Red Lentils and Cauliflower Soup

Red Lentil and Cauliflower Soup

• 1 Cup Red Lentils
• 1 tsp Turmeric
• 4 Cups Water

Rinse and drain lentils. Boil the lentils, water, and turmeric over high heat in a heavy saucepan. Reduce heat to moderately low. Cover with tight-fitting lid and boil gently for about 20 minutes, skimming off foam if needed.

While lentils are cooking prepare the following:

• ½ Sweet Onion Chopped
• 3 Cloves Chopped Garlic
• 1 Chunk Chopped Ginger
• 1 tsp. Olive Oil

Mix the following spices into a small bowl:

• 1 tsp. Paprika
• 1 tsp. Cumin
• 1 tsp. Coriander
• 1 tsp. Chili Powder
• 1 tsp. Garlic Powder
• 1 tsp. Onion Powder
• 1 tsp. Ginger Powder
• ¼ tsp. Curry 
• Cayenne Pepper – (to taste…I usually use about 1/8 tsp.) 
• 4 – 6 Small Shitake Mushrooms – Chopped (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 Head Cauliflower – Broken into bite size pieces
• 4 Carrots – Chopped small rounds
• 1 Tomato – Chopped
• 1 Red Pepper - Chopped
• ½ cup Water

Dry sauté sweet onion on medium heat in large sauté pan until it begins to soften (add some water if it needs some liquid) add garlic and ginger and sauté for about a minute until spices becomes fragrant. Add olive oil and then add mixture of spices. Mix spices with olive oil, onion, garlic and ginger and toast in pan for about two minutes. Add mushrooms, carrots, cauliflower, tomato and red pepper. Stir until all vegetables are coated well with spice mixture. 

Add above to cooked lentils, add water to sauté pan and heat to boiling to remove all spices from pan. Turn lentil mixture heat up and add water as needed and bring to a boil – cover and simmer about 10 more minutes, or until cauliflower is tender.

You can spoon soup over quinoa, or add chopped cilantro and fresh tomatoes.  This is one of those soups that will get better over time. So make ahead and enjoy over the next few days.

Very warming, excellent for digestive issues.

Red Lentils with Zucchini

Red Lentils with Zucchini

1 cup red lentils
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
2 tsp fresh peeled grated ginger
3 garlic cloves, peeled and mashed
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1-inch rounds then halved crosswise
freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 to 1/2 tsp cayenne (I used 1/2)

Boil lentils in 3 cups of water in a large pot, being careful not to let them
boil over, and skimming off the froth that rises. Add the turmeric and stir, cover partly,
simmer on low for about 20 mins or until lentils are tender.

Put the onion a skillet over medium heat with some liquid, (water or brothe) and, when hot, stir in the cumin and paprika for a few seconds, continue to stir until onion is medium
brown. Add ginger, garlic, and stir for another minute, then add zucchini, pepper, cayenne and lentils.
Stir gently to mix, simmer until zucchini is tender.

Stir Fry on Spinach

I have been trying to get back to basics with Eat to Live - What better way then a complete "veggie" dinner. Basically you can use any combo of veggies - I cleaned out my fridge - and came up with this. My husband even loved it - and I had enough left over for a couple more meals, I put it on red leaf lettuce and romaine the next day cold for lunch - It it a very hot day - so nice to have a cold meal for lunch.

1 Chopped Sweet Onion

1 Chopped Red Pepper

4 - 5 Bok Choy - Cut Green off and put to side - Chop white part

1 Stalk Broccoli - (chopped small so will steam faster)

1/2 Head Cauliflower - (also chopped small - and eat a few raw while you are preparing!)

1 Chopped Zucchini - (large pieces)

6 - 8 Asparagus Stalks - Cut of Tips - and chop ends smaller as they take longer to cook. (Make sure to cut off thick part of stalk)

1 container sliced small portabella mushrooms
Chopped Garlic (to taste)
Chopped Ginger (to taste)
Sesame Seeds

Water

Sauce - See below

Put chopped sweet onion in hot wok and allow to begin to heat about medium - add water and stir often - you want to cook the onions for about 5 minutes or until begins to soften - while cooking you can continue prepping the rest of the vegetables.

Turn wok to high and add red pepper and white part of bok choy - Bok choy has a lot of water in it, so I like to add that first, then begin to add the rest of the vegetables. Add water as needed - allow to "steam" in wok - this will take about 7 minutes - stir often. Add chopped bok choy greens and garlic, ginger and sesame seeds the last couple minutes.

Begin Sauce While Veggies are cooking ~

SAUCE: (This sauce is a fantastic alternative to store bought teriyaki sauces laden with salt, sugar and preservatives - and really good.)
2 TBS. Red Wine Vinegar
2 TBS. Braggs Amino Acids
1 TBS. Garlic Powder
1/2 TBS. Ginger Powder
1 TBS. Agave
1 TBS. Sesame Seed Oil
1 tsp Balsamic Vinegar
1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (to taste)
1-2 tsp. Arrowroot mixed in (depending on amount of liquid produced by veggies.)

Add sauce and cook for 2-3 minutes until thickened -

Serve over fresh chopped spinach.

