Dinner

Nacho Cheeze Fries… with a secret ingredient | Vegan + GF

September 6, 2018 By julia

Cheezy Poutine? Potato Nachos? Secretly Nutritious Cheese Fries? I DID NOT KNOW what to call this masterpiece. But, I think Nacho Cheeze Fries says it all, ya?

It’s nachos, but with fries.

It’s cheezy, but it’s a special cheeze sauce.

It’s mega nutrient-dense with the hidden ingredient of… red lentils!!!!

Red lentils are nutritional powerhouses, plus they have the magic ability to morph into a creamy sauce. In other words, they deserve to be the star secret ingredient to most things, especially this super delish, comfort-food kinda meal.

If you’re looking for a sneaky way to pump more plant protein into your kids (and yourself), look no further.

This is a good one for a back to school week dinner in 30 minutes.

Serve it up with a side salad, or integrate the salad into the meal by wrapping each cheezy fry in a romaine leaf (my go-to lazy dinner).

You can get creative with your toppings too. I used smoked tofu (found at most grocery stores), for some smokiness and ‘meatiness’, and green onion to keep it fresh. Go for it though! Here’s some more ideas for toppers:

corn
beans
edamame
red pepper
artichokes
sautéed mushrooms
caramelized onions
veggie ground
cashew sour cream
pulled jackfruit

What ever you do, please show me by tagging @hookedonplants on instagram. I love seeing your recipes!

Nacho Cheeze Fries with a secret ingredient

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

45 mins

Satisfying in flavour and comfort, with secretly hidden nutrition! These nacho cheeze fries are a fun switch up to the typical nacho platter, with red lentil cheese sauce stealing the show. (Prep time doesn't include the optional lentil soaking)

Author: Jules

Recipe type: dinner, lunch, snack

Serves: 4

Ingredients

Fries:
4 russet potatoes OR 2 large sweet potatoes, rinsed, scrubbed and dried, then sliced in ¼ inch thick fry shape
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
2 tsp avocado or coconut oil
½ tsp sea salt or Himalayan salt
Toppings:
½ block smoked tofu, diced
2 green onions, diced
1 jalepeno pepper, sliced in thin rounds
Salsa of choice for the side
Red Lentil Cheese Sauce:
1 cup red lentils (soaked a few hours if possible, then rinsed, for best nutrition and digestion)
1½ cup water or veggie stalk
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
¼ tsp salt
½ cup nutritional yeast
¼ cup soy milk, unsweetened, unflavoured
**optional: ¼ cup vegan mayo for extra creaminess

Instructions

Pre-heat oven to 425°F
Mix the chopped potatoes with the oil and spices (except the salt!) in a bowl until evenly coated. Spread them out on a parchment-covered (or reusable baking sheet-covered) baking pan so they aren't touching each other!
Bake for 30-40 minutes, on the middle rack, flipping the fries over half way through.
Season with salt when they're done.
Meanwhile, cook the lentils: Add the lentils to the pot with 1½ cups liquid, bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes (15 minutes if they weren't pre-soaked)
Make the Red Lentil Cheeze Sauce: add the cooked lentils, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, nutritional yeast, mayo (if using), and soy milk to your blender and blend until smooth. Once blended, mix in the smoked tofu chunks.
Layer it up to serve! Fries first, then cheeze sauce, then green onion and jalepeno. Enjoy!

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Vegan Hemp Pesto Pasta Salad | GF + Oil-Free + Ready in 20

August 30, 2018 By julia

This is the meanest, greenest vegan hemp pesto pasta salad on the block!

Super flavour-y brilliance without the parm, oil, or gluten. BOOM.

To do list: make the pesto, boil the pasta, throw in some flavourful colours and you have yourself a meal!

Not only does this bode well for potluck-style weddings (which is what our weekends have been filled with this month), but it’s also a saviour when it comes to busy weeks and last minute dinners. Just make a TON of this goodness and your week will be stress-free in the food realm.

Serve it up with a big ol’ salad drizzled with this dressing, and spruce it up by adding different proteins each night (tempeh, smoked tofu, seitan or sausage slices, anything gardein, veggie burger chunks… you get the drift).

