Black Bean and Brown Rice Burrito in a Collard Leaf Wrapper

Today has been another glorious weather day at our house. There is nothing better than spending time outside when the weather is nice. Of course I spent quite of bit of time reading about nutrition, you are shocked I know, LOL. I spent so much time engrossed in my book I lost track of time. Again this is nothing new since I frequently lose myself in a nutrition or health book. I get so engrossed reading about nutrition that time seems to stand still.

After hearing about a raw burrito earlier today from Courtney I was craving one. Raw was out of the question because I didn’t have anything on hand that I could use for filling. But I knew I could make a cooked variation so that is what we had tonight. Here is what I made:

Black Bean and Brown Rice Burrito in a Collard Leaf Wrapper
Serves 2 generously

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup cooked brown rice
1 ½ cup cooked black beans
1 cup raw asparagus, cut into thin coins
2/3 cup salsa (for filling), or to taste
¼ teaspoon cumin seed toasted and ground
¼ teaspoon chili powder
¼ teaspoon oregano, dried
¼ teaspoon paprika
6 collard leaves, stems shaved flat and end removed
6 tablespoons vegan cheese sauce, for garnish
3 tablespoons scallions thinly sliced for garnish
3 tablespoons salsa, for garnish
3 kalamata olives, for garnish
3 tablespoons cilantro, for garnish

Directions:

Combine the black beans, rice, asparagus, salsa, and spices and stir to combine. Warm to approximatley room temperature and taste for seasoning, adjust as necessary for your taste. Heat the filling to the temperature you desire before filling the wraps. Take 1/6th of the bean mixture and roll it into each leaf. Top the filled collard with warm vegan cheese sauce, salsa, slivered olives and cilantro.

Serve it with a knife and fork. If you prefer you can julienne the collards and use them as the greens on the bottom of the filling as a salad. Dan prefers the salad option and I like the filled leaves. This would also be good with some tofu tahini sauce if you happen to have that on hand. Sliced avocado would also be a good addition but I didn’t want to add the fat since Dan was going to be having dessert after dinner. ;-)

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 465.05
Calories From Fat (12%) - 54.4

Total Fat - 6.39g
Saturated Fat - 0.95g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 775.69mg
Potassium - 1335.28mg
Total Carbohydrates - 85.91g
Fiber - 20.89g
Sugar - 6.67g
Protein - 21.44g

Comments:

This wrap has a lot of flavor and is easy to put together if you keep cooked rice and beans on hand. For me this came together in very quickly. There is nothing like a meal that ready in minutes to make me happy.   This is a very filling recipe. I was only able to eat two of the three wraps which means lunch for tomorrow is in the refrigerator.

Each serving of this recipe contains approximately 5,200IU of vitamin A, 30mg of vitamin C, 200mg of calcium, 6.8mg of iron, 340mcg of folate, 330mcg of vitamin K, 430mcg of phosphorus, and 215mg of magnesium. In my opinion this is decent nutrition for such a quick and easy meal.

Unrelated Note:

I didn’t spend as much time in the kitchen as I had planned to but instead decided to enjoy the weather while it lasts. However I did find time to make black beans and rice for the refrigerator inventory for later in the week. I also made another batch of the reduced fat peanut butter. I tried a little of the peanut butter before I drained the oil and whipped water into it and I can safely say I really prefer this reduced fat method.

Dan came from work tonight with the nicest compliment from one of the guys he works with. Apparently Dan’s lunch is appealing to omnivores, or at least one omnivore. Thank you Jason, I really appreciate the compliment and liked your idea. ;-) According to what I heard from Dan his raw Mexican macaroni and cheese was appealing to Jason.

That is going to be it for me tonight. It is time for me to clean up the kitchen and relax. I hope you are all having a good evening. Talk to you tomorrow.

Aqua Fresca Lemon Green Tea with Chia

Good morning everyone. I hope you had a good Monday. Mine was good, not quite as productive as it should have been, but enjoyable. Today I have a few things I need to accomplish. However I wanted to get a quick post in before I start my offline day.

The weather seems to be trying to turn warmer here which is a very good thing. This drink is something I make when the weather is warm. It is my healthy variation of lemonade. I took the broad concept of aqua fresco and added green tea for its healthful properties. Here is what I made this morning in place of hot green tea:

Aqua Fresca Lemon Green Tea with Chia
Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 cups water
4 green tea bags (I prefer Japanese green tea since it contains more EGCG)
1 lemon zested and juiced
1 tablespoon white chia seeds (whole or ground depending on what texture you want in the drink)
Stevia, used to sweeten to taste
2 cups ice cubes

Directions:

Steep your green tea for 10 minutes in order to get the maximum EGCG from the leaves. Add the lemon zest and juice and the chia seeds. Stir vigorously, or combine the ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake to distribute. Add as much stevia as you desire. Serve over ice and consume within 2 hours, before the EGCG deteriorates.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 32.68
Calories From Fat (29%) - 9.52

Total Fat - 1.21g
Saturated Fat-  0.13g
Cholesterol 0mg - 0%
Sodium - 15.44mg
Potassium - 223.09mg
Total Carbohydrates - 6.67g
Fiber - 1.91g
Sugar-  0.83g
Protein - 0.77g

Comments:

When I first started drinking this I ground the chia seeds so that all they did was add a little thickness to the beverage. However once I tried adding them whole I actually prefer that texture in the drink. It reminds me of Thai bubble tea, only with much smaller spheres.

Chia is something I bought because it was being touted as the new super food in the press. However the more research I did less enthused I was with them. Don’t get me wrong they aren’t unhealthy but they just aren’t worth the price for everyday use. The omega 3 to omega 6 ratio is good but they are not a good source of lignans like flaxseeds and I wanted the cancer protection. Since chia seeds cost 4 to 5 times as much as flaxseeds I save them for making beverages and desserts. I will continue to buy them, however they will be used more sparingly than flaxseeds at our house.  For me it is a function of cost benefit analysis. I don’t mind spending money on health but I want to get the maximum bang for what we are consuming.

Unrelated notes:

I need to run for now. Today is going to be busy for me. There are quite a few things I need to do and we have an appointment today as well. I hope you are all having a good Tuesday. Talk to you later.

Mexican Monday: Sopa de Fideos

How was your Monday? Good I hope. Mine was full of email and spring cleaning. But both went swimmingly well. When I was chatting with Brandi today we got on the topic of what we keep in our respective pantries. I sent her a few pictures of mine which lead to our discussing dinner. What else do food friends talk about? LOL. The conversation always has a food component at some point. When she said she was going to make taco soup I asked what I should make. She quickly replied “Sopa de Fideos” after seeing the can of hominy in my pantry. Since this is Monday and my friend Heather almost always does Mexican Monday I knew this was meant to be. That is how dinner came about tonight.

