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Oil-Free Plant Based Dill Potato Salad With Homemade Vegan Mayo

August 29, 2019 by Veronica Grace Leave a Comment

Oil Free Vegan Cashew White Bean Dill Potato Salad (Plant Based)

Even though Summer is almost over you still have lots of time to enjoy some more family picnics or barbecues. Being plant based doesn’t mean you have to miss out of some of the traditional comfort food salads usually served so I wanted to share this recipe with you!

If you can cook some baby potatoes and you have a blender or a food processor you can make potato salad AND your own plant based vegan mayo. This is my take on a classic recipe including some of my favourite things for cold creamy salads like red onion, celery, dill and pickles.

This recipe is sure to please your friends and family for a cook out or even to pack for lunch for yourself or kids. No need to worry about it being food safe out of the fridge because it’s naturally egg free as well!

Why not give it a try and then tell me what you paired it with by commenting below? Enjoy 🙂

FTC Notice: This blog post contains affiliate links which go to supporting the blog.

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Oil-Free Plant Based Dill Potato Salad With Homemade Vegan Mayo

Ingredients:

3/4 cup white bean and cashew mayo or other oil free homemade mayo 1.5 lbs baby potatoes (I used red skin)
3 stalks of celery, sliced
6 small sweet gherkin pickles sliced, or other favourite pickle chopped
1/4 red onion, diced 1 green onion/scallion, sliced
1/3 cup of fresh dill, packed and chopped
Herbamare or salt to taste
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

1). Make or portion out 3/4 cup of white bean and cashew mayo.

2). Wash baby potatoes and slice in half if desired. Place in a steamer basket in a large pot with enough water and steam just until fork tender. Be careful not to overcook the potatoes.

3). Drain and rinse the potatoes in cold water and place in the fridge for at least half an hour to cool down before dicing and continuing.

4). Prepare the vegetables and herbs.

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5). If desired cut the baby potato halves again so they’re now in quarters. Place in a medium or large bowl and add the sliced vegetables and herbs.

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6). Add the white bean and cashew mayo and stir to combine.

7). Taste test and add Herbamare or salt and pepper to taste. Depending on if you used my mayo recipe or another mayo recipe you might want to add some extra dijon mustard if desired.

8). Chill in fridge if desired. Best eaten within 3 days due to fresh ingredients.

Tip: To have an even dice of onion and celery and pickles you can use a vegetable chopper if desired.

Have you ever made your own vegan mayo before? What do you like to put in your potato salad recipe?

What do I bring for vegan camping?

August 4, 2013 by Veronica Grace 41 Comments

I went camping for the past 2 weekends this summer in the Rocky Mountains and although it’s a lot of work packing and setting everything up, it is fun getting out of the house, away from the computer and offline for a little while to just relax. Here’s some photos of our tent site to start.

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I will admit I was a little concerned with ravenous mosquitoes and rain so I got an eating tent as well, which was handy as it did indeed rain pretty hard twice over the weekend so at least some of the stuff was protected and we could sit under the tent and wait for the rain to pass. The funny thing is we were the ONLY people tenting in this area, everyone else had trailers and toy haulers to hide in. It’s definitely more work tenting, but it’s more affordable and still kind of fun. Although it is quite chilly each morning!

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Oh and we also went to do some dirt biking….

Um yeah so I’m apparently trying out dirt biking, even though I have no experience riding dirt bikes or motorcycles in general. It’s probably the scariest thing I’ve ever done, but I got all this second hand gear to try it out. And I’m super glad I did!

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Let’s just say that I came home with 8 bruises (2 big ones on my legs) and a smashed thumb from dropping the bike on myself and falling over several times going up and down steep rocky hills. It’s not easy learning how to to shift a manual transmission bike and steer and not be scared of crashing going down a giant hill at the same time lol. I’ll be trying it again, but I have to say I’ve never been so sore in my life. I could barely move the next day after coming home because of the bruises on my legs, and my arms and shoulders were exhausted from picking up and pushing the 250 lb bike up and off me and up and down the hills I couldn’t do.

