Tag Archives: onion

Vegan Succotash

31 Jul

Vegan Succotash

I’m back in action! The past two months have been so busy with the move and traveling, so we’re just now getting back into a routine. Desperate for healthy food (we’ve been pretty much eating out for the past two months) I found my perusing one of my favorite blogs Choosing Raw. Pretty much everything Gena makes is amazing so I didn’t give it a second thought when I saw this recipe. Good thing I didn’t because it was amazing!

You can find the recipe at Food52

Sorry about the lack of pictures, we haven’t quite located the camera yet šŸ™‚

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Veggie Quesadillas

22 May

Veggie-Quesadilla-1

This week has totally gotten away from me. We’re showing our condo and it’s really hard to cook when you have people visiting your house all evening! These veggie quesadillas are a quick and delicious meal when you don’t have a lot of time to cook, wash and put away the dishes before someone comes over. I used the same spice mixture from my fajita recipe, sprinkled some chihuahua cheese on top, threw them on the Griddler and had a great meal before I knew it!

Veggie-Quesadilla-2

Ingredients:
1 large red pepper, cut into strips
1 large yellow pepper, cut into strips
1 large orange pepper, cut into strips
1 onion, cut into half moons
8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp coriander
1 tsp cayenne pepper
4 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Ezekiel 4:9 tortillas
1/2 cup shredded chihuahua cheese
Sour cream and guacamole (optional)

Directions:

  1. Combine 3 tbsp of oil with the turmeric, cumin, coriander and cayenne pepper and stir to form a paste.
  2. Add the peppers and onions to the spice mixture and toss until peppers and onion are well coated.
  3. Heat remaining tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the spiced peppers and onions to the pan and saute until soft. Once they are soft, add the mushrooms and saute for another 3 minutes.
  4. Turn the Griddler to high or heat a pan over medium heat.
  5. Fill half a tortilla with the vegetable mixture, sprinkle with cheese and fold in half.
  6. If using the Griddler: Place the folded tortilla on the Griddler, close the top and cook until cheese has melted.
  7. If using a pan: Place the folded tortilla on the pan (you may need to hold the top down) and cook until the tortilla is golden brown on the bottom. Flip the tortilla over and cook until the cheese has melted.
  8. Repeat with the remaining tortillas.

    9. As always, enjoy!

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Creamy Corn and Poblano Lasagna

17 May

Creamy-Corn-Poblano-Lasagna-2

We were at my parent’s house on Sunday for Mother’s Day when my sister’s mother-in-law handed me a recipe. She said that she saw it on the Food Network and thought it looked mouth-watering. So I read it over and thought I would give it a try. I modified the original recipe to make it healthy and I definitely succeeded! Eliminating the cream and reducing the amount of cheese made this a much lighter meal. Usually lasagna makes me feel like I ate a brick but this left me feeling completely satisfied.

Creamy-Corn-Poblano-Lasagna-1

My one criticism is that it lacked texture. In hindsight, I would have liked it with some roasted corn kernels. I felt it lacked that smokey flavor that I was expecting to get from the poblanos. Dont’ get me wrong, it was really tasty and Michael loved it. It’s always a good sign when he goes back for seconds!

And I apologize in advance if the directions seem out-of-order or unclear. There are a lot of steps that happen concurrently with this meal but it’s honestly not hard to manage!