I am sure you all know me well enough by now to realize I wasn’t going to make it traditional and that it was going to be healthy. Sopa de fideoas translates into soup with noodles. So I went with that concept. Traditionally it has a tomato component as well, still good. But then I went left. I decided to make the soup a one dish meal (with a salad of course). For protein I added black beans and a few additional tweaks. Here is what I did:

Sopa de Fideos
serves 4 as a meal

Soup Ingredients:

½ cup black beans (dry) or sub 15 ounce can drained
Water to cover the dry beans by at least an inch
2 medium onions, peeled and finely diced
10 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
28 ounces diced tomatoes
15 ounce can hominy
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon oregano, dried
1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
2 cups of water (so the pasta has enough room to swim in the soup)
4 ounces whole wheat spaghetti, broken into 1 inch lengths

Garnish ingredients:

1 avocado, diced
2 lime, zested and juiced
Tofu sour cream, if desired (which I make without oil now but it is otherwise the same)
Fresh cilantro, if desired
½ red bell pepper, finely diced, if desired

Directions:

If you are using the dry beans cook them in water with the onion, garlic and spices until the beans are tender. The exact time will depend on the age of the dried beans. I did not soak mine and they were tender in an hour today.

If you are using canned beans cooked the onions and garlic in a cup or so of water until it is tender then proceed.

Add the remaining ingredients, except the pasta and garnish and bring the base to a boil. Now add the pasta and cook until it is tender (maybe 8 minutes). Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as desired.

Serve with avocado, lime zest, lime juice, tofu sour cream and or cilantro. I think the lime is essential but the other garnish ingredients can be omitted if you don’t have them on hand.

Nutritional Information: (includes the avocado and lime)

Amount Per Serving

Calories - 354.94
Calories From Fat (23%) - 81.29

Total Fat - 9.65g
Saturated Fat - 1.2g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 242.28mg
Potassium - 994.57mg
Total Carbohydrates - 61.39g
Fiber - 14.94g
Sugar - 10.74g
Protein - 11.43g
Comments:

This was a very quick meal to toss together. It also came out of my pantry with only minimal fresh ingredients. It reminds me of chili only less dense. I think this would be a great college meal. This would work well in a crock pot or rice cooker.

Mexican Food Classic Ingredients:

Matt (Doc Dufresne) asked me a while ago what things I keep in mind when I am creating dishes. Each country has its own foods that it gravitates toward. For Mexican food they are as follows:

Avocado
Beans
Chiles
Chocolate
Cilantro
Cinnamon
Corn
Cumin
Epazote (herb)
Garlic
Lime
Peppers
Rice
Scallions
Tomatoes
Vanilla

When I am creating dishes I try to stay fairly true to the foods the country would use. In this case cinnamon and vanilla would be weird so I left those out. But any of the other foods would have worked great in this dish. I hope that gives you some things to play around with when you are making your next “Mexican inspired” dish.

Unrelated note:

Today started on a very cold note. After reaching well into the 80’s last week this morning started at 39 degrees. The weather in May is always so unpredictable. Sandal weather one day, coat weather the next. I will be happy when Mother Nature makes up her mind that we are going to stay warm.

More purging happened today at my house. I have to say it really feels good to rid of things once you get started. Now the trick will be not to buy more things to fill up the empty spaces. Easier said than done I assure you. ;-)

I need to go clean up my kitchen and spend a little time with Dan. I will chat with you all tomorrow. Have a great evening.

Southwest Quinoa and Black Beans

Since Dan was home today I needed to whip something together for lunch. If I had been home alone I would have made a salad or quick soup in the Vitamix. Somehow that doesn’t seem to me to be an adequate meal for my hubby. When I want something quick that has a nice amount of protein I frequently turn to quinoa. This is what we had for lunch today with a little leftover for Dan’s lunch tomorrow:

Southwest Quinoa and Black Beans
Serves 3

Ingredients:

1 red onion, peeled and finely minced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
¼ cup water to sauté aromatics
1 chipotle in adobo, finely minced (2 if you like heat)
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon oregano, dried
1 teaspoon paprika
(chili powder, to taste, see note in comments section)
½ teaspoon black pepper
1 cup quinoa
2 cups water
1 cup black beans, cooked without salt
1 lemon, zested and juiced (or lime if you have one)
8 cups raw baby spinach, julienned
6 olives, pitted and slivered
3 tablespoons macadamia and pumpkin seed cheese
3 sun dried Roma tomato halves, julienned (not the ones in oil)

Directions:

Water sauté the onions and garlic until tender. Add to the pan the ingredient through beans and cook until the quinoa is tender (about 15 minutes). If you don’t want the quinoa to take on color from the beans you can add them after the quinoa is cooked. Taste for seasoning. You may want to add a little more heat (wet hots) or spice to taste.

To serve, top the raw spinach with quinoa (or stir it into the quinoa if you prefer it to wilt more). Top the quinoa with lemon zest, lemon juice, olives, nut cheese and tomatoes. This dish is good hot or cold.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 405.58
Calories From Fat (22%) - 88.54

Total Fat - 10.31g
Saturated Fat - 1.5g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 224.98mg
Potassium - 1276.57mg
Total Carbohydrates - 64.91g
Fiber - 13.96g
Sugar - 3.22g
Protein - 18.02g

Comments:

This turned out a little milder than I had anticipated. Next time I will use two chipotles and maybe a teaspoon of chili powder. But overall the flavor was good and the nutritional stats were nice for a one dish meal in less than 20 minutes. Fresh cilantro, corn and jalapeno would also be good in here if you have them on hand.

Each serving of this dish contains approximately 8,550IU of vitamin A, 50mg of vitamin C, 180mg of calcium, 7.9mg of iron, 360mcg of folate, 395mcg of vitamin K, 440mg of phosphorus, 250mg of magnesium, and 7mcg of selenium. Not too bad for under 20 minutes of work. I also like the fiber and protein content of this meal.

Unrelated Note:

My day is not going at all as I had originally planned. Having my hubby home until 2pm disrupted my schedule. ;-) Fortunately Dan’s head started feeling better and he has gone downtown to his office. We will see if I can get back on schedule. I am not hopeful. But tomorrow is another day.

For now I need to run so that I can get a few things accomplished before dinner. I hope you are all having a fabulous Wednesday. We are halfway to the weekend! Talk to you all again soon.

Mexican Topped Millet

Those of you that know me will not be surprised to hear I had to listen to all the lectures for course two of the e-Cornell certification today. I just can’t help myself. Apparently my type-A personality traits run very deep. I got a slow start this morning because I wasn’t able to focus. However once I got a little exercise I was able to get through the lectures. Needless to say this meant that I didn’t start dinner until Dan was on his way home from work. Thankfully it takes him about 20 minutes from door to door. On those days when I am short on time I rely on millet or quinoa since they cook quickly. Here is what I made tonight:

Mexican Topped Millet
Serves 4

Millet Ingredients:

1 ½ cups millet
2 cups water
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Salt, as desired (I didn’t use any)

Topping Ingredients:

1 yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced (allow to stand 10 minutes before heating so allicin can develop)
¼ cup water to sauté the aromatics
10 ounces Rotel tomatoes
1 ½ cups white beans, cooked without salt and drained
10 black olives, pitted and chopped
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon oregano, dried
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 pinch red pepper flakes
8 spears fresh asparagus, woody ends removed then thinly sliced
6 cups raw baby spinach, roughly cut
2 green onions, thinly sliced

Directions:

Combine the ingredients for the millet in a heavy saucepan with a lid and bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.

