Plant Based U

Fat-Free and Low Fat Vegan Plant Based Recipes

Breakfast

Dr. Fuhrman’s Nutritarian Cinnamon Fruit Oatmeal (Eat To Live 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 ceylon cinnamon
1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats (not instant/quick/flaked 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?



Soy-Free Vegan Tropical Acai Berry Bowl Recipe

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Whipping up acai bowl recipes are pretty easy. I like to use whatever fresh and frozen fruits I had on hand. This one is similar to my Acai Banana Berry Bowl Recipe , but it’s perfect for summer with fresh mango and berries. Acai bowls can be topped with your favorite fruits, but I know some of you have never had one before and are unsure how to make them at home.

Acai is usually sold in a frozen puree for use in smoothies, acai bowls and frozen desserts. You can also buy acai juice, powder and supplements, but I stick with the puree because it’s delicious and a little less processed.

Acai bowls are made up of frozen acai puree, apple juice or soy milk, frozen fruit, granola, fresh fruit and sometimes honey. If you do not have acai frozen puree in your country (I found it at the health food store in Canada and the USA) you can substitute about 1 cup of frozen blueberries.

This is a soy-free version which uses apple juice instead of soy milk to blend it together. You can also use fresh pressed apple juice if desired as well.

Soy-Free Vegan Tropical Acai Berry Bowl Recipe

 
Serves 1

Bowl Ingredients:

4 oz/ 1/2 cup apple juice (unsweetened if desired)
2 100g packets of frozen Acai (I used Sambazon Original Smoothie Packs)
3/4 cup frozen mango (sub a fresh mango if you do not have a high powered blender such as a VitaMix or Blendtec)

Garnish Ingredients:

1/3-1/2 cup low fat granola of choice (I like Galaxy Granola as it’s oil free)
1/2 -1 ripe banana, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup fresh ripe ataulfo mango, diced
1/2 cup diced strawberries
Small handful of blueberries
Drizzle of honey or agave *optional (I don’t find I need this in mine)

 Directions:

1. Remove packets of acai and frozen bananas from freezer.

2. Slice the mango, slice the banana and wash the blueberries and set aside.

3. Add apple juice to your blender. Break up the frozen acai into smaller pieces and cut the plastic open and pour into blender. Add the mango. Blend on low or pulse to break up the frozen fruit. If you have a VitaMix use the tamper to puree into a soft serve. If you have another type of blender you may have to stop and stir and keep pulsing to combine. Stop blending when smooth.

4. Scrape acai mixture into a bowl.

5. Top acai with granola.

6. Top with diced mango, bananas, strawberries and blueberries.

7. Serve.

Have you ever had an Acai bowl? What’s your favorite topping?

Tropical Mango Banana Acai Bowl

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I have another delicious acai bowl recipe for you with mango and banana. This one is similar to my Acai Banana Berry Bowl Recipe , but it’s perfect for summer with this tropical twist. Basically you can top your acai bowl with anything you want, but I know some of you have never had one before and are unsure how to make them at home.

Acai is usually sold in a frozen puree for use in smoothies, acai bowls and frozen desserts. You can also buy acai juice, powder and supplements, but I stick with the puree because it’s delicious and a little less processed.

Acai bowls are made up of frozen acai puree, apple juice or soy milk, frozen fruit, granola, fresh fruit and sometimes honey. If you do not have acai frozen puree in your country (I found it at the health food store in Canada and the USA) you can substitute about 1 cup of frozen blueberries.

Tropical Mango Banana Acai Bowl

 
Serves 1

Bowl Ingredients:

4 oz/ 1/2 cup apple juice (unsweetened if desired)
2 100g packets of frozen Acai (I used Sambazon Original Smoothie Packs)
3/4 cup frozen mango (sub a fresh mango if you do not have a high powered blender such as a VitaMix or Blendtec)

Garnish Ingredients:

1/3-1/2 cup low fat granola of choice (I like Galaxy Granola as it’s oil free)
1/2 -1 ripe banana, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup fresh ripe ataulfo mango, diced
handful of blueberries or other berries
Drizzle of honey or agave *optional

 Directions:

1. Remove packets of acai and frozen bananas from freezer.

2. Slice the mango, slice the banana and wash the blueberries and set aside.

3. Add apple juice to your blender. Break up the frozen acai into smaller pieces and cut the plastic open and pour into blender. Add the mango. Blend on low or pulse to break up the frozen fruit. If you have a VitaMix use the tamper to puree into a soft serve. If you have another type of blender you may have to stop and stir and keep pulsing to combine. Stop blending when smooth.

4. Scrape acai mixture into a bowl.

5. Top acai with granola.

6. Top with bananas, strawberries and blueberries.

7. Serve.

Have you ever had an Acai bowl? What’s your favorite topping?

