Vegan MoFo ~ Seasonal Produce

Guess how much I paid for this produce?  I bought 3 peppers are they are HUGE...2 mini eggplants, 2 smaller zucchinis, 2 large sweet banana peppers, and a pint of potatoes.  I only paid $6.75 total!  I bought them locally at one of my favorite produce stands...Lindell's Hatch Patch!

Today for Vegan MoFo we were challenged with using all seasonal produce in a dish.  Take a look at some of the dishes that I was able to create using seasonal produce.  I will note if there are any other ingredients that come from different produce stands that aren't pictured in the Hatch Patch haul!

First up...is Vegetable Curry!  Curries never seem to photograph very well but I will tell you that this was tasty.  I tried a sample of if when it was complete but I actually pre-made this for my dinner tonight.

In this dish is...1 C Green Beans (frozen from fresh obtained thru a friend), 1 Carrot (from previous Hatch Patch haul), 1/2 Zucchini (above), 1 Mini Eggplant (above), 1/2 T Wildtree Garlic Galore, 1 Frozen Ginger Cube (can use 1 T Fresh Ginger), 1 T Grapeseed Oil, 1 t Turmeric, 1 t Cumin, 1 t Curry, 3/4 C Coconut Milk, 1/2 t Black Himalayan Sea Salt (or to taste).

Last night for dinner I wanted to throw something together SUPER FAST and I literally did just that.

I pan fried the following...2 Potatoes (above), 1/2 Zucchini, 1 C Corn (Frozen from fresh given to me by my sister who got it at a local produce auction), Earth Balance & Grapeseed Oil combo for flavor and pan frying, and I topped it with the Pine Nut Parmesan I blogged about HERE.

This was TASTY!

Now for this last dish you are probably thinking 'there is no produce in that dish' and you would be mistaken...there IS!  Sure...this is a recipe for Vegan Mac & Cheese but it DOES have local produce in it to create it!  Here's what I did...

4 Small Potatoes (above)
1 Carrot (Mentioned above)
1 Small Onion (From Papa's Produce - another local stand)

*at this point I boiled the above until soft.  I then put 1 and 1/2 C of the boiling water into my Vitamix along with the softened produce above.  I also added 1/2 C Cashews, 1/2 T Wildtree Garlic Galore, 1 t Onion Powder, pinch or to taste of Black Himalayan Sea Salt, 2 T Nutritional Yeast.

I originally was sent this recipe by my husband on Facebook.  I tried it the way it was suggested but HAD to add some things because it was lacking flavorful.  Most notably the Nutritional Yeast and Garlic.  It certainly has potential.  I will be doing this again and probably a different way each time.  Yes...I should have used macaroni noodles but didn't have any...I used what I had on hand and that was spaghetti noodles.  I will say that I think by using the potato in this recipe that it certainly helps with the texture and starchiness of the dish.  I'm sure you will be seeing variations of this dish in the future from me.

Vegan MoFo ~ Lunch on the Go!

Happy Saturday!  Today's Vegan MoFo 'starter' is Lunch on the Go!  Well, I do PLENTY of these because I'm often on the go during the week for work!  Usually I will have a sandwich, pita pocket, wrap, salad, or veggies/nuts/seeds/fruits to munch on.  Another thing I have done many times is any kind of veggie with various flavors of hummus!  

Here you will see the last hummus I made at home and ate...Shriracha Hummus!

Here's the recipe:

2 C Chickpeas

1/2 t Cumin

1 Mini Red Bell Pepper

2 Cloves Garlic

2 T Tahini

1 T Lemon Juice

1 T Shriracha

Water if needed

Cayenne Pepper, Pink Himalayan Sea Salt to taste

Top with more Shriracha to taste

I eat a lot of salads.  For Lunches and Dinner.  Sometimes because it's all the restaurants offer that is vegan and sometimes its by choice because I really do love them regardless!  What makes a great salad is 'eating the rainbow' but also a good dressing!  I make a lot of my own.  I'm sure we all do!  Here's on that I made with carrots as the base a while back.

Because I have been making a lot of these Vegan MoFo posts based on what I have on hand in my pantry and cupboards I wanted to share with you this extremely simple, fun, and flavorful tip/trick I came up with the other night!  Now that I know just how much I LOVE this I will be making it often so I have some on hand at all times!

I introduce to you...Pine Nut Parmesan!  

I've done other vegan parm's before but this one 'takes the cake'!  Here's what I did...

1 C Pine Nuts (Ground in a coffee or spice grinder)

3 T Nutritional Yeast

1/2 t Garlic Powder

1/2 t Black Sea Salt

That's IT and it really IS that AMAZING!

In case you were wondering what to do with this yummy sprinkle...here's an idea...

1 Small Sweet Onion

1 Small to Medium Zucchini

pan fried and topped with the Pine Nut Parm!  YUMMO!