The Collegiate Vegan

This salad takes very minimal effort, but is delicious and so healthy!

• 3 medium/large cucumbers (or lots of smaller ones, I suppose)
• 1/4C rice vinegar
• 1T sesame oil (optional)
• 2T low sodium soy sauce
• salt & pepper

1) Cut the cucumbers in half, length wise, and scoop the seeds out with a spoon. Then slice the cucumbers, they’ll make a ‘U’ shape.
2) Mix together the rice vinegar, sesame oil, and soy sauce. Pour over the cucumbers. This works best if you place the cucumbers in Tupperware, so that you can secure the lid and shake them to coat. But using a mixing bowl works fine too.
3) Let marinate in the fridge for at least one hour (I suggest overnight) then sprinkle with salt and pepper. Enjoy!

(Makes 6)

• 3 large, green bell peppers
• 1C brown rice
• 1C chopped spinach (fresh or frozen)
• 1/2 block tofu, chopped into small cubes
• 1C Trader Joe’s Thai Green Curry Sauce (or other type of curry sauce)

1) Cook the rice, then stir in sauce, spinach and tofu cubes.
2) Slice the peppers in half and remove the seeds, then stuff with the rice mixture.
3) Bake at 350 for one hour, enjoy! I garnished mine with avocado.

• 1 whole wheat wrap, or soft taco shell
• 1/2 an avocado, sliced
• 1/4C red onion, sliced
• 4T chickpea cheese spread (red pepper hummus works too)

Spread chickpea cheese on one half of the wrap, top with onion and avocado, fold over and heat in a skillet until toasted on both sides!

• 1C cooked spaghetti squash
• 1/2C spinach, steamed
• 4 olives, sliced
• 2-3 artichoke hearts, sliced
• 2T pesto

Mix it all up in a bowl and enjoy!

I’ve never been a fan of plain spaghetti sauce, but add some spices, basil and spinach and it’s like a completely different dish to me. I swear making your own sauce makes the BIGGEST difference. Next time I think I’ll skip the canned tomatoes and use fresh ones.

• 28oz can crushed tomatoes
• 2T EVOO
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• garlic and oregano
• 1/2C packed basil
• salt and pepper
• 1/2C nutritional yeast
• Lots of spinach
• 4 servings whole wheat linguine

1) Saute your onion and garlic in some EVOO. Then add your spices, the tomatoes, basil and nutritional yeast.
2) Bring to a boil then simmer for five minutes, and in the mean time cook your pasta.
3) Add the spinach and cook for 10 minutes. Then mix it all together! This recipe makes about 4 cups of sauce. 

I love veggie burgers for many reasons, but mostly because you can make a big batch, freeze them and always have them on hand when you’re feeling lazy. This is by far the best veggie burger recipe I’ve ever used. Perfect combination of spicy and sweet, and the eggplant gave it a great texture. It’s a little more complicated than the recipes I usually make, but trust me it’s totally worth it.

Raw Challenge Day One -  Dinner

• 4-5 romaine or radicchio “shells”
• Salsa Fresca (tomato, onion, cilantro, lime) or other salsa
• 1 Avocado, cubed

Fill up your tacos and enjoy!

Why make one big pizza, when you could make four mini ones?! This was probably one of the funnest dinners I’ve ever made. My friend Erin and I came up with a few ideas, improvised a lot, and this was our end result.

PIZZA ONE: Simple Pesto
Pesto sauce, cherry tomato slices and thinly sliced basil

PIZZA TWO: Summer Sizzlin’
Olive oil, mango chunks, red peppers, green peppers and yellow peppers

PIZZA THREE: Greens on Greens
Pizza sauce, wilted spinach and asparagus with extra garlic

PIZZA FOUR: DESSERT
Agave syrup, peaches, mango, cinnamon and sugar

• 1 small pizza crust
• pizza sauce
• wilted spinach
• asparagus, chopped small
• garlic

It’s no secret that avocado’s are my favorite, so here’s another way to enjoy them!

• 2 servings whole wheat linguine (or other pasta)
• 1 ripe avocado
• 1/2 cup basil
• 1T lemon juice
• 2 garlic cloves

1) Cook your pasta.
2) Blend everything except the pasta in a bowl or food processor. 
3) Combine the pasta with the avocado mixture, the hot pasta will melt the mixture into a sauce consistency.
4) EAT!