How to Make Tabouleh {Parsley & Bulgur Salad}

Recipes, Salads, Shabbath, Sukkoth / By Hannah Abreu

Despite the cold weather and my love for soup, on Wednesday I was craving something more vivid, crunchy and tangy so I decided to make Tabouleh or Tabuli for lunch instead.

This vegan salad is one of my favorites so far because:

It has a lot of flavor. All that chopped parsley just take this salad to the next level.

Uses a few ingredients. I LOVE those recipes that take few ingredients I usually have around the house, and I am sure you are the same.

It is very satisfying. Some people may think a salad is just “water” (meaning like you will be hungry five minutes after eating) BUT this is a really satisfying lunch or dinner (or even breakfast! Why not?). So satisfying you won’t worry about food for a long time.

It is extremely easy to make. If you can move your arms and use a knife, you are all set.

Even if you don’t normally like salads, you are going to love this one. This easy and refreshing salad is perfect for those who are trying to incorporate more veggies in their diets. Believe me, you can eat the whole bowl and dont even notice ? plus, you won’t feel guilty at all!

So easy and good looking, right? This should be enough reason to eat salad everyday.

Tell us, do you also crave salad in winter? Which one is your favorite? Let us know in the comment section below or head over instagram or Pinterest.

Until next time!

Easy Banana Bread {Vegan, Low-sugar with Fat-free option}

2 Comments / Recipes, Sweet Treats / By Hannah Abreu

Hello, everyone! It was about time to write another post! My absence has been due to a malfunctioning laptop. It won’t turn on, no matter what I do. Apparently, it needed a vacation, so I had to figure out a way to make blog images with my phone. Not that I am very good at that, but at least we can continue posting regardless of my “smartphone-photo-editing-abilities” ? I guess we just cannot have it all. Can we? Anyways! To sweet up the day I made this incredibly easy Vegan Banana Bread.

Disclosure: Please note this post contains affiliate links, which means at no additional cost to you, we earn a few bucks if you decide to make a purchase through any of those links. We only recommend products that we personally use, support and/or would recommend without an affiliate link. Do not spend any money on these products unless you totally feel you need them for more that one-time use. Thank you so much for your support. For more information visit our Affiliate Disclosures Page.

You’re going to love it because:

It is extremely easy. You just need a bowl, a fork and rubber spatula (and, well, your scale too! ?)

It is vegan and budget-friendly. Just a few ingredients you probably have at home.

It is barely sweet. After making this recipe 3 times in a row, I decided to cut down the sugar even more and it was still delicious

You can make it fat-free. For the original recipe I used melted margarine, then I used coconut oil and for my final try I skipped the added fat entirely (I substituted the fat with unsweetened apple sauce) so you can do it either way.

First of all I have to say…This is not your typical overly sweet banana bread. The sweetness of this banana bread come almost in its entirely from the very ripe bananas , so if you are looking for that, super sweet and so called “indulgent” recipe, this is not the one.

This recipe is great to use those bananas that are too ripe to eat by themselves. I have read some people suggesting that if you don’t have ripe bananas you can “ripen” them by baking them until the peel is black, BUT this doesn’t really work well with this (or any banana bread, for that matter) because even though you will soften the bananas is the oven, the sweetness and characteristic flavor of ripe bananas won’t be there. So, forget about the shortcut and just use very ripe bananas (if yours are still too green, this will be a great opportunity to also exercise your patience)

Vegan Banana Bread

Let’s talk about results

All banana bread versions came out spongy and barely sweet to my taste. The one made with margarine had a little crunchiness on the edges and it was slightly taller than the one with apple sauce. Also, the banana bread with margarine had a more tender and more fine crumb.

The last batch (made with less sugar and applesauce) came out a bit smaller than the first two but it wasn’t dense, and for me wasn’t really a big deal, but, if you feel your batter is too dense for your liking you always can add a bit of liquid (like soy or coconut milk). The crumb wasn’t as tender as the batch with margarine but for me still an excellent choice for breakfast or as a snack, specially for kids. And if you are watching your caloric intake, you don’t really need the extra fat and sugar ?

Vegan Banana Bread

– For the fat-free and (and less sweet) version I reduced the amount of sugar to 60grs and used 100 grs of unsweetened applesauce instead of the melted coconut oil (or margarine)

– To make this banana bread I used this 9×4 loaf pan. If you are making half batch, use smaller pan.

