Give Them Something Better

Tag: Salad

  • Vegan Santa fe Salad with Soy Curls

    Vegan Santa fe Salad with Soy Curls

    Vegan Salad Sante Fe Salad

    This vegan salad checks all the boxes on my list of a great salad that is filling enough for a full meal. Before I was vegan or even vegetarian my favorite thing to get at Max & Ermas (a favorite restaurant in Columbus Ohio) was their Santa Fe Chicken Salad.  It really was good but when I went vegetarian in just was never the same.  That is why I decided to make my own Vegan Santa Fe Salad.

    With all of the grilled meatiness of the soy curls, the crunchiness of the homemade tortilla strips and creaminess of the avocado, and so many other rich flavors. This will soon become one of your favorite vegan salads for a hearty lunch or to serve to friends at a party or church potluck.

    There are usually so many unhealthy items at parties I like to serve something healthy to break up the junk food.  But when I say healthy I don’t mean healthy boring and tasteless, I mean healthy delicious and satisfying enough to eat instead of that third brownie or puff pastry appetizer and this vegan salad will defiantly fill the bill.

    When i make this salad I like to shop all of the vegetables fairly small so that you can get all of those great flavors in every bite. I used soy curls to replace the meat in the salad and they worked perfectly. Check out this recipe for the Cilantro Lime Soy Curls that go great in so many recipes!

    cilantro lime soy curls

    Ingredients you need for Vegan Santa Fe Salad

    • Romaine Lettuce
    • Cabbage
    • Cilantro
    • Black Beans
    • Corn
    • Avocado
    • Tomato
    • Corn Tortilla
    • Cilantro Lime Dressing
    • Cilantro Lime Soy Curls

    Vegan Salad

     

    Vegan Santa Fe Salad

    Santa fe Salad with Soy Curls

    Yield: 8 Servings
    Prep Time: 20 minutes

    Fantastic vegan salad packed with protien, veggies and crunch for a completely satisfying meal.

    Ingredients

    • 1 recipe Cilantro Lime Soy Curls
    • 1 recipe Cilantro Lime Dressing (below)
    • 6 cups Romaine lettuce, chopped
    • 1-2 cups cabbage, shredded
    • 2-4 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
    • 1 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
    • 1 cup drained canned whole kernel corn
    • 1 medium avocado, cut into chunks
    • 1/4 cup chopped red onion

    Instructions

    1. Prepare Cilantro Lime Dressing
    2. Prepare Cilantro Lime Soy Curls
    3. Mix lettuce, cabbage and fresh cilantro in a large serving bowl.
    4. Top with soy curls, beans, corn, avocado, tomato and onion.
    5. Add Cilantro Lime Dressing and mix well.
    6. Top homemade tortilla strips.

    Notes

    You may use store bought dressing to save time.

    © Stephanie Howard
    Vegan Cilantro Lime Dressing

     

    Cilantro Lime Dressing (low oil)

    Ingredients

    • ½ jalapeno pepper, coarsely chopped (optional)
    • 1 clove garlic
    • 1 medium scallion
    • ¼ cup lime juice
    • 2 tablespoons honey or Agave nectar 
    • 1 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
    • ½ teaspoon salt, or to taste
    • ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
    • 1/8 teaspoon xanthan gum* (optional)
    • ¼ cup packed cilantro leaves

    Instructions

      1. Place first eight ingredients in blender; and blend till smooth. The jalapeno is optional but very yummy. You can always use less or more for your desired spice level.
      2. Turn the blender on high and slowly drizzle in the olive oil and add xanthan gum until incorporated into the dressing.
      3. Add the cilantro leaves; pulse a few times to chop.
      4. Add salt to taste before serving.

    Notes

    *the xanthan gum is available at health food stores. It is optional but helps and some body to the dressing that we are missing because of the reduced oil.

     

  • Sweet and Salty Pumpkin Seeds

    Sweet and Salty Pumpkin Seeds

    sweet and salty

    So I missed Thanksgiving…well I didn’t actually miss it, I missed sharing it with you! Our Thanksgiving Supper Club was extra special because our Emmanuel Students helped do the cooking and we did it twice! Once here in Gobles and then again in South Haven. Many of our guests said it was the best one yet. The funny thing is I attended a potluck at the South Haven Church a few weeks later and many of the dishes were from our Supper Club! I love it when people are loving my recipes!

    I made the Sweet and Salty Pumpkin seeds to kind of be a bacon replacement in the fall salad we made and they worked perfectly! Of course you can use any nut, a am sure almonds would be great.

    Spicy and Sweet Mixed Nuts

    Eating a handful of nuts each day will help prevent heart disease. So use these spicy and sweet nuts as an appetizer or salad topping to keep you healthy!

