Monthly Archives: February 2012

Red Lentil Curry

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I love anything with curry and lentils! This is quick and easy to make and it makes the house smell awesome! Our toddler enjoyed this; I added a little plain soy yogurt to hers before I tasted it, thinking it would be spicy but it wasn’t.

Red Lentil Curry

Toddler approved! She insists on wearing a bib now like her little brother ;-)

This recipe comes from Vegetarian Hostess.

Ingredients

1 cup red lentils
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 tablespoon vegetable oil – I omitted this and sauteed with leftover bean cooking liquid (my usual)
1 teaspoon mustard seed – I used black mustard seeds
1 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon fennel – I used ground fennel
1 tablespoon curry powder - I used Organic Tandoori Masala from Whole Foods
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 tablespoon salt – I added less than 1/2 tsp, this seemed like too much
1 tablespoon brown sugar – I used a tiny scoop of Kal Brand Stevia instead
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ginger root, minced
2 large red tomatoes, chopped
¼ cup tomato puree – I used tomato sauce, all I had
¼ cup shredded coconut – optional but really good!!!
1   Wash the lentils in cold water until the water runs clear (this is very important or the lentils will get “scummy”), put the lentils in a medium sized pot with water to cover and simmer until lentils tender. This should take 10-15 minutes.
2   While the lentils are cooking: In a large skillet, heat oil over medium high heat. Add the onions  and coat with oil, stirring occasionally for 10 minutes or until onions are browned somewhat.
3   While the onions are cooking, combine the mustard seed, cinnamon, fennel, curry powder, turmeric, cumin, chili powder, salt, sugar, garlic, and ginger in a mixing bowl. Mix well. When the onions are cooked, add the curry mixture to the onions and cook over a high heat stirring constantly for 1 to 2 minutes.
4   Stir in the tomatoes and tomato puree and reduce heat, allow the curry base to simmer until the lentils are ready. When the lentils are tender drain them briefly (they should have absorbed most of the water but you don’t want the curry to be too sloppy). Mix the curry base into the lentils and serve immediately garnished with coconut.

Cook lentils, saute onions

Mix garlic, ginger and seasonings together

I used Organic Tandoori Masala from Whole Foods

Add spice mixture to onions

Add lentils, tomatoes and tomato sauce/puree

Top with unsweetened coconut and serve over brown rice

 

 

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Easy Black Bean Soup

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Black beans were up next in our bean rotation so I decided to make this soup. It’s super easy to make and pretty darn good! Our toddler loved it! I mixed hers with a little leftover tricolor quinoa to thicken it up a bit.

Easy Black Bean Soup

This recipe is from Whole Foods.com. I love Whole Foods! My hubby calls it “Whole Paycheck” because it’s a little spendy. LOL! I like the salad bar the best! Ah the cold lentil salads, California Quinoa Salad and all the other goodies offered at your fingertips. YUM! I’ll be recreating those salads next so watch for those recipes soon!

Serves 8

Cooking dried beans is low maintenance and a great value. Make sure to plan ahead and allow time for soaking the beans.

Serve with hot sauce or salsa, if you like. I served this with Habanero Sauce… A MUST HAVE ADDITION!! I keep this sauce in the fridge at all times, it’s that good. Our toddler like a little in her food too so if she can handle it, so can you!

Ingredients

1 pound dried black beans (about 2 1/2 cups), rinsed
2 medium onions, chopped
1 large red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/2 ripe avocado, chopped

Method

Soak the beans overnight or 6 to 8 hours prior to cooking. Drain and rinse.

In a large pot, bring 1/2 cup water to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add onions, bell pepper and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are translucent and beginning to brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in cumin and chipotle and cook 1 minute, stirring. Add drained beans and 10 cups water. Bring soup to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cook, uncovered, for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until beans are tender. Remove 4 cups soup and carefully purée in a blender. Return purée to pot and stir in cilantro, nutritional yeast and lime juice. Spoon into bowls for serving and garnish with avocado.

Saute onions, peppers and garlic

Add spices, beans and water, cook uncovered for 1 1/2 to 2 hours

Puree 4 cups of soup in a blender - I used my VitaMix (of course!)

