Green Salad with Golden Beets and Raw Pumpkin Seeds

This salad is perfect for a hot summer day.  I got the beets at the Farmer's Market, and they were deeeelicoius!

Green Salad with Golden Beets and Raw Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients:

1 head Romaine lettuce, chopped
8 small or 4 medium to large golden beets
1 - 15oz. can garbanzo beans, drained
2 green onions, sliced
1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds

Directions:

Peel and quarter the beets, and boil for ten minutes.  Rinse under cold water, and slice into bite-sized pieces.  Add the lettuce, beets and rest of the ingredients into a large serving bowl.  Add your favorite vegan salad dressing.  Feeds five hungry vegans.  Simple and scrumptious!

Snowy Bananas and Strawberries

Here is a very simple salad to welcome those warmer days, and one in which we can also reap the sweet harvest of strawberries already at our Farmer's Markets.  Enjoy!

Snowy Bananas and Strawberries

Ingredients:

3 bananas, sliced into rings
3 cups of coarsely chopped, fresh strawberries
1 cup of shredded, sweetened coconut

Directions:

Toss all the ingredients together right before serving.  Enjoy right away.  Feeds five hungry vegans.  So satisfying!

Maple-Pecan Baked Brussels Sprouts and Butternut Squash and Christmas, 2013

I was feeling guilty about blogging about Christmas so far after the date and was prepared to lament about all the sicknesses I've either endured personally or as a motherly nurse.  But, then as I was catching up on reading the blogs, I discovered that lots of people are posting belatedly.  So, I feel better.  Although, I do really wish I had my Christmas post in the same year that I ate the dish.  Ah, well.

I wanted to come up with something seasonal and savory to bring to the family potluck, and I came up with this baked dish (that took longer to bake than anticipated), consisting basically of all the ingredients listed in the title.  Makes it easy, doesn't it? It turned out very well, and if I end up tweaking it in the future, I'll edit this post, but it's pretty darn good for now!  Buuuuuuttt, because we were all sick, we ended up staying home and not joining the big family for dinner.  Aaaand, my parents didn't come over for my traditional breakfast spread.  It was a very different Christmas indeed, but I still tried to make it as special as I could.  I made some of my breakfast dishes anyways, and we had a nice dinner, albeit simpler. 

Here's what we had for breakfast:

GR and JK made the Gingerbread house again
Pineapple Upside Down Cake
Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
Tiger Balls
SR made the Soft Ginger Cookies
Loaded Cinnamon Rolls 
Breakfast Links
Orange Juice
Hot Apple Cider
Coffee

For dinner all I could muster was:

Maple-Pecan Baked Brussels Sprouts and Butternut Squash
A kid-friendly spaghetti dish

Our "scant" breakfast table

We also managed to drag ourselves to the fire station again to deliver our annual Christmas treats.  They remember us every year now.  GR was too sick to come, so it was just SR, JK and me.

SR and JK are sicker than they look.  But, we just love this tradition!

Maple-Pecan Baked Brussels Sprouts and Butternut Squash

(taken with my new camera as of that morning; not sure if I like the posted date on the pic, but you can see I took it on Christmas!)

Maple-Pecan Baked Brussels Sprouts and Butternut Squash

Ingredients:

4 cups Brussels sprouts that have been halved
5 cups butternut squash that have been diced into half inch to an inch cubes
1 and 1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 cup 100% maple syrup

Directions:

Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Toss all the ingredients together in a large casserole dish.  Bake uncovered for one hour, stirring at the halfway mark.  That's it!  So easy.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Three Bean Salad with Mint

Here is a wonderfully fresh and light salad to serve on a hot day.  My mom made a kind of sweet three bean salad when I was growing up, and I liked it, but now I like a tangy version.  I added a few other ingredients to snazz this up, and it's definitely a favorite of mine.

