Homemade Vegannaise

The vegan challenge is officially over--but I felt so good by the end, I am keeping it up!--for the most part. I am not as strict as I was during the 28 day challenge, so I will occasionally allow myself some yogurt or an egg, but it's been almost 2 months since I've eaten any meat. Now I'm focusing my efforts on DIY sauces, vegan appetizer make overs, and whole grain, vegan baking.

One thing I run into when trying to re-vamp my favorites, especially appetizers, is so many of them use mayo or sour cream. I looked into buying some veganaise at the health food store, but for $8 a pop I decided against it. So last night I tried out a fabulous recipe for homemade mayo; it took all of 2 minutes, and has a very authentic texture and wonderful flavor! Here's the recipe I ended up with:

1 cup oil--I used olive oil, which makes the mayo olive-y, but I liked it.

1/2 non-dairy milk--I used soy
1 squirt stone ground mustard
1 1/2 tsp cider vinegar (or lemon juice)
salt & srirachi to taste

Combine the first 3 ingredients in a food processsor or blender and mix until smooth. Blend in the vinegar until the mixture thickens, and voila! Mayo--when I tasted my creation at this point, it was kind of bland, so I added some salt and sriracha to give it some flavor. Curry powder or some horseradish might be good, too.

Sweet 'n' Spicy Potato Quinoa

I'm a huge fan of quinoa, but not as a bland side dish. The best way to prepare it, in my opinion, is right along side other tasty ingredients. 

For this recipe, you'll need:

1 onion, chopped

1 potato, in small pieces

1 jalepeno pepper, chopped 

1 clove garlic, minced

2 big handfuls of spinach
6-7 dried apricots, chopped

Paprika

Cumin
Salt and Pepper

Add about 2 tbsp of the oil of your choice into a sautee pan, along with the onion, potato and jalepeno. Sautee until the onions begin to brown, then add the garlic and cook for about 1 minute.

Throw in the spinach, apricots, and spices to your liking, along with about 1/2 cup of water; the water will reconstitute the apricots, steam the spinach, and allow the spices to penitrate the onions and potatoes.

 After most of the water has evaporated, add the quinoa and the appropriate water amount (according the package directions), and cover until the quinoa is done.  

I served mine with a big spoonful of guacamole and white bean hummus. If you're eating dairy, this would be great with some greek yogurt or sour cream!