Category Archives: Vegetarian

Breakfast, Eggs, Vegan, Vegetarian

Breakfast Burritos for the Busy

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I always say breakfast is the most important meal of the day. However I also understand mornings can be the busiest time of the day. This is why I have become quite talented at whipping up fast, hot, filling breakfasts in under 30 minutes. Sometimes, I even make several breakfasts I can leave in the fridge or freezer, then reheat and run out the door.

If you have a few minutes to spare in the AM or some time on Sunday to get ahead for the week, this a perfect idea to make filling your belly in the mornings easy. I made two, but you can scale this to whatever size you want.
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Ingredients:
2 tortillas
2 eggs, scrambled
1/4 cup cooked beans (I used canned kidney)
1/2 cup veggie (sliced zucchini featured here)
2 slices cheddar cheese

Step 1: In a sprayed or non-stick skillet, cook the veggies (I’ve used peppers, onion, cauliflower, broccoli, zucchini, squash, carrots…). Add the beans just to heat them, then pour in the beaten eggs. 

Step 2: Cook the eggs until fully done. Sprinkle on some salt or other seasonings if you like.


Step 3: Heat the tortilla for 10-15 seconds in the microwave, then add the cheese and half the egg mixture. Fold both ends of the tortilla in, then roll it up. I ate one that morning and saved the other for the next day. 

Please do get creative, you could add refried beans, black beans, spinach, sriracha… the possibilities are endless so you never get bored. These are also a quite affordable source of some major protein.

What’s your favorite wrap combination?
Healthy, Side dishes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Simple sauteed power greens

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One of the things I like best about growing up is changing tastes. When I was little, I had an on-off relationships with most vegetables, notably mushrooms. I loved them one week, and hated them the next. With growing up comes changing ideas of what tastes good, and I love it. I can be more creative, try different ingredients and recipes, and cook things that are good for me at which I would have turned up my nose years ago.
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One of those things is kale. Since I worked on a CSA farm and tried Kale Chips for the first time, I have been looking for more ways to use this power green more often. One excellent option is in soup, like the Olive Garden copycat of Zuppa Toscana I made. Delicious and packed with healthy ingredients.
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So as I had recently purchased more kale at Sprouts Farmers Market, along with some golden beets and fresh garlic heads, I decided to try another kale classic: Italian Sauteed Greens. I’m sure this is yet another popular side dish with a long and debated over past. But basically it’s garlic and olive oil with various greens sauteed lightly, and usually a tangy dressing like vinegar or lemon juice added. Also it is sometimes spicy, but since I’m a wuss I did not add hot peppers or hot pepper flakes. Feel free to if you love heartburn.
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Ingredients:
1 bunch kale, cut into small strips
1 bunch beet leaves, in small strips
3-4 cloves garlic, diced
2 tbsp good quality olive oil
1/4 cup sour liquid (I used banana pepper liquid and 3 tbsp lemon juice, you can also use any type of vinegar)
Sprinkle of sea salt
3-4 banana pepper or hot pepper rings

Step 1: Dice up your garlic into bits. You can use a garlic press or chopper if you want.

Step 2: Saute the garlic in 2 tbsp olive oil 4-5 minutes, you should be able to smell it.

Step 3: Cut the greens into thin strips. Add to the pan, and cover tightly. Let it steam in the garlic oil for 10-15 minutes, or until fully wilted.

These greens were so vibrant and lovely even before cooking! All that heart-healthy nutrient-packed deliciousness…

Step 4: Add your sour notes, lemon juice and banana peppers. Stir, cover, and saute another 5-10 minutes.

Banana pepper rings are a new love of mine. I put them on tuna sandwiches, on pizza, into my greens… they’re awesome. And lemon juice is a necessity for life.

Step 5: Once wilted and everything is combined, move to plate and garnish as you like.

I added a little sprinkle of fresh Parmesan cheese and some sea salt. It was the most perfect balance, and the tart juices took away a lot of the harsh bitterness most people don’t like about greens.

These greens were tangy and delicious, and if you enjoy spicy food would go great with some hot peppers.  I also had some cottage cheese on the side, to complete a whole, light lunch. It’s filling without feeling stuffed, and ridiculously good for you.

Mmmmmm…

What’s your favorite way to cook greens?
Fish, Healthy, Vegetarian

Tropical Shrimp Tacos

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Since the weather has been chilly and snowy, I’m feeling the urge for all things tropical. Dreams of sunshine, beaches, pineapples, little umbrella drinks, and fresh produce keep me going through the seemingly endless winter months. Pineapple is one of my favorite fruits and always makes me think tropical, so I decided to make something with a pineapple marinade. A quick check of the freezer showed me I had a bag of shrimp, so shrimp tacos it is. Toppings included my perfect refried beans and the marinade was nearly the same as the perfect pancake syrup, with a few additions.