Three Bean Salad with Mint

Ingredients:

1 - 15oz. can of green beans
1 - 15oz. can of garbanzo beans
1 - 15 oz. can of kidney beans
2 sprigs' worth of mint leaves (about 8 to 12 leaves), chopped small
1 stalk celery, chopped small
1 green onion, sliced thin
1/2 cup of your favorite tangy dressing - can adjust to taste (We used LaMartinique True French Vinaigrette)

Directions:

In a large colander, pour all your canned beans and rinse under cold water.  Drain completely, and put in a large bowl.  Stir in the rest of the ingredients, and chill for at least two hours before serving.  Toss, taste, adjust dressing if necessary, and serve.  Yummy.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Patriotic Salad and Fourth of July, 2013

I know, I know, I know, I said I was going to get all my reviews and award out first...but, this is a timely recipe, and I just had to squeeze this one in.  On the Fourth of July, my mom and I decided to just serve up four salads.  She made three bean salad and coleslaw, and I made my Kids Love It! Potato Salad, which will be featured in my next review (hint, hint) and a fruit salad.  The fruit salad was going to have tons of different kinds of fruits in it, but I started putting berries in the bowl first, and then I added a few bananas, and then something struck my eye.  No, it wasn't a wayward blueberry; it was the look of the salad: it was red, white, and blue.  Hello?!  This was the Fourth of July, by golly, so I just to had leave it as is.  And, yes, I can tell you, that I made a big deal of it at my parents'.  "Hey, did anybody notice the colors?"  "Isn't it great that this salad is red, white, and blue?"  I ignored JK's comments that the blackberries were black; they look dark blue to me, humph.  "I know what!  I'm going to call this my Patriotic Salad, yes!"  Yes, indeed, I was very proud of myself, and you should be too.  Er, I mean, it's pretty, isn't it?

Patriotic Salad

Ingredients:

1 cup raspberries
1 cup blackberries
1 and 1/2 cups blueberries
2 and 1/2 cups strawberries, halved or quartered
3 bananas, sliced

Directions:

Make sure all the berries are rinsed and drained well.  Put all the fruit in a large bowl and gently toss.  Refrigerate for at least one hour.  Try to finish in one evening; it does not save well.  Feeds five hungry vegans and a Grannyma and a Poppy.

Simple Cinco de Mayo Salad and Dinner

My family loves Mexican food, and Cinco de Mayo just gives us an excuse to indulge in it.  Realizing Sunday afternoon that I had nothing in the kitchen with which to celebrate it, I hurried on over to our neighborhood Mexican market to pick up a few things.  Besides the standard fare, I knew I wanted some kind of vegetable or salad to go with dinner, and I wanted it to be kid-friendly.  Knowing I'm not an expert at nopalitos yet, I looked over their produce for ingredients to make a yummy salad.  I think I came up with a really simple, tasty salad that will refresh on any hot day, but especially on Cinco de Mayo, ole! 

Simple Cinco de Mayo Salad in the serving bowl

 

The requisite homemade chips with pico de gallo, guacamole, and spicy red salsa

 My Cinco de Mayo plate: plain flour tortilla, Cinco de Mayo salad, Sweet Potato candy (a sweet potato somehow softened with sugar and water!  I forget the Spanish name for it, but it was soft and sweet, and just three ingredients.), Pintos and Hominy with salsa drizzled on top.  So good!

Simple Cinco de Mayo Salad

Ingredients:

3 avocados, chopped

3 tomatoes, chopped

1 bunch of cilantro, about one cup packed, chopped, discarding bottom stems

Juice of one lemon

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Put all ingredients in a large serving bowl and gently but thoroughly toss together.  Try to eat it all at this meal, for refrigerating it does it no favors.  Feeds five hungry vegans. Yumms!

Curried-Tomatoey Cauliflower and Garbanzos

First let me apologize for the truly crummy photo of this wonderful dish.  This is so good and is definitely one of my favorites, so I'm bummed that I couldn't take a decent photo of it.  Some shots, like this one, were too red, others were bland-white and others unappetizing brown.  Ah, so be it.  It's a tasty dish, just trust me.  I mentioned a couple of posts ago for my Savory Yellow Split Pea and Cauliflower Soup how I really like mixing tomato flavors and cauliflower, and this is definitely a dish that showcases that partnership well.  I first found the inspiration for this dish in one of those little booklets that come with an exercise DVD set purchased off an infomercial.  The ingredients are basically the same, I think - it's been so long - but, the quantities of each have changed over the years into what pleases me best.  Oh, yeah!  I guess you can serve this over rice or cous cous, but I love it just by itself.  And, it's so healthy, I completely pig out on it.  I mean, of course, I watch my portion control, so my family can have their share, ahem.  Give this a try, and see if you don't shovel spoonful after spoonful in.

