A Grateful Meal

Vegan

Pumpkin Pie Hummus

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This Pumpkin Pie Hummus is the tastiest, sweet spread to dip pretzels, apples, or graham crackers into for the perfect snack. 

Let’s talk snacks, y’all. I’m definitely pro-snacks, and I’m always down for snacking just about anytime. For me, snacks fall into three camps – sweet, salty, or sweet-salty. You can hit both the sweet and the sweet-salty with this Pumpkin Pie Hummus, depending on what you choose to dip into this hummus. 

I also like to choose snacks that include protein and a higher fiber carb for sustained energy from a nutrition perspective. With the pumpkin and the white beans in this hummus dip, I hit all of the criteria — taste and nutritionally.

Close up of pumpkin pie hummus with dried cranberries and crushed nuts.

Ingredients

White beans: White beans make the creamiest dips when blended together. I also use them to make my Buffalo Chickpea Dip extra creamy.

Pureed pumpkin: Any brand of pureed pumpkin will do, just don’t make the mistake of getting the canned “pumpkin pie mix” – it comes pre-sweetened and spiced, and we want to spice and sweetened our own way.

Maple syrup: Maple syrup gives all the fall vibes, so it’s my favorite to use. If you don’t have any maple syrup, it’s okay to substitute agave nectar or honey. 

Pumpkin pie spice: This is a pre-blended spice usually made with cinnamon, ground ginger, nutmeg, allspice, and cloves. 

Cinnamon: I wanted a little extra cinnamon in my pumpkin pie hummus, so I opted to add extra. Feel free to substitute more pumpkin pie spice if you prefer. 

Coconut oil: This will add a silky mouthfeel to the hummus spread.  

Garnishes: I like to garnish with a handful of nuts and dried fruit. I used walnuts because it’s what I had on hand, but pepitas (pumpkin seeds) would be very fitting. I also garnish with a handful of dried cranberries for a little tart flavor.  

Dippers: Apples, graham crackers, and pretzels all make great dippers for this spread. I also dipped some amaretti cookies into the hummus, and it was SO good. Amaretti cookies are crunchy, little Italian almond cookies, and there are one of my favorites! 

How to Make and Serve Pumpkin Pie Hummus

Like most other hummus recipes, it’s as easy as can be. You’ll literally just blend everything up in a food processor or blender until completely smooth. . If you are feeling fancy, you can add a handful of nuts such as walnuts, pecans, or pepitas and/or dried cranberries on top for garnish. Beyond that, it’s just dipping whatever you can get your hands on into this silky pumpkin pie deliciousness.

As far as serving goes, it makes a crowd-pleasing dip for parties or gatherings, but I mostly make it to have on hand for snacking. As I mentioned above, the beans provide a good dose of protein and fiber, and the pumpkin is also packed with fiber. Because protein and fiber take longer to digest, it can give us a more sustained energy source rather than if we only at the apples, crackers, pretzels, or cookies by themselves.

Close up of pumpkin pie hummus with dried cranberries, crushed nuts, and an apple dipped in the hummus.
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Pumpkin Pie Hummus

Overview of pumpkin pie hummus in a bowl on a white background with cookies crumbled on the side.
  • Author: Melissa
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Total Time: 5 minutes
  • Yield: 12 servings 1x
  • Category: appetizer, snack
  • Method: food processor
Scale

Ingredients

  • 2 cans of white beans
  • 1 can of pureed pumpkin
  • ½ cup maple syrup (or agave or honey)
  • 1 ½ tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon
  • 3 tbsp. coconut oil
  • Dried cranberries and nuts (such as walnuts, pecans, or pepitas), for garnish (optional)
  • Apples, graham crackers, pretzels, or amaretti cookies for dipping

Instructions

  1. In a food processor bowl, pulse together all of the ingredients until completely smooth.
  2. Serve in a bowl with garnishes (if using) with preferred dippers – such as apples, graham crackers, pretzels, or amaretti cookies.

Keywords: hummus, dip, appetizer, snack, pumpkin, fall

Vegan Coffee Cake

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This Vegan Coffee Cake is tender and full of warm cinnamon spice. Like any good coffee cake, it’s best served with a piping hot cup of coffee. 

Sliced vegan coffee cake on a white background with a cup of coffee

Coffee cakes are one of my favorites. In my mind, many sweets go with coffee because the bitterness of the coffee helps balance the sweet dessert. This coffee cake very simple and has a warm, cinnamon flavor that I love pairing with my coffee. Whether you are vegan or not, this recipe is a crowd-pleaser. 

