Carrot Ginger Soup - Personal Size

Feeling a bit under the weather today, so I decided to make a bowl of soup. I love having a Vita-Mix for this as it will make the ingredients smooth and cook the soup at the same time. I wasn’t planning on adding cashews but decided to in order to make the soup creamier. The amount of cashews can be adjusted to achieve the desired consistency or add more water as needed. Leave the cashews out for a nut-free version - you can add a little milk of your choice instead if desired.

13 Baby Carrots

2/3 cup Water

1/3 cup raw, unsalted Cashews

1/2 slice Onion

1 tsp chopped Ginger

1 tsp chopped Garlic

Salt and Pepper to taste

Blend these ingredients until smooth. With a Vita-Mix, blend on high for 3 minutes to cook the soup. Without a Vita-Mix, blend as best as possible and heat in a sauce pan.

Cashew Cream Sauce - Updated

This recipe is best if you have a mega-blender or a food processor. It can probably be done in a regular blender though you may get a more chunky sauce.

I’ve made several versions and posted some here. Today’s is my favorite, by far. Ingredient list first and then I’ll walk through the order that may be easiest.

Ingredients:

Juice of 1 Lemon

1 Zucchini - peeled and chopped

1-2 Carrots - peeled and chopped - yellow preferred but not required

1/3 medium yellow Onion

3-4 cloves Garlic

3 oz raw, unsalted Cashews

3/4 cup Nutritional Yeast

Salt & Black Pepper to taste (1/4 tsp @ as a suggestion)

Water as needed

If you’re using a regular blender, soak the cashews in water overnight so they soften for easier blending. Drain before adding them to the recipe. If your carrots are on the small side, then use two. Yellow carrots are preferred simply due to the effect on the final color of the sauce.

Put the lemon juice in first, then add the zucchini. If you notice lemon seeds have jumped into your blender, try to fish them out before adding the zucchini. Blend on low so the zucchini won’t hop away from the blades. It doesn’t have to be blended completely yet. Add a little water to help - probably less than 1/8 cup. 

Add the carrots, blend a little more, but this time work up to high briefly. Add the onion and garlic, salt and pepper. Blend all of this on high until it’s smooth. It should be fairly thin.

Add the cashews and the nutritional yeast. Work up to high slowly when blending so the yeast gets pulled into the mixture instead of decorating the inside of the lid. Blend on high until smooth.

At any point that it seems this will not blend nicely, try a tamper or add a little water.

If it’s too thin at the end, add more cashews and/or nutritional yeast. If it’s too thick, add more water or lemon juice.

Salad Dressing

I played with two different versions of a salad dressing. The first one was probably too heavy on the vinegar and it contained oil. When poured on salad, the vinegar taste was diminished enough to be quite enjoyable. If I make that particular one again, I’ll cut the amount of vinegar in half and leave out the oil.

The second recipe came from the desire to play with a new acquisition - ginger juice - and an avocado that was at the use it or lose it stage.

Nut Free: Because both the avocado and the cashews add the creamy consistency, the cashews are optional. Cut back on the initial amount of water and then add as needed for the desired consistency.

Ingredients for recipe 1

1 cup ACV

1/4 cup Olive Oil

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Pepper

2 very small Zucchini

2 yellow Carrots

1 small Avocado

2 tsp chopped Garlic

1/4 yellow Onion

1/2 cup raw, unsalted Cashews

Water to achieve desired consistency

Ingredients for recipe 2

1/2 cup ACV

1 cup Water (more later if needed to achieve desired consistency)

1/2 cup raw, unsalted Cashews

1/2 tsp Salt (I added a little bit more at the end to brighten the flavor)

1/2 tsp Pepper

1 Avocado

1/2 tbl chopped Garlic

2 tbl Ginger Juice (or other desired flavoring)

Put everything in the blender and blend on high until creamy. This may require adding more water to allow the blender to keep going strong. I used the dry container on the Vita-Mix to help get the cashews well macerated. If your blender is not up to macerating nuts, I suggest soaking them in water or ACV to soften them up first.

I’m a big fan of strong flavors. If mild is more your style, cut the amount of ginger juice down to 1 tablespoon. Once this is on salad though, it should lose more of the flavor’s strength. 

This lasts roughly 1 week in the fridge.

Carrot Hot Dogs

Just heard about these Carrot Dogs and they look good.

https://www.peta.org/living/food/carrot-hot-dog-recipe/

Personally, I would skip the liquid smoke (carcinogenic) and replace the soy sauce with tamari (no wheat). To cut out the soy, maybe use salt instead. If sulfites don’t bother you, try a little balsamic vinegar. Sometimes figuring out what tastes you fancy and creating a marinade based on that is your best bet.

The bun is another story altogether. Something to think about for a future recipe.

Green Cashew Cream Sauce

We’re out of zucchini and I wanted a pasta sauce, plus I needed breakfast smoothies for this week. 

First I made an unsweetened cashew oat milk.

1 cup raw, unsalted Cashews

1 cup gluten-free Rolled Oats

6 cups water

Blend this on high in a Vita-Mix liquid container for 3 minutes to cook the oats. This can be done on the stovetop. Check the links here for vegan milk to find the stovetop directions link. That might mean making the oat milk first and then adding the cashews in the next step below.

I poured the milk into another container and then started on the cashew cream sauce in the Vita-Mix.

2 cups unsweetened Cashew/Oat Milk (see above)

1/2 pkg frozen Spinach (~8 oz)

3 peeled Carrots

Blend this on high until smooth. Add in -

1/2 medium Yellow Onion

4 cloves Garlic

2 tbl Apple Cider Vinegar

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Pepper

Blend this on high until smooth. Add in -

1 cup Nutritional Yeast

Blend on medium or whatever it takes to get the mixture spinning. If you want a creamier texture, add more cashews.

