Spinach Hummus

Hummus is such a versatile spread that can be used as a dip for veggies, as a salad dressing (4 vegan Ways), as a sandwich spread. Although I'd like to use it different ways, I'm boring and tend to simply use it as a dip for my daily snack of cukes and carrots and celery. Here's a link to 12 Great Ways to Use Hummus. They're not all plant-based ways .. so use wisely :) 

Spinach Hummus

Today I decided to modify my usual recipe to include more greens. Although the blog post about my  usual recipe calls for cilantro leaves, I don't always add it if I don't have any on hand. 

Prep Time: 10 min

Ingredients:

1. 2 x 15 oz cans of Chickpeas, well rinsed and drained
2. 1/2 cup Flame-Roasted Red Peppers*
3. 1 tbsp Minced Garlic
4. 6 Sun-Dried Tomatoes (Plain dried, Whole Foods 365 brand) 
5. 1/4 cup Lemon/Lime Juice
6. 2 cups Baby Spinach
7. Salt to taste
8. Water, as needed. 

Directions:

Pulse everything together in a food processor until smooth, adding more water as needed to make a smooth blend. Add salt after everything is blended well, taste testing with each addition. Add more lime juice if needed. Enjoy!!

My Assessment: I liked the smoky sweetness of sun-dried tomatoes, mixed in with the extra greens. Yum!

* I use a brand called Bella Famiglia Flame Roasted Red Peppers, which has no added oil. Make sure you're getting a product where the peppers are not preserved in Olive oil. This brand has whole red peppers, water, sea salt, sugar, wine vinegar and grape must. If you want to roast your own red peppers, here's how.

Nutrition Facts (Batch): Calories 818 (Fat Calories 136)
Total Fat 15.1 g; Carbohydrates 145.8 g; Dietary Fiber 31.3 g; Sugars 10.4 g; Protein 52.4 g

Savory Oats w Green Beans

Most people, including my husband, grew up eating Instant Oats out of a serving sized sachet. Most people, including my husband (and I), often gagged at the taste of wet cardboard in our mouths. It was either too sugary, or too tasteless to be considered food. I've never been a fan of instant oats and so until recently have stayed away from oats, in general. Whenever I hit a 'healthy eating' phase in past years, I'd buy a 6-pack of instant oatmeal and eat it over months, gagging all the way.

In recent months, since I went plant-based, I've heard such wonderful things about Oats and how good they are for the heart & so I've started including Old Fashioned Oats in my diet. I tried a few recipes for overnight oats. Mostly, I tolerate it and I've come to the conclusion that it is because I've never liked eating sweet breakfasts. For those of you who're interested, here's an excellent blog post about Oats and Avenanthramides - polyphenolic antioxidants found in oats which have been shown to have anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative, and anti-itching activity, and have been implicated to provide additional protection against coronary heart disease, colon cancer, and skin irritation. Here's another peer-reviewed article which discusses the effect of avenanthramide on inhibition of vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation. All in all ... Oats are great for your heart ... so eat away!! And this recipe will go a long way in making your eating enjoyable!! :)

Savory Oats with Green Beans

Prep Time: 15-20 min

Ingredients (2 servings):

1. 1 cup Old Fashioned Oats
2. 1 cup Unsweetened Almond Milk (I use Silk)
3. 4 Sun-Dried tomatoes (Plain dried, Whole foods 365 brand, sliced w kitchen scissors)
4. 1 small Red Onion (julienned)
5. 1 cup French-cut Green Beans (or any other vegetable you like, spinach would be great!)
6. 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
7. 1/2 tsp Mustard powder
8. 1/2 tsp Cumin Seed powder
9. A pinch of Turmeric
10. A pinch of Smoked Chipotle Pepper powder (optional; this packs some heat!).
11. Salt & Pepper, to taste

Directions:

In 2 separate microwave safe bowls, add 2 sliced sun-dried tomatoes, 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats and 1/2 cup almond milk. Microwave each on high for 3 minutes and set aside. After a few minutes, mix well so that the oats are moist, yet crumbly. I used a 1:1 proportion of oats to liquid as I don't like them mushy (see notes above about instant oats!). You can increase the liquid if you like.  

