gluten free – Instant Veg

Mashed Potatoes

Shannon — Wed, 08 Sep 2021 14:35:35 +0000

The Best Vegan Mashed Potatoes

A simple & classic recipe for dairy-free mashed potatoes. You won't believe how delicious they are!

Course Side Dish, Vegan Holiday Recipes

Cuisine American

Keyword dairy free mashed potatoes, vegan mashed potatoes, vegan potatoes

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 20 minutes

Servings servings

Calories 141kcal

Author Shannon Hakala

Ingredients

2 russet potatoes
2 Tbsp vegan butter
½ cup oat milk
¼ tsp salt
1 pinch pepper

Instructions

Peel and cut the potatoes into 1" size pieces. Place them in a saucepan and add just enough water to cover the potatoes.
Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Let the potatoes boil about 10 minutes, checking every few minutes for doneness. Potatoes are done when a fork can be inserted easily. Do not overcook!
Drain the water from the pot, and add the butter. Use a masher to squash the potatoes thoroughly. Add half the oat milk and the salt and pepper, mash it in. Mash in the last half of the oat milk, and the potatoes are done.

Video

Notes

Serve potatoes with extra vegan butter, vegan gravy, chopped green onion, or whatever you like!

Nutrition

The post Mashed Potatoes appeared first on Instant Veg.

How To Make The Best Oatmeal (vegan)

Shannon — Wed, 09 Jun 2021 17:46:34 +0000

Oatmeal is such a healthy and wholesome breakfast, and it’s so cheap. But lots of people don’t know how to make it properly. Let me show you how easy it actually is to make absolutely perfect oatmeal on the stovetop, every time!

Before I knew how to properly cook oats, are used to make them in all kinds of weird ways. I would put them in a bowl and pour boiling water over them, and just wait for them to absorb the water. The result of this is something not terribly far from wallpaper paste.

Next I tried putting them in a pot, adding water to the pot, bringing the whole thing to a vigorous boil, and stirring until all of the water was absorbed. Again the result of this is a glumpy mixture with no texture. “Mush.”

Finally I learned the proper way to cook oatmeal – the answer was found in a 19th century housekeeping book, which stated that when cooking oatmeal it is absolutely essential not to disturb the oats while they are cooking. What you want is to preserve the form of the individual cooked oats. They become very delicate when cooked, but if you don’t disturb them you will have a nicer texture and flavor.

Expert Tips On Making Oatmeal

In order to make a proper pot of oatmeal, first of all you’re going to need a pot. The type of pot that I recommend using is a small sauce pan with a lid. I use a stainless steel 3-quart covered saucepan made by Revere. These pots perform extremely well, clean easily, and last forever!

Will this work with quick oats? Steel cut oats?

Quick oats will work for this recipe as written. For steel cut oats, add the oats, water, and salt to the pot. Cover with a lid and let sit overnight (on the counter or in the fridge as you prefer). The next morning, proceed with the recipe.

Can I make this ahead of time?

You can prepare the oats, water, and salt in the pot and let it sit overnight before cooking.

How To Make Perfect Oatmeal On The Stove

Oatmeal is a healthy, budget-friendly breakfast, perfect for anyone including vegans. Here's how to make it perfectly on the stovetop, every time.

Course Breakfast, Vegan Breakfast Recipes

Cuisine American, European

Keyword how to make oatmeal, how to make oatmeal good, stovetop oatmeal

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes

Total Time 10 minutes

Servings

Calories 153kcal

Author Shannon Hakala

Equipment

saucepan with lid

Ingredients

1 cup rolled oats
2 cups water
¼ tsp salt

Instructions

Add the oats, water, and salt to the pot. Gently swirl the pot to dissolve the salt.
Set the pot on the stove and turn the heat up to medium-high. Place the lid on the pot.
Listen carefully so you hear when the water in the pot starts to bubble. You can peek inside to confirm when it is bubbling. Once it bubbles, put the lid on the pot and turn the heat off, leaving the pot where it is. Do not stir the oatmeal even once or it will become gummy!
After 3-5 minutes, the water will be absorbed by the oatmeal and the oats will be ready to eat. Carefully scoop the oatmeal into bowls, trying not to stir them up too much. They are extremely sensitive and don't like to be flustered with too much.
Top your oatmeal with a pat of vegan butter and add additional toppings if desired.

