Tortilla Soup

This stuff is so good!!

TORTILLA SOUP

4 c. warm water

1 c. grape tomatoes

1 large carrot, peeled and cut up

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

1/2 large avacado

handful of fresh cilantro

1 t. Mrs. Dash non-salt herb seasoning

1/2 t. cumin

1/2 t. paprika

1/2 t. chili powder

1 t. garlic powder

1 1/2 t. salt

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can corn, drained

1 can white beans, drained and rinsed

Garnish: extra cilantro, extra diced grape tomatoes, diced avacado, tortilla chips, Franks hot sauce, lime juice, dairy free sour cream

Using high speed blender, add water, tomatoes, carrot, bell pepper, onion, avocado, cilantro, and seasonings.   Blend until smooth. 

Add the base mixture to a large stock pan.  Stir in the drained beans and corn and bring to boil.  

Serve and enjoy!

Tofu White Bean Dip

TOFU WHITE BEAN DIP

1 clove garlic, chopped
1 (15 oz) can white beans, drained and rinsed
3/4 c. silken tofu, drained and gently rinsed
2 1/2 T. fresh lemon juice
1 T. olive oil
1/4 t. ground cumin
Cayenne pepper to taste


In blender combine all ingredients until smooth.  Serve with vegetables, bread, or crackers.

Millet and Black Beans

MILLET AND BLACK BEANS

1 t. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3/4 c. uncooked millet
2 c. vegetable broth
1 t. ground cumin
1/4 t. cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1 c. frozen corn kernels
15 oz black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 c. chopped fresh cilantro
lemon juice

Wash, drain, and pan toast the millet until slightly colored in a dry frying pan, however if strapped for time, simply wash and drain the millet.

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned.

Mix millet into the saucepan and cover with vegetable broth.  Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper.  Bring the mixture to a boil.

Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.  Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through.  Mix in the black beans, cilantro and a squeeze of lemon or lime juice.  Serve hot or chilled.

Tex-Mex Spaghetti Squash with Black Bean Guacamole

Sounds weird, I know.  But I gave it a try.  And you should too :)

TEX-MEX SPAGHETTI SQUASH WITH BLACK BEAN GUACAMOLE

1 med. spaghetti squash
olive oil
ground cumin
ground chili powder
dried oregano
salt
pepper

Guacamole:

2 med avacado
1 med roma tomato, seeded and diced
1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
lemon juice
seasoned salt
dried minced onions


Preheat oven to 375.  Slice spaghetti squash in half.  Brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Place cut side down into baking dish and roast 30-50 minutes - until flesh is soft and easily able to be scraped out.

Prepare quacamole - peel and dice avacados then smash with a fork.  Add tomato and black beans.  Season with lemon juice, seasoned salt and minced onions to taste.

Remove squash from oven.  Scrape flesh out.  Sprinkle with cumin, chili powder, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste.  Top with guacamole and serve warm.

Sweet Potato Soup

Turned out good, but not perfect yet.  I need to make it again and play around with some different spices to get it just right...

SWEET POTATO SOUP

4 medium sweet potatoes

4 c. vegetable broth

1 (15 oz) can of white beans, drained and rinsed

1-2 t. salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 400.  Bake potatoes until tender (about 1 hour).  Once done, peel and cube potatoes and place in blender or food processor.  Add other ingredients and season to taste.  The soup will be warm enough to serve, but you can put it in a large pot on the stove and heat more if desired.  

Garnish with avocados, croutons, sunflower seeds, or whatever tickles your fancy at the moment.   

**I added some paprika into the soup I made, and ate it with avocados and some tortilla chips.  

**Mom put avocados, croutons, and sunflower seeds and added nutmeg to hers.

Vegan Slow Cooker Chili

We had family dinner this week on Saturday because of some family that is in town visiting.  This week's recipes turned out SO GOOD!  Everyone loved it and was raving about it.  This will definitely be a repeated dinner!

VEGAN SLOW COOKER CHILI

1 (28 oz) diced tomatoes

1 (14 oz) diced tomatoes with green chilies

1 (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15 oz) pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 (15 oz) corn, drained and rinsed

2 c. vegetable broth

2 t. garlic powder

2 t. onion powder

2 t. cumin

1/2 t. red pepper flakes

2 t. chili powder

1 c. uncooked quinoa, rinsed well
1 (12 oz) Lightlife Smart Ground Veggie Protein Cumbles

Combine all ingredients in 6 qt. slow cooker.  Cook 6-8 hours on low, or 4-6 hours on high.  

Serve with: tortilla chips, avacado, cheese and sour cream (dairy or vegan depending on your preferences)

It was so good that I forgot to take any pictures until it was almost too late and everyone was almost done eating!