Oats and Tomatoes (after microwaving)

In a non-stick skillet, saute onions in water until caramelized to a rich maroon color. if you've never sauteed onions in water before - see this recipe. This should only take 4-6 minutes. Once done, remove onions from skillet and set aside. Line the same skillet with water and add garlic, mustard, cumin and turmeric to the water and add green beans. I used frozen french-cut green beans. Allow the beans to thaw and the spices to blend in well. Mix until done (fork tender) adding a splash or two of water as needed to prevent burning. Once beans are done, add onions to the mix, give it all a quick toss and divide the veggies over the 2 bowls of oats and sun-dried tomatoes. Add salt and pepper, as needed. Serve warm. 

Savory Oats with Green Beans

My Assessment: I loved it. This is my new favorite breakfast. I can easily make the veggies in a larger batch and refrigerate and then prepare the oats and tomatoes in the morning before work in the microwave. Looking forward to a whole new way of eating breakfast :)

Nutrition Facts (Per Serving): Calories 390 (Fat Calories 74)
Total Fat 8.2; Cholesterol 0g; Carbohydrates  63.7g; Dietary Fiber 11.2g; Sugars 6.3g; Protein 12.9g

Mung Dal w Spinach & Peas

Tonight I was craving the comfort of home (got some bad news this morning) and so decided to make a simple dal to serve over rice. I looked at the variety of whole, split, and split-skinned lentils I had and decided on using Mung Dal. This recipe is an enhanced version of what my mom still makes all the time. She tends to make the traditional/authentic unadulterated versions - her dal is just a dal, without any spinach in it!!     

Palak Mutter Mung Dal

Prep Time: 20-25 min

Ingredients (6 servings):

1. 1 cup Split-Skinned Mung Dal
2. 2 cups Baby Spinach
3. 2 cups frozen Peas
4. 6 Sun-Dried Tomatoes (Plain dried, Whole foods 365 brand)
5. 1 (4oz) can of Tomato Sauce
6. 2 tsp Cumin Seeds
7. 1/2 tsp Turmeric Powder
8. 1 tsp Deggi Chili Powder
9. 1 tbsp Goya Recaito Cilantro Cooking Base
10. 1 tbsp Tamicon
11. Salt to taste

Directions: 

Mix all ingredients together (except for the Tamicon) with 4 cups of water and bring to a boil. Simmer until dal is tender and begins to break apart. The preparation should be really soupy, so if it begins to thicken too much add cup or so of water. When the dal is tender, do a quick taste test for salt and add more, if needed. then add the tamicon, stir well and serve over brown rice. 

Nutrition Facts (Per Serving): Calories 168 (Fat Calories 8)
Total Fat 0.9; Cholesterol 0g; Carbohydrates 29.6g; Dietary Fiber 7.6g; Sugars 5.0g; Protein 11.3g

Soup of Baby Kales w Potatoes & Chickpeas

Little did I know, when I started this journey 13 months ago that I would grow to love the heartiness of kale. I was never a fan of tough greens and to be perfectly honest, I am still not a fan of raw kale. There are recipes for massaged kale which apparently allow it to lose some of its toughness, but I've never tried making those ... mostly because I'm lazy and also because I'm perfectly happy eating baby spinach in my salad - seven days a week. This soup, comes together in 20-30 minutes, in one-pot, and is loaded with more than 2 pound of greens. I added Seitan and Chick Peas for protein and a potato for starch. 

