VEGAN CHRISTMAS/VEGAN RICE KRISPIE SQUARES

Happy Holidays everyone!

I had the most wonderful christmas. Its nice to be back in Campbell River with my whole family at this time of year. It really makes it feel like Christmas. Especially with my boyfriend here with us now. Since everyone was home for this Christmas my sister, my boyfriend and I decided we would all cook a huge vegan christmas dinner for everyone. We went out shopping and bought TONS of supplies. I made all the desserts the night before. I made my vegan peanut butter cups (here's the link to the recipe, http://herrrbivore.blogspot.ca/2015/01/vegan-gluten-free-peanut-butter-cups.html

and something new! Vegan Rice Krispie Squares which i'm going to share the recipe for on this post. Since I had 10 mouths to feel I figured I'd take the easy way out this year and buy a tofurky roast.( Click on "tofurky roast" to check out the holiday roasts on their website) It was my first time buying the tofurky holiday roast and I was really impressed!! Although a little small for the price of the roast it is seriously scrumptious and saved me SOO much time not having to make my own roast. Plus it came with a jerky wish stick and two huge vegan brownies that were delicious, although crumbly. It made it well worth the $24.99 I spent on it. Everyone really enjoyed it and it pulled the whole spread together. My sister made two huge trays of brussel sprouts that were roasted and eaten faster than anything on the table. My boyfriend helped prep everything with me to make our dishes. I made a turnip, sweet potato, carrot dish baked with onion, garlic and herbs. As well as nugget potatoes, baked. One huge tray of yams, gravies, a huge tray of vegan stuffing which i've already included in my blog post from last holiday season. Check it out here, 

http://herrrbivore.blogspot.ca/2014/10/vegan-seitan-pinto-bean-roast-with.html
There is also a recipe for a vegan seitan roast if you can't afford a tofurky one or you want to make your own from scratch!

I also made 4 stuffed yellow peppers that were stuffed with quinoa salad. Just in case someone extra showed up because in my house, that ALWAYS happens, We all made so many dishes we could have gotten lost in them. Everyone was stuffed completely full for the rest of the night. I think my favorite thing about christmas is the big family meals everyone has together. There is no greater satisfaction than cooking, serving and watching people enjoy your food. Especially when you know no animals were harmed in the making and your meal is 100% cruelty free. 

I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays as much as I did and wish you all the happiest new year.

See you in 2016!!!

VEGAN RICE KRISPIE SQUARE

3/4 of a bag of Dandies Vegan Marshmallows (Click their name if you want a link to their website to check out their awesome products!)
3 tablespoons of earth balance vegan butter, melted
5 cups of Rice Krispie Squares

Now this recipe is pretty easy. The hardest part is making sure you dont overcook your marshmallows. All you have to do is melt your butter in a large frying pan. One that is big enough to fit all your ingredients because this will be where you mix it together. Once your butter is melted add all your marshmallows. It should be at low-med heat. If its too high your marshmallows will go hard and crunchy. If it's too low it won't melt forever so make sure you're keeping an eye on it. Stirring it every couple minutes to make sure it's not sticking, your marshmallows will begin to melt. If its melting uneven you can flip them over to speed it up. That's what I did. Marshmallows tend to melt on one side. I swear to god these marshmallows are SOOOOOOOO much better than regular marshmallows. Not only are they chewy, good for you and satisfying they have a real food like quality to them that regular marshmallows don't. Regular marshmallows seriously gross me out haha. Who wants to eat animal bone!?!?! So while you wait for your marshmallows to melt make sure you're stirring them together to make a big pile of melted marshmallow. Once they are completely melted (around 10 minutes) begin to add your rice krispies one cup at a time. Reduce your heat to low.

Stirring while adding to make sure they are being incorporated evenly and doesn't turn into one big, gross clump. Once you have added all your rice krispies and everything is stirred in evenly remove the frying pan from heat and turn your burner off.

 Slightly oil two pans or one big one to press your rice krispie squares into. Pour an even amount into both pans and begin to press down with a spatula. This is forming your rice krispie squares so the more compact and tightly stuck together the better. So press it down for a good couple minutes but don't over do it or your rice krispie squares will get crushed.