To make the sauce water sauté the onions and garlic until soft. Add the remaining ingredients except the asparagus, spinach and onions and cook over low heat will the millet is cooking. When the millet is done turn the heat off on the sauce and add the remaining ingredients and stir them into the sauce.

To serve top the millet with the sauce.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 473
Calories From Fat (13%) - 59.51

Total Fat - 6.67g
Saturated Fat - 0.76g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 490.33mg
Potassium - 969.57mg
Total Carbohydrates - 83.1g
Fiber - 16.38g
Sugar - 2.52g
Protein - 17.73g

Comments:

You may be asking why I added nutrition yeast and vinegar to the millet. I was trying to add a little background flavor without sodium. It did add some flavor but next time I will include an extra tablespoon of vinegar.

This is another dish that came together quickly because I keep cooked beans in the refrigerator and freezer. If you haven’t tried that “trick” yet I highly recommend it. It comes in very handy for me.

I think Heather and her love of Mexican food is rubbing off on me. I don’t normally make Mexican twice a week for dinner. However this was good and a nice change from the Italian, Asian or Middle Eastern food I normally make.

I added the spinach, asparagus and green onions at the very end of cooking so that they would retain as much nutrition as possible. Olive provided the fat so that we were able to absorb the fat soluble vitamins as well as adding salt.

Each serving of this contains approximately 5,100IU of vitamin A, 25mg of vitamin C, 155mg of calcium, 7mg of iron, 280mcg of folate, 250mcg of vitamin K, 400mg of phosphorus, and 190mg of magnesium. The stats for this are similar to most of my meals, which is a good thing.

To go with this we had a glass of fresh veggie and fruit juice like normal.

Unrelated note:

The second course in the e-Cornell program is much better than the first one. I was happy to hear new information presented by individuals that have not read before. I was also happy that the lectures were going into more detail. If anyone has any questions about course two feel free to send me an email or post a comment.

It will be nice to have things get back to normal tomorrow (no running around or school). I am considering spending half the day in the kitchen. Cooking is my therapy and I feel like I can use a little right now. Unless something comes up to ruin my plans you can expect to see a few recipes tomorrow. I have no idea what that means yet but there may be a new seitan sausage. I haven’t made a new one in while so that could be fun.

For now I am going to go and take care of a few things before it is time to turn in. I hope you all had a great day. I will chat with you tomorrow.

Enchiladas Stuffed with Beans, Veggies and Rice and Fresh Veggie Salsa

Weekend dinners with the elderly omni parents are always tough. Needless to say they are not concerned about health, though they should be. It is always tough to figure out what to make that is healthy enough for Dan and me yet tasty enough for them. This is why typically I will make pasta or something else with flour. While it isn’t something we eat during the week it seems to be what my parents prefer. This dish is mostly other ingredients with a little whole wheat flour, in the form of a tortilla. I found that half of one of these enchiladas was enough with fresh salsa and a salad on the side. But the remainder of the family ate a whole enchilada. Here is what I made last night for dinner.

Enchiladas Stuffed with Beans, Veggies and Rice and Fresh Veggie Salsa
Serves 5

Enchilada Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice (I used sprouted short grain brown rice)
2 cups water
1 yellow onion, peeled and finely diced
4 carrots, finely diced
2 celery, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
Water to sauté veggies (between ¼ and ½ cup)
1 teaspoon oregano, dried
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1 teaspoon paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
5 large whole wheat tortillas
14 ounces tomato sauce
Cumin, oregano, paprika and pepper for topping

Fresh Salsa Ingredients:

½ cup cherry tomatoes, diced
1 yellow pepper, diced
2 stalks celery, thinly sliced on a diagonal
½ cup cucumber thinly sliced in 1/4’s
½ cup savoy cabbage, thinly julienned
1 lime, zested and juiced
1 hass avocado, finely diced
Oregano, salt and pepper to taste
Tofu and tahini sauce, for topping – optional
Cilantro, for topping - optional

Directions:

Cook the rice and water and cool to approximately room temperature so that you can work with it.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Sauté the onion, garlic, carrot and celery in water until tender. Add the spices, rice and bean and mix until thoroughly combined. Taste the filling and add salt and pepper as desired.

Fill each tortilla with 1 cup of the mixture and roll up. Place in a baking pan with the seam side down. Top the filled enchiladas with tomato sauce. Sprinkle the top with cumin, oregano, paprika and pepper. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake for 45 minutes, until the fillings are hot.

To make the salsa, combine all the ingredients and stir gently to not break up the avocado. Serve the salsa cold on the side of the enchiladas.

Top with tofu and tahini sauce and cilantro when serving, if desired.

Nutritional information (doesn’t include optional ingredients):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 494.95
Calories From Fat (19%) - 92.92

Total Fat - 11.45g
Saturated Fat - 1.78g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium-  966.03mg
Potassium - 1348.76mg
Total Carbohydrates - 85.91g
Fiber - 23.15g
Sugar - 10.3g
Protein - 23.51g

Comments:

Since my mother isn’t tolerant of spicy food this is intentionally mild in terms of heat. If I were making this just for Dan and me there would be a chipotle pepper, Tabasco or crushed red peppers in this dish. I served this tonight with salsa on side and topped with tofu and tahini sauce. The sauce is always popular with my parents. My father slathered his enchilada in the tofu tahini sauce, and he knows it is tofu. I don’t think you can get a better endorsement for the sauce than that. Another thing that surprised me was that my father mentioned twice that he liked the fresh salsa. Since it didn’t include any oil this was a little out of the ordinary. I think the freshness and crunch of the salsa is important with the warmth and softness of the enchilada.

Each enchilada contains approximately 12,700IU of vitamin A, 78mg of vitamin C, 137mg of calcium, 6mg of iron, 200mcg of folate, 335mg of phosphorus, and 160mg of magnesium. Another very nutritious meal, even with the flour. I also like that this dish contains 23 grams of protein.

Unrelated note:

Today we have more to-do items to cross off our list. I probably won’t be back until dinner time. Today I will be playing around with combining panelle and polenta. I like making panelle, but haven’t made it since I stopped using oil so I wanted to make it again only a healthier version. I think it will make an interesting “cracker/bread” to hold toppings. The idea is to cook the mixture and then dehydrate it until it is crunchy. This may take longer than 8 hours, but the plan is to use it tonight. Since some of you don’t have a dehydrator I am baking part of this and dehydrating part. This idea came from our New Years Eve at the MiniBar at Cafe Atlantico a few months back. One of the dishes was a dehydrated cornbread. This recipe is my first attempt to play around with that concept. Wish me luck.