Soup of Baby Kales w Potatoes and Chickpeas

Prep Time: 20-30 min

Ingredients (Serves 4): 

1. 1 lb Baby Kale (whole)
2. 4 Heads of Baby Bok Choy (~1.1 to 1.2 lbs), sliced
3. 1 x 15oz can of Hunts Fire-Roasted Garlic Diced Tomatoes
4. 1 Russet Potato, diced into small pieces
5. 8 Dry Sun-dried Tomatoes (I buy the Whole foods 365 brand), sliced/diced.
6. 8 oz Cubed Seitan
7. 1 tbsp minced garlic
8. 1 tsp Lawry's Seasoned Salt
9. 1 tsp Cumin
10. 3 tsp Bragg's Liquid Aminos (or Low-Sodium Soy Sauce) 
11. 3 tbsp Nutritional Yeast
12. 6-8 cups of Water, or home-made (no-added-salt) Vegetable Broth
13. Pepper, to taste. 

Directions: 

Line a deep pot with water or vegetable broth and add garlic and seasonings. Once the garlic releases its aroma, add remaining ingredients (except nutritional yeast), bring to a boil and simmer until greens are wilted and potatoes are tender. Mine took about 27 minutes because I added the potatoes last. I only used liquid aminos because I'm trying to finish up my trial bottle. In my opinion, it is very salty. I prefer low-sodium soy sauce. Neither adds any substantial calories so nutritional content remains the same. Sodium content does vary. Once the potatoes are tender, add nutritional yeast and boil for a minute or two. Serve with freshly cracked black pepper. 

My Assessment: I love this soup because it is a very nutrient dense meal, for being only 300 calories. Each serving provides a whopping amount of food, 11 g of fiber and almost 28 g of proteins. The addition of the tomatoes and sun-dried tomatoes together gave the broth a slight 'sweet & sour' flavor which worked perfectly with the kale. Great for leftovers too. 

Nutrition Facts (Per Serving)*: Calories 291

Total Fat 3.3 g; Cholesterol 0 g; Carbohydrates 44.3 g; Fiber 11.1 g; Sugars 13.1 g; Protein 27.7 g

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

The Kitchen Sink Soup

Cold winter days call for a heartwarming soup and some home-made bread. I got wish #1 today. My husband coined the term The Kitchen Sink Soup - according to him ... "Its got everything in it, but the kitchen sink!" ... well yes, it is kind of true. I always use the same basic recipe and it works like a charm, every time, no matter what you put in it. 

The Kitchen Sink Soup

Prep Time: 20-30 min

Ingredients:*

1. 2 cups Protein (Red Kidney Beans, Black beans, Chick Peas, Various Lentils)
2. 2 cups Vegetables (Onion, Spinach, Green Beans, Corn, Peas, Carrots, Kale, Celery)
3. 1/2 cup Starch (Red Potatoes, White Potatoes, Brown Rice, Wild Rice, Barley, Quinoa, Noodles)
4. 1/2 cup Mushrooms (white, cremini, shiitake, portabella, oyster)
5. 4-6 cups Vegetable broth
6. 6-8 Dry Sun-dried Tomatoes (I buy the Whole foods 365 brand), sliced/diced.
7. 1 tbsp Minced garlic
8. 1 tbsp Miso (Barley or Soy).
9. Pepper, to taste.

Directions:

Line a stock pot with vegetable broth and add garlic. Once the garlic begins to release its aroma, add remaining ingredients (except Miso). Bring to a rolling boil. Reduce heat and allow to simmer until whatever starch you've added are done. When I use beans and/or chickpeas, I typically use canned. When I use lentils, I tend to use red lentils which are quick-cooking. Once starches are done cooking, turn off heat and add miso. I used Barley miso today. I typically don't discriminate between various kinds of Miso and use them interchangeably in my recipes. Do a quick taste test and if needed added more broth (as needed) and miso for flavor, or salt (if you prefer). Garnish with freshly ground black pepper and serve steaming hot. 

The Kitchen Sink Soup

Today, I used Red kidney beans, Baby spinach, Red Onion, Green Beans, White mushrooms and a blend of Brown and Wild rice. Umm Umm Good!! 

Wish #2 (homemade bread) will be granted soon ... Santa brought me a B&D Bread Maker!!! Yeah!!!

* This is a 'no added salt' recipe i.e. no salt is added over and above what is already in the condiments. In this soup, all the salt is coming from Miso and the sun-dried tomatoes add a lot of flavor, thereby reducing the need for additional salt.