Once you've pressed it all together nice and tight you can cover your rice krispie squares with either saran wrap or a plate. Make sure not to put them in an airtight container though or they will get completely rock hard. They need to be able to breath. These were a huge hit for my christmas dessert and everyone loved them and said they were just like regular rice krispie squares! Even my dad who HATES trying my vegan food. Hahaha. Hopefully you and your family enjoys this as much as mine did .
Happy Cruelty Free Cooking!

VEGAN KORMA CURRY

Hey everyone! WOW, It's been a while. Life is great and things are wrapping up nicely for 2015. I've been working my butt off at 2 jobs now so I've been SERIOUSLY busy. Between that, christmas shopping, baking, cleaning, cooking etc.. life has been non stop!  I recently got a new oven so you'll be getting some brand new awesome recipes from me for the holiday season. My boyfriend and I also went to Vancouver to see L7!!!!! Which was probably one of the best moments of my life. Ive loved that band since I was 13 so there was some serious nostalgia at that show. We also went to CARTEMS DONUTERIE while in Vancouver. YOU NEED TO GO. If you haven't stop everything you're doing and go right now. They blew me away. Stole my heart. Their earl grey donut made my week. Also the vegan apple fritters AND the apple pie stuffed donuts!? It's like I had died and gone to heaven. I really love donuts. Always have, always will. We carried home a box just so we could enjoy them at home hehehe. I did hear a rumour that they are going to make ALL their donuts vegan. Not sure if it's true yet but wouldn't that be neat!!

 I attached a link to their website on their name above if you'd like to check them out!

I figured I should check up on everyone and give you another awesome recipe to make during this holiday season. I'll be back around christmas to make a post about our christmas feast but until then hopefully this satisfies your craving.

Although Korma Curry isn't the traditional dish you'd generally serve at a North American Christmas dinner it's still an awesome dish and definitely deserves being shared. Korma generally is a yogurt or cream based mild indian dish. Generally served with fish, meat or vegetables. I made mine with a coconut cream base. It was splendid! I think a couple scoops of natural coconut based vegan yogurt would have really made it that much better, if you don't have that you can use this recipe and it'll be just as good. I'm going to be exploring a lot more into specific indian dishes to make them vegan style. It's a pretty easy thing to do since a lot of indian dishes are generally vegetarian based. That being said if you're ever in a bind for food in an unknown place you know you can always go to an indian restaurant and find some vegan friendly food. I hope you enjoy my Vegan Korma as much as my partner and I did. We are going to be having the leftovers tonight!

Stayed tuned for some more dishes coming up soon! Happy Cruelty Free Cooking!!

VEGAN KORMA CURRY

Recipe

serves 4

2 cloves garlic, diced

1/4 white onion, diced

4 small potatoes, chopped, boiled then fried

1 can organic chickpeas, drained then rinsed

1 can organic coconut milk

2 big handfuls of spinach, chopped

2 teaspoons ajwain seeds

2 teaspoons coriander*

2 tablespoons curry powder*

1 teaspoon turmeric*

1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala

dash of chili flakes

*ingredients with a star beside them are the ones you can add a little more of if you want a bit more kick to your korma. This dish is generally mild so my spices were according to a mild flavour.

Serve your Korma over a bed of rice. I flavoured mine when I made it

Rice recipe

2 cups water

1 cup basmati rice

2 tablespoons of curry powder

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon butter, stirred in after rice is finished and cooled a bit

First, put on your rice. I'm sure you all know how to cook rice without a rice cooker but just in case... Add 2 cups of water to a pot and turn to med-hi heat. Add one cup of rice and your spices. Stir in spices so they blend well with the rice. Place lid over pot. Once your pot of rice begins to boil reduce heat to min and open the lid slightly allowing steam to escape. Let cook for 15-20 minutes. Once your rice is done, fluff it with a fork. This helps make it not stick together in a big clump. Once your rice has cooled a bit stir in your butter. This makes your rice creamy and gives it a little extra flavour that pairs really nicely with curry. Place rice off to the side with a lid on top to keep it warm.

Now time to make Korma!

