Minestrone with Kale

Vegcookbookclub December 2013 ~  

Color Me Vegan:   This soup recipe is in the "Rainbow" section of the cookbook; but I had to take a picture of this brilliant "green" parsley. I usually just use dried parsley in my recipes but for this I bought this lovely bunch of organic parsley. It keeps for a couple of weeks when I store it this way in the fridge. I trim off the ends of the bunch, stand it in a glass of water and cover it lightly with the plastic produce bag. I change the water once or twice and it stays nice and fresh.

Kale, cannellini beans, bay leaves and fresh parsley.

I used lacinato (dinosaur) kale for this. It's a little less bitter and blends more smoothly into the soup.    

I've made another version of minestrone from Betty Goes Vegan. Now I can say I prefer this one. It has less ingredients and even tastes better. The only seasoning in the recipe is garlic, parsley, bay leaves, salt and pepper. I added a teaspoon of my Italian seasoning and it was perfect.

This made a big pot of soup so I froze the leftovers for a quick future meal. 

Couscous and Veggie Medley~pg. 225

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

RAINBOW

Great tasting salad and easy to make. Just takes some advance prep because the salad needs to chill for several hours. Love the Indian flavors in this-cinnamon, ginger, cumin, turmeric along with the sweet and tart additions of raisins and Granny Smith apple. Yum!

Indian-Style Black Bean and Veggie Burritos~pg. 238

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

I have been trying to get a few recipes in before February ends. Where did the month go?! I guess 28 days goes by fast. My baby boy will be 24 on the 28th of this month. Wow! Where did the last 24 years go?! 

RAINBOW

 I use a homemade blended Garam Masala from La Dolce Vegan. Love it! ~cumin, coriander, black pepper, cardamom, ginger and allspice.  

Yum! I had to add some cilantro to mine and some Pace picante sauce. 

Brown Lentil Soup~pg. 203

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

BROWN

What an easy, delicious, comforting soup. And I remembered to halve the recipe; so no leftovers!   I didn't puree the soup like the recipe suggested. I like my lentils nice and chunky. I served the soup with Wolffie's "Buttermilk" Cornbread from La Dolce Vegan (the best cornbread ever!)

Kiwi Banana Muffins~pg. 130

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

GREEN

I wasn't a big fan of these. I had some bananas floating around in the freezer and some kiwis that needed to be used so what a perfect recipe, right? They're just kind of sticky and bitter tasting to me. But my hubby liked them so I guess he can eat them for breakfast! Not on my make-again list.

General Custard's Cream Pie with Almond Oat Crust~pg. 68

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

ORANGE

I was in the mood for something a little sweet!

I like these 'healthy' desserts-almonds, oats, coconut yogurt, tofu and orange juice. Instead of the apricot preserves spread on top I used an organic apricot spread which had way less sugar than the preserves. Creamy and delicious!

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. 

Blackberry Breakfast Bars~pg. 156

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

PURPLE

These are downright yummy! And I don't feel too guilty eating them with all the oats, flaxseed and berries in them. I usually have berries in my fridge so I can whip these up anytime. Just the right amount of sweetness in them, too. 

Yellow Split Pea Soup with Collard Greens & Yams~pg. 84

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

YELLOW

I almost forgot to take a pic of this soup; it was so yummy I was halfway through my bowl when I remembered! Plus we had the grandkids for supper so we were enjoying a meal together. My hubby thinks I'm silly when I suddenly jump up with my plate and run to get my camera-hehe! 

Lots of great spices in this soup~ginger, garlic, curry, cumin, mustard, turmeric. I thought the collard greens would be tough since they don't cook very long but they were quite tender and delicious. The yam gave the soup a slightly sweet taste; I added lots of black pepper to balance it out. 

Hot Tamale Pie~pg. 92

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

Ooh, I'm so excited! I just got the Betty Goes Vegan cookbook in the mail today! It's a great big cookbook just like the original Betty Crocker cookbook. I want to cook out of that one next month!

