Snickerdoodle Smoothie

This recipe is found in The Ultimate Guide to the Daniel Fast by Kristen Feola.

Snickerdoodle Smoothie

6 ounces silken tofu

½ cup unsweetened almond or rice milk

¼ cup Date Honey

2 frozen bananas, peeled, sliced (about 2 cups)

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/8 tsp. nutmeg

Place tofu, almond milk, Date Honey, banana slices, cinnamon, and nutmeg in blender. Mix until smooth.

Petite Pecan Pies

This recipe is found in The Ultimate Guide to the Daniel Fast by Kristen Feola.

These make a fabulous appetizer or snack! My children love these, too!

Petite Pecan Pies

8 Medjool dates

8 pecan halves

Remove pits from dates. Stuff one pecan half into each date.

Flat Bread

This recipe is found in The Ultimate Guide to the Daniel Fast by Kristen Feola.

Flatbread

2 ½ cups whole grain flour (brown rice, spelt, whole wheat, etc.)

2 tbsp. flaxseed meal

1 tsp. dried crushed rosemary

1 tsp. salt

1 cup warm water

1 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

½ tsp. dried basil

½ tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp. dried parsley

Mix flour, flaxseed meal, rosemary, salt, and water in a food processor until dough forms a ball. Turn dough onto a floured work surface, and knead for 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, and cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at room temperature for 30 – 60 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Roll dough out to a ¼ inch thickness to cover an oiled 11 x 17 inch baking sheet. With a fork, poke holes all across dough. Mix olive oil, basil, garlic powder, and parsley in a small bowl, and stir well. Use a basting brush to spread oil mixture across dough. Score (make shallow cuts without separating into pieces) with a knife into 12 (3 x 3 ½ inch) squares. Bake 15 – 20 minutes or until slightly crispy, and remove from oven. Let cool on baking sheet 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Note: Make this a sweet tasting flatbread by using ½ tsp. cinnamon instead of basil, garlic powder, and parsley.

Pineapple Citrus Muffins

This recipe is found in The Ultimate Guide to the Daniel Fast by Kristen Feola.

Pineapple Citrus Muffins

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup oat flour

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

½ cup diced pineapple

¼ cup chopped pecans or walnuts

¼ cup Date Honey

¼ cup flaxseed meal

2 tsp. unsweetened coconut flakes

2 tsp. grated orange zest

1/8 tsp. ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly rub 8 cups of a 12 cup muffin tin with olive oil, set aside.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, and stir well to combine. Scoop out mixture into muffin tin cup, allowing about 1/3 cup for each muffin. Bake 20 minutes, or until muffin tops are lightly browned. Serve warm.

Note: Make your own oat flour by placing rolled oats in a food processor or blender and process until fine. (1 cup of old-fashioned oats will yield about ¾ cup ground oats.)

Date Honey

This recipe is found in The Ultimate Guide to the Daniel Fast by Kristen Feola.

Date Honey

1 cup pitted dates

1 cup water

½ tsp cinnamon

Pour dates and water into a small saucepan, making sure dates are completely covered. (Add additional water if necessary.) Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer 45 – 60 minutes or until dates are very soft and broken down. Remove from heat, and allow to cool slightly for about 15 minutes. Pour mixture into a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Sprinkle in cinnamon and stir well. Store in a sealed container in refrigerator.

Eggplant Curry

I love curry!  I’m not a fan of HOT curry, but I love mild ones.  They are a meal that is naturally vegan (unless you’re using meat in it), and they have such great flavors and varieties you don’t need to get bored.  This recipe is mild, and does not rely on a curry paste or powder.  It also does not call for ingredients that are hard to find in your grocery store.

This is one of the few meals that I recommend doing all the prep work BEFORE starting to cook, timing is important to keep from burning it.