    • ½ tablespoon non-hydrogenated margarine
    • 2 teaspoons minced garlic
    • 2 cups nuts or pumpkin seeds
    • ½ cup maple syrup
    • 1 tablespoon liquid smoke
    • ½-1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
    • 1 tablespoon granulated onion
    • ½ tablespoon granulated garlic powder
    • salt to taste
    1. Heat margarine and garlic in a medium sauté pan.
    2. Add nuts or pumpkin seeds and sauté until nuts are toasted and lightly browned.
    3. Add Maple syrup, liquid smoke and cayenne pepper and continue to cook until sugar is caramelized on the nuts and all liquid is evaporated.
    4. Toss in a bowl with onion, garlic and salt.
    5. Spread on a cookie sheet to dry.
    6. Eat these plain or serve them in a salad as a healthy alternative to bacon bits!
  • Meatless Holiday: BLT Pasta Salad

    Meatless Holiday: BLT Pasta Salad

    blt salad

    Everybody is going to a picnic this weekend. Most of us are going to be among “mixed company”. That is we may be the only vegetarian in the group.

    As a vegan myself I feel the need to make sure whatever I bring to the picnic is a favorite so that people can realize that vegan food really does taste good…despite what they have heard. I love it when people realize that it is possible to eat a healthy plant-based diet and LIKE it!

    This BLT salad has been the means of converting some hardcore carnivores.

    BLT Pasta Salad

    SALAD

    • 1 package (7 ounces) whole-grain or fiber added pasta
    • 1 ½ cups The “B” (see below)
    • 4 cups hearts of romaine, thinly sliced and cut into bite sized pieces
    • 2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and chopped
    • ¼ cup green onion, sliced

    DRESSING

    • ¾ cup Vegenaise or other cholesterol free mayonnaise
    • ¼ cup lemon juice
    • 2 teaspoons cane juice crystals
    • 2 teaspoons chicken-style seasoning
    1. Cook noodles according to package instructions. Drain and rinse under cold water.
    2. In a large bowl, mix pasta with remaining ingredients, except dressing.
    3. In a separate small bowl, mix all dressing ingredients.
    4. Before serving pour dressing over salad and mix well.

    The “B”

    This recipe was inspired by a great cookbook called Vegan Diner by Julie Hasson. You’ll want to make a bunch for use in other recipes.

    • 1 tablespoon olive oil
    • 3 cups soy curls
    • 3 tablespoons Braggs Liquid Aminos or low sodium soy sauce
    • 2 tablespoons liquid smoke, hickory flavor
    • ¼ teaspoon salt, optional
    • ¼ -½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
    • 3-4 tablespoons pure maple syrup
    1. Soak soy curls in hot water for 10 minutes. Drain off liquid.
    2. Heat oil in non-stick skillet. Add soy curls and sauté for 2 minutes.
    3. Mix Braggs, liquid smoke, salt and cayenne together in a small bowl. Pour over soy curls stirring well to make sure all the soy curls are coated.
    4. Cook until browned, about 8-10 minutes stirring occasionally. I like them very brown and even a little crispy.
    5. Drizzle maple syrup over soy curls and stir well. Continue cooking for 2-3 more minutes.

    TIP: Pancake syrup does not work for this recipe; use only the real maple syrup.

  • Pinspiration! Olive Garden Salad Dressing Recipe

    Pinspiration! Olive Garden Salad Dressing Recipe

    Italian salad

    I am forever pinning stuff to my Pinterest boards, but I must admit I rarely get around to making most of the recipes.  It’s like that collection of cookbooks I have on the shelf.  It seems a big waste…so I have resolved this year to cook what I pin.  That way we can all find out if it tastes as good as it looks.

     We tried some things during the last Emmanuel Institute session.  One of my favorites was this great Olive Garden salad dressing recipe.  The original recipe can be found here.   But we changed it up a bit and made it vegan. The results were excellent!

    We served it at the graduation dinner for the students and their families along with some other Italian favorites. We even made a vegan lemon cream cake, like the one they serve at Olive Garden (I’ll share that recipe after we detox from the holidays!)

    Olive Garden Dressing

    • 1/3 cup lemon juice
    • ¼ cup water
    • ¼ cup olive oil
    • 1 teaspoon Vegenaise
    • ½ teaspoon garlic
    • ½ teaspoon sugar
    • ¼ teaspoon pepper-like seasoning
    • ½ teaspoon salt
    • ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
    • 1 pkg. Good Seasons Italian Dressing Mix
    • 2 teaspoons vegan Parmesan

    1.     Place all of the ingredients into a glass jar with tight fitting lid.

    2.     Shake well and serve.

    3.     To keep the dressing from separating, add all ingredients into the pitcher of a blender and blend briefly.