Ingredients:
1 pound shrimp
Tropical Shrimp Marinade (below)
Toppings of your choice: rice, beans, coleslaw, onions, peppers, fruit compote, avocados, salsa, ranch, go crazy!

Tropical Shrimp Marinade:
Juice of 1 lime
1 inch fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup honey
4 tbsp fish sauce (or soy sauce)
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 can of pineapple chunks plus juice
Squirt of sriracha

Step 1: Mix all your ingredients in a small bowl.

If you don’t have a garlic press (like me) you can just use a fork to smash the garlic.

Give the marinade a whisk to incorporate the honey and Sriracha and mix everything together. (PS, you can save the marinade to use it one more time. I put a pair of pork chops in for the next day, and they were also delightful! Served over some extra rice I made. Efficiency.)

Step 2: Peel off the tails and let the shrimp marinate overnight or during the day, at least 4-6 hours.

Step 3: In a frying pan, cook the shrimp over medium heat on one side until it begins to get brown and crispy. Flip and cook another 5-10 minutes.

You want that gorgeous color and crunchy covering. I stir fried bell peppers, onions, corn, and the rest of the can of pineapple chunks to go with the shrimp. I also made some plain rice, and my Perfect Refried Beans to round out the meal.

Layer all your toppings in, and enjoy! I loved the sweetness of the pineapple, and the shrimp don’t have a fishy taste at all. If I had cabbage I would have made coleslaw and a chipotle ranch sauce, but I guess I’ll save that for another time.

 
What’s your favorite thing to do with shrimp?
Finances, Healthy, Less than 5, Vegan, Vegetarian

Perfect refried beans – low-fat, high protein!

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Refried beans, known as frijoles refritos, are a staple in Mexican and Mex-inspired cuisine. It translates into “well-fried beans”, which is an accurate description. Most often pinto beans are used, though sometimes pink or red kidney beans can be used as well.

The beans are fully cooked, and any water or broth is drained from them. Then they are mashed well, and put into a frying pan to be cooked again over low heat. Refried beans tend to be made with bacon grease and/or lard and/or bacon added, which sure boosts the flavor, but also may boost your hip size.

It’s super simple to make your own at home with only three ingredients, and no added fat.

Ingredients:

  • 1 can pinto beans, drained (use no added sodium kinds if you can find it. you can also make your own from dried)
  • 2-3 bay leaves
  • 1 tbsp cumin

Step 1: Drain the beans. Rinse them as well if not low-sodium to remove some excess sodium. 

*Side note: bean cooking water is apparently awesome for watering gardens
or house plants. So if you cook beans from raw, keep that in mind!

 Step 2: Pour the beans into a frying pan. Add about 1/4 cup water, and cook on low until the water bubbles and beans are heated through. Mash with a fork or potato mashed until mostly soft and creamy. 

Step 3: Add bay leaves and cumin. You can also add salt and pepper if you like. Mix well, continue to cook on low heat for 10 minutes to an hour. Add more water periodically if they seem to dry out too much. Enjoy as a side dish, on tacos or burritos, or with eggs at breakfast.


Think Geek has more in-depth info on how they are prepared and when to eat them, Food Timeline has a neat comparison of various historical accounts of what refried beans are and when they originated, and Wikipedia covers why the mistranslation into “refried” is wrong on two counts.

What is your favorite way to cook beans?

Breakfast, Vegetarian

Vegetarian Breakfast Strata

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I’ve said many times, and I’ll say it again, breakfast is the most important meal of the day.
I’ve also said many times that I love easy, make-ahead meals. This breakfast strata could be put together or baked the day before and stored in the fridge if needed. It is super simple and could incorporate any type of veggie or bean you prefer. You can make it completely vegan by using egg substitute and no cheese too.
 
Ingredients:
3 slices bread
1 can beans, slightly mashed
1/2-1 cup vegetable (spinach here)
8-10 eggs, beaten
sprinkle of cheese

Step 1: Lay the bread in an oven-safe pan sprayed with oil. Layer on the mashed beans, cheese and spinach.

Step 2: Add the egg mixture.

Step 3: I sprinkled more cheese on top. Bake at 350 for 45-50 minutes, until eggs are fully cooked.

Mmmmmmm! Hot, healthy, and protein packed breakfast. Actually this doesn’t necessarily have to be for breakfast, you could have this any time of the day.