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I feel ridiculous in this outfit. The pants are very high waisted and so thick and bulky they make me sweaty. I also feel like I’m wearing space boots and an astronaut’s helmut!

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Here’s our dirt bikes, my bf so lovingly built this little red one for me. I can’t imagine riding anything more powerful, it already feels beastly enough for me… lol

And now you’re probably thinking I’m insane and wondering what the point of this post was, well I want to show you what I brought for food camping, because a few of you wanted to know if I had any “camping recipes” on Facebook. Well I wouldn’t say recipes, but quick meal ideas because honestly spending time prepping, cooking and cleaning WHILE camping in a tent isn’t my kind of idea of fun. I needed a break from food prep and clean up, so I tried to make everything super simple to prepare. The last thing you want to be is hungry and cranky trying to start a camp fire and reach for snacks instead of a healthy meal.

So here’s my list of the top 6 things I brought for vegan camping to keep things simple and healthy for the weekend

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1. The first thing I bring camping is pre washed and cut up fruit, each packaged in their own individual containers. (Ex. watermelon cubes in a giant container, pineapple chunks in a medium container etc.) This ensures that the fruit stays fresher longer so juicy fruits such as watermelon and pineapple don’t speed up the ripening process of berries or change their flavor. I brought watermelon, pineapple, red grapes, blueberries and strawberries. I always do my fruit this way and store it separately as I like fresh tasting fruit and not mushy muddled flavors. Whenever I want some fruit I can just grab a plate and a fork and plate some up for breakfast, a side for lunch or a snack. Almost half of my cooler is packed with large containers of prepared fruit to keep me eating fresh and healthy even in the great outdoors.

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2. Veggie kabobs are next on my list because I don’t make them at home very often and it’s kind of fun to cook over the fire or a camp stove. I pre wash and slice up all of my veggies and place them in a container and can easily assemble as many as you like for your side dishes. For my kabobs I used yellow and green zucchini, bell pepper, red onion, and mushrooms. I used a metal grate like this to place over the camp stove or fire to cook them.

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Instead of brushing the veggie kabobs with oil, I like to drizzle or marinate them in balsamic vinegar and sprinkle a salt and pepper grinder mix over top of them for roasting. If you really like the veggies to absorb flavor I suggest using a little bag or container to toss and marinate them in balsamic vinegar. I was making mine very quickly and just drizzled a bit on top before grilling.

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3. Fresh corn is another fun food to bring camping. I got some fresh corn on the cob (you can find this organic and gmo free from farmer’s markets and some health food stores so please don’t freak out) and put it in the cooler along with my ice. When I went to take it out it was actually soaked in water, and this was quite helpful. Pre soaking your whole corn cobs helps them retain moisture while cooking.

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Next peel off just the outer layers of the corn husk, leaving the thin inner layers, wrap the cobs tightly in tinfoil and then place directly on a low fire or hot coals for about 20 minutes just until tender. This was the first time I’ve ever put corn directly on a fire and it turned out great! Camping food doesn’t have to be anything complicated, I just keep it really simple and let me tell you my friends were certainly jealous of my fresh and tasty meals I made!

Deluxe Dijon Tofu Scramble With Mushrooms, Broccoli, Pepper and Zucchini

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4. For hearty breakfasts I made a double batch of my Deluxe Dijon Tofu Scramble and kept the seasoned tofu in one container and the sliced veggies in little bags separately so I could cook as much as I needed each day over the camp stove. Super easy and nice to have a hot breakfast when it’s cold every morning.

Vegan Chickpea Quinoa Burger with Lemon and Thyme

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5. For fun I also bring some veggie hot dogs and veggie burgers (see my chickpea quinoa burgers, yam black bean burgers and spicy Mexican black bean burgers). You can also get vegan marshmallows as well to roast over the fire.

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credit theartfulgourmet.com

6. To round out my veggie offerings I also brought mixed salad in little ziploc bags for easy serving and used balsamic vinegar as a quick dressing.