Wash and chop all your vegetables. Grab a medium sized pot. Fill it half full with water and turn to med-hi heat. Place a lid over top. This pot will be to flash boil your potatoes.

This helps give them a good consistency and ensures they are cooked fully. Once the pot of water has come to a boil, add your potatoes. Boil for five minutes. Get a large frying pan. Add some olive oil and turn to med heat. Sautee your garlic and onion with a dash of the ajwain seeds for 5 minutes.

 Drain your potatoes and add them to the frying pan along with your coconut milk, chickpeas and spinach. Stir everything together then add your spices. Mix all your spices in really well. By this point your coconut milk should be bubbling a little bit and that means you're ready to reduce your heat to min, place a lid over top and let it cook for around 25 minutes. You can cook it for a little bit less if you want a more creamy base. If you want a less creamy base cook it for a little longer but keep an eye on it so you don't over cook it. Stir the frying pan every couple of minutes to make sure nothing is sticking. This also helps the spinach blend in with the coconut  milk which helps make your base for the dish. Once you have your desired consistency remove the frying pan from heat and stir it once more. Allow to cool for 5 minutes. Serve it over a bed of rice or some naan bread and there we have it.

Veggie Korma!

VEGAN OREO DONUTS

Hello everyone! It was my boyfriend,  Reece and I anniversary on the 9th of July and I obviously needed to make him something amazing for that day.  We are both vegan and loveeee to eat! I asked him what he wanted and he said donuts! Which gave me the grand idea to recreate the new Oreo donut the Tim Horton's just launched,  vegan style. Oreos are already vegan so it was pretty easy! I baked the donuts this time but with a different recipe.  They turned out amazing! I was super pleased with the results. It was a super easy recipe and they baked quick. Donuts at e my favourite.  I'm still reminiscing the vegan donuts at voodoo donuts in Portland.  After going there in May 2013 I was really inspired to come home and make my own! These are by far some of my best yet and I guarantee anyone would love these! As long as you have a sweet tooth because they are sweeetttt.  The coconut milk makes the perfect icing for them too. I hope you enjoy this recipe and I would love for people to share pictures of their donuts if they try this recipe! Leave it in the comments or message my Facebook page,

Happy baking!

Donut Recipe

2 cups flour + 1/4 cup extra flour for kneading and dusting 

2 teaspoons instant yeast

1/4 cup warm water

dash of salt

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon cocoa

2 tablespoons vegan margarine, melted

3/4 cup coconut milk

dash of salt

Icing Recipe

1/3 cup vegan becel margarine, melted *link attached

1 cup vegan powdered sugar

3 tablespoons coconut cream *thicker chunks in your can of coconut milk

*save some for the drizzle

2 rows of oreos crumbled for toppings

To start your dough recipe you will need a 1/4 cup of warm water with a dash of salt added to it. Sprinkle your 2 teaspoons of yeast over top of the warm water the allow to sit for 10 minutes. This gives you time to combine all your dry ingredients. You can add more cocoa if you want chocolate donuts. These just had a slight hint of chocolate in them with the amount I added. Thats what I was going for. Once your yeast is ready, create a hole in the middle of your dry mix. Add your yeast, coconut milk then margarine. Mix together well with a fork until dough is form then begin to knead and mix with your hands.

Knead your dough for 7 minutes. Rub a bit of margarine inside the bowl your dough is in so it doesn't stick and cover with a clean dish cloth and allow to rise at room temperature for at least a half hour. The longer you let it rise the more donuts you will get out of it!

While your dough is rising you can make your icing!

First step is to melt your margarine. Keep in mind that becel margarine is WAYYY lighter then regular original earth balance which is what I normally use. This made a really nice butter cream frosting! You MUST add the coconut cream to get the right consistency though. My icing was very thin before I added that but afterwards it was the PERFECT icing. I highly recommend using becel vegan margarine for your icings(especially butter cream ones) but just try and keep in mind you will need a vegan thickener. Other examples of thickeners are mashed bananas, natural agar agar and ground flax seeds.   