Talk to you guys later! I hope you are enjoying your weekend.

Where has that woman been?

Sorry I disappeared on you guys for a few days. Things are incredibly hectic at the moment but in a good way. Fingers crossed! However there is a lot of research to be done in a short period of time. I have been cooking a little but haven’t had time to document it let alone run nutrition numbers. I am hoping things will we back to normal sooner rather than later. You should know we have some things going on here that will result in my being mostly off line for about a week or so. But I will warn you before that happens.

Today has been busy again, but a little better than the last few days. I wanted to post dinner from last night, but as a method rather than a recipe. This is one of those things I make when I need a quick nutritious meal.

I water sauté onion and garlic and add a diced chipotle pepper, quartered crimini mushrooms, black beans and diced red bell pepper. Next add cumin, chili powder and cayenne to taste. I use this to top sweet potatoes that I cooked in the microwave. Next I topped the dish with fresh diced grape tomatoes, cilantro and squeeze of lime. I also added some avocado on the side to cool the heat from the chipotle and cayenne. If you need a quick meal this one can be ready in less than 10 minutes. Sometimes I need things that are no fuss like this. If you had tofu or cashew sour cream in the refrigerator that would also be great on top this.

Unrelated note:

My wheat grass seems to be doing well growing inside. There are many little shoots sprouting. It is too soon to call the project a success but I am definitely more hopeful than when I started. As soon as we have our first crop I will write a post on specifically how it is done and whether it is worth doing.

I need to get back to my research and also get my exercise in. But I hope to have more time this afternoon to make a proper dinner and post a recipe. That is my plan at the moment. Wish me luck. Cooking is something I find very therapeutic so I need a little kitchen time to help me get centered.

I hope you are all having a wonderful day. The skies are beautiful and blue here with hardly a cloud. I am going to try to spend a little time outside today. Talk to you again soon.

Spinach, Tofu and Bean Enchiladas

I find it a little difficult to figure out what to make for dinner when my parents are coming over. Knowing they are old and stuck in their ways makes cooking a challenge for me. I want things that are healthy enough for Dan and me yet something that my parents will enjoy. Tonight’s dinner was a big hit, which surprised me a little. Everyone, vegans and omnis enjoyed this dish. Here is what I made

Spinach Tofu and Bean Enchiladas

Serves 4 very generously

Ingredients:

1 yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
¼ cup water
10 ounces frozen spinach
14 ounces of firm tofu
4 cloves garlic, peeled
¼ cup nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon oregano, dried
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin seeds
4 tablespoons whole wheat flour
Salt and pepper to taste
1 cup pinto beans
4 whole wheat tortillas
14 ounces tomato sauce, no salt added
Salsa for topping (numbers assume 1 cup)
1 green onion, thinly sliced
¼ cup cilantro, minced

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees using the convection setting.
Water sauté the onion until tender. Microwave the spinach and squeeze it until dry.

Combine the tofu, garlic, nutritional yeast, oregano, chili powder, cumin, and flour in your food processor. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper as necessary.

Remove the tofu mixture to a mixing bowl. Add the spinach, onions and pinto beans to the tofu and stir to combine. Place ¼ of the tofu mixture in each tortilla and roll up. Place all the filled tortillas in a baking dish seam side down. Top the filled tortillas with tomato sauce. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated oven until they are heated through (at least 40 minutes).

To serve top with sliced green onions, minced cilantro and salsa.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories- 577.89
Calories From Fat (20%) - 113.27

Total Fat - 13.1g
Saturated Fat - 1.74g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 1365.48mg
Potassium - 5033.88mg
Total Carbohydrates - 80.77g
Fiber - 32.35g
Sugar - 12.47g
Protein - 48.56g

Comments:

The interior was creamy, yet firm. Adding the flour to the tofu helps it form a cheese like consistency. Spinach, onions and beans add nice textural variation to the filling. If you like spicy food please feel free to spice this dish up. One of my parents doesn’t like heat so my weekend meals tend to be blander than my weekday cooking. This is a good dish to feed to children (due to the mild heat level), or omnis since the tofu tastes more like cheese. You can give the dish more heat by adding spicy salsa on top for those that want the heat.

Unrelated Notes:

The weather here is starting to warm a little we reached the upper 30’s today. Except for the large piles of snow most of the blizzard has now melted. It is so nice to see the dirt again. I am now anxious to get into my garden. Do any of you garden? If so do you have anything fun planned this year for your garden? I have decided to try my hand at greens and chioggia beets this year in addition to my usual plantings. We will see how it goes; I am not the best gardener.

My plans this week include more spring cleaning (aka major cat hair removal), working on a new exercise routine and trying to plan a weekly menu. The weekly menu will probably give me the most trouble as I am not one who likes to plan my meals far ahead. If I succeed in planning a weekly menu I will post it to see if that helps me stick to it.  I have my doubts but we will see.

For now I am off to clean up the kitchen from dinner and enjoy the few hours that remain of the weekend.

Spanish Rice and Black Beans Topped with Queso

Last night for dinner we had a simple dinner of Spanish rice with black beans topped with cashew queso and a salad. This is an easy meal that you toss together quickly if you have the prepared beans on hand. When I make beans I always start with a pound and then use some immediately and freeze the remainder in containers equivalent to a can (1 ½ to 1 ¾ cups).

You can change this dish by adding any veggies you have on hand to the mix. Today is grocery shopping day at our house so the veggie selection was quite limited last night. In the past I have added broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, zucchini or sweet potatoes to this dish. All of them work fine and if you add enough of them this can easily become a one dish meal. Here is what we had last night.

Spanish Rice with Black Beans Topped with Queso
Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice
2 cups water
1 sachet of 4 bay leaves, 2 smashed garlic cloves and 12 black peppercorns
½ yellow onion, peeled and finely diced
4 cloves garlic, peeled and finely minced
2 carrots, finely diced
4 stalks celery, finely diced
¼ cup water
1 ½ cups cooked black beans
10 ounces rotel tomatoes with chilies
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
Cashew queso for the top of the dish

Directions:

Combine the rice, water and sachet and bring the water to a boil. Cover the pot, lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 35 minutes. If the water has been absorbed turn off the heat, put the lid back on the pot and allow the rice to sit undisturbed for 10 minutes to finish. Fluff with a fork.

Water sauté the onion, garlic, carrots and celery until soft. Add the black beans, tomatoes (with liquid), oregano, cumin, chili powder and cooked rice.  Cook until everything is hot, probably under 5  minutes.

To serve top the rice and beans with some of the cashew queso sauce. Fresh cilantro would be great on this dish.  I also finished with salt and freshly ground pepper.

