The Year of PICKLES!!!

This year has been awesome for my garden - it's the first year I grew cucumbers. I don't know why I never planted them before.  We have been inundated with cucumbers.  So, what does one do when they have a gazillion cucumbers on the counter??  Make pickles!!

Here are some pictures of my harvest along with the pickle recipe I've been using (YUM):

Garlic Herb Zucchini Noodles & Shrimp

This recipe was amazing!  It was definitely a hit in our household - we cannot wait to have it again!

Amer-Itali-Asian Black-eyed Pea Tempeh

Mediterranean Quinoa Salad - a new family favorite!

Lisa, one of my gym buddies introduced me to this amazing recipe.  I fell in love immediately - brought some home to my husband and he loved it too!  It is seriously amazing, I've made it at least 5 times in the last month.

Review: Smiling Hara Tempeh

We have tried tempeh on numerous occasions and have never really enjoyed it.  In case you're not familiar with tempeh, it is fermented soybeans.  We've tried different brands, different recipes, different spices/seasonings and never really cared for it.  That was before we discovered Smiling Hara Tempeh!  It's a product of Asheville, North Carolina and boy is it different than all that commercially produced funky tasting tempeh you'll find at the grocery.  I've talked with Sarah at Smiling Hara in the past and she is awesome - I love supporting local companies that are providing us with awesome, healthy food choices.  You can find Smiling Hara at Whole Foods in the Southeast US, in the FREEZER section.

Eggplant Coconut Curry

I modified this recipe slightly from this fabulous creation on simplyrecipes.com:

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/eggplant_green_curry/

Lentil-stuffed Portobellos

I got the idea to make some stuffed portobellos - they turned out quite delicious, if I do say so myself!

Ingredients:

• 1.5 cups of green lentils
• 1 cup cooked chestnuts, chopped
• 3 cups of water
• 1 tbs herbs de Provence
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled, chopped and divided
• 6 portobello mushroom caps (try to find some that are more bowl shaped and better for stuffing
• Olive oil
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 large vidalia onion, diced
• Salt to Taste

Directions:

1. Rinse your lentils and put them in a saucepan with the water.  Add the herbs de Provence and half of the garlic (do not add salt while lentils are cooking as it can toughen them).  Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered for 20-30 minutes.  You may need to add additional water - just add enough to cover the lentils.
2. Sample the lentils to be sure they're cooked to your satisfaction and remove from heat.  Drain any remaining liquid. Add the chopped chestnuts and set aside.  I make the lentils a day or two in advance.
3. Wash the portobellos and remove the stem (you can cut up the stem and use it in the next step).  Place the mushrooms in a large saute pan with 1/4 cup of water over medium heat (you are basically steaming them).  Cook them for covered 3-4 minutes each side.  Keep an eye on them - you may need to add additional water.  Once completely cooked, transfer them to a serving plate.
4. Add 1 tbs. olive oil to a saute pan, when the oil is hot, add the onions, celery and mushroom stems.  Saute until the onions are translucent, then add the remaining garlic.  Once the garlic is fragrant, about 2 minutes, add the lentils to the saute pan.  Salt as desired.  Once mixture is heated through, remove from heat. 
5. Pack the mixture in a large ice cream scoop or measuring cup and stuff each of the mushrooms with the mixture.  Garnish with rosemary if desired and serve.

Serves: 2 - 4 (depending on whether this is your main course)  We served very large mushroom caps on a bed of baby spinach and it was enough for one person.  

Vegan Girl Scout Samoa Wannabes

I've been trying some Paleo dessert recipes lately, most of them also happen to be Vegan or easily Veganizable!

 
The awesome thing about these raw/no bake dessert recipes is they are SUPER quick and they make small batches.  So, they're ready in a jiffy and you there's no pressure to over-indulge since they make only 6 - 12 tasty treats per recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup pecans, plus 8 extra whole pecans
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut, plus some additional for rolling
• 1 cup of pitted dates, about 12
• Pinch of sea salt
• 1/3 cup Vegan dark chocolate chunks (available at Whole Foods)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

1. Add pecans to the food processor and process until they are fine but not clumping.
2. Add remaining ingredients in order above.
3. Roll into 8 balls.  Roll in shredded coconut and press one pecan into the center of each ball.

