Tag Archives: vegan

Mexican Lentil Salad

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mexican lentil salad Today’s recipe I took straight from one of my favorite blogs – Kalyn’s Kitchen. The only difference is that I recommend making the lentil salad topping in one large batch so you can easily take it to work for the week and assemble it with some refreshing cold, crispy Romaine lettuce. It’s rich chili spices mixed with the sourness of the lime juice makes it perfect for summer!

MEXICAN LENTIL SALAD
1 1/2 cups brown lentils, cooked in 6 cups salted water
2 cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 can (6 oz. drained weight) black olives, cut in half
1/2 cup sliced green onions
1-2 avocados, diced
1 cup pickled banana peppers or pepperoncinis
Juice from 2 fresh-squeezed limes
6 cups chopped Romaine lettuce, washed and dried
2 T olive oil
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1 package of taco seasoning
1/2 cup vegetable broth

Put lentils, 6 cups water, and a little salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. When the water boils, reduce to a low simmer and cook until the lentils are tender but not falling apart, about 30 minutes. Drain lentils well. Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the chopped red onion and saute for a few minutes, until the onion starts to soften. Then add the taco seasoning and saute about 2 minutes more. Add the lentils and vegetable stock and simmer until the liquid has all evaporated. Turn off the heat and let the lentils cool. When cooled, add sliced olives, tomatoes, green onions, avocado and toss with extra lime juice. Served fresh over chopped lettuce, or bring lettuce to work separately and enjoy this tasty dish all week long!

Pho, Pho and Away!

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tentOn Friday, Asher woke up with a high fever and a cold sore on his mouth so naturally we built a camping tent in our living room. That’s him in the background playing on his toy laptop and moaning, while Everett wonders what’s going on. Today, he finally ate his comfort food of crappy Kraft mac and cheese, which inspired me to share my most favorite sick day soup – Vegan Pho!

I am very proud to say this is actually my husband’s recipe and is one of my all-time favorite foods. The broth is full of sweet and spicy exotic spices, and the udon noodles mixed with the crunch of fresh herbs make this a soul satisfying dish. And because this recipe requires whomever in your household is least likely to burn themselves to roast the ginger over a fire, your house will have the added perk of smelling like sweet delicious roasted ginger!

VEGAN PHO
1/2 bag of udon noodles
6 quarts of vegetable broth OR 6 quarts of water with 2-3 bullion cubes
1 bunch scallions
8 cloves of garlic
3” ginger root in skin
6 whole star anise
2 cinnamon sticks
2 whole bay leaves
1 container extra firm tofu
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
1 Tablespoon soy sauce

Toppings
1/2 head of napa cabbage, roughly chopped
1/2 head of purple cabbage, roughly chopped
1 cup roughly chopped peanuts
1 container of bean sprouts
1 bunch of Thai basil, whole leaves
1 bunch of cilantro, whole leaves
1/2 jalapeno sliced into circles, seeds removed
1 lime sliced into quarters
Sriracha sauce

Bring a medium pot filled with water to a boil. Add udon noodles and cook for 15 minutes. Drain noodles and run under cold water for 2 minutes, then toss with sesame oil to prevent sticking. Cook tofu according to my previous post Roasted Tofu Special Treat. Using stainless steel tongs, roast the whole ginger over your stove’s open flame about 5-7 minutes then set aside. In a large pot, bring vegetable broth to a boil then add whole ginger, scallions, garlic, cinnamon sticks, bay leaves, star anise, and soy sauce. Boil on medium heat for 20-25 minutes. Remove all solids from the broth so it is a clear, light brown color. In serving bowls, combine two parts broth to one part noodles. Arrange toppings side by side on a large serving plate and allow guests to add desired amounts fresh to their pho. Heaven! Serves 4 -6.

Greek Israeli Couscous

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greek couscous One of my biggest challenges in the kitchen is preparing easy, healthy lunches on the weekend that can be kept in the fridge for a few days without tasting like Saturday’s leftovers. This week, I found myself hooked on Israeli couscous. Mostly because it was on sale for $3.99, but also because of it’s hearty texture and ability to soak up any flavor while marinating in the fridge. I combined it with a Greek taverna salad and three days later it still tasted delicious! And as a nice little perk, I used some of these purchased ingredients to make healthy toddler snacks without having to blow my grocery budget! Asher particularly loves black olives and grape tomatoes. Love when my grown-up meals can double as toddler food!

