HookedOnPlants

When getting hooked is a good thing

Winter

Fudgy Quinoa Brownies + Vegan Camping Eats

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Holy fudgerama. These brownies are tasty.
You would never know there are hidden superfoods in these babies.
Dense & chewy. That’s what these brownies are all about.
The base? Quinoa and dates. Throw in some superfood ingredients like cacao and cinnamon, and you’ve got yourself a health food that tastes incredibly sinful.
A healthy version of a decadent brownie. YES.
You could eat these for breakfast.
These brownies are also PERFECT for a camping trip.
You know, for those times when you’re hanging around the campsite and need something sweet and luscious to sink your teeth into… Or  for that extra boost of energy on that hike of yours.
These brownies are packed with whole food ingredients, with out any refined sugar or gluten.

Raise the roof for these morsels of awesome!

On the camping thought, camping as a vegan isn’t as hard as you may think…
What else to eat as a Vegan Camper?
  • Breakfast:
    • Jules Fuel – my superfood quinoa oatmeal!
    • Banana pancakes – pre-make these, then throw them on the fire with some tin foil!
    • Overnight oats – fill a mason jar with oats, buckwheat, maple syrup, dried fruit and seeds, then fill it up with almond milk, shut the lid, and throw it in the cooler!
    • The Vegan Egg (trying this for the first time this weekend while we’re camping) with some Tempeh bacon, tomato, avo, and Chao cheese in a whole grain wrap.
  • Lunch:
    • Roasted weiners (still possible) and dijon wrapped in a bun or romaine – Field Roast and Gusta are the best in my books!
    • Sandwiches: bring your bread slices, tomatoes, lettuce, avocado, hummus, and tempeh (either pre-cooked, or cooked on your skillet)
    • Pre-baked sweet potatoes: wrap them in tin-foil, then throw them on the fire at your campsite. Top it off with nut butter, maple syrup, or a pre-made tahini sauce
  • Dinner: Make it a one-bowl wonder by pre-cooking one of these:
  • Snacks:
    • Trail Mix
    • Apples, oranges, bananas, dried fruit
    • Dates
    • Popcorn
    • Dip-ables: hummus & veggies, chips & guac & salsa
  • Dessert:
    • Roasted vegan mellows
    • Roasted bananas: leave the banana peel on, slice vertically half way through, add some nut butter and vegan chocolate chips then wrap in tin foil and throw it on the flame
    • Fire-roasted apples
 
Benefits of these brownies:
  • Quinoa – complete with all 9 essential amino acids, this little seed will provide you with ample protein, and tons of minerals! This is what makes these brownies so satiating.
  • Dates – nature’s candy! These amazing fruits are so sweet, but they also come with the fibre, nutrients, vitamins and minerals your body needs. Because they’re packed with fibre, they’re a great sweetener that won’t spike your blood sugar like the usual suspects (white refined sugar being the worst, and maple syrup being the next best thing to dates).
  • Cacao – hello antioxidants! The raw cacao powder is not only and aphrodisiac, but also a start when it comes to preventing disease.

Fudgy Quinoa Brownies 

Vegan & Gluten Free

Serves: 12-15

Time: Prep time: 15 minutes, Cook time: 30-35 minutes

Ingredients: 

  • 2 cups quinoa, cooked (I used red, but you can use white instead!)
  • 2 cups pitted dates, soaked for 10 minutes in warm water, then drained
  • flax egg (1 tbsp flax meal + 3 tbsp water = let sit for 5-10 minutes)
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil (plus 1 tsp for oiling baking dish)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup cacao powder
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • 1 tsp vanilla (powder or extract)
  • 1/2 cup cacao nibs or chopped pecans

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350, and oil 8 x 8 baking dish with coconut oil and a paper towel
  2. In a food processor, add the pre-cooked quinoa, baking powder, cinnamon and blend until sticky and almost pasty
  3. Add the cacao powder, vanilla, coconut oil and flax egg. Blend until nearly smooth
  4. Add the drained dates into the food processor and blend until smooth and a ball starts forming. Scrape down the sides when needed
  5. Add half of the cacao nibs, or chopped nuts and blend until combined (not too much!)
  6. Spread mixture out evenly in the dish, about 3/4 inch thick
  7. Bake for 25 minutes, then top with the rest of the cacao nibs or nuts.
  8. Bake another 5 minutes. Test for ready-ness by poking a toothpick in the brownie (if it comes out clean, they’re ready)
  9. Let cool, then slice into desired sizes
  10. Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week, or freeze them then take them to-go straight from the freezer!

