Category Archives: Lunch

Chipotle Lentil Burgers

by

10

I’ve had my eye on this recipe for a while so I decided to try it since my hubby requested burgers this week. SO GLAD I DID because this one’s a keeper!!! This was a little too spicy for our toddler since I left the seeds in the ancho chiles. I’m going to remove more seeds next time I make it and see if she likes it. I’m sure she will!

                              
                Chipotle Lentil Burgers

I served these in collard wraps instead of buns but you can do as you like. I topped the burger with Cashew Basil Cheese, leftover from Portobello Mushroom Pizzas. Yummy!!!

The original recipe is from “Appetite for Reduction: 125 Fast and Filling Low-Fat Vegan Recipes cookbook by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (Buy it here).  Her recipes are AWESOME! I love her other book, Veganomicon too.

Ingredients:

* Bean cooking liquid/water for saute

* 1 small red onion, cut into medium dice

* 1/2 pound zucchini, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/2 inch thick (about 2 medium to large-sized zucchinis)

* 3 cloves garlic, minced

* 1 (15oz) can cooked lentils, drained and rinsed (1 1/4 cups)

* 1 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro, chopped (stems and leaves) 1 (15-ounce) can cooked lentils, drained and rinsed (1 1/4 cups)

* 1 1/2 cup bread crumbs (Recipe called for 1 cup but I needed more. I’m going to try using rolled oats or quick oats next time, maybe let the mixture sit overnight before cooking)

* 1/4 cup chipotles in adobo sauce, seeds removed if you wish (I didn’t remove any and they were nice and spicy but not too hot)

* 2 Tbsp soy sauce

* 2 tsp red wine vinegar

* 2 tsp smoked paprika

Directions:

1. Saute onion for about 3 minutes, use bean liquid/water to keep from sticking. Add zucchini, garlic and cilantro and sauté for 7-10 minutes, until the zucchini is soft. 2. Transfer veggie mixture to food processor, add all other ingredients EXCEPT 1 cup breadcrumbs – SAVE FOR LATER. Pulse until mostly smooth, transfer to a large mixing bowl. 3. Add remaining breadcrumbs and mix with a fork to combine. 4. Divide burger mixture into six equal pieces and form patties with your hands. 5. Spray the pan with non-stick cooking spray (just a little!) to keep them from sticking. Cook burgers about 10-12 minutes turning a few times until done. I cooked three at a time.

Chop your veggies!
Saute onions
Add zucchini, garlic and cilantro
Add veggie mixture to food processor with all other ingredients but RESERVE SOME BREADCRUMBS – pulse to combine
Pulse until almost smooth
Add remaining breadcrumbs and combine with fork
Form into six patties (stray zucchini in there, I see…)
Don’t crowd them in your pan, flip a few times until done
Done! Gee, this pic makes them look burnt but they aren’t, PROMISE!
Rolled mine up in collard greens… yummy!
Now that’s a burger!!
Related articles

Dill Pickle Roasted Chickpeas (Oil-Free)

by

13

I try to keep some type of crunchy snack in the house at all times… let me rephrase that… HEALTHY crunchy snack. I’m a crunchy snacker, I can destroy a bag of chips in no time flat if given the opportunity so I’ve learned not to set myself up for failure. Roasted chickpeas are such a great snack, nice and filling with a satisfying crunch! I’m always searching for new roasted chickpea recipes (I’m currently experimenting with a roasted buffalo “wing” chickpea recipe because I LOVE buffalo wing sauce!) so when I came across this one, I had to try it! Our toddler loved these too which kinda surprised me considering the vinegar taste.

Dill Pickle Roasted Chickpeas

More please Mommy!! (Forehead boo-boo. She fell running through the sprinklers at a friend’s house today, poor kid!) 

Original recipe from Bitter Sweet blog, need to check out more of her recipes!

Dill Pickle Chickpea Crunchies

Basic Brine:

1/2 Cup Cold Water
1/2 Cup White Vinegar
1/4 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
2 – 3 Teaspoons Light Agave Nectar

3 Cups Cooked Chickpeas OR 2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed (SAVE THE LIQUID!)

Seasonings:

2 Tbsp leftover bean cooking liquid OR canned chickpea liquid
1/4 Cup Roughly Chopped Fresh Dill
3 Cloves Garlic, Finely Minced
12 – 1 tsp Coarse Sea Salt or Kosher Salt
1/2 tsp Mustard Powder
1/4 tsp Ground Coriander
1/4 tsp Celery Seed
1/8 tsp Ground Black Pepper
Pinch Red Pepper Flakes

Place all of the ingredients for the brine in a medium-sized jar, including the chickpeas, shake it up, and place it in the fridge. Allow the brine mixture to infuse into the beans for 12 – 24 hours. As one might presume, the longer the chickpeas soak, the more strongly they’ll be flavored with vinegar. It’s up to you whether that’s a good or bad thing. Bear in mind that the bite will mellow significantly after a trip to the oven, so don’t be afraid of having very vinegary beans at this stage. I let mine sit for a little over 24 hours and they turned out GREAT!

