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!

Yam Enchiladas

Sometimes, when you really work hard at what you want and keep a positive attitude (well, for the most part anyway) you find yourself exactly where you planned on being. As much as it took a bit more time than I wanted, I finally found a job that suits my needs and allows me to continue working on Plates for Plants.

I am lucky enough that this also means that I get to work from home! Time saved, no need to commute and no need for bus passes and less temptation to eat out are all massive perks.

And more time for food! It's nice because since being back in Canada, I'm not rushed to absolutely have to do recipes during the day, since the sun doesn't set at 6pm every single day as it did in Costa Rica. Which means good pictures are available for a much longer time period!

Okay, let's get to the food. This recipe is quite delicious and since we are very partial to any type of latin american food, it was very popular. These enchiladas are quite simple to make, you can even make the filling ahead of time, as well as the sauce. So when dinner comes around all you have to do is warm the tortillas, stuff and roll them and slater them in sauce. In the oven and voila! Dinner is served.

As always you can adjust the spice level to your preferences. I enjoy a sprizt of lime and a tumble of avocado to top mine, but yet again if you want to keep your fat intake as low as possible, omit the avocado.

Yam Enchiladas

Ingredients:

- 2 large yams, peeled and cubed.

- 3/4 cup black beans

- 1 small onion, minced

- 1 bell pepper, diced finely

- 1 tsp cumin

- S/P

- 10 corn tortillas

Sauce:

- 2-3 large tomatoes

or

- 2 cups tomato sauce

- 1 jalapeño

- 1 tsp cumin

- 1 red pepper

Pre-heat oven to 350F

Boil the yams until tender.

In a large pan, water sauté the onion and pepper until softened, about 5-6 minutes.

Transfer yams and vegetables into a large bowl and mash until well incorporated. Add spices. Warm the tortillas in the oven and then stuff and roll them, about 2-3 tbsp of filling per tortilla. 

While the potatoes are boiling, blend the tomatoes or tomato sauce with the rest of the sauce ingredients and simmer until it has reduced to a thick consistency. 

Pour some sauce into an oven safe dish to cover the bottom, then add in the enchiladas and then pour the rest over them. Bake for 20-30 minutes.

Enjoy!

Eggplant Curry

Almost every time I have more than one or two people over for dinner, I seem to gravitate towards making an indian themed spread. It's juts instinctually what I think of and plan for.

It might be because I always have the pantry staples on hand and the dishes use the same basic ingredients. Yet you can easily make three or more different dishes without difficulty. I live that seasonal vegetables can be used to create complimentary dishes with different flavors, so that it's a little bit different everytime.

I usually always serve my chickpea curry, but tonight I think I'll change it up and make three dishes that are new to my repertoire. I have an AMAZING recipe that I still tweaking that so closely resembles butter chicken in flavor that I'll be "testing"tonight. I should be sharing it sometime this month.

They had amazing eggplant at the market a few weeks back and I just had the instant craving for eggplant curry. This dish is decadent, yet completely fat-free and low sodium if you keep the added salt on the no or low side. The carrots bring the perfect level of sweetness to counteract the slight bitter taste eggplant can sometimes have.

You can easily change up the supporting cast of vegetables in this recipe, I just recommend having a sweeter vegetable in the mix.

Eggplant Curry

Ingredients:

- 2 medium eggplants, peeled and diced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 large carrot, sliced and halved
- 2 medium red peppers, diced
- 2 large tomatoes, chopped
- 2 clove garlic
- 1.5 tbsp fresh ginger
- 1 tbsp fresh turmeric
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1/2 tbsp cardamon
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- Fresh cracked pepper
- 1 lemon, juiced

Combine the ginger, garlic, turmeric and tomatoes in a blender and blend until smooth.

In a deep pan, water sauté the onions until translucent. Add the carrots, peppers and eggplant and cook for 2-3 minutes. Add the spices and stir for about 1 min. 

Now add in the tomato mixture and bring to a slow simmer. Cook until all vegetables are cooked through. Mix in the lemon juice.

Serve over rice or quinoa.

Enjoy!

Cinco de Mayo Menu

To me, the best part about any celebration is the food. It's what brings people together. My family always tends to hang out in the kitchen anyways, so having some great food to celebrate coming together is a must.

