Kung Pao Chickpea Tacos...

Yesterday I was thinking about a recipe I used to make and love for Kung Pao Chicken Tacos.  I have zero craving for chicken but I thought about how I could make this recipe vegan.  Here is what I came up with:

• 15 ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 5 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce, divided
• dash of cornstarch
• 1 1/2 Tbsp honey
• 1 Tbsp dark sesame oil
• 2 tsp rice vinegar
• 2 tsp sambal oelek (ground fresh chile paste)
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 3 Tbsp coarsely chopped dry-roasted peanuts
• 3/4 cup diagonally sliced celery (about 2 stalks)
• 9 (6 inch) flour tortillas
• 1/3 cup sliced green onions (for Stephen)
• 1/2 medium red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 lime, cut into wedges
• Jasmine rice

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.  
2. In a bowl, mix chickpeas and 3 Tbsp soy sauce.  Marinate at room temperature until oven has heated.  
3. Prepare a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray lightly with non-stick cooking oil.  Place chickpeas on tray, discard extra marinade, bake 20-25 minutes, until outside is crunchy.
4. Make a batch of Jasmine rice, follow bags cooking instructions.
5. In a small pan, combine cornstarch, remaining 2 Tbsp soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, vinegar, and chile paste.  Stir with a whisk until smooth.  Heat on medium until slightly thick, stir in garlic, peanuts, celery.  Remove from heat and add baked chickpeas. 
6. Warm tortillas in microwave, about 30 seconds.
7. Divide chickpea mixture evenly among tortillas.  Top each taco with rice, green onions and bell pepper strips.  Serve with lime wedges.

Recipe by The Vegan Paige

We thought they turned out great.  We all really enjoyed them. My "no star" girl said they were not too spicy, she said she would give them one-two stars on the spicy scale.  

Give it a try for yourself and let me know what you think.

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Cookies...

 Paisley found a recipe online for vegan zucchini chocolate chip cookies.  They are so yummy.  She decided that they needed to be cooked a bit longer then the recipe called for and I agree.  

Thank you Paisley, they were delicious!

Taco Soup Enchiladas...

Tonight (7/6/13) I made my own creation out of a couple of old favorites.  Before I was vegan I made chicken enchiladas with a homemade verde sauce that was amazing.  Paisley has been requesting my enchiladas but I don't allow chicken or eggs in our house so I have been stumped.  This morning I made a fresh batch of my Vegan Taco Soup.  Then I started making my homemade verde sauce.  Then it came to me, why don't I stuff the tortillas with a mixture of refried beans, tofutti sour cream and my vegan taco soup.  I did sprinkle the top with medium cheddar cheese, I know "bad vegan", and voila.  They were sooooo good.  

These are my new signature enchiladas.

Peanut Butter Granola Bars for breakfast...

This morning I made Peanut Butter Granola Bars for breakfast.  I used a recipe from the Everyday Happy Herbivore cookbook (pg. 22-23).  The recipe is for Granola Bars but it has a variation recipe with peanut butter so I tried the variation for fun.

This recipe is quick, easy and only seven ingredients (including the peanut butter) that most everyone will have on hand.

All three of us really liked them.  

Give them a try for yourself and let me know what you think.