Plant Based U

Fat-Free and Low Fat Vegan Plant Based Recipes

Cooked Vegan Recipes

Vegan Fish Sauce Recipe

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So why make vegan fish sauce? Well if you like to make your own vegan Thai or Vietnamese food, fish sauce is a very common ingredient and gives these cuisines a nice flavour. I used this vegan fish sauce recipe for using in Nuoc Cham (the sauce used for Bun Chay aka vermercelli salad bowls) and you can also use it to season fresh Thai papaya salad. (It’s made with green unripe papaya and is more like a raw squash)

I found this recipe online for vegan fish sauce and ordered some mushroom flavored soy sauce from Amazon because I wasn’t sure if I could find some at the store. If you have access to an Asian specialty store they will probably have it too.  As I hadn’t tried mushroom soy sauce before I didn’t know if it was much different than regular dark soy sauce. It actually doesn’t taste much different to me (aside from being super super salty compared to the low sodium soy sauce I normally use).  You can use regular dark soy sauce instead if that’s all you can find, as it will probably come out pretty similar. Make sure it’s dark soy sauce and not light or low sodium soy sauce for this recipe.

For my purposes I reduced the original recipe by 1/3 as I only had a small empty tamari bottle to store the sauce in. So feel free to make as much as you care for but this recipe below makes about 1 cup. I used this in my Nuoc Cham sauce for my Bun Chay recipe.

Vegan Fish Sauce Recipe

Makes 1 cup

Ingredients:

1/2 cups shredded wakame (find it at the Asian or health food store by the Nori)
2 cups filtered water
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp whole peppercorns
1/3 cup mushroom flavored dark soy sauce, regular soy sauce or GF tamari
1 tsp of genmai miso (it’s already pretty salty so this is optional)

Directions:

1. Combine wakame, garlic, peppercorns and water in a large sauce pan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer about 20 minutes. Strain and return the liquid back to the pot. Add soy sauce, bring back to a boil and cook until mixture is reduced and almost unbearable salty. Remove from heat and stir in miso.

2. Decant into a bottle and keep in the refrigerator. Use one-for-one to replace fish sauce in vegan recipes.

Additional Info: 

Wakame is the seaweed used often in seaweed salad in Japanese restaurants. It’s shredded into little strips. So if you’ve ever tried seaweed salad you’ll be familiar with it.

Have you ever had fish sauce before? 

Sweet and Savory Asian Salad with Orange Sesame Dressing

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Often when I make salads at home I toss whatever I have in the fridge into a bowl and make a homemade dressing for it. This is a giant salad I made one night for dinner and it was so filling I didn’t need anything else! But I kept it lower fat by not adding anymore nuts or avocado to it and added chickpeas instead for calories and protein.

I also like to add apples and dried fruit to salads to give them more flavor and calories as opposed to lots of nuts or seeds. Salads can be much more appetizing when you make a fresh homemade dressing. Store bought dressings often contain a lot of junk and it’s super easy to make your own at home. I usually make my dressing recipes up as I go along and season them to taste. This one is no exception and I think you’ll like it!

Sweet and Savory Salad Ingredients:

6-8 cups of salad greens like spring mix, or baby greens
2 apples, peeled and diced
1 15 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup of sugar snap peas
1/2 English cucumber, sliced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced *optional
2 tbsp dried cranberries

Orange Sesame Dressing Ingredients:

4 tbsp tahini (sesame seed butter)
2 tbsp orange vinegar (or other fruit vinegar)
8 dates, pitted and chopped
1/3-1/2 cup water (as needed for consistency)
Dash of salt

Directions:

1. Arrange salad ingredients into a large bowl.
2. Combine dressing ingredients in a blender or VitaMix and blend until smooth.
3. Serve and drizzle with dressing.

Additional Tips:

Use dressing within 3-4 days and store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.

Mix up your dressings by purchasing a few different types of fruit vinegars. Trader Joe’s makes a few varieties and so does Dr. Fuhrman (sold on his website). Having a little variety makes creating different tasting dressings so easy.

What’s your favorite salad dressing recipe?

