Gluten Free Vegan Living

Salads are a great summer meal for a Gluten Free Vegan — but without a good salad dressing, a salad can be short of great.

Frustrated with the options available in the stores, I resorted to making my own dressing.  Actually, this is a short cut dressing — not complete homemade.  But I and my husband (along with others) love it.

Before I was Gluten Free and Vegan, Ranch was my favorite dressing, so I wanted something creamy.  Here is what I came up with:

• Fill a pint jar about 3/4 full with GRAPESEED OIL VEGENAISE (we are a soy free — or as close as we can get to soy-free — household, so prefer the grapeseed variety of vegenaise)
• Add about 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• Add about 2 tablespoons of Coconut Aminos
• Mix in your favorite seasoning.  I like to add lots of herbs, onion, garlic, spinach flakes etc.
• Shake well.  If mixture is too thick, thin with a bit of water of milk substitute.   Mixture tends to thicken up in the refrigerator.

I have used this dressing on nearly ALL the salads I make whether they are leaf lettuce based salads or just mixed veggies.  It has always been a big hit at potlucks — even for non-vegan eaters!

For more Vegan salad dressings, check on the 25 recipes compiled by the Raw Vegan Power website.

The list here includes the following recipes:

1. Crunchy Green Salad with Lime Avocado Dressing
2. Creamy Tri-Pepper Dressing
3. Raw Ranch Dressing
4. Raw Red Pepper Caesar Salad Dressing
5. Raw Vegan Creamy Caesar Salad Dressing
6. SRV SuperHero Stacker with Lemon-Chia Dressing
7. Creamy Tahini Dressing
8. Almond Ginger Dressing
9. Spring Salad with Italian Herb Dressing
10. Creamy Herb Dressing
11. 3 ingredient pink dressing
12. Mango mustard dressing recipe
13. Ranch Dressing or Dip
14. Avocado Cilantro Dressing
15. Raw, Vegan Ranch Dressing Recipe
16. Fresh Dill Salad Dressing
17. Vegan Ranch Dressing Made from Cashews
18. Raw Vegan Roma Tomato and Tahini Dressing
19. Raw and Vegan Creamy Salad Dressing Recipe
20. Cherimoya Ranch Dressing
21. Raw Spinach Walnut Dressing Sauce
22. Vegan and Almost Raw Caesar Salad Dressing
23. Yeast Free Basil and Garlic Salad Dressing
24. Lemongrass Dressing
25. Creamy Lemony Garlicky Salad Dressing

Do you have a favorite Vegan Salad Dressing recipe you would like to share with us? 

Vegan Taco Salad is one of my favorite salads — and favorite Mexican style dish.  This dish is high in protein making it very fulling as well as delicious.

I have seen taco salads make in numerous different ways, but most contained either meat or flour tortilla sheet — which, of course will not do!  After some experimenting, I have developed the following recipe:

If you like your salads spicy, add some salasa seasoning.

If you like heat in your salads, add some chopped jalapeno peppers.

For the salad dressing, I make my own.  Here is my special recipe:

Fill a pint jar 2/3 to 3/4 full of grapeseed Vegenaise
Add 1-2 Tablespoons of extra virgin Olive Oil
Add 1-2 Tablespoons of coconut aminos
Add your favorite seasoning (I often use a garlic herb seasoning)

Shake jar well.  
If the dressing is too thick, add a tablespoon of two of water.

You could also add taco sauce to this salad dressing in place of the coconut aminos.

I really love Vegan Spinach Dip — but I cheat and and use a pre-made dry veggie mix that I buy at our local alternative food store.  Then I found the following recipe that also sounds really good.

This Vegan (and Gluten Free) Spinach Dip is found on the Elevated Existence website.  According to the post, this recipe is originally from Susan O’Brien’s cookbook:  Gluten-Free, Vegan Comfort Food: 125 Simple & Satisfying Recipes, from “Mac and Cheese” to Chocolate Cupcakes.

