Tag: vegetarian

Fall Harvest Soup

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This soup feels like a hearty, warm hug but gives a nice light dinner that doesn’t weigh one down.

Gluten-free, paleo, vegetarian, vegan, halal, Whole30

Fall Harvest Soup

1 medium carrot, chopped
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cups kale, chopped
2 Tbsp. stock powder (I used a vegan chicken stock)
48 ounces water
1/2 can coconut milk
Generous sprinkle oregano
Generous sprinkle cumin
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
Liberal sprinkle black pepper
Liberal salt
1.5 Tbsp. butter or vegan equivalent
Big hand full pepitas toasted in 1/2 tsp. coconut aminos
Optional: 4 ounces turkey bresaola, crisped until browned in a dry pan

Prep all veggies and add to a slow or multi cooker with spices and liquids (everything but the butter, pepitas and bresaola).

Press the stew/soup setting.

When complete, open the lid and add the butter/butter substitute. Let cool a bit and blend all but 1/4 until smooth. Add the reserved 1/4 back in for texture.

Serve topped with the pepitas and bresaola if desired.

Serves 6

Summer Roll in a Bowl

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This recipe came out of a craving for veggies and color + yet another scroll through Instagram for inspiration.

Summer rolls can be made a million different ways, but this version incorporates most of my favorite elements – some sort of crunchy brassica, sweetness from carrots, the fresh crispness of cucumber, and a little kick of heat from pretty red chilis.

I also tried to recreate a slightly less suspect in color version of the sweet chili sauce often served with rolled appetizers – and then went a little heavier on the savory components because I really like to doctor my own sauces tableside.

Gluten-free, vegetarian

Summer Roll in a Bowl

The Salad

1 inch fresh ginger, sliced into thin matchsticks
1 medium carrot, shredded or cut into matchsticks
1 cucumber, sliced into half moons
1 clove garlic, minced
1 red chili, sliced into matchsticks
2 green onions, sliced into thin rounds
1.5 cups red cabbage, finely chopped
2 cups rice noodles, soaked in hot water 10 minutes to soften and drained

The Dressing

2 Tbsp. honey
Juice of 2 limes
1 Tbsp. sriracha
3 Tbsp. neutral oil (I used canola)
1 Tbsp. rice vinegar
1 Tbsp. soy sauce
1 Tbsp. fish sauce
2 tsp. red pepper flakes

Toppers

Big hand full chopped nuts for crunch and fat (I had roasted peanuts)
Big hand full chopped cilantro
Protein of choice (Simple poached chicken or shrimp would be great)

Boil water, add the rice noodles to a big bowl, and pour the boiling water over the noodles, making sure they are fully submerged. Let sit while you prep the rest o fly the salad.

Prep the salad veggies and add to a large bowl.

Whisk the dressing ingredients together and pour over the salad.

Drain the noodles and add to the salad + dressing, tossing to combine.

Let sit at least half an hour to combine flavors.

Add toppers, toss again and serve.

Serves 3 – 4

Miso Rosemary Squash Salad

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Screw it. The calendar says Fall, despite what the weather says. I’m tired of waiting and need some chilly weather comfort food!

gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan

Miso Rosemary Squash Salad

Dressing

1 Tablespoon white miso
1 Tablespoon date molasses
2 Tablespoons tahini
2 Tablespoons coconut aminos
1 Tablespoon oil
1 Tablespoon water

Salad

1-2 Tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 butternut squash, seeds removed
Oil
Salt, pepper, ground cumin
Arugula

Toppers

1-2 Tablespoons zaatar
1 Tablespoon slivered almonds

Optional: Chicken or other protein

Preheat your oven to 200C. Scoop the seeds from the halved butternut squash, and drizzle with oil. Sprinkle rosemary, salt, pepper and ground cumin liberally. Roast 35-40 minutes or until soft.

Set aside until cool enough to handle, then scoop the roasted squash into a large bowl.

While the squash is working, add big handfuls of arugula to a large bowl. Whisk or whiz the dressing ingredients together. Add the squash when ready and sprinkle with the toppers.

Serves 2 as written; can easily be doubled.

Blueberry Earl Grey Coffee Cake

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This recipe was inspired by the amazeballs blueberry lavender coffee cake with lemon curd I had at the St. George bakery while celebrating a friends wedding in Helsinki.

