Another simple & healthy Mexican dinner

This recipe is not as low fat as most that I share here.  However, most of the fat comes from whole foods and can be kept even lower if you water saute the peppers & garlic instead of using oil.

I made the recipe exactly as instructed and everyone loved it - including my pickiest eater.  I also love the simple one pan clean up.   This recipe is definitely a keeper!

One Pan Mexican Quinoa
http://damndelicious.net/2014/04/09/one-pan-mexican-quinoa/

The original recipe blog has great step-by-step instructions with photos... but here is a photo of my finished product - right before serving to my family.

Chipolte Pasta

http://www.forksoverknives.com/chipotle-pasta/

This Mexican style vegan pasta dish is easy to make, healthy, and a hit with the entire family.  Well, the little one doesn't love the sauce, so I prepare him a dish with everything mixed together (pasta, beans, corn, tomatoes) just before I add the sauce.

I can put together this dinner fairly quickly because I have all these ingredients on hand in my pantry.   However, I remember back to my early months cooking vegan and had no idea what miso was much less where to find it (and neither did most of the grocery store employees I enlisted to help me find it).  I'm happy to report, three years later, I see miso everywhere!   I've found it at Whole Foods, Wegmans, Trader Joes, etc.   Nutritional yeast can also be found in most grocery stores now.  I prefer buying it from the bulk bins at the natural foods grocery stores (for less than $10/lb) for the cost savings.  I store it in a cleaned out empty jelly jar.

A few notes on my prep: In the summer, when tomatoes are in season here in Maryland, I use fresh tomatoes in this recipe. Otherwise, I use one can of (drained) diced tomatoes.  Also, I use an entire 12oz. package of pasta.

Delicious homemade soup - allergen free!

I found this recipe in a magazine from the health food store.  The total time to make this soup is nearly an hour... but it's worth it.  A very healthy and delicious soup the entire family can enjoy.  

Jasmine Rice Soup with Cannellini and Rosemary
http://deliciousliving.com/recipes/jasmine-rice-soup-cannellini-and-rosemary

A few notes on this recipe.  I omit the olive oil and cook the onions in a thin layer of water (a fat free cooking tip!)   The half teaspoon of red pepper flakes called for gives the soup a bit of heat.  If your little ones are sensitive to this, you might want to omit or just use a quarter teaspoon.

Great Northern Beans make an excellent substitution for the Cannellini beans if you find those in your pantry instead.

I like to make a loaf of homemade bread while the soup is cooking and serve it with the soup for dinner.

Got summer squash? How about some enchiladas?

Many weeks in the summer, our CSA gives us a bag of summer squash.   I found a recipe that we all love (and I've served it with success to guests as well) that uses whatever type of summer squash our CSA gives us.

Black Bean and Summer Squash Enchiladas
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2010/05/black-bean-summer-squash-enchiladas.html

I will admit that I have trouble with corn tortillas.  Maybe I just haven't found the right kind yet... but mine always split.  In fact, I think next time I'm going to try to alter the recipe a bit and just do layers (tortilla, squash/bean mix, tortilla) like a lasagna.  Even though this dish never looks pretty when I make it, it still tastes delicious!

Frugal and tasty vegan slow cooker soup

Our lives are very hectic so I'm always happy when I find a slow cooker recipe that the entire family enjoys. I love being able to make dinner when I have time early in the day, stick it in the slow cooker, and come home at dinnertime to a hot, homemade dinner!

Lentil & Black Bean Soup
http://penniesandpancakes.blogspot.com/2013/03/slow-cooker-lentil-black-bean-soup-023.html
I love that this recipe uses ingredients I almost always have on hand at home, the prep is simple & straightforward, and the cost per serving is approx. 25 cents!

You can see from the Nutrition Facts here that is a very low calorie &  high protein meal.

I adapted the original recipe just a bit...


INGREDIENTS
8oz (1/2 of a 1 lb. bag) dry lentils
1 can black beans
1 medium onions (finely diced)
2 large carrots (finely chopped)
1 (15 oz.) cans diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 Tbsp. cumin
1/2 Tbsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. dried parsley
5 cups HOT water

3/4 Tbsp salt (to taste)*
1/2 tsp. black pepper (to taste)*

*Added at the end of cooking

DIRECTIONS
Rinse lentils and black beans. Discard any small pebbles or bad beans. Put them in the slow cooker. Add the diced onions, chopped carrots, tomatoes, garlic, cumin, chili powder, parsley, and HOT water to the slow cooker.

Cover, and cook on HIGH for 4 hours. No peeking, no stirring.

Remove the lid, and add the salt and pepper to taste. Scoop out  3-4 cups of the soup into a blender and puree and then pour it back into the slow cooker and stir.  This soup is very thick ... almost like chili, and tastes great by itself, over rice, served with tortilla chips, or with cornbread.

Store in the fridge for 1 week, or in the freezer for 4 months.

Is it soup or stew?

This recipe is called soup, but my boys argued it should be called stew because it's so thick.    Either way, the entire family enjoyed this one and it's pretty easy to make from the pantry.    I would suggest going really easy on the Chipotle chili powder and skipping the hot sauce when making it for the 1st time for the family... or until you figure out how much heat they can handle.

Smoky Refried Bean Soup
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2008/03/smoky-refried-bean-soup.html
I make a few substitutions - I use a drained can of corn instead of the frozen corn and whatever pepper I have on hand (yesterday it was red pepper).
We enjoy ours with tortilla chips crumbled on top.

Easy Homemade Black Bean Burgers

We've always enjoyed black bean burgers - but the frozen ones I buy at the store have some additives that aren't too healthy and others that add fat.   I found an easy recipe that everyone enjoys for homemade black bean burgers.  I like to enjoy mine with a thin layer of guacamole on top, some fresh spinach leaves, and a thin pickle slice inside of a sandwich thin.  I serve them with Kevin's favorite potatoes.