In the event the balls don't stay together well, you can add a tablespoon of coconut oil to the mix.

Enjoy!

Vegan Apple Pie Protein Shake

I've been experimenting with lots of different smoothies/shakes lately since I've been exercising a lot and I came across a recipe for an Apple Pie shake on the Vega website.



Vega One is more than just a plant-based protein powder, it's got fiber, probiotics, 50% of your RDA vitamins/minerals, Omega-3's, greens, antioxidants, etc.  I usually just combine a scoop with unsweetened almond milk but lately I've gotten more adventurous.

Plant-Based Summer Cookout Menu Ideas

We grilled out for Memorial Day with the family and it was a huge success!  Here's what we had on the menu:

Delicious Vegan Strawberry Pie Recipe

Josh & I went strawberry picking a couple weeks ago and I made him these miniature strawberry pies.

 

They turned out really delicious.  I veganized this recipe and also made my own graham cracker crust using Organic Graham Crackers.  I was horrified after inspecting the labels on the pre-made graham cracker crusts and the pre-packaged graham cracker crumbs.  All of the leading brand graham cracker crusts and crumbs contained multiple hydrogenated oils, high fructose corn syrup = transfatty, GMO yuckiness!

Super Yummy Vegan protein shake!

Based in a suggestion from my personal trainer, I decided to experiment with making a new kind of afternoon snack and boy was it tasty.

I based my shake off of a Nutribullet recipe. It was tropical, sweet and I couldn't get enough!

Thai Spicy Peanut Quinoa Bowl - Vegan & Gluten-free!

 

Holy mother of goodness ~ this meal was fantastic!  I've been on a peanut butter kick lately - I'm in love with the "do it yourself" fresh ground peanut butter at Whole Foods.  This peanut butter is awesome because there's no added sugar, it's unsalted and there are no added oils.  Yum!

Raw Chipotle Stuffed Avocados

This recipe was my very first attempt at a raw recipe.  It turned out delicious.  Josh said he would rather have it as a side or appetizer to another meal, but I would have been happy eating it all by itself. 

Vegetarian Marinara with Delicious Gluten-Free Pasta

The white rice pasta was outstanding, in fact, we may never buy regular wheat spaghetti again. This meal was AWESOME and totally satisfied my craving for Italian.

 

Delicious Vegan Apple Crisp

We had family from Connecticut to our house last night for a big plant-based dinner.  Everyone complimented how delicious the food was.  We served the Chipotle Bean Bowl, Cuban Garbanzos as well as this yummy Apple Crisp.

Thanks to the Hell yeah it's Vegan! blog for the recipe.  I followed it exactly, except I

Spirulina

Thanks to Susan, a friend at work, I recently tried Spirulina.  She gave me a little packet of it and I spent a couple weeks trying to figure out what to do with it.  I finally decided to see what Google had to say.  I found a recipe on the Raw Glow Blog for Spirulina salad dressing.  It was surprisingly good.

I have to be honest, the smell of the Spirulina alone is a little

Red Quinoa Salad

 Red Quinoa Salad with Avocado, Black Beans, Bell Peppers & Corn

Whoa! This is most definitely our favorite Yassa Sauce recipe yet! Not only is this dish extremely colorful, it is SO delicious.  It made plenty for two dinners, so we have leftovers!  I followed the recipe almost exactly, except my fiance is a little fussy and he doesn't like cold food, so I warmed up the beans and sauce in a pot and combined the additional ingredients as the recipe calls for.

This photo is courtesy of the Kitchens of Africa - it's far prettier than

Chickpeas and Spicy Dandelion Greens!

It's been a little quiet on the Plant Based Happiness blog over the past month.  We've had some exciting things happening in our lives ~ we got engaged last month (YAY!) and we've been partially renovating our favorite room in the house - the kitchen!  Future pictures of recipes will proudly feature our new granite counter tops.

Eggplant Yassa with Chickpeas, Carrots & Lima Beans

Many thanks to Jainaba at Kitchens of Africa for the new recipes featuring their delicious peanut and onion simmer sauces!  I've been looking forward to making this dish because I LOVE eggplant.  It definitely lived up to my expectations - it was super delicious, chock full of veggies and the perfect amount of spicy.