Vegan Recipes

A vegan diet is a wonderful way to not only eat healthy but also save money.  Even if you're not ready to make the full vegan plunge, incorporating a few vegan recipes into your diet would be a great way to liven up your meals with something different.  I asked the LDW ladies for vegan recipe recommendations, and soon found my stomach growling while reading these (I left out names to protect everyone's privacy, but if you'd like me to add it in next to your recipe, let me know and I can update the post):


Quinoa with Pears & Maple Vinaigrette
-1 cup quinoa
-1 large ripe pear, cleaned & diced small
-2T fresh parsley, chopped
-1/2c raw slivered almonds
-1/4c EVOO
-2T rice or apple cider vinegar
-2T real maple syrup
-1/2t Dijon mustard.
---Cook quinoa according to regular methods. In a large salad bowl, add pear, parsley, and almonds to quinoa and mix to combine. Whisk oil, vinegar, syrup & mustard; pour over salad mixture and toss to coat. Season to taste with salt & pepper.



Curried Quinoa
-1c. quinoa
-1 large carrot, chopped
-1T coconut oil
-1 celery stalk, chopped
-1/3c. raisins
-1/2c. cooked garbanzo beans or canned, drained & rinsed
-1.5-2t curry powder
-.5t sea salt
---Cook quinoa according to regular methods. When quinoa is almost finished cooking, heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add carrot and cook, stirring, for 3 min. Add celery, raisins, garbanzos, curry & salt; stir & saute for 5 mins. Add cooked quinoa to skillet and combine.

Black Olive Curried Spaghetti
-3 Tbsp butter or olive oil
-7 ounces dry spaghetti
-1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
-2 tsp curry powder (Japanese curry is preferred)
-2 ounces diced pimentos (usually by the olives in the grocery store)
-3-1/2 cups chicken broth
-1 can diced black olives
---Saute onion and curry powder in butter/oil in large pan. Add chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Break spaghetti into thirds and add to boiling liquid. Cover and cook over medium heat for ~10 min. Stir in pimento and black olives. Cook uncovered for ~10 min., stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and rest for 3-5 minutes. Option: may add 1 diced green bell pepper.

Sri-Lankan Style Chickpea Curry (Kadalai Curry)
-1 potato
-1 can chickpeas
1/2 cup water
1" piece fresh ginger
2 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp. turmeric
2 Tbsp. oil
1/2 chopped onion
1 sprig curry leaves (if you can get find them - usually at an Indian/Pakistani grocery)
1 tsp. curry powder (Jaffna curry is preferred)
1 blanched & diced tomato; salt to taste
1 tsp. garam masala
1 lemon or lemon juice
--1) Peel potato and dice. Boil in salted water for 5 min. 2) Grind 1/4 cup chickpeas, 1/2 cup water. ginger, garlic and turmeric in food processor or blender. 3) Heat oil in pan. Saute onions and curry leaves until onions are translucent. 4) Add curry powder and stir for a minute before adding chickpeas and all other ingredients (except garam masala). Stir well and simmer until mix is thick & creamy. Sprinkle with garam masala and squeeze with lemon juice before serving.


Pasta and Avocado Sauce
-Pasta like usual (I use a spirooli to make zucchini noodles)
-For sauce:
2 Avacados
1/2 bunch cilantro 
1/2 bunch basil (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste
Handful of soaked almonds 
1/2 can coconut milk 
Chili powder to taste
3-4 cloves garlic 
1/2 lemon

---Blend all in a blender-- adding the soaked nuts last. Pour over pasta and then enjoy!


Crock Pot Beans
-Pintos, picked through. Dump in crockpot, add water to cover. Add 1-4 TBLSP Chili powder, 1-3 Tsp Onion Powder, salt and pepper to taste (after cooked). Set on high and let 'er cook. Add water if it gets low. After it smells so good you can't stand it, check it out and see if they are done. We eat them soupy with chopped avocado, tomato and onion on top drizzled with olive oil.  Add cheese and sour cream if you aren't too Vegan.  These beans are great for burritos if you use a slotted spoon and can be made into refried beans with a little water and some olive oil and elbow grease.


Choffy peanut butter cups 
-1/2 cup organic coconut oil
-1/2 cup raw honey
-Splash of Vanilla
-1/2 cup organic peanut butter
-1 cup used Choffy grounds
---Heat and blend ingredients together.  Pour into high speed blender with 1/2 cup organic peanut butter and 1 cup used Choffy grounds. Blend well and pour into small baking cups. Place in freezer to cool for 5 minutes. Take out and enjoy!

 P.S.--Just for fun: http://i.imgur.com/3cn0G4N.jpg

Baked Beans

This is one of my very favorite recipes - ever! It's a perfect side for a BBQ, and it makes so much that it's an easy go-to for potluck dinners.

Ingredients:
2 medium cans pork & beans (or 3-4 soup can sized cans)
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup ketchup
1 lb. bacon
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 small onion, diced
1/4 cup molasses

Cook bacon and drain off the grease. Chop the pepper and onion, and mix all ingredients. Bake at 350 degrees, covered for 1 hour and then uncovered for 1-1.5 hours. If you are in a time crunch or your dish doesn't have a lid, you can also bake it uncovered for 1.5-2 hours (just watch it so that the beans don't dry out!).

Curried lentil soup

I got this from my sweet sister-in-law, Brooke. She gave it to us in a beautiful decorative jar with some other Christmas treats. This could be made ahead and kept around until you are ready for it. And it doesn't take up freezer space. And did I mention it is delicious?!

