Category: Recipes

Hey guys! When I cook (unless it is baking a cake,  bread or dessert) I eyeball all my ingredients like most Trinis do (lol). So I will share with you all the ingredients that I use for these wonderful Vegan “meatballs”. Don’t be afraid, you cannot go wrong! You don’t need exact measurements. Keep tasting as you add your favourite seasonings and feel free to add more or replace them.

INGREDIENTS

2 large pack of dry lentils (to make 90 medium size ‘meatballs’)

1 large onion (chopped finely)

Salt (to taste)

Black pepper (to taste)

All-purpose seasoning (to taste)

Onion powder (to taste)

Garlic powder (to taste)

A couple of drops of liquid smoke (optional)

A bit of ketchup or BBQ sauce (to taste)

A bit of mustard (to taste)

Flour (to bind everything together)

PREPARATION

In a large pot, cook the 2 packs of lentils (I don’t pressure cook them) until the lentils are very soft. Drain and let them cool. Put half of your batch in a food processor with a bit of water (not too much!) and pulse. You don’t want the entire batch to be mashed; you want to have a mix of both mashed and whole lentils.

Pour the mixture in a large bowl and add the rest of the whole lentils and mix thoroughly. You should have a somewhat creamy consistency of mashed lentils and whole ones. Add all your seasonings and combine. Make sure to taste everything since the taste will be your final product, if you feel you need to add more seasonings, go ahead and do it!

After you are satisfied with the taste, add some flour to bind everything. Try to add a few tablespoons at that time and mix very well, you will know it is good when you try to form little balls without falling apart. The texture should be somewhat firm.

Pre-heat your oven at 375 degrees F (around 190C).

Now, the BEST part which is the baking. Take two large baking sheets and grease them well with vegetable oil (otherwise these meatballs will stick to the pan). Wet your hands a bit and form the meatballs. Place them in the baking sheet next to each other. If for some reason, your meatballs seem too “tender” (falling apart) then add a bit more flour to the mix.

Bake them in the lower part of your oven until the bottom part forms a nice crust (usually around 15-20 minutes but all depends on your oven).  If you don’t see that crust at that bottom of the meatballs or just lightly brown, keep baking until that crust is formed. Don’t poke the meatballs too much, let them create a nice crust.

Once you achieve this, turn them over to the other side until the other bottom part is very brown as well. You know they are ready when they are firm to the touch and not as “delicate” as when you started baking them. I like mine super crusty so I tend to leave them in the oven for quite a while but of course, keeping   an eye on it so they don’t burn.

Once they are done, leave them inside the oven so they can crisp even more. Then remove them from oven and use it right away or freeze them.

Enjoy friends! 🙂

Once you start making your own vegetable stock, there is no way back! The greatest thing is you don’t have to spend any extra money and you can make it all year long and even freeze it. I love to use my veggie stock on soups, stews, sauces and gravy (which reminds me, I have a great Vegan gravy recipe to share with you soon just in time for Christmas).

Let’s start, shall we? 😉

First, let me tell you we will be using all the veggie scraps you usually throw away when you are preparing your meals. Yup, we will not be wasting anything so every time you are cutting veggies (after washing them thoroughly) you need to have a bag where you can add all the tops, bottoms, skins, stems, etc.  Careful though, you don’t want to add veggies such as Brussels sprouts or cauliflower or even broccoli because it might ruin your stock (will give it a bitter taste). Try avoiding potatoes as well since it will absorb all the flavours. Make sure your bag is full of veggie scraps before you decide to prepare it otherwise, you will not get much stock. Also, keep the bag in the fridge.

Give all the scraps a second wash and then place it in a pot and cover it with water on medium heat. Bring it to a boil and let it simmer for at least 20 minutes.  Once it is completely cool, strain it and there you have it! Homemade vegetable stock.

Remember, you can always add things like salt, etc when you are actually preparing the meal so no need to add it now.  You can keep it in the fridge for a few days (around 3-4) or make a big batch and freeze it for a couple of months. Here is a picture of the final product AFTER I used most of it to make a gravy.

Hope you enjoyed this super easy recipe and you are keeping safe!

I made this chocolate chip cookie pie last April and it was a hit at home! Everyone wanted seconds.

Hope you enjoy this recipe!

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup of coconut oil

1/4 Vegan spread or margarine

1 cup of brown sugar

1/4 cup of plant based milk (soy, almond, etc)

1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 tsp of baking soda

1 tsp of baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Vegan chocolate chips

Your favourite Vegan ice-cream

PREPARATION

Preheat the oven at 176 degrees C (350 degrees F).

In a large bowl, combine the margarine, coconut oil and sugar until it is like a cream.  Add the milk and vanilla extract and mix until all is well combined then set aside.

In a separate bowl, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Whisk everything carefully. Add the flour into the margarine mixture in batches, little by little mixing gently until you have incorporated all the flour. Fold in the chocolate chips (the more, the merrier). Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350F. Take cake from oven, let it cool and then gently, remove it from the pan.

Add  some Vegan ice-cream on top while the pie still warm! Enjoy it with a glass of plant-based milk.