Meatless Monday: Speedy Vegan Black Bean Soup for Two

Here in Vermont it is raining. That's right, it's January and it's raining. Cold, disgusting rain. My husband is cranky because it isn't snowing, the 16 month old has the chickenpox, I'm starting to feel like my pregnant belly leads me everywhere I go, and the dog is out of sorts because he ate a jalapeno that I accidentally dropped on the floor. So tonight called for a quick comfort meal. This recipe can please almost anyone. The spices give the soup a fantastic flavor. The recipe can easily be doubled or even tripled but this small version is what I make when we need a quick dinner and I don't want to add to the leftovers piling up in our fridge. I like to serve this with jalapeno boats.

Vegan Black Bean Soup
(Serves 2)

2 stalks celery, diced
1 large carrot, peeled & diced
1 garlic clove, diced
1 small piece ginger (the size of your garlic clove), peeled & diced
1 15 oz can black beans
2 cups veggie stock
1/3 cup tomato sauce
1-2 TBS oil
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
a pinch of cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper

1. Dice vegetables. I press the garlic & ginger directly into the pan with a garlic press. This way the juices also run into the pan.

2. Saute the vegetables on low for about 5 minutes. Stir to make sure they cook evenly. 

3. Add spices to pan. Stir. Add black beans, tomato sauce & stock. Simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.

4. Process the soup in food processor or blender until smooth. Pour into pan to reheat if necessary. 

Enjoy with fresh bread or jalapeno poppers. This recipe makes a hearty serving with seconds for one person or 2 decent size servings with a side for 2. My picture shows the soup with sour cream on top- for vegans omit sour cream. Enjoy!

Baked Apple Oatmeal

On snowy winter days a hot breakfast is in order but between stoking the fire and trying to warm up with a mug of coffee I don't always have the time to make it. This make ahead Baked Apple Oatmeal stores easily in the fridge and a quick minute in the microwave with some hot milk on top makes it a perfect winter warmer.

Baked Apple Oatmeal

Serves 9

2 chopped apples, roughly 2 cups (can substitute other fruit for apples but firm fruits work better)

3 cups quick oats

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 cup applesauce

1 cup nonfat milk (to make recipe vegan substitute soy milk)

3 TBS maple syrup

1. Peel and dice apples. 

2. Put dry ingredients into large mixing bowl. 

3. Add applesauce, milk & maple syrup and mix well. Once all ingredients are wet add the diced apples. 

4. Pour batter into a glass square pan sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 25 minutes at 350. When timer goes off, shut off the oven but leave the pan in for an additional 5 minutes. You want the oatmeal to be firm to stand up to reheating. 

5. Cut into 9 squares after the pan has cooled. Store in fridge for up to a week. You could also freeze. When you're ready to eat it, microwave for one minute with about 1/4 cup milk poured on top. You can also drizzle a bit of maple syrup on top. Enjoy!

Homemade Granola Bars

I have a small Pinterest addiction. Recently, numerous posts have popped up on homemade granola bars. I pored over dozens of recipes but found myself liking parts of each but not the whole. In particular I didn't want to use honey in the bars because I wanted to create a recipe that could be vegan with an easy butter substitution.

Here is your pictorial journey thru my granola bar adventure. At the end are two recipes, Peanut Butter Coconut Chocolate Chip Bars and Oatmeal Raisin Peanut Butter Bars.

1. In a small saucepan, combine wet ingredients. You want to cook the peanut butter mixture for 5 minutes over low but it needs to bubble. It's tempting to pull it off once everything is melted but if you don't get it bubbling it doesn't thicken properly and the bars won't hold together.

2. While peanut butter is bubbling, cover a cookie sheet with tinfoil & spray with cooking spray. Many other recipes talk about using a 9*13 pan. In my opinion, it is very difficult to press the bars down evenly in a 9*13 pan and they are hard to get out. Trust me, use a cookie sheet.