Eggplant Curry - serves 4-6

Ingredients and Prep

2 Large Eggplants	Peel; cut into 1/2 inch circles, and then quarter them.	Salt and toss with olive oil.  Bake at 400 for about 20 minuets.  They should be starting to turn golden brown on the edges.  Set aside when finished for later.
1 in. square of fresh ginger 4-6 cloves of fresh garlic	peel and rough chop	Blend until it becomes a smooth paste.  Set aside for later.
1 TBSP water 1 tsp olive oil
4 tsp peanuts 2 TBSP sesame seeds	Dry roast in a frying pan until they turn golden brown (add sesame seeds after a minuet).	Chop in a food processor.  Set aside for later.
2 lg onions 1 jalapeño pepper 6 lg tomatoes		Dice and set aside separately.  Set aside for later.
2 dry red chilies 1 tsp mustard seeds 1 tsp cumin seeds/powder 2 pinches turmeric 2 tsp coriander powder olive oil water (as needed)

Cooking instructions:

Saute onions, red chilies, mustard seeds and cumin seeds/powder for about 2 minutes.  Add the Jalapeño pepper, ginger garlic paste and turmeric, cook about 2 more minuets.  Add tomatoes and coriander, cook until tomatoes fall apart.  Add small amounts of water if it begins to stick.  Once the tomatoes are cooked, add the eggplant and cook about 5 minutes.  Add peanuts and sesame  and turn off the heat.  Serve over brown rice and enjoy!

“Chicken” loaf (or Patties/Meatballs)

This is a great holiday loaf for all your vegetarian/vegan friends.  It is easy to make, and has a great presentation.  If you make it as patties, try them with tarter sauce.

1 bag Morningstar Farms Meal Starters Chicken Strips, thawed and cubed.

1 16 oz. block firm tofu, drained and rinsed.

3 TBSP nutritional Yeast Flakes

1 TBSP Soy Sauce

1 ½ c. Special K cereal (or Rice Krispies)

1 c. Soda Cracker Crumbs (Whole Wheat ones work well too)

1 small onion or one bunch of green onions (all the white and about 2 inches of green)

2 tsp. Celery salt

1 tsp. Seasoned Salt

1 tsp. parsley

Rinse tofu, break into about 8 pieces and put into a food processor with the onion (unless you’re using green onion), Yeast Flakes, soy sauce and seasonings.  Puree.  Put diced chicken strips, (chopped green onion if applicable), Special K and cracker crumbs into a large mixing bowl, pour the tofu mixture over and stir until evenly mixed.  Coat a loaf pan with cooking spray and spoon mixture in, smoothing the top so its slightly higher in the middle – shaped like a loaf of bread would be.  Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees.  Allow to chill at least 2 hours, or even overnight.  Slice, lay on a oven safe platter and reheat for your meal, about 20 minuets.

If making patties, form the patties (2″ diameter, ½” thick) instead of putting the mixture into a loaf pan.  Place on a baking sheet coated with non stick cooking spray and bake for 20 minuets.  Serve immediately.

This dish goes well with mashed potatoes, Vegan Chicken Gravy and Savory Butternut Squash, and any other Thanksgiving Day items you enjoy.

Coconut Milk Curry

Curry is such a versatile dish, that there should be something to please everyone!  This basic curry recipe is something simple and easy for the western palate to enjoy.  Feel free to add more spices, a variety of vegetables, or even lentils, chick peas or tofu.

I’d had a fear of making curry because the spices called for in recipes are so unfamiliar that I’m always afraid I’ll hate it, and worse won’t know how to adapt it to make it the way I’d like it.  Thankfully I found this great curry paste (pictured HOT, but I usually use MILD and let my husband use some HOT to spice his portion up) and it has a nice balance of flavors.

Coconut Milk Curry!