Gradually add your vegan powdered sugar while using a mixer. Mix constantly while adding. Once your sugar and margarine is mixed together well add your coconut cream. Continue to mix until desired consistency. I mixed mine for about 5 minutes.  Once it's finished place it in your fridge with a lid. 

NOW, your dough has risen for a half hour or more and you need to preheat your oven to 325 F. 

Knead your dough on a clean, lightly floured surface on your counter or table. You'll need to knead it for about another 10 minutes. Keep adding flour as needed to your surface. Rub vegetable oil all over your baking tray. Begin to roll out your dough with a lightly floured rolling pin. Keep rolling until the dough is a 1/4" inch thick.

Using either a donut cutter or a knife begin to cut out even shapes of your dough and place on lightly oiled baking tray.

 Repeat until all your dough is used. Once they are all ready, rub a little vegetable oil on top of the donuts and throw into your heated oven. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Take out and allow to cool.

Allow to cool for at least 10-15 minutes before icing or your icing will just melt off because it's wayy too hot. Take your icing out of the fridge now so its not to hard to spread on the donuts.

Crumble up two rows of oreos in a bowl.

This will be for sprinkling on top of the icing. Begin to spread icing on all your donuts. Try to make sure you will have enough icing left for the drizzle on top of the oreos but if you don't just break the icing recipe here down into a 1/4 recipe and use that! Once all your donuts have icing on them begin to sprinkle oreos all over them. A lot of the oreo crumbles will probably fall onto the plate. I just kept scraping them all off and sprinkling them until it all stuck to the donuts. Once you've covered all your donuts add a light drizzle of icing over top of them all. This is the last step but MOST CRUCIAL ONE. It really does make the donut. These will last in your fridge for up to 5 days. These are some of the best donuts I've ever made and I hope you like them :)

VEGAN PIZZA

Hey everyone! I haven't made a recipe post in way too long so thanks for staying tuned.  I've been working on my cooking at home,  trying to expand my social network and checking out other awesome vegan blogs in my spare time.  Its been way too hot to cool here the last couple days so it's obviously summer salad season.  I usually just live off of salads,  sandwiches and wraps in the summer time.  Its a nice change from lots of the complicated meals that us health freaks like to cool or bake.  I can definitely embrace a raw diet in the summer time.  For those of you that are raw during the winter,  that is impressive. Maybe it's being brought up in Canada but I need my hot seitan roast and home made stuffing.  ANYWAYS getting off topic here a little.  June 28th was National Vegan Pizza Day so I figured I'd celebrate by posting my vegan pizza recipe. Vegan pizza is the easiest meal to feed to meat eaters and have them not even notice.  My whole family will eat vegan pizza with me as long as I make it! Ha. If you're looking to help your family explore their animal free roots,  do a pizza night :) I promise they will not be disappointed!!  

Pizza is great because you can put virtually anything on it and as long as it's covered in tomato sauce and dosed with daiya people will love it.  Plus if you're picky you can make it exactly to your liking.  My favourites are toppings are bell peppers, mushrooms, stuffed olives and artichoke hearts.  Add some spinach or kale and you've got yourself the perfect pizza.  If that's not to your liking you could try pretty much any vegetable.  Some of my other faves are corn,  broccoli,  tofurky sausage or veggie chorizo.  Veggie pizzas are great but those tofurky faux meats are the bomb! Now field roast is back in Canada so you can use those too.  They are my favourite,  I am so happy to have them back.  If you haven't put those on a pizza yet, please do so now.  For your own sake.  Here's my dough recipe.  Enjoy! 

Dough recipe  

3 cups unbleached white flour or caputo flour (link attached if your interested)

1 packet instant yeast = to 2 1/4 teaspoons 

Dash of salt 

1 cup warm water

1 tablespoon olive oil 

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons pepper

2 teaspoons chili powder

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning 

Get one cup warm water in a measuring cup and add a dash of salt and stir.  Make sure it's not too warm or it'll kill the yeast.  It just has to be room temperature. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let stand for ten minutes.  In a large bowl  add your flour and spices.  Stir well. Make a well in the middle and add your yeast and olive oil. Mix together with a fork  until a dough begins to form then start to use your hands.  Knead for 10 minutes.  Add one teaspoon of olive to your bowl and rub it around the sides and on your dough.  This make sit so your dough doesn't stick.  Place a clean kitchen cloth over the bowl and let rise on the counter for an hour.  

