Kimberly Steele's Blog, page 27

Daily Vegan Lunch for May 9, 2013: Lentil and Greens Burritos

INGREDIENTS:

Tortillas, any kind (I used whole wheat tortillas)

1 cup brown lentils

3 cups vegetable broth

1.5 cups chopped onions

4 – 5 cups mixed organic greens or spinach

1 cup minced parsley

2 cloves garlic

Balsamic or apple cider vinegar, to taste

Salt to taste

Combine lentils and 1 cup broth in a pot. Bring to a boil on high heat and turn down immediately. Add another cup of broth and simmer on medium heat for 20 minutes until liquid is absorbed. Add onions. Add last cup of broth and simmer for 10 – 20 more minutes. Once water is almost entirely absorbed, add greens/spinach and parsley. Stir until greens wilt. Add garlic and salt if needed.

Add vinegar to taste. I used about 1/4 cup because I like vinegar.

Eat plain, over rice, or rolled into burritos. I like lentils cold as much as I like them heated.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 9 May, 2013: Walnut Spread and Cucumbers on Kale

WALNUT SPREAD INGREDIENTS:

1 cup walnuts or raw walnuts (I used organic regular walnuts)

Water for soaking

2 tablespoons raw onion

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon olive oil

1 teaspoon soy sauce

1 clove minced garlic

Salt to taste

OTHER INGREDIENTS:

4 leaves kale or chard

1 cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped

3/4 cup chopped tomatoes (I chopped a large handful of organic grape tomatoes)

1 green onion, chopped

Soak walnuts in water for 6+ hours (I soaked them overnight). Drain walnuts and add them to a food processor with all other ingredients. Process walnut mixture, stopping intermittently and scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula. Add up to a tablespoon of water if necessary to get the mixture to puree.

Mix the chopped tomatoes, cucumber, and green onion in a bowl, set aside.

Massage kale leaves by rolling them in your fingers after washing them and generally abusing/manhandling them until they are tender. Chard would probably have worked better for these wraps but either way, they were bound to be messy. They are absolutely delicious though so it is worth it.

(I am planning on converting these into appetizers for my upcoming Recital by topping a seedless cucumber with walnut spread and sticking on an itty bitty piece of kale with a little tomato and onion on top. Hopefully it will work out.)

Take a kale leaf and spread it with 2 tablespoons of the walnut mixture. Top with a tablespoon or two of the cucumber mixture, roll up and eat.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 8 May, 2013: Strawberries, Apples, Oranges, and Trail Mix

Like yesterday’s Vegan Lunch, I was still feeling run down so I kept up with heavy fruit until I felt better. I’d love to eat like this every day but sometimes in the Midwest it just isn’t practical. This is a mix of 7 organic strawberries, 1 organic apple, 1 organic orange, and 1/2 cup of organic trail mix.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 7 May, 2013: Bananas, Strawberries, and Oranges

I’m not going to insult your intelligence for posting a recipe for this. I just want to share that sometimes I eat “just fruit” for a meal, especially during times when I’m feeling run down or it is really hot outside. I find I have to eat about 2x as much fruit as “normal” food in order to stay full. I have never noticed any weight gain from replacing my regular meals with fruit.

Don’t take my word for it though… Freelee is the EXPERT on fruiting yourself!

Daily Vegan Lunch for 6 May, 2013: Vegan Stuffed Artichokes With Creamy Dill Sauce

INGREDIENTS:

1 artichoke

Water for boiling

STUFFING INGREDIENTS:

1 cup onion, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 cup panko breadcrumbs

1/4 teaspoon sage

1/2 teaspoon oregano

1/2 teaspoon basil

1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, undrained

CREAMY DILL DRESSING

1 container unflavored soy yogurt

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon dried dill

Salt to taste

Simmer artichoke in water on medium heat for 25 minutes. Drain and let cool. Trim off the sharp pointy edges of each artichoke leaf with a scissor. Open the artichoke’s middle and scoop out as much of the fuzzy choke as you can plus any inner leaves that are pointy.

Make the stuffing by frying onions in a pan on medium heat until translucent, add garlic and saute for 30 seconds more. Add sage, oregano, basil, and tomatoes and simmer 1 minute until herbs are fragrant. Add panko and stir well.

Stuff the artichoke by starting at the bottom leaves. Smoosh 1 small teaspoonful of stuffing between each leaf until you reach the top. If you have stuffing leftover at the end of the process, stuff the middle of the artichoke with it.

Place in a baking dish and bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

Mix dill dressing ingredients together in a small bowl. Eat artichoke by tearing off each stuffed leaf and dipping it in the sauce. The meat of an artichoke is at the bottom of the leaf which you scrape off with your teeth. Once all the leaves are eaten, you are left with the de-fuzzed choke and the stem which are both delicious.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 5 May, 2013: Curry Fried Rice With Tofu

I missed my opportunity to make something cool & fancy for Cinco de Mayo, like tamales. VegNews to the rescue!