Curried-Tomatoey Cauliflower and Garbanzos

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. olive oil
1 head of cauliflower, coarsely chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 white onion, halved and sliced
1 - 6oz. can of tomato paste
2 cups water
1 - 15oz. can garbanzo beans, drained
1 Tbs. curry powder
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Directions:

In a large pan, heat the oil over medium high heat.  When hot, add the cauliflower and onion and cook for ten minutes, stirring frequently.  Turn the heat down to medium.  Add the tomato paste and water directly into the pan.  Stir gently to blend.  Cook for another two or three minutes.  Turn the heat down to medium low and add the rest of the ingredients.  Cook for another five minutes, or until the cauliflower is fork tender.  It should be a bit brothy, but not soupy or dry -- just right!  Can eat like this or serve over your favorite grain.  Mm-mm-mmm!  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Avocado Strawberry Toss

Aren't these beautiful colors?  Avocados and strawberries are in their peak season right now over here, and their flavors just pop with intensity.  I just knew I had to see what they tasted like when combined.  I cut up one ripe avocado and quartered six juicy strawberries and tossed them together in a small bowl.  I debated whether I should sprinkle a little salt or drizzle a little lemon juice over the top, but then I thought that any dressing would compete with the two flavors of the fruits.  The creaminess of the avocado is a perfect complement to the sweetness of the strawberry.  But, alas, I was the only one in my family who even tried this dish.  No one else would attempt it.  Will you?  I adjusted the recipe to feed five hungry vegans...in my dreams.

Avocado Strawberry Toss

Ingredients:

3 avocados, chopped
2 - 3 cups of quartered strawberries

Directions:

Add fruit together in a large bowl and gently toss.  Serve immediately.  Enjoy it!  Feeds five hungry vegans, supposedly. 

Classic Tomato and Cucumber Salad

I saw the first tomatoes at the farmer's market yesterday, so I had to pick some up.  They were perfect and tasted like we were already in the dead heat of summer.  Yum.  I also bought an English cucumber and realized right away how I was going to combine these two finds: into my Classic Tomato and Cucumber Salad.  As far as cucumbers go, I really prefer the English kind; the skin is not waxed and not too thick, and the seeds are not too big.  I find that I peel the other version and scoop out the seeds, but I eat the complete English cucumber.  (I also like little pickling cucumbers.)  Also this salad is perfect with just a sprinkling of salt and pepper, but if you really want a dressing, just add a splash of olive oil and vinegar.  This can be a completely raw recipe, if you leave off the dressing.  If you've never had this simple pairing in a salad, you're in for a treat.

The whole salad in a serving bowl.

My salad plate.  I ate it all up!

Classic Tomato and Cucumber Salad

Ingredients:

2 - 3 ripe tomatoes, quartered and wedged
1 English cucumber, ends trimmed and sliced in circles or semi-circles depending on the diameter of the cuke
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar
1 Tbs. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Put all ingredients into a serving bowl and toss well.  Eat immediately.  Don't chill; it will ruin the texture of the tomatoes.  So, no leftovers!  You have to eat it all in one night.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Raw Sweet Potato, Beet and Coconut Salad

Do you ever nibble on vegetables that you've only experienced in cooked form - roots or otherwise - to see how they taste?  I've been doing that more and more the last year or so, and I've discovered some wonders!  Raw sweet potato and beets are very good!  I've known this for a few months but didn't know what to do with that information, until I thought of pairing them together.  Adding some sweetened coconut adds just the right amount of sweetness to make this a delicious salad with no dressing at all.  I grated them to make it easier to chew and to be more appealing to my Blessings.  Also, with the coconut, it makes for a nice, uniform appearance.  I knew my girls would eat it because it was dinner, but the big test would be JK.  I put some on a spoon, and he gingerly stuck his top lip out to take the minutest taste.  Then he came back for more and more.  I served him some with dinner, and he ate it all up.  Everyone was surprised that they liked this (except for me: I knew I would), and this will definitely stay on my list of salads to make.

