From Scratch Hot Sauce

Getting used to having a "real job" is weird. I've been so used to being able to pull either 12 hour days working on websites, this blog and taking courses, or just vedging out that getting used to have to be doing a certain task 5 days a week that isn't working towards total independence is just odd.

BUT I havent wavered on my true passion, I've found that even after an 8 hour day of training on the phone and on the computer, I still look forward to making dinner. It's one of the bestparts of my day (although the dishes are a whole other story!) 

Making things like hot sauce and salsa from scratch is something that I picked up in Costa Rica, mostly because the ones available there we're both very expensive AND full of nasties. I've found that although I have a serious Sriracha food fetish, making my own hot sauce is just too awesome to stop doing.

I made two versions so far, one with jalapeños and one with habanero peppers, but in this recipe you can use whatever hot pepper you want or have access to. Don't be shy to whip out those scotch bonnets if you love heat!

I've found that hot sauce is one of those things that people LOVE and put on everything (me!) or something that is occasional or avoided at all costs. I made 2 liters of this stuff one week and it lasted about 2 weeks. I think we may have an addiction...

Use the freshest produce available to get the best results. You can also change up the vinegars you use. I only had access to regular white vinegar, but to make this even healthier you could use apple cider vinegar instead.

Basic Hot Sauce

Ingredients:

- 1 lb hot peppers of choice

- 1 large roasted tomato

- 3 large roasted red peppers

- 1 cup vinegar

- 1 tsp salt

To mellow the sauce a little, or create a more smokey flavor, you can roast the peppers. I roasted them for both the recipes pictured (jalapeño and habanero). Stem and seed them, unless you want an extra hot sauce in which case keep the seeds.

In a blender, combine all ingredients and blend until smooth. 

Can be used right away but it gets even better overnight.

Enjoy!

Holy Moly Low-Fat Chili Cheese fries

Sometimes I spend hours of my time just thinking about how to make favorite foods into healthy alternatives. Not even just my favorites, but everyones. It's a question I love asking people. I think I might be obsessed...

My partner and I had a guilty pleasure restaurant in Toronto that made epic vegan Chili Cheese Fries. I was hooked. But they we're so full of fat and processed foods that I felt terrible after eating them. I wanted all the taste and satisfaction without the unhealthies.

So, as I have been known to do, I brainstormed up a healthy delicious way to make these something I could have for dinner whenever the craving came on.

The trick here was making everything from scratch with quality ingredients that taste amazing on their own, and even better when combined.  The techniques themselves are simple and easy to accomplish.

I think that this would be an epic dish to serve at the Super-bowl, or any party really. Or dinner. I actually made these for the first time at a Grey Cup party that I hosted. I wasn't exactly doing it for the game. I was much more motivated by great company and being able to whip up a bunch of food to share with everyone.

As a small side note, There is the suggestion of using Daiya, which is vegan cheese. It is on the processed side of things, but I think that it's a great product to use to introduce the vegan lifestyle. You can also make a simple cheeze sauce with nutritional yeast to get that cheezy flavor. I'll be posting an easy one soon!

Holy Moly Chili Cheese Fries

Ingredients:

- 1/3 batch Black Bean and Sweet Potato Chili

- 1 batch Oven Fries (below)
- 1 recipe Guacamole (below)
- 1/2 recipe sour cream
- Nutritional Yeast or Daiya or Cheeze sauce of choice
- Green Onions, chopped.
- Hot sauce of choice

Assemble into a bowl as follows: Fries, Cheeze or nooch, chili, guac, sour cream and green onions. Hot sauce to top it off if desired!

To keep it low fat, only use about a tablespoon of guac and sour cream per bowl.

Dig in!

Oven Fries:

- 10 medium potatoes, cut into fries or wedges
- Hot water
- Seasoning of choice

Soak your potatoes in hot water for at least 3 hours, if you don't have that much time, soak them for 20-25 minutes in water that has been boiled.

Pre heat oven to 415F

On a sheet pan lined with parchment paper, spread out the potatoes in one even layer and season to taste (I used a salt-free cajun spice mix).

Cook fries for 20 mins, flip and cook another 10-15 until cooked through. If you want them to have a bit of a crisp broil on high for a few minutes but make sure you watch them carefully! I almost burnt a batch once or twice by getting distracted by other things.

Guacamole:

- 2 medium or 1 large avocado
- 2 tbsp minced red onion
- 1 small tomato, diced.
- 1 lime, juice of.
- Cumin, pepper, cayenne.

