Category: Spinach

Lucky Green Bowl

3/15/2015

Looking for something healthy to make for St. Patrick's Day? Look no further! This bowl is chock full of awesome, healthy, greenness. It's got edamame, broccoli, basil, salad greens, avocado - what more could you want? You can use it as a side or a main dish. The quinoa and edamame provide a ton of filling protein. The avocado and pine nuts give you some healthy fats. And the broccoli has a ton of potassium and vitamin C. Eating this just makes you feel good! You know you're treating your body well, it tastes great, it fills you up, and you feel festive!

Plus, it's super easy to make. Steam the broccoli a bit. Add all the pesto ingredients in a food processor or blender. Then dump everything in a bowl and mix it together - how easy is that? It's so easy I forgot to take pictures of it all! There weren't that many steps to document!

I made this for a St. Patrick's themed going away party at work (full of a ton of non-vegans) and it was a big hit!

Ingredients:
1 Cup Edamame
1 Small - Medium Sized Head of Broccoli
1 Cup Cooked Quinoa
1 Avocado
1 Cup Greens

Pesto Ingredients:
1 Cup Basil
1/2 Cup Pine Nuts
1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Cloves Garlic

Prep Time: 3 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Servings: 3-4 as an entree

Instructions:
Chop up the broccoli so that you are left with small pieces of the heads - remove all the stems. You don't want the pieces of broccoli to be too much bigger than the edamame so that everything blends together well. Add the broccoli to a pot with enough water to cover about 1/2 of the broccoli. If you have a steaming basket feel free to use it. In that case the water should be below the basket. Cook for about 5 minutes, just so that the broccoli can be easily pierced with a fork.

While that is cooking add all the pesto ingredients to a food processor or blender and blend until smooth.

Slice open an avocado, remove the pit, and slice the avocado into cubes.

If you have large greens, chop them up into smaller pieces.

Add everything to a bowl and mix together. Serve and Enjoy!

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Mexican Tempeh Panini

2/10/2015

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Another sandwich! I have more coming too! I made a lot of sandwiches this week with the great Iggy's bread that I got in my Something GUD box. I didn't feel like cooking much, so sandwiches were a quick and easy way to eat something hearty and make sure my bread doesn't go bad!

I already had the Lalibela Black Bean Tempeh open from my Scrambled Tofu and Tempeh sandwich, but the black bean version went great with the Mexican theme of this sandwich! I poured some Alex's Ugly Sauce, Cayano flavor to give it a bit of a Mexican kick.

You can use whatever your favorite salsa is in this recipe - but make sure it is chunky and has some substance that will stay on the sandwich - you don't want to make your sandwich soggy! I used NoLa's Fire Roasted Corn and Black Bean salsa. The chunks of corn and beans were perfect for this situation. The salsa really had a great flavor and consistency. Combined with the hot sauce on the tempeh this sandwich had an awesome Mexican flavor. The thickness of the bread and the tempeh helped to temper the spiciness a bit so that it was just right.

I used the Field Roast Chao slices on this sandwich as well, along with Treeline Scallion soft cheese. Like I mentioned in a previous post, the Chao slices are pretty thin so even though I added two layers I wanted to add some more cheese to help hold the salsa onto the sandwich. The combination worked great. The Treeline soft cheese was similar to a cream cheese so it spread and melted really nicely.

The end result is a sandwich with a great balance on spice, creaminess, crunch, and meltiness - great texture and flavor all around! Plus it comes together so quickly!

Ingredients:
Two Slices of Bread
5 Slices of Tempeh (I use black bean tempeh, but you can use whatever kind you prefer
Vegan Cheese (I used Chao Coconut Herb and Treeline Scallion)
Handful of greens
1 Tablespoon Hot Sauce (I used Alex's Ugly Sauce - Cayano Flavor)
1/4 Cup Chunky Salsa (I used NoLas Fire Roasted Corn and Black Bean)

Prep Time: 2 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Servings: 1

Instructions:

Slice tempeh. Place on a skillet with a little bit of oil or cooking spray. Pour the hot sauce over the tempeh. Cook for about two minutes and then flip over for another two minutes.