Cinco de Mayo brings visions of Mexican food, both traditional and fusion. It's an easy celebration to make plant-strong and healthy too! Here are my choices for the day:

Roasted Tomato Salsa

Mexican Lasagna

Black Bean Tacos

Fiesta Burrito Bowls

Chili Cheese fries with extra Guac and Chips

Melon Lime Slushies

Starfruit Limeade

Black Bean Brownies with added Cayenne

Roasted Tomato Salsa

Experiencing the rainy season here is interesting. Some days it threatens to rain all day, but not a drop. Other days it's bright and sunny in the morning, then turns dark and gloomy pretty quick. Today is one of those days. Planning hikes and fruitlucks isn't obvious at this point, but we are risking a beach day on Saturday to hangout with a few fruities in the area. I'm crossing my fingers that it'll be sunny!

Being here has really taught me to be much more self sufficient when it comes to food. In Canada we are so used to things like salsa and hot sauce being both easily accessible and reasonably priced. Here they are usually expensive or full of preservatives and msg or salt. So I've got into the habit of making them myself so thatI can control the ingredients and lower my sodium intake drastically. Not to mention I get to actually pile it on instead of rationing those tiny jars they sell.

Something that may seem like alot of work is actually pretty simple and not too time consuming when you roast the majority of the ingredients. We are salsa obsessed around here, so we go through a large batch a week. No need to can it.

I'm sure it would be pretty simple to can though, I'm just no expert and prefer making batches that will last us a week at most. There are endless variations you can make to this salsa to change up the flavors. This is a basic roasted tomato recipe that is a great place to start from.

To serve with our salsa, I just toasted up some corn tortillas to dip in. We also use it to top our evening meals like rice and potatoes.

Roasted Tomato Salsa

Ingredients:

- 5 lbs of tomatoes

- 4 medium/large onions

- 3 large red bell peppers

- 1 tbsp cumin

- 2 tbsp hot sauce of choice or roasted hot peppers

- 1/2 cup lime juice

- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro (opt, not shown)

- S/P

Heat Oven to 400F

On a large deep baking sheet line up the tomatoes, onions (skin on) and red bell peppers. Roast for 35-40 minutes then let cool until they can be easily handled by hand.

Skin and core the tomatoes, and skin and de-seed the peppers.

In a large bowl, dump all the tomatoes and squish then with your hands until they reach the texture that you desire. You can also use a food processor for this step if you aren't the hands on type. Drain about half the water, depending on how thick you like your salsa (My partner like to drink the juice, it's quite good!)

Chop the pepper and onions to desired size and add into the bowl. 

Add in the spices, cilantro and lime juice. Give it all a good stir and let sit in the fridge in a tightly covered bowl until ready to serve. It tastes even better the next day!

Mexican Lasagna

As our adventure time here in Costa Rica is fast coming to a close (only 5 weeks left!), I'm attempting to take advantage of this place to the best of my ability. Waterfalls, beaches and fruit will be through-fully experienced and enjoyed.

Another thing that I am going to miss is freshly made tortillas, that are pre-made for you. Although I've learned to make them from scratch, they are a tad time consuming to make.

This dish is definitely rated in my top ten favorites on the blog so far. The layers of flavor of this Mexican inspired lasagna make me smile in delight when I take a bite. The spicyness level depends on a few things: how hot your jalapenos are and how many you use. As you can see, I went a little overboard...

Mexican lasagna is like a taco casserole, or a layered soft taco. You can change up the fillings layers to anything you want. As you know I do like keeping it pretty simple most of the time. Although I did whip up the sauce portion from scratch, it doesn't take much time to assemble and bake.

I really recommend going with the corn tortillas here though, they lend a flaky-ness that won't be present if you use anything else. That being said, it would still be delicious with a brown rice tortilla or anything you can find at your local grocer.

If you do decide to make a variation of this, please share it with me. You can link below in the comments, share with our Facebook page or our twitter account. I'll be starting on Instagram soon as well, just have to remember to take pics with the Ipad too...

