Easy No-Knead Bread

 

This is the easiest yeasted bread that I have ever made. It comes out with a nice crust and a soft airy center. This is the perfect bread to have alongside salads, soups, and stews. It does take a little planning, as you mix the ingredients and then leave the dough to sit for anywhere between 8-24 hours. You also need a deep oven-safe dish that has a lid (if you don't have one then you could try to use a deep oven-safe dish and cover it with foil).

Easy No-Knead Bread

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups warm water

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp active dry yeast

3 cups flour

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees.

Mix the water, sugar, salt, and yeast in a bowl and let it sit for about 10 minutes. Then, add the three cups of flour and mix to combine. Then, cover the bowl with a damp cloth and leave the dough to sit for 8-24 hours. When you are ready to bake the bread. Line your baking dish with parchment paper, punch down the dough and form it into a ball. Let the dough rest for about 30 minutes and then put it in the baking dish. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes total. The first 30 minutes bake with the lid on the baking dish and then uncover for the last 15 minutes. Let the bread cool and enjoy!

Vegan Pizza Dough

Making your own pizza dough is satisfying in so many ways. From getting your hands in the dough while you knead it and when you roll it out, to the smell of the yeast in the kitchen, to the knowledge of what is in your food, to the superior taste - you can't get much better. The steps to making your own pizza may seem daunting at first but after a few times you will get in a routine and find it is well worth the effort.

Vegan Pizza Dough

Dough Ingredients:

1 pkg active dry yeast (about a tbsp of yeast)
1 1/2 cups warm water (not hot, though, you don't want to kill the yeast)
2 tsp sugar

2 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp salt
3-4 cups all-purpose flour

Dough Directions:

Place the yeast in a large mixing bowl with the warm water and the sugar. Mix it gently with a wooden spoon and then leave it for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, the yeast should be forming a foam on the top of the water. If you do not see any foam, it means your yeast is dead and you should start again with new yeast. Otherwise, add the olive oil, salt, and one cup of flour. Mix to incorporate and then continue adding flour one cup at a time until a loose shaggy dough begins to form. Then slowly work in the last cup of flour while you knead the dough. You want a nice elastic dough that is not too dry. So don't add any more flour than you have to while you knead the dough. The amount of flour you will need to add varies - I think it has to do with the brand of flour, the humidity, etc. that determines how much flour to add before your dough has a nice smooth yet slightly tacky feel to it. This is why it is important to add the flour one cup at a time. Knead the dough for around 5-7 minutes or so.

Put the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a damp towel. Set the dough aside in a warm spot in your kitchen to rise for an hour. After the hour, your dough should have doubled in size. Punch it down and let it rise again (if you made the dough ahead, here is where you can put it in the fridge until you are ready to use. Otherwise, let it rise for another 30 minutes before rolling out for pizza. Alternately, if you refrigerated the dough, take it out of the refrigerator 30 minutes to an hour before you plan to roll it out so it can come to room temperature, which makes it much easier to work with.

This usually makes about 3 small pizzas. Separate the dough into 3 or 4 equal balls and roll these out for each pizza. Top with your favorite toppings and bake in a preheated oven (475 degrees) for around 8-10 minutes.

Yogi Tea

This tea reminds me a bit of chai, but has a really good mellow flavor all its own. Making it from scratch makes your house smell wonderful and I like to keep a pitcher of it in the fridge and drink it over ice with a splash of soy milk added. This recipe follows the traditional recipe with a minor tweak here and there to suit our tastes. My son loves this tea and we go through at least a pitcher a week.

Yogi Tea

Ingredients:

10 cups of water

pinch of salt

20 whole cloves

30 black peppercorns

3 cinnamon sticks

25 cardamom pods (cracked)

1-inch piece of fresh ginger, sliced

1/4 cup sweetener (syrup, cane sugar, agave)

2 family-sized black tea bags

Directions:

Put the water in a large saucepan and bring it to a simmer. Add the salt, cloves, peppercorns, cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, ginger and sweetener to the water. Simmer for 60 to 90 minutes, partially covered.

Add the black tea bags for the last 5 minutes of the cooking time. Strain the spices out and pour the tea into a pitcher. Serve warm or chilled with a splash of non-dairy milk.

