Plant Based U

Fat-Free and Low Fat Vegan Plant Based Recipes

Cooked Vegan Recipes

Punjabi Garam Masala Recipe

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(yes that is snow! the lighting was better outside)

Are you looking for a fragrant yet milder version of Garam Masala to use in your Indian recipes? I find that store bought Garam Masala is quite spicy and bitter, and not as fragrant.

So I decided to make this recipe instead. Garam Masala can contain a mix of spices and be made differently depending on what region you are in India. Garam Masala can contain the following spices: black pepper, cumin, coriander, black cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, bay leaf, caraway, cinnamon and/or mace.

This recipe is fairly simple and only contains a few ingredients.

Punjabi Garam Masala Recipe

Ingredients:

2 tsp black cardamom pods
4 tsp cumin seeds
8 tsp whole cloves
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
4 3″ cinnamon sticks (cassia variety)

Directions:

Combine ingredients in a coffee grinder.

Pulse until spices are ground and uniform in size.

Store in an air tight container.

Uses:

Garam Masala is used in the last 5 minutes of cooking, or sprinkled on dishes after they are cooked so the flavors stay intact.

Have you ever used Garam Masala? What’s your favorite way to use it? 

Lebanese Tahini Sauce For Falafels

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I love making homemade dips and sauces! I find them SO much more flavorful than the store bought ones.  The other day I made some baked falafels I bought from Trader Joe’s and I wanted some tasty tahini sauce to serve them with. This is the dip I came up with. It would also be delicious to serve some taboulli salad with your tahini dip and falafels as well.

photo from WhatsGoodAtTraderJoes

You can also use this as a spread for pita wraps/sandwiches, to dip pita in, crackers, veggies, chips, etc. It tastes a little like hummus but without the chickpeas.

Tahini Dip For Falafels

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1/2 cup tahini
1/2 cup water
2 cloves of garlic
3-4 tbsp lemon juice
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Combine ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

2. Serve with falafel, veggies or pita.

Have you ever had tahini dip before? What do you like to serve it with?

Low Fat Vegan Carrot Pumpkin Spice Muffins

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Hands up who likes carrot muffins? Now hands up who likes pumpkin raisin muffins?

Why not have both!

These muffins are inspired by a combination of Oh She Glows Carrot Spice Muffins and my own Pumpkin Raisin Muffins recipe.

These Carrot Pumpkin Spice Muffins are so delicious that I’ve made several batches of these. Best part is no one will be able to tell they are vegan. They’re a really dense and flavorful muffin.

And it’s a great way to use up any leftover carrots in the fridge as well. During the fall I always keep a couple of cans of pumpkin in the pantry to make delicious pumpkin baked goods. This is a great alternative to pumpkin pie for a Thanksgiving or Holiday treat as well.

Bring them to work, potlucks, pack for kid’s/spouse’s lunches etc.  Everyone will be raving about these satisfying muffins and be asking for the recipe.

You may want to make 2 batches of these to use up a full 15 oz./425 g can of pumpkin. I have made them with less than 1 cup of pumpkin puree and they turned out just fine too.

Low Fat Vegan Carrot Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Makes 12 muffins

Dry ingredients:

1 & 3/4 cup stone ground whole wheat flour (or spelt, kamut, oat etc.)
1/4 cup cane sugar
1 tbsp ground chia seed
1 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground ceylon cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt

Wet ingredients:

1/2 cup maple syrup
1 cup canned pumpkin (or fresh cooked, mashed)
1/4 cup water
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups grated carrot (3 medium ones or 2 large )
1/2 cup raisins
1/3 cup chopped walnuts *optional

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 400 F/204 C.

2. Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl and whisk to combine.

3. Combine wet ingredients in a large bowl and stir.

4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir until just combined.

5. Use silicon muffin tray, or a regular muffin tin lined with muffin cups and spoon mixture evenly for 12 muffins.

6. Bake for 23-25 minutes until toothpick in centre comes out clean.

7. Allow to cool before removing from pan.

8. Store in air tight containers or ziploc bags.

Have you ever had carrot pumpkin muffins before? What’s your favorite way to use canned pumpkin?

Vegan Pumpkin Raisin Oatmeal Baked Apples

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This recipe is from www.SkinnyMs.com, they contacted me about swapping a recipe with me for the holidays so I started perusing their site. This photo grabbed my attention right away. It looks like a great alternative to decadent apple pie and is a much healthier guilt free dessert!

I love baked apples, and this one looks amazing! It uses pumpkin butter, which you can find at some stores, or you can make your own using a recipe from OhSheGlows here.

