Broccoli and Cheeze Soup.

Well played OhSheGlows. Well played.

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

1 medium sweet onion, chopped

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup chopped celery

4-4.5 cups chopped broccoli florets (2 heads, stems removed)

1.5 cups peeled & chopped potatoes (about 3)

3 cups vegetable broth

2 tbsp nutritional yeast

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or crushed red pepper flakes)

Low-fat vegan cheeze sauce, divided (see below for recipe)

1/2 tbsp lemon juice (optional)

herbamare & onion powder, to taste

Kosher salt & black pepper, to taste

1/4 cup fresh minced parsley, plus more to garnish

Daiya cheese, to garnish

Smoked Paprika, to garnish (optional)

1. In a large skillet, heat the oil, onion, and garlic over medium-low heat, stirring frequently. Cook for about 5-6 mins.

2. Add in the celery, broccoli, and potatoes and cook for about 5 minutes. Now, add the broth, nutritional yeast, and cayenne pepper and simmer for another 15 mins or so until the potatoes are just fork tender.

3. Meanwhile, prepare your cheeze sauce (see below) while the soup simmers.

4. Carefully transfer the soup (in two batches) into a blender. Blend until almost smooth (I left it a bit chunky, but you can blend as much as you wish) and place back into the pot. Stir in the cheeze sauce, reserving 1/3 cup for later.

5. Stir in optional lemon juice, salt, pepper, and optional herbamare all to taste. Finally, stir in the minced parsley and spoon into bowls.

6. Top the soup with croutons, Daiya cheese, remaining cheeze sauce, and smoked paprika.

Low-Fat Vegan Cheeze Sauce (double batch)

Adapted from here. I basically just doubled my old recipe and added a couple extra spices.
Ingredients:

• 1.5 cup unsweetened, unflavoured almond milk
• 3/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 1 tbsp Earth Balance or other non-dairy buttery spread
• 2 tbsp all purpose flour
• 1 tbsp + 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1. In a skillet or pot, melt the Earth Balance over medium heat.

2. In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour and 1/4 cup milk until all clumps are gone.

3. Whisk in the remaining milk (1.25 cups) as well as the milk and flour mixture into the pot. Now whisk in the nutritional yeast. Reduce heat to low-medium.

4. Add Dijon, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper to taste and whisk frequently over low heat until the sauce thickens up, for 3-5 minutes. Be careful not to burn it. Remove from heat once thick.

Cheezy Popcorn.

I loooooove this popcorn. In fact, after typing this up - I've decided I need to go make it now... Super simple, and healthy (minus the vegan butter).

air pop popcorn

melt some earth balance... drizzle over the top

sprinkle the nutritional yeast over top

and a little salt

shake it up

and dig in!

Baked Vegan Mac & Cheese.

So I've been struggling with my almost 6-year-old with all things healthy eating. She use to be an amazing eater and eat any and everything healthy. Would ask me for healthy food and beg for shrek shakes. Long gone are those days, and I blame it all on kindergarten. It's like after seeing how the "other side" eats... and setting her eyes on that cafeteria line - it's all she wants. It's a constant battle.

One day, post kindergarten corruption, she told me she wanted to go have a playdate at her friend Emily's house because her Mom makes them yummy macaroni & cheese... I almost cried. Ouch. So, I was on a quest to find my baby girl some healthy mac & cheese. Found this recipe, on an awesome new site my friend Natalie told me about. I spent a good 3 hours drooling over all her recipes.

The bummer is, we all loved it, except her. I'm beginning to think that we're dealing with some sort of power struggle combined with the food issue. Lovely.

1/2 medium potato, peeled and chopped (about 1/4-1/3 cup)
1/2 large carrot, peeled and chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/2 small onion, peeled and chopped (about 1/4-1/3 cup)
1 ½ cups raw cashews
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
4 garlic cloves
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 teaspoon mustard
~300-340 grams dry/uncooked whole wheat macaroni or other pasta
1 slice bread
1 tablespoon Earth Balance or butter
Fresh or dried parsley, to garnish (optional)
Paprika, to garnish

Preheat oven to 350*F. Grab a small casserole dish and set aside. In a medium sized pot, add the chopped potatoes, carrots, and onion and fill with water until just covered. Bring to a boil and then reduce to low-medium heat. Cook for about 15 minutes until tender.

Meanwhile, process 1 slice of bread until crumbs form in a food processor. Add in 1 tablespoon of Earth Balance and process until incorporated. Place in a small bowl and set aside.

Now assemble your cheese sauce ingredients (cashews, almond milk, garlic, lemon, salt, yeast, pepper, mustard) and add just the cashews to food processor. Process until a fine crumb forms similar to corn meal. Now add in the rest of the cheese sauce ingredients and process until smooth.

Once the veggies are cooked, drain and add to cheese sauce mixture in food processor. Process until smooth.

Add your pasta to a medium sized pot and fill with water until the pasta is covered by about 1 inch or so. Bring to a boil and reduce to low, cooking for about 7 more minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water.

