Sweet Potato Ravioli with Kale Pesto

My junk food loving husband claims that he hates kale.  I love kale, and since it's super good for you, I'm always trying to sneak it into dishes so that he may not notice, like he's a 5 year old or something.  I was pretty sure I had succeeded.  He ate a whole serving without a complaint.  When he was done eating, I said, "So you know that had kale in it!"  He was like, "Yeah, I know.  I could taste it.  But I didn't want to be mean and not eat it.  And it tasted OK in this dish."  So I guess I won on this one?  

I love anything sweet potato, and have been wanting to try sweet potato ravioli for a while.  I don't have a pasta roller, and really didn't have time on this particular day to make and roll out my own pasta for ravioli, so I just used store-bought wonton wrappers.  They worked just fine.  

Sweet Potato Ravioli with Kale Pesto

Adapted from TheFirstMess

For the sweet potato filling:

1 medium sweet potato, baked until very soft (425 degrees for 30-45 mins)

1/2 cup pine nuts

1 clove garlic

juice of 1 lemon

salt and pepper

for the kale pesto:

1/2 bunch kale leaves

2 cloves garlic

1/2 cup pine nuts

1/3 cup olive oil

salt and pepper

1 pkg wonton wrappers

For the filling:

scoop out the sweet potato flesh into a food processor.  Add in the pine nuts, garlic, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste.  Process until all combined.  Set aside.

For the pesto:  

Put the kale, garlic, pine nuts, 2 tbsp olive oil and salt and pepper to taste in a food processor.  Process until all combined.  With the food processor running on high, pour in the remaining olive oil, until the pesto is a smooth paste consistency.  

To assemble the ravioli:

Put about a tablespoon of sweet potato filling into the center of a wonton wrapper.  With a brush (or wet finger), wet the edges of the wonton wrapper, and top with another.  Using a fork, press the edges together all around.  Repeat until filling and wrappers are gone.

To cook:

Boil water in a large pot.  Once boiling, drop in the filled ravioli and cook for about 5 minutes, until the wrappers are softened. 

Turkey Quesadillas with Chipotle Cranberry Sauce

This is a great way to use leftover turkey from thanksgiving in a way other than the common turkey sandwiches.  These quesadillas were so good!  turkey meat, cheese and cranberry sauce with chipotle peppers mixed in!  It may sound a little strange, but it's really good. The heat of the peppers mix in really well with the sweet cranberry sauce.  I served these alongside some mashed sweet potatoes, in which I also mixed in some of the chipotle pepper sauce.  Also very delicious!

Turkey Quesadillas with Chipotle Cranberry Sauce

adapted from confectionsofafoodiebride

Leftover pulled/chopped turkey

traditional cranberry sauce

1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped

cheese of your choice

tortillas

Mix together the cranberry sauce and chipotle peppers.  On one half of an open tortilla, add turkey, cheese and chipotle cranberry sauce.  Fold tortilla closed and fry in a skillet until cheese is melted and tortilla is browned.  

Super quick, simple and delicious!

Pumpkin and Thyme Mac & Cheese

I saw this recipe for mac & cheese with a can of pumpkin mixed in a while ago on this blog and thought it sounded awesome.  So I made it, and it was awesome.  The boys liked it as well!  Pumpkin is also surprisingly nutritious.  It's full of Vitamins A, C and E, and also has fiber and a bunch of antioxidants.  It also added to the creaminess and earthiness of this mac and cheese.  Definitely a good seasonal twist on a traditional recipe.  

Pumpkin & Thyme Mac & Cheese

Ingredients:

2 cups milk

1 cup pumpkin puree

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch ground nutmeg

pinch ground cloves

1 lb dry fusilli pasta (can substitute elbow macaroni)

2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

1 1/2 tablespoons minced thyme

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

2 ounces smoked gouda, shredded

1 ounce white extra sharp cheddar

salt and pepper to taste

garnish:

lightly toasted/buttered panko breadcrumbs

1. Place milk, pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves in a medium saucepan and stir together. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.