Ingredients

Coconut oil: If you keep your coconut oil in the fridge, take it out before making this recipe and let it soften a bit.  

Brown sugar: You can use dark or light brown sugar. Dark brown sugar will give it a richer taste as it has more molasses in the sugar.  

Flax egg: The easiest vegan substitute for eggs in baking are flax eggs. A flax egg is simply 1 tablespoon of ground flax mixed with 3 tablespoons of water. 

Applesauce: The applesauce gives moisture to the cake and adds some natural sweetness. 

Apple cider vinegar: Apple cider vinegar adds a nice flavor. Most importantly, vinegar is needed to activate the baking soda to produce more lift or rise in baking. 

Vanilla extract: Use the real deal if you can. The flavor is better.   

Flour: I used all-purpose, but you could split half and half of all-purpose and whole grain if desired. 

Baking powder and soda: Using the combo helps give the lift we need for the cake to rise.   

Ground cinnamon: It’s a must in the coffee cake, in my opinion. If you’re feeling extra fancy, you can sub in pumpkin pie spice. 

Oats: The oats add a nice crumbly topping for the cake. 

Icing (powdered sugar, non-dairy milk, vanilla extract): What’s cake without some icing? You can use any type of non-dairy milk you like (almond, coconut, oat, etc.)

sliced vegan coffee cake with drizzles of icing

How to Make Vegan Coffee Cake

This cake is pretty typical to other cakes – you mix dry and wet ingredients separately and combine them together. After the cake batter is in the pan, you can top the cake with the crumb topping. After baking, you let the cake cool a little before drizzling on the icing.  

Why Vegan? And, how does cake or veganism fit into Intuitive Eating?

As you may know, I consider myself a non-diet dietitian and a proponent of Intuitive Eating. If you’re not familiar with intuitive eating, it is a practice that shrugs off the external food rules of dieting and focusing on internal cues such as hunger, fullness, and satisfaction in eating. Intuitive eating doesn’t mean eating whatever you want, whenever you want – although you have full permission to do that. 

One of the principles is something called gentle nutrition. Gentle nutrition isn’t food rules or dieting. It still focuses on your individual needs but shifts your focus to not feel guilty even if you eat food that isn’t as nutritious as others. 

So, cake absolutely fits this model. Cake can be super satisfying, and there is no reason to feel guilty for eating cake (or really any food). As far as veganism goes, you could argue that veganism has “rules” that you have to follow. As with anything in intuitive eating, it is more about your intention. Are you following a vegan diet because of sustainability, environmentalism, or other reasons that feel “aligned” with yourself? Or, are you doing it because some random influencers on social media suggested it, and you feel like you “should?” Ask your why and whether that feels in line with your values. Those are two vastly different intentions. Intuitive eating is about finding what feels good, both mentally and physically.

Personally, I eat vegan food, and I eat animal-based food (clearly based on my recipes). All foods can genuinely fit into an intuitive eating model. 

Again, if you’re new to intuitive eating, you can find more information about the intuitive eating principles in my free ebook.

a stack of two pieces of vegan coffee cake
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Vegan Coffee Cake

A stack of three pieces of vegan coffee cake
  • Author: Melissa
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 50 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour
  • Yield: 12–16 slices 1x
  • Category: cake
  • Method: baking
Scale

Ingredients

Cake:

  • ½ cup of coconut oil, softened (plus extra for the pan)
  • 1 cup of brown sugar
  • 1 flax egg (1 tablespoon ground flax with 3 tbsp. water)
  • 1 cup of applesauce
  • 2 tsp. apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 ¼ cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • ½  tsp. baking soda
  • ½ tsp. ground cinnamon

Crumb topping:

  • 3 tbsp. melted coconut oil
  • 3 tbsp. brown sugar
  • ½ tsp. ground cinnamon
  • ½ cup flour or oats

Icing:

  • ½ cup powdered sugar
  • 1 tbsp. non-dairy milk
  • ½ tsp. vanilla or almond extract

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat a 9×13 pan with cooking spray or the extra coconut oil and line with parchment paper.
  2. Mix together the coconut oil, brown sugar and beat together in with hand mixer or stand mixer until fully incorporated. Add flax egg, applesauce, vinegar, and vanilla extract and mix again until fully combined. In a separate bowl, mix together dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon). Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and combine until fully mixed. 
  3. In a separate bowl, mix together all ingredients for crumb topping (should be clumpy) with a fork or your fingers. Put batter in a parchment paper-lined pan and top with crumb topping. Bake for 45-50 minutes. If crumb topping gets too brown, tent with foil. Allow cake to cool.
  4. While the cake is cooling, mix all icing ingredients together in a bowl and drizzle on top of the cake. Let icing set before cutting into squares and serving.

