Stuffed Bell Peppers

These make a great appetizer or light lunch/dinner, serve with sliced avocados.

 

Ingredients:

4 bell peppers

1 cup cooked brown rice

1/2 onion, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, chopped

1.5 cup of cooked black beans or 1 15oz can, rinsed and drained

1 15oz can diced tomatoes

pepperjack daiya cheese (optional)

1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp marjarom

1/8 – 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 T lime juice (or lemon)

salt and white pepper, to taste

 

preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

While the rice cooks, While the rice cooks wash the peppers well, cut in half length wise, and remove seeds and membranes from the inside walls.  Place open side down in a baking pan with 1/4 cup of water added to it to keep them moist.  Cover with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes until a knife easily slides through the side.

Chop the onions and garlic and steam them in a little water to soften.  Add the rest of the ingredients (except the cheese) including the rice and cook on med-low for about 15 minutes to mix the flavors.

Stuff the cut peppers very tightly with the rice mixture and top with a little vegan cheese if desired.  Broil for 5 minutes until the cheese melts.  WATCH CLOSELY vegan cheese burns quickly!  Allow to cool for 5-10 minutes and ENJOY!

recipe adapted from: The Veggie Gal

Cannellini Soup with Leeks and Golden Beets

This soup was a hit with my parents!  It goes great with crusty bread and simple kale salad.

serves 4-8

prep time 10 minutes, cook 20 minutes

Ingredients:

2 T extra-virgin olive oil

2-3 medium golden beets, chopped

2-3 medium leeks, well washed, cut into 1/2 inch dice (about 4 cups)

1 low-sodium vegetable cube (or 1 cup of veggie broth)

1 cup water (do not use if using veggie broth)

2 (14-ounce) cans of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

2 tsp chopped fresh thyme

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

salt to taste

Heat oil in a large soup pot over medium heat and add leeks.  Stir constantly for about 2 minutes, or until beginning to soften.  Do not brown.

Increase heat to high, add beets, and stir another 2-3 minutes, until vegetables are nearly dry.  Add bouillon cube and water (or veggie broth) stirring to deglaze pan bottom.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to maintain a steady simmer.  Cover and cook 10-15 minutes, until vegetables are tender.  Liquid should be reduced to about 1/3 cup.

Add cannellini, thyme, and pepper, and stir very gently, to prevent crushing beans.  Cook an additional 2-3 minutes to allow flavors to meld; salt to taste.

recipe from: Delicious Living March 2011

Raw Eggplant Manicotti

Inspired by a friend of mine who is eating raw these days I decided to do some experimenting.  I found this recipe in a really great cookbook called “Living Cuisine”.  

 

Photo By: Jamie Tilley

Ingredients:

Eggplant Manicotti

1 eggplant

1 and 1/2 T sun-dried sea salt

1/3 cup lemon juice

2 T organic extra-virgin olive oil

1 clove garlic, minced

pinch sun-dried sea salt

Macadamia Nut Ricotta

1 cup macadamia nuts

1/2 cup whole raw cashews

1/4 cup pine nuts

1/3 cup lemon juice

2 T organic extra virgin olive oil (optional)

1 clove garlic, minced

3 T nutritional yeast

1 tsp sun-dried sea salt, or to taste

Sun-Dried Tomato and Basil Marinara

1 cup sun-dried tomatoes

6 Roma tomatoes, or 4 large tomatoes

1 clove garlic

1/4 cup finely minced red onion

1 cup fresh basil leaves

1/2 cup fresh Italian parsley leaves

Sprig oregano and rosemary, or dried Italian seasoning

2 T olive oil

1 T maple syrup or raw agave nectar

1 tsp apple cider vinegar or lemon juice

1-2 tsp sun-dried sea salt, or to taste

1/2 tsp chiptle pepper, or pinch of cayenne pepper

 

Prepare the eggplant manicotti: Peel the eggplant.  Slice thinly across the seeds into 10-12 slicestoss the eggplant slices with sea salt.  Marinate for 1 hour.  The bitter juices will wick away from the eggplant.  Gently squeeze the eggplant, and marinate the slices in lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and sea salt for 1-2 hours.  Gently squeeze the slices to wick away excess marinade before rolling.

Make the macadamia nut ricotta: Soak 3/4 cup of the macadamia nuts and cashews together in 3 cups of fresh water for 20 minutes.  Drain and rinse.  In a food processor, chop remaining 1/4 cup of dry macadamia nuts and pine nuts into a fine meal.  Set aside.  Reserve a few tablespoons for garnish.  Chop soaked macadamia nuts and cashews into a fine meal.  Add lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic and blend until as smooth as possible.  Add a few tablespoons of fresh water to aid in blending smooth.  The ricotta should be fairly smooth and thick.  Add the ground dry macadamia nuts and pine nuts and nutritional yeast and blend until well mixed.  Season with salt.

