 I love a good tomato soup! Heck, I love soups! I love taking them for lunch because it's so quick and easy to throw into a container and go out the door! Tomato soup has a special place in my heart though! It brings back some great childhood memories! This tomato soup is loaded with vitamins, nutrients, and antioxidants, and it's packed full of flavor! The pasta in this soup helps not only to thicken it but also to fill you up! I must warn you, this soup is addicting! I adapted this recipe to be vegan. The original recipe is from Cooking Light and I was making it for years! After I went vegan, I noticed that this recipe can easily be adapted! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
Ingredients: 2 tbs. Earth Balance Butter (you can use the sticks or the spread)
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrot
1/3 cup chopped celery
1 & 1/2 cups veggie broth
1 tsp. dried basil or 2 tsp. fresh basil
1/4 tsp. black pepper
28-ounce can of diced tomatoes (Do Not Drain)
1 cup uncooked small pasta (you can use stars, alphabets or mini rings)
1 cup unsweetened plain soy milk How To: Cook the pasta according to package instructions. While you are preparing the noodles you can start your prep for your veggies.
In a saucepan, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrot, and celery and sauté until tender. Add the broth, basil, pepper, and tomatoes. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup of the cooked pasta and remove from heat.
In a food processor or blender add half of the mixture and blend until smooth. Place in a large bowl and repeat the process for the other half. Add the mixture back to the saucepan and stir in the soy milk and the remaining pasta. Cook on medium-high heat until heated all the way through (about 2 minutes).
 * * * * *
This recipe gets 5 MAJOR stars from both my husband and I. Not only is this recipe really easy to cook up, it also tastes amazingly delicious! I say "amazingly" because the ingredients are so simple but yet they create this mouthwatering, flavorful dish! I found this recipe on Pinterest from Christine at the Hippy Homemaker blog. Christine found this recipe on the Chloe's Kitchen blog but I couldn't locate the original recipe on the website. However, I'm VERY grateful to have found it on Christine's blog because this is by far one of my most favorite lasagnas! I was hesitant on cooking up a vegan lasagna because I was afraid that it wouldn't be the same as the non-vegan lasagnas but this recipe really blew my husband and me away. This recipe will definitely go on my favorites list!
What I Did Differently: Overall Thoughts: We are actually making this again because it was so great! The leftovers are perfect for lunch during the work week too! This will be my go to recipe for lasagna. My husband said that I shouldn't change a thing!
 This soup is one of my all-time favorites! It's savory, creamy, filling, it's easy to make, and it's packed full of vitamins and nutrients. I love a good hearty soup on cooler weather days and lately it's been feeling more like fall in Wisconsin. I always make up a huge pot of this because it's so darn delicious! My husband and I usually make one dinner out it and then we take the leftovers for lunch for the rest of the week. This soup is so hearty that it can stand as a meal all on its own! This soup also freezes well!
Ingredients: 1 oz. dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked in 1 cup hot water
3 tbs. sesame oil
24 oz. of baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 medium onion, diced
2 carrots, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
8 cups mushroom broth
2 cups unsweetened soy milk
2 cups water
11 oz. package quick barley
3-4 cups fresh kale, stems removed and roughly chopped
6 tablespoons Bragg Liquid Aminos
1 tbs. minced fresh thyme
1 tbs. dried dill
1 tsp. pepper How To: Place the dried shiitake mushrooms in a bowl and pour one cup of boiling water over the mushrooms and submerge them completely (I used a glass 2 cup measuring cup and placed a small bowl on top of the mushrooms to submerge them). Set aside and let soak for at least 10 minutes.
In a large stock pot over medium heat, add the sesame oil, baby bella mushrooms, onion, carrots, and celery. Cover and cook until the mushrooms & onions are tender.
Meanwhile, remove the shiitake mushrooms and reserve the water. Slice the shiitake mushrooms and add them to the pot of veggies along with the garlic and sauté for two minutes.
Add the reserved water from the shiitake mushrooms along with the rest of the ingredients. Cover, reduce heat to medium low, and allow to simmer for about 30 minutes or until the barley puffs up and is tender. The barley will puff up before 30 minutes but I like to let the soup cook a little longer to allow the flavors to develop more.
 So Sunday afternoon my husband and I got back from grocery shopping and we were a bit hungry. I wanted to make something quick and I had a huge juicy tomato calling my name! So, I decided to make a sandwich but I wanted to make something that was a bit more fancy...something that you would expect at a little café or casual restaurant. My husband has always liked the Tomato & Mozzarella Panini from Starbuck's. I wanted to do something similar to this but with a bit of a twist and make it vegan, of course! So, I set out to make one heck of a Tomato Basil Café Sandwich! I think this was a huge success because my husband was saying the other night that he wanted me to make more of these sandwiches! This recipe makes 2.
Ingredients: 2 Vegan French Baquette rolls (I found mine at the local grocery store, Pick N' Save)
Olive oil
4 large tomato slices
1/3 chopped basil
4 slices of Follow Your Heart Vegan Gourmet Mozzarella
2 tbs. Veganaise
Salt & pepper to taste How To: Turn on the broiler. Slice the rolls in half length-wise without cutting all the way through the other end (like a hot dog bun). Place the rolls on a cookie sheet. Brush the inside of the rolls with olive oil or use an olive oil pump sprayer to coat (I used the sprayer so I'm not sure how much you would use if you brush the inside but the goal is to get a light coating of oil). Place 2 tomato slices on the bottom half of each bun & place a slice of mozzarella on each tomato slice.
