Chris's favorite: Chickpea salad

There are many recipes that I make once, and Chris thinks I'm crazy and will hardly look at it.  Then I make it again, and he gives it a taste, loves it, and ends up requesting that we make it all the time.  This is one of those recipes.  It sounds lackluster, but it fits beautifully into my new-found veganism, and his vegetarianism.  The recipe is really pretty improvised, and made like a tuna salad, so use your proportions in the same manner.

It makes good sized amount - enough for 4 sandwiches or so. 

2 15 oz cans of Chickpeas (we use either the No Salt Added from Whole Foods, or Goya rinsed well.)
OR
1 15 oz can of chickpeas plus one can of cannelini, pinto, or navy beans.

1/2 c. chopped white onion (less if you're not a huge onion fan)
1/4 c. chopped celery
1 tbsp grainy mustard
2 tsp dill weed
2-4 tbsp mayonnaise (we use a vegan mayo made by Spectrum)

Drain the beans and rinse well (less necessary if you're using a salt-free kind). Put them in a mixing bowl and mash them with a potato masher so they're 50-75% mashed/broken up, but not so much that you have a paste.

Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly. Taste it, and if it needs something - add it!  We've added other chopped veggies like peppers, carrots, green onions, and other stuff like sunflower seeds, cashews, etc.  Serve it as you would tuna salad: on greens, on toasted whole grain bread, whatever sounds good to you!

My vegan version of "Overnight Oats"

So, I bought these great 16 oz plastic cups with lids at my local grocery store.  I have this weird love of storage products, no idea why.  I'd seen tons of mentions of "overnight oats" - and didn't really understand the whole idea behind it.  Finally, I decided to try it out. 

After finding myself with a can of Quick Oats, I needed to figure out what to do with them.  They're a great breakfast, but when I'm leaving at 5:30AM, the last thing I have time for is to not only make oatmeal, but be able to consume it rather quickly to get out the door on time.  So, here was my creation - the idea is not original, but this recipe wasn't directly taken from a single source.

In a jar/short, squat container:

3/4 cup Quick Oats
Light vanilla soy milk, to cover (make sure you have at least 1 cup, so your oats have a lot to absorb). If you like liquidy oatmeal, add more. You can always add more in the morning).
1 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon

Then add whatever else you like in your oatmeal, cereal or granola.  For example: raisins, nuts, chopped apples, bananas, etc.

Cover and refrigerate overnight.  Enjoy in the morning!!

The final product reminds me of the muesli that you can buy at Au Bon Pain.  Their final recipe is just shy of 400 calories for 8 oz. I think that this recipe would be close to that, but it depends on what you add in. (They have sunflower seeds, honey, sugar, almonds and dried cranberres - all of which are pretty calorie dense.  In addition, dried cranberries have oils and sugars on them, so there you go.) If you're watching your calories, make note what you're adding in. 

Healthy, vegan pancakes!

I love pancakes, but I kept finding recipes that included eggs, milk, butter, and lots of oil.  As I've recently began a vegan/plant-based lifestyle, I've been experimenting with recipes, and finally found one we both loved!

• 1 cup white flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 cup soy milk (I used Whole Foods 365 brand vanilla)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp cinnamon

 Mix it all up. If it needs more liquid, add some more soy milk, but it should be good. I cook my pancakes in my cast iron skillet sprayed with a touch of Pam.

Awesome.