Brussels Sprouts, Butternut Squash & Honey Roasted Walnuts

Brussels sprouts are not an easy veggie to work with.  Their tough texture and bitter bite sometimes leave me confused as to what to pair with it.  I finally decided to roast them and cook them with lots of other sweet vegetables.  The squash, red onions and sweet walnuts complimented them perfectly and the amazing smell of this dish lingered in the kitchen ALL day. What a beautiful Sunday.

20 brussels sprouts, halved

1 butternut squash, cubed (about 2-3 cups)

1 cup walnuts

1/2 cup sliced red onions

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp honey

1/2 tsp, plus 1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp white pepper

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees
• Toss together squash, Brussels sprouts, onion, garlic, oil 1/2 tsp salt and white pepper
• Evenly coat walnuts with honey then sprinkle with 1/4 tsp salt
• Put vegetable mix into casserole dish and bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes
• After 40 minutes, add walnuts ontop of the vegetables and bake for an additional 20 minutes

 

Spicy Cheeze Biscuits

Ahh, the magic of Pinterest.

I love apps that let me browse through fairly useless crap, that give me the illusion of doing something productive.  I’ve actually found a lot of great recipes based through my adventures in pinning and this was the first one I tested out.  I love that everything is based on the pictures, because if a recipe doesn’t photograph well, I’m generally not interested.  When it comes to cooking, usually it’s best to judge a book by its cover.

These biscuits are super yummy, a cinch to make and pair perfectly with any of our soup recipes-enjoy!

2 cups unbleached organic white flour

1 cup pepperjack Daiya cheese (or regular Monterey Jack or Colby cheese)

3/4 cup coconut milk

3 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp chopped green onions

1 small jalapeno, minced

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp coconut oil

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees
• Stir coconut milk in with the lemon juice and set aside for 10 minutes
• Meanwhile, mix together flour, baking powder, salt and pepper
• Add olive oil and coconut oil and mix together, leaving some chunks in the dough
• Stir in green onions, jalapenos and coconut milk mix until it forms a sticky dough
• Roll out dough onto floured surface until it’s about 1/2 inch thick
• Cut into 12-14 equal squares and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes

Baked Chickpea, Kale & Cheeze Balls

2 cups chickpeas, cooked and mashed

4 cups chopped fresh kale

1 zucchini, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)

1 carrot, chopped (about 1 cup)

1 cup onion, chopped

1 1/2 cups breadcrumb, divided

1 cup coconut milk

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

1/4 cup vital wheat gluten

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp black pepper

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• In a food processor, pulse together kale, zucchini, carrots, onion and garlic
• When coarsely mixed, heat 1 tbsp oil olive over medium heat in a frying pan
• Add kale mix to pan and cook for about 7 minutes, stirring occasionally
• Remove from heat and mix together with chickpeas
• Add 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, nutritional yeast, wheat gluten, mustard, salt and pepper and mix again
• Set aside to in the fridge to cool for 30 minutes
• When chilled, mold into small balls ( you don’t want them too big or they wont cook all the way through) and dredge them through the coconut milk
• Then, roll through the remaining breadcrumbs and place on a baking sheet
• When all the balls are rolled, drizzle the tops of them with the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil and bake at 400 degrees for  30-35 minutes

NOTE: If they don’t cook all the way through, try slicing them in half and cooking for 15 more minutes, OR place under the broiler to speed up cooking the insides of them

Spinach and Chive Mashed Potato Pancakes

Arikka is amazing with vegan food and shes’s always mentioned these mashed potato pancakes she makes when shes’s running low on food in the house.  I was in the same situation this week and had a massive craving for carbs.  These pancakes were so awesome.  It’s one of those lunches that I start thinking about before I even get to work in the morning.

8-10 boiled Yukon Gold potatoes (about 4 cups cubed)

2 cups fresh baby spinach, chopped

1 cup onions, sliced

1 cup chives, chopped

1/3 cup coconut milk

2 tbsp whole wheat flour, plus some for coating

5 cloves garlic, minced

3-4 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

• In a frying pan over medium heat, cook onions in 1 tbsp oil and stir frequently for 7-8 minutes or until translucent
• Mash the potatoes with the coconut milk, flour, garlic, salt and pepper, then stir until creamy
• Then stir in spinach, onions and chives and mix again
• In another frying pan, heat the remaining oil over medium heat
• Mold the potato mixture into pancakes and dust both sides with flour
• Put into oil once it’s crackling
• Cook on both sides, for about 5 minutes each or until browned and crispy

Homemade Vegetable Broth

Another REALLY grerat discovery this week.  Instead of wasting $3 on a box of organic vegetable broth that only gives me 4 cups of liquid, I decided to make my own.  It is SO easy, SO cheap and is another wonderful way to recycle.  Freezing a gallon ziplock bag of leftover potato peels, the ends of carrots, onion skins and sracps of whatever parst of veggies I generally throw away add up to a DYI broth.  My bag filled up quickly after just a week and on Sunday I simple threw everything in a super big pot, threw in some salt, pepper, thyme and lots of almost wilted parsley, covered it with water and that was it!  I brought the mixture to a boil, then let it simmer for an hour and I was left with a fragrant, yummy broth for FREE!  It made about a gallon, and even though my math sucks, I’m guessing that saves us about 12 bucks than buying the store bought kind.  Easy broth made from would-be trash? Yes please!

What to Add:

Potato Peels

Onion Skins

Zucchini, squash, pepper ends

Tomato cores

Leftover herbs

Stems of greens

(BEFORE)

(AFTER)

(THE RESULTS!)

 

Kale & Spinach Vegan Pizza

Oh wow. Wow, wow, wow, wow.

