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Grilled Tofu Skewers with Teriyaki Marinade

June 1, 2022 by Stormy Leave a Comment

These grilled tofu skewers are delicious vegan bbq skewers that are packed with teriyaki flavor and yummy goodness.

This recipe is vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free option, oil-free, dairy-free, and whole food plant-based.

grilled tofu skwerers

These grilled tofu skewers, are tofu kabobs as I like to call them, are a delicious bbq treat perfect for vegans!

After all, when most people here BBQ they think tons of meat. But around here, our favorite foods to grill are veggies, tofu and mushrooms!

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Ingredients

chopped veggies next to block of tofu

For the BBQ skewers we used

  • Extra firm tofu: The extra firm holds up best on the grill
  • Red bell pepper
  • Yellow bell pepper: Or green bell pepper, cut up into cubes
  • Zucchini
  • Red onion
  • Skewers: You can use metal skewers or wooden ones. If you are using the wooden ones, make sure to soak them in water for an hour before throwing them onto the BBQ.

For the Terriyaki Sauce:

  • Soy sauce or coconut aminos for gluten free option
  • Brown sugar
  • Garlic powder
  • Ginger
  • Apple cider vinegar
  • Sesame oil
  • Corn starch
  • Cold water
  • Red pepper flakes
  • Salt and pepper to taste

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

The first thing I do when making any kind of tofu dish is start by making the sauce or marinade.

For this recipe we are using a homemade teriyaki sauce. Start by combining the soy sauce or coconut aminos with the brow sugar and seasonings in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk everything together well.

The pour the sauce into a small pan and heat on medium high heat until it just starts to boil.

While the sauce is warming, mix the cornstarch in cold water in a separate bowl. Then once the sauce is boiling add it into your saucepan.

Continue stirring and cook for another minute or so until the sauce starts to thicken. Remove the sauce from heat and allow to cool.

Next you'll want to grab your tofu block and place it on a plate or cutting board.

block of tofu

Cube your tofu into 1 inch sized squares. Or squares big enough to sit well on your skewers.

tofu chopped into cubes

Chop up all your veggies into similarly sized pieces.

I recommend trying to keep your veggies as wide as possible so they don't fall off the skewers as they cook on the grill.

veggies and tofu chopped into bite sized pieces

Next, add ½ a cup of your cooled teriyaki sauce into a ziploc bag and add your cubed tofu.

Mix the cubes all around the sauce and let it marinate in the fridge for 30 minutes.

tofu marinated in terryiaki suace

While your tofu is marinating, you can start preparing your grill. Preheat the girl to medium-high heat.

Start alternating your veggies with the marinated tofu onto each of the skewers.

tofu skewers with vegetables

Put the skewers onto the grill directly and cook for 9-10 minutes, turning halfway through to grill evenly on both sides.

Cook until the tofu is cooked through well with grill marks.

tofu skewers on grill

Once your grilled tofu is cooked, remove from heat and drizzle with the rest of the teriyaki sauce and serve hot.

grilled tofu skewers vegan BBQ
grilled tofu skewers

Substitutions

If you want to make a yummy vegan grilled skewer, but aren't a big fan of tofu, you could try using chunks of portabello mushroom instead.

If you are looking for a gluten-free option, make sure to use a gluten-free soy sauce like Tamari sauce or coconut aminos as the base for the marinade.

Variations

With these grilled kabobs there are tons of different veggies you could add to your skewers, other ideas include

  • Peppers - While we used bell peppers, you could also add pieces of other types of peppers like poblano peppers
  • Mushrooms - Instead of tofu, or in addition to the tofu you could marinate mushrooms and add to your skewers
  • Tofu Free - And of course, if you have those who don't like tofu, you could always just do veggies and drizzle the sauce over them once they've finished grilling

Storage

These are best eaten right away, however, will keep in the fridge for a day or two in an air-tight container.

Yield: 6 Skewers

Grilled Tofu Skewers with Teriyaki Marinade

grilled tofu skewers

These grilled tofu skewers are marinated in a homemade teriyaki sauce and grilled to perfection. It's a perfect vegan BBQ option that all vegs will love.