Stuff the manicotti: Spoon 2-4 tablespoons of ricotta onto each marinated slice of eggplant and roll into a manicotti-shaped roll.  The manicotti can be served “fresh” like this or dehydrated for 2-4 hours at 108 degrees F to warm and set and to marry flavors and texture.

Make the marinara: Soak the sun-dried tomatoes in 1 cup frewsh water until sofr (5-15 min).  Drain and rinse.  Set aside.  Cut the tops out of the tomatoes.  Cut the tomatoes in halves and scoop out the seeds with a spoon.  Dice the tomatoes.  Set aside.  In a food processor, finely chop garlic, red onion, and herbs.  Add sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil, maple syrup or honey, and apple cider vinegar or lemon juice and chop in pulses.  Do not blend until smooth; leave a touch of texture.  In a bowl,fold together sun-dried-tomato mixture with diced tomatoes.  Season with sea salt and, if desired, chipotle or cayenne pepper.  Spoon a generous amount of marinara over each serving of manicotti.  Garnish with reserved ground macadamia nuts and pine nuts.

recipe from: Living Cuisine by Renee Loux Underkoffler

Gnocchi

Once you have gnocchi you will always crave more – or at least that’s how I felt as soon as I tried it a couple of years ago while studying abroad in Australia.  In fact, my all time favorite meal out happened at a fancy restaurant our last night in Oz.  I ate the most decadent melt in your mouth sweet potato gnocchi pie for dinner followed by chai for dessert.  *sigh*.

Not knowing how to replicate that I felt I should at least take a stab at making some regular gnocchi.  While my natural food store does sell frozen gluten free gnocchi, alas, it is not vegan.  So off to the kitchen…

I found this recipe here on Cupcake Kitteh’s blog and love it!  So does my little sister (a gnocchi convert now;)  The two of us spent a whole afternoon rolling gnocchi.  She even made a little limoncello for the occasion.

Ingredients:

1 lb potatoes
1 egg or egg substitute (I used ground flax seeds with water for a slightly nutty flavor)
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 tbsp chickpea flour
2 tbsp potato starch
Salt to taste

Bake the potatoes in the oven (if you boil or steam them the gnocchi might get a bit mushy).  Mash the potatoes and add the rest of the ingredients.  Mash/stir until smooth (lumps make the gnocchi taste more like hash browns).  Break off bits of dough and form small balls.  Then press down lightly with a fork for texture.  Alternately, use your thumb

to form a small dimple in the dough.  Or, make up your own gnocchi style!  Then fry in oil and add topping.  Tastes great with marinara or pesto.

Note: gnocchi is normally made by forming a small ball, then rolling the dough out and cutting every inch or half inch to form basic shape.  I had trouble getting my dough to stay together so I didn’t attempt this, but perhaps with egg replacer this would be possible, and certainly would save time.

recipe from: Cupcake Kitteh and Italy Mag UK

photos by: Tessa Bevans

Monster Salad

Another winner from Fran’s House of Ayurveda, I love this hot version of a summer salad!

Ingredients:

1 bagful of green beans, yellow beans or string beans, ends trimmed
2 red peppers, thinly sliced
1 red onion, thinly sliced in crescents
10-15 new or baby potatoes, halved (or larger potato, cubed)
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 small bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped

3 cloves garlic, grated or minced
lemon juice
1/4 cup sunflower oil or any other cooking oil
1 tsp each ground cumin and ground coriander
1 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper to taste

Steam the green beans then the potatoes until tender-crisp, so not quite cooked all the way. Then, in a large pan or wok, heat some oil and saute the raw onion slices (not pre-steamed) until soft. Add the garlic, cumin and coriander and stir a bit, then add the steamed veggies and chickpeas. Season with salt and pepper while sauteing for a few minutes. Serve hot sprinkled with cilantro and a big squeeze of lemon juice!

Click here for the cold version.

Recipe From: Fran’s House of Ayurveda

Garlic Flatbread/Pizza Crust

Craving some bread I decided to use a pizza crust recipe to make flat bread.  This came out much better than expected, and even past the little sister test!  This pizza crust is also excellent for pizza, and much quicker than the other one I have listed on this blog.

Make Pizza Crust

Place lots of minced garlic in olive oil and blend.  Lather pizza crust with olive oil garlic blend.  Optionally sprinkle with minced cilantro.  Cook until done, about 10min at 350 degrees F.

This also makes a great naan substitute, and I used it to eat my squash daahl.

