to eat it and try all of the spinach and veggies they put in.  For the pasta sauce, you can definitely take the shortcut route and just buy your favorite vegan store bought brand. But its pretty easy to just whip up a sauce in the blender. Either way!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Stuffed Shells

with Sun-dried Tomato Tofu Ricotta, Spinach, and Garlic and  Herb Tomato Sauce

Makes about 25 Jumbo shells
printable recipe

Step 1: Sun-dried Tomato Tofu Ricotta with Spinach:
1 Pkg. Organic Extra Firm Tofu, drained and crumbled
Juice of 1 lemon
1 clove garlic, minced
3 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
3 Tbsp. fresh basil
3 Tbsp. Italian parsley
2 Tbsp. Nutritional yeast flakes
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp  dried oregano
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp ume plum vinegar, or red wine vinegar
fresh cracked pepper
1 Tbsp. olive oil
8 ounces organic frozen spinach, thawed. Squeeze as much water out of the spinach as possible.


In a large bowl, crumble the tofu up. Add all other ingredients and mix well to incorporate. Set aside.




Step 2: Garlic and Herb Tomato sauce
1 29-ounce can Organic Tomato puree (I used Muir Glen)
3/4/ cup vegetable broth (look for no salt added)
2 Tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves of garlic
2 tsp. ume plum vinegar or red wine vinegar
2 tsp. dried oregano
3/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp dried rosemary
1/8 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp. dried red pepper flakes (add 1/2 tsp if you like more heat)
fresh cracked pepper


In a Vitamix or regular blender add all ingredients. Blend for just a minute until incorporated and mixed well. Set aside.


Step 3: Cook the jumbo shells
Using a very large soup pot,  cook the shells until they are very Al Dente. Think of it as under cooking them slightly. You don''t want the noodles to get too soft or it will be really hard to work with them and stuff them. Once they are cooked to very Al Dente, drain the noodles. Rinse briefly with cold water to prevent them from sticking together.

kids love to help stuff the shells!

Step 4: Stuff the Shells

This is the perfect task to ask your kids to help you with!  My 5 and 7 year old thought it was so fun! First get a large Pyrex  or any large dish that you have that is oven safe. Cover the bottom of the dish with some of the sauce to cover it completely, reserving plenty of sauce to cour over the top of the shells. Fill each shell using a spoon and place in the dish. After you have stuffed all of the shells, pour the remaining sauce all over the top. Then drizzle an extra 2-3 Tbsp. of olive oil over the top.



didn't the girls do a great job stuffing these?

Step 5: Baking the shells

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Loosely cover the shells with some foil and bake for about 15 minutes. Remove the foil completely and continue to cook an additional 20-25 minutes, until all the shells are warmed and cooked and warmed entirely. 

Step 6: ENJOY

Serve the shells garnished with some extra parsley and enjoy! As you can see from this photo of my baby Ezra, this meal is very kid friendly!

My Kids loved these!

And I gotta give a shout out to my favorite little Sous Chefs!

Berry Pecan Salad with Strawberry-Lime Basil dressing

How beautiful is this salad?!

OK people. I know this is totally shocking, but its the truth! I have reunited with my camera! :-) WOOHOO!! After being camera-less with a broken camera for several weeks, and after a somewhat expensive visit to the camera doctor, we are back in business! Er...that is the food blogging business. And as promised, I have two new recipes for you this week!  Plus, an awesome giveaway for Bee Free Honee, an amazingly tasty honey alternative! In case you missed that post, go check it out and make sure you leave a comment so you are eligible to win! Trust me, its so good!

So summer is upon us and that means lots of fruit and veggies!  One of my favorite things to do is have fresh salads with berries. But for me, a heavy dressing can distract from the  delicate flavor of the berries. So my  Strawberry-Lime basil dressing was born. And it is so so good! It is bursting with  bright sweet and citrus  flavors, with a touch of basil and creaminess from the cashews. And I just felt good after eating a big bowl of this! Its a must try! Hope you all enjoy it!

Berry Pecan Salad

with Strawberry-Lime Basil Dressing

serves 4-6

Printable Recipe

Strawberry-Lime Basil Dressing:

1 16-ounce container of strawberries

Juice of 1 lime

4 Basil leaves

3 Tbsp. raw cashews

2 Tbsp. agave nectar or sweetener of choice

tiny pinch of sea salt and black pepper

In a Vitamix, or just using a regular blender toss all ingredients in and blend until very smooth. Set aside.

For the Salad:

4-6 cups (or big handfuls) of baby spinach

1 16-ounce carton strawberries, sliced

12-ounces of blackberries (a few cups)

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Strawberry-Lime Basil Dressing

Place all salad ingredients into a bowl, and either toss with the dressing or serve on the side for drizzling.

Bee Free Honee Giveaway!

Bee Free Honee!

Happy Monday! I haven't been able to post up a new recipe for a few weeks due to a broken camera but it is back and this week is bringing two new recipes, plus this awesome giveaway!

This is a small company called Bee Free Honee, and it is amazing!!! It tastes so good! It is made from apples and lemons and lightly sweetened, but it is 80% apples and the apples used are top quality! The company is still small and growing, so it isn't sold many places yet, but it is available for purchase on Amazon (and a few stores in a few states). It is delicious drizzled on oats, or on a piece of toast with a little earth balance and cinnamon, or squirted on your finger and eaten right off of it! YUM!  And one of you lucky readers will get to try it out for free!  And trust me, you want to try this one! I am positive you will love it!! 

 image from here

A few facts on bees and why we should choose alternatives to honey...

• Did you know that scientists are estimating that bees will be extinct  in the US by the year 2035! This is a terrible thought! WHY?? because...
•  Worldwide there are 90 different food plants that depend almost exclusively on the honey bee
• Virtually all of our non-grain food is largely dependent on honey bee pollination to a large degree 

And then there is bee cruelty....

• Bees travel 55,000 miles and visit roughly 2 million flowers to produce just one pound of honey, and although polen is a bees main source of nutrition, its own honey is its only source of food during cold weather months when other alternatives are not available.
• To prevent Queen bees from leaving their hives, their wings are sometimes cut off
• large commercial companies sometimes take all of the honey, instead of leaving enough for the bees to get through the winter. The honey is then replaced with a cheap sugar substitute (and most beekeepers remove all of the spring season honey)

Things we can do to help reduce this threat to our honey bees...

• have nectar plants in your own garden so that the bees have the food that they need
• Reduce (or try to completely remove) pesticides from being used in your own garden and do not buy things grown with pesticides. Choose those products grown without!
• Choose not to buy honey or products containing honey. Instead, enjoy other sweeteners like agave nectar, brown rice syrup, pure maple syrup, and many others including Bee Free Honee!

  

And now on to the giveaway!

Win a FULL SIZED bottle of Bee Free Honee simply by....

•  Leaving a comment below
• tweet about the giveaway
• and for any extra entries you can follow my blog, facebook page, and twitter page. 
• make sure that you leave a seperate comment for each different entry above for more chances to win!

The winner will be chosen at random Friday morning, June 10th! GOOD LUCK! 

Also, stay tuned for two new recipes this week!!!