Photo courtesy of http://www.elevatedexistence.com/blog/2012/08/30/gluten-free-vegan-spinach-dip/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=gluten-free-vegan-spinach-dip

This recipe looks pretty good — but if you know me, you know I will avoid the tofu sour cream.  I would substitute Grape Seed Oil Vegenaise!

If you are interested in Susan’s cookbook, click the link below:

Have you ever made Spring Rolls?  They are interesting little gems to make on a hot summer day!  And a great way to eat more raw vegetables.

This feature recipe for Spring Rolls is from Dr. Josh Axe.

Thai Spring Rolls

Ingredients
16 pieces of rice paper
2 cups cucumber
2 cups shredded lettuce
2 cups shredded carrots
2 red bell peppers, seeded and sliced very thin
1 cup mung bean sprouts
1 cup chopped fresh mint
1 cup chopped fresh basil
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 small onion chopped
2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
salt to taste
warm water

Directions
Chop all vegetables and fresh herbs until uniform in size (1/4″ or smaller pieces)
Mix in bowl with remaining spices and balsamic vinegar
Place warm water in a bowl. Soak rice paper in the water until soft
Lay rice paper on a flat surface
Place approximately 1/4 cup of the mixture on one end of the rice paper
Begin Rolling, being careful to fold in sides as you progress.
Cut in half and serve cold.

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Spring Rolls are fun to make because you can add just about any veggie to them.  If you don’t have the ingredients listed, look to see which raw veggies you do have on hand.  Just shred them together and you have a good start to a great Spring Roll.  If you eat fish, baby shrimp make a good addition.

When I have made them, I often add a bit of Vegenaise to the mixed veggies to make the mixture hold together.  I would think that humus work work well as an adhesive and give the Spring Rolls a very unique taste.

What is your favorite Spring Roll recipe?  Would you like to share it with us?

With the summer barbequing season in full swing, there are LOTS of  “burger” recipes floating around. A Quinoa “Hamburger” recipe was posted yesterday.  Today, the featured recipe is Vegan Black Bean and Quinoa Burgers.

Quinoa makes a healthy nutritious base for the black beans in these burgers.  Add the chipotle and cumin to add a bit of ‘south of the border’ flavor!

Gluten Free Vegan Chipotle Black Bean & Quinoa Burgers Recipe

Ingredients

1 cup pre-rinsed quinoa
1½ cups water
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
2 – 15 ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained (or 4 cups cooked black beans)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3 green onions, green and white parts, chopped
1/3 Chipotle Vegenaise
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ cup plus 6 tablespoons garbanzo bean flour or all-purpose gluten free flour
Olive or grapeseed oil

Directions

Combine the quinoa, water and ¼ teaspoon of salt in a small saucepan with a lid. Bring to boil, lower the heat to low, cover the pan and simmer for 10 – 15 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed. Remove from heat and let sit, covered for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Alternately, you can use 2½ cups cooked quinoa.

Place half of the black beans in a food processor with the ground cumin, green onions, Chipotle Vegenaise, and ¼ teaspoon of pepper. Process until the mixture is smooth. Add the remaining beans and pulse a few times until you have a somewhat chunky puree. Put the bean mixture into a mixing bowl, add the cooked quinoa and 6 tablespoons of flour, stir to combine. Place the remaining ½ cup flour on a dinner plate. Portion the bean mixture into 6 equal sized patties.

Add just enough oil to a large skillet to coat the bottom and heat over medium-high heat until it starts to shimmer. Place the patties into the flour and coat both sides. Add the patties carefully to the hot skillet, do not over crowd the skillet. Cook for 3 – 4 minutes per side or until golden brown.

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Personally, my body does not like overly spicy foods — so I would substitute Grapeseed Vegenaise over the chipotle.  But don’t omit it as it helps bind the ‘burgers’.  Some vegan cheese would be nice or even some salsa on top!

What would you add to this Vegan Black Bean and Quinoa Burger?

More Meatless Recipes here!