This one was on my table in 15 minutes, I kid you not, which is amazing for a salad!
Every time I make this meatless, vegetarian and vegan salad I wonder why I forget how delicious apple butter is! Heads up on this meatless, vegetarian, and vegan recipe - it needs apple butter and dried apples. This is like the Panera salad that I would never have because of the actual chicken involved (so, I think it's like it!), but since it is really tasty and easy to make, there is nothing missing for anyone.
I use plain yogurt for the dressing, but you can do the mayo if you want. You can also use Gardein or chickpeas with equal success. If you can't find dried apples, use a fresh apple, sliced, and add some croutons for added crunch. In addition, those pecans are glazed by the time the dish is ready, so it brings some nice texture there, as well.
My hubs added Follow Your Heart Blue Cheese Dressing, but, for me, the apple butter dressing is just perfect. But he does have a point; apple butter and blue cheese pair well. Your call!
Enjoy!
Speedy Cooking Tips:
Follow the recipe; it is easy and flows appropriately.
You can use frozen Gardein strips or scallopini. Use a lid for the Scallopini if still frozen. The strips do not need a lid.
Fuji Apple Salad
Makes 3-4 servings
easy//moderate (ingredients list kicks it to moderate)
1.Glaze: Whisk the ingredients in a measuring cup and add to a medium or large skillet:
1/2 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon lemon-pepper or Mrs. Dash
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
salt to taste
2.Protein: Heat the Glaze over medium heat. Add and cook until golden brown and the Glaze is absorbed, about 10 to 13 minutes, stirring as needed:
4 Gardein scallopini, sliced or 1 (15-oz) chickpeas, drained
1 cup pecans
3. Dressing: Whisk the ingredients in the same measuring cup:
1/4 cup vegan mayo or plain yogurt
3 tablespoons apple butter
2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
4. Salad: Combine in a large bowl and divide as desired:
8 cups Romaine lettuce, chopped
3 cups kale or spinach, chopped
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
2 cups dried apple slices
1 cup shredded vegan cheese (optional)
5. Serve: Serve the Salad with the Protein and the Dressing.
Treat time! I am sharing a really delicious cupcake recipe with you, but, be warned, it is decadent. It uses a homemade caramel sauce that is to die for, but is best left as an occasional treat.
Caramel Sauce is made by melting sugar and cooking it to a light amber color. The darker the color, the stronger the caramel flavor. Take care that it doesn't reach toffee stage, which is actually burnt sugar.
When the sugar is at the right color, you add milk. I tried making this with high-protein soymilk (one I use to make yogurt with) but it burned the caramel sauce to a crisp, so I recommend using a low-protein milk, such as lower protein soymilk or, better, yet, if you aren't allergic, store-bought almond milk.
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Then you stir and stir until the re-crystallized sugar melts again. Attach a candy thermometer and cook the syrup until it reaches about 228-degrees F. Yes, get a candy thermometer if you will be making candy. The cheaper ones are as low as $5 [AMAZON] or the better ones are below $10 [AMAZON], but I recommend a digital thermometer. This [AMAZON] is the one I use.
The batter is made with tart apples, but you can use whatever you like - I've made them with all kinds of apples. You drizzle the cooled cupcakes with that amazing caramel sauce and serve these treats right away.
Because caramel sauce can be a bit tricky to work with, I've made a video detailing this recipe.
Caramel Apple Cupcakes Makes 6 cupcakes/ 1/4 cup caramel sauce
Caramel: 1 tablespoon vegan butter 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup low-protein nondairy milk (commercial almond milk works well) 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract Cupcakes: 1 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking powder 2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger 1/4 teaspoon sea salt 1/2 cup neutral oil 6 tablespoons aquafaba** 1/3 cup packed brown sugar 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups diced tart apples 2 tablespoons chopped toasted walnuts 1. Caramel: Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the sugar and melt the sugar, stirring as needed to melt as much of the sugar as possible. Cook the sugar only until it is turning a light amber (any longer and the sugar could burn). Remove the pan from the heat and add the milk. The mixture will bubble and foam up. Stir until the crystallized sugar dissolves again, using a sturdy wooden spoon. Take it on and off the heat to facilitate this. 2. When most of the sugar has melted, return the pot to the heat and add a candy thermometer. Cook the caramel, without stirring, until the temperature reaches 228-degrees F. Very gently remove it from the heat and set it aside for a full 15 minutes. This will help prevent it from crystallizing. When it is cool, stir in the vanilla. Chill the caramel to firm up and warm it up to melt it if using from the fridge. 3. Cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350-degrees F. Prepare a 6-tin muffin pan with cupcake liners and oil spray or just oil spray. Combine the flour, baking powder, pumpkin pie spice, ginger and salt in a small bowl. Combine the oil, aquafaba, brown sugar and vanilla in a large bowl. Add the flour mixture and the apples and fold to combine. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin tins and bake the cupcakes until a toothpick inserted in the middle of one comes out clean, about 20 minutes. 4. Cool the cupcakes in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack. Cool the cupcakes completely before adding caramel. Add the caramel and nuts right before serving. ** Although aquafaba is best if homemade using the recipe provided in the book, you can use aquafaba from canned chickpeas. Use the organic, low-sodium, canned chickpeas and strain off the liquid into a measuring cup using a fine mesh strainer. Note the amount of liquid you acquired, then add it to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the liquid reduces by 1/3. Cool the aquafaba completely before using.
