Split Pea Soup

Oh I love split pea soup! It is SO hard to find in supermarkets without that ubiquitous ham.  But after trying a few online recipes and adjusting to my tastes, I think I've got a winner:

1-2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 potato, diced
salt and pepper to taste
1 bay leaf (optional)
2 cups dried split green peas, picked over and rinsed
5 cups stock (I used one cube of veggie stock, one of chicken-flavoured)

a few pinches of smoked paprika added during simmering and nice on top as garnish :)

Add olive oil to a big pot over med-high heat. Stir in onions and salt and cook until the onions soften, just a minute or two. Add carrots, celery and potato and stir another few minutes. Add the split peas and water. Bring to a boil, dial down the heat, and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the peas are cooked through but still al dente. Using a large cup or ladle, scoop out 2/3 to 3/4 of the soup into a blender and puree. Return the pureed soup to the pot to reheat - you should have a soup that is nicely textured. Smooth, yet with veg chunks. Continue to season with salt and pepper to taste. Serving with drizzled olive oil on top and extra paprika is optional :)  We like to eat this with homemade pita chips. Just cut into triangles, brush with oil, add salt and bake to desired crispness. Enjoy!

Lentil Shepherd's Pie

I have received permission from the lovely Kreeli herself to post her shepherd's pie recipe - all credit to her!  The only thing I can possibly add is that I added a couple of stalks of celery and a few HEALTHY tbsp of worcestershire sauce to this, since it just ain't shepherd's pie without that worcester taste for me :)

Her amazing vegan food blog and recipe can be linked from here:  http://kreeli.livejournal.com/35170.html

Lentil Shepherd's Pie
with mushroom and garlic sauce

Filling:
2 1/3 cups dry lentils
1 cup coarsely ground walnuts
1 large onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 carrots, diced
1 parsnip, diced and/or 2-3 stalks celery, diced
1/2 head of green cabbage, finely chopped
1-3 cups frozen mixed veg (optional - I add this also but it's not called for in the original)
handful of fresh parsley, minced
1/4 cup nutritional yeast (if you have it - I usually omit)
3 tbsp soy sauce
3+ tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp smoked paprika
2 tsp dried, sweet basil
1 tsp ground thyme
ground pepper to taste

Topping:
6 - 8 large potatoes (I used Yukon gold), peeled and chopped
3 tbsp margarine or butter
splash of milk
salt and pepper to taste
Optional: 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg, handful of grated cheese

Place the lentils in a pot and add water until they are covered by an inch or so. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and let cook for 35 - 40 minutes, or until tender. Drain and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat a couple of tablespoons of oil and add the onion. Saute for a few minutes, then add the carrot and parsnip. Saute another few minutes, then add in the garlic and cabbage. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the veggies begin to brown a bit. Add in the rest of the ingredients, stir well, and let cook until much of the liquid has evaporated off - maybe ten minutes or so.

Meanwhile, set a large pot of water on to boil. Add the potatoes, return to a boil, and then reduce heat to maintain a simmer. Cook for 8 - 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. Strain and mash with the margarine, milk and other ingredients, as desired.

Preheat oven to 350F.

Spread the cooked lentil mixture into large casserole or 9 x 13 inch baking dish. Press down slightly so that it is compacted, but don't mash it. Top with the mashed potato mixture. You can get fancy and score the potatoes with a fork or use a piping bag to create pretty designs if you like. Dot the top with a little more vegan margarine or lightly brush with oil. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes or until the pie is golden. Let stand for five minutes before slicing.

Serves 6 - 8, freezes beautifully for future meals.

While the pie is baking, make the sauce.  (My note: my bf loves this sauce/gravy so much, I now make it for EVERYTHING)

Savoury Mushroom Garlic Sauce

2 cups sliced mushrooms (any kind)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp flour
1 1/3 cups water or vegetable stock (I use veggie, beef-flavoured stock)
2 tbsp nutritional yeast (optional)
2 tsp dried sweet basil
salt and pepper to taste

Sautee the mushrooms in the oil until they release their juice. Add the garlic and stir for a minute. Sprinkle with the flour and stir until everything is coated and the flour begins to sizzle. Add the water or stock in a slow, steady stream, stirring the whole time. Add the remaining ingredients and cook until thickened. Serve over shepherd's pie, or anything else you desire.

Veggie Quiche

This past weekend, we were out of tofu and other breakfast foods, so I whipped up a crustless quiche using eggs, which I haven't eaten for some time.  We keep them for my still-sometimes-meat-eating-boyfriend, who likes a fried egg sandwich from time to time.  Anyway, it turned out great. Really great.  I brought the leftovers to work today and wrapped it in a half a pita, then put in the sandwich maker for a minute. SO GOOD.

• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1/4 to 1/3 finely diced red onion
• 1 stalk broccoli, cut into small flowerets
• 3 green onions
• 1 tomato, seeded and diced
• 7 eggs, beaten
• 2 cups shredded cheese (I used cheddar, but Daiya vegan cheese would melt nicely)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
• pinch oregano
• pinch cayenne

1. In a large bowl, combine eggs, cheese, salt and pepper. Add vegetable mixture and stir to blend. Scoop into prepared pie pan.
2. Bake in preheated oven until eggs have set, about 30 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

I just used the veggies I had in the fridge (and I need my tomatoes to be SEEDED - yuck to tomato slime!), but use whatever you have. Regular onions, spinach, mushrooms....all would be great.  I cut a bunch of baby yukon gold potatoes in halves before I started making the quiche, tossed with some olive oil, rosemary, salt, pepper and cayenne, and got those roasting first.  By the time the quiche had been in for 30 minutes (toothpick should come out clean), they were both perfectly done. I may have added some Frank's Red Hot Sauce to the entire thing. I have a problem with that stuff.

Later in the day I went out shopping and finally picked up some tofu. I've been dying to try this recipe: http://happyherbivore.com/2010/03/vegan-quiche-greens/

Will let you know how it turns out!

A Few of My Favourite Things

On the nights when I'm too lazy to cook a big meal, or on days when I just don't have enough ingredients, I have a few go-tos that I always keep handy.

A friend recently asked me for my Tom Yum recipe...uh, yeah.  I use a paste packet (below) that is AWESOME. I add some chopped veg into it towards the end (carrots, broccoli, tomato, cauliflower, fresh cilantro, whatever you like) and it is spicy, healthy and DELICIOUS.

Hearkening back to my childhood, we sometimes ate canned beans on toast or mashed potatoes with a side of green veg. I still love that sometimes :)  I really like this brand, and it's totally veg.

Our friend Billy (Chinese) introduced us to this about two years ago, and thank God for it.  I was never a real fan of tofu before trying this, and it changed my tofu world.  Next time you're in a good Chinese restaurant, ask for their deep-fried spicy tofu.  Honestly, the texture and flavour is FABULOUS.  I don't like soft tofu at all - ever (even in miso soup), and this made me realize that the texture of tofu can be effectively manipulated to suit the eater.  After this, I started frying my tofu in chunks before adding to stir fries, etc.  What a difference.  Anyway. Try this stuff. I LOVE it and crave it at least once a month.  I get it to go with an order of veggie fried rice (hold the egg).

Right underneath our apartment building, a vegan restaurant opened up!  It's not typically very busy, so I hope it makes it.  The first time we ordered from it, we got some delicious "chicken wings", but the majority of the other dishes (stir fries, etc.) were rather bland, so we kind of forgot about it for a while.  Last week, a friend told me about an amazing dish she'd eaten there, so it prompted me to look the place up again on Yelp and see what everyone was saying.  Sounds like the service is hit and miss, but some dishes are AMAZING.  On the suggestions of a few Yelp users, we ordered the "sweet and sour ribs" and they were OMGdelicious.  Seriously. I would defy any meat eater to claim they weren't meat. And who even cares. They were THAT good. New favourite.

Panz Veggie: http://www.panzveggie.com/
Yelp reviews: http://www.yelp.ca/biz/panz-veggie-restaurant-vancouver

***Update May 4, 2011 - I just found out that FRANK BLACK of the freaking PIXIES ate at Panz Veggie last night!!  He was RIGHT UNDERNEATH ME!  Tickets to their concert here in Van have been sold out for ages so I won't be going, but hey, turns out he's a veggie :)

I've also included here two of the brands of vegetarian stock I use when cooking - there are other brands, but these are widely available.  This "beef flavour" is great in a mushroom gravy and in a lentil shepherd's pie (recipes either already posted or coming soon!).  I use the "chicken flavour" in a lot of soups!

Eating Out - Mexican

Thought I should do a post about eating out, and how easy it is to eat veg no matter where you are.  Since I ate my lunch for breakfast today, I needed something for lunch. I'm lucky enough to work near a small mall with a decently-sized food court.  There's a salad bar, Chinese place, Indian curry place, Thai place, Quizno's, soup and sandwich joint, a deli and a Taco del Mar, just off the top of my head.  They have veg options at every one of those places. 

Today I opted for a quesadilla from the Taco del Mar - beans and salsa between a crispy tortilla with a side of hot sauce and guac, all for under $7.  A veg version wasn't on the menu, but when I asked for it, it wasn't a problem. They wanted to make it with cheese and salsa but instead of cheese, I asked for beans - mixture of black and refried. No problem. I've eaten three of the four triangles and I'm STUFFED. High-protein and YUMMY.

