Zucchini and Black Bean Veggie Burgers

I found these on pinterest - quick/easy/healthy & held together well. And delicious.


Served on a burger bun with hummus, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, beetroot - whatever trimmings you like! Grilled Portobello mushroom on burgers is always good too.

Prep time:  5 mins

Cook time:  5 mins

Total time:  10 mins

Serves: 4 burgers

 

Ingredients

• 1 cup shredded Zucchini
• 1 cup Black Beans (rinsed and drained)
• 6 tablespoons Ground Flax
• ½ teaspoon Steak Seasoning (see below)

Instructions

1. In a medium bowl add all ingredients
2. Mash together with a fork
3. Let it sit to let the flax gel everything together
4. Grill until golden on each side (you may need to grease up the grill or the burgers to prevent sticking)
5. Serve up however you please, bun, condiments, go to town!
6. Enjoy!!

- See more at: http://www.girlmakesfood.com/zucchini-and-black-bean-vegan-veggie-burgers/#sthash.wZDiXEPD.dpuf

Homemade Montreal Steak Seasoning

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon black peppercorns
1 tablespoon dehydrated onion
1/2 tablespoon dehydrated garlic
1/2 tablespoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon dried thyme leaves
1tablespoon dried rosemary leaves
2 teaspoons fennel seed

Directions:
Place in blender jar or pint sized mason jar, blend for several seconds till well ground.

Potato Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing

Non vegan son visiting and he had a hankering for potato salad so ....


6 potatoes (thereabouts)
1/2 red pepper
1 stick celery
1 spring onion
3-4 stems lightly steamed asparagus
1/2 c chopped parsley
tempeh bacon (see below)


Lemon Tahini dressing
(This was started from a recipe in "Salad Samurai" by Terry Hope Romano - then tweaked it)
1/4 c tahini
1/8 c freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 clove garlic peeled
1/4 tsp salt
1/3 c cold water


I added - 2tsp mustard, 1 tbs maple syrup, more lemon juice and more water. Kept adding and tasting til I felt it tasted right - (The original recipe tasted a little bitter)


Blend all together for wonderful creamy deliciousness!


Tempeh Bacon (from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau's "The Vegan Table"
   1/2 block of tempeh
    1/8 cup tamari sauce
     1 tsp liquid smoke
     1.5 tbs maple syrup
    1/8 cup water
Oil for frying


Steam the tempeh for 10 minutes then allow to cool
combine the marinade ingredients.
Thinly slice the tempeh and place in the marinade and soak as long as you like
Heat pan and spray with oil, fry until crisp and turn. Drizzle on a bit of the marinade as you fry.
Set on plate with paper towel to cool.
Slice into small pieces and add to potato salad


I think the non-vegan son had 3 helpings of this - it definitely got the thumbs up.


Served with a simple green salad of spinach, tomato, cucumber and radish drizzled with a little flavoured vinegar.

Living below the line experience

Day 4 of my 5 day experience of living below the line
Live below the line


My daily diet has consisted of the following
Oats (50g) soaked in water & cooked the next day with a little cinnamon + 1 kiwifruit for breakfast


Dhal for lunch and dinner - made with 70 lentils, 160g canned tomatoes, 1/2 onion (chopped), 1/3 carrot (chopped) 1 tsp curry powder (divide the cooked result in half for each meal).


Brown rice 200g for the day shared between lunch and dinner


Cabbage approx. 200g per day with dinner.


Drinks - water hot or cold


Total calorie count approx. 1330 - so leaves me feeling a little hungry.


Total spent on food for the 5 days $10.58.


Total funds raised for Oxfam so far $489.00 :-)


Haven't checked my weight yet - will do that on Friday morning after my last day - I suspect I will have lost a little more.


So the diet is nutritious if boring. Probably long term I would experience some iron and vitamin deficiencies. But it definitely shows that whole foods plant based diets can be cheap

Chickpea and kale vege curry

desperately trying to finish everything fresh from my fridge that needs using. I made a huge batch of curry (leftovers to freeze & eat after below the line finished) had it with the rest of my quinoa/amaranth that I had cooked for the salad I made this morning for lunch

saute 1/2 to 1 onion in small amount of water to brown
add chopped portobello mushroom
2+ cloves garlic
1 red pepper
2 zucchini
1 head broccoli
1 chopped fresh tomato
1 dessertspoon curry (adjust this amount depending on taste and heat)
add 1 can of chickpeas
2 cans of tomatoes chopped in juice
1/4 cup red wine
1-2 tsp ground coriander
1-2 tsp ground cumin
stir in 1-2 cups chopped kale and cook until kale is tender.


mmm good!
just how many antioxidants can you fit into one meal????

