Vegan Festive Menu

Vegan Festive Lunch Menu:

Serves 6

STARTER:
Butternut Squash Soup

MAIN COURSE:
Tasty Falafal
Stuffed Peppers
Tofu Spinach Cannelloni
Quinoa salad

DESSERT:
Tofu Chocolate pudding
Raw vegan "Cheesecake"

Butternut Squash Soup:

Ingredients:
1 medium Butternut squash, peeled and diced
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
Olive oil
Sea salt
Ground black pepper or lemon pepper
Dried or fresh Italian herbs (I use fresh basil, oregano, parsley and spring onions)
Parsley for garnish.

Boil butternut squash and drain water into a separate cup or bowl. When soft remove from heat and place in a blender or vitamix.
Stir fry onions and garlic in olive oil
Add salt, pepper and Italian seasoning
Add this to the butternut squash in the blender, blend until creamy and slowly add little bits of the saved water until the preferred consistency is reached, then reheat on stove top just before serving.

Garnish with a sprig of parsley.

Guaranteed to be a hit with your guests!

Tasty Falafal:

Ingredients:
1 can chick peas (garbanzo beans) (blended smooth  in blender or vitamix)
1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon ginger
1 cup finely chopped broccoli
1 finely chopped zucchini
1/2 finely chopped eggplant
salt
ground black pepper
1/2 cup Fresh herbs ~ basil, oregano, parsley, rosemary, spring onions, all finely chopped
(Optional extra for a spicy kick ~ 1 red hot chili pepper)
2 Tbsp olive oil

Stir fry all the veggie ingredients and add to blended garbanzo beans.
To make into balls add:
 2 Tbsp Egg Replacer (mixed with enough water separately to resemble beaten egg whites)
2 Tbsp organic Spelt flour (or any flour of your choice)

Dip the golf size balls of mixture into additional flour, just enough to coat them and deep fry in oil of your choice. Apparently canola oil or coconut oil is the best option for deep frying.
Place on a paper towel afterwards to drain oil residue off the falafal balls and serve.

Stuffed Peppers:

1 Red Bell Pepper
1 Yellow Bell Pepper
1 Orange Bell pepper
1 pack of Ground Veggie Mince or 1 cup dried TVP (reconstituted with 1 cup water)
1 red onion
2 cloves garlic
1 eggplant finely chopped
1 large carrot finely chopped
1 large tomato finely chopped
1 cup mushrooms finely chopped
1/2 cup fresh herbs finely chopped ( garlic chives, rosemary, basil, oregano, parsley and whatever else tickles your fancy)
Sea salt, Black pepper
1 tbsp Braggs amino acids ( or soy sauce)
2 tbsp olive oil

Cut the peppers in halves and scoop out the seeds, place on a baking tray
Stir fry the other ingredients and then scoop the mixture into the peppers
Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes to soften the peppers slightly
Serve with garnish of your choice
Optional extra : add a dab of Veganaise on the top of the stuffed peer as a tasty garnish.

These are absolutely satisfying and scrumptious!

Tofu Spinach Cannelloni:

Ingredients

• 12 cannelloni/manicotti noodles, cooked el dente
• 1 16 oz. jar of your favorite pasta sauce
• 2 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 1o oz. package of frozen spinach, thawed and chopped – or 1 bag of fresh baby spinach, chopped
• 16 oz. firm or silken tofu
• ½ cup soaked cashews, drained and finely ground (optional)
• ¼ cup shredded carrots (optional)
• 2 tbsp. lemon juice
• 2 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp.sea salt
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• Shredded vegan cheese (optional)

Instructions

1.  Saute the onions in the oil until translucent. Stir in the spinach and turn off the heat.
2. In a bowl, mix the tofu, cashews (if using), carrots, lemon juice, garlic, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper.
3. Add the spinach-onion mixture to the tofu mixture and stir until well-mixed.
4. Preheat oven to 350F. Pour a thin layer of pasta sauce on the bottom of a 9×13″ pan.
5. Fill each cooked shell with filling using a small spoon. Line the filled shells up in the pan and cover with the rest of the pasta sauce.
6. Cover the pan with foil to keep the shells from drying out.
7. Bake for about 30 minutes,or until bubbling.
8. If adding vegan cheese, sprinkle it on top for the final 2 minutes in the oven.

Quinoa Salad:

Ingredients:
1 cup quinoa (precooked)
1 tomato chopped
1 cucumber chopped
6 dark green or red lettuce leaves rolled and chopped
6 calamata olives chopped
1/2 cup of sprouts
1/2 cup fresh herbs of your choice chopped (I always use a combination of rosemary, oregano, basil, parsley and chives)

Add ingredients together in a bowl, toss and serve with optional balsamic vinegar or Goddess Dressing.

Tofu Chocolate Pudding:

Ingredients:
2 tubs of Silken Tofu (firm) in the vacuum sealed packs
2 bars of Dark Chocolate
2 teaspoons of vanilla essence
1cup of 100% choice grade Maple Syrup

Blend together in a blender or vitamix and place in refrigerator to thicken.

This is healthy death by chocolate....UNBELIEVABLY good!

Raw Vegan "Cheesecake":

Crust ingredients:

1 1/2 cups macadamia nuts (or a combination of walnuts and macadamia nuts)
1/2 cup dates
1/4 cup dried, unsweetened coconut
1 pinch sea salt

White cheesecake filling ingredients:

3 cups cashews
1 large lemon juiced
3/4 cup agave or honey
1/4 cup coconut oil
1 tablespoon vanilla
Up to a 1/4 cup of water, if necessary to facilitate blending

Fruit topping ingredients:

2 cups frozen strawberries

Preparation:

1. Add the macadamia nuts, salt and dates into your blender/vitamix until creamy.
2. Next, get our your cheesecake pan and sprinkle the coconut on the bottom as your very first layer. Press the macadamia nuts and date mixture down into the pan to form the crust.
3. Place filling ingredients into your vitamix/ blender and blend! Add as little water as necessary to facilitate blending. (Try to add as little water as possible.) Pour mixture on top of crust.
4. Place the above in freezer for an hour to set.
5.Place strawberries in blender separately. Blend until smooth and pour this mixture on top of the crust/cream cheese, which was just in the freezer for about an hour. Replace the raw cheesecake recipe back in freezer. Freeze until the "cheesecake" reaches the desired consistency (approx 5 hours)
6. Defrost this raw cheesecake recipe for about a half-hour before eating