Squash Dahl

Hello all! sorry to be absent for so long.  I have been traveling in Taiwan for the past three weeks, and haven’t had very much time on the internet.  Now I’m back with a new inspiration to learn how to cook vegan Chinese food! In the meantime however, I have turned to some old comfort food.  I found this recipe on Fran’s House of Ayurveda (one of my favorite blogs) and am eating it now at 4 am while I fail at getting over jet lag.  Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 cup red lentils, well rinsed
1/2 tsp each turmeric and sea salt
2 1/2 cups water
1 tomato, chopped
1/4 butternut squash, sliced 1/2-inch thick and seeded*
2 handfuls spinach leaves, washed

1 Tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp each cumin seeds and coriander seeds, lightly crushed
1/4 tsp chili flakes
1 heaping tsp each minced garlic and minced ginger
1/2 large onion (or one small), chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
sea salt to taste

basmati rice

Place the lentils, turmeric, salt and water in a medium sized pot and bring to a boil. Stir in half the tomato plus the squash, cover and cook on medium-low until cooked, about half an hour. When done stir in spinach.

Meanwhile, heat oil or ghee in a large, deep pan and add spices (mustard seeds, cumin, coriander, chili). When mustard seeds start to pop, stir in garlic, ginger and onion. Stirfry a few minutes, until onions are cooked. Add a bit of sea salt if desired, plus half the chopped cilantro. Pour cooked dahl mixture into the onion pan, stirring in a bit more water if you like it a little soupier.

Serve with rice and top with reserved tomato and cilantro, plus any sides you like. Serves 3-4.

*squash: (no need to peel butternut squash, as the skin will soften) I used slices of squash that I had roasted in the oven with olive oil and salt a few nights before, which had a really nice flavour — if you do this, just stir in the roasted squash at the end of cooking the dahl, along with the spinach

recipe adapted from: http://franlife.blogspot.com/search/label/Vegan

Maharagwe

Serves 6.  20 minutes.  Serving tips:  Serve over hot rice or alone with flatbread.

Ingredients:
2 Tbs. olive oil
1 med. yellow onion chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 15-ounce cans red kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 15-ounce can chopped tomatoes, drained
1 15-ounce can coconut milk
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium Thai chile pepper, seeded and minced
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2 tsp agave nectar
1/4 tsp white pepper

In a large soup pot, heat olive oil and saute onion and bell pepper until just tender.

Stir in kidney beans, coconut milk, tomatoes, garlic, chile pepper, cumin, cardamom, curry, and turmeric. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer, stirring frequently for 10-15 minutes, until flavors blend.

Stir in cilantro and agave nectar, and season with salt and white pepper. Serve hot.

recipe from: Delicious Living December 2008

Spicy Fall Stew Baked in a Pumpkin

We baked ours in several small kabucha squashes from the garden.  Also, I coudn’t find hominy, so I substituted chick peas instead.  I’ll list the veganized form of the original recipe here.

Ingredients:
2 Tbs. olive oil divided
1 med. onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch dice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1tsp. chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 lb. tomatillos, husked and quartered (I couldn’t find these and used regular tomatoes instead)
1 15-oz can hominy, rinsed and drained
1/4 tsp salt
1 3-to4-lb pumpkin, either sugar pie, cheese, red kuri, kabocha, or buttercup squash

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat 1 Tbs. oil in pot over medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Saute 7 minutes, or until softened. Stir in chili powder, cumin, and oregano, and cook 3 minutes more, or until spices darken.

Add tomatillos, hominy, 1/2 cup water, and salt. Cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, partially covered, 10 to 12 minutes, or until tomatillos are softened. Uncover, and cook 5 minutes more to thicken stew, if necessary.

Meanwhile, cut top of pumpkin around stem to make lid. Scoop out pumpkin seeds and strings. Rub inside of pumpkin with remaining 1 Tbs. oil, and sprinkle generously with salt.

Fill pumpkin with stew, then top with pumpkin lid. Place on parchment covered baking sheet and bake 1 1/2 to 2 hours, or until pumpkin flesh is fork-tender. Remove from oven; let stand 5 minutes. Scoop stew, includng pumpkin, into bowls and serve hot.

I love to eat this with a bed of spinach.

recipe adapted from: Vegetarian Times October 2008

Chickpea Tangine wth Cinnamon, Cumin, and Carrots

I love this recipe – quick, easy, tasty, and cheap – what could be better?

serves 4. 30min or less.

2Tbs. olive oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 14.5 oz cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
3 med. carrots, sliced into thin rounds
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp agave nectar
3 Tbs. finely chopped parsley

Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic, and saute 2-3 minutes, or until onion slices are soft. Stir in chickpeas, carrots, spices, agave nectar, and 2 cups of water. cover and simmer 20 to 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper.

serve with parsley as a garnish. I like to serve this over rice just to make it last a bit longer.

recipe adapted from: Vegetarian Times, October 2008