We still have a little bit of time left for summer corn. But I wanted to make sure to get the most out of it because I love summer corn! I usually eat it raw, but it was a pleasant change to cook it for this salad. But of course you could have it raw as well.

I ended up having extra dressing left over and it will be great for salads the rest of the week.

Summer Corn & Zucchini Salad with Citrus Dressing

6 ears cooked corn, kernels removed from cob (about 4 cups kernels)
2 small zucchini, thinly sliced
2 bunches scallions, thinly sliced (white parts only)
1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Citrus Dressing
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste

1. To make dressing, mix lime juice and mustard together. Slowly beat in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into a lidded container.
2. In a medium bowl, toss together corn, zucchini & scallions. Sprinkle with parsley. Cover and chill several hours or overnight. When you are ready to serve the salad add dressing and toss well to coat.

I ended up quadrupling the recipe to bring to Prema & Alex’s engagement party. I never even mentioned they were vegan and all the boys couldn’t get at them fast enough. Always so nice to see that! Some people hear that something is vegan and are immediately turned off. Have them taste them first and then let them know just how amazing vegan food can be! YUM!

Thanks Kim!!!

Chocolate Banana Oatmeal Cookies
Prep: 10 min
Cook time:  25 min
Makes 16 cookies
Recipe from Susan Sarandon (love her!!)

1 cup oat flour (I use half white flour and half whole wheat flour)
¾ cup old fashioned rolled oats
½ teaspoon baking powder
1/3 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup plain soy milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ banana, cut into small pieces (I mash them, it makes the cookies more moist)
¼ cup walnuts (optional), chopped
1/3 semisweet chocolate chips (dark chocolate tastes good as well)

Preheat oven to 350°. Combine first 5 ingredients (up until sugar) in a bowl.   Whisk together oil, soy milk, and vanilla in a separate bowl.  Add wet mixture to dry ingredients; stir to combine.  Fold in banana, walnuts, and chocolate chips.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper or grease the pan.  Scoop dough onto pan.  Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden brown,  turning baking sheet halfway through.  Let cool and enjoy.

For a healthier cookie:
Honey, or agave syrup can be used to replace sugar.  Dried fruits or nuts can be used in place of chocolate chips as well.

Almond Butter Sauce

Lettuce Wraps with Almond Butter Sauce

Lettuce Wraps

• Boston Lettuce
• Jicama, julienned or shredded
• Carrots, julienned or shredded
• Cucumber, julienned or shredded
• Almond Butter Sauce

Place lettuce leaves and stack the Jicama, cucumbers and carrots in them. Drizzle almond butter sauce on top. Enjoy!
Almond Butter Sauce

• 1/2 cup Almond butter
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 ounce chopped onion
• 1/2 tsp Curry powder
• 4 T Almond or any non-dairy milk
• 4 tsp Lime juice
• 2 tsp Agave
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Blend or process all the ingredients until smooth.

Pan-Fried Tofu with Chili Sauce

1/4 cup tamari
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
1/3 cup grapeseed (or another neutral oil like vegetable oil)
1/4 cup red onion, chopped
1 -1 1/2inch ginger, peeled and sliced
1 teaspoon of  crushed red pepper
1 pound cake light-firm tofu, drained and cubed

1. In a bowl, add the soy sauce and sesame oil.
2. In a skillet over high heat, add 3 tablespoons grapeseed oil and stir-fry the onions, ginger, and pepper for about 1 minute. Add to the soy sauce and sesame oil bowl.
3. In the same skillet over medium heat, add the remaining oil. When hot, pan-fry the tofu slices until golden on all sides, about 3 minutes total. Drain and place on a serving platter. Top each slice with sauce.
4. Enjoy!

My friend Karla, taught me to keep the pit of the avocado in the guac or any avocado dish I make to ensure that it does not turn brown fast. I love it and it works so well!