If you don’t want to use pumpkin butter (or can’t find it), you can probably use apple butter which is more common and sold at many health food stores. Even though it’s called “butter” it doesn’t mean it contains any butter, it’s just spreadable like butter!

This recipe was  created by Navika Gangrade of Cooking the Light Way.

You can also double, triple, quadruple this recipe if you like, or just have it as dessert for one!

Pumpkin Raisin Oatmeal Baked Apple

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 apple
1/4 cup rolled oats, option Gluten Free Oats
1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon pumpkin butter, divided (homemade or store-bought)
1 tablespoon almond milk
1 teaspoon raisins
1 teaspoon agave nectar, divided (I think maple syrup would be good too)
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of ground nutmeg
Pinch of ground cloves
2 tablespoon hot water

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2. Core the apple, hollowing out until the edges are 3/4 inch thick

3. Combine the 1/4 cup oats, 1 tablespoon of pumpkin butter, 1 tablespoon fat-free milk, 1 teaspoon raisins, 1/2 teaspoon agave nectar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a small bowl

4. Stuff this mixture into the apple In a small oven-safe dish, stir together the hot water, 1 teaspoon pumpkin butter, and 1/2 teaspoon agave

5. Place apple into the mixture in the dish Bake in preheated oven for 40-45 minutes

6. Ten minutes before finishing, spoon the syrup under the apple back on top of the apple for a nice glaze

7. Serve

Have you ever had baked apples before? Have you ever tried pumpkin butter before?

Low Fat Vegan Thanksgiving Ideas

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I decided to make a post of my favorite veganized Thanksgiving dishes to share with you since many of you will be dining plant based or trying to dine mostly plant based this year and still feeding some carnivores too! All of these recipes have been tested on my family and their non vegan friends, so I assure you they are crowd pleasers. 🙂
Some of these recipes are featured in my blog, and some are in my recipe ebook Vegan Comfort Foods From Around The World has loads more delicious and hearty entree recipes for every occasion.

Vegan Thanksgiving Menu Ideas

Raw Vegan Salads:

Raw vegan Caesar Salad

Raw Vegan Caesar Salad

The Best Caesar Salad

 

Low Fat Raw Vegan Chef's Strawberry Pecan Spinach Salad

Strawberry Pecan Spinach Salad

Vegan Thanksgiving Entrees:

Quinoa Stuffed Zucchini Boats

 

Holiday Stuffed Acorn Squash

Holiday Stuffed Acorn Squash

Greek Stuffed Eggplant

Herbed Lentil Loaf

Herbed Lentil Loaf with Miso Gravy

Greek Rice Stuffed Peppers

Greek Stuffed Peppers

 

Vegan Side Dishes:

Maple Yam and Pecan Casserole

Holiday Baked Maple Yam Pecan Casserole

Cranberry Apple Pecan Holiday Stuffing

Cranberry Apple Pecan Holiday Stuffing

Mashed Potatoes With Gravy

Garlic Mashed Potatoes with Brown Gravy

Steamed Vegetablesin Cheezy Sauce

Steamed Vegetables In Cheezy Sauce

Tangy Collard Greens with Mushrooms, Onions and Coconut Milk

Tangy Collard Greens in Coconut Milk

 

Vegan Decadent Desserts (These are not low fat):

Vegan Pecan Pie


Holiday Vegan Pecan Pie

Vegan Cheesecake with Blueberry Compote

Vegan Cheesecake with Blueberry Compote

 

Vegan Lower Fat Desserts: 

Fudgey Blackberry Brownies

Fudgey Black Berry Brownies

Vegan Rice Pudding

Vegan Rice Pudding

Apple Strawberry Strudel Pie

Apple Strawberry Strudel Pie

There are lots of delicious and healthy recipes to choose from. I hope that I included some of your favorites.
So if these goodies entice you be sure to check out my book  Vegan Comfort Foods From Around The World. 
What’s your favorite vegan Thanksgiving dish?

Antioxidant Omega-3 High Protein Vegan Granola Bars

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(made with quick oats)

The other day I was looking at granola bars at the grocery store and I was starting to get frustrated. Most granola bars are pretty unhealthy, they contain a lot of high fructose corn syrup, milk ingredients, oil, nuts and salt.

When you’re looking for a quick high energy snack for traveling, hiking or to have before your work out it’s nice to eat something that’s just as healthy as a home cooked meal. So I decided to make my own homemade no-bake vegan granola bars, and came up with this bar which is high in protein and contains lots of omega 3’s and antioxidants in it too.