Acai Banana Berry Bowl Recipe

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I have been having my fill of acai bowls since visiting southern California. Originally they come from Brazil, but they are also popular in Hawaii and many American juice bars. I visited one of my raw food friends in California and had the chance to actually make something while on the road in her kitchen. I went in search of acai frozen smoothie mix (as I haven’t seen it yet where I am in Canada) and found some from Sambazon at Whole Foods. (Check their website to find a dealer near you.) It’s about $4.99 for four 100g gram packages. You can use one package for smoothies, or two in acai bowls.

Anyway, these acai bowls are SUPER easy to make and very delicious! The formula is simple: apple juice (or another liquid), frozen acai and banana and topped with granola, fruit and honey or other sweetener. It’s essentially a fruit smoothie granola bowl. You can eat it for breakfast, lunch, after a workout or any time of day. Now these are generally pretty large once you add a bunch of fruit on top of it, so be prepared to make a meal out of it. If not use less fruit topping and less granola for a smaller meal.

If you can’t find frozen acai anywhere near you, you can still make something similar. Try substituting frozen blueberries instead (about 1 cup) and blending that in with the banana and apple juice.

Now onto the delicious recipe!

Acai Banana Berry Bowl Recipe

Serves 1

Bowl Ingredients:

4 oz/ 1/2 cup apple juice (unsweetened if desired)
2 100g packets of frozen Acai (I used Sambazon Original Smoothie Packs)
1 frozen ripe banana (sub a fresh banana if you do not have a high powered blender such as a VitaMix or Blendtec)

Garnish Ingredients:

1/3-1/2 cup low fat granola of choice
1/2 -1 ripe banana, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup strawberries, sliced
handful of blueberries or other berries
Drizzle of honey or agave *optional

 Directions:

1. Remove packets of acai and frozen bananas from freezer.

2. Wash and slice the strawberries, slice the banana and wash the blueberries and set aside.

3. Add apple juice to your blender. Break up the frozen acai into smaller pieces and cut the plastic open and pour into blender. Add the banana. Blend on low or pulse to break up the frozen fruit. If you have a VitaMix use the tamper to puree into a soft serve. If you have another type of blender you may have to stop and stir and keep pulsing to combine. Stop blending when smooth.

4. Scrape acai mixture into a bowl.

5. Top acai with granola.

6. Top with bananas, strawberries and blueberries.

7. Serve.

Have you ever had an Acai bowl? What’s your favorite topping?

Plant Based Swiss Chard and Mushroom Tofu Scramble (Vegan Breakfast Scramble)

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Psst… I have a secret to tell you…

Sometimes I like to make breakfast for dinner. 🙂 I don’t eat large or heavy breakfast, maybe only occasionally on the weekend as a brunch, but I prefer fruit, smoothies or fresh juice in the morning. So when I am writing breakfast/brunch recipes I sometimes make them for dinner! I have a favorite tofu scramble as my staple (see the recipe here), but I wanted some more variety with my greens. There was some beautiful Swiss chard at the grocery store, so I grabbed it and decided to create a new recipe for it.



I always like to add mushrooms and onions to my tofu scrambles for extra flavor as well but you can feel free to omit those or add tomatoes, zucchini or broccoli etc. This plant based tofu scramble is such a vibrant recipe it’s sure to be a crowd-pleaser whenever you serve it. I also roasted some baby potatoes dry in the oven and sprinkled some salt and smoked paprika on them for a little flavor. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did!





Plant Based Swiss Chard and Mushroom Tofu Scramble

Serves 2 or 4 smaller side servings

Ingredients:

14 oz package firm organic tofu
1/2 medium onion, chopped
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1-2 tsp low sodium soy sauce
1 bell pepper, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1-2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp Herbamare or sea salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup almond milk or soy milk (unsweetened original) or you can blend a tbsp of hemp seeds/raw cashews with 1/4 cup of water
1 bunch chard, stems removed and chopped



Directions:

1. Drain, dry and crumble the tofu. (Try to squeeze out as much water as possible so it absorbs more flavour. I like to press it between clean tea towels or a tofu press!)

2. Heat a large non-stick pan and sauté onions and mushrooms in soy sauce for 5 minutes until soft. Add garlic and bell pepper and cook for 2 minutes.

3. While the vegetables are cooking add the tofu to a bowl and season with nutritional yeast, smoked paprika, Herbamare or salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine.

4. Add tofu to vegetables and heat through and cook for about 5-8 minutes.

5. Add the chopped Swiss chard or other greens and almond or soy milk. Cover and steam for 1-2 minutes. (Longer if you use kale, less if you use spinach.)