This coffee cake was fantastic. Full of blueberries, on the thin side for a coffee cake, deeply caramelized, with a really great herbaceous hit in the bites with lavender.

So freakin delicious.

This recreation isn’t that, but it’s good. Couldn’t find lavender and forgot about the lemon, but the coffee cake turned out well. Next time, I’d use steeped tea in place of the water and maybe add a touch more tea leaves – maybe another half bag – some people could taste the tea, but I didn’t get the slightly bitter note I was going for. I would also maybe just use blueberry purée instead of jam – the cake was a touch sweet for my taste for multiple servings.

Vegetarian (lacto-ovo)

Blueberry Earl Grey Coffee Cake

Cake

15.25 ounce box yellow cake mix, reserve 1 cup
2 eggs
2/3 cup water (or strong brewed tea)
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 cup canola oil
1 bag Earl Grey lavender tea, pulverized time dust

Topper

1/4 cup blueberry preserves
As many blueberries as you want

Crumble

1 cup reserved cake mix
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup melted butter
1 teaspoon cardamom
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 350 F/180 C.

Line a small casserole with baking paper and spritz with oil.

In a large bowl, combine the cake ingredients. Mix with electric beaters on low until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Scrape the sides of the bowl to get everything and mix until no lumps are left.

Turn out into the prepared pan, reserving about 1/4 cup of the batter. Sprinkle the blueberries over the top of the cake.

Mix the jam with the reserved cake batter and pour over top.

In a medium bowl, mix the crumble ingredients with a fork until combined into crumbs & pebbles. If your mix is a little wet, add a sprinkle of flour.you’re looking for a mix of sandy crumbs and small pebbly bits.

Sprinkle crumble over the cake.

Bake 22 – 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. If your cake is browning too quickly, tent with foil.

Serves a bunch

Indian Eggy Wrap

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This recipe was inspired by the power of Instagram and has straight up become an obsession. This is half of what I’ve eaten in the last week, and I’m super bummed that I’m now out of wraps. I may just have to go to the store this afternoon for a resupply.

My version of this recipe is a blend of a Kolkata Egg Wrap posted by @playfulcooking and a good excuse to grab some of the ingredients for a Mumbai Street Sandwich posted one many forms by @saffrontrail. (Sidebar: if you love Indian food and beautiful photography, follow these ladies. They make some really inspiring dishes).

I took the eggy wrap constrict from one and just happened to run across a jar of Bombay Sandwich Sauce (a spicy mint chutney) in my local grocery, and bam. This lovely concoction that I currently can’t get enough of.

(lacto ovo) vegetarian

Indian Eggy Wrap

1 Chapati or paratha (fresh would obvs be best, but I happened to run across a whole wheat Chapati by Mission, and it wasn’t half bad) per sandwich

1-2 eggs per sandwich

A few thin slices cucumber per sandwich

A few thin strands of scallion per sandwich

2 tsp. – 1 Tbsp. Bombay Sandwich Sauce or mint chutney per sandwich

Salt & pepper

1 tsp. butter

Heat a small pan (roughly the same size as your bread) over medium heat. Add the butter and melt.

While the butter is melting, scramble the egg(s). If you are making more than 1 sandwich, make each batch separately.

Pour the egg into the pan, swirling to the edges to form a thin pancake. Season with salt and pepper and cook until solid on the bottom and still wet on top.

Nestle the chapati on top of the egg, pushing gently down to glue together.

While the egg fully cooks, slice the cucumber as thin as possible.

When the chapati starts puffing up a bit in the center, it’s time to flip. Flip carefully.

Back to finishing the cucumber and slicing the scallion thinly (I like mine lengthwise, but this is kind of a pain. You do you.).

Add a few cucumber strips and scallions down just to the side of the middle of the pancake. Drizzle your desired amount of sauce. Fold one side over to form a quesadilla-looking sandwich. Smash down with your spatula so it stays closed. Let cook another minute or so if the flipped side of the chapati doesn’t look burnt.

Best enjoyed wrapped in a paper towel to catch the sauce that will inevitably shoot out the end.

Serves 1

Shredded Salad with Sunflower Spinach Dressing

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I know, I know – another weird-sounding recipe that turns out surprisingly good despite sounding wrong.