Add pureed soup back into the pot - add nutritional yeast, cilantro and lime juice.

Serve with diced avocado and your hot sauce of choice!

Nutrition

Per serving: 120 calories (25 from fat), 2.5g total fat, 0g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 15mg sodium, 20g total carbohydrate (7g dietary fiber, 2g sugar), 7g protein

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My weight loss/shopping journey!

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I apologize for my absence lately… I’ve been busy shopping!

For me, that’s a funny thing to say because I’ve always HATED shopping! I finally reached my goal weight – I’m 20 pounds lighter than I was when I got pregnant with my daughter – age 2! I’m so proud of myself but I have NOTHING to wear! I decided to hire a stylist to help me shop to eliminate the money waste of buying clothes I’ll never wear again, clothes I’m never really sure look good on me and eliminating my habit of buying the same things over and over again. So far it’s been great but assembling a new wardrobe is a lot of work!

You’re probably thinking “Wait a minute… only rich people hire stylists!” but it’s so not true! If you think about it… how much money is hanging in your closet WAITING to be worn? How many things have you purchased, worn once and never worn again? How many times have you been shopping and thought to yourself “UGH… I hate shopping!”. That’s me, exactly!

When I first came up with the idea to use a stylist I decided to find someone with great reviews who could help me. I looked on Yelp and found Vanessa Valiente. I contacted her about 6 months ago and requested that we wait until I finished losing my baby weight. She agreed to wait and I continued to update her on my progress along the way, giving myself a goal to work towards and somewhat of an accountability in this weight loss journey.

I met my weight loss goal a few weeks ago and met with Vanessa for the first time. She came to my house, sat down with me to discuss my personal style and goals for this process. My personal style… I had to laugh a little inside because if any of you have young children like I do, you understand there really is NO TIME for anything close to style! You’re lucky to get a shower most days!

Next we went through my entire wardrobe, she suggested what to get rid of and what to keep. Now keep in mind, I haven’t purchased anything other than maternity clothes over the past few years…well maybe a few “let’s hide the baby belly” shirts here and there but that’s about it. Needless to say I didn’t have many items left when she was done with me. That’s okay, it was refreshing to get rid of it all!

Long story short, she’s been helping me build back my wardrobe and it’s been keeping me pretty busy! Shopping is hard work! That’s why sometimes it’s nice to have a little help from a professional. SO if you need help in the wardrobe department, give Vanessa a call! She’s fast, resourceful (important when you’re shopping for clothes considering there are SO MANY options out there!), easy to talk to and extremely professional. If you want to shop with a girl friend, bring one of your buddies because she’s here to get down to business and that’s what she does well!

So again, I apologize for my absence. I promise I’ll catch up on recipe posts and give you all some awesome new recipes to try. In the meantime, wish me luck! Hope all is well with you and your families!

April :-)

I had to share this picture! Our future firefighter!

Gingered Daikon Carrot Slaw

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I bought too many daikon radishes and needed a way to use them up after making Spicy Sesame Noodles. I found this recipe on one of my favorite vegan food blogs, Melomeals. I had a friend over for dinner that night, she loved this salad! In fact, she just asked me for the recipe yesterday (Here you go, Lisa!) so I figured I should post it. Here you go, hope you enjoy it!

Gingered Daikon Carrot Slaw

Gingered Daikon Carrot Slaw 

2 large carrots
1/2 of a 12 inch daikon
1 heaping tablespoon fresh ginger
handful of fresh basil, cilantro or mint (or a mixture of them all)
3 tablespoons vegan mayo
Siracha to taste
Soy Sauce to taste
Juice of 1 big lime
pinch lime zest
1 T apple cider vinegar
fresh pepper
Grate or chop carrots, daikon and ginger in a food processor
Toss with the rest of the ingredients.. season to your liking

Grate carrots, daikon and ginger in food processor

Add the rest of the ingredients

Toss well

Serve!

Spicy Sesame Noodles (Daikon)

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I bought a spiralizer (Buy it here) a few months ago and this is the first thing I made! These little kitchen tools are so cool! You can make curly fries (I bake mine without oil), zucchini noodles, apple “noodles”… the list is endless! Your kids will love using this thing and so will you!

