FRUITS AND VEGGIES MONDAY - Vegan tzatziki with the rainbow

Have you tried vegan tzatziki already? No? Well, now is the right time to do it. It's a creamy and tangy snack that you won't be able to stop eating until it's gone.

I love to make tzatziki when we are having some friends at our home. Everybody loves it and it's so easy to make. You can eat it with any vegetables, bread, fries, in a buddla bowl, ..
The options are endless and it's the perfect snack to share. Or not 😊

Let's start cooking!

ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/4 26 mm

Vegan tzatziki:

Ingredients

1 cup soaked cashews
2 small cucumbers (or 1 big)
2 tbsp tahini
3 tbsp hemp seeds
3 garlic cloves
1/2 glass of water (1.25-1.50 dl)
Bunch of parsley
Bunch of dill
Half a bunch of mint
Juice of one lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

I use cashew nuts almost everywhere. I must admit that it's my favorite nuts. I use them in savory (mayo, mac 'n' cheese, vegan Parmesan) as well as in sweet meals (raw cakes, cashew creams). They are so creamy and delicious. They are very versatile in the kitchen as they don't have very distinctive taste.

ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/4.5 20 mm

Method:

Soak cashew nuts overnight but when you're short on time or you forget to soak them the night before you can put them in a pan with water, heat it up, remove it from the heat just before it starts boiling, set aside and leave it for about 30 minutes. After soaking, discard the soaking liquid and rinse the cashews thoroughly.

Finely grate cucumbers with the skin on, sprinkle some salt on top and let it sit for about 10-15 minutes.

1/200 sec. f/3.8 21 mm

Finely chop parsley, dill and mint. Set aside.

In a blender or food processor place cashews, lemon juice, tahini, garlic cloves, hemp seeds, water, salt and pepper, and blend until smooth and creamy, scrapping down the sides as necessary. Pour the mixture in a mixing bowl.

Place grated cucumbers in a sieve and squeeze out excess moisture.

ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/4 24 mm

Add cucumbers and herbs in the mixing bowl. Stir to combine.

ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/3.5 20 mm

Place the mixture in the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes. Vegan tzatziki can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days.

ISO 1/200 sec. f/3.5 20 mm

I use the combination of parsley, mint and dill very often in my kitchen. Try to put them on boiled potatoes with some vegan butter - heavenly!

Potato fries

Who doesn't like fries? We all enjoy to indulge in this guilty pleasure from time to time. I would eat them every day though!

But how to make them healthier? So easy!! Bake them in the oven!

Ingredients

Potatoes
Vegetable oil
Cumin
Salt

ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/3.5 18 mm

Method

Wash potatoes, place them on a cutting board and cut them into wedges.

Place the wedges in a big bowl with ice cold water and put them aside for about 20 minutes. This will make your fries crispy.

Preheat the oven to 200 Degrees C and place the baking paper on a baking sheet.

Rinse the wedges and dry them out throughfully.

Place the wedges on the baking paper, spray them with vegetable oil and sprinkle some cumin on top. You can use some other spices as well but I like my fries with cumin only.

Bake the wedges for about 30-35 minutes until golden brown. Flip them half way through so that they get nicely brown all around.

Take them out of oven and sprinkle some salt on top. If you would salt them before baking, they wouldn't get that crispy.

ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/3.5 18 mm

Veggies

Let's add some rainbow to our recipe. I have used different colors of bell peppers, celery, cauliflower, broccoli, carrots, asparagus and after I took the picture I decided to use radishes too 😊

You can use also whichever other veggies you like.

ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/3.5 18 mm

Method:

Cut the carrots, bell peppers, celery and radishes into equal sized pieces and place them on a plate.

Remove the woody ends from asparagus. Gently bend the end of each asparagus spear until it snaps naturally.

Place a steamer basket in a pot and fill it with water until it comes just to the bottom of the basket. Bring water to boil. Once bubbling, add the asparagus, cauliflower and broccoli florets to the steamer basket. Steam for up to 5 minutes, depending on how crunchy you like your veggies.

Carefully remove the steamer basked from the pot (it's very hot!) and arrange the veggies on a plate.

ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/4 25 mm

Place your potato wedges and tzatziki in a serving bowl and enjoy your meal!

ISO 100 1/200 sec. f/3.5 18 mm

All pictures are taken with Nikon D3200, AF-S NIKKOR 18-55 mm 1:3.5-5.6 G II. I use Lightroom to edit my pictures.

This is my entry to #fruitsandveggiesmonday hosted by lovely @lenasveganliving.

I hope you like my recipe! If you try it at home and share it on Steemit, please tag me so that I can see your creation and resteem your post.

If you like to support me, feel free to upvote/resteem this post or follow me.

Cheers,
M.