Gluten-Free Vegan Gingerbread Muffins

There is nothing quite like the distinctive and comforting aroma of fresh gingerbread baking in the oven. Especially prized during the winter months and a favorite during Christmastime, it's really quite easy to make the magic happen in your own kitchen. Cookies, loaves, breads or muffins, or all of the above, are always a welcome treat to tuck into.

My latest attempt to please the resident gingerbread aficionado in my house — my husband, that is — are these all vegan gingerbread and dark molasses muffins made with brown rice, quinoa and chickpea flours. While retaining a certain density, these attractive and fragrant muffins are moist but with a light and fluffy interior at the same time — despite the absence of gluten — with a slightly crunchy exterior from cornmeal. I'm certain after enjoying these that there is no reason to reserve the enjoyment that the rich earthy depth of gingerbread creations brings to only a few months of the year.

Other gingerbread ideas from Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen:

Gingerbread

Nigella's Fresh Gingerbread with Lemon Icing

Guinness Gingerbread Cake

Pumpkin Gingerbread Waffles

12+ Vegetarian and Vegan Appetizers for any Occasion

No amassing is whole with out some appetizer nibbles. Previously I cautioned a few make-beforehand vegan-pleasant chocolates to delight every body with a sweet tooth, and now it's time for some savory bites to make the occasion greater unique, regardless of how small or big the affair. Whether you are searching out starters for a meal or little bites for appetizer trays and spreads to serve at events or for afternoon or night hangouts, you may want to recall these sincere but specially satisfying thoughts.

Check out these and different appetizer ideas on

Roasted Cauliflower Bites with Sriracha Sauce

Add a few spice to any event with a few roasted portions of cauliflower tossed in a highly spiced sriracha and vinegar "buffalo" sauce. This precise, zesty and colourful appetizer honestly must be doubled, as those won't closing long. Do serve them alongside a peanut dipping sauce with sliced veggies for an mainly appealing presentation.

Coleslaw Bites with Jalapeño Dip

Coleslaw takes on a brand new function right here. Think outside of the salad bowl and revel in some simple, candy and savory golden fried cabbage coleslaw balls served up with a creamy, tangy and zesty yogurt and jalape?O dip. Vegans can without difficulty alternative their preferred dips, salsa and sauces for the yogurt-based totally one featured in the recipe, but do stick with the jalape?O topic to add a few heat to the event.

Olive Cheese Balls

No tapas plate could be complete with out a few plump inexperienced olives baked in a slightly highly spiced and crispy cheese pastry. These little bites of bliss will set the usual for different appetizers in attendance. Olive fans will honestly want to double this recipe.

Sweet Potato Rounds with Goat Cheese and Harissa

These pro and baked slices of sweet potato topped with a sweet and highly spiced harissa goat cheese mixture make an smooth, colourful and scrumptious fall or wintry weather appetizer.

Potato Patties Stuffed with Spiced Green Peas

If you're website hosting an Indian-themed meal, these savory potato patties full of spiced inexperienced peas would possibly just be the celebrity of the spread. Soft on the interior, with a highly spiced pea filling and a delightfully golden crust to finish the revel in, withstand the temptation to revel in too many or there may not be room left for the primary.

Chana Dal Peanut Patties with a Tamarind Chili Sauce

Also referred to as "vadas", these shallow-fried Indian spiced chana dal and peanut patties are served with a tangy, creamy and zesty tamarind, chili and coconut milk sauce for an astonishingly properly and short-to-disappear Indian appetizer.

Baked Mini Vegetable Chickpea Samosas

It seems pretty plenty all of us enjoys samosas, and those mini savory pastries are filled with spiced veggies and chickpeas and baked in preference to fried. Served up with chutney, in reality irresistible.

Whole-Meal Biscuits

Cheese plates are a popular desire for mingles, and those crackers are an elegant and great addition. Crisp, earthy and savory, whole wheat and oat mealy-textured biscuits are properly applicable to revel in with spreadable cheeses. Consider offering with grapes too.

Ethiopian-Style Hummus

Dips are usually popular for parties and a laugh nights, and hummus is mostly a preferred served with vegetables, flat breads and crackers. For a exclusive twist, serve up an Ethiopian-fashion version made with ground sunflower seeds in location of tahini and spiced up with aromatic chili spices. It's great served with raw veggies, pita triangles, crackers or wrapped up in flat breads to make small sandwiches.

Herbed Marinated Mushrooms

A mix of gentle succulent mushrooms marinated in a delicious oil and vinegar marinade with fresh herbs, no appetizer plate would be entire with out some thing to satisfaction mushroom aficionados.

