By Kristine Crouch
Photography by Patrick Segovia
Lentil bolognese
“Nobody cares that you’re vegan!” Well we do. We care a lot. There’s nothing pretentious about being a vegan. Don’t get all riled up about people who care about what they put in their mouth, vegan haters. Try some of these dishes to cleanse your palate:
Ingredients:
½ cup lentils
Extra virgin olive oil
1 onion
1 stick of celery
1 carrot
Sea salt
Black pepper
Dry oregano
1 cup tomato sauce
¼ cup red wine
9 oz noodles (you can use soba as a gluten-free option)
Vegan Parmesan (optional)
1. Cook the lentils and the noodles. Heat some oil in a frying pan and sauté the onion, celery, and carrot (finely chopped). Add sea salt, black pepper, and oregano to taste. Cook over medium heat until golden brown.
2. Add the tomato sauce and cook for five minutes more.
3. Add the wine and cook until the alcohol evaporates.
4. Blend the lentils using a hand blender or a food processor and add the mixture to the frying pan. Stir well.
5. Serve the noodles with the Bolognese sauce and some vegan Parmesan cheese on top (I like to use nutritional yeast flakes or ground up cashew nuts).
6. Add oregano to garnish (optional).
Fresh summer rolls with spicy garlic peanut sauce
Ingredients:
Rolls:
1 cup cooked vermicelli (rice noodles)
5-8 rice paper sheets
1 carrot
1 avocado
1/3 cucumber
1 cup fresh basil
1/2 cup cilantro
5-8 kale leaves
1/2 red pepper
Peanut sauce:
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp. chunk of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 tbsp. each of tamari, maple syrup, and lime juice
Chili powder, to taste
1/3 cup peanut butter
1/3 cup water (more or less as needed)
1. To make the peanut sauce, sauté the garlic and ginger (this will bring out the flavor of the peanut sauce). Blend or mix together all the ingredients until smooth. Set aside in a bowl.
2. To make the wraps, cut all the veggies into thin strips. Dip the rice paper sheets one at a time in warm water so they soften, then arrange your vegetable fillings in the middle. Fold over two ends and wrap it up like a burrito, making it as tight as possible.
3. Serve the rolls with the sauce and enjoy!
Glazed chocolate donut holes
Ingredients:
Donut holes:
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup walnuts (preferably soaked for 4 hours in water then rinsed)
1 cup dates
1/4 cup cacao powder
2 tbsp. coconut oil
Pinch Himalayan salt
Glaze:
3 tbsp. coconut oil
2 tbsp. maple syrup (or coconut syrup)
1/8 tsp. vanilla powder
1. To make the donut holes, grind all the ingredients into thick, moist dough in a food processor. Roll into balls and place in the freezer until firm. This should take about 20 minutes.
2. To make the glaze, melt the coconut oil on low heat, turn off the heat then whisk in the syrup and vanilla. This will only take a few seconds until the ingredients combine, resulting in a caramel-like consistency.
3. To put it all together, dip the solid donut holes into the glaze, covering each one completely. Put them back in the freezer until the glaze has hardened. Repeat until all remaining glaze is used. Store the donut holes in the fridge for up to a week. You might need to re-whisk the glaze when re-dipping.
This story was originally published on our September-October 2016 issue and was edited for web.
Featured image from vegansandra.com