Rice Paper Wraps

These are a regular on our menu.  I serve them with this delicious Peanut Sauce and often a side of steamed/roasted/grilled broccoli (also with the awesome peanut sauce — you can’t skip the sauce!).

• 9 oz rice noodles (I use Thai Kitchen stir fry rice noodles)
• 1 14-16 oz package tofu, pressed to get rid of excess water
• reduced sodium tamari (or any tamari/soy sauce of your choosing)
• olive oil
• 1.5 lbs snap peas (de-stringed)
• 2 red peppers, diced
• 1/4 cup roasted peanuts (salted or unsalted)
• 1/4 cup minced cilantro
• 1/4 cup minced mint (when available)
• rice papers (I use the Vietnamese Brown Rice Spring Roll Wrapper, available at our local Natural Grocers.  Most stores have some option in their ethnic aisle.)
• lettuce, chopped
• parchment paper

Cook rice noodles according to package directions, draining and rinsing with cold water at the end and setting aside in a bowl.

After pressing tofu, cut into 1/2″ cubes and drizzle with tamari, enough to coat well and absorb.  Heat oil in (preferably nonstick) pan on medium and sauté tofu until browned.  Don’t stir too often to allow tofu to brown properly.  Remove from heat when done.

Steam snap peas until done to your liking.  Roughly chop after cooling slightly.

In a large bowl, combine: steamed snap peas, diced red peppers, sautéed tofu, peanuts, cilantro, and mint.

In the tofu sauté pan (I don’t bother washing!), heat about 1/2″ of water until just starting ‘fish eye’ stage (don’t bring to a boil) and then turn off heat. Make sure your large bowl of tofu & veggies, your small bowl of rice noodles, and your chopped lettuce is nearby and ready.  Also have some burrito-sized pieces of parchment paper handy.

Work quickly here… Very quickly dip rice papers in water and place on a plate.  Top with rice noodles, tofu/veggie mixture, and lettuce.  Roll bottom up slightly, fold the two sides in, and fold over the top.  This is an art and takes practice — it will get easier and your results will get better.  I am able to fill mine quite full now, but starting with a smaller amount of filling may yield better results until you get the technique down.  Once complete, place on a small piece of parchment paper to keep from sticking to anything.  Only make as many at a time that you plan to eat.  Do not wrap extra for leftovers as they will fall apart.  I store the fillings in the fridge and do the rice paper wrappings fresh when I want to eat leftovers for lunch.

Serve with this amazing Peanut Sauce.

It’s a favorite – I hope you enjoy it as much as we do…!  And, remember, you can’t skip the peanut sauce!!

Sweet Potato Pinto Kale Quesadillas

These are a delicious take on quesadillas and the queso for the top is fantastic!  I haven’t blogged for a while but this new recipe was very blog-worthy.  The best new recipe I’ve had in a long time!  This makes about 2 large quesadillas, which will feed about 3 people.  This is easy to double to feed more.

• 20 oz sweet potatoes, peeled & cubed
• olive oil
• 2 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1 can pinto beans
• 3/4 tsp cumin
• 3/4 tsp chili powder
• 3/4 tsp salt (reduce to 1/2 tsp if beans are salted)
• 1/2 bunch kale, de-stemmed and chopped finely
• 4 large whole wheat tortillas

Queso (this made enough queso for a double batch of quesadillas — you can easily use the queso on something else, as a dip for chips, or freeze the extra):

• 1 cup raw cashews
• 1/2 cup water
• 4 oz. can hot green chilis, with liquid
• 2 tsp taco seasoning (with salt)

 

Steam the sweet potatoes until very soft.  Use an electric hand beater to puree once done.

In a saute pan on medium heat, saute garlic in olive oil until slightly browned.  Add kale and put a lid on it, stirring occasionally (and adjusting the heat as needed), for about 5 minutes.  Add pinto beans and all spices and continue to cook with the lid on for another 5 minutes or so.

Stir bean and kale mixture into the mashed sweet potatoes and combine well.  Add a little more olive oil to your saute pan on medium heat.  On the side, prepare a quesadilla with 2 tortillas and half of the mixture.  Place in the saute pan and heat for a couple of minutes until tortillas are a bit brown and crispy.  Flip and repeat on the other side.

Somewhere along the line, prepare the queso by combining all the ingredients into a high speed blender and puree until very smooth.

Serve quesadillas with queso and salsa, if you wish.  Enjoy!!

Inspired by this (non-vegan) recipe.

Quesadilla Casserole

A delicious, easier to eat and less messy version of my quesadilla recipe.  The cheese sauce is made in a high powered blender and comes together pretty quickly.  (I often make double/triple batches of the cheese sauce and freeze the extra.)  Once that’s made, it’s easy.  You can serve topped with salsa or guacamole if you wish.