Instead of using oil and corn syrup to bind the oats together I used really ripe mashed bananas and it almost makes these bars taste a little bit like oatmeal banana bread. I also threw in lots of goodies like sultana raisins, Sun-Maid raisins, dried cranberries, goji berries, ground flax seed, ground chia seed, hemp hearts, dark chocolate, and coconut flakes.

All in all they are pretty darn tasty! I definitely don’t mind eating one of these and they’re perfect for traveling or hiking too. I decided to make two batches to test out the difference between instant/quick oats and traditional rolled oats.

They basically tasted the same, but the instant oats were a little easier to chew as the oat pieces were smaller. So it’s up to you on what type you’d like to use. (But don’t use steel cut oats, or oat groats as they aren’t cooked yet and are too hard to chew.)

It’s also a high raw food bar, as many of the ingredients are naturally raw like the bananas, raisins, goji berries, flax, chia, and hemp.  For this reason they need to be stored in the freezer because raw banana is perishable and it will spoil quickly if left on the counter or in the fridge.

Vegan chocolate chips can be hard to come by depending where you live, almost every chocolate chip I saw at the store contained milk ingredients, so instead I just bought a Lindt 70% cacao chocolate bar which was dairy free and chopped that up to use as chocolate pieces. It’s also much lower in sugar than traditional chocolate chips as well.  40 g equals 4 squares out of the Lindt bar. You could also substitute 1/4 cup of dark chocolate chips, or vegan carob chips as well.

(made with rolled oats)

Omega 3 Antioxidant Vegan Protein Bars

Makes 10 bars

Wet Ingredients:

2 medium ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup maple syrup (or other vegan syrup)
1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla extract

Dry Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups quick oats or rolled oats (I tested both)
3 scoops vegan protein powder (I used Vega Sport chocolate flavour, but you can also use unflavored hemp protein powder)
1/4 cup shredded coconut *optional
2 tbsp hemp seed (hemp hearts)
3 tbsp chia seed, ground
3 tbsp flax seed, ground
2 tsp ceylon cinnamon
1/2 cup raisins (I used golden and Sun-Maid)
40 g dark chocolate broken into pieces or chocolate chips
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup goji berries

Directions:

1. Mash the banana with a fork and mix wet ingredients in a large bowl.

2. Next add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.

3. Stir until well combined.

4. Line a square pan with saran wrap and press mixture into pan.

5. Place pan in freezer for 3-4 hours until firm and then remove from pan.

(rolled oat bars)

6. Slice into 10 bars with a sharp knife.

(Quick oat bars)

7. Wrap each bar in saran wrap and store in freezer.

8. Let come to room temperature before eating.

Nutrition Facts 10 Servings Amount Per Serving: Calories 282.0 Total Fat 10.1 g Saturated Fat 2.2 g Polyunsaturated Fat 2.8 g Monounsaturated Fat 2.6 g Cholesterol 0.2 mg Sodium 335.9 mg Potassium 301.2 mg Total Carbohydrate 34.4 g Dietary Fiber 6.7 g Sugars 18.1 g Protein 15.2 g

Have you ever made homemade granola or protein bars before? What do you put in them?  

 

Dr. Fuhrman’s Cinnamon Fruit Oatmeal Recipe

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Now that’s it’s cooling down, you may be craving something warm and comforting for breakfast these days instead of smoothies or cold cereal. So I decided to make up one of Dr. Fuhrman’s (author of Eat To Live and Super Immunity) ultra healthy nutritarian breakfast oatmeal recipes.

This is ultra healthy because it contains zero processed ingredients and zero sugar or sweetener. It relies on whole foods for fibre and nutrition and naturally sweet fruit for flavor. It’s got healthy omega 3’s in the form of walnuts and fresh ground flax seed (which I use my coffee grinder for) .

I whipped this up and it was a nice change from the same old oatmeal. If you prefer steel cut oats instead you can definitely use those for the base and then just add the fruit and nut toppings to it. (I often make steel cut oats in my rice cooker for a no fuss breakfast.)

I used a little more cinnamon than in the recipe because I just love my ceylon cinnamon. It’s a delicious sweet variety that tastes almost like candied cinnamon. You should try it, it makes oatmeal and baked goods taste even better!

I also like that this is a high raw recipe, in that a lot of the ingredients are raw and not cooked, such as the apples, flax and walnuts.

