Spirulina Protein Power Bites
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I spotted it in the store a few months ago. Itstood out and called my name: SPIRULINA.
I had heard about the almighty spirulina before, but I had never seen it at the store. Until THAT DAY. That day when I decided to look a little closer for this superfood that is such a rich source of calcium and iron.
And there it was. Sitting on a shelf. Calling my name.
So I bought it. And it sat in my kitchen cupboard for over 2 months without being opened once. I’m a procrastinator, what can I say?
After seeing this full jar of spirulina at least 5 million times, I finally decided enough was enough, and set out to make something THAT DAY.
It was a green smoothie. And it was delicious. I’ve made that smoothie a bunch of times now and even my picky kids will drink it!
But this is not that recipe.
I was feeling ambitious a few weeks ago, and decided to use spirulina to make something other than green smoothies, so I went with these adorable little bites of goodness.
And it worked – they are absolutely delicious, and healthy and everything I love in a snack.
But man are they ever GREEN. I stained my white t-shirt while making these, so if you plan to make them, I strongly recommend black everything!
Spirulina Protein Power Bites
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Author: Vegan Insanity
Recipe type: Snack
Serves: 15-20
Ingredients
- 1 cup dates
- ½ cup raisins or dried cranberries
- ¾ cup almonds
- 2 tbsp spirulina
- 3 tsp lemon juice
Instructions
- Add all ingredients to a food professor and process until well combined.
- Roll into balls and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Vegan Cheesy Dill Popcorn
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I used to visit this popcorn store near our house all the time before I switched to a plant-based diet. Kernels. That was their name – and they sold all different kinds of… you guessed it – popcorn. They often had buy one, get one free deals doing on too, which made my decision to stuff my face full of popcorn even easier.
Since all of their popcorn is coated in butter, I can no longer visit them and buy copious amounts of popcorn. Sad face.
My favourite flavour was cheesy dill. It was finger-lickin’ good, and I don’t say that lightly. That stuff was addictive. I couldn’t get enough! Once I quit cheese and butter, this delicious treat was off the menu for me.
And for months, I just sulked and whined about it. I want my cheesy diiiiiiiiiiiiiiill. I NEED it. I can’t survive without it! I’m going to dieeeeeeeeee…
Ahem.
Thankfully, I [kind of] know my way around the kitchen, so I thought I’d try out my own homemade cheesy dill popcorn – a vegan version that I was actually able to eat.
And I did it!
It is:
Cheesy
Dill-y
Satisfying
Healthy (ish)
Delicious
Mouth-watering
Crunchy
Full of flavour
Now I can stuff my face whenever I want! SCORE.
Seriously, if you’re a popcorn love and cheese and dill are your thang, give this popcorn a try. I dare you not to stuff your face, too.
Vegan Cheesy Dill Popcorn
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Author: Vegan Insanity
Recipe type: Snack
Serves: 4
Ingredients
- ½ cup popcorn kernels
- ¼ cup vegan butter, melted (I used Earth Balance)
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp salt
Instructions
- Pop your popcorn and place into a large, brown paper bag.
- Drizzle half of the melyed butter, close the bag, and shake and about 15 seconds. Repeat with remaining butter. Do the same with the apple cider vinegar.
- Sprinkle the fresh dill, nutrotional yeast and sale over the popcorn. Close the bag and shake again - for 15-30 seconds, or until all popcorn is coated well.
- Dump popcorn into serving bowl(s) and serve immediately.
Loaded Skillet Potato Nachos
8 Comments
Just look at this skillet full of yumminess. Delish, right?
Well, it was, let me tell you that. It was so. damn. good. Just like all nachos. I’ve never met a plate of nachos I didn’t like.
Iusually makenachos with tortilla chips – but recently tried them with potatoes, since I was out of chips.
And guess what. Potato nachos? Even better!
The velvety smooth nacho cheese sauce really makes these nachos, so don’t skip it. Please don’t skip it. Your nachos just won’t be the same.
The cheese sauce makes a lot, so you will have some leftover that will last at least 5 days in the refrigerator. Simply heat it up and dip some tortilla chips in it (see – that‘s what you can do with the tortilla chips – dipping in nacho cheese!).