CHEESE SAUCE:

• 1 cup raw cashews
• 1/2 cup nutritional yeast
• 4 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/3 cup unsweetened original almond milk or other unsweetened original non-dairy milk of your choice
• 3 Tbsp miso paste, optional
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 3 Tbsp cornstarch
• 1 cup roasted red pepper (easiest if you get out of a jar)
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp black pepper
• cayenne pepper, to taste (optional – I skip if serving with spicy salsa)

“REFRIED” BEANS:

• 4 cans pinto beans
• 1 tsp salt (if pinto beans are unsalted)
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp garlic powder

OTHER:

• 6 large (burrito size) whole wheat tortillas, all cut in half
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

 

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine cheese sauce ingredients in a Vitamix or high powered blender and blend until smooth.

Smash pinto beans with a potato masher (or pureé) with spices and mix well.

Grease the bottom of a 9×13 casserole dish.  Arrange 4 half tortillas (2 whole) on the bottom by putting their straight edges against each of the 4 sides.  Spread about half of the bean mixture on top.  Pour on a little less than half of the cheese sauce.  Sprinkle some of the cilantro.  Again place a layer of 4 half tortillas, followed by the rest of the beans, and almost all of the sauce.  Top with the last 4 half tortillas and the remainder of the sauce.  (Save the remaining cilantro for topping once baked.)

Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Top with cilantro and cut into squares to serve.  Top with salsa and/or guacamole, as desired.

Sweet Potato Peanut Soup

This easy soup is one of my daughter’s favorites (even though she doesn’t like sweet potatoes).  Serve with bread and a salad or veggie and you have a nice meal!  I like doubling this and freezing the extra.

• 1 medium/large onion, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons peeled and minced fresh ginger
• 1 red pepper, chopped (about 1 cup)
• 2 medium carrots, diced (about 1 cup)
• half a pinch cayenne pepper
• fresh ground black pepper
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed (a little over 1 pound)
• 3 cups veggie broth
• 1 lb tomatoes, chopped or 1 small can diced tomatoes (with juice)
• 1/3 cup creamy natural peanut butter

Sauté the onion until soft and translucent.  Add garlic and ginger and sauté a few minutes more.  Add all remaining ingredients and bring to a simmer.  Simmer into everything is soft.  Pureé using an immersion blender or in batches using a container blender.  I like the smoothness by blending in my Vitamix and I often make this soup in the morning and then blend when cool at dinnertime.

Enjoy!

Thai Sweet Potato Coconut Salad

My daughter loves going to Modern Market and ordering their Thai Coconut Salad with Mango Peanut Dressing (without chicken).  Here’s my version that we make at home, which she luckily loves just as much!

• 1 head lettuce, washed, and chopped (or 12 oz mixed greens)
• 1 cucumber, sliced
• 1.25 lb sweet potatoes, peeled
• 3/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
• 3/4 cup peanuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

MANGO PEANUT DRESSING:

• 3 heaping Tbsp peanut butter
• 3 heaping Tbsp almond butter
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp ginger powder
• 2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp lime juice
• 4 chunks (about 1″) frozen mango
• 6-10 Tbsp water

Poke peeled sweet potatoes several times with a fork and microwave for 3 minutes.  (This makes them a little softer and easier to shred.)  Shred the sweet potatoes.  Microwave shredded sweet potatoes for another 10 +/- minutes or until fully cooked/tender.  Place in fridge (or freezer) to cool while preparing the rest.

Combine dressing ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth, adding water to reach a pourable thick dressing consistency. Place in fridge (or freezer) to cool while preparing the rest.

In a bowl, combine all salad ingredients.  Either dress the entire salad all at once, or if saving some for leftovers, dress just what you are serving and store the salad and dressing separately in the fridge for the next day.  Enjoy!

Coconut Curry Soup

This delicious soup goes wonderfully paired with some homemade bread.  Add a salad and you have a very complete, satisfying and delicious meal!  Next time, I will double this for sure, as it only makes about 4 dinner sized portions.

• 1 large onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 5 carrots, chopped
• 5 celery stalks, chopped
• 3 cups veggie broth
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 1/2 Tbsp ground ginger
• 1 Tbsp curry powder
• 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• 1 cup red lentils, rinsed well
• 1 can coconut milk

Sauté onion until soft.  Add garlic and sauté a few minutes more.  Add everything else except red lentils and coconut milk and simmer for about 25 minutes or until carrots and celery are mostly tender.  Add red lentils and coconut milk and simmer until lentils are very soft.  Enjoy!

Inspired by a One Green Planet recipe.

Chickpea & Soy Curl Curry

This is a delicious vegan twist on Indian Butter Chicken inspired by a Vegan Richa recipe.  The chicken is replaced by soy curls, which have a creepily similar texture to chicken.  Creaminess from the cashew cream replaces the butter.  This is currently one of my 9 year old’s favorite meals!  Serve over rice, quinoa, or with indian bread.

