Cacio e Pepe (cheese and pepper) is an Italian dish consisting of 4 ingredients that make it thick and creamy. The key is to perfectly cook the pasta and retain that liquid once done for the sauce. The starch from the pasta water is critical to making this pan sauce so make sure not to skimp on this step. If you do, you most likely will not get the proper consistency once it’s finished.
Yield 3
Ingredients
1 lb. box tonnarelli or bucatini pasta
5 Tbsp. vegan butter, cubed
1 1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1 cup vegan parmesan cheese
1 cup reserved pasta water
Directions
In a large pot, bring 3.5 quarts water to a boil and season well with salt (should be salty to taste). Cook the pasta until al dente, roughly 10 minutes. Reserve pasta water before draining.
In a skillet on medium heat, melt the butter and add the pepper, stirring around until toasted, about 45 seconds. Add reserved pasta water and bring to a simmer. Stir in the cheese until melted and pour in the drained pasta, tossing to coat.
Serve immedietly.
Chef’s tip: If the sauce seems dry, add more of the reserved pasta water to thin it out.
This creamy non-dairy yogurt dill sauce perfectly pairs with couscous, rice, or quinoa and even on top of crispy breaded tofu or zucchini burgers. This sauce is extremely universal and can even be used on warm pita falafel sandwich. Another alternative for this is to thin it with a tad of water for a diary-free dressing. Whatever you chose, it’ll be great either way!
These zucchini patties are super tasty if you’re looking to try something new. You can enjoy these as a burger or even smothered in tomato sauce with melted non-diary parm on top. Either way, the options are endless and it’ll be a big winner in your family or friend group. These go perfect with my fluffy dinner rolls recipe as burger buns! Check out my latest reels to see how I transform them into pumpkins!!
Yields 4 patties
Ingredients
1 (15 oz.) can white beans, drained & reserve liquid
In a small bowl, mix together sauce ingredients and set aside.
In a bowl, combine the beans, flour, and smash until smooth. Add grated zucchini, bread crumbs, garlic, scallions, onion, basil, oregano, salt, pepper and mix until combined.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and form mixture into 4 patties. Place on baking sheet and cover, freezing for 10 minutes before frying.
Heat a skillet over medium-high heat with oil and cook each side for roughly 4 minutes or until browned.
Serve with toasted bun and other toppings and/or condiments.
Chef’s tip: Use reserved liquid as needed to help mixture form.
These sweet plantains are fried to a deep golden brown and soft. Sprinkled with salt and served up with rice and beans, this delicious side dish can quickly become your dinner. If you haven’t tried making plantains before, its super simple to do! Its literally 3 simple ingredients, and two of them you may already have in your pantry.
Slice ends and 1 long slice through the skin only. Peel back and slice in 3/4-inch thick diagonal slices.
In a skillet on medium-high heat with oil, pan fry the plantain slices for roughly 2 1/2 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Remove and set on a towel to drain and sprinkle with salt.
Serve warm with rice and black beans or side of choice.
Chef’s tip: For extra soft and golden brown maduros, reduce the heat to low after browning each side and cook for 6 minutes.
Fried rice is one of those dishes you normally get when you are out at a restaurant where they cook in front of you hibachi style. Being able to re create that experience in your home is what this recipe is all about. It is simple to make and the best with leftover rice. With a quick sauté of vegetables, rice, seasonings and tofu, you have yourself a full meal!
Cook rice according to package instructions and set aside once done.
Season tofu and drizzle with oil in air fryer basket. Air fry at 400 degrees F. for 20 minutes. Shaking after 12 minutes and continuing until timing beeps.
In a wok on high heat, add sesame oil and vegetables, sautéing for 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook an additional minute. Combine rice, butter, salt, pepper, and drizzle with tamari sauce in wok. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring in tofu.
Serve warm garnished with green onions or sesame seeds.
Chef’s tip: The best is if you make the white rice a day in advance prior to cooking the fried rice.
In a current world where plastic consumption is everpresent and our planet is near the brink of further environmental turmoil, what can you do to help? One of the most significant ways we waste plastic is by using straws.
This once thought amazing creation is now impacting our earth, animals habitats, and most importantly killing many animals that ingest or get tangled in them. Below I am going to explain why choosing reusable options over plastic options can have a positive impact on the earth.
Why is it essential to reduce plastic waste? As of April 2018, eight million metric tons of plastic are dumped into our oceans annually. According to Earthday.org, “There are five massive patches of plastic in the oceans around the world. These huge concentrations of plastic debris cover large swaths of the ocean; the one between California and Hawaii is the size of the state of Texas.”
When plastic bags, bottles, and microfibers break down, fish and other animals will ingest these harmful particles and not be able to process the plastics, which usually results in death. Implementing ways to use less plastic now will help to reduce the forecasted prediction that plastic waste will rise tenfold by 2050, making there more plastic in the ocean than fish. What are three easy waste-free hacks that you can use in your lives?
Choose bamboo straws Just by saying no at restaurants, bars, and other places that give the option for a straw, you can reduce a lot of plastic waste. You’re going to be surprised when you realize how many you used to go through and for what reason? Bamboo, glass, or steel straws do the job just as well and leave less of an impact on our world.
