Veggie Staples

dairy free, gluten free, refined sugar free, plant based recipes

Roasted Cinnamon Vanilla Cashews

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Do you need new snack recipe ideas? Per the request of followers & friends, I’m still on a mission to get you more snack recipes! These roasted cinnamon vanilla cashews are easy, but take a long time in the oven (and are totally worth it). I’m tempted to say a dehydrator might work, but I haven’t tested it yet, so I can’t be sure! These require you to soak, dry, and then bake for a few hours at low temp to get crunchy. But who doesn’t love the sweet combination of cinnamon and vanilla? Do you love the smell of roasted nuts like I do? It makes me think of my days living in Boston and New York City with the street vendors. Delicious! Although a little bit time consuming, the end result is magical! Feel free to double, triple or even quadruple this roasted cinnamon vanilla cashew recipe - or use almonds!

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Roasted Cinnamon Vanilla Cashews
Author: 
Recipe type: Snack
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4 servings
 
Ingredients
  • 1 cup raw cashews or almonds
  • ½ cup pure vanilla extract
  • ½ cup water
  • 2 tablespoons cinnamon (or more, if you like)
Instructions
  1. Place cashews in a bowl overnight to soak in ½ cup vanilla extract & ½ cup water
  2. *add cinnamon to water mixture if you like extra cinnamon!
  3. In the morning, spread nuts out on a paper towel to thoroughly dry (a few hours)
  4. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees
  5. Place nuts on a silpat and spread out evenly
  6. *Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons (or more) of cinnamon
  7. Roast in oven for 3 hours
  8. Allow to cool before serving

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Inspiralized Cookbook & Coupons Giveaway

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I think one of my favorite cooking items that has come into kitchens in the past few years has been the spiralizer. Have you ever heard of one? If not, get to it! They are the best! You can make almost any vegetable into noodles, which is much healthier than pasta and you can have lots more for the same amount of calories! My personal favorite is sweet potato, but you can use zucchini, white potato, carrots. Pretty much anything. They really are just awesome. They can also turn a salad into something a little more fancy, because you can spiralize cucumbers!

Ali Maffuci has teamed up with TuttoRosso Tomatoes and they are giving away lots of great prizes every week! You can enter for your chance to win a copy of Ali’s new book Inspiralized, and then head over to TuttoRosso’s website to win one of her Spiralizers, aprons & other awesome kitchen gadgets! Enter to win your copy of the new Inspiralized Cookbook & Free Product Coupons for Tuttorosso Tomato products below the recipe! Good luck! (and if you don’t win, I highly suggest buying the book anyways!)

Today I am sharing an amazing recipe for Al Fresco Zucchini Pasta Salad! Really delicious & super easy to make! I’ll also bet that no one would ever believe that this isn’t pasta!!


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Inspiralized Cookbook & Coupons Giveaway
Author: 
Recipe type: Entree
Cuisine: Pasta Salad
 
Ingredients
  • 1 28 ounce can tuttorosso dice tomatoes, drained
  • 1 medium yellow bell pepper
  • 3 medium zucchini, blade B, noodles trimmed
  • 1½ cups fresh broccoli florets
  • 1 large carrot, peeled, blade C, noodles trimmed
  • ¼ cup white wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
  • ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
  • salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Bring a large saucepan filled halfway with water and a pinch of salt to boil
  2. Add broccoli and carrots and cook for 3 minutes
  3. Drain and rinse broccoli and carrots with cold water to stop cooking
  4. Combine vinegar, olive oil, italian seasoning, mustard, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder to a screw top jar
  5. Cover mixture and shake well
  6. In a large bowl, combine zucchini noodles, broccoli, carrots, diced tomatoes and yellow bell pepper
  7. Shake dressing and pour over zucchini pasta mixture
  8. Toss gently to coat
Nutrition Information
Calories: 111 Fat: 5g Trans fat: 0 Carbohydrates: 14g Sodium: 254mg Fiber: 4g Protein: 4g Cholesterol: 0mg

 

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Epic Cookbook Giveaway

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Do you have plans to start a new, healthy way of living and eating in 2015? How about entering to win a contest that consists of over $500 in books to do so? Here is an Epic Cookbook Giveaway to start your year off right! You do not want to miss out on a chance to win this!

paleo-eats-big-giveaway

Some of the following include:

Eat the Yolks by Liz Wolfe

Against All Grain by Danielle Walker

Mediterranean Paleo Cooking by Caitlin Weeks & Diane Sanfilippo

It Starts With Food by Melissa Hartwig

The Paleo Solution by Robb Wolf

ZenBelly by Simone Miller

Dairy Free Ice Cream by Kelly Broznyna

Every Last Crumb by Brittany Angell

& lots more!

