Joy’s Plant Based Kitchen

Literally a 10 minute prep for my lunch to take to work today - peanut veggie noodles

Work day food. I love watermelon this time of year 🍉 The salad will have a creamy balsamic dressing. My favorite 😋 just combine balsamic vinegar, a small amount of Dijon mustard, a sq**rt of agave and a teaspoon of plain plant yogurt.

I wanted to jump on here and apologize for being MIA lately. I will be posting some good food very soon.

Sourdough discard is what you remove from your starter before you feed it. After a week I have kept it in a separate jar in the refrigerator because I can use it for cooking. So, my first discard recipe is blueberry pancakes!

Thai green curry with crispy tofu 1 block firm tofu
1/2 red or green pepper chopped
1 medium zucchini chopped
1 onion sliced
2 garlic cloves chopped
1 can coconut milk, regular or lite
2 heaping tbsp green curry paste
1 tsp agave or coconut sugar
1 inch piece of long green hot pepper seeds removed, sliced (optional)

Press water from tofu between a paper towel and then slice into cubes. In a non stick pan, add a drop of neutral oil and fry tofu on both sides until browned. Remove from pan and set aside. Place the sliced onions and garlic in the pan on medium heat and sauté adding a tbsp of water if they start to stick. Then add the zucchini and peppers and sauté for about a minute. Next, add the green curry paste and stir to incorporate. Add coconut milk and agave and stir, cooking for another minute. Cover pan until vegetables are cooked but still crisp. Add tofu and serve over some white rice.

🥑 Frozen Avocado...What’s it really like?
I had three ripe avocados that weren’t going to last one more day so I tried the freezing idea. I cut them up and flash froze them...placed on a baking sheet making sure each slice was separated and put in freezer to freeze. Then once frozen, I transferred to a freezer bag.

They look beautiful...how is the texture?
Okay, here’s my result. I took three pieces out of the freezer to defrost. I’m making avocado toast. They took a long time to defrost...like an hour! Once defrosted, they are quite soft. Well, it’s perfect for avocado toast or guacamole or putting in a smoothie...things like that. It is not good if you want to put in a salad or a few chunks on top of chili or something. They are too soft. But there is so much that can be done with the frozen avocado. Avocado bread, avocado salad dressing, avocado hummus and so much more which I will post soon. So give it a try. It’s definitely worth freezing rather than throwing them away from having gotten too soft on your counter 😃

Meatless Sausage Patties
With all the craziness and food shortages going on lately, it got me thinking about what happened in WWII. No, I am not as old as that but I do know some history. During WWII there were food rations and Americans were encouraged to produce their own fruits and vegetables by planting a vegetable garden which became known as Victory Gardens. I’m not saying that we all need to find a crack in the sidewalk and plant our food… There is plenty to go around so don’t worry. But it did get me thinking about foods that were eaten during those times. One in particular that I make is WW2 sausage. There is no meat in this recipe at all. It tastes just like sausage patties and it is wonderful. Give it a try! It only takes a few pantry ingredients.

WWII Sausage Patties (makes 4 patties)
1 cup rolled oats
2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp crushed fennel seeds
2 tsp parsley
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
Pinch of salt and pepper
1/2 tsp red pepper (optional)
2 eggs or 2 tbsp ground flax seeds with 4 tbsp water
2 cups vegetable broth (or 2 cups hot water and 2 tbsp soy sauce)
1-1/2 tbs oil

Bring the vegetable broth or water and soy sauce to a boil and set aside.

If using flax egg: In a small bowl combine flax and water. Mix and set aside. This will be your egg replacer.

In a large bowl combine oats and all the seasonings and mix well. Mix flax mixture into oats and seasoning and combine. Form mixture into small patties. This should make about 4 small patties. *Tip: when making patties, moisten hands with water and squeeze the oat mixture tightly together before pressing into a patty. It will make it easier

In a frying pan, add the oil and fry patties until browned (about 2 minutes) then flip and brown the other side. Pour all the vegetable broth into the pan with the patties and bring to a boil. Once it boils, lower heat and simmer for 20 minutes with the lid on the pan. After 20 minutes, pour out broth and heat the pan to high and quickly fry the patties again to get the outside crispy. No need to add oil to second frying.


Easy meal that may sound weird but it’s oh so good!
PINEAPPLE TACOS
Fresh or canned (packed in water or it’s own juice) pineapple
Sliced red onion
Cilantro
Corn tortillas

Dressing
1/4 cup cashews
1/8 cup water
3-4 tbsp sriracha
Put cashews and water in blender and purée. Add the sriracha and wiz another second to incorporate. This should be a mayonnaise like consistency. If it is too thick add a little more water.

