20 minutes or less

20 minutes or less, 5-ingredients, hummus, salad, vegan, vegetarian

The Best Hummus Dressing

May 13, 2019by Katherine Baker5 Comments

I love hummus. Always have and always will. Hummus = yummus. I was that kid being made fun of in first grade for eating my hummus and tomato sandwiches while the rest of the class noshed on ham and cheese. Since then I’ve enjoyed hummus in various forms, including as a base for salad dressing. And here today, I am sharing my favorite vegan hummus dressing recipe, on what is appropriately apparently #NationalHummusDay. Get ready; your salad may not be ready for the flavor explosion coming its way.

I distinctly recall the very first time I had hummus dressing. It was the night before my Organic Chemistry II Final. I used to have this ritual I engaged in the evenings before Organic Chemistry exams: I’d end my night at the library with a late-night trip to the Union Square Whole Foods salad/hot food bar and load up on whatever tickled my fancy (this is dangerous…I’ve accidentally spent $16-18; be warned!).

On this particular evening, I came across hummus dressing in the dressing section. It immediately caught my eye. What a concept! Hummus dressing?! I was so into the idea.

I proceeded to squirt hummus dressing all over my box of goodies, and proceeded to savor every last hummus dressing-coated bite. It was so savory, nourishing, creamy, and delightful. I was inspired.

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20 minutes or less, baking, breakfast, easy, gluten free, glutenfree, healthy, oats, peanut butter, snack, vegan, vegan baking, whole grains

Pumpkin Peanut Butter Granola Bars

October 20, 2018November 7, 2018by Katherine BakerLeave a Comment

Hello friends! Quick disclaimer: I came up with this recipe in summer and wanted to ‘save it’ for pumpkin season, but re-take better photos. Photos never happened, but here’s the recipe regardless, with a few mediocre pics! I still wanted to share the recipe, because these easy and scrumptious homemade pumpkin peanut butter granola bars are worth whipping up.

Now, if you’re not into pumpkin spice, fear not. These are not pumpkin spice-y. In fact, the pumpkin flavor is pretty subtle.

Rather than act as the main showboat of the recipe, pumpkin acts as a binder for these granola bars and ensures they stay nice and moist and chewy (the way granola bars should be, in my opinion).

When paired with your favorite nut butter (I used peanut, but use whatever suits your fancy), a splash of maple syrup, and a sprinkle of salt, you’ve got a satisfying, sweet-and-savory way to mix up your snack game.

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20 minutes or less, 5-ingredients, cake, cookies, delicious, dessert, vegan, vegan baking, vegetarian

Vegan Cocoa Puff Cake Mix Cookies

September 30, 2018October 7, 2018by Katherine Baker5 Comments

3-Ingredients, 12 minutes, and delicious cookies? You betcha! These Vegan Cocoa Puff Cake Mix Cookies are where it’s at.

You may be asking yourself: “How is this magic possible? How can I make fluffy delicious cookies that taste like literal cocoa puffs using only 3 ingredients?”

Well, the answer is: I cheated. Yup, I used a box. But not boxed cookie mix. Boxed cake mix. That’s the secret to these delicious too-good-to-be-true cookies.

I actually learned this secret from my friend in elementary school (hello Allie, if you’re reading…improbable but if you ever see this, you da best!). Her genius mother taught us how to make cake mix cookies. I was skeptical, but one bite, and I became a believer.

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20 minutes or less, 5-ingredients, chocolate, dessert, no bake, sweet, vegan, vegan baking, vegetarian

Peanut Butter Chocolate Pretzel Bites

August 12, 2018August 13, 2018by Katherine Baker3 Comments

I love a salty sweet treat. And these peanut butter chocolate pretzel bites are the epitome of a salty, sweet crunchy creamy dream snack.

Bonus: they couldn’t be similar to make. If you can make cereal, you can probably make these delightful nibbly desserts.

All you need is pretzels, peanut (or your other favorite nut) butter, chocolate chips, and some salt. And the only fancy equipment you need a microwave, microwave-safe bowl, and a refrigerator or freezer. Now let’s get into it.

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20 minutes or less, 5-ingredients, vegan, vegetarian

Homemade Pistachio Butter

August 3, 2018August 3, 2018by Katherine BakerLeave a Comment

For years and years, I’ve wanted to make pistachio butter.

Honestly. This idea has been on my mind since probably 2010. As a nut butter lover, I’ve always wanted to make pistachio butter, which is noticeably lacking from most grocery stores. And when you do find it, it’s noticeably much more expensive than most other nut butters.

So I’ve wanted to DIY pistachio butter since my undergrad days. Why did I never pull the trigger, you ask? Well, probably because I only had a $12 Food Network brand mini food processor and a very dull blender inherited from grandmother to work with.

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20 minutes or less, 5-ingredients, almond, delicious, dessert, easy, side dish, vegan, vegan baking, vegetarian

Nut Butter-Stuffed Chocolate-Dipped Dates

July 17, 2018August 2, 2018by Katherine Baker3 Comments

These nut butter-stuffed, chocolate-dipped dates are like a 14/10 on the amazing scale. 5 Ingredients. No fancy equipment or oven required. Insanely delicious sweet treat.

All you gotta do is crack open some dates, de-pit them, slather their insides with nut butter, squash a whole nut in there (optional, but recommended), dip in some melted chocolate, and finish with sea salt.

