Tag: vegan

Make This Now: Summer Favorites

Lauren2 Comments

We only have a few weeks left of summer and I’ve noticed that “oh my god, time’s running out!!!” mentality creeping into my daily thoughts.  I try to combat these freak outs by remembering there’s still a few summer days left, plus a whole lot of summers to come in this life.  Oh and taking a deep breath, because that always helps 🙂

Still, I’m doing my best to suss out the priority summer recipes.  Oldies but goodies that I meant to make all summer but just now got around to and new recipes that I was SO EXCITED about when I originally came across them but then left on the back burner almost to the point of forgetting them altogether.  Here’s the best from both categories!

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Grilled Corn with Sriracha Aioli

Would you even believe that creamy deliciousness is vegan?  I know, it doesn’t even seem possible!  I made a half batch of this and ended up having to add a bit more oil and water to get it to blend up, so my advice to you is to make the entire batch.  After tasting it, I totally wish I had!  It was the best grilled corn we’ve had this summer.

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Creamy Kale and Mushroom Quesadillas

Never underestimate the power of a quesadilla!  Especially this one that involves double cheese, mushrooms and kale.  It’s mega-creamy and utterly delicious.  Also, there’s vegetables in there so: healthy.  It’s science.  I’m only kinda kidding when I say I spend all day thinking about this recipe when I know I’m going home to make it for dinner.

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Lightened Up Summer Granola

I don’t know what makes this “summer granola,” but I know I’m taking it all the way back to 2011 with this one.  It’s almost always in my pantry!  The best part is that there are no hard and fast rules here.  Sometimes I use a tablespoon more applesauce or a tablespoon less maple syrup and I always always always switch up the nut butter/chopped nuts I use.  Whatever I have on hand!  And I’ve never ended up with a bad batch, which can only mean this recipe is magic.

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Spaghetti with Tomato and Walnut Pesto

Universal Truth: Food cooked for you always tastes better.  Here I was, watching the Olympics, thinking I was the happiest I could be, when Joey set this bowl of beauty down in front of me.  WHOA!!!  Not only did he plate this to perfection but it tasted SO INCREDIBLE.  Don’t be put off by the anchovies, they make the pesto.  This is the epitome of fresh.

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Pistachio-Yogurt Sauce

First, you make your own falafel but then you really up your game by making a delicious yogurt dip to go along with them.  My marbling skills could still use some work, but that pistachio paste was better than I had even imagined when I was drooling over the recipe photo.  I want to dip EVERYTHING in this stuff!

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California Turkey and Bacon Lettuce Wraps with Basil-Mayo

This recipe mostly caught my eye because it was the dead of summer and it didn’t involve turning on the oven but then it ended up blowing me away!  I mean what’s not to like about bacon, avocado, turkey and fresh tomatoes?  That basil mayo pulls the whole thing together so well.  We just made these again last week and the second impression was just as good as the first.

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Cobb Salad in a Jar with Buttermilk Ranch

This is our lunch this week and I know we’re only two days in, but this thing is majorly good!  There’s a reason Cobb and Caesar are on most restaurant menus and it’s because their tastiness stands the test of time.  The dressing is really easy to make and since this came from a website called “Skinnylicious” I’m going to assume it’s good for me.  Mostly it’s just really delicious though.

Make This Now

Lauren6 Comments

I’m back!  If anything, this series is making me really aware of how many good things we cook.  When you’re doing the post-work marathon of going to the gym, cooking dinner, eating dinner, cleaning up dinner and fitting in Season 5 of GoT before Season 6 starts (we made it, phew!), you don’t exactly have time to breathe to really appreciate how good what you cooked for dinner (hopefully) is.  Even if it’s just the same vegan mac and cheese you’ve made like 100x, take a minute to appreciate how glorious it is!

Garlic Mac n Cheese

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I forgot how good this recipe was until Joey suggested we make it this week, but it is really really good.  And if you like saucy mac and cheese, this one is for you!

I was admittedly and wholeheartedly obsessed with this recipe last summer.  Like made it once a week and was embarrassed to admit to Joey that I had put it on our meal plan AGAIN obsessed.  Good thing he was totally okay with it because it’s LOADED with his favorite ingredient: nutritional yeast.  Yeah, we’ve been over this.  If you roast the garlic ahead of time, this meal takes all of 20 minutes to make.  And look, I know VEGAN mac and CHEESE is an oxymoron, but vegan or not, I would (and maybe have…) spoon this sauce directly into my mouth because it is so flavorful and cheese-like.  I mean Grandma’s mac and cheese is still #1, but this comes right after.

Simple Flaky Crab Cakes

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Colorado isn’t exactly known for its seafood, but turns out, if you get good crab from Slidell, Louisiana (I got it at Whole Foods, but my aunt lives there!), you can make the most incredible crab cakes.

Okay, even though we ate these during Game of Thrones and I should have been completely distracted and not even realized I was eating, these were too good to ever ignore.  There was very little “filler” ingredients so these mostly tasted like crab, which IMHO, is EXACTLY what crab cakes should taste like! That herby sauce on top was the perfect compliment, but let’s be real, the actual crab cakes were the star of the show.  I can’t take any cooking credit on these, but Joey made it seem effortless and food cooked by other people always tastes the best.

One-Bowl Banana Nut Bread

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Joey asked me to make banana bread a few months back and look, there’s like a million different banana bread recipes on the internet but this vegan version was the PERFECT combo of sweet banana, bold vanilla flavor and occasional bites of walnut.

I am so bad at freezer food.  So so bad.  I know the freezer is a great place to store food for when you just don’t feel like cooking and can pull out a container of red beans and rice and that sounds so great, IN THEORY, but in reality, defrosting something for dinner never sounds exciting to me.  Because my dinner life is either A) cooking something fresh or B) going out to eat.  Ain’t nothing in between (except the occasional pizza delivery).  But, the exception to this rule is frozen baked goods.  This is where chocolate chips cookies, the best sandwich rolls and banana bread muffins live.  They love it in there!  This particular banana bread freezes BEAUTIFULLY and I’ve been pulling out a few at a time to defrost in the fridge and be devoured as snacks.

Pro Tip: smother in peanut butter and reach a new level of snack nirvana.

Happy Eating and Weekend-ing to you all!  I’m super excited because I’m headed to New Orleans!!!  My mom is already there and Joey and I haven’t been there together since October 2013, so my heart is probably going to explode from happiness.  New Orleans is a place to say yes to everything and I plan on doing just that!