Tag Archives: easy

Mar 12 2012
1 Comment
Main Dishes, Recipes

GREEN Vegetables with Risotto!

I was planning to make more risotto ever since I saw VegHotPot’s risotto verde last week. I love risotto but can’t stomach the cheese so I gathered together some organic arborio rice and veggies in preparation for making my own vegan version. This is basically the same as the last time just with different veggies.

1/3 cup of arborio rice (this is more than enough for 2 servings)
1/2 liter of water
1 cube of veggie bouillon
2-3 cloves of garlic, sliced
1/2 onion, diced
1 tsp olive oil salt to taste
herbes de provence
white wine
I put about half a liter of water into my sauce pan along with a bouillon cube. While I was waiting for the water to boil, I added the onion, garlic and olive oil to one of my fry pans and Brent heated them until they began to sputter.

I set aside the following veggies that Brent chopped as necessary for my risotto:
zucchini
asparagus
edamame
scallions

I added the veggies and turned the heat to medium-low while my extraordinarily good looking sous chef began cooking the rice. We put the rice in a fry pan with a cup of wine and a generous pinch of herbes de provence. I turned the heat to low.

We added the broth one ladle at a time until the rice began to get tender and the liquid was mostly absorbed. It should be translucent except for a little bit in the middle that should still be opaque white when it’s done. You might not use all the broth. I mixed in my veggies and added a tablespoon of nutritional yeast and another tablespoon of vegan parmesan. Both of these are optional but dramatically improve the dish. Omit the edamame if you want this to be soy-free and the vegan parmesan if you’re adverse to nuts.

It really ended up being vegetables with risotto instead of risotto with veggies… but it was delicious. Just look at my evidence of ravenousness.

This attractive dish was loaded with vegetables and good flavors. If that doesn’t do it for you, I don’t know what will. Let me know what you do with this idea!

This is Christie and Brent, signing off.

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Mar 06 2012
4 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes, Thoughts

Squash “ribs”, green beans, and cilantro lime quinoa!

People often cite being vegan as being too difficult as a reason for continuing to eat meat, dairy and eggs. I was ruminating on this idea, this afternoon as I was thinking of what I would prepare for dinner this evening. I picked a handful of ingredients: green beans, butternut squash and cilantro. These were left over from other things I’d prepared this past week.

I sliced up the squash, leaving the skin on, sprayed it lightly with olive oil and sprinkled it with sea salt. I put it into the oven on a tinfoil lined baking dish and set the timer for 30 minutes at 350F/175C. I also put the seeds from my squash onto another piece of tinfoil with a light sprinkling of garlic salt and checked every few minutes or so until they were crispy and delicious. You can do this with pumpkin seeds or the seeds from spaghetti squash as well. I snacked on these while I was tending the rest of the meal.

While that was happening I washed my green beans and snapped the ends off each one. I put them in a covered steamer and waited until they were BRIGHT green. This takes 8-12 minutes, because I like mine crispy and green. As soon as they got really bright green, I took the lid off the beans and took them off the heat.

While I was waiting for that to happen I put collected the following:

1/2 cup red quinoa (any sort of quinoa will do)

1 cup of water

1 cube of bouillon

1/2 onion, chopped

3-4 sun dried tomatoes, sliced into strips (optional)

1/4 cup of cilantro leaves

juice from 1/2 lime

I put the quinoa and water into a microwave safe bowl and microwaved it for a minute. I stirred it and added the bouillon cube and microwaved for another minute. I stirred it and added the sun dried tomato and microwaved for a minute. I stirred it and added the onion and microwaved it for a minute. I microwaved for another minute and then all of the liquid was absorbed and I stirred in the cilantro. I squeezed some lime over it before serving.

