Kale Pepita Pesto over Zucchini Ribbons

A bright and colorful pesto that is healthy and versatile, not to mention, super easy to make!

You can check out the recipe over at Vegan Yack Attack!

Baked Zucchini Sticks with Spicy Queso Dip

Crunchy baked zucchini sticks paired with a creamy, spicy queso dip makes for an awesome appetizer!

Get the recipe at Vegan Yack Attack!

Raw Creamy Tomato Basil Pasta

A delectably light summer meal of zucchini noodles entangled with a raw, creamy tomato basil sauce.

Check out the recipe, plus how-to photos at Vegan Yack Attack!

Zucchini Blueberry Muffins

Here’s my first contributor post for One Green Planet! I’m super excited about this, but you guys also deserve the recipe, so click on the image above to go check it out. An excerpt from the recipe:

If you are looking for a recipe that is a great for transitioning from summer to fall, this is it! You can use the last of your soft-skinned zucchini and sweet blueberries, but also feel comforted by scent of cinnamon and filling whole wheat. These are muffins that even the most stubborn omnivore will love, believe me, I tested them! Feed them to your children to sneak in more vegetables and fruit under a tasty breakfast guise.

Enjoy your wonderful Thursday, everyone! :)

Raw Zucchini Ravioli with Spinach Cashew Filling

Happy Raw Wednesday everyone! I have had quite the over-abundance of summer squash this year, due to my garden; so, I have been given the opportunity to try out many different ways of preparing them. This refreshing meal is made up of crisp squash slices encompassing a creamy spinach filling and topped with a tomato sauce made with homegrown basil.

Recipe (serves 2-3)

Spinach Cashew Filling:

• 1 1/2 Cup Soaked Raw Cashews
• 2 Cups Fresh Spinach
• 3 Cloves Garlic
• 1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast
• 1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
• Squeeze of Lemon Juice
• 3/4-1 Cup of Water

Directions:

-Put all ingredients in blender or food processor and blend/pulse until pretty smooth, adjusting how much water to put in with how smooth you want it. Place in refrigerator while preparing the rest of the meal.

Zucchini/Summer Squash Ravioli

• 1 Small, Wide Zucchini

Directions:

-Slice the zucchini into thin medallions, around 1/8”-1/4” thick. Lie one slice down, place some spinach filling on top and set another slice down on top of it.

Tomato Basil Sauce

• 2 Medium-Sized Tomatoes, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. Diced White Onion
• 2 Cloves of Garlic
• 1 Heaping Tbsp. Fresh Basil, minced
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• (Optional: 2 Tbsp. Sun-dried tomatoes, this really would’ve made this sauce great but I didn’t have any on hand)

Directions:

-Place all ingredients into a food processor and pulse until it is well combined, but not completely pureed; you want the sauce to be a little chunky. Top your raviolis with the sauce and enjoy!

Sesame Stir Fry

It’s been SO long since I’ve made a stir fry, and because I received a very large head of Bok Choy in my last CSA delivery I figured it was about time! Stir fries are great because you can use almost any veggie that’s in your fridge and the only time consuming part of making it is chopping everything up. For this recipe, I only had raw cashews on hand so I toasted them in a pan for roughly 10 minutes on low-medium heat; and they worked perfectly!

Ingredients (serves 4):

2 Tbsp. Sesame oil

1 1/2 Cup White Onion, Sliced into Slivers

4 Cloves Garlic, Sliced

1 Cup Carrots, Cut into Sticks

1 Red Bell Pepper, Slivered

1 1/2 Cup Sliced Mushrooms

1 Summer Squash (Zucchini, Bush Baby, etc.), Cut into sticks

3-4 Cups Chopped Bok Choy (or if you have Baby Bok Choy, you can put in the whole leaf)

1/2 Cup Roasted/Toasted Cashews (Unsalted)

1 1/2 Tbsp. Sesame Seeds

3 Tbsp. Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (or low sodium Soy Sauce)

1/4 tsp. Red Pepper Flakes

Directions:

Use a VERY LARGE pan (you don’t want to overcrowd it) over medium heat, pour sesame oil into it and warm the oil. Place onion slivers into the pan and cook until the start to get a little clear, then add in garlic and carrot sticks. Saute until onions are completely clear, 5-8 minutes, then add in bell pepper slivers, mushrooms, and zucchini. Heat for another 5 minutes until veggies soften, make sure to move them around the pan to cook them evenly; then add in roasted cashews, sesame seeds, bok choy, liquid aminos, and red pepper flakes. Cook it together until bok choy is completely wilted, serve warm and garnish with SRIRACHA of course, or not if you don’t like spicy. ;)

Beer Battered Zucchini & Onion Rings with Raw Vegan Ranch!

Warning: this recipe is INDEED as good as it sounds, and is also probably one of the unhealthiest things on my blog. I haven’t had fried zucchini or onion rings in ages and need to use the rest of the squash that I pulled from my garden, and also had a recipe sent to me that was Beer Battered Avocado fries; so I combined the two to create this magical meal.

