Seitan Stir-Fry

My favorite vegan restaurant, Blackbird Pizzeria in Philly, makes their own take-home seitan now! I was so excited to get a package of the rosemary garlic one, and I made an easy and delicious stir fry with it. You can put it on a roll, eat it over rice, or just eat it by itself. This recipe is about two servings.

The Green Monstah Sandwich

The next person that I hear tell me that vegetarians can't eat sandwiches, well...I'm going to take them out for a nice lunch. That'll show 'em. I found this recipe on The Bojon Gourmet, and made a few tweaks, including changing the name. This recipe makes one sandwich, and I hope you enjoy!

Prep Time: 5-7 minutes
Cook Time: none

Ingredients
Two (2) slices of your favorite bread -- I used a hearty multigrain bread.
One (1) tablespoon of Goddess dressing -- I used Annie's brand; many Green Goddess dressings call for anchovies, but this brand's style is vegan!
1/2 cup of greens -- I used spinach and romaine lettuce.
Small handful of pea shoots -- you can also use another type of sprout.
1/2 avocado, sliced
5 - 6 slices of fresh cucumber
Optional: Three slices of fresh mozzarella -- I omitted this to make it vegan, but it was one of the items in the original recipe that I will absolutely consider adding next time.

Directions
Spread the Goddess dressing on both sides of the bread.
Assemble additional ingredients as you would any sandwich (I don't really feel like I need to write directions for this part).
Devour.

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Dog Treats

In September, I rescued a dog. For the holidays, I decided to make her (& some of her dog friends) homemade treats. They're so much healthier for the dog because you can choose exactly what to put in them. This recipe is a huge one and makes quite a bit of treats, so be sure to share and eat within the week, or freeze for future use (up to 3 months). This recipe is adapted from Kevin & Amanda (be sure to click through because they have the cutest photos of their pups posted!).

Chickpea loves homemade treats

Butternut Squash Risotto

I was so proud of myself that this recipe turned out as delicious as it did. I am - ashamedly - usually a boxed risotto kind of person, but this time, I wanted to go full homemade, and I did! This is a delicious recipe, and is based off of a Williams-Sonoma recipe. I used the full amounts of this recipe and later realized that it served six, so for this post, I'll cut it in half to serve three (although the leftovers were delish!). Enjoy!

Kale & Avocado Wrap

Vegetarians sometimes have a harder time putting together simple lunches than meat-eaters, especially when things like lunch meat exist. Charmington's in Baltimore - you know, the awesome café that hosts my favorite monthly lit reading and even welcomed the President of the United States in January (!!) - makes a plethora of amazing meatless lunch options. Their kale and avocado wrap is my favorite and I just had to recreate it. Grab these ingredients from a grocery store and make enough to last for the week. The following recipe makes one kale & avocado wrap.

Chilled Peanut Butter Noodle Salad - "The Mental Salad"

Golden West Cafe in Baltimore has one of my all-time favorite dishes: the vegan Mental Salad. It is essentially a romaine salad topped with cold peanut butter sauce-covered noodles, carrots, scallions & sesame seeds. It is so delicious and I just had to replicate it! I needed a starting place, so I used a Table For Two recipe as a guide. My recipe was enough to feed two people dinner, plus a few days of leftovers (these noodles are perfect for leftovers, since they have to be chilled anyway). Enjoy!

Glühwein

I used to live in Germany during my early teenage years and one thing that is extremely popular over there - especially during the Christmas holiday - is warm, mulled wine. I decided to make a batch for myself and some friends to enjoy and couldn't believe just how easy it was. Enjoy & Frohe Weihnachten!

Vegan Chik'n Salad

I recently went to Land of Kush (Baltimore's only Southern-inspired vegan restaurant) for the first time this past month and was completely blown away. They have an amazing chicken salad wrap (in addition to everything else on their menu!) that I absolutely needed to replicate. I came up with something that is a hybrid of Land of Kush's meal and a recipe on FatFree Vegan Kitchen's website. This recipe makes about three cups of chik'n salad.

Hearty Veggie and Brown Rice Salad Bowl

I love copycat recipes. I've made a couple before and google them often. One of my current favorite salads is Starbucks' veggies & rice salad bowl, but it costs about $8 each time I buy it (which is very often). I decided to make it for myself and spent about $15 on ingredients that made about five salads! The recipe is below and makes two salads.

Roasted Kale Chips

My partner is damn good at making kale chips, so I had him teach me how and it's surprisingly easy. So, this week, head to your local farmers market, pick up a bag of kale and make some healthy and delicious kale chips. Warning: it is highly likely that you will eat an entire batch in one sitting.