2. Fill a large pot with water and bring to a boil. Once the water comes to a boil add a generous amount of salt (2½ – 3 tablespoons) and then the pasta.
3. Boil pasta for 10 to 12 minutes or until al dente, stirring occasionally. Drain pasta and set aside.
4. Melt butter over medium heat in a medium saucepan. Sprinkle flour over melted butter and whisk together. Allow mixture to cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in thyme.
5. Whisk pumpkin-milk mixture into flour mixture and continue to whisk until fully incorporated. Allow mixture to simmer until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, 3 to 4 minutes.
6. Place shredded cheese into a mixing bowl and toss together with lemon juice.

7. Stir cheese into the béchamel sauce and stir until cheese just melts. Season with salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low and gently stir pasta into the sauce, ½ cup at a time until all of the pasta has been added and is fully coasted in sauce. Adjust seasonings and serve immediately. 

"Chicken" Fried Tofu

An exciting outing for me is going to Trader Joe's and/or Whole Foods.  I don't get to go to either of them very often, since they are on the opposite sides of town from where we live.  The Kroger down the road is just much more convenient and cheaper to buy the bulk of our groceries at.  But there are the occasional times that I get the chance to go to one of the most awesome grocery stores.  The last time I went to Whole Foods, I took the boys with me.  After shopping for a bit, we had lunch at store as well. Whole Foods has a lot of vegan/vegetarian friendly foods, and one of the things that the boys and I ate there was "chicken" fried tofu.  The boys loved it, and I was a fan as well.  It really did taste like fried chicken, with a little bit different texture.  I searched some recipes online and found a pretty good copycat recipe.  I made these for dinner one night at home, and they were awesome! 

"Chicken" Fried Tofu

from whiskflipstir.com

1 14-oz pkg extra firm tofu, drained and pressed

2 cups double strength chicken-flavored vegan broth (I used THIS kind)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup flour

3 Tbsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp poultry seasoning (I used goya)

1/2 tsp dried garlic

1/2 tsp dried minced onion

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Cut tofu into squares or strips.  Place tofu in a shallow pan and cover with the broth.  Soak at least one hour, and up to overnight, in the refridgerator.  After tofu has finished marinating, Stir together the flour, yeast, and spices in a bowl.  Warm oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat.  Remove tofu from broth and roll each piece around in the flour mixture until covered.  I did a second breading also...dunk again into the broth, and then again into the flour/spice mixture.  

Place tofu in hot oil and fry until brown and crisp on all sides (about 2-3 minutes per side).  Remove from oil and set on a plate lined with paper towels to drain.  

Serve and enjoy!    

Spaghettios & Lentil Meatballs

I'm a huge sucker for Chef Boy R Dee canned spaghettios.  So when I went vegan, I was excited to find a good homemade spaghettios recipe! This recipe made a very large batch, it's healthy and the boys loved it!  The meatballs are made out of lentils, which is my new obsession.  and I have more lentil recipes coming!  (chili, sloppy joes, soup, tacos...seriously, I can't get enough.)  

Lentils in soup? check.  Lentils in potstickers? check.  Lentils in meatballs?  check! 

Spaghettios & Lentil Meatballs

From theppk.com

for the sauce:

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 chopped onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

pepper

1/2 tsp oregano

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp brown sugar

2 24oz cans crushed tomatoes with basil

1/4 cup cashews, soaked in water (for at least 1 hour, up to overnight)

2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

for the meatballs:

1 clove garlic

1 small onion, quartered

1 1/2 cup cooked lentils (brown or green)

3 tbsp nutritional yeast

2 tbsp vital wheat gluten flour

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp olive oil

2 tbsp water

1/2 cup store-bought breadcrumbs

1 lb small pasta of your choice

olive oil

For the sauce:  In a large pot, saute onions in olive oil with a pinch of salt over medium heat until translucent and soft.  Add the garlic and saute for another minute.  Add in the pepper, oregano, salt and brown sugar.  Cook for 2 minutes, until the sugar has melted.  Add the tomatoes, cashews and nutritional yeast.  Cover and cook for 20 minutes.  

In a food processor, immersion blender or regular blender, puree the sauce until smooth.  Keep the sauce warm on the stove until ready to use.

For the meatballs:  In a food processor, chop the garlic until minced.  Add in the onion and chopped until finely diced.  You don't want any big chunks.  Transfer the onion/garlic mixture to a large bowl and set aside.  

