"Cheezy" Broccoli Rice

The only way I used to like broccoli was smothered in cheese whiz, but since then I've found many enjoyable uses for broccoli.  That didn't stop me from making a "cheezy" broccoli dish.

My friend Turbo introduced me to this “vegan cheese” sauce that is much healthier than most cheese alternatives.  His version included lemon juice or vinegar, which I don’t usually include.  Miso and tahini can be pricy, but a container of miso can last quite a while.  You can try to make your own tahini by grinding sesame seeds.  Miso has a high sodium content, so if you're watching your sodium, this may not be something you want to use.  But it has a bit of that umami taste, which is also enjoyable.

Equal parts miso & tahini, plus some water to make it creamy.  I often add garlic powder, lots of nutritional yeast, and turmeric.

So I cooked up some brown rice and parboiled some chopped broccoli.  I mixed the sauce up, and once everything was cooked, I mixed it all together.

Cantaloupe "Mousse"

I really don't know if this would qualify as a mousse, or a pudding for that matter, which is what I intended, but it's still good.  What I did was I made something similar to my mostly-raw healthy chocolate pudding, but made it simply from cantaloupe, and macadamia nuts.  It was a big liquidy due to the water-content of the melon, but it was still really good.

I blended about a half-full of nuts (you could use cashews) to a powder in the blender, then added the fruit of a half of a medium to large cantaloupe, adding a dash of nutmeg and some vanilla extract.  I felt all fancy slicing a little bit off the bottom of the empty cantaloupe shell so it would sit flat, and pouring the mixture back in, and eating it out of that.

Curry Carrot Salad

Carrots are one of the lowest costing vegetables available, which makes it one that I purchase often.  It's great as a snack or incorporated in many recipes.  When it's raw, it's best if you chew it thoroughly which grating helps with.  If you think you don't like the taste of cooked carrots, try parboiling or blanching it.
The following recipe includes raw carrots.  I found a tahini curry dressing recipe online somewhere and this is my take on it.  It seemed like an odd combo, but it is actually one of my favorite dressings.  I find that it works best with something sweet.  I've put it on top of arugula and chopped peaches, for example.  Currants or raisins would be a good addition.

Curry Carrot Salad

1 ½ carrots

1 apple

A few handfuls of spinach, chopped

¼ c tahini

¼ c fresh lemon juice

1 tsp curry powder

Splash of bragg’s liquid aminos

Dash of garlic powder

Grate the carrots.  Dice or grate the apple (I like slicing the apple to the core in several cuts horizontally and vertically, then slicing off the flesh from the core).  Chop the spinach (optional).  Mix the tahini, curry powder, bragg’s, and garlic powder, lemon juice, with a little bit of water to make it a little thinner so it can be tossed thoroughly through the salad.  Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.

"Tuna" Salad

A friend of mine, Amy, once made “vegan tuna sandwiches” and I liked them so much, I asked for the recipe.  After I stopped buying vegenaise I hadn’t made it, but then I experimented with tahini in coleslaw and again with the vegan tuna salad, and really liked it.

1 can (15 oz) chickpeas, drained- or equivalent dry chickpeas cooked

3 slices onion, chopped

½ cup dill pickle relish or chopped dill pickles

1 tbsp mustard

2 tbsp tahini

opt. 2 tsp flax oil

opt. splash of lemon juice

opt. chopped celery

Mash the chickpeas in a medium-sized bowl, or a flat bottomed casserole dish makes for easier mashing.  Chop onions, and mix everything together.  It eat this with rice cakes, but it’s good on bread, or with chips, or as a side-dish. 

Variation: use crumbled tempeh (cooked and cooled) instead of chickpeas.

Variation: soaked raw sunflower seeds instead of chickpeas, skip the tahini or use less

Variation: add sauerkraut instead of pickles