• 6 roma tomatoes
• 8 cloves garlic
• 2 Tbsp fresh ginger
• 1 green pepper, stem and seeds removed
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp paprika
• pinch cayenne
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 5.5 oz soy curls
• 2 cans chickpeas
• 2/3 cup cashews
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp more garam masala for later
• 1/2 tsp ground mustard
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

Purée tomatoes, garlic, ginger, green pepper and water.

In an InstantPot, pressure cooker, or soup pot, combine purée, spices, soy curls and chickpeas.  Cook in InstantPot or pressure cooker for 11 minutes or cook on stove until soy curls are tender.

While that is cooking, puree cashews and water.

Once the soy curl/chickpea mixture is done, add in cashew cream, additional garam masala, ground mustard and green pepper.  Cook until heated through (use sauté feature if using InstantPot).  Serve over rice or quinoa and garnished with cilantro.

Roasted Tomatillo & Chickpea Curry

This was a surprise favorite of everyone in the house, even the skeptical 8 year old.  Tastes like an Indian dish – maybe I should call it Chana Tomatillo.

This was a fairly easy dish that we served over rice (1 cup brown rice to go with this amount) with a side of sauteed kale.  This made 3-4 servings.  Next time I will double this for more yummy leftovers.

Modified from a chef de home recipe.

• 1 lb tomatillos, husk removed and washed, whole
• 1 anaheim/poblano/other pepper, whole
• 1 onion, chopped into 8ths
• 1/2 cup cilantro
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp salt (1/2 tsp if your chickpeas are salted), or to taste
• 1 1/2 Tbsp curry powder
• 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 2 cans chickpeas (I used unsalted), somewhat mashed if desired
• 1/4 cup water

Prepare a baking pan with foil and turn the oven broiler on high.  Place whole tomatillos, whole pepper, and onion chunks on the pan.  Broil for about 10 minutes, flipping everything over halfway through.  Cool and then remove charred skin, stems, seeds, etc.

Combine roasted tomatillos, pepper, onion, cilantro, oregano and salt in a blender or food processor and pulse until the consistency of a well chopped salsa.

In a dry sauce pan, roast curry powder over medium heat for a minute.  Add tomatillo salsa mixture, coconut milk, chickpeas, and water and simmer for 5-10 minutes.

Serve over rice and enjoy!

Roasted Tomatillo & Black Bean Tacos

A delicious new take on tacos for us…  we tend to get in a taco (or burrito) rut and make the same old things every time.  This was a wonderful way to change it up!  And two thumbs up from the 8 year old, too.  Inspired by a Vegetarian Times recipe.

• 1 lb tomatillos, husks removed and washed, but whole
• 3 garlic cloves, peeled, whole
• 1 red pepper, whole
• 1 onion, chopped into 8ths
• 1 anaheim/poblano/other pepper, whole
• 1/4 cup cilantro
• 10 corn tortillas
• 2 cans black beans (warmed)
• salt (3/4 tsp if beans unsalted, 1/4 tsp if salted)
• 1 avocado, chopped
• 1/2 cup corn (warmed if frozen)
• 1 tomato, chopped

Turn oven broiler on high.  Prepare a baking pan with foil.  Place tomatillos, garlic, red pepper, onion, and spicy pepper on the baking pan and broil for about 10 minutes, flipping everything over halfway through.  After cooled off, remove charred skin, stems, seeds, etc, from all the veggies.

In a blender or food processor, combine: tomatillos, garlic, onions, spicy pepper & cilantro.  Pulse until the consistency of salsa.  Mix with the warmed black beans.  Salt to taste.

Fixins:  Chop the roasted red pepper and put in a bowl.  Other fixins for the taco include: avocado, corn and tomato.

Serve tacos on warmed corn tortillas and enjoy!

 

Chickpea Lettuce Wraps

My daughter and I first tried a version of these at our local natural grocery store at a food demo.  I modified them to suit my needs and they are a favorite in our house.  Messy to eat but so delicious.  And it’s super quick and easy – no cooking involved!

Don’t skip the peanut sauce as a topping!  Amazing.

• 2 cans chickpeas (I used unsalted), drained
• 1/4 cup scallions or green parts of green onions, finely chopped
• 1 small red pepper, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• pinch crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 1/2 Tbsp dried rosemary, pulverized with a mortar and pestle (or fresh if you have it!)
• 2 Tbsp white (or red) wine vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt (omit if chickpeas are salted)
• ground black pepper

• 1/2 head lettuce leaves, for serving
• Peanut Sauce for topping

Combine everything in a bowl.  Serve room temperature with lettuce leaves and peanut sauce.  Make a mess trying to eat, but enjoy every moment of it!