Mexican Lasagna

Ingredients:

- 10 corn tortillas

- 1 cup "refried" beans

- 3 tomatoes, diced

- 1 medium onion, sliced

- 1 red pepper, sliced

- 1/4 cup + 1/4 cup jalapeno slices

- Oregano

- Red Pepper flakes

- S/P

- 1 avocado

- Hot sauce

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

In a large pan, water sauté the onions on medium/high heat until translucent, about 3 minutes. Mince 1/4 cup of the jalapeños. Add in the tomatoes, red pepper, minced jalapeño and spices.

In a casserole dish or oven safe plate, add a little sauce in the bottom then layer a tortilla, some beans and sauce and keep layering until none is left. 

Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes. Top with jalapeños, avocado and hot sauce as desired.

Enjoy!

Mango Chutney

Mango season is upon us!

To me, this is a truly epic time of year, seeing as mangoes are one of my most favorite staple fruits that are only amazing a few times a year. (Not to mention so much more affordable!)

However, there comes a time where they aren't so great, a bad batch or you cut them before they are actually ripe because you;re just TOO excited to get in on the mango goodness.

This is where Mango Chutney comes to the rescue. We we're a little too excited and jumped the ship on waiting for the mangoes to be be truly in season down here. So it resulted in a few not so great mangoes that neither of us wanted to eat raw. It's not that they were bad per say, they just lacked the amazing mango-ness that we expected and we're less sweet than expected.

This recipe is super easy to make and delicious as a condiment on pretty much anything. We had it that night along with some simple Thai Yellow Curry with rice. I also love it on baked potatoes or quinoa.

Mango Chutney

Fixings:

- 1.5 cups diced onion
- 5-6 mangoes, diced or sliced
- 1 cup pineapple, diced
- 1 generous cup raw sugar
- ¾ cup vinegar
- 2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp fresh turmeric, minced very well.

In a large pot, cook the onion with some water until translucent. Add in all the spices and cook for about 2 minutes, or until you can smell the spicyness. 

Add in the mangoes and pineapple and let cook for a few minutes to mingle the flavors. Add in the sugar and vinegar. Cook for about 30 mins stirring often to prevent burning. You'll know when it's ready from the thick jam like texture of it all. Let it cool and put in in a sealed glass jar in the fridge.

Not sure how long it lasts, cause here it's always devoured within a few days. 

Enjoy!

Meatless Monday's: Creamy Chipotle Potato Soup

I think that the food group people worry about missing the most when going plant-based is dairy. Which isn't surprising because not only is it actually addictive, the taste and texture is seen as hard to mimic.

Nowadays, this couldn't be further from the truth.

With the development of nut cheeses as well as the soy and tapioca based ones, there is a wide array to choose from on that end. They are great transition foods, and a treat now and again.

There are some things that can make creamy delicious dishes without any of them AND be low-fat. The magic is in the potatoes! (or cauliflower, but that's for another post)

I also used a little homemade coconut milk to make it even more decadent, but it isn't essential if you want to keep this meal fat-free.

You can choose to top this with any vegetables, but I found that roasted broccoli was the perfect compliment. Any wilted greens would also work very well.

Creamy Chipotle Potato Soup

-       10-12 medium potatoes (I used a mix of red and yellow)

-       2-3 cup of water or veggie broth

-       1 onion, diced.

-       ¾ cup nutritional yeast

-       1 tbsp chipotle flakes (or more depending on how spicy you like it)

-       1 cup coconut milk (I used homemade)

-       S/P

Toppings:

-       1 head broccoli, cut into florets

-       1 onion, sliced

Pre-heat the oven to 400F.

On a cookie sheet, spread out the toppings and roast for 20-25 minutes, until cooked through.

In a large pot, boil the potatoes until tender. I always slice them into smaller pieces to speed up the process. Whole potatoes take an eternity.

Drain the cooking water and in batches, blend the potatoes with the rest of the ingredients, making sure to use enough liquid for each batch to get super smooth and creamy. Put it all back in the same pot, or soup container thing (see pictures, I can’t think of the proper name…). Either top the serving bowl with the broccoli mix, or each individual bowl.

Serve hot, with a simple salad.

Enjoy!!

ALSO: as I have mentioned I have some plans to grow the blog. I would LOVE your input and have put together a short 2 minute survey. I would be eternally grateful if you could fill it out.
Here's the link. https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/YJ6PH75

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Chipotle Scalloped Potatoes

With the holidays around the corner, I always like to think up an awesome vegan feast for the big meal. Although I don't think I've ever made the entire thing, it's a greta backup and all the recipes can be used throughout the season.