Slice two thick slices of bread. Place one slice down on your skillet. Top with tempeh. Add one layer of cheese, a handful of greens and a layer of salsa, topped by another layer of cheese. I wanted to sandwich the greens and salsa between cheese so that it would all stay together better. Make sure your salsa is chunky and not thin or else you'll just end up with a soggy sandwich.

Top with the second slice of bread and make sure the sandwich melts together. Carefully flip the sandwich over to toast it on the other side.

Slice and enjoy!

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Chik'n Alfredo Pizza

1/19/2015

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In high school my cross country team would go to Olive Garden for pre-race dinners most Friday nights. Chicken Alfredo Pizza was usually my go-to. It was so rich, creamy, and delicious, and with the amount of running I was doing I had no guilt as I downed the thousands of calories. Even if I still ate meat, there's no way that pizza can be good for you. This pizza is a lightened and way healthier version of that pizza and it lives up to the inspiration!

Like I mentioned in my post on Beyond Meat Tacos, I don't like to eat a lot of processed foods, but I wanted to give these Beyond Meat chicken strips a try, and I wanted to see what Jay thought about them. He was really impressed in both the texture and flavor and I think they were a great addition to the pizza. I'm going to try to make some other classic pizzas with chicken - like buffalo and barbeque. I made a buffalo "chicken" pizza last year using cauliflower as a substitute for the chicken and Jay wasn't a big fan of the texture.

I added the spinach, which isn't a normal feature of an Olive Garden Chicken Alfredo Pizza, to up the vegetable ante, and it fit right in (I always try to add as many veggies as possible). Adding the mozzarella is optional. Jay still isn't used to eating pizza without some sort of melty cheese item, so I added it. I think it added a lot of moisture. If you don't use the cheese I would add some slices of tomato or caramelized onions.

Ingredients:
Pizza Dough
1-2 Cups Spinach (or other cooking greens)
6 Strips Beyond Meat Grilled Chicken
1/2 Block of Teese Mozzarella (optional)
2 Small Cloves Garlic

Cheese Sauce:
1 Small Butternut Squash
2 Cloves Garlic
3 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast
1/2 Large Onion
Ginger Powder
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
1/4 teaspoon Pepper
1/2 teaspoon Sea Salt

Prep Time: 35 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Servings: 6 slices (I ate two at a time)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Slice squash into quarter inch thick pieces and place on a baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly oil the top of the squash, just enough so it doesn't get burnt (if you aren't using parchment paper then oil both sides of the squash). Sprinkle the squash with nutritional yeast (this is not where you use the full three tablespoons), ginger powder, garlic powder, and onion powder. Roast for 30 minutes. Let cool.

While the squash is cooking, prep your toppings and dough. Roll out the dough so that it will fit on your cookie sheet or pizza block. Thinly slice one of your garlic cloves and arrange the garlic slivers on top of the pizza dough. Spray the dough with cooking spray. Set dough aside.

Chop your spinach (or cooking greens) and wilt on the stove with a little bit of water - set aside. Slice chicken strips diagonally. You can cut most of the pieces into 3 smaller ones. If you have time you can slice the cheese as well.

Once the squash is soften and cooled, add it to a food processor or blender along with the rest of the cheese sauce ingredients. Blend until smooth.

While blending the cheese sauce, cook the pizza crust. Increase the temperature to 450 degrees. Put the dough in for about 3 minutes. Flip over and add the garlic slivers from your second clove. Put in the oven for another 3 minutes. You want the dough to be able to hold the toppings, but not be cooked to much.

Once the dough has cooled, spread the cheese sauce over the pizza crust. I only used about half of the sauce I made. I used the rest to make Chik'n and Veggie Macaroni and Cheese. Top the pizza with the spinach, chicken slices, a cheese. Cook for another 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted and the chicken is warm all the way through. Serve and enjoy!