I placed the green beans on the plate and sprinkled some almond slivers over them (omit these if you’ve got a nut allergy and use the baked squash seeds instead). I ended up drizzling some balsamic vinegar on them too but that’s not in the picture. I was starting to check that the squash was tender with a fork at this point and as soon as it was ready, I put the squash on the plate with everything else and because I didn’t take off the skin, I ate them like they were ribs… except there was no hunks of fat or gristle to get in the way of my eating pleasure. As I ate, I thought about how I made something really healthful, beautiful, fragrant and tasty in 40 minutes. As far as I’m concerned, the best food nourishes your mind and your body.

This is Christie, signing off.

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Feb 24 2012
3 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes

Vegan Butternut Squash and Mushroom Risotto… want some?

I have been missing this comfort food so I decided to make some. I’ve never had so many pots and pans out at once. I’m a lazy simple girl when it comes to food and this was a first. You’ll need a baking sheet, a sauce pan, and 2 medium fry pans. You’ll need the following:
1/2 cup of arborio rice (this is more than enough for 2 servings)
1/2 liter of water
1 cube of veggie bouillon
1 cup of butternut squash
1 quart of baby bello mushrooms, sliced
2-3 cloves of garlic, sliced
1/4 onion, diced
1 tsp olive oil
salt to taste
herbes de provence
white wine, I prefer pinot grigio for this recipe. Just use something you would drink. Don’t cook with wine you wouldn’t drink. That’s just nasty.

I cut the top off my butternut squash (guestimating a cup) and wrapped it in tinfoil. I put it in the oven at 350F/175C for about 30-45 minutes or until the skin gets translucent and it starts to become tender.

Set it aside to cool.
I put about half a liter of water into my sauce pan along with a bouillon cube and brought it to a boil. Then I turned the heat to low.

While I was waiting for the water to boil, I added the onion, garlic and olive oil to one of my fry pans and heated them until they began to sputter. Then I added the mushrooms and turned the heat to medium-low and began cooking the rice.

I put the rice in a fry pan with a cup of wine and a generous pinch of herbes de provence. I turned the heat to low. I sliced up the squash (no skin) into 1 cm cubes and added it to the risotto.

I added the broth 1/2 cup or so at a time until the rice began to get tender and the liquid was mostly absorbed. It should be translucent except for a little bit in the middle that should still be opaque white when it’s done. You might not use all the broth. I mixed in my mushrooms and added a tablespoon of nutritional yeast but I do that to everything. I garnished it with some basil from my balcony garden.

I was pretty pleased with my ability to make some serious comfort food. If you get to try it, let me know what changes you’d make to improve it.

This is Christie, signing off.

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Feb 23 2012
5 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes, Snacks

Easy Baked Eggplant

Eggplant is awesome. It’s purple… sometimes white or marbled, and versatile. This recipe is an easy addition to any meal: it’s low in calories, tasty and easy to prepare. Most of the calories in this recipe come from the almonds. Almonds are a great source of omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids. These two nutrients are often overlooked by vegans. Omnivores get them from fish along with such delicious contaminants as heavy metals mercury and lead or pesticides like DDT. Flax seeds and nuts are a great source of these nutrients that are vital for brain function. Your brain is the fattiest organ in your body! Weird, right?

For this recipe slice your eggplant into one inch thick pieces and ‘bread’ it in a mixture of the following:

1 cup of almond meal

1 tbsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp nutritional yeast

a pinch of salt

Now place the pieces on lightly oiled tinfoil (I rest each on top of 3 almonds or sprinkle some corn meal for better air flow), cover with foil, and bake it at 375F/190C for 25-30 minutes.

After this you’ll remove the foil and poke with a knife every 5 minutes or so until they’re tender.

Just imagine this smothered with pasta sauce and melted soy cheese… Okay, I’m drooling.

This is Christie, signing off!

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Feb 15 2012
4 Comments
Recipes, Snacks

So Easy, I Made a Clever Name For It

I decided to call them Croc Eyes. The ingredients are so effing simple it’s silly. But when vegan snack attacks call, avocados are the answer.