Black Bean Lasagna

Tonight's recipe is courtesy of Trisha Yearwood.  It's one that I've had on my list to try for a while and I finally decided to do it this week.  It was surprisingly delicious!

BLACK BEAN CHEESE-LESS LASAGNA

Serves: 8

1 (14 oz) extra-firm tofu, drained and patted dry

2 (15.5 oz) cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1 (28 oz) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes

1 (12 oz) tomato paste

1 c. water

1 small-medium yellow onion, finely chopped

1 T. dried oregano

1/4 t. garlic powder

1/4 c. raw cashews

1/4 c. nutritional yeast

3 T. olive oil

2 T. finely chopped fresh basil

8 oz lasagna noodles

Place tofu between 4 paper towels (or between two folded up dish towels like I did because we're currently out of paper towels).  Place heavy skillet on top for 1 hour, pressing down on tofu.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 375.  Into large sauce pot, stir black beans, tomatoes, tomato paste, water, onion, oregano, garlic powder, 2 t. salt, and 1/2 t. pepper.  Heat to boiling on med-high, stirring often.  Reduce heat to maintain simmer; simmer, uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

While sauce cooks, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add the lasagna noodles and cook to al dente, according to package directions.  Drain the noodles well.  (THIS IS IMPORTANT!  I decided to try to use no-cook lasagna noodles and they didn't get quite cooked enough.  They were a little chewy and still crunchy on the sides.  Oh well...live and learn...)

In food processor, pulse cashews until finely ground; transfer to large bowl, along with pressed tofu.  With hands, crumble tofu until texture resembles ricotta cheese.  Stir in yeast, olive oil, basil, 1/4 t. salt, and 1/8 t. pepper.

In 13x9 dish, spread 1 c. tomato sauce.  Layer with noodles, sauce, and tofu mixture; repeat layering twice.  Top with 1 c. sauce.  Spread sauce to completely cover noodles.  Bake, uncovered, 40 minutes or until noodles are tender.  Let stand a few minutes before serving.

End result:

It was REALLY good!  (Despite the still too chewy noodles that weren't quite done.)  Dad cleaned his plate!  (Still not sure if it was because he really liked it, or because he was just starving from being at church all day...it was probably the latter, but I'm choosing the believe the former!)

And Julia asked for seconds!  That's a successful dinner in my books.  My work here is done!

Bean Tostadas

This week's dinner is another quick and easy favorite.  Tostadas!  Being a native of Arizona I have been born and raised on Mexican food.  I love it.  And when I go too long without it I crave it something fierce.  However, over the last year as I've been making lifestyle and diet changes, I've had to give up a lot of my favorites because they're loaded with meat, cheese, sour cream, and all that other "good stuff".  I've had to adapt recipes (some that came out great, and others I'm still working on), and adjust my expectations.

Tostadas, though, have been something that have stayed constant.  Yea!  All I needed to do was remove the cheese (easily removed and not really missed all that much once you add in a bunch more veggies and salsa for flavor), and sour cream (which I have substituted with a soy version that is actually surprisingly good!).

All the fixings for a easy and super yummy dinner!

I bake my corn tortillas in the oven so you're not getting all that extra, unnecessary fat, by frying them.  Lay the tortillas out on a cookie sheet in a single layer, bake in a 350 degree oven for about 10 minutes, then flip over and bake for another 10 minutes, or until they get a little brown and crispy.  

They you can add whatever toppings you want.  At my house we usually stick to the basics: tomatoes, lettuce, cheese (for those on in my house who eat it), salsa, olives, and your choice of sour cream (either dairy or non-dairy).  When I'm feeling like something a little extra (and when avocados are on sale!) I'll make up a batch of my famous guacamole: avocados, tomato, minced onion, seasoned salt, and lemon juice.  So good!!  

Everyone gives these a thumbs up!

Black Bean Brownies

For dessert I made a batch of my Black Bean Brownies that I found the recipe for a couple months ago and fell in love with.  Vegan and gluten free!

15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

2 flax eggs (3T ground flax seed meal + 6T water)

3 T. coconut oil, melted

3/4 c. cocoa powder

1/4 t. salt

1 t. vanilla extract

1/2 heaping c. raw sugar

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1/4 c. water

12 oz bag vegan semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.  Lightly grease a 12 slot standard size muffin pan.  Prepare flax eggs by combining flax and water in food processor or blender.  Pulse a couple times and then let rest for a few minutes.  Add remaining ingredients, except chocolate chips, and puree - about 3 minutes - scraping down sides as needed.  

You want it pretty smooth.  It should be slightly less thick than chocolate frosting but nowhere close to runny.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Evenly distribute batter into muffin tins.  Sprinkle extra chocolate chips on top if wanted.  

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the tops are dry and the edges start to pull away from the sides.  Let cool for 30 minutes before removing from pan.  Store in airtight container in the fridge.