Again in the food processor, process together the lentils, nutritional yeast, wheat gluten, soy sauce, tomato paste, olive oil and water until smooth.  Add this mixture into the bowl with the garlic and onions, and add in the breadcrumbs.  Mix together with your hands until it all sticks together.  

Preheat oven to 350.  Roll the meatballs into cherry sized balls.  Preheat a large skillet over medium heat with olive oil.  Brown the meatballs in the skillet, working in batches so not to overcrowd them.  Once all the meatballs are browned, transfer them to a baking sheet.  Bake 18-20 minutes.

Cook pasta according to package directions.

Add the cooked pasta to the sauce.  Add baked meatballs in and toss, being careful to not break the meatballs.

Enjoy!   

Basil Zucchini Risotto

We got a lot of zucchini and summer squash in our CSA boxes this summer, so I was always looking for new ways to use them up.  I love basil, and have a love for ALL THINGS RISOTTO, so when I saw this recipe on PostPunkKitchen, I knew it was probably going to be a favorite.  Although risotto is usually thought to be a "heavier" dish, this one tasted very light and summery.  It's awesome for a summer night dinner on the patio.  Jeremy isn't a fan of squash at all, and really doesn't even like things that it touches, so I got to eat this multiple-bowls-of-deliciousness all to myself : )  Oh, and did I mention that it's vegan?  Because it is.  But you would never know.

Basil Zucchini Risotto

from ThePostPunkKitchen

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 med yellow onion, finely chopped

1 1/2 cup arborio rice

1 cup dry white wine

4 cups (maybe a little more) of vegetable broth

3/4 cup pesto

1/2 tsp salt

pepper to taste

1 lb zucchini, sliced and quartered

olive oil

salt pepper

3 cloves garlic, minced

Warm up the veggie broth in a saucepan, and keep it work with the burner on low.  Preheat the oven to 425.  

Saute the chopped onion, a dash of salt and olive oil over medium heat, until onions are soft and translucent.  Add the rice and stir to coat the rice in oil.  Add the wine and stir occasionally until it is mostly absorbed.  Add a few dashes of black pepper and 1/2 of the salt.  Turn heat down to med-low.  

Add the warm veggie broth a cup at a time, stirring almost continuously after additions.  Once most the liquid is absorbed, add another cup, and so on.  After 2 cups, stir in the pesto, then continue stirring in the remaining liquid until almost all liquid is absorbed.   

At some point while your risotto is becoming creamy and delicious, toss the zucchini slices with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic and spread on a baking sheet.  Roast for about 6 minutes on each side, until softened and lightly browned.  Set aside.

With the last cupful of broth added the risotto, also add the rest of the pesto.  Taste for salt and add more if needed.  Risotto is ready when the mixture is creamy, and the rice is chewy-yet firm.  

Top risotto with pieces of zucchini and drizzle with extra pesto if you'd like.   

Veggie Dumpling Soup

It's funny how little things that you don't even think about change completely when you have kids.  For example, when you're talking about the cooking skill difficulty of a dish.  Prior to being a mom, difficulty of cooking skills depended on how many steps were in a recipes, and how many different tools and ways of preparing it were required.  Now though, I rate difficulty of dishes on how hard it is to make while juggling 1-2 babies in your arms at the same time.  

This dish is easy!  Even when you have babies crawling around your feet, or demanding to be held on your hip while you chop, mix, add, and stir.   This was one of the first vegan dishes that I ever made, and it's become a favorite of ours.  It's kind of like the chicken and dumpling substitute for vegans.  

Vegetable Dumpling Soup

from PostPunkKitchen

For the soup:

3 Tbsp olive oil

1/4 cup flour

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 tsp salt

3 cloves garlic, minced

6 cups vegetable broth

2 stalks celery, sliced

1 1/2 lbs russet potatoes, cut into small chunks

1 cup baby carrots, cut in half

1 zucchini, sliced

1 Tbsp fresh thyme

2 Tbsp fresh dill

1/2 tsp paprika

pepper

1 15-oz can navy beans, rinsed and drained

For the dumplings:

1 1/2 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 Tbsp rosemary

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup non-dairy milk (I used soy milk)

2 Tbsp olive oil

Heat a large pot over medium-low heat.  Add in the oil and sprinkle in the flour.  stir consistently for 3-4 minutes, until flour is thick and clumpy.  Add the onions and salt, and toss to coat.  Cook for 5 mins, stirring often.   Stir in garlic, cook for 30 seconds more.  Pour in veggie broth, whisking constantly to prevent clumping.  Add in celery, potatoes, carrots, zucchini, thyme, dill, paprika and pepper to taste.  Turn heat up, cover and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.  