Ingredients:
Adapted from this recipe and my version serves two
2 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
1/4 container of silken tofu
1 cup whole milk
1 tsp fresh thyme
1/2 onion, sliced thin
1 zucchini, cut into matchsticks
2 poblano chiles, roasted, skins removed, seeded and chopped
6 whole wheat lasagna sheets
3/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Toss 1 cup of the corn with the olive oil and spread out on a baking sheet lined with foil. Place the poblano peppers on a second baking sheet. Roast the corn until it is slightly charred and the peppers until very charred. Remove the corn and set aside. When the peppers are done, remove and cover with a pot and allow them to steam for about 10 minutes (this will help you remove the skins). Peel the skin off the peppers, seed and chop.
  2. In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Add the lasagna noodles and cook until tender, about 8-10 minutes. Drain the noodles and drape over the oiled side of the pot to prevent sticking.
  3. Combine the milk and tofu in a blender. Blend until combined (about 30 seconds).
  4. Melt 1 tbsp of coconut oil over medium heat. When the pan is hot, add 2/3 of the garlic and saute for 30 seconds. Add the remaining corn to the pan and saute for 5 minutes. Stir in the milk-tofu mixture and thyme. Cook for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and allow it to cool slightly before transferring to the blender. Puree until smooth.
  5. In the same saute pan, melt the remaining tablespoon of coconut oil over medium heat. Add the onions and saute until translucent. Add the remaining garlic and cook until fragrant. Mix in the zucchini, poblano peppers and corn, and cook for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
  6. Reduce the heat of the oven to 350 degrees. Spread 1/4 cup of the corn-milk mixture over the bottom of a baking dish. Cover with two lasagna sheets, followed by the zucchini-poblano mixture, mozzarella cheese and corn-milk mixture. Repeat until you have a final layer of noodles topped the corn-milk mixture and cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil and turn the oven to broil. Broil until the top is golden brown and bubbling.

    As always, enjoy!

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Veggie Fajitas with Homemade Guacamole

18 Mar

Guacamole

I am a fajita connoisseur. If there are fajitas on a menu, you can bet your last buck that I’m ordering them. Needless to say, this is hands down my favorite recipe. Not only is it knock your socks off delicious, but it’s incredibly easy to make. Add in some homemade guacamole and you’re good to go!

Veggie-Fajita

If you choose to add chicken to the fajitas, I used to marinate the chicken in the spice mixture instead of the veggies. I would saute the veggies, grill the marinated chicken and toss them together at the end.

For the Fajitas:
Ingredients:
1 large red pepper, cut into strips
1 large yellow pepper, cut into strips
1 large orange pepper, cut into strips
1 onion, cut into half moons
8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp coriander
1 tsp cayenne pepper
4 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Ezekiel 4:9 tortillas
Shredded monterey jack cheese
Serve with Sour cream and guacamole

Directions:

  1. Combine 3 tbsp of oil with the turmeric, cumin, coriander and cayenne pepper and stir to form a paste.
  2. Add the peppers and onions to the spice mixture and toss until peppers and onion are well coated.
  3. Heat remaining tablespoon of oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the spiced peppers and onions to the pan and saute until soft. Once they are soft, add the mushrooms and saute for another 3 minutes.
  4. Serve with sour cream, guacamole and cheese.

For the Guacamole:
Ingredients:
4 ripe avocados
1/8 cup diced tomatoes, seeded
1/8 cup diced red onion
1 tbsp lime juice
salt to taste
cilantro (optional)

Directions:

  1. Scoop out the avocados into a bowl and mash with a fork.
  2. Add the tomatoes, onions, lime juice, cilantro, salt and pepper and combine well.

As always, enjoy!

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Rainbow Chard over Quinoa

12 Mar

Rainbow-Chard-over-Quinoa

I had a tiny cold last week and was really in need of comfort food. Now that I’m feeling better, I was compelled to counter all the heaviness of last week with loads of veggies. I plan our weekly meals before going to the grocery store. This way I only buy what I need and don’t have to worry about wasting food. Plus, it makes getting things ready super easy since I already know we’re having for dinner that night. Feeling uninspired when I was making my weekly grocery list, I turned to the interweb for some help. I found this recipe on the Vegetarian Times and was inspired to make it a little more budget friendly. Are pine nuts only outrageously expensive in Chicago?

This meal was incredibly delicious. It was light, yet filling and had a wonderful hint of summer flavor. The success of this meal was confirmed by Michael’s second helping.

Note: My sister gave me a bottle of Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar from Trader Joe’s that she had leftover. It’s delicious! I used two tablespoons of this in the recipe, but you could also combine champagne vinegar and orange juice with a bit of sugar or honey.

Ingredients:
Inspired by Sicilian Swiss Chard over Quiona
1 bunch rainbow chard, leaves cut into ribbons and stems sliced thinly
2 carrots, peeled
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/4 chopped cashews
2 tbsp Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar (from Trader Joe’s)
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 tbsp red pepper flakes (I like things hot, but you can tone it down)
1 tbsp cumin
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
2 cups vegetable broth

Directions:

  1. Bring the vegetable broth and cumin to a boil and add the quinoa. Cover and reduce to low heat. Cook until all the liquid is absorbed.
  2. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the carrots, onion and chard stems. Cook until the onion is golden brown.
  3. Toss in the chard ribbons, garlic, red pepper flakes and raisins. Stir in the orange muscat champagne vinegar and cook for about 4 minutes.
  4. Remove the pan from the heat and toss in the cashews.
  5. Spoon the quinoa into bowls and top with the chard.

