Easy Chickpea Kale Bowl

We take a break from our regularly scheduled Thanksgiving updates to give you this yummy bowl. 


Vegans seem to eat things in bowls- just lots of stuff piled together in a bowl and it makes a meal. When we were staying with my family for a couple of months, my mom commented that it was a bit weird, but I've been vegan for 3 years and I mostly eat at home, where other people aren't looking, so I hadn't really noticed. But it is a little weird. I'll have to remember to share my favorite bowl with you guys sometime. I keep forgetting and I don't have any pictures. This one's really good though, and super healthy.

I also want to start sharing more of what I actually eat every day. Sure, I make a few recipes a week and generally live off the leftovers of big batches of soup or whatever, but I also make other, super simple meals. I'm sure other bloggers can relate to me on this-- there are just some meals that don't seem photo- or recipe-ready, or you don't want to bother with clearing off the table just to take a picture of your super-simple-but-super-yummy oatmeal. But I'm beginning to think it's worth it, and I remember particularly that daily food sharing forums from Veggie Boards and What I Ate Wednesdays really helped give me some good ideas when I was starting out-- they still do! So here is one of those quick posts-- it's super simple, not really a recipe, but yummy and I remembered to take a picture! You could really change up the ingredients endlessly, but this is what I had for lunch (and dinner, rolled up in a tortilla) yesterday. It was delish.

Chickpea Kale Bowl

Also, you can go check out my Pinterest page for ideas-- I pin stuff from here but mostly a ton of other things including a massive Vegan Recipes the Inspire Me board full of ideas and recipes!

Here goes!

2 Servings
Ingredients:

• 1/2 tsp or small drizzle olive oil
• 5ish baby portabella or cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 celery rib, sliced or diced, your preference
• small bunch fresh parsley
• 2-3 big sage leaves or other fresh (or dried!) herbs
• 3ish cups of ready-to-go kale, or other green, or chop and wash your own
• 1 can of chickpeas (my favorite, but your could use any bean
• balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

•  Drizzle tiny amount of oil into a relatively large pan-- I used my stockpot but I think the big skillet would have worked.
• Drain your chickpeas in a colander and run water over them until they are fresh-looking and don't have that bubbly, gooey can juice on them anymore.
• Slice or dice your veg and add to the pot, turning it on medium.
• I love parsley and the amount I use is a small handful, about 1/4 cup once chopped. Take the tops off of your parsley by pinching or cutting. Slice your herbs thin. Then chop it all up together, alternating directions and re-scooping your pile until it's all finely chopped. Or you don't have to and just leave it chunky.
• Add to the pot, then immediately add your greens.
• Let them cook a couple of minutes, add some salt, pepper, and olive oil.
• Add your chickpeas and cook a couple or more minutes 'til they're warm.
• Finish off with a drizzle of balsamic--  taste as you go because it can get real crazy real quick-- and more salt and pepper, and voilà! Yum.

Note: If you use spinach as your green, add it last so it doesn't cook too long.

Also, I haven't been putting nutrition info on here because I wasn't counting calories for a while, and then I changed the program I used and the info format is different, but I know some of you liked that and I'm tallying again so here you go! 

cals (using 1.5 tsp oil) per 1/2 recipe: 286kcal | fat: 7.80g | carbs: 43.78g | prot: 15.26g

Apple Crumb Pie

This is Adam Apple Mouth. This is what happens when you are a little brother and you've been expected to entertain yourself while all the grownups are watching football or cooking. All day long. And then your sister tries to make an apple pie and your mom sliced up the apples, which was awesome of her, but your sister isn't quite ready to assemble the pie yet and there are apples sliced up and sitting on the counter and one of your favorite foods is apples.

After a very long two days of painting and cooking, everything else was in the oven or on the counter ready to go for dinner and I was making this pie to go in the oven while we ate. Adam likes apples. And there were plenty left for the pie. And the pie was a complete success. I even suggested tweaking something for if I make it again and Sam said something about how I couldn't ruin the best pie ever. So, apparently, it's the best pie ever.