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Beyond Meat Tacos

1/12/2015

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I try to eat whole, unprocessed foods as much as possible, but I like to try a new vegan product at least once. I find it exciting when I see advancements in vegan food options and I think vegan meat alternatives are a great way to help those making the transition from omnivore to vegetarian or vegan diets.

These Beyond Meat beef crumbles are so close to the real thing its amazing. Plus they're so convenient. They come frozen and defrost so quickly. You just dump the frozen crumbles right into your saute pan with a little bit of water and they're quickly ready to go. As you'll see in the instructions below, this was a super quick dinner came together in a breeze. The longest part was chopping up the tomato and avocado and putting everything in little bowls!

Cashew sour cream is a great alternative for those trying to avoid soy or if you just don't have any tofu in the house. That's how I found myself the other night, so I decided to whip up some cashew sour cream. Jay loves cashew sour cream more than regular, although tofu sour cream is his favorite, since it's naturally creamier. When I make cashew sour cream I make sure so blend it for as long as possible so that it gets creamier, since it can tend to have more of a grainy texture. Soaking the cashews beforehand can help with this, but I didn't have any time - the crumbles cooked so quickly and we were hungry!

Ingredients:
1 Package Beyond Meat Frozen Beef Crumbles
6 Taco Tortillas (I used La Nina Tortillas)
1 Packet Taco Seasoning (I used Ortega 40% Less Sodium)

Toppings:
1 Avocado
4 oz Cherry Tomatoes
Spinach or other green

Cashew Sour Cream:
1/2 Cup Cashews
1/3 Cup Water
1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Servings: 6 tacos

Instructions:
Slice the avocado and tomato.

Cook frozen Beyond Meat Crumbles on the stove with a little bit of water until it is no longer frozen. Add the taco seasoning a stir until well combined.

Add the cashews, water, and lemon juice to a food processor and blend until smooth.

Heat a second pan over the stove. Place a tortilla on the pan for about a minute, or until crispy, then flip to the other side and repeat.

Tear the spinach and place it on the tortilla, add a quarter cup of taco mix, sour cream, avocado, and tomato. Enjoy!

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Scrambled Tofu

11/23/2014

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Scrambled Tofu is a quick and easy breakfast dish, especially if you have Vegg vegan egg yolk replacer. Vegg has both an egg yolk replacer and a egg replacer for baking. I've only used the egg yolk version in pretty basic ways, mainly sprinkling it on tofu. It's main ingredient is nutritional yeast, which is high in B12 (the only essential nutrient that vegans do not get naturally in their diet).

Ingredients:
1 Package Firm Tofu
4 Tablespoons Vegg Vegan Egg Yolk
1/2 teaspoon salt (if you have Himalayan Pink Salt that will add a sulfery taste)
1 teaspoon pepper
Tomato
Spinach
Avocado

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Servings: 4 as a side or 2 as a main dish

Pressing my tofu

Instructions:
Wrap and press all the water out of the tofu. This is not essential, but will produce a better product. Because tofu comes in water, it helps to press the tofu out so that it can absorb whatever flavors you are adding to it. I wrapped my tofu in paper towels and a dish cloth and then put something heavy on it, like the inside of my slow cooker. If anyone is looking for a Christmas gift a Tofu Press would be awesome. I pressed my tofu for 10-15 minutes, but however much time you have is good. If you're pressed for time, you can still have a good scrambled tofu without it.

Add a little bit of water to your pan and crumble the tofu into the pan so that it resembles the texture of scrambled eggs. You can continue to break up the tofu as you cook it. Add 1 tablespoon of Vegg for every quarter of your tofu. In these pictures I made half of my tofu with two tablespoons of Vegg. Continue to cook, mix, and add a little bit of water until all the Vegg is absorbed and the tofu is yellow. Add salt and pepper to taste. I generally top mine with some tomatoes and avocado and my favorite condiments - Heinz Ketchup and Sriracha. Eat on it's own or serve with some bean and/or potato hash.

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Lucky Green Bowl

Mexican Tempeh Panini

Chik'n Alfredo Pizza

Beyond Meat Tacos

Scrambled Tofu

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