Three Vegan Recipes to Munch on While Celebrating World Vegan Month
November is World Vegan Month, and what better way to celebrate than sharing some delicious vegan recipes to try out!
Why do people become Vegans?
People become vegan for many different reasons. Ultimately, the decision to go vegan is a very personal experience. Whatever the reason may be, there are a few benefits of doing so:
Supports Good Health
Studies have reported that vegans tend to be richer in fibre, antioxidants, and beneficial plant compounds. Potassium, magnesium, folate, and vitamins A, C, and E are also known to be plentiful in vegan diets.
It’s Environmentally-Friendly
This is because farm animals require many resources to raise. HappyCow is an online community whose mission is to help people find plant-based/vegan options and healthy food.
A vegan diet saves on average:
- 4,200 litres of water per day
- 20.4 kilograms of grains per day
- 9.1 kilograms CO2 equivalent per day
- 2.8 meters squared of forested land per day
Source: https://www.happycow.net/vegtopics/environment
Those are significant numbers, which illustrate that one person can make a difference.
Everything Bagel “Cheeze” Ball
Ingredients
For the "cheeze" ball:
- 1 ½ cups cashews soaked overnight (or for a minimum of 8 hours)
- ¼ cup yellow onion diced
- 1 tbsp avocado oil
- 3 tbsp lemon juice freshly squeezed
- 4 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- ⅓ cup water
- 1 clove garlic roughly chopped
- ½ tbsp Herbamare
- ½ tbsp gorund black pepper
For the everything bagel mix:
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp poppy seeds
- 2 tbsp Nature’s Emporium Sesame Seeds
- ½ tsp Herbamare
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
Instructions
- Soak cashews in water overnight or for a minimum of 8 hours.
- Prep the diced onions by sauteing them with avocado oil in a saucepan over low-medium heat until translucent.
- Drain & rinse the cashews and place them into a food processor, along with cooked onion, lemon juice, coconut oil, nutritional yeast, water, garlic, Herbamare and pepper. Process until smooth.
- Place mixture in a few layers of cheesecloth and form a ball. Tie the top off with an elastic band, place the cheesecloth ball in a colander over top of a bowl and refrigerate overnight to allow excess liquid to drain from it.
- Remove from the fridge the following day and make the Everything Bagel Mix by combining the freeze-dried garlic and onion, poppy seeds, sesame seeds, Herbamare and pepper in a small bowl.
- Coat the cheese ball with the everything bagel mixture and place on a serving dish. Use the remaining mixture to cover any bare-looking spots on the “cheezeball.”
Buffalo Artichoke Dip
Ingredients
- 1 tub Daiya Plain Cream Cheeze Spread
- ½ cup Daiya Blue Cheeze or homestyle ranch salad dressing
- 1 tbsp Arizona Pepper OrganicHarvest Habanero Hot Sauce add more drops if you like it spicy
- ½ cup Daiya Mozzarella Style Shreds
- 2 cups Native Forest Artichoke Hearts drained and chopped
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° F.
- Place the cream cheeze, salad dressing, hot sauce and mozzarella shreds into a mixing bowl and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Add in the artichoke hearts and pour mixture into a 9×9 baking dish or mini appetizer dishes.
- Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until mixture isheated through and cheeze has melted.
Nutrition
Vegan Charcuterie Board
Ingredients
Everything on This Board:
Dairy-Free Cheese
- Nuts for Cheese Red Rind
- Miyoko’s Smoked Farmhouse Cheese Wheel
- Everything Bagel Cheeze Ball see recipe
Dips
- Sunflower Kitchens Beet Hummus
- Buffalo Artichoke Dip see recipe
Bread & Crackers
- Ace Bakery Sourdough Baguette
- Oh My Yummies Superfood Classic Crackers
- Nature’s Emporium Organic Apple Chips
- Enerjive Quinoa Italian Crackers
- Vicky’s Rosemary Flatbread
Snacks
- red grapes
- green grapes
- blackberries
- raspberries
- green olives antipasto
- Mike & Mike’s Almonds
- Mike & Mike’s Walnuts
- dried apricots
Garnishes
- rosemary
- edible flowers
- curly parsley
- Cookstown Greens Seedling Salad
Instructions
- Place all the small dishes on the platter first.
- Follow with the cheeses list.
- Place the crackers, bread slices and dippers.
- Then fill up the spaces with the snacks.
- Decorate with rosemary, edible flowers or curly parsley.
Hopefully, our post has encouraged you to understand the vegan lifestyle movement. Try incorporating it even just one meal or day a week. This is still a commitment to plant-based eating. If you have any favourite vegan and plant-based recipes, be sure to share them in the comments below or tag us @naturescanada!