Tag Archives: vegan recipe

Vegan Sweet Potato Chili in the Slow Cooker

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If you are someone who thinks you can’t cook, or doesn’t like to cook or never has time, meet the love of your life – the slow cooker. Best. Invention. Ever. As I said the other day, I love any recipe that has directions that read “throw it all in and mix”, well this is similar. “Throw it all in in the morning and come home to dinner already made. The options are endless, the ask Stephanie O’Day who challenged herself, as a New Year’s Resolution to use her slow cooker every single day for a year. 365 days! Hence the name of her blog Crock Pot 365 : A Year of Slow Cooking. Seriously, you have to check it out! Here is one that I tried last night and everyone’s bowl was empty so I think it was a hit!

Ingredients:

  • 2 sweet potatoes (or 1 really big one), peeled and in 2-inch chunks
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 (15-ounce) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 1 (14.5-ounce) can tomatoes (I used fire-roasted)
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 cup orange juice (not pictured. If you don’t have any in the house, use water)
  • Optional: cheese, sour cream, cilantro for garnish

Directions:

Peel and chunk the sweet potato and add to the pot. Add diced onion. Then add the red bell pepper, can of tomatoes, beans, garlic, and seasonings. Pour in OJ and water. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or until the onion is translucent and the sweet potato is fork-tender. This feeds 4-5 people.

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Vegan Spinach Pie

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I used to get this every year at the Renaissance Festival with my mom so it was very nostalgic to make these myself. The boys liked it too although they would have liked just a little bit of cheese added. Getting them to eat tofu and say that they liked it in any capacity is a feat so I am chalking this up to a success.

Vegan Spinach Pie

Ingredients:

  • 1 onion, medium diced
  • 2 1/2 cloves garlic, finely minced
  • Two 16 oz. packages frozen spinach
  • 1/8 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/8 tsp pepper, black or white
  • 1 Tbs of nutritional yeast (or cheese if you eat dairy)
  • 1 block tofu, extra extra firm
  • 1/3 C. vegetable stock + more for sautéing (this replaced oil in the original recipe so you can do full stock, half and half or oil, whichever you prefer)
  • 1 Tbs. low sodium soy sauce or Tamari
  • 1 large lemon, juiced (or more, to taste)
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • Earth balance butter (or your choice)
  • 1/2 Tbs. soymilk (you can sub skim if you eat dairy)
  • 20 sheets phyllo dough (found in the freezer section)
  • Cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Saute onion and garlic using vegetable stock (or oil) in skillet. Add spinach, sauté 5 minutes. Add nutmeg and pepper. Remove from heat.

3. In food processor, pulse tofu, vegetable stock, soy sauce, soymilk, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, and salt until the tofu looks crumbly. Add seasonings to taste. Set aside.

4. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray (or oil if you don’t have the spray), line it with 10 or so sheets of phyllo dough. Spread melted butter on top of dough then spread a layer of tofu mixture. Spread spinach mixture evenly on top of tofu mixture then add a few sheets (about 5) on top of the spinach mixture and spread with melted butter. Repeat once more until you reach the top of the dish and layer with 10 sheets of dough finishing it off with a swipe of melted butter (this will make it golden brown and crispy on top).

 

 

 

5. Bake for 35-40 minutes at 375 degrees, or until the phyllo turns slightly brown. Remove from oven and let cool for 30 minutes.

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Rosemary socca with artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes

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I am no longer following a strict vegan diet (details here if you don’t know what I am talking about) but one of the best things I learned from the experience was a completely new way to cook. I learned to cook without the entire meal revolving solely around a meat. I also learned that my body really likes the vegan diet, and while it is not conducive for my lifestyle, I like to include at least one or two vegan meals throughout the week. I have been reading the Mighty Vegan blog religiously since I discovered it, and this is where I often get my vegan recipes from. This one seemed easy enough for me to tackle and the mixture of rosemary, sun-dried tomatoes and artichoke just really intrigued me.

Ingredients:
For Socca
2 cups of garbanzo bean flour
3 cups of warm water
2 tbsp of olive oil
2 tsp of kosher salt
1 tbsp of dried rosemary
1 tbsp coconut oil (to coat the pan)

For topping
1 tbsp of olive oil
1 yellow onion, cut in half then sliced
2-3 cloves of garlic, sliced
2 cans of artichoke hearts
1/2 jar of marinated sundried tomatoes
1 tbsp of dried basil
1 tbsp of dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
optional: 1/3 cup of toasted pine nuts

Directions:
For Socca
Preheat the oven to 450º.

In a 9 inch, somewhat deep frying pan, add a tablespoon of coconut oil and put the pan in the oven to warm up, about 5 minutes or so. In the meantime, mix all of the ingredients together for your socca and whisk until all clumps are gone. Pour this mixture into the heated up pan and put it back into the oven, let this cook for about 30 minutes, or until it’s golden brown. Take out of the oven and let it sit for about 10 minutes.

For Marinade
In a medium saucepan heat the olive oil and add the garlic and onions. Saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Add in everything else and stir continually until everything looks tender and saturated.

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Have you ever made or even heard of socca? (this was totally new to me…)

What is your favorite vegetarian meal? (common, we all have at least one…)

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