Ecuadorian Peanut Butter Plantain Recipe

Peanut Butter Plantain Recipe PinThis Ecuadorian Peanut Butter Plantain Recipe was introduced to us by our Russian friend, Olesya, who lives with an Ecuadorian family here in Cuenca, Ecuador. She said her host family makes this recipe all the time, and we know why. IT’S DELICIOUS!!!

You can make this plantain recipe with green (verde) or ripe (maduro) plantains (platanos). We’ve tried both and prefer ripe plantains. They’re sweeter and more dessert like. The green plantains require more sweetener.

When Olesya made us this plantain recipe the first time, she served it in a small bowl and we ate it with a spoon. Since then, Amelia has done some experimenting with the recipe. We’ve found that we like forming them into balls and baking them in the oven for a bite sized finger snack/treat.

It’s also good with some cocoa powder or chocolate chips mixed in, or topped with some dried fruit. The options are endless!

If you like plantains, you may also enjoy our Oil-Free Grilled Plantains Recipe.

If you make this recipe, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And please share with your friends to help spread the word about healthy plant based eating.

Oil Free Grilled Plantains

Oil Free Grilled Plantains PinThis Oil Free Grilled Plantains recipe is exceptionally delicious! Unlike most fried plantains, these are much lower fat due to a little trick Amelia thought up.

We bought some plantains and I was standing there staring at them while Amelia was making some hummus. I was complaining to her that without oil, it’s hard to get the browned look that we take for granted when cooking with oil, especially with traditionally fried items like plantains.

She had reserved the aquafaba from the chickpeas (aquafaba is chickpea juice) and suggested I use that as a browning agent. It was a eureka moment!

So I took 1/4 cup of the aquafaba and put it in a bowl. Then I added some brown sugar, fresh squeezed orange juice, a little water and a little cilantro to the bowl and stirred it up. Then I added the sliced plantains to the bowl and stirred to coat them. When I put it on our electric griddle, it browned just like it had oil on it. It was even crispier than I expected.

Plantains have a lot of calories: over 200 for one plantain. That’s twice the calories of a large banana. So with the added sugar, this isn’t a very low calorie treat, but it is pretty healthy otherwise. If you’re a sugar-phobe, you can try it without the brown sugar or replace it with another type of sweetener. However, the brown sugar did caramelize on the griddle, helping to brown the plantains and seal in the flavors.

Remember, brown sugar in the States is only vegan if it says it on the package, or if it’s organic. Otherwise, it could have a variety of animal derived products in it.

This Oil Free Grilled Plantains recipe works well as a snack (it’s very filling) or as a dessert with some vegan ice cream. You can also use it as a sweet and savory side dish. Yum!!!

If you make this recipe, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And please share with your friends to help spread the word about healthy plant based eating.

Cooked Rolled Oats

Cooked Rolled Oats PinThis Cooked Rolled Oats recipe is a traditional favorite and a hearty breakfast that’s sure to keep you satisfied until lunch. Enjoy topped with your favorite fruit and/or berries.

We like our oats and eat them a lot. We especially like them raw in our Rolled Oats Breakfast, but on a cold winter morning, these Cooked Rolled Oats are hot and satisfying.

Whole grains like oats have gotten a bad reputation from the low carb communities, which may be contributing to the leading cause of death among those who eat very little them: heart disease.

Whole grains, especially oats, have been shown in numerous clinical trials to reduce heart disease, prevent strokes and help with weight control. In fact, eating 3 servings of whole grains per day may be just as effective at treating hypertension as taking prescribed medications.

If you’re still a believer in the low carb fad diets, it may be time to revisit your preconceptions to minimize your risk of preventable disease.

If you make this recipe, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And please share with your friends to help spread the word about healthy plant based eating.

Vegan Grits

Vegan Grits PinThis Vegan Grits recipe is super fast to make, it’s filling and it’s delicious. Amelia’s mom made grits for us when we were visiting her last year and since then, they’ve become one of our regular plant-based breakfast meals.

Grits are a popular southern breakfast and side dish.  They’re made from coarse ground cornmeal or polenta, and Amelia’s southern family loves them. They like to mix in vegan butter (they actually use vegan butter!), but we prefer them oil-free with a little salt, pepper and some Tabasco or hot sauce.

Some people like their grits to be sweet, mixing in a sweetener like sugar, maple syrup or jam. You can give them a cheesy taste with some nutritional yeast. Or use soy sauce in lieu of salt. The serving options are quite plentiful.

If you make this recipe, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And please share with your friends to help spread the word about healthy plant based eating.

Vegan Breakfast Burrito

Vegan Breakfast Burrito PinThis Vegan Breakfast Burrito recipe is delicious and filling. If you prepare the tofu scramble and potatoes the night before, all you’ll need to do is reheat them and assemble the burrito for a quick and easy healthy plant-based breakfast.

To make our delicious breakfast burrito, we combined our Easy Tofu Scramble recipe and our Oven Roasted Red Potatoes recipe and wrapped them up in a tortilla. We used flour tortillas since they make better wraps, but you can also use corn tortillas if you avoid gluten. Eat them open-faced, tostada-style if you can’t wrap them without splitting the tortilla.