I wanted some really sexy nachos, so I went a bit crazy with the toppings. Feel free to cut some things out if they don’t suit your fancy or you’re a bit strapped for time (just not the nacho cheese – it’s a must!).
Your toppings can be just about anything you desire, too. I added olives, tomatoes and green onions, but feel free to add whatever you have on hand and enjoy.
One thing I must mention is that these vegan potato nachos don’t re-heat well. They will be soggy. Eat them as soon as they’re ready (I think you’ll find it pretty hard to end up with leftovers anyway – they are too good to leave alone!).
Even my almost 5-year old and 2 year-old ate these – and they are some of the pickiest eaters on the planet!
Now who’s ready for a plate full of potato nachos? Come and get ’em!
Loaded Skillet Potato Nachos
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Author: Vegan Insanity
Recipe type: Appetizer, Snack
Serves: 4
Ingredients
Potatoes
- 2 medium russet potatoes, sliced thin (I used my mandolin for even slices)
- Pinch of salt
- Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
Taco Meat
- 1 cup walnuts, soaked for at least 2 hours
- ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes, soaked for at least 2 hours
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp cumin
- ½ tsp salt
- Pinch of cayenne pepper
Nacho Cheese Sauce
- 1¼ cup water
- 1 cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- heaping ¼ tsp paprika
- heaping ½ tsp onion powder
- heaping ½ tsp garlic powder
- 1½ tsp salt
- 1 large roasted red pepper
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
Cashew Cream
- ½ cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours
- ¼ cup water (or more depending on how thin you want the cream to be)
Guacamole
- 3 large avocados, peeled & pitted
- 2 tbsp lime juice
- ½ small tomato, sliced & seeded
- 1 medium garlic clove
- ¼ cup red onion, chopped small
- ¼ cup parsley
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
Toppings
- Olives
- Tomatoes
- Green Onions
Instructions
Potatoes
- Preheat your oven to 425F and spray your cast iron skillet with non-stick cooking spray.
- Once you've sliced your potatoes, dump them into a bowl fulled with ice water. Let them soak for about 5 minutes, then remove to a clean kitchen towel and pat dry.
- Layer your potatoes around the skillet, filling it up completely. It's okay to let them overlap a little but, but not too much, otherwise your potatoes won't crisp up as well.
- Sprinkle with salt and pepper and bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the potatoes are fork tender and have browned nicely. Remove from the oven.
- At this point, you can take the potatoes out to individual plates and then add your toppings, or you can leave them in the skillet, add the toppings, and scoop some out for each person. It's messy, but it's fun! Top with nacho cheese, taco meat, your toppings of choice (I used tomatoes, olives and green onions), a drizzle of cashew cream and some guacamole.
Taco Meat
- Add drained walnuts, drained sun-dried tomatoes, garlic powder, cumin, salt and cayenne pepper to a food processor and process until combined, but still a bit chunky.
Nacho Cheese Sauce
- Add all ingredients to a food processor or high-powdered blender and process/blend until smooth.
- Pout mixture into a medium pot over medium heat and warm it up for about 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
Cashew Cream
- Add drained cashews and a bit of water to a food processor or high-powdered blender and process/blend until smooth. Add more water if you need it, to get it to your desired consistency.
Guacamole
- Add all ingredients to a food processor and process until smooth or a bit chunky (whatever you prefer).
Easy Cheesy Vegan Quesadillas
4 Comments
I was craving a super quick lunch the other day. I had so many things on my to-do list, and making an elaborate lunch wasn’t one of them. I initially considered pasta, because it’s easy, filling and mighty delicious – but, I was out of pasta.
Dang.
So, I stared in my pantry for a few minutes and then I spotted the tortillas. Ding ding ding!
I almost always have soaked cashews in my refrigerator, since I cook with them a lot, and thankfully, I had some this day, and used them to make the yummy cashew cheese for this quick meal.
The only thing that took awhile was cooking 4 quesadillas, since they take about 5-8 minutes each. But other than that, this was an easy lunch to throw together, using ingredients I already had on hand.
I’d also like to mention that these vegan quesadillas are kid-approved (and that’s saying something, since my kids want to eat nothing but chocolate, bread, and plain pasta)!
