This casserole is hearty, extremely flavorful, and popular with both vegans and non-vegans.  It also tastes equally delicious hot or cold.

The first step is to prepare the barley.

And strain it!

Gather the ingredients…

And sauté the garlic and onion.

Then add the veggies.

The recipe also calls for shoyu.  What is shoyu and how is it different from soy sauce?  The short answer is that shoyu is natural soy sauce.  Natural soy sauce is made from a combination of soybeans, roasted hard red wheat, sea salt, and water while mass-produced soy sauce is made from chemically produced defatted soybean pulp.  To learn more about the differences between shoyu and soy sauce click on:

http://www.vegkitchen.com/tips/soy-sauce-shoyu-tamari/

When I made this recipe, I used Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, a soy sauce alternative.  Bragg’s Liquid Aminos is a certified Non-GMO, gluten-free, protein concentrate made from soybeans.  It tastes like soy sauce and can be substituted in any recipe.

The bottom line is that you can use soy sauce, Shoyu, or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos in this recipe and achieve great results!

Add the spices…

And you’ve completed the barley layer!

Next up, is the Tahini Dressing.

Blend all of the ingredients in food processor.

Mix 3/4 cup of Tahini Dressing to the barley mixture.  It’s then time to assemble the casserole!  Start with a layer of barley.

Then add a layer of Tahini Dressing.

Then add a second layer of barley.

And a final layer of Tahini Dressing and put the casserole in the oven.

While baking, mouth watering aromas will fill your home.    And after 35 minutes, the Barley Casserole is done!

Dishes like this ensure that I never miss meat.  Dig in and enjoy!

The post My Favorite Holiday Barley Casserole appeared first on The Fussy Fork.

http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2006/12/sweet-potato-casserole-with-pecan.html

I first assembled my ingredients…

And roughly chopped the pecans.

It was then time to roast the sweet potatoes.  I poked them a few times with a fork before putting them in the oven.  I start to monitor the sweet potatoes when the juices begin to bubble out of the holes made by the fork.

It’s also easy to remove the skin of the sweet potato when they’re warm.  Just make sure not to burn your fingers!

I don’t have a potato masher, so I decided to use my electric mixer.

Which quickly made my sweet potatoes smooth!

I added spices, maple syrup, and some sugar.

I greased my pan with coconut oil and poured in the sweet potato mixture.

It was then time to make the top layer of the casserole.

Once the ingredients were mixed, I had a delicious looking topping!

I used my hands to sprinkle the mixture on top of the sweet potato layer.

After 45 minutes in the oven, the casserole was ready!  I admit I had my first taste right when it came out of the oven.

The sweet potato casserole is easier to serve, however, once it has cooled!

The post Vegan Sweet Potato Casserole appeared first on The Fussy Fork.

Gina has a website which focuses on plant based nutrition for athletes (this makes sense since she is a triathlete!).  Gina shares vegan recipes specifically geared towards athletes and maintains a blog.  She also offers services like vegan cooking classes and demos.  To learn more about Gina, check out her website at:

http://theveganlab.com/

The genius of this bread is its simplicity.   Notably absent are the usual warnings about over mixing dough or the dangers of not adding enough yeast.  In this recipe, you just mix the ingredients together, put the dough in a loaf pan, and bake.

This was also the first recipe I ever made using vegan buttermilk.  It turns out veganizing buttermilk is delightfully easy.  It is as simple as combining lemon juice or apple cider vinegar with almond milk.

Next, it was time to gather the dry ingredients in a bowl.

The recipe calls for mashed avocado (ie avocado that is free from lumps). I chose to put the avocado in my food processor and let it do the manual labor for me!  You could, of course, manually mash the avocado with a fork or potato masher.

There are two categories of vegan egg substitutes: (1) commercial products like Ener-G Egg Replacer or Bob’s Redmill Egg Replacer that are available for purchase or (2) home made egg substitutes.

The commercial products come in powder form and are made from things like potato starch and tapioca flour.  In this recipe I used Ener-G Egg Replacer.  1 egg = 1.5 teaspoons Ener-G + 2 tablespoons water.  I prepared this mixture in a separate bowl before combining it with the other ingredients.

Home made egg substitutes made with chia seeds or flax meal also work well in recipes.  1 egg = 1 tablespoon of chia seeds or flax meal + 3 tablespoons water.  It is important to prepare a home made egg substitute in a separate bowl and give it a few minutes to sit, so it can thicken.

It is then time to put all of the ingredients in a bowl…

And mix them together!

Once combined, the dough should be placed in a loaf pan lined with parchment paper.

After 40-45 minutes in the oven, you will have a lovely looking loaf of bread that has a slight green hue from the avocado.  Perhaps, this is also destined to be a St. Patrick’s Day recipe?

The pictures of this bread do not do it justice.  It is unbelievably moist, and the Rosemary gives it a rich savory taste.  This is a bread that can be eaten on its own without toppings or spreads.  It also makes a great accompaniment to soup.

The post Vegan Rosemary Avocado Quick Bread appeared first on The Fussy Fork.

For more information on America’s cheese habits click on:

http://www.today.com/health/we-are-each-eating-23-pounds-cheese-every-year-consumer-8C11256354

So are vegans out of luck?  No way, according to Terces Engelhart, co-owner of the vegan eatery Café Gratitude!  In her cookbook, I am Grateful: Recipes and Lifestyle of Café Gratitude, Engelhart shares some of the recipes used at her restaurants.  (Café Gratitude has locations in Venice, Los Angeles, Santa Cruz, and Berkeley.)  It is one of my favorite cookbooks, purchased immediately after my first meal at Cafe Gratitude.  To learn more about this special restaurant, click on:

http://cafegratitude.com/

The Brazil Nut Parmesan Cheese is nestled in the “Dressings, Sauces, and Toppings” section of the cookbook.  One of the best parts of this recipe is that you only need three ingredients and five minutes to make it!

