Popcorn Bars (gluten-free, vegan)

These are inspired by my brother and sister-in-laws trip to North Carolina recently. They came back and said they had the best gluten-free vegan thing they have ever had - Swag bars from The Swag, but when they told me the recipe, it has corn syrup which I avoid using in our recipes so I adapted the recipe a tad...

Ingredients:
1 cup turbinado or raw sugar
1 cup agave nectar
2 cups peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)

1 tsp vanilla extract
6 cups popcorn
8oz. chocolate chips

Instructions:
Place sugar and agave in large heavy pan. Heat on med high, almost to a boil, stirring constantly. Add peanut butter and continue to stir again until almost boiling. Add vanilla extract - make sure to add vanilla right at the end or it all evaporates in the cooking process.

Take off stove; mix in popcorn. Add chocolate chips and mix again. Press into lightly oiled 9 x 13 pan. Score into bars while still hot. (They are hard to cut when cool.)

Oat and Pepita Patties with Tahini Gravy

Not proud of this photo - note to self: flash photography and food do not mix! But the patties themselves were really tasty. There would have been a photo retake, but the leftovers were gone before the camera was ready :) These were in place of a veggie burger - my omni husband loves when we have veggie burgers and potato salad. I am trying to move away from the bun and this burger seemed to be okay to eat on its own to him. My son also picked it up and inhaled it which he never does with food so I consider this a big win in our house!

Ingredients:

1 cup raw pepitas

2 cups rolled oats

2 cups shredded carrots

3 celery stalks, chopped

1 green onion (whites and greens), scliced

1 clove garlic, minced

1 Tbsp Braggs

3/4 to 1 cup hot water

Add first 6 ingredients to food processor fitted with the "S" blade and pulse to a rough chop (so that the patties have some texture.)

Transfer to a large bowl and add Braggs, then slowly start adding water. Start with 3/4 cup, and add more if needed. The mixture should be thick and not runny. If you add too much water, add some more oats to thicken the mix.

Scoop out about 1/3 cup of mixture and form into patty shape, place on an oiled baking sheet.

Form patties with the remaining mix, then bake at 400 for about 8 minutes until golden brown.

Flip and bake an additional 5 minutes.

Makes approx 10 patties.

For the gravy:

In a blender, combine 1/3 cup tahini, juice of one lemon, 1 clove of garlic and whiz. Stir in some chopped chives then pour over patties, or make smaller patties, and use this as a dipping sauce.

Raw Tacos

These are really great, simple, healthy and filling tacos. This is also the first raw taco that I have made that my son, husband and I all like.

Ingredients:

Tacos:

Romaine or Cabbage leaves for the shells

Butternut Squash (about 1/4 of a small squash)

for the avocado salad:

2 avocados

3 roma tomatoes, diced

1/4 cup chopped cilantro, chopped

1 green onion, green and whites chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

juice from 1/2 lime

salt and pepper to taste

for the "beans":

2 cups soaked walnuts, drained

10 soaked sundried tomatoes, soak water reserved

3/4 - 1 cup reserve liquid from sundried tomatoes

1 roma tomato, quartered

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 TBSP ground cumin

salt to taste

1/8 - 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions:

To make the avocado salad, scoop out the fruit of the avocado, then add and mix the remaining ingredients in a bowl.

To make the beans, put all ingredients in the food processor fitted with an "S" blade and pulse to a creamy consistency. Start with 3/4 cup of the reserve liquid from the sundried tomatoes and add more if you need it. This recipe makes enough for about 12 tacos but I make a large batch so we can have tacos two nights. This will last in the fridge for about 3 - 5 days.

To assemble tacos, take a romaine or cabbage leaf, add a couple of spoonfuls of "beans," top with avocado salad, then top with shredded butternut squash. Eat and enjoy! (1 serving is 2 tacos)