A short chill sesh in the freezer later, you have a treat that’s chewy, crunchy, creamy, salty, sweet, and chocolatey. It hits every desirable snack element in one swoop.

Honestly, the result is far better than it has any right to be. It tastes like a snickers but without any artificialness or sugar overload. They’re actually kind of like a lazy version of my favorite-ever Sunbutter Caramel Date Truffles with Sea Salt.

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20 minutes or less, 5-ingredients, delicious, dessert, easy, fruit, gluten free, vegan, vegetarian

Vegan Peanut Butter Fluff

July 7, 2018July 8, 2018by Katherine Baker1 Comment

You know what I adore? Fruit. And sweet graham cracker munchies. Like Teddie Grahams or Trader Joe’s Cinnamon School Book Cookies. Yum. Give me all the sweet (but not too sweet) carbs. And what better to dip all of these carbs in than Vegan Peanut Butter Fluff? Nada, that’s what.

This super easy Vegan Peanut Butter Fluff dip was inspired by fluffy fruit dips from my childhood. I remember raging on fruit and graham crackers with this mysterious white sweet fluffy dip and wondering what the heck it was.

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20 minutes or less, 5-ingredients, easy, fast, health, healthy, olive oil, pasta, vegan, vegetarian, whole grains

Pasta with Charred Cherry Tomatoes, Broccolini and Vegan Parmesan

February 26, 2018February 27, 2018by Katherine Baker1 Comment

Pastaaaaa. I have been craving pasta for quite some time now. I don’t know why. Probably because carbs = love.

Pasta has always been one of my favorite foods. I grew up with an Italian grandma and her penne arrabiata with charred peppers was the best.thing.ever. It has ruined almost all other pastas I’ve had since. Nothing like what Oma cooked up. Somewhere I have her recipe for her sauce. I can never make it quite like she did though…must be that Italian grandma magic.

I decided to make some pasta with some leftover veggies I got to take home from an event. I roasted up some cauliflower, broccolini, and tomatoes on Friday, and while I was eating them, the deliciousness of the roasted tomatoes just called for pasta.

I was too lazy and hungry to make it at the time, but today I cooked up some whole wheat noodles, paired it with steamed broccoli, a bit of olive oil and lemon juice, salt & pepper, a bunch of Vegan Hemp Parmesan, and the real MVP, the charred tomatoes.

Super simple, very flavorful, and far from over-complicated. The way Italian-inspired food should be, as far as I’m concerned.

Let’s talk pasta for a minute, shall we? At some point society demonized the glorious stuff. The thing is, there is nothing inherently significantly worse about pasta than many other forms of carbohydrates, especially when it’s whole grain.

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20 minutes or less, 5-ingredients, nutrition, nutritional yeast, parmesan, pasta, salad, side dish, vegan, vegetarian

Vegan Hemp Parmesan

February 12, 2018February 26, 2018by Katherine Baker3 Comments

True story: I grew up with a tiny Silician grandmother (“Oma” who loved to feed me lots and lots of yummy food. My favorite forever and always was her pasta with homemade sauce with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese on top. The lady also made the most amazing salads. No other food has ever tasted as good.

The woman had a gift: she could make the simplest ingredients taste phenomenal. No recipes, just all by look and feel. Bless her genius culinary skills.

Oma always had Kraft parmesan out on the table. Yup, the totally American, shelf-stable stuff in a blue shaker jar. According to my mom, it was the ‘only game in town’ for a long time before importing foods became more mainstream and better options were available. Regardless, Kraft parm will always remind me of her.

I was never big on melted cheese, but I always did love me some parm on top of pasta or salad. Since going dairy-free, I’ve ventured into the world of making my own parm.

For a very long time, I’ve pulsed up walnuts or cashews and added nutritional yeast as the base for parm. While this works well, I recently brought a bag of hemp seeds and thought the shape, size, and nutty flavor would work perfectly for vegan parm. Turns out, I was right.

Hemp seeds/hearts have recently entered my life and I can’t get enough. And they’re one of those hype foods that’s actually quite good for you. 3 Tablespoons packs 10 grams of protein, 20% DV iron, and 3 grams of fiber.

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20 minutes or less, 5-ingredients, almond, baking, blueberries, pancakes, vegan, vegan baking, vegetarian, whole grains

Oatmeal Almond Butter Blueberry Pancake Cookies

February 4, 2018February 26, 2018by Katherine Baker1 Comment

Don’t you love it when you turn on the oven, throw a bunch of stuff in a bowl, hope for the best, and the result turns out amazing? Same here. And that’s exactly what happened with these Oatmeal Almond Butter Blueberry Pancake Cookies today.

So this blog post is rather spontaneous. To be honest I’m in the middle of a few others that are more intensive in terms of scope and research required (think nutrition and sustainability).

But I’ve done so much grueling brain-sucking work this weekend I decided to take a break and make some cookie muffin things and they turned out so yummy I decided I’m extend said break by snapping a few phone photos (I need to get out my real camera…I’ve just been so damn busy the past few weeks) and toss them (figuratively) on the blog.

The plus of spending so much time on the grind this weekend for work/school is that I suppose I learned a lot. Including that school is hard, I have a lot of self-reflection to do with professional development/relationships, having a working kitchen is very therapeutic to my existance and that people definitely notice dog hair in jam photos. Oops.

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