 
What are your favorite strata ingredients?
Fish, Vegetarian

‘Merican fish and chips

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Fish and chips is a beloved dish in many countires, most notably Britain. As most common and popular dishes do, it has a long and debated-over history. The potato was said to have been brought over to England from the New World in the 17th century. It quickly became a cheap staple food. It is believed that frying the potato into chips originated in France. Obviously potatoes were hugely popular in Ireland as well. Being near a coast, fish was a popular poor fisherman’s food. Fried fish was introduced in London’s East End in the 1800s. The Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist even refers to a ‘fried fish warehouse’. The Historic UK website says that both Lancashire and London claim to be the first to put these two together into the iconic meal. For a more thorough history of the dish check out the BBC’s history of fish & chips article one and article two.

The “chips” referred to in this dish are what Americans would call “French fries”, not the flat Lay’s type chips we know. Typically the fish is a white fish such as cod or haddock, coated in a thick batter and deep fried. Not the most healthful of meals, it nonetheless meets all working class requirements: it’s cheap, filling, easy to eat out of a newspaper while walking home from the pub, and warms you on a chilly night. Common ways to eat it include sprinkling with salt and/or vinegar, mayonnaise, tartar sauce, ketchup, or plain naked. About.com’s page for British Food gives statistics on nutrition as well as the claim that fish & chips is the nation’s most popular take-away food, four times more popular than Indian curry. I think in America, nothing can overtake the pizza, but who am I to say?

My version of fish & chips is baked rather than deep fried, making it more waistline friendly. It takes minutes to prepare, then you must be patient while it cooks. Go read a book, do some laundry, take a bath, whatever. Then sit down to a hot and crispy meal you can feel good about.

Ingredients:
2-3 large potatoes, diced
2-3 fillets white fish
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup crackers, crushed
Italian spices, garlic salt
Spray oil

Step 1: Spray a pan with oil, spread out the potatoes, and spray them. Sprinkle the spices over them. Put in the oven at 350 for ~35 minutes. Make sure to mix them up once or twice to cook on all sides.

Step 2: In a shallow bowl beat the egg. Coat the fish on both sides, then roll in the crushed crackers. Sprinkle with spices and place on a sprayed pan. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, turning once.

Once the fish flakes easily and the potatoes are soft when poked with a fork, remove and place on a plate. Because this is not fried there is far less fat content, if you eat the equivalent of one whole potato (these little cubes are seriously addictive, I know I could!) there are about 10 grams of fat. The fish and chips combined have about 480 calories, 47 g carbohydrate, and 48 g protein per serving. Not to mention tons of vitamins and trace minerals. {Nutrition info calculated on SparkRecipes recipe calculator}. Add a baked veggie if you like to round out the meal.

What’s you favorite way to eat fish?
Dessert, Vegetarian

World’s Easiest Peanut Butter Fudge

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History

The exact origins and first creator of the confection known today as fudge is widely debated, though by most accounts it was invented in the U.S. over 100 years ago. The most popular theory is that it resulted from a batch of caramels gone wrong, or “fudged”, hence the name and the grandmotherly curse “Oh, fudge!”. For two possible stories of how this came about check out the BBGees “History of Fudge Explained“. 

 

Ingredients

For most candies and caramel, you do not cause crystallization. However, for fudge crystallization is required. The crystals are small enough that there is no grainy texture. Original recipes call for boiling mixtures of milk, cream, and sugar. They were also famously touchy; one had to use precise measuring, accurate temperatures, and constant stirring to achieve that perfect soft texture. Since not everyone has a candy thermometer, the recipes were adapted for home cooking to make the results easier and more reliable. Corn syrup, marshmallows, marshmallow cream, peanut butter, nuts, and sweetened condensed milk, among other ingredients, are included in various fudge recipes. The Nibble has a great article on the history and original fudge recipes.

Process

Almost all fudge recipes call for sugar, cream, and butter to be heated to the “soft ball” stage. This term, according to Exploratorium: The Science of Cooking, refers to how the mixture reacts when dropped into cold water, it will form a soft ball. This happens at 235-240F (110-116C) degrees. Other stages, determined by the highest heat the liquid reaches before cooling, include the Thread, Firm Ball, Hard Ball, Soft Crack, and Hard Crack stages.

In case you haven’t had enough sweets during December, I discovered the world’s easiest fudge recipe while at home. Now when you have that irresistible craving for the creamy sweet stuff, you don’t have to run out to a store. Just pull two simple ingredients from the pantry and within minutes you have a gooey batch of the sweet stuff.

Recipe

Ready?
Ingredients:
1 jar peanut butter
1 jar icing (vanilla is best, but what the heck, go wild and try chocolate, or cream cheese)

Mix well. Microwave 2 minutes. Refrigerate until solid and cut into squares. 

Breakfast, Comfort food, Vegetarian

Perfect pancakes

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There is nothing quite as wonderful on a lazy Sunday as fresh, homemade pancakes. And they are actually quite easy to make. Just four dry ingredients plus four wet, and maybe some chocolate chips, fruit, or nuts. This would also be a great Christmas morning breakfast or brunch.  Total time required is roughly 20 minutes. This recipe makes about 10 hotcakes. 