Notes

Oatmeal Topping Ideas:

vegan butter + cinnamon sugar
vegan butter + berries
oat cream + berries
peanut butter (adds protein)
almond butter (adds protein)
vegan butter + diced apples (try cooking the apples with the oats!)
vegan butter + brown sugar (my personal favorite)
ground flax seeds (adds fiber)
chia seeds (adds protein)

Nutrition

The post How To Make The Best Oatmeal (vegan) appeared first on Instant Veg.

How To Make Delicious Almond Milk

Shannon — Sat, 22 May 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Making almond milk at home is so easy, you’ll probably never want to buy it again. In this post I’ll show you how you can quickly make some delicious almond milk at home without any peeling.

For this recipe, you will need some equipment:

A blender, preferably a high-speed one
A nut milk bag, also called a juice bag.

The nut milk bags I use are extremely durable and work perfectly for making dairy-free milk alternatives such as this almond milk. I have been using the same ones for a few years now and haven’t had any problems with them breaking. If you take good care of your nut milk bags (don’t wring them in the same direction every time and always wash and hang to dry immediately after use) they should be a good investment towards a healthier diet.

My nut milk bag!

For the almonds, they should be raw almonds – not roasted and salted. I get raw almonds from Aldi and they aren’t terribly expensive. You can also order them in bulk online.

I recommend soaking your almonds in water for about 8 hours or overnight. I usually soak mine in the fridge.

If you don’t have time to soak the almonds, you can pour boiling water over them and soak for about 5 minutes. Either way works!

Once you have soaked your almonds, you are ready to start making almond milk! Just add the almonds to your blender and add water, and blend until very smooth. Remember, you don’t have to do any peeling off of the almonds skins. The nut milk bag will take care of them.

When your almonds are blended silky smooth and you see only very tiny pieces of the brown skins left, you’re ready to strain it. Place your nut milk bag over a bowl as shown below, then pour in your blended almonds and start squeezing.

Of course, make sure you wash your hands very well before you start straining the bag. Almond milk is very easily contaminated so wash those hands well first.

Almond Milk

Make fresh, delicious almond milk at home! Just blend and strain, no peeling required.

Course Drinks, Vegan Basics

Cuisine American

Keyword almond milk, how to make almond milk

Prep Time 8 hours

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 8 hours 15 minutes

Servings cups

Calories 206kcal

Author Shannon Hakala

Ingredients

1 cup almonds soaked 8 hours or overnight
3 cups water
pinch of salt optional

Instructions

Blend almonds and water in high-speed until smooth (about 1 minute).
Pour mixture into nut milk bag and gently squeeze to extract all the liquid.
Store almond milk in air-tight container for up to 7 days.

Video

Nutrition

The post How To Make Delicious Almond Milk appeared first on Instant Veg.

Vegan Taco Meat Made From Chickpeas

Shannon — Thu, 22 Apr 2021 14:47:00 +0000

This soy-free vegan taco meat is so delicious and easy. Mild chickpeas easily absorb the flavors of the spices and seasonings. You can make this recipe compliant with a whole foods plant based diet by omitting the olive oil.

I keep posting so many chickpea recipes lately but I can’t help it! They’re extremely versatile, and I feel like I’ve just discovered so many new ways to use them. So I hope ya don’t mind me sharing yet another garbanzo bean recipe (did you know, chickpeas are known by a lot of names?).

So this time it’s chickpea taco meat. We’ve tried so many different ways to make taco meat without beef, and this is one of my favorites so far. Let me tell you why.

Typical ways to replace beef in a recipe in order to make it vegan tend to include ingredients made from soy. There are store-bought vegan taco crumbles, vegan sofritas made from tofu, vegan taco meat made from TVP (which is dried soy). You catch my drift? It’s always soy.