Quinoa salad

Using up fresh veggies before starting my livebelowtheline project I made this salad to take to work

Cooked quinoa/amaranth blend
chopped fresh tomato
chopped cucumber
1/2 avocado
chopped olives
capers
chopped raw broccoli stem (peeled)
grated carrot
grated zucchini

stirred through some plum vinegar

delicious, tasty, crunchy and colourful

finished off the meal with 2 small oranges

Living below the line - vegan style

I signed up to "live below the line" to fundraised for Oxfam. This commits me to living on $2.25 per day for 5 days (spending on my food & drink).
you can follow my progress on
www.livebelowtheline.com/me/suigeneris

I am convinced that I can do this and in a healthy and nutritious way - eating healthy is not necessarily expensive. Here is a photo of the food I bought to live on for the next 5 days - cost me $10.58 at pak n save.

Dirty Mashed Potatoes

Inspired by the tales of vegan dirty rice from a friend

Potatoes cooked (in their skins) and mashed
Add 1 tsp of tahini and sufficiant plant milk to get the right consistency
Sauté onions & mushrooms and stir through
Defrost frozen peas & corn & stir through
Add a couple of tablespoons of nutritional yeast
Season generously with fresh ground pepper
Lightly season with salt (truffle salt is awesom if you can get it)

Serve with a side of your favourite greens or a green salad.
A dollop of salsa on the top wouldn't go amiss either

Tuscan rice stuffed pita bread

Somewhat concerned about the flatulence associated with beans, I decided to avoid them for dinner on the opening night of our small play. Inspired but the "shrapnel rice" recipe from the "Prevent & Reverse Heart disease cookbook" (& the contents of my fridge & pantry) this is what I came up with:

Brown rice cooked ( I cooked 1 cup of rice & used approx half for this recipe)
1/2 onion slowly caramelised in a hot pain with minimal water.
Soak 1 Tbs porcini mushrooms in boiling water and add to the onions cook 1-2 more minutes, add soaking water if more moisture needed  Add Tuscan seasoning to taste.
Grate 1 carrot & 1 courgette. (Used about half)
Handful of chopped black olives
Handful of capers
1-2 tbs chopped sundried tomatoes
1-2 tbs chopped walnuts
1 tsp chopped jalapeños
Stir all of the above into the cooked rice

I used some to stuff a toasted soy & linseed pita bread. Yum. Then I had some in a wholemeal tortilla which I first spread with hummus and topped with mixed greens. Also yum.

GOLDEN GRAVY

This is wonderful served over stuffing and mashed potatoes.

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Cooking Time: 10 minutes

Servings: Makes about 2 cups

¼ cup brown rice flour (I used wholemeal flour)

1½ cups vegetable broth/stock

½ cup water

2 tablespoons tahini

3 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce

Freshly ground pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan. Continue to whisk until mixture boils and is

smooth and thick. Season with freshly ground black pepper.


I had this over garlic mashed potatoes and a walnut & chickpea loaf with steamed brussel sprouts on the side. Comfort food for winter!


this was from https://www.drmcdougall.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/Advanced_Study_Weekend_Recipes_2-14.pdf


I went to their amazing Advanced Study Weekend in Santa Rosa - inspiring speakers and fabulous food and this pdf is the recipes of what we had that weekend - all healthy, all vege, wonderful flavours & colours and the tables were groaning with this wonderful food.

White Bean & Kale Soup

4 cups vegetable stock
4 cloves garlic minced
1/2 medium onion chopped
4 cups chopped kale (I used 1 bunch of cavalo nero)
2 cans cannellini beans
1 can chopped tomatoes in juice
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp sage
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 cup chopped parsley (I used some dry - didn't have fresh on hand)
black pepper to taste


Heat 2 tbs vege stock in a large pot & sauté the garlic & onion until soft. Add Kale 3 cups of vege stock, 1 can beans, tomatoes, herbs & stock. simmer 5 minutes


In a blender or food processor blend the remaining stock & 1 can beans until smooth


Stir into soup and simmer 30 minutes.


adapted from Joel Fuhrman's book "The end of Dieting: How to live for life"


I am continuing my winter mission to try as many different soup recipes as possible - this was yummy.

