Author Archives: aprilcball

Spicy Broccoli Cheeze Soup

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I’m almost over my soup phase for this month! I made this soup two days ago and served it at a party yesterday, everyone loved it! Everyone was surprised it was non-dairy soup that really tastes like cheese. I made a double batch and let it sit overnight before serving it. I’ve found most of these soups, bean and lentil dishes taste even better the second day!

I found this recipe from Melomeals: Vegan For $3.33 A Day… another winner!

Southwestern Broccoli Cheese Soup
2 T coconut oil
1 t chipotle powder or smoked paprika if you don’t like heat (you can also use 2 whole chipotle chile peppers instead of the powder – I did and it was yummy!)
1 t cumin
1 T chili powder
Pinch marjoram
1 large onion, diced
1 small carrot, diced
6 big cloves garlic, pressed
1 t garlic salt
Around 2.5 c white beans and their cooking liquid (2-15 oz cans or 1-29 oz can)
2 c waxy potatoes, (around 2 medium) medium chop
1 c salsa – I used the Costco brand salsa
1 c crushed tomatoes
1 T yellow mustard
2 c water or broth
16 oz frozen broccoli
1 T apple cider vinegar
½ c nutritional yeast
Salt/Pepper or Lemon Pepper to tasteMethod

1.       Sauté the dried spices, onions, carrot and garlic along with the garlic salt. If you are using canned beans then by all means use less garlic salt
2.       Add the beans, potatoes, salsa and tomatoes along with the broth. Cover and bring to a strong simmer for 10 minutes.
3.       Puree with a hand blender or in a food processor
4.       Stir in the broccoli, yeast and  vinegar. Cover and let soup sit for 10 minutes.  Blend again
5.       Taste and adjust seasoning

Yummy Cheezy Broccoli Soup!

How to make amazing burgers out of leftover soup

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If you can’t tell by my posts lately, I love soup! I love leftover soup too but after about 3 days of it, I’m ready for something new. That’s when I usually ship it off to my hubby to share with the guys at work. I learned a cool new way to make burgers from leftover soup from my favorite vegan food blogger Melomeals: Vegan For $3.33 A Day.

Here’s my second try at this, I used leftover Red Lentil, Chickpea & Chili Soup for the burger and served it on rosemary sourdough bread with caramelized onions, spinach and Southwestern Chipotle Sauce. It was so good… like “party-in-your-mouth” good!!

Leftover Red Lentil, Chickpea & Chili Soup Burger with Chipotle Dressing/Sauce

First, I tried it out on leftover Chipotle Split Pea Soup and it was excellent! My hubby and toddler loved it and my hubby requested I put together a batch for him to take to work.

Here’s how you do it:

* Take 1 cup of leftover soup and add it with a liberal 1/2 cup rolled oats and 1 Tbsp golden flax meal…. and that’s it!

* Mix and place in fridge for several hours or overnight – I did overnight, worked out great!

* Shape into patties and cook in cast iron pan on high heat until done.

 

Simple Coconut, Ginger, Carrot Breakfast Bread (Sugar, Soy & Wheat Free)

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Since both my kids decided to nap at the same time today, I had a chance to make this breakfast bread recipe I’ve had my eye on for a few weeks. I’m always on the lookout for healthy but fast breakfast options for busy mornings and this works perfectly! I had leftover shredded carrots from making the Healthy Veggie Muffins a couple of days ago and Chipotle Split Pea Soup last night so this was a perfect way to use them up!

Breakfast bread with peanut butter, orange slices and a glass of almond milk… Yummy!! Toddler and hubby loved this and ate it throughout the day!

The original recipe is from… you guessed it! Melomeals: Vegan For $3.33 A Day, my all-time favorite recipe source and vegan food blog. I changed it up a bit over the past year, I make it often because it’s really good! If you haven’t explored her blog, PLEASE do so!!!

  • 2 cups old-fashioned oats
  • 1 tablespoon baking powder
  • 1 tablespoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon Kal Stevia Powder (I use 1/4 tsp)
  • ¼ teaspoon cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon cardamom
  • ¼ teaspoon black pepper
  • 4 tablespoons fresh ginger
  • ¾ cup dried unsweetened coconut
  • 2 large carrots
  • 1 – 15 oz can of white beans and their liquid
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 2 tablespoons psyllium husk
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce – I like to use cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon vinegar – I used apple cider vinegar
Pre-heat Oven to 375
1.       In a food processor, process oats into flour; place in mixing bowl with the rest of the dry ingredients.
2.       Next, pulse the ginger and carrots in the food processor until really broken up
3.       Add the beans, water, psyllium, applesauce and vinegar and puree until smooth
4.       Add to the dry ingredients
5.       Grease an 8 by 8 square pan and bake at 375 for 45 minutes.
6.       Let cool completely before serving
Oat “Flour”
Ginger & Carrots
Dry Mix
Putting it all together
Add wet to dry
Pour into pan and flatten

Easy Breakfast Bread!

Chipotle Split Pea Soup

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I did it, I finished a whole can of chipotle chiles in adobo sauce! I always buy a can, use one or two for a recipe and the rest of it sits in the fridge and rots.

As you can see, I’ve been on a soup kick this week due to the recent rain. I love soup, it’s so easy and almost everything you need ends up in one warm bowl of goodness!