Once the chickpeas have been “quick pickled,” drain them thoroughly but do not rinse. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees while you measure out and prep the seasonings. Toss the chickpeas into a bowl along with the bean liquid and all of the aromatics, stirring so that every last bean is thoroughly coated. Transfer to a jellyroll pan or large baking dish (anything with sides- These edible marbles will want to roll right out otherwise) and spread them evenly in one layer.

Bake for 45 – 60 minutes, stirring every 15 or so, until the chickpeas have shrunken in size and are golden brown, with darker spots in some areas. It can be hard to tell when they’re done since the chickpeas will continue to crisp up as they cool, but listen closely and they should rattle when you shake the pan. Remove from heat and let cool completely before snacking and/or storing in an airtight container.

Mix beans with brine ingredients and place in fridge for approx 24 hours

Drain your beans well, chop dill and assemble spice mixture

Don’t forget to drain them well!

Here’s the infamous bean cooking liquid! Great oil replacer!

Coat beans with bean liquid and spices

Bake for 45-60 minutes, turning every 15 minutes

Ready to eat!

 

Portobello Mushroom Pizzas

by

7

Life has been so crazy lately, I feel like I can’t catch up on the things I need to do! It’s been a great summer so far… our 10-month old is kinda almost walking and our 2 1/2-year old is hilarious with her ever growing vocabulary. Sorry I’ve lagged on posting recipes lately but things have been nuts! Hope all is well with you and your family!

Ok so pizza, who doesn’t enjoy pizza?! Pizza on portobello mushrooms? What’s better than that! No bloated processed pizza crust feeling, no processed food headache… you can have pizza ALL THE TIME this way!

Portobello Mushroom Pizzas

My hubby loved this so much he asked me to make it again this week. His last favorite, Ancho Lentil Bowls with Low-fat Vegan Cheese is fading out of heavy rotation here so we needed something new. Our toddler LOVED this pizza too, she ate a whole one and asked for more. We felt bad since we had already eaten the rest so I’ll have to make more next time.

Portobello Mushroom Pizzas

* 6-8 Portobello mushrooms (allow for at least two per person… three if you’re really hungry)

* 2 cups pizza sauce – I LOVE the Muir Glen Pizza Sauce when I don’t have time to make homemade. Use your favorite.

* Cashew Basil Cheese (see recipe below)

* Chopped roasted red & yellow peppers – I used half a jar of Trader Joe’s fire roasted red & yellow peppers in water

* 1 green pepper, chopped

* 1 medium onion, diced

* 1 can black olives, chopped

* fresh basil, chopped (add on top OR use dried italian seasoning)

* 1/2 – 1 tsp red pepper flake

Directions:

* Preheat oven by setting the broiler on low or just broil if that’s the only setting you have.

* Take a baking sheet and cover with a silicone non-stick baking mat or parchment paper for easy clean up.

* Make your Cashew Basil cheese (see below). Set aside.

* Remove stems of Portabellas and gently rub Portabellos with a wet cloth to clean. Place Portabellas ‘belly’ side up on the baking sheet.

* Spoon about 2 tablespoons of pizza sauce into each mushroom. Now spoon about 2 – 4 teaspoons of Cashew Basil Cheese on top of the pizza sauce (see recipe below).

* Top the portobellos with remaining ingredients, sprinkle with fresh basil and/or italian seasoning and a sprinkle of dried red pepper flake.

* Broil in the oven on the lowest temperature setting on the middle rack for about 10-12 minutes, watching closely as broiler temperatures vary. Serve immediately and enjoy!

The cashew nut cheese is an excellent addition to these pizzas! You could also use the Pizza Cheese recipe from a few weeks ago, that would be GOOD! I changed the original recipe to suit our tastes and nutritional needs. I plan on making the Goaty Cashew Cheeze (Thank you Melomeals!) next time and experimenting with different toppings. The possibilities are endless!