I mostly followed the recipe for the queso sauce linked above except that I made the following changes:

• Eliminated the canned tomatoes and replaced them with a 10 ounce can of rotel
• Added 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast, since there were no omni’s eating this.
• Added oregano, cumin, and chili powder, all to taste

Nutritional Information (does not include queso):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 316.23
Calories From Fat (7%) - 23.06

Total Fat - 2.74g
Saturated Fat - 0.54g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 395.48mg
Potassium - 777.42mg
Total Carbohydrates - 63.75g
Fiber - 10.9g
Sugar - 4.11g
Protein - 11.52g
Comments:

This is one of our favorite quick dinners. We always have this with a big green salad to make certain we get plenty of nutrition. It is also great spicy if you want to add crushed red pepper flakes or hot crushed peppers (wet hots).

Each serving of this grain and bean dish contains approximately 8000IU of vitamin A, 100mg of calcium, 140mcg of folate, 300mg of phosphorus, 140mg of magnesium, and 13mcg of selenium.

Unrelated note:

Today I will be trying to set up my Wheatgrass Growing Kit. This is more than a little outside of my comfort zone. Additionally I am not the best gardener, although I do try, which makes this endeavor iffy at best. I will let you all know how easy it is to grow wheatgrass at home. If I can do, which only time will tell, then anybody can.

For now I am off to exercise. But will be back later with another green salad, this time with fruit and nuts. I hope you are all having a great day.

Lettuce Wraps for Dinner – Mexican and Pizza

In the spirit of the upcoming Healthy Challenge I made a quick dinner tonight from things in the refrigerator. This is another one of those recipes that is more of a method than an actual recipe. For dinner tonight we had two types of lettuce wraps.

The first wrap was Mexican inspired. I smeared some fat-free hummus in a romaine leaf. Then I added red pepper strips, cucumber slices, salsa, cilantro and sliced black olive. Both the hubby I really liked this. It is very much like our usual daily lunch salad, but somehow picking it up like a sandwich makes it seem different.

The second wrap I am calling the pizza wrap. Again I used romaine leaves to hold the sun-dried tomato cheeze and sun-dried tomato marinara. I sprinkled a little oregano on top.

These lettuce wraps tasted very different. The hubby liked the Mexican version better and I preferred the pizza version. Both were on the table in less than 5 minutes, including the time to photograph the dish. These would make a great lunch dish to be filled just before serving. Additionally, this would be a great way to have a raw pizza without a dehydrator.

Unrelated Note:

For now I am off to spend some time with my hubby. I hope you all have a great evening.

“Guacamole” Soup

Last night we went to a molecular gastronomy restaurant for dinner. It was a 28-course affair of small bites. The meal was simply amazing and something that we needed since we have had a rough year. One of the dishes we had was “guacamole” but that version was nothing like any guacamole I have ever thought of. It was a spicy tomato sorbet wrapped in paper-thin slices of avocado and shaped like a cigar. Needless to say the entire meal fueled my creative juices.

After a late night we also got moving late this morning. We had a quick green salad and this soup for brunch. Here is what I made.

“Guacamole” Soup
Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 Haas avocado, peeled and pitted
1 seedless cucumber, cut into chunks (1/8 or cucumber cut into dice for garnish)
1 Persian lime, zested and juiced
1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed
1 cup water
2 pinches salt
1 pinch black pepper
1 dash cayenne
1 pinch chili powder
6 grape tomatoes, cut into fine dice
1 teaspoon tofu sour cream for garnish (optional, but nice)
2 tablespoons broccoli sprouts

Directions:

Combine the avocado, cucumber chunks, lime zest. lime juice, garlic, water, salt, black pepper, cayenne, and chili powder in your blender. Puree until smooth. Taste for seasonings and adjust to your taste.

To serve pour the soup into a bowl and top with diced tomato, diced cucumber, tofu sour cream and broccoli sprouts. Serve cold.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 197.73
Calories From Fat (59%) - 116.26

Total Fat - 13.87g
Saturated Fat - 1.92g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 314.43mg
Potassium - 829.32mg
Total Carbohydrates - 20.45g
Fiber - 8.89g
Sugar - 3.39g
Protein - 3.92g

Comments:

This soup tastes like guacamole but the texture is completely different. At our house that is a good thing since my hubby doesn’t like the texture of avocado chunks. I added the cucumber to this soup because I also add it to guacamole, to reduce the calories and fat. Today I choose to top it with fresh tomatoes, but a nice salsa would also be fabulous on top this soup. A little finely diced red onion and cilantro would also be good on top this soup.

Each serving of this soup contains approximately over 800mg of potassium, 700IU of vitamin A, 35mg of vitamin C, 100mcg of folate, 44mcg of vitamin K, and 95mg of phosphorus. This soup does contain more fat than most of recipes, but it is mostly healthy monounsaturated fat.

Overall it is a nice soup with a light flavor and a little heat in the background. This is definitely something that I will be making again.

Unrelated note:

Since this is New Years Day we will be having a traditional southern lucky meal of black-eyed peas.

I hope you are all enjoying the holiday. I will be back later today with the black-eyed recipe.

Baked Whole Wheat Empanadas

I haven’t made empanadas since last fall. Mine are always baked now, not fried because it is healthier. For the same reason mine dough is whole and sprouted wheat and not white flour.

To keep our dinner healthier I served a few of these with a little guacamole to dip them in, along with a big green salad with hummus. Both the hubby and I enjoyed these tonight. Here is what I made.

Baked Whole Wheat Empanadas
Makes 20

Dough Ingredients:

1 cup whole-wheat flour
½ cup sprouted whole-wheat flour (or substitute whole wheat flour)
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon canola oil
½ cup warm water, or more

Filling Ingredients:

½ red onion, peeled and finely diced
½ cup water
1 tablespoon tomato paste
½ cup golden raisins
½ pound ground seitan
¼ teaspoon oregano, dried
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon chili powder
1 pinch salt
1 pinch pepper

1 tablespoon canola oil, for drizzling on top of finished prebaked empanadas

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line a half sheet pan with parchment paper, or silpat.

Place the dough ingredients in your food processor and process until combined. If the dough does not form a ball add a little more water, a tablespoon at a time until the dough forms. Wrap the finished dough in plastic cling film and set while you make the filling.

Water sauté the onion until soft. Add the remaining ingredients and stir to combine. You may need to add a little water or wine to encourage the tomato paste to meld with the other ingredients. Allow the filling to cool before placing in the dough.

Roll 1/6th of the dough as thin as you can. Cut out circles with your largest biscuit cutter (mine was approximately 3 inches). Place a tablespoon of the filling in the center of the dough and use your fingers to seal the dough. Then use a fork to crimp the edges. Place the empanada on the half sheet pan. Continue until all the dough has been used.

Drizzle the top of the empanadas with a little canola oil (I may have used a tablespoon), or spray the tops of the empanadas with canola oil spray. Bake the empanadas for 30 minutes until firm.

Serve hot with guacamole or lime flavored tofu sour cream for dipping.