Whachu Need :
Avocado
Balsamic Vinegar
Garlic Salt

Preparation :
1) Cut the avocado in half, remove pit.
2) Sprinkle garlic salt, fill pit hole with vinegar.
3) Eat it with a spoon. Like a boss.

Really, the main event is the avocado. You can garnish it however you please, or not at all. Point is  avocados are really good for you, and their mild flavor makes it easy to dress up.

Finding a Good Avocado

So, there’s not much to make this delicious snack. If you’re looking for a good avocado, there are some easy steps to follow. Organic is a good first step, as with all veggies, but if you can’t do that, at least you’re consuming them. To check how ripe they are, push down on the stem. If there’s some give, you got a good avocado. Keep in mind that an avocado may need to ripen a day or so before it’s really good. And if you cut it open and there are a couple spots of brown/black, don’t sweat it. That there is from people squeezing it to make sure it’s ripe. That’s why you should push the stem 🙂

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Feb 14 2012
4 Comments
Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes

Portobello Tacooooh yeaaaah!

I love tacos. Who doesn’t? Except for communists, of course. Just kidding. I know communists love tacos too. Anyways, I’m making some fajita-style portobello mushrooms and I’m going to stuff them into some corn tortillas. I do recommend the flour sort because you can stuff more into them but I have this whole concept of avoiding gluten for my gastric health. Personal problems aside, you might want to gather together some toppings: diced bell peppers, Daiya pepperjack cheese, seasoned black beans, salsa, hot sauce and guacamole are among my personal favorites. Follow your heart… to TACOS!For the portobello fajita filling (for 1-2 people), assemble the following:

1/2 tablespoon olive oil

3 portobello mushrooms, cut into strips
1/2 cup onion, sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
3 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped
juice from 1/2 lime
1 serrano pepper or jalapeno, minced (optional, for spice)
flour or corn tortillas
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and sauté 5 minutes or until almost tender.

Add onion and garlic. Reduce heat to medium, and cook for 4 minutes or until the onion becomes translucent, stirring frequently.

Remove from heat; stir in cilantro, lime juice, salt, and peppers. I used jalapeño peppers. I keep a bag of them in my freezer, tops cut off. They keep really well that way. I cut them after they’ve thawed partially.

Spoon about 1/4 cup mushroom mixture down center of each tortilla. Add whatever toppings you like: the more the merrier. Roll up. Insert into mouth and enjoy!

I add some shredded soy cheese, hot sauce, bell pepper and wrapped it in a lightly toasted corn tortilla. This is a perfect treat for a Saturday evening game or a Wednesday night fight. You’ll have to scale up my recipe but this is social food to enjoy with good friends (though I think all good food is made better by good company.)

This is Christie, signing off.

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Feb 09 2012
8 Comments
Recipes, Snacks, Thoughts

Beans, beans, the musical, magical fruit! … and hummus.

People often tell me that being vegan is too expensive or they can’t fit it in their budget. Being vegan can be really expensive if you eat a lot of prepared foods but cooking from scratch makes vegan meals cheaper and healthier. I’ve recently been converted to dry beans. These are the reasons why.


1. Dry beans are cheaper. A 1 pound bag of beans costs about as much as 1 can of beans and makes 3-4 cans volume of beans. I pay $0.79-$2.79 for a 1 pound bag and $0.89-$3.19 for a can. Jeepers H Crackers, that’s ridiculous! You can’t even get chicken that cheap. Check out my before (above) and after (below) pictures of some soaked chickpeas.


2. It saves space. A bag of dried beans take up less room in your kitchen than the 3-4 cans of beans you might otherwise purchase. They’re also lighter to carry around and won’t hurt if you drop the bag on your foot or head from a high shelf. (I’m a klutz… don’t judge me.) This is a pound of beans beside a can of beans.