Easy & plant-based… that’s what it’s all about!

BY THE WAY:

I’m working away at an e-book for you guys!

All you need to know about being plant-based for a week with 30 recipes, nutrition tips, and a whole week of meals planned out for you.
My goal is to make this plant-based lifestyle as fun and easy as possible for as many people as possible. I hope this e-book will to be the ultimate guide for YOU to achieve that🙂

Get in touch with me on Instagram by tagging @hookedonplants and #plantsforaweek and let me know what questions you have about this lifestyle that you want to be answered in my E-book! I’d LOVE to hear from you!

~~~

Vegan Hemp Pesto Pasta Salad

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Cook time

12 mins

Total time

12 mins

A pesto pasta dish to please the whole family, or just you for a whole week!! This stuff is great for leftovers, and shines at those potluck dinners.

Author: Jules

Recipe type: pasta, ready in 20, easy dinner

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1 package of your favourite pasta noodles (go for 2 ingredient pasta like fusilli with brown rice and water), cooked according to directions
10 kalamata olives, chopped
1 jar artichoke hearts, chopped
1 jar sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
3 basil leaves for garnish
Pesto:
2 cups of packed fresh basil
¼ cup tahini
½ cup nutritional yeast
juice of 1 lemon
1 cup hemp seeds
2 cloves garlic
⅛ tsp each salt + pepper
⅓ cup water

Instructions

Make pesto: blend all pesto ingredients together in your food processor
Mix the pesto, pasta noodles, artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes together in a large bowl, then top with extra basil leaves.

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BBQ’d Cheesy Sweet Potato Pierogies | Vegan

August 17, 2018 By julia

Little packages of goodness! Yup, Cheesy Sweet Potato Pierogies in all their glory, and completely veganized.

Top it all off with some Tofutti or cashew sour cream and caramelized onions to impress any fantastic Polish grandma in your life.

This one’s fun to make with kids, because I’ll admit, it takes some steps. Easy steps, yes, but they just take a bit of love and time to go through. So, throw on that cute apron, crank up the tunes and call your little buddy up to join the pierogi party (thanks Ava!)

This recipe makes 40 incredibly satisfying pierogies (8 servings-worth), so you can boil & freeze them, and say goodbye to those last minute weeknight dinner freak outs in the near future.

Hello there you chewy, comforting, tasty parcels of love.

This is comfort food to the max, and pretty much making art in your kitchen. Have fun;)

Cheesy Sweet Potato Pierogies | Vegan

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Prep time

1 hour 15 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

1 hour 45 mins

A comforting, flavourful favourite, veganized! Filled with sweet potatoes and cashew cheese, and topped off with caramelized onions and cashew sour cream. *Prep time doesn't include the overnight soaking time for the cashews!

Author: Jules

Recipe type: pierogies, dinner, comfort food

Serves: 40 pierogies

Ingredients

Dough:
3 cups all purspose flour
½ tsp salt
⅓ cup coconut oil, melted
¾ cup - 1 cup water
Sweet Potato Filling:
1 large sweet potato, chopped
½ tsp smoked paprika
⅛ tsp salt
1 tsp onion powder
2 cloves garlic, minced
Cashew Cheese:
1 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours (or overnight), drained and rinsed (**** If making cashew sour cream, soak 2 cups of cashews)
¼ cup nutritional yeast
2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
¼ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
⅛ cup water (more if needed for blending)
Extras:
½ cup chives, minced
1 large onion (red or sweet), sliced thinly
Cashew Sour Cream

Instructions

Make the dough: in your electric mixer, or a large bowl, stir together flour, salt and coconut oil. Then add in water a little bit at a time until a ball forms. If too dry, add more water, if too wet, add more flour.
Knead the dough for 4 minutes on a floured countertop, then wrap it in sarran wrap and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes. Now it's time to make the two fillings.
Make the sweet potato filling, steam the sweet potato for 8 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, then mash in the rest of the filling ingredients until they're evenly distributed and the sweet potato is smooth.
Make the cashew cheese, blend all cashew cheese ingredients together in your food processor until smooth.
