Tag Archives: Vegan

Tofu Scramble

Posted on by
Tofu Breakfast Scramble

Tofu Breakfast Scramble

 

My daughter loves tofu–loves it!  Lately she has been refusing to eat breakfast, I think mainly because she tires of having the same thing over and over.  One of my favorite natural restaurant’s serves a tofu scramble which I adore.  I thought I’d give it a try in my own kitchen, in hopes that my daughter would enjoy it–she did.  She actually thought this was a real egg scramble–she kept saying “mmmm egg’s are good for you?” This is equivalent to her seal of approval.  So everyone is happy when I make this;-) Mommy win!!

Pin It!

Pin It!

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Total time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

7 ounces of soft tofu

1/4 teaspoon ground tumeric

1/2 cup of diced onion

1/2 cup of diced red or green bell pepper

sea salt and black pepper to taste

1 tablespoon of olive oil

Directions: Heat oil in a skillet, add bell pepper and red onion and saute until the onion is translucent, about 4 minutes, add in the tumeric and cook for 20-30 seconds:

image

Add in the tofu and break up with a fork, mix until the tumeric, onions and bell pepper have been well incorporated into the tofu, and the tofu has been warmed-about 3-4 minutes.

image

Transfer to a serving bowl and enjoy.

image

Cucumber Salad with Lemon Basil Vinaigrette

Posted on by
Lemon and basil Cucumber Salad

Lemon and basil Cucumber Salad

I have a confession to make, sometimes I make salad when I don’t want to cook a side—okay maybe I do that more than sometimes, I do it a lot. There is a reason I named this blog lazy girl dinners.  This salad is a result of me being lazy and needing to use the ingredients I had on hand.  It was a hit with both my husband and my daughter.  It was the first time I got her to eat cucumber without chewing it up and spitting it out. Slicing them with my spiral vegetable slicer had everything to do with that because when it comes to getting her to eat something, it always comes down to texture.

Pin It!

Pin It!

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: none

Total time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

2 large cucumbers sliced thinly

4 tablespoons of lemon juice

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 tablespoon of fresh basil, finely chopped

Sea Salt to taste

Directions:

Add the lemon juice, olive oil, sea salt, and basil to a small bowl and whisk together. Spoon as much of the viniagrette as you’d like over a serving of the cucumbers and enjoy!Note: If you are serving this at a dinner party–yes it’s lazy but it’s elegant and very delicious–then be sure to spoon the vinaigrette over the salad just before serving, otherwise the cucumbers will loose their crunch and get soggy.

image

Gingered Greens

Posted on by
Gingered Rainbow Chard

Gingered Rainbow Chard

I am fortunate enough to live close to a few natural foods markets.  One of the natural foods markets that I frequent has an onsite restaurant, it happens to serve only vegan food, and the food is amazing.  My best friend and I used to make it a Sunday routine to meet there for brunch and then shop for groceries together afterwards. It was the best of both worlds for both of us, we both have a love of food and food shopping, and of course spending time together.  One of my favorite dishes at this natural foods market restaurant was a dish called gingered greens.  It hit all the right notes for me, tangy and soul satisfying all at the same time! We always asked the waiters to tell us what was in this dish, because of course we wanted to remake it at home, but every time we asked we’d get different answers or worse no answer at all. Needless to say I’ve tried this dish several times with less than stellar results. This week when I went to my local farmers market, they had rainbow chard, and I thought, this is my chance to get it right! Maybe it took me going into this with a bit of confidence, or maybe it was just a stroke of luck, I don’t know, but I think I struck gold with this one!

Pin It!

Pin It!

Ingredients:

4 cups of rainbow chard, chopped

3 small cloves of garlic, grated

1/2 teaspoon of ginger grated

1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar

1 tablespoon of olive oil or ghee

2 tablespoons of cilantro roughly chopped

Sea Salt to taste

Directions:  Heat the oil along with the ginger and garlic for 20-30 seconds

image

Add in the chard, saute until the greens wilt, then add the apple cider vinegar

image

Cook for another 5-7 minutes or until the greens are tender, season with a little sea salt, add in cilantro, transfer to a bowl and enjoy!