6. Stir and check seasonings.

7. Serve with toast or roasted or steamed potatoes. (I made oil-free roasted baby potatoes with it. I like to add rosemary or thyme along with garlic and onion powder and a little salt. )


Have you ever made plant based tofu scramble before? What do you put in it?



Vegan Southwest Sweet Potato Quinoa Breakfast Hash

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While I was driving back through the states (on my trip back to Canada from Texas) and luckily I got to try a few vegan breakfast options along the way. (Which I use for inspiration!) I got this breakfast hash (picture below)  at the Flying Star Cafe in Albuquerque New Mexico. It’s normally served with eggs, but I asked for tofu instead for mine. This wasn’t bad, but I knew I wanted to make something similar at home, without using fried potatoes and fried tofu. I also thought the addition of black beans, bell peppers, salsa and avocado would improve the flavor as quinoa can tend to be pretty bland if not seasoned. I added some additional greens in there for good measure too. 🙂

I have to say that I am totally in love with this new Southwest Vegan Breakfast Hash recipe and I’m definitely going to make it a regular breakfast/brunch item. Hey you can even make it for dinner if you want to and serve it with corn tortillas, or roll into a burrito. To save time with this vegan breakfast hash you can use leftover quinoa (or cook it the day before) and use cooked leftover yams. Either prebake a bunch of them to use in recipes, or peel them and steam them. I find using steamed potatoes a much easier way to ensure they cook quickly and are moist while staying oil-free instead of roasting in the oven.

This also makes for great leftovers the next day, just keep the avocado separate when reheating.

Southwest Vegan Breakfast Hash

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1/2 red onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 16 oz can low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
3 cups cooked red quinoa (cook 1 cup dry, directions here)
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
2 green onions, sliced
2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
2 tsp roasted ground cumin
2 tsp smoked paprika
4 tsp low sodium soy sauce or GF tamari
1-2 large leaves of Swiss chard or kale chopped
1 large yam, baked or sliced and steamed
Chilli powder to taste
Herbamare or salt to taste
Fresh ground pepper to taste
1 small Avocado, chopped
Salsa *optional

Directions:

1. Cook quinoa. (see my directions here) Or just put in a rice cooker with a 1:1 ratio of water.
2. Cook or reheat cooked yams. (I peeled and sliced mine and steamed them for 16-20 min, just until fork tender)
3. When quinoa and yams are almost done, sauté onions dry in a non-stick pan for 4-5 minutes until soft.
4. Add in garlic and bell peppers and sauté for another 2 minutes.
5. Add in black beans and quinoa and stir to heat through for 2-3 minutes.
6. Add in seasonings and Swiss chard and stir to wilt.
7. Add in green onions and cilantro and stir.
8. Cut up yams into cubes and gently toss with hash to combine..
9. Season to taste with chili powder, Herbamare or salt and pepper.
10. Spoon into bowls and top with chunks of avocado and salsa if desired.

Have you ever made a breakfast hash? What do you put in it?

Fat Free Vegan Whole Wheat Banana Blueberry Muffins

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Oh my… these banana blueberry muffins are delicious. I don’t know about you but I just love the little pop of the blueberries when you bite into them! Mashed bananas (make sure they are very ripe so they mash well) are a great substitute for oil and fat in baked goods.  So I often use them for this purpose. Plus they add a nice natural sweetness as well which is nice.

I use stone ground whole wheat flour in this recipe, but you can use any whole grain flour that you like.  If you want a lighter muffin you can look for whole wheat pastry flour, it’s not as dense as regular whole wheat flour.  For gluten free versions you can use gluten free oat flour or an all purpose gluten free flour.  I still like to use whole grain flour as most gluten free flours are highly processed and more like white flour.

These muffins also freeze well so you can portion them out and save them for later. I love adding blueberries to baked goods and smoothies, but feel free to use any other berries you like instead.

For truly oil free muffins you can use silicone non stick muffin trays, or paper muffin cups. But I like to use the silicone trays so there is no paper waste (and they also get stuck and tear off the muffins.)

Free Vegan Whole Wheat Banana Blueberry Muffins

12 muffins

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups overripe (fully brown) mashed bananas (about 3 large, 4 medium)
1/3 cup almond milk (original unsweetened)
1/2 cup maple syrup (or 1/4-1/3 cup honey or agave as they are sweeter)
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups whole wheat flour (or ww pastry flour or GF flour)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ceylon cinnamon (or reg cinnamon)
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 cup frozen blueberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F/ 204 C.

2. Combine wet ingredients in a large size bowl and mix together.

3. Combine dry ingredients (except for blueberries) into a medium size bowl and whisk together.

4. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and stir just until combined. Gently fold in the blueberries.