This Vegan Taco Meat is Soy Free

I like soy and I especially love tofu, but it can be difficult to find, even for me living in a large urban area. And some people can’t eat it due to allergies. So I wanted to try making it from chickpeas to see if it could be a good vegan taco meat alternative.

I am really happy with the way this recipe turned out – everyone who has tried it says it’s delicious, even the kids. The chickpeas have a bit more texture that’s nice because they’re not total mush in the tacos.

It’s Lower Sodium, too

I’ve been trying to use less salt lately so that I can hopefully avoid giving myself blood pressure problems later on. Since the canned chickpeas are already a little salty, I find I don’t need to add any. You can add in a little sprinkle if you prefer, of course!

Chickpea Taco Meat

A vegan taco meat option that's allergy friendly and WFPB if you omit olive oil.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Mexican, Tex-Mex

Keyword vegan taco meat, vegan taco meat nut free, vegan taco meat soy free

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

2 minutes

Total Time 17 minutes

Servings servings

Calories 190kcal

Author Shannon Hakala

Ingredients

3 cups cooked chickpeas (2 12oz cans)
2 Tbsp olive oil (omit for WFPB)
½ cup onion
1 jalapeño pepper
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp chili powder (not cayenne)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
⅔ cup water
salt & pepper

Instructions

Prep: Dice the onion and jalapeño pepper, mince the garlic finely, drain the chickpeas.
In a skillet on medium-high heat, heat the olive oil (replace with ¼ cup water if WFPB), and cook the onions and jalapeños until onions are soft and transparent.
Set stove heat to low. Add in the rest of the ingredients except the water. Using a strong blunt cooking utensil (such as a wooden spoon, potato masher, or spaghetti spoon) smash all the chickpeas.
Add the water and keep mashing the chickpeas a bit more, stirring the water so you get an even consistency. Let it cook uncovered about 2 more minutes, stirring now and then so it doesn't burn. Serve immediately or keep in the fridge up to 3 days.

Nutrition

The post Vegan Taco Meat Made From Chickpeas appeared first on Instant Veg.

Chickpea Salad with Bell Pepper & Carrot

Shannon — Mon, 29 Mar 2021 16:23:14 +0000

Chickpea Salad with Bell Pepper and Carrot

This make-ahead chickpea salad is perfect for packed lunches, meal prep, camping, snacking, or even for breakfast.

Course Breakfast, Lunch, Salad, Snack, Vegan Breakfast Recipes

Cuisine American

Keyword chickpea salad, chickpea salad recipe, chickpea salad vegetarian, easy chickpea salad, healthy chickpea salad, vegan chickpea salad

Prep Time 5 minutes

Chill Time 8 hours

Total Time 8 hours 5 minutes

Servings servings

Calories 424kcal

Author Shannon Hakala

Cost $1.04 recipe / $0.52 serving

Ingredients

1 15oz can Chickpeas $0.52
1 Tbsp Olive Oil $0.07
2 Tbsp Carrots $0.20
2 Tbsp Bell Pepper $0.15
1 pinch Salt $0.01
½ tsp Lemon Juice $0.03
½ tsp White Vinegar $0.01
½ tsp Minced Garlic $0.01
½ tsp Italian Seasoning $0.01
¼ tsp Black Pepper $0.01
¼ tsp Cumin $0.01

Instructions

Prep: Drain the chickpeas. Chop the bell pepper finely and shred the carrot. Mince the garlic if not already minced.
Add all the ingredients to a bowl or mason jar and shake/stir well.
Cover and let marinate in the fridge at least 8 hours. Keeps up to 3 days in the fridge.

Notes

I prefer to use red bell pepper with this chickpea salad, but you can use any color including green or a combination of colors. The taste will vary slightly depending on which color you choose so choose flavors that you like!
If you don’t have a pre-made Italian seasoning spice mix, use a pinch of each of these dried spices:
- Oregano
- Basil
- Marjoram
- Thyme
- Rosemary
I use California-produced olive oil from Cobram Estate in this and all my recipes calling for olive oil.

