The Veggie Gal

To eat like my doctor hero’s (McDougall, Furhman and Barnard) recommend you need to think simple, whole and clean while staying away from added oils.  Well this Mexican Black Bean Quinoa over a Sweet Potato with Cashew Sour Cream fits that bill perfectly.

I am buying bulk food to use for long term food storage and want to be sure I can actually make something with it when the time comes, plus we need to rotate the food so it stays good.  We bought 50 lbs of quinoa and sealed it in air proof bags at increments of 2 cups a piece.  I also bought 25 lbs of beans, brown rice, oats, and raw cashews so I will need to come up with other recipes to rotate that through.  As you all may have noticed I am having no problems coming up with recipes to use cashews but will be getting creative with the rest while continuing to add to the stockpile.

This recipe works great for using the stored food but better than that it actually tastes amazing if I do say so myself.  My husband actually said if he had to he could eat this every day.  PLUS it is SUPER DE DUPER good for you and won’t make you fat!

I usually make 1 cup of quinoa while I am making it and put the rest in the fridge so I can make my Quinoa Mandarin Salad with the cold Quinoa for my next meal, makes it quick and easy and we all need to consolidate time where we can.

Black Bean Quinoa over a Sweet Potato with Cashew Sour Cream

Makes enough for 6+ (think leftovers for lunch!)

6 small sweet potatoes/yams
1/2 cup prepared quinoa (prepare according to package directions)
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 cup cauliflower, chopped (or other veggie or your choice)
1 can black beans, rinsed (or cook your own whole beans)
1/4 cup corn (organic is best with the lowest possibility of being non GMO)
1 can Italian style diced tomatoes
1 4 oz can mild green chilies
1/2 teaspoon Oregano (or to taste)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (or to taste)
Chili powder to taste
Salt & Pepper to taste

Cashew Sour Cream recipe

Wash the sweet potatoes and bake at 400° in the oven for 1 hour or bake in the microwave until done, make sure to poke a few holes in them before cooking.

While the sweet potatoes cook, prepare the quinoa according to package directions.  Quiona should only take 15 minutes to cook.

Chop up the onion and cauliflower and steam with a little water until cooked through, add the spices and cook for a minute until most of the liquid is gone.  Add the rinsed black beans, Italian tomatoes, green chilies, corn, and cooked quinoa and stir well.  Cover the pan and cook on low heat for 15 minutes until it is very warm and flavors have had a chance to blend.  Taste and adjust the spices your your liking.

Cut the sweet potato in half and mash well, no need to add oils or butter here.  Pour desired amount of black bean quiona mixture on top of the mashed potato.  Sprinkle with a small amount of salt and pour desired amount of Cashew Sour Cream on and ENJOY!

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Tags: Dr. McDougall, Dr. Neal Barnard, Easy Vegan, Gluten Free, Mexican Food, Vegan, vegan recipe, Vegetarian

As promised I am posting my Sweet Oatmeal Crepes.  These babies are so good we eat them for dinner quite often along side of the Cheezy Tofu Scramble.  The great news is every single person in our house loves these so I always know they are going to be a hit.  The extra great news is every single guest to our home who has had them loves them and will always ask for seconds.

The recipe for the crepes is basically the same as the Oatmeal Waffles but with more water to thin the batter.  That being said, like the oatmeal waffles, they can be a little soft in the middle.  When cooking these make sure to press down on the done side to squeeze out the batter.  They take way longer than a normal flour crepe but are so worth it so be prepared.  Plus, they are much higher in fiber and good nutrients that are missing in typical flour.  I thank Dr. Neal Barnard for the amazing oatmeal waffle recipe because I have now used it for not only the Oatmeal Waffles but for Oatmeal Pancakes 3 Ways and now Sweet Oatmeal Crepes.

Because the crepe part can take a bit of time I make them ahead of time and put them in the oven to keep them warm on the lowest temp.  These keep well in the fridge for leftovers (if you have any) and put together well for lunch the next day.

~NOTE~This is a 3 separate recipe meal so make sure you read this WHOLE thing before you get started so you can pre-make what is needed!!