Prep Time 10 minutes
Grill Time 10 minutes
Additional Time 30 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes

Ingredients

For the Skewers

  • 1 pack extra firm tofu, cubed
  • 1 red bell pepper, cubed
  • 1 yellow or green bell pepper, cubed
  • 1 zucchini thickly sliced
  • 1 red onion, cubed
  • Skewers

For the Teryiaki Saue

  • ½ cup soy sauce
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ¼ teaspoon ginger
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • ½ teaspoon sesame oil (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot
  • 2 tablespoons cold water
  • 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Combine the soy sauce, brown sugar, garlic powder, ginger, vinegar, sesame oil and red pepper flakes in a medium bowl. Whisk well.
  2. Pour soy sauce mixture into a small pan and bring to a boil.
  3. In a separate bowl combine cornstarch and water, and whisk well.
  4. Pour cornstarch mixture into boiling soy sauce mixture and cook for 1 minute until sauce is thickened. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
  5. Place ½ cup of the cooled teriyaki sauce in a ziploc bag and ad cubed tofu.
  6. Marinate in fridge for 30 minutes.
  7. Heat grill to medium-high heat.
  8. When tofu is done marinating, assemble onto skewers with chopped vegetables.
  9. Grill over direct heat for 9-10 minutes, turning halfway through to grill skewers evenly on both sides.
  10. Skewers are ready to remove from heat when tofu is cooked through with grill marks.
  11. Drizzle with reserved teriyaki sauce and serve warm.
© Stormy

The Best Vegan Amaretti Cookies Ever

June 1, 2022 by Stormy Leave a Comment

These vegan amaretti cookies are a slightly crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside cookie that's completely vegan using one secret ingredient.

vegan amaretti cookies

Amaretti cookies are a naturally gluten-free treat traditionally enjoyed with a hot cup of coffee.

These vegan amaretti cookies are not just gluten-free, but they're also egg-free and oil free!

These chewy almond cookies are amazing on their own, or delicious sandwiches with a fruit am or ganache.

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Ingredients

ingredients in cups on table

Almond flour: The gluten-free flour that gives the Amaretti cookies their texture and flavor

Powdered sugar: To add sweetness

Granulated sugar: To add sweetness

Aquafaba: Traditonally, amaretti cookies are made with egg whites, but aquafaba, or "bean juice" can help us get a similar texture and structure for our cookies. For this recipe, we'll be using the liquid taken from 1 can of chickpeas.

Salt: Salt added to sweet treats helps to emphasize the other flavors

Lemon zest: Adds great flavor

Amaretto liquid: To add additional almond flavor

Additional powdered sugar: For topping the cookies with

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Start by combining your dry ingredients in a large bowl.

So your almond flour, powdered sugar and granulated sugar.

Use a whisk to break up any clumps and evenly distribute.

almond flour in bowl with whisk

In a different large bowl beat the juice from 1 can of chickpeas or the "aquafaba" with the salt using an electric beater on medium-high until it forms soft peaks like shown below.

This should take about 5 minutes.

aquafaba beaten with electric mixer

Next, you want to gently stir in lemon zest and then fold in the almond flour mixture until everything is combined.

mixing cookie dough mixture

Finally, stir in amaretto. The dough should feel sticky and soft but easily formed into cookie dough balls.

Your dough should look like the photo below.

amaretti cookie dough mixture

Cover the dough and pop in the fridge to chill for half and hour. Chill for longer if it's a warmer day.

While your dough is chilling, you can line your baking pan with a silicone sheet or parchment paper and start to preheat your oven.

One your dough has chilled long enough, fill the bottom of a small bowl with powdered sugar.

With a teaspoon, scoop a rounded amount of cookie dough and roll in your hands to form a ball.

Roll the dough ball into the powdered sugar coating it completely.

rolling cookie dough ball in powdered sugar

Place the coated cookie dough ball onto your baking sheet.

Repeat leaving 2 inches of space in between each cookie until all of your dough is used up.

sugar covered amaretti cookies on baking sheet

This may take two batches.

Place the baking sheet on the top rack in the oven as the bottom of these cookies are prone to overbaking.

Bake the cookies for 18-20 minutes, or until the cookies are golden brown under the powdered sugar.

vegan amaretti cookies on baking sheet

Allow to the cookies to cool for at least 5 minutes before removing from the baking sheet and placing on a cooling rack to completely cool.

amaretti cookies on cooling rack

Hint: Keep the cookies baking as close to the top of the oven as possible to prevent the bottoms from burning.