Clean Out The Fridge Pasta Salad

Argh! I keep forgetting to post my meals and take pictures! Sorry for falling behind, but will definitely endeavour to improve my posting regularity.   Anyway, we didn't have much in the way of ingredients last night and we were too lazy to go shopping, so we decided to finally cook up that bulk quinoa pasta we found in Save-On-Foods and throw in the rest of the veggies we had in the fridge to make a simple pasta salad.  I think I had two stalks of celery, two handfuls of parsley, one tomato (seeded of course, yuck!), one orange pepper and one zucchini.  I also threw in a half can of chick peas and tossed with our favourite oil and vinegar-based salad dressing.  This would be really good with a feta and oregano dressing, for the cheese eaters!

Verdict? Quinoa pasta is great! It has a higher protein content than regular pasta, and for those avoiding gluten, it is gluten-free!  The flavour and texture is absolutely identical to regular pasta. I brought leftovers for lunch to work today and ended up eating it for breakfast. I must say the texture seemed to change a wee bit overnight - it "breaks apart" in the mouth as opposed to sticking together, but still good and after marinating overnight, the flavour is even better.

So, nothing earth-shattering here, just a quick note to say a healthy, veggie meal can be super easy to make!  I promise to make something a little more hearty soon :)  And will remember to take pictures!

Protein Packed Veggie Pasta & Sauce

This is really good.  A variation of this sauce (without the veggies) can be used in other recipes, such as a veggie lasagna, eggplant parmesan or just by itself on noodles.  I plan to post another protein-full sauce using TVP soon that works well with a veggie lasagna and easily tricks meat-eaters into thinking it's filled with ground beef.

I need to mention that this recipe is made of two parts - the sauce that you blend up cold and which fills the blender, and the veggies that you saute with garlic and onion. The sauce gets added to the veggies.  This recipe, as written, will make far too much sauce for the veggies.  We usually use about one third of what is in the blender to go with this amount of veggies, then freeze the leftover sauce for future meals and different veggie combinations.

The final sauce is a lovely rosé colour, with lots of flavour - beats any tomato cream sauce I've ever had!

1 16 ounce jar roasted red bell peppers (or roast your own! So easy! I use about three peppers)
9 ounces silken or soft tofu
1.5 tbsp tomato paste
2 cups veggie broth
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp Italian seasoning (or a tsp+ each of basil, oregano, etc.)
1/2 onion, chopped
10 spears asparagus, sliced on the diagonal
8 ounces fresh mushrooms (any), sliced
3 cloves minced garlic
1 (16) ounce can diced tomatoes
1/2 tsp hot chili sauce (sriracha or chili flakes to taste)
black pepper to taste
salt to taste
dash of red wine (optional)
parmesan cheese

Cook pasta in one pot to al dente.  In a blender/food processor, puree roasted peppers, tofu, tomato paste, broth, vinegar and Italian seasoning. Set aside. (This is the base sauce - Yummy and FULL of protein.) In separate pan, cook onion, garlic and asparagus in oil until desired tenderness (5 min). Add mushrooms and cook a few more minutes until mushrooms are soft.  Add in approximately one-third of the tofu sauce, tomatoes, salt, pepper and chili paste to desired amount with the vegetables. Reduce heat to low and simmer til heated through, adjusting seasonings to taste. I like to then add the pasta to the sauce and cook a bit longer to really distribute the sauce and cook the flavour in.  Serve with parmesan cheese.

We made this last night and have enough sauce left for at least two more meals. I'm going to make it with fresh spinach next week and more mushrooms, although the asparagus was REALLY good.  Apologies for the picture, there was a lot of steam rising off the dish so it looks kind of "dreamy" - and it was!

Chickpea Curry

I like my curry a bit spicy, so keep that in mind when eyeing how much cayenne I added to this one :)
This can really be made with any veggies you have on hand (zucchini and/or bell peppers might be nice) or a cup or two of frozen mixed veg, but I really like fresh tomatoes.

2 tbsp oil (veggie or olive)
2 small onions, chopped finely
2 tsp finely minced ginger root
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp + cayenne pepper
1.5 tsp ground turmeric
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp garam masala
1 19oz can garbanzo beans/chick peas
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro
two chopped tomatoes
1.5+ tsp salt
1/2+ cup water

I like to run a knife through the chickpeas so that most are chopped in half before adding to the rest of the mixture.  Whole chickpeas can be dry when you bite into them, so this ensures that the whole thing stays moist.

Heat oil in large frying pan over medium heat and fry onions till soft. Add garlic, ginger, cinnamon, cumin, coriander, salt, cayenne and turmeric.  Stir and cook until well incorporated, add beans. Continue to cook and stir until heated through, adding water to desired consistency.  Stir in cilantro just before serving, reserving some for garnish.  Serve on rice (I cooked mine in some veggie chicken-flavoured broth).