Sweet Oatmeal Crepes
Makes: approximately 8 large crepes

2 cup rolled oats
2 1/2 cups water (add more as it sits and thickens if needed)
1 medium banana
1 tbsp raw sugar, or other sweetener
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
Sprinkle or two of cinnamon (optional)

Filling

Sweet Cashew Cream mmm mmm mmm 
Sliced bananas
Chopped or sliced fresh berries of your choice
Chopped nuts of your choice (pecans are a great compliment-use a small amount-there is a enough fats in the cashew cream)
Ground flax seeds (a small sprinkle)

Topping

Berry Sauce

Make sure you have soaked your cashews for the cashew cream-read the recipe before you start this one!  Make the cashew cream and berry sauce before you make the crepes so it can chill in the fridge while you make the crepes.

For the crepes place all ingredients in a high speed blender and blend until smooth. Let stand a few minutes; if batter becomes too thick, add enough additional water to make batter easily pourable and thin enough to make a thin crepe.

Pour into a heated large skillet and rotate pan around right away to spread the batter to the edges making a thin crepe.

Cook until the edges start to come up and it can easily be flipped over.  (Tip-spray your spatula with some cooking spray on both sides so it does not stick and rip the crepe when you flip it)

Cook the second side while periodically pressing down on it to spread it thinner and make it cook through completely.  Cook until it is well browned on each side, it will look like it is not fully cooked but that is ok it will dry out a bit in the oven and soft is good.  Store in the oven until you are ready to put them together.

Chop the fruits and nuts.  Lay out one crepe on a serving plate, spread desired amount of cashew cream length wise down the crepe.  Top with chopped fruits and nuts and sprinkle a small amount of flax on top of that.  Spread a thinner amount of cashew cream on top of it all so it will stick when you roll the crepe.

Roll the crepe tightly and top the crepe with Berry Sauce and/or pure maple syrup then ENJOY!

Sweet Oatmeal Crepes Sauces

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Tags: Breakfast, Dessert, Dinner, Dr. Neal Barnard, Sweet Oatmeal Crepes, Vegan Crepes, vegan recipe, Vegetarian

Ok, I guess I am on a Dr. Barnard recipe kick.  I am really enjoying his book “The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook“.  It has some pretty great recipes in it.  I wish that they all had pictures along with them all but I suppose that is where us bloggers come in.

This soup is really simple, clean tasting and has the beautiful orange color from the sweet potato making it an inviting winter soup that looks as warming as it truly is.  In my opinion it is a side soup since it is fairly light and not super filling.  It would go great along side a sandwich or with some bread.  I made our with my Super Sourdough Sandwich and it was a great pairing.

I think that the recipe calls for 1 cup too many of the liquid so I did not add the 1 cup of water and it was still pretty thin.  You decide for yourself what you like best but I like a thicker soup.  I am going to write the recipe as it is in the book again and you can make your own adjustments per your taste.

Cauliflower & Sweet Potato Chowder
Serves: 6

3 1/4 cups vegetable broth
4 large shallots, minced
1/2 cup chopped celery
6 cups cauliflower florets (about 1 medium head)
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 medium sweet potato, peels and cut into 1/2-inch cubes (about 1 1/2 cups)
1 bay leaf
1 cup unsweetened soy milk
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh basil
Kosher salt to taste
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat 1/4 cup of the vegetable broth in a large saucepan over medium heat.  Add the shallots and celery and saute for 5 minutes.  Add the remaining 3 cups both and 1 cup water and bring to a boil.  Add the cauliflower, bell pepper, sweet potato, and bay leaf and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.  Remove the bay leaf.

Add the soy milk.  For a heartier consistency, puree all the soup in batches or just half of the soup.  Add the basil and season with salt and black pepper.  ENJOY!

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Tags: Dinner, Dr. Neal Barnard, Easy Vegan, Gluten Free, Quick and easy, Side dish, Vegan, vegan recipe, Vegan soup, Vegetarian

This is yet another wonderful recipe from Dr. Neal Barnard’s “The Get Healthy, Go Vegan Cookbook“.  Like I did with the  Black Bean & Corn Salad with Lime I am putting the recipe exactly how it appears in the book and then make my comments about changes.

I did do three things different one was using regular noodles since I could not find any udon noodles at my local store.  I also could not find the chili paste but instead found a sauce that was a mixture of chili paste, rice vinegar and sugar.   I figured it would taste pretty good and probably not be as spicy which is a good thing with my small kids.  I was right it was more mild and tolerable for the kids but would love to try it once with the real chili paste. And finally I had a half of red and yellow bell left over from the Black Bean & Corn Salad with Lime so I used both to equal the 1 cup which I think makes it look more colorful.

