Red Lentil Dal with Red Beans & Greens

Another "greens" recipe from Wild About Greens. This calls for some curry powder or garam masala. I was out of my homemade garam masala so I mixed up some more. It's an easy recipe out of  La Dolce Vegan. 

Six ingredients for the garam masala. 

~coriander, cumin, cardamom, ginger, allspice and pepper~

My favorite vegan naan bread from Sprouts. I like to keep a bag of this in my freezer. 

~ Red Lentil Dal with Red Beans & Greens ~

The red lentils and seasonings get cooked down to a mush for easy dipping. Then you add in some kidney beans and greens; I used spinach and arugula. The recipe calls for 8-10 oz. of greens but after adding about 4-6 oz. I couldn't imagine adding another 4 ounces into the dal. That was a lot of greens! Of course this wasn't spicy enough for me and it seemed kind of bland so I had to add some more salt, cilantro and sriracha sauce. 

Trying to Get Back to Normal (Whatever That Is)

I did manage to try some new recipes this last week. This month has just flown by it seems. Now I'm fighting another stupid sinus infection which leaves me not wanting to do anything. Onward and upward! I made this tasty soup from The McDougall Quick & Easy Cookbook. It makes a big pot of soup using frozen veggies and canned beans. I thought it needed some green so I added a big handful of chopped spinach and some fresh basil. I took this over to my mom and dad's for their supper while my mom is recovering. I served it with some garlic bread. 

Fast Minestrone

My brother and sister-in-law had a Memorial weekend BBQ swim party on Saturday. I brought my veggie dog, cookies and coleslaw. I made my favorite coleslaw from Give Them Something Better. Even my 9 year old nephew loved the coleslaw! I also made these yummy cookies from Meet the Shannons; here is the recipe. I usually like a chewy cookie but these were more of a dry, baked texture like I think of store-bought cookies. Loaded with dried cherries, chocolate chips and walnuts, they're yummy with a cup of hot tea.

Cherry, Walnut & Chocolate Chip Cookies

I made another soup/stew this week. This is from The China Study Cookbook. This one is packed with protein with chickpeas, lentils, bulgur and sweet potato. The cayenne and coriander give it a nice spicy kick.

Zesty Bulgur Stew

I bought too many fresh berries last week and they were going bad so I thought "hey, make a crisp!" I always look in La Dolce Vegan first because I've made just about every recipe out of there. I used the Raspberry Apple Crisp recipe and instead of just raspberries I used a mixture of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. I doubled the recipe and made a big 9x13 pan. We were babysitting the grandsons and they ate a big bowl of it. Yummy! Delicious for breakfast, too.

Berry Apple Crisp

Three-Bean Chili

This is an easy, delicious chili to put together from The Vegan Table by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau.

~ red, orange and yellow bell peppers ~

The chili was really thick so I added 2 cups of No Beef Broth and I also added  3/4 Cup of bulgur for some meaty texture. Lots of spices-garlic, chili powder, coriander, cumin, oregano and cayenne!

This recipe made alot so I put the leftovers in my freezer containers for future quick meals.

Minestrone ~ pg. 64

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

Can't believe I'm finishing up August's recipes for VegCookbookClub and starting September already. I'm going to try the Vegan MoFo this year. It's a little intimidating because I don't really know much about the blogging world and all the technicalities but I'll give it a go. I thought about a theme I might try since I'm not following the VegCookbookClub this month. I have pages of recipes I've printed out that I have yet to try; this would be a good time to get all those recipes made. I linked the banner to the website.

This soup from Betty Goes Vegan is a trial run for my future daughter-in-law's bridal shower next month. We are serving three kinds of soup and I volunteered to make a minestrone. This is super easy because everything goes into the slow cooker (I used my large 6 quart slow cooker.)

Fresh veggies for the soup~kale, zucchini, red onion, celery, carrots, basil and garlic

I chose to pre-cook my pasta so I would be sure it was cooked and also that it didn't get too mushy. I just added it into the soup at the end. The recipe calls for 1 Tbsp olive oil of which the directions didn't say when to add it in so I didn't use it; totally fat-free soup! This soup cooked in about 4 hours.

This passed the taste test; it just needed some salt and pepper. I'll be serving this at the bridal shower. I'm going to use mini shell pasta instead of the elbow macaroni though.

Brown Rice 'n' Beans "Jumble-aya" ~pg. 123

VegCookbookClub July recipes from eat, drink & be vegan by Dreena Burton:

What a great one pot meal. All the ingredients I usually have in my pantry. The recipe called for file powder which I didn't have. But I didn't even miss it. The vegan Worcestershire sauce, thyme, oregano, paprika and cayenne gave this dish a smoky, spicy flavor. My rice took forever to get tender though. I added some Tabasco Chipotle Pepper Sauce for some extra hot smokiness. My hubby and I almost ate the whole pot of this!

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.

Shirley's Cajun Red Beans & Rice~pg. 151

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Garden of the Gods-Colorado Springs, Colorado

Seems like forever since I added a post. Being in a place like this makes the time disappear! It was nice to get back home though so I could cook my own  meals again. It gets old trying to scrutinize a menu every time you go out to eat. Back to reality now!

This was a nice, easy recipe to get back into the groove of cooking.

One pot meals~my favorite!

Wolffie's Pasta Salad~pg. 82

La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

This one's a keeper! I added kidney beans to my salad for a complete meal. The dressing for this is really tasty. I might have to use it separately on another salad.

Coconut Curried Veggies~pg 161

Vegan Culinary Institute La Dolce Vegan! Challenge:

Mmm! mmm! mmm! I love this recipe; I have made it several times. This was the first recipe I had ever used coconut milk in. Now I'm hooked; the coconut milk gives it a creamy, delicious flavor! It's a little hotter than it usually is because I used 2 tsp. of canned jalapenos. It will taste even better tomorrow. I served this with some steamed asparagus.