Mash avo, mix in the rest in, Voila!

Sour Cream:

- Meat of 2 young thai coconuts
- 1/2 cup pre soaked sunflower seeds
- 1 tbsp or so lemon juice
- Water to get it all going.

-Blend, Blend, Blend... Blend more. Until smooth as, take a bit between your fingers to ensure it's totally smooth.

ENJOY!!

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Vegan MoFo 2013: Web Wednesday's: Spicy Peanut Sauce

Words for today's Web Wednesday's were peanut butter and broccoli. Mainly because the broccoli was needing to be used and I had a random craving for peanut butter, although I never usually buy the stuff I found an awesome new one at Veg Fest that I felt the need to test out. I might talk a bit more about when I've used it more.

Now broccolli and peanutd together automatically got me thinking something spicy and asian. So of course the simplest recipe came to mind, spicy peanut sauce served over broccoli and rice noodles. Off to the kitchen I went and with a few simple steps and less than 30 minutes, diner was served!

Quick and easy meals are somewhat of an essential in the society that we live in and making sure that they are healthy, plant based and whole really isn't complicated. Following KISS(keep is simple sweetheart) is a core foundation of how I eat and cook on a daily basis. I do love making a complex meal, but realistically it;s something thats done once in a while. I want good tasting nutritious awesome food without to much effort and within budget. Most of the recipes I post are exactly that!

Onto the sauce...

Spicy Peanut Sauce

Ingredients:

- 1 cup peanut butter.
- 1-2 cups water
- 1/3 cup tamari
- 1-3 tbsp hot sauce
- 2 tbsp rice vinegar
- 1tbsp minced ginger

In a large bowl, whisk all ingredients together. You want the consistency to be much more liquid han you want the final product to be, I used about 2 cups of water total.  Transfer to a pot or pan and heat on medium until thickened and ginger is fragrant, about 5-6 minutes.

Serve over steamed veggies and rice noodles or rice.

Enjoy!

Vegan MoFo 2013: TV Tueday's: Dexter's Kill Room Lettuce Wraps

Although TV and I have a on again, off again relationship (Let's just say I prefer the version without all the commercials), Dexter is definitely one of those shows that caught my eye. It's soon over though! Which is probably a good thing for me, since I have no clue and have no desire to know what's new out there, it means less time spent in front of a screen!

One of the most iconic foods, after doughnuts and breakfast, on the show is Cuban food. The culture is clearly present and they are often seen munching on sandwiches from the food truck. I decided to put a whole food raw twist on those and came up with a pretty darn good lettuce wrap (which totally appeals to my geek side and ties into the whole plastic wrap kill room deal)

Now that I think of it, a drizzle of hot sauce would have brought these to the next level visually...

There are also a few things I would do differently, like adding avocado slices and more mushroom, perhaps some cilantro if that floats your boat.

I actually never enjoyed raw mushrooms until I learned how to marinate them properly. With this technique, they transform and have a cooked texture and tons of flavor.

Somebody just couldn't wait until I was done taking pictures. 

Dexter's Kill Room Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:

Mushrooms:

- 3-4 portobella mushroom caps, sliced thickly.

- 1/3 cup orange juice

- 1 lime, juiced

- 1/4 cup tamari

- Cumin, oregano, cayenne, pepper.

Marinate mushrooms for at least 1 hour, preferably 4-6 hours or overnight.

Wraps:

- Romaine lettuce leaves

- Shredded carrot

- Thinly sliced celery

- Diced tomatoes

- Chopped cilantro

- Sliced avocado

- Mushroom slices

Assemble lettuce wraps and devour!

Delectable Roasted Roots

With new potatoes starting to pop up at the local farmers markets and the weather not being crazy hot, these awesome roasted vegetables were calling to me. Not very labour intensive, they deliver little bursts of flavour that are great to enjoy on a cooler evening. I will admit that they are more of a fall theme, which in my mind fits for Toronto at the moment with weird cold spells having come our way in the last week. 

Confession: I am a carboholic, a sugar monkey and a glucose junkie. 

Keeping a high vibe life calls for carbs, they provide your body with the best type to fuel to stay healthy and energized for any task that is presented to you. Having experimented with every diet, I have come to realize that restriction in any form only brings an unhealthy attitude about food. When you can eat to your heart's desire and stay healthy, it's a win-win situation in my books. Chronic under-eating is a severe problem now. There really is no need for it! Refocusing on eating the right foods and creating a healthy balanced life should be top priority for everyone. Whole foods and proper combining are the keys to health and healing. Preventative medicine is where it's at, and it starts in your grocery cart. 