World Cuisine 48297-99 Tri-Blade Plastic Spiral Vegetable Slicer

SO COOL!

Daikon radishes have a very distinct strong flavor. If you do not like this flavor, substitute brown rice noodles or whole wheat pasta instead. I plan on experimenting with this recipe in the future!

Spicy Sesame Noodles

This recipe is from Melomeals: Vegan For $3.33 A Day!

Spicy Sesame Noodles
  • 1 medium Daikon, spiralized (around 6 cups)
  • 2 t toasted sesame oil
  • 5 scallions, diced
  • 1 T soy sauce
  • 1 T siracha – or less if you don’t like s
  • 1/4 c Wasabi Ginger Dressing
  • 2 T toasted sesame seeds

Saute all of the ingredients together in a non stick skillet for 10 minutes. Taste and add more soy sauce, black pepper and siracha if desired.

Ready to cook!

Spiralize daikon radish OR cook your pasta of choice, assemble in pan and cook!

Wasabi Ginger Dressing

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This is a quick and easy Asian-style dressing you can use on many things! I use this dressing on salad, slaw, Spicy Sesame Noodles and I serve it on the side of Tofu Salad Sushi Wraps. I use my Magic Bullet to make this, it’s so easy!

Tofu Salad Sushi Wrap with Wasabi Ginger Dressing

Wasabi Ginger Dressing

1 c mayo
1/2 c water
2 t prepared wasabi – you can use the tube or make your own from the powder
1 T freshly grated ginger
3 cloves garlic
1 t apple cider vinegar
1 T soy sauce
1/2 – 1 T toasted sesame oil
Pinch stevia powder
1 T siracha – less if you don’t like spicy!

Blend well

Add all ingredients into Magic Bullet, blend well.


Tofu Salad – For Sandwiches OR Sushi Wraps

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Are your kids tired of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? This Tofu Salad makes great sandwiches, even my toddler agrees!

I like it wrapped in a Nori sheet with a little avocado, carrot, red chard and a spiralized daikon radish – topped with Sriracha, of course! I serve this with Wasabi Ginger Dressing on the side. I love my veggie sushi!

Toddler Approved!

This is another great recipe from Melomeals: Vegan For $3.33 A Day!

Tofu Salad 

  • 4 ounces extra firm tofu, crumbled
  • 1 tablespoon vegan mayo
  • 1 tablespoon minced onion
  • 1 big clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
  • siracha to taste
  • 1 tablespoon chopped celery
  • 1 tablespoon fresh ginger
  • soy sauce or braggs to taste
  • 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • Wasabi to taste
  • splash apple cider vinegar
To build the wrap, I placed the greens on the bottom, then the daikon, tofu salad, avocado and cilantro and wrapped it up.

Mix salad ingredients together

Here's my Tofu Salad Sushi Wrap!

Delish!

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“Top 25 Vegetarian & Vegan Mom Blog” Contest ends Feb. 14th at 5pm

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I am in the running to be one of the top Vegan & Vegetarian Mom bloggers so if you like my blog, please vote for me!

No need to sign up for anything… just click the link below and vote for me!

You can vote once every 24 hours until February 14th at 5pm!!

http://www.circleofmoms.com/top25/top-vegan-vegetarian-mom-blogs-2012

Thank you so very much for your support!

- April :-)

Our Family!

Really Good Chili

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This is delicious and easy to make too! This recipe makes a large pot of chili – we had friends over for a last minute dinner tonight and it fed 4 adults, 1 teenage boy, 1 10-year old girl and our toddler with enough for most people to have seconds. Our toddler had two big bowls, she loved it!

I served this with Daiya shredded vegan cheese, chopped italian parsley (all I had) and Habanero Sauce.

The cocoa powder really brings out the flavor. I love using cocoa powder in my chili… and Guinness beer and strong coffee too! The chili was gone before I had a chance to take a better picture but here’s what it looked like… YUM! Next time I think I’ll add some quinoa, some chopped kale or chard and a few cups of hominy!

Really Good Chili

Toddler Approved!

This recipe comes from Nava Atlas‘s new book Vegan Holiday Kitchen, I highly recommend this book… it’s awesome!!

