Lunch: Huge Quinoa Stir Fry with tomatoes, avocados, mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, string beans, onions, garlic and peppers topped with sriracha for a spicy kick!

Lunch: Hobakjuk minus the rice cakes (Korean Pumpkin/Squash Porridge) with Kimchi and Kongnamul Muchim as my side dishes! 

A very yummy and light Korean themed lunch!

Breakfast/Lunch: Gluten Free Steel Cut Oats with Frozen Strawberries, a sprinkle of Flax Meal and Cinnamon topped off with a splash of Unsweetened Organic Almond Milk.

Update on New Recipes
I have ordered some natural sweeteners which I'm waiting to come in the mail so as soon as they come new recipes will be up! I'm still debating the use of coconut sugar. I'm also ordering a bunch of other goodies like coconut oil, unsweetened coconut, some all natural beauty products, some puffed grains along with oats, seeds and nuts to make a bulk gluten free/vegan/sugar free cereal because I cannot find a good pre-packaged one. I'm not going completely gluten free so there will be wheat recipes in the future, I just wanted to take a break from flour and wheat for a while.

Great things to come in the near future!

Baked Onion Rings!

I know this isn't a sweet recipe but more of those will be coming soon! It’s so much easier to add savory recipes because you can take things you eat on a daily basis but for sweets it’s not like you’re going to eat them all in one day! I’ll have tons of them coming up though and if there’s anything you’d like to request go right ahead. (:

- Alexis ♥

Oven Baked Onion Rings

• 1 – 2 large white onions, sliced thickly (this is important)
• 1 ½ cups Vegan breadcrumbs
• 1 cup Vegan Buttermilk (recipe below)
• ¾ cup flour (you can replace this with a gluten free flour)
• 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
• 2 tablespoons flax seeds
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• ½  teaspoon pepper

Directions

Pre-heat your oven to 425°F

For the buttermilk, mix ¾ cup of non-dairy milk with a tablespoon of lemon or lime juice or vinegar and let it sit until it becomes frothy (5-10 minutes).

Make sure to slice your onions thickly and set them aside.

After waiting for the buttermilk, mix that with the flour until well incorporated. Have the breadcrumbs and seasonings ready as well and set up a station on your counter of the flour, breadcrumbs and chopped onions.

Dunk the onions into the buttermilk and shake off any excess before putting in the breadcrumbs. Coat the onions well but don’t overdo it because you won’t be able to taste the onion afterwards if you do. 

When you’re done with all of your onions, bake them for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on both sides.

To achieve a golden brown on both sides flip them halfway through the baking time.

Watch them closely, because they tend to brown quickly.

  

Indian Samosa Burgers with Avocado "Chutney" !

This past summer I traveled to Costa Rica to study for a month and I wanted to share some pictures of my travels with you guys! They are extremely vegan friendly there!  During my studies, I was assigned to stay with a host family which I was nervous about because I didn't know whether or not they would understand my food preferences but they turned out to be the most amazing people! They went out of their way to make me an endless variety of vegan meals and the food was AMAZING. The fruit in Costa Rica, especially the pineapple and mango (which are my favorites!) were the best I have ever had and made up most of every meal people eat there! Every restaurant that I went to had some form of vegan or vegetarian food and there were even a couple of vegan/vegetarian restaurants near my school in Heredia.

The culture there is so peaceful and relaxing and they really live up to their title of “Happiest Country  in the World!” The local saying “Pura Vida” which means in some way a relaxed life and the people of Costa Rica really represent that. Coming from NYC, I’m used the constant fast paced way of life so slipping into the Costa Rican mindset was so relaxing and worry free! I miss the amazing fresh fruit and the carefree way of life. If you’re a vegan planning to go on vacation, I recommend Costa Rica 100%!

- Alexis

Indian Samosa Burgers

• 2 small Potatoes
• ¼ - ½ cup Ground flaxseed
• ¼ cup Grated Carrots
• ¼ cup Frozen Peas
• Half of an Onion, chopped
• 2 cloves of Garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons whole flax seeds
• 1 teaspoon Garam Masala (my version below) or to taste
• ½ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper or to taste
• Salt to taste

Directions

Boil peas ahead of time and set aside.

Grate carrots in a food processor and set aside.

Peel potatoes, chop into 1 inch chunks and boil in a small pot until a fork can pierce them but not until mushy.  Put potatoes and grated carrots into a food processor and process until smooth, if you like yours chunky just process less.

In a big bowl, mix together potato and carrot “dough” with the onion, garlic, ground flaxseed, whole flaxseeds and spices and then gently fold in the cooked peas so you don’t break them up.

Form the dough into patties and lightly fry them over medium-low heat until golden brown on both sides. If not eating right away, store cooked veggie burgers in an airtight container and freeze until ready to use.

Garam Masala

• 1 tablespoon Cumin
• ½ tablespoon ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 2 teaspoons ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¾ teaspoon ground bay leaves
• ½ teaspoon cloves
• ½ teaspoon nutmeg

Directions

Mix together all spices and put into an airtight container.

 Avocado Chutney

• 1 Avocado, mashed
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Half of an onion, chopped
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• ½ tablespoon mustard
• 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon Cayenne Pepper

Directions

Mix together the avocado, vinegar, mustard and cayenne pepper and set aside.