Nutritional Information (for 1/20th of the recipe):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 76.2
Calories From Fat (23%) - 17.62

Total Fat - 2.19g
Saturated Fat - 0.2g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 145.63mg
Potassium - 80.35mg
Total Carbohydrates - 12g
Fiber - 1.84g
Sugar - 2.84g
Protein - 4.47g

Comments:

I was chatting with Rose today and she mentioned ravioli and after that I had filled dough on the brain. Since it had been so long since I made empanadas I thought they would taste good tonight. The hubby was quite quick to agree with me that this was a good idea for dinner. While this isn’t exactly health food, when the meal is more veggie than empanada it is still healthy.

Unrelated note:

Dan is taking tomorrow off so we are spending the day together. I don’t expect to be online much tomorrow and it may be Wednesday before I get another recipe posted, it depends on how much time we spend out of the house.

I still a few recipes from the weekend to post. Right now I have the following posts yet to write: porky seitan cutlets, veggie lo mein with black bean sauce, and revision to the chocolate covered date and walnut truffles.

I hope you all have a great day tomorrow. I will be back as soon as I can with another recipe or two.

Mexican Soy Hot Chocolate

There are times when hot chocolate is the only thing that will satisfy a craving. When I am having one of those moments this is the hot chocolate I make. I was really surprised when I checked the blog and it wasn’t there. I don’t know how this didn’t get posted sooner.

I add cornstarch to the soymilk to make the hot chocolate a little thicker. The thickness makes me feel as though this chocolate is a little more indulgent. Cinnamon works wonderfully in hot chocolate and I have been adding that for years. Cayenne is something I began adding a few years ago and I like the little bit of heat on the back of my tongue when I am drinking the chocolate. You can sweetener your chocolate with anything. I use stevia since I am trying to be good. Agave would have tasted better, but since it isn’t as good for me I used stevia. Here is what I made.

Mexican Soy Hot Chocolate
Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 cup soymilk
½ tablespoon cornstarch
½ tablespoon cocoa powder
1 scoop stevia (or sweetener of your choice)
¼ teaspoon cinnamon, ground (or to taste)
1 dash cayenne (or to taste)

Directions:

Combine the cold soymilk and cornstarch and whisk to combine. Add the remaining ingredients and heat until the milk thickens, about 2 or 3 minutes.

Serve hot and enjoy. Finish the hot chocolate with a sprinkle of cinnamon and/or cayenne if desired.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 96.5
Calories From Fat (21%) - 20.5

Total Fat - 2.4g
Saturated Fat - 0.66g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 120.12mg
Potassium - 246.95mg
Total Carbohydrates - 16.71g
Fiber - 1.57g
Sugar - 7.13g
Protein - 4.48g

Comments:

This is my favorite hot chocolate. I like that it is thick and complex. The heat at the end of the drink is subtle but really nice and warming.

Unrelated note:

I took a break from cleaning to have a quick cup of cocoa before I got but to the drudgery. Cleaning really isn’t my favorite activity, but it needs to be done, so I do it. But I don’t have to enjoy do I? No one would ever mistake me for Martha Stewart. ;)

Tonight I am making something else with fresh truffle, although I haven’t decided exactly what yet. There is also a fall wheat berry and fruit salad in the refrigerator I will post later today.

I hope you are all having a great day. Talk to you later this afternoon.

Spicy Chili with Wheat Berries and TVP

(pictured: spicy wheat berry and tvp chili topped with Daiya and tofu sour cream)

After reading the abstract today about soy reducing inflammation I decided to make a big pot of chili today with texture vegetable protein (tvp) as well as wheat berries. I typically only use wheat berries for their meaty chew but the tvp adds a nice texture to the chili.

One of the best things about chili is that it cooks almost by itself. I really love these low involvement dinners. The chili was cooking while I was cleaning and exercising. This would be a perfect meal to put in the crockpot if you aren’t going to be home.

The herbs and spices in this chili make it very flavorful. Adding cocoa powder to my chili is something I learned from my friend Louis. It does not impart a chocolate taste but instead adds a nice depth of flavor to the chili. The chipotle in adobo adds a little heat, but not anything that is too spicy. If you like heat you can safely add a third pepper without this being too hot. I added a little Worcestershire to the chili to give it a more “meat-like” flavor. Here is what I made tonight.

Spicy Chili with Wheat Berries and TVP
Makes 8 servings of approximately 2 cups each

Ingredients:

1 pound of dried beans, rinsed and picked through
water to cook beans
4 bay leaves
2 tablespoons onion flakes
½ tablespoon garlic powder
14 ounces tomato sauce
14 ounces tomatoes, diced
1 tablespoon cumin seed
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon oregano, dry
1 teaspoon fennel seed
½ tablespoon cocoa powder
1 cup wheat berries, uncooked
1 cup soya granules (Fearn brand)
1 yellow onion, finely diced
3 carrots, finely diced
6 cloves garlic, minced (allow to stand for 10 minutes before adding so allicin can develop)
2 chipotle in adobo, minced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire

Optional Ingredients for garnish:

tofu sour cream
avocado
fresh cilantro
scallions
vegan cheddar cheese
tortilla chips

Directions:

You can either soak the beans overnight or do a quick soak. Covering the beans with plenty of water and bringing it to a boil then turning off the heat, covering the pan, and allowing the beans to sit undisturbed for an hour is how you quick soak dried beans. Add the onion flakes, garlic powder and bay leaves. Don’t add salt at this point of it will make the bean skin tough. Either way (presoaked or quick soaked) now cook the beans with plenty of water until they are tender.

Once the beans are tender add the remaining ingredients and cook until the wheat berries and soya granules are tender. You may need to add water if the wheat berries and soya granules absorb much of the water.

Nutritional Information (without optional ingredients):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 238.01
Calories From Fat (6%) - 14.88

Total Fat - 1.77g
Saturated Fat - 0.29g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 513.05mg
Potassium - 1135.68mg
Total Carbohydrates - 43.61g
Fiber - 10.06g
Sugar - 6.64g
Protein - 16.68g

Comments:

According to the hubby this chili has “a nice deep, rich flavor and a good texture”. Simmering this chili for a couple of hours concentrated the flavors. By using both wheat berries and textured vegetables protein the overall texture was very “meaty”.

Each serving of this chili contains more than 6,000IU of vitamin A, 120mg of calcium, 120mcg of folate, 290mg of phosphorus, 120mg of magnesium, and 20mcg of selenium. Decent nutritional stats for a 240-calorie recipe I would say.

Tonight we had this chili with low fat tofu sour cream, Daiya cheese, and scallions and lettuce wraps. I hope to be back in a little while with the Mexican influenced salad dressing from this evening.

Nacho Cheese with Cashews

(pictured: 1 potato, 3 cups of broccoli, 1 cup nacho sauce with 1/2 avocado and a few pumpkin seeds)

After getting a little over four hours of sleep last night I ran out of steam early this afternoon so that I didn’t get to cross everything off my to-do list. When it was time to make dinner I wanted something fast and easy. This normally means what can I pop in the microwave, which is part of what I made tonight. For dinner tonight we had potatoes topped with broccoli and nacho cheese sauce topped with avocado and pumpkin seeds. Start to finish dinner was ready in about 15 minutes because I used the microwave for both the potatoes and frozen broccoli florets. Here is the sauce I made.

