Summer Rice Paper Rolls with Vietnamese Nuoc Cham (Dipping Sauce)

This dish is ALL about the dipping sauce. I modified it making it vegan friendly by substituting the fermented fish sauce ( nam pla ) with a few household items. This is not really traditional but who cares, it tastes good.

Faux Nuoc Cham
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup white sugar
1 heaping tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon of seasoned rice vinegar
2 teaspoons of minced garlic
1 teaspoon minced jalepeño
1 tablespoon sirachi sauce
1 teaspoon worchestershire
1 tbsp peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1 tbsp cornstarch 2 tbsp cold water, mixed.
(if you have some nori or kelp you can throw a little in to give it a fishier taste)


Set aside half of the chopped cilantro. Put the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT cornstarch and water in a food processor and run for 30 seconds. Transfer to a saucepan and heat over med-high heat. When simmering add cornstarch and water mixture. It should start to thicken right away. As soon as it does remove from the heat completely and continue to stir, add in the rest of the cilantro . Cool and serve at room temperature or chilled.

Rice Paper Rolls

package of rice paper rounds
1/2 an avocado sliced
1/4 block of firm tofu sliced into sticks
matchstick carrots
match stick cucumber
green onions sliced lengthways
lettuce shredded
5 or 6 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tbsp sesame oil

Heat the two oils over med high heat. Sauté tofu strips until soft and chewy. Remove from heat and toss with soya sauce  in small bowl. Set aside.

Soak rice paper in large bowl of warm water for a few seconds until soft and slippery.
Assemble a few pieces each of all ingredients and roll up tight tucking both ends in as you roll.

Salmon Cakes and Lemon Aioli

So this recipe may be throwing you off if you are a vegan. This falls under the "stuff" part of veg-an-stuff. I'm not a vegan. I try to eat 95% of my diet from plants and plant based foods. The other 5% is up to me. Sometimes it's cheetos, sometimes it's salmon... I like not having to exclude everything in order to feel healthy and vibrant. It keeps my fingernails and hair strong also.

I made a delicious meal of BBQ salmon, baked potato and broccoli last night. It's July, the weather is beautiful and I don't like BBQ tofu. So today with the leftover salmon I made some wicked salmon cakes with a lemon aioli sauce and thought that it was too good to not share! So here it is.
1 lb (454 g) (2 or 3 large) potatoes 
4 green onions, chopped1/4 cup (60 mL) 
chopped fresh cilantro
1 tbsp (15 mL) Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp (2 mL) salt
1/4 tsp (1 mL) grated lemon rind
1/4 tsp (1 mL) pepper
1 tsp (4 mL) hot pepper sauce
1 egg, beaten
8 oz flaked salmon could be canned (2 cans)
4 tbsp (30 mL) vegetable oil
4 lemon wedges
Peel and cut potatoes in half crosswise. In 6-cup (1.5 L) microwaveable dish, cover and microwave potatoes with 1 cup (250 mL) water at High for 10 minutes or until tender. (Or cover and cook in saucepan of boiling salted water for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender.) Drain.

• In large bowl, mash potatoes until smooth; stir in onions, coriander, mustard, salt, lemon rind, pepper and hot pepper sauce. Blend in egg. Fold in salmon. Let cool for 5 minutes.
  Using hands, shape into eight 3/4-inch (2 cm) thick patties.
  In large nonstick skillet, heat half of the oil over medium heat; cook 4 of the patties for about 5 minutes per side or until golden. Repeat with remaining patties.
  Serve with lemon wedges, and  Lemon Aioli.
  Lemon Aioli
  3 Tbsp veganaise 
  1Tbsp lemon juice 
  1 tsp minced garlic 
  1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Black Bean Tacos

1 can of Black beans
1/2 sweet onion
2 tbsp minced garlic
3 tbsp chopped cilantro
1/2 pack taco seasoning( this is not vegan by any means, use a mixture of chili powder, cumin and onion powder with 1/2 tsp cayenne and lots of salt to taste if you don't want the additives)
(I added about 1/2 tsp sea salt anyhow!)
1/2 cup of salsa
1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup sliced green or red grapes
1/4 cup red, green and yellow peppers chopped
3 Cheddar Veggie slices 1/2 per one taco
Tofutti sour cream
6 Whole grain torillas
Taco sauce or salsa

