Saturday, January 30, 2010

Homestyle Beefless stew

2 cans pinto or kidney beans*, drained and rinsed (If you aren't a big fan of beans and want a less "beany" flavor try garbanzo beans)
olive oil (or butter works great for extra richness)
3 or 4 potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4 in cubes
2 large carrots, cut into coins
2 stalks celery, sliced
1 large onion, chopped
1 c. frozen corn
1 1/2 c. frozen peas or green beans
1/8 tsp. Garlic powder
1 tsp. Mustard
1 bay leaf
1 tsp. Seasoning salt ( I like Lowrys)
¼ tsp. Pepper
3 beef bouillon cubes (Again Edward&Sons vegan is awesome)
1/4 c. brown gravy powder or Flour
1 tsp. soy sauce

Saute Onion in oil until translucent. Add potatoes, carrots, and celery and cook for 1 minutes more, stirring. Add 2 c. water, two bouillon cubes, garlic powder, mustard, bay leaf, seasoning salt, and pepper. Simmer uncovered until vegetables are tender. Add corn and peas or green beans. Combine gravy powder/flour and 1 cup water until smooth making sure to eliminate all lumps. Add remaining beef cube to pan until dissolved. Add flour and water mix, add soy sauce and stir until thickened and bubbly.

*If your beans are crunchy or hard add them with the water and seasonings. If they are already soft add them then end with the frozen veggies or they will turn mushy.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Black Bean Brownies

1 (15 ½ oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed really well
3 eggs
3 Tbsp oil
1 c. granulated sugar
3/4 c. cocoa powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp. Flour (option, without they are cheesecake)
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c. mini chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease a 8 X 8-inch baking pan and set aside.

Place the black beans in the bowl of a food processor; process until smooth and creamy (I used my thunder stick). Add the eggs, oil, sugar, cocoa powder, vanilla extract, baking powder, flour and cinnamon and process until smooth. Add the chips and pulse a few times until the chips are broken up a bit.

Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish.

Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until the edges start to pull away from the sides and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan before slicing. Must be chilled for at least 4 hours or they will be grainy and beany

Garbanzo Soup

olive oil
2 carrots, sliced into coins
1 stalk celery, sliced
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 or 2 zucchini, cut into coins
1 can garbanzo beans, drained
5 or 6 cups chicken broth (bouillon works great and Edward&Sons NOTchicken broth also works)
1 1/2 c. mixed cooked grains(I used leftover pilaf)OR fettuccine noodles* OR 1/4 head of cabbage, cut into ribbons
Pinch of rosemary if not using pilaf

Saute onion, carrot, celery, and garlic in olive oil until onion is tender. Add zucchini and saute 3 minutes more. Add remaining ingredients and summer until vegetables are tender.

If using fettuccine noodles increase the broth by 2 cups

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Vegetarian "Kofte"

About 4 cups zucchini (from 3 medium zucchini), coarsely grated

3 garlic cloves, chopped

½ cup packed parsley leaves

1/4 cup cilantro (you can leave this out if you hate cilantro)

1 can garbanzo beans, drained

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground coriander

¾ cup plain bread crumbs

1 egg


Grate zucchini coarsely and sprinkle with 1 tsp. of salt, mix thoroughly. Let sit for 10 minutes, then roll up in a kitchen towel and wring out well. While it's sitting, coarsely mash the beans (don't puree!) and then mix with other ingredients and zucchini. Form into patties about 2 inches wide and 1/2 inch thick and refrigerate at least 15 minutes or until firm (can be done in the am and let sit). Fry in olive oil until very brown and crispy on both sides. Serve with tomato-garlic sauce.

Italian Variation - we were having focaccia bread so I left out the middle eastern spices (the parsely, cilantro, cumin, and coriander) and used italian spices instead - 1/2 tsp each of dried oregano and rosemary, and 1-2 tsp dried basil, and about 1/4 cup of finely grated parmesan and romano, and served with the dipping sauce for the focaccia bread. They were very tasty.

Tomato-garlic sauce - 1 can whole italian tomatoes, 1 T olive oil, 2-3 cloves garlic, minced, 1/2 tsp dried basil (optional, for italian variation). Place all ingredients in a small sauce pan and simmer on low heat, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have broken down and much of the juice has evaporated so that the sauce is thicker and chunky. You may use diced italian tomatoes for this instead.

Cost:
5 cloves garlic: About $.20
Fresh parsley and cilantro: About $3
2 cups home-cooked garbanzo beans: about $.40
Other spices: About $.25
Bread crumbs, homemade (just take a slice of bread, let it get stale, and grate it): $.10
1 egg: $.10
1 can Italian tomatoes: $.75
butter/olive oil: $.25

Total Cost: About $5

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

White bean chowder (optional Shrimp chowder)




1 lb red potatoes, peeled and sliced about 1/4 in thick
3 c. water
2 chicken bouillon cubes (or mock chicken bouillon for vegetarian)
1 vegetable bouillon cube
3 celery ribs, chopped
8 green onions, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped fine
1 1/2 c. milk
1/4 c. flour
1 can evaporated milk (fat free works great)
2 cans white beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 - 1 lb. uncooked small shrimp, peeled and deveined (The original recipe was a shrimp chowder, I dont use at all and leave out for a vegetarian dish)
1 Tbsp. dried parsley
1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce
1/8 tsp. black pepper

In a large saucepan bring the potatoes, water, bouillon, celery, onions, and red peppers to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 15 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir in milk. Gently mash vegetables with a potato masher, leaving some chunks of potatoes.