Once boiling, reduce heat to simmer and cook, uncovered for 20-25 minutes, until thickened and veggies are tender.  

For the dumplings, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt.  Mix in the rosemary.  Make a well in the center, and add the milk and oil.  Mix together with a wooden spoon until wet and sticky.  When the soup is ready, add in the can of beans and drop spoonfuls of dough on top of soup.   Cover pot and cook for about 15 minutes more.  Dumplings should be firm when done.     

Grilled Pineapple Guacamole

We eat mexican food a lot these days.  It's super easy and quick to throw together, and it's easy to make it vegan.  Typically it consist of some sort of tacos/fajitas filled with whatever we have lying around.  Usually that means black beans, corn, bell peppers, jalapeños, kale, onions, pineapple, tomatoes, etc. 

Guacamole is a frequenter as well.  I grilled some pineapple rings, chopped them up into pieces and added them into my homemade guac.  Soooo good.  Creamy spicy goodness with an occasional bite of sweet caramelized fruit. 

Grilled Pineapple Guacamole

from Confectons of a Foodie Bride

2 large avocados, pitted and flesh scooped out.

juice of 1 lime

salt

1/3 cup diced red onion

1 small tomato, diced

1 large garlic clove, diced

small handful of cilantro

2 serrano peppers, finely diced

couple of pineapple rings

olive oil

prepare grill to high heat.  brush both sides of pineapple with oil.  grill for a few minutes each side, until browned.  Once cooled, chop the pineapple up into little chunks.  Mash together the avocado, lime juice, salt, red onion, tomato, garlic, cilantro and peppers.  Stir in the pineapple.

Kale and Sweet Potato Lentil Soup

This recipe is more of a hearty, warm and comforting type, and typically those aren't ideal for the 110 degree weather Nashville has been graced with lately, but since the past few days have been a little cooler with some thunderstorms, I thought it may be appropriate.  

This soup is uber healthy.  Kale=Superfood.  Sweet Potato=Superfood.  Lentils= Superfood.  Superfood=Lots of vitamins and minerals and things good for you.  

This has been one of my favorite vegan dishes so far, and it reheats wonderfully.  I made a big batch and have been eating from it for my lunches at work recently.  We also made some crispy garlic bread to go with it. 

Oh, and kale-hating husband loved it.  Ha.

Kale and Sweet Potato Lentil Soup

from Eat.Live.Run

1/2 cup lentils (I used green)

1/2 large carrot, diced

1/4 cup onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 stalk celery, diced

1 bunch kale, chopped

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

1 serrano pepper, diced

salt, to taste

1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1/4" cubes

2 tsp oil

2 cups veggie stock

Heat oil  over medium high in a large pot.  Add onion, carrot, celery, serrano pepper and sweet potato and cook until softened.  Add the garlic and kale and cook until kale is wilted.  Add in the lentils, bay leaf, rosemary and stock.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to simmer and cook for about 30 minutes, until the lentils are soft and have absorbed most of the liquid.  Season with salt and remove the bay leaf and rosemary sprigs.

Enjoy! 

Spaghetti and Non-meat Meatballs

I'm not a fan of mushrooms.  I never have been.  I don't like the taste, and I don't like the texture.  And it's a fungus.  That's just gross.  Fungus is for feet and infections, not food.  So anyway, I've been a long time searching for a recipe including mushrooms in which I did not want to pick them out and set them far across the other side of my plate.  

I was very hesitant at first, since the main ingredient in these meatless meatballs is minced up mushrooms, but it worked!  I couldn't taste the texture of the mushrooms, and the taste was still there, but it blended with other spices and was covered by tomato sauce, so it didn't really bother me.  Jeremy also like these, which is HUGE, because he hates mushrooms even more than I do.

Oh, and also, baby boys loved this.  They ate so much of it, meatless balls and all.  Check out cute pictures of them eating here.

Oh, and sorry for the tupperware photo...I made this before work and was quickly trying to snap pictures before running out the door!