Cashew Basil Cheese 

Ingredients:
• 1 cup raw cashews
• 1/3-1/2 tsp Himalayan sea salt, to taste
• 1/2 tsp leftover bean cooking liquid (or liquid from canned beans…. or water, that will work too!)
• 1 fresh basil leaf – I didn’t have this last time I made it so I added 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 small clove garlic
• 1.5 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
* 1 tsp yellow miso paste
Directions: Place 1 cup of raw cashews in a bowl of water, cover, and soak overnight in the fridge. When cashews are ready, drain and place all ingredients (cashews, Himalayan sea salt, bean liquid/water, basil, garlic, nutritional yeast, miso and lemon juice) into a food processor and process until smooth, stopping to scrape sides of processor as necessary. Taste and adjust seasonings if necessary.

Place ingredients into food processor and process until smooth’ish… like a chunky ricotta cheese consistency

Ready for pizza! Or collard wraps, or salad…. hmmm…..

Remove stems, wipe mushrooms with damp cloth to clean, place on cooking sheet and fill “gill” sides with pizza sauce.

Add your dollops of Cashew Basil Cheese first, then follow with all your toppings!

Ready to broil!

Yummy!

Portobello Pizza goodness!

Ancho Lentil Bowls with Low-fat Cashew Nacho Cheese

by

12

This is one of the best meals we’ve had in awhile! It’s so good, I’m trucking the kids to the store in the morning to make it again for a party tomorrow night. No joke, it’s that good!

Ancho Lentil Bowl with Low-Fat Vegan Cheese

I’ve made the Ancho Lentils a few times now and they’ve always turned out great. The original recipe (from Post Punk Kitchen) is for Ancho Lentil Tacos but you could use this on just about anything – tacos, burritos, nachos, collard wraps, etc.

I have a ton of fake cheese recipes but this Lowfat Nacho Cheeze from Happy Herbivore is my new favorite! Together they make an awesome meal! I served it over brown rice tonight but next time I’ll try these ingredients in a collard wrap. YUMMY!!! I also topped this with tomatoes, lettuce, cilantro, sliced avocado, a squeeze of lime and our favorite Habanero Sauce, our favorite Mexican food topping!

P.S. Our toddler loved this! I took out a scoop of the lentils before I added the hot sauce, figured she may not like it so spicy.

“Um… Mommy… What is this?”

“Mmmmm! I like it”

“Hey there sis, this banana is kinda boring… wanna share?”

Ancho Lentils

* 1 Tbsp water or bean cooking liquid (for oil-free sautéing)
* 1 small onion, minced
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 2 1/2 cups cooked lentils (from about 1 cup dried) – Brown or green work great. I used a package of Trader Joe’s cooked lentils this time
* 3 tablespoons tomato paste
* 2 tablespoons hot sauce (preferably Cholula)

Spice mix:
* 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
* 2 teaspoons ground ancho chile
* 1 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
* 1/2 teaspoon salt

First combine all of the ingredients for the spice mix and set aside. Also, keep a cup of water within reach, you’ll need to add splashes as you cook.

Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sautee the onion and garlic in the water or bean liquid with a pinch of salt (optional) for about 3 minutes, until lightly browned. Add spices and toss them for 30 seconds or so to toast.

Lower heat to medium, add lentils, a few splashes of water, tomato paste and hot sauce; use a spatula to mash them a bit as they cook, until they hold together. If your spatula isn’t strong enough to accomplish this, just use a fork or a potato masher (I used this).

Do this for about 5 minutes, adding splashes of water as necessary if it appears dry. Taste for salt and seasoning; you may want to add more spices or hot sauce. And that’s it, time to serve!

Time to make some Ancho Lentils! I cheated this time and used Trader Joe’s packaged lentils 😉

Saute your onion and garlic then add spices

Cook spice and onion/garlic mixture for 30 seconds then add remaining ingredients… smells so good!!

Ready for tacos, nachos, burritos, on top of rice or anything else you can think of!

Low Fat Vegan Nacho Cheese

 Ingredients
  • ¼ cup raw cashews – I soaked mine for a few hours first
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • ½ tsp onion powder
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ⅔ cup non-dairy milk – I used unsweetened almond milk
  • 2 tsp yellow miso paste
  • ½ tsp lemon juice
  • 2 tsp cornstarch
  • ¼ cup roasted red bell peppers
  • ½ tsp cumin
  • ¼ tsp black pepper
  • a dash of cayenne pepper

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth and creamy. Transfer to a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occassionally and allowing the cheese to thicken.

Combine all ingredients in your food processor, combing until smooth

Smoooooth!

Heat in a pan on the stove until thick, stir occasionally

Yah!! Ready to dollop on your favorite Mexican food!

