Mexican Quinoa and Collard Greens

I'm all about quick and easy meals lately. I've had this One Pan Mexican Quinoa recipe printed out since October and am now finally making it. I paired it with Easy Vegetarian Collared Greens. I forgot how good this collard greens recipe is! I linked both to the recipes. 

I buy pre-washed quinoa so I don't have to mess with rinsing it. Lots of spicy flavors-jalapeno, fire-roasted tomatoes, chili powder, cumin. It also has corn and black beans in the mix. After it's done cooking you stir in some chopped avocado, cilantro, and lime juice. 

The collard greens are cooked in some vegetable broth with onions, garlic, smoked paprika, and apple cider vinegar. I also added a dash of liquid smoke and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes. 

These two recipes go really well together. I'll be ready to make this again soon. 

"Crab" Cakes, Mashed Potatoes & Green Beans

Vegcookbookclub January 2014

~ Everyday Happy Herbivore: "Crab" Cakes; Remoulade 

Love these 'crab' cakes! A delicious combination of pressed shredded tofu, chopped oyster mushrooms and lots of seasonings; these definitely take the place of fishy crab cakes. Her recipes use no oil but instead of using the vegan mayo recipe she suggests, I used Vegenaise so my 'crab' cakes do have some oil. Maybe that's why they tasted so good! I also made the Remoulade sauce to smear on top of these. Again, I used Vegenaise along with the ketchup, dill pickle, mustard, Old Bay seasoning, lemon juice and Tabasco to make a tasty, spicy topping.

 ~ The Happy Herbivore: Dirty Mashed Potatoes; Dijon-Herb Green Beans

Mashing the Dirty Potatoes

These are called dirty because you leave the skins on the potatoes. This recipe called for 2 Tbsp. of garlic powder; I cut that down to 1 Tbsp. Of course no "butter" is called for so I added some Earth Balance margarine when I ate mine! 

Mixing the green beans in the Dijon-Herb sauce. 

Instead of all the herbs and spices this calls for I used 2 1/2 tsp. of my Italian seasoning blend. 

I thought the flavor of the sauce was great but the hubby wasn't particularly fond of it. Maybe the combination of Dijon mustard, lemon juice and the herbs was too much for him. He likes things "plain jane". I should have just cooked some plain ol' green beans for him! 

"Crab" Cakes, Remoulade, Dirty Mashed Potatoes and Dijon-Herb Green Beans

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!

Baked Ziti~pg. 160

VegCookbookClub May recipes from Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robertson:

This is one of those recipes you can make when you just don't feel like cooking. I even used bottled marinara sauce instead of making my own. The only pasta I had was some gluten-free that I wanted to try. The GF pastas that I've tried in the past always turn to mush; so I thought I would try a different brand. No luck; still mushy. Oh well, I'll just put up with a little intestinal discomfort to enjoy some good old wheat pasta from now on. 

I substituted my own "Italian Seasoning" for all of the herbs the recipe calls for. There are lots of great herb blends in the cookbook Herb Mixtures & Spicy Blends. I used about 3 tsp. of the seasoning blend.

The last 10 minutes I uncovered the casserole and added shredded Daiya mozzarella and sprinkled some Vegan Parmesan Cheese on top. 

Baked Ziti with steamed broccoli and Faux Parmesan garlic bread. I use the Faux Parmesan recipe from How It All Vegan. It makes great garlic bread! You can see the pasta is just a pile of mush but it still tasted good! 

Skillet Hash~pg. 129

VegCookbookClub May recipes from Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robertson:

Browning the hash; that looks like cheese but it's shredded carrots. I used the Simple Simmered Seitan I had made and frozen into portions. So easy to take out of the freezer and use when I need it!

This recipe seemed a little blah to me so after browning the hash I added Daiya mozzarella shreds and mini sweet peppers on top. I covered with a lid until the cheese melted. 

I served the Skillet Hash with Sauteed Chard from Crazy Sexy Kitchen. I also used a little Sambal Oelek to add a little more spice.

Indian-Spiced Lentil Ragu~pg. 139

VegCookbookClub May recipes from Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robertson:

Finally can get back in my kitchen to cook after having new tile installed! Yay! Every square inch of my kitchen has been cleaned and dusted but it was worth it to have a floor. We've been walking on painted concrete for three years now. 

Any recipe that uses curry powder, coriander, cumin and fresh ginger is a hit with me! The aroma of this dish while simmering is mouthwatering. Even after washing up the pots and pans and putting away the leftovers the scent lingers. Hmmm, maybe someone needs to bottle that scent. I added chopped yellow and orange bell peppers along with the onion and used fresh spinach instead of frozen. I also had a can of roasted diced tomatoes that gave it an extra smoky flavor. I served my Lentil Ragu over some jasmine rice. 

