Vegan Kidney Bean Soup

This recipe is a hit with vegetarians and meat-eaters alike. The ingredients are listed in italics and the method is in bold, interspersed amongst the ingredients.

1 onion, diced

1 medium carrot, peeled and diced

4 cloves garlic, finely chopped

Sauté the above ingredients in a about 1/2 inch of water in a saucepan then add the following:

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon cumin powder

Pinch of black pepper

1 – 2 Tablespoons cilantro, chopped (optional)

Stir, then prepare the following:

4 cans (6 cups) Kidney Beans, separated – see below

3 – 4 Roma tomatoes, roughly chopped and blended – see below

Blend the tomatoes, with 2 cans (3 cups) of kidney beans.

Add the blended beans mixture to the pan, then add the 2 remaining cans of kidney beans, whole

Water, as needed for desired consistency

Simmer for 15 minutes then add:

1 cup frozen corn.

Simmer until corn is tender.

You can use Black Beans, as an alternative. Boiling your own kidney beans means you can use them undrained for added nutrition.

Kidney bean soup

Easy Cabbage Salad – with Tahini Dressing

This nutrition packed salad with all-natural dressing is as delicious as it is easy to make.

Ingredients:

1 purple cabbage, outer leaves removed, quartered & cored, then sliced thinly, rinsed & drained

carrot, peeled and grated

In a large bowl, toss together with dressing (below).

Tahini Dressing

2 Tablespoons Tahini

1 Tablespoon honey or maple syrup

1 – 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1 – 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Optional additions are walnuts and raisins.

Oatmeal Raisin Cookies – Whole food plant-based

These naturally sweetened cookies really satisfy the craving for a sweet treat. Many recipes call for large amounts of natural sugar or oil – not these cookies. The main problem I’ve found is that a healthy cookie often lacks a certain something – usually the sugar or fat hit that you’re looking for. However, these cookies have it all. The dates, honey and dried fruits sweeten them just right and the tahini and nuts give you the richness you’re looking for.

Ingredients:

½ c. almonds, unroasted, unsalted and ground slightly

¼ cup soft dates, approximately 3-4 larger dates, pitted and ground slightly

1 ¼ cups quick oats (if using old fashioned oats, grind them slightly)

¼ c. raisins or dried apricots (chopped well). In Karachi, pick off any stems or debris & rinse well. Soak briefly & drain.

¼ cup unsweetened coconut (“powder” in Karachi, other places may call it “shredded”)

¼ cup Aquafaba, whipped

1 T. honey (or maple syrup to keep it vegan)

2 T. Tahini

Mix the almonds, dates, oats, dried fruits, and coconut in a medium bowl. In a separate small bowl, whip the aquafaba with a hand blender until white & fluffy. Add the honey and tahini to the aquafaba, stir well then add it to the oat mixture. Stir and use hands to knead it together.

Cover and refrigerate briefly while preheating the oven to 350 degrees.

Make ¼ cup cookies (about 7) into balls. Place them on a parchment lined tray and squash them slightly. Bake for 20 min or until bottom edges begin to brown.

Substitutes:

For almonds, swap for walnuts, pecans, or a seed of choice.

For the aquafaba you could substitute one flax egg.

For the tahini, swap out ¼ c. peanut butter.

Ready for the oven

Easy Nut and Date Cookies

1 cup nuts, unroasted & unsalted (i.e., almonds, walnuts, cashews)

1 cup dates, pits and stems removed*

Grind dates and nuts together in a food processer until a rough texture.

Put the mixture into a bowl and knead a few times to get it to a consistency where it’ll stick together. If too dry, add some more ground dates.

Form into approximately 22 balls and squash them into a discs on a tray that’s lined with parchment paper. Bake at 325 ^oF for 7-9 minutes. They’ll be just slightly browned on the bottom.

Allow to cool completely, store in a container in the refrigerator.

*For the dates I used the vacuum-packed dates which are very soft and sticky. A dry date may need to be soaked.

*Vacuum-packed Khalas Dates

Ready for the oven

Vegan Chocolate Coconut Cookies

 

Made with oats, sweetened with dates and a bit of honey (optional), these cookies are a delicious WFPB and SOS-free recipe. This recipe is for people who want a treat that won’t blow their way of eating.

Vegan Chocolate Coconut Cookies

½ Cup raw cashews, briefly soaked and drained [Alternatively: 1/2  cup almond meal pulp (leftover from homemade almond milk*)]

½ Cup dates, pitted

1 Cup water

1 Tablespoon honey (optional)

1 flax or chia egg (put 1 Tblsp ground flax OR chia seeds in a ¼ cup measuring container then fill it with water, mix and let sit for 15 min.)

1 Cup unsweetened coconut, shredded

2 Cups quick oats, uncooked

½ Cup walnuts or pecans

3 to 4 Tbsps unsweetened cocoa powder

Blend the cashews (or almond meal) and dates with the water in a high-speed blender. Add the flax egg and honey to the date mixture and stir well. In a separate large bowl, stir together the coconut, oats, nuts, and cocoa. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until well combined. Place about 36 balls of dough on a parchment lined cookie sheet, then gently squash the balls to form a disc.

Bake at 350 for 18 – 20 min.

Cool completely and store in an air-tight container in the fridge.

