My Plant-Based Family

Feeding My Family a Whole Food, Plant-Based Diet, On a Budget

Sauces, Dips, and Salad Dressings

Making Salsa

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Yesterday I spent a rather large chunk of time making homemade salsa. Salsa doesn’t really take long to make unless you have two cute little tarzan’s vying for your attention (read driving you insane).

We love salsa in our house and could eat it everyday. My husband can not eat seeds and store bought salsa’s always contain seeds. The only way we have found to get around the seed problem is to make it ourselves. Salsa can be made so many different ways. I’m just providing a template based on general ingredients but you can change it up to suit your taste buds. Additionally, I made a lot of salsa, about 50 ozs (two pasta sauce jars) so my measurements may not work for you but this salsa does freeze well.

Homemade Salsa

Ingredients

  • tomatoes (I used about a dozen roma)
  • onions (I used 1 /2 white onions)
  • peppers (I used 5 jalapeno’s and 3 serrano’s with seeds removed)
  • garlic (I used 5 cloves)
  • lime (I used juice and pulp from 1 lime)
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • cilantro (optional, I love cilantro but was out)

Do

Since I made a big batch I processed each ingredient by it’s self. If you are making a small batch you can just throw it all in your food processor or blender and blend one time. 

  1. Wash veggies well.
  2. Cut tops off of tomatoes and remove seeds if desired. Process until tomatoes reach desired consistency.
  3. Cut and peel onions and put in food processor until desired consistency is met.
  4. Cut stems off of peppers. Remove seeds if applicable be careful because hot pepper can burn your skin. (I recommend wearing latex or rubber gloves for this step. I sometimes even us a plastic sandwich bag on one hand. I know I’m awesome!) Process peppers until very small. Removing the seed will make your salsa very mild.
  5. Peel garlic, add cilantro and lime juice then process.
  6. Combine all ingredients together and add salt. 
  7. Time for a taste test, add any other ingredients or spices. I added 1 tbsp of chili powder for a little extra kick.

Serve

For me, salsa opens up so many meal possibilities. We ate this salsa on pinto and barley tacos. I really wanted to make a rice and black bean bowl too, maybe later. This will be really good on top of leftover baked potatoes for a quick lunch. 

What is your favorite way to make salsa? What is your must have ingredient?

Vegan Tuna Salad

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I grew up eating Tuna Fish, yeah, that’s what we called it. Several times throughout the year it would be Tuna Fish time. My mom made it in a giant Tupperwear bowl, the same one she used for Potato Salad, and take it to family get togethers. Of course, we don’t eat tuna but I still like the flavor, we make our Vegan Tuna Salad no, formerly known as Not So “Tuna” Salad.

Vegan Tuna Salad

I have realized that Tuna Salad and Chicken Salad recipes greatly differ by region, kind of like Chili. So while I will share the way I made it this is in no way the right way. I think it has a lot of potential as a template.

When you make it, feel free to try other veggies to mix things up a bit.

Vegan Tuna Salad

Vegan Tuna Salad

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 can drained)
  • 1 tsp Nutritional Yeast
  • 3 tbsp Vegan Mayo
  • 1/4 tsp dill (you could add more)
  • 1 tsp Bragg Liquid Aminos (you can substitute soy sauce or omit, just adjust other seasonings)
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • a few shakes of ground mustard ( you could use prepared mustard instead)
  • water
  • dried seaweed (I used Sushi Nori brand)

Do

  1. Put all of these ingredients in a food processor with 1/4 cup of water.
  2. Process ingredients adding more water if necessary to get the right consistency. Don’t over process or it will be “paste like” it needs to be a little chunky.
  3. Chill until ready to eat.

Serve

This made a little more than 2 cups so double the recipe for a large family. We ate this on sprouted grain bread, my husband had toast. I also like it on crackers or with a pita. It could be eaten atop a mixed green salad as well. If you like celery in your tuna salad add it, I’m not a fan of raw celery so I omited it. I like lots of onion so I’ll add it next time. I was planning on adding a pickle but we were out. A splash of lemon juice would be a nice touch as well.

The Sushi Nori dried seaweed gives this the fishy flavor. If you’d rather have a “chicken” salad just omit the seaweed.

Yield: 4 servings

Vegan Tuna Salad

Vegan Tuna Salad

This easy vegan Tuna Salad recipe is great on sandwiches, salads, wraps or with crackers.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 2 cups cooked chickpeas (or 1 can drained)
  • 1 tsp Nutritional Yeast
  • 3 tbsp Vegan Mayo
  • 1/4 tsp dill (you could add more)
  • 1 tsp Bragg Liquid Aminos (you can substitute soy sauce or omit, just adjust other seasonings)
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • a few shakes of ground mustard ( you could use prepared mustard instead)
  • water
  • dried seaweed (I used Sushi Nori brand)

Instructions

  1. Put all of these ingredients in a food processor with 1/4 cup of water.
  2. Process ingredients adding more water if necessary to get the right consistency. Don’t over process or it will be “paste like” it needs to be a little chunky.
  3. Chill until ready to eat.

Did you make this recipe?

We'd love to see it! Tag us and use #MyPlantBasedFamily!

Category: Recipes

Many moons ago I would make a delicious spicy chicken salad. It was simply shredded chicken, mayo and a can of drained rotel. I’d like to incorporate the rotel into this recipe as well.

Vegan Tuna Salad

What would you add to give this recipe your favorite “tuna” salad flavor?

Jalapeno Hummus

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Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus has been a game changer for us after adopting a plant-based diet. Let me explain…

This Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus is a quick and easy plant-based recipe! This oil-free hummus is the ultimate dip for veggies.

My husband used to be anti-hummus. If I bought hummus he would laugh, and I’m not talking about a chuckle, a full on belly laugh. This is the same kind of laugh he would have had 6 months ago if I would have told him we were going to stop eating animals. Do you get it now? He though it was udderly ridiculous, just like so many other things that are now common place for us.  

Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus

After we changed our diet it was hard to find a good plant-based meal when eating out. I took him to Pita Jungle and introduced him to Jalapeno Hummus. That is the day he stopped laughing at hummus. 

Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus

We ate Pita Jungle’s hummus on many date nights, we would call in a to go order while running errands, and we even bought a huge Costco vat of Jalapeno Hummus. There are two problems with eating store/restaurant bought hummus. It is more costly than you can make at home and it is not as healthy as you eat at home. 

I finally decided to stop the insanity, and all of the extra calories and fat from oil-YUCK, and make it myself. 

Cilantro Jalapeño Hummus

Yield: 2 cups

Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus

Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus

This Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus is a quick and easy plant-based recipe! This oil-free hummus is the ultimate dip for veggies.

Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 15.5 oz can chickpeas, drained but save liquid
  • Juice from 1 lime (lemon can be used)
  • a few cloves of garlic (more or less to your preference)
  • 2 jalapeno peppers (remove seeds first for a less spicy hummus)
  • a handful of cilantro (optional)

Instructions

  1. Dump drained chickpeas, lime juice, garlic, jalapenos and cilantro into a blender or food processor.
  2. Add just enough liquid to allow everything to process smoothly.
  3. Taste test, add extra peppers or spices until the flavor is just right.
  4. Chill for a few hours before serving.

Notes

This recipe is perfect for dipping veggies, chips, crackers, or adding to your favorite salads, sandwiches or bowls.

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Did you make this recipe?

We'd love to see it! Tag us and use #MyPlantBasedFamily!

© Holly Yzquierdo

Serve with fresh veggies, pita bread, tortilla chips, in a wrap or as a salad dressing.

I didn’t love this right after I made it, but my husband did. I put it in the fridge and tried it the next day and it was amazing. AMAZING! 

I’ll be making this again this week. It is unprocessed and delicious and I can’t imagine a better way to snack on raw veggies. 
If you like this you’ll LOVE my other delicious, oil-free, plant-based dips!