Non-meat Meatballs

Adapted from Veganela.com

1 1/3 cup vegetable broth

1/3 cup arborio rice

8 oz cremini or baby bella mushrooms

4 tsp olive oil

1/2 onion, diced

1 flax egg (1 Tbsp ground flax seed + 3 Tbsp water)

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/3 cup almondmeal/nutritional yeast mixture (half and half)

1/8 cup chopped fresh parsley

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

In a large saucepan, bring broth to a simmer.  Add in rice, turn heat to medium and simmer, uncovered for about 20 mins, stirring occasionally until rice is tender and creamy.  Set aside in a large bowl.  In a food processor, pulse the mushrooms in batches until finely chopped.  

In a large skillet, heat oil over med-hi heat.  add onions and cook until softened, about 5 mins.  add in the mushrooms and cook a few more mins, until mushrooms have released moisture and are tender.  Add to the rice.  let cool.

Preheat oven to 400.  Add flax egg, bread crumbs, almond/nutritional yeast mixture, parsley, salt and pepper to the rice/mushrooms and mix well.  Form mixture into about 16 2-inch balls.   

In a large skillet, heat up a few more tbsp of oil over med-hi heat.  Add as many of the meatballs that will fit, and cook for just a few minutes on one side, until lightly browned.  Transfer to a greased baking sheet, and repeat with remaining meatballs.  Bake until meatballs are golden brown and firm, about 15-20 minutes.  Serve with pasta and tomato sauce.

Mexican Shepherd's Pie; June Cooking Club

I'm in a cooking club.  It's called Spam and Anchovies.  We're awesome.  

My cooking club party just happened to fall on my birthday this month!  I decided to host this time.  The theme was Vegan-Mexican.  We all contribute different parts of the meal, and meet together at someone's house to enjoy the food.  We were missing a good bit of the group this month, but we definitely weren't short on food!

I made 2 entrees (kale and potato enchiladas, & Mexican shepherd's pie), and the drinks (Margaritas). Kenna made mexican quinoa salad (yum), Vanessa made Mexican street corn (sooo good), Melissa made guacamole and salsa (awesome), and Anne brought a cake for my birthday (so delicious)!  It was all super good.

So this Mexican Shepherd's Pie...It's pretty awesome.  Typical Shepherd's Pie includes lamb and/or ground beef, corn, peas, and carrots, topped with traditional mashed potatoes.  To make this mexican and vegan, I substituted the filling with black beans, mushrooms, corn, tomatoes, peppers and onions.  For the mashed potatoes, I added some lime zest to them, which gave them just a touch of lime.  I was skeptic of the lime-and-potato combination, but it worked well with this dish!  

Vegan Mexican Shepherd's Pie

Adapted from PostPunkKitchen

For the mashed potatoes:

2 1/2  pounds red potatoes, unpeeled and chopped into big chunks

1/2 cup soy milk

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp lime zest, grated

3/4 tsp salt

for the filling:

olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 jalapeño or serrano peppers, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

8 oz mushrooms, thinly sliced

1 cup fresh cilantro, chopped and lightly packed

1 28-oz can of chopped tomatoes, drained

1 bell pepper, chopped

1/2 cup corn

1/4 cup dry red wine

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

4 handfuls of tortilla chips

2 Tbsp lime juice

2 Tbsp hot sauce

2 15-oz cans of black beans, rinsed

For the potatoes:  Put potatoes into a pot of salted water.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Once boiling, turn heat down low and cook for 15-20 minutes, until potatoes are fork-tender.  Once tender, drain the potatoes and immediately return to pot, give a few mashes, and add the milk, oil, lime zest and salt.  Mash to combine.  Add additional salt to taste.  Set aside.

For the filling:  Saute onion, bell pepper and hot peppers in olive oil over med-high heat for about 10 minutes, until softened.  Add garlic and sauté for 30 more seconds.  Add in the cilantro, and mushrooms and cook until the mushrooms have released moisture, about 5 mins.  Add in the corn, tomatoes, wine, salt, cumin and red pepper flakes.  Turn up the heat and cover.  Cook for 5-7 mins, stirring occasionally.  

Take the tortilla chips and crush them into fine crumbs.  Add them to the mixture.  Mix in lime juice and hot sauce, and fold in black beans.  Taste for salt and seasonings. 