image

Creamy Avocado Pepita Dressing

Posted on by
Creamy Avocado Pumpkin Seed Salad Dressing

Creamy Avocado Pumpkin Seed Salad Dressing

 

One of my daughters first foods was avocado.  Aside from it being an easy go to for me, because it didn’t involve cooking or complicated prep, it was the perfect food for her nutritionally. For a year of her life she ate smashed avocado gleefully without complaint. I was sort of heart broken when she suddenly decided that she’d had enough of it and started to refuse to eat it.  As you all know from reading this blog, nothing makes me happier than when my daughter eats her veggies. This week when I was at the farmers market, I picked up a few avocados from my avocado guy, just so I could make this salad dressing for her. Recently she has taken to eating salad, but only if the salad is well dressed, preferably with a salad dressing that she loves.  This particular dressing is awesome! There isn’t one bad thing in it, not one! If you love the mayo based Pepita salad dressing served at El Torito, then you’ll love this even more!  I prefer it thick and undiluted, but you can make it thinner by adding either water, or oil, until your desired thinness has been achieved. You can use raw pumpkin seeds, but I prefer the nutty flavor of pumpkin seeds when roasted for this dressing.

Pin It!

Pin It!

 

 

 

 

Prep Time: 5-7 minutes

cook Time: none

Total time: 5-7 minutes

 

Ingredients:

1 Avocado
4 teaspoons of lemon juice
4 tablespoons of pumpkin seeds roasted
Sea salt black pepper
2 cloves of garlic
1 tblsp of olive oil
Water (optional)

Directions: place all ingredients in a small blender and process until smooth. It you’re using water add it 1 tablespoon at a time until you reach your desired consistency, drizzle over salad greens, toss well, then serve! My daughter loved this, and we did too! It is so good!!!!

Creamy Avocado Pumpkin Seed Salad Dressing

 

White Bean and Kale Soup

Posted on by
Kale and White Bean Soup

Kale and White Bean Soup

 

I feel like I haven’t shared enough vegetarian recipes with you guys, at least not as a full meal. My daughter is just beginning to appreciate veggies the way my husband and I do…thank God, I was beginning to worry she would be one of those kids who would refuse everything green. But somehow, and by the grace of god she has taken to eating veggies. While I was making this she kept reaching up to steal pieces of carrots! It made my heart leap with every bite she took! She loves this soup, and I love that she loves it, because it’s nothing but veggies!

Pin It!

Pin It!

 

 

 

 

Prep time: 10-15 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Total time: 35-40 minutes

Ingredients:

1 bushel of organic kale, sliced thinly

1 cup of shallots, chopped

1 cup of carrots, cubed

1 cup of celery, cubed

3 cloves of garlic, chopped

3/4 cup of white wine Sauvignon Blanc

4 cups of vegetable stock

1.5 tablespoons of lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon of thyme

Sea salt and black pepper to taste

2 tablespoons of olive oil

15 oz can of Organic white beans, drained and rinsed

Directions: Heat the oil on medium heat, add garlic, shallots, celery, and carrots, cook until tender,

image

add in thyme and kale, sauté for 5 minutes.

image

Add in the wine, vegetable stock and beans, bring to a boil and cook until greens are tender about 15 minutes. Add in lemon juice,  adjust the seasoning with sea salt and black pepper, serve and enjoy!

image

Persian Cucumber and Tomato Salad

Posted on by
Persian Cucumber and Tomato Salad

Persian Cucumber and Tomato Salad

My daughter has reached a turning point in eating! I have a feeling it has a lot to do with the fact that she her 2 year molars are coming in, which makes things easier to chew. But in the last few weeks we’ve seen a change in her mindset too. She’s taken to saying “to eat is good for you?” Or insert name of food item “is good for you?” If we say yes, then she eats it! I feel like I’ve struck the mommy lotto because now things she wouldn’t consider eating, she’s now eating, all because we say it’s good for her. One of the things I have been trying to get her to eat, but she never would, is cucumbers. It has been a complete over night shift! She wouldn’t touch them before, but now she loves them because they’re good for her. She also loves tomatoes, this Persian salad is one of my favorite salads to order when we go out for Persian food. So I thought I’d try it out on her and of course she loved it! I’m not a big fan of onions in my salads, because they tend to over power the rest of the ingredients in a salad. I don’t know where I learned this tip, but soaking the onions in water before adding them to things, mellows the onions a bit. I let them sit for 5-10 minutes and drain them before adding them to my salad, the onions still have flavor, but less of a “oh my god I just ate a raw onion” bite! I prefer to use red onion, or shallots in this recipe, but brown onion works just as well.