This week hasn’t been tough turning vegan, outside of eating at restaurants.  Even the vegan/vegetarian ones are tough because they use alot of fake meat and tofu and I won’t touch that stuff.  I’ve been dependent on Daiya most of the week and this pizza was the best part.  It’s a little thicker than regular cheese and kind of sticks to the roof of your mouth a little, like peanut butter, but the overall taste and consistency made for one satisfying pizza.

1 batch whole wheat honey pizza dough

1/2 bunch red kale, destemmed and chopped

2 cups fresh baby spinach, chopped

1 cup sliced red onions

1 1/4 cups mozzarella Daiya cheese (or regular shredded mozzarella if you don’t want the vegan version)

4 cloves garlic,  minced

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Stretch out pizza dough onto baking sheet
• Drizzle olive oil over dough, evenly
• Layer 3/4 of the kale and spinach onto the dough
• Sprinkle with garlic, salt and pepper, then top with onions
• Layer cheese ontop of that and distribute remaining kale and spinach ontop
• Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, then place under the broiler for 3-5 minutes so the kale crisps up

Carob Chip Cookies

WAY better than any sugar-filled, butter-based chocolate chip cookies.  I was on the hunt for vegan chocolate chips, but we stumbled across Carob ones instead, which instantly enticed us.  Being snowed in this weekend was the perfect time to make these, and it was tought to ration them out, especially since Jim was begging for more every 5 minutes.  I don’t blame him-they’re completely addictive and really sweet.

1 cup unbleached organic white flour

3/4 cup Carob chips (or any kind you want, really)

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup olive oil

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

3 tbsp carob powder (cocoa power is fine too)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp sea salt

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Mix together all ingredients except olive oil and syrup
• Slowly add in oil and syrup and stir again
• Shape into balls, place on baking sheet and flatten
• Bake at 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes

Pumpkin Quinoa Granola

Thanks to iheartwellness for the idea!

2 cups coconut milk

1 1/2 cups dry quinoa

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

3/4 cup raisins

1/2 cup pumpkin seeds

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup honey

2 tsbp chia seeds

2 tbsp vanilla

2 tbsp shredded coconut

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp coconut milk

1/4 tsp nutmeg

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Bring milk, quinoa, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla to a boil
• Reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes
• Meanwhile, mix together remaining ingredients EXCEPT coconut
• When quinoa is done, remove from heat and stir in pumpkin mix
• Spread coconut oil over baking sheet, then layer granola over it and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes
• Sprinkle shredded coconut ontop and bake for an additional 15 minutes

Buckwheat Groat & Brown Rice Banana Pudding

Just typing the title of this dish sounded gross, and I wish it didn’t.  Groat is such a heinous word.

Jim attempted this one time and I think he failed at cooking the rice all the way through before he started.  Having lots of both leftover brown rice and buckwheat groats in the fridge, I decided to mix them together for a savory and sweet breakfast offering to bring to my weekly meal with my mom and grandma.  I usually look forward to Friday mornings because I get to indulge in lots of  delicious carbs like muffins and bagels which I NEVER have unless I’m at my grandmother’s.  The after effects aren’t always great (feeling fat and sluggish all day) and I’m trying to get in the habit of bringing my own healthy stuff to breakfast.  Plus, I feel better bringing good-for-you-food for my closest relatives.  Just the smell of this pudding had me salivating and I actually ended up having it for dinner when I made it, because I couldn’t resist.  Breakfast porridge + wine = heaven.

3 cups coconut milk, plus 2 tbsp

1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice

1 cup cooked buckwheat groats

2 bananas, mashed

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tbsp cornstarch

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp shredded coconut

1 tsp pure vanilla

Blueberries or blackberries for garnish

• Bring 3 cups coconut milk, brown rice, buckwheat and cinnamon to a boil
• Reduce to a simmer and stir frequently for 10 minutes
• Whisk together cornstarch and 2 tbsp coconut milk, then add to rice mix and cook for another 10 minutes, stirring every other minute
• Remove from heat and stir in bananas, vanilla and shredded coconut
• Let sit overnight in the fridge, covered tightly and then serve

 

 

Rainbow Chard Brown Rice Burgers

A huge kudos to whoever can make veggie burgers of any sort stay fully intact after cooking.  Aside from our infamous quinoa burgers, the others we’ve created, taste oh so yummy, but fail to stay in one piece despite our best efforts.

This frustration was alive and well in these veggie burgers, and they more or less resembled those fake meat crumbles, except not gross.  The flavor is superb and they’re great if you can throw them into chard or Romaine leaves.  I got some inspiration for these from happyveganface.

2 cups cooked brown rice

1 bunch rainbow chard, torn into pieces-keep the stems on! (about 5 cups)

2 cups baby spinach

2 carrots

1 cup onion, chopped

1/3 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs

1/3 cup vegetable broth

6 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbsp sesame seeds

2 tbsp tahini

2 tbsp olive oil, plus 2 tbsp more for cooking

1 tbsp lemon juice

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp dry mustard

1/4 tsp black pepper

• Heat 1 tbsp of the oil over medium heat in a frying pan and add onions, cooking for 6 minutes
• Meanwhile, place chard, carrots and spinach in the food processor  and pulse until everything is chopped
• Add that to the onions on the pan along with the garlic, salt, oregano, mustard and pepper and cook for 5 more minutes, stirring continuously
• Then, add sesame seeds, tahini, lemon juice and vegetable broth and cook for 2 more minutes
• Remove from heat and set aside
• Add 1 cup brown rice with 2 tbsp oil and pulse until the rice is chopped
• Add rice mixture to the other cup of rice then stir in sautéed veggie mix, breadcrumbs and nutritional yeast
• Mix until everything is blended, then form into patties
• Heat a frying pan with 1 tbsp olive oil to medium heat, and cook veggie burger 7 minutes on each side