If you are going to bake both batches at once on two separate cookie sheets, keep them both on the upper ⅓ of the oven.

After about 12 minutes of baking, switch the positions of the two cookie sheets to prevent burning the bottom of the lower sheet.

Baking two batches at once may take longer to bake, so adjust the baking time as needed.

vegan amaretti cookies

Top Tips

One of the biggest issues with making these amaretti cookies is the fact that not all almond flour is created equally.

In fact, some almond flour is much dryer than others and differs vastly from brand to brand.

If you find your dough too dry after chilling, you may be using a dryer almond flour.

If something seems very off with the moisture content of your dough, you may have to add a bit more liquid to dry dough, or a bit more flour to wet dough.

Storage

Store cookies in an air-tight container for up to 5 days at room temperature.

vegan amaretti cookies
vegan amaretti cookies
Yield: 35-40 Cookies

Vegan Amarreti cookies

vegan amaretti cookies

These vegan amaretti cookies are a deliciously chewy cookie that's completely vegan.

Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Chill Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 10 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 ½ cups almond flour
  • ⅔ cup granulated sugar
  • 6 tbps powdered sugar
  • ½ cup aquafaba (we used the liquid from one can of garbanzo beans)
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon zest
  • 1 tablespoon amaretto liqueur
  • 1 cup additonal powdered sugar to coat cookies

Instructions

  1. In a medium sized mixing bowl, add almond flour, granulated sugar and powdered sugar. Combine well with whisk.
  2. In separate large mixing bowl, beat aquafaba and salt with an electric mixer for 5 minutes, or until soft peaks start to form.
  3. Stir in lemon zest and amaretto mixture.
  4. Fold almond flour mixture into the aquafaba mixture until combined well.
  5. Dough will be very sticky and soft, but should be able to roll into balls.
  6. Loosely cover dough and chill in fridge for at least half an hour.
  7. While dough chills, preheat oven to 325°F.
  8. Line cookie sheets with baking mats or parchement paper.
  9. Remove chilled dough from fridge and fill bottom of small bowl with powdered sugar.
  10. With a spoon scoop a rounded ball of the dough, roughly 2 teaspoon worth.
  11. Form a ball with dough using your hands.
  12. Roll the dough ball in the powdered sugar coating it completely and place on lined cookie sheet.
  13. Repeat with rest of dough, leaving 2 inches of space between each cookie.
  14. Place cookie sheet in oven as close to top as you possible.
  15. Bake for 18-20 minutes until cookies are golden brown beneath the powdered sugar.
  16. Cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before moving to a cooling rack.
  17. Let cool and enjoy with a hot cup of coffee!

Notes

If baking both batches of cookies at once, place both cookie sheets as close to the top of the oven as you can, as the bottom of the cookies are prone to over baking. After 12 minutes of baking switch the positions of the cookie sheets to allow both batches to bake evenly. Add a few minutes of baking time if baking both batches at once.

© Stormy

Halloween Smoothie Bowl Breakfast Idea

May 31, 2022 by Stormy Leave a Comment

Looking for a fun Halloween smoothie bowl? We've got just the treat. This smoothie bowl is delicious, creepy and completely vegan!

Halloween smoothie bowl

This Halloween smoothie bowl makes an excellent Halloween breakfast idea.

It's a deliciously sweet berry smoothy topped with our favorite fruits and seeds.

To add a little fun, we made a spider web on top using some vegan yogurt. And added some star sprinkles and a couple of fake spiders we had just for dramatics.

But the result is a fun, tasty and nourishing bowl of Halloween goodness.

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Ingredients

For this smoothie bowl we used some of our favorite goto ingredients plus a few that we had on hand that needed to be used up.

The great thing about smoothies is that you can totally improvise and come up with your own substitutions based on what you like and have in the fridge.

fruits and smoothie ingredients for a Halloween smoothie bowl

Frozen blueberries: You can also use fresh, but frozen fruit will lead to a colder smoothie

Frozen strawberries: You can also use fresh, but frozen fruit will lead to a colder smoothie

Frozen bananas: Or fresh

Milk alternative: I like using oat milk, but any milk of your choice will work

Agave: Or your favorite vegan sweetner

Vegan yogurt: Optional, but great for adding the spider web design

Smoothie toppings: We used fresh banana slices, kiwi, fresh berries, chia seeds, star sprinkles and the little plastic spiders for added effect

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

To make your Halloween smoothie bowl, start off by making the actual smoothy. Place the strawberries, blueberries and bananas into a blender.

adding fruit to blender

Then add your milk and agave to the blender.

adding agave to blender with fruit

Blend your smoothie on medium low speed until completely smooth. If it's too thick for your taste, you can add an additional 1-2 tablespoons of milk.

