Chunky Potato, Broccoli & Mushroom Soup

This afternoon, I had broccoli and mushrooms in the fridge that needed to be used soon. I have often oven roasted the two together and they make for a great side dish. Oven roasting caramelizes the tips of the broccoli and adds a certain smokiness to the vegetable. Umm Umm Good!! Today however, I was making an Artisan Bread as well and wanted to make something which I could eat with bread. And what's better to eat with bread than a soup. 

Prep Time: 30-40 min

Ingredients (Serves 4):

1. 2 cups Broccoli florets
2. 1 Red onion, chopped 
3. 6 Large Cremini mushrooms
4. 3-4 Medium Redskin Potatoes, diced
5. 6 cups of Home-made Vegetable Broth
6. 1 tbsp Minced Garlic
7. 2 tsp Dried Parsley
8. 2 tsp Dried Basil
9. 2 tbsp Nutritional Yeast
10. 1 tsp Liquid Smoke
11. Salt & Pepper to taste

Directions:

Mix all ingredients with the exception of salt, pepper, liquid smoke and diced potatoes in a large soup pot. Bring to a boil and simmer for 10 min until onions and broccoli are tender and breaking apart. 

Using an immersion blender, puree everything until smooth. If you don't have an immersion blender, transfer carefully into a jar blender and blend until smooth. Once pureed, add diced potatoes and salt to taste and simmer on low until potatoes are tender (~10-12 minutes). Add liquid smoke, taste test for salt, garnish with freshly cracked black pepper and serve with fresh bread!! 

My Assessment: This is my green version of a hearty potato soup. When I first made it, it tasted fine but was missing something and that's when I was reminded of my little bottle of magic :) Liquid Smoke. This soup cried out to be eaten after that ;)

Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)*: Calories 196 (Fat Calories 7)
Total Fat 0.8 g; Carbohydrates 41.8 g; Fiber 6.5 g; Sugars 3.8 g; Protein 8.3 g

* Nutrition facts are provided for the water option as vegetable broth calorie content can vary.

If you liked this recipe, be sure to check out my Recipe Index for more Whole-Food, Plant-Based, No-Added-Oil recipes. You can also like Rugrat Chow! on Facebook. Thanks!

Steamed Broccoli w HH Pad Thai Sauce

Some days are meant for light dinners. Today was one of those days. My most favorite vegetable these days is steamed broccoli. On days when I'm craving a light dinner, I always think of Steamed Broccoli over Quick Cooking Brown Rice. Quick and Easy and Painless. Typically, I use a commercial sauce like a Vegetarian Oyster or  Kung Pao sauce and drizzle that over the broccoli. Tonight I decided to do the same with Happy Herbivore's "Cheater" Pad Thai Sauce. 

I used "Naturally More" Smooth Peanut Butter with flax seed for this recipe. It contains no HFCS and ingredients include Roasted Peanuts, Soy Protein, Flax Seeds, Evaporated Cane Syrup, Salt and Molasses. A tbsp of this stuff contains 90 Calories with 65 of those being fat calories. Furthermore, this 1 tbsp contains only 1 g of sugars, >2g of dietary fiber and 4.5g of protein. It can't get any better than this stuff :)

HH "Cheater" Pad Thai Sauce over Broccoli & Rice

Prep Time: 15 min

Directions: 
Prepare 1 recipe of HH "Cheater" Pad Thai Sauce and set aside. Boil a bag of brown rice (about 1.5 cups) and drain. Transfer rice into 2 serving bowls. Steam 1 cup of Broccoli and layer over steamed rice. Drizzle the sauce over the 2 cups, dividing it approximately equally between the 2 cups and serve hot :) 

Nutrition Facts (Per Serving): Calories 433 (Fat Calories 47)

Total Fat 5.2 g; Cholesterol 0 g; Carbohydrates 86 g; Dietary Fiber 6.8 g; Sugars 9.5 g; Protein 11.6 g

My Assessment: Its divine!!! You will not be able to tell the difference between commercial peanut sauces and this one. Also, I used natural peanut butter, so while it does have some fat calories from the peanuts, there is no added HFCS and the recipe is about as wholesome as it can get :)

Seitan & Broccoli Korma

I posted a recipe for TVP Korma a few months ago. Today, the cold temperatures outside again made me yearn for the richness of a korma. I've been wanting to make it for the last couple of days and decided that a Friday night definitely called for a little extra effort for dinner. I modified my previous recipe just a tad today and used several whole spices (instead of powdered Garam Masala) and used a special ingredient :) - which made it pretty close to the authentic version found in Dhabas across India - i.e. a mom & pop style restaurant, which  are generally found along highways and interstates and usually serve home-made local cuisine; they often also serve as truck stops, so are best visited with locals, or at least someone who speaks the local language. 

Seitan & Broccoli Korma

Wikipedia describes a Korma as a South/Central Asian dish that can be made with yogurt, cream, nut and seed pastes or coconut milk; it is usually considered a type of stew. The korma I grew up eating in India was almost always made with a rich paste made with minced onions and tomatoes and heavy cream. Korma is a key dish in Mughlai cuisine which has strong cultural roots in India and Pakistan. Its flavors are based on mixing a variety of (very typical) Indian spices - ground cumin, coriander, onions, ginger, garlic, cloves, cinnamon, black pepper corns and cardamom. The traditional Shahi (Royal) Korma is often simmered for hours on a charcoal fire which gives it a nice smoky flavor.  

I also use Seitan (New Veggie #36) which is essentially gluten - the main protein in wheat. Its an ideal chewy addition to this plant-based version of Korma. Commercially available seitan is light to dark brown in color (it is much lighter in color when made at home using vital wheat gluten). Like Tofu, it easily absorbs whatever flavors and seasonings are added to it, much like tofu. It is nearly fat free, and has 0 saturated fats and cholesterol. Because the starches have been washed away, it is also low in carbs but remains high in protein.