As always, enjoy!

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Three Bean Chili and Vegan Cornbread

8 Mar

Three-Bean-Chili

It’s been pretty cold here in Chicago and nothing makes me feel warm and happy like a bowl of chili and warm cornbread.

Just a warning, I like my food a bit on the spicy side. If you don’t, you can reduce the amount of chipotles and jalapeƱo you put into the chili. The adobo sauce itself isn’t terribly spicy and neither is chili powder. That’s what helps give it the smokey flavor.

For the Chili:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup dry black beans
1/2 cup dry pinto beans
1/2 cup dry white beans
1 onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 jalapeƱo, stemmed, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
2 cups vegetable broth
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp cumin
2 tbsp chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, chopped
1 tbsp olive oil
Shredded cheddar cheese or nutritional yeast as a topping

Directions:

  1. Heat the oil in a heavy stock pot over medium heat
  2. Add the onion, bell peppers and jalapeƱo to the oil and saute until the onions are clear. Once the onions are clear, add the garlic
  3. When the garlic is fragrant, sprinkle the chili powder and cumin and stir
  4. Add the tomatoes, vegetable broth and chipotle chilis with some of the adobo sauce
  5. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 20 minutes
  6. Season with salt and pepper

Cornbread

For the Cornbread:
Ingredients:
11/4 cups garbanzo bean flour (you can substitute any flour you like)
1 cup cornmeal
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup sucanat
4 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 cup milk of choice (I used Homemade Almond Milk)
1 tsp vinegar
2 tbsp ground flax
2 tbsp water
1 cup frozen corn, thawed

Directions:

  1. In a medium bowl, combine the flax and water to make a paste
  2. Add the milk, vinegar and sucanat to the flax mixture, and stir well
  3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cornmeal and baking soda
  4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the center and combine well
  5. Add in the corn and coconut oil and mix well
  6. Pour the batter into a greased 8×8 baking dish and bake until the edges are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean
  7. Allow to cool for 20 minutes before slicing

As always, enjoy!

Chili-with-Cornbread

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Vegetable Bolognese

7 Mar

Vegetable-Bolognese-Cooked

Pasta definitely tops the list of my favorite foods. Add in some cheese and it’s even better. However, being the healthy person that I am, I knew that I needed to throw in something to balance the pasta and cheese. Enter vegetables!

Raibow-Carrots

When I was at the grocery store this weekend these beauties jumped out at me and I knew that they would be perfect in this bolognese. It’s kind of sad that you can’t see their beautiful color but they sure tasted good.

IMG_9391

Just a quick note, I doubled the recipe so that I could freeze half for later.

Ingredients:
Inspired by Giada De Laurentiis
2 red bell peppers, chopped
8 oz cremini mushrooms, chopped
1 bunch rainbow carrots
1 onion, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tsp fresh thyme
3 tsp dried oregano
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1/2 can tomato paste
16 oz. mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup parmesan
1/8 cup fresh mozzarella cheese, cubed
1/2 pound whole wheat pasta
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. Cook pasta according to package and preheat oven to 350o
  2. Give the bell peppers, carrots and onion a rough chop and transfer to a food processor, along with the garlic and pulse until you have a mixture of finely grated and chunks of vegetables
  3. Heat the olive oil over medium heat. When the oil is hot, transfer vegetable mixture to the pan and add the thyme and oregano
  4. Cook vegetables until golden brown and stir in tomato paste
  5. Once tomato paste is combined, add vegetable broth and reduce for about 20 minutes
  6. Remove the pan from heat and stir in mascarpone and parmesan cheese
  7. Stir until both cheeses are combined
  8. Toss the pasta with the sauce and cubed mozzarella cheese. Spoon into individual ramekins or baking dish
  9. Bake until cheese is melted

As always, enjoy!

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