Seitan Makhani (Vegan “Unbutter Chicken”) Recipe

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Ok I have to admit something to you.

I’ve never actually had buttered chicken, but it’s because once upon a time I was a little afraid of spicy food and afraid I would not like Indian food… (Hah funny I know right.) I also stopped eating butter and dairy a long time ago and also did not eat foods with dairy products. So I will not try to argue that I know this is an “authentic” recipe or anything like that.

Just because you eat plant based now doesn’t mean you have to miss out on delicious Indian curries!

BUT I will tell you that this vegan version of “Buttered” Chicken is oil-free, butter free and cream free, so you can feel a little less guilty about indulging in a creamy Indian curry. Since I don’t like to use fake meat products often, I made my own “wheat meat” also known as seitan. (Seitan is not gluten free, so if you are allergic you can sub tofu or chickpeas).

This was a fun experiment as I’d never made “wheat meat” before but it was actually pretty easy.  See my instructions for seitan here.

This curry sauce can be used for any item really, if you want to cook tofu, vegan chicken, chickpeas, potatoes, cauliflower etc. instead of the seitan you can do that as well. It goes really well on top of rice or Indian bread such as roti or chapati (more vegan friendly than naan bread.)

Indian curries can be a little complicated to make if you make fresh curry pastes, but this recipe is very easy and uses readily available dried spices. Plus it’s also much healthier than using jarred curry sauces from the store and you can adjust the spiciness to your liking.

I hope you have fun making it!

Seitan Makhani (Vegan “Unbuttered Chicken) Recipe

Serves 6

Curry Ingredients:

1 onion, finely chopped
4 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup water
2 tsp ground ginger
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 tsp curry powder
1 1/2 – 2 tsp chili powder
4 tsp ground cumin
3 bay leaves
2 cups tomato puree (you can puree canned tomatoes)
2 cups almond or soy milk (original unsweetened)
1/2 cup plain vegan yogurt (I used So Delicious coconut – plain)
2-4 teaspoon garam masala
Cayenne pepper to taste
1/2 tsp Herbamare or salt or to taste
Black pepper to taste

Vegan Chicken:

1 (16 oz) package chicken-style seitan, cut into cubes (See my recipe here) Or sub tofu or chickpeas
1-2 teaspoon garam masala

Roti/chapati or basmati rice to serve with

Directions:

1. Heat a large non-stick  saucepan or wok over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add lemon juice, water, ginger, garlic, curry powder, chili powder, cumin, and bay leaves. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Stir in the tomato puree and cook for 3-4 minutes more. *Note I used canned tomatoes and just pureed them in the blender beforehand.

2. Reduce the heat to low and mix in the almond milk. *For a creamier curry, transfer contents to a blender or food process and process until smooth. Return to pan and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the vegan yogurt and season to taste with garam masala, cayenne, salt, and black pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. Heat a separate medium sized non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the seitan and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and season the seitan with teaspoons garam masala. Stir in about a 1/4 cup of the tomato-yogurt sauce and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes so it can absorb some of the flavours.

4. Transfer the seitan mixture to the saucepan and heat through.

5. Serve. (Curry will be really saucy and goes well on rice.)

Variations:

Sub the seitan for sliced tofu, chickpeas, potatoes or cauliflower for variety.

You can also double the amount of seitan or add vegetables to make a chunkier curry.

Have you ever had butter chicken before? Have you ever made your own Indian curry at home?

How To Make Seitan or Vegan “Wheat Meat”

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Seitan or “wheat meat” is made from wheat gluten, the protein that makes wheat flour stick together and makes bread spongey. Seitan is often used to make mock meats and is frequently used in vegetarian Chinese cuisine. It’s also used in Tofurkey products along with tofu to help it stick together.

I was a little apprehensive about making my own seiten as I had never made it before, but it turns out to be VERY easy. To make seitan quickly it is faster to just buy vital wheat gluten “flour” (which is essentially just wheat protein with all of the starch removed). You can still make seitan using regular flour, but you have to soak it overnight and wash away all the starch and you don’t end up with as much gluten left compared to the flour you started with.

