Category Archives: Quick Meals

Tomato & Red Lentil Soup

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You know how much we love soup and lentils! Here’s an easy lentil soup using the unique spice sumac.

What in the heck is sumac? I found this description on WorldSpice.com (where I buy all my spices… YUM!) “The deep red sumac berry is ground and dried to impart a tart, lemony flavor with a refreshing complexity. Sumac’s traditional usage in middle eastern cuisine sees it added to rice or kebabs and sprinkled as a condiment atop bowls of hummus.”

Ah ha… that’s what that red powder is on top of the hummus served at Mediterranean restaurants!

I serve this soup with a scoop of grain (quinoa this time) and a hefty portion of greens (kale, of course)… Like my RD says – make sure to add a grain and a green at every meal! Oh and sometimes I add a scoop of plain soy yogurt on top too.

Our toddler loved the soup... our 7 month old isn't quite ready for that yet so he's enjoying his spoon for now 🙂

Tomato & Red Lentil Soup

 

INGREDIENTS

* 1 medium onion , chopped

* 1 stalk celery , chopped

* 1 medium carrot , chopped

* 2 garlic cloves , minced

* 1 (28 ounce) can chopped tomatoes (I use a box of Pomi chopped tomatoes and a can of tomato sauce in a pinch too)

* 4 cups vegetable stock or water

* 1 cup red lentil

* 2 tablespoons dried parsley (or one bunch fresh, chopped – I like to use fresh)

* Salt and pepper, to taste

* 1 to 2 teaspoon sumac (I use 2)

* 1 small lemon, juice of (optional but good)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Saute (using broth, water or bean cooking liquid) the onion, celery, and carrot, and cook until softened (a few minutes). Add the garlic, then, in a minute add the tomatoes and stock or water.

2. Simmer for about 20 minutes, season, and let it cool.

3. Puree the soup – I use my immersion blender for this. You can puree the soup after it’s done too if you’re like me and you always forget at this point! 😉

4. Add the lentils and return to a low simmer. Taste a lentil in about 15 minutes to see if it’s tender. If not, continue cooking, but don’t let them get mushy. 

5. Add the sumac and parsley. Taste for seasoning and add lemon juice if you like.

Saute the onion, celery and carrot. Add garlic.

Add tomatoes and stock/water

Simmer for a bit then add lentils

Puree soup when done

Add parsley, sumac and lemon juice

Sumac

Serve with steamed greens, grain scoop of your choice and a little dollop of soy yogurt, if you wish

 

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Buffalo Wing’ish Hummus

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I don’t know about you but I LOVE almost anything with buffalo wing sauce, there’s just something about it that makes everything taste better. You can imagine my excitement when I stumbled upon this recipe! All the taste of buffalo wings without the greasy meat and occasional cartilage/fat between your teeth! Sorry, but it’s true!

Buffalo Wing’ish Hummus

I found this recipe on PreventionRD.com. This is a really cool site and I’m looking forward to making more of her recipes!

Buffalo Wing Hummus

2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed (I used 2 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas)
2-3 cloves garlic
1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp paprika
3 Tbsp calorie-free wing sauce (I used 5 Tbsp Frank’s Buffalo Wing Sauce instead of these two different types of sauce)
2 Tbsp cayenne hot sauce
1 Tbsp distilled white vinegar
1/2 tsp Kosher salt (I only added a tiny pinch)

Directions:

Put the chickpeas, garlic, tahini, lemon juice, paprika, wing sauce, hot sauce, vinegar and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in a food processor. Puree until smooth and creamy.

Yield: 12 servings (1/4 cup each).

Nutrition Information (per serving): 99 calories; 3.4 g. fat; 0 mg. cholesterol; 231 mg. sodium; 11.8 g. carbohydrate; 4.2 g. fiber; 4.6 g. protein

Process in food processor until smooth and creamy

Ready!

Serve with crackers and celery sticks

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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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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!

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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