Black Bean Burgers
http://happyherbivore.com/recipe/quick-black-bean-burger/
As you can see, I bake them on a Silpat mat.  It makes flipping them and removing them when finished stress free.   I didn't have any instant oatmeal at home, so I just whisked some regular oats in the Vitamix to make it more similar to instant oatmeal.

Burgers - pre-baking (they look very similar baked as well)

Healthy Homemade Baked Beans

We had this for dinner last night.  It was delicious!   This recipe makes a lot, so we enjoyed the beans for leftovers again today for lunch.

Smoky Apple Baked Beans
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2013/02/smoky-apple-baked-beans.html
I was not sure at first if I was going to recommend this dish here (since I'm trying to only post recipes the entire family enjoys).   My boys ate it without complaining, but needed to drink a lot of water since it had a kick to it.  I did make one substitution when I prepared it... I used Cayenne Red Pepper powder instead of the Chipotle Pepper powder called for in the recipe because that's what I had on hand.    Today I looked up the difference and found out that Cayenne is almost 3x as hot as Chipotle!   So I think I'm going to have to buy some Chipotle powder or only use a pinch of Cayenne as a substitution next time (not a 1:1 substitution) to make it more kid friendly.

I served these beans over the collard greens I'd made the night before along with some herb bread to make it a complete meal.  

Black Bean Soup

I have found a couple of great tasting black bean soup recipes from the forksoverknives.com site. 

Mexican Black Bean and Corn Soup
I've used regular tomatoes and salt and bottled lime juice and it turns out great.
http://www.forksoverknives.com/mexican-black-bean-corn-soup/

Black Bean and Salsa Soup
This recipe is so quick, simple, & delicious!
Be sure to use a good quality salsa.   I omit the extra hot sauce as the salsa I use is spicy enough.  I have been using canned no salt added corn (drained) for convenience.
http://happyherbivore.com/recipe/salsa-soup/

Mexican Chowder
Finally, this one isn't a traditional black bean soup... but rather a Mexican chowder, but also really tasty.   Again, for convenience, I use bottled lime juice. 
http://www.forksoverknives.com/mexican-chowder/

Pumpkin Lentil Curry with Apples

This is easy to make and is quite tasty... and even better the next day as leftovers.

Pumpkin Lentil Curry with Apples
http://plantpoweredkitchen.com/recipe-pumpkin-lentil-curry-with-apples/

I've only made it once so far, but plan to make it more often as my local natural foods market recently had cans of organic pumpkin on a 75% off markdown so I stocked up!

Remember as your gathering your ingredients together to start a batch of brown rice (or other grain of your choice) in your rice cooker before you start making this dish.... so both will be done & ready at the same time!

Vegan style comfort food

Chickpea Noodle Soup
http://www.forksoverknives.com/chickpea-noodle-soup/

This soup is pretty easy to make once you have the ingredients on hand.  I had the hardest time finding the miso (check the ethnic foods or Japanese section of your grocery store).   I also don't have tamari on hand, but after a little research discovered that it's close to soy sauce, so I use that instead.  The soup is yummy and one everyone enjoys.

Kevin's favorite potatoes

I apologize for not having a link or a photo for this recipe - it was one we received in an email from our CSA and I've modified a little bit.

These potatoes are delicious and very popular!

Dijon-Herb Roasted Potatoes

about 2lbs potatoes
5 Tbsp dijon mustard (I use Grey Poupon)
1 Tbsp olive oil (or omit entirely and just spray pan with cooking spray)
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 tsp Italian seasoning (feel free to substitute some combo of your own making, such as basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, sage...)

Mix all ingredients except potatoes in a medium bowl. Scrub potatoes (can leave whole if small otherwise cut into bit sized pieces) and then toss with mustard mixture in bowl. Turn them out into a shallow baking sheet and sprinkle with salt & pepper. Bake at 425 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes until potatoes are fork tender, stirring occasionally.

Potatoes pre-baking

Just out of the oven.  Done & ready to eat!

Everyone loves chili mac!

Hearty Chili Mac
https://www.pcrm.org/good-nutrition/plant-based-diets/recipes/hearty-chili-mac
This recipe is super simple to make and I usually have all the ingredients already on hand.
I've served it with success to guests as well.
To make life simple, sometimes I cook the onion & garlic on the stove top and then dump everything in the crock-pot, mix, and then cook on low for a few hours.  

Simple, quick, and healthy curry

Ridiculously Easy Curried Chickpeas and Quinoa
http://blog.fatfreevegan.com/2010/04/ridiculously-easy-curried-chickpeas-quinoa.html

I often use this recipe when I have leftover plain quinoa in my fridge and I'm short on time to make dinner.  I never seem to have fresh ginger on hand, so I use 3/4tsp powdered ginger instead.    I rarely have the fire roasted tomatoes at home so I use fresh tomatoes (which taste wonderful!) in the summer or just regular canned & diced tomatoes the rest of the year. 

If you haven't tried curry with your kids before, don't be afraid.  All of my kids love this recipe!

Delicious and simple soup

Provencal Red Lentil Soup
http://www.fatfreevegan.com/pressure/provencal.htm

I had a bunch of leeks and a lot of carrots from our CSA sitting in my vegetable drawer.  I'm so glad I found this recipe.  It was easy to make and tasted delicious (even my pickiest eater loved it!) 

Right before finishing, I scooped out a few cups of the soup (tried not to get too many carrots in there) and pureed it in the blender and then added it back into the pot.  I recommend this step!