In a large bowl, mix together your cheese sauce and drained + rinsed pasta. Scoop into your casserole dish and sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture. Now garnish with paprika and bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 350*F. Allow to cool for about 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with chopped fresh parsley or dried parsley if you’d like.

Note: This is a heavy and drier mac ‘n cheese. If you want it less dry, you might want to add some Earth Balance/butter or additional milk.

from ohsheglows

my friend Natalie told me about her sight, and our friend Mimi told her

Hurry Up Alfredo.

Ya'll are going to love me for this one. Like, "L-O, L-O, L-O, L-O-V-E, L-O, L-O, L-O... I'm talkin bout... I'm talkin bout love!" (Any Ashlee Simpson Wentz fans out there? Nope? No one? Yeah, me neither!)

Anyhow, back to this amazing pasta. It's for sure going into the Hatch Family rotation. It couldn't be more delicious. It couldn't be more easy. And it couldn't be more any on-hand, go-to meal to make, whatsoever. [any Chandler fans catch that one?... Man, I have got to stop writing these up late at night!] Although if you're just starting up on this vegan/plant-based thing it won't seem at all 'on-hand' ingredients to you at first. But this one alone is well worth the investment of the ingredients.

I seriously wanted more and more of this one, and couldn't believe that it was vegan. Seriously, just try this tonight. Or, right now. I can't wait to play with it some and add roasted red peppers... or try it into a rose sauce... and try roasted garlic with it... yum!

The only downfall was the garlic is not cooked, so the garlic flavor is strong - be ready for that. Too strong for my little Ava... "it's so good Mom... but it's just too strong!" I'll tone that down or try some roasted garlic cloves next time.

1 cup soy or almond milk

1/3 cup raw, unsalted cashews

1/4 cup nutritional yeast

3 tablespoons low-sodium tamari/soy sauce/bragg's liquid amino's

2 tablespoons Earth Balance margarine

1 tablespoons tahini

1 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons dijon mustard

1/2 teaspoon paprika (smoked is awesome)

1 pinch nutmeg

2-4 cloves of garlic, optional (used 2, will use 1 next time)

Black pepper, to taste

whole wheat thin spaghetti

Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. This may work best in a high-speed blender (like a Vita-Mix), but you can definitely make it in a regular blender. Just blend extra-long, or perhaps strain if you want it perfectly smooth. Tiny bits of cashews won’t hurt anyone though!

If you’re making this sauce for pasta, drain the pasta and return it to the hot empty pan. Pour the sauce over, place on medium heat, and stir until heated through. Serve with lots of fresh cracked black pepper. I love it with steamed broccoli added in!

belly biters: amazing!!

5 Star Hurry-Up Alfredo...

I just moved this already yummy dish up to 5 star yumminess... I cut up sundried tomatoes and added to the pasta water 1 minute before it's done. And sauted baby bella mushrooms and added them in after I mixed the pasta and sauce together. SOOOOOOO yummy!

Tomato Bisque.

You are going to loooooooove me for telling you about this soup. I saw Tal Ronnen on Oprah, he's a gourmet vegan chef. He sold me on how yummy his Celery Root Soup with Granny Smith Apples looked. I instantly put myself on the waiting list for his cook book at the library. When it came in months later, I picked it up and almost went right to the grocery store to buy the stuff for half of his recipes. Then I told myself to calm down... which I did... and then I calmed down a little too much because it's taken me 9 months to try any of his recipes. Other then the cashew cream & whipped cashew cream, I haven't tried a single one. Even the celery root one... crazy how that happens.

Shame.on.me... because this soup is amazing. So super simple, but it feels like you're eating a big bowl of naughtiness! Which, I like that feeling. Sure it has some fat in it from the cashew cream... but hey - would you rather be getting your fat from nuts or the cow down the road? I'll choose the nuts.

sea salt
4 tablespoons earth balance
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, smashed
2 tablespoons unbleached all-purpose flour (i used whole wheat)
5 cups vegetable broth
1 (28-ounce) can while fire-roasted tomatoes, juices included
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
leaves from 2 fresh thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups regular cashew cream
parsley for garnish

Place a large stockpot over medium heat. Sprinkle the bottom with a pinch of salt and head for 1 minute. Add the earth balance and stir until melted, being careful not to let it burn. This will create a nonstick effect. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic and cook for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and continue cooking and stirring for 2 minutes.

Add the stock, tomatoes with juice, parsley, thyme, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, then add the cashew cream. Continue to simmer (do not boil) for 10 minutes.

Remove the bay leaf. Working in batches, pour the soup into a blender, cover the lid with a towel (the hot liquid tends to erupt), and blend on high for several minutes until very smooth. Ladle into bowls and garnish with parsley.

The Conscious Cook
Tal Ronnen
page 94
makes 6 serving
time: 1 hour, 20 minutes

The same night I tried my hand at brussel sprouts. B.O.M.B. You can't win them all. I have never had them - or at least that I remembered. And I hear that you either love them or hate them. And in Veganomicon it said the only way to eat them is roasting them... so I did... and I still reside on the hating side. Funny thing is, Coco ate them. What a weird little girl.