*I make almond milk much like the recipe linked above: except I don’t use any sweetener and I only strain the milk through a fine strainer several times. The pulp that I strain out I use in recipes such as this one.

                    

Vegan Richa: Eggplant Subzi Recipe Link

One of my favorite blogs: Vegan Richa has so many delicious recipes. My latest favorite, Aloo Baingan, I made two days in a row – it was that good. I pretty much followed the recipe exactly, except for using a bit of water instead of oil to make it WFPB compliant.

Follow the link below to check it out. I bet you’ll also love the recipes there.

ALOO BAINGAN RECIPE – POTATO EGGPLANT CURRY

JANUARY 21, 2016 BY RICHA 45 COMMENTS

Easy Indian spiced Eggplants and Potatoes. Aloo Baingan Recipe. Curried Potato Eggplant side. Serve with flatbread/rice and Dal. Vegan gluten-free Soy-free Nut-free.

 

https://www.veganricha.com/2016/01/aloo-baingan-recipe.html

 

Raw Walnut Garlic Spread

Delicious as a healthy nut butter for your morning toast, this WFPB vegan spread is super easy to make. Try it on pasta (thin with a bit of pasta cooking water if you like), or use it as a sandwich filling with tomato and lettuce or arugula.

1 cup walnuts, unroasted (find them in the baking aisle)

2 – 3 cloves garlic

¼ cup water

Blend. Store in the refrigerator. How simple is that?

 

Vegan Fresh Vegetable Pasta Salad

This salad is really simple, it does require some prep, however. So, put on a great podcast and prep away. It makes a big bowl of salad, adjust quantities to your needs, but it keeps well in the fridge. It’s a great salad to make on a day when you have leftover plain pasta or vegetables in the fridge – then incorporate those and skip a step or two.

Ingredients

2 cups vegetables, steamed and cooled (green beans or broccoli florets are good choices)

4 cloves garlic, minced

8 ounces wholewheat pasta spirals, boiled, drained and cooled

2 – 3 plum tomatoes, diced

1 medium onion, diced

1 large carrot, diced

1 bell pepper, diced

1 1/2 cups kidney beans** (or chick peas, or black beans) canned or boil your own.

1 lemon juiced, or more, to taste

Method

Snip the ends of the green beans* off and cut into 2 inch pieces. Rinse the beans then add about 1 inch of water to the bottom of a medium saucepan and put the minced garlic into the water with the beans and stir. Cover, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and keep covered until just tender, approximately 4-5 minutes, drain. Allow to cool.

Cook the pasta, drain and allow to cool.

Dice the tomato, onion, carrot, bell pepper into a large bowl. Add the kidney beans and toss with the lemon juice. Add the cooled pasta and green beans and toss again. Taste, add more lemon if necessary. Salt and pepper to taste (we don’t add any).

* If using broccoli, cut into florets or slice into somewhat uniform pieces. Rinse and put in a medium saucepan with about 1 inch of water in the bottom. Mix garlic into the water and stir around. Bring to a boil with the lid on, reduce heat and steam for about 5 min, or until just tender.

** Boil your own kidney beans or chick peas. For black beans, follow the directions on the package.

Boil Your Own Kidney Beans

It may seem like a lot of trouble to go to, but the texture and taste of home-boiled kidney beans is worth the extra effort. I soak and boil about 1 1/2 pounds of beans, and freeze it in 1 1/2 cup portions. Then it’s ready for quick meals all week long. Add it to lentils, soups, tacos, or a salad.

How to Soak and Cook Kidney Beans:

Pick over dry kidney beans to remove any debris. Rinse the beans, discarding the water and then soak in plenty of cold water for several hours or overnight.

Drain* and rinse the kidney beans, refill the pot with plenty of fresh water and bring to a full boil and boil at least 10 minutes*. Skim off any foam, reduce heat and simmer, covered, for one to two hours, or until beans are soft.

Remove from heat, add a bit of salt to taste and let sit for 10 minutes or so. Drain and cool. Use directly or freeze in portions.

*It is important to discard the soaking water and to boil at least 10 minutes to remove toxic effects of kidney beans. Click the ‘Kidney Beans’ link, above, to learn more.

Roasted Eggplant Dip

Ingredients

1 medium eggplant, roasted

1 head garlic, roasted

Juice from half a lemon

A sprinkle of salt, to taste

Method

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Roast the eggplant and garlic at the same time.

To roast the eggplant, rinse it and pierce the skin a few times. Then place it directly on the oven rack and bake for 45 minutes, or until it becomes soft and wrinkling, as if it’s collapsing.

At the same time, roast the garlic by cutting about ¼ inch of the tips off, place it in a foil tent, tip side up, and place the foil packet in a baking dish. Bake alongside the eggplant for 45 minutes.

Allow the eggplant and garlic head to cool so that you can handle it.

Remove each clove of garlic from the skin and place it in a bowl. Cut the stem off the eggplant and remove the skin. Chop the eggplant pulp roughly and add it to the garlic.

Blend the eggplant pulp and garlic cloves together with a hand blender. Stir in the juice from half a lemon and give it a sprinkle of salt.

Spread the dip on toast or enjoy with toasted pita bread.

Cut the tips off the garlic head and place in foil.

 

Bake in a 350° F oven for 45 minutes.

 

Allow to cool.

 

Take the cloves of garlic out of the head and peel the eggplant

 

Blended and ready to eat.