Enter below via the Rafflecopter!

Disclosures: Giveaway ends January 5th at 9:00 PM PST. Open to Legal Residents (18 years of age or older) of the US only. Prizes cannot be shipped to PO Boxes. Winner will be selected by Random.org and be notified by email. Winner will have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is selected. No Purchase is necessary to enter to win.

Winning entries will be verified.

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Crunchy Vegan Salad with Sesame Seed Dressing

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I don’t know if anything can beat a crisp, cold salad when the weather starts to get warm. I have been eating tons of cold salads for lunch since Memorial Day and I don’t see any signs of stopping. I go back and forth between brown rice or quinoa noodles or just making zoodles (zucchini noodles with my spiralizer - and if you don’t know what a spiralizer is, you need one! It makes anything into noodles! Find it here on Amazon!), so this recipe is GREAT for someone who eats both Vegan or Paleo.

And have you ever heard of coconut aminos? It’s a great alternative to soy sauce with loads less sodium than regular soy sauce. I used this as part of the dressing and it just gives it such a wonderful, nutty flavor - the sesame seeds and raw veggies give the pasta salad a little bit of crunch! Add in all those veggies and you just can’t go wrong! I would bet once you make this once, you’ll make it over and over again all summer, just like I will be doing!

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Crunchy Vegan Salad with Sesame Seed Dressing

Ingredients

  • for the salad:
  • 2 servings brown rice or quinoa pasta OR 1 cup zoodles (zucchini noodles)
  • 1 cup cucumber, washed, peeled and juilenned (or made into zoodles)
  • 1 cup carrots, washed, peeled and julienned (or made into zoodles) + a 1/2 cup more chopped for some extra crunch
  • 8 sweet mini peppers, washed and thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup scallions, washed and chopped
  • 1/4 cup sesame seeds (black or white)
  • for the dressing:
  • 1/4 cup coconut aminos
  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon sriracha

Instructions

  1. Cook pasta as directed or make zoodles out of veggies
  2. Wash and cut all other veggies
  3. Place all vegetables in a bowl and set aside
  4. Combine all dressing ingredients and mix well (I just used a fork)
  5. Drizzle dressing over salad and top with scallions and sesame seeds!
http://veggiestaples.com/crunchy-vegan-salad-sesame-seed-dressing/

 

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Spicy Quinoa Salad

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The past few get togethers we’ve had as a family, my aunt has made this awesome Israeli cous cous salad. It’s not gluten free, so I knew I had to make a version of it that would be friendly to those like me (not intolerant but I try to keep it out of my diet whenever possible) or anyone else allergic to wheat products. After messing around with ingredients (you could really use quinoa or millet, even brown rice if necessary), I think I got the flavor down. The only thing I didn’t have on hand was fresh cilantro, which the original recipe does call for. Feel free to add it for a little extra flavor kick. This salad (gluten free and dairy free) has been a staple for my lunch this week, but is perfect as a side for some grilling or just a light spring and summer dish!

 

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Spicy Quinoa Salad

Ingredients

  • 3 cups of quinoa, cooked (follow directions on the box)
  • 3 green onions, washed and chopped
  • 1 cup of dried cranberries
  • 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
  • 1/2 cup raw walnuts (or other kind of nut)
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons minced garlic
  • juice of a lemon
  • 2 teaspoons paprika (or to taste)
  • 2 teaspoons red pepper (or to taste)
  • salt & paper to taste

Instructions

  1. Cook quinoa according to instructions on the box
  2. Allow quinoa to cool
  3. Wash and chop green onion
  4. Add all ingredients to the quinoa and toss well
  5. Serve as a main dish or side (goes great with something from the grill!)
http://veggiestaples.com/spicy-quinoa-salad/

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