Then pour the smoothie into a large bowl and set to the side.

smoothie blended in blender

How to Make a Spider Web in Your Smoothie Bowl

Now to turn this regular smoothie bowl into a Halloween themed bowl, we're going to make a spider web using our yogurt.

To do this, grab a small ziplock bag, and fill the bag with your vegan yogurt. Cut a very small piece off the corner to make a piping bag.

Then in the middle of the smoothie bowl, make a small circle with the yogurt. Make 3 more circles around the first circle like shown below.

making circles on top of smoothie with yogurt

Using a butter knife or straw, glide the stawr from the smallest circle outward to create a spider web pattern.

drawing spiderweb on smoothie bowl

Now top your smoothie bowl with all your favorite smoothie toppings. Again, we used bananas, fresh berries, some kiwi and chia seeds.

To add a Halloween touch, we also added some star sprinkles we had on hand from last year and a few fake spiders.

Halloween smoothie bowl

Hint: Start with only 3 tablespoons of your milk. You probably won't need more, especially if the milk alternative your using is super thin. The key to a good smoothie bowl is keeping it nice and thick.

Substitutions

The beauty of any smoothie or smoothie bowl is the endless amount of substitutions you could use.

  • Frozen blueberries or strawberries - You can use type of frozen berry. Just keep it in the same ratio, so about 2 cups worth combined. Frozen mixed berries make a great alternative.
  • Yogurt - use a thicker type of vegan yogurt, I find the greek yogurt substitute great for this. It'll make creating your spider web a little easier.
  • Agave - The agave is strictly there for taste. You can substitute any of your favorite vegan sweeteners like maple syrup or brow rice syrup. Or you can leave it out completely, especially if your bananas are very ripe.

Variations

There are tons of ways to vary this smoothie bowl for your own tastes. If you're wanting to keep with a Halloween theme, I'd try to stay with fruits and veggies that will turn it purple (like blueberries) or green (like spinach) but not together, as you'll end up with a brown smoothie bowl.

  • Other fruits - you can try adding in mango, peaches, blackberries, raspberries and even apples.
  • Kid friendly - if you're making this for kiddos and you think they won't like some of the toppings, like the seeds, then you can add them into your smoothie as you blend it, and only top with the items you know they'll like

Equipment

For this recipe, the only equipment you'll need is a decent blender.

Storage

This smoothie bowl is best eaten right away, however, if you really wanted to, you could freeze it without the toppings and let it thaw when you're ready to eat it.

Halloween smoothie bowl with spider web
Halloween smoothie bowl
Yield: 2 Smoothie Bowls

Halloween Smoothie Bowl

Halloween smoothie bowl

This Halloween smoothie bowl is filled with deliciously nourishing fruits and topped with a yogurt spider web and creepy crawly spiders.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

For Smoothie BOwl

  • 1 cup frozen blueberries
  • 1 cup frozen strawberries
  • 2 frozen bananas
  • 3-5 Tablespoons milk of choice
  • 1 Tablespoon agave
  • 3 Tablespoons vegan Yogurt

Toppings

  • Kiwi slices
  • Blackberries
  • Fresh blueberries
  • Seeds
  • Star sprinkles
  • Fake spiders

Instructions

  1. Place berries, bananas, 3 Tablespoons milk, and agave into a blender.
  2. Blend on medium low speed until smooth, adding an additional 1-2 Tablespoons of milk if needed.
  3. Pour into a bowl and set aside.
  4. Fill small ziplock bag with yogurt and cut a small piece off the corner.
  5. In the middle of the smoothie bowl, create a small circle with the yogurt.
  6. Make 3 more circles around the first circle.
  7. Using a straw or knife, glide the straw from the smallest circle outward to create a spider web.
  8. Top your smoothie bowl with your favorite toppings including the sprinkles and plastic spiders.

Notes

  • Greek style yogurt works best for creating the spider web as it's thickness will make it stay on top of your yogurt bowl
  • You can substitute the blueberries and strawberries with any mixed berries you like
  • © Stormy

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