Keywords: vegan coffee cake, vegan, baking, coffee cake

How to Make Instant Pot Basmati Rice

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This blog post covers how to make Instant Pot Basmati Rice. It doesn’t matter whether you prefer brown or white rice, this recipe works for both!

Truth is, as much as I love to cook and feel that I’m a pretty decent cook, I am terrible at making rice – or at least I used to be. I especially struggled with brown rice – it just never turned out right until I started using my Instant Pot. I think one of the reasons I used to be bad at making rice is that I used to peek and lift the lid of the pot, which you are never supposed to do. What can I say? I’m impatient. 

One of the first things that I made in my Instant Pot, when I got it years ago, was rice. I was initially skeptical about having an Instant Pot in the first place, but how easy and foolproof rice was to make in the Instant Pot sold me. (Don’t worry, I have since discovered the many more benefits of owning an Instant Pot.) I love that I can set it and forget it. Whole grain rice doesn’t take forever as it does on the stove thanks to the pressurization. Plus, there is the fact that I can’t mess it up by “peeking” on the rice. 

So, I thought I’d put together a tutorial on making one of my favorite rice varieties, basmati. It’s fragrant, nutty, and goes perfectly with my Vegan Tikka Masala with Chickpeas. 

Brown and white instant pot basmati rice on a white background.

What you’ll need:

  • Basmati rice: You can use white or brown basmati rice. Did you know that white rice is just merely the inner carbohydrate part of brown rice? Brown rice has retained its outer layer and thus has B-vitamins and more fiber than it’s white counterpart. There is nothing wrong with preferring one or the other. Both are a good source of carbohydrates and energy. One just happens to retain extra vitamins and fiber.  
  • Liquid: Clearly, you could just water for the liquid portion of cooking the rice, but if you want to add more flavor switching to a broth or stock like chicken, beef, or vegetable will add more flavor to otherwise bland food. Basmati rice does have some fragrance to it and more flavorful than you’re typical rice. 
  • Seasonings: You could certainly spice up the rice any way you’d like, but adding at least a pinch of salt adds some flavor. 
  • Oil: Adds some flavor and a more creamy mouthfeel to the rice. Olive oil or butter are my usual choices. 

How to Make Instant Pot Basmati Rice

When it comes to the Instant Pot, the high-pressure setting is your friend. It gets the job done SO much faster! It might seem a little scary, but the Instant Pot makes it perfectly safe compared to the old pressure cookers of yesteryear. Simply dump all of your ingredients in the Instant Pot, make sure the pressure release knob is sealed, and that’s it. Because brown rice retains more fiber, it takes longer to cook, even with the high-pressure setting. Here is a breakdown of the cooking settings that I use: 

  • Brown rice: use the manual setting on high pressure to cook for 25 minutes. The rice button on the Instant Pot is typically used for white rice. 
Bowl of brown instant pot basmati rice with a cilantro garnish.
  • White rice: use the manual setting on high pressure for 12 minutes, or use the default rice setting (on my model it’s 12 minutes on high pressure). 
Bowl of white instant pot basmati rice with a cilantro garnish.

Also, you can use the quick release on this Instant Pot Basmati Rice if you’re in a hurry, but the texture will be best if you let it naturally release for at least 10-15 minutes. 

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Instant Pot Basmati Rice

Brown and white instant pot basmati rice on a white background with an instant pot next to it.
  • Author: Melissa
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes for brown rice; 12 minutes for white rice
  • Total Time: 17-30 minutes
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x
  • Category: side dish
  • Method: Instant Pot
Scale

Ingredients

  • 2 cups of basmati rice (brown or white)
  • 3 ½ cups of liquid (water or broth)
  • ½ tsp. salt (plus other seasonings, if desired)
  • 1 tablespoon of olive oil or butter

Instructions

  1. Put all of the ingredients in the Instant Pot. Cover with lid and seal the pressure release knob.
  2. Cook on high pressure for 25 minutes for brown rice and high pressure for 12 minutes for white rice.
  3. Allow the pressure to release naturally (ideally 10-15 minutes) before serving.