INGREDIENTS:

2 Tablespoons oil

2 cups cooked rice

1 block firm silken tofu

1 cup onion, minced

1 cup green onion, minced

1 cup frozen petite peas, thawed in microwave 1 minute

1/2 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Salt to taste

2 cloves garlic

DIRECTIONS

Fry onion in a large pan on medium heat until translucent. Add spices, stir until fragrant. Turn heat to high and add rice, tofu, and peas. Stir until spices are evenly distributed. Add garlic in the last 30 seconds of cooking, stir well, salt to taste.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 4 May 2013: Creamy Potato Soup

This recipe is slightly modified from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Jo Stephaniak. I highly recommend this cookbook — every recipe is a winner.

INGREDIENTS

4 cups vegetable broth

2.5 cups chopped potatoes (I used Yukon Gold and left the skins on)

1.5 cups chopped onion

3/4 cup chopped green onion

1 cup nondairy milk (I used soy milk)

3 Tablespoons flour

3 Tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes

Salt to taste

1 teaspoon garlic powder

Vegetarian bacon bits (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Combine broth, potatoes, and onions to a large soup pot, reserving 2 tablespoons of green onion for sprinkling later. Bring to a boil. TUrn down heat to low-medium and cover. Simmer until potatoes are fork-tender, approximately 30 minutes.

Remove about 1/3 of the soup (at least 1 cup) from the pot and put it into a blender with nondairy milk, flour, and nutritional yeast flakes. Blend until very smooth. Add blended mixture to the soup pot and stir well. Turn the heat up to medium and cook the soup until thickened. Sprinkle with bacon bits and green onion.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 3 May, 2013: Shiitake Mushroom Risotto

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup arborio rice

1 tablespoon oil

4 – 5 cups vegetable broth

1 cup dried shiitake mushrooms soaked in 1 cup water or 1/5 cups fresh button, cremini, oyster, etc. mushrooms

1 cup onion, chopped

1 cup frozen peas or shelled eda mame (frozen soybeans)

1 carrot, chopped

4 green onions, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

In a medium-large pot, fry uncooked rice on medium high heat until it looks transparent. Add mushrooms. If adding fresh mushrooms, allow the mushrooms to fry for about three minutes. Add one cup of the broth and turn the heat down to medium. Stir the mixture and let it cook down. As soon as the rice has absorbed the broth, add broth by the cup. When you have added about half the water, add in frozen peas and chopped carrot. Keep adding broth and taste-testing rice. The rice is done once it is soft. Add the chopped green onions when the rice seems completely done.

Makes 3-4 large servings. I ate this with some of the sausages from yesterday.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 3 March, 2013: Shiitake Mushroom Risotto

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup arborio rice

1 tablespoon oil

4 – 5 cups vegetable broth

1 cup dried shiitake mushrooms soaked in 1 cup water or 1/5 cups fresh button, cremini, oyster, etc. mushrooms

1 cup onion, chopped

1 cup frozen peas or shelled eda mame (frozen soybeans)

1 carrot, chopped

4 green onions, chopped

DIRECTIONS:

In a medium-large pot, fry uncooked rice on medium high heat until it looks transparent. Add mushrooms. If adding fresh mushrooms, allow the mushrooms to fry for about three minutes. Add one cup of the broth and turn the heat down to medium. Stir the mixture and let it cook down. As soon as the rice has absorbed the broth, add broth by the cup. When you have added about half the water, add in frozen peas and chopped carrot. Keep adding broth and taste-testing rice. The rice is done once it is soft. Add the chopped green onions when the rice seems completely done.

Makes 3-4 large servings. I ate this with some of the sausages from yesterday.

Daily Vegan Lunch for 2 May, 2013: Brown Rice Vegan Sausages or Meatballs

My husband said, “Oh look, turdburgers!” I’m sorry you’re not hungry anymore.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup beef flavored TVP soaked in 1.5 cups water

3/4 cup onion, chopped roughly

1 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

1/2 teaspoon ground fennel seed

1/3 cup oil

1.5 teaspoon black pepper

2 cups cooked brown or white rice (I used brown)

1/3 cup sundried tomatoes with their oil or water

2 cups panko or regular breadcrumbs (I used panko)

Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Soak TVP in water for 10 minutes and drain the excess — save water for adding back to the mixture later. Set aside soaking water plus 1 cup of water. Put TVP, onion, garlic powder, paprika, fennel, oil, black pepper, rice, and sundried tomato in a blender or food processor, blending until it is a thick paste. Add water 1/4 cup at a time if mixture sticks to the blades too much. Once the mixture is mostly paste, scoop it out into a bowl and mix in panko crumbs.

Grease the bottom of a casserole dish with oil and roll the mixture into sausage or meatball shapes. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes and flip sausages, bake for another 20 minutes. Alternately, mold the mixture into sausages or balls and fry them in a pan over medium-high heat in oil until all the sides are brown. This makes at least 10 sausages depending on their size. They were nice traditional style meat-balls for my angel hair spaghetti on 2 March.