Roll out the dough on a large floured counter until it's 2-3mm thick. Using a mason jar lid, press as many circles in the dough as possible to create the pierogi circles. Pull up the in between extra dough, roll it out again and make more circles. Repeat until all dough is used up.
Fill em' up! Use an ice cream scooper to place a ball with half sweet potato filling and half cheese filling onto each pierogi circle (just off center). Wet the edge of one half of the pierogi, and fold the other half over the filling to the wetted edge. Press the edges together with a fork to form a half crescent pierogi shape.
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Place about 10 pierogies in to the boiling water at a time (making sure they don't stick to the bottom) and let boil 7 minutes. Set aside in a strainer. Repeat until all are boiled.
Meanwhile, sauté onions: heat a pan to medium heat, add onions, let cook for 2 minutes, deglaze with balsamic vinegar. Let sauté for 8 minutes, adding more balsamic if they're sticking.
Option 1: BBQ! Set BBQ to 400° and bake pierogies on a cookie sheet with parchment or a reusable parchment sheet for 10 minutes, flipping once.
Option 2: Fry! Bring a pan to medium heat, use a tsp of coconut oil, then place the pierogies into the pan for 3 minutes a side.
Option 3: Freeze! Let pierogies cool in a single layer on a baking sheet in the fridge or freezer. Then place in a reusable ziplock and freeze for up to 6 months (if you don't eat them before that).
Serve them up with this Cashew Sour Cream, frech chives, and sautéed onions! With a side of greens (I steamed broccoli, and mixed it with tamari and nooch, YUM).

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Peachy Rainbow Soba Summer Rolls + Zesty Orange Sesame Sauce

August 9, 2018 By julia

Hot summer days call for fresh, crisp, rainbow soba summer rolls… on a patio… with a side of white wine spritzer…and a super fresh seasonal corn on the cob.

This has got to be the best way to get in as many raw veggies as possible.

Soba noodles give you that tasty filler, smoked tofu provides the surprising twist of flavour, and any raw veggies you have kickin’ around the kitchen make these rolls so satisfyingly crunchy & fresh.

This recipe gives you A LOT of sauce. Which is definitely on purpose.

Making extra is key because the party this zesty orange sesame sauce is having doesn’t stop at these rolls. Don’t be afraid to use it on anything, everything and all the in betweens. Here’s what I’m thinkin’:

douse your veggie BBQ skewers
smother your soba noodle salad in it
drizzle it on roasted veggies
spread it on a sanny
squirt it in a wrap
dunk your raw veggies in it
water it down and use it as a salad dressing!

Sauce is what makes the world go ’round.

Kids will love getting in the kitchen to help fill the rice papers, and having them create the rainbow, gets them excited to actually eat the rainbow 😉

I would have to say, since I love dipping and crunchy freshness, this is up there as one of my most favourite recipes. Ever.

We just made this on Hornby Island, at my parent’s place which is totally outdoor livin’. An airstream trailer, a deck attached, a teepee guest bedroom and a beautiful long picnic table to dine on while we watch the sunset. Simple. Perfect. Summer.

We threw in a side salad, packed with beets, green onion, heirloom tomatoes and butter lettuce, but you’ll be getting more than enough veggies without adding that in. Maybe put some of the lettuce in the wraps and call it a day of delish nutrish.

Peachy Rainbow Soba Summer Rolls + Zesty Orange Sesame Dipping Sauce

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Cook time

5 mins

Total time

5 mins

A fun recipe that packs the nutrition into the most delicious handful you could ask for. Crunchy, fresh and perfect for a summery eve.

Author: Jules

Recipe type: dinner, lunch, summer,

Cuisine: Vietnamese

Serves: 2-4

Ingredients

Wraps:
Rice paper wraps (we made 15)
1 avocado
1 cup purple cabbage
1 peach
1 cube smoked tofu
1 large cucumber
2 carrots
1-2 bell peppers
2 cups sprouts of choice (sunflower seed sprouts are crunchy and delish)
1 package soba noodles (this will make more than you need, but they're great leftover with the sauce)
Zesty Orange Sesame Sauce:
1-2 tsp zest of orange
Juice of 1 orange (medium navel)
½ cup almond butter
½ cup tahini
3 tbsp braggs liquid aminos OR tamari
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 cm fresh ginger
1 clove garlic
½ cup water

Instructions