Preheat oven to350.  grease a large casserole dish, and spread filling out into it.  Add potatoes in dollops, and spread out with a spatula.  Bake for 25 mins, until Potatoes are lightly browned.

Tofu Curry Lettuce Wraps

We haven't been huge on tofu.  We have made tofu "chicken" nuggets, and a chocolate pudding made from tofu, but neither of those things have really been off-the-wall awesome tasting.  We find that it has a strange texture.  I suppose it takes a level of getting used to that we haven't quite reached yet.  We had some romaine lettuce that we got in our CSA box last week, so I thought lettuce wraps would be a fun way to use it up.   

These lettuce wraps are pretty good though.  White beans, tofu chunks, green onions, corn and spices.  With all that mixed together, the tofu texture sort of gets lost in the mix. 

Tofu Curry Lettuce Wraps

4 oz extra firm tofu, chopped

1 can white beans

1 ear of corn, kernels cut off (or you can use canned corn)

1 tbsp olive oil

2 green onions, white and green parts, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, minced

handful of spices (we used curry, ginger, cumin, salt and pepper)

Place the tofu in a bowl, and add all the spices you want, to taste.  Let it sit at least 30 mins, in the fridge.

In a large skillet, heat the oil.  Add in the garlic and green onions, and sauté until softened.  Add in the rest of the ingredients, and cook until all warmed and cooked through, about 5 mins.  

Let cool and scoop into large pieces of lettuce!

Kale and Potato Enchiladas

I'm 93% sure that this is my favorite vegan recipe that I've made so far.  These enchiladas are sooo good.  The name sounds a little strange.  Potatoes and kale wrapped up in an enchilada?  It works, I promise.  

Potatoes and kale cooked together with spices and garlic, wrapped in a tortilla, covered with enchilada sauce, (vegan) cheese, tomatoes, and green onions.

I took these leftovers to work the next day, and everyone who saw me eating said, "Oooh what is that, it looks delicious!" and then they were all surprised and intrigued when I said it was filled with potatoes and kale.  Do yourself, your family and your lunch over-seers a favor, and make these as soon as possible! : )

Potato & Kale Enchiladas

Adapted from Veganomicon

1 lb potatoes (I used yukon), peeled and diced

1/2 lb kale 

3 Tbsp olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 cup veggie broth (or water)

3 Tbsp lime juice

1 1/2 tsp salt, or to taste

8 tortillas

cheese of your choice

1 cup diced tomatoes

1 can of enchilada sauce (I used green, cause it's what I had)

1-2 green onions, green and white parts, sliced

Boil potatoes until soft, about 20 minutes.  drain and set aside.  In a medium pot, sauté the garlic in the oil over med-lo heat, until lightly browned.  Add in the kale, sprinkle with a dash of salt, and raise heat to medium.  Stir constantly, covering the kale in oil and garlic.  Partially cover the pot, and steam the kale until it has wilted, about 5 mins.  Remove the lid, add the potatoes, veggie broth, lime juice, and salt to the kale sauté.  Use a large spoon to slightly mash the potatoes.  Continue cooking until the broth is absorbed.  Add more salt/cumin/lime juice to taste.

Set out tortillas and fill with potato/kale filling.  Roll up tortilla and place in a lightly greased baking dish, seam-side down.  After all tortillas are filled and placed in dish, pour the enchilada sauce over the top of the tortillas.  Tope with diced tomatoes, cheese and green onions.  Cover dish with aluminum foil, and bake at 375 for 25 mins.  Remove the foil and bake for another 10-15 mins, until edges of tortillas are crisp/lightly browned and cheese is melted.  

Falafel and Vegan Tzatziki sauce

Falafel.  Whenever I think of falafel, I can't help but think of Ross on Friends.   

It wasn't until not that long ago that I actually had falafel for the first time.  And that's sad, because falafel is so delicious.  I had it while shopping at Opry Mills and eating in the food court.  I was searching around for something vegan that I could eat that wasn't a simple salad.  I saw falafel at one of the greek vendors, and decided to try it.  It was awesome.  

