Month: July 2022

I have been blogging a lot of recipes that are either a frozen treat or no cooking is involved because if you are like me in these dog days of summer the last thing you want is something that heats you up more than you already are.

I went out to breakfast with my daughter recently and noticed chicken salad was a new item on the menu, we both are vegetarians but talked about how much we missed having this old classic sandwich or a scoop on a chef salad. I have made a chickpea salad and it is good, but their great picture of the chicken salad got me wanting a new way to eat an old classic but without the meat.

This is a great alternative to the classic dish, and it has some great health benefits, plus you can swap out ingredients or add ones you like in your chicken salad.

Vegetarian Tofu Salad:

Serves: 3 (approx. 1 cup each)
Total Time: 15 min. Prep Time: 15 min. Cooking Time: None

1 lb. firm tofu, drained, patted dry
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup diced bell pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 cup sliced green onion
3 tablespoon mayonnaise
3 tablespoon plain Greek yogurt
2 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
1 1/2 tablespoon finely chopped fresh dill (or 1½ tsp. dry dill)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Pink Himalayan salt and ground black pepper per taste

Transfer tofu from towel to a large mixing bowl. Add celery, bell pepper, red onion, green onion, mayonnaise, yogurt, mustard, dill, lemon juice, salt, and
pepper to tofu; toss to combine. Refrigerate leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days.
(Any plain, unsweetened vegan yogurt will work here too like coconut, almond, or soy.)

I think it is safe to say that during summer we are all looking for some taste treats to cool us down. I made these ones with my grandson, so you know not only are they easy to do but less sugar than some that you can buy. Plus, the freezer does most the work.

This first recipe is lemon Italian ice, it’s refreshing without a lot of sugar, and this is a great option if you don’t eat ice-cream. Not a fan of lemon but want to still try this recipe try lime, grapefruit or watermelon. just replace the lemon juice with desired juice of any fresh fruit that you prefer.

Lemon Italian Ice:

2 cups of water

1/4 cup of raw sugar

1 tablespoon lemon zest

1/4 cup of lemon juice

In a medium saucepan on medium to high heat add water and sugar. Stirring until sugar is melted, add lemon zest then let infuse for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes pour mixture over cheese cloth or very small strainer to remove the lemon zest from water and sugar mixture, if you don’t mind the zest skip this and just add lemon juice after the 20-minute cool down mix together then pour in 11×9 pan. (If you don’t have this size then just one that you have is fine but remember this is going in the freezer and the bigger the pan the faster it freezes) Place pan in freezer for about an hour then remove, place pan on counter and using a fork rake the mixture, then place back into the freezer. You will want to do this raking step every half hour after until mixture looks like an “ICE”/ Italian ice. Then serve in small bowls and enjoy.

Now this next teat may even temp those that don’t like bananas, I am not a big fan of frozen bananas, but this tasty treat not only is sweet but a nice healthy treat I found on Pinterest, and this is defiantly not a fail thanks to Avocodo_skillet. (If you want to check them out, they have some really great video recipes to watch and even try.

Banana Twix:

First:

Vegan caramel:

1/4 cup almond butter

2 tablespoons warm melted coconut oil

2 tablespoons maple syrup

1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla

In a bowl mix all the above ingredients until smooth.

Rest of ingredients:

Dark Chocolate (melted)

Pink Himalayan salt

Ripe Bananas cut length ways in half then then you’ll need to cut those in half, so you end up with four pieces from one banana. (You may use as many bananas as you want)

Melt dark or milk chocolate in a small pan on medium heat or may use microwave. When I melted my dark chocolate, I also put a few drops of cinnamon essential oils in for a twist, plus for those in my family that haven’t jumped on the whole dark chocolate bandwagon I did some with milk chocolate.

With the cut-up bananas spread the vegan caramel on the 1/4 pieces of banana, drizzle (or if you like it heavier pour a light coat of melted chocolate, sprinkle with salt. Place in freezer for 1-2 hours.

Eat and enjoy!