Oil-Free

Vegan Mac ‘N’ Peas Bowls

Vegan cheese-less mac ‘n’ cheese comfort bowl with “cheesy” tahini sauce, gluten-free chickpea pasta, green peas, and roasted tomatoes.

In college, I mastered the art of eating seemingly unappealing meals on the go.

I stopped at the campus convenience store for Kraft Easy Macs, popped them in the communal microwave, then stirred in a packet of tuna (pre-plant-based days) and some leftover steamed vegetables from last night’s dinner.

I liked how the vegetables and tuna instantly calmed the boiling temperatures of the pasta so I could shovel in forkfuls while walking to the Art building for class.

Ok, so, not the most appetizing meal, but this totally sets the foundation for how I like my macaroni and cheese.

I love taking side dishes and transforming them into an unexpectedly hearty meal.

These Vegan Mac ‘N’ Peas Bowls are oil-free, gluten-free, and plant-based.

They’re completely respectable as a full meal with the addition of protein and plenty of green vegetables smothered in a “cheezy” tahini-based sauce.

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Triple Berry Banana Muffins

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

Oatmeal, berry, and banana muffins naturally sweetened and packed with protein and fiber. Perfect to meal prep for snacks and breakfast.

I used to have a blog called The Vegan Muffin Woman where I only created and shared muffins and cupcake photos and recipes.

Basically anything made in a muffin tin was fair game.

Sometimes when I make muffins now I remember TVMW and I have to laugh.

I remember the struggle to get excited about the same shape every post.

These Triple Berry Banana Muffins, though, I wouldn’t mind seeing an a weekly basis.

Did you ever eat the Entenmann’s Little Bites Muffins?

Those mini muffin packs were one of my favorite snacks, and blueberry was by far the best flavor.

I remember ripping open a packet and being overwhelmed by that sugary sweet blueberry bakery smell.

MMM.

Well, these Triple Berry Banana Muffins are even better than that because they smell amazing *and* they’re amazing for you.

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Strawberry Quinoa Salad with Zesty Lime Tahini

By Flora & Vino 1 Comment

Fresh and light 1-bowl quinoa salad celebrating strawberry season and spring vegetables with a zippy oil-free lime tahini dressing.

Did I ever tell you about that time I went strawberry picking?

I showed up at the farm with my sunhat and gardening gloves, ready for the romance of picking beautiful red fruit from the ground while seated daintily in the shade.

Well, let me tell you, strawberry picking is not that picturesque.

I stood hunched over under the beating sun, squinting through the shrubbery for flashes of red berry, sweat collecting in the rim of my sunhat, my basket of berries only a quarter full.

Every berry into the bucket was a success, and every berry chucked onto the ground…was probably overripe and buggy.

But friends, the good ones were SO GOOD.

It’s strawberry season again and I know just what to do with them.

Something like…toasted quinoa tossed with sweet strawberries, peppery radishes, crunchy snap peas, tender peas, and fresh herbs, tied together with a bright lime tahini dressing.

These days I mostly purchase my strawberries from the store, but that doesn’t mean I’m not willing to work for my berries.

This Strawberry Herb Quinoa Salad, however, hardly requires much work at all; just 1-bowl and less than 30 minutes.

That way you can spend more time outside, enjoying the warmer weather, or, picking more berries.

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Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate “Kiss” Cookies

By Flora & Vino 12 Comments

4-Ingredient Peanut Butter Chocolate “Kiss” Cookies that are perfect for any sweet occasion! Easy enough to whip up in one bowl in less than 30 minutes.

I’ve been feeling nostalgic lately and everyone knows that the best way to cure that is with a big batch of cookies.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate.

I wish I could say that I came up with the combo.

What I did come up with, however, was a way to pair them together that is oil free, gluten free, and refined sugar free.

My Vegan Peanut Butter Chocolate “Kiss” Cookies require only 4 ingredients, 1 bowl, and a 10 minute wait!

The Peanut Butter Kiss Cookie is probably the first cookie I successfully made solo in my parents’ kitchen.

I carefully mixed up the peanut butter packaged dough, watched intently as it baked, and frantically pressed Hershey Kisses into their golden tops.

I wanted to put this copy-cat recipe on the blog because it’s one I pull out when I need a crowd pleaser that’s both plant-based and super delicious.

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Smashed Burrito Bowls

By Flora & Vino 4 Comments

Smashed burrito bowls with black beans, cauliflower rice, and paprika sweet potato mash. Serve with your favorite toppings!

Burrito bowls became a staple for me when I started follow a plant-based diet.

You mean I can just throw all of this stuff in a bowl and it’ll taste better than Chipotle?

Yup.

These Smashed Burrito Bowls are the result of one of my weeknight burrito bowl experiments involving a sweet potato, cauliflower, beans, a blender, and an intense craving for Mexican.

The combination of this bowl is ridiculously simple, but it feels fresh because it combines unexpected textures and a killer mix of herbs and spices.

OK, I’ll just say it.

