Veggie Packed Minestrone

I have tried a number of canned soups, which are always warm, healthy, and comforting in the winter (or any time of year). Every time I review a canned soup, someone always tells me to try cooking it myself. I recently made corn and potato chowder, and was super happy with the result. One of my favorite soups is minestrone. While I love Amy's soups, I knew it was time to try my own!



Inspired by All Recipes.

What you need:



4 small (or 2 medium) potatoes, pealed and chopped
1 onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, diced
5 cups of veggie broth
1 can of green beans
1 28 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 can of chick peas
about a 1/2 lb of carrots, pealed and chopped
oil for cooking
your favorite Italian spices to taste (I used basil and oregano)
pepper and celery salt to taste

What to do:
Heat oil over medium head in a large pot.
Saute onion, pepper, celery salt, and Italian seasonings for about 5 minutes.
Stir in canned tomatoes (with juice), chick peas, green beans, carrots and garlic.
Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
Let simmer, stirring occasionally, until veggies are soft, about 30 minutes.











I was really excited when I had noticed, again, that I made a completely vegan dish...until I added a side of cheesy garlic toast.



I was so pleased with this perfect blend of Italian flavors and tomato. I loved the bite of protein that the chickpeas added, it was almost meaty. The green beans and carrots gave this soup a great veggie packed flavor. The potatoes were nice and soft, and filled with the flavor of the soup. All the veggies made this soup so colorful and beautiful. This soup was so comforting. I'd call it Italian with a twist!

What is your favorite soup? Will your try out this minestrone?

Bye from the Veggie Side!

Spicy Lentils with Veggies

I have mentioned around here a few times that I have been trying to make better food choices. Cheese is probably my weakness, along with other dairy foods. I have been doing lots of thinking about my egg and dairy intake. While I would love to be able to be a vegan, I am just too weak. I tried vegan Mondays, but that failed too. I started making conscious choices to cut down all animal products; no eggs in my fried rice, no cheese on my veggie burger.

Eventually, these choices weren't conscious anymore. I found that so many times I would be halfway through a meal that I cooked, and realize that it is completely vegan! Now that I am supporting myself, I am cooking more and ordering take out less, which made it a lot easier to cut out dairy. I used to rely on bagels and pizza when I was living in New York. I guess one TINY good thing about being away from home is that I am away from the most tempting of dairy products.

I have seen lots of "one-pot" meals, but it was only as I was cooking this that I even realized this meal was vegan! I love that making the right food choices has become so instinctual.



Inspired by Eat Live Run.

What you need:



2 cups of lentils
2 bunches of kale
2 sweet potatoes
2 cups of chopped carrots
2 serrano peppers
4 cups of vegetable broth
3-4 cloves of garlic
salt/celery salt to taste
oil for cooking

What to do:
Chop up the kale, serrano peppers, garlic, and peal and chop the sweet potatoes.
Heat the oil in a large pot and add the carrots and sweet potatoes. Cook until softened.
Next, add in the garlic and kale, until the kale starts to wilt.
Add in the peppers, lentils, salt, celery salt, and vegetable broth.



Bring to a boil, and then reduce to a simmer, until the lentils are soft and the water has been absorbed.
Serve hot.











These lentils were chewy and hardy. I was nervous that the pepper would be too spicy, but it added the perfect amount of heat. The sweet potatoes and carrots were nice and soft, and added an element of sweetness. The kale was mild, and the veggie broth and celery salt added lots of different flavors. This ended up tasting just like how I would have described my grandma's cooking: comforting and healthy!

How easy is it for you to eat vegan? Will you try this one pot lentil meal?

Bye from the Veggie Side!

Crock Pot Quinoa & Veggies

Recently, Ben got us a crock pot, which as opened my mind to looking for a whole new set of recipes. While scoping out Pinterest like usual, I would spot lots of slow cooker ideas, and just toss them aside since I didn't have the means to cook them.  I wish I had saved them because now I find myself searching for ideas.  I found this recipe for quinoa and veggies which gave me two firsts to try out: cooking in the crock pot, and cooking quinoa.



I have heard wonderful things about the super food, but have only a little bit of experience with quinoa.  I have only eaten it twice, and I have never cooked it.  Finding a recipe to make quinoa in the crock pot inspired me to try it.  I was always a little unsure about cooking it myself, but if it could be as easy as dumping it in a crock pot, I thought I should be brave enough to try it.

What you need:



2 cups of quinoa
4 cups of veggie broth
1 tablespoon olive oil
About 5 cloves of garlic, minced
About 2 cups of your favorite veggies (I used broccoli, peas, and carrots)
Basil
Pepper

What to do:
Put your quinoa into the crock pot.
Stir in olive oil.
Mix in the veggie broth, veggies, pepper, and garlic.



Cover and cook for about 4 hours.