Adam Apple Mouth

Pie after being sliced into

Also, I love this blog I've been reading Hyperbole and a Half. Everyone else has probably already heard of it, but I just discovered it. Allie's posts about depression (post one and post two) are hilariously insightful and her post on procrastination and guilt seems like it was written directly to me. Please read it, it's wonderful! (There are some curse words though, just so you know)

Pie before crumble topping

Onto pie. The recipe came from My Sweet Vegan by Emily Mainquist. This is an awesome book that has so many recipes I want to try and came to me courtesy of Trina from Your Vegan Mom. The pie was super easy and quick to put together, but I did have to bake it for about an hour longer than stated. It was all good though, we were playing Yahtzee and not ready for pie yet. I added some lemon juice and apple butter to the filling and used about 1/3 cup sugar instead of 3/4. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly so I don't want to publish it here -- go buy the book! Seriously, it's great.

Action shot

The tempting bowl of apples

Pie crust, apples, and look at our green dining room!

More to come on green bean casserole, dining room before and after, roast squash, cranberry sauce, eating (some) garlic and onions again, and actual recipes!

Super Quick Warm Salad with Popped Snap Peas

This salad is super yummy and super quick. I'm working on the house today and don't have a ton of time to cook, but I wanted something warm and super healthy. That's where this salad comes in. And I love the way sugar snap peas sound when they're snapped, more of a round "pop" than a snap, so that's what I'm calling them -- popped snap peas! Using pre-washed greens and washing your tomatoes when you bring them home from the store makes this a super quick meal. Also, these pics are bit bit blurry because of the whole, not a lot of time today thing. But, you get the idea, and I'll retake them eventually!

Warm Salad with Popped Snap Peas

3 cups greens -- I used baby spinach and mixed spring greens
handful of canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
drizzle of olive oil
several turns of fresh pepper
handful of grape tomatoes
juice and zest of one lemon
handful of sugar snap peas, "popped" in the middle

Tear your greens into a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients except the lemon juice to a warm skillet, cover and cook on high just for a couple of minutes until your chickpeas are a bit browned. Add the lemon juice and let cook for a minute to reduce the acidity and increase sweetness. Pour contents of skillet over your greens and top with more olive oil and pepper, if you want. Enjoy!

Lentil Mushroom Burgers and Bunny Fries

Oh, blogland, I have so many things I want to talk to you about! I've had some fantastic BLT's lately (more on that later, but really you just need vegan bacon and mayo and I'm sure you can figure it out). I've made some crazy-good cookies, probably the best cookies I've ever made. I promise I'll share soon, but a girl can (should) only eat so many cookies and I've been recipe-testing. I've also made some fantastic protein shakes which I'll get around to posting in a bit too. Hubby and I have been going on lots of walks and playing catch in the backyard (back-strip-of-dirt?), which has been pretty awesome. It's kinda hot today though. Anyway, I've got to get ready for church, so I'll get down to it. My dinner was pretty awesome, so I'm sharing!

No, these fries aren't made of bunnies - they're carrots (obviously?). I really love carrot fries, probably more than sweet potato fries, I really wanted some for dinner, and since Easter is coming up, I thought the name fit. And I made a new (onion/garlicless) veggie burger. So yummy! I really love homemade veggie burgers and often, though I've gotten out of the habit lately, make a batch to eat throughout the week. This recipe is a bit on the moister side, so if you want you can add some breadcrumbs, more flax, or less tomato paste. They taste really great though and can also be made into a veggie loaf super easily. Without further ado, the recipes:

Lentil Mushroom Burgers/Loaf:
Makes 8 patties or 8 slices lentil loaf

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry lentils, simmered in 2 cups of water until water evaporates
• 8 oz. button mushrooms, chopped
• 1 small can tomato paste
• salt, pepper
• 1.5 tablespoons sunflower seeds (maybe more next time?)
• 2 cups fresh spinach, chopped
• 1/4 cup milled flaxseed

Directions:

• Cook your lentils. Cook your chopped mushrooms in a large pot or skillet with a little salt and pepper on low heat until they release their moisture and turn a little darker in color.
• Add the rest of your ingredients and mix really well.
• Form into patties (about 1/2 cup each) or scoop into a loaf pan.
• Spray a skillet (the same one you just used works) or swirl a little oil in the bottom. Cook your patties on medium heat, being careful not to break them. You can just smoosh them back together if they fall apart though. It might be a good idea to add a little extra flax, some breadcrumbs, or use less tomato paste if you're making patties. They were a little too wet to work with. Come to think of it, if you coated each patty in panko breadcrumbs before cooking, that would be amazing.
• If you're making a loaf, smoosh down the top of your mixture so it's smooth, and pop into a 350 degree (Fahrenheit) oven for, I don't know, about 40 minutes. You want the top to be a little dry and browned.
• Go make your bunny fries and enjoy!

