Quinoa Taco Salad

It's getting colder out which means we naturally remove ourselves from cold, albeit fresh, salads and opt for the more meatier (plant based of course) soups and rice dishes. So we've been having a lot of rice and bean dishes ... variations of the same, according to HOMY. He'd rather not eat another rice and bean dish for a few months :) !! I have been missing the greens in my diet and today when we came home with a salad box of baby spinach I decided to make a taco salad ... except HOMY is not a big fan of TVP and is fed-up with beans .. hmm? Stuck between a rock and a hard place .. not quite so because he loves Quinoa and I had the perfect idea to turn my Quinoa Chili recipe into a Quinoa Taco Meat recipe. 

Prep Time: 20 min

Ingredients (Serves 4):

1. 1 cup Quinoa, rinsed and drained.
2. 1 cup Water
3. 1/2 Medium Red Onion, diced
4. 1 can (15 oz) Dark Red Kidney Beans, rinsed and drained
5. 2 Large Tomatoes, diced
6. 2 cups Yellow Corn, steamed and ready to serve. 
7. 1 lb Baby Spinach, rinsed and ready to serve
8. 1 tbsp minced Garlic
9. 2 tsp Cumin powder
10. 2 Coriander powder
11. 1 tsp Italian seasoning
12. 1 tsp Taco seasoning
13. 2 tsp dried Cilantro leaves
14. 2 tsp Chipotle Pepper (add more, to taste)
15. 1 tbsp Light Molasses
16. 4 tbsp Soy Sauce, or Bragg's Liquid Aminos
17. Salt and Pepper, to taste
18. Salsa, as dressing, to taste.
19. Sliced Avocados or Guacamole, to taste (optional)
20. Sliced Jalapenos, to taste (optional)
21. Tortilla Strips, to taste (optional)

Directions:

In a large non-stick skillet, mix quinoa, water, red onion, and all spices and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and cover and allow to simmer until quinoa is cooked well (about 10-12 min). Remove cover, mix in Kidney beans and allow the excess water to evaporate until the mixture has the consistency of well-browned taco meat. Taste test and add more cumin, taco seasoning, salt and chili peppers, if needed. Split the baby spinach into 4 large salad bowls. Top off with a generous sprinkle of yellow corn and fresh tomatoes. Drop a generous dollop of taco meat in the middle, add salsa for dressing and serve. Garnish with optional taco salad toppings, if you wish. 

Nutrition Facts (Per Serving): Calories 349 (Fat Calories 42)
Total Fat 4.7 g; Carbohydrates 65.9 g; Fiber 12.5 g; Sugars 9.7 g; Protein 17.0 g


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!

Steel Cut Oat Bean Chili

One of my favorite vegan chefs out there, Chef AJ, shared a recipe on Facebook for a Steel Cut Oat Bean Chili. The picture itself oh so appetizing. The recipe was super simple. It looked like it would come together is around 30 minutes. The temperatures have been dropping all week and today .. snow was coming down in gentle flurries all day long. It was a perfect day for a bowl of chili. I even had all the ingredients on hand. It was meant to be :) 

Adapted from: www.sheknows.com (original recipe in OATrageous Oatmeals, by Kathy Hester)

Prep Time: ~25-30 min

Ingredients (Serves 4):

1. 2 cups water 
2. 1.5 tsp Better than Bouillon Vegetable Base 
3. 1/2 cup steel-cut oats
4. 1 tbsp Oregano
5. 1.5 tbsp Ground Cumin
6. 1 tsp Smoked Chipotle Chili powder
7. 1 tbsp Minced Garlic
8. 1 (14.5 ounce) can kidney beans, drained and rinsed 
9. 1 (14.5 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed (or 1-1/2 cups homemade)
10. 1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
11. 1 cup frozen corn
12. 1.5 tsp Liquid smoke
13. 1 tsp Freeze-dried Cilantro leaves (or fresh)
14. Juice of 1/2 a lime (optional)
15. Salt, to taste

Directions:

I pretty much followed the directions on the sheknows.com website with the exception that I did not wait for the oats to be completely cooked before I added the rest of the ingredients. I let everything cook together which blended the flavors much better in my opinion. Bring the water and vegetable base to a boil in a heavy cast iron pot (I used my Le Creuset). Add oats, bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium and allow to cook for a couple of minutes. Then stir in remaining ingredients, bring to a boil again and reduce heat to low, cover with a heavy lid to prevent excessive evaporation and serve when the oats are completely cooked (about 20 min). I forgot to use the lime juice listed in the original recipe. And with the vegetable base I used, I didn't even need to add salt to this recipe. It turned out great!!

