Roasted veggies

I love to roast vegetables.  It brings out their natural sweetness and a depth of flavor that you just can't get with any other style of cooking...and it is easy!
Lately I have been roasting of tomatoes, red peppers, sweet onions and garlic...I puree it with a cup or two of veggie broth, add some fresh basil and then I have the most amazing homemade soup!  You can even throw in some cooked lentels to add protein and make it even more healthy!

Quarter tomatoes (about 4 medium)
One red pepper (seeds/stem removed) and cut into 4-5 pieces
One medium to large onion cut into eight wedges
4 cloves garlic-paper removed but do not peel

Lay veggies on a baking sheet in one layer, drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper.
Bake at 275 for 2 hours.  The smell will make you want to take them out early, but try to resist!

Other veggies that would be delish: zucchini and squash, any potato, beets, parsnips, eggplant, peppers, turnips, carrots...you get the idea.

Also, less dense vegetables like asparagus and broccoli need to be quick roasted 450 for about 10 minutes, or else they get mushy.

Pita Chips

I started eating these when I gave up chips (mainly potato and tortilla) for lent, and now, wouldn't you know it, I might have to give THESE up for lent because I love them so much!

Cut 3 whole pitas into wedges (8 per pita)


Lay them in a single layer on a cookie sheet

drizzle with olive oil

Sprinkle with salt or any spice you like. I usually just do garlic powder.

Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes

Shut off the heat but leave the chips in the oven for 10-15 more minutes to allow the chips to crisp up.



Enjoy with pesto, sundried tomatoes, salsa, hummus, balsamic vinegarette or whatever you like to dip chips in!

Lunch today, Homemade roasted tomato and red pepper soup, cukes and pita chips.

Veggie Wraps!

I have never been a big wrap eater, but I recently tried a vegan one at my local coop and it was great! Of course a freshly made one just the way I like it is even better.

For this one I used my cilantro hummus, red peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes and onions but the possibilities are really endless. Any veggie works!

Ok, I'm OBSESSED...

...With hummus. On anything, chips, veggies, even a sandwich. It is one of my new favorite things to eat and recently I had a bunch of cilantro sitting around so I decided to throw that in too. What a GREAT idea!


Blend in a food processor until very smooth:
1 can of garbanzo beans (drained, liquid reserved)
3 Tbs reserved bean liquid
3 Tbs olive oil (or more)
1 clove of garlic
3 Tbs tahini (sesame seed paste)
The juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp cumin
A handful of cilantro leaves
A few cranks of black pepper
a pinch of salt

Creamy, bright, fresh tasting heaven. I could almost lick my computer screen!

What's for supper?

Chef Chloe Coscarelli is an exciting up and coming vegan chef from California. Last weekend I was watching cupcake wars on Food Network and she was the only vegan chef competing and she WON! How exciting for the vegan world:) Anyway, immedately after watching her win I searched for her on the web. She has a great blog and tonight I made one of her dishes, avocado pesto pasta. It is sinfully good, far too good to be vegan, though I am quickly learning that I enjoy food so much more now and that vegan food isn't inferior in any way.

YUMMY!

For dessert I had one of the cookies I made last night. Chocolate-chocolate chip cookies from the Veganomicon Cookbook.

Double YUMMY! Oh and by the way, a non-vegan told me they were the best cookies she has ever had! My hubby (and son) also loved the cookies. He also ate the pasta with me and he licked his plate clean (well, maybe THAT'S pushing it a little).

Crispy Kale

So I have quit drinking milk recently and in an effort to supplement my calcium I have been trying to eat more greens. Not quite as tasty as a nice glass of cold milk, but so much healthier!

While I was looking up recipes for Kale I ran across a bunch for crispy Kale and a I thought "WOO HOO, sounds like chips!"

I made them and they are actually good, Double WOO HOO!

Tear into small-chip size-pieces (discard the stems):
3-4 cups Kale

Put in a large bowl or plastic bag.

Toss with:

2 Tbs olive oil

1 Tbs balsamic vinegar

Until coated

Spread on a parchment lined baking sheet or if you have a rack for the sheet, use that.

Sprinkle

Salt (to taste)

Bake at 250 degrees for 25 minutes

Easiest Smoothie Ever!

Cup of frozen fruit

(if using fresh, add a couple ice cubes)

1 cup of water

(more if it is too thick)

One serving protein powder

(Hemp protein ROCKS!!!)

Blend until smooth and serve

Add flax or greens (Kale, spinach, etc.) for added benefits. Add sweetener if desired. Leave out the protein powder and replace the water with almond/soy/rice/hemp milk for an even easier smoothie.

My absolute favorite fruit to add is bananas, strawberries and pineapple blended with chocolate almond milk-just like a banana split! DROOL...

Fix a busted heart breakfast

This breakfast is CHOCK FULL of heart healthy ingredients!

Bring to a boil:

1 1/3 cup apple juice or water

Add:

1 small chopped apple

and boil for 5 minutes

Stir in:

1/4 cup old fashion oats

1/4 cup quinoa

Bring back up to a boil...cover, turn off heat and let sit for 10 minutes.

Top with :

sweetener, maple syrup, agave, honey, succanat, etc.

dash of cinnamon

chopped walnuts

tablespoon of flax meal

Soy/almond/rice/hemp milk

Yummy!

Rhubarb Apple Crisp

Ok. I could eat apple, rhubarb, strawberry, cherry (WHATVER) crisp everyday...twice a day...and NEVER get sick of it.

Besides being unbelieveably delicious, it is one of the easiest desserts to make, it has fruit and oatmeal in it (HEALTHY!) and I always have all the pantry ingredients. I never use an actual recipe but this is basically how I make it.



Let about 3-4 cups sliced fruit sit in a bowl with 1/2 cup sugar (more for rhubarb-less for sweeter fruit) for 30 minutes...that will draw some liquid out of the fruit. stir in 1 T cornstarch then pour into a buttered 8x8 baking pan.



For topping:

Stir together until crumbly looking:



3/4 cup flour

3/4 cup oatmeal

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 stick soft butter

1/8 cup oil (canola)

1/2 cup brown sugar

dash of salt

dash of cinnamon


Bake at 350 for about 50 minutes-cover with foil for the first 30 minutes of baking.