YELLOW

~simmering the bean mixture~

I just noticed that the recipe called for 1 Tbsp lemon juice but the directions didn't say where to use it! Oh well, it turned out okay. A little mild for my taste but I added lots of chopped cilantro on top and some hot sauce. Also, this made a huge 9x13 pan. That's alot of leftovers me and hubby have to eat! I've found a few other mistakes in the recipes. Has anyone else had that problem? I need to see if they printed an errata for them. I probably won't make this one again. Sarah Kramer's cookbook 'La Dolce Vegan' has a better recipe for this type of casserole. I did serve it with my all-time favorite 'Massaged Kale Salad' from Colleen's 'Vegan Daily Companion'; love that recipe!

Blueberry Buckle~pg 155

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

Just what I needed to help me get over the flu; a yummy blueberry cake!

PURPLE

Hot from the oven!

The photo doesn't show the vibrant  'purple' color of the blueberries very well. The recipe calls for 1/4 cup orange, apple, or pineapple juice. I used orange and it really highlighted all the yummy flavors in this 'buckle'. 

Quick Curried Swiss Chard~pg 32; Coconut Rice~pg 176

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

Well, the flu bug caught me. I'm getting over it pretty quickly by green juicing, eating vegan and using my herbs and essential oils along with some breathing treatments and positive thinking! I even felt like cooking last night-too bad it wasn't a hit with me or my hubby. 

RED

I added the chopped chard stems to my sauteeing onions. 

Look at the beautiful red color!

WHITE/TAN

I used jasmine rice and full fat coconut milk for the Coconut Rice. We enjoyed the flavor of the rice so tonight I'm making a stir-fry to use the leftovers. The swiss chard recipe was too sweet. Now I'm thinking it's the soymilk I used. I have always used Silk Unsweetened Organic and now I noticed that the label says "new great taste!" Well, it's not great. I want my old soymilk taste back :(   I might have to try almond or rice milk and test the recipe out again. 

Sweet Potato Tacos~pg. 62

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

Before I get into this month's cookbook I had to share some goodies I just got in the mail-

Just had to try the new The Vegg Vegan Egg Yolk, vegan bacon bits, Bee Free Honee and soy curls. So far I've only used the honee. I tried it on some cornbread; it has a thicker consistency like honey with just a slight hint of apples and more flavor than using plain agave. The only ingredients in it are apple juice concentrate, water, beet sugar and lemon juice; even my hubby likes it. I'm going to try making some french toast with the vegan egg yolk and for the soy curls (which I've never used) a stuffed peppers recipe I found at http://thatwasvegan.com . I'll let you know how everything turns out!

 Lots of great recipes in here!

ORANGE

Since I had a couple of sweet potatoes I opted to make the Tacos recipe first. I wasn't too sure how these would turn out with the flavor and texture but they were delicious! Another thumbs up from the hubby. I served the taco mixture on a warmed corn tortilla with chopped cilantro and Sesame Roasted Asparagus from La Dolce Vegan. 

Here is another recipe I have made previously from Color Me Vegan: Spanish Squash Saute'~pg. 124

Spanish/Greek Fusion

I had some Herbed Feta from the Spinach Spanakopita I made so I thought I would try the Classic Greek Salad recipe from the same article. (VegNews May/June 2012)

This huge salad only required 3 Tbsp. of olive oil, a little lemon juice and some oregano, salt and pepper. Bright, fresh flavors and the Herbed Feta was wonderful in it.

Along with the Greek Salad I made Spanish Squash Saute' from Color Me Vegan by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. I was looking for a recipe to use the organic zucchini and yellow squash I had bought at Sprouts and this sounded good. There are so many ways you could serve this: side dish, on top of baked potatoes, with some scrambled tofu, in a tortilla... The seasonings are just a little chili powder, cumin and salt.

We even had guests to share this meal with. I invited my mom and dad over and I served these with baked potatoes (Earth Balance margarine, vegan sour cream & chives, Daiya cheddar shreds), and garlic/nutritional yeast bread with Peach Crumbcake for dessert! I'll have to say they did bring their own omnivore protein but, hey, the majority of the meal was vegan! That was the first time I cooked a vegan meal for anyone other than my wonderful husband. I need to do that more often; have guests over and cook them a vegan meal!