Bunny Fries:
Serves 1 but you can multiply to make as much as you want!

Ingredients:

• 3 medium carrots, cut into fry shapes
• 1 teaspoon olive or canola oil (may not need more oil, even if you use more carrots, not sure)

Directions:

• Toss your carrot fries in the oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
• Bake at 450 degrees for about 30 minutes, or until browned in places, turning once.
• It's important that these get browned! That's what makes them sweet and delicious, more like a fry and less like a carrot!
• You'll probably want more, just so you know.

 

Old Bay Seasoning

With my new venture into onion/garlic free cooking, I've definitely hit a few roadblocks. But, today I have good news! Old Bay Seasoning doesn't have garlic or onion powder! They do have some other flavors, but their Original and 30% Less Sodium Original mixes don't include these pesky things!

A couple of days ago, I wanted a sandwich for lunch and didn't have a ton of ingredients in the kitchen. (By the way, Lightlife makes a vegan lunch "meat" without garlic or onions -- their Smart Deli Ham is g/o free! The turkey is not, though). I did have Vegenaise and great northern beans at home, my preferred bean for "chicken" salad type sandwich stuff. I didn't know what I was going to season it with, though. I couldn't cut up onion for the mix or use garlic or onion powder, so for a minute I wasn't sure what I would do.

Then I remembered that I have a pretty huge tin of Old Bay Seasoning in the pantry (does a teeny tiny upper corner cabinet count as a pantry if that's what I use it for?). Anyway, I don't know what made me check, because I kind of assumed it had the no-no's in it, but I did and here's what the ingredients say: celery salt (salt, celery seed), spices (including red pepper and black pepper), and paprika. So, initially seems okay but I a bit skeptical of the "spices" label. I went ahead and made my sandwich, which was super savory tasting, but didn't seem to taste like garlic or onions. You can really taste that celery seed!

The "recipe" is just 

• 1/2 can (or about 3/4 cup) great northern beans, rinsed
•  1 tablespoon vegenaise
• few shakes of Old Bay - about 1/2 tsp
• and a few turns of fresh pepper 

Then just smoosh the beans a little, pop some bread in the toaster, spread the beans on, and slice up a tomato if you feel like it. Super yummy and a complete protein, too!
So, after lunch, to make sure,  I emailed McCormick and this is what they said:

"Dear Ms. Bisset:

Thank you for taking the time to contact us. We appreciate your interest in our Old Bay 30% Less Sodium Seasoning and welcome the opportunity to be of assistance to you.

At this time there is no garlic or onion products in our Old Bay 30% Less Sodium Seasoning.

If we can be of further assistance, please call us at 1-800-632-5847. If you wish to respond to this note by e-mail, please include your name and e-mail address.

We hope to have the continued pleasure of serving you.

Sincerely,
Jaclyn
Consumer Affairs Specialist

Ref # 1801177"

Woohoo!!! Now I have a savory replacement that will hopefully work for soup! I already have a vegetable soup that includes quite a bit of this stuff. Last time I made it, it had an onion in it, but hopefully this would be enough of a kick on it's own.

Check out that spice!

This is actually the regular stuff, but I prefer the 30% Less Sodium kind because I find the Original a bit too salty for me. It's still super awesome though!

Mmmmm, sandwich.

Mac and Cheese, St. Patty's Day Style!

 

May you always have...
Walls for the winds
A roof for the rain  

Tea beside the fire
Laughter to cheer you
Those you love near you
And all your heart might desire.

And green vegan macaroni and cheese for St. Patrick's Day, if that's what you desire!

So, I talked about my new mac and cheese the other day, and here it is! You can make this sauce as is, or, like I did today, you can make it green! This would be a perfect dinner to have with kids for St. Patrick's Day! Or lunch by yourself at your office. Or at home, like me! This cheesy sauce is also great on nachos!

 You can take it to go for lunch -- or just pack individual jars for easy prep.

Alrighty, down to the nitty gritty.....

