Category Archives: Dips and Dressings

Chef AJ’s “Wicked Fudge Sauce”

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Last month, my friend Tara made this delicious dessert for me and a couple of our other friends.  She used Chef AJ’s “Wicked Fudge Sauce” recipe from the book, “Unprocessed: How to achieve vibrant health and your ideal weight”.  And, ever since she made it, I haven’t stopped thinking about it.  So, I made it myself the other day!  It is delicious and so satisfying, not to mention healthy.  This recipe is on page 75 in her book.  But, if you don’t have this book, you can click on the image below if you want to check it out.

With Chef AJ’s permission, I am providing you this super easy recipe from her book!

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of raw almond butter
  • 1/2 cup of date syrup (a blend of dates and filtered water….the recipe is also in the book)
  • 1/2 cup of raw cacao powder or carob powder
  • 1/2 cup of unsweetened non-dairy milk

….And, I just sprinkled a tad bit of coconut on top (optional).

Directions:  Throw everything in a blender or food processor and blend.  If you want to make the sauce thinner, add a little bit more non-dairy milk.

Serve with vegan cookies, bananas, apples, strawberries, etc.

Enjoy!

Here are some of the health benefits of almonds: 

  • High in protein.
  • May help lower cholesterol.
  • May help prevent cancer.
  • Reduce risk of heart attack.

How to make your own CHIPOTLE HOT SAUCE!

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The other day, my husband suggested that I try making some hot sauce with all of the peppers we have in our garden because we have so much of it.  So, I did some research.  I found out that there are so many different ways to make hot sauce, but I just chose the easiest, which is the “boil with the vinegar and blend” method.

It is super easy and quick!  I don’t think that I will ever buy hot sauce again when I can make my own.  Also, I think it would be fun experimenting with different flavored hot sauce.   The possibilities are endless!

You will need the following:

  • Lots of hot peppers: cayenne, jalapeno, Habanero, etc.
  • White vinegar
  • Onion
  • Carrot
  • Garlic
  • Ground chipotle chili pepper (dried)
  • Bottles to put your hot sauce in

I used about 24 hot peppers (jalapenos and cayenne peppers).

I also used 2 very small onions (about 1/3 cup of onions), 1 whole bulb of garlic, and 1 carrot.

Jalapenos!

Cayenne peppers!

I used this to add flavor.

Directions:

  1. Wash your peppers and prepare your onion and garlic.
  2. Slice the tops off the peppers.  (You may want to wear gloves to do this.)
  3. Throw them all in a pot with the onion, garlic, and carrot.
  4. Pour white vinegar into the pot almost covering the peppers, garlic, onion, and carrot.  I used a mixture of white and apple cider vinegar (95% white vinegar 5% red white vinegar).
  5. Simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes.

    after 15 minutes

  6. After 10-15 minutes, remove peppers, onion, garlic, and carrot from the pot and place in a blender with a little bit of the vinegar that it was cooked in (just enough liquid so it can blend well).
  7. Blend for a minute or until it is smooth.
  8. After it has blended, pour it out from the blender and into a sauce pan.   
  9. Add the vinegar that it was cooked in into the blend (little by little until desired consistency).  I don’t like my hot sauce too thick, so I pretty much use all of the vinegar that it was boiling in.
  10. Add some chipotle chili pepper and salt.  I used about 2 tablespoons of chipotle chili pepper, but I am not sure how much salt I used.  I just added little by little until I thought it was salty enough.
  11. Simmer together and stir for a couple of minutes and then pour your hot sauce into your bottles (use a funnel).  I used old sake bottles to put my hot sauce in.
  12. And, tada!  You have hot sauce!

Update:  I made another batch of hot sauce the other day and it was delicious.   This time, I didn’t include ground chipotle pepper, onion, or carrot.

Ingredients:

  • 20 cayenne peppers
  • 1/2 a bulb of garlic
  • white vinegar
  • Celtic sea salt
  • 1 small/medium tomato

Note: I also reduced the amount of white vinegar so it was more thick and spicy.

 

 

Coconut Garlic Bread Dip

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I make different versions of this dip for my family and friends, which everyone seems to enjoy.  I will share the other ones with you in the future in another post. :)

I usually like my garlic raw when I make dip for bread, but my 3-year-old doesn’t because it is too spicy for her.  So I decided to cook it a little bit, so she is able to enjoy it with the freshly baked bread I had made.