This is from… you guessed it! Melomeals: Vegan For $3.33 A Day vegan food blog. She has so many delicious recipes, I may just cook my way through her whole site!

First off, this soup smells SO GOOD when it’s cooking… the kind of smell where your neighbors peek their heads over the fence and say “What are you cooking? That smells awesome!”. Not only does it smell good, it tastes good too! Plus it’s easy to make, cheap and very healthy (protein & fiber!), what more do you need!

I served this soup with leftover Chickpea Flatbread – cut into pieces and toasted. My hubby ate his flatbread with Southwestern Chipotle Sauce, his new everyday condiment of choice.

Chipotle Split Pea Soup

2 T olive oil
1 t thyme
1 t basil
1 t tarragon
1 t rosemary
1 large onion, 1.5 cups chopped
8 cloves garlic, minced or 2.5 T
1 medium carrot, chopped
2 medium stalks celery, chopped
1 lb dried split peas
6 -8 c water or vegetable stock
2 bouillon cubes if not using stock
1-3 canned chipotle peppers in adobo chopped
salt/pepper to taste
1 T balsamic vinegar
fresh parsley or cilantro if desired

* In a heavy bottomed soup pot over medium heat add the dried spices,onions and garlic and saute for several minutes.

* Add the carrot and celery and saute for several more minutes, then add the peas.
* Stir to coat with the veggie/spice mixture then add the water or stock.
* Bring to a boil for several minutes then cover and turn down heat to a strong simmer.
* Cook for 30 minutes or until the peas are tender.
* Add the bouillon cube and more water if needed and the chiles.
* Cook for 15 minutes more, then stir in the balsamic vinegar.
* Taste and adjust seasonings.
* Top with fresh herbs if desired.

Lemongrass Coconut Cake/Bars (Gluten-Free)

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Let me start by saying, I am NOT a baker! I attempt it now and then but I am not very good at it. We don’t eat many sweets so that’s okay. Every now and then I get a craving for something sweet so I attempt to bake. Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn’t. This cake turned out really tasty so I’m glad I attempted it. I’m new to gluten-free baking so this cake may not look the way it’s supposed to but it sure is good! They’re really more like bars with their thick texture. Ah, whatever you want to call them is fine because I call them DELICIOUS!!

I received a bunch of lemongrass in my CSA box last week and I’ve been looking for new recipes that call for lemongrass. I usually make Thai Food but I wanted to make something new. I’ve been cooking my way through my favorite vegan food blog, Melomeals: Vegan For $3.33 A Day – she had this recipe on her site so I had to try it! I love anything with lemon too so this was a perfect match!

Here’s her recipe:

Lemongrass Cake with Coconut Frosting
·         ½ c golden flax meal
·         ¼  c Vegenaise (vegan mayo – found at Sprouts)
·         1 c sugar
·         1 t vanilla
·         1 t coconut extract
·         Juice and zest of 1 lemon
·         2 T lemongrass (sold at Sprouts)
·         ½ c light-colored oil – I used vegetable oil
·         1.5 c Bob’s All Purpose Gluten-Free flour (I suppose you could use regular flour too)
·         2 t baking powder
·         1 t baking soda
·         ½  t salt
Method:  Pre-heat oven to 350
1.       Mix flax, mayo, sugar, extracts, lemon juice, zest , lemongrass and oil together very well until everything is totally incorporated
2.       Sift together the flour, powder, soda and salt into the wet mixture and mix together completely. You don’t have to worry about over working this dough. Mix super well!
3.       Spray a 9 by 9 cake pan with cooking spray, pour batter into pan and bake for 25-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
4.       Cool cake completely on a wire rack
5.       Frost!
Frosting:
·         1.5 c unsweetened coconut shreds
·         ¼ c nondairy milk
·         3 – 4 c powdered sugar
·         Juice and Zest of 1 lemon
·         Pinch salt
1.       In a food processor, process the coconut and milk if needed until coconut turns into butter like substance. This will take around 4 minutes
2.       Add the powdered sugar, lemon juice and zest,  salt and process until it comes together like frosting  adding milk as needed
Fresh Lemongrass Whole and Chopped
Remove the tough outer layer and chop the softer part
Coconut Lemon Frosting!

May not look pretty but tastes pretty darn good!!

Kale Butter

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This is for all you kale “cult members” out there! There seems to be two kinds of people when it comes to kale – those who have no idea what it is and those who are obsessed with it. I don’t have much experience in between the two, only one or the other. We eat kale almost everyday so I suppose that puts us in the “cult member” category.

I found this recipe in the Engine 2 Diet book. It’s really good on crackers, pasta, veggies and sandwiches/wraps. I smear this on my toddler’s sandwiches with white beans and soy cheese and she devours it!

Ingredients:

* 1 bunch kale, rinsed and chopped (I use black/lacinato kale – use stems too)

* 1/2 cup walnuts

* 1/2 cup water – (use water leftover from steaming kale!)

* Salt, to taste

Directions:

– Steam the kale for 5 minutes, until tender

– Blend the cooked kale with the walnuts and 1/2 cup of the green water from steaming. Blend until smooth.

– Add salt to taste, if desired

My toddler LOVES this! Can you tell?