3. It also saves space in landfills and energy costs for transportation. The empty plastic bag from beans versus 3-4 BPA-plastic lined tin cans with paper labels means less energy allocated to transporting and recycling and less space in garbage dumps.
4. There’s WAY more variety in the dried beans section of my supermarket than the canned beans section. I like variety.
5. Dried beans don’t contain preservatives or salt. You can also control what you add to the beans. I use distilled water but only because I’m not sure if my municipality uses hexafluorosilicic acid (an industrial waste derived from the production of aluminum metal and phosphoric acid) to fluoridate local tap water. I’d rather not add diluted industrial waste to my food. Yeah, I’m weird like that.
6. Dried beans taste better and aren’t as mooshy as canned. I find I have to add canned beans last in chili recipes because they fall apart when you stir them. Dried beans are firm enough to stand up to vigorous mixing and haven’t lost their flavor to the liquid they’re canned in.
7. There’s also more control with cooking. If I’m only going to be cooking for a couple of people and still want to use 3 different kinds of beans, that’s all I’ll have to prepare. No opened tins with plastic over them in my fridge potentially waiting to spoil and be wasted. 1 cup of dried beans translates to about 1 can.
8. Dried beans are incredibly easy to prepare. There’s no can opener and no sharp edges on the lid or can for you, your little ones or your family pet (who inevitably will get into your garbage pail…) to cut themselves on. I set them in a bowl in my kitchen sink the night before. I see the bowl when I put my dishes from breakfast in the sink the next morning. I am then reminded to fill the bowl with water, cover it and go to work. When I get home, my beans are ready to start cooking. What I’m saying is. if you can put water into a bowl, you can use dried beans.

So you might be wondering what I’m going to do with that HUGE bowl of chickpeas. This post is really about hummus. All you need is the following:
1 cup of dry chickpeas, soaked OR 1 can of drained chickpeas (save some of the liquid from soaking or the can)
juice from 1 lemon
3-8 garlic cloves
1 heaping tbsp tahini (optional but recommended)

I’m adding a generous handful of fresh basil and sundried tomato… for fun. You can add anything: roasted red peppers, olives, artichoke hearts, cucumber and dill… whatever.

Put it all in your blender or food processor and blend until you like the texture. If you need more liquid, add some of the liquor from the soaking or from the can. Voila! Hummus. I sprinkle mine with some smoked paprika powder and ate it with my own sesame ginger carrot crackers. Yeah, I make my own crackers.  Wanna learn how to make those too?  Some day… some day.

I wish you could taste how delicious this hummus is. The spicy basil and garlic are amazing with the mellow sundried tomato on the backdrop of creamy chickpeas and tahini. Let me know what combo you dream up for hummus and tell me how you like it. I want to make MOAR!

This is Christie, signing off.

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Feb 08 2012
2 Comments
Desserts, Main Dishes, Snacks

The essential vegan: PB&J the ultra easy

If you’re vegan, your go-to sandwich should be peanut butter and jelly. Just because you’re eating the sandwich of your youth doesn’t mean it has to be unsophisticated. A recent favorite is the deconstructed white chocolate peanut butter and apricot jam sandwich.

I’m sorry I don’t have a few pictures of my dried cherry and chocolate almond butter sandwiches from the holiday season. They were AMAZING!

PB&J isn’t a tired ordinary dish if you don’t see it that way. If you’ve got access to good jam and dried fruits, try Peanut Butter and Company for their chocolate, cinnamon raisin and white chocolate peanut butter or Justin’s Nut Butter for organic hazelnut and almond butter (chocolate too!). Bottom line: fruit and nuts are delicious and rich in nutrients, together or apart. Nourish your body and senses with both.

This is Christie, signing off.

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Feb 06 2012
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Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes, Snacks

Kale and White Bean Soup! It’s what’s for lunch.