This recipe is just as awesome.  It is based off of Alton Brown's falafel recipe, but I did make a few changes.  It took 2 times to perfect this recipe.  The original recipe called for dry chickpeas, not canned.  Since I only had canned chickpeas, I figured I could use those and it wouldn't make much of a difference since they were just getting ground up anyway.  Well that was a major fail.  The canned chickpeas held in too much moisture and disintegrated when I tried to fry them.  So don't use canned chickpeas.  You'll get very angry and just end up eating french fries for dinner.  Or maybe that's just me.

Falafel are naturally vegan.  Traditional tzatziki sauce is made with cucumber, spices and yogurt.  I just substituted the yogurt for vegan sour cream, and the result was delicious.  

So I did have really good photos of these after I first made them, but I somehow accidentally deleted those photos, so what we are left with here are the leftovers, shot in a hurry-and-take-a-picture-before-packing-my-lunch-cause-I'm-running-late-for-work sort of fashion.  They didn't turn out half bad, right?  

Falafel & Vegan Tzatziki Sauce

For the Falafel: (adapted from Alton Brown)

1 lb dried chickpeas

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

4 small scallions, finely chopped

3 tsp salt (or more to taste)

1/2 tsp pepper

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

2 quarts peanut oil

Optional for serving:  Pita bread, shredded lettuce, sliced tomatoes

For the tzatziki Sauce:

12 oz tofutti sour cream

3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

2 Tbsp lemon juice

2 tsp white wine vinegar

1 Tbsp fresh dill

1/2 tsp salt

1 large seedless cucumber, roughly chopped

pepper, to taste

To make the falafel:  Put chickpeas in a large bowl and cover with 2 inches of water.  Let them soak overnight.  

Drain the chickpeas.  Combine the drained chickpeas, cumin, coriander, garlic, scallions, salt, pepper, baking powder, cayenne and parsley together in a large bowl.  Now it is time to grind this mixture all up.  We did it in our stand mixer meat grinder attachment, but it will also work in a food processor by pulsing in medium sized batches.

Scoop out golf-ball sized balls of the mixture, rolling and squeezing the mixture together between your hands, to make it cohesive.  Place on parchment paper lined baking sheet until ready to fry.  You can make these ahead of time, they can sit out at room temp for about 2 hours, or overnight in the fridge.

When you are ready to fry them, heat up the peanut oil in a large heavy-bottomed pan, until the oil is about 350 (that's where you want the oil temp to stay).  Place the falafel (about 3 or 4 at a time) into the hot oil, and fry until nicely browned, about 5 minutes.  Once the falafel are done frying, place them on a plate with paper towels, to drain. 

Serve with pita bread, lettuce, tomatoes and tzatziki sauce (or hummus would also be delicious...chickpea overload!)

To make the tzatziki sauce:  combine all ingredients into a food processor.  Blend until smooth.  Serve with falafel!  or veggies.  or anything, really.    

  

Lentil Potstickers

Lentils have become a staple in our pantry now that we eat a vegan diet.  They are in the legume family and are packed with protein and other nutrients.  I saw a recipe on Heidi Swanson's website, 101 cookbooks while looking for vegan recipes, and immediately decided to make this one for dinner that night.  

Jeremy and I both love traditional steamed dumplings found in janky little chinese restaurants, but instead of the ground up mystery meat that is traditionally inside, these little guys were filled with lentils and spices.  

I also made my own potsticker dough wrappers (you could make it easier by using store bought ones).  They were very simple, but I did make them a little too thick which is evident from the pictures.  I believe that one of these rolling pins would help me with that issue.  Still delicious none the less!  we devoured these.

Lentil Potstickers
adapted from 101cookbooks and MyWokLife

for the wrappers: 
2 cups flour
2/3 cup water
pinch of salt


for the lentil filling:
1/2 cup sunflower oil
8 scallions, chopped
1 small serrano pepper
 1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup soy sauce
4 tbsp sunflower oil
1/2 cup chopped shallots (about 4)
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups cooked lentils + whatever spices you'd like to add. (I added a little bit of ginger, garlic powder, turmeric, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes)


To make the wrappers:  Place flour into a large bowl.  Add the water and mix together with a fork, until the dough comes together.  It should be lumpy, but will hold together.  It may require a little more water, add tsp-fuls at a time until you have the right consistency.  Knead the dough until it is pliable and no longer sticky.  Tear off small pieces (golf-ball sized-ish) of dough and roll them out onto a floured surface.  Roll them as thin as possible, without rolling them so thin that they are transparent.  Also try to roll them out as round as possible.  Set aside until ready to fill.