I really love how the food stylist for the recipe chose to cut the snow peas down the middle so I did it too, just beautiful and cool looking I think.  I served mine with my Chinese Cabbage Salad on the side and it was a great meal.  Of course this can be completely gluten free if you use the right noodles.

Dr. Neal Barnard's "Udon Noodle Salad" from Get Healthy, Go Vegan

Udon Noodle Salad
Serves: 6

20 snow peas, trimmed
1 (8 ounce) package udon noodles
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon agave nectar
1/2 teaspoon chili paste
1 1/2 cups seeded, chopped English cucumber
1 cup shredded carrot
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
6 scallions, sliced

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Drop in the snow peas and cook fora bout 30 seconds or until bright green but still crisp.  Immediately remove from the boiling water with a slotted spoon and plunge into cold water to stop the cooking.  When cool, drain and pat dry with paper towels.

Cook udon noodles according tot package directions (you can use the same pot of boiling water as was used to blanch the snow peas).  Drain and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking.

In a small bowl, combine the vinegar, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, agave nectar, and chili paste.  Stir with a whisk.

Toss the noodles with about half of the dressing.  Place the dressed noodles on a platter.  Combine the snow peas, cucumber, carrot, bell pepper and scallions in a large bowl and toss with the remaining dressing.  Top noodles with vegetable and serve.  ENJOY!

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Tags: Chinese food, Dr. Neal Barnard, Easy Vegan, go vegan cookbook, Healthy Meal, Quick vegan, The get healthy, Vegan, vegan recipe, Vegetarian

Ok I love my Glazed Cinnamon Biscuits so much that I decided to make them even better by adding caramel! OMG they are so sinfully scrumptious that you might have a sugar educed coma when your done because you won’t be able to stop eating them.

I added pecans to half of them for those of us who love nuts and it makes them wonderfully wicked. I bet a little vanilla bean vegan ice cream on top of these when they are warm would take them from sinful to heavenly (naughty that is).

Glazed Caramel Cinnamon Biscuits
Makes: 12-14 rolls

2 1/2 cups Bisquick (low-fat-full fat has hydrogenated oils in it)
2/3 cups unsweetened almond milk (vanilla almond milk makes them sweeter if you want-soy or rice can be used as well)
3 Tablespoons sugar
2 Tablespoons vegan butter softened at room temp

Caramel-Cinnamon Mixture:
4 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Optional: chopped pecans

White Glaze:
1 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk

Caramel Glaze:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon vegan butter
pinch  baking soda

Preheat the oven to425° F.

Mix the 4 tablespoons of brown sugar and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon together and option nuts and set aside.

Mix the Bisquick, milk, and 3 tablespoons of sugar together in a large bowl until you have a ball.  Knead about 8-10 times on a floured surface until it is pliable and soft.  Roll it out on the counter with a little Bisquick so it does not stick.  Roll into a long triangle until it is about 1/4 inch thick.

Spread the softened vegan butter on the triangle of dough.  Sprinkle the Cinnamon sugar mixture onto the butter.  Roll the dough long ways and cut it with a bread knife into 1 inch slices.

Place the biscuits together in a greased 8×8 or 9×9 baking pan. Bake them until they’re golden brown, about 8-11 minutes (do not over bake them or they will be dry).

While the biscuits are cooking make the white glaze by mixing all the ingredients together, set aside until the biscuits are warm to the touch but not hot (it will melt the glaze).

When the biscuits have 5 minutes left to cook start the caramel glaze.  Mix the brown sugar and butter together in a small sauce pan and melt completely.  Bring to a slow and calm boil and stir constantly for two minutes and remove from heat.  Stir in the baking soda and stir well to blend and thicken.  Let cool enough for it to thicken which is when the biscuits should be cooled enough, approx 15 minutes or so.

Once the biscuits are  slightly warm to the touch drizzle the white glaze on them and then top that with the caramel glaze eat them warm. ENJOY!

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Tags: Breakfast, Caramel Cinnamon rolls, Dessert, Dr. Neal Barnard, Easy Vegan, Glazed Caramel Cinnamon Biscuits, Quick and easy, Vegan, vegan cinnamon rolls, vegan recipe, Vegetarian

I had some leftover lentils from my Chewy Lentil Loaf that I did not want to go to waste but felt like eating lasagna  for dinner, so I got creative and YUM it turned out great!