Avocado, Mango and Jicama Salad

2 ripe Avocados, cubed
2 ripe Mangoes, cubed
1 jicama, cubed
1/2 cup chopped Red Onion
3/4 cup dried cranberries
Salt and Pepper to taste

Combine everything, breaking up the avocado a bit to coat the salad. Enjoy!

Thank you for coming over and sharing a wonderful meal with us!

Raw Mango Cobbler Goodness

Mom's Cookies

Decadent!!

Cobbler Filling

Fresh Mango Coconut Cobbler
Adapted from Ani Phyo

Cobbler Crust:
3 cups pecans, dry
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup pitted dates

For the crust, process pecans, vanilla, and salt in food processor with S blade. Add pitted dates and process until mixed well.
Sprinkle half of the cobbler crust onto the bottom of your pie dish, and set aside.

Cobbler Filling:

3 to 4 ripe mangos, peel, seed, slice (about 2 cups)
1 batch Orange Coconut Syrup, below

Place sliced mango into a large mixing bowl and toss with Orange Coconut Syrup.

Cobbler Coconut Syrup:
1/3 cup pitted dates
1/3 cup agave
3 Tablespoons coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup water, as needed

Place all ingredients into blender, adding water as needed to make a smooth syrup. Pour syrup into bowl with mango, and mix well.
Scoop coated mango onto cobbler crust. Top with half of remaining cobbler crust and serve!
Will keep for 3-5 days in refrigerator. Try as a delicious way to start your day!
Mom’s Banana Nut Bread Cookies
adapted from vegweb.com

1 1/4 cup flour (unbleached, all purpose)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup apple sauce
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 mashed banana
1 teaspoons baking powder
handful of walnuts, crushed

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a small – medium bowl and set aside.
In a large bowl, mix together oil, sugar, and vanilla.  Mix in mashed banana and baking powder.
Add ingredients in the small bowl and stir well.
Once it is well stirred, lightly mix in the crushed handful of walnuts.
Drop by tablespoons onto lightly greased cookie sheet.  Bake 15-18 minutes

Candle 79 is one of my favorite vegan restaurants! And one of my fave dishes there is the Seitan Piccata.  I adapted this dish from their recipe and it was super deeeeelish! I am sure this sauce would work on tofu, tempeh, etc…  soooo yummy!!

I knew both our dads love Creamed Spinach and Polenta so I wanted to make it for them vegan style It was super creamy and super amazing!! I doubled the recipes below to make sure we had enough and we were happy to have some left over! They were sooo good!

I love meals where people are like…”How is this vegan?!” This wasn’t the most low-fat of meals but it sure was amazing!! Creamed spinach and creamy polenta is not everyday food for us, but it was perfect for a special occasion.

I LOVE my warming drawer! Everything was ready to go for dinner, yet I had a clean kitchen perfect for the party!

This made a lot of sauce! Was great for meals that week as well

I cooked this down a little further, but it was still so rich and creamy! YUM!

YUM! Polenta Goodness!

Vegan Seitan Piccata
adapted from Candle 79 in NYC
Serves 6
1. Dredge seitan cutlets in flour, shaking off excess.
2. Heat 2 Tbs. olive oil in skillet over high heat. Sauté cutlets in oil 30 seconds per side, or until crisp and golden brown. Remove seitan from skillet, and drain on paper-towel-lined plate.
3. Add remaining 2 Tbs. olive oil to skillet, and return to high heat. Add shallots, onion, capers, and garlic, and sauté 1 to 2 minutes, or until softened, stirring frequently. Whisk in wine and lemon juice, and cook 3 to 5 minutes more.
4. Add broth, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and simmer 1 minute to combine flavors. Whisk in parsley, margarine, salt, and pepper. Pour over seitan cutlets, garnish with large caper berries or lemon slices, and serve.