3 cans of coconut milk (the lite is okay, but not as creamy, go for regular here)

3 large carrots (diced into thick half coins)

3 large potatoes (diced)

3 large onions (sliced in wedges)

2 cans imitation duck (or about 6 gluten chops, sliced into strips) (or sub in some garbanzos or lentils)

1 TBSP sugar

salt to taste

4 TBSP (+/-) mild curry paste (or use hot if that’s how you like it)

olive oil

Chop onion into wedges and sauté in olive oil and sugar until they start to caramelize.  Peel and chop potatoes and carrots and add to the pot.  You don’t want to over cook these veggies, especially not the potato, as they’ll fall apart or be soggy, so keep that in mind.

Pour in the coconut milk and allow to boil.

Add curry paste one TBSP at a time until it tastes the way you’d like it.  Salt to taste.

I like to brown my choplets in a frying pan or the oven and then add to the curry.  Pictured above is the curry with lentils, which was okay, but not as good.  Serve over brown rice and eat with naan bread.

Middle Eastern Hummus

This is one of my favorite dips for pitas or chips.  It is buttery and melts in your mouth.  I’ve discovered that you can play with the ingredients to get a taste that you like, but the most important thing is to blend it until its creamy.  This is a healthy snack that is an easy way to sneak beans into your child’s diet.

Hummus

1 can garbonzo beans (chick peas) (or 1 cup dried, pre-soak overnight and then cook until tender)

1/4 cup Tahini (sesame paste)

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

2 cloves garlic peeled (or you can roast it until tender to make more neutral flavor)

1/4 t. salt (add more to taste if using dried beans)

1/4 +/- water

10 kalamata olives pitted (or your favorite Mediterranean olive)

2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Blend all ingredients (but olive oil) in a blender for at least 2 minuets.  Add more water if needed.  Mixture should look like the texture and consistency of a thick  milkshake (Wendy’s Frosty).  Keep adding small amounts of water until the mixture is creamy.  Serve drizzled with olive oil.

(Optional ingredients.  Roasted Red Peppers and nutritional yeast flakes, or fresh basil, or cumin, chili powder and paprika. )

Eggplant Linguine with a Tomato Pesto!

“This isn’t really low calorie, but uses fresh ingredients and contains no dairy products!  Its very flavorful!” – Marta

I love pesto, but usually want to eat it with a LARGE amount of Parmesan Cheese.  I’ve had lots of trouble finding a vegan Parmesan cheese for sale lately.  So I ventured to make one of my own.  After looking at several recipes, here is what I’ve come up with.  It has a good flavor and texture, but obviously does not melt and would not fool anyone, but it is a great topping for pasta!

Non-Dairy Parmesan “Cheese”
1/4 c. Yeast Flakes
1/3 c. sesame seeds
1/3 c. walnuts
2 t. garlic powder
1 t. onion powder
1 T. chicken-like seasoning
1 T. lemon juice
1 t. salt

Put all ingredients in a small food processor and chop until its a fine powder.  Store in an air tight container in the fridge.

Eggplant, Tomato Pesto Linguine
1 large eggplant
6 oz. tomato paste
1 onion diced
4 cloves garlic, crushed
2 c. fresh basil (or if you’re in a pinch, 1/3 c. dried basil)
1/3 c. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup tomato paste
2 T. lemon juice
2 t. salt
1/2 c. non-dairy Parmesan
1 1/2 c. water (add in small amounts if vegetables begin to stick, but eggplant is not tender yet)
1 lb. linguine

Peel eggplant, dice into small chunks and toss with a generous amount of salt.  Allow to sit for at least 30 minuets so it can brine.  Begin cooking pasta as directed.  When its finished drain and set aside.

Once the eggplant has brined, rinse off, and toss with lemon juice.  In a large frying pan (electric frying pan works well) begin to sauté eggplant.  Dice the onion finely and add it and crushed garlic to the pan.  Allow to cook until the eggplant begins to get tender.  Puree the rest of the olive oil, basil and tomato paste and then add to the eggplant.  Cook until the eggplant is very tender.  Toss with the non-dairy Parmesan and the linguine.  Serve immediately.

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