The potato has gotten a bad reputation for being fattening. Well ladies and gents, I can confirm this as a myth. The problem isn't the potato, but the way we eat them. Fried, with butter and oils, laden with sour cream and cheeses of all kinds. The truth is, the potato is just the one taking the hit for the actual culprits. Upping my carbohydrate intake and lowering the fat, as well as eliminating the animal products has enabled me to bring myself back to true health. So dig in carb lovers!

Potatoes are by far my favorite starch and come in so many different types and flavour profiles that using them in a gazillion different ways is easy peasy. 

Just looking at the pictures makes me want to make them again...

Super simple and just so good that everyone will be asking for seconds. 

Delectable Roasted Roots

Ingredients:

- 3-5 medium yukon gold potatoes, diced.

- 1-2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced.

- 1 large sweet onion, sliced.

- 1-2 tbsp Italian Herbs

- 1 tbsp smoked paprika

- S/p to taste

Preheat oven to 450 F

On a parchment paper lined baking sheet, spread potatoes and onions evenly. Toss a tablespoon or so of water and mix in, add spices and distribute well with your hands. 

Since we are doing this oil-free, I recommend covering the dish for the first 20 minutes so that everything cooks evenly and them uncovering to roast and caramelize for about another 20 minutes, or until desired results have been achieved. 

Enjoy!

"Sorta Kinda Like Mom's" Spaghetti Sauce

Growing up, spaghetti sauce in our house was always vegetarian. Even though my brothers often asked my Mom to add in some meat, she very rarely relented and just stuck to her veggie filled recipe. Although once or twice she accidentally added way too much spice in the form of new hot sauces from New Orleans, or a loosely tightened cover dropping far too much cayenne. Those dinners were filled with tons of water and bread!

Her recipe was filled with specific veggies, spices and canned tomato sauce. It was delicious and quite labour intensive as I remember. She still makes it to this day and I look forward to enjoying it when I visit. However, in my own house, I neither have the slow cooker or all the spices and I try to avoid canned anything these days. Since we buy our produce in bulk and in season, I also find myself making variations of this sauce every time I make it. I also like to rotate my spices and herbs so that I actually use them, I've been lagging on that as of late so I have some that really need to be used up so I can have an excuse to buy new ones.

Simply put, my recipe tastes similar in many ways, but is different every time. I love variety and being resourceful with what I have in the fridge. This time around we found amazing local heirloom tomatoes for $15.00 a case, and while we tried to et them fresh, there was just too many which is exactly why I chose to make me some sauce. Going from there, I had red onion, zucchini, carrots and red peppers, and into the pot they went!

Simple comfort food at it's best, pre-made sauce just cannot hold up to this. This is also a quick prep recipe, although it takes a few hours to cook, it only requires minimal attention.

Just Like Mom's Pasta Sauce

Ingredients:

- 20-35 medium Tomatoes, ripe. 

- 2 large zucchini, roughly chopped.

- 3 large red bell peppers, diced.

- 2 medium onions, diced.

- 5-6 medium carrots, sliced. 

- White and Black pepper

- Hot sauce of choice

- Herbs of choice (I used basil this time) 

- 3-5 large medjool dates, pitted.

- 1 cup sun-dried tomatoes (optional)

Core and roughly squeeze out seeds from all the tomatoes, place in blender with dates and sun-dried tomatoes if using and blend until smooth. This may have to be done in several batches, my tomatoes gave me about 5 liters after being blended. Pour into a large pot.

Bring to a boil then simmer for about 30-45 minutes, depending on what consistency you are looking to get in the end. I prefer a thicker sauce so I cook it a little longer, depending on the tomatoes that I use.

Add all the veggies and spices and stir to combine, bring back to a simmer and stir about every 10-15 minutes until the veggies are throughfully cooked. Taste to adjust seasonings. 

This makes a pretty huge batch of sauce, perfect for family's or anyone who like to have some on hand. 

Enjoy over your favorite pasta... or even over any starch. I love it with potatoes or rice! I served it over organic rice/corn penne with a dash of nutritional yeast to add that cheesy flavor. 

Have fun with this recipe, add any veggies you love. I often add mushrooms, other peppers, spinach, etc. Its a great low fat and high nutrient sauce that everyone will enjoy. It also keeps in the fridge for a while, although around here it never really lasts more than a few days! It freezes well, a perfect back up meal so make sure to make a huge batch if you like having quick and easy healthy solutions on hand.