Cook soba noodles according to directions, then strain, let cool for 10 minutes
Slice all veggies and the tofu thinly & vertically
Make your sauce by blending all sauce ingredients in a food processor until smooth
Set up your rolling station: fill a wide plate with water (for rice paper), have your bowl of noodles, have your veggies/tofu laid out on a plate, have a cutting board to roll on, have an empty platter ready for your finished rolls
Make your rolls: soak a rice paper in water for 2 seconds, then place on the cutting board. Fill the paper with all the fixin's, then roll the rice paper like a burrito (fold two sides towards each other to cover the ends of the veggies, then roll the opposite ends until the paper is closed)
Serve them up on a platter with individual dipping bowls and a plate!

Notes

If the rice paper is breaking, double them up and use 2 per roll!

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Caramelized Onion Sage Cream BBQ Pasta

July 12, 2018 By julia

Lucky for you, you’ve found yourself on a page with the secret to my new favourite sauce…all mixed up with the pasta that tells me ‘summer is on, baby’! This creamy vegan pasta could easily become a staple for those summery patio days.

Serve it up family style. Picture this… an outdoor picnic with a big bowl o’ pasta, a salad bowl packed with greens drizzled with this flavourful oil-free dressing, and a bowl of smokey vegan parm…now all that’s missing is funky tunes and fruity popsicles.

Caramelized onions give anything a deeper, sultry taste. Double or triple the caramelized onions I call for in this recipe, just so your fridge can be a good friend by having it on hand for your next savoury meal.

The BBQ’d veggies give this pasta a smokey flavour, and keep the house a little cooler than the oven would on a hot summery day.

And fresh sage… the ingredient that makes any dish seem more professional that it really is. Take a simple meal, sage it up, and voila: Top Chef material. Sage is so easy to grow outside or on a window sill (unlike basil, which somehow likes to wither away anytime I try to give it a good life…)

Benefits:

Zucchini has a good dose of antioxidants to help prevent disease, vitamin C to boost your immunity and potassium to help balance electrolytes and blood pressure.
Sage is commonly used for digestive issues, like bloating, gas, diarrhea and stomach pain. Plus, it’s fantastic for depression, memory loss and the prevention of Alzheimers
Onions contain sulfur, which is needed for the synthesis of the antioxidant glutathione, plus it helps strengthen hair and nails.

Caramelized Onion Sage Cream BBQ Pasta

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

40 mins

A simple dinner packed with nutrients. A go-to weeknight scramble recipe. Make lots of it, because the leftovers taste better by the day!

Author: Jules

Recipe type: pasta, dinner, bbq

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

1 package of brown rice pasta (or any other pasta with just 2 ingredients...like quinoa + water)
3-4 sweet onions, de-skinned, halved, then sliced in ⅛ inch pieces
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 zucchinis, halved lengthwise
2 red peppers, de-stemmed, halved lengthwise
3 portobello mushrooms (crimini or white work, too)
1 tbsp coconut oil
Salt + Pepper
Vegan sausage of choice (I used Gusta)
Sage Cream Sauce:
½ cup cashews, pre-soaked overnight or for 10 minutes in hot water
½ cup fresh sage
2 tbsp miso paste
¾ cup caramelized onions, with a few tablespoons of the liquid

Instructions

Caramelize onions: heat large pot to medium, then add onions. Let brown a few minutes, then add ¼ cup water. Turn down the heat, add the garlic and let simmer for 30 minutes, lid on. Stir every 10 minutes or so to make sure they're not burning. If they're sticking just add a bit more water.
Heat the BBQ to 400°F.
Prep the veggies by adding the coconut oil to your hands and massaging the oil all over each piece of veg and place on the grill. Twist some salt and pepper on them, and let cook for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, add a dash of salt and pour in the pasta. Cook according to time on the package.
Flip the BBQ'd veggies, and salt + pepper the other side. Let cook another 10 minutes.
Throw the sausages on the BBQ. Cook for 8 minutes, rotating every couple of minutes.
Strain the pasta and pour the pasta back into the pot.
Make the sauce: add all sauce ingredients to your blender, and blend until smooth.

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