All events, in my mind, are about the food.

Coming over for dinner? I'll make a three course meal just cause I'm in the mood. Or at the very least I'll make something that you'll personally enjoy even if I've never made it before. I've actually even thought of making up a form to fill out for everyone that comes over so I know everyones likes and dislikes. I think that just might be taking it a little too far though...

I think it's pretty obvious to say that people always get excited when they eat over.

Anywho, the winter holidays are a great excuse to make a whole ton of food. Which means I get to experiment, probably my most favorite thing in the world. I do want to start making much more raw meals though, my breakfast and lunches are still mostly fruit, but I am really missing my salads.

This recipe will probably surprise you, since well the main ingredient is potato yes, but it's also the secret to the sauce. Potatoes with potato sauce, only in my world. Turns out its amaaazing. I got the idea from a potato soup I made not too long ago, that I will be posting soon. It was so creamy and velvety that it just clicked that i could make amazing scalloped taters with the same concept. After I made the sauce, it also came to me that the sauce would be amazing as a mac and cheese. Versatility 101 right there.

Without further adieu...

Chipotle Scalloped Potatoes

Ingredients:

- Enough sliced potatoes to fill your baking dish

Sauce:

- 5-6 small potatoes, boiled and cooled.

- 3/4 cup nooch

- 1/3 cup coconut milk (not the canned stuff, the carton stuff)

- Water, as needed.

- Pepper

- Lemon juice

- Chipotle pepper flakes

* You can also top it with any other vegetable, I added asparagus this time around.

Pre-heat oven to 350F

Blend all the sauce ingredients until smooooth. Taste and adjust seasonings to personal preference.

One layer at a time, lay down the potato slices and cover in sauce. Repeat until filled and cover.

Bake until cooked through, about 40 mins.

Let cool a few minutes.

Enjoy!!

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Fiery Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

There is no doubt in my world that soup is the ultimate cold weather food. Seeing as fall has sunk its toes into the ground, and winter is peeking from behind the clouds, I figured now was the perfect time to post this recipe. It used to be a constant in my world this time of year last year, I'm pretty sure I made it at least once every two weeks, always a batch that lasted me a few days.

During my 4 month 100% raw stint, I do have to admit that it one thing that I was missing until I discovered the awesome world of raw soups blended until warm. But that is subject matter for another post!

The greatest part of this soup? I got to eat the whole pot to myself. 

Somebodyyy wasn't the biggest fan of it. Which is fine by me when it comes to this soup. 

This somebody is also leaving for Costa Rica in just over a week, which leaves me with some time to fill until I join him in January. At least I have a few replacements to use as my testers, which is good since I plan to fill up my camera with a bunch of new food porn so that I have a bunch to tide me over this next big move, especially since I plan to eat a whole ton of fruit in Costa Rica, and not too much cooking will be happening so expect a ton of amazing raw food dishes!

I will, however, be working on some books to be released sometime in 2014, so keep an eye out for those.

Now, feast your eyes on this delicious pot of orange gold.

Sweet and spicy, it's simplicity betrays it's delicious flavours from the roasting that caramelizes the squash so that the spice perfectly balances the taste. 

Fiery Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:

- 1 whole butternut squash

- 2-3 sweet potatoes, diced.

- 1 onion, diced.

- Water or veggie broth, to cover vegetables.

- Hot sauce, to taste.

- S/P

Put your whole squash in the oven at 400F and roast that baby for about 40 mins, or until a fork goes right through.

When that's done and cooled, dice your onion and cook it in a large pot with a bit of water to prevent sticking until translucent.

Add the sweet potatoes and cook for a few minutes, then add water to cover. Bring to a bubbly boil then simmer for 12 minutes or until almost done. Cut your squash in half and scoop the seeds out into the compost. Then scoop the yummy flesh into the pot of simmering goodness. 

Once everything is cooked through, using either a stick blender or in batches in your blender, whirl until smooth.

Back in the pot, season with S/P and hot sauce until it's just as you like it.

Serve nice and hot.

Enjoy!

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