LekStugan

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoon pure sesame oil
• a few drops of chili oil
• 3 tablespoon ume plum vinegar
• 1 1/2 tablespoon white miso paste
• 1 tablespoon passion fruit (or other) juice
• a squirt of fresh lime
• a sprinkling of fenugreek leaves, if available
• around four cups of spinach
• 1/2 of a red bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup of firm tofu chunks
• Other additions encouraged: I enjoy everything from walnuts to mandarin oranges

Mix the first seven ingredients in a small bowl, and toss the dressing with the remaining ingredients in a salad bowl.

This makes a great accompaniment to most Asian meals, from Thai to Indian to Chinese.

I like varying the salad with whichever extra ingredients I have on hand. I encourage creativity!

Serves: 4

Preparation time:

Ingredients:

• assorted fresh summer veggies (my favorite combo for this salad is zucchini, squash, red, green and yellow peppers, cherry or juliet tomatoes, and black olives)
• your fave store-bought or homemade vegan Italian dressing
• as must fresh dill as you would like

Wash and cut up veggies; I usually do small slices, and cut my tomatoes in half. Place veggies inside large Ziploc bag(s), allowing a little extra room for enough marinade. Whisk together your dressing and dill, pour over veggies and seal. Marinate in your fridge for at least 4 hours or overnight. Take out and transfer to bowl immediately before serving for a super refreshing summer salad.

I just like the simplicity of this; my mother was concocting stuff when we had an over abundance of some veggies last summer. We ate it as a salad that night, but I have used it since as salad, party food, and a main dish salad… I tossed the leftover veggies with cold whole wheat farfalle pasta. I hope you enjoy it.

Serves: as many as you need to serve, a half a day for marinating

Preparation time: average 10 mins, unless you are cooking f

Ingredients:

• 1 3-lb cabbage
• 2 medium onions, sliced
• 1 large bell pepper
• 1 cup vegan sugar
• 1 cup vinegar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon celery seed
• 1 teaspoon dry vegan mustard
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoon vegan sugar

Combine cabbage, onions, and pepper in large bowl and toss with cup of vegan sugar. Cover and set aside.

Heat remaining ingredients, including the other portion of vegan sugar, in a small pan until just heated through.

Pour hot mixture over cabbage mixture. Mix and cover. Let stand for at least 30 minutes before serving.

**Note: this is better if made 2 or 3 days in advance. I advise not to make this dish if you are expecting important guests- the onions and warm vinegar smells envelope your house.

Serves: a lot

Preparation tim

Ingredients:

• 1 tin chickpeas
• 1 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• small handful fresh parsley
• 1 tablespoon pepper infused vinegar
• salt and pepper

It’s amazing what we can whip up out of desperation, isn’t it? This particular concoction came to me whilst my sink was backed up, so I couldn’t really cook anything and had to use as few dishes as possible.

First, for the pepper infused vinegar. This is something I usually have on hand, but if you need to make some this is how you do it: Find a little bottle with an opening large enough for peppers to fit through. Good peppers to use are Birdseye/Thai, little Serrano’s, or cayenne, because they’re all nice and skinny. Cut a slit down the side of each pepper (you’ll want a handful or so of peppers). Bring to boil a small pot of plain vinegar, and blanch the peppers for about 5 minutes. Funnel into the jar with all of the vinegar. Top off with more vinegar if you need it. The vinegar will get spicier as it sits, so always have lots on hand!!

So for the salad: Rinse and drain chickpeas very well. They should be pretty dry, otherwise they will dilute your salad. Toss with olive oil and vinegar. Separate parsley from stems and chop the leaves roughly. Mix with chickpeas and dressing, and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Delicious!

Some variations you could add if your sink weren’t backed up: diced red onion, a little minced garlic, cilantro INSTEAD OF parsley, diced red pepper, etc.

Serves: 4

Preparation time:

Ingredients:

• big bunch mesclun greens or romaine lettuce
• 1 Cucumber (peeled if you like – I stripe mine)
• 1 large carrot (chopped or shredded)
• 1 – 12 oz container baby Bella mushrooms (or actual Portobello – sliced)
• 1 – 16 oz can garbanzo beans
• 1/2 red onion (chopped)
• 2-4 garlic cloves (peeled and chopped)
• 2 small green chilies (chopped) – optional
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 inch long, thin slice ginger (sliced really thin)
• olive oil
• vegan vinaigrette dressing (or make your own)

1. Wash the greens and combine in a great big bowl (preferably with a lid/top) with cucumber, carrots, and mushrooms. Cover and put bowl in refrigerator. Put chopped tomatoes in small container, cover and place in refrigerator.

2. Heat oil in medium pan over medium heat and add cumin. After a minute or two, add onion, garlic, chilies, and ginger. Saute for 5 minutes.

3. Add garbanzos and saute for 5-10 minutes – until soft.

4. Allow to cool to room temperature, cover and place in refrigerator. (You could use it on warm if desired.)

5. After at least and hour, all items in small containers should be added to the big bowl.

6. Spoon into serving bowl with dressing and enjoy.

Serves: 2-3

Preparation time: 10-20 minutes + ref

Ingredients:

• 1 16 oz. package rotini
• 1 red pepper, sliced in thin 1 inch strips
• 1 cucumber, sliced and cut in quarters (triangle-shaped slices)
• 1 bunch green onions, finely diced
• 2 plum tomatoes, diced (including seeds)
• 1 bunch fresh broccoli florets, blanched
• 1 small can sliced black olives (optional)
• 1 8 oz. bottle fat free Italian salad dressing (I use Cain’s)
• 1 half cup white vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Prepare (slice and dice) vegetables (except broccoli) as directed above. Place in large container with tight lid.

Add vinegar, dressing, and pepper; cover and shake. Boil rotini to desired tenderness in heavily salted water.

When rotini has less than 2 minutes to cook, add broccoli florets to blanch and finish rotini cooking time. Drain rotini and broccoli and rinse under cold water.

Add to container of vegetables and shake well. Refrigerate before serving. 24 hours is best. The longer it sits in fridge, the better the flavor.

Serve with vegan bread and enjoy!!

Serves: 4-8, depending on whether served as side dish or meal

Preparation time: under