Category: vegetables

Brown Rice Lentils with Salsa

My mom gave me this recipe many years ago, and it was an old faithful of mine for a long time, especially when I was looking for something economical, healthy, and still yummy.  I’ve modified the original recipe only by adding more veggies.  It’s pretty easy to make!  Most of the time you need for this one is cooking time – you can be done in just over an hour, including 45-50 minutes of cooking time.

What you need:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, chopped

3-4 carrots, chopped

8-10 mushrooms, sliced

1 teaspoon soy sauce

3/4 cup brown lentils, dry

1 cup brown rice

3 cups water or broth

tomato salsa, to serve

What you do:

1.  Heat a large pot to medium heat, and add the chopped onion once the oil is hot.  Let it cook for a few minutes, stirring from time to time, until slightly browned.

2.  Add the garlic, mushrooms and carrot, cooking for a few minutes.

3.  Add soy sauce, lentils, rice and water.  Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to low, and cook 45 minutes with a lid on.

4.  If it’s still a little watery at the end of the cooking time, just turn the heat up a little and cook it off.

5.  Serve with salsa, and you’re ready to go!

Green Beans, Sundried Tomatoes and Brazil Nuts

The cupboards are  bare except for the few ingredients I threw together to make these beans.  It’s surprisingly good – so good that I think I need to go out and buy more sun-dried tomatoes so I can make it again.

What you need:

green beans

sun-dried tomatoes, in oil

brazil nuts

salt

butter (or substitute for vegans)

What you do:

1.  Cut the ends off the beans and cut them in half.  Pour a few centimetres of water into a pot and bring it to a boil.  Add a teaspoon or so of butter to the water, then add the beans.  Cover and cook 3-4 minutes, until they are cooked but still a little crisp and bright green.

2.  Chop the sun-dried tomatoes, about 1/2 a tomato per serving.  Chop the brazil nuts, about one nut per serving.

3.  Drain and lightly salt the beans.

4.  Arrange the beans on plates, topping with tomatoes and nuts.  Enjoy!

Vegan Caesar Salad Dressing

A creamy dressing that’s also vegan – yum!

What you need:

2/3 cup soft Silken Tofu

3 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/3 cup lactose-free parmesan or soy parmesan

1/4 teaspoon sugar or agave nectar

juice of 1 lemon

1/2 clove chopped garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil (or more as needed)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

What you do:

1.  Blend all the ingredients using a blender or immersion blender.  Add a little more olive oil if it’s too runny.

2.  Refrigerate for an hour or two, if you’ve got the time, to let the flavours mingle.

3.  Toss with romaine and top with croutons.  Serve with a wedge of lemon for squeezing on top.

And here’s a crouton recipe:

For 2 servings you need:

2 slices bread

olive oil

2 cloves garlic

1/4 teaspoon sage

1/4 teaspoon oregano

salt and pepper

What you do:

1. Cut the bread into cubes.  Heat a frying pan to medium, then add a little olive oil.  Once the oil is hot add the bread, tossing until coated.  Add a little more olive oil if necessary.

2.  Chop up the garlic, and add to the frying pan, along with the spices.

3.  When the bread has browned on one side, turn it over and let the other side brown.

4.  Throw it on top of your dressed salad, scraping out the spices with it.

Beets with Maple-Grapefruit Glaze

Beets are a beautiful vegetable to make for a winter feast.  The glaze is tangy yet sweet, and can be served hot or cold.  I’ve served them hot as a side dish, and cold on a green salad with some ground toasted sesame seeds.

What you need:

1/2 pound beets, cooked (You can use beets that have been boiled or baked, with the skins rubbed off.)

juice of 1 pink grapefruit

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

2 or more tablespoons maple syrup

1 teaspoon corn starch

What you do:

1.  Bring the grapefruit juice and vinegar to a boil, then mix the corn starch with a little cold water.  Mix it so there are no lumps, and stir it into the boiling juice. Make sure it is boiling when you add the cornstarch or you will get lumps.

2.  Add maple syrup to taste.  Remember that the beets are sweet, so you don’t want the sauce to be too sweet.

The Easiest Tomato Sauce Ever

Here’s a tasty tomato sauce, and really really easy – thanks Chad for the recipe!  I made it to use in a lasagna, and it was fabulous . . . I would imagine there are many other uses for it.

What you need:

1 – 750   mL tin whole tomatoes

1/2 onion

1/4 cup butter

salt and pepper

What you do:

1.  Put the onion and butter in a pot with the tomatoes and cook for 45 minutes or so.

2.  Take out the onion, season with salt and pepper, and voila, a fabulous sauce.

For the lasagna I pureed the tomatoes, and I added about a teaspoon of brown sugar.

Black Bean and Corn Soup

This is my new favourite soup recipe –  hot sauce makes it a little spicy, corn adds a little sweetness, and a there’s a ton of flavour in here.  Some of the soup is pureed, but there’s lots of colour from the remaining vegetables.  Topped off with a little yogurt, it tastes decadent.

What you need:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 red onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 red pepper, chopped

1 carrot, chopped

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon cumin

1 – 398 mL can of diced tomatoes

5 cups black beans, cooked (about 1 & 1/2 cups dry)

6 cups vegetable broth

2 – 341 mL cans of corn

salt and pepper

hot sauce

plain yogurt

1 lime

What you do:

1. If you are cooking your own beans, place them in a pot of boiling water, bring back to a boil and cook for a few minutes.  Turn heat off and soak for about two hours.  I like to drain in the middle of the soaking time and bring back to a boil – this helps ward of the gas causing properties beans can have.  The last step is to rinse, then bring the beans back to a boil, then lower the heat and cook until soft.  This shouldn’t take too long.