So there you have it, a little insight to my vegan camping adventures and what I bring to keep it simple and healthy in the great outdoors. What do you think? What do you like to bring camping and where do you go camping?

Vegan Avocado Dill Potato Salad

May 19, 2013 by Veronica Grace 12 Comments

Plant Based Avocado Dill Potato Salad Vegan Oil Free

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Now that it’s Spring and some of us are thinking about barbecuing, picnics and potlucks, I thought it was the perfect time to dig out this recipe I haven’t yet shared with you. It’s a delicious twist on potato salad using avocados instead of mayonnaise. I’m sure many of you have loved potato salad and often enjoyed it in the summer with your families. But traditional potato salads are really rich and not very healthy because of the mayonnaise and sometimes eggs they contain.

This version of potato salad is much better for you and is packed full of flavour. I particularly love the addition of celery and dill to this potato salad recipe. In fact, I’m sure it will become a family favorite and you’ll no longer crave the store bought kind.

I like to use baby red skinned potatoes for this, but you can use whatever waxy potatoes you like. Leave them skinned, or peel them your choice! Since mashed avocado is perishable you’ll want to eat this recipe the same day or the next day for best results. Enjoy!

Vegan Avocado Dill Potato Salad

Serves 4-6 side servings

Ingredients:

2 lbs/908 g small baby red skinned potatoes (or other potato of choice)
3 stalks celery, trimmed and sliced
1/2 white onion sliced and diced
1 Large ripe avocado (should be soft and give to pressure)
2 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp honey, maple syrup or liquid sweetener *optional
1 tbsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 teaspoon herbamare or salt *or to taste as desired
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/3 cup dill, packed and then chopped
1/2 bunch green onions/spring onions, sliced (top green parts only)

Directions:

1. Wash potatoes and cut out any bad spots or eyes.
2. Steam, or pressure cook the potatoes gently until they are just fork tender through the centre, but al dente. Immediately run the potatoes under cold water to prevent from cooking further.
3. For best results, refrigerate cooked potatoes for about an hour until cool. (This ensures they don’t fall apart when slicing)
4. Quarter the potatoes and peel if desired.
5. Peel and mash the avocado in a small bowl. Add lemon juice, and seasonings (except fresh herbs) and stir into avocado to create a dressing.
6. Turn potatoes into a large bowl. Add the fresh herbs and avocado dressing. Toss gently until everything is coated. Taste test and adjust seasonings if desired.
7. Serve or refrigerate until needed. Best consumed same day, or next day (as the avocado changes color and breaks down quickly)

What’s your favorite addition to potato salad and what type of potatoes do you like to use?

Vegan Soy Curl Fajitas With Yams (Sweet Potatoes)

January 21, 2013 by Veronica Grace 3 Comments

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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…

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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?

Raw Vegan No Fat Sweet Onion Salad Dressing Recipe And Why Fast Food Salads Are Bad For Your Health

February 6, 2012 by Veronica Grace 38 Comments

Raw Vegan Fat Free Sweet Onion Salad Dressing Recipe

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This is an oil free and fat free bonus recipe that comes in my Savory Raw Dinner Recipes book and ebook (not shown in the dvd) that I’m going to share with you today. If you are looking for some amazingly delicious and healthy raw food recipes, please check it out. I’ve gotten so much positive feedback on my spin on oil free raw vegan dinner recipes. (Scroll down for the recipe.)

Travel update: We are back home now in Vancouver, BC this week after spending 2 months in Corpus Christi, Texas and enjoying the sun down there (and avoiding the dark clouds and rain here). It’s nice to be back home, but it feels a little surreal. I have to get used to my kitchen again and finding all of my seasonings and kitchen gadgets. So I’m going to ease back into making recipes, as I’ve totally broken my groove from traveling and moving back in and unpacking everything.

Sweet onion dressing was one of my favourite dressings I used to buy from a bottle (because it’s low fat), but it’s filled with high fructose corn syrup, so I decided to make my own and it tastes pretty similar and is much healthier.