This gives you the perfect amount of time to cut up all your veggies, oil your pan  and get ready to roll your dough out.  This is  usually how much I cut up for one large pizza. 

Veggie recipe

1 can tomato paste 

Half a white onion,  diced

3 cloves garlic,  diced 

5 mushrooms, sliced 

10 olives,  sliced

Handful of pickled artichoke hearts, diced 

Half a pack of tofurky chorizo or 2 tofurky sausages OR field roast vegan sausages 

Handful of fresh spinach

One bell pepper,  diced 

1/2 cup of daiya cheese (I usually use pepper jack) or vegan gourmet cheese (which is really good but so hard to find in Campbell River!)  *links attached

Once your dough has risen for an hour you need to preheat your oven to 400. Take your bowl and remove your dough  into a lightly floured surface on your counter.  Begin to Knead the dough for 10 to 15 minutes.  Adding flour as needed.  Once it's nice and soft and easy to work with begin to roll it out with your rolling pin.  Start from the middle  pushing out to create a disk shape.  Rotate the dough and flip it over  periodically to create the pizza shape for your dough.  Keep pushing out further each time to make the circle bigger and bigger. Keep rotating the dough to keep the shape uniform. Once the dough is big and round like a pizza you can begin to bend the edges in and pinch the with a fork to create your crust.  Stuff it with vegan cheese if you want! Once you have a dough completely around the edge of your pizza you'll need to to bake it for 5 minutes.  This allows the dough to cook thoroughly because veggies don't take nearly as long. Place it on an oiled round  pan and place in oven. Once you take it out your ready for the tomato paste.  Spread it around with a spoon and cover the whole dough.  Add your toppings  veggie,  meat then cheese.  Place as much as you'd like. Using a pizza paddle,  a spatula or your hands place the pizza on your oiled round  pizza pan.  Place  in the oven for 15 minutes. 

Take your pizza out and allow to cool for 10 minutes before you serve.  Slice evenly with a pizza knife and eat!

Thats just a few photos from my vegan pizza gallery :) 

Check out my vegan calzone recipe as well!  *link attached

I hope you had an awesome vegan pizza day and enjoy this recipe. Its so easy to make the hardest part is waiting for the dough to rise! I would love if everyone would tweet me @theherrrbivore and send me your summer salads with the #hastag #summersalads 

Thanks everyone for all your support on my blog and your commitment to a cruelty free lifestyle! Kudos to you! 

VEGAN BAKED ONION RINGS

HELLO VEGANS and non vegans alike. Its Spring!! I know I haven't been posting very much but its because I am moving:) My boyfriend and I decided to move to Campbell River where my parents live to help them and be out of the city for awhile. I'm really excited because my sisters are super awesome chefs and it'll be nice to have some partners in crime! I got a lot of positive responses when I posted some pictures of these bad boys so I figured it was about time I get posting a recipe. So if you don't hear from me in a while you know why! Stay tuned though because everything is about to get much more exciting for my blog:)

Keep cooking!

VEGAN BAKED ONION RINGS

1-2 large onion peeled and sliced

Batter

1 cup organic unbleached white flour

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 teaspoon onion powder

1 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 cup of silk coconut almond milk blend

1 teaspoon organic apple cider vinegar

Breading

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/4 nutritional yeast

1/4 bobs red mill cornmeal

Steps
SERVES 2

Preheat your oven to 450F. Slice your onion up in 1/4 thick rings.

Make sure you push out all the silly little pieces that obviously won't make good onion rings. You want big circular pieces for this. Once all the onion you need to cut up is ready its time to make the batter. Combine all your dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Whisk together with a fork while dry so you can make sure there is no bumps in it at all. Add half of your almond milk and stir it in well. Then pour the other half into a measuring cup and add your apple cider vinegar. Add that mixture to your dough and keep stirring everything together. If your batter is too thin you can add a tablespoon of flour one at a time to thicken it. Once your batter is ready its time to get your breading together. Now this part can really be changed to whatever your preference is. I prefer to have a little crunch in my onion ring so I like adding things like cornmeal that give it a kick. If you prefer a smoother batter try just adding bread crumbs and nutritional yeast. I made my own bread crumbs by toasting some Silver Hills Squirrely bread then crushing it in my hand. Worked like a charm!