• 6 seitan cutlets, rinsed and drained (I used 12 cutlets – Gardein Lightly Seasoned Chick’n Scallopini)
• Whole-wheat flour for dredging
• 4 Tbs. olive oil, divided
• 1/2 cup chopped shallots
• 2 Tbs. drained capers
• 1/2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1/2 cup dry white wine  (I used red instead)
• 2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
• 2 Tbs. nonhydrogenated vegan margarine
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
• Large caper berries or lemon slices, for garnish, optional

Vegan Creamed Spinach

• salt
• 1 1/2 pounds fresh spinach
• 3/4 cup soy creamer
• 3/4 cup plain soy milk
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• grated nutmeg
• fresh pepper

1. Large pot of water with salt – boil
2. Put spinach  for about a minute then drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process, then chop spinach
3. Place oil in broad saucepan on medium-low, add flour and cook stirring consistently till golden, then stir in creamer/milk
4. Add spinach and bring to a boil until spinach has absorbed most of liquid and sauce is thick, about 15-25 minutes
5. Add nutmeg, salt and pepper and season to taste

Vegan Creamy Polenta

• 1 cup vegan creamer
• 1 cup plain soy milk
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1 1/2 cups coarse cornmeal
• 4 tablespoons Earth Balance
• fresh ground black pepper

1. In a medium saucepan bring the creamer, soy milk and the water to a boil.
2. Add the salt and then gradually add the polenta while stirring.
3. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, stirring constantly.
4. The polenta should be smooth and large bubbles will pop on the surface.
5. Cook until very thick but not stiff, about 5 to 7 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and add earth balance and pepper.
7. Enjoy!!

We started off with a Raw Vegan Caesar Salad. YUM!! I haven’t made this in over a year and it was soooo good!! I doubled the recipe and kept the rest of the dressing in the fridge for a weeks worth of salads and dip for carrot sticks! You know when you eat the same food over and over and you don’t want it anymore — that did not happen! It was disappointing when we finally finished the dressing YUM!!!

Check out the recipe here Raw Crisp Caesar Salad with Pinenut Parmesan. DEEELISH!!

Raw Tomato Napoleon with Basil Cashew Cheeze and Basil Oil
Adapted from a recipe on RawMazing

For each Napoleon you will need:
1 small tomato
several  slices of zucchini
Basil Cashew Cheeze Spread
Basil Oil

Cut the tomato in thirds. Spread the Cashew Cheeze on the tomato slice. Layer tomato slice, zucchini and cheese, repeat. Drizzle basil Oil over top.

Basil Cashew Cheeze Spread
1 cup Cashews, soaked at least 1 hour
2 tablespoon Lemon Juice
1 Garlic clove
Pinch Salt
1 cup basil leaves

Start food processor. Drop clove of garlic into processor and run until garlic is chopped. Add cashews, lemon juice and salt. Place all ingredients except basil in food processor and process until smooth. Add basil and pulse until basil is chopped up and combined into cheese.

Basil Oil
Finely chop 4 tablespoons basil and add to 1/4 cup olive oil

Garlic & Herb Cauliflower
Recipe adapted from Tofu n Sproutz

• 1-2 heads cauliflower
• 2-4 cloves garlic, peeled
• handful fresh herbs (a few sprigs rosemary, parsley & sage)
• 4 Tbs olive oil
• salt
• 2 cups fine, dry, seasoned breadcrumbs – fresh not seasoned

1. Break cauliflower into small florets and place in a large bowl.
2. Put garlic, herbs and olive oil into food processor and mix until garlic is completely blended.
3. Pour oil mixture over cauliflower; stir until all cauliflower bits are evenly coated (Note: It works best and breaks less cauliflower if you toss with your hands until evenly coated).
4. Pour breadcrumbs over cauliflower; toss carefully again until all breadcrumbs are stuck on to cauliflower (Note: Depending on how dry the crumbs are, you might need more crumbs; cauliflower should be evenly coated and dry).
5. Lift carefully onto a shallow sided 9 X 12″ baking pan; roast at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until tender-soft when pierced with a fork.