Stuffed Mushrooms with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Goat Cheese and Olives

Earthy mushrooms full of all styles of amazing savory flavors, from tart sun-dried tomatoes and Kalamata olives, spices and jalape?Os, to creamy and salty goat cheese ? An fantastic appetizer for any event!

Baked Quinoa Balls with Peanut Dipping Sauce

These baked quinoa, bean and peanut butter balls served with a savory peanut butter, lime and tamari dipping sauce are a healthy appetizer and healthful sufficient to make for a light after-celebration meal in case you need.

Stuffed Jalapeño Peppers with Goat Cheese and Sun-dried Tomatoes

Fresh jalape?Os filled with a creamy and tangy goat cheese and sun-dried tomato filling and baked in a spiced cornmeal coating ? A extremely good appetizer for a Mexican dinner or any kind of celebration of get-together.

Red Lentil and Toasted Walnut Tapenade with Olives and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Incredibly taste-packed, this nutty and tangy tapenade, or p?T? If you pick, makes for a wholesome dip or spread for sparkling vegetables, crackers or flatbreads. Uniquely attractive, addictive and guilt-unfastened, this p?T? You'll now not quickly forget but it won't remaining long.

Kalamata Olive Tapenade

This is the tapenade of tapenades for olive enthusiasts. Bold flavored, loaded with strong Kalamata olives, solar-dried tomatoes, balsamic vinegar and herbs, you will find yourself making this time and again.

Smoked Gouda Gougères

Light, airy and delicious smoked Gouda cheese puffs are a brilliant hors d'oeuvre or snack, mainly whilst served with crimson pepper dip. Guaranteed hard to resist.

Lime Biscuit Thins

Add a few zesty richness in your palate with some tender and flaky savory biscuit thins. Gently spiced, with a mild tart lime taste, it's difficult to resist greater than only a few nibbles.

Quinoa Dolmadakia (Stuffed Grape Leaves)

Seasoned quinoa with pine nuts and clean herbs wrapped in grape leaves are a great and delicious Greek appetizer. These little bites have a pleasant nutty flavor and slightly crunchier texture.

Creamy Green Pea and Collard Greens Soup

Although I mostly like to spend time in the kitchen, occasionally I prefer to put together dishes that require little fuss. My efforts were amply rewarded with this creamy, elegant and delicious soup providing sweet green peas and earthy collard greens. Not simplest do you get a healthful quotient of inexperienced power, but additionally a fulfilling meal when served up with crusty bread or cornbread, or a hot bed of nutty sparkling cooked brown rice. Sometimes the perfect food are the most comforting and satisfying certainly.

Gently spiced up, I delivered enough spice for a pleasantly exclusive heat that lingers and asserts its presence along the rich vegetables. A twist on a split pea soup, inexperienced peas characteristic right here instead of break up peas, and the addition of collard greens affords texture. Any leafy green can be used place of the collard veggies ? Select kale or chard for even extra texture, or spinach for a silkier soup. I partially pur?Ed the soup to make it creamier, but simplest in part due to the fact I experience a relatively textured chunky soup.

Other green pea recipes to discover from Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen:

Sweet Potato, Chickpea and Spinach Curry with Green Peas

Paneer and Pea Curry Smothered in a Cashew Tomato Gravy

Linguine with Pea-Basil Pesto and Mushrooms

Indian-Style Potato and Pea Salad with Tamarind and Chat Masala

No-Bake Almond and Cocoa Cherry Energy Bites

When it comes to meal times, I usually enjoy smaller portions, preferring to have smaller meals interspersed with healthy bites of energy throughout the day. This way of eating is a good way to maintain a healthy weight, and it aids in digestion because the body is not taxed with processing a large portion of food all at once.

This preference means that not only do I require a good stash of nuts and dried fruits on hand, as well as raw vegetables, but also snacks such as muffins and also healthy little raw energy bites such as these almond and dried cherry balls. They satisfy a sweet craving without the guilt. Packed with protein, these are not only satisfying and delicious, but are also very easy to make and keep well in the refrigerator for at least a week. I sweetened these with raw honey, but maple syrup or any other natural liquid sweetener could be used instead if you happen to be a vegan who avoids honey.

More raw nut or fruit treats:

Cocoa Fruit Energy Bites

Cherry Nut Bars

Essentially Raw Pumpkin Bites

Raw Peanut Butter Cocoa Maple Squares

Best Black Bean Salsa Recipe

Salsas, dips and sauces are constantly higher while they may be made at home. They are generally trustworthy and smooth to put together and maintain well for a few days in the fridge, if now not longer. And no longer handiest are selfmade preparations less expensive than shop-offered ones, they're constantly brisker too. It's a good feeling knowing which you have manage over the amount and first-class of the elements used and without difficulty tailored to fit your possibilities and tastes.