Assemble by heating the corn tortilla in a dry pan. Add some dressing and then some pineapple, red onion and cilantro. That’s it!

Chickpea Tikka Masala

2 cans of chick peas drained and rinsed, 1 can diced tomatoes with juice
1 can lite coconut milk
1 onion diced small
2 cloves garlic minced
2” piece of ginger minced
1 tsp turmeric
1 tbsp each cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, garam masala
1 tsp cayenne pepper or to taste
2 tsp cornstarch

Sauté onion in a little water. Then add garlic and stir around until a little softened. Add all spices to the pan and sauté until fragrant. Add the chick peas and tomatoes with juice in pan and let simmer until juices begin to develop. About 10 min. Then add coconut milk and allow to simmer another 5 min. In a sepRate bowl put 2 tsp cornstarch with 2 tsp. water and mix until dissolved. Add to the chick peas and stir until thickened. You can chop fresh cilantro if you like. Eat over rice or zoodles or cauliflower. Enjoy

I thought it would be prudent to give you a pantry shopping list so that you are prepared and can make some of the yummy recipes that we post and others may post. I'm sure you have some of these in your pantry already, but this is a list to get you ready

Shopping list:
CANNED FOODS
Beans - black, pinto, chick peas, any white bean
Tomatos - diced, crushed, sauce, paste
Coconut milk - full fat or reduced fat
canned or boxed vegetable broth
Jackfruit

DRY GOODS
Lentils (red and green)
Beans (black, pinto, chick peas)
Pasta
Rice
Chia seeds
Quinoa
Flour (All purpose, almond, garbanzo)
Flax seed meal
Oats - Od Fashiond
Nuts - Almond and cashew
Raw seeds (sesame, pumpkin, sunflower, etc)
Dried Fruit (raisens, Cranberry)
Package of sun dried tomatoes
Corn and flour tortillas

JARRED GOODS
Nut butters
Roasted Peppers (in water)
Pickled Jalapino peppers
Salsa

FROZEN
Fruits
Vegetables
Ezekiel Bread

CONDIMENTS and various other items
Agave
Maple Syrup
Mustard
Apple Cider Vinegar and rice wine vinegar
Tahini
Soy or Tamari sauce, coconut aminos , brags liquid aminos
Chii Garlic Sauce (international Section)
Oyster sauce- vegan (international section)
Non Dairy milk
Corn Starch or potato starch

SOME SPECIAL SPICES
Garam Masala
Fennel seeds/crushed
paprika
Tumeric
Coriander

So what is Nutritional Yeast?
Nutritional Yeast, also known as Noosh has a nutty or cheesy flavor. Now some carnivores will say that it doesn’t taste like cheese at all, but vegans, vegetarians and plant based will beg to differ. It is used in many dishes to give it that cheesy umami. 2 Tbsp provide 60 calories with 5 grams of carbs and 4 grams of fiber. It also has 9 grams of protein 😃. This is typically the brand you find in the states at the market but there are many different brands. Try it.

With all the craziness going on in the world and grocery stores in short supply with empty shelves everywhere, it can be comforting to know that you have the fixings for a healthy vegan or plant based meal right in your pantry. Follow along and learn how to prepare these meals without stress and worry. My wish is that you learn something new from this page that you can incorporate into your own cooking for you and your family and that others post their healthy vegan/plant based recipes.

How about some pasta! We all love it, and we can make it healthy right from our pantry.
PASTA WITH RED PEPPER SAUCE
1-1/2 roasted peppers (in water) from jar
1/2 onion sliced
2 cloves garlic roughly minced
2 tsp Italian seasoning (or 1/2 tsp each oregano and basil)
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp red pepper flakes (or to taste)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 cup cashews
1/4 cup vegetable broth

First, cook your pasta according to directions.

while pasta is cooking, turn non stick pan to hot. then lower temp to medium and sautè onion. if it starts to stick, add a splash of water but not too much. We want our onions to simulate being roasted in oven. Add garlic with another splash of water, stirring frequently to avoid burning. Once garlic is a little less raw looking, turn off heat and add to blender with the roasted peppers, Italian seasoning, tomato paste, salt, pepper, nutritional yeast, cashews and vegetable broth. puree until smooth. Place sauce in saucepan and simmer for 5 minutes. If it gets a little thick, you can add a little more vegetable broth or water. Drain pasta and add to sauce, mixing it together.

You can add asparagus pieces as I did in the picture or steamed broccoli, a handful of fresh spinach, freshly steamed string beans or whatever vegetable you have on hand, Also sprinkle fresh chopped parsley on top to give it some freshness.