My oatmeal turned purple because I only had frozen mixed berries, so if you use fresh yours will look a little less colorful! 🙂

Dr. Fuhrman’s Cinnamon Fruit Oatmeal

 

Serves 2 (Prep time 15 minutes) (Mandi/Andi score 7)

Ingredients:

1 cup water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats (not instant/quick oats)
1/2 cup blueberries or mixed berries (fresh or frozen)
2 apples, peeled, cored and diced
2 tbsp chopped walnuts
1 tbsp ground flax seed
1/4 cup raisins (optional)

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan add the water, vanilla and cinnamon. Bring to a boil.

2. Add oats and reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes.

3. When the oats are soft add the berries and stir in. Continue cooking until heated through.

4. Remove from heat. Cover and let stand 15 minutes until thick.

5. Mix in the apples, walnuts, flax and raisins.

6. Serve.

Nutrition Facts: 1 serving 240.7 Calories 12.7 g Protein 40.8 g Carbohydrates 8.1 g Total Fat 6.8 mg Sodium

The Mandi/Andi score refers to a nutrient dense value of the recipe that Dr. Fuhrman uses in his program. He now recommends that you aim for 100+ in Mandi points a day for nutrient dense foods.  One serving of this recipe will give you 7 points.

Have you ever tried one of Dr. Fuhrman’s recipes before? What’s your favorite healthy breakfast?

Fat Free Vegan Red Lentil Tarka Dal Curry (Indian Lentil Curry)

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Now that the weather is cooling down, how about some delicious dal curries to warm things up?

This is another version of tarka (meaning tempered spices) dal using split red lentils. It is really simple to make, totally vegan and contains only a few ingredients. I make this recipe often when I’m looking for a quick dish and I always keep onions, tomatoes and red lentils on hand for just such an occasion. What’s nice about this dish is you can take this basic recipe and change it up with different spices, add more or omit the chilies depending how spicy you like it and use it as a thick stew as it is or a curry to serve over rice.

The dal is cooked separately and then the tarka seasonings are fried on their own and added  after so they retain more of their flavor. If you’re short on time you can throw everything in together, but it might be a little blander so you’ll want to adjust the seasonings. Normally the spices are tempered in ghee or oil, but since I don’t use oil in my recipes I’ve added slightly more whole dried spices to this recipe and used some water instead.

This is a beautiful dish that is great for entertaining and also a nice way to introduce lentils to your friends and family that may be skeptical of them. Red lentils are very mild and don’t have any flavor when they are cooked so they absorb the flavors they are cooked in very well. I prefer using split red lentils over regular whole brown lentils for this recipe as they are lighter and smoother tasting.

Feel free to try using other lentils, but you will need to cook your dal much longer as whole lentils will take twice as long to cook.

 

Fat Free Vegan Red Lentil Tarka Dal (Indian Lentil Curry)

Serves 4

Dal Ingredients:

1 cup red lentils (split)
1 large onion, diced
2 large tomatoes, diced (or 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes)
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 – 3/4 tsp Herbamare or salt to taste
3 cups of water or vegetable broth (low sodium)
1-2 tbsp lemon juice
3/4 tsp roasted ground cumin
1/2 tsp roasted ground coriander
1 handful cilantro/coriander, chopped for garnish

Tarka Tempering:

2-3 inches of ginger peeled and sliced in long strips
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds (black)
1 dried red chilli, chopped (more if desired)
4-6 curry leaves *optional

Directions:

1. Place lentils into a mesh metal strainer and rinse under cold water until water runs clear. *To cook your lentils faster you can soak in warm water while you prep the rest of your vegetables.

2. Heat a medium saucepan or wok over medium heat and add the onions, garlic and turmeric. Sprinkle a little salt on the onions to get them to sweat. Saute for 2-3 minutes and then add the tomatoes and continue cooking until the tomatoes are soft.

3. Add drained lentils and 3 cups of water or vegetable broth. Stir and bring to a boil uncovered. Turn heat down to medium low and and cover with a vented lid (or leave lid cracked to let steam escape) cook for 20-30 minutes until the lentils are soft and to desired tenderness.

4. In another pan, add a little water and fry the slices of ginger, chilies and curry leaves. Stir the ginger. When the water dissipates, add the mustard seeds and toast until they pop. Then add the cumin seeds and toast for a minute or two.

5. Add the tarka seasonings, lemon juice, cumin and coriander powder to the dal and stir in. Add Herbamare or salt to taste and adjust seasonings if desired.

6. Serve and garnish with chopped cilantro.

Additional Tips:

If you like you can use different lentils, but keep in mind that whole lentils will take longer to cook, so you may need to cook this dal for around an hour until they are soft.