And just a note if you have celiac disease or gluten intolerance, please don’t make this recipe! I don’t have any problem consuming wheat or gluten containing products, so I use them occasionally as part of a low fat plant based diet.

Let’s get started.

How To Make Seitan From Vital Wheat Gluten

Makes 4-6 seitan cutlets

Ingredients:

1 cup vital wheat gluten (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ginger powder
3/4 cup vegetable broth (low sodium) or water
1-2 tbsp light soy sauce or tamari
6 cups vegetable broth (for cooking)

Directions:

1. In a medium to large sized bowl, combine vital wheat gluten and dry spices.

2. In another bowl, mix the soy sauce and 3/4 cup of vegetable broth or water.

3. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and stir together. It should become very sticky. Use your hands to form it into a ball.

4. Knead the seitan a dozen times to ensure it’s spongey and allow it to rest for 5 minutes.

5. Separate the ball of seitan into four or five smaller chunks. Stretch each piece of seitan into a thin cutlet as best you can to around 3/4″.

 6. Add seitan to 6 cups of vegetable broth in a large pot and bring to a low boil and then reduce to a simmer for 1 hour. Depending what you are using the seitan for you can add additional seasonings or vegetables for flavor as well.  Make sure you have enough liquid to cover the seitan. It will expand a lot while cooking and puff up.

7. Drain seitan and chop up to use in a recipe, or dry it off and store in a ziplock bag or a tupperware container in the freezer. You can double the recipe and make two batches to make this more cost effective if using vegetable broth.

Check out my Seitan Makhani (“Unbuttered Chicken”) recipe here.

What do you think? How did you seitan turn out?

Vegan Southwest Sweet Potato Quinoa Breakfast Hash

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FTC Notice: This post contains affiliate links that go towards supporting the blog. 

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?

Ninja Cooking System Recipe: Vegan French Yellow Split Pea Soup (Slow Cooker)

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Back in August I attended the International Food Blogger Conference and attendees were able to secure a brand new Ninja Cooking System for free should they choose to try it. I was very interested because it’s not just a slow cooker, but you can use it for baking or stovetop cooking as well. So if you like to start off some of your soups, stews or roasts by sautéing and then turning on the slow cooker, you will love this kitchen gadget. It comes with a little cookbook in the box, but naturally none of the recipes are vegan. There is one “can be made vegetarian” lentil soup recipe in the book, but I tried it and was not impressed. (It uses chicken stock and cheese and I used vegetable stock and it was rather bland, naturally.)

So I decided to pull it out and make a vegan split pea soup. It is rather chilly in Calgary, Canada where I am and it sure makes the house smell delicious with soup cooking away all day. What’s nice about the Ninja Cooking System is that it has a non stick lightweight pan. So there’s no fear of food getting stuck to it making it hard to clean, or it being so heavy you might accidentally drop it and break it. It also has a handy digital timer for the low/high/buffet (keep warm) setting, and simply an on/off setting for the low/medium/high stovetop section.

Since I will be using it only for bean, lentil and soup recipes (and not roasts or meat stews) I will be playing around with it. But for my purposes it works just like a slow cooker so it’s very easy to use. Don’t be intimidated! Just select the setting you want by using the dial. Although I still have my regular slow cooker, I suppose I don’t need it anymore as the Ninja is quite convenient to use AND clean too. It also comes with a little metal pan for roasting/steaming/baking and a metal roasting rack.

If you’re interested in getting a Ninja Cooking System you can get it on Amazon here. I suspect it would also make a nice gift for that family member pressed on time, who likes to toss ingredients into the pot and “set it and forget it” until they come home from work for fast meals.

Although I’m not skilled in the art of French cooking (as they use butter, cream and meat predominantly) I still enjoy using some French ingredients and especially French herbs. Here’s my version of a simple and hearty Vegan French Split Pea Soup.