This is a great way to sneak in a liiiiiiiitle extra nutrition (not that this already packed salad needed more greens) on weeks when you feel like you haven’t seen a real vegetable (helloooo, adulting).

This salad also keeps well even dressed and, if you’re like me and enjoy confusing your friends, is easy enough to bulk up enough to serve a crowd.

Gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, raw, paleo, Whole30

Shredded Salad with Sunflower Spinach Dressing

For the salad, add the following to a large bowl:

1 cup ribboned collards or kale

1.5 cups ribboned red cabbage

1.5 cups ribboned Napa cabbage

1 medium carrot, shredded

1 large red pepper, julienned

1 hand full mint, chopped

2 Tablespoons pickled jalapeños, chopped

1 big hand raw pumpkin seeds

For the dressing, add the following to a blender:

1 big hand hulled sunflower seeds

1/4 cups frozen spinach

Juice of 1 lemon

1 Tablespoon your favorite grainy mustard (y’all know my affinity for Maille)

1 Tablespoon Apple cider vinegar (I accidentally added 1.5 and it would have been too pungent on day 1 – I didn’t get around to eating a big bowl of this until day 2, so the flavor had mellowed)

2 teaspoons ground cumin

10 grinds salt

Generous sprinkle black pepper

2 teaspoons sweet paprika

50 pumps sprayable oil (or a few glugs)

A little water if needed to get things moving in the blender

Combine the dressing with the salad and either toss well or massage in.

Serves 3-4 as written; easily scaled up for more

Veggie Rice Noodle Salad Two Ways

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This is one of those ‘I was of two minds while at the grocery store and couldn’t quite remember what I was making recipes.’ Don’t you love those days?

This happened to turn out really well, though – both for the dressing I’d written out and forgot at home, and the one I cobbled together in my head while wandering the aisles of my grocery a whole day in the week later than usual. I guess yay, me for thinking on my feet when I didn’t really have to?

Gluten-free, vegetarian, pescatarian

Dressing 2

Veggie Rice Noodle Salad Two Ways

For the salad:

Rice noodles – 1/2 – 1 c. per person
Microgreens
Radicchio, chopped
Cucumber, sliced into moons
Optional: snow peas, shrimp, slivered almonds, sesame seeds

Dressing 1

2 Tbsp. tahini
2 Tbsp. soy sauce
Juice of 2 small limes
10 squirts garlic oil

Dressing 2

1 Tbsp. mustard oil
2 tsp. Apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. honey
1.5 Tbsp. grainy mustard
Salt & pepper

First, set the noodles to soak for a full 10 minutes in water that has just come up to the boil. Drain when soft and pliable.

Toss with the rest of the salad ingredients.

Toss again with the dressing of your choice. Taste and add salt, pepper or lemon to taste.

Serves 2 – 4

Vegan Cheesy Gochujang Noodles

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Some days I don’t know why I get into my head the taste combinations I do. This is not one of those days. For some reason, something a couple I love on YouTube had said in a video I watched who knows how long ago popped into my head and I just couldn’t shake the desire to find out what cheese + Gochujang tasted like.

(Side note: if you like food, are interested in either Asian cuisines or finding out what it’s like to live in either Korea or Japan as a North American expat, check out Simon and Martina’s channel and blog: Eat Your Kimchi. It’s well worth the binge watch. Find them, and the recipe whose vague memory inspired this one here. Now, back to your regularly scheduled blah-blah!)

Now, I can’t do animal cheese, and I’m not even trying to pretend that this version tastes like cheese cheese (I think if I added garlic powder and mustard powder it might – but I’m still reintroducing foods, and Gochujang was my challenge food today), but it has a hint of cheesiness and a nice richness from the coconut milk.

If you’re batch cooking this recipe, maybe add a bit more coconut milk to the mix – mine turned out a bit clumped-together for subsequent meals; it loosened up on heating and stirring, but it could have been a skosh freer in the storage container.

Gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan

Vegan Cheesy Gochujang Noodles

3 Tbsp. gochujang
1/4 c. sesame oil
1/4 c. soy sauce or coconut aminos
1/4 c. nutritional yeast
1.5 in. grated ginger
1/4 c. coconut milk
Garlic oil
Bok choy, chopped
Rice noodles
Green onions
Sesame seeds
Ketjap manis

First, boil some water and set your rice noodles to soak – I do 1/2 – 1 cup per serving.