3. Put all dry ingredients you are using into a mixing bowl.

4. Pour peanut butter mixture into dry ingredients & mix with a spoon until it looks wet and well distributed. 

                                       

5. Take the pan the peanut butter was in and rinse it out. Fill it with water & let it sit in the sink. The fact that I am including this as a step should speak to how important it is to do this now! Don't let the pan sit. The peanut butter will crystallize and put up a fight in coming off if you don't soak it right away!

6. Pour the granola mixture into the sprayed cookie sheet & spread around to cover most surfaces. Cover with wax paper (hint: spray the side touching the bars with a little cooking oil to prevent sticking). Use your hands to press the mixture evenly over the surface of the pan. Pay special attention to the edges and make sure they are not too thin or you will have trouble cutting the bars.

7. Put in the fridge for an hour. 

8. Take out of fridge & slice into bars. I can usually get 22-24 out of each sheet. The end bars will be a little crumblier than the center ones. I put the tray back in the fridge for another hour after slicing. I find that it improves the firmness of the bars. Use the tinfoil to help lift the bars out so they stay in one piece. You can then pack the bars into tupperware & keep them in the fridge. They keep for up to two weeks- but trust me they won't last that long. They have become a family favorite!

Yum :) 

Peanut Butter Coconut Chocolate Chip Bars- Ingredients List

Makes 24

Dry Ingredients- 

1 1/2 c rice crispie cereal ( I used generic- 2.99/box, box has 12.5 cups) .72

1 3/4 c quick oats ($3 for 42 oz= 15 cups= .20 cup) .35

1/2 c coconut (14 oz bag 2.69= .19 oz) .30

6 oz semisweet chocolate chips (I used generic- $3.69/24 oz) .90 (Hint: Keep the chocolate chips in the fridge and add them after you have started mixing the hot peanut butter mixture in. It will reduce melting.)

Wet Ingredients-

1/3 c agave nectar (32 TBS per container, $5.79 per container, 5 TBS used @ .18/TBS) .90 (You could also use honey instead.)

1/3 c peanut butter (64 oz is $5.65, .09/oz) .27

1/4 c butter ($3/4 pk=.75/stick, 1/4 c is 1/2 stick) .37

See instructions above for steps to follow. 

Total Cost for Batch- $3.84 Total Cost per Bar (24 in batch) 14 cents each

Oatmeal Raisin Granola Bars- Ingredient List

Makes 24

Dry Ingredients

2 cups quick oats ($3 for 42 oz= 15 cups= .20 cup) .40

2 cups rice crispies (I used generic - 2.99/box, 12.5 cups/box= .24/cup) .48

1/2 cup raisins (3.99/container, container has 4.25 cups= .94/cup) .47

1/4 cup dark brown sugar ($2.29 for generic 32 oz, .07/oz) .14

Wet Ingredients

1/3 c agave nectar (32 TBS per container, $5.79 per container, 5 TBS used @ .18/TBS) .90

1/3 c peanut butter (64 oz is $5.65, .09/oz) .27

1/4 c butter ($3/4 pk=.75/stick, 1/4 c is 1/2 stick) .37

See instructions above for steps to follow. 

Total Cost for Batch- $3.03 Total Cost per Bar (24 in batch) 13 cents each

Persian Stew with Greens & Beans

I was a little under the weather earlier this week so I went back to a childhood comfort stew. It's a little late for Meatless Monday but it's a great vegetarian dish & can easily be made vegan or gluten-free with minor modifications. The great thing about this stew is that because there is no dairy in the actual stew you can pressure can the leftovers.