Vegan French Yellow Split Pea Soup (Slow Cooker)

Serves 8

Ingredients:

2 cups yellow split peas (rinsed and picked over)
8 cups vegetable broth (low sodium or homemade)
1 large sweet onion, or 2 small, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
3 celery ribs, diced
3 medium carrots, peeled and diced
3 tsp Herbs de Provence (or a mix of rosemary, thyme, savory and/or basil)
3 small bay leaves
1 tsp Dijon mustard (do not use yellow mustard or spicy mustard)
Fresh ground pepper to taste
1/2 tsp Herbamare or salt (or to taste)

Directions:

Place ingredients into a slow cooker such as the Ninja or a pressure cooker.

Cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 8-10 hours. Alternately you can cook it in a pressure cooker for about 7 minutes.

When split peas are at desired tenderness, mash or blend part of the soup for a creamier texture.

Add dijon mustard and stir and season to taste with Herbamare or salt and pepper.

Serve with whole wheat bread or over rice.

Additional Tips:

Make sure to use fresh split peas (meaning not ones sitting in your cupboard for the past year, and preferably not from a bulk bin). Using “old” split peas that have been through various temperatures and humidity can leave them hard and difficult to break down. You’ll know you had old peas if at the end of cooking time they are still rather hard and intact. No amount of cooking will soften them, you’ll just end up burning the bottom of the soup to the pot. (I have had this happen many times from bulk split peas) Pick up a fresh set of split peas for your soup recipe instead.

Because I cooked this in the Ninja some of the moisture escaped from the hole in the lid at the top, so my soup is really thick. If this happens to you, you can add a little more broth or water as needed for desired consistency and then season to taste.

Additionally you can add diced potatoes or other seasonings to this soup to mix it up.

Have you ever made split pea soup? What ingredients do you like to add?

Engine2 Inspired Tempeh Mushroom Panini Melts

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I was watching Engine 2 Kitchen to the Rescue on Netflix the other day and got a hankering for a homemade panini melt like Rip was showing in the recipe section of the film. This recipe is DELICIOUS! I’m definitely going to be making this regularly because the combination of mushrooms and caramelized onions is one of my favorites.

Hummus is a great cheese-free way to make an ooey gooey panini melt because it adds some nice flavor and moisture to it and gets all melty when heated. So make sure to slather it on thick! For a healthier oil free version of hummus be sure to check out my recipe link below.

This is an adaptation of Engine2’s recipe and I’ve added more ingredients to the panini.  🙂

Vegan Hummus Mushroom Tempeh Panini Melts

Makes 2 panini

Ingredients:

4 slices whole wheat bread (look for oil free) *use GF if desired
low fat hummus (see my recipe)
4-6 strips of tempeh (I used sesame garlic tempeh)
6-8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 slice of onion cut into strips
1 tsp soy sauce or gluten free tamari
1 tsp maple syrup *optional
handful of baby spinach
2 pieces of fresh cilantro

Directions:

1. In a small non stick pan, cook the tempeh strips over medium heat until lightly browned on both sides. Set aside. (You do not need any oil.)

2. Sauté the mushrooms and onion slices in a non-stick pan in soy sauce and maple syrup for 5-6 minutes until soft. Set aside.

3. Spread all 4 slices of bread with a thick layer of hummus (you don’t want it to be too dry!) and top 2 slices with tempeh, mushrooms and onions. Lay some spinach leaves on top and sprinkle on a few bits of cilantro. Top with the other slice of bread.

4. In a non stick or cast iron skillet place the sandwiches one at a time over medium low heat. Top with something heavy such as a cast iron skillet, pot or plate with a weight on it. Cook on each side for 3-4 minutes until browned being careful to not let them burn. *Alternatively you can use a sandwich press (cut it in half first) or a panini press and cook for 4-5 minutes.

place the sandwich on a non stick pan with something heavy on top of it

*Or use a sandwich maker or panini press and close the top down on the sandwiches

5. When done slice in half and serve.

panini made in the sandwich maker

panini made in the pan with weight on top

Variations:

If you don’t want to include the tempeh, feel free to leave it out. I like adding it so it’s a little higher in protein and more filling.

You can also mix up your panini by using a different flavored hummus, adding roasted bell peppers, jalapeños, artichokes or smoked tofu instead of the original ingredients.

What’s your favorite vegan grilled sandwich or panini?

