healthy vegan blog

This delightfully light, summer salad is very satisfying due to the “creamy” dressing. The peanut butter does kick in some calories so don’t sit down and eat the whole bowl, share with friends.

• 6 cups shredded red cabbage
• 1 cup shredded carrot
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onion
• 1 small clove garlic
• 1/4 cup cubed fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons of sugar
• 1/3 cup smooth natural peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 3-7 tablespoons of water

1. Shred cabbage with a knife, cutting it very thin. Shred carrots and slice green onions. Place all veggies in a big bowl.
2. Peel and rinse garlic. Use a garlic press or finely chop garlic. Add to food processor.
3. Wash and coarsely chop fresh ginger into chunks/cubes. Don’t peel it. Add to food processor.
4. Food process until ginger is finely chopped.
5. Add sugar, peanut butter, and vinegar to food processor. Process until mixed.
6. Gradually add water to food processor until dressing is desired consistency (I use about 5 tablespoons of water). Food processing should whip the dressing into a creamy texture.
7. Pour/scrape dressing onto salad. Toss.
8. Serve immediately or put in fridge for later (it will stay crispy for at least three days).

Makes about 7 cups. One cup of this red cabbage salad has 116 calories, 6 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 cholesterol, and 4 grams of protein.

The flavor for this super easy, super yummy soup comes from the vegan sausage.

3 cloves of garlic (minced)
1 medium onion (minced)
2 medium carrots (shredded)
1 large cabbage (shredded)
2 large potatoes (cubed)
5 cups water
2 15-ounce cans of cannellini beans (white beans)
1 14-ounce package of tofu sausage (Tofurky Sweet Italian Sausage)

1. Mince the garlic in the food processor. Add onion and continue mincing. (Since I received a food processor for Christmas from my parents, I have been processing everything.)
2. Put onion and garlic in large soup pot.
3. Shred carrots with food processor shredding blade and add to pot.
4. Shred cabbage and add to pot. (I couldn’t believe how much cabbage one head produced so I didn’t use the whole cabbage. After the soup was cooked, I wished that I had used the entire head since it shrinks.)
5. Scrub and cube potatoes and add to pot. (I always leave the skin on my potatoes.)
6. Add water to pot. Bring to a boil, turn the heat down to medium, and simmer until all veggies are tender, about 30 minutes.
7. Rinse beans and add to soup.
8. Cut sausage into small pieces and add to soup.
9. Turn down to low, cover, and simmer for about 20 minutes until flavors all combine.