Simple Simmered Seitan~pg 50; Savory Vegetable Cobbler~pg 166

VegCookbookClub May recipes from Vegan on the Cheap by Robin Robertson:

New month, new cookbook! Or rather a cookbook I've had a long time and made one recipe out of it-Mu Shu Burritos. Now I've made a whole list of recipes I want to try.

I had alot of energy yesterday and decided to tackle making some seitan (wheatmeat). It's easy but it takes an hour to simmer. I like this particular seitan recipe because it makes about 2 pounds. I divided it into 4 portions so I can freeze for later use. I love the texture; it's not as hard and chewy as other recipes I've tried.

Simmering the seitan.

Draining and cooling seitan.

Chopped and ready to go in recipe.

Veggies and seitan waiting for the sauce.

Hot and bubbly from the oven.

Yum! This reminds me of the frozen pot pies I ate as a kid. I even added some ketchup to mine like I always did. This is the kind of food my hubby likes to eat; so I aim to please! I usually don't like to make long drawn-out recipes and this took over 2 hours to cook everything but it was worth it.

Vegan Sloppy Joes~pg 112

VegCookbookClub April recipes from How It All Vegan! by Sarah Kramer & Tanya Barnard:

I had made these a long time ago and didn't care for the seasonings; too salty. I like my sloppy joes a little sweeter. I had a package of soy curls I hadn't tried using yet so I decided to try this recipe again and tweak a few things. Instead of using a large pickle (I assume it's a dill, she didn't specify) I used 2 Tbsp. of sweet pickle relish. After rehydrating the soy curls, I cut them up into smaller pieces. I tasted the mixture after simmering for awhile and decided it needed some more flavor so I added about 1/4 cup of Annie's BBQ sauce. Just right! I love the texture and taste of the soy curls in this; better than using crumbled TVP. Served my Sloppy Joes with some sweet potato fries. This recipe made alot so I froze the remaining mixture for a future quick meal. 

Corri's Easy Green Chop Suey~pg. 117

VegCookbookClub April recipes from How It All Vegan! by Sarah Kramer & Tanya Barnard:

Excellent! I love these easy stir-frys. I used steamed edamame in place of the tofu. Hubby doesn't care for  tofu and I think the edamame gave this dish some much needed texture and crunch. I also swapped out the miso for hoisin sauce. I like miso but it aggravates my allergies; along with other fermented foods like tempeh. Does anyone else have that problem?  I served my chop suey over rice noodles. Note to self~ double recipe next time!

Savoury Shepherd's Pie~pg. 110

VegCookbookClub April recipes from How It All Vegan! by Sarah Kramer & Tanya Barnard:


Yay! Feeling great; working out and eating healthy. This was my lunch the other day after my Pilates workout. Wild & brown rice cake with raw almond butter and homemade vegan ranch dressing with fresh veggies! 

Sauteeing veggies for shepherd's pie.

I added some Daiya cheddar shreds the last five minutes of cooking.

Yum! Served the shepherd's pie with some freshly steamed brussels sprouts. Hubby really liked this one. He ate all of the leftovers the next night!

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. 

Lentil and Chard Ragout~pg. 183

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

Waiting for the lentils to cook!

I like to use the stems of the chard so I chopped them and added to the onion and garlic saute.

I'm always looking for new recipes that use chard, kale, etc. and this one is a keeper! I doubled the recipe so I could use the whole bunch of rainbow Swiss chard I had. Note to self: if not using low-sodium vegetable broth reduce the amount of salt! Otherwise, I loved the flavors in this ragout, especially the lovely lemon zest. I served it over brown rice pilaf. It made enough to freeze some, give some to my daughter and have leftovers today. 

Black Bean & Roasted Sweet Potato Burger~pg 133; Green Chili Guacamole~pg 231

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

Green Chili Guacamole

Love guacamole anytime! Two of my favorite ingredients are in this-cilantro and limes. I added a little salt to mine.

Toppings for the burgers~

romaine, red onion, tomatoes and yellow bell pepper

Browning the burgers.

I doubled the recipe because I wanted to freeze some for later. There must be a misprint because direction #4  said to form six 6-ounce patties so I thought since I doubled the recipe it would make 12 patties. Well, I used my scales to weigh the mixture and I still only got 6 patties plus one small one. Hmm, I still froze four patties so I guess we're good. Love the flavor of these; they are kind of messy though. I would like to know how to get the outside of the burgers really crispy.

Black Bean & Roasted Sweet Potato Burger with Green Chili Guacamole

Wow! My burger looks as good as the one in the cookbook. For lunch today I spread some of the leftover guacamole on a sprouted grain tortilla-Yum!

Happy New Year!!!

VegCookbookClub December recipes from Nava Atlas-Vegan Holiday Kitchen:

What a fantastic finish to an awesome month of cooking! I think I'm going to make these three recipes a tradition every new year.