5. Spoon batter into non-stick silicone muffin trays or a lightly oil spritzed muffin tin.

6. Bake for 25-30 minutes until a knife or toothpick in the middle comes out clean.

7. Allow to cool for 10 minutes and then turn out onto a cookie rack to completely.

8. Serve.

Additional Tips:

For a truly sugar free version you can try using more banana and omit the maple syrup/sweetener. For a whole food sweetener you can blend pitted dates with some water to make your own date syrup.

What’s your favorite way to use blueberries?

 

(Vegan) Holiday Eggnog Smoothie

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When I was a kid I used to love eggnog. I have no idea why, but I would go crazy for it at Christmas and couldn’t help myself. Now I can’t even imagine drinking that stuff because it’s just so thick and rich and obviously not vegan.  Last year I tried some vegan eggnog from the health food store, but it was also very thick and rich. My tastes have definitely changed and it just wasn’t my thing!

So this year I decided to make a healthier version, using ripe bananas. If your bananas are really ripe and spotted it will make the perfect drink. Please do not use green/yellow bananas as they are too starchy and not sweet enough or ripe enough to be used in smoothies. The bananas I used for this recipe looked like the one on the right, lots of dark brown speckles.

First I peeled and froze some bananas the night before, and then I left a few ripe ones on the counter to use in smoothies as well.

I find frozen bananas are excellent for adding an ice-creamy like texture to blended drinks, so I highly recommend trying it! They make this eggnog smoothie so delicious I’ve been making them all weekend! It takes a boring old banana smoothie to the next level!

To make this creamy you’ll need some non dairy milk as well too. I used almond milk. To make this a completely raw recipe, you can make your own raw almond milk from my recipe here.

Either way I think you will have a new favorite holiday breakfast or snack recipe! Feel free to impress your family or guests with this one too!

vegan eggnog smoothie shake

(Vegan) Holiday Eggnog Smoothie

Serves 1-2

Ingredients:

1 cup almond milk, or other non dairy milk (unsweetened)
1/8 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
2 ripe bananas, frozen (and broken into pieces if using a regular blender)
1 fresh ripe banana
1/4-1/2 tsp ceylon cinnamon (true cinnamon)
dash or two of  ground nutmeg
dash or two of ground cloves

Directions:

  1. Place ingredients into blender or Vitamix and combine until smooth and creamy. If using a regular blender you may want to let the bananas defrost for a few minutes before blending to make it easier on the blender. Cutting them into smaller pieces helps too.
  2. Garnish with additional cinnamon or nutmeg if desired.
  3. Serve immediately
Additional Tips:
If you don’t have plain cloves or nutmeg you can use a little pumpkin pie spice instead.

What’s your favorite holiday beverage? 

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?

Sinless Fat Free Vegan Chocolate Banana Shake Recipe

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Low Fat Vegan Chef Chocolate Banana Shake

I don’t usually eat a lot of chocolate or use cocoa or cacao in my smoothie recipes, but I’m sure some of you out there have cravings for a chocolate milk shake or smoothie once in a while and I thought I’d make a little treat for us!

There are few things more delicious than the combination of bananas with chocolate and even without the traditional ice-cream, this shake is still delicious. The key to making it creamy and naturally sweet is to use fully ripe (lots and lots of spots) bananas. To make this recipe truly fat free I just use a little water, but you can use some soy or almond milk if desired instead.

Although the bananas in my smoothie picture do have lots of spots on them, I still prefer mine slightly riper (by a day or two with even more spots) and no green at all on the stems of my bananas for the absolute best tasting smoothie recipes. The bananas are still firm (not mushy or over ripe) and are even sweeter this way  and then you don’t need to add any additional sweetener. The best smoothies always start with quality fully ripe fruit, so it’s best to taste test things before tossing them in a smoothie if you are unsure if they are sweet or tart.

Low Fat Vegan Chef Chocolate Banana Shake

Fat Free Vegan Chocolate Banana Shake

Serves 1

Ingredients:

2 ripe bananas (see my post on ripe bananas)
1/4 cup water or as needed for your type/size of blender
1 tbsp cocoa powder
Handful of ice cubes (or sub 1 fresh banana for a frozen banana)

Directions:

Place ingredients into Vitamix or Blendtec or other blender in the order listed aboove and blend until smooth. If your bananas aren’t quite sweet enough add a teaspoon or two of liquid sweetener of choice and blend again.

Serve in your favourite smoothie cup or in a glass with a glass straw!

Variations:

If you’d prefer raw cacao powder you can use that instead. I find I don’t like it as much as cocoa personally and I find it less stimulating. You can also substitute carob powder if you’re looking for a caffeine/chocolate-free option.

To get some greens in this recipe you can throw in a handful or two of fresh spinach.

What’s your favourite chocolate smoothie or shake recipe?