– The best way to test for doneness is with a thermometer. It needs to register 200ºF. If you are baking half batch and using a smaller pan, adjust baking time.

– For a half batch recipe see below

VEGAN BANANA BREAD (HALF BATCH)

330gr ripe bananas, mashed
5 grs baking soda (1 tsp)
55 grs sugar (1/4 cup)*
215 grs self rising flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
50 grs coconut oil or margarine, melted* (see notes for fat-free option)
A pinch of ground nutmeg
A pinch of salt
100 gr roasted almonds (optional)
5 ml vanilla extract (optional)

Which version are you trying first? Let us know in the comments section below, or on social media: Instagram & Pinterest. When you make this recipe, don’t forget to post your photos on Instagram with the hashtag #sisterblissdiary.

Until next time!

Apple Peel Chutney & Apple Crisp Cake {Stop Food Waste!}

Recipes, Rosh HaShanah, Sweet Treats / By Hannah Abreu

A few days ago, I had the pleasure to cook a wonderful Rosh haShanah Dinner alongside my beautiful friend Shifrah. Together we prepared a simple yet delicious Vegan Dinner (well, almost vegan because we used honey!) and as I was prepping the ingredients for an apple crisp. I was left with a ton of apple peels so I said to myself: “how can I use this?” I figured I’d make and Apple Peel and Mint Chutney.

The food waste issue…

Maybe you are wondering ”why?”. Why to save trims or peels from fruits and veggies? Why even bother about making a cake with a fraction of apple crumble?

Well, 30% to 40% of all the food is wasted in the United States only! (that was 133 Billions Pounds equivalent to $161 Billion dollars worth of food in 2010 and 100 Billions in Europe in 2014). Last time I checked 1/3 of the world food production goes to waste and, on average, families in the USA throw away 25% of the foods they buy. That is simply insane!

Precious food that:
– Could have helped feed families in need.
– Could have being used to give you more for the money you already spent by, for example, using peels and veggies scraps, or repurposing leftovers.
– The resources used to put all that food to waste globally, could be use to end, or at least alleviate, world’s hunger problems.
– Resources used to waste that insane amount of food could be used to help the planet not endanger it.

When all the cooking madness finished in my kitchen, I process the apple peel into tiny pieces, added sugar, spices, mint and voilá! This “chutney” made a nice addition to our breakfast oatmeal, toasts, and crackers, for a couple of weeks. If you are left with more that you can eat, store in a glass jar and give away to your family and friends. It would certainly make a nice holiday gift. Win win!

Super simple, right?

Let’s look at some other ways you can reduce food waste?

1. Don’t buy so much food in the first place

Certainly, many people buy too much; more than they can eat in a reasonable amount of time, sometimes as a result of the “it-was-on-special-offer” syndrome. Buying less means you will take advantage of everything you buy before it goes to waste, and before you go and buy the same foods. You also will be showing some love to your pockets because wasting about 25% of your grocery budget is not funny.

2. Find ways to reuse the leftovers in your fridge

Instead of eating based on the “mood of the day”, check what you have in your fridge at least once a week, and build your meals of that day based on that (in my house that day is sunday, when we repurpose shabbath leftovers). After checking your fridge and realizing how much food you waste you will definitely be more mindful about the quantities you’ll buy next time, and you’ll learn more about it in the way. After a while, you might start having fun with the process and discover new ways of eating your leftovers.

After Rosh haShanah dinner, we had leftover apple crumble and the “crumble” was not crunchy anymore, so I was going to repurpose it, no question about it! I mixed the apple crumble with a few ingredients and I got a nice, perfectly sweet cake, which I served as snack and nobody noticed it was made from leftover apple crumble!

To make this LEFTOVER APPLE CRISP CAKE you’ll need:

The leftover: 350grs of apple crisp (including homemade apple filling and the crumble (made with oats, sunflower and pumpkin seeds, and almond flour)
50 gr sugar (the apple crisp is already sweet)
3 Eggs, separated
125 gr self rising flour
Splash of vanilla extract (optional)
A pinch of salt.

For this recipe I used a 6″ round cake pan, with detachable bottom, covered with baking paper.

To make the cake, I started by whipping up my egg whites, adding your sugar little by little as I whip, until I got soft peaks.
Then, to this I added the egg yolks, and keep beating for a couple more minutes until the ribbon stage (this is where the mixture is a pale yellow color and thick).