By this point your oven should be preheated so you'll want to oil a baking tray or line it with parchment paper.

Pick up a single onion ring with a fork and place it in your batter. Make sure the onion ring is completely covered with batter.  Pick it back up with the fork and let the excess batter drip off. Place the battered onion ring in your bread crumb dish and flip to cover both sides. Place the onion ring on your baking tray and repeat those steps until all onion rings are battered and ready to bake. Bake for 8 minutes, flip and bake for another 6 minutes. Take them out and remove from baking tray.  Place them on a plate with a paper towel to absorb some of the excess oil and allow them to cool.
I had mine with simply organic ketchup and it ruled:)
Enjoy!

We had ours with some Gardein Crispy tenders on the side. They we delis!
(there is links attached to the companies of products I used if you want to check them out!)

VEGAN BANANA CREAM PIE W/ A HAZELNUT DATE CRUST

VEGAN BANANA CREAM PIE

w/ a hazelnut date crust

I woke up this morning with such an itch to bake so I was instantly excited when my boyfriend said it was national banana cream pie day. Random yes but an excellent opportunity to try something new. I also had a serious craving for hazelnut so I went out and bought some pura hazelnut agave syrup which is the kind I used in this recipe and it is SOOO GOOD. I mostly drink it in my coffee usually but it was an awesome addition for my pie crust. It gave it just the extra pizzaz it needed. Although I didn't make my own custard for the middle I was really pleased with the gobio vegan custard packet that I bought at one of the local pharmacies here with an awesome vegan food section there. It was my first time trying the custard and although it needs quite a bit of sweetener to be delicious its an excellent base for a cream pie. I highly recommend it to anyone trying to pull off a vegan cream pie for the first time. So here it is. In the name of national banana cream pie day, my vegan banana cream pie. I hope you enjoy! Happy baking. 

*I attached a link to the Pura linkedin below if you want to check them out. They are an awesome local company from Vancouver, BC

Pie crust recipe

1 cup everland organic pitted dates (soaked in warm water for 20 minutes)
1/2 cup bob's red mill organic graham flour
1/2 cup everland organic unbleached white flour
1/4 cup lets do it organic shredded coconut
1/4 cup earth balance melted
2 tablespoons Pura hazelnut agave syrup (link attached here)

*I also left links to the other products I used if you wanted to check out these awesome vegan companies!

Steps

Combine flours in a medium sized bowl with your shredded coconut.  Mix together well with a fork. Next drain your dates and add to your food processor or blender. Add 2 tablespoons of agave syrup and 2 tablespoons spoons of melted earth balance. Blend together for 4 minutes. Add blended dates to the flours and begin to mix together well, pressing down while mixing to pack everything in tight. Once your pie crust has formed into a ball, press your pie crust into a pie  pan. Refrigerate for 5 minutes then bake at 375 for 12 minutes.

Once your crust is ready you can make your custard because you'll want your custard to cool before adding it to your pie.

Pie filling recipe

2 cups vanilla almond breeze milk
1 packet goBio organic custard
2 tablespoons cane sugar
2-3 bananas sliced

Steps
Measure 2 cup of almond milk. In a bowl add the contents of the custard packet and 1/4 cup of your milk. In a pot bring your remaining 1 3/4 cup of milk to a boil then slowly add your mixture to the pot once its boiling. Turn down to a low bowl and whisk together until desired consistency. For me it was around 10 minutes. Afterwards pour your custard into a bowl and refrigerate for 15 minutes.

Next its time to make your pie! You'll need 2 to 3 bananas depending on how much banana you like. Slice them thinly then place slices in your crust. Cover the whole bottom of your crust.
Add your custard to the pie crust and spread evenly. Place one more layer of banana slices on top. Top it all off with your choice of whip cream if your heart so desires. Its delicious on its own. Refrigerate until you're ready to serve.