Black bean tortilla soup

Happy Meatless Monday to ya'! Hope you all had a great weekend. So despite the fact that I live here in sunny Southern California, it has been pretty rainy, and a little colder lately, and I have totally been in soup mode. And so, my black bean tortilla soup was born. It is super deliciousness. Think flavor explosion people. And the crunchy tortilla chips and creamy avocado just top it all of perfectly. But wait...it gets even better. Using the leftover soup I came up with a black bean queso dip that was maybe one of the best bean dips I have had. It was such a great way to use leftover soup! The bonus black bean queso recipe will be listed at the bottom, why, oh just because I love ya. :) 

Have a fab meatless Monday and make something plant based tonight!

Black bean tortilla soup

serves 6-8

printable recipe

What you need:

4 shallots

6 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp. olive oil

2 tsp salt

1 Tbsp cumin

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

12 cups of water

4 vegan vegetable bouillon cubes (Rapunzel brand NO SALT added is great)

 4 15-ounce cans black beans, drained and rinsed

7-8 corn tortillas, cut into smaller pieces

 lime wedges, sliced avocado, fresh cilantro,  and crushed tortilla chips for garnish

Making the soup:

In a large soup pot, heat the olive oil, and saute the shallot and garlic for a few minutes until softened. Add all the rest of the ingredients except the garnishes, and simmer for about 25 min.  Using an immersion blender blend the soup until smooth, or blend in batches in your blender. Taste the soup and add any additional salt if needed. 

ladle into a soup bowl, and garnish each bowl with a squeeze of fresh lime, sliced avocado, crushed tortilla chips and a few sprigs of cilantro.

Black bean queso dip:

Fill a soup bowl with a few cups of black bean soup. Add about 1/4 cup of hummus, 1/4 cup of pico de gallo, 1/4 cup nutritional yeast, and sliced black olives. Squeeze fresh lime on the top and garnish with cilantro. Serve with chips for dipping.

Chinese cabbage salad with orange sesame dressing

Hey hey my little veggie lovers...

This salad is the bomb. Really. It is. Its my spin (kinda) of a Chinese chicken salad, although mine is kicked up a notch with tons and tons of fresh veggies, and a very clean and healthy dressing that has zero refined sugars, lots of vitamins, and tons of good sesame flavor.

Make this salad a few hours in advance and let it sit in the fridge so that the dressing can soften the cabbage and the flavor of the red onions will be a little more mild. Also make sure when making the dressing that you use Grade B Maple Syrup. It is a completely different product than Grade A. It does cost a little more but is so worth it. It is full of good vitamins.

Hope you all have a great weekend and make yourself something vegan and delicious while you are at it!

Chinese cabbage salad 

with orange sesame dressing 

serves 4-6

printable recipe 

What You Need:

2 small heads of green cabbage, washes and shredded

2 5-ounce packages of Teriyaki flavor baked tofu *Trader Joe's has a great one, but there are other good brands at your health food stores too* cut into cubes

2 cups sugar snap peas, cut in half

2 large carrots, peeled and diced

2 red bell peppers, diced

1/4 of a red onion thinly sliced

1/2 cup of slivered almonds

2 small or 1 large can of mandarin oranges, drained

1/2 cup cilantro

Sesame orange dressing: 

1 cup good quality orange juice (not from concentrate)

1 inch of fresh ginger

2 cloves garlic

3 Tbsp. Grade B maple syrup

2 Tbsp of brown rice vinegar or regular vinegar

2 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds

3 Tbsp. sesame oil

3 Tbsp. olive oil

2 Tbsp soy sauce or Tamari

1/4 cup cilantro

Blend all ingredients in a blender until smooth. 

Assemble Salad: 

In a large serving bowl mix all salad ingredients except the almonds. Add the dressing. Toss well to coat. Allow the salad to sit in the fridge for about 2 hours before serving to soften the cabbage. Add the almonds all over the top just before serving.

Creamy Sweet Potato Soup with tempeh bacon

Trust me when I say that you have to make this for dinner! This is a must. Even if you don't think you are a fan of sweet potatoes. It is so good for you, affordable, and easy. And my new favorite soup. In fact, I am actually making it for dinner again tonight.  And topped off with a little tempeh bacon equals perfection.

Creamy Sweet Potato Soup

with tempeh bacon

serves 6-8

printable recipe

What You Need:

1 large yellow onion

4 cloves of minced garlic

2 large, or 3 small carrots, peeled and chopped

salt and pepper

3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

3 large sweet potatoes, small chop (I did not peel them)

 2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp paprika

3 "no salt added" Rapunzel brand vegan vegetable bouillon or any vegan vegetable boillon

6 cups water

2 cups unsweetened almond milk

salt and pepper to taste

2 packages Lightlife tempeh bacon, baked or placed under a broiler until crisp.

To make:

Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot. Add the onions, garlic, carrots, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Saute for about 5 minutes, until the onions and carrots are slightly tender. Then add in the chopped sweet potatoes and saute for 5 more minutes. Add the salt, onion powder, paprika, vegetable bouillon, and water. Simmer for 20 minutes, partially covered until the sweet potatoes are very tender. Puree the soup either with an immersion blender or in a Vitamix or regular blender in batches. Return blended soup back to the soup pot and stir in the almond milk. Heat for a few minutes. Add any additional salt and pepper to taste, top each bowl with crispy tempeh bacon, and enjoy.

Stocking your healthy vegan kitchen

This post is coming from many many requests for help with shopping and stocking a vegan kitchen and pantry. Many ask what my favorite staples and essential items are. This post will hopefully be helpful to those who are newly vegan and trying to transition and convert their homes from what is has been to a healthy vegan, animal free and cruelty free home. This transition can take time and you wont be able to do everything in one day. Over time, it will be "out with the old" and "in with the new" and you will have a fully stocked vegan home for yourself and your families. These are just some of my staples and what I buy on a regular basis.  They are things I always have around, and then I purchase what I need to add to the staples to make meals and weekly menus. Please add in the comments section a few of your own essentials and favorites that aren't on my list. I would love to know! I am going to start putting together some menu plans that are based around this essentials list. You will only need to add a few items to the things you already have to create awesome meals  and these will come with a printable shopping list. Stay tuned! 

 image from here

Stocking your healthy vegan kitchen 
printable shopping list

For the pantry:

• dried black beans, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, lentils, quinoa, barley and brown rice.  Get these from the bulk section to cut back on packaging and also cost.  Package them in containers yourself or large class mason jars and label.