 

Vegan Turmeric Cheese Log

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This was a hit as an appy at the last dinner party!

Especially with Eve’s Crackers on the side.

The vegans were all over it, and the surprised words ‘it tastes like cheese’ were heard over and over again from the non-vegans.

Success!

The beauty Holly (who has done some amazing work with Peta over the years) loved it, plus, I was finally able to put the neglected cheese knife to great use.

This version of nut cheese making is the quickest and easiest you will find.

There are longer versions of how to make nut cheeses, some as long as one week of fermenting!

Fermenting the nuts for the cheese will give it more of a tangy, aged cheese taste, but when you’ve got a day to figure out what to bring to impress your pals, this is a great go-to recipe to curb those cheese cravings.

I’d still start it the day before you will be serving it up, just so you get all the soaking time possible.

Just soak and strain the cashews, blend the ingredients, strain in a cheese cloth, let it chill in the fridge & roll shape it up.

The turmeric in this mixture tricks you into believing you’re eating the orange cheddar you used to indulge in.

Get creative with the herbs that make the outer layer. What fresh herbs are hiding in that fridge of yours? Use them!


This is one of the many recipes up on Instagram for the 2nd #VancityVirtualPotluck organized by Piquant Marketing!

Check out my Instagram (@hookedonplants) to see the dishes before and after this yummy cheese (over 80 total)!

Benefits:

–Cashews are packed with minerals and antioxidants. Because of the magnesium and calcium, your nerves and bones will thank you. The copper in these babies will ward of colon cancer and help keep your hair vibrant!

–Turmeric is nature’s anti-inflammatory. All disease starts with inflammation within the body, so warding off inflammation is the key to longevity and health! Eating turmeric with a tiny bit of pepper makes curcumin (the active ingredient in turmeric) WAY more easily absorbable for your body,

–Nutritional yeast (NOOCH) is a vegan’s best friend when it comes to anything cheezy. Plus it’s packed with B12, all vegans and non-vegans need more of this! B12 is found in microbes in the soil (which is eaten by animals, then humans eat the animals), but the soil is becoming depleted of nutrients and vitamins, so the best way to ensure you’re receiving all the B12 you need is to eat fortified B12 foods (like some plant-based milks), eat nutritional yeast every day, or be safe and take a B12 supplement. But, ‘Nooch’ is the most delicious way to get your B12.

Vegan Turmeric Cheese Log

Serves: 6-8

Time: Actually ‘doing stuff’ time: 10 minutes. Soak and chill time: 7-24 hrs

Ingredients:

Cheeze:

  • 1 cup raw cashews, soaked overnight, then strained and rinsed (OR if you’re in a hurry, pour boiling water over your raw cashews and let soak for 1.5 hours)
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/8 tsp pepper
  • 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
  • zest of half lemon (zest before cutting and sweezing the lemon)
  • juice of 1 lemon

Outer herbs:

  • 2 tbsp fresh thyme, minced
  • 2 tbsp fresh chives, minced

Directions:

  1. Blend all ‘cheeze’ ingredients together until smooth and creamy in your food processor (scrape down sides)
  2. Place mixture into two layers of cheesecloth or a nut milk bag and squeeze into desired shape (you can re-shape after too). Tighten by twisting the mesh cloth.
  3. Leave your ‘cheeze’ in the fridge over a colander (some liquid may drip out) for at least 6 hours (the longer the better!)
  4. Take it out of the cheese cloth and roll it into a log, then coat it with thyme and chives (a bit messy but helps the log keep it’s shape!)
  5. Serve with your favourite crackers, chips, or veggies! I’ve used my friend Eve’s Crackers here!

Tarragon Black Bean Sweet Potato Burgers | No Pre-Cooking Needed

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Grill-able, flavourful, quick & easy.

Perfect for spring BBQ action!

You know how burgers recipes seem easy, but then you get into it and there’s all the pre-cooking you have to do before you even start to mix things together?