Gluten Free Vegan Yam Black Bean Burgers (Adapted From TheGlutenFreeVegan.com)

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Here we go with another yam recipe! Ahem… “sweet potato” if you are in the states and kumara if you are in Australia. This recipe is an adaptation of fellow blogger Megan Lust whom I met at the International Food Blogger conference in Portland, Oregon last August.

Funny story, so we sort of found each other with a few other vegan bloggers (there weren’t many!) and bonded over the lack of vegan food at the conference and being pretty hungry. We hung out and then after we saw each others’s business cards we were like hey you sound familiar…. I found out we’ were both Canadian and she was from Saskatoon. Then I thought odd… I swear I know a gluten free vegan in Saskatoon.

And we find out we had actually been vegan food swap buddies a few months before. We tried it out this Canada blogger vegan food swap for 2 months when it first started before giving up (because too many people were sending prepackaged vegan junk you could easily get at the store.) But the cool thing was she had lovingly made me some HOMEMADE ginger pear jam because I begged to not be sent anything junkie with oil and said anything else would be awesome. Here is my previous blog post about the lovely things she sent me.

Faster forward to a few months later and the other day I was cruising her website The Gluten Free Vegan and saw these yummy homemade “sweet potato” burgers. (We Canadians use that word online generally so Americans know what we’re talking about! and most of our blog traffic comes from the USA and not Canada) and I decided to make them myself.

I wanted to try these. I JUST HAD TO.

So in my version of course I stripped the oil out of it and tried to make it lower fat, and also changed up the seasonings to it as well. If you like smokey black bean yam burgers that have a South Western taste you’re going to love these!

These vegan patties also stay together really well because Megan (the genius that she is) uses spiralized or shredded yam pieces in the patty to help it stay together without needing breadcrumbs which makes for a tasty gluten free vegan yam burger! (Much tastier than my previous attempt of yams with black beans and breadcrumbs, that recipe has never seen the light of day because it just wasn’t delicious enough lol.)

You end up with a delicious and crispy on the outside moist in the middle veggie patty that is perfect to serve between burger buns, or even set it atop of some rice or pilaff. So check it out!

Gluten Free Yam Potato Black Bean Burgers

Adapted from Megan Lust’s recipe at The Gluten Free Vegan

Makes 6-8 patties

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups grated or spiralized yams/sweet potato (about 2 small ones)
1 19 oz.(large) can low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed well
6 green onions/scallions/spring onions, chopped
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
6 cloves garlic
3/4 cup walnut pieces
1 tsp smoked paprika
1/4-1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground pepper

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F/205°C.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Add walnuts to the bowl of your food processor and pulse until finely ground.
4. Add in the carrot, celery, green onions and garlic and pulse to finely chop. Be careful not to let it become a paste. Remove contents and set aside in a bowl.
5. Add in the black beans to the food processor and gently pulse until chopped. Add 1 1/2 cups of the grated yams and pulse into a chunky puree. Scrape out into same bowl.
6. Add the remaining 1 cup  of grated yams and seasonings. Stir and combine well.
7. Form into 8 patties with your hands and place on the parchment-lined baking sheet.
8. Bake for 25 minutes until lightly browned and set.
9. Garnish with condiments and serve as desired. (I use hummus instead of Veganaise, ketchup and relish or pickles and lettuce.)

Additional Tips:

If you don’t have smoked paprika or chipotle pepper, I recommend it, but you can use regular. It just won’t have that full bodied smokey flavor to it.

For a gluten free option, serve patties in a large lettuce leaf or use gluten free buns.

Additionally you can serve these like sweet potato cakes over top of rice.

Store remaining patties in between sheets of parchment paper, either in the fridge or seal and place in freezer. To reheat, place into a non stick pan and heat over medium heat until warmed through.

Have you ever made your own vegan burger patties? What do you put in them?

Vegan Soy Curl Fajitas With Yams (Sweet Potatoes)

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I don’t often use “fake meat” substitutes and prefer to make almost everything from scratch.  But my favourite “just like chicken” product is Soy Curls because they do have a great taste and texture once they are seasoned.  They don’t contain a lot of ingredients, just soy and they are gluten free (and GMO free as well).