The rest of the milk became smoothies by adding the other 1/2 pkg of spinach and a bunch of different fruits.

Walnut Cream Sauce - Italian Style

Playing with a different pasta sauce and came up with this today:

3 carrots - peeled
1 zucchini - peeled optional
1 cup walnuts
1/8 cup ACV
1/2 cup coconut milk - the unsweetened pseudo-milk kind
1 tbl each: chopped garlic, oregano
1/2 tbl each: salt, pepper, basil, thyme

Blend everything together in food processor or Vita-Mix (requires tamper)

This was a bit of a pain to get it to blend as carrots are not as smooth as zucchini for blending purposes. The pepper really hangs on afterwards, so I might cut back on that next time. It’s heavy on salt too, but that’s how I like it.

The coconut milk was more about trying to get it to blend. This ingredient could probably be water without noticeably changing the flavor.

Reminds me of the carrot ravioli I used to get at The Newsroom. Still liking the taste so maybe I’ll go with it as is. Decisions, decisions.

No-Egg Salad

This recipe idea originated here: Isa Chandra's Tofu Frittata

Replacing the tamari/soy sauce was easy enough. How to replace the tofu took more thought. Technically this recipe is not Vegan because of the yeast. It depends on your personal viewpoint on yeast. Also Dijon mustard might be problematic for some people. I suggest using another mustard that works for you if need be, or leave it out completely.

Equipment needed: Blender or Vita-Mix with the Dry Container or Food Processor, Spatula, 1 cup Measuring Cup, ¼ cup Measuring Cup, ¼ tsp Measuring Spoon, 1 tbl Measuring Spoon, Small Bowl with Lid, Larger Bowl with Lid, Knife, Cutting Board, Tamper (optional), Peeler (optional)

¼ cup Walnuts or raw Sunflower Seeds
~¼ cup Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)

Soak the nuts/seeds in the ACV overnight in the fridge. The ACV should cover the nuts/seeds. Use the small bowl with lid or a coffee cup with some sort of cover.

1 Zucchini
1 cup cooked Brown Rice

Drain the nuts and put them in the blender/food processor with the rice and the zucchini (chopped to make it easier to blend). This may require tamping. This can be anywhere from a coarse blend (more textures) to a smoother mixture (possible sandwich spread) depending on your preference. If using sunflower seeds, they can be added later for more texture or put in the blender. For a smoother texture, add avocado to the blender. The following ingredients might need bumped up if adding avocado.

Empty blender into the larger bowl.

3 tbl Nutritional Yeast
½ tsp Dijon Mustard (or just do a small squirt)
¼ tsp Turmeric
Diced Onion
Diced Garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste

Stir all ingredients together. Let sit in the fridge for an hour to allow the flavors to meld.

Onion Rings - Proof of Concept

I’ve been pondering buttermilk and batter, and here’s where my mind went with it…

1/2 cup Rolled Oats

1 1/2 cups Water

1/2 tsp Salt

1/2 tsp Black Pepper

This works best in a Vita-Mix, using the liquid container. It takes 3 minutes to cook oats in the Vita-Mix on high speed. Adding all of the above to the container, work up to the highest speed.

At the 2 minute mark, add:

1/2 cup Raw, Shelled, Unsalted Sunflower Seeds

1/2 cup Raw, Unsalted Pumpkin Seeds

This will be thick, but still able to spin in the blender. Stop at 3 minutes and empty the mixture into a bowl.

Using a cast iron pan (or other frying pan), add 1/4” of olive oil. Turn on the stove at a low heat. Let the oil get hot.

Disclaimer: I’ve never made onion rings before. Or fried chicken, or anything remotely like this.

Dipping the onion ring into the batter probably works best with a fork or ice pick. I used my fingers.

The first set lost the batter when I turned them. For the second set, I let them cook awhile before attempting to flip them with tongs. The batter stayed on the onion.

Pull out when brown and place on paper towels.

The best ones had the center of the onion - the ratio of onion to batter leaned more towards onion. As a proof of concept attempt, it went well and tasted really good.

Bacon-ish Bits, Part II

For use as a salad or pasta topper, or as a snack

I tried these with balsamic vinegar (contains sulfites). These came out caramelized and very tasty.
Tip: Do not breathe in when opening the oven door while baking a strong vinegar ingredient. Your lungs will thank you for holding your breath. 

First baconish bits recipe

Here’s today’s shot at it without soy and without sulfites, and straying from a baconish flavor…

Equipment needed:

Blender, 1/2 cup Measuring Cup, 1/2 tablespoon Measuring Spoon, Bowl with Lid, Baking Dish (9"x13" or thereabouts), Spatula or Spoon, Oven

1 cup Apple Cider Vinegar

~1/2 cup diced Red Onion

2 cloves Garlic

1/2 tbl Salt (optional)

1/2 tbl Black Pepper

1 tbl Oregano

1 tbl Thyme

1 tbl Basil

Blend the above ingredients. It will probably be frothy and separate rather easily. Pour into the bowl.

Raw, shelled, unsalted Sunflower Seeds that can be covered in the mixture: ~1 1/2 to 2 cups

Add sunflower seeds and stir in as you go. Be sure the seeds are covered in the liquid. Cover, shake gently, and place in the fridge to soak. I soaked these about 8 hours and they absorbed nearly all of the liquid, so straining was not required.

Pre-heat the oven to 300 degrees

Rough strain the liquid if needed - this can be done by holding the lid against the top of the bowl but not quite sealed so the liquid can drain out or by using a strainer. You don't have to get it all, just most. Pour/scrape the remaining contents into the baking dish. This may be an inch or so deep.

Bake for 45-50 minutes, stirring occasionally. These are done when they're crispy, but not burnt.