spabettie

Vibrant Plant Based Recipes

sweet and savory

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We have been enjoying the fresh fruits and veggies of the season, in some inventive and delicious ways.

I made a fresh dessert this weekend that was a big hit. I want to plan an event just so I can make these again to share with many people.

My mom gave me a set of CUTE dessert plates – this is my favorite, as it’s quote is focused on an obsession of mine. I will not apologize for my love of shoes, nor will I disclose the number of pairs in my collection. 😉

Gorgonzola Apricots

fresh apricots
gorgonzola cheese
balsamic vinegar
extra virgin olive oil


Halve the apricots, removing pit. Arrange in a baking dish (I splashed a bit of olive oil in the dish so the apricots would not stick). Fill each apricot half with gorgonzola, and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Bake @ 350 for 12 – 15 minutes.

These are spectacular and very easy! I love recipes that can be made ahead of time and popped in the oven right before an event; these can be enjoyed well after cooling from the oven.

Deliciousness.

Do you have recipes that are SO good, and SO simple?

What dish do you normally bring to an event?

pimento spread

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Pimento spread.

1 cup cashews, pulsed in food processor
1/2  jar pimento – 2 oz
1/2 small “tube” goat cheese – 2 oz
2 wedges Laughing Cow original
sea salt, to taste
1 clove garlic, chopped
3 leaves fresh basil, chopped


Pulse cashews in food processor. Chop basil, and larger pieces of pimento. Combine everything together; I made this a couple hours ahead and let the flavors meld in the fridge before serving.

Laughing Cow, I love you.

I served this with veggies and gluten free Mary’s Gone crackers in caraway, herb and black pepper flavors. Mary’s Gone sent me each of their cracker flavors and some of the twigs – I am really excited to find a good gluten free cracker – this one holds up to dips! The flavors are great – my favorite was the herb, my mom liked the caraway.

I have not tried the twigs yet, but they look fun!

*Disclaimer: I received free product; my review is my own and I was not paid for it.

summery spa salad

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Our breakfast this morning included these:

Well. Not that tomato. Although I’d like it.

Some of these:

A piece of this:

I love fresh juice, but have not found any near my house. We have a juicer, we just rarely use it. Until now. I am determined to use it daily! Fresh juice is delicious and energizing.

and it is beautiful and bright:

Fresh juice for two included:

4 apples
8 carrots
ginger – about 3 x 2 x 2 inch piece
lime – 1/2 squeezed

Second breakfast was 5 tablespoons hemp hearts, 6 oz peach chobani, and a pumpkin energy ball.


I am so excited about a salad I made today. It’s been rollin’ around in my head for a few days, and I was kinda wondering if the flavors would work. It is perfect for summer, very few ingredients, and Jason loved it too!

corn and black beans:


see what I did there? 🙂

chopped basil

pineapple and sea salt.

That’s it!


This was delicious on a warm evening. We also had vegan green chile enchiladas. I am very happy with how this salad turned out – fresh and summery. Delicious. The sprinkle of sea salt brings out the flavors.

I think there will be a bowl of this salad in my fridge all summer. I have other plans for it.

Summery Spa Salad

1 can black beans
2 cups corn
1 cup pineapple, chopped
6-8 basil leaves, chopped
sea salt, to taste

Speaking of summer, we are LOVING it around here! Basil could sit outside all day, he loves the sun! We try to go on a long walk in the early morning, before it’s too hot outside. When it’s too hot, this is what happens:

Poor sleepy pup – he usually sits perched on top of two of those pillows. He fell off, kinda. 🙂

So sweet.

–> Don’t forget My First Giveaway !!  I am giving away soy curls!

questions:

What is your favorite hot weather food?

What are your favorite fruit – veggie combinations for juicing?

it's the Great Energy, charlie brown

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We loved the first batch of energy balls I made. I love these – when I am hungry but am close to dinner and don’t want to eat, or before a workout when I need something but I’m not hungry.

I made another batch, just as easy as the first – four ingredients total!

cashews

pumpkin

vanilla protein powder and oats.

I pulsed the cashews, reserving 2 tablespoons for rolling:

added pumpkin, protein and oats:

roll the dough into one inch rounds, rolling in reserved cashew crumbs:

These are delicious! I think chocolate and peanut butter is still my favorite flavor combination, but variety is the spice of life, right? Say that reminds me, cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice would be good in these!

pumpkin balls

1 cup cashews
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1/4 cup pumpkin
1/2 cup oats

Refrigerate prior to serving – I store mine in the refrigerator.

Basil had a date this weekend. A friend of mine came over to visit, and brought her pup, Simone. She is the second sweetest dog…

Basil loves meeting other dogs, and they had fun running around the yard…

Basil knows every inch of this property, and followed Simone around while she checked it all out. Sometimes, though, he would sit and watch her:

We had fun watching them play… Simone would do that downward dog jump thing at Basil:

Even chillin’ in the cool indoors, Simone’s tail is always waggin’

That was so much fun! Simone and K, come back soon!

We had a fabulous weekend, pretty much unplugged the whole time! Now it’s catch up for me, and I have some exciting things happening this week!

First up, blog excitement:

My First Spabettie Giveaway! Stay tuned, I know a few of my readers are interested in this!

Happy Monday, everyone!

do these balloons blow up into funny shapes?

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“Nope. Not unless round is funny…”

As Jason and I were talking last night, we both quoted a line from a movie – same line, same time. We watched that movie last night.

You may recall, I recently (and very vehemently) declared I am once again a vegan, or at the very least, vegetarian. So I took this opportunity to create my own vegan african spicy peanut faux chicken soup.

Whew! Here’s what I did:

I replaced the chicken with my favorite, soy curls. To rehydrate soy curls, soak in warm water for 10 minutes:

oops. Totally didn’t get a photo of that!! 🙂 “say that reminds me…”

Chop an onion:

“mind you don’t cut yourself, Mordecai…”

Add olive oil to saute pan:


Saute onion + garlic:

Add the rehydrated soy curls:


While they get friendly, add the curry, sea salt + pepper to the stewed tomatoes.

All together now:


Add this mixture to your soup pot or slow cooker. Add the tomato paste. Add the chicken + onion mixture.

This is where I added more heat. Because Jason loves spicy. and because I loves Jason. 😉

I set my slow cooker on Hi for an hour, then turned to low for another hour. Nom:

Slice some como:

Bowl of Deliciousness:


Soup transport system:

I am so excited about this! Really good flavors, and a nice amount of heat.

If you’d like to try this, here is the breakdown of who and how much:

Spabettie’d Vegan African Peanut Soup

1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/2 tablespoon sea salt
1/2 tablespoon black pepper
3 teaspoons red pepper flakes – adjust to your heat preference – you can always add, you can’t take away 🙂
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup tomato paste
2 cups stewed tomatoes
1 cup peanut butter

Protein addition: 1/2 bag soy curls or 2 cups chickpeas

“I’m already home, Glen…”

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