For some reason lentils and tomato sauce are amazing together and ever since this dish I even throw them into my spaghetti sauce.  You get the benefits of added protein, fiber and iron while enjoying the incredible blend of flavor and texture.

I really love my original Cheezy Vegetable Lasagna but tofu can be fattening and after all the holiday sweets & treats madness the scale numbers have creeped up a bit so in come more veggies to save the day.

I had some gluten free lasagna noodles on hand to try out and I was pleasantly surprised that they are just as good as regular wheat noodles.  If you use the oven ready noodles that you do not precook you will need to increase the spaghetti sauce amount to help them cook and to ensure you do not end up with a dry lasagna.  I really like the oven ready noodles and when I use them I use two full jars of spaghetti sauce but since these noodles are cooked beforehand I only needed 1 1/2 jars so I store the extra in the fridge for another day’s use.  I know it may sound weird but I enjoy dipping baked tortilla chips in left over sauce like you would salsa, just an idea

With this lasagna you can really just clean out your veggie drawer by using your favorite or left over veggies to make it just to your taste.  Pretty much everything in this recipe is just by taste including the spices just throw everything you love into it and it should be pretty tasty.  Depending on the sauce you use this would probably be a Dr. McDougall approved dish.

Very veggie lasagna
Serves: approximately 8

9 Lasagna noodles
1 1/2 jars of your fav spaghetti sauce
1/2 onion
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 head broccoli, finely chopped
2 stalks of celery, finely chopped
2 carrots, shredded
2-3 handfuls fresh spinach, chopped
1-3 handfuls  precooked lentils (or amount you like)
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Salt & pepper to taste
a few generous sprinkles of nutritional yeast flakes (to add cheesy flavor-no needed if you do not have it though)

Cook the noodles according to the package directions making sure they are not overcooked.

While the noodles cook steam the onion, garlic, broccoli, and celery in a small amount of water for about 5 minutes.  Add the shredded carrot and spinach and cook for another 5 minutes or so until everything is softened and water it pretty much gone (or drain off water).  Add the Italian seasoning and salt and pepper then set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375° F.

Pour 1/2 jar of spaghetti sauce into the bottom of a 9 x 12 baking pan and spread around evenly.

Lay 3 noodles in the bottom of the pan, spread 1/2 of the vegetable mixture on top of the noodles then sprinkles with desired amount of nutritional yeast flakes.  Repeat with 3 more noodles and remainder of the vegetables and more nutritional yeast flakes.

Place 3 noodles on top of the two layers and top with the remaining spaghetti sauce and sprinkle with more nutritional yeast.  Cover pan with foil and bake for 40-55 minutes, until bubbling.   Remove from oven, remove foil and cool for approximately 10 minutes so it can set up then cut, serve and ENJOY!

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Tags: Dinner, Dr. Neal Barnard, Easy Vegan, Gluten Free, Healthy Meal, Pasta, Vegan, vegan recipe, Vegetarian, very veggie lasagna

When I started blogging I haphazardly took pictures of the food I made and posted it without even thinking about it.  As long as it was not too blurry and showed the food I figured it was good.  WOW I was so wrong!  I had never taken a photography class in my life and my photography experience went as far as taking pictures of my kids playing or at birthday and Christmas parties.

Once I tried to submit my photos to some of the food sites I realized they SUCKED and that is why they were being rejected DUH!  I started actually paying attention to the photographs of other vegan food bloggers and saw that there were some amazingly talented people out there who took beautifully artistic pictures and I had a lot of learning to do.  I am still learning and have yet to go out and buy a real camera and photo box but I have learned how to use my little point and shoot a little better and try to be creative where I can.  At a minimum I at least adjust the lighting so it is much brighter and not so dark and there is not a flash .

So since those first few months I have started to retake pictures of some of those old recipes and delete the old embarrassingly ugly one.    For those of you who keep up with the new posts but don’t look at the recipe page I am going to post a few of the new photos for the old recipes here.  It sure helps them to look more appetizing and me to look like a real food blogger   I have plenty more to retake as you can see from the recipe page and will work on it but I like to make new recipes and with it being VeganMoFo I am dedicated (for now) to doing just that.  These are the most recent retakes and links to those recipes.  I will keep posting new ones as I go so check back periodically.