What’s your favorite way to use lentils?  

Soy Curls With Chickpeas In Tomato Sauce

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Soy Curls with Chickpeas and Tomato Sauce

I would say this recipe reminds me a bit of chicken cacciatore and it’s one of my favorite ways to make Soy Curls. I find Soy Curls need to be seasoned well and it’s nice to have a sauce to cook them in for better flavor. Sometimes I add sautéed eggplant to this recipe, but I didn’t have any today, so it’s just onions, soy curls and chickpeas in tomato sauce. I served mine with multigrain rice from Trader Joe’s but you can also serve this over pasta, couscous, quinoa or another rice of your choice.

Soy Curls are a non-GMO product made by Butler Foods and come from Portland, Oregon. So if you’re in Portland you will find them at Food Fight Vegan Grocery, Whole Foods and other health food stores. You can also sample them in dishes at places like Homegrown Smoker Food Cart, A N D Cafe, Blossoming Lotus Restaurant and many more.

There are a lot of different ways you can prepare Soy Curls. I like that they are a dry product that you can keep in the cupboard as opposed to having to refrigerate it or freeze it and it’s unflavored so you can season it however you want.

Here is what the package looks like. One package will make 3-4 recipes for 4 servings.

If you don’t live in Portland you can buy Soy Curls online and have them shipped anywhere in the continental USA (my mom orders these and has them shipped to her place in Texas).

I prefer to not use the chicken style seasoning they sell as it contains hydrolized soy protein which is another term for MSG. (For more info on food ingredient terms that contain or mean MSG check out http://www.truthinlabeling.org/hiddensources.html)

Here is one of my favorite ways to prepare Soy Curls. You can use this recipe or adapt it to contain whatever seasonings you desire. You can even turn it into a curry if you want to add cayenne pepper or hot chilies too.

 Soy Curls With Chickpeas In Tomato Sauce

 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 onion, diced
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 14.5 oz cans fire roasted diced tomatoes (I use Muir Glen Organic)
1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained (I use Eden Organics Salt-Free)
1 – 1 1/2 cups Soy Curls (buy on Amazon here)
Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute to taste (or other salt free herb seasoning)
Herbamare or salt to taste
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Soak Soy Curls in a large bowl of warm water and sprinkle in some salt and 21 Seasoning Salute. Adding some salt will help give the soy curls some flavor. Leave for 8-10 minutes while you chop your onion and garlic.

2. In a large non-stick skillet or wok sauté onion and garlic dry for 4-5 minutes until soft.

3. Drain the Soy Curls, season with more 21 Seasoning Salute or salt free seasoning and add to the pan and sauté until the soy curls dry out a bit (4-5 minutes.)

4. Add tomatoes and drained chickpeas, and stir. Break up the tomatoes and season to taste with Herbamare or salt and pepper and any other desired seasonings.

5. Cook until tomatoes are soft.

6. Serve with rice, quinoa or pasta.

Have you ever tried Soy Curls before? What’s your favorite way to cook them?

Vegan Mushroom, Olive, Pepper, Arugala and Basil Pizza

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olives, mushrooms, red pepper, arugula, basil, Daiya cheese

Mmm vegan pizza… so many delicious options for veggies and herbs to put on your pizza. My friend and I made some homemade pizza crusts using this dough recipe below.

This dough recipe is from Zojirushi’s bread maker recipe book

Traditional Pizza Dough Recipe (Bread maker)

Makes 2 12″ pizza crusts

Ingredients:

1 cup water
1 tbsp olive oil (I skipped it)
1 tbsp of sugar
1 tsp salt
2 1/2 cups bread flour
2 tsp active dry yeast

Directions:

  1. Measure all ingredients and sprinkle into baking pan, making sure the yeast doesn’t touch the sugar or water.
  2. Select dough setting on bread maker and press start.
  3. Remove dough and preheat oven to 400 F degrees.
  4. Roll out dough and shape into desired shape.
  5. Cover dough with cloth and let rest for 15 minutes.
  6. Spread pizza sauce over crust.
  7. Top with desired toppings and vegan cheese if desired. (I used Daiya.)
  8. Bake 20-25 minutes until crust is golden brown.

This pizza was topped with olives, red bell pepper, sautéed mushrooms and onions, fresh arugula, fresh basil and Daiya cheese. Not a typical vegetarian pizza, but it was very delicious! If you can’t find Daiya cheese you can substitute another vegan cheese, make your own vegan cashew cheese, or leave it with just sauce and veggies like a flatbread.