Ash-eh Reshteh
(serves 4-8 easily)

10 cups water
8 oz lentils
1 15 oz can chickpeas

1 bunch chopped flat Italian parsley
1 bunch chopped cilantro
1 bunch scallions, green parts chopped
1 16 oz bag of chopped frozen spinach
a small handful of spaghetti noodles
1 onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 tablespoons oil
plain yogurt for topping the stew

In a stockpot, put the 10 cups of water, lentils & rinsed chickpeas. Bring to a low boil for 20 minutes while you chop all the greens. After 20 minutes add the parsley, cilantro, scallions, and spinach into the pot.Cook on a low boil for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, add the spaghetti noodles into the pot. Saute the onions & garlic in the oil in a frying pan. After they soften add the turmeric. Add half the onions into the stew & stir. Check to make sure the noodles are cooked through, salt if necessary and serve with yogurt on top of each serving. To make vegan eliminate yogurt topping & use vegan noodles. To make gluten-free replace noodles with a gluten-free substitute.
Enjoy!

Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken

I advocate easy real food. I don't like boxes and mixes and 80 steps. I love my crockpot. I also am a huge fan of rotisserie chicken. This combines the best of both worlds.

Doesn't it look yummy?

Crockpot Rotisserie Chicken

1 roaster chicken (I used a 5.5 lb one- $3.83 on sale at .69/lb)

2 TBS your choice spices, I use a Buzz Rub by a local VT company Brown & Jenkins Coffee which I traded for at a food swap (If purchased it would have been $7.95 per container- it uses about 1/8 of the container so $1.00)

1. Take out the crockpot and chicken. 

2. Place the chicken breast side down in the crockpot. 

3. Sprinkle with spices. 

4. Set crockpot for 4 hours and go do something exciting. You could also set it for 8 hours on low if you were going to work for the day. 

5. After 4 hours take the chicken out, marvel at how moist it is, and eat it. Enjoy!

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Pancakes

Folks have tendency to snub the classic oatmeal raisin cookie. I'm one of those folks. If I'm going to have a cookie I prefer to go all out with chocolate chip or peanut butter or preferably both. Saturday mornings in our house are happy ones, especially today as our house is surrounded by snow and the fire is going.

I love making pancakes because we never eat them all so I freeze some and pull them out on other mornings as quick breakfasts for the warrior princess. She likes things she can grip in her mitts and feed herself. She also loves raisins.

This recipe is a play on oatmeal raisin cookies. It is a simple recipe to make wheat-free by subbing in soy flour for the small amount of flour in the recipe. It was a hit in our house- although my husband did request the addition of walnuts next time. There is no butter or oil in the recipe and you don't even miss it.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Pancakes (makes roughly 16 medium-large pancakes)

1 cup quick oats, pulverized in food processor
1/2 cup flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ginger
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/4 cups milk
1/2 - 3/4 cup raisins (We use closer to 3/4 cup.)

1. In a food processor pulverize the quick oats to a powder of medium coarseness. I use oatmeal as a substitute for flour a bit so sometimes I pulverize extra and put it in tupperware to save this step later.

2. Put all dry ingredients (including pulverized oats) in a bowl.

3. Add the egg and milk. There is nothing fancy about this recipe. Just throw it all in there, it'll whisk together. 

4. Whisk the ingredients together until blended. 

5. Add the raisins and whisk again. 

6. Heat a skillet on the stove over medium heat and spray with cooking spray. Dose out pancakes onto warm skillet. I use a 1/4 cup measure to dose. Make sure that as you dose you use scrape along the bottom of the bowl a bit as the raisins have a tendency to settle. 

7. After about 2 minutes flip the pancakes over and cook for another minute. 

In between batches I store the cooked pancakes in a bowl with one of our plates over it to keep them warm. 

8. Serve warm with maple syrup (the real stuff- preferably from Vermont). 

These freeze really well. If you have any leftover put them on a plate in the freezer for about half an hour. Flip them and put them back in for 15 minutes, then take them off the plate and put them into tupperware or a plastic bag. Freezing them on the plate first helps them to not stick to each other in the bag or get freezer burn. 

Enjoy! 

A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Nothing makes me happier than being in the kitchen with my kiddos. Here are the warrior princess and I making tamales:

She is happily eating raisins while babbling words of encouragement.