Nutrition

The post Chickpea Salad with Bell Pepper & Carrot appeared first on Instant Veg.

Baked Vegan Mac And Cheese

Shannon — Wed, 24 Feb 2021 17:42:42 +0000

Vegan Baked Mac And Cheese

Creamy and comforting, this dairy free mac and cheese recipe makes a perfect vegan dinner or side dish. Nut free, vegan, and easily gluten free.

Course Main Course, Side Dish, Vegan Dinner Recipes

Cuisine American

Keyword baked vegan mac and cheese, dairy free mac and cheese, vegan baked mac and cheese

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 40 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings

Calories 369kcal

Author Shannon Hakala

Cost $5.28 RECIPE / $0.66 SERVING

Equipment

Frying pan
9"x13" baking dish

Ingredients

For The Baked Vegan Mac And Cheese

16 oz macaroni $0.99
½ cup vegan butter $0.56
2 Tbsp flour $0.06
2 cups oat milk $0.10
1 tsp onion powder $0.01
2 tsp garlic powder $0.01
½ tsp black pepper $0.04
1 tsp salt $0.01
2 cups shredded vegan cheddar $2.68

For The Breadcrumb Crust

1 cup panko breadcrumbs $0.50
2 Tbsp vegan butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400° Fahrenheit. Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain, set aside.
In a frying pan, melt the ¼ cup vegan butter and whisk in the 1 Tablespoon of flour. Cook for about a minute to eliminate the raw flour taste, but don't let it brown.
Slowly whisk in the 2 cups oat cream (if using coconut milk, add the whole can). Add in the 2 teaspoons of onion powder, 2 teaspoons of garlic powder, 2 teaspoons of freshly ground black pepper, and 1 teaspoon of salt. Heat until it begins to bubble.
Turn off the heat and add in the 2 cups of vegan cheddar cheese. Stir until fully melted in (if small bits remain unincorporated it's okay).
Grease a 9"x13" baking dish with some vegan butter and spread the cooked macaroni in an even layer. Pour the sauce over it.
To add a breadcrumb crust, melt 2 Tablespoons of vegan butter in the microwave (about 20 seconds) and stir in the panko breadcrumbs. Sprinkle the buttery breadcrumbs over pasta evenly.
Bake the vegan mac and cheese at 400° Fahrenheit for 30-40 minutes, uncovered, or until the breadcrumbs are nicely browned.

Notes

Recipe nutrition is an estimate using special online databases of nutrition facts and is calculated automatically. Please note that if using coconut milk the amount of calories and fat will be slightly more than if using oat cream.
To make this a gluten-free baked mac and cheese, substitute:
- pasta for gluten free pasta
- flour for gluten free flour
- panko breadcrumbs for gluten free panko breadcrumbs
You can double the amount of sauce for an extra creamy baked mac and cheese.

Nutrition

You’ll love this baked vegan mac and cheese recipe with no nuts or nutritional yeast. It uses easy-to-make oat cream and vegan cheddar cheese to give it an authentic, rich cheesy taste. Creamy and comforting, this dairy free mac and cheese recipe makes a perfect vegan dinner or side dish.

How Do You Make Vegan Mac And Cheese?

As I researched how to make vegan mac and cheese, I noticed that many recipes called for nutritional yeast to add a cheesy taste. I use nutritional yeast in my instant pot vegan mac and cheese recipe, but now that I live in a high-cost of living area I can see that it can be a very expensive ingredient to acquire.

I could eat this entire baked vegan mac and cheese!

At my supermarket, nutritional yeast cost over $7.00 for 5oz. Some of the recipes I looked at use 2 whole cups of nutritional yeast. That seems like way too much to me so I decided to try and make a baked vegan mac and cheese without nutritional yeast.

I decided to use a combination of vegan cheddar cheese and oat cream, which was more affordable and I think tastes better. The cheese I used is Daiya vegan cheddar style shreds.

I used this Daiya vegan cheddar cheese to make baked vegan mac and cheese.