I'm trying to figure out a way to make individual serving sizes. LOL! Wish me luck!

curried lentil soup
16 oz lentils
1 1/2 tsp salt
3 Tbs dried onion (i didn't have any and used about 1 Tbs onion powder)
1 Tbs curry powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 cup dried apple pieces, cut into pieces
1 Tbs parsley

combine in sauce pan with 7 cups H2O. boil on high. cover and simmer on low 20-30 min.

White Chicken Chili

Also easy to do in the crockpot but it really takes no time at all on the stove...

2 cups of cooked shredded or cubed leftover chicken
2 or 3 cans of great northern beans (you can use dried if you want to mess with them; it just takes longer).
2 cans chopped green chiles
4 cloves of minced garlic
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cups of chicken broth (use less or more depending on how thick you like your chili)
salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin, and parsley to taste
2 T olive oil
1 cup corn kernels
1 pkg cream cheese, cut into cubes (low fat is fine)
1 cup cooked white rice (optional - but we love it - definitely thickens it up)

Start off by sauteeing the onions and garlic in the olive oil. Add the chicken (if you use raw, then cook it through). Add the green chiles, chicken broth, corn, and bring to a simmer. Stir in the cream cheese cubes until melted. Stir in the rice and season to taste. My mom always adds coriander but I never seem to have any so I mostly use cumin.

This is super fast if you use canned beans (I buy GV brand) and leftover chicken.

Optional: Serve with shredded cheese and sour cream on top!

Crockpot Split Pea Soup

Easy and cheap... this made a lot for us so I froze half of it for later. :)

2 16 oz bags of dried split peas
1 pkg of kielbasa sausage, diced (I usually buy the turkey stuff - cheap and healthy)
1 lg yellow onion, diced
2 cups of carrots, diced (I shredded in the mini-processor instead)
3 cloves of garlic, minced (also used the mini-processor here. Love that thing!)
Salt, pepper, and chicken bouillon to taste
8-9 cups of water

Wash peas in hot water and add all ingredients to the crockpot. The original recipe I splurged on called for 1 bag of peas and 6 cups of water, but 8-9 cups is all my big crockpot would hold - I ended up with a thick soup, which is how I like it anyway. You could always halve the recipe and use less water.

Cook on high for about 4 hours (I started stirring it after 3 hours to help peas mush up) until peas are mushy. Serve with cornbread. Some people like to drizzle olive oil on top... :)

I think I spent around $5...

Edamame (soy beans in the pod)

I read a long time ago on someone’s blog (I cannot remember whose), that Edamame was a perfect finger food for kids. I had never had Edamame, so I thought we would try it.

The food itself is extremely healthy and if you buy the frozen type in the pod, you only have to defrost it to eat it. This makes it a super easy and simple snack or side for any meal.

Tonight, I reintroduced Edamame to my boys. Bert liked it last time we had it, so I reminded him of this and showed him how to pop open the pod to expose the seed. In my opinion, Edamame have a nutty flavor, and Bert likes nuts…So, I made sure to remind him that they taste like nuts. He started eating them right away.

As you can see, he liked the Edamame. Please excuse my “shirtless” boys at the dinner table. I didn’t notice until they had already gotten dinner underway.

Ernie is not a fan of anything un-fruit-like. He still had fun learning how to open the Edamame. The green soybeans never once crossed his lips. He did get a math lesson in though…

Perfectly lined up and counted to 5! So, apparently Edamame doubles as a wonderful math manipulative.

In this household, 50% is passing when it comes to food. If I can get one kid to like it and eat it, I have succeeded! (kind of reminiscent of the Texas TAKS math test—well, I think they have to have a 65% or something…at one time it was 55% though).

You all have a wonderful day, and let me know how your kids like Edamame!

Darn Good Green Beans

I’ve been doing these A LA Ozuna style the last couple of times I have made them.  My in-laws make their beans similarly to these.  I have stumbled onto their secret.

Ingredients:

Fresh green beans (however many your family eats…I usually do a couple handfuls for me and my husband.  The boys eat carrots)

1/4 c.  Onion (a couple thinly sliced rings chopped up)

2 Tbsp.  Bacon Grease (you could cook some bacon or just use the grease that you have saved from cooking bacon, either way it’s yummy)

1 Tomato diced

mushrooms (1/2 basket chopped)

salt

pepper

Directions:

Heat pan to medium high.  Add bacon grease, onion, and chopped green beans.  Salt to taste.  Cover.  Let cook for a bit, stirring occasionally.  After green beans and onion have cooked down a little (become a little soft), add mushrooms and tomato.  Salt again.  Pepper. Cover.  When beans are cooked but still have a bite to them, and when tomato has cooked down, they are done.

Check the seasoning…add more salt/pepper if needed.

Tangy Hummus

This is definitely not traditional, but it didn’t matter to me because I have never had more than a bite of hummus in my lifetime, so I didn’t have any expectations.  Without knowing what it should taste like, I created this.

Ingredients:

2 cups Cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans)

2-3 tbsp. miracle whip

Juice of 1 lemon

6-10 basil leaves, chopped

1-2 tbsp. salsa (I used the salsa I prepared here)

Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in food processor and process until smooth.

I have been eating this with Fritos and as a condiment on my turkey sandwich instead of mayo.  I think it would taste good on crackers, veggies or anything else that one would eat hummus with.  Please let me know if you like it!!