GREEK ISRAELI COUSCOUS SALAD

1 cup Israeli couscous, uncooked
1 persian cucumber, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
3 cups roughly chopped fresh spinach
1/2 red onion, sliced thinly into moonshapes
1 pint of grape tomates,sliced in half
1/2 cup of feta cheese with mediterranean herbs
1 can of sliced black olives
1 cup whole pepperoncinis

Dressing:
2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 Tablespoons vinegar from pepperoncini jar
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt and pepper

Boil 1 1/3 cup water in small pot. Add Israeli couscous and turn down to simmer with lid on for 8-10 minutes. Fluff with fork and remove from heat to cool. Chop and prep your vegetables. Add cooled couscous and salad ingredients in a large bowl and toss with dressing. Let marinate in refrigerator at least one hour. Should be served room temperature or cold. This dish can easily be made vegan without the feta cheese.

Senegalese Peanut Stew, and Vegan Too!

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peanut stew Our first dinner date at my apartment I made my now-husband cry. It was over my home-made salad dressing. And right then I knew that I could cook for this man the rest of our lives and be happy. I am very pleased to share that this past week we celebrated our five-year wedding anniversary, and in celebration we renewed our vows with our little boys and dearest friends in tow! Asher wore a suit with a clip-on tie which he thought was “cute”, and Everett wore a onesy with a picture of a bow-tie and suspenders!

family Over our five years of marriage, there have been a handful of dishes I have prepared for Robby that he has happily claimed is a “keeper”, and today’s recipe is one of them. It’s a vegan Senegalese peanut stew that is superb served over brown rice. You could also add some tofu and fresh peanuts if you are feeling adventurous and need a bit of crunch.

Cooking spray
2 medium onion, roughly chopped
1 medium green pepper, cored and roughly chopped
1/2 pound uncooked sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch cubes
2 medium uncooked carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbsp ginger root, fresh, minced
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
4 cups vegetable broth, reduced-sodium
6 Tbsp peanut butter, natural, creamy-variety
8 cups fresh spinach, leaves, stemmed, packed, chopped

Coat a large saucepan with cooking spray and set over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper; cook, stirring often, until softened, about 3 minutes. Stir in the sweet potato, carrots and garlic; cook for 1 minute, stirring often. Add the ginger, cloves, salt and cayenne; cook for 30 seconds. Pour in the vegetable broth and bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the peanut butter until smooth. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer slowly, stirring once in a while, until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. Add the spinach; cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Keep the heat low as the soup simmers so the peanut butter doesn’t separate.

Vegan Spicy Red Lentil Soup, Lessons from a Hand Blender

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soup The hand blender is hands down my favorite kitchen appliance. Well, that and the automatic coffee maker that fills my house with the tangy roasted smell of Starbucks every morning. This is a critical moment in my day as I practically fall down the stairs carrying an infant in one arm and a groggy toddler in the other who demands Deadmaus5 before 7:00am. I haven’t put on a bra, the nanny is on her way, I have 30 minutes to pack work lunches, get dressed, and apply make-up.

But that’s another story.

Yesterday I found a simply amazing recipe for vegan spicy red lentil soup that took an hour to make but my instinct tells me should have only taken me 30 minutes. I mean I literally had 2 mixing bowls, a soup pot, two pans, a very messy food processor and a dishwasher going. Insanity. Who has that kind of time and patience? I think we can dumb this down to a one-pot plus one-pan wonder. It cost me less than $10 for the ingredients and only slightly more for the Jerusalem salad I served on the side.

2 cups red lentils, rinsed and picked over
8 cups water
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
5 to 6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
4 cups vegetable stock
¾ teaspoon cumin
1 tablespoon Tabasco sauce (I used Goya salsa picante hot sauce)
¼ teaspoon turmeric
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoons salt
¾ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon chili powder
¼ cup cornstarch + ¼ cup hot water
½ green pepper, ribs and seeds removed, diced

In a small dish, combine cumin, turmeric, cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper, chili powder and Tabasco sauce. Set aside. Sort lentils (pick out any stones / damaged lentils) and rinse. In a pan, add olive oil and saute garlic for 2 minutes, then add celery and onion and cook additional 3 minutes, stirring constantly. In a soup pot, combine lentils and 4 cups of water. Bring to a boil over high heat. As soon as boiling, turn to medium low heat. Add onion/celery mixture to the lentil and cook for 20 minutes until lentils are tender. Add small bowl of spices to the soup and cook for 30 seconds. Now, toss in canned tomatoes. Add vegetable stock and remaining 4 cups of water. Finally, mix cornstarch with hot water until well combined and add to soup. Stir constantly over high heat for 30 to 45 seconds to thicken. Finally, take hand blender and puree the soup until smooth and creamy. Turn off heat; add diced green pepper.

Here is the original Wegman’s recipe: http://www.wegmans.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10052&partNumber=RECIPE_5575