Garlic Basil Beer Bread

I have a little basil plant sitting in my kitchen, begging me to use its leaves every time I walk in the room (so expect a lot of basil posts in the next couple weeks). If you don't know this about me already, I love cooking (especially baking) with beer, because you don't have to add additional yeast and you can just put it right in the oven with no wait time. This recipe makes one loaf of bread and is perfect for a filling snack.

Roasted Potato Wedges

All you need to make some bitchin' potato wedges are potatoes (I hope that was obvious), salt/pepper/seasoning/herb of your choice, olive oil, and an apple corer. Oh, and about 45 minutes of your time. This recipe makes about 2-3 large servings (or 36 small wedges). Enjoy!

Pistachio Sesame Vegetable & Rice Bowl

There are so many fresh veggies out there right now, it's hard not to get excited about the possibilities! I tossed together some of the veggies hanging out in my house and made a delicious stir fry, served over brown rice. This recipe makes one large dinner serving or two lunch servings. Enjoy!

Spicy Peanut Butter Tofu Stir Fry

This recipe was a first for me. Preparing tofu is always something I get nervous about every time I make it because it is such a finicky food (it can go anywhere from tasting like an amazing and filling meal to tasting like a sponge). This recipe is based off of a peanut butter tofu recipe from Kalyn's Kitchen and turned out really well. It wasn't as smooth as the original recipe made it look, but it was every bit as delicious as I wanted it to be. Pro tip: the meal tasted even better as leftovers, so try to save a little if you can handle it. This recipe makes about 4-5 servings.

Guest Post: Grow and Cook With Hydroponic Tomatoes

I am so glad that Chris, also known as Captain Hydroponics, offered to do a guest post for me! There's nothing more rewarding than growing your own veggies to then cook and eat. Check out his awesome post on growing hydroponic tomatoes and drool over the grilled homegrown tomato recipe at the end. If you'd like to start hydroponic gardening, check out Chris' free 50+ page guide. Remember, if you also want to guest post, please don't hesitate to contact me. Enjoy!
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Growing vegetables and fruits hydroponically is not only an environmentally-responsible way to feed you and your family; it's really a lot of fun! You don't need to be an expert to build a good setup. There's so much information available about lighting, feeding solutions, and hydroponic budget builds – all that's required is a little reading and a relatively small investment in equipment or virtually nothing if you make a DIY system.

Tomatoes traditionally take about 90 days to ripen and many of us have a growing season that only allows one major harvest a year. As most of you know, the price goes up considerably when they're out of season, while the overall quality of the fruit you actually goes down. This is because they need to be shipped from tropical growing climates, usually far from where you live to get to your supermarket.

Vegan Shepherd's Pie

It was a dark & stormy night and I was craving comfort food. I found a great shepherd's pie recipe from Fat-Free Vegan Kitchen and went to work. This recipe makes about three ramekins worth of this hearty and filling dish. The original recipe called for mushrooms - which I was totally out of - so I omitted them, but I do think they'd be an amazing addition. Whatever you do with it, I'm sure it'll be delicious.

Buffalo Chickpea Salad

Between work, school, and my internship, I am constantly busy. This salad was perfect for me to make the night before, toss it into a Tupperware container and move on with my life. Not to mention that this recipe (originally from Betsy Life) makes two servings, so you can share or have leftovers all for yourself! Enjoy!

Homemade Ketchup

I have a friend that loves ketchup. Like, the put-it-on-everything kind of love. For his birthday this year, I made some homemade ketchup with the guidance of skinnytaste. This recipe makes about 10 ounces of delicious, and slightly spicy ketchup. Making ketchup yourself allows you to decide on the flavor (more sweet, less sweet, more spicy, etc.) and allows you to control the ingredients (no high fructose corn syrup or "natural flavoring," whatever that means). In that case, enjoy your homemade ketchup!

Chik'n Fried Rice

Making fried rice at home is always something that daunted me. Until now, the closest I got was buying the frozen fried rice and tossing it into a frying pan. Last night, I conquered my fears. It actually turned out really well! There were a few things I want to work on (see "notes"), but overall it was a huge success. This recipe makes 4-5 servings and was inspired by this post by Rachel Schultz.

Four-Bean Salad

Okay, so you know three-bean salads. They're delicious, healthy, full of protein. Well, I upped the ante and added a fourth bean. I know; I take some pretty intense culinary risks. This healthy and filling salad is perfect with tortilla chips, on a green salad, on pasta, or on its own. Enjoy the protein and the hearty taste! This recipe is based off of a Real Simple recipe and makes a huge bowl.