PICNIC FOOD... VEGAN CLUB SANDWICH WITH SUNDRIED TOMATO SPINACH BASIL PESTO SPREAD

 

  

I hope you all had a nice weekend.  I sure did. We spent our Sunday supporting one of my BFs and her family at the DSALA Buddy Walk 2012.  I am sure many of you have a friend who is just like family, who you are closer than close to, and have been through thick and thin with.  The Rivera's are  those people.  Her adorable son Luca was born with downsyndrome and we love him  to death.  He truly is a wonderful baby.   

 

The day was perfect here in So Cal... and you know sometimes when you go to these types of events, the food they serve is never really vegan friends, let alone raw or even vegetarian.  So of course, I packed our lunches.

 

Here are a few things I made for our picnic lunch.

 

 

VEGAN SUNDRIED TOMATO SPINACH BASIL PESTO SPREAD

 

1 cup sundried tomatoes

3/4 cup pine nuts

1 cup spinach

1 cup basil

2 table spoons olive oil

3 teaspoons nutritional yeast

1 clove garlic

1 lime, juice of

1/2 teaspoon salt

 

Blend all the ingredients together in a food processor and blended well.  Store in an air tight container in the refrigerator.

 



 This spread is super flavorful and can be eaten on crackers and sandwhiches.

 



VEGAN CLUB SANDWICH

 

There are no set rules for to make a sandwich, the skys the  limit as to what you can put between two pieces of bread.  I really like how this veggie club sandwich came out.  I wish I had a couple  more ingredients to top it off, but it still tasted great.  Here's what I included...

 

Vegan sundried tomato spinach basil pesto

Stone ground mustard

Hummus

Organic smoked tofu slices

Tomato Slices

Micro Greens

Spinach

 

I would also add cucumber slices and avocado for sure.

 

 

VEGAN TRICOLOR POTATO SALAD

 

I don't know about you, but I am a bit of what you call a potato girl.  Always have been and think I always will be.  It may run in the family... ha!  So every now and then I crave potato salad like my mom use to make when I was growing up.  It's super simple, colorful and tasty.  Here's one of my vegan versions....

 

1-1/2 cups purple potatos steamed

1-1/2 cups red potatoes steamed

1-1/2 cups white potatoes steamed

1 cup raw chopped carrots

1/2 cup veganaise, or to your desired creaminess

1 lime, juice of,

1 tablespoon dill

salt and pepper to taste

 

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl, chill and serve.

Our picnic lunch was super delicious!

Enjoy!


Lastly, here is a quick snap shot of our little Luca... Love him...



Join the discussion!

Do you have a favorite vegan spread, sandwich or potato salad recipe? We would love to hear what it is! Share it in the comments below. Links are welcome.

 



BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND JAPANESE SWEET POTATO SALAD

 

 

 

 

I love this simple twist on thetraditional potato salad using Japanese sweet potato and squashes to not onlyadd flavor but also nutrients. Adding in other raw vegetables gives it justthat much more freshness and crispness to each bite.

 

I think I am going to catagorize this as ridiculously simple!

 

BUTTERNUT SQUASH AND JAPANESE SWEET POTATO SALAD

 

3 each Japanese sweet potatoes, steamed and cubed

1 pound butter nut squash,steamed and cubed

1 cup carrots, chopped

1 cup celery, chopped

1 cup cucumber, chopped

1 yellow bell pepper, chopped

1 tablespoon dill, optional

1/2 cup low fat veganaise

salt & pepper to taste

1 lemon, juice of , optional

 

Add all ingredients into a largebowl and serve.  Love it!

 Take a look at these the goodness inJapanese sweet potatoes and butternut squash on Livestrong's site. You can’t go wrong.

 

 

Enjoy!

 

 

BUTTERNUT SQUASH POTATO SALAD

 

 

 

I don't know about you, but I grew up eating potato salad.  My mom, even though she is from Japan and only came here in her early twenties, perfected, in my opinion her potato salad recipe. It was the best!  She even created her own potato salad recipe using Kabocha (Japanese pumpkin), which my sister and I love!

 

I've been craving potato salad so I decided to make a butternut squash potato salad and added in a little green.  It was delicious!  I used my Raw Mayonaise recipe to bring it all together.   Here it goes, I got all the ingredients at Trader Joes too.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH POTATO SALAD

1/2 pound Butternut squash , steamed and cubed

1/2 pound Baby Potatoes - I used Dutch Yellow and left the skin on, steamed and cubed

1/2 organic broccoli crown, flash blanched

1/2 red onion chopped

1 avocado cubed

1 tablespoon dill

Raw Mayo to your liking but not too much, I used about 4 tablespoons

Sea Salt and black pepper to taste.

Give the avocado and lemon or lime bath to help with the blackening of the avocado.  Then, mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl and serve.  This salad is best eaten fresh.  I hope you like it as much as I do.

Check out the health benefits of butternut squash from Whole Living:

NUTRITION BREAKDOWN

Per 1 cup cooked, approximately 205 grams

Calories: 82 kcal

Fat: 0.2 g

Vitamin A: 1,144 mcg = 163 percent* of DRI**

Vitamin B6: 0.3 mg = 20 percent of DRI

Vitamin C: 31 mg = 41 percent of DRI

Folate: 39 mcg = 10 percent of DRI

Potassium: 582 mg = 12 percent of DRI

* Percentages are for women 31 to 50 years old who are not pregnant

** DRI, Dietary Reference Intake, is based on National Academy of Sciences' Dietary Reference Intakes, 1997 to 2004

Enjoy.