Saute onions and garlic. Add peppers. Add rinsed black beans and cilantro. Add salsa and simmer on medium low for 5 minutes or so.
Heat a dry pan on medium heat. Brush tortilla shell with oil and place on the pan for 30 seconds or until it starts to crisp slightly. No need to turn over. Do each on individually and fill while hot or else it will crack and the stuff will come out.
Top with tomatoes, grapes, taco sauce and sour cream.
Fold into a burrito or taco.
I fold it over once then pull one edge toward the middle, fold in one of the ends and roll it all up. Wrap half in foil. That keeps the drips to a minimum :)

Banana Nut Muffins

3 ripe bananas

1/4 cup vegan margarine (Becel makes one!)

3/4 cup of sugar or alternative

1 tsp salt

1tsp baking soda

1 cup of chopped walnuts

Preheat oven 325º

Mash bananas on a plate. Cream the margarine and sugar. Add the flour, salt and baking soda and mix really well. Add the walnuts and if your sweet tooth is acting up add some chocolate chips.

Grease or line a muffin pan. I use a mini muffin tray and liners. Fill cups. (A trick to filling the cups without making a mess is to scoop all the batter into a large freezer bag like a piping bag and cut a hole in the corner and pipe it into the pan)

Bake for about 13-14 minutes and check with a toothpick after 10 minutes to be sure.

Spinach and Artichoke Dip

High in flavor and low in fat, this dip satisfies the creamy, cheesy, ooey- gooey chips and dip lover!

1 can artichoke hearts
3 tbsp of minced garlic
1/2 bag of frozen spinach
3 tbsp tofutti cream cheese
1 tbsp vegan mayonnaise (see recipe above)
1 tbsp tofutti sour cream
1/4 cup of Daiya cheese
1 tbsp olive oil



In a medium size pan saute garlic in olive oil. Add drained artichoke and break them up a bit on the pan. Next add frozen spinach and cook until all the water comes out. Throw it all in the food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Top with cream cheese, sour cream, mayonnaise and Daiya cheese. Mix for 5-10 seconds or just until all ingredients are mixed through. Don't over do it or you'll end up with paste. Notice I didn't add any salt? It's because my homemade mayo is really salty this time around. Add salt to taste.
I top with a bit more Daiya cheese and bake it in the oven on 350º for 15-20 minutes. Serve hot or cold.

Vegan Mayonnaise

I love Veganaise. It's just as satisfying as real mayo but it's too expensive so here's an alternative. I'm still trying to make it more like veganaise but it's close enough to pass.
1 block Silken tofu
2 tbsp olive oil
5 tsp agave syrup
3 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp cornstarch

All ingredients in a food processor. Blend until smooth. Cook over medium heat in a small saucepan for about 7 minutes or until it's thick. (It will thicken more when it's cooling too.) Stir constantly with a rubber spatula. Take it off the stove and continue stirring occasionally while it cools.
Keep in a glass jar in the fridge.

Sweet Curried Butternut Squash Soup

This is a BIG recipe. I end up with a lot of soup. A tip for freezing portions of soup or sauce is to get some of those large freezer bags and fill them up about half way with your stuff. (Make sure you label the bags before you fill them.) Squeeze all the air out and lay flat on the bottom of your freezer. You end up with stackable soup portions that save space. If you have a deep freeze you could have a filing cabinet of pre-made lunches and suppers.  I learned this trick from Jamie Lee Curtis. She's a genius.


1 butternut squash
2 apples
1 large onion
3 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 cup Vegetable stock
3 tbsp Brown sugar
3 tbsp sea salt
1 tbsp Cumin
2 tbsp Garam Masala
1 tsp tandori masala

(If you don't have the spices 2 tbsp of hot curry paste in a jar works too)


Chop onion and saute until soft. Add garlic and ginger and saute for another 2 minutes. Set aside.
Peel and seed butternut squash. (I find it's easier to manage if you cut it in half first. Peel it then halve it again to scoop or cut out the seeds and pulp.)
Cut the squash into chunks. Peel the apples and chunk them too.
Put everything in a large, deep pot and cover with water. Cook on a low boil for 20 minutes or so until the squash is tender.

In a food processor or blender puree in 2 or 3 batches. There's probably too much for your standard processor to handle. Transfer it all back to your soup pot.