Gluten-free Vegan Chickpea Caesar Salad

I make this 2 ways. Sometimes I roast the chickpeas until they are crunchy and sometimes I just toss them in fresh.

                     Chickpea Caesar Salad

For Dressing
1/2 cup olive oil 
2 Tbs. Dijon mustard
1 Tbs. prepared horseradish
1 lemon juiced 
3 cloves of garlic
1 Tbs. Ume Plum vinegar 
1 Tbs. coconut aminos
Process all ingredients.
  For Salad
2 heads of Romaine lettuce, rinsed and cut into bite sized pieces
1/4 cup of Daiya vegan cheese or your choice of cheese
1 cup of chickpeas
2 gluten-free breadsticks cut into bite-size squares or your choice of gluten-free croutons
 Toss all ingredients with dressing.
Toasting Chickpeas
Preheat oven to 425, take 1 to 2 cups of chickpeas and coat with the Caesar dressing, I like to add a tablespoon of garlic powder because I really like garlic. Spread evenly on parchment paper and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until crunchy. Stir after 20 minutes. Keep an eye them at the end because they will burn fast. 

 

Gluten-free Soy-free Vegan Hot and Sour Soup

We had the flu at my house over Thanksgiving. Due to an egg allergy, we can't get the flu shot. Just a couple weeks later, we have a cold and my 5 year old has pneumonia. Luckily for me, he likes hot stuff. The day before I make this soup I add leeks, bok choy, sea salt, and garlic to a crock-pot with 12 cups of water and let it cook all day, then I strain everything out and I have my clear veggie broth. You can use your own or a gluten-free store-bought broth. I use coconut aminos and mung bean fettuccine noodles to replace the soy. Native Harvest has BPA-free canned bamboo shoots. I also use Trader Joe's sweet chili dipping sauce. It's gluten-free and corn-free. It has tapioca in it and thickens the soup so I don't have to add a slurry.

Gluten-free Soy-free Vegan Hot and Sour Soup
4 cups of vegetable broth
2 cups water
1 package dried mixed mushrooms ( follow directions on package)
1/4 package organic mung bean fettuccine noodles
1 8oz. can bamboo shoots
1/4 cup coconut aminos
1/4 cup sweet chili sauce
4  Thai Bird chilis ( I like it hot, you may want to add 1 or 2)
1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
1 teaspoon hot chili sesame oil
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons ume plum vinegar
Cilantro and scallions to garnish

Add all ingredients to a  pot and simmer for 30 minutes. I do break up the bean noodles so they are a little like the tofu you would get in the restaurant or take-out soup. 1/4 of the package is 20 grams of protein! At the end add both vinegars, you can omit the ume plum vinegar. Add to bowl and garnish with cilantro and scallions.

Gluten-free Vegan Pumpkin Pie

My 5 year old asked for pumpkin pie. I had never eaten a pumpkin pie because of my egg allergy. But if he asks for something I think he will never eat, I have to make it happen.This pumpkin pie smells like heaven and it turned out perfect. I ate pumpkin pie for the first time and I loved it!

 
                                   Gluten-free Vegan Pumpkin Pie

Gluten-free Pie Crust
1 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tbs. molasses
3 Tbs. agave nectar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. ground clove

Preheat the oven to 375.Combine all dry ingredients and mix well, then add the coconut oil, molasses and agave nectar and mix well. This dough will not roll, you will have to shape it by hand. You can put it in the fridge for a few minutes to harden up the coconut oil. But not too long or it will be too hard to work with. Par-bake for 10 minutes.
Gluten-free Vegan Pumpkin Pie Filling
2 cups pureed pumpkin
1 cup coconut milk, use the fat off the top of the can 
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1 tbs. molasses
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground clove.
 Turn the oven down to 350 F. Process all ingredients. Pour into par-baked crust and bake for 50 minutes. Let cool for an hour then stick it in the fridge.

Spicy Vegan Pesto

This is my favorite pesto recipe. I like it hot! You can omit the cayenne or take it down a notch. You can also sub black olive for the green. I use dried sun dried tomatoes because the jarred sun dried tomatoes have citric acid derived from corn. You just boil them in water and let them soak for about 30 minutes. I use Divina olives because they are dairy, corn, and gluten-free. I did contact the company. The safe olives that I asked about were sweet pepper stuffed green olives, jalapeno stuffed olives, pitted kalamata. Their capers are safe too.

                                              

                 Spicy Vegan Pesto

2 bunches sweet basil
1/4 cup pine nuts
5 cloves garlic
3 sundried tomatoes
1 teaspoon cayenne
5 or more green olives
1/4 to 1/2 cup olive oil

Process in a food processor. Will keep for 3 days in the fridge. Also freezes very well, I freeze this by the tablespoon in a silicon ice tray. Then I pop them out and put the in a freezer safe container. I use this in pasta dishes and on pizza.