maitake

Maitake Mushroom Steak

by Cooking and Recipes

Hen of the Woods, also known as Maitake, is an incredible and complex mushroom, with many small lips, and has a tendency to crumble.  Pressing the mushrooms condenses the flavors, and squeezes out the natural liquid, allowing it to soak up a delicious marinade while firming the texture into a bite-perfect steak.  Joining the already meaty flavor and texture of this mushroom, the steak will brown and bring on the smokey flavors of the marinade leaving an aroma in the air and a bold flavor on the palette. This recipe is a sneak preview inspired by the recipe in my upcoming book: Plant Based Gourmet

IMG_4505

Kombucha for ALL

by Cooking and RecipesHealthLifestyleUncategorized

There comes a time for every health-loving vegan, every trend-loving hipster, and every ferment-loving culture-fiend, when it’s time to learn to make kombucha.  And why not? Buying it retail is upwards of $5 a bottle, produces a fair amount of single-use package waste, and sometimes the flavor choices are…questionable. Preparing your own kombucha can be a little addictive, especially since the basics are easy to master, and a virtually endless amount of tweaking and flavor combinations can radically alter the outcome! It’s such a rewarding practice that you’ll probably be making your own by the gallon every month in no time!

This recipe uses a combination of ceylon and sencha with organic sugar and will have 2 ferments over the next 20 days! Basic recipes below, look for amazing flavor recipes in PART 2!

soakingalmonds

Homemade Plant-Milk, Nuts and More

by Cooking and Recipes

The prospect of making your own plant milks at home can be a daunting proposition.  You need to trust your instincts, and you’ll run into a lot of recipes that describe esoteric equipment and lengthy preparations and the need to plan ahead (overnight nut soaking!)

In this easy guide, I will go over the basic outline of a plant-milk recipe, that can be applied to practically ANY nut or seed to produce your own plant milk, and a few variations you can use to get different results, whether they be for flavor, sweetness, or speed.

 

collardplate

Good Karma Collards w/ Baked Tofu

by Cooking and Recipes

Something about Collard Greens always puts me in the mood for southern cooking…and while soul food and vegan cooking may not be the most intuitive combination, I assure you it can be delicious!  For this dish we will make a tasty, smoky, meaty baked tofu that we add to our equally smoky and also garlicky and a little feisty collard greens.

I will show you how to get a really fool-proof and satisfying flavor and texture from your tofu and I’ll even show you how to shred those collards with a simple technique that will save you tons of time with all your leafies.

Serves 4-6 as a side, or 2 as a main.

carrotgreens

Carrot Green Pesto

by Cooking and Recipes

Inspired by some of the recent nutritional information discussing some of the best for you and least utilized parts of whole plants, we thought you’d enjoy a delicious SOS-free nutrient dense, low fat, high fiber pesto, perfect for pasta or spiraled veggies, as a spread, pizza sauce, or a dip for your crudite!

1 Bunch Carrot Greens

1/2 Bunch of parsley

1/4 bunch basil leaves or dried basil

handful of spinach

1-2 beet leaves

2 green onions

1 ripe avocado

1/4 cup broth

1 tablespoon flaxseed

1 small white onion

4-6 cloves of garlic

1/4 tsp citric acid or lemon juice

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp sea salt

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

 

Blend or Food process, and season to taste. Will keep for 7-10 days in the fridge!

pesto.jpg

 

20160222_082943

Chocolate Mousse

by Cooking and Recipes

Whether you are aiming for a guilt-free dessert, pudding topping or filling, this creamy delicious sweet indulgence is loaded with a nutrient density that is nothing to sneeze at!  The optional chia seeds add a lovely texture and pack this baby full of omegas too.  Don’t forget, you can leave the salt out or simply add a splash of lemon juice instead to make this healthy raw dessert completely Sugar Oil and Salt (SOS) free.