Ultimate Avocado Sandwiches with Sun-dried Tomato Basil Aioli

A couple things happened when I became vegetarian. My meals stopped consisting of the classic protein, veggie, carb template. I developed an almost instantaneous love for beans. And the turkey in my sandwiches got replaced with avocado. Not a bad swap, if I do say so myself! 

These sandwiches are inspired by my favorite avocado garden sandwich from Cafe Vida in Pacific Palisades. I've probably had this sandwich a dozen times and it's just so damn satisfying. I'm learning that just like a salad is only as good as its dressing, a sandwich is only as good as its aioli. It starts with sun-dried tomatoes and garlic. I use Vegenaise because it's vegan and somehow helps me convince myself it's less bad for you (though probably not true), but you could totally use traditional mayo as well. 

This sandwich is hearty, healthy, messy, and packed with flavor and a ton of avocado. 

Ultimate Avocado Sandwiches with Sun-dried Tomato Basil Aioli {Vegan} 
Serves Two 

2-3 carrots, shredded 
1/2 large roma tomato, sliced 
1/5 small red onion, sliced 
large handful baby spinach 
4 slices multi-grain bread (this is my favorite) 
1 large ripe avocado 
sea salt + pepper to taste 

aioli: 
3 large sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 tsp olive oil (only if your tomatoes aren't already soaked in olive oil)  
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup vegenaise (or mayo) 
8-10 fresh basil leaves 
pinch of salt 
fresh ground pepper to taste 

Grate your carrots using a food processor attachment or a box grater. Set aside. Make the aioli. Pulse sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil, and garlic in a food processor until finely chopped. Add in vegenaise, basil, salt, and pepper and blend until smooth. Toast your bread. Spread a generous portion of aioli on half the bread (you will have extra). Top with thick slices of tomato, carrots, thinly sliced red onion, spinach, avocado and sea salt + pepper to taste. Enjoy! 

Simple Zucchini Bread {Vegan}

Tomatoes, zucchini, peaches, oh my! Can you tell I'm trying to hold onto summer? They are practically giving zucchini away this time of year, it's so cheap. I knew I couldn't let the season end before making (and freezing) some zucchini bread. Look no further than Deb Perlman, the goddess of smitten kitchen, and my go-to for almost everything. I've made her zucchini bread before, and like everything else she makes, it was delicious. But I wanted to make it a bit healthier, since I have zero self-control around baked goods. 

I had a feeling I'd be able to replace some of the sugar with a combination of maple syrup (I LOVE MAPLE SYRUP!!!) and a can of applesauce I had in the back of the fridge from a chocolate cake I made a little while ago.  I figured I could add a bit of whole wheat pastry flour in place of all purpose, pack a little more zucchini in there, and I thought, while I was at it why not make it vegan? I'm happy to report, I succeeded on all fronts. Way better than I expected, actually. (Note: I don't always succeed. I made loaded nachos last weekend intending to post them, and after 3 hours of dicing tomatoes and onions for homemade salsas, the result tasted significantly less good than the $8 nachos from Sharky's down the street. Sigh...)

The result is pretty damn awesome. It is probably the most moist, borderline too moist (if such a thing even exists) bread I've ever made. It's rich like gooey dark chocolate cake, but warmed by a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, & maple. 

Classic Zucchini Bread {Vegan}
Adapted from Smitten Kitchen 
Makes 2 medium loaves 

3 flax eggs (3 tbsp ground flax seed + 1/2 cup water + 1/4 tsp baking powder) 
1 cup coconut oil, melted  
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cane sugar
1/2 cup applesauce, unsweetened
2 tsp vanilla extract
2.5 cups grated zucchini

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp sea salt 

Prepare the flax eggs by whisking flax seed with water in a small bowl. Let sit for 15-20 minutes until the texture becomes much like that of an egg. Preheat the oven to 350 and grease two medium loaf bans. In a large bowl whisk together flax eggs with 1/4 tsp baking powder, oil, sugars, applesauce, and vanilla. Stir in grated zucchini (it can be grated using either a food processor with a grating attachment or a box grater). 

In a medium size bowl combine both flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Sift the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir to combine. Pour into loaf pans and bake for about 1 hour or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

Perfect Piña Coladas {Dairy-Free}

Happy Labor Day weekend! Can you believe summer is almost over? Normally summers in the valley creep by, each day hotter and more miserable than the previous, but not this one. It flew. Wasn't it just fourth of july like last week? I'm not ready for Fall, I haven't even made zucchini bread yet! I'm buying peaches and tomatoes and artichokes like a mad woman before they are quickly swooped up and replaced by apples. I think summer's fruit makes its heat manageable.  

My greatest food discovery this summer was without a doubt coconut milk. I'm not talking about the kind you pour over cereal, I'm talking about the thick, creamy, canned kind, most commonly used in asian cuisine. I've been trying to cut back on dairy for a million reason, though not always succeeding at it (thank you, burrata), and coconut milk allows my dairy-free treats to stay creamy, decadent, and like I'm not missing out one bit. Oh, and the fact that it smells like vacation helps too! 

These piña coladas are perfection. Creamy, sweet but not sugary, and so so satisfying. They make me feel like I'm on a beach somewhere beautiful rather than sitting at the bistro table, I literally found by the dumpster of our apartment complex, on our dinky patio in the middle of a heat-stricken valley. So sit back, relax, and sip one of these bad boys down. They make life a little easier. You deserve it. 

Perfect Pina Coladas {Dairy-Free}
Serves Two

Ingredients:
1 pound frozen pineapple
1 can full-fat coconut milk
1 medium ripe banana
1 tablespoon agave nectar (or honey)
1/2 cup ice
1/4 - 1/2 cup rum (optional)

Perfect Piña Coladas {Dairy-Free}
Serves Two  

1 pound frozen pineapple 
1 can full-fat coconut milk, refrigerated & shaken well*
1 medium ripe banana 
1 tbsp agave nectar (or honey) 
1/2 cup ice 
1/4 - 1/2 cup rum (optional)**

Blend the pineapple, coconut milk, and banana until smooth, add ice, agave nectar and rum and adjust to taste. 

* When you refrigerate the coconut milk it has a tendency to separate - becoming coconut cream on the top with coconut water on the bottom. Give it a good shake before opening the can, but if you still find that it's separated that's OK. Everything will get blended together even though it may come out of the can a mess.
 
** I may be boring, but I'm actually a bigger fan of these without the rum, but feel free to add it!