Once quinoa is done cooking, fluff it with a fork.
Serve hot topped with some basil.





Then I decided to get fancy.





The quinoa had a mild but grainy taste with a nice texture which gave this meal a nice bite. The broth added the perfect mix of flavors, a little vegetabley and a little salty. I love that this lets you add whatever veggies you want. Its really customizable! The only thing I wish came out differently were the carrots, they were just a bit under cooked.  The basil was so fragrant, and went well with the garlic.  I felt like I was eating fancy food from an elegant restaurant, plus it was super healthy and vegan. I can't wait to make this again!

What is your favorite crock pot meal? How else do you like to make quinoa?

Bye from the veggie side!

Pine Nut Couscous and Carrots

Hey guys, I have another couscous post for ya!  I love couscous for a number of reasons.  First of all it is super fast and easy to cook, it is also healthier for you than pasta.  Another reason I love it is that it is vegan! I love adding different spices and veggies to it to keep me on track with making good vegan choices. And last but not least, its delicious!







I started this bowl with Near East Toasted Pine Nut Couscous, which I have to say was really great on its own!  I am a little bit obsessed with pine nuts, but they are so expensive I never get them.  I tend to love expensive foods like pine nuts and goat cheese.  Unfortunately my wallet doesn't love them.

I thought some steamed carrots would work nicely with this couscous...and I was right!



Every once in a while I would bite into a pine nut and get that pop of flavor.  The crunchiness of the carrots really worked well with the pine nuts. All the flavors mixed perfectly!

Have you had Near East's Toasted Pine Nut Couscous? Are you going to try it with carrots?

Bye from the Veggie Side!

Balsamic Roasted Carrots

Hello everyone!  This post is brought to you from the kitchen of my boyfriend, Ben.  Every year, Ben and I do our best to try and make it to each other's Thanksgiving dinner.  Sadly, in the three and a half years of dating, I have only been able to make it to two of his.  His family gatherings are always difficult for me.  His family are big meat eaters and most of them are strictly meat and potatoes people, so I always have a hard time eating at these events.  On the menu for this year was ham, turkey, mixed veggies, cream of asparagus and crab soup, and chicken broth stuffing. Lets count how many of these foods I can eat...ONE.  So this year I decided that if I was going to be able to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner, I was going to have to cook some of it myself.  I made my famous Thanksgiving Mashed Potatoes, stuffing with out chicken broth, balsamic roasted carrots, and a pumpkin pie.

Then the stuffing incident happened.  Here is the set up: There are two bowls of stuffing that started out the same, as we both used the store bought-in-the-bag stuffing.  Ben's sister prepared hers using sweet butter, onions, and chicken broth. I prepared mine with salt butter, and water.  We are all sitting down to dinner, and Ben's dad asked us which stuffing was the vegetarian one.  We pointed it out, and right in front of my face he takes a big scoop of the other one. I WAS FUMING! I can't remember the last time I had felt so insulted.  Just because I made my stuffing with water instead of chicken, you would touch it, not even TRY a taste?  Ironically, my stuffing my have been vegetarian, but the non-vegetarian one is the only one that had actual VEGETABLES in it!  How can someone be so closed minded and rude?  Don't get me wrong, I love Ben's family, and his dad has always been very gracious towards me, buying me clothes, dinner, and letting me stay over at his house, and I am thankful for that. But I am still mad about how he acted, and I am still hurt.

Anyway, this post isn't about stuffing, it is about balsamic roasted carrots.  I wanted to make another veggie for the dinner, and since Ben hate broccoli  and loves carrots, I opted to go a different rout than my own Thanksgiving dinner.  I found this recipe, just changed it a smidgen, and decided to give it a go!

Here's what I used (by mistake I deleted the photo of all the ingredients, sorry!):
8 medium carrots

1/4t freshly grated nutmeg
1T balsamic vinegar
1t brown sugar
2T olive oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
Dried parsley flakes

Here's what I did:

Preheat oven to 425.
Peel the carrots, cut them in half, and then slice them down the center lengthwise
Place the carrots in a casserole dish and spread them out
Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg
In a small bowl, stir together balsamic and brown sugar until combined. Add olive oil. Drizzle the whole mixture over carrots. Toss to coat
Roast for 25-30 minutes, or until carrots are crisp-tender and caramelized (cooking times can vary depending on the thickness of your carrots).
Sprinkle with fresh chopped parsley. Serve immediately.









I loved these! They had a nice flavor from the vinegar, with just a bit of sweetness.  Definitely different,t but still very good!  They were super easy to make, and that makes them a winner in my book.  These are a great addition to a Thanksgiving dinner, or just an easy meal at home.

Will you be trying out these balsamic roasted carrots?  Have you ever had a situation where someone inadvertently insulted you, your cooking, or vegetarianism?

Bye from the Veggie Side!