Sunday, March 15, 2015

Meal Ideas: Vegan Fajita Quesadilla

 

I love quesadilla. Not only does it taste like heaven, it got me through my poor busy college years. I probably have made about a hundred of quesadillas in my life, and it was time to make another hundred or more in vegan style.


First, grill your veggies (I used red and yellow bell peppers and onions) in a pan with olive oil until they're soft. Set them aside in a bowl. Add some vegan cheese (I used Daiya chedder cheese) to your bowl of hot veggies and mix well. 

Place your veggies/cheese mixture in a tortilla and fold them in half. Place the tortilla on a pan and grill until your cheese is melted well. 

To upgrade your quesadilla, top it off with some avocado, sauce of your choice (my sauce is a mixture of veganaise, sriracha and ketchup), and cilantro. 

Now you have a beautiful quesadilla that you can bring to parties and impress your non-vegan friends! Or if you're like me, you can just eat the whole thing by yourself.

Enjoy!

Thursday, March 5, 2015

Recipe: Vegan Chocolate Baked Donuts


Sometimes, you just have to start your day with some delicious chocolate donuts. Mmmmm donuts~

Ingredients (makes 6 donuts):

For donuts:
  • 1 cup of flour
  • 1/4 cup of cocoa powder
  • 1/2 teaspoonful of baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoonful of salt
  • 1/2 cup of sugar
  • 1/2 cup of almond milk
  • 1/4 cup of apple sauce (or mashed bananas)
  • 4 tablespoonfuls of coconut oil (melted/clear)
  • 1 teaspoonful of vanilla extract
Chocolate "glaze":
  • 4 tablespoonfuls of cocoa powder
  • 1/4 teaspoonful of salt
  • dash of agave nectar
  • almond milk- amount depending on consistency
  • white sugar- amount depending on taste
  • Toppings of your choice: almond chips, coconut shreds, sprinkles, chocolate chips, etc!
Directions:
  • Preheat your oven to 375F and coat a donut pan with any oil you have.
  • Mix all the dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, and salt) into a bowl. Set it aside for now.
  • Mix all the wet ingredients (coconut oil, almond milk, apple sauce, and vanilla extract). Pour this into the dry mixture, and give it a good mix without over-mixing. 
  • Pipette them into the donut pan. You can use cut out zip lock bag, or if you're lazy like me just spoon them in there really carefully. Haha.
  • Now they're ready to go in the oven. Bake for about 10-15 minutes depending on your oven. The donuts are done when they have crusty edges.
  • Let's make the "glaze". Add all the ingredients together. Use almond milk to determine the consistency that you want. I put quotation mark around "glaze" because almond milk makes it runnier and the mixture is not as "glazy" as when I melt chocolate chips. Anyways, I added sugar little by little as I tasted the mixture so I don't make it overly sweet. 
  • When the donuts are out of the oven and cooled, drizzle the chocolate topping or dip the whole donuts into the topping. Sprinkle them with whatever that you like. As you can see from the pictures, I used coconut shreds and almond chips.


Tada! And they're done! Delicious and healthier donut to kick start your day!

One thing I have to add is that they were a bit dry. I am not a baking expert, but maybe it's because I used coconut oil instead of vegan butter that I normally use? Maybe you can help me. How do you make moist and fluffy vegan bakes? Let me know!