Prep Time: 30-40 min

Ingredients (4 servings):

1. 8 oz Seitan strips 
2. 1 or 2 large heads of Broccoli
3. 1 medium to large Red Onion, minced
4. 4-6 tbsp Hunt's Crushed Tomatoes 
5. 1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic Paste
6. 1/4 cup Raw Cashews
7. 2-3 cups Water, or Vegetable Broth
8. 1/2 tsp Turmeric powder
9. 2 tsp Cumin powder
10. 2 tsp Coriander seed powder
11. 1 tsp Red Chili powder
12. 2-3 pieces of each Whole Spice 
• Cloves 
• Green Cardamom
• Black Cardamom
• Black Peppercorns, 
• Cinnamon stick
• Bay leaves
13. Special Ingredient - 2-4 drops of Liquid Smoke
14. Salt and Pepper, to taste
15. Fresh or Dried Cilantro  

Directions:

Line a non-stick skillet on medium-high heat with water and add minced onions (I used a food processor to mince really fine) and caramelize using splashes of water or vegetable broth (see previous recipe for details on how to caramelize). Once onions are done, add the tomatoes and ginger-garlic paste, and caramelize. Cook until the tomatoes, ginger-garlic paste and tomatoes are cooked down to make a thick red paste. At this point add all the spices and salt, mix well and add a splash of broth.  As the whole spices release their aromas, add Seitan and a cup of vegetable broth, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and let simmer for 5 minutes. Pulse the raw cashews in a coffee grinder until they are ground to a granular powder. Add cashews to the simmering mix, adding more broth as needed and simmer for a minute or two and then add liquid smoke and broccoli. Cover and simmer for another 7-10 minutes until broccoli pieces turn bright green in color (at this point, the broccoli is just steamed, still retains its crunch and hasn't become mushy). Garnish with fresh or dried Cilantro, freshly cracked black pepper. I served it over steamed brown rice. 

Smoky Seitan Korma

My Assessment: I liked this version of my Korma recipe a lot more than the previous version. The inclusion of liquid smoke and the whole spices gave it a more authentic flavor, without the heat of some of those spices (e.g. black pepper corns). 

Nutrition Facts (Per Serving): Calories 213
Total Fat 9 g; Cholesterol 0 g; Carbohydrates 14 g; Fiber 2.7 g; Sugars 2.7 g; Protein 17.9 g

Steamed Broccoli & Rice

Some days are meant for a light, quick-fix dinner. This one literally took me 10 minutes to make, from scratch. I wasn't in the mood to cook, so this was a perfect solution. 100% plant-based; 100% fat-free; 100% delish :) !! I like this dish because it gives me the flavors of Chinese food, right here at home. If you're not a big fan of oyster sauce, substitute with your favorite (ready-to-eat) sauce. 

Steamed Broccoli & Rice

Prep Time: 10 min

Ingredients:

1. A head of fresh Broccoli
2. 1 bag of  Kroger Boil-in-Bag Parboiled Brown Rice 
3. 2 tbsp Low-Sodium Soy Sauce
4. 1 tbsp Vegetarian Oyster Sauce
5. Pepper, to taste.

Directions:

Bring a pot of water to boil and add the bag of brown rice. Allow to simmer for 7-8 minutes until tender. Meanwhile, rinse Broccoli and cut into bite-sized florets. Steam for 5 minutes using an electric or stove-top steamer bucket. Allow to stand for a couple of minutes. Drain rice and transfer into 2 bowls. Drizzle 1 tbsp Soy sauce over each bowl of rice, toss once; add steaming broccoli on top, and then drizzle each bowl with 1/2 tbsp of vegetarian oyster sauce. Garnish with freshly cracked black pepper. Enjoy!! 

.... China Town, San Francisco

So our first day in San Francisco and we found this hole in the wall restaurant which we'd found the last time we were in SF. A rather talkative, yet very sweet old Chinese lady, a curio-shop owner in China town recommended it. ... "its where the (Chinese) locals eat" - Capital Family Style Restaurant.

Somebody loved his Chicken & Broccoli

Tony and I love Chinese food ... and hence went looking for this same place. I ordered Broccoli in Oyster Sauce and it was amazing. Barely steamed and crunchy. The oyster sauce (probably not 100% plant based) was mildly sweet and had lovely flavor. Even the soy sauce in this place tasted so much better than the bottled stuff back home (probably because it was loaded with salt!).

Broccoli in Oyster Sauce

White Rice with Broccoli

Overall a great way to start off our few days in SF!!!

Cheese Quesadilla with Steamed Buttered Broccoli

Nik was a grouch on the drive home! Super tired according to G'ma Jeanne. Then, when we got home - he wanted to put on his "awwter pants" (aka swimmers) and get in the wading pool. So we had fun in the yard for a good 45 minutes. He was starving by the time we came back in - so dinner had to be made super QUICK!! Even before i had the ingredients out, he was in his chair, all buckled up - ready to EAT!! This one is super easy and super quick.

Total Prep Time: < 5 min.

Ingredients:

1) 1 flour/corn tortilla

2) 2 tbsp mexican cheese mix - shredded

3) a dab of butter

4) 1 bag of Birds Eye Steamables Broccoli

5) salt and pepper

Directions:

Roll the cheese into the tortilla, and put in a buttered pan at medium heat. I used a mini-George Foreman electric grill. Meanwhile prepare the broccoli. Once the quesadilla was done, I cut it into strips with a pizza slicer ... and Niki was eating within 5 min. A hit again!!