Irish Bean Stew

I love the recipes in The McDougall Quick and Easy Cookbook. Well, they're "quick and easy" and they are low-fat and use no added oils. 

The ingredients for this "stew" are onion, caraway seeds, frozen hash browns, frozen mixed veggies, cabbage, canned white beans and veg. broth. So easy to have everything on hand. You don't even have to defrost the frozen hash browns and veggies. The potatoes help thicken up the stew. I used Better Than Bouillon No Chicken Base and added an extra two cups of broth because it was way too thick. 

Seasoned with some freshly ground pepper and it is yummy! 

Bar-B-Q Chicken Sandwich and Coleslaw

Two more delicious recipes from Give Them Something Better. I love BBQ sandwiches and coleslaw and when I attend a big event it always seems to be the usual fare along with pinto beans so I'm left with nothing to eat.  Now I can enjoy this meat-free version anytime! 

The pre-soaked soy curls along with onion and green bell pepper. 

This recipe makes a very tasty BBQ sauce for the soy curls without all the additives in a store-bought bottle. 

The coleslaw is very easy to make. After shredding the cabbage in the food processor you add carrot, vegan mayonnaise, lemon juice, green onion, sugar and salt. Yum! It tastes just like my grandma used to make. The hubby really, really liked this meal. It's a keeper. 

Thai-Flavored Coconut Vegetable Soup

It's finally cooling down for some soup weather; still wearing shorts and tank tops though! This recipe is from Nava Atlas' Vegan Soups & Stews for All Seasons. Lots of great ideas for soups and stews. There are even recipes for muffins and breads to accompany the soups. I wanted to try this one because I had two cans of coconut milk getting ready to expire in my pantry. It called for light coconut milk but I only had the full fat kind-oops! What's a few extra coconut milk calories. 

Simmering the veggies in the coconut milk broth.

Optional ingredients I added were cilantro and red curry paste.

This soup only takes about 25 minutes to make and it's so creamy and delicious. I served it with some vegan garlic naan bread. Well, I enjoyed it anyway.  The hubby didn't really care for it so I'll be eating left-overs for lunch!

Corned Beefless Brisket and Cabbage ~ pg. 147

VegCookbookClub August recipes from Betty Goes Vegan by Annie & Dan Shannon:

This is the first recipe I wanted to try when I got this book several months ago and now I'm finally making it. It reminded me of the corned beef and cabbage my mom used to make for us; especially the picture next to page 160 (except the corned beef was a reddish color!) 

Warning-this is not a quick fix meal. Those are my kind of recipes but I just had to try this. I've never bought pickling spice before. It has mustard seed, cinnamon, ginger, bay leaf, red pepper, caraway, allspice, black pepper, coriander and cloves-wow! Very fragrant; I kept wanting to smell the bundle of spices and then I would start sneezing. Duh. The recipe calls for dumping the spices right into the marinating beefless tips and also into the broth and veggies. My mom suggested I put them in cheesecloth and I agreed. I didn't feel like chewing on coriander seeds, etc. This idea worked really well. The flavors mingled with the ingredients and didn't leave any chunks of spice behind. 

cabbage, red potatoes and red onion

Corned Beefless Brisket and Cabbage

I garnished the dish with salt, pepper and balsamic vinegar like the recipe suggested and it tasted delicious. The pickling spices and vegan beef broth gave the veggies a nice spicy, sweet, rich flavor. It is somewhat reminiscent of Mom's corned beef and cabbage but will never be quite the same. My hubby really liked this-he said it's a real "meat and potatoes" meal. Score!

Linguine with Purple Cabbage~pg. 152

VegCookbookClub February recipes from Color Me Vegan by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau:

PURPLE (and green!)

When will I learn to halve these recipes! This made enough for an army-hehe! It was a nice, comforting bowl of pasta though. I drizzled some flax oil on top for extra flavor. I served the pasta with Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Toasted Garlic from Vegan with a Vengeance. I didn't want to test out another new recipe using my delicious brussels sprouts. 

Asian Noodles with Black Vinaigrette

VegCookbookClub January 2013 recipes from Kris Carr-Crazy Sexy Kitchen:

Now that the month is half over I'm finally sitting down to post. I did have trouble downloading my pics  so I had to get that figured out. New Year's goals:  I've been loving going to the gym and getting in shape on the Pilates reformer. Trying to get my back in shape after August's back surgery and drop those pesky pounds from laying around doing nothing while recuperating. I've also been stopping by the juice bar near the gym and getting a wheatgrass shot and a green juice 3 or 4 times a week! That wheatgrass is addictive. Since I do have a juicer (Jack LaLanne but I really want a Breville). I guess I need to try and make my own green juice. So I went to Sprouts Market today and stocked up on some organic veggies and green apples. We'll see how that turns out in the morning! 

 Asian Noodles (pg. 174) with Black Vinaigrette (pg. 226)

I love buckwheat soba noodles. The only ones I can find at the store though have egg whites in them. So I stock up on them online from Eden Organics. I substituted green cabbage for the Napa cabbage and used alfalfa instead of the other sprouts it called for. The Black Vinaigrette/Basic Asian Marinade is awesome! I used plenty of fresh ginger and garlic. Yum! I used the leftovers as a wonderful salad dressing. 

I cooked up some Gardein Chick'n Scallopini, sliced it and served it over the top of the salad. Of course mine was garnished with some hot Sambal Oelek chili paste. Wow, my mouth is drooling just writing about this salad; it's been 3 weeks since I've made it. I think I need to try this one again. :)

Red Bean Coleslaw~pg. 84:Creamy Coleslaw Dressing~pg. 93

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Another hit by Wolffie! A delicious alternative to the plain old coleslaw.

Served my coleslaw with chick'n nuggets, waffle fries and sauteed spinach with sweet mini peppers.

Sweet 'N' Sour Red Cabbage~pg. 187

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Love the bright colors of my red cabbage cooking! An easy, delicious, nutritious side dish. Reminds me of pickled beets, which I love.

Florida Slaw~pg. 85

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Wasn't sure I would like this one (shredded cabbage and fruit?) but it was delicious. I messed up on the dressing the first time; luckily I still had enough vegan sour cream left to try it again! I didn't include the bananas and marshmallows and it still tasted great. It made a large quantity so this would be a good potluck dish.

Tomato Cabbage Soup~pg. 115

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

I'm glad I've had the chance to revisit some "La Dolce Vegan" recipes I have enjoyed in the past. With so many cookbooks, I forget where some of the good ones are! I made this soup with a can of fire roasted tomatoes with garlic instead of plain diced tomatoes. It gave the soup a nice smoky, rich flavor. I love putting together an easy, good-tasting soup for supper!

Stuffed Cabbage Rolls~pg. 165

Vegan Culinary Institute La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Quick All-Purpose Garlic Tomato Sauce (pg. 179)

Be aware there is a typo when the sauce recipe is listed in the Stuffed Cabbage Rolls. The can of tomato paste is listed as (1) 15.5 oz. can instead of (1) 5.5 oz. can. That would be a mighty big can of tomato paste if you used a 15 oz. can! I have made this sauce before and added fresh basil and Italian seasoning. It's a good, quick pasta sauce.

A nice side view so you can see the cute little cabbage rolls.

I ended up making eight cabbage rolls. I've always hesitated making this recipe because it looked too time-consuming. But everything went together fairly quickly.

A close-up of all the yummy goodies inside the roll.

I love using bulgur; it gives it a nice, chewy texture along with the mushrooms.