WELL, not this time!


You can whip this burger up without having to pre-cook any of the ingredients.

Just blend up the ingredients in your food processor, fire up the barby, and you’re good to go.

And yes, these patties stay together enough to throw them on the BBQ, just like your omnivore days.


My favourite is romaine bunning them up. It takes some messy skills to eat this, but you get all of the benefits of sticking to a whole-food plant-based meal. If you’re using buns I recommend finding some sprouted whole-grain buns at Spud for example. Sprouted breads are super nutrient-dense.

High fives to that.


Benefits:

  • Tarragon is a delicious spice that is great for your digestion because it aids in the production of bile by the liver. Also, it’s packed with antioxidants to neutralize free radicals. Plus, it helps build muscle mass by increasing muscle creatine absorption.
  • Sweet Potato is an ingredient you should learn to love, if you don’t love it already! It’s packed with beta-carotene (antioxidant), fibre, vitamins, minerals, plant-protein. In short, they “decrease the risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and overall mortality while promoting a healthy complexion, increased energy, and overall lower weight”… all hale sweet potatoes!
  • Black Beans are legumes! And, every day needs some kind of legume. Dr. Gregor’s orders. Black beans are great for your digestion, cardiovascular system (form the soluble fibre, antioxidants and inflammatory attributes), blood sugar regulation (again that fibre), and they’re packed with phytonutrients (see ya later cancer).

Tarragon Black Bean Sweet Potato Burgers

Makes: 6 patties

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

Patties:

  • 1 can black beans (398ml can)
  • 1 cup sweet potato
  • 1 cup oats
  • 1 tbsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tbsp tarragon
  • 1 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce (Tamari works here instead)
  • 1/4 tsp each salt and pepper
  • 1 tsp coconut oil (for cooking)

Toppings:

  • Whole wheat buns (or use romaine leaves)
  • Tomato
  • Avocado
  • Red onion
  • Dijon mustard
  • Sauerkraut
  • Dill pickles
  • Sprouts of choice
  • Dairy-free cheese (optional) – my favourite is Chao

Optional Cilantro Hummus:

  • 1 can chickpeas
  • 1/2 juice of 1 lemon
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 2 tsp tahini
  • 1/2 cup cilantro leaves

Directions:

  1. Grate sweet potato (easiest is the grater attachment in the food processor if you have it!). Set aside
  2. Blend oats into a rough flour in food processor
  3. Add dry spices, blend to mix evenly
  4. Add beans to flour mixture, blend until smooth.
  5. Add grated sweet potato, blend until evenly mixed.
  6. Heat pan to medium heat OR heat BBQ to medium heat
  7. Form 6 patties
  8. Add coconut oil to pan OR use baster to spread coconut oil on cook side of patty if BBQing.
  9. Cook 4 minutes per side. Add slice of dairy free cheese for last 2 minutes if you want!
  10. Get your toppings ready – slice pickles, red onion and tomatoes, mash avocado.
  11. Make hummus – blend all hummus ingredients until smooth in food processor
  12. Make your burger!
  13. Cool any leftover patties to room temperature, place a piece of parchment paper in between each one, and freeze. To reheat, just pop in the toaster.

Roasted Sweet Potato Red Pepper Baba Ganoush & Eve’s Crackers

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Warm and smooth with a kick of flava flave!

I wanted to share a recipe with my friend’s crackers, because honestly, anything goes well with Eve’s Crackers. 

Her crackers are vegan, gluten-free, with no added oil, sugar-free and delish!

She’s just starting out as a foodie-preneur, which I can relate to with my breakfast cereal, Jules Fuel. So happy for her!

She makes them by hand in Whistler, with love. You must try them 🙂

I mean, come on, look at these beauties.

And…this dip.

All the veggies with some spice.

Don’t get me wrong, I love hummus, but sometimes I want an all-veggie dip that has the same texture and satisfaction as your typical hummus. It gets you even more fab nutrients.

We’re sticking with the oil-free, sugar free theme with this dip.

