Beet Carrot Latkes (Vegan/Vegetarian)

Tons of root veggies gave rise to this concoction.

Pretty much used this recipe (omitting the onion and using egg replacer):
The Root Vegetable Chronicles -- Beet Carrot Latkes

Made half the batch with garlic and half the batch without.

And to really overdo it on the root veggies, I served it with these:
Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes

Overall, a very good experiment with the root vegetable chronicles and friends!

Quick & Easy Haystack Stir Fry [vegan/soy free]

Haystack Stir Fry Friday!!

Quick & easy recipe that can be thrown together in minutes.

While stir frying veggie selection, soak rice stick noodle in hot water (3-5 mins avg).
You will especially want to do this when your veggies are near done if you are going to stir fry the rice stick noodle in the same pan. Alternately, you can fry the rice stick in a separate pan and/or put the cooked veggies off to the side while you stir fry the noodles in the already hot pan and oil.

For this recipe, choose a lighter oil that works well for frying (grapeseed oil on hand).

To make haystack, drop drained rice stick noodle into hot oil to puff and crisp up.

Add sauce (and veggies if they are off to the side).

Any stir fry sauce can be used and should be added in at the last moment and incorporated well.

Especially yummy served with seaweed or traditional salad.

This particularly simple variation from what was on hand consisted of carrots, portabello mushroom and cashew butter/sriracha/coconut amino sauce.


Haystack Stirfry Sauce: (per 1/4 of rice stick noodle pkg)
1-1.5 Tb cashew butter
1/2 tsp Sriracha rooster sauce
1/2 tsp coconut amino acids (soy sauce alternative; slightly sweet but not coconutty)

 It was not necessary to add oil to the sauce since it was added directly to the entire conglomeration of stir fried veggies and rice stick with all the oil in the pan.

Such a simple, refreshing and light meal for a Friday evening!

Fried Spring Rolls with Cashew Butter Sriracha dipping sauce [vegan/soy free]

Dinner tonight was impromptu veggie rice spring rolls fried to a delicate crispiness.

This tasty meal is vegan and soy free.

The filling was short grain sweet brown rice and simple carrots and broccoli as that's what I had on hand.
Rice lightly flavored with no-chik'n broth during cooking enables even the picky eater to still have a flavorful meal should they decide to forgo the dipping sauce.
*Do not forgo the dipping sauce!

The filling was rolled up in moistened rice paper spring roll wraps and then fried in a combination of grapeseed and coconut oil.

The cashew butter sriracha dipping sauce was a variation on a recipe I found online which called for chili paste or powder, neither of which I have on hand right now. Deciding to give it a go with the sriracha turned out to be a major taste sensation!

Ingredients for the dipping sauce with very approximate measurements listed:
roasted cashew butter (1-2+ Tbsp)
sriracha sauce (1-1.5 tsp)
maple syrup (1 tsp)
coconut oil (1 tsp)
grapeseed oil (1 tsp)

Adjust the first three ingredients (cashew butter, sriracha & sweetener) to taste before adding additional oil for consistency. (After adding oil, I added more sriracha but after allowing it to sit for a few moments found it to be too spicy and had to add more cashew butter to compensate.) The flavors will come together if you allow them to sit for a moment so don't be afraid to readjust the seasonings to taste because once you get them right, this will be the hit of the meal!