At this point, I added the flour, a third at a time, sifting it over the egg mixture, and mixing it with a folding motion with a rubber spatula. Finally, mixed in the leftover Apple Crisp, poured the batter into the prepared pan and baked at 350ºF (180ºC) for 25-30 minutes.

If you are using this recipe as a reference for other fruits leftovers, keep in mind that it may take more or less time in the oven. A good rule of thumb is check your cake with a toothpick inserted in the center after 25 minutes. If it is done, your toothpick will come out clean, and your cake should at least have some color on top and spring back when touched.

Take the cake out of the pan immediately and let cool completely in a wire rack before serving.

This simple cake was delicious and spongy, and not too sweet, so perfect for breakfast. The oatmeal, seeds and ground almonds of the crumble also gave a nice texture to this humble cake. I certainly loved the result and I hope you try it too!

3. Give away

If you have some foods you know you won’t eat (it happens!!) just give it away to your friends and family, or even random people. There are so many people in need, no matter the country where you live in.

One way you can do this is by cooking a meal with those ingredients and give it to the homeless. You can also, look for food sharing websites or Stop Food Waste initiatives on Facebook groups. They are plenty.

Hopefully now you see some ways for you to save money, take advantage of what you buy, waste less, help people in need and take care of the planet. It is important that we open our eyes about how much we waste in order to stop this madness, and our kitchens is a good place to start.

As we still have other big holidays coming; we can be more mindful this time and practice all we’ve learned. No excuse!

We have a dedicated Pinterest Board to collect all the excellent ideas and resources out there about food waste. If you want to be over there pining, just let us know by sending us an email to ka**********@gm***.com and we will add you as soon as possible.

Do you have other ideas about how to stop food waste? Let us know in the comment section below, pinterest or instagram!

Tizkú leshanim rabboth!

Avocado Pesto Pasta

2 Comments / Pasta, Recipes / By Hannah Abreu

Hi, everyone!
As you can see, the recipe we are presenting today is avocado pesto pasta.
I can totally say that avocado is one of the favorite fruits of my mom, sister and I and yet, this was the first time I personally tried the avocado pesto. I don’t even know why I didn’t try it before (probably because I was having a difficult time finding good ripe avocados ?) Anyways, this is for sure one of the easiest, simplest yet extremely delicious pasta dishes I’ve tried.

In terms of texture, this is probably the cremiest pasta that I have eaten (no cream, no butter, all vegan, just creaminess from the avocado). I instantly felt in love with this avocado pesto pasta, but because this was my first time, there are a few things I will do differently next time I am doing this:

Ex.: Next time I will double or triple the amounts because I cooked 1 pound of linguini and it was way too much pasta for the pesto, so the pasta didn’t get the super green color I like in pesto. The zoodles were different, though.

Also, next time I will make de pesto first with 3 or 4 bunches of basil for 1 pound fetuccini and then, add the avocado to the ready pesto. This is because I always add the whole bunch of basil to my pesto (yup, stalks included!) and for some reason they were not properly processed when added from the beginning with the avocados.

There were not any other issue. The process is very straight-foward. Just process all the ingredients until creamy.

That was enough introduction, let’s jump to the recipe:

YUMMY AVOCADO-BASIL PESTO

Prep. Time: 5 minutes.

Cooking time: 10 minutes (if using pasta)

Ingredients:

115 gr Avocado, ripe but firm (about 2 avocados)

About 150 gr fresh basil

¼ cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 clove of Garlic

½ tsp of salt (or more to taste)

Pepper to taste

Juice of half lemon, about 2 Tbsp.

¼ cup of pine nuts or almond Meal*

Preparation:

First make your traditional pesto by processing all the ingredients except for the avocados. (I added almond meal to my pasta first because I didn’t have the pine nuts and second because is nutritious anyway and I love the flavor, but if you don’t have any, it can be totally optional).

Then add your avocados for extra creaminess. Mix with your pasta or veggie noodles and enjoy.

It couldn’t be easier! Keep this in your list of life saving recipes list so you can grab a jock lunch or dinner next time you are in a hurry! Oh! And, I almost forgot!… This is very kid friendly (if your children love colorful creamy pasta ??)

Have you guys tried avocado pesto pasta? Do you prefer zoodles or noodles? ?? Let us know in the comment section below!