Raw Sweet Potato, Beet and Coconut Salad

Ingredients:

2 cups grated sweet potato (approximately one medium sweet potato)
2 cups grated beet (about two medium ones or one large one)
2 cups sweetened shredded coconut, packed

Directions:

Make sure you trim the ends and peel the sweet potato and beet before grating.  I used my grater blade in the food processor; it made for a quick job.  Rinse the sweet potato shreds in a colander to get rid of any starch that might brown them.  Rinse the beet shreds in a colander to get rid of any loose juice, so the whole salad doesn't turn beet color.  You won't be able to get rid of all the beet juice, but you want to be able to enjoy this colorful salad's beauty.  Add the sweet potato shreds, the beet shreds and the coconut in a large bowl and stir.  Can chill or serve right away.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Easy Vegetable Fried Rice

Here is an easy way to use up leftover rice.  I always make a big batch of rice because JK likes it for lunches, and I also like to use the leftovers in soups or other dishes.  The veggies in this dish are usually those that you may have on hand at any given time.  Enjoy!

Easy Vegetable Fried Rice

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. sesame oil
1/2 head of green cabbage, chopped small
3 carrots, chopped very small
4 stalks of celery, chopped small
2 green onions, sliced thin
2 to 3 cups of leftover rice
1/4 cup teriyaki sauce or another favorite sauce; this time I used: OrganicVille Island Teriyaki sauce, which is also gluten-free

Directions:

Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat.  Add all the veggies and cook for five minutes or so, until fork tender.  Add the rice, and stir well, breaking up any clumped up, cold chunks.  Cook for another five minutes or so, until the rice is heated through.  Don't stir constantly, but let it sit for a minute or so to slightly crisp and brown, and then stir.  Once well heated, add the sauce and stir.  Cook for another minute or so, and then it's ready to serve.  Very tasty.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Broccoli Greens Simmered in Broth

When I was a child, I was the only one in my family who ate the few sparse greens off the thick broccoli stalks.  Even today I love them.  Who knew that they could actually grow to be a gigantic size?  I bought two bunches of them at the farmer's market recently, and one bag could only hold one bunch each.  The farmer said they do not cook down as much as other greens, and they hold their shape well in soup.  Well, I tested both of those theories, and I have to say, she is...right!  I first simmered them in a broth, hoping to avoid some oil.  I made some slow-cooked red beans and home-baked fries to go with them.  With the copious leftover greens and beans, I made a thick, nourishing soup in which I added red potatoes, broccoli and asparagus.  Even picky JK had three bowls of soup today for lunch.  The greens have a similar taste to chard, which I also like.  Maybe your area has these amazing broccoli greens, too.

Plated Broccoli Greens Simmered in Broth with slow-cooked red beans and home-baked fries.

Two bunches of broccoli greens

Simmering in a covered pan

Broccoli Greens Simmered in Broth

Ingredients:

2 bunches of broccoli greens, stripped from their stems and coarsely chopped (yields about 12 cups, raw)
3/4 cup vegetable broth
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat the broth over medium heat in a large pan that has a tight-fitting lid.  Put in the chopped greens and toss some to coat the greens with the broth.  You can either season at this point, or wait until greens are cooked.  Place lid on pan and simmer for ten minutes, stirring occasionally.  Served with slow cooked beans and baked fries makes for a complete, satisfying meal.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Roasted Baby Artichokes

We picked up some beautiful baby artichokes at the farmer's market recently.  Before, I've put them in risottos, but I wanted to try and see how they tasted roasted...and, they were delicious!  Just follow the easy directions below to enjoy this feast for yourselves.  You can even eat them cold the next day, like I did, and like I do with the big fellas, too.

Close-up of roasted baby artichokes

Untrimmed fresh baby artichoke

Trimmed and peeled fresh baby artichoke

Roasted baby artichokes

Roasted baby artichokes with purple kale, Basic White Bread, and spicy lentils

Roasted Baby Artichokes

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. lemon juice
3 cups of water
10 - 12 baby artichokes
Non-stick spray
2 or 3 tsp. of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix together the lemon juice and water in a medium bowl and set aside.  Wash your artichokes.  With a large knife, trim both ends of the artichoke.  You want any poky tops to be gone, and you want virtually all the stem to be gone.  Pull of the outermost leaves, leaving the tender ones underneath.   Cut each artichoke in half lengthwise and place in the lemon water to prevent early browning.  Once all have been cut, spray a baking sheet with the non-stick spray.  Lay the artichokes on the sheet, cut side up.  Drizzle olive oil on them.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Bake for 15 minutes.  So tender and full of flavor!  The whole thing is edible, so enjoy.  You can just bite into them or have fun eating them leaf by leaf.  I treat them as a finger food.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Ethiopian-Inspired Lentils