Because I am ever curious to attempt new creations, with many cookbooks and bookmarked recipes on hand to encourage, up until this factor I overlooked to percentage this strong and quite addictive black bean salsa with my readers. I think I may be excused, for once loved, it may not quickly be forgotten and you'll need to serve it up again and again.

A longtime favourite of mine, I've historically paired it with corn pancakes, but it actually serves many purposes. For instance, it's incredible as a dip for tortilla chips, as an accompaniment or thing of Mexican themed meals - function a topping for nacho chips, or make it a function of quesadillas, tacos, burritos and enchiladas - and it truly enhances vegetable aspects - remember scooping some over a few roasted sweet potatoes - or just devour it through the spoonful. The possibilities are virtually as endless as your imagination.

This salsa happens to be pretty filling made up as it is of black beans, olives, feta cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. Creamy, earthy, salty, zesty, with a hint of sweetness from golden honey and some warmness from jalapeno, it is a formidable, sizable and clean salsa. Each chew is a pleasure and if you appear to serve it up to dinner guests, it's pretty probably they may be requesting the recipe.

Other salsa recipes to enjoy from Lisa's Kitchen:

Avocado and Tomato Salsa with Chipotle

Mexican Tomato and Jalape?O Salsa

Avocado Pomegranate Salsa

Simple No-Cook Tomato Salsa

On the pinnacle of the studying stack: Blissful Basil: Over a hundred Plant-Powered Recipes to Unearth Vibrancy, Health, and Happiness

Olive Oil Almond Cake {Vegan}

I've had years of experience experimenting with savory dishes in my kitchen, and my cooking confidence level has increased as a consequence. I rarely follow a recipe to the letter, instead choosing to adapt it to suit my preferences so that it becomes my own. It's not unlike me to spend a considerable length of time developing a dish on paper after consulting various recipe ideas and guidelines before heading into the kitchen and then following my instincts when it gets down to cooking.

However, when it comes to baking, I've always exercised a greater degree of caution as the chemistry in baked goods usually requires more precision. It is true that cooking up successful and extraordinary savory dishes does require a a sound knowledge of cooking fundamentals and foundations in order to get the perfect balance of seasonings and textures, but I've typically found most savory dishes more forgiving.

But I do enjoy baking and have fond memories of helping my mother in the kitchen baking cookies, biscuits, loaves, cakes and other delights. So I have learned the fundamentals, and my baked goods usually meet my expectations, but still, when it comes to drafting my own variations or coming up with something rather new, there has always been a certain timidity that characterizes my approach.

While I don't claim to be a master baker by any means, especially as I usually stick to relatively basic creations, my confidence level is rising and I'm more willing to experiment these days. This cake is a perfect example and I'm really quite proud of this vegan version of an olive oil almond tea cake that I have made before on more than a few occasions, and really quite enjoyed. Eggs are not a staple in my kitchen, nor dairy milk, and that has inspired me to come up with vegan versions of some classics favorites.

The addition of olive oil along with light spelt flour results in an ultra moist cake that nearly melts in your mouth, while the cornmeal adds just a bit of crunch to the outer layer of the cake. I've used a bit of orange zest, along with freshly squeezed orange juice for an underlying citrus-y flavor that goes remarkably well with the subtle aromatic elements of ground spices present. Not to be missed, of course, are the almonds! The best thing for the baker is that this cake is easy to make and a guaranteed hit with anyone you happen to share it with.

Other cakes to enjoy from Lisa's vegetarian Kitchen:

Rich Chocolate Bundt Cake with Bittersweet Chocolate Glaze

Moist Chocolate Date Cake

Chocolate Chili Cake

Guinness Gingerbread Cake

Aromatic Chana Dal Kitchari with Saffron

After seasonal feasts, it not unusual to crave greater cleaning and nourishing dishes along with kitchari (or kitcheree or khichdi). Essentially a one-pot Indian meal, the commonplace characteristic of a kitchari is a digestive helping aggregate of split legumes, rice and spices and frequently veggies. Such arrangements are open to an endless variety of versions.

This unique version has long been a favorite, and despite the fact that there are some greater steps worried than among the kitcharis I actually have made within the beyond, the addition of saffron-infused coconut milk subtly complements this humble one-bowl meal with elegance and class. Combine this with the comforting wholesomeness of chana dal and rice, aromatic spices, a bit of chili heat and a few zesty lemon juice for all that your frame and palate requires.

Other kitchari recipes from Lisa's Vegetarian Kitchen:

Chana Dal and Cauliflower Kitchari with Green Peas

Simple Chana Dal and Dill Khichri

Bisi Bele Bhath (Rice with Lentils and Spices)

Spicy Tamarind and Chana Risotto Kitcheree