As the name suggests, the anchor ingredient is the Brazil nut.  This large nut is found in the tropical forests of Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru.  The trees are can grow up to 165 feet tall and are thought to live 500 – 700 years!

Brazil nuts are nutrition powerhouses! They are a good source of fatty acids, vitamin-E, B complex vitamins, and trace minerals like selenium, copper, magnesium, and manganese.  To learn more about Brazil nuts, check out:

http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/brazil-nuts.html

Gathering all of the ingredients into the food processor doesn’t take long!

And after less than a minute, you will have your final product…

Fluffy and flavorful vegan Brazil nut Parmesan cheese.

Sprinkle liberally on just about anything.  Today, I added mine to vegan stir-fry!

The post Vegan Brazil Nut Parmesan Cheese appeared first on The Fussy Fork.

Granola’s sweet taste, crunchy texture, and versatile flavors make it a food for anytime during the day.  I love it as a snack on the run, or a peaceful breakfast at the kitchen table with a newspaper (ok, fine, it’s an US Weekly).  And this recipe goes well with the hemp milk recipe that I posted last week!

Angela Liddon writes an amazing vegan recipe blog called Oh She Glows.  I followed the recipe for her granola as follows:

http://ohsheglows.com/2011/01/04/my-favourite-homemade-granola-to-date/

If you have never made granola, don’t be intimidated.  It’s a forgiving recipe.  It will still taste good even if you add an extra handful of coconut or almonds!

The dry ingredients act as the base.

But you can throw in additional nuts, seeds, or dried fruit – whatever you are in the mood for.  Ms. Liddon suggests dried cranberries, raisins, and pumpkin seeds.  I don’t like raisins, so I ramped up on dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds!

I rounded up all of the wet ingredients…

And heated the wet ingredients, stirring until they combined.

I combined the wet and dry ingredients and mixed them together.

Finally, I spread the mixture on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper or tin foil.  Your work is almost done!  The granola is then baked in the oven at 300 degrees for about 45 minutes.

As the granola begins to bake, your home will smell amazing.  (It’s worth taking a short walk outside, so you can enjoy the effect, upon reentry, at full force.)  To make sure that it bakes evenly, take the tray out of the oven every 15 minutes and stir it.  When the granola is done, let it cool.   Then break it up into pieces and store in an airtight container.

Hungry for more granola?  Me too!  Check back soon for “part two” – another vegan recipe, but VERY different!!

The post Vegan Granola: Part One (of Two) appeared first on The Fussy Fork.

Do you have to give up milk if you are vegan? NO!  Absolutely not.  Non-dairy milks are delicious, and the options are quickly multiplying.  We now see milks made from nuts, grains, beans, and seeds – any of which can bring cereal to life, make oatmeal creamy, or just sit in a tall glass alongside a carob chip cookie waiting to be dunked.

So the question is not whether to try non-dairy milk.  Rather, the real question is WHICH type of non-dairy milk to pick off the shelf.  My current love affair is with hemp milk.  A recent turn of events.  In fact, last year I had only a vague idea that hemp existed and, today, it is a worthy contributor to my credit card debt.

What Are Hemp Seeds?

Hemp seeds come from a variety of Cannabis that has low levels of THC (or none).  In other words, hemp seeds contain THC like poppy seeds contain opium.  Interestingly, cultivating hemp in the United States, even for culinary purposes, is still illegal.  You can drink it, eat it, and wear it, but you better not grow it.  As a result, the United States imports hemp seeds, mostly from Canada.  For more information on hemp seeds, check out:

http://vegetarian.about.com/od/beverage1/a/what-are-hemp-seeds.htm

Why Hemp?

Hemp seeds are nutritionally superior to other seeds because of (1) their fatty acids and (2) their protein make-up.

(1) Hemp’s Fatty Acids:

Health agencies recommend that humans consume foods that have an omega-6/omega-3 ratio of around 4:1.  Western diets, however, typically have an omega-6/omega-3 ratio of 10:1, or more.  In other words, most Americans are ingesting too much omega-6.  This is where hemp seeds can help to balance you out!  The ratio in hemp seeds is about 3:1.  So, even if you feel slightly betrayed reading about ratios on a food blog, at least there is a healthy payoff!

(2) Hemp’s Protein:

Hemp contains all of the essential amino acids – and in an easily digestible form!  For more detailed articles on hemp seed nutrition check out:

How to Make Hemp Milk:

The good news is that it takes less than 5 minutes to make hemp milk!  First, you need the hemp seeds (of course!).

Then it’s on to the sweetener.  The sweetener is an optional ingredient, but I prefer the flavor with it! I used maple syrup in my milk, but you could also use agave.

I also like to add a little vanilla extract to my hemp milk.

Place the hemp seeds, sweetener, vanilla, and water in the blender…

And after less than a minute, you have hemp milk!

For me, this recipe tastes amazing straight out of the blender.  Don’t be afraid to drink a glass right away! And remember to give the milk a brisk stir after it has been sitting in the refrigerator – there aren’t any preservatives or chemicals milk to keep it from separating.

The post Home Made Hemp Milk appeared first on The Fussy Fork.