My Assessment: This chili was really good. I love using different grains in my chili recipes and hadn't used Oats until now. The recipe was so simple, even with my couple of substitutions and additions, anyone could throw it all in a pot and have a wholesome dinner in half an hour!! A+++ 

Nutrition Facts (Per Serving): Calories 242 (Fat Calories 19)
Total Fat 2.1 g; Carbohydrates 44.7 g; Fiber 9.8 g; Sugars 3.5 g; Protein 12.0 g


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!

Vegetables in Creamy Cashew Sauce

Someone in my Facebook Group (Indian Plant Based Whole Food Junkies) asked earlier today for a Korma recipe without tomatoes. Now growing up in India, I remember Korma as a hearty meaty dish with lots of caramelized onions and tomatoes. But, they'd tried it at an Indian restaurant and wanted a WFPB version. So I decided to give it a try today. She recalled it being in a creamy white sauce - my guess, they just skipped the tomatoes in their recipe. 

This recipe is an adaptation of an older recipe for TVP Korma which I modified today to make the creamy white sauce. I, of course, changed up the vegetables :) but I didn't call this dish a korma as it is not a true korma in my opinion. Maybe this isn't what you were hoping for :) but that's my 2c. 

Prep Time: 30 min

Ingredients (Serves 4):

1. 2 cups Green Beans
2. 1 cup Corn
3. 1 x 12 oz Pack of Extra-Firm Silken Tofu 
4. 1/2 Medium Red Onion, pureed
5. 1 tbsp Ginger-Garlic paste
6. 1/3 cup Raw Cashews, ground (I use a coffee grinder)
7. 1 cup Non-Dairy Milk
8. 1 cup Water or Vegetable Broth
9. 1 tsp Ground Cumin
10. 1 tsp Ground Cilantro Seed
11. 2-3 tsp Garam Masala
12. Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions:

Line a skillet with water and add pureed onions and 1/2 tsp of salt. Saute and caramelize onions until they are a rich dark golden color (keep a measuring cup with water handy; keep stirring the onions until they dry up and start to stick to the bottom of the pan, which is fine, add a splash of water, which will allow the caramelized onions at the bottom of the pan to soften up again. Repeat the process until the onions are are rich red color). Once onions are done, add the ginger-garlic paste and repeat the same process until the mix is fragrant (2-3 min). At this point, add beans, corn, cashew powder, 1/2 cup non-dairy milk, spices and water. Mix well, reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and let simmer for 5-10 minutes. Meanwhile dice half the tofu into chunks and puree the remaining with 1/2 cup of milk. When you have a smooth creamy paste of tofu and milk, add that to the skillet, mix well and allow to simmer for another 5 min. At this point you can also add the diced tofu to the pan but be careful when mixing so as to not smoosh the pieces. When ready to serve, garnish with fresh coriander leaves and a fresh sprinkle of garam masala. 

Nutrition Facts (Per Serving): Calories 190 (Fat Calories 78)
Total Fat 8.7 g; Carbohydrates 19.6 g; Fiber 4.2 g; Sugars 4.0 g; Protein 10.9 g


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!

Creamy Potato Soup

Crispy fall weather brings with it evenings when all we eat for dinner is a bowl of hearty soup. Today was the first really chilly day of the year. We went on an approximately 4 mile hike (brr!) and came home and lazed for a few hours. Having been frozen to the bone earlier, both HOMY* and I wanted soup for dinner. I had some shredded potatoes in the freezer that I'd picked up on a whim and I decided to use those today. Simply potatoes has not added oils in their freezer packs so they're great to have in the freezer for on days you run out of fresh stuff.

Prep Time: 30 min

Ingredients (Serves 2):

1. 1 x 12oz Simply Potatoes (Shredded Hash Browns) or 3 cups fresh shredded potatoes
2. 1 Medium Red Onion, diced
3. 1.5 cup Non-Dairy Milk
4. 1 tbsp Minced Garlic
5. 1 tbsp fresh or dried Scallions
6. 2 tsp dried Basil
7. 2 tsp Brown Miso
8. 1 tsp Liquid Smoke
9. 1 tbsp Soy Sauce
10. Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions:

Line a stock pot with water and add red onion, minced garlic and scallions. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and cook until the onions are translucent. Add potatoes and non-dairy milk (of choice). Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium. Cover and allow to simmer for about 10 min. After the potatoes are cooked and beginning to break down, add basil, liquid smoke, soy sauce and stir.