Almond Maple Bananas

Oatmeal Waffles

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Glazed Cinnamon Biscuits

Super Sourdough Sandwich

Fruity Smoothie

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Tags: Breakfast, Dinner, Dr. Neal Barnard, Easy Vegan, Gluten Free, Healthy Meal, Lunch, Mexican Food, Vegan, vegan mofo 2010, vegan recipe, Vegetarian

I’ve been on a breakfast kick lately but who does not love breakfast even for dinner, I know my family and I do!  This recipe is really the Oatmeal Waffles recipe that  came from the book From Food for Life by Neal Barnard, M.D.  I just made pancakes with the batter instead of making the waffles.  I have experimented with a few ways of making them and after reading this you may spark some of your own ideas, please share if you do.  I love trying new things!  These pancakes are not light and fluffy like regular pancakes or my Coconut Pancakes are but are more hearty, dense, very filling and satisfying.  If I know I have a busy day ahead of me these or the Oatmeal Waffles will keep me full and energized for hours unlike cereal or regular pancakes would.

I made these 3 ways, the original recipe, a vanilla lemon, and blueberry.  I will put the original recipe below and then what I added to the batter for the other two below that.  The vanilla lemon is my favorite, it is just so fresh and elegant tasting.  The above picture is of the regular batter, the one with the lemon next to it is the vanilla lemon and the blueberry is obvious.

Oatmeal Pancakes
Serves: appox 10 medium pancakes

2 cup rolled oats
2 cup water
1 medium banana
1 tbsp raw sugar, or other sweetener (I use agave)
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Let stand a few minutes; if batter becomes too thick, add enough additional water to make batter easily pourable. Pour onto a medium heated skillet and cook until bubbly and brown on the bottom, flip and cook until golden brown.  These will be more dense than regular pancakes as I explained above and may require a longer cooking time than regular pancakes do.  I pour my pure maple syrup on the side and dip the pancake into it so they don’t get soggy.

Vanilla Lemon:

add 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract to the vanilla already in the recipe
1-2 teaspoons fresh lemon zest or dried zest
1/2 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

Blueberry:

1/4 cup blueberries

That’s it, like I said experiment with what you like and let me know.  I think bananas and pecans, thinly sliced apple chunks, or sliced strawberries would mix in and cook well too.  ENJOY!

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Tags: 21 day vegan kickstart, Breakfast, Dr. Neal Barnard, Easy Vegan, Healthy Breakfast, Neal Barnard, Vegan, vegan pancakes, vegan recipe, Vegetarian

These simple sandwiches can be easily made using leftover Oatmeal Waffles.  The waffles get soft after being stored in a Tupperware or can stay slightly crisp if left out from breakfast.

The waffle pockets hold a good amount of PB&J and are  slightly chewy which makes these delicious sandwiches a texture treat.  I always make extra waffles just to have some left over for these sandwiches because they are such a great change from regular bread but be careful they are addicting and messy too!

PB&J Waffle Sandwiches
serves 2

1 leftover Oatmeal Waffle
Your choice of healthy peanut butter (you can use almond butter or other nut butter spread too)
Your choice of healthy jelly spread

Tear the waffle into 4 squares.  Spread peanut butter on one side making sure to fill the squares.  Spread the jelly on the other side again making sure to fill the squares so you get a hearty sandwich.  Slap those babies together and ENJOY!

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Tags: Dr. Neal Barnard, Easy Vegan, Gluten Free, Quick and easy, Quick vegan, Vegan, Vegan sandwich, Vegan Waffles

Breakfast:

1 cup of Coffee with soy creamer, Oatmeal Waffles and fresh juiced orange juice

Lunch:

Peanut butter and Jelly on Oatmeal Waffles

Snack: mid-day

½ English muffin with jam

Dinner:

Tofurky Roast, Mixed Roasted Veggies, Blueberry muffins (did not turn out well but ate the top part)

Daily Reflections:

Today I was really busy running errands and I did not eat a enough in the day so when dinner came I ate several servings of the Tofurky.  The muffins did not turn out right but the crumble topping was really good so we all ate the tops off from the.   I am going to try to get a bunch of good foods at the store tomorrow so I can try to do better next week.

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Tags: Breakfast, Daily Food Diary, Dinner, Dr. Neal Barnard, Easy Vegan, Healthy Meal, Lunch, Quick meal, step by step, Vegan, Vegan Muffin, Vegan Waffles