Now that my mom has to feed so many vegans in her family she’s come up with some amazing recipes.  This is one of my favorite recipes my mom makes for us. 

by Elizabeth Bohnenstiehl

When I make Falafels I save the broth that is left over from crock potting the garbanzo beans down. I use the broth instead of water in the quinoa that goes in the Spring Salad Wilt. I also have enough Tzatiki Sauce left to use in the Spring Salad Wilt, so I basically have two amazing dinners for the price of one. If you have never had a falafel, it’s a treat. Here’s the first recipe.

Falafel

Falafel is a dish common in Egypt and Israel, and the Near East. It is fried chick-pea (garbanzo) balls, that are stuffed into pita bread together with lettuce, cucumber and topped with Vegan Tzatziki Sauce. We often have chopped onions, black olives, & tomatoes out, but the traditional taste would be just lettuce cucumber and sauce.

1 bag dried garbanzo beans, soak in frig. Overnight. Do not drain. Put in the crock pot with water level 2 inches over beans, and cook on high 6 or 7 hours. You can do this the day before so that you are not working with hot beans or if you have time you can let your beans cool.

• 1 tsp. Ground coriander seeds
• 1 tablespoon ground garlic (1clove chopped fresh)
• 1 tsp. Ground cumin (no more that 1 tsp., to much cumin is to strong)
• 1⁄2 tsp. Cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 2 tablespoon dried chives
• 1 tablespoon organic cane sugar
• 1⁄4 cup flour

Drain your chick-peas but keep the broth.

In your processor, about a cup and a half at a time grind up your cooked chick-peas. You might have to put a little broth in but not to much. Process till smooth. Continue till you have it all ground. Put this into a mixing bowl and add coriander, garlic, cumin, cayenne pepper, lemon pepper, chives, sugar, and flour and mix in your mixer throughly. It might seems sticky, but you can now roll it into balls about the size of a quarter. Most people deep fry the balls in oil at 375 degrees for two or three minutes till golden brown. I don’t want the extra calories so I put olive oil in two large skillets, and fry them, turning them ever so often till they are golden brown. I think they taste just as good without all that oil.

Vegan Tzatziki Sauce

• 1 cup tahihi (sesame seed paste) (make sure you mix your tahihi well, it’s like natural peanut butter, the solids are at the bottom)
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder (2 or 3 cloves fresh garlic)
• 1 or 2 cucumbers (processed with skin)
• 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1 teaspoon dill
• 1⁄4 tsp cumin

Mix together. Save the leftover sauce for the next recipe.

Spring Salad Wilt with Quinoa

• Spring Salad Mix (One large bag, green & dark purple leaves)
• Leftover Vegan Tzatziki Sauce
• Quinoa made with leftover garbanzo broth instead of water.

Prepare quinoa ahead of time so that you can pull it out of the fridge when you need it.

To prepare quinoa, use two cups of liquid (garbanzo broth) per cup of quinoa, (do not salt it), combine liquid and quinoa in a saucepan or rice cooker. Bring the mixture to a vigorous boil, then lower heat and simmer, covered, until quinoa is tender but still chewy, about 15 minutes. Refrigerate.

Directions:

1. Wash bagged salad mix, put in large wok skillet. (If you do not have wok skillet, large non stick skillet is fine.)
2. Drizzle Tzatziki Sauce over lettuce like you would a salad (don’t over do it)
3. Sprinkle about 1 cup and 1⁄2 prepared quinoa on top of that. (experiment, you might want a little more quinoa maybe 2 cups)
4. Begin cooking, turning mixture over as you wilt the lettuce. Don’t over cook it.
5. When it has cooked down, eat it while it’s hot.
6. 

My husband Tanner’s mom brought these over a while back for us.  I can thank Mary for hooking my kids on these healthy snacks.  Anything Grandma brings over the kids automatically will love.  We put them in the freezer or fridge and eat them for an after school or post workout snack, and they are great in their lunches.  It takes a little while to roll them but they are so worth it.