Our roasted potatoes use a little olive oil to get them to come out crispy and prevent them from sticking to the baking sheet. However, if you prefer to avoid oil altogether, you can roast them without oil but they might be a little mushy and may stick to the pan.

We’ve tried several different oil-free roasted potato recipes and none came out well. That could be due to the high altitude in Denver. They either came out mushy or burned. We’d love to hear your experiences roasting without oil in the comments below.

This is one of our favorite plant-based breakfast recipes! You don’t have to give up your delicious breakfast burritos just because you eat a plant-based diet!

If you make this recipe, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And please share with your friends to help spread the word about healthy plant based eating.

Vegan Avocado Toast

Vegan Avocado Toast PinThis Vegan Avocado Toast recipe is fast, simple, savory and satisfying! I never had avocado toast before making this, but everyone seems to love it, and now I know why!

Some people thinly slice their avocado and lay the slices on their toast topped with seasonings, but I smashed it up and mixed in some lime juice and seasonings to give it more flavor. The guacamole texture makes it easier to spread on your toast, too. And I topped it with a little red pepper flakes to give it some spice!

If you’re an avocado lover, you’re no doubt familiar with the avocado’s temperamentality. It can go from green to overripe in about 5 minutes. And once you cut it open, it turns dark quickly. However, you can preserve it longer by submerging the unused portion in water. We seal ours in a container and put it in the fridge.

Vegan Avocado Toast

The best way to peel an avocado is to use the knick and peel method. Cut the avocado in half and remove the seed. Then cut the halves in half again making 4 quarters. At the small, pointy end of the avocado, knick the peel and pull it off. This ensures that you get all the dark green goodness closest to the skin. That’s where most of the critical phytonutrients live.

We ate ours with a cup of fruit: bananas, strawberries and blueberries. What an amazing breakfast!

Vegan Avocado Toast Cooking Video

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If you make this recipe, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And please share with your friends to help spread the word about healthy plant based eating.

Vegan Muesli

Vegan Muesli PinThis Vegan Muesli breakfast is filling and delicious. It makes enough for 8 servings so you can make it ahead of time and enjoy it for several breakfast meals.

We used whole rolled oats as the base, but you can use instant oats, rye flakes or your favorite breakfast grain. We also used coconut flakes, raisins and craisins for sweetness, and walnuts and sunflower seeds for a little extra protein and healthy fats. But you can use your favorite dried fruits and nuts. Anything will work.

Unsweetened Cashew Milk is creamy and delicious without many calories. The brand we use only has 25 calories per cup with 45% of your day’s calcium needs (50% more calcium than dairy milk).

Berries are a nutritious part of any breakfast. They’re loaded with vitamins and antioxidants. Plus, they’re very sweet so you may not need additional sweetener. If berries aren’t your thing, sliced bananas or Healthy Cooked Apples also taste great on this Vegan Muesli.

If you make this recipe, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And please share with your friends to help spread the word about healthy plant based eating.

Vegan Zucchini Bread

Vegan Zucchini Bread PinAmelia loves making dessert breads and I love eating them! And this Vegan Zucchini Bread is not exception!

We don’t make breads like this or our delicious Vegan Pumpkin Bread very often because we tend to eat them too quickly. But it’s a nice treat once in awhile, especially when we score some fresh organic zucchini.

Be sure to drain off as much moisture as you can from the zucchini. You can always add extra moisture with almond milk, but you don’t want the batter to be too runny.

This bread makes a nice dessert, but you can also eat it for breakfast with a little fruit or vegan yogurt.

If you make this recipe, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And please share with your friends to help spread the word about healthy plant based eating.

Tofu Bacon

Tofu Bacon PinThis Tofu Bacon recipe is simple to prepare but tastes just like bacon. It’s perfect for your Vegan BLT or as a side dish for your Vegan Pancakes.

Real bacon is loaded with saturated fat and cholesterol. It’s one of the worst types of meat that people eat, and has been linked to cancer, heart disease and other serious illnesses.

This Tofu Bacon tastes like bacon, but without the harmful ingredients (and cruelty). Bacon gets its distinctive flavor primarily from the liquid smoke that’s poured over it during the curing process. By using the same liquid smoke along with maple syrup in this recipe, you get the same flavor.  It’s really challenging not to eat the whole batch!

If you make this recipe, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And please share with your friends to help spread the word about healthy plant based eating.

Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding

Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding PinThis Chocolate Chia Seed Pudding is a delicious dessert or snack to satisfy your chocolate cravings. It’s also a good source of Omega 3’s from the chia seeds.

Most pudding has gelatin in it, which isn’t vegan. You can substitute gelatin with guar gum, but this recipe doesn’t need it. The chia seeds absorb the almond milk and form a gelatinous texture. It needs to sit for a least 3 hours for the absorption to happen so plan accordingly.

You can top it with some fresh raspberries or a dollop of vegan whipped cream, or just eat it plain like I do.

If you make this recipe, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And please share with your friends to help spread the word about healthy plant based eating.