While the noodles are soaking, chop the bok choy and sautée in a large skillet over medium-high in a few squirts garlic oil. Season with a little sprinkle soy sauce/coconut aminos to season.

While those are both going, whiz together the ingredients from coconut milk up to make a sauce.

Slice the green onions and set aside for garnish. If you’re not vegan, prep your protein too (egg, little shrimps and rotisserie chicken all go great here). Grab your sesame seeds.

When the bok choy is cooked to your liking, drain the noodles and add to the pan. Stir with tongs to break them apart gently and fully incorporate the veggies. Add the sauce and stir again. Cook everything together a few minutes.

Top with the green onions, a generous sprinkle of sesame seeds, optional protein, and a swirl of ketjap manis.

The sauce makes enough to support 2.5 big servings

Orange Miso Bowl

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This recipe came from a craving I was having for my Miso Pepita Broiled Squash but couldn’t remember what was in it aside from miso – and then I went in a wildly different direction because of what I had on hand + FODMAP issues. Actually, that other recipe is pretty FODMAP-friendly as well, in case you want to give it a whirl.

Gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, FODMAP

Orange Miso Bowl

Medium butternut squash, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
Medium to large sweet potato, peeled and cut into bite-sized chunks
Large carrot, cut into bite-sized chunks
2 Tbsp. white miso
1 Tbsp. crushed or grated ginger
1 Tbsp. honey or maple syrup or date syrup
Juice + zest of 1 orange
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt, pepper and ground cumin

Preheat your oven to 200C/400F. Whiz all the non-veggie ingredients together (minus the spices) to form a dressing.

Chuck your veggies onto a large prepared baking sheet, and drizzle half the dressing over top. Toss to coat well. Sprinkle with the spices.

Bake for 25 – 35 minutes or until done to your liking. Pull from the oven, drizzle with the second half of the dressing, and serve.

Serves 4 – 6, depending on serving size and what you do with it. I ate mine most days with a little protein and called it a meal. I had intended on serving with wilted baby spinach and had thoughts of turning it into a hash one day – but those things never quite materialized.

Spicy Lime Vinaigrette Meal Base Two Ways

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This past week, all I could fathom making were things involving lime juice and chili flakes. A weird craving, I know, but my brain was in search of something simple I could use to dress up a couple different meal variations while requiring the least effort possible. I think this was a success – I felt like my diet was fairly varied, I got the lime punch and heat I was missing, and because I batch cooked, meal time while hangry didn’t beckon me to easily overeat.

Gluten-free, vegetarian, vegan, paleo, Whole30, FODMAP

Spicy Lime Vinaigrette

1/2 cup fresh lime + orange juice
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tsp. red pepper flakes (or more to taste)
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 Tbsp. soy sauce, tamari or coconut aminos depending on your diet

Mix all ingredients together and give a good whisk or shake. Dole out through the week like liquid gold.

Now, what to pair with this bounty? I went two routes: a simple cold salad and a warm veggie bowl.

Summer Salad with Spicy Lime Vinaigrette

1.5 cups chopped cucumber
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1.5 Tbsp. minced or grated ginger
4 Tbsp. chopped cilantro
About 1/4 cup of the Spicy Lime Vinaigrette above

Optional toppers: shredded rotisserie chicken, rice/quinoa blend. This is also great as a stand-alone salad.

Mix all ingredients and let marinate a few hours or overnight. When serving, make sure to salt & pepper to taste and add more red pepper if you want more heat.

Spicy Lime Vinaigrette Summer Veggie Bowls

3 cups chopped zucchini and carrots in whatever mix makes you happy
Garlic oil
1/4 – 1/2 cup FODMAP-friendly stock
Salt, pepper and ground cumin to taste

Heat a large sautee pan over medium-high heat. Spray with a little garlic oil (or drizzle). Add the veggies, salt, pepper and cumin. Sautee, stirring occasionally, until they are on their way to browning nicely. Add 1/4 cup of the stock, cook until the liquid is evaporated. Repeat for another round if your carrots still aren’t soft. Taste for seasoning this second time and adjust if necessary.

Makes 3 – 4 servings as part of a larger bowl. I served mine most days with a blend of long grain rice + quinoa, a couple Tablespoons of the vinaigrette, and a hand full of rotisserie chicken. One day, I switched it up and went with chili tuna + brown rice pasta.