Vegan Avocado Mac & Cheese

In these vegan-y days, still figuring out how to find some old favorites.  Pizza's a struggle; mac & cheese does give a bit more in terms of options though.  After trying this one out, wanted to give another one a shot!

Recipe

1 large ripe avocado (or 2 small ones)
1 lemon, juiced
1 c basil leaves (loosely packed)
1/4 c cilantro
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
4-6 tbsp nutritional yeast (so, 6)
1/2 c + 1 1/4 c almond or other non-dairy milk
10-12 oz pasta
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp flour

• Get the pasta cooking
• Blend together the avocado, lemon juice, basil, cilantro, spices, nutritional yeast, and 1/2 c almond milk, plus a little salt
• Saute the garlic in some olive oil, then whisk in the flour, then slowly add the 1 1/4 c almond milk.
• Once the sauce thickens, remove from heat and mix in the avocado sauce.
• Pour over the pasta (cooked and drained) and eat!
• Top with more avocado, tomatoes, vegan cheese, etc.

Cream of Broccoli Soup (with NO REAL CREAM)

This is another great recipe from The Plan Cookbook. Adjusted by me based on experience. Can easily be made vegan.

3 tbsp unsalted butter (who are we kidding, use more than that) (or olive oil)

1 large onion

herbs — I use a lot more than indicated — so, to taste: 

1 tbsp dried sage

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp celery seed — I love celery seed so use a lot, but note that it gives the soup a real spicy kick!

dash of sriracha and/or cayenne

2 cups chicken stock, chicken broth, vegetable broth

2 cups water (or use 4 cups broth)

1 (14-oz) can full-fat unsweetened coconut milk

8 cups chipped broccoli (~4 heads)

4 cups chipped zucchini (~2 medium)

1-2 avocado, pitted

In a skillet, melt the butter or heat the oil and sauté the onion, sage, cumin, celery seed until onion is softened.

In a soup pot, combine sautéed onion, broth, water, coconut milk, broccoli, zucchini, and cayenne/sriracha. Bring to a boil and simmer until the veggies are softened, about 30 minutes.

Blend the soup with the avocado for extra creaminess! I've never even thought about adding real cream — the coconut milk and avocado makes for a really lusciously creamy soup.

Avocado Pesto Pasta

Found another recipe looking to use up some nearly-over-ripe avocados for an easy, hearty dinner...

Recipe

12 oz pasta
1 large avocado
1 c fresh basil
1/3 c walnuts
1 small lemon, juiced
1/2 c olive oil
1 tbsp chopped garlic
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
salt & pepper
optional topping: cherry tomatoes, halved

Cook the pasta.  In the meantime, blend or process everything else together into a creamy sauce.  Mix in with cherry tomatoes and serve!

Notes

Another really easy one - basically just takes you as long as it does to make a pot of pasta.  One thing - we usually get aggressive with garlic, but since it's not cooked, you can be a little lighter on that ingredient here ;)

Crispy Baked Chickpeas etc.

This post aggregates a few concepts I like, but didn't feel were really substantial enough for their own posts:

Crispy Baked Chickpeas

Drain and rinse a can or two of chickpeas.  Cover in vinegar, bring to a boil, remove from heat and let sit for 20-30 minutes.  Drain, toss with olive oil and some seasonings, and bake about 45 minutes at 400 degrees.  (Original link)

This was the kicker to get me to put this post together.  I'd done baked chickpeas a few ways before; they were good but simple enough I didn't need to save the instructions or publicize it.  Trying to use up the bounty of homegrown apples, though, I sliced up a few (to go with the apple cider vinegar).  The sweet element really added to the flavor (especially since the vinegar can be overpowering).

Eggs Baked in Avocado

Halve your avocados, remove the pit, and scoop out some more space for an egg.  Season with salt, pepper, lime juice, etc.  Crack an egg into each half, and hey, season some more (chili powder, jalapeno, etc.).  Bake at 450 degrees about 10-12 minutes, until the egg white is appropriately set.  (Original link)

Another simple concept.  It's too bad, but you really have to scoop out some extra avocado pulp to make room for the egg.  I did not, so my first ones were a little messy...  Second time around, I made plenty of space for the egg, but neglected the stability factor and lost some of the egg the totally predictable rolling of the avocado halves :(  Still plenty of goodness left, and at least more photogenic:

Marinated Zucchini

Halve some small zucchini lengthwise (or quarter bigger ones).  Heat some olive oil in a skillet, and brown the zucchini a couple minutes on each side.  Whisk together three tbsps olive oil, one tbsp vinegar, and seasonings like garlic, salt & pepper, etc.  Toss with zucchini in a flat container and let marinate at least an hour.  (Original link)

Simple again - see the theme?  Also flexible, since you have plenty of room to add seasonings, apples, etc.  The vinaigrette ratio was also helpful for future reference!

Spicy Black Beans with Feta, Avocado & Stuff

Gordon Ramsay may be quite the character on Hells Kitchen etc., but within the mellow confines of his own YouTube channel, he's a totally different and nicer person.  Case in point:

Recipe

1 onion, chopped
a few cloves of garlic, minced
a chili pepper or two, minced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 large can black beans, drained & rinsed
1-2 avocados
feta cheese, crumbled
coriander (or cilantro), chopped
crispy tortillas
rice

Heat some olive oil in a skillet, then saute the onion until soft.  Add the garlic and chili, then the spices, then the beans.  Cook until soft, stirring and mashing a bit.  Serve with avocado, feta, and greens, with tortillas and/or rice if desired.

Notes

This dish was appropriate for certain sisters for its vegetarianism; however, we did have to leave out the chilis to keep things mild.  It was still delicious and surprisingly filling.  The cinnamon is a very nice touch with the beans.  I was also skeptical of the feta (rather than something more ethnically-accurate like queso fresco) but it made for a very interesting taste.  Overall it was easy, filling, not to expensive, and probably healthy, so a good vegetarian option.

photo courtesy of other sister

Avocado Cucumber Soup

My inaugural paleo-month dish was this absolutely DELICIOUS raw, creamy avocado soup with a surprising amount of zest due to--Dan's favorite--CUCUMBER!

*BUT, I must preface the recipe...I had to alter things slighty based on a few...issues...

NOTES:

I couldn't open the jar of coconut oil so I used extra-virgin olive oil.

I am an idiot and couldn't find green onions at the store so I left them out.

I don't like celery so I left that out as well.

And I garnished with blackberries instead of parsley, BECAUSE I CAN.

ALSO, you can definitely add whatever spices you want to jazz it up; chili powder, garlic, etc...

INGREDIENTS: (serves 2-4)

∙ 2 organic green onions

∙ handful of organic Italian parsley

∙ 1 organic cucumber

∙ 2 organic celery stalks

∙ 2 organic avocados

∙ 2 tbsp of organic coconut oil (melted, but not heated, at room temperature)

∙ 2+ cups of water (fluoride free is best)

∙ sea salt

∙ organic black pepper

Directions:

1. Chop green onions and parsley. Set aside.

2. Dice cucumbers and celery. Set aside.

3. Peel avocados and remove seed. Then add to a container for blending.

4. Blend avocados, onions, parsley, cucumber, celery, coconut oil and water.

5. Add spices and blend again. Taste and make adjustments. Add more water if necessary.

6. Pour soup into 2 bowls and garnish with parsley. Serve and enjoy!