Pin It!

Pin It!

 

 

 

 

Prep time: 5-10minutes
Cook time : none

Ingredients:
1 cup Organic Persian Cucumber cubed
1 cup of organic cherry Tomatoes quartered or halved
3 tablespoons of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Sea salt to taste
2 tablespoons of red onion finely chopped, soaked in water for ten minutes then drained just before adding them to salad.

Directions:
Add all the ingredients to a bowl toss well and enjoy!

image

Mint-Chocolate Tofu Pudding

Posted on by
Peppermint-Chocolate Pudding

Peppermint-Chocolate Pudding

One of the great things about Tofu, is it’s ability to take on flavors. My recipe for Tofu fried chicken is a prime example of that! If you haven’t tried that yet, then you might want to do so, and pair it with this recipe. I love puddings, and Justice De La Torre our staff Nutritionist has taught me many ways to enjoy them without the guilt of added sugars, or ingredients that aren’t so good for me. Like my recipe for Chocolate Avocado pudding—hey don’t knock it until you try it! I’ve yet to serve it to anyone who didn’t convert! Try it! If tofu or avocado are not your ingredients of choice, my recipe for Chocolate pots de Creme will more than suit your taste buds. They’re super creamy and so delicious, the perfect dessert for Valentines day, or any day! My daughters first experience with peppermint was with peppermint bark candy at Christmas. She fell in love with the flavor of peppermint and chocolate. So much so that for a while she referred to plain peppermint candies as peppermint bark. Since Valentines day is tomorrow, I decided to give my love, what she loves, chocolate mint, but in the form of pudding. She loves it. I almost didn’t get a picture to share with you guys, because she couldn’t wait for me to take pictures she wanted to eat it as soon as it was done.

Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes
Total time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
4 ounces of semi sweet dark organic chocolate (60%) melted or 1/3 cup of powdered chocolate
5 tablespoons of maple syrup or agave
1/2 teaspoon of peppermint extract
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1 14 oz package of silken or soft Non-GMO organic tofu

Directions:
Melt the chocolate over a pot of water with a double boiler. Drain the tofu and place in a blender and blend until smooth, add in both extracts, your choice of sweetener, and the melted chocolate.
image
Blend until smooth, place in a glass bowl and chill for at least 30 minutes. Serve with whipped cream or just enjoy sans whipped cream.

image

Smashed Potatoes

Posted on by
Smashed Potaoes

Smashed Potaoes

I love potatoes! Love them!!! Any diet that excludes potatoes isn’t a diet I’d ever be on. When my friends even mention going on a low carb diet, I tell them “good luck with that, I’ll be over here with my potatoes and apples! Not going to happen for me, but I wish you the best of luck!” I subscribe to the eat a little of everything and nothing will become a problem diet. The only thing I restrict from my diet are processed foods. If it’s not a real, whole food, then I don’t eat it. This system has worked for me all of my life, so I think I will stick to it. With that said, I love this particular recipe for potatoes, they’re the perfect combination of a fried potato and a baked potato, just delish! I used an Italian dried spice blend, but you can use any spices that you like. I also used multi-color potatoes. Purple, blue and red potatoes are great for you, they have more antioxidants than white potatoes!

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:
15-20 small organic fingerling potatoes or small Yukon gold potatoes
3-4 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon of Sea salt and more to taste
1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning

Directions:
Pre heat your oven to 425F. Line a cookie sheet with foil and set aside. To a medium pot add potatoes, sea salt and enough water to cover the potatoes, bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil the potatoes until they are fork tender about 10 minutes. Drain the water from the potatoes then place them on the foil lined cookie sheet. Smash each potato with the back of a spoon, you want to expose the flesh. Season each potato with sea salt, and Italian seasoning, then drizzle olive oil over each potato.

image

Place the cookie sheet in the oven, and cook until the potatoes take on a golden brown color, about 10-15 minutes. Remove from oven and serve immediately!

image