Southwest Peanut Butternut Squash OR Sweet Potato Tacos

There are so many ways to fill a taco, without using "meat substitutes." Beans, grilled vegetables, bbq pecans, tofu, corn, or in this case...butternut squash or sweet potatoes.

Butternut Squash Chili

Most of y'all know by now that I work at Tanaka Farms. I've been there about four years now, and the longer I am there, the more I love it. Tanaka Farms is a family owned and operated farm. Farmer Tanaka (a third generation Japanese-American, also known as Sansei) and his son Kenny (Yonsei) run the farm. Since working at the farm, I have learned so much about Japanese, as well as, Hawaiian culture!

One of my favorite bits of knowledge gained is "Chili & Rice." Just like it sounds, it's chili served over steamed rice! Using the farm's fresh produce, including some stellar butternut squash, I came up with this chili that we served at the Tanaka Grill over the holiday season. It was a big hit, and I ended up teaching a cooking class showing folks how to make it at the farm. 

Butternut Squash Chili
Gluten-Free, Nut-Free, Soy-Free

Holiday Helpers! Roasted Butternut Squash with Fennel

Check out this super easy, super tasty, super seasonal side dish to add to your holiday table!

Roasted Butternut Squash with Fennel
Such a simple list of ingredients! And when you have great ingredients, it's best

What Should I Get My Vegan Friends for Christmas? Vegan Cookbooks! Duh!

Read all the way to the bottom of this post where you can enter to win a copy.
I am giving away a copy of each of these books, so just follow the prompts in the widget to enter!

For many of us, the Holidays are no longer about presents, like they were when we were kids. As a grown up I really enjoy the opportunity to meet up with friends and family over a drink, or a meal, and really spend quality time together joyfully in the spirit of the season. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love the holidays! The amount of decorations that adorn my 700 square foot home is ridiculous and Christmas music blares from my car stereo as well as my house all month long. It's just the buying of "stuff" for the sake of buying "stuff" that really gets to me.

Harvest Butternut Squash Stuffing and Seitan Roulade En Croute

Thanks to everyone who came out to Tanaka Farms on Saturday for the Plant Powered OC Vegan Holiday Cooking Demo and Talk. It was a great turnout and we had a super fun time!

A couple of notes about the following recipes. THEY ARE FLEXIBLE! Don't like pecans? Use walnuts. Don't like yellow onions? Use red ones. Don't like cranberries? Use raisins. Don't like wild rice stuffing? No worries, use your favorite stuffing recipe instead. Don't want to put the puff pastry on? Don't! It's all about making food that YOU like. Not me. So have fun with it.