Colourful pasta puttanesca

I have to confess I cheated and used a packet of Puttanesca sauce but here is a link to a recipe I have not tried just to give you the idea
http://vegetarian.about.com/od/maindishentreerecipes/r/Pastaputtanesca.htm


I had picked up some wonderful purple carrots from the supermarket and had some broccoli that needed using


2-3 handfuls of wholegrain penne pasta - boiled according to directions
1 head of broccoli chopped and steamed
1 purple carrot julienned and steamed with the broccoli
(I steamed these over the pasta and the pasta water started to turn purple)
several cherry tomatoes
nutritional yeast
salt & pepper to taste


Heat the puttanesca sauce and stir through the cooked pasta, top with the steamed veges, scatter through some cherry tomatoes and season with nutritional yeast, salt & pepper.


Really quick meal, wonderful punchy flavour, fabulous colours!

Corn Chowder

I so love soup in the winter! Inspired by some recipes using pureed cauliflower to make things creamy I decided to create a simple plant-strong low fat Corn Chowder - served it to my non-vege son and he loved it


1 onion (peeled and diced)
1-2 tsp of curry powder (to taste)
2-3 large potatoes (peeled and chopped)
1-2 cups of frozen sweet corn
1-2 cups vegetable stock


1/2 cauliflower (steamed until tender)
1/4 to 1/2 cup plant milk of choice (I used soymilk)
Nutritional Yeast
Salt & pepper to taste




Sauté onion in a small amount of water, add curry powder and stir for 30 seconds,  add potatoes, corn and stock, bring to boil and simmer for approximately 30 minutes.


Put steamed cauliflower into the blender and puree. Add just enough plant milk to get it to the consistency of very thick cream.


Add to the soup, then season with nutritional yeast, salt & pepper.


How could something that tasted this good and creamy be sooo healthy?????

Vegan Bubble & Squeak

Inspired by the presence of leftover garlic mashed potatoes & some cabbage that needed using  I did the following

 

½ onion chopped

1 clove garlic minced

¼ cabbage chopped

½ block tofu (chopped & marinated in tamari sauce, garlic powder & 1 tsp of nutritional yeast)

¼ -1/2 red pepper chopped

Additional Generous tablespoon of nutritional yeast – more to taste if you wish

Leftover Garlic mashed potato (Boil potatoes in water with peeled garlic, mash and add plant milk to get the right consistency & salt/pepper to taste)

 

Saute onion in small amount of water, add garlic and chopped cabbage and red pepper with small amounts of water to stop it sticking.

When cooked but still crisp add marinated tofu, finally stir through the cold mashed potato and cook until warmed through and add additional nutritional yeast.

Can be served with chutney or tomato sauce if desired but quite yummy on its own.

I think this is what I did… (created it as I went and remembering several days later)

Simple 3-2-1 dressing

This is from "Prevent & Reverse Heart Disease" by Caldwell Esselstyn


my go-to quick & easy dressing  - no need to consult a recipe book here.




3 Tbs vinegar of your choice - interesting flavoured vinegars can vary the flavour of this
2 Tbs mustard of your choice (usually use Dijon)
1 Tbs maple syrup


whisk together

Cauli-power Fettuccine “Alfredo”

I made this sauce and poured over reheated quinoa topped with sauteed kale, mushroom & tomato one night, another time I used some wholegrain penne pasta and made it a “mac n cheese”. Also mixed with a bit of relish to make a great cheesy dip.

I have generally made half this quantity and found it generous. Have sometimes tweaked the amount of lemon juice & nutritional yeast depending on what I wanted from the taste, also added more milk than it says as I find it too thick.

This is a velvety really “cheesy” flavoured sauce, who would have though something that tastes sooo good could be sooo healthy!

By the time you have blended it the temp has dropped so reheat before adding to your pasta.

 

I adapted it from Oh She Glows – dropped the oil in her recipe and it worked fine.

