Tag Archives for Vegan
Vegan Chipotle, Corn, & Black Bean Stew
If I could only have one cookbook, I would definitely choose Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz (affiliate link). Every single one of her recipes that I have made has turned out wonderfully, but this stew really stands out as one of my favorite meals ever—especially when it starts to cool off outside.
You can view the recipe here and it’s also on the Amazon page along with a few other recipes from the book if you click under the image where it says “search inside this book”.
She also has a ton of recipes on her site, The Post Punk Kitchen. The ones that I have made and loved are the red lentil Thai chili, chocolate chip cookies, snobby joes, and red curry soup with rice and kale.
Do you have a favorite cookbook or recipe site? I’d love to have some new recipes to try out!
Weekend Eats
I was making pancakes yesterday morning when I remembered I had some leftover pumpkin in the fridge. Now, I cannot cook or make up my own recipe to save my life, so when I made some substitutions on my own and the pancakes turned out amazing I was beyond excited! I’m slowly understanding how to slightly tweak things and still have them turn out edible.
Vegan Pumpkin Pancakes (adapted from my favorite vegan pancake recipe)
2 teaspoon vanilla
1 egg replacer (I used Ener-G, but you can also use flax seeds)
1 cup almond milk (I used unsweetened)
2 tablespoons pumpkin
1 cup white all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
pumpkin pie spice to taste (I used about a tablespoon)
3 tablespoons sugarMix dry ingredients together then add wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Drop 1/3 cups of mix onto a greased, preheated pan. Flip when the tops of the pancakes being to bubble a bit. Makes around 4 pancakes. I always double this recipe when I make it for two people.
Over the weekend I also made some wonderful red lentil dal that was recommended to me by my friend Amanda. I’d bought some red lentils and wasn’t sure what to make with them and this recipe was perfect. I served it over quinoa and it made for a delicious and filling dinner. I’ve been trying to eat more lentils because not only are they cheap, they are also full of protein and iron.
Groceries, Making a Mess & Curry
I hit the gym with my mom yesterday and did some running on the treadmill since it was still raining. She has a membership where she can bring a friend to workout and since my mornings are free now I’ve been going with her this week. Her gym is really nice and you can actually watch what you want on the televisions! At my gym it is stuck on news or ESPN and you’re not allowed to change it. Running goes by so much faster when you’re able to watch a show you like.
My run was pretty good even though I had to do more walking than running towards the end as my right knee felt kinda off and I definitely wasn’t going to push it. I’ve been wearing my Puma trainers to the gym, but I’m thinking I need to start wearing my Vibrams instead.
After the gym I took a much needed trip to buy groceries. We were out of everything so I was excited to stock up on essentials from the bulk bins at my local co-op.
I got home and was refilling my jars of bulk bin goodies when I made a mess with the quinoa. It got all over the kitchen and even in Pepper’s food and water bowls. It took a little while to clean up, but luckily I didn’t lose too much.
If you haven’t checked out the bulk bins at your local health food store you definitely should. You can stock up on so many amazing things for a lot cheaper than usual. I ended up getting red lentils (never tried making these!), carob chips, nutritional yeast, sunflower seeds, vanilla hemp granola and quinoa.
I picked up some veggie sushi for lunch while I was there and it was really good. Just what I needed!
For dinner I really wanted to surprise Greg and make something really good out of this chicken he had sitting in the fridge. I’m a vegetarian and I can’t ever remember preparing chicken so I knew I needed to find a recipe that sounded fairly easy. I found sweet potato chicken curry from Leftovers For Lunch and it sounded great.
I got all the veggies cut up and spices measured out and when I opened the chicken I just couldn’t do it. I don’t get grossed out when people eat meat in front of me or anything.. I could care less. But having to touch it and cut it up myself? Yeah, no. It totally made me gag so I made the quick substitution of extra firm tofu.
It turned out awesome and Greg ended up liking it too. I will definitely be making this again soon. It was so filling and had a ton of protein from the tofu and chickpeas. The recipe makes a ton so it’s perfect to make early in the week and then eat on for a few days.
Do you shop bulk bins regularly? Anything I should look out for to try?
Make It Yourself: Chipotle Burrito Bowl
The tiny city I live in finally got its first Chipotle a few months ago. Ever since then I’ve been way into their veggie burrito bowls and fresh ingredients. I am trying to save money and prepare my own, healthy meals so I tried my hand at making my very own Chipotle-esque burrito bowl at home.
This post from Iowa Girl Eats really helped me get started and her recipe for their rice sounds amazing. I kept my brown rice plain because that’s how I like it. Of course her rice recipe would taste much more like the kind at Chipotle.
Take your black beans and sprinkle in a bit of cumin, chili powder, salt, oregano and cayenne pepper. I microwaved these to make things a little easier.
I used a salsa recipe from A Healthy Slice of Life and it turned out wonderfully! I’d always shied away from making my own salsa because it seemed like so much work but it was actually very easy.
I then heated up some green pepper, extra firm tofu and mushrooms along with some cumin and chili powder.
Get the biggest bowl you can find and put your brown rice, veggies, tofu, salsa and guacamole (I used Wholly’s spicy- so good!) and dig in! This was so delicious and really hit the spot.
Do you ever try to recreate meals from restaurants?
Weekend Highlights
I tried dates. I see Heather from Kiss My Broccoli always eatin’ them and she has pretty darn good taste in food so I decided to pick some up. I hate anything resembling a raisin. I don’t do dried fruit and I certainly would have never bought a package of dates if I hadn’t been seeing it on some of my favorite blogs lately.
The verdict… they’re good and not as gross as raisins. A little sweet and not too chewy. I wouldn’t crave them or anything, but they don’t make me gag which is a plus in my book!
I took Pepper to canine charm school. Yeah, he may be a cutie, but don’t let those sweet little eyes and adorable big ears fool you. This little guy is sweet as can be one second and a monster the next! We finally decided enough was enough and enrolled him in training classes. We had orientation on Saturday and the trainer brought her dog to show us some commands for us to work on until out first class on Saturday.
Let’s just say her dog was an absolute angel and if Pepper turns out half as good as that dog then it’s money well spent! He definitely needs a little more socialization too so it will be good for him.
I made the best sandwich ever. Using this recipe from Vegan YumYum, I made a batch of smokey miso tofu which is incredible! I toasted a couple of slice of Ezekiel bread, added avocado to both sides, some tomatoes and a few slices of tofu. So good! It was my first time using liquid smoke and it gives such an amazing smokey flavor and pairs so nicely with miso.
I made eggplant dengaku. I saw this recipe in Appetite for Reduction and was on a miso kick so decided to give it a try. It’s a delicious and easy side to make when you want something quick. here is a similar recipe if you want to try it yourself. I paired mine with a baked potato and greek yogurt for dinner and it really hit the spot.
I hope you all had a great weekend full of fun and good food! What was the highlight of the weekend for you?
