Vegan Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Recipe makes 5-7 sandwiches.

• 120 grams peeled and cubed potato
• 20 grams peeled and sliced carrot
• 30 grams sliced yellow onion
• 1/3 cup cooking water from veggies
• 28 grams cashews
• 2 Tbsp plant-based milk 
• 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• homemade bread

In a small saucepan, boil potato, carrot, and onion until soft.

Use 1/3rd cup measuring cup as a ladle to transfer cooking water from the vegetables to a blender. Add to blender cashews, coconut milk, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and salt. Blend until completely smooth.

Strain veggies and add to blender then blend once more.

Place a frying pan over medium low heat. Once hot, oil pan with olive oil then lay pieces of bread into the pan in a single layer. Spoon cheese mixture onto bread then top with a second piece of bread. Cook until bread is toasted then flip. Continue cooking other side until toasted.

Stewed Tomatoes

Makes 7 quarts

• 16 pounds tomatoes, peeled
• 4 sticks celery
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 green bell pepper, cored
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1 Tbsp dried parsley

Peel tomatoes by scoring each one with a knife them dropping them a few at a time into boiling water. Allow to boil for 1 minute then transfer tomatoes to a bowl of ice water. Peels should come off easily.

Roughly chop tomatoes then transfer to a large container (I use the base of my pressure canner). 

In a food processor, chop celery, onion, and bell pepper. Add chopped veggies and spices to the tomatoes and stir.

Spoon tomatoes into clean canning jars. Wipe rims clean and top with lids and rings, screwing rings on finger-tight (Do not over tighten! Jars must be able to vent during canning).

If you used your pressure canner to mix ingredients, wash it out and place canning rack into the bottom. Carefully place filled jars upright into the pressure canner and fill with water according to the manufacturer's suggestions (tyically enough water to submerge the jars 2/3rds of the way). 

Place canner on your stove over high heat. Secure the lid onto the canner, making sure to leave the vent open. Once a steady stream of steam has been coming out of the vent for at least 10 minutes, close the vent and allow pressure to built to 11 pounds. Process tomatoes for 20 minutes while maintaining the pressure. 

After 20 minutes, shut heat off and allow the pressure to drop on it's own. Once the pressure is zero, carefully open the vent and allow all the steam to release. Open lid, remove jars, and tighen the lids. Let jars cool at room temperature before checking the seals. 

Pit Paste

• 48 grams shea butter
• 24 grams coconut oil
• 24 grams almond oil (may substitute any liquid oil such as jojoba oil or even olive oil)
• 14 grams beeswax
• 28 grams arrowroot powder
• 14 grams baking soda
• 14 grams bentonite clay
• 20 drops total of essential oils of your choice (optional)

Vegan Mac & Cheese

• 16 oz macaroni noodles (or noodle shape of your choice)

"Cheese" Sauce

• 2 cups yellow potatoes (weighing a total of 325 grams before peeling), peeled and diced
• 1/2 cup carrots (40-50 grams), peeled and sliced
• 2/3 cup yellow onion (100 grams), chopped
• 1 cup (128 grams) raw cashews
• 1 1/2 cup vegetable cooking water
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• sprinkling of paprika (topping)

Boil vegetables and cashews in some water until tender (or cook in an Instant Pot for 6 minutes).

While veggies are cooking, boil noodles until al dente (6-8 minutes). Drain, rinse, then return to the pot.

Once veggies are done, strain while reserving 1 1/2 cups of the water. Transfer veggies/cashews to a blender and add all remaining sauce ingredients including reserved vegetable cooking water. Blend until smooth.

Pour sauce over cooked noodles, stir, and serve with a pinch of paprika sprinkled on top. You can also place the mac & cheese into an oven-safe dish, sprinkle with breadcrumbs, and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Variation: Add steamed broccoli to make Mac & Trees! If using the instant pot, simply do the pot-in-pot method float a stainless steel or glass bowl of fresh or frozen broccoli florets on top of the veggies and cashews in the instant pot, seal the lid, then pressure cook as normal.

Vegan Sweet Potato Burgers

• 1 large sweet potato
• 1 pint garbanzo beans (cooked from 135g dry, rinsed and drained)
• 40 grams oats
• 2 Tbsp plant-based milk
• 2 Tbsp ketchup
• 1 Tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp liquid smoke
• 1/2 tsp salt

Cook whole sweet potato in the microwave for 6-8 minutes until fork tender. Carefully cut the sweet potato in half length-wise then use a spoon to scrape the insides away from the skin. Transfer sweet potato to a food processor and add all remaining ingredients. Pulse until combined.

On a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking mat, form mixture into 5 patties. Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes, flipping half way through.

Once done, remove from oven and allow to cook for 10 minutes before serving. Serve with toppings of your choice.