Why Do I Make And Prefer Fat Free Raw or Vegan Salad Dressings?

Well because salad is supposed to be healthy and full of nutrients, and not be a fat bomb of a meal. When I was at the Houston, TX airport we grabbed a bite to eat at Wendy’s and I was just curiously looking around me at what other families were getting. I noticed the woman beside me was eating what she thought was a really healthy meal, because there were no burgers or fries in sight: a BLT Cobb Chicken Salad, a cup of chili and a large soda.

Now I don’t know if you know this, but all restaurants and fast food companies market their salads to women, especially mothers and older women who are trying to eat healthier, watch their weight (or lose weight) as their children and husbands love ordering a burger and fries regularly. Everyone generally thinks burgers and fries are less healthy and salads are on the top of the list of healthy meals so this can be misleading when it comes down to the details.

The woman who ordered this was also probably 35-45 lbs over her ideal weight. I don’t say this to be critical, just to give you an idea of who buys these fast food salads and how they are being seriously deceived. The thing that shocked me the most was that she squeezed every last drop of dressing out of her packet and then proceeded to suck on the packet just to double check! Gross! I thought people knew these dressings were very fatty and to only use half the packet or less. I guess not in Texas…

Why Wendy’s and Fast Food Salads Are

NOT Healthy and Actually Bad For You.

Let’s take a look at her “healthy” Wendy’s meal. <- Go here for the nutritional info.

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BLT Cobb salad, chicken, bacon, feta cheese, tortilla strips, dressing

Let’s add up her totals here just to get an idea of how “healthy” this meal is. I’ll pretend she only got a small soda, as Wendy’s doesn’t want to acknowledge people drink more than this… yeah right!

Menu Item	Calories	Fat	Sat Fat	Cholest	Sodium	Fiber
Wendy’s BLT Cobb Salad	450	25g	11g	270mg	1610mg	3g
Thousand Island Dressing	160	15g	2.5g	15mg	290mg	0g
Large Chili	310	9g	3.5g	60mg	1330mg	10g
Small Cola Or Sprite	160	0g	0g	0g	0mg	0g
Total:	1080	49g	17g	345mg	3230mg	13g
Rec. D. Allowance:	2000	65g	20g	300mg	1500mg	25g

Thousand Island Dressing is the highest calorie dressing they offer. Avoid it at all costs!

Sodas: Wendy’s CONVENIENTLY only lists the amounts for a SMALL cup of every beverage in their nutritional info. This is insanity. Combo meals come with a medium or large drink! This is total deception.

This salad meal with chili is over half the recommended daily calories for an athletic adult women or an inactive man. Most woman in their 40-60’s only need 1600-1800 calories if they are fairly sedentary. So the RDA of 2000 calories is obviously too high for her. It blows the RDA for cholesterol and sodium out of the water, and is almost maxing out the fat and sat fat for the entire day.

Let’s compare this to a typical combo meal at Wendy’s, just to see how it stacks up as a “healthy choice” for woman.

Menu Item	Calories	Fat	Sat Fat	Cholest	Sodium	Fiber
Single 1/4 pounder	580	33g	14g	105mg	1240mg	3g
Med. Fries	420	21g	4g	0mg	450mg	6g
Small Cola or Sprite	160	0g	0g	0g	0g	0g
Total:	1160	54g	18g	105mg	1690mg	9g
Diff Between Salad Meal and Burger Combo	-80	-5g	-1g	+240mg	+1540mg	-3g

There isn’t any real health benefit in going for a salad with chicken, bacon, feta cheese, creamy dressing, croutons/tortilla strips, and ground beef chili instead of a burger and fries. You save a little bit of calories, but let’s face it, if you’re a woman you blew your calorie budget for almost 2 meals on one meal, and you killed your cholesterol and sodium recommendations for the day. This is bad news for your heart, arteries, blood pressure, and waistline ladies. Don’t be fooled that restaurant and fast food salads are in ANY way shape or form healthy, low in fat, or low in calories. If you want a salad, the best bet is to bring your own fat free dressing (store bought or homemade) and get a large green garden salad. No croutons, no cheese, no bacon, no meat, no fried noodles, no tortilla strips etc. You can also bring or order a fruit plate, fruit cup, piece of fruit (if available). Or try going somewhere that can do steamed vegetables and plain rice, that’s a healthy meal as well.