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
3 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups milk
1 whole egg
3 tbsp melted butter
1 tbsp vanilla 
Optional: 1/2 cup chocolate chips, fruit, nuts, oats, etc.

Step 1: Mix the first four dry ingredients in a large bowl. (Add whatever extras you like).

Step 2: Mix the next four wet ingredients into the dry. If you want to, you can set this aside for 10-20 minutes to shower or watch the news or brew some coffee.

Step 3: Heat a frying pan over medium heat and spray with cooking oil. Pour in about 1/3 cup batter per cake. Cook until batter shows bubbles, about 4 minutes.

Step 4: Flip the cakes when golden brown and cook another 1-2 minutes.

Serve with syrup, preserves, whipped cream, honey, or whatever you like on your pancakes.


This recipe produced light and fluffy cakes with the perfect amount of sweetness. I’m pretty proud of this batch I must say. Try making your own Pineapple Pancake Syrup to go with them.



What is your favorite type of pancake?



Crock pot, Slow cooker, Vegan, Vegetarian

Mashed cauliflower & potatoes

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One of my favorite healthy foods to hide is cauliflower. Because of its subtle taste and versatile texture, cauliflower can be hidden in many foods, the easiest of which is mashed potatoes. Most people cannot jump right into mashed cauliflower alone, so a 50:50 mixture is a good place to start.
From the family “Brasicaceae” (I don’t know how to say that either), cauliflower is related to broccoli, kale, cabbage, brussels sprouts and collard greens. For the long history of cauliflower breeding, see Wikipedia. In one cup of raw cauliflower alone, there is only 25 calories, yet 10% of your daily recommended fiber and over 75% of your daily vitamin C! Bet you didn’t think a boring white veggie could help fend off colds, but it’s true. It has no fat of course, but also not much protein, which is acceptable. I don’t recommend mashed cauliflower alone as a meal. The World’sHealthiestFoods website recommends cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower a minimum of 2-3 times per week. Cauliflower has nutrients that help support the immune system, anti-inflammatory system, and antioxidant systems. It has been linked to some amount of cancer protection, likely because of these protective effects.


Ingredients:
1/2 head of cauliflower
4-5 potatoes
1 1/2 cups stock (chicken, beef, veggie, homemade)
Garlic salt

Step 1: Peel the potatoes, dice them, and cut the cauliflower head into florets.

This is veggie stock I made myself in a slow cooker earlier.

Step 2: Put the stock (or water) into the crock pot and then add in potato and cauliflower.

The cauliflower should break apart easily in your hands.

Leftover scraps of potato and cauliflower will go in the freezer until I have enough to make another batch of vegetable stock.

Step 3: Cook on low 2-3 hours or high 4-5 hours. Mash the potato and cauliflower together, adding any spices or more liquid if needed. You can now serve or doctor however you would normally use mashed potatoes. If you don’t tell, no one will even know the difference! 


What’s you favorite way to use cauliflower?

Dessert, Holidays, Snacks, Vegetarian

Featured Cookie: Cranberry Nut Sugar Balls

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As I was researching easy recipes for an earlier post, I came across several cookie recpies I wanted to try. However, I don’t have the time, money, or calorie allowance to try them all. So only 2 or 3 will get chosen and featured in December.

This one came up repeatedly with variations, and I had most of the ingredients already, so I decided to try my own version. 

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup powder sugar (+ extra)
  • 2 sticks of butter, melted
  • 2 egg yolks
  • 1 cup nuts
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1 tbsp cocoa powder
  • 1 tbsp vanilla
  • 2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp salt

Step 1: In a large bowl, beat the powder sugar, butter, and cocoa powder until smooth and creamy.

Step 2: Use a spatula to scrape down the sides. Add the egg yolks and 1 tbsp vanilla and mix again. I saved the whites for the next day’s breakfast.

Step 3: In a blender, combine the nuts and cranberry and pulse until you get a paste-like mixture. You can use whatever kinds of nut you like, I had cashews and almonds.

Step 4: Mix the nut/berry and flour into the chocolate/ sugar/ butter mixture. The dough will be sticky and very thick. Refrigerate for 30-60 minutes.

Step 5: Drop by teaspoons onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Bake at 350 for about 40 minutes, or until solid.  

Step 6: Let cool completely, then roll in powdered sugar.

 

These light little sugar balls are mostly solid but a little crumbly. The cranberry’s tartness is enhanced by the nuttiness, subtle cocoa flavor, and sweet, smooth powdered sugar.

They are the perfect size to pop in your mouth, try to keep track of how many handfuls you’ve had!


Do you have any favorite cookie recipes to share?