Crispy Tempeh Salad

I love tempeh! It has a nice solid texture, so it wont fall apart on you like tofu or sietan will. Plus, tempeh is loaded with protein, and has a less fat when compared to tofu. You can do practically anything with tempeh, from making temeph bacon, to tempeh sandwiches, to just straight up seasoning and grilling it. Like tofu it's practically flavorless, so you can really make it taste like whatever you want. One of my personal favorite ways to enjoy tempeh, is by pan frying it, and enjoying it over fresh greens!

All you need is:

A package of tempeh
1 Tablespoon Tahini (a sesame seed butter)
2 Tablespoons water
Fresh lettuce
Your favorite salad dressing (I usually use Annie's Organic salad dressings)

Once you manage to get the tempeh out of the package(and believe me, this can be pretty tricky. They seal it in air tight!)Cut it up into small cubes, and toss it in a frying pan set to medium heat. in a small container, mix tahini and water, then pour mixture over tempeh. (The tahini is what will give your tempeh it's flavor and crispiness.) Mix and fry tahini until it is lightly browned. Then serve over a bed of fresh lettuce, and top with your favorite dressing (I also chose to add hemp seeds to my salad) and wala, a protein packed salad!

Easy Tomato Penne Pasta

All you need is:

-Half a box of whole wheat penne pasta boiled
-One package of firm fortified tofu
-3 large crowns of fresh broccoli
-A small can of tomato paste and seasonings OR vegan pasta sauce

Start off by boiling penne pasta in a large pan. Then drain and cut tofu into small cubes and fry in a pan over medium. While pasta and tofu are cooking, chop up and wash fresh broccoli crowns. Throw broccoli in on top of cooked boiling noodles, and cover with the lid for about 5 minutes to steam the broccoli. When tofu is lightly browned and slightly crispy on the outside, remove from heat and set aside. If you are making your pasta sauce, just mix the can of tomato paste with water, garlic powder, onion powder, Italian seasoning, salt, pepper, and any other desired spices until you reach the consistency and flavor desired. Now just drain the broccoli and pasta, and separate if desired. Otherwise, mix all ingredients together in one large bowl or pan and enjoy.

You could also top this penne off with some shredded vegan mozzarella cheese, or sprinkle on some nutritional yeast flakes for a little extra cheesy flavor.

Chocolate Banana Coconut Muffins

I tried to come up with a recipe that was simple, quick, and nutritious. Coconut oil is full of healthy fats that increase good cholesterol, can help restore normal thyroid function, and help our bodies build resistance to bacteria, parasites, and fungi. Coconut oil also helps the liver break down healthy fats to use for energy, which is why coconut oil is perfect for runners to consume before a race because it helps their body burn fat for energy instead of mainly depleting their glycogen stores in their muscles. Natural unprocessed cocoa powder is full of natural antioxidants, and, well... bananas have always been amazing.


-1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
-1/2 Teaspoon baking powder
-2 Tablespoons 100% Cocoa Powder
-1/2 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
-2 Mashed Bananas
-1 Tablespoon Coconut Oil
-1/2 Tablespoon Stevia/or two packets (optional)
-1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
-Pinch of salt

(Makes 6 muffins)

Mix together dry ingredients in a medium bowl and set aside. Then in a small bowl mash bananas until pureed. add milk, oil, and the rest of the ingredients into bowl and blend. Then add wet mixture to dry mixture and mix until completely blended. Spray muffin pan, divide batter, and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.

I made this recipe very basic so that you can add/change whatever you would like. You could always add nuts, vegan chocolate chips, shreds of coconut... whatever. I really enjoyed these muffins, they have a nice dense texture like banana bread, and a subtle hint of coconut and chocolate.

Side Note: Make sure to refrigerate muffins in a sealed container after they cool, otherwise they wont keep because of the bananas.

Tofu Spinach Pizza

This recipe takes a little more time, but is TOTALLY worth it. I made this after a long run, and ate more than half of the whole pizza... it was so good! I know that a lot of stores now sell vegan cheese and vegan pepperoni, but I"m not really a fan of fake animal products that have artificial flavorings and dyes. Trying to make something that's not an animal product look and taste like it is just doesn't make sense to me. I would much rather just be creative and do something new... and thus, this recipe was born.

Pizza crust- I made my own pizza crust because I couldn't find any pre-made crusts that were whole wheat. (I am very picky about all of my bread being whole grain, none of that processed bleached refined junk!)

Pizza Crust Recipe-
-2 1/2 Cups 100% whole wheat flour
-3 teaspoons baking powder
-1 teaspoon salt
-1 Tablespoon oil (I used extra virgin olive oil)
-3/4 to 1 cup water (add water as needed)

Sauce-
-1/2 small can of 100% hunts tomato paste and equal parts water
-1 Tablespoon onion powder
-1 Tablespoon garlic powder
-1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
dash of salt and pepper

Toppings
-1 block of firm tofu, scrambled and lightly browned in a skillet (I use fortified tofu because it has essential b vitamins, especially b12)
-2 cups chopped spinach
-2 Tablespoon diced garlic (I mixed this in with the tofu when I scrambled it)
salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and Italian seasoning to taste

Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, and then enjoy some delicious pizza!

Black Bean Burritos

I love these! They are so easy to make, and perfect to eat for dinner the night before a run. Just mix a can of rinsed black beans, a half of cup of corn, a diced tomato, and a diced onion in a skillet and cook on low until the beans are done and the corn is thawed(I used frozen corn). Sprinkle with Mexican/taco seasoning and any other spices you want to use. Put mixture on a whole wheat tortilla and add lettuce, avocado, salsa, etc. and there you go, delicious vegan burritos!