These bowls might arguably resemble baby food, but trust me when I say no baby has had flavors like this from the jar.

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White Bean Blondies

By Flora & Vino 3 Comments

6-ingredient blondies made with white beans and dark chocolate chunks. Oil-free, gluten-free, naturally sweetened, and packed with protein.

Everyone, send help, I can’t stop putting beans in my desserts.

If you haven’t braved making a black bean brownie yet, perhaps these White Bean Blondie will tempt you towards the dark side.

I love my Black Bean Blender Brownies so much that I decided to lighten them up for spring in the form of a White Bean Blondie.

These too, are blender brownies, so throw everything in and blend, baby, blend.

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Maple Balsamic Tempeh Bowls

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

Maple Balsamic Tempeh Bowls with quinoa, and roasted rainbow vegetables. Perfect for protein packed lunches and dinner.

Being entirely plant-based, I institute periodic self checkins where I ask myself (in very serious and stern self-monologue)…

“Are you getting enough protein?”

If my only recent food recollections are flashes of veggies dipped in hummus (oops), the response to myself is a bashful “no”.

Maple Balsamic Tempeh Bowls to the rescue.

I’m excited to share these Maple Balsamic Tempeh Bowls with you because it’s one of my absolute favorites.

Have you tried tempeh yet?

If you want to try tempeh, but aren’t sure what the heck to do with it, this recipe is for you.

If you’ve tried tempeh and decided you’re definitely not a fan, give this recipe a try and reassess.

This magical maple and balsamic marinade has a way of swaying even the most hard and fast of tempeh opinions.

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Greek Power Bowls with Tzatziki Sauce

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

Classic greek veggies pair with hearty quinoa and kale, fresh herbs, chickpeas, raw veggies, and an oil-free cucumber yogurt tzatziki sauce.

In our old neighborhood, there was a killer kabobs place.

The small restaurant, part of a strip mall, was conveniently located right next to my gym.

I remember ducking out of class long enough to breathlessly place my order, running back in to finish off the last ten minutes of kickboxing with images of kabobs dancing in my head.

The place had this magical green sauce that I now recognize as tzatziki sauce, but at the time just thought of as magic green sauce.

I didn’t know what was in it, but I knew that dipping pita in it was a really good idea.

These Greek Power Bowls with Cucumber Yogurt Tzatziki Sauce remind me of that little gem.

Classic greek veggies paired with hearty quinoa and kale, fresh herbs, toasted pine nuts, decadent herbed nut cheese, and a cucumber yogurt tzatziki sauce.

This isn’t Your Big Fat Greek Wedding’s average salad.

My number one tip for keeping bowls and basic meals interesting and fresh is to create a couple staple sauces that you can mix and match.

I hope this Cucumber Yogurt Tzatziki Sauce becomes one of yours.

While I totally wanted to drive back to the Kabobs place to compare notes, but I decided to share with you, instead!

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Cracker Crusted Cauliflower Steaks

By Flora & Vino 1 Comment

Creative veggie-centric “steaks” made with cauliflower and a crave-able cracker coating. Oil-free, gluten-free, grain-free and packed with flavor.

The other night Dan came home from a dinner raving about a juicy steak that he’d eaten.

For those of you who don’t know, my better half is decidedly not plant based, so we communicate our passion for our separate eats verbally to each other.

OK, so, actually it’s usually me babbling to Dan, just home from work, about all of the amazing things I made that day.

I lean over the kitchen island granite excitedly, waving colorful snapshots on my iPhone in his face.

So Dan’s steak stories got me thinking about steak.

Not about missing steak, but how it would be fun to do a veggie-centric dish where there is one veg star.

Friends, I give you Cracker Crusted Cauliflower Steaks, starring Cauli.

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Cauliflower Rice Tabbouleh Bowls

By Flora & Vino 1 Comment

Cauliflower rice tabbouleh bowls made with, herbed tofu, hummus, olives, and artichoke. Perfect for a warm weather nutritious lunch or dinner!

I think it’s the artichoke in these bowls that has me hypnotized.

Or maybe it’s the delicious herbed tofu cubes.

Or that big dollop of hummus and mess of veggie-packed cauli rice tabbouleh…

Your turn.

Even though we moved nearly six months ago (has it really been that long??), I still haven’t established local “spots” where I stop in for a meal.

Until I find a good Mediterranean restaurant near me, these Cauliflower Rice Tabbouleh Bowls combine all of my favorites in one meal that comes together quickly and easily.

You’re going to love the way raw cauliflower “rice” acts as a rice substitute in this recipe.

This is the kind of bowl you mix up with satisfaction post-assembly and inhale.

These Cauliflower Rice Tabbouleh Bowls are also the first tofu recipe I’ve shared on the blog so far.

Admittedly, when I first went vegan, I ate quite a bit of tofu to transition.

Lately though, I have to remind myself that I still have a package to use in the fridge.

Let’s use it to make these Cauliflower Rice Tabbouleh Bowls!

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