Maple-Braised Butternut Squash with Fresh Thyme.



snagged from bonappetit.com

Here's my other new fave that I discovered for Thanksgiving dinner from bon appetit. The flavors are so yummy together. The 3 stores I went to were out of fresh thyme so I had to use dried and it was really good still! Yeah for dried herbs.

3 tablespoons earth balance "butter"
1 3 - 3 1/2 pound butternut squash, cut lengthwise in half, peeled, seeded, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 1/4 cups vegetable broth
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon minced fresh thyme
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon (or more) black pepper

Melt earth balance in heavy large deep skillet over high heat. Add squash; sauté 1 minute. Add broth, syrup, thyme, salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; bring to boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook until squash is almost tender, 8 to 10 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer squash to large bowl. Boil liquid in skillet until thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. Return squash to skillet. Cook until tender, turning occasionally, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with more pepper, if desired.

THE TECHNIQUE: BRAISING: sautéing, then cooking low and slow in a bit of liquid) is most often associated with meat, but it's also a great way to cook veggies. Fibrous vegetables like butternut squash are the perfect candidate for braining. The braising liquid infuses the squash with flavor and makes it very tender.

Graham Crackers.

pic from veganyumyum.com

We love the cinnamon graham goldfish... here's a vegan take on them that we found yummy! I'm going to try to have these on hand for Coco to have at church. Thank you veganyumyum... they're yum. {be sure to watch her videos... way cute.}

2 1/2 cups graham flour* or stoneground flour or whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup earth balance margarine
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup agave nectar (or a little more sugar mixed with water)
3/4 cup water

Mix the all the dry ingredients together. Cream together Earth Balance and sugar. Add vanilla and agave and beat with a whisk until smooth. Add a little of the flour and a little of the water to the earth balance/sugar mixture and combine. Continue adding in flour and water, a little at a time, until all flour and water is added. Work the dough with your hands until everything is evenly combined.

Divide dough in half and cover. Let rest for 30 minutes at room temperature.

Preheat oven to 325º F. Roll out the dough into a rectangle that measures approximately 11″x15″. Trim edges. Using a knife or a pizza cutter, cut the dough into squares or rectangles (I cut mine into 1′x1′ squares). Prick the squares with a fork.

Bake for 30-40 minutes at 325º F or until the crackers are turning golden brown around the edges. You can sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on top of the crackers during the last 10 minutes of baking if you like.

Remove from the baking sheet and let cool on a wire rack.

*Make your own graham flour: 

1 cup~= 2/3 cup white flour + 1/3 cup wheat bran + 1.5 teaspoons wheat germ

Our Favorite Cupcakes.

These are "My Favorite Cupcakes" from Alicia Silverstone's book, The Kind Diet. Which have now turned into Our Favorite Cupcakes. They're the ones I made for Corynn's first birthday that are super yummy. I was totally worried trying them out for her big day for the very first time. But thought, what the heck... if they're a bomb Braum's is just down the road and it'd be a fun story to tell.

Bomb? Not at all. They are SO good! The kids devoured them, Shayne was pleasantly surprised and I was beaming with pride thinking we can so do this healthy eating thing.

Since her birthday, I've made them a bunch and I usually double the cupcakes because this recipe for frosting will frost 24 cupcakes - in my not-huge-frosting-lovers house. I usually make the 24 and freeze half. They're really good out of the freezer. I just let them sit on the counter for a bit to thaw. So awesome! I've even found Shayne sneaking out to the freezer to snag one a time or two.

From her book... I love cupcakes... is there anyone out there who doesn't? These are light, springy, and delicious with a decadent fudgy frosting. These are best eated right after they're made.

Cupcakes
2/3 cup hemp or soy milk (I've used almond or rice milk)
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2/3 cup agave nectar
1/3 cup safflower oil (or coconut oil)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour (i usually use all ww pastry)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch of fine sea salt

Fudge Frosting
1/2 cup (4 ounces) Earth Balance butter
1/2 cup agave nectar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup soy milk powder (*if you don't have this, the frosting will be just fine, maybe-just a little runnier)

Preheat the oven to 325*F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners. (Alicia uses unbleached, recycled cupcake liners by a company called If You Car, available at Whole Foods.)

Combine the milk and vinegar in a medium bowl, and set aside for at least 5 minutes or until it bubbles a little. If it doesn't bubble, keep stirring the mixture until it does. Add the agave nectar, oil and vanilla and stir.

In a separate bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, mixing until no lumps remain.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin tin, and bake for 18 to 22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one cupcake comes out clean and the tops are slightly springy when pressed. Cool the cupcakes in the pan for 10 to 15 minutes, then cool completely on a baking rack before frosting.

To make the Fudge Frosting, use a mixer to cream the butter together with the agave nectar in a mixing bowl until very smooth. Add the vanilla extract and about half the cocoa powder, mix on low speed to combine, then add the remaining cocoa powder. Add in the soy milk powder, and beat at medium-high speed until fluffy. If it is runny, refrigerate the frosting until it sets up a little.

The Kind Diet
Alicia Silverstone