Garbanzo Bean Nachos

1 Can Garbanzo Beans - 15oz

1 TBS. Braggs Amino Acids

1 TBS. Lemon Juice

1 - 2 TBS Taco Seasoning Recipe (see below)

Spinach

Guacomole (see below)

Chopped Red Pepper

Salsa

Much of this recipe is from three other sites, and then adjusted for what I had in the house. If you want to see pictures, etc, from the original recipe  go to the following links.

Vegan Chickpea Tacos.

Crunchy Blue Chickpea Tacos.
Taco Seasoning Recipe - (see below for my version)

Turn oven to 400 degrees and line baking tray with aluminum foil. Toss rinsed garbanzo beans with Braggs, lemon juice and taco seasoning and some olive oil. Bake for 20 - 25 minutes until crunchy.

While garbanzo beans are baking - Chop spinach and place in bowl. Add red pepper and guacomole and chips. These are the Food Should Taste Good - Multigrain Chips. Top with garbanzo beans and salsa.

You could also add fresh tomatoes and cilantro. I will next time.

Taco Seasoning Recipe - I make a large batch - and then save for later in an airtight container. (Old spice containers work great.) Do not use store bought taco seasoning recipes. First of all they are very expensive, secondly, they all have added sugar, usually MSG (many are now "hiding" the MSG by saying "natural flavors") In addition, they usually have preservatives in them - These are all things that you need to rid from your diet if you want to be healthy.

Ingredients

3 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons paprika
1 1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon coriander
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Guacomole
Avocado - smashed
Garlic - smashed
Fresh Lemon Juice
Salsa - Mix together
Taco Seasoning - If desired

Quinoa with Berries

OH YA!.....Berries and Quinoa.....

1 Cup Rinsed Quinoa
2 Cups Water
1 tsp. Vanilla
1 tsp. Cinammon
1 TBS. Agave
1 TBS. Pumpkin Seed Butter (or olive oil - but only need about 1 tsp.)

Toast quinoa in pan for a couple minutes then add butter, mix thoroughly. Add remaining ingredients and bring to boil. Simmer for about 15 minutes - Cover with lid - turn heat off - and allow to steam for 5 minutes.

After Quinoa is done you can add any of the following:
Sunflower seeds
Raspberries
Strawberries
Blueberries

This is a great meal warm or cold. Well rounded, high in protein, with a little fat and lots of antioxidants.
This is enough for at least 4 meals, depending on the amount of berries you add.
You could also add some coconut milk if you wanted it to be even more cereal like.

Sweet Potato and Red Pepper Soup

• 4 Sweet Potatoes  peeled and chopped - Steamed till soft - About 20 minutes.- Keep liquid for soup - I used 3 "yams" and 1 "sweet potato" - Meaning - 3 orange and 1 white sweet potatoes -

Chop the following - can use food processor for quick processing as it will be blended anyway.

• 1 Red Pepper
• 1 Onion
• 1 Leek
• 1 Tomato
• 10 Garlic Cloves

Heat pan to medium while chopping - add just enough oil to coat pan - and then add ingredients - if you processed the vegetables there should be a little liquid - if not add some water - With healthy cooking you do not want to cook your food in oil - use the liquid to "steam" the vegetables - and don't overcook.

When vegies are soft and most liquid absorbed - add 1 tsp following spices: (I like to put my spices in a bowl while waiting and just dump them all in at once - saves time)

• Paprika
• Cumin
• Coriander
• Chili powder
• 1/4 tsp Cayenne - This can be adjusted for heat -

Toast in pan about 2 minutes. Toasting spices really brings out there flavor - so you want to put it in an area of the pan with no vegies or liquid - Just move vegies over - toast and then mix with the rest of vegies.

Add the steamed sweet potatoes along with liquid from steaming to the vegetable mixture and lightly mash with a spoon. Allow to heat through - while heating -

• Grind 1/2 cup raw cashews in blender and add to pan.

Fill blender up with 2/3 of sweet potato mixture and add

• 1 cup plain organic So Delicious Coconut Milk.

Blend till smooth and add back to pan - Soup should be mostly smooth with a few veggies that were not blended.

Top with cilantro and tomato. You could also add a vegan sour cream - (never have used any)

Grilled Stuffed Zucchini

Grilled Stuffed Zucchini - Vegan With Quinoa

I used the following recipe to prepare and grill the zucchini - Our Best Bites -

But for the actual stuffing - I made the following:

Chop the following and dry saute - Use appropriate amounts - I made 5 zucchini - sliced - so 10 total - Used about 1/3 of each of the following vegetables -

Red - Yellow - and Orange Pepper (You could use any combination to make 1 pepper)

Sweet Onion

Leek

2 - 3 Cloves Garlic

1/4 Cup Quinoa - (I mix black, red and white) - and toastChop the zucchini you scooped out and add it to the above mixture. Because the zucchini has so much liquid in it - when you cook the Quinoa you have to be careful not to add to much liquid because of the zucchini - (thats what I did) - Normally you would add about 3/4 to 1 cup of liquid - but reduce accordingly. Next time I make this, I am going to soak the quinoa for a few hours first - as the black and red seem to be more difficult to cook.

Add the mixture to the grilled shells above and grill for about ten minutes.