 

Kale Mac n’ Cheeze

by

10

Our toddler is going through a picky meal time phase lately… I’m not happy about it at all but I know it’s normal and will soon pass (hopefully!). She’s been rejecting her usual greens so I’ve been trying to figure out ways to hide them in other foods she will eat. Ugh, I was hoping I’d never have to play “hide the greens” with my kids but I suppose it’s my turn. 🙂

The “cheese” in this dish is from Fat Free Vegan Kitchen Blog… one of the best vegan food blogs EVER!!!! I changed the recipe a bit this time, added a little more spices. Turned out great! It’s so easy to make too which is double great! We don’t eat a ton of pasta anymore so I figured this might spark our toddler’s interest, maybe she won’t even notice the green stuff!!

Kale Mac n’ Cheeze

Ah HA!! GOTCHA!!!! Lol!

I’m hoping he will be my “trash can” eater…. meaning he will eat whatever I put in front of him 😉

Kale Mac n’ Cheeze

* Note: Occasionally I’ll add a can of white beans to this mixture instead of the cornstarch to thicken it. I didn’t do it this time but I highly recommend it!

Ingredients

  • 1 pound pasta (regular or gluten-free)
  • 1 1/4 cups water
  • 1 cup plain, fat-free soymilk (may use other non-dairy milk  I used soymilk)
  • 3/4 cup nutritional yeast
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch or potato starch – I used cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon salt (I used a pinch)
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder – I used 2 tsps
  • 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard – I used 1 tsp
  • 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
  • pinch cayenne pepper
  • 2 tablespoons tahini
  • 1 teaspoon mellow white miso (or additional salt – I used yellow miso, all I had)
  • black pepper to taste
  • 2 bunches of kale, steamed and chopped – I used dino/lacinato kale

Instructions

  1. Put the pasta on to boil, according to package directions.
  2. While it’s cooking, blend all remaining ingredients together in a blender. Steam and chop up your kale. I steam mine in a big pot with an inch of water at the bottom.
  3. When the pasta is al dente, drain it, reserving about 1/2 cup of the cooking water, and return the pasta to pan. Add the sauce mixture and cook, stirring, until mixture boils and thickens. Add a little of the pasta water if more moistness is needed.
  4. Add in your chopped kale and stir until combined.

Blend sauce ingredients in a blender or food processor – I used my VitaMix

I used Trader Joe’s Organic pasta and 2 bunches of dino kale

I like to steam my kale in a big soup pot with an inch of boiling water – toss occasionally but keep covered in between tosses

Add sauce to cooked/drained noodles and stir until combined

Add your cooked, chopped kale and stir. Add a bit of pasta water to thin things out a bit.

Yummy!

Related articles

Coconut “Bacon”

by

3

Confession time. My favorite show on tv is Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives… there, I said it. It makes zero sense that I would love this show so much considering 99.9% of the food they make on there is NOT plant-based. That’s okay though, the recipes on there give me ideas for other recipes sometimes and on a rare occasion Guy Fieri features a plant-based dish on the show.

It’s my understand that Guy grew up vegetarian and HATED it so much that he rebelled at a young age. While he may not make the same food choices as myself, he’s a pretty good host of the show although his dietary choices are (in my opinion) atrocious.

He’s featured vegan burgers, a few curry dishes and a coconut club with fried tofu and coconut bacon. I’ve been thinking about that sandwich for awhile now and decided to try out the coconut bacon concept. I searched around the internet and found this recipe. It’s really easy to make, you could whip up a batch of this for quick BLT’s or add this to tofu scramble… honestly, you could add it to just about anything! I’m thinking salad topping, add to split pea soup or a pizza topping!

This recipe is from Vegan Good Things blog, another cool site I bookmarked to peruse later. Sorry for the lame photo, I haven’t had a chance to make anything pretty with this yet but I will soon!!!

My hubby and toddler LOVED this!

Coconut Bacon
makes about 3 cups (enough for 4 – 6 sandwiches, depending on how big you make ’em)

3 large handfuls of large flake, unsweetened coconut (bought mine at Sprouts)
1 Tbsp. liquid smoke – Colgin brand is plant-based, some are not
2 Tbsp. tamari – or soy sauce, coconut aminos or shoyu
1 Tbsp. water
1 Tbsp. maple syrup (optional, but recommended – I used it)

Preheat oven to 300. Place coconut in a shallow baking pan. Combine other ingredients together in a small bowl and drizzle over coconut. Use your hands to mix and make sure the coconut is evenly coated. Bake at 300 for 20 minutes, or until crisp. It will continue to crisp as it cools, and is best eaten at room temperature.

I used my Pyrex glass pan, worked great!

Mix sauce with coconut, spread evenly

Coconut “Bacon”