Brunch Making one kind of muffin would not be enough for lunch, so I made not only this delectable Banana Chocolate Chip Muffin, but also Vegan Appetite.com 's Tami's Apple Oat Muffins. They looked so good during MoFo that I couldn't pass them up. These happen to be the only oatmeal muffins my kids went for. Not to say they don't like oatmeal, but combining them with something that shouldn't be healthy throws them off a bit, I guess. The Banana Muffins are Kate's favorite ones and they, too, disappeared with just a few crumbs left. Easy to make, with just a few bananas, flour and sugar and you are good to go. The sugar in this recipe is very adaptable, so you can make it using 1c or just 1/4 c to make 12 muffins. Cost Breakdown flour: $2 sugar: $.50 maple syrup: $1 banana: $2 chocolate chips: $1.50 baking powder and soda: $.25 Total to make 24 muffins: $7.25
Dear daughter Kate loves strawberries and she chose to make a dip for some fall fruit.
The dip is really simple, with strawberry preserve, yogurt and Better Than Cream Cheese. Her biggest challenge was cutting the fruit - it kept rolling on her.
We received beautiful pears and apples in our box this past week, so the timing on her dip was great.
Nothing much to cook with this one, but it is on their list of things to make, the Lunch and Snack List.
Flannel Cakes. Hmm. Are they a pancake or a crepe or what? Has more than nine-tenth of the population never heard of these? I haven't. Until I came across a recipe for it and then I went in search. It was difficult for me to find information about this elusive cake; most people just liken them to pancakes, but in fact, as far as I know those facts, Flannel Cakes are lighter, fluffier and thinner than than traditional pancakes. They are supposed to be less dense than their counter-part and therefore less filling.
Now to find a recipe...most call for at least 4 eggs. Now normally I wouldn't even bat an eyelash - just skip 'em! No need for eggs in pancakes. But this made me think. If the cake is to be lighter, sort of halfway between a pancake and a crepe, than I couldn't just ignore the them. I had to replace them with something more than flour.
There is a recipe for Flannel Cakes in Flavors of the Southwest by Robert Oser, but it seemed too dense. BUT, he did use whole wheat bread soaked in milk as an ingredient. It was obvious to me that this would work, at least partly, so I used it for part of the recipe. The rest is flax seed meal and whole wheat flour.
The kids really loved it! It is important to cook these on low heat so they develop a nice crunch and cook all the way through without burning on the outside.
I served them with apples and maple syrup, to stay in the Auterr season.
Cat cooked our meal today. She adores potatoes of any shape and kind, except when her mother mixes it with cauliflower or turnips or something.
In honor of the potato, she made latkes. She doesn't pan-fry them in a bunch of oil; she uses maybe a teaspoon of olive oil just to get some color on them and then bakes them for 10 minutes to make sure the potatoes are cooked. She loves them with ketchup - a fine, fine way of having food of any kind, but she will not snub her nose at the traditional applesauce and Better Than Sour Cream.
She has become quite proficient at making these and they are mightee-fine.
Our lunch on Sundays is lite because our dinner is a family favorite.
W had a warm spinach salad today, inspired by Vegan Planet by Robin Robertson. She adds sweetener to her dressing, but I omitted that because I soaked my walnuts. The pungency that you taste when eating the walnut is tannic acid. If you soak the nuts in filtered water for a few hours to overnight, the tannic acid is rinsed away. It is not only better for you, but it also tastes better.
We added apples, radishes and cherry tomatoes. A toast with a little garlic rubbed on it completed our lite lunch.
Now we are ready to stuff ourselves with Reuben. Kidding. You should never 'stuff' yourself. Bad example for the kids.
The best French Toast recipe we've found so far is in Isa's Vegan With a Vengeance. We topped it with some Caramel Apple Sauce using Granny Smith apples. Yum. Easy brunch meal.