2.  Heat the olive oil and add the onions, garlic, peppers and carrots.  Cover and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft.

3.  Add the oregano, cumin, beans, tomatoes and broth.  Bring to a boil, then simmer for about half an hour.

4.  Puree about a third of the soup.  I just put my immersion blender in and blended until I thought it looked good.

5.  Add the corn, along with its juice, and cook just long enough to heat through.

6.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

7.  Top with a big dollop of yogurt and some hot sauce.  Serve with a wedge of lime to squeeze on top.

Easy Vegetable Stock

Making your own vegetable stock is easy to do, and will give your soups amazing flavour.  I usually make some when I’m making a soup, and try to make extra so I can put it in the freezer for another time.  I don’t salt my soup stock – I wait until I put it into a recipe, and adjust the salt in a way that suits that particular recipe.

What you need:

1 onion

1 celery stalk

1 carrot

a small chunk of ginger

a few garlic cloves

1 star anise

1 bay leaf

pepper corns

What you do:

1.  Put all the ingredients in a large pot, cover with cold water, then bring to a boil.

2.  Lower heat and simmer for 1-2 hours.

3.  Strain and use right away, or freeze for later.

 

 

Fresh Salsa

Homemade salsa is easy to make, as long as you’ve got really great tomatoes.  Over the winter you can still make it, but it won’t be nearly as good as when you make it with tomatoes ripe from the garden or farmer’s market.

What you need:

3-4 tomatoes

1/4 sweet onion*, finely diced

1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced

salt

1/2 freshly squeezed lime

a pinch of sugar may be needed

optional: cilantro

What you do:

1. Cut up tomato into chunks of about 1 cm.  Place in a colander over a bowl to drain.

2. Add a little chopped onion, and a diced jalapeno pepper.  If you don’t want it to be very hot, take out the seeds.  That’s where most of the heat is.

3.  After the tomatoes have drained, add the rest of the ingredients.

4.  After letting it sit for a while to allow the flavours to mingle, have a taste and adjust the salt and lime juice as needed.  You may also want to add a pinch of sugar.

5.  I like to let the salsa sit for a while, then serve at room temperature with tortillas, fajitas and lots of other dishes.

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* I prefer to use sweet onion because I tend to cry less – if you’ve got very sensitive eyes, you know how important this is.  Especially if you’re expecting company.  I also think they taste great!

How to Make a Beautiful Veggie Platter

Okay, so you’ve agreed to bring veggies and dip to the potluck . . . but it sound so boring.  Here’s how I like to make my platter look more interesting.

The main things to keep in mind are colour and layout.  I like to separate the colours, so I this time I started  with the green, laying down a few sections of cucumbers and peas.  Then I filled the sections in with the other colours.  I kept most of the veggies the same length, so they all fit on the platter.

I had some radishes, so I placed them around the centre to make it more interesting, and added a few nasturtiums.  Click for links to sites about edible flowers here and here.

I like to make yogurt dips because the veggie platter is supposed to be one of the healthy dishes.  I just add some herbs or spices and a touch of salt.  My favourite is fresh dill.  I keep it chopped up in the freezer so I can just grab a little when I need it.  I also like to add a little curry powder to yogurt – really simple!

Spinach Borek with Apple Tahini Sauce

Spinach Borek is a great little vegan savoury appetizer than you can make up ahead of time, then pop in the oven as guests are arriving.  I made up the filling the day before and filled it right before putting it in the oven, but you could also fill and fold them up ahead of time.  Just put them in the fridge with a slightly damp towel over top.  I found this recipe in Molly Katzen’s ‘Enchanted Broccoli Forest’ years ago and have only slightly modified it.

What you need for the Spinach Borek:

2 packages frozen spinach

1/4 cup olive oil

1 large onion, chopped finely (about 1&1/2 cups)

1/2 teaspoon salt

pepper

3 cloves garlic

1 cup chopped walnuts, toasted

1/3 cup fine bread crumbs

1/4 cup chopped fresh mint

1/4 cup chopped fresh dill

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon grated orange rind

1/2 cup currants

a little grated nutmeg

1 pound filo pastry

What you need for the Apple Tahini Sauce:

1/2 cup tahini

1/4 cup apple juice, or more as needed

1 & 1/2 tablespoons cider vinegar

1 clove garlic, minced

pinch of salt

1/4 teaspoon cumin

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

pinch of cayenne

How to make the spinach borek:

1. Thaw filo and spinach.  Filo needs a few hours to thaw; read the instructions on the label.  If you have it in the fridge, take it out at least one hour before you plan to use it.

2.  Heat about 1 tablespoon of the oil and fry the onion over medium heat for about 8-10 minutes.  Squeeze the excess moisture out of the spinach and add it to the onions, cooking for a few minutes.

3.  Remove from heat and add all the remaining ingredients and mix them in well.

4.  Lay out the filo and brush a little olive oil over the sheet.  Follow the diagram below to fold them up, then brush on  a little more olive oil before they go in the oven.

5.  Bake at 375F for 30 minutes.  These are great hot, and can also be served at room temperature.

How to make the tahini sauce:

1.  Use electric mixer to beat tahini for about 5 minutes.

2. Gradually add apple juice and cider vinegar.  Add more apple juice if it’s too thick.

Note:  if you don’t add it gradually it will become a blobby mess and the oil may separate, like it did for me.  I spent ages trying to bring it back to the consistency it should be.

3.  Add remaining ingredients and taste to see if you want to adjust the seasonings.

4.  You can keep this in the fridge for a few weeks, but keep in mind that it thickens up when it’s cold.  You may want to take it out of the fridge a while before serving so it has time to soften up.

This sauce is also great for a veggie dip, or a spread for crackers or bread.