To make the crispy breadcrumb crust on the top of our baked vegan pasta extraordinaire, we used breadcrumbs mixed with a small amount of vegan butter.

The breadcrumbs I used are the Kikkoman Panko bread crumbs. I think any kind of breadcrumbs will do fine but for bigger crisps you gotta go for the panko.

Coconut Milk?

While many vegan recipes use cashew cream (made by blending raw cashews with water until liquid), I know there are folks out there with allergies, sensitivities, etc. That’s why I created this baked vegan mac and cheese no nuts recipe.

Instead of cashew cream. I use oat cream in this recipe. I tried using coconut milk, and to be honest it wasn’t bad, but I could definitely taste the coconut. I like coconut, but I feel like it doesn’t belong in mac and cheese. Oat cream is the way to go, by a long way!

I make my oat cream for the recipe by blending 1/4 cup of oats with 1 cup of water and 2 Tablespoons of vegetable oil. Strain it through a nut milk bag and there you have it, oat cream ready to go in under 5 minutes.

If you do use coconut milk, use the canned stuff and check the ingredients to make sure the main ingredient is coconut or organic coconut and not something iffy like coconut extract or coconut milk (read: “watered down”). Low quality coconut milk will not have the proper fat content or taste.

What About A Gluten Free Dairy Free Mac And Cheese Recipe?

If you want to make this a gluten free dairy free mac and cheese recipe, you can simply replace the macaroni pasta with a gluten free pasta of your choice. Replace the flour with your favorite gluten free flour. The Daiya cheese I used is already gluten free, so no worries there.

For the breadcrumbs, Kikkoman makes their delicious bread crumbs in a gluten free version.

More Vegan Recipes You’ll Love

The post Baked Vegan Mac And Cheese appeared first on Instant Veg.

Victorian Chickpea Soup

Shannon — Tue, 16 Feb 2021 20:17:34 +0000

Victorian Chickpea Soup (Vegan)

This vegan version of Soup à la Béarnaise is a chickpea soup made with mirepoix, cabbage, and mild flavors of tomato and garlic.

Course Lunch, Main Course, Vegan Dinner Recipes, Vegan Instant Pot Recipes, Vegan Soup

Cuisine American, European

Keyword chickpea recipe, vegan chickpea recipe, vegan chickpea recipes, vegan chickpea soup, vegan soup

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

Servings servings

Calories 104kcal

Author Shannon Hakala

Equipment

Instant Pot
Stick Blender
Wire mesh sieve

Ingredients

1 cup dry chickpeas*
5 cups water
2 cups shredded cabbage
1 carrot
½ onion
4 stalks celery
2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 tsp minced garlic
4 Tbsp vegan butter
5 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp salt
½ tsp ground black pepper

Instructions

Rinse the chickpeas and place them in the Instant Pot with 5 cups of water. Pressure cook for 45 minutes. (If using canned chickpeas, skip this step). Then drain the chickpeas and set aside.
Finely dice the carrot, 1/2 an onion, and 4 stalks celery.
In the Instant Pot using sauté or in a saucepan, add 2 Tablespoons of vegan butter and cook the shredded cabbage until it begins to brown. Add a few spoonfuls of the broth and continue cooking it until it is evenly golden brown and well-cooked. (Continue adding spoonfuls of broth as needed if it becomes too dry). Then remove the cabbage and set aside.
In the Instant Pot using sauté or in a large soup pot, add another 2 Tablespoons of vegan butter and sauté the finely diced carrot, celery, and onion until golden.
Add in the 1 teaspoon diced garlic and 2 roughly chopped tomatoes and continue to cook until the tomatoes are broken down, about 5-10 minutes.
Meanwhile, place 1/2 cup of the cooked chickpeas in a bowl of water and very gently rub to remove the hulls.
Add the rest of the chickpeas and half of broth to the pot. Use an immersion blender to blend smoothly. Pass the soup through a mesh sieve to remove most of the roughage. Use a ladle to help push it through.
Add the refined soup, the 1/2 cup of hulled chickpeas, the rest of the broth, and the cooked cabbage back into the pot and let it gently cook for about 10 minutes, covered but not pressurized (I used the soup button on my Instant Pot). Add 1 teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper (or to taste). Serve with bread or crackers.

Notes

You can replace the dry chickpeas with two 15oz cans of cooked chickpeas.

Nutrition

This vegan chickpea soup uses dry or canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans), cabbage, tomato, and garlic. But don’t be fooled – this soup, simple though it be, is rich in flavor and sure to become as instantly a classic in your home as it has in ours.

For the past few months I’ve been, like most of you, staying home as much as possible. My great “escape” during these months has been getting obsessed with all things of the Victorian-era: books, magazines, movies, TV dramas, anything I can get my hands on really!

So as I dug through yet another book of 19th century cookery, one recipe stood out to me for its unique combination of ingredients, as well as its potential to be made vegan with very little modification.

Vegan Chickpea Soup Recipe

I adapted this chickpea soup recipe from Soup à la Béarnaise, as seen in Charles Elmé Francatelli’s 1846 cookbook, The Modern Cook. You can read it for free on Archive.org.

If you’ve watched the Masterpiece TV drama series Victoria, you may remember Mr. Francatelli, the palace cook who flirts with Victoria’s dresser a.k.a. lady’s maid.

While it is true that Francatelli was Queen Victoria’s chief cook in 1840-42, the TV romance is not based on actual events (as far as we know!)

Frankatelli as he appeared in an engraving in his book, and as later portrayed by Ferdinand Kingsley in Victoria.

Francatelli’s cooking style was mostly French, and his chickpea soup recipe gets it’s name from Béarn, a region of southwestern France.

Here is how Francatelli’s recipe originally appeared in 1846:

Charles Francatelli’s recipe for Soup à la Béarnaise

What I Changed From The Old Recipe

The most obvious adaptation I made is using vegan butter instead of dairy butter, and skipping altogether on the Parmesan. I also used regular round cabbage instead of the white-heart cabbage, which I wasn’t able to find at my grocery store.

I also changed the method a bit just to cut down a bit on cook time. In the original recipe it says to soak the chickpeas (garbanças) overnight; I used the Instant Pot to quickly re-hydrate them.

Another modern time-saver I chose was to use a immersion blender and mesh strainer to refine the soup instead of pounding and rubbing it through a tammy (or tamis, as it is nowadays written).

Cooking Tips

To make the soup as I have done, you’ll need an immersion blender and something you can filter the soup through such as a mesh sieve, tamis, china cap/cone/chinois, etc. This will make the texture of the soup a lot smoother and give it a good body. You can make the soup without filtering but it will have a much different texture.

It’s worth it to remove the skins or hulls from the 1/2 cup of chickpeas that remain whole in the soup – it makes the soup easier to digest and less likely to make you bloated afterwards. We felt that this soup was very easy on our tummies compared to other bean soups.

The post Victorian Chickpea Soup appeared first on Instant Veg.

Wild Rice Soup

Shannon — Mon, 31 Aug 2020 16:00:00 +0000

Instant Pot Vegan Wild Rice Soup

A healthy vegan take on a hearty Minnesota classic. This vegan Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup is gluten free, dairy free, and soy free.

Course Main Course, Vegan Dinner Recipes

Cuisine American

Keyword instant pot wild rice soup, vegan wild rice soup

Prep Time 30 minutes

Cook Time 20 minutes

Additional Time 10 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings servings

Calories 134kcal

Author Shannon Hakala

Cost $5.75 RECIPE / $0.96 SERVING

Ingredients

To Cook The Wild Rice

1/2 cup wild rice $3.50
1 1/2 cups water

For The Cashew Cream

1/2 cup raw cashews $1.04
1 cup water

For The Wild Rice Soup

1 cup carrots $0.20
1 cup celery $0.20
1 cup onion $0.21
2 cups potatoes $0.21
3 cups water
1 Tbsp nutritional yeast $0.38
1 ¼ tsp salt $0.01

Instructions

Prep: Cut the onion, carrots, and celery into 1/2" or 1cm pieces. Cut potatoes½ into 1" pieces.
Cook the wild rice: Add rice and 1 ½ cups water to the Instant Pot. Pressure cook for 20 minutes.
Do a quick release when done. Drain the cooked rice and set aside.
Make cashew cream: Blend 1 cup of water and ½ cup of raw cashews until very smooth.
Add carrots, onion, and celery to the Instant Pot and sauté for 5 minutes.
Add potatoes, cooked wild rice, and 3 cups water to the sautéed veggies. Pressure cook for 10 minutes. Allow the Instant Pot to release pressure naturally for 10 minutes and then do a quick release.
Gently stir in the cashew cream, nutritional yeast, and salt.

Video

Notes

1 cup of carrots is equal to about 3 medium carrots.
1 cup of chopped onion is equal to about 1 medium onion or 1/2 of a large onion.
2 cups of potatoes is equal to about 2-3 medium-sized potatoes.
- For the potatoes, I don’t peel them when I make this soup, since potato skins contain potassium, fiber, antioxidants, folate, and other minerals. But you can certainly peel them if you prefer.
I make this wild rice soup recipe without oil. For a richer flavor, you can add 1 Tbsp vegetable oil, olive oil, or vegan butter when sautéing the onion, carrots, and celery.
To make this soup on the stovetop, boil the wild rice and water for 45 minutes until tender, and simmer the combined ingredients for about 30 minutes or until potatoes are cooked through.

Nutrition

Enjoy a delicious bowl (or two) of this creamy, hearty Vegan Wild Rice Soup that’s loaded with vitamins to keep you warm and healthy even through the coldest Minnesota winters.

In Minnesota you are never far away from a bowl of delicious wild rice soup.

We ate wild rice soup and other dishes made with Minnesota wild rice frequently when I was growing up. In fact, one of my uncles farmed wild rice up in northern Minnesota back in the 90s.

What Is Wild Rice?

If you’ve never had wild rice before, you might be surprised to know is that it’s not technically a rice like white rice or brown rice. It’s actually a type of grass!

In the Ojibway language, the word for wild rice is manoomin, which literally means “good berry.”

And wild rice IS very good for you. Along with protein and fiber, it’s also got vitamin B6, folate, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, copper, manganese. (source)

Wild rice is also rich in antioxidants, protein, and contains all the essential amino acids (source). So, eating wild rice and especially wild rice soup is a great way to keep your body healthy when the cold weather hits.

Another thing you can feel good about is the fact that this soup costs less than a dollar per serving. Scroll down to see a more detailed cost breakdown for this wild rice soup recipe!

Instant Pot Wild Rice Soup

Wild rice is the perfect soup to make in the Instant Pot because you need to cook the dry wild rice for a long time first, and then put the soup together. Using the Instant Pot makes the cook time shorter.

Using the electric pressure cooker means you don’t need to babysit a pot of boiling water on the stove and can finish preparing the other ingredients in the meantime.

The way that this soup is usually prepared includes frying small pieces of chopped bacon with onions first and adding butter and flour to create a roux for the cream-based sauce.

Sometimes you also see recipes that use things like a can of Campbell’s cream of potato soup (which in my opinion tastes a lot worse than just using cut potatoes), or people will add chicken or venison.

How To Make Wild Rice Soup Vegan

Traditionally, wild rice soup is made with cream and butter. Chicken meat and bacon are also frequently added to the recipe.

In my opinion, making wild rice soup without animal products still tastes really good. If you are a brand new vegan you might not be used to the taste of wild rice soup without meat. Let the flavors of the veggies take center stage!

Cashew Cream

I make the soup creamy by adding a small amount of cashew cream at the end.

I recommend using raw cashews since they have a very neutral flavor.

To make the cashew cream, simply blend the raw cashews with water until totally smooth.

Carrots & Celery

I also added carrots and celery to my recipe to give it just a little more nutrition and flavor.

Carrots, onions, and celery… it’s mirepoix!

Nutritional yeast

Speaking of nutrition, you can optionally add some nutritional yeast flakes to this soup to add a little bit of richness and to give it more B vitamins.

How Long Does It Take To Cook Wild Rice In The Instant Pot?

It takes about 20 minutes, plus a few minutes to wait for the Instant Pot to get to pressure and then to let off steam.

On the stove, I usually have to cook wild rice for about 45-60 minutes before it’s tender enough to eat.

The Instant Pot is a great time-saver!

Wild rice before cooking in the Instant Pot

Wild rice after cooking in the Instant Pot. The extra liquid needs to be drained out.

The post Wild Rice Soup appeared first on Instant Veg.

Purple Blackberry Blueberry Smoothie

Shannon — Sun, 17 May 2020 01:40:12 +0000

Purple Blackberry & Blueberry Smoothie

A deep purple smoothie with antioxidant-rich blueberries and blackberries.

Course Breakfast

Cuisine American

Keyword blackberry smoothie, blueberry smoothie bowls, easy smoothie recipes, purple smoothie, smoothie ideas, smoothie recipes, smoothies with berries

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 0 minutes

Total Time 5 minutes

Servings smoothies

Calories 156kcal

Author Shannon Hakala

Ingredients

1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup blackberries
1 cup frozen banana
1 cup oat milk

Instructions

Blend all ingredients until smooth.
Drink immediately or pour into silicone ice cube molds and freeze for future smoothies.

Nutrition

A deep purple smoothie with antioxidant-rich blueberries and blackberries. Bananas give it extra sweetness as well as a healthy dose of potassium. This is a great healthy smoothie that’s also lower in calories.

We’ve been making more and more smoothies lately as the weather warms up. Everyone enjoys the fact that smoothies are quick & easy to make as they are to drink – and so nutritious, too.

This blueberry smoothie has blackberries in it, which give it a deeper purple color and more sweetness. I use frozen bananas instead of fresh ones when I make this, because the cold bananas will keep the smoothie from warming up as it blends.

I hope you get a chance to try this smoothie out during the summer. Be on the lookout for the prices of blueberries to go down around June. If you have access to wild blueberries or blackberries, pick a lot and freeze them so you can enjoy this tasty purple blueberry smoothie all year long!

Southwest Ranch Dressing

Shannon — Fri, 15 May 2020 20:59:46 +0000

Vegan Southwest Ranch Dressing

This dairy-free southwest ranch dressing tastes so good you'll want to eat it straight off the spoon! It's great in salads, over rice bowls & buddha bowls, and makes a fantastic veggie dip.

Course Sauce

Cuisine American

Keyword southwest dressing, southwest dressing recipe, southwest ranch dressing, southwest ranch dressing recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 1 minute

Total Time 6 minutes

Servings servings

Calories 88kcal

Author Shannon Hakala

Equipment

Blender

Ingredients

½ cup water
½ cup raw cashews
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp onion powder
½ tsp dry green onion
1 pinch of salt

Instructions

Put the cashews in a microwave-safe dish, add water until nuts are covered, and microwave 30 seconds to blanch the cashews. Drain and discard the water.
Add the blanched cashews, oil, vinegar, lemon juice, and spices to a blender and blend for about 40 seconds until mixture is totally smooth.
Serve immediately or store in the fridge up to 1 week.

Nutrition

This dairy-free southwest ranch dressing tastes so good you’ll want to eat it straight off the spoon! It’s great in salads, over rice bowls & buddha bowls, and makes a fantastic veggie dip.

I developed this dressing specifically for my southwest vegan quinoa salad. It’s the yummiest sauce ever that’ll make you think of creamy ranch dressing, but with strong Tex-Mex leanings.

This creamy southwest dressing can be used on burgers and salads, and of course in buddha bowls it’s perfect as well.

Before I was vegan I used to love the southwest ranch dressing at McDonalds and I wanted to create a copycat recipe that would mimic that flavor. Try this vegan ranch dressing on vegan fried chicken, pizza, or as a veggie dip, too!

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