We’re so excited to share with you that we’ve just launched our newest 10 Weeks to Vegan program for Latin America, Semanario Vegano Costa Rica! With the support of local activists, it has been possible to create a culturally relevant program that will provide support to those who want to give veganism a try. Here is a vegan take on a traditional fish-based dish!

The original version of this is made with soursop, which is native to tropical areas of the Americas. Since it is difficult to find in the United States, we have substituted oyster mushrooms. Let us know what you think!

Ingredients:

• 250 grams of chipped oyster mushrooms (approx 2-1/2 cups)
• 1 pepper
• 1 medium white onion
• 1 medium purple onion
• A handful of cilantro (coriander)
• The juice of 5-6 limes
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 teaspoon of olive oil
• Avocado, chili pepper, and crackers

Directions:

Start by slicing the mushrooms in a shape that you like, finely chop the onions, and the sweet pepper, dice the cilantro and place everything in a bowl. Add the olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste and mix well. Squeeze the juice of 5-6 limes—it should be enough to cover part of the ingredients. Make sure everything is well mixed and let the ceviche bowl sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, this will intensify the flavor. Once you’re ready to eat it, add avocado on top and eat it with crackers.

Tip:

You can also change the base of this recipe with chickpeas, hearts of palm (palmitos), cauliflower, or texturized vegetable protein (TVP). If you miss the taste of seafood, try adding chopped seaweed, you’ll notice that this will make a huge difference!

The post Vegan Ceviche appeared first on Vegan Outreach.

By Toni Okamoto

With Cinco de Mayo today, I wanted to make something that was familiar and festive, but also really easy to make. 7-layer bean dips were a staple potluck item for my family when I was growing up, and it was surprisingly easy to make it completely vegan! With products like Beyond Meat beef-free feisty crumbles and Tofutti sour cream, it tasted exactly the way I remembered!

At the office we used the dip as a filling for burritos, and they were delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1 package Beyond Beef feisty crumble
• Mexican rice
• 1 can vegetarian refried beans
• 2 avocados, mashed
• 1 cup salsa
• Tofutti or Follow Your Heart vegan sour cream
• Chopped green onions, tomatoes, and olives, for garnish

Directions:

In a medium pan, cook Beyond Meat beef-free feisty crumbles according to package directions.

Prepare rice according to Mexican Rice recipe.

In an 8-×-8 square baking pan or dish, begin layering with the can of refried beans spread evenly, followed by beef-free crumbles, Mexican rice, mashed avocados, salsa, vegan sour cream, and garnishes (green onions, tomatoes, and olives).

The post 7 Layer Bean Dip appeared first on Vegan Outreach.

Try this quick and easy, colorful spread on toast, crackers, or right off the spoon!

Beetroot Hummus

Ingredients

Directions

1. Begin by scrubbing the beetroot and boiling it for 30 minutes. Peel and place into a blender.
2. Place the rest of the ingredients, except the horseradish, in the blender. Blend until smooth.
3. Transfer into a bowl and spoon in the horseradish sauce—swirl it in instead of mixing fully into the dish. Serve & Enjoy!

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If you’re hosting a party in the near future and want to impress your guests with a unique eating experience, look no further. They’ll be raving about this cheese fondue from their first bite to long after their last!

Try serving it with the list of suggested veggies or breads, or any other dip-worthy foods that that sounds good to you!

Thanks to our good friend Sharon Palmer for providing this awesome recipe! Be sure to check out Sharon’s blog for other great meal ideas like this one!

Vegan Cheese Fondue

Yields 8 servings.

Ingredients

Directions

1. Place potatoes and carrots in a medium pot, cover with water, cover with a lid and cook for about 10 minutes, until tender. Drain, reserving ½ cup of water, and place cooked vegetables in a blender container.
2. While potatoes are cooking, heat olive oil in a large skillet and add onions and garlic. Sauté until tender, about 8 minutes. Add onions and garlic to the blender container.
3. In the skillet (do not clean), add cornstarch and white wine and stir with a whisk over medium heat. Stir in reserved potato water and plant-based milk until smooth. Add pepper, turmeric, nutmeg, nutritional yeast, and mustard and heat until thickened and bubbly.
4. Pour white wine mixture into the blender container with the potatoes and onions and process until smooth. Adjust seasonings with salt as desired.
5. Transfer this fondue mixture to a fondue pot and heat until bubbly.
6. Serve with dipping ideas, such as cubed pieces of bread, fresh vegetables, and tofu.

Recipe Tips

• You can peel these potatoes easily if you cook them first, and then slip off the peels when they’re done.

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Raising Vegan Kids — Got Greens?

Dark leafy greens are one of the most nutrient-dense veggies—they’re packed with vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytochemicals.

We add dark leafy greens to our kids’ meals by blending and processing them into smoothies, sauces, and dips. We’ve found it’s easiest to blend greens into some of their favorite meals and snacks, such as Magic Green Muffins, Green Monster Smoothie, and chop greens into their Bean Pasta Sauce.

Our little ones love hummus, so why not add a couple cups of greens to their favorite dip?

Green Halloween Hummus

Yields about 2 cups.

Ingredients

Directions

1. In a food processor, add all the ingredients except the greens.
2. Process for 30 seconds and then scrape down the sides with a spatula. Process again and repeat until hummus is smooth. Add more water if needed.
3. Add the spinach and process until it is well combined.
4. Add more salt or other seasonings to taste or drizzle with a little olive or flax oil.

Wendy Gabbe Day is a proud mama of two vegan kids, the author of Scatter Vegan Sweets, a vegan cooking instructor, food blogger at Lively Days, co-producer of Vegan: Everyday Stories, and former coordinator of Portland, OR’s annual VegFest. Wendy has been vegetarian since birth and a vegan since the age of five.

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This recipe is for one of my favorite meals—so delicious and easy to make!

It’s one of my go-to meals when I’m cooking for people who aren’t vegan, and they’re always extremely impressed.

Jev’s Delicious Tacos

Serves about 2.

Ingredients

Directions

1. Walnut Meat: Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well-combined. Don’t overprocess—you’ll know this is happening if a paste starts to form.
2. Guacamole: Mash all of the ingredients together to your preferred guacamole consistency.
3. Pico de Gallo: Simply combine all of the ingredients and mix well.
4. Cashew Sour Cream: Combine cashews and water in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and blend until well-combined.
5. Using soft or hard taco shells, assemble all components of the tacos. Enjoy!

Recipe Tips/Variations

• The most time-consuming part of this recipe is soaking the walnuts and cashews. I’d recommend soaking them the night before you plan to use them.
• In addition to the meal components included above, I encourage you to add whatever other toppings you’d like—lettuce, tomatoes, vegan cheese, cilantro, corn, etc.

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You can’t really go wrong with hummus. Am I right, or am I right?

Here’s yet another example of how right you can go with hummus—Pistachio!

Pistachio Hummus

Yields 8 servings.

Ingredients

Directions

1. Add garbanzo beans, pistachios, garlic, tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt, and pepper to a food processor.
2. Purée mixture and add just enough liquid from garbanzo beans until hummus reaches desired consistency.
3. Serve with fresh veggies and pita bread cut into wedges. Enjoy

Thank you to Sharon Palmer who generously shared her delicious hummus recipe!

The post Pistachio Hummus appeared first on Vegan Outreach.

No, I didn’t put a fancy filter on this picture. And, no, your eyes are not tricking you. That hummus is pink!

Last week I was trying to find a few creative ways to make use of the beets my best friend, Sheila, had given me—they were fresh from her garden! A quick Google search using the words “vegan” and “beets” yielded more than a handful of creative recipes.

To be honest, I had no intention of sharing a recipe that included beets, but that quickly changed when I ended up with this very aesthetically pleasing and great tasting hummus.

As you probably already noticed from the title, this hummus is unique not only because it incorporates beets, but also because it’s made with white beans instead of chickpeas. If you make this hummus at home, don’t feel restricted to using white beans. Try it out with the traditional hummus bean—chickpeas!

Don’t be intimidated by having to roast the beets. Prepping the beet to roast is quick and simple, and it takes very little time to roast them! In a convection oven, it takes roughly 10 minutes. In a regular oven it might take a bit longer, but not much—just gather and measure the rest of the ingredients while the beets are roasting.

Roasted Beet White Bean Hummus

Serves about 6.

Ingredients

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Remove the stems from the beet, rinse thoroughly, and chop into 1″ pieces.
3. Place the chopped beets onto a lined cookie sheet and roast for 10 to 15 minutes.
4. When the beets are done roasting, remove from the oven and let them cool for a few minutes.
5. Place the beets in a food processor for about 30 seconds.
6. Add the remaining ingredients into the food processor, except for the oil, and process until all is mixed evenly.
7. Slowly drizzle the oil into the food processor while the contents are still mixing and process until smooth.

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If I lived anywhere near New York City I’m pretty sure I’d want to be spending all of my free time with Gena Hamshaw, author of my favorite vegan blog, The Full Helping. I sort of feel like I already do, given that I visit her blog multiple times a week and refer to her cookbooks regularly. Knowing what I do about Gena from her blog we have a lot in common—including similar interests, like psychology related topics, and a passion for helping other people and beings.

Moreover, we both adore certain flavors and types of food, which Gena does a fabulous job of incorporating in a lot of her recipes. Today I’m talking particularly about beans and tahini. Gena has come up with some of the most unique ways of using both (I highly encourage you to check out her blog to see for yourself), and the recipe I’m about to share, Smashed Garlic Tahini White Bean Salad on Toast, is no exception.

What I love most about this salad is its versatility. The first time I ate it I spread it on toast, but it can easily be used as a dip for raw veggies, or as a bowl or salad component. A few of the veggies I topped it off with were sprouts and arugula. Oh, and I also added a few cucumbers. Gena makes some other great recommendations for salad toppers, like radishes and avocado. Don’t be fooled, though, this salad is mighty tasty just by itself. Don’t fret about extra veggies if you don’t have any on hand.

Smashed Garlic Tahini White Bean Salad on Toast

Yields about 2 ½ cups.

Ingredients

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Rub the teaspoon of olive oil over the exposed garlic cloves. Wrap the whole head of garlic in foil and place on a baking sheet. Roast for 35-40 minutes, or until the head of garlic is very soft and the cloves are lightly golden.
2. Place the tahini, water, lemon, mustard, salt, and pepper in a blender or food processor. Squeeze all of the cloves of garlic from the roasted head into the blender. Blend the ingredients on high till creamy and smooth.
3. Place the beans, celery, shallot, and dill in a mixing bowl. Add about three quarters of the dressing (you may want to hold off on using all of it until you mix up the salad and see whether you’d like to use more). Use a potato masher or fork to mash the dressing up with the beans, smashing only about half of the white beans (you want half of them to stay whole). Taste the salad, add more dressing as needed, and season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper.
4. Spread the salad on toast and top with toppings of choice. Serve.

Recipe Tips/Variations

• I was pressed for time when I made this meal, so I used garlic powder. If you’re not trying to get in and out of the kitchen quickly, definitely roast the garlic. The salad will have a much richer flavor.
• I swapped out the dill for parsley, which is why my salad turned out a bit on the green side. There are a handful of herbs that would go well in this salad—get creative and throw in what sounds best to you!

The post Smashed Garlic Tahini White Bean Salad on Toast appeared first on Vegan Outreach.

Our friends at Tofurky have set the bar high for creating vegan versions of the foods we all enjoyed prior to going vegan. And this recipe is no exception!

We recommend making and taking these pretzels to a party, serving them to your non-vegan friends, and sitting back and watching their reaction when you tell them they’re vegan.

Stuffed Pretzels Knots with Nacho Cheese

Yields 4 servings.

Ingredients

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a small skillet over low heat, melt butter and sauté garlic for about 1 minute.
3. Roll each piece of dough into a 1⁄2” thick rope and flatten with a rolling pin. Brush with garlic butter, sprinkle with ham, then roll up tightly widthwise, so the dough once again forms a 1⁄2” thick rope. Fold rope in half over your finger, twist loose ends around each other a few times, then tuck the end into the loop created by your finger.
4. In a large saucepan, bring 10 cups water and baking soda to a boil. Using a slotted spoon, place each pretzel in the water for 30 seconds, drain well, pat dry, and place on baking sheet. Brush lightly with syrup glaze and sprinkle with salt.
5. Bake until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes.
6. In a blender, process cashews, bell peppers, nutritional yeast, turmeric, salt, cayenne, and 1⁄4 cup water until completely smooth, adding a little more water if needed to blend.
7. Serve pretzels warm with cheese sauce.

Click here for the original recipe.

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