To make scallion oil:  heat 1/2 cup oil in small skillet/saucepan over medium-high heat.  Add the scallions and cook for about a minute, until scallions have softened.  Remove from heat and set aside.

For the dipping sauce:  Chop up the serrano pepper.  sprinkle the pieces with sugar.  In a small bowl, stir together the soy sauce and water.  Add in the sugary peppers.  set aside.

For the filling:  Mix together the lentils with the spices in a food processor.  Add spices to taste.  In a large skillet, heat up the oil over medium heat, and sauté the shallots until tender and golden brown.  Add the lentil mixture and stir until the oil is soaked up.  The filling should be fairly thick and pinch together between your fingers.  Add salt to taste.

To Assemble and cook:  place a dollop of filling into the center of each dough circle.  Dip your finger in water and run it across the edge of the circular dough.  Fold the dough up together, bringing all the edges to the middle, gently pressing together to stick.  With folded seams facing up, gently press the dumpling downward, creating a flat bottom for the dumpling.  Set onto a lightly floured surface until ready to cook.  Repeat until all filling/dough is used up.

In a large skillet, heat up a few tbsp of oil over medium-high heat.  Place the dumplings in the skillet, seam side up.  Cook the dumplings for a few minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned.  Measure out a 1/3 cup water and set it next to the skillet.  With a skillet lid in one hand, add in the water to the skillet.  Immediately cover and cook for a few minutes, until the water has almost all evaporated.  Uncover and continue cooking until the water is all gone, about another minute.  Drizzle with the scallion oil and serve with the dipping sauce.

Caramelized Onion and Squash Pizza

Did that title throw you off?  Yeah, I know it sounds weird.  But it's not!  This pizza is awesome.  Lots of different flavors thrown together, you don't even miss the cheese.  Promise.

A delicious pizza sauce made from tomato paste and ground almonds.  Again, sounds weird, but trust me here.  Topped with  caramelized onions (read: candy) and zucchini squash, the pizza makes for a healthy vegan meal.  

Try it!  I promise you won't be disappointed! 

Caramelized Onion & Squash Pizza

adapted from PostPunkKitchen

1 Store-bough Pizza Dough (Trader Joes' dough is vegan) or make your OWN.

olive oil for brushing

1 yellow onion, sliced thinly

pinch of salt

1 tbsp olive oil

3/4 cup slivered almonds

2 red roasted bell peppers

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

pepper

1/4 tsp marjoram

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1 tsp agave nectar (or honey)

1/2 of a large squash (I used zucchini, yellow works too), thinly sliced.

For the caramelized onions:  Heat a heavy bottomed saucepan over low heat.  Add the oil and onions, tossing to coat.  Cover and cook for 20 minutes, but leave the lid slightly open for steam to escape.  Stir occasionally, about every 5 minutes.  Onions should start to turn a golden, amber color.

Remove the lid and turn the heat up to medium.  Cook for 10 minutes more.  Onions will turn a darker amber color, almost brown.  There may be a few black spots on them.  That's ok.  Set the onions aside.  

If your almonds aren't already toasted, do this now.  Place them in a sauce pan over medium-low heat.  Toast them 5-7 minutes, until they are lightly golden and fragrant.  Once toasted, put them into a food processor.  

For the sauce: In the same pan the almonds were toasted in, sauté the onion in olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add a pinch of salt, and sauté for about 5 minutes, until the onion is tender.  Add the garlic, a few dashes of pepper, marjoram and salt.  Saute together for just a minute more, then remove from heat.  

Pulse the almonds in the FP until they turn into a finely-ground powder (Don't over do it-you'll end up with almond butter!).  Add in the roasted red peppers, the onion mixture, the vinegar and agave/honey.  puree until combined and smooth.  Add more salt if needed.  

Assemble the pizza:  Roll out the pizza dough and place on a lightly greased baking sheet or pizza pan.  Spread as much sauce as you'd like over the dough.  Place squash slices over on pizza.  Drizzle with olive oil, and brush the crust.  Bake pizza at 500 degrees for about 10 minutes, until the crust is firm and golden.  Top with caramelized onions (and some more black pepper if you please) once pizza is baked.