Ingredients:

1 Cup Old Fashion Oatmeal, Quick Oats work also

1 Cup Toasted Sweet Shredded Coconut

1/2 Cup Vegan Chocolate Chips

1 Cup Peanut Butter ( original recipe says 1/2 cup but it’s easier to roll with a bit more)

1/2 Cup Ground Flaxseed meal

I add 3 Tablespoons Hemp Protein powder and 3 Tablespoons of Chia seeds for extra protein and omega 3,6, 9′s

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

1/3 cup Honey

Preparation:

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, if to dry add more peanut butter of honey.  Roll into bite size balls, put on parchment paper and refrigerate for 30 min.  Transfer to airtight container and enjoy!!

Most every time I go to Columbia to run errands I will stop at Hyvee and have a fresh vegetable sushi roll made for me.  The last time I was watching her make it I was thinking, I can do this at home.  So I got some ingredients and attempted it at home and it worked really well.  I didn’t have any fancy sushi making tools but it worked pretty famously.  So here is what I did.

First:  I made my sushi rice with regular brown rice for the extra nutritious value but you can use whatever you have.  To get it sticky I put one cup of rice to two and a half cups water in my rice cooker.  If it’s not sticky enough add more water and keep cooking. It took longer but it had that sticky consistency you need to make it stay together.  You can also do this on the stove, just make sure the water is all absorbed before taking it off the heat.

Second:  When the rice is done you scoop up around a cup of rice and put it on a piece of parchment paper.  Start to flatten it with a non-stick utensil into a rectangle about two inches tall and four inches long.  Turn the paper over on the rice and press it done making it firm. The rice should be a quarter inch think or so, making it compact is the most important thing.

Third:  Next you will need to go to your natural food store or grocery store and get some seaweed paper.  It does not taste like sushi without it so it key to have it.  You lay a piece the size of the rice on top.

Fourth:  Now comes the vegetables, my favorite is the burp less cucumber cut in a long strip, avocado but in slices and carrots ran thru the food processor.  You could use vegan cream cheese and cucumber or asparagus too.  It’s fun to get creative with it.  Lay them evenly in the center of the roll.

Fifth:  It’s time to roll it all together.  Take the parchment paper and lay it over the rice and start to roll it firmly, packing the sides as you go.  Squeeze it into a tube until it stays together on it’s own.

Sixth:  Transfer the roll to a plate, put your favorite sauce on it like hoisin or soy sauce, cut with a very sharp knife and enjoy.  I loved this sushi more than the Hyvee sushi and I hope you do too.  The main thing is to start with sticky rice, if you don’t it will all fall apart during the cutting process.  Good luck and enjoy.

Sometimes it gets hard to find a quick snack for the kids or new ideas for lunch, so I am going to share some of the things I do at home.  If any of these require a recipe I will post them on the recipe page.

• Peanut, almond or cashew butter and pretzels (at Sam’s they have these flat pretzels with natural ingredients the kids love).
• Ants on a log (celery, favorite nut butter and raisins)
• Rice cakes (they come in lots of different flavors)
• Banana chips
• Dried mango (Trader Joe’s has the best dried mango)
• Veggie chip and Apple straws
• Nuts
• Spiced or candied nuts (I will post a recipe)
• Homemade chex mix
• Organic figs (for all you Boonville people they have these at Walmart by the strawberries and they are amazing for holding back those hunger cravings)
• Sweet potato fries (recipe to be posted)
• Dark chocolate covered strawberries
• Cut up vegetable and hummus, my girlfriend just told me she cuts up zucchini and yellow squash like chips, thanks Jill
• Guacamole and tortilla chips
• Layered bean dip
• Baked savory chickpeas
• lettuce wraps with peanut sauce  http://themommybowl.com/2011/01/24/thai-peanut-sauce-and-lettuce-wraps/
• Nut butter and  bananas sandwiches
• Strawberry, banana smoothies
• Pita chips and salsa
• Fruit leather ( you can buy this at health food stores or make it in a dehydrator with unsweetened applesauce on parchment paper)
• Baked potato with broccoli and your favorite dressing
• Trail mix with nuts, pretzels, dark chocolate, and dried fruits
• Apples and your favorite nut butter

These are a few of my favorites, I would love to hear yours so please comment so we can share!