CLICK HERE FOR THE SUPER EASY BREAD RECIPE

Ingredients:

  • 1 bulb or garlic
  • 4 tablespoons of coconut oil
  • 4 tablespoons of Braggs apple cider vinegar
  • sea salt
  • 1 teaspoon of fresh parsley (finely chopped)
  • a pinch of fresh oregano (finely chopped)….THIS IS OPTIONAL

Directions:

  1. Peal garlic.
  2. Heat coconut oil in a pan.
  3. Cook garlic in oil for two to three minutes.
  4. Pour oil and garlic into a bowl.
  5. Smash the garlic with fork.
  6. Add apple cider vinegar and salt.
  7. Top it off with parsley and oregano.
  8. Serve with warm crusty bread.
  9. Enjoy!

Spicy Thai Coconut Hummus

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I do most of my shopping at this health food store called Earthfare. They have everything a vegan family needs!  They have vegan friendly toiletries, wines, desserts, etc.  Their deli offers vegan nuggets, salads, sushi, and much more!  I just love that place!

Anyway, so a few days ago, my daughter and I had lunch there.  My daughter had a whole wheat grilled Daiya “cheese” sandwich with a side of raw broccoli and fruits.  I had some vegan brown rice sushi, Mary’s Gone crackers and hummus.  I don’t usually buy hummus because I just usually make them myself, but boy was I glad that I picked up the Thai coconut hummus from the deli!  I instantly was addicted to it!  It was spicy, it was delicious, tangy, and coconutty!

I told myself, “I HAVE TO TRY TO MAKE THIS AT HOME!”  So, I looked at the ingredients and I was very excited to see that I already had most of the ingredients on the list!  There were some things that I didn’t have, but I just improvised.

So, I made the hummus, it is not exact, but it is VERY similar.  Both are deliciously awesome!  And, I am happy to share the recipe with you! :)

Ingredients:

  • 4 cups of cooked garbanzo beans
  • juice of 2 lemons
  • 4 tablespoons of tahini
  • 2 tablespoons of safflower oil
  • 3 tablespoons of coconut oil
  • 3 tablespoons of organic tamari
  • 2 tablespoons of Asian chili paste (garlic paste)
  • 2 tablespoons of minced shallots
  • 1 clove of garlic from an elephant garlic or 6 cloves from a regular-sized bulb of garlic
  • 4 teaspoons of lemongrass paste
  • 3 teaspoons of red wine vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons of freshly grated ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon of cumin
  • 1 teaspoon of Celtic sea salt
  • 3 pinches of cardamom
  • 4 to 8 tablespoons of organic sriracha (hot sauce) *note: this is optional and adjust to heat preference*

Directions:

  1. Throw everything in the food processor and blend (except for hot sauce)!
  2. Add hot sauce and adjust heat to your liking.  (note: if you want to make this for your young child, I would omit the hot stuff…I put a tiny bit of chili paste for my daughter’s hummus).
  3. Enjoy!
  4. Serve with fresh veggies, crackers, crusty bread, vegan naan, tortilla, etc.

Mary's Gone Crackers and hummus.

Jalapeno Poppers and Eggplant Spinach Wrap

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We have so many jalapenos on our jalapeno plant right now, so today, we decided to make jalapeno poppers.  My wonderful husband was kind enough to help me stuff and bread these delicious,  freshly picked peppers.   These jalapeno poppers are much healthier than the traditional, non-vegan, cheese-filled, deep-fried poppers because they are stuffed with healthy hummus AND they are baked!

I also purchased some beautiful eggplants from the farmers market that sitting in the fridge.  They were begging to be used somehow, so I decided to wrap it up with some spinach, tangy sauce, and these super healthy and delicious jalapeno poppers.  In my opinion, the crunchy poppers went together beautifully with the juicy and tangy eggplant.  It is filling, nutritious, and so delicious!!

If you want to taste this marvelous, flavorful, and super healthy wrap, here is what you are going to need:

Directions:

  1. Make the poppers (recipe).
  2. Cook the eggplant (recipe).
  3. Make the sauce.
  4. Warm up your wrap or tortilla.
  5. Pile everything in there and roll it up into a burrito!
  6. Enjoy!

Tangy Goddess Dressing

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I ate a large bowl of broccoli because this dressing makes it more delicious!

I just love goddess dressing.  There are many versions of goddess dressing out there, but here is mine.

Hope you like it!

Ingredients:

  • 8 tablespoons of tahini
  • 4 tablespoons of liquid aminos
  • 2.5 tablespoons of Braggs apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons of chopped green onions
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 3 tablespoons of water
  • 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
  • 1 half of a tomato
  • 3 tablespoons of sesame oil
  • 2.5 tablespoons of sesame seeds
  • 2 teaspoons of parsley
  • pepper

Directions:

  1. Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor.
  2. Blend it all together until it is smooth (no lumps).
  3. Serve as dip or dressing.
  4. Enjoy!