Nacho Cheese with Cashews
Makes a little over 4 cups

Ingredients:

½ cup leek, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
¼ cup water to water sauce the aromatics above
¼ cup nutritional yeast
¼ cup whole-wheat flour
¼ cup raw cashews
1 ¾ cups water
½ tablespoon onion flakes
¼ teaspoon turmeric
dash of cayenne
¼ teaspoon chipotle chili powder
¼ teaspoon cumin seed
14 ounce can diced tomatoes
½ tablespoon hot crushed peppers (wet hots)
kosher salt to taste
freshly ground pepper to taste

Directions:

Water sauté the leek and garlic until soft.

Combine the nutritional yeast, flour, cashews, water, onion flakes, turmeric, cayenne, and cumin in the blender. Puree until smooth. Pour the wet mixture into the saucepan with the leeks and garlic and add the diced tomatoes, and hot crushed peppers and cook a few minutes until the mixture thickens.

Taste the sauce and adjust the salt and pepper level to your tastes.

Nutritional Information (for ¼ of the recipe):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 125.83
Calories From Fat (28%) - 35.7

Total Fat - 3.08g
Saturated Fat - 0.54g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 84.89mg
Potassium - 359.49mg
Total Carbohydrates - 14.41g
Fiber - 2.79g
Sugar - 3.73g
Protein - 3.44g

Comments:

I don’t know if we have just been away from cheese so long that I have forgotten what it tastes like, but this really reminds me of cheese sauce. Additionally the percentage of calories from fat is so much lower than a traditional cheese sauce. This worked really well on baked potatoes, and broccoli. I added the avocado and pumpkin seeds on top the dish because both of those remind me of Tex-Mex food. Overall I was very happy with this quick meal. I need to remember this the next time I need food fast and don’t have anything in the freezer.

I am going to bed early tonight to catch up on my lost sleep. Tomorrow I will be making more seitan for the freezer. I try to stock up on seitan in the freezer to make it easier to make meals during the week.

Refried Beans – No added fat

For anyone with animals this story is going to sound very familiar. This morning was the annual trip to the veterinarian so the three felines could get their vaccinations. As you may expect my felines are a little spoiled and don’t really like having their routines disrupted. Our day started trying to herd three growling and hissing fur balls into their carrying bags. The felines serenaded mom and dad the entire 30-minute trip to the vet. As soon as the car stopped the felines immediately went silent. No, they weren’t behaving they were saving their respective energy for when the bags were opened.

Our baby (the little white cat) has a warning on his medical record so he went first. At the end of his examination my husband was bleeding and the cat had done his best impression of exorcist, complete with spinning head. The other two were well behaved compared to Nicco. As our vet likes to say, I think they may be a little spoiled and are accustomed to doing what they want. That would be an understatement.

When we got home all the felines were hissing and randomly attacked anyone (human or feline) that got near them. I hope everyone else had a better start to his or her day than we did. I will be running back out in a little while to pick up antibiotics for the cat bite victim. Just another day in paradise at our house. Now back to the important stuff, the food.

At our house bean dip is something I make every week or so. We eat a lot of hummus as well as white and black bean dip. While it isn’t always our intention we do eat beans almost everyday like Dr. Fuhrman recommends in “Eat for Health”. Beans are great for adding to your diet for the fiber and protein as well as satisfying hunger.

Today I decided to use the refried bean recipe from “The Professional Chef” and make it vegan and low fat. I thought this would be a nice change from the smooth bean dips I normally make. This dip is actually very similar in flavor to the pinto bean dip I posted here. The difference between the dips is mainly textural.

Refried Beans – No added fat
Makes 9 – ½ cup servings

Ingredients:

1 cup pinto beans, picked through and sorted
water to cook the beans
1 bay leaf
½ red onion, finely minced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
¼ cup water to sauté the aromatics
5 sun-dried tomatoes, finely minced
1 ½ teaspoon ancho chili powder
3/4 teaspoon cumin seeds toasted
1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice
1 pinch kosher salt, or to taste
1 pinch freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
fresh minced cilantro for garnish, when serving
cayenne pepper for garnish, when serving - optional

Directions:

Cook the beans in the water with the bay leaf until very soft. The amount of time it will take to cook the beans will depend on the age of the dried beans. A bay leaf was added to the bean cooking water because I have read that bay leaves and/or kombu added to the cooking liquid will help the beans to digest more easily. In other words diminish the musical quality of beans. I have been doing this for over a year and it seems to work.

Water sauté the onions and garlic in until the aromatics are tender. Add the cooked beans, tomatoes, chili powder, cumin seed and acid (lime or lemon). Mash the beans with a potato masher or the back of a soup. Taste the beans for seasoning and add more salt and pepper as necessary.

If you like cilantro it is good sprinkled on top the beans or mixed into the dip before serving. I also sprinkle the top with a little cayenne, but I like heat. The cayenne is completely optional.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 83.05
Calories From Fat (6%) - 5.09

Total Fat - 0.59g
Saturated Fat - 0.09g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 44.15mg
Potassium - 337.89mg
Total Carbohydrates - 14.9g
Fiber - 3.66g
Sugar - 0.51g
Protein - 4.85g

Comments:

This dip is similar to the pinto bean dip I normally make but with less heat. I do like the addition of the soft red onions and garlic to the dip. In this recipe I missed the hot crushed peppers. I would recommend that you add the hot pickled peppers to this recipe even though it isn’t traditional.

We had this with lunch today with vegetable dippers (cucumber slices, carrot and celery sticks). This dip makes a great lunchbox item since it doesn’t need to be heated or require utensils. I like to have bean dip and veggies in the car when I am going to be out of the house for hours. The protein in the beans helps to satisfy my hunger until I can get home.

Mexican Spiced Tomatoes

I make many different versions of roasted tomatoes depending on what I am serving this with. If you want to check out the other recipes they were posted in the last two weeks. In this recipe the garlic flavor is not as dominant as you would expect. These tomatoes taste mostly of cumin and coriander.

Mexican Spiced Tomatoes
Serves 6

Ingredients:

17 Roma tomatoes
2 cloves garlic
4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
¼ teaspoon coriander seeds
½ teaspoon oregano, dried
1 pinch of kosher salt, to taste

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Get a half sheet pan for the tomatoes. Seventeen tomatoes should fit snuggly in one layer on the sheet pan.

Cut tomatoes in half, lengthwise and remove the seeds. Cut out the stem end of the tomatoes and move them to the sheet pan.

Combine the garlic, vinegar, cumin, coriander, oregano, and salt in your blender or food processor and process until everything is combined. Pour the flavorings into a small measuring cup to make it easier to get it into the tomatoes. Pour a little of the flavoring into each tomato.