Sauté onions and garlic in the olive oil until translucent and tender and mix together with the avocado paste.

Put in an airtight container and refrigerate.

Vegan Yucca Burgers with Cuban Mojo Sauce!

Hey guys,

I have another savory recipe for you - Vegan Yucca Burgers with a Cuban Mojo Sauce! I've been exploring a lot of vegan Latin recipes and cooking a lot of Cuban food and I got inspired by Yucca fries. I decided to try out a veggie burger with it and it came out better than I expected! If you've never had yucca before the taste is similar to potatoes and can be used to substitute them. It might look intimidating when you look at it but just give it a try!

Thanks,
Alexis

YUMMY YUCCA BURGERS

• 1 small Yucca Root
• ½ cup quick cooking oats, grinded in the food processor
• ¼ cup flax seeds
• ½ cup green pepper, chopped
• ¼ of an onion, chopped
• ½ of a lime, juiced
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 – 1 ½ tsp cumin
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil plus more for frying
• ½ tsp poultry seasoning
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp liquid smoke
• ½ tsp oregano
• ½ tsp basil

DIRECTIONS

In a food processor, add the oats and half of the flax seeds and process until they become flour and then place in a bowl and set aside.

Cut and peel yucca (if you’re confused about how to do this, here’s a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcS7XyRPDXg) and slice into halves length wise and place in a pot with enough water to cover and boil it until tender, your fork should be able to easily pierce it. After cooking, remove the fibrous stem from the center and cut into small chucks so it will be easier to process. Place your garlic, onion, yucca and 1 teaspoon of olive oil in your food processor and process until it comes together. It will be very sticky so don’t worry too much about that. Put your processed yucca in a bowl and add in your lime, chopped green pepper, spices and mix together. After fully incorporating, add in your oat and flax seed mix into the yucca mixture a tablespoon at a time until you its well incorporated, it will be sticky dough. The yucca holds together really well on its own so I only used about three to four tablespoons of the flour.

Heat your pan on medium to low with two tablespoons of olive oil.

Add your whole flax seeds to your leftover oat and flax flour. Coat your hands in a little oil and form patties with the yucca dough and then coat them lightly in the leftover oat and flax flour to create a nice crust when frying. Fry them for 5 – 7 minutes on each side or until golden brown (this time depends on your stove).

I served this the first night with caramelized onions and Cuban Mojo sauce.

CUBAN MOJO SAUCE

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• ¼ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• ½ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp pepper

DIRECTIONS

Mix everything together in a bowl and let sit for at least a half an hour so the flavors can meld together and that’s it!

Happy New Year!

Welcome to the very first post of Sugar Coated Vegan!

I've been thinking about starting a food blog for a very long time and I finally decided to take the plunge and try it out! Although this blog will most likely be based heavily on vegan desserts - my first post is actual one of my favorite dinner recipes; Baked Ziti. I'm Italian so you know we love our cheese but I can say you don't miss it at all here. The cashew ricotta tastes just as creamy as dairy ricotta and it is phenomenal! I was actually super impressed with the taste after I made this and I think it would taste even better with some fresh veggies mixed in as well. You could also add your favorite vegan mozzarella cheese to make this dish even cheesier. Feel free to experiment and let me know how it turns out!

All the best,
Alexis

Vegan Baked Ziti

• 1 lb. of your favorite Ziti Pasta
• 3 cups of Tomato sauce (or less depending on your preferences)
• A handful of breadcrumbs to sprinkle over the top (Nutritional Yeast would taste good as well but I don’t really use it so just breadcrumbs for me!)
• Some spray oil or olive oil to coat your baking dish with.

For the cashew ricotta:

While preparing the cashew ricotta, preheat your oven to 350° F.

• 1 ½ cups soaked raw unsalted cashews* (I did a quick soak of two hours with semi-warm water but you should soak them over night. The water should at least cover the cashews because they will plump up while they’re soaking. )
• ¾ cup lemon juice (Mine tasted super lemony in the beginning but when it’s all combined you can barely taste it.)
• ½ tablespoon of Italian Seasoning
• ½ tablespoon of Basil (I’m sure fresh Basil would be amazing in this for a little hint of freshness!)
• ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
• A pinch of paprika
• Two garlic cloves minced
• 2 tablespoons of water or more (If you feel the mixture is too thick, add a tablespoon at a time until you get the consistency that you want.)

* If you can’t find raw unsalted cashews you can substitute with roasted unsalted cashews but the raw ones are definitely better.

I processed this all in the food processor until it became a very creamy consistency with no chunks of nuts leftover. I didn't keep count but mine took at least five minutes.

After you’re done preparing all of your ingredients, combine the cashew ricotta, pasta and sauce in a bowl and mix until it’s completely mixed. I added the whole amount of the ricotta to my dish but if you want less that would work as well. After it’s all combined, transfer it to your  oiled baking dish, cover and bake for 25 to 30 minutes (depending on your oven) until it’s heated through completely and then uncover and bake for an additional 5 – 7 minutes until the breadcrumbs become golden brown. If your breadcrumb topping doesn't seem to be browning drizzle or spray a bit of oil over the top to help it along.