 

Ingredients:

• 4 heaping cups cauliflower florets (1 small/medium cauliflower)
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (from 2 med/lg cloves)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened and unflavoured almond milk (or non-dairy milk of choice)
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt, or to taste
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon pepper, to taste
• pasta of choice
• Fresh parsley, for garnish
  Directions:

1.       Add cauliflower florets in a large pot and cover with water. Bring to a low boil. Once boiling, cook for another 3-7 minutes until fork tender. Drain.

2.       Meanwhile, saute the minced garlic over low heat for 4-5 minutes until softened and fragrant, but not browned. (Use a small amount of water so it doesn’t stick)

3.       In a high speed blender, add the cooked and drained cauliflower, sauteed garlic, milk, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Blend until a super smooth sauce forms. The key here is to get a really smooth sauce so don't be afraid to let it run for a minute or so. Set aside.

4.       Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add your desired amount of pasta and boil for the time instructed on the package. Drain pasta.

5.       Add cauliflower sauce into the pot (you can use the same pot!) and add the drained pasta. Heat over low-medium until heated enough to your liking. Salt again to taste (the pasta dilutes the flavour).

6.       Serve with fresh minced parsley and black pepper. Feel free to add in your favourite sauteed or roasted vegetables. I think peas, spinach, or broccoli would work very nicely! I added mushrooms, but I wasn't overly crazy about them in this dish.

http://ohsheglows.com/2014/01/20/cauli-power-fettuccine-alfredo-vegan/#ixzz2wBs1vXUb

Revive cookbook

A shout out for the revive cookbook. I received vol 3 as a birthday present. My omnivorous sons were staying and I was trying to cook stuff that was good for me and still appealed to them. A couple of the revive recipes went down a treat.


Quinoa and Cashew mingle was a hit as was the Penne Alfredo with pureed tofu in the sauce - actually the sauce was sooo good I wanted to drink it with a straw while I was cooking it!


Revive cookbooks have become a hit in the wider family - other members own the 1st 2 books. Revive is a café in Auckland - lunch there is wonderful - I can testify to that!


My only caution would be to those trying to follow the same diet as I am - watch the oil - where it says sauté in oil - I just use stock or water and it comes out fine. Coconut cream in some of the sauces - my suggestion would be to use lite coconut cream and just don't dine on that too often.


It's wonderful to find a really great New Zealand vege cookbook - if you haven't got one - go out and buy one now!

What I ate in the holidays

It's a bit like those talks we used to give at school.
Since last posting we've had Christmas, New Year, a birthday for me, visiting family. Honestly I have been really pleased with how it is gone, gained no weight over Christmas and managed to lose a little since. I think the clarity about my food choices has been the most helpful thing.


We all have things we compromise on and I compromised on the oil - not that I went all out for greasy foods. There was some oil in the dressings and coconut oil in the cheesecake base, cheesecake also had some sugar in the filling.


For our family Christmas dinner I brought along 3 salads - the Indonesian Rice Salad (already posted here) and 2 from Get Waisted by Dr Mary Clifton - the spinach & strawberry salad (which looked as fabulous as I thought it would and was yummy, & the Aztec black bean salad - beans to punch up the protein, lots of colour and crunch and flavour. All 3 salads were a hit with the rest of the family.


We are keen on our garlic bread here in NZ, I provided some garlic bruschetta - simple roasted garlic spread on slices of French bread and slices of wholemeal rolls - this disappeared in short order and was also declared a hit. (roasted the garlic the day before so not too time consuming either).


For dessert I made a raw cashew cheese cheesecake (my eldest son is a huge cheesecake fan). I used one recipe for the base, one for the filling and made up my own topping. (pomegranate seeds & blackberries dredged with pomegranate molasses - yum). The cheesecake was also a resounding hit with the rest of the family. As there were 12 of us it was just a small slice each, topped up with fresh fruit salad it made for a wonderful dessert.


There was other food on the table but being committed to no animal products meant that I just wasn't tempted. (actually 1 small compromise here - it was my sisters 60th birthday so had a very small slice of her cake). It was all wholefoods anyway so the wholefood part wasn't even an issue. After dinner I didn't feel bloated and over full as has happened in previous years.


The food I ate was delicious, looked beautiful and left me feeling great not guilty - I LOVE eating this way.