All you have to do is:

Chop

Roast

Blend

Benefits:

  • Eve’s Crackers – a way to indulge in your cracker addiction without any hidden trans-fats, refined sugars, gluten, or oils. They’re held together with flax and chia, so they pack a nutrient-dense punch! Fibre, plant-protein, and omega 3s… hello.
  • Eggplant – are good for your heart because they’re packed with fiber, potassium, vitamin C, vitamin B6, and phytonutrients). Plus, they help lower bad (LDL) cholesterol by having chlorogenic acid, one of the most powerful free radical scavengers found in plants. It also works as an antimicrobial, antiviral, and anti-carcinogenic agent!
  • Red Pepper – these guys are packed with vitamin C, vitamin E, antioxidants, fibre. Yet, they’re low in calories. Perfect for shedding the pounds, warding off disease (cell protection from free radicals), and your immune system!
  • Sweet potatoes – I’ve talked about these magic spuds so much already because I use them all the time! Head over to this recipe to see the benefits, or this one.

Roasted Sweet Potato Red Pepper Baba Ganoush

& Eve’s Crackers

Serves: 4-8

Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

  • 1 package of Eve’s Crackers or crackers of choice
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/3 cup red onion, quartered
  • 1 red pepper, cored and quartered
  • 1 eggplant, chopped into 1 inch cubes (stem discarded)
  • 2 sweet potatoes, chopped into 1 inch cubes
  • 1 tbsp sambal olek
  • 1 tbsp tamari
  • 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400 F
  2. Roast veggies: spread sweet potato, eggplant, pepper and onion on parchment covered baking sheet, roast for 30-40 minutes (until potatoes are soft)
  3. Let veggies cool for 5 minutes
  4. Blend roasted veggies, garlic, sambal oelek, tamari and nutritional yeast in your food processor or blender
  5. Scoop it into a bowl and serve along side the deliciousness of Eve’s Cracker’s and raw veggies of your choice!

Cacao RawNola | Raw Vegan

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Stop what you’re doing. Make this now. Thank me later.

Too demanding? It’s worth it.

This stuff should be illegal, it’s so good. Not to mention it’s simplicity. Raw food for dummies, people!

If you’re new to the raw food world, and this happens to be the first raw recipe you make, you’ll be hooked.

Move over cookie dough… there’s a new guy in town.

This time it’s healthy, and dare I say… tastier.

Sprinkle this on your thick and creamy smoothie bowl or banana ice cream… or you could even top your Jules Fuel with some of this sweetness!

Are mornings allowed to taste this good????

Yes. Yes they are.

This recipe is inspired by Loni Jane (thank you girl!)

Granolas these days… usually they’re packed with oil and refined sugars.

With this RawNola, the nutrients are still in tact without the disturbance of heat, plus there’s no refined sugar, it’s fat-free, vegan (of course), and SO EASY.

Benefits:

  • Dates are one of those ingredients… just too good to be true. They’re naturally sweet, gooey and delicious. Plus, they’re packed with fibre, minerals and vitamins. Yup, nutrient-dense powerhouses that you don’t have to feel guilty about eating, even though they taste so sinful! Want more? They’re packed with iron to help with anemia, they keep you regular, their amino acids help digestion, and their potassium reduces the risk of strokes.
  • Oats are fibre-rich to lower cholesterol and trigger to let your brain know you’re full. The manganese boost will help with anxiety. The antioxidants will combat cardiovascular disease. Oats will also help balance your blood sugar levels. Opt for the gluten-free version if you’re gluten-sensitive.
  • Coconut is packed with heart healthy omega medium-chain saturated fats are used by the body efficiently and transformed into energy. It’s also antibacterial and anti-inflammatory to decrease bacterial overgrowth, and inflammation in the body.

CACAO RAWNOLA 

Time: 5 minutes

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup raw oats (gluten-free if needed)
  • 1/2 cup shredded coconut
  • 7-10 pitted dates
  • 1 tbsp cacao

Directions:

  1. Add oats, coconut, cacao and 3-4 dates to a food processor or high-speed blender, pulse until dates are evenly mixed
  2. Continue to add the dates until your desired texture is reached. You may need all of them, you may not… this depends on the gooeyness of your dates
  3. Top on your Banana Soft Serve or smoothie bowl, or Jules Fuel, or just pour some Vanilla Date Almond Milk over it in your favourite bowl and call it a day.