Combine flour and evaporated milk until smooth; gradually stir into the potato mixture. Bing to a boil; cook and stir for two minutes or until thickened. Stir in remaining ingredients. Return to a boil. Cook and stir for two minutes or until shrimp turn pink.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

Italian stir fry

1/4 c. prepared pesto (If you want to make your own vegan pesto replace the cheese with nutritional yeast)
1/2 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 large or 2 small bunch(s) kale, chopped
1 can tomatoes, drained
1 can, white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 - 4 c. cooked pasta

Saute onion and garlic in pesto. Add kale, cook until wilted and dark. Add tomatoes, beans and cooked pasta. Toss to coat. Add more pesto if desired.


Economical Counter: 5 servings, 1-1/2 c. each

Pesto (Powdered Knorr Packet) $0.99
Onion $0.25
Garlic $0.24
Kale $1.98
Bottle Tomatoes $1.25
White Kidney Beans $0.68
Pasta $0.99

Total $6.38
Per Person Total $1.28

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Stir Fry

Nothing too new here, this is how I make stir fry to accommodate all the different tastes in my family. I also like to add some cauliflower when my hubby isnt around. Any combination you like works. Other beans besides the kidney beans work great, they white kidney are just my favorite.



1 bag frozen pea pods
1/2 bag matchstick carrots
1 can baby corn, drained
1 onion, sliced (red onions are great)
2 or 3 stalks celery, sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 can white kidney beans, drained


Saute onions and celery until almost tender. Add carrots and peas and heat until cooked. Add corn, beans, and bell peppers. Saute until peppers are slightly tender. Serve over rice

I sometimes make this sauce to serve over it.

2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
2 clove garlic, minced
¼ tsp ground ginger
3/4 c. water
1 vegetable bouillon cube (Sometime beef instead)
several drops sesame oil
Boil all together until bouillon is dissolved. Combine
1 Tbsp. cornstarch and enough water to make a paste, stir into both and heat, stirring, until thickened

Vegetable lentils

1 1/2 c. dried brown lentils
3 c. water
3 vegetable bouillon cubes
1 medium onion, chopped
1 c. vegetables (Optional, you can throw in zucchini, carrots, bell peppers, mushrooms, etc...just something to make it chunkier)
Salt & Pepper to taste

Boil all together until lentils are tender, about 30 minutes. It shouldn't boil dry, a little broth left should get kinda think and create a bit of a sauce. If it looks like it is too thick add water to thin. Season with additional vegetable bouillon and salt and pepper to taste. Serve over rice.


Economical Counter: (Makes enough for 5, 3/4 cup servings

Lentils $0.39
Bouillon cubes $1.50
Onion $0.25
Zucchini $0.26

Total $2.40
Cost per person $0.48

Friday, January 8, 2010

Meatless balls (or sausage)

These are very versatile in flavor, they can be served with brown gravy (or bean gravy), Swedish meat sauce, chili sauce, sweet an sour sauce, or in spaghetti.

1 1/2 c. dry brown lentils
4 c. water
3 Edward & Sons Not beef broth cubes (OR 6 low sodium beef bouillon cubes)
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 c. uncooked rice
1 medium zucchini, grated
1 packet Roads End Organics Savory Herb gravy mix (Vegan, gluten free)
1/8 tsp. allspice
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp. McCormick Broiled steak seasoning (for putting on steak, does not contain any animal products)
1 T. wheat germ, ground flax, or other coarsely ground gluten free "Flour"
1/4 c. oats
1/2 can garbanzo beans, drained, liquid reserved
1 - 2 T. dried parsley

Combine lentils, 3 cups water, onion, and 1 1/2 cubes bouillon. Boil slowly until lentils are completely tender. Remove from heat and mash slightly with a hand masher. You dont want them pureed, still mostly chunky. Stir in gravy packet. Lentils should still have some of their cooking liquid left though not much. Once the gravy packet is stirred in it should be thick.

While the lentils are cooking, boil remaining one cup of water with 1/2 bouillon cube. When water is boiling and cube is dissolved, add rice. Cover and simmer until rice is al dente. Remove from heat and add remaining bouillon cube. Cover tight and let sit 10 minutes until rice is all the way tender and cube is dissolved. Bouillon will kinda form a "glaze", stir to evenly coat rice.

Puree Garbanzo beans with 1 or 2 tablespoons or reserved liquid. You want them about the consistency of egg whites.

Combine lentils, rice, pureed garbanzo beans, and remaining ingredients. Form into balls. Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet at 450 for 30 minutes or until golden on the outside, tuning half way though.

Makes 2-1/2 to 3 dozen 1 inch meatballs

For Sausage leave out the allspice, nutmeg, chili, and steak seasoning. Replace with sausage seasonings to taste

Sausage seasonings
1 tbsp smoked Spanish paprika
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (or to taste)
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp fennel seed
1/2 tsp celery seed
1 tsp sage
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp. marjoram
1/2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder