Easy festive vegan hors d'oeurves

This is a crazy time of year for Soap the Earth. Lots of gift baskets to make up and send out, so haven't had much time to post. However it's Christmas Eve and I'm going to a party, so what to take.

Something quick and easy of course, but also yummy, vegan and gluten free.

Easy!

Vegan cream cheese served with jalapeno jelly on top and crackers. It's festive and delicious, and gooey bean and cheese dip!

The cream cheese dish takes about 3 minutes, so your not going to have to worry about slaving over a hot stove for hours before your party.

Vegan cream cheese and jalapenos

There are quite a few vegan cream cheeses on the market, any will do.

I tub of cream cheese, take out of tub and place on a plate, or better still, a small dish with a lip to it, so the jelly doesn't spill onto your crackers.

I jar of jalapeno jelly. I sometimes make my own, but didn't have time this year. The jelly's on the market are a tad too sweet for me, so

add a couple of tsp of rice or apple cider vinegar to the jelly and 1 or 2  finely chopped fresh jalapenos, depending on your taste and 1/2 tsp salt.

Place some jelly on top of your cream cheese and arrange crackers around the platter.

Cheesy vegan bean dip

Chop
1 small onion
1 jalapeno
3 cloves of garlic

saute in a pan with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil

add
1 can re fried beans 3 to 4 tablespoons of vegan cream cheese
1/2 cup of vegan shredded Cheddar cheese
2 tablespoon of hot sauce (more or less depending on your taste)
1 tsp salt

Place all ingredients in blender, blend until smooth.
Adjust seasoning.

Place in a oven proof bowl and bake until warmed through, about 10 minutes.

Serve with chips.

Happy Holidays from our family to yours.

Quick & Easy Fresh Cranberry Relish Vegan and Gluten Free

A friend of a friends Grandma used to make this relish to go with an Italian dinner.

My friend told me about it this morning and I made it in about 3 minutes and I swear I won't ever make any other cranberry sauce or relish again. This is the bomb!

It's tart, fresh and delicious and there's no need to cook.

I packet of fresh cranberries
1/2 cup of sugar  you can use more if you prefer it sweeter, however I recommend you try it like this first, then add more sugar if you need to.
I medium orange

Cut the orange in quarters take out any seeds. That's it leave the skin on and put cranberries, sugar and orange in the Cuisinart and blend until all evenly chopped. I pulsed it a few times to get the orange to chop up. This whole process took a couple of minutes at most.

Put it in container with a lid overnight, to let the flavors blend.

Serve with your Turkey or Tofurky or whatever you desire.

Vegan and Gluten free Banana Bread

So, I've had the week from hell, all to do with taking my computer in because it was running slow. The tech department decided it needed a new hard drive, but once they had replaced it, the computer wouldn't work at all. I won't bore you with the details, but I had to go back three times. Eventually, they decided it would be so expensive to repair I should buy a new one, which I did because I was trying to run my online business soaptheearth from my iPhone and it was very stressful. This is all to explain why I missed posting last week and why I chose the recipe I did. I needed something comforting, easy and delicious.
I have tried many banana bread recipes and most come out lacking in one way or another. So, I have been trying to come up with a recipe I'm happy with. After many trials and tribulations I think I've done it. Sometimes the simpler the better.

Let me know what you think.

2 cups gluten free flour
11/2 tsp baking soda
11/2 tsp baking powder
1 tablespoon xanthun gum
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sugar ( I like palm)
2 "eggs" substitute I use EnerG and I whip the mixture before adding to the rest of the ingredients
1/2 cup coconut or almond milk
1/2 cup safflower or sunflower oil
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup of walnuts or pecans, chopped

Mash the bananas, I use a potato masher, set to one side

Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl and mix to blend.

Place all liquid ingredients in a separate bowl and mix to blend. Whip the egg substitute when your ready to add everything together

Add the dry and wet ingredients together including the egg substitute, mix in the mashed bananas and nuts and place in a greased loaf pan.

Cook at 350 degrees for approx. 40 minutes, or until an inserted knife comes out clean.

I love to put a slice in the toaster and spread a little butter on the warm slice. Nice change from toast and Oh SO good with a cup of Coffee or Coffee alternative.

Vegan and Glutenfree Mac & Cheese

Like a lot of people I get cravings for the comfort foods in life, especially once the weather starts to get cooler and evenings get darker, earlier. It may be something in my genetic makeup, or at least a nostalgia for my childhood, growing up in Northern England.

Either way I'm craving warm, high carb comfort food, which brings us to this weeks recipe.
Vegan Mac & Cheese.

I have tried quite a few recipes for vegan mac and cheese and they leave me flat. I like the idea of the sweet potato mac and cheese, but it doesn't have anything to do with the original dish and seems a little dry.

I like the recipes with the cheese sauce made from cashews, but I wanted to try something different, especially as I like to add more protein, so I played with some recipes and came up with a hybrid.

I also realized that although it did turn out creamy and delicious, I think most non vegans wouldn't really consider it mac & cheese in the sense of the infamous Kraft variety. Therefore I think our vegan mac and cheese should be called Mac & Cheesefredo.

It seems like a cross between mac & cheese and an alfredo sauce.
Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to downplay how yummy it is, however I think it describes the dish more accurately.

It was an interesting experiment, serving it to my husband. When I told him it was mac & cheese, he looked sceptical. When I added, to clarify, it was more a cross between mac & cheese and alfredo, he dug right in.
To explain, my husband does eat 90% vegan and enjoys it, but he was a true meat and potatoes man when I met him and a junk food aficionado. Therefore, once in a while he gets a little nervous when I serve a new dish. When it comes to food, he doesn't like a lot of change or surprises. With that in mind I think he's truly a trooper and my biggest supporter.

So, I wanted to share this dish with you. It's creamy, comforting and has lots of protein and fiber. It's also incredibly easy to make, with very little prep time, if you don't count how long the potato takes to cook. Just cook that earlier in the day and you're all set for a quick and easy dinner.

Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think. I served it with a crisp green salad with a balsamic vinegar dressing. It really hit the spot.

Serves 6

Put one medium sweet potato in the oven to bake. While it's baking start on the rest of the dish.

Corn pasta penne, cook enough for six people, using the diections on th packet. I like to use the corn pasta for this recipe as the texture is good with the sauce.

While your pasta is cooking add the following ingredients in a blender.

1 cup unsweetened soy or rice milk
1/2 cup nutriotional yeast
1/2 vegetable oil
3 tablespoons tamari (glutenfree)
2 tsp garlic powder
3 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp ground white pepper
3 tsp grey poupon
2 tsp horseradish
1 package of block tofu, I used firm silken

Blend until well mixed, once the potato is cooked, peel and add the flesh and blend.

Mix the sauce with the cooked, drained pasta. Mix in a 1/4 cup grated vegan cheese ( I like daiya cheddar) Sprinkle a little more cheese on top and bake at 350f for approx 15 to 20 mins or until pasta looks slightly browned on top.

Vegan soft tacos

The BEST vegan dinner - easy, nutritious and DELICIOUS!

Okay, I know that sounds a little over the top, but this is my go to recipe. It's so yummy you can serve it to vegans and non vegans a like. It takes 10 minutes to make and it's good for you.

What's not to love?

I start by making a quick fresh salsa

3 to 4 tomatoes chopped
1/2 onion finely chopped
handful of fresh cilantro finely chopped
a few squeezes of a fresh lime
1/2 jalapeno finely chopped (if you like the spice, if not eliminate this ingredient)
salt to taste


You will need;

soft corn tortillas
1 can pinto beans
vegan shredded cheese (I like Daiya)
vegan chorizo
cabbage and lettuce finely shredded mixed together
avocado sliced

I like to make them on a cast iron griddle, but if you don't have one, a heavy bottomed fry pan will do.
Put a little olive oil on the pan to stop the tortillas from sticking.

I get 4 tortillas at one time on my griddle. Heat on one side without browning, takes a minute or two.
Turn them over and immediately, sprinkle some cheese on each one. When it starts to melt add some drained warmed pinto beans on each tortilla and some warmed chorizo. Don't add too much, you don't need to. Put a few pieces of avocado on each tortilla. Serve immediately.

Serve with shredded cabbage/lettuce mix, fresh salsa and your favorite hot sauce.

Vegan Fresh Cream of Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Just because your vegan, doesn't mean you can't indulge in this quintessential American lunch.

Once in a while I get a craving for tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. I also needed to use up some of my tomatoes from the garden. We've had a great crop this year and I don't want to waste any. So I keep coming up with recipes to use my tomatoes and this is my Tomato soup recipe.

For the grilled cheese, butter two pieces of vegan bread with vegan butter add vegan cheese in the middle. I like Daiya Cheddar it melts well and tastes great. Any unused I keep in the freezer, because it does tend to go off rather quickly, once opened.
Grill on one side until browned, then flip sandwich over and grill on the other side. Yum!

Tomato soup Ingredients
1 medium onion chopped
2 large celery stalks chopped
1/8 of medium cabbage chopped
2 medium carrots chopped
2 tablespoons olive oil
Vegetable stock atleast several cuos, you may need more.
5 fresh tomatoes peeled and chopped (To peel fresh tomatoes, cut a small cross in the skin of each tomato, place them in a bowl and pour boiling water to cover. Leave for a minute or two, drain the water off and skin should peel off easily)

Saute all the above ingedients over medium heat for a few minutes then add some vegetable broth, put lid on pan and turn on low. Cook until vegetables are soft. Check often to prevent burning adding more vegetable stock as needed.

When vegetables are very soft, add

1/4 tsp powdered white pepper
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
salt to taste
1 Tablespoon oregano (crush with your hand before adding to the pot)

Blend altogether until smooth.

Add one can of tomato sauce (I like Trader Joe's organic tomato sauce)

Blend again until silky smooth, adjust spices and add more broth if needed.

Serve with a dollop of vegan cream cheese.

This is the cheddar cheese I like to use.

Freya Ridings - Too Much Sky (original acoustic)

This is my brother's friends daughter. She is so good, I just had to share.