As fall ends and winter takes over, people tend to visit their local farmers’ market less frequently. However, just because strawberries, peaches, and cherries aren’t in season anymore, it doesn’t mean that you should steer clear of fresh fruit and vegetables. On the contrary, winter has its own assortment of seasonal and very colorful ingredients for your healthy recipes, and it would be a crying shame not to use them to complement any meal you can think of. So, if you’re craving something healthy and delicious this season, check out these seasonal vegan recipes which will have you and anybody else who tries them asking for seconds every time.
Make Your Hummus Orange
Pumpkins aren’t only good for carving around Halloween. They are very nutritious and contain vitamins such as A, C, B2 and E, but also potassium, manganese, and iron. That makes them a great ingredient for all sorts of meals, savory or sweet. So, take a smaller pumpkin, weighing somewhere between 500 and 700g, cut off its top, remove the seeds and use a metal spoon to get as much of the pumpkin’s flesh out. Cut it into medium-sized pieces, season it with some salt, pepper and other spices of choice and put it into a roasting tin along with some garlic and some olive oil.
Bake it for about 45 minutes. Once everything cools down, put the roasted pumpkin, along with the garlic and the remaining juices from the tin, into a food processor. Then simply add 2 or 3 tablespoons of tahini paste, about 400-500g of drained canned chickpeas and the juice of half a lemon, before blending it all together until it becomes a paste. Taste some of it and add some more salt or pepper if you want, and then serve it with either vegetable sticks or breadsticks. Whether you have this for breakfast or you serve it as a healthy snack to your family and friends, you’ll definitely enjoy this tasty hummus.
Green Up Your Cheesecake
Photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash
If you have a sweet tooth, why not make a raw cheesecake you’ll love? First, make the crust by blending together 1 cup of walnuts, 5-7 pitted dates (depending on how sweet you want it), 2-3 tablespoons of coconut flakes, about a tablespoon of coconut oil and a pinch of Himalayan pink salt. Press this mixture firmly into a cake pan. Soak a cup of raw cashews in some bottled or purified water for up to an hour to soften them, then drain them and tap them with a clean paper towel or a kitchen cloth to dry them. Put them into a food processor and add a quarter-cup of maple syrup, about 6 tablespoons of coconut oil and again, a pinch of Himalayan salt. The secret ingredient? A teaspoon of the wonderful spirulina powder.
Not only will it make your cake more interesting by giving it a nice, green color, but this superfood is rich in nutrients, including iron, amino acids and healthy chlorophyll. Once the filling is ready, spread it across the crust and put it in a freezer or a fridge to harden before you serve it. Once you have some of this cake, it will become a regular dessert for your family dinners or lazy Sunday afternoons.
Go Red With Meatless Meatballs
These pretend-meatballs are made with chickpeas and zucchini, covered in marinara sauce and can become a finger-lickin’ main course. Drain and rinse a can of chickpeas. Then add to them about half a cup of rolled oats and some garlic and mix them together in a food processor for about 15 seconds. This will be until you get a mixture that sticks together between your fingers. Put the mixture into a bowl and add two tablespoons of nutritional yeast, juice of half a lemon and a cup of shredded zucchini to it. Season it with a teaspoon of dried basil and another one of dried oregano and about half a teaspoon of salt.
You can add other spices to it, in accordance with your preferences. Stir it till you get a mixture you can easily turn into balls. If it’s too sticky, add some more ground oats to it. Form 12 balls from the mixture and bake them in a tin lined with baking paper at 200°C in a preheated oven for about 25 minutes, or till they turn light golden brown. Serve them with some pasta and marinara sauce to your taste, and they can be a great option for a barbecue.
There’s no reason for you not to have fun in your kitchen. Treat your taste buds with some of the most delicious recipes this fall.
While you’re here, check out nutritionist Jessica Sepel’s guide to exercising with kindness.