Now, are you curious what we got instead at Wendy’s? Bet you had no idea you could eat Low Fat Vegan at Wendy’s!

We got a side salad and a plain baked potato each with a small packet of Italian dressing (they didn’t have light so we made do).

(DO NOT eat the fried croutons this can come with the garden salad!)

Menu Item:	Calories	Fat	Sat Fat	Cholest	Sodium	Fiber
Wendy’s Garden Side Salad	25	0g	0g	0g	30mg	2g
Wendy’s Plain Baked Potato	270	0g	0g	0g	25mg	7g
Italian Vinaigrette (Low Fat)	70	6g	1g	0g	180mg	0g
Total:	365	6g	1g	0g	235mg	9g

This is your best option at Wendy’s for a low fat, filling, nutrient and fiber rich meal. You can even get an extra baked potato for a more filling meal.

If you want to know more about why oils, nuts and seeds are NOT good for your health check out this great dvd by vegan RD and Nutritionist Jeff Novick From Oil To Nut s. It will dispel every half truth and myth you’ve ever heard about oils and nuts being “heart healthy”, “good for weightloss” “super foods” and more. I’ve shown it to all of my friends and they were just shocked. They are much more conscientious about their food choices now and have lost weight and lowered their cholesterol and risk for heart disease and cancer.

Wow, what a difference it makes just ordering vegan sides (that are not deep fried and free of creamy dressings/butter/margarine) compared to the regular fast food fare. You can get a large snack or a mini meal, for about $3.50 or less. If you want a larger meal, just order 2 baked potatoes. We always skip the butter, margarine, sour cream and fatty dressings. You can use ketchup or a vinaigrette to season it, or better yet bring a little packet or container of salsa, or barbecue sauce etc if you’re planning ahead.

It is actually NOT that hard to eat vegan and relatively low fat when traveling. Of course it’s not 100% unrefined and ideal, but it’s a heck of a lot better than just saying oh well and getting that pack of fries or fatty oil and cheese salad like many vegans and vegetarians do.

Our first option of course when in airports is always to scope out the Asian food and look for steamed veggies, rice, vegan sushi rolls, rice paper wraps, or stir fries. Keep that in mind next time, if you are new to eating vegan or low fat vegan and worry about eating on the go.

Now on to my recipe oil free vegan salad dressing recipe.

This is a really easy no oil, fat free vegan salad dressing recipe that you can make with ingredients you probably already have on hand. I know I had all of these already, so it was simple enough. I put mine into an empty condiment style bottle so it could be squirted easily on the salad in small amounts.

(Oil Free) No Fat Raw Vegan Sweet Onion Salad Dressing

Makes about 1 1/2 cups of dressing

Ingredients:

5-6 tbsp of apple cider vinegar
1 cup peeled cucumber, chopped
1 clove of garlic
1 cup of sweet vidalia onion, diced (about 1/2 large onion) (Walla Walla is another variety you can use too)
8 small dates, pitted
1/4 tsp salt
pepper to taste
2+ tbsp water (to blend or thin as necessary)

Directions:

1. Place ingredients into a Vitamix or food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Taste test and adjust seasonings if desired.
3. Serve over green salad and refrigerate any leftovers.

Tip:

To make the onion flavour more mild, you can chop the onion in advance and let it sit out or in the fridge and oxidize so that some of the strong oils dissipate and it won’t be as intense.

This is a dressing I would use in smaller quantities because of the bite. I wouldn’t make an entire family sized salad with it, and eat it myself. It might sting your tongue a little if you eat the whole recipe in one meal. Side salads or a medium sized salad would be best with this recipe.

For more information on Savory Raw Dinner Recipes click here

What do you think of this recipe? What was your favourite salad dressing you now make vegan or raw?