I used vegan sour cream to dip my quesadillas in, but you can also used mashed avocado (or guacamole!), hummus, vegan nacho cheese, or just eat them plain. No matter how you eat them – they are damn good. Try some for lunch today!
Easy Cheesy Vegan Quesadillas
Author: Vegan Insanity
Recipe type: Appetizers, Snacks, Lunch
Serves: 4
Ingredients
Cashew Cheese
- 1½ cups raw cashews (soaked for at least 2 hours)
- ¼ cup water
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2½ tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 garlic clove
- Salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Quesadillas
- 8 flour tortillas
- ¾ cup cooked black beans (if using canned, drain and rinse first)
- ¾ cup corn (I used frozen)
- ⅓ cup black olives, sliced
- ¾ cup tomatoes, diced (I used 1 large beefsteak tomato)
- ¼ cup parsley, chopped
- 3 tbsp green onions, chopped small
- 1 large avocado, pitted and sliced
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
Instructions
Cashew Cheese
- Add all of the cashew cheese ingredients into a food processor or high-speed blender and process/blend until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Quesadillas
- In a medium bowl, mix together the black beans, corn, olives, diced tomato and parsley. Set aside.
- Add a generous layer of cashew cheese to a tortilla, top with the black bean mixture, then cover with another tortilla, press down lightly, then set aside. Repeat with remaining tortillas.
- Heat a large pan over medium heat, add ½ tbsp oil, and add your quesadilla. Cook until the bottom of the quesadillas is golden brown (3-4 minutes), then flip and cook until the other side is golden brown. Repeat with remaining quesadillas.
- Plate your quesadillas, and sprinkle some green onions on top of each one. Serve with vegan sour cream, mashed avocado, or whatever else you like with your quesadillas.
Vegan Poutine That Will Knock Your Socks Off
4 Comments
This is one of my favourite comfort foods. When I’m having a bad day, I don’t want a bowl of salad. I want a big plate of fries, smothered in gravy and cheese.
I rarely eat this way, but when I do, I don’t scrimp.
This vegan poutine is really simple, mostly because I cheat by using vegan cheese shreds. The only thing I have to make myself are the fries and gravy.
Which, thankfully, are very, very easy.
So, if you’re having a bad day, dig in to a plate of vegan poutine. And enjoy every scrumptious minute of it. Then – start eating healthy again immediately afterward!
Vegan Poutine That Will Knock Your Socks Off
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Easy vegan poutine!
Author: Vegan Insanity
Recipe type: Snacks
Serves: 2-4
Ingredients
Fries
- 2 large or 3 medium russet potatoes, cut unto wedges or thin strips
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- salt & pepper, to taste
Gravy
- 3 tbsp vegan butter (I used Earth Balance)
- 2 tbsp flour (I used whole wheat)
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 2 tbsp yellow mustard
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
Other Items
- ½-1 cup vegan cheese shreds (I used Daiya mozzarella shreds)
Instructions
Fries
- Pre-heat your oven to 425F.
- In a large bowl, drizzle the olive oil over your fries, and mix together well. Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper.
- Arrange on a baking sheet and cook for about 20-30 minutes (depending on how thick you made your fries), turning once. Remove from oven once they are cooked and divide between 2-4 plates.
Gravy
- Heat a small pot over medium heat.
- Add in the vegan butter, and once it has melted add in the flour. Whisk together until no clumps remain, and cook for about 1-2 minutes.
- Add in the vegetable broth, mustard and soy sauce and whisk again.
- Let the gravy thicken for a few minutes.
Putting it all together
- On top of your cooked fries, add vegan cheese shreds, then pour the thickened gravy over top. Enjoy immediately.
1 Comment
If you’re craving something sweet today, I’ve got you covered. If you’re craving something salty – well, I’ve got you covered, too!
Enter – sweet & salty caramel corn.
As someone who has tried to make caramel corn many, many times (and failed every time), I can tell you that this recipe is foolproof. The recipe comes from a non-vegan friend of mine, who uses butter in her recipe, so the only thing I changed is that I used vegan butter instead.
And it worked! It actually worked! I made caramel corn and it didn’t turn into a soggy, mushy mess!
If you’ve never made caramel corn before – or if you did, but it didn’t turn out right, I beg you to give this recipe a shot. It’s perfect, it’s easy, and it’s freakin’ delicious.
Sweet & Salty Vegan Caramel Corn
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Author: Vegan Insanity
Recipe type: Snack
Serves: 10-12 cups
Ingredients
- ½ cup popcorn kernels, popped and ready to eat
- ⅓ cup vegan butter (I used Earth Balance)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup packed brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ½ tsp baking soda
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 250F and lay a Siplat baking mat down on 2 large baking sheets (or you can lightly oil them). Make sure your popcorn is in a large bowl, waiting to be covered in this yummy caramel sauce.
- In a medium pot, melt the vegan butter over medium heat, then add in the salt, brown sugar, vanilla and maple syrup. Bring to a boil.
- Allow to boil for about 5 minutes, then remove from heat and add in the baking soda. Mix well, and pour over your popcorn right away.
- Mix in the caramel, making sure to cover all of the popcorn. Then, pour the popcorn onto the 2 baking trays and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove from oven and stir, then allow to cool for about 15 minutes.
Zucchini Fritters with Vegan Sour Cream
23 Comments
The other day I was trying to come up with a way to use a large zucchini that had been in my fridge for a few days and was not going to last much longer. It was lunch time, and I was aching for food.
I didn’t feel like making a sweet treat with it, I didn’t feel like a vegetable soup or stir fry or pizza. I wanted the zucchini to be the star of the show.
So, I made zucchini fritters for lunch! And they were awesome.
I topped the zucchini fritters with some of my vegan sour cream that I’d made the day before, and it was delicious!
Zucchini Fritters with Vegan Sour Cream
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These zucchini fritters make the perfect appetizer, and also work great for lunch or dinner (especially when paired with a salad!).
Author: Vegan Insanity
Recipe type: Appetizer
Serves: 2
Ingredients
- 1 large zucchini, grated
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ cup kamut flour (or all-purpose)
- ½ tsp coriander
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- Sprinkle some salt over your grated zucchini, allow to sit for about an hour to remove some water.
- Put the zucchini in a large, clean dish towel, and squeeze out any excess water. Put zucchini in a large bowl.
- Add in the minced garlic, flour, coriander, onion powder, and black pepper. Mix well.
- Form into balls and press gently to flatten.
- Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Cook until golden (about 5 minutes), then flip and cook for another few minutes, or until that side has also browned lightly.
- Serve, with a dollop of vegan sour cream on top (or on the side).
Notes
To make sour cream: To your blender, add the following ingredients and blend until smooth: ½ cup cashews (soaked for at least 2 hours and drained), 1 tsp lemon juice, ½ tsp apple cider vinegar, ¼ tsp salt and ⅓-1/2 cup of water (as needed).
Chocolate Covered Pretzel Sticks with Vegan Sprinkles
2 Comments
Mmm, pretzels and chocolate. What could be better?
I made these for my 2 year old’s birthday party and they were a huge hit with the kids and the adults! They’re super simple to make, and you can change up the toppings, too, if you want. Chopped nuts, shredded coconut.. even just the chocolate and no sprinkles would taste yummy!
Chocolate Covered Pretzel Sticks with Vegan Sprinkles
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Put these out at a party and I can almost guarantee there won't be any left when the party is over! Easy and delicious - my favourite.
Author: Vegan Insanity
Recipe type: Dessert, Snacks
Serves: 20 pretzel sticks
Ingredients
- About 20 large pretzel sticks/rods
- 1 cup vegan chocolate chips or chunks (I use the Enjoy Life brand)
- Vegan sprinkles
Instructions
- Put a sheet of parchment paper on a large platter or cutting board and set aside.
- Using a double broiler on the stove, melt your chocolate. You could also stick your chocolate in a bowl and melt it in the microwave. Just be sure to mix often, and keep an eye on it so that it doesn't burn.
- Dip about ½ of each pretzel in the melted chocolate, and immediately roll in sprinkles.
- Place on your parchment paper.
- Continue until all pretzels are covered, then stick them in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, or until the chocolate has hardened.
- Serve at room temperature (serve them too cold and they will be very hard to bite into).
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