Kale is so awesome that it might overshadow the white beans in this particular dish but white beans (also called navy beans or Northern beans) a’re a standout food on their own. Kale is full of vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese, calcium along with a number of other micronutrients like lutein and zeaxanthin (both important for vision) that are all really important for a healthy body and immune system. It’s low in calories and loaded with fiber to help you feel fuller faster and longer. So how can white beans possible compete? They offer a different variety of nutrients that complement those present in the kale: calcium, iron, and other micronutrients like coumarin and ferulin which are currently under scientific investigation for their activity as antioxidants.

Oh right, soup. Gather together the following.

12-16oz bag of dry white beans

1 bunch of kale, rinsed and cut into ribbons

1 tomato, diced

6 cloves of garlic, minced

1 cube of bouillon a pinch of cumin seeds (optional)

1.5 L water (does NOT include water for soaking the beans)

olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

To prepare, I recommend soaking the beans overnight (or at least 4 hours) to reduce the cook time of your soup. Cover the beans completely with water plus another inch or so. The beans should about double in size. Don’t be alarmed. It’s normal. I like dry beans because it’s cheaper but if soaking dry beans isn’t your thing, 2-3 tins of white beans works great and will reduce your prep time considerably.

In a huge pot, add the olive oil and coriander seeds and wait until the seeds start to sputter. Add the tomato and garlic and stir a few times.

Add the beans and stir until they’re coated with the tomato and olive oil. Add 1 liter of water and the bouillon. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer for 1.5 hours (longer depending on how dry they are, just keep testing them to see when they start to get tender). Start to stir in the kale a handful at a time when the beans start to soften.

Add more water until you reach the desired consistency. Remove the bay leaves. Bring to a boil before serving.

Other things you can add to this traditional favorite include: sliced vegan chorizo or soy sausage, pasta, and sun dried tomato. Add the chorizo or soy sausage right after the kale so it doesn’t fall apart, you can also brown it lightly in a fry pan first. If you add sun dried tomato, add it with the regular tomato. I like this soup for lunch. It’s inexpensive, highly nutritious and delicious.

This is Christie, signing off.

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Feb 05 2012
2 Comments
Recipes, Snacks

Cheesy Bean Dip, Or, How I Learned to Make Nachos in a Bowl

Today is Superbowl Sunday here in the USA. While I am not a football fan, I am a fan of cheesy bean dip.

Growing up, Superbowl Sunday was a bit of a holiday for my family. It would consist of non-stop, all-day snacking, and the highlight of which was my Mom’s cheesy bean dip. It would consist of Velveeta, cream cheese, beans and salsa. Today, I am going to show you how to make this without risking the structural integrity of your cardiovascular system.

The Players :
Tortilla Chips (Duh)
Daiya (1 pack, or half of two packages)
Salsa (Pace’s Thick and Chunky is my jam)
Black Beans (One can, drained)
OPTIONAL :
Hot Sauce (Tapatio, take me away)
Olives
Peppers, diced
Anything Else You Would Put Into Nachos

First, put a layer of Daiya at the bottom of a microwavable container that is large enough to accommodate all of your ingredients. Drop your black beans on top of that layer and cover it with more Daiya. Pour some salsa on top of that layer (I used 12oz for this experiment), and smother it all in Daiya.

Pop all of this into your microwave and cook for 2 minutes. Stir. Repeat until all the Daiya has melted (Should take 6-8 minutes cooking). The end result is a creamy dip for your tortilla chips that has a lot of flavor without loads of cholesterol and saturated fat. For added spice, drop in some Tapatio (or your favorite hot sauce) to taste.

Since this takes all of 10-15 minutes to make, it’s great for parties in a pinch. Or, for our inner lazy bachelors/bachelorettes it can be drizzled on top of a plate of chips and you have simple nachos. For easier clean up, say ‘Screw it’ to the plate of chips and just dip your chips into the bowl.

Experiment and find what works best for you. This can be refrigerated and reheated, so if you don’t finish it all, it’s not a complete waste.

Enjoy your flavor explosion, gang!

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