G was in the military for seven years, and part of that time he spent in Eritrea and fell in love with the cuisine.  When I was pregnant with SR, he first introduced me to it at a downtown restaurant in our area.  That's when I also learned the proper way to Ethiopian food was by having it served on injera bread and using more injera as the utensil, scooping up the food by hand and putting it in your mouth.  How fun!  I love learning new cultures and experimenting with all kinds of new and interesting things.  We went to that restaurant at least monthly, and by the time SR was born, she already had a high tolerance for spice!  As a toddler she was chowing down on salsa and other spicy things.  Anyhow, that restaurant closed, but two more opened up.  At one of those, berbere, a strong Ethiopian spice was sold by the bag.  I bought a bag, froze it, and have been making lentils at home with it ever since.  That restaurant has since closed, but we still have Queen Sheba, which always seems to show up in G's or my birthday pics.  I'm almost out of my berbere now, so I'm hoping to find another local source.  You can make yours from scratch: it has over a dozen spices in it, and I've seen recipes for it online, and I may do that, or a version of a few recipes, if I can't find a restaurant that will just sell it to me.  :-)  We eat this dish about once a month, but I still haven't made injera, tsk tsk.  I usually make a simple lentil dish for the Blessings when I make this one, but now the girls are starting to try it.  So, soon I may have a couple more berbere eaters on my hands.  I use quite a bit of berbere, so if you are sensitive to heat, you might halve it at first.  By the way, this does take a bit of oil, but the end result does not taste oily at all.

Ethiopian-Inspired Lentils

Ethiopian-Inspired Lentils with roasted cauliflower, baby bok choy and mushrooms (the color is somewhere in between the top and bottom pictures.)

Ethiopian-Inspired Lentils

Ingredients:

1 lb. lentils
1 32oz. box of vegetable broth
Water to cover by a couple of inches
1/4 cup olive oil
1 red onion, halved and sliced thinly
1 head garlic, sliced
4 Tbs. berbere
1 tsp. salt

Directions:

Put lentils in a large pot with the broth and water.  Cook over medium heat 45 minutes, or until tender.  You can let the water cook down to where the lentils are loose but not soupy.  Meanwhile, prepare the onions and garlic.  Heat the oil in a medium pan over medium heat.  Add the onion and garlic and cook for fifteen minutes, stirring occasionally.  Add the seasonings, stir well, and cook for two or three more minutes.  The spices will soak up practically all the moisture in the pan.  Stir frequently.  When the lentils are done, add the spice and onion mix to them.  Turn the heat down to medium low, and cook for at least ten more minutes, letting the flavors blend well.  Served with roasted veggies, this makes a complete meal.  So good.  Feeds five hungry vegans (soon).

Glorious Green Salad

I like to have a lot of fun with salads for my clan.  Sometimes, we'll have big salads on individual plates, and I'll holler from the kitchen, "Who wants carrots?  Who wants garbanzos?," and so on.  I pretty much know by now who likes what and not, but sometimes my  Blessings have changing tastes, so it's good to be reminded.  Sometimes, I'll make one huge salad that's the meal itself, with maybe crackers or something to go with it.  That's when I really load up the toppings to make the salad as varied and crunchy as possible with a symphony of flavors to tease and please younger palates.  The one I made on this night was served alongside of homemade bread sticks and dipping sauces, and everyone was well pleased and full. Below, I've listed the toppings I heaped on, just to give you a new idea or two.  Having fun with your salads is the takeaway moral of the story.

Glorious Green Salad

Ingredients:

Romaine, chopped
Canned quartered artichoke hearts in water, drained
Red onion, slice thin
Canned garbanzos, drained
Tomatoes, cut in small wedges
Fresh spinach leaves, torn if large
Jarred julienned pickled beets
Carrots, shredded
Celery, chopped
Fresh parsley, chopped
Purple cabbage, chopped small
Raw sunflower seeds
Favorite dressings and oils and vinegars on the side

Directions:

In a big bowl, layer the ingredients, except for the dressings.  I do not like to toss my salads before serving because all the goodies get hidden under the lettuce.  Instead we scoop straight down in order to get equal amounts of everything.  Drizzle your favorite dressing on top - sometimes we sprinkle a little salt and pepper on top of that - and dig in.  Served with bread sticks or crackers or toast makes for a filling meal.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Homemade Fries (deep-fried version), and a badge removal

Every once in a while I pull out our deep fryer to make indulgent homemade fries.  Because my fryer is on the smaller side, I have to make our fries in three batches, which ends up taking about 45 minutes.  So, I'll plan on making the other dishes for dinner to time with the fries.  Sometimes, though, we just like the fries as a treat after a hard school day.  You can see in the picture that my fries are crinkle cut.  I've got a tool just for that purpose, so it makes it a little more fun for the Blessings, as well.

On a side note, I've removed my badge for the Circle of Moms contest.  I'll still be on the site, but I won't do any more self-promotion here.  I've heard from several people (including my own sweet mom) who are not getting a hovering hand cursor over the orange thumbs up to vote, so they can't vote.  Also, it looks like I'm pretty much out of the running to be an Internet sensation when you look at my competition.  :-)  But, no worries, every day I get to look at a certain three precious faces and know that I'm their top veggie mom, and that's good enough for me.   Thanks to those who voted or at least attempted to vote.

Homemade Fries (deep-fried version)

Ingredients:

Enough oil to reach fill line in the deep fryer (maybe two cups?)
9 russet potatoes, scrubbed and sliced in fry-type strips
Salt to taste
Ketchup
Rooster sauce

Directions:

Heat oven to 250 degrees. Plug in your deep fryer.  Pour oil to fill line.  While oil is heating, you can prepare your potatoes.  Put in three of the cut potatoes in the deep fryer.  Fry for thirteen to fifteen minutes, until they get a golden brown, turning occasionally. (If you've cut your potatoes particularly thin, they will cook faster.) Line a serving dish with paper towels, and drain the fries there.  Sprinkle with salt.  Repeat with the last two sets of three potatoes.  Keep fries warm in oven while waiting for next batch(es).  Note: please do not place your lid on the fryer while it's plugged in and cooking food; my friend started a kitchen fire in her home by doing that.  Serve with ketchup and/or rooster sauce.  Feeds five hungry vegans -barely!

Zesty Black Beans with Cooling Tomato and Avocado - and a contest reminder

This is a great dish to warm you up on a cold day.  The farmer's market already has the first avocados in, and I was lucky to find a good tomato in the store.  The spice in the beans is tempered by and paired perfectly with the tomato and avocado.  Served with roasted potatoes, it makes for a tasty, complete meal.

Zesty Black Beans with Cooling Tomato and Avocado

Dinner is served!

Just to remind you that you can still vote in the Circle of Moms contest for the top 25 veggie moms.  I was fortunate enough to be nominated, and I have several bloggie friends in the competition with me.  The nice thing is there's plenty of room for a bunch of us.  So, if you would like to vote (for me?), you can just click on the pink badge in my top left corner, and it will take you to the site.  Just scroll down to find me; I appreciate your vote!  You can vote once every 24 hours.

Zesty  Black Beans with Cooling Tomato and Avocado

Ingredients:

1 lb. dried black beans, sorted for grit
Water to cover
2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbs. ground cumin
1 tsp. cayenne
4 Serrano peppers, seeded and chopped (wash your hands after handling)
6 - 8 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
1 tomato, cut in quarters and sliced thin
1 avocado, chopped small

Directions:

Place beans in a large pot and cover with enough water so that water level is about two inches above beans.  Cook on medium heat for two hours.  (If you want to soak the beans overnight to remove potential gas "issues" from them, you can do that as well.)  Keep water level about one inch above beans during cooking process.  Once they've cooked for two hours, add the salt through the garlic.  Cook another 45 minutes on medium heat. Turn heat to low until beans are completely tender.  At this point, you don't want as much water, just enough to keep them moving around but not soupy, but you don't want them super thick either.  Once beans are completely cooked, turn the heat off and add the tomato and avocado.  Serve with roasted potatoes for a complete meal.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Salad Bar Night!

As most of you probably do, we eat plenty of salads with and for dinner.  With children, I like to keep it as fun as possible, for even though they're vegan, they're still kids and don't always want to eat a salad every day.  So, Ill make a variety of salads from different regions, or have big individual salads loaded with their favorite toppings, or like this version: I'll have a salad bar with familiar and unfamiliar things to top whatever greens are the base that night.