Green Chili Corn Bread (pg 11):

 

The plain coconut yogurt makes this cornbread extra moist. A piece slathered with Earth Balance margarine and agave nectar is almost better than dessert!

 

Simple Garlicky Greens (pg 275):

 

Can you see the chunks of garlic? Yum! After simmering for almost 30 minutes the garlic was nice and mild. I just learned today that a 1/2 cup of cooked collard greens has 113 mg of calcium. Wow! (Read that in 'Crazy Sexy Diet' by Kris Carr.)

 

 Hoppin' John/Black-Eyed Peas and Rice (pg 274):

 

For the vegan sausages in the Hoppin' John I used Yves Meatless Breakfast Patties and just chopped them up before sauteeing. I used 2 tsp. dried parsley instead of the 1/2 cup fresh. I used 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes and then added tabasco sauce to mine when it was time to eat! Nice and spicy!

 

Happy 2013!!

Black Bean & Sweet Potato Tortilla Casserole

VegCookbookClub December recipes from Nava Atlas-Vegan Holiday Kitchen:

I have a confession. I am a CHEESE addict. So when I find a vegan recipe that satisfies that craving, gives my brain chemicals the 'happy dance' and doesn't leave me with a hangover, headache and intestinal distress the next morning-WHOO HOO! Believe me, I have caved in  several times and ordered pizza and I am not a happy person to be around for a couple of days! I know there are some vegan purists who poo poo at "fake" cheese but not this CHEESE addicted girl. I cannot even keep CHEESE in the fridge for my hubby; it calls my name... He's better off without it anyway. So all of that to say-this is one heck of a delicious casserole that I will even serve to those who eat CHEESE!

Before the delicious cheesy sauce.

I always tear my corn tortillas into pieces; much easier than layering them.

 

Mmmm-after baking with the delicious cheesy sauce. Could not live without Daiya; I keep packages of it in my freezer. I never want to run out; never! For this recipe I used half cheddar and half mozzarella flavors. I have made many, many enchilada casseroles in my pre-vegan/vegetarian days and this beats them all. I know what we're having for leftovers tomorrow!

Black Bean & Sweet Potato Tortilla Casserole and Sauteed Asparagus & Broccolini

 

I ate two helpings of this but that is much better than stuffing myself with CHEESE pizza!! I have three more recipes I plan on making out of this awesome cookbook. I've never made black-eyed peas and collard greens on New Year's Day and I'm starting the tradition at our house this year-Hoppin' John, Garlicky Greens and Green Chili Cornbread. Thanks Nava, for putting out such excellent cookbooks. I still have her cookbook "Vegetariana" from many moons ago!

 

"Three Sisters" Stew

VegCookbookClub December recipes from Nava Atlas-Vegan Holiday Kitchen:

Squash, corn, and beans~the 'three sisters' in Native American mythology. Love it! I had half a butternut squash left over from the Coconut Butternut Squash Soup I made the other day so this stew was perfect. All of the other ingredients are staples in my kitchen; even the cilantro :)

 

I served my stew over brown rice. You'll notice some extra green surrounding the stew. I had baby bok choy in the fridge that needed to be cooked so I sauteed it with some olive oil and garlic. Yum, it added texture, color and crunch to this dish.

 

 

Red Lentil Dal

VegCookbookClub November recipes from Forks Over Knives The Cookbook:

 

I love red lentils. So many different ways to use them in recipes. I like the way they cook down and get mushy! I'm not a stickler for no oil cooking so I used a Tbsp. of olive oil to saute' the onions. If you make this recipe definitely add the lemon zest at the end of cooking. It gives it a bright, fresh taste. I hadn't cooked in awhile so I used up all the odds and ends of veggies I had in the fridge. Just got back from the grocery store today and wow!-did I buy alot of veggies and fruit. Now I can get back to cooking again.

I served the Red Lentil Dal with garlic sauteed spinach, steamed broccoli and Sweet 'N' Sour Red Cabbage from La Dolce Vegan. Everything went together deliciously. I topped my red lentil dal with a little sriracha sauce for a some kick.

Southern Skillet Black-Eyed Peas with Quick Buttery Biscuits

VegCookbookClub October recipes from Chloe's Kitchen:

 

 These biscuits were good but next time I'll make my favorite biscuit recipe from La Dolce Vegan, 'Basic Baking Powder Biscuits'. They have a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar that helps them rise.

 

Hubby loved these blackeyed peas. It was really like a stew to me. Really good for dipping the biscuits in. I know it must have been good because he said I could make this one again!

Mongolian BBQ Seitan

VegCookbookClub October recipes from Chloe's Kitchen:

 

Love this! I like the sweet and spicy taste that the hoisin sauce, sriracha, ginger, cloves and cinnamon give it. Will put this on my 'make again' list.

 

Mongolian BBQ Seitan served over brown rice