Really Good Chili

By Nava Atlas

Serve with stone-ground tortilla chips, guacamole, and a big salad or cole slaw.

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (I omitted this)
  • 2 medium onions, finely chopped
  • 4 to 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 medium green bell pepper, diced
  • 1 medium red bell pepper, diced
  • 3 28-ounce cans beans of your choice (try a combination of pinto, pink, and black beans), drained and rinsed – I used 3 15oz cans each of pinto beans and black beans – 6 cans total
  • 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, with liquid
  • 1 16-ounce can tomato sauce
  • 1 to 2 jalapeño or other hot peppers, seeded and minced, or one 8-ounce can mild or hot chopped green chiles – I used green chilies
  • 1 tablespoon good-quality chili powder
  • 1 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
  • Chopped ripe tomatoes for garnish
  • Chopped cilantro or parsley for garnish

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil in a large soup pot. Add the onion sauté over medium-low heat until translucent. Add the garlic and sauté until the onion is golden. Add the remaining ingredients except the last three. Bring to a simmer, then cover and simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the peppers are tender and the flavors have melded.
  2. Season with salt and pepper, and adjust the other seasonings. If time allows, let the chili stand for up to several hours before serving. Heat through as needed.The chili should be nice and thick; if it has gotten too thick, stir in a cup of water. Serve in individual bowls, garnished with tomatoes and cilantro.

Varations and optional garnishes:

* Add a cup or two of cooked corn kernels toward the end of cooking time

* Add a medium or large firm-cooked sweet potato, peeled and diced

* Add a diced zucchini or yellow summer squash about halfway into the cooking time

* Serve with grated nondairy cheddar cheese on the side for garnishing individual servings

* Put out extra “hot stuff” like minced fresh chili peppers, dried hot red pepper flakes, or hot sauce for those who like their chilies extra-spicy

Preparation time: 10 minute(s) | Cooking time: 40 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 12

Nutrition (per serving, including oil): 236 calories, 37 calories from fat, 4.3g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 938mg sodium, 719.6mg potassium, 39.9g carbohydrates, 11.6g fiber, 5.8g sugar, 11.4g protein, 6.8 points.

Without oil: 216 calories, 17 calories from fat, 2g total fat, 0mg cholesterol, 938mg sodium, 719.6mg potassium, 39.9g carbohydrates, 11.6g fiber, 5.8g sugar, 11.4g protein, 6.2 points.

Saute onions and garlic

Add remaining ingredients and simmer

Didn't last long!!

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Kale & Chickpeas with Creamy Cashew Sauce

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This is another one of our favorite meals, the cashew sauce is super decadent and you won’t believe it’s actually non-dairy. Who knew raw cashews could be turned into something so delicious! My toddler and hubby love this dish and ask for it often… my daughter says “cweme sauce peas Mommy” (for those of you who understand 2-year old lingo!). This makes fantastic leftovers as well, great for those nights when you are too tired to cook! The red and green colors are so festive, this would be an excellent holiday dish!
Cashew Sauce… YUMMY!!

The original recipe is from one of my favorite food blogs Fat Free Vegan Kitchen – I don’t think I’ve ever made anything off her site we didn’t like.

I usually triple the cashew cream sauce and double the rest of the recipe so I have extra sauce in the end. This goes well with quinoa and it’s so easy to make!

I buy my quinoa (pronounced “keen-wah”) at Costco – they have a 4 pound bag of organic quinoa for about $8, best price I’ve seen! We eat a ton of it, it’s really good for you! Quinoa has about 22 grams of protein per 1 cup serving!

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup RAW cashews – make sure you buy raw cashews, you can find them in the bulk section at Sprouts
  • 1/2 cup hot water
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1 clove garlic – I use about 2-3 cloves (I like extra!)
  • 1 teaspoon vegetable bouillon or broth powder
  • 1 large onion
  • 1/2 red bell pepper – I’ve left this out and it’s good without it too, if you don’t like red pepper
  • 1 clove garlic, minced or pressed
  • 1 1/2 cups chickpeas (or one 15-ounce can, rinsed and drained)
  • 1 bunch kale, central stems removed and leaves thinly sliced
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • Salt to taste
  • Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • Hot sauce, to taste – YOU MUST USE SRIRACHA!!! IT’S THE BEST!!!
  • 2 to 4 tablespoons fresh basil, minced

Ready to cook!

