BBQ Chicken Pizza

The other day I was craving California Pizza Kitchen's BBQ Chicken Pizza so I decided to make my own VEGAN version. It turned out fantastic!!

1 whole wheat pizza crust, half cooked (Whole Foods makes a delicious one)
1/4 c tomato paste
1/2 c BBQ Sauce
2 tsp oregano
1 bag of Gardein "Chicken" Nuggets, cooked and chopped
pineapple chunks
1/2 red onion, sliced
Daiya Shredded Mozzarella "Cheese"

Preheat oven according to directions on pizza crust. Combine tomato paste, BBQ Sauce, and oregano and spread onto pizza crust. Top pizza with "chicken", pineapple, onion, and "cheese". Cook 10 mins or until cheese has melted and crust is brown on edges. Enjoy!

Maple Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Toasted Hazelnuts

This is a great recipe with no measuring needed (just adjust to how many you are making it for), this super simple side dish is sure to please any audience. The sweetness combined with the crunch from the nuts makes it a great dish!!

Brussel Sprouts, trimmed and cut in half
**Toasted Hazelnuts
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Maple Syrup

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place brussel sprouts in glass baking dish and lightly coat with Olive Oil, season with salt and pepper. Place in oven and cook for 15 mins, stir and cook 15 more mins. Drizzle with Maple Syrup and cook 15 mins. Remove from oven and stir in toasted hazelnuts. Serve.

**To toast any nut you can either do it in the oven or on the stove top. Oven: preheat to 350 degrees and toast nuts on baking sheet for 12-15 mins or until browning. Stove Top: heat skillet over med-high heat, add nuts stirring occasionally for 5-7 mins or until browning. Be careful not to brown too much or they will burn.

Avocado Pesto Pasta

This was such a simple recipe and it looks so pretty with the sun-dried tomatoes on top, and the avocado gives the pasta a nice creaminess.

1 lb linguine
1 bunch fresh basil
1/2 c pine nuts
2 avocados, pitted and peeled
2 TBSP lemon juice
3 cloves garlic
1/2 c olive oil (I would use a little less, just add last and keep an eye on your pesto not getting too oily)
Salt and pepper
Sliced sun-dried tomatoes

Cook pasta, set aside.

In food processor combine basil, pine nuts, avocados, lemon juice, garlic, and oil until smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Toss pasta with pesto and garnish with sun-dried tomatoes.

Oreo Ice Cream Pie

AMAZING, just AMAZING!! Who thinks a vegan eats like this??!! Inspiration struck after I made my Banana Splits. I was sitting thinking, hmmmm....what else can I do with my leftover hot fudge. Oreo Ice Cream pie? Why, of course.

Oreo Crust
Soy Ice Cream
Hot Fudge Sauce (see Banana Split post for recipe)
Crushed Oreo's for topping
Vegan Whip Cream
Maraschino Cherries

Let Ice Cream soften for about 45 mins, then spread into Oreo Crust. Refreeze for about 2 hours, then top with a layer of Hot Fudge Sauce and refreeze for about 4-6 hours. Add toppings as desired. NO COOKING NECESSARY!!

Chef Chloe Inspiration

I have been waiting with much anticipation for Chef Chloe's new cookbook to come out. Thank heavens I finally got my copy in the mail and I have been cooking from it since. She has so many great recipes it was hard to decide where to start. Because she is Italian I thought I would start with a pasta and man was it delicious. I made her Stuffed Shells with Arrabbiata Sauce, sounds fancy right??!! It was so easy to put together! Little tip: use a pastry bag (or ziploc bag with corner cut off) to stuff shells.
Here is the link if you would like to purchase or just look at her cookbook, Chloe's Kitchen http://www.amazon.com/Chloes-Kitchen-Delicious-Recipes-Making/dp/1451636741/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1334329804&sr=8-1 It's a great buy with so many wonderful looking recipes and great looking desserts too!! You can also check out her website www.ChefChloe.com where she has great recipes, her blog, and other great info.
Below I have 2 pictures, one without the sauce so you can see what the stuffed shells look like and one with it ready to go into the oven.




I made her recipe, Artichoke-Walnut Pesto Crostini, for an appetizer. Looks amazing, taste amazing! Even better the next day once the flavors have all had a change to marinate together. If you want the recipe you will just have to come over for dinner :)

Homemade Banana Splits with Caramel, Hot Fudge, and Cherries

With all this warm weather I have started craving some of those good old fashion desserts. Lately I have had Banana Splits on my mind so I decided last night it was finally time to make my own. Of course neither caramel sauce or hot fudge is vegan so I found recipes for both and the whole thing turned out perfect!! Next time I might have to try some homemade whip cream!!

Both these recipes were surprisingly simple to make. I made them before dinner, which worked out nice because they both had an opportunity to cool off a bit so they didn't melt the ice cream.

Caramel Sauce

1 c soy milk
3/4 c brown rice syrup
1/3 c maple syrup
3 TBSP water
2 TBSP arrowroot powder or 1 1/2 TBSP cornstarch (I used arrowroot)
1 TBSP vegan margarine
2 tsp vanilla extract

Combine first 3 ingredients in saucepan. Heat over medium heat until boiling, whisking often to prevent sticking. Boil about 10 mins, until lightly coats the back of a spoon. Mix water and arrowroot in a small container. Add to boiling mixture and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in margarine and vanilla extract. Allow to cool before using.

Hot Fudge

1/2 c canned coconut milk, mixed very well before measuring
1 c semisweet chocolate chips (dairy free)
1 TBSP Agave
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a saucepan, heat coconut milk over medium high heat until it just boils. Turn the heat to low and whisk in chocolate chips. Let cook, whisking until smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in agave and vanilla.

Assemble Banana Splits and enjoy!

Both sauces can keep in the fridge for about 5 days, if they last THAT long!! You could always use any leftover sauce to make some really yummy milkshakes, hmmm.....I see another post in the very near future!!

Smoked Tempeh and Carrot Pesto Pizza-AMAZING!!!

I recently attended a vegan cooking class at Whole Foods where we made this pizza. It was AMAZING!! I really can't say enough about it. If you are like me, you read the description and thought....nahh! DO NOT sleep on this recipe, it is worth the time and effort. Bonus: it's even better the next day cold!!

If you don't believe me you can always go to the class, she is having it again!! Follow this link to sign up: http://stlveggirl.com/Classes.html

Smoked Tempeh and Carrot Pesto Pizza

1 whole wheat pizza crust rolled/kneaded out to 16" on an oiled pan or pizza stone, cooked halfway (whole foods makes a great one)

Smoked Tempeh Crumbles
1 package tempeh
1 TBSP olive oil
1 TBSP tamari
1 TBSP apple cider vinegar
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp liquid smoke
salt and pepper

Cut tempeh into 1/2" pieces. Whisk the remaining ingredients together and pour into a ziploc bag, adding tempeh, to marinate while prepping the rest of the pizza.

Carrot Pesto Sauce
1 large carrot, roughly chopped
1/2 c parsley
2 TBSP chopped red onion
1 tsp oregano
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
2 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in a food processor until well mixed, set aside.

Hummus Cheese Sauce
3/4 c hummus (I liked plain or garlic with this recipe)
4 TBSP nutritional yeast
2 TBSP olive oil
1/2 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients and set aside.

To assemble pizza:
On your 1/2 baked crust, spread the carrot pesto. Sprinkle the tempeh and some sliced red onion in an even layer. Pipe on the Hummus Cheese by putting it in a ziploc bag and cutting off one of the corners (make the cut small to pipe it on).
Bake for 25-30 mins at 350 degrees, or until done.