My dear mother, bless her heart, gave me three heads of iceberg lettuce.  Just like home, ah, the memories.  The only time we usually eat iceberg now is when we're over at my parents or when she drives over to bring me three heads of it.  So, there it is, the star of our show, and it's thumbing its nose at Romaine, red leaf, butter, endive, and radicchio.  Let it have its crunchy glory, I say, surrounded by all sorts of goodness!  Below, I'll list the toppings left to right, just to give you an idea of what you can have.  Add or take away at your taste bud's pleasure. 

The Salad Bar

What my plate looked like loaded up.

Salad Bar Night

Ingredients:

Nice big bowl of lettuce, chopped
A variety of ingredients with proper handling tools provided.  We had:
  Pear tomatoes
  Finely grated Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet cheese, Monterey Jack style
  Green onions, sliced
  Carrots, grated
  Celery, chopped
  Raw turnip, grated
  Radish, grated
  Green bell pepper, diced
  Parsley greens, chopped small
  Sliced almonds
  Marinated artichoke hearts

A variety of dressings, olive and sesame oils, red wine and balsamic vinegars and lemon juice

Directions:

Top lettuce to your heart's content with the goodies.  Add the dressings to season lightly.  Eat!  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Kale with Oyster Mushrooms and Garlic

I'm a BIG fan of mushrooms and always have been.  Of course I love the humble white button and its cousin the brown crimini, portabellos big or small, shitakes, straw shrooms, a woody-eared shroom, and enoki, but, I've never had oyster mushrooms before.  So, when I saw them for sale at the farmer's market, I thought I'd give them a try.  I brought them home with some fresh kale and made a fantastic dish for lunch that took less than ten minutes to cook.  The mushrooms released an incredibly savory liquid that added so much flavor to the dish.  I am definitely sold on oyster mushrooms now!

One thing on the recipe: I normally like to list ingredients by measurement not weight, but the vendor sold her shrooms by weight, and I didn't think to see how much of a cup they were.  I'm thinking a cup to a cup and a half.  But, you can just guesstimate.

Kale with Oyster Mushrooms and Garlic

Ingredients:

1 Tbs. olive oil
5 cloves of garlic, sliced
1/2 pound of oyster mushrooms, bottom end trimmed, approx. 1 and 1/2 cups
1 lg. bunch of kale, approx. 8 to 10 cups, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat.  When hot, add the garlic and cook for one minute, until the garlic releases its fragrance.  Add the mushrooms and saute just for five minutes.  Add the kale and mix well.  Cook until kale just starts to wilt and is a beautiful bright green color.  Season lightly and serve immediately.  So addictive that it's hard to stop eating from the pan after you're supposedly done.  Feeds five hungry vegans.

Fried Potatoes with Jalapenos

I love to create spicy dishes, but with my family, I have to usually separate out all the spicy ingredients and add them in at the end for me.  This is one of those dishes - the Blessings are not too keen on onions and jalapenos.  But, lately, JK has been chowing down on pickled garlic, even though he still requires his potatoes to be peeled!  Anyhoo, if everyone in your family likes all the ingredients here, I recommend cooking the toppings with the potatoes, instead of in a separate pan like I did. 

Fried Potatoes with Jalapenos

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. canola oil
6 russet potatoes, peeled and cubed into bite-sized pieces
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 large white onion, quartered and sliced
1 head of garlic, peeled and sliced
2 jalapenos, ends trimmed, seeded and quartered lengthwise, and sliced
Black pepper!

Directions:

In a large pan, heat the canola oil over medium heat.  When hot, add the potatoes and cook for at least twenty minutes, until they begin to get fork-tender.  Add the salt and pepper.  At this point, heat the olive oil in a medium pan over medium heat.  When hot, add the remaining ingredients, except for the black pepper.  Cook for about fifteen minutes, until onions are brownish or beginning to caramelize.  The potatoes should be done at this point - you're aiming for a brown crispiness on their edges.  Serve the potatoes and top with the jalapeno mixture.  Add pepper to taste.  So good.  (If you wish, you can add the uncooked onion, garlic and jalapenos to the potato dish, while the potatoes are still cooking, and cook them together.)  Feeds five hungry vegans.