Instructions

  1. Soak the cashews for an hour in hot water or overnight in room-temperature water. Drain. Place them in a blender and add 3/4 cup water, 1 clove garlic, and 1 teaspoon of broth powder (or 1 bouillon cube). Blend at highest speed until completely smooth. Set aside until needed. (I use my Vita Mix blender for this)
  1. In a large non-stick skillet, cook the onion until it begins to brown, about 5-7 minutes. Add the red bell pepper and garlic, and cook for another minute. Add the chickpeas, kale, and two tablespoons water. Cover immediately and reduce heat to medium. Cook, stirring often, until kale is tender, about 5 minutes.
  1. Add the reserved cashew sauce, oregano, and salt, black pepper, and hot sauce to taste. Cook, stirring, until sauce thickens. If sauce becomes too thick, add a little water to thin. Add the fresh basil just before serving over quinoa.

Preparation time: 1 hour(s) | Cooking time: 20 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 4

Oh and DON’T FORGET THE SRIRACHA!!!

Kale Avocado Salad

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This is a super easy kale salad recipe with tons of flavor! This recipe is from my favorite food movie Planeat. I’ve served this a few times now and everyone loves it! This picture is terrible… just trust me, it’s really good!

Kale Avocado Salad

Kale Avocado Salad

1 head kale, any variety is great shredded – you can use chard or spinach

1 large tomato diced, or red bell pepper – I add both

1 1/2 avocado chopped

2 Tablespoons red onion, green onion, or leek fine diced – I like red onion the best but all three are good!

1 lemon juiced

1 Tablespoons sea salt – I use about 1/2 tsp, if that

pinch of cayenne

INSTRUCTIONS

In mixing bowl toss all ingredients together, squeezing as you mix to ‘wilt’ the kale and creaming the avocado. Serve immediately. This dish is also great to substitute the kale for chard or spinach

Massage all ingredients together

Kale Avocado Salad... YUM!

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Lemon Quinoa

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I make quinoa every few days and add it to all sorts of things, I like to always keep a cooked bean and grain on hand at all times. Here’s a really easy way to spruce up your regular quinoa. :-) I usually double this recipe because we like leftovers. I use this in collard wraps with Chickpea Salad or with Gingered Tofu & Zucchini. Our toddler loves this!

Lemon Quinoa

Lemon Quinoa

Ingredients:

* 1 cup cooked quinoa

* 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley

* 2 celery stalks, chopped

* 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

* 1/4 cup chopped onion

* 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

* 1/2 tsp ground cumin

Instructions:

1. Mix cooked (and slightly cooled) quinoa in a bowl with all the ingredients and combine. Serve warm or cold. 

So easy to make!

Mix all ingredients together and serve warm or cold

YUM!

 

 

Spicy Tofu & Tempeh Buffalo Bites

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These are SO GOOD and take less than 20 minutes to make! This was our Super Bowl splurge food and WOW it was good!! I haven’t used oil in so long it was a little odd to cook with it again but I don’t think this recipe would’ve worked without it. I only used a tiny bit so feel free to use whatever you wish.

I love anything (well, almost anything within my eating range) with buffalo wing sauce on it and these fit the bill!

Spicy Tofu & Tempeh Buffalo Bites

This recipes is from Babble food blog – created by Kathy from Healthy Happy Life vegan food blog. I really love her blog and I’ve made several things from it in the past, never been disappointed!

Tofu and Tempeh Buffalo Bites
vegan, adjust recipe for however many logs you would like to make

tofu logs (from extra firm tofu – I like Trader Joe’s High Protein Organic Extra Firm Tofu)
tempeh logs (from any variety of tempeh – I like Trader Joe’s Organic Tempeh)

safflower oil (for cooking)

hot sauce (I used Cholula and Frank’s Buffalo Hot Sauce)
nutritional yeast
salt/pepper
agave syrup or maple syrup – I used pure maple syrup

Dip: 2 Tbsp vegan mayo + 1 tsp sweetener (agave or maple syrup)

Directions:

1. Press your tofu dry and slice into logs. Slice tempeh into logs.
2. Add a few teaspoons of oil to a hot skillet.
3. When oil is hot, add in enough logs to fill the pan. Allow the tofu and tempeh to sear on both sides for a few minutes. You can add a sprinkle of salt/pepper to these naked logs to season.
4. Add in the hot sauce and maple syrup. You will want to add in about 1/2 tsp hot sauce for every log and 1/2 tsp maple or agave syrup for every 2-3 logs (depending how sweet you like them). Cook the sizzling logs in hot sauce and sweetener for another minutes.
5. With the logs still quite wet from the steam and sauces – add in a plentiful amount of nutritional yeast to the pan. I usually use about 1 cup for the entire skillet. The nutritional yeast acts as your ‘breading’ and creates a crusted over, cheezy-flavored coating. Add enough yeast until the pan is generally dry.
6. Add in a final splattering of hot sauce. You can add a lot for extra spicy bites. Just be sure to add another coating of nutritional yeast if the logs get too wet again.
7. When logs are crispy on the edges with plenty of browned spots – removed from skillet and cool on plate. Serve in a few minutes after allowing to cool.
8. Make your dipping sauce simply by swirling 2 Tbsp of Vegenaise (vegan mayo) with 1 tsp maple or agave syrup. Add in a dash of cayenne or any dip spices you would like toad. Pepper and celery seed are nice. I also like paprika.

Press water out of tofu using a press or heavy pot (I used my cast iron pan and a towel) - slice tofu & tempeh into logs

Brown logs in a little bit of safflower oil

Add hot sauce

YUMMY!!

 

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Creamy Cauliflower Soup

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I used to make cauliflower with olive oil, rosemary, 16 cloves of garlic (yes, 16!) and salt but since I’ve stopped using added oils and salt I’ve had to find new recipes. This soup turned out really good! It’s nice and creamy yet dairy-free, oil-free and very low salt (depending on what you decide to use for broth). The cashews are an excellent addition. Our toddler loved this soup!

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

The original recipe is from Healthy Blender Recipes. I added lemon thyme, black pepper and cayenne sprinkled on top. I chose buckwheat for my grain since that’s what I had on hand for the day.

  • 8 cups of strong vegetable broth – I used half low-sodium veggie broth/half water
  • Leftover bean cooking liquid for sautéing OR just use water if you’re trying to stay oil-free (Olive oil if you’re not) **NOTE: I save the leftover bean cooking liquid from my pressure cooker and use it in place of oil in recipes… works great and it’s much better for you! I use mostly chickpea :-)
  • 1 whole head of garlic roasted
  • The white part of 2-3 leeks washed and chopped
  • 1 large head of cauliflower chopped
  • 1/2 tsp dried lemon thyme (or regular thyme is fine)
  • 1/2 cup raw cashews (you could also use raw blanched almonds) – soaked in hot water for around 20 minutes
  • 4 Tbsp chives chopped finely to garnish
  • cayenne pepper to serve on top
  • white or black pepper, to taste
  • organic brown rice, quinoa or millet to serve – I served with buckwheat
  1. Place the whole head of garlic unpeeled in an oven at 400 F for about 30 minutes. Allow to cool slightly. (This makes the house smell REALLY GOOD!)
  2. In a large saucepan fry the leek in a little bean cooking liquid until soft. (About 3 minutes)
  3. Add in the cauliflower and stir for a couple of minutes until well coated. Squeeze in the roasted garlic pulp.
  4. Cover with the vegetable broth/water. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to a medium flame, and simmer partially covered for about 30 minutes until the cauliflower is soft.
  5. Let the mixture cool enough to put batches in the blender (I like to use a Vitamix), and puree with the cashews until smooth and creamy.
  6. Transfer to a clean pot and heat on low to serve. Season with salt (if you wish) and white or black pepper, to taste.
  7. To serve – top each bowl with a grain ball and a generous sprinkle of chives. Top with a little cayenne pepper.

This soup serves six people and makes really great leftovers!

Saute leeks in leftover bean liquid

Add cauliflower and roasted garlic

Add broth, bring to a boil and simmer half-covered for 30 minutes

Time to blend soup with cashews!

Yummy!!