The Ultimate Vegan Meatballs {Vegan, Gluten Free}

4 Comments / Recipes, Shabbath, Sides, Sukkoth / By Hannah Abreu

Hi, everyone! I am very excited today to finally share with you this recipe, after spending some time perfecting these beauties. These are The Ultimate Vegan Meatballs on Planet Earth .

A little background

The Ultimate Vegan Meatballs were born a couple of weeks ago while I was cooking a whole bunch of mushrooms for lunch but once they were cooked they were so little! The disappointment was real! Those mushroom filled the pan and when cooked were just a few grams! I needed to act quickly and finish lunch so I thought: Why not make some meatballs? Yes! Of course!

I processed the mushrooms with some oats, more spices, a bit of water and so on until I had the consistency I wanted. Then I finished cooking in tomato sauce. They were good in terms of flavor, but way too dense, so I had to make them again correcting the amounts but I was out of mushrooms, so the recipe had to wait.

Next day was friday. I was cooking chicken for Shabbath but, who says you cannot make chicken and vegan meatballs? I made up my mind to take advantage of the momentum, so I weighed my ingredients, took some notes and pictures, cooked and reserved the meatballs, that were going to be served for dinner.

We had guests for shabbath and I was mortified. I just was praying the meatballs were at least edible. But, well, if they were not that good, at least I could have some feedback to perfect this recipe and write it on the blog.

The time to eat came and I remember when one of the kids wanted to try the meatballs. They honestly looked like their meaty cousins so much but to avoid any confusion, I told him straight away the meatballs were vegan. He tried it and immediately his eyes opened up!

When he asked for more I realized they were happy open eyes, those that happen when you try something delicious! At this point, everyone started eating the meatballs and I was receiving positive feedback. I was very happy when a vegan guest told me she wanted the recipe for making them like everyday 🙂 That moment I knew they were not only edible, but certainly good. Even my picky husband liked them!

In the week that followed I probably made this recipe every other day, just to make sure the recipe was on point, and now it is just turn to try them. I really really hope you like them.

How to make The Ultimate Vegan Meatballs

To make The Ultimate Vegan Meatballs you’ll start by cleaning your mushrooms. Soak mushrooms in cold water for a few minutes. Then, finish cleaning with a paper towel or a brush if you see any dirt and Chop them.

When your mushrooms are clean and ready, heat your pan on medium-high heat. You want the pan hot but not smoking.

UPDATE: You can totally make this recipe OIL-FREE by skipping the oil entirely and baking instead of frying

Add the oil, mushrooms and all the seasonings (paprika, garlic, salt, pepper, turmeric, oregano, cinnamon and nutmeg) and start cooking.

At some point, a ton of water will start to come out of the mushrooms, just continue cooking until all the water is evaporated.

Put the mixture into the food processor*, add the dried oregano (you can also use fresh) and process until you have a rough paste (don’t process too much, you still want tiny pieces of mushrooms for texture)

Transfer the mixture into a bowl, add the rest of the ingredients (oats and water). Mix well and let the mixture rest in the fridge for 5-10 minutes (this allows the oats the absorb the liquid and bind everything together)

Shaping and cooking

To shape, wet your hands a bit before shaping each meatballs as the oats they contains get very sticky.

To cook I have used two methods so far: frying and baking.

IF FRYING: make sure the oil is well heated before you start, or the meatballs will disintegrate. Fry until hey are golden brown on both sides, and transfer to paper towel to drain the excess oil.

IF BAKING: If you prefer to bake just make sure you use a silicone mat or baking paper to line your baking tray. Using just oil or butter won’t work. Bake them for about 30 minutes or until you see they are firm to the touch, thoroughly cooked and with a nice brown color. Get them out of the oven and let them cool down a bit before you attempt to take them off the silicone mat or the parchment.

UPDATE: They should peel right off very easily of the baking mat or paper. If they are not peeling easily is because they are still a bit wet. Stick for a few more minutes in the oven and then, let cool down a bit before removing from the baking tray.

Finish The Ultimate Vegan Meatballs by cooking them in your preferred tomato sauce (Check out our Sweet Potato & Tomato Pasta Sauce) for 5 minutes or so, on low heat. This last process will give the meatballs a very nice melt-in-your-mouth texture. Delicious! 🙂

Have you tried The Ultimate Vegan Meatballs yet? Let us know in the comment section below! And, don’t forget to tag us #sisterblissdiary when you make your Ultimate Vegan Meatballs. Don’t be shy and follow as well on instagram and pinterest. 🙂

Shabuah Tob!