Vegan Bacon

I have tried many vegan bacon recipes and this is by far the easiest and tastiest one. It is a rendition from The Edgy Veg with a few changes.

Ingredients (serves 2)

• 2 sheets rice paper
• 2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1/2 Tbsp garlic powder
• 4 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp soya sauce or tamari
• 4-5 drops liquid smoke (or more if you want a heavy smokey flavor)
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup
• sprinkle of black pepper

Instructions

1. Heat your oven to 400 degrees C.
2. Line a baking pan with parchment paper.
3. Mix all ingredients listed after the rice paper.
4. Use a basting brush to brush the sauce on one side of the rice paper. Flip and repeat the other side.
5. Take the other rice paper and repeat step 2. Lay the rice paper on top of each other.
6. Using either kitchen scissors or a pizza cutter, cut it into strips.
7. Bake for 6-7 mins., checking to ensure it is not burning. You want it crispy not burnt.
8. Take out of oven and let cool so you can handle and add it to any meal!

One Pot Orzo Soup (Vegan)

As fall is creeping up on us, nothing is more satisfying than a warm and hearty soup. Made using one pot and incorporating Beyond Sausage, it is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 red pepper, diced
• 1 small white or red onion, diced
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 2-3 celery stalks, diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 3 vegetable chicken bouillon cubes
• 6 cups of water
• 1 cup of orzo
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 Beyond Sausage, casings removed
• 1 cup of spinach (I used a package of frozen spinach)
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp dried thyme
• salt & pepper
• juice from half a lemon
• fresh parsley

Instructions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a stock pot. Once hot, add the red pepper, carrot, onion, and celery until soft. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Add the minced garlic, oregano, and thyme and cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring often so the garlic doesn’t burn.
3. Remove the vegetable mixture to a side plate. Add the Beyond Sausage over medium heat and use a spatula to break it up into small bite size pieces.
4. Once the sausage is cooked, remove it and add it to the vegetable mixture.
5. Heat up 6 cups of water and add in the bouillon cubes. Stir to dissolve. Add back the vegetable mixture and cooked sausage and add the bay leaves.
6. Add the orzo to the pot, making note how long it takes to cook.
7. Once the orzo is almost cooked, feel free to add more oregano and thyme. Add in the spinach. If the spinach is still frozen, place in a microwaveable bowl, add 1 tbsp of water and microwave for 5 mins. This will remove most of the water from being frozen. Add it to the pot.
8. Remove the bay leaves and dish out the soup. Finish with a drizzle of lemon juice and fresh parsley.

Serve with bread and enjoy.

Pink Oyster Mushroom Gnocchi (Vegan)

This dish is packed full of earthy flavours that will sure to please everyone and is easy to make.

Ingredients**:

• pink oyster mushroom
• package of gnocchi
• 1-2 cloves garlic
• juice of half a lemon
• olive oil
• 1/4 c vegetable stock
• 1/4 c vegan oat milk
• 1/4 red pepper
• 1 teaspoon each of dried thyme, oregano and parsley

Instructions:

1. Cook the gnocchi according to the package
2. While the gnocchi is cooking, finely chop the garlic, and dice the red pepper. Rough chop the mushrooms as it will decrease in size as it cooks.
3. Heat up a frying pan over medium heat with olive oil and fry the pink oysters and red pepper until soft. Add the garlic and continue cooking for a few more minutes (careful not to burn the garlic).
4. Add a quarter cup of vegetable stock and add in the herbs (thyme, oregano, parsley).
5. Once the stock has been almost absorbed, add the oat milk to thicken it up a bit. Once the oat milk has been combined, drizzle mixture with the lemon juice.
6. Toss in the gnocchi and stir to combine the flavours.
7. Garnish with chopped chives and fresh parsley if desired.

**Note: I didn’t measure anything so these measurements are approximations.

Vegan Tunah Pasta

I recently discovered Vegan Tunah and am addicted to it. While processed vegan food is not 100% healthy, this is not bad to have once in a while. You have to like tuna as this smells and tastes exactly like tuna.

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• one can of Vegan Tunah
• 1-2 tbsp vegan sour cream
• zest and juice of half a lemon
• vegetable stock (optional)
• one small white onion finely diced
• 1-2 gloves of garlic minced
• handful of parsley chopped
• pasta of your choice, I used penne
• black pepper

Bring a pot of water to a boil and cook the pasta according to the directions.

While the pasta is cooking, drizzle a bit of olive oil into a frying pan over medium heat. Cook the onions until soft, approx. 3-4 mins. Add the minced garlic and cook for an additional 2-3 mins.

Add a tablespoon of vegan sour cream and stir it until it becomes creamy. Add more sour cream if you want it to be creamier. If you add too much sour cream, add a bit of vegetable stock to thin it out to your preference. Once everything is combined, add in the vegan tuna, breaking it up as you incorporate it into the sauce. *Note: the vegan tuna is packed in a lot of oil so if you aren’t a fan of oil, I suggest draining it prior to adding it. Add the lemon zest and juice.

Add the pasta to the sauce and stir to combine. Serve with chopped parsley and black pepper. Enjoy!

Vegan Orecchiette with Broccoli pesto and sausage

This is an easy to make meal and full of flavor.

Ingredients:

Broccoli Pesto

• 1 crown of broccoli, stalks trimmed
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 2 garlic cloves minced

Other ingredients

• Orecchiette pasta or a pasta of your preference
• olive oil
• 2 Beyond Sausage, casings removed
• 1/2 white onion sliced and halved
• 1-2 tomatoes diced
• Cultured Nut mozzarella

Bring a pot of water to a boil and boil the broccoli for 3 mins. Once done, transfer to a blender with the rest of the pesto ingredients. You can use the same water to boil the pasta per package directions.

While the pasta is cooking, heat up the olive oil over medium heat and fry the onions for about 2-3 mins. Add in the sausage and break up into a crumble. Add in the diced tomatoes. Add in the pasta once it is cooked. Top with Cultured Nut mozzarella and a drizzle of olive oil. Feel free to add chilli flakes or additional nutritional yeast as topping. Enjoy!