Apple Cinnamon Blender Waffles

This recipe is great because it only takes a blender and a measuring cup to make these waffles. They are hearty, filling, gluten-free, and a great vegan breakfast. Slather on some nut butter, top with yogurt and fruit, or go classic with vegan butter and maple syrup.

Apple Cinnamon Blender Waffles

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups rolled oats

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups soy milk

3 tbsp white vinegar

3 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup applesauce

1/2 an apple, diced small (optional)

Directions:

Put the dry ingredients into your blender and pulse a few times to grind the oats and incorporate the cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Then add in the wet ingredients and blend until smooth. Add the diced apple and cook according to your waffle iron's instructions. Enjoy with some vegan butter and maple syrup.

Radiant Green Smoothie

I recently started practicing Kundalini and am really enjoying this style of yoga. It incorporates mantras, chants, breathing exercises, and asanas and is very different than other styles of yoga that I have tried. Honestly, it seems kind of weird but is having a noticeable positive impact on me beyond the mat, which is awesome.  There are a few channels on YouTube with free videos to try and I really like the ones on the YouTube channel Kundalini Lounge. In researching this style of yoga, I came across a Website and found some tips on incorporating a yogic diet. This smoothie recipe caught my eye and I recently tried it, and with a few additional ingredients of my own, I absolutely fell in love with this breakfast. The healthy oils keep me full and the combination of the fruits with the spinach and chlorophyll is just so good! I had never tried chlorophyll before, but it is mellow in flavor and brings all the goodness of plant foods to you in a concentrated form - so cool!

Radiant Green Smoothie

Ingredients:

1 banana

1 cup frozen mango chunks

1 to 1 1/2 cups frozen spinach

1 to 1 1/2 cups ice 

8 ounces orange juice

1 Tbsp liquid chorophyll

2 tsp flax seed oil

2 tsp brown rice syrup

Directions:

Put all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

Tahini Dip

We adore this dip and make it about once a month for dressing salads, or as a dip for crackers or raw veggies. It has an almost cheese-like quality to it that is just so good. I have also put it over pasta and used it as a spread for sandwiches and wraps. It is very versatile and great to have on hand.

Ingredients:

1 cup tahini

1 cup room temperature water

3 tbsp lemon juice

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

2 tbsp Braggs or tamari

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp liquid smoke

Directions:

Put the tahini in a bowl or jar and whisk in the water 1/4 cup at a time until the tahini has lightened in color and is the consistency you would like for your dressing or dip. It is important to add the water to the tahini before adding any other ingredients because if you don't go in that order the tahini will "break" and the oil will separate.

Once your tahini is blended with the water and creamy you can whisk in the rest of the ingredients.

Udon Noodle Soup

I have been on a YouTube food and travel video bender, and especially love TabiEats and Paolo From Tokyo. They make everything look so good and describe what they are eating with great detail. They are not vegan, but that's okay, I just veganize the recipes that look and sound good to me. This is one of those recipes.

Vegan Udon Noodle Soup

Ingredients:

6 cups vegetable broth (adjust soy sauce if your broth is salted - I used 1 tbsp Better Than Boullion)
Thumb size piece of ginger, peeled
1 inch piece of Kombu (dried seaweed for making stock)
1 tsp sugar
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/4 cup Bragg Liquid Aminos or soy sauce
1 tbsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp garlic chili paste
1 tbsp dried wakame seaweed

1 tbsp sesame oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp minced fresh ginger
1/2 cup diced carrot
1/2 cup chopped broccoli
1/2 cup sliced cabbage

2 cups fresh (or frozen) udon noodles (about 8 oz)
Sliced scallions to sprinkle on top
grated radish for topping (optional)

Directions:

Heat the vegetable broth in a saucepan with the thumb-sized piece of peeled ginger, rice wine vinegar, Braggs or soy sauce, Worcestershire, and garlic chili paste. Bring to a low boil and let it simmer for 15 minutes while you prepare the vegetables. When the broth is done, strain out the ginger and the kombu.

For the veggies, mince the garlic and ginger. Then dice the carrot, broccoli, and cabbage. Heat the sesame oil in a non-stick pan and stirfry the garlic, ginger, broccoli, and cabbage until al dente and still somewhat crisp and bright.

Prepare the udon noodles according to package directions.

Put the noodles in a bowl and top with the stirfried veggie mix, ladle on some broth and top with the scallions and grated radish.