In a small bowl combine the basil with enough olive oil to make a sauce (about 2 tbs.). Evenly divide the sauce and drizzle on top of the tomatoes & mozzarella. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
Place under the broiler and cook until cheese is bubbly and melted (about 5 minutes). Remove from the oven. Now that the cheese is soft you can spread it a bit more on
the tomatoes if you like ! Spread the top half of each bun with a tablespoon of veganaise. Enjoy!
 * * * * *
I give this recipe 5 stars! It's such a simple recipe to make and it tastes absolutely delicious! I found this recipe on Pinterest and it's from Ashley at the Edible Perspective blog. Besides the time that it takes to soak the cashews, this meal can be made up in about 10-15 minutes (if you already have tortillas or tortilla chips on hand)! I really love the cashew cream because it complimented the other flavors in the dish. I like that the cream didn't have any nutritional yeast in it because I find that when recipes use nutritional yeast as the main "cheese" flavoring that it's overpowering. I love to sprinkle a bit of nutritional yeast on top of dishes as an alternative to parmesan cheese but as far as making it the main flavor for a "cheese" replacement...no way! I've tried several vegan macaroni & cheese dishes that used varying amounts of nutritional yeast as the main "cheese" flavoring ingredient and I personally found it disgusting. This recipe however, is right up my alley and it tastes fantastic! My husband and I made this our meal for dinner last night & it was perfect!
What I Did Differently: I didn't make the corn tortillas because I had some really nice organic white flour tortillas on hand. So, I just toasted up the tortillas in a pan, without any oil, until crispy and then broke it up into pieces. It worked perfectly! I also added a bit more salt and cumin to the cashew mixture because I used a little more water. Overall Thoughts: I will definitely make this again! Next time, I would love to make my own corn tortillas because I think it would make this dish even more spectacular!
 Lately I've been finding myself on a wrap kick for lunch. They're so easy to make and it's the perfect way to use up the leftover produce from the week's dinners. It's also a great way to get your veggies in for the day! This wrap is probably the simplest one I've made yet and it's super good and highly satisfying! For as simple as the dressing is for this wrap it's still extremely flavorful! You could even serve this for dinner with some veggies and hummus on the side (check out my recipe for Red Pepper Hummus).
Ingredients: 1 tortilla wrap
1 & 1/2 cup lettuce (I used romaine)
1/4 cup cucumber, roughly chopped
1/2 of a roma tomato, roughly chopped
1/4 of an avocado, sliced
1/4 cup shredded carrots
1 slice of red onion, chopped
5-6 kalamata olives
olive oil
red wine vinegar
salt & pepper, to taste
oregano How To: Place all of the veggies in the center of the wrap. Drizzle with olive oil (I used about 1 tablespoon) & sprinkle with the red wine vinegar. Sprinkle with some salt, freshly cracked pepper, and oregano. Fold the bottom of the wrap up about 1-2 inches and then fold the left & right side in. Viola! Lunch is served!
 This hummus can be whipped up in 10 minutes or less! This recipe is simple to make and is perfect for a light lunch or served as an appetizer. It's been really hot lately (above 90 degrees all week and really high humidity) and this weather has me craving some light and refreshing foods. This is what I served myself up for lunch and it really hit the spot and helped me to beat the heat!
Ingredients: 15 oz. can garbanzo beans, rinsed & drained
1/2 of a red pepper, quartered
2 tbs. tahini
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 garlic clove, smashed
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. salt or to taste How To: Toss all of the ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth making sure to scrap the sides one time! Allow to chill for 30 minutes or you can eat some now and refrigerate the rest for later (that's what I did)!
 If you're looking for a quick and easy lunch or lighter dinner that's loaded with veggies, high in protein, and packed full of flavor then this recipe is for you! This wrap could easily be served up with some soup or perhaps a side of hummus and fresh-cut veggies! Either way you serve it, this wrap is great! This recipe makes 2 servings.
Ingredients: Sauce:
3 tbs. Veganaise
1 tbs. Dijon mustard
1 tbs. Maple syrup
1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper
1 tbs. fresh parsley, minced *optional
1 tsp. fresh thyme, minced *optional
(If you have the fresh herbs listed above that's great but if you don't this sauce still tastes awesome! I chose to use the herbs because I had them in my garden.)
For The Wraps:
2 tortilla wraps (I chose spinach)
2 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
1/2 of a plum tomato, diced
1/3 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 cup cucumber, chopped (I did 1/4" thick slices and then quartered them)
1/2 of an avocado, sliced
1/2 cup shelled edamame, cooked (See Note at Bottom)
1 dill pickle, diced *optional
1/3 cup matchstick carrots
2 tsp. sesame seeds How TO: In a small bowl, combine all of the ingredients for the sauce and whisk by hand until completely blended.
Place the wrap on a flat surface and add half of all of the veggies to each wrap in the order listed above making sure to place the veggies more towards one side of the wrap.
Drizzle the veggies with the Maple Dijon Sauce and sprinkle each wrap with 1 tsp. sesame seeds. Tuck in the ends of the wrap and tightly fold over the veggie filled part of the wrap, give it a gentle tug to tighten the roll, and then roll to the end of the wrap. It's important to wrap it as tightly as you can so that it doesn't fall apart when you eat it! You can cut it in half if you'd like. Yummy! Enjoy!
* I had some frozen shelled edamame in my freezer. I just threw some in a pot, covered it with water, brought it to a boil (uncovered), and boiled it for 3 minutes. Then I strained it, rinsed it with cold water, and drained well.
|
RSS Feed