The following is a guest post by Chad & Tammy from Notes on Adding Kindness & Health to the Daily Grind

Eating a Vegan diet does not mean that we only eat granola and berries.  Here is a wonderful meal that we prepare often.  Both of these recipes are from our favourite cookbook, Whole Foods to Thrive (called Thrive Foods in the US).

Kudos to Tammy since it was her night to cook and she had me walking by snapping photo’s while prepping dinner.

New Caesar Salad

Ingredients

Dressing (makes 4 servings, 1 cup of dressing)

• 1/4 cup cashews
• 1/4 cup water (or less to make a thicker dressing)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar (we like to use balsamic vinegar)
• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 1/2 tsp miso paste
• 3 tbsp wakame flakes (bull kelp or dulse also work)
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard

Directions

Throw them in the blender or food processor.

Then let the magic of electricity do its work on the raw ingredients.

Toss a few spoonfuls of the dressing with torn romaine lettuce, and add some fresh cracked black pepper.

This is a great tasting simple salad and doesn’t contain the cholesterol in traditional Caesar Salad dressing.

Onto recipe number 2!

Jerusalem Artichoke Purée on Pasta

This is an absolute favourite of ours, I beg Tammy to make it all the time.  The key to making this meal work is the Truffle oil that you drizzle on after.  If you don’t have it, you need to get it.  It is a little pricey for a bottle of Truffle oil, but the flavour is so intense.  With Truffle oil, you only need a little (just enough to make you want more), if you use too much it will overpower your food.

Yes we use canned artichokes.  We tried using the raw uncut ones once.  It was such a disaster and was so time consuming that we now cheat and use the canned variety.

Purée Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 – 2 leeks, cleaned and sliced/diced
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup artichoke hearts
• 1 cup peeled and diced parsnip (less is better than more as too much parsnip can be overpowering)
• Vegetable stock (enough to cover)
• 2 tsp nutritional yeast
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Additional items

• Truffle oil!
• Ground nutmeg
• Fresh or dried parsley
• Nutritional yeast is a staple in Vegan pantry’s since it is a powerhouse of B vitamins, including the B12 that Vegan diets often lack.  Nutritional yeast, sometimes called noosh, has a cheesy taste and can be added to soups, sauces, or sprinkled over popcorn.  It is a product of the molasses making process and is available in most whole food grocery stores.

Directions

Place the leeks in a sauce pan with the oil over medium-low heat to soften

Add the artichokes and parsnip and cover with vegetable stock.  Add the nutritional yeast and stir.  Simmer until soft.

Transfer to a blender or use an immersion blender and purée until smooth.

Add the salt and pepper to taste. When this is done, make your pasta of choice.  We opted for some pre-made Vegan friendly Sweet Potato and Basil Ravioli.

Transfer the cooked pasta to serving bowls/plates and drizzle a tiny bit of truffle oil on the pasta.  Then add the purée sauce and top with grated nutmeg, and parsley.

Voila!

Total time to prepare this meal was about 30-40 minutes.  The time taken to eat was much shorter and very delicious.

—

Chad and Tammy are both active professionals living in Victoria, BC, Canada.  Between them they have finished 17 Ironman Triathlons around the globe.  A year ago they completed their last Ironman and now focus on more simple general health and wellness.
You can follow them on their blog at: http://chad-dalrymple.blogspot.com/
Also, Twitter: http://twitter.com/engineerchad