Vegan Jibarito

Vegan Jibarito

This recipe is another nod to my Puerto Rican culture. Our cuisine is delicious, but it is extremely heavy in meat traditionally. Growing up my mother was always great at veganizing Puerto Rican recipes and I am more than happy to continue that tradition. A jibarito is a Puerto Rican sandwich that uses a smashed plantain and is typically made with steak, garlic mayo, lettuce and tomato. I’ve substituted sliced seitan for the steak and I’ve used vegan mayo with garlic pepper for the mayo. Jibaritos taste AMAZING, especially when you use a riper (black and yellow) plantain. The combination of the slight sweetness from the plantain with the savory seitan and garlic mayo makes for one heck of a bite! Plus, prepare to be completely fulfilled after eating one of these!

Vegan

Ingredients:

• 1 Ripe Plantain (black and yellow peel)
• 1/2 Package of Sliced seitan (Or 3 slices) – Sweet Earth makes a good one that you can find in Whole Foods
• 1/3 Cup of Lettuce
• 1 Thick Slice of Tomato
• 1 Tbs Vegan Mayo
• 1 Tsp Adobo Seasoning
• 1Tsp Garlic Pepper
• 1 Tbs Olive Oil

Instructions:

Part 1: Cut your plantain in half and mash it down. It will be slippery so make sure to use a bowl so it doesn’t fly off of the counter. I use a fork to mash each side of the plantain as I form it into a square or round “sandwich bread” shape. Once you’re done forming your plantain into two, round or square “sandwich” sides, place into a cast iron skillet over medium heat with olive oil. They will only take 1-2 minutes to fry up on each side so watch carefully to make sure you don’t burn them. Once they are done, place them aside on a paper towel to absorb any excess olive oil.

Part 2: Season your seitan by sprinkling your adobo over each side. Once seasoned, place your seitan into your skillet, or on your grill stove cover if you have one – even better! Cook each side for about 2 minutes. While they are cooking on each side, mix your vegan mayo and garlic pepper together and spread onto one side of each plantain “bread” piece. Place your finished seitan onto one of your plantain pieces and pile on lettuce and tomatoes. Top your jibarito with the other plantain “bread” piece and eat away!

Zucchini Bread

Zucchini Bread

Vegan

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbs Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Sticks (Melted)
• 3 Tbs Neat Egg Vegan Egg Replacer (already blended with 6 Tbs water)
• 1 1/4 Cups Unsweetened Apple Sauce
• 1 1/2 Cups Stevia in the Raw
• 1 Tbs Vanilla Extract
• 2 Cups Grated Zucchini (skin on)
• 2 Cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
• 2 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1 Tsp Sea Salt
• 1 Tbs Cinnamon
• 1 Tbs Cloves
• 1 Cup Chopped, Shelled Walnuts

Instructions:

Add all ingredients, as specified above, into a large mixing bowl and hand mix together until well blended, but do not over blend. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Add zucchini bread mixture into a 9×5 non-stick bread loaf pan and place onto the center of the bottom oven rack. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until you can pierce the bread with a knife or baking tester and it comes out clean. Allow 10 minutes to cool before removing from the bread pan. Place on a cooling rack to cool completely before slicing.

Cauliflower Rice Burrito Bowl

Cauliflower Rice Burrito Bowl

Up until now I surprisingly have not jumped on the cauliflower rice bandwagon. I know what you’re thinking, “How is a vegan not already on the cauliflower rice bandwagon?” Well, I guess it’s because it seemed like an awful lot of work from the outside. Fortunately, I found out that it’s actually super quick and easy, as long as you have a ninja bullet or food processor.

Vegan

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of pre-cooked cauliflower (If you really want to speed things up, you can use frozen cauliflower)
• 1/2 cup of cooked black beans
• 1/4 cup of diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup of sweet corn
• 1/4 cup of diced onions
• 2 tsp of your favorite seasoning

For your garnishing/toppings, just add what you like! I added jalapeños, butter lettuce, Tapatio hot sauce, pico de gallo, and some vegan cheese shreds.

Instructions:

Start by pan searing the cauliflower for just a couple of minutes. You want the cauliflower to get a bit of color on it – this will create a great flavor and help with keeping a “rice like” texture. Once the cauliflower has some color, toss it in the bullet or food processor and just process it enough to where it looks like rice – we don’t want to make a cauliflower puree here!

Once you’re finished, toss into a pan over medium heat with all other ingredients in the bulleted list above and stir together until everything is up to temperature and the onions have had time to sweat a bit (they will be a bit shiny – this way you’re not eating raw-tasting onions!)

Add into a bowl and garnish with your favorite toppings! This will make a ton of food for a minimal amount of calories – always a good thing. 🙂

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Vegan

Ingredients (Yields 9 Full Size Muffins):

• 3 Bananas, mashed or blended
• 2 Cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
• 2 Tbs Lily’s Dark Chocolate Chips (Stevia-Sweetened and Vegan)
• 1 Cup Stevia
• 1 Tbs Banana Extract
• 1/2 Cup Filtered Water
• 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Apple Sauce
• 1 Tsp Baking Powder
• 1 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 Tsp Sea Salt

Instructions:

Add all ingredients above into a large mixing bowl and mix with a large fork or a medium-sized spatular until blended evenly – do not over mix. Add even amounts into a non-stick muffin tin and place into an oven that has been pre-heated to 350 degrees. Bake for 25 minutes. Allow 10 minutes to cool after removing from the oven, then remove muffins from muffin tin and place onto a cooling rack to cool completely.