Add more water to achieve the desired consistency (making sure to boil and simmer for a few minutes every time you add more water, else the soup will taste watery). Remove from heat when done, stir in Miso. Taste test for salt, and add more as needed.

Serve immediately with warm bread for sopping. Enjoy! We licked our bowls clean!! 

* HOMY = Husband of Many Years (term coined by my dear friend, Bindu! Thank you, Girl!)

Nutrition Facts (Per Serving): Calories 242 (Fat Calories 29)
Total Fat 3.2 g; Carbohydrates 44.5 g; Fiber 7.0 g; Sugars 2.6 g; Protein 5.7 g


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!

Breakfast Cream o' Wheat

This morning I wasn't in the mood for just another bowl of Oatmeal. I've been eating the same breakfast before work every morning for almost 2 years now and I still love it. Every once in a while though, I crave other things. It was going to be a chilly day, the first of many this fall and winter and I also wanted something with nuts in it. I stared at the pantry and then the fridge and then the pantry again before I remembered one of my favorite breakfasts growing up was Doodh ki Sooji ... essentially a creamy milky porridge made with Semolina (Cream of Wheat).

Breakfast Cream o' Wheat w nuts and raisins!

Prep Time: 20 min

Ingredients (Serves 1):

1. 1/4 cup Medium-Grain Semolina (Sooji)
2. 1 tbsp Slivered Almonds
3. 1 tbsp Crumbled Cashews
4. 1 tbsp Chia Seeds
5. 1 tbsp Raisins
6. 1/4 tsp Cardamom Powder
7. 2 tbsp Brown Sugar (to taste)
8. 1-2 tsp Maple Syrup (to drizzle on top)
9. 1 and 1/4 cup Almond (or any non-dairy) Milk

Directions:

Heat a non-stick skillet or large sauce pan to medium high and add the semolina. Begin dry-roasting the semolina (with constant stirring using a rubber spatula) to aid in uniform roasting. As the semolina roasts, the color will deepen to a golden (about 10 min) and then go even deeper. As it begins to darken, add the nuts and raisins and dry roast those as well.

As the raisins plump up in the pan with heat, add the cardamom powder, give it all a nice toss and then add the milk, saving just a splash to drizzle on top. Allow everything to come to a boil, turn heat to low until it reaches the desired consistency, adding more milk if needed.

Add brown sugar, to taste, mix well. Transfer to a serving bowl, drizzle with milk and maple syrup and enjoy!! Mmm Hmm good!! 

Nutrition Facts (Per Serving): Calories 486 (Fat Calories 134)
Total Fat 14.9 g; Carbohydrates 70.8 g; Fiber 9.7 g; Sugars 31.9 g; Protein 12.6 g


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!

Chickpea Crepes (Besan ka Puda)

While my mom was visiting this summer, she made a lot of my childhood favorites for breakfast, lunch and dinner :) !!! And yes, I gained several pounds during her 2 month stay which have been tough to shrug off ... oh but the food!! Awesome!! 

This recipe can be used as a vegetarian/vegan omelette if you stuff the crepes with the usual fixin's ... diced mushrooms, onions, spinach, green peppers and whatever else you fancy in an omelette. I preferred mine plain with a side of hummus ... it was truly a treat and made me miss mom all over again!! 

Prep Time: 15 min

Ingredients (makes 2-4 crepes):

1. 1/2 cup Chick pea flour
2. 1 tsp Cumin Powder
3. 1 tsp Carom Seeds
4. 1/4 cup Red Onion, finely diced 
5. 2 tsp Cilantro Leaves, finely diced
6. Salt and Pepper, to taste
7. Cooking Oil spray

Directions:

Mix all the ingredients together with water to make a thick slurry, just slightly thinner than pancake batter. Let sit for a couple of minutes to allow the flour to imbibe the water completely. 

Heat a non-stick skillet to medium-high. Once heated, spray on a thin layer of cooking oil and spread about 1/3 cup of the batter on the skillet and spread it out in concentric circles using a large spoon. 

Allow to cook on one side, very similar to how one would cook a pancake (letting it bubble on one side before flipping). Flip once, cook thoroughly and serve warm with a side of hummus or green chutney. Enjoy! 

Nutrition Facts (Per Serving): Calories 104 (Fat Calories 16)
Total Fat 1.8 g; Carbohydrates 15.4 g; Fiber 3.0 g; Sugars 3.1 g; Protein 5.6 g


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!