Ingredients:

One 12 oz. Alaskan White (belgian) or any light beer

1 Cup Whole Wheat flour (may need to add a couple more tablespoons)

1 Tbsp. Nutritional Yeast

2 tsp. Paprika

1 1/2 tsp. Sea Salt

1 tsp. Garlic Powder

1 tsp. Onion Powder

A pinch of Cayenne Pepper

3/4 lb. Zucchini/Summer Squash, cut into long sticks

1 Whole White Onion, Sliced into rings

Vegetable Oil, as needed for frying

Directions:

Mix all dry ingredients in a low, wide dish; then pour in beer and whisk together until there are no clumps. If the batter seems too runny, add a little more flour; you want it to be able to coat the zucchini without completely clumping on it. Set batter aside in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours.

Fill pan or fryer with the oil and heat to roughly 375F, if you are using a pan (like I did) this is somewhere between medium and high heat. Dip each zucchini stick in the batter and make sure it is entirely coated, use a fork or two to lift it out of the batter and CAREFULLY place it into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown, 2-3 minutes; then take out of the oil, drain off as much oil as possible, place on a paper towel covered plate and sprinkle sea salt and nutritional yeast over them. The same instructions apply to the onion rings.

For the Raw Vegan Ranch!

I found this SUPER EASY ranch recipe on The Sunny Raw Kitchen, except that I made only a third of it (it’s a huge recipe). It tastes amazing, no lie, and doesn’t involve processed ingredients like store bought vegan mayo. This ended up being a perfect dipping sauce for my fried yummies!

Raw Zucchini Squash Sandwiches with Sprouted Hummus!

This dish makes a great lunch or dinner, and you can really customize it to whatever veggies you have on hand. The squash is FROM MY GARDEN (and huge), and for the filling I used Homemade Sprouted Chickpea Hummus, sugar snap peas, tomato slices, and fresh basil with a lil’ sea salt and ground pepper for seasoning. It was incredibly satisfying and nutritious!

Asparagus Tomato Sauce atop Zucchini Noodles

I have a TON of asparagus in my fridge right now so expect another dish or two coming up soon! This is a simple marinara sauce that tops a bed of uncooked zucchini noodles, obviously one of my obsessions. ;)

Ingredients (serves 1):

1 Small Zucchini, sliced/peeled/etc. into noodles

1 Large Tomato, chopped

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1/4 Cup of Asparagus, chopped

1/4 Cup of Green Onions, or White Onion

1 tsp. Italian Seasoning Mix

1/2-1 tsp. Garlic Powder, or 1-2 Garlic Cloves, minced

Sea Salt & Fresh Ground Pepper to taste

Directions:

Saute green onions with asparagus until the green onions brown a little, about 3 minutes over medium heat. Add in tomato, herbs, and garlic powder and simmer over low-medium heat until you can mash up the tomato a bit to create a chunky sauce. Season with sea salt & pepper to taste, add a bit of red pepper flakes for some spice. Top the zucchini noodles with the sauce and toss together, serve while warm.

Stuffed & Grilled Zucchini paired with Grilled Vegetables

This is a wonderful summer dish that let’s everyone know that us vegans can command a grill just as much as meat eaters! These seasonal veggies taste great together, and turned out really well for not knowing what I fully wanted to do the whole time. ;)

This serves 2 people

Ingredients:

For Stuffed Squash:

Two 8 Ball Zucchini Squash

1/2 Cup Uncooked Quinoa

1/2 Cup Water

3 Cloves of Garlic, minced

5 oz. Cooked Corn Kernels

3 Cups Uncooked Spinach leaves

1 tsp. Ancho Chili Powder

1/2 tsp. Liquid Smoke

1/2 tsp. Sea Salt

For the Grilled Veggies:

The innards from the two squash, chopped

1 White Onion, cut into slivers

1 Large Red Bell Pepper, cut into slivers

1 Cup Grape Tomatoes (or any other tomato)

1 Cup Romano Beans (Green Beans), Chopped

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

1 tsp. Dried Basil

1 tsp. Dried Cilantro

A pinch of Salt & Pepper

Directions:

Start cooking quinoa with water and fresh garlic in saute pan with lid on top, it should be done in 10-15 minutes. While it is cooking cut up all of your veggies, and scoop out the innards of the squash. Take the chopped squash pieces and the rest of the vegetables for grilling and toss them in the olive oil and herbs until they are evenly coated.

Once the quinoa is done cooking add in spinach and corn, mix in until spinach is wilted and add in spices + liquid smoke. Once all is combined, stuff the zucchinis with the mix. Take the stuffed zucchini and the bowl of mixed vegetables out to the grill and cook them over a medium flame for 10-15 minutes.

After your grilled veggies are getting a little wilted on the edges and tender, take them off and plate them alongside the stuffed zucchini. Enjoy with a cool glass of water or a nice, chilled white wine.