Bake at 300 degrees until the tomatoes are the texture you like. I baked mine for an hour.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 73.42
Calories From Fat (9%) - 6.9

Total Fat - 0.82g
Saturated Fat - 0.11g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 67mg
Potassium - 923.23mg
Total Carbohydrates - 15.59g
Fiber - 4.71g
Sugar - 10.13g
Protein - 3.47g

Comments:

These tomatoes have a lot of flavor from the garlic, cumin and coriander. They worked very well with my Mexican themed dinner.

All the different roasted tomatoes work well in sandwiches and on salads.

Cumin Scented Cole Slaw

Cole slaw is a favorite at our house for a variety of reasons. My husband loves the taste of cole slaw and I like that cabbage is part of the cruciferous family, which make it a potent cancer fighter. I added cumin to this slaw to make it work with the remainder of the Mexican influenced dinner menu. This slaw is quick and not like the slaw our mothers used to make.

Cumin Scented Cole Slaw
Serves 4

Ingredients:

½ head green cabbage, thinly sliced
2 large carrots, grated
1 tablespoon canola oil
4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons raw amber agave
1 teaspoon cumin seed, toasted
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Place the cabbage and carrots in a large bowl, big enough to toss the cole slaw. I find a salad bowl works well for this.

Combine the remaining dressing ingredients (canola oil through black pepper) and whisk to combine.

Add the dressing to the cabbage carrot and toss to combine. Toss the salad in the dressing periodically while it sits for 30 minutes to absorb the flavors of the dressing. Serve cold or room temperature.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 62.87
Calories From Fat (52%) - 32.99

Total Fat - 3.75g
Saturated Fat - 0.29g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 268.06mg
Potassium - 183.56mg
Total Carbohydrates - 6.68g
Fiber - 2.19g
Sugar - 2.62g
Protein - 0.68g

Comments:

This cole slaw is slightly sweet with a nice cumin flavor and scent. My husband couldn’t decide tonight what he liked better this cole slaw or the chorizo spiced bean burgers. If you want a different version of cole slaw you might want to give this a try.

Ancho Chili and Mustard Flavored Reduced Fat Mayonnaise

I made this to top the burgers we had tonight. It was a quick sauce from things I had in the refrigerator. I frequently combine a little mustard in my mayonnaise because I think it make the flavor more interesting. The ancho chili powder was added to bring in a Mexican spice. You could add cumin if you prefer

Ancho Chili and Mustard Flavored Reduced Fat Mayonnaise
Serves 8 (about ½ tablespoon per serving)

Ingredients:

4 tablespoons reduced fat almond milk mayonnaise
½ teaspoon agave mustard (or 1 tablespoon of Dijon)
¼ teaspoon ancho chili powder

Directions:

Combine the ingredients with a whisk until thoroughly incorporated. Refrigerate until needed.

Nutritional Information:

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 22.3
Calories From Fat (87%) - 19.39

Total Fat - 2.19g
Saturated Fat - 0.16g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 20.57mg
Potassium - 7.55mg
Total Carbohydrates - 0.56g
Fiber - 0.07g
Sugar - 0.19g
Protein - 0.17g

Comments:

This mayo has a spicy background from the agave mustard and the ancho chili powder. It worked well on top the chorizo spiced pinto bean and millet burgers. If you want a milder mayonnaise based dressing substitute Dijon mustard for the agave mustard.

Chorizo Spiced Pinto Bean and Millet Burgers

I considered making seitan chorizo today but then decided I have made too many seitan sausages recently so I opted for burgers for variation. Today’s entire menu is Mexican inspired. I made these burgers, cumin cole slaw and Mexican spiced roasted tomatoes. I will post the other recipes a little later today.

This recipe makes a lot of burgers. When I make veggie burgers I intentionally make many leftovers so that I can freeze them for quick lunches. Veggie burgers freeze and reheat well so they are the perfect make ahead product.

This burger recipe follows my standard method, which is beans, grain or rice, seasonings and vital wheat gluten. Beans form the bulk of the burger and make a nice glue to hold things together. Millet provides a little textural variation and helps to absorb and excess liquid. Vital Wheat Gluten is included to give the burgers a little chew and add additional protein to the burger. I find that burgers made without gluten tend to be too soft for my taste.

Chorizo Spiced Pinto Bean and Millet Burgers
Makes 22 burgers

Ingredients:

3 cups pinto beans, sorted, picked through and rinsed
8 cups water to cook pinto beans
3 bay leaves
2 cups of millet
5 cups of water to cook millet
1 tablespoon garlic powder
3 tablespoons oregano, dried
3 tablespoons hot crushed peppers (aka wet hots)
2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon ancho chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin seed
1 cup of vital wheat gluten

Directions:

Cook the pinto beans with the bay leaves until tender. The amount of time the beans take to cook will depend of how long you soaked them, and the age of the dried beans. When the beans are cooled drain them and place in a food processor and process like you are making hummus. If the mixture is dry add some of the bean cooking water so that the mixture texture is similar to mashed potatoes. Move the mashed beans to a large bowl to finish the bean burger mix.

Combine the millet and water in a saucepan with a lid. Bring the water to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cook until the water is absorbed. Turn off the heat and allow to stand 10 minutes before uncovering. Add the millet to the bean mixture.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line 2 half-sheet pans with parchment or silpat and set aside.

Add the spices to the bean mixture and knead to thoroughly combine. Taste for seasoning before you begin adding the wheat gluten. When you are happy with the flavor add the vital wheat gluten 4 tablespoons at a time and knead into the bean mixture. The reason to add the vital wheat gluten slowly is that it is easier to evenly combine into the dough.

Using a ½ cup measure begin to form the patties. The formed patties should be approximately 5 inches across and about ½ inch thick. Place the patties on the half sheet pans and continue forming until all the bean mixture has been used. I got 22 one half cup burgers out of my mixture.

Spray the top of the burgers with canola oil or pan spray and cook for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes check to see if the burgers are beginning to brown. If they are flip the burgers and spray the other side and cook for another 20 minutes or until the second side is brown.

The burgers can be served right away or wrapped in plastic cling film and frozen until needed.

Nutritional Information (per burger):

Amount Per Serving
Calories - 190.66
Calories From Fat (7%) - 13.05

Total Fat - 1.53g
Saturated Fat - 0.26g
Cholesterol - 0mg
Sodium - 526.9mg
Potassium - 460.79mg
Total Carbohydrates - 32.28g
Fiber - 6.43g
Sugar - 0.9g
Protein - 12.35g

Comments:

These burgers are somewhat soft, but still hold together like a burger. I don’t know how well these would work on the grill but they work great in the oven. You could also cook them in a cast iron pan with a little oil.

If you choose to freeze these I would suggest defrosting them in the microwave on 30 % power and then crisping them in a cast iron pan coated with a little oil. That is how I reheat mine and it always works fine.