So far everything I have put Soy Curls in has turned out delicious. You really can’t screw up Soy Curls.  Essentially you take the dried product and soak it in warm/hot water for about 10 minutes to plump up and you drain them.  I like to add some salt and seasonings to them while they soak, or else they don’t taste like anything. They do need some salt to have flavor.

Then you can just sauté these dry in a pan (they taste better if you cook some of the water out) I cook them for 10-15 minutes until they seem done and have a good texture. You can then add the Soy Curls to any recipe you desire, but they taste best if you season them or put a sauce over them. See my previous Soy Curl recipe here that is one of my favorites.

If you don’t want to buy Soy Curls you can omit them and just use the veggies and yams in this recipe instead.

It’s also really hard to make fajitas look appetizing when you have so many brown/beige colours with the whole wheat tortillas, mushrooms, onions and Soy Curls! At least my new colorful plates help…

Vegan Soy Curl Fajitas With Mashed Yams (Sweet Potatoes)

Serves 4

Ingredients:

3 small yams (orange sweet potatoes/kumara)
Roasted cumin (I use McCormick’s) to taste
Herbamare or Sea salt to taste
Chipotle chili powder or chili powder to taste
1 1/2 cups Soy Curls (dried)
1 sweet onion, sliced
2 bell peppers, sliced
1 cup mushrooms slices
9-12 small corn or small wheat tortillas
1-2 tbsp fajita seasoning (recipe found here)

Directions:

Peel and slice the yams. Place in a pot or steamer basket and steam until fork tender. 15-20 minutes depending on size. Set aside when done.

Soak the Soy Curls in warm/hot water for 10 minutes. Season with some salt if desired (I do). Drain.

In a large non-stick skillet or wok saute the Soy Curls over medium heat for about 10 minutes. Add the mushrooms and saute for another 2-3 minutes. Add the onions and peppers and season to taste with fajita seasoning. Cook until peppers and onions are at desired tenderness (about 1-3 minutes).

Place the yams in a bowl and mash them and season to taste with cumin, salt and chipotle powder. (Don’t over season, just give it a little flavour.)

Lay out a tortilla, spread some mashed yams and add the fajita ingredients.

Serve with guacamole or salsa if desired.

Repeat with remaining tortillas.

Additional Tips:

For warm tortillas you can microwave them for a few seconds until warm or heat them in an oven wrapped in tinfoil on low while you prepare your ingredients.

Feel free to add other veggies as desired like zucchini or carrots. Cook longer if necessary.

Soy Curls can be cooked a lot without burning because they are so moist so keep cooking them until your vegetables are at desired tenderness.

 

What are your favorite ingredients in veggie fajitas?

Homemade Fajita Seasoning Mix

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Who needs to buy Fajita or Taco seasoning mix? Did you realize it’s super easy and inexpensive to make yourself if you already have the following ingredients in your pantry?

I find seasoning mixes often too hot and spicy for my tastes so this is a perfect way to adjust how spicy you want your mix to be. So feel free to add more or less depending on what you like.

Use this fajita seasoning instead of Old El Paso Fajita Seasoning Mix. You can make it as tame or spicy as you like by adjusting the amount of chili powder and cayenne.

Sprinkle this seasoning on fajita veggies, soy taco “meat”, Soy Curls, tempeh, roasted potatoes, roasted vegetables and more.

Faijita Seasoning Mix

 

Ingredients:

2 tbsp cornstarch
2-4 tsp chili powder
2 tsp sea salt (fine)
2 tsp smoked paprika
2 tsp granulated sugar (or raw sugar)
1 tsp roasted cumin
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions:

Combine in a bowl and whisk together. Store in a glass jar or airtight container.

Uses:

Sprinkle 1-2 tbsp of this mixture over your veggies as you stir fry them for fajitas. Also great to use for flavoring potatoes, roasted vegetables, tofu scramble, soy curls and more.

Additional Tips:

I really like the smoked flavour of the smoked paprika. If you don’t have it or don’t like it you can omit it or add more chipotle or chili powder. I just find it adds so much flavor without adding a lot of heat.