The Collegiate Vegan

Alright, happy June y’all! I ate in Boston’s North End this weekend, and it’s set me off on an Italian cooking bender. It’s also ridiculously hot in Boston this week, and the heat has made me lazy. The combination of those two things resulted in this super easy, single-serving, 15 minute pesto pasta- still from scratch!

• One serving pasta
• 1/3C loosely packed basil
• 1-2T olive oil
• 2t garlic powder
• salt
• 2-3T water
• 5-8 cherry tomatoes
• A few artichoke hearts

1) Boil water and cook your pasta
2) While the pasta is cooking, combine basil, olive oil, salt and garlic. Add only one tablespoon of water at a time until the mixture blends easily. Note: This will vary depending on what kind of blender you’re using.
3) When the pasta has 3-5 minutes left, toss in your tomatoes and artichoke hearts with it so that they cook.
4) Drain pasta, tomatoes, and artichokes. Pour into a bowl, and combine with pesto sauce. Enjoy!

Now that it’s finally getting warmer out, I want to “cook” less and less. The good news is, I’ve got a ton of really great raw/mostly raw recipes up my sleeves. This is one of my favorites.

• 3C shredded carrots2
• 2C shelled edamame
• 1/4C sliced almonds
• 2T olive oil
• 2T soy sauce
• 2T rice vinegar (or other vinegar)
• 1T toasted sesame oil
• salt & pepper

Mix together liquid ingredients in a small bowl. Toss carrots and edamame in a large bowl, slowly pouring in the sauce. Top with salt and pepper, let chill at least one hour. Enjoy!

My roommates and I decided to make this spontaneously this weekend, and the whole process took us 15 minutes from start to delicious.

• 2C rolled oats
• 1-2T agave syrup
• 1-2T olive oil
• 1.5T cinnamon
• 2t nutmeg
• handful of almonds, chopped (or any nuts)
• 5 dates, chopped (or any dried fruit)

Spread on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes, or until crispy. Shake pan every five minutes to make sure granola doesn’t burn. Allow a few minutes to cool, and enjoy!

For the tempeh-
Mix together 1T soy sauce, 1T agave syrup, 1T rice vinegar, and a crushed garlic clove. Slice tempeh into 10-12 slices, place in Tupperware or a shallow dish and cover in marinade mixture. Allow to sit for at least 20 minutes, or overnight, in the fridge.
Fry the marinated tempeh slices in a skillet with a little olive oil, until browned on both sides. About 4-5 minutes on each side.

For the rest-
Steam or boil 2 cups of kale, and top with 1/2 an avocado and cooked tempeh. Drizzle with soy sauce. Enjoy!

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!

• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1T olive oil
• 1/4C and 1T buffalo sauce, separated

1) Toss the chickpeas in olive oil and either roast in the over at 425 for 15 minutes, or heat in a skillet for 15 minutes stirring constantly. We want them to get a little crispy.
2) Stir the chickpeas in a hot skillet with 2T of the buffalo sauce. Once it’s been absorbed, stir in the other two and heat for 5 more minutes.
3) Divide into two servings and drizzle remaining buffalo sauce over the chickpeas.

Enjoy!

• 1/2 an onion, chopped
• 1t cumin
• 1/4t cayenne
• 1t chili powder
• 1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 1/2C veggie broth
• 1/3C salsa
• 1t lime juice
• 1C corn
• avocado

1) Saute onion with a little veggie broth until translucent, then add spices and stir to coat.
2) Add the rest of the veggie broth, beans and salsa. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 10 minutes.
3) Remove from heat, blend half the mixture and return to the pot.
4) Stir in lime juice and corn.
5) Serve with avocado on top, and enjoy!

• 2C almonds
• 1C sugar
• 1T cinnamon
• 1/2C water

Combine everything in a saucepan on medium heat, and stir CONSTANTLY until the water has evaporated. Remove from heat and let almonds cool on wax paper or a paper towel. Enjoy!

Note: it’s really easy to eat the whole batch.

(Makes 12)

• 6 jalapeno peppers
• vegan cream cheese (follow your heart, tofutti etc.)
• plain nondairy milk (soy, almond, rice etc.)
• panko bread crumbs
• 1T garlic powder
• 1t salt

1) Slice jalapenos in half, remove seeds.
2) Fill jalapeno halves with cream cheese.
3) Pour bread crumbs, garlic powder and salt in a bowl. Soy milk in another bowl.
4) Dip jalapeno halves in the soy milk, then roll in the bread crumb mixture.
5) Pan fry in a layer of oil, just a minute or two on each side until crispy. Enjoy!

Making your own sweet potato chips is EXTREMELY easy.

• 1-2 large sweet potatoes
• a little olive oil
• some salt
• cinnamon (optional)

Thinly slice your potatoes, a mandoline works best but you can slice them by hand too. Toss them in a bowl with olive oil, salt and cinnamon. Lay them out on a baking dish and bake at 425 for 25ish minutes. Check and shake the pan every ten minutes to make sure they don’t burn.

My friend and I decided to make an appetizer feast, and here’s what we came up with! (Recipes will follow this week, great for non-Super Bowl dinners too!)

• Buffalo Cauliflower
• Pita Chips with Mediterranean Dip
• Cinnamon Candied Almonds
• Sweet Potato Chips
• Southwestern Eggrolls
• Jalapeno Poppers
• Fresh berries

And people say vegans can’t enjoy the Super Bowl… ha!

• 1 can of black beans
• 1.5 cups of corn
• 1 sweet potato
• 1 cup of salsa, or half a 16oz jar

1) Cube and boil the sweet potato until cooked, set aside.
2) Mix black beans, corn and salsa in a pot on high heat. Cover and allow to simmer for 20 minutes.
3) Stir in your sweet potato, and enjoy!