The original recipe for this sauce comes from Bold Vegan. I was looking for a new cheesy sauce, since my other one, from Fat Free Vegan, includes onion and garlic powder. It really is delicious though, so try i if you can! Anyhoo, this one from Bold Vegan originally included onion, too but I think it's super tasty this way. I've made a couple of changes to make it to my taste -- a bit thicker and more healthy.

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups potato, roughly chopped
• 1 cup carrot, chopped
• 2.5 cups water
• 0.5 cup nutritional yeast
• 3 tablespoons coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 2 tablespoons oat flour, to thicken
• 1.5 teaspoons salt
• 0.5 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 big handfuls (about 4 cups) fresh spinach, if you want it green!

Directions

•  Add your water, potatoes, and carrots to a pot, cover, and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes.
• When they're done, add the whole bit to a blender (including the water). Add the rest of the ingredients (except the spinach) and blend until super creamy, about 2 minutes.
• If you want it green, add the spinach and blend until smooth -- I did this in 2 steps: one handful, blend, 2nd handful, blend. 
• You really can't taste the spinach, which makes it great for kids! If you're sensitive to how vegetables taste, you may notice a bit of "green" but it's really good, I promise! The spinach will make it a bit more thin, so you can decrease the water or increase the oat flour if you want. I used about 3/4 cup of sauce for 2 cups of cooked pasta.

And here it is without the spinach. Perfect, cheesy color! (The little specks you can see are because my blender is on the fritz, it's normally completely smooth)

Enjoy your St. Patrick's Day celebrations everyone!

Yummy Tea and an Update

Hey there, lovelies! Just wanted to share what's going on in my kitchen lately. Not much if I can hep it! I found out a couple of weeks ago that I can't eat garlic or onions anymore!!! AAARGHMPH! Seriously, every soup I make has onion for a base, every quick food from the store I can eat, every meal from restaurants I'm used to.... all... include... garlic or onions (can you even get food without garlic and onions at a restaurant?). I'll live, I'm just having a pity party first.

So, how did this come about? Well, my hubby has always (not always, but for quite a while) been able to tell when I eat a lot of garlic or onions. Apparently, they make me smell weird. Like, my skin. Isn't that weird? Anyway, the weird-smelling-skin issue has gotten worse over the last year to where I smelled weird if I had any garlic or onions, even a teeny bit, cooked or not, in powder form or not. So needless to say, I'd cut back pretty drastically on my consumption even before recently, bu then I started noticing uncomfortable, squiggly feelings in my tummy when I'd eat them. Well, the squiggly feelings have gotten worse, so now I'm giving up pretty much all of my store-bought convenience foods: egg rolls, hummus, marinara, dressings, refried beans, baked beans, vegetable stock, not to mention the afore-mentioned homemade soup. Oh sure, I'll find new recipes, I'll figure out how to make soup that doesn't taste super bland (I'm looking at you, last week's carrot soup!), and hopefully I'll find new convenience foods (or just learn to make more of my own!). For now though, I'm pretty bummed.

Check out that steam!

One thing that has made my culinary life a wee bit happier lately is a new (to me) flavor of tea! I love tea. I mean, really love it. It's great when you want a bit of something warm and you're watching your figure (watching it do what, praytell?). It's good cold, instead of soda. It's good sweetened or not, caffeinated or not, black, or red, or white, or green, fruity, or floral, or spicy. Pretty much, tea is great. And it doesn't include garlic or onions. My new kind of best friend. The flavor I've been loving lately is Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice. It's labeled as a caffeine free chai, but it's better than any chai I've ever had, and I like me some chai. It's crazy-sweet without any sweetener! And you can infuse it approximately a zillion times and still get some yummy flavor. And it tastes like cinnamon. So yum. I would have never found it if I hadn't gone into the store when I was already stressed out and made an impulse buy. Thank you, impulse buy, thank you.

Anyway, super long post, huh? Without even a recipe?! Well, you have many onion/garlic-free recipes to look forward to, including my new favorite cheese sauce (so good)! I actually hadn't posted my former favorite cheese sauce yet, which I will still do, since I have some old pictures and it's crazy-delicious for peeps who can still have the good stuff. The new cheese is good stuff too, just not onion/garlic stuff. Anyway... kinda finding it strange to end after such a long, rambling post so.... the end.