Vegan Creme De Menthe Bars, Chia, And Ancho Vinaigrette
Last night I stayed up a little too late to make Averie of Love Veggies and Yoga’s Vegan Creme de Menthe Bars. Actually, I was already up too late, and the bars didn’t take very long to make at all. I didn’t have creme de menthe, so as Averie suggested, I used a tablespoon mint extract instead. When my mixture was a little dry, I added a couple tablespoons of homemade almond milk as well. I used an 8 x 8 pan to construct all three layers, and they turned out so pretty! It’s like a cross between a peppermint patty and a frozen Oreo. Next time I make them, though, I’ll only use a teaspoon of mint, because it’s so strong it burns. Whoops! I really recommend giving this recipe a try; they’re wonderful if only I hadn’t gone so heavy on the mint!
I normally don’t eat breakfast, but this morning my stomach wasn’t feeling very well, so I thought I’d give food a shot. Awhile back I had picked up this chia breakfast mix at Whole Foods and completely forgotten about it. All I had to do was mix 2 tablespoons of the almond cinnamon chia with 1/4 cup of my homemade almond milk and I had a nice little breakfast. This was my first time trying chia and I absolutely loved it. I was worried it would have some sort of “extreme” flavor, but I could definitely eat this all the time!
After surprisingly enjoying my chia, I threw together an ancho pepper vinaigrette for the salads I was planning to make at lunch. I’m beginning to appreciate the benefits of making my own salad dressing now that I’m being more careful about buying things premade. It’s so simple, quick, and much cheaper than buying it at the store! For today’s dressing, I used an ex-maple syrup bottle I cleaned up to reuse. I love buying products in glass; it’s like I’m buying a new piece of storage-ware with a free product inside!
Ancho Dijon Vinaigrette
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 large ancho pepper, roughly chopped
- Salt and pepper to taste
Combine ingredients in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Enjoy!
Under the dressing, my salad bowl was stuffed with romaine, candy onions, plum tomatoes, carrots, sliced jalapeño stuffed green peppers, and sunflower seeds. Yum!
This evening we checked out a new restaurant in a nearby town, but since I have quite a few pictures from that, I’ll just post it separately. Thanks to those of you who have commented on today’s Your Thoughts Thursday! If you haven’t already, stop by and tell me why you’re vegan and if the reason matters. I hope you’re having a great week; it’s almost Friday!
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I Eat Trees is a blog featuring my adventures in all things vegan. My favorite recipes, snack food finds, and restaurant trials are all on the menu so enjoy!
Those Creme de Menthe bars look fab! Is it not great to make ones own dressing? So fun!
It makes me feel fancy even though it only takes a couple of minutes!
Those mint bars sound amazing! I’ll need to try them. I’ve made Averie’s chocolate mint balls..reminded me of a Thin Mint! I’m a huge fan of all things mint flavored and tend to go overboard on the mint extract when I make desserts.
Haha, yeah… a tablespoon is most of the bottle. I think next time I’ll start with a teaspoon.
As usual, your meals look great. I have been looking at that chia blend cereal for a while. I’ll just have to give it a try. Have a great day.
Thank you! That chia blend is *delicious*!
I agree completely about buying foods in glass so I can reuse the containers later! Convinced that I have enough containers already (and he may have a point), my husband is always trying to recycle them, so I’m constantly rescuing my containers from the bin.
Sometimes I realize how lucky I am that my husband isn’t even sure where the kitchen *is*… Okay, he knows where it is, but he doesn’t wander in there beyond the pantry for a snack…
The bars look delicious. And I love ancho chiles. Yum.
Thank you- anchos are great. Not *too* spicy for the little guy.
Congratulations. I have just been inspired to buy chia!
Yay!! That means I did something useful today (inspire someone to try chia).
Enjoy!
Hi Beautiful! I am so glad you made these! I saw quite a few hits come from your site to mine and I’m like hmmm, what has she been up to over there…my bars! YAY!!!!
Omg Mint. I have RUINED more desserts than I can tell you by mint addition! I think in that recipe I even said, BE CAREFUL w/ the mint. If not in that one, in other recipes that i use mint, i.e. mint chia pudding, mint choco donut holes, I tell people to be careful b/c it does go sooo far. It’s like 10x the potency of vanilla extract.
Anyway sweetie, great job on the bars…you can bake/cook for me anytime
Cmon down to San Diego!!
xo
Oh, you definitely warned in that post and I still managed to mess it up. Oh well! The boys still like them, but they burn my tummy. They’re so good though, I’m going to make them again with much less mint so I can pig out!