Oil-Free

Strawberry Rhubarb French Toast

Plant-based and protein-packed French Toast with a strawberry-rhubarb compote. Enjoy for a special breakfast treat in less than 30 minutes.

Have you ever eaten breakfast in bed?

I can’t say that I have.

It’s one of those things that sounds so perfect in theory, but when it comes down to it is actually kind of hard to pull off.

Once I’m up, I’m up.

And then there’s the logistics of serving and eating without getting breakfast ON your bed…

If I had to pick a breakfast in bed meal, though, it would be these Strawberry Rhubarb French Toasts.

They’re the perfect balance of cozy and fancy to brighten up your bedspread.

And since it’s Mother’s Day and all, you should probably make them for your mom and serve them to her in bed Sunday morning.

I thought this recipe was appropriate for Mother’s Day because rhubarb always reminds me of my mom’s rhubarb pies.

The best part was the rhubarb filling.

I used to dig my spoon deeper and deeper into the interior of the pie, extracting all of the sweet pink until finally I was left with a concave pie crust.

It was really good filling. I’ve never been a big pie crust eater, unless it’s graham crackers crust.

But that’s a story for another post.

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Blood Orange Chocolate Chip Chickpea Cookies

By Flora & Vino 7 Comments

Chocolate chip cookies made with chickpeas and naturally sweetened with maple syrup and blood orange. Perfect for a healthy snack or dessert!

Who else is loving citrus this spring?

I was beyond excited when I started seeing the dark rind of blood oranges appear in the citrus barrels at the grocery store. I love the addition of blood orange to my meals for both flavor and coloring, so why not add it to dessert, too?

Have you tried the pairing of chocolate and citrus before?

The mixture of tangy fruit and sweet chocolate is pretty perfect.

If you haven’t, allow these Blood Orange Chocolate Chickpea Cookies to be the sweetest of introductions for you.

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Spring Lemon-y Leek Soup

By Flora & Vino 6 Comments

1-pot soup packed with spring vegetables and leeks. Perfect to cozy up to when the weather turns brisk on spring evenings.

You guys, I can’t believe it’s May.

When did that happen?

The weather is warmer here, but sometimes the evenings still have a bit of nip to them.

I always attend spring evening events optimistically jacket-less, only to find myself shivering once the sun has gone down.

This Spring Lemony Leek Soup is perfect for such evenings when you want a little bit of comfort and warmth (or a jacket) until the sun comes up again.

Leeks and I had tempestuous beginnings that grew into an unshakeable love.

I can’t say I ever liked leeks.

This is probably because I never liked onions, but that’s a story for another post.

My parents used to serve a Potato Leek Soup for family lunches on the weekend.

I remember picking out all of the leeks, swirling my spoon around the bowl to avoid the ribbed white rings, collecting pockets of broth and potatoes instead.

At some point, I decided that hey, leeks aren’t so bad, and then I decided to make an entire pot of soup that featured them.

Crisp spring vegetables pair with soothing thyme and bright lemon to create a perfectly light and fresh flavor.

Prepping a pot of this Spring Lemony Leek Soup for the week is so easy and somehow it tastes even better day after day as the flavors meld together.

It’s magic!

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Vegan Mac ‘N’ Peas Bowls

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

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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