Keywords: side dish, instant pot

Vegan Tikka Masala with Chickpeas

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This Vegan Tikka Masala has the right hint of spice in a creamy tomato sauce and chock full of protein and nutrients. Plus, you can get it on the dinner table in about 30 minutes – what’s not to love?

This tikka masala has all the flavors you could want in a satisfying meal. It’s got spice, sweetness, tang, and creaminess all wrapped up in one meal. Plus, it’s so filling thanks to being chock full of fiber and protein. Leftovers get even better by allowing the flavors to marry together longer. 

You can get the meal together in just about 30 minutes, and 20-25 of those minutes are hands-off. So really getting to eat this meal from about 5-10 minutes of work is like being on top of the world. 

Vegan tikka masala on a plate next to a pot of vegan tikka masala with chickpeas.

Ingredients

For this recipe, you’ll need:

  • Light-colored oil: I use a light tasting olive oil, but you could use avocado oil to sauté the vegetables. 
  • Onions and garlic: These are the foundation flavors of so many recipes, and this recipe is no different. 
  • Ginger: Ginger gives the dish a nice sweet spice flavor to it. I prefer fresh, but you could use ground ginger. If you use ground ginger, decrease the amount to 1 tsp. instead of 1 tbsp. 
  • Tomato Paste: Tomato paste is known for giving a rich umami flavor, especially when you sauté it a little before adding the rest of the ingredients. 
  • Garam masala: Garam masala is an Indian spice blend that actually is different from region-to-region in India. Mine contained coriander, black pepper, cumin, cardamom, and cinnamon. I used the McCormick brand. 
  • Cumin: Cumin adds a robustly smoky flavor to the tikka masala.
  • Turmeric: This yellow, anti-inflammatory spice adds a bittersweet taste to the dish. 
  • Tomato sauce: I used a large can of the sauce, but if you want a little more texture, you could use diced tomatoes with their juices. 
  • Coconut milk: Coconut milk is responsible for the creamy texture and naturally adds a bit of sweetness.
  • Chickpeas: Chickpeas are chock full of fiber and protein, which makes this dish so filling and satisfying.
  • Cilantro: The cilantro adds a burst of freshness.
  • Cooked basmati rice: You can use either white or brown, whichever your preference. Brown will add a little extra fiber compared to the white. 

How to Make Vegan Tikka Masala

Like I mentioned above, the work of this recipe is contained in a brief 5 minutes. The rest is to set it and forget it. For the actual “work” part, you’ll need to saute the onion for a few minutes and then add the ginger, tomato paste, and the spices. You’ll let that saute for just minute or two. The spices should be really fragrant, and the tomato paste will have changed to a darker color. 

You’ll add in the canned ingredients next: the tomato sauce, coconut milk, and chickpeas. You’ll let it all simmer for about 25 minutes. Serve it over a big pile of rice and fresh cilantro on top. Done and done. 

Vegan tikka masala with rice on a white background with a blue and white towel.

How to Serve 

I consider myself an omnivore – meaning I eat just about everything. I do enjoy going meatless at least 1-2 times per week. This meal makes a great addition to a Meatless Monday and for meal prep for the week. Like I mentioned above, I feel this Vegan Tikka Masala gets better for leftovers. If you wanted to bulk up the recipe with more nutrients and fiber, you could easily add in some broccoli, cauliflower, or peppers to go along with the rice. 

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Vegan Tikka Masala with Chickpeas

Vegan tikka masala with rice on a white background.
  • Author: Melissa
  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 25 minutes
  • Total Time: 30 minutes
  • Yield: 4–6 servings 1x
  • Category: Indian
  • Cuisine: Indian
Scale

Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp. light-colored oil
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tbsp. freshly grated ginger
  • 3 tbsp. tomato paste
  • 2 tsp. garam masala
  • 1 ½ tsp. cumin
  • 1 ½ tsp. ground turmeric
  • 1 (28-ounce) can tomato sauce
  • 1 cup coconut milk
  • 2 cans (15.5 oz. each) of chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
  • 2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
  • Cooked basmati rice, for serving

Instructions

  1. Cook basmati rice according to package directions. 
  2. Heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté for about 4-5 minutes. Add in garlic, ginger, tomato paste, garam masala, cumin, and turmeric and sauté for additional 1-2 minutes. 
  3. Add in tomato sauce, coconut milk, and chickpeas. Bring to a boil, then lower heat, and simmer for 25-30 minutes. 
  4. Serve with cilantro on top and with steamed basmati rice. 

Keywords: Indian, tikka masala