Bamboo forks and knives instead of plastic to-go ware Always on the go and don’t have time to cook? That’s okay, invest in a pair of bamboo to-go ware utensils that you can travel with. Choosing to opt out of plastic cutlery when eating out is another way to help the environment.
Tote bags for your groceries or shopping The next time you’re at the grocery store and you’re asked, “Paper or plastic?”, feel free to say paper. For a more reusable option, feel free to purchase a few canvas or hemp bags that you can wash by hand.
These are not only great for groceries, but they can be used for other items like when you’re at a convenience store, shopping for clothes, etc.
In hopes to reduce and reuse, recycling has become apart of my new lifestyle, and it’s been great. Having an understanding of how many plastic bags I would use to bring items from point A to B was absurd.
There are many other ways to be more sustainable, for example, our toothbrushes, kitchen dish sponges, and plastic water bottles.
What are your favorite ways to reduce your plastic consumption? Comment below and let me know!
Wondering what a tostone is? Its slices of unripe, green plantains (like a banana) that are pan fried, smashed, and fried again until crisp. With a sprinkle of Himalayan Pink salt, they can be extremely addictive. A tip that I was told is to dip the tostone in a garlic-water blend before re frying, it adds additional flavor that steps them up a notch! You can pair them with black beans, rice, and avocado slices.
Yield 18
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 green plantains, 1-inch thick slices (Plátanos verdes)
Slice ends and 3 long slices through the skin only. Peel back and slice in 1-inch thick slices.
In a skillet on medium-high heat with oil, pan fry the plantain rounds for 3 minutes or until golden in color. Remove and set on a kitchen towel to drain excess oil.
Using a clean glass, use the bottom to smash the plantains. Re fry in oil until crispy for 1 minute on each side. Remove onto paper towels to drain and sprinkle with salt.
Serve warm with sauce of choice or Puerto Rican-style with a slice of avocado.
Chef’s tip: Take 1 cup water and add 1 Tbsp. minced garlic with juice of 1 lime. Dunk smashed plantains for 5-10 seconds before drying and re frying.
The best bourbon mushroom that’s easy, vegan, and tastes just like you may remember minus the poultry. This bourbon sauce has a deep flavor with hints of apple which is really yummy. Generally I like to enjoy this over a big bowl of fried rice, but you could eat it with white rice or noodles if you’d like. Ready in 20 minutes or less, this may just become your new favorite dish.
In a sauce pot over medium heat, add all sauce ingredients (except cornstarch) and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Once done, mix together cornstarch and remaining water and pour slurry into pot. Simmer until sauce thickens and remove from heat.
Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat with mushrooms, sautéing until lightly brown. Evenly coat with the sauce and cook for 2 minutes.
Serve mushrooms over bed of white rice and garnished with green onions.
Chef’s tip: For a more thick sauce, add extra cornstarch.
Country fried cauliflower steak is the ultimate comfort food to enjoy. Fried to perfection, they are a great non-meat alternative if you’re vegan or looking to try something new. Smothered in a non-dairy country gravy and paired with mashed potatoes and steamed green beans, this dish will be a huge hit! For those of you that are not fond of gravy or are looking to create something else, I got you covered. These cauliflower steaks are great with marinara sauce topped with vegan parmesan cheese, like a cauliflower parm! Its delicious and another way to use this recipe.
In two shallow dishes, combine flour, cornstarch, and seasonings in one, mixing to combine. In the other, add non-dairy milk.
In a pot filled half way with water, bring to boil with a pinch of salt, steam the cauliflower for roughly 4 minutes and drain on a paper towel afterwards. Slice into 4 steaks. Take cauliflower steaks and coat with flour, then into non-dairy milk, and finally flour, removing an excess.
Heat a skillet over medium-high heat with oil to fry. Cook for roughly 3 minutes and flip, cooking for an additional 3 minutes or until golden brown. Remove and drain on paper towels.
Serve gravy over fried cauliflower steaks and garnish with parsley and side of mashed potatoes and green beans.
Chef’s tip: This cauliflower steak is also great for cauliflower parmesan! Just add your favorite tomato sauce and vegan cheese, broil and you’re done!
Quick collard greens are an underrated leafy green vegetable that is a nutritional powerhouse. Dark greens, like collards, provide an important non-dairy source of calcium to our bodies that we don’t get from dairy. These collard greens are inspired by my friend Nancy who introduced me to how good they are! Since collards have a tendency to be more bitter, you can pair this side dish with sweet foods or potato salad. You could even toss some in a tofu scramble, it’s delicious!
In a large saucepan on medium-high heat, sauté onions and cook 3 minutes. Stir in garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Combine the tomatoes, smoked paprika, thyme, and salt in pot and cook 2 minutes. Add collard greens and cook until wilted. Pour in vegetable broth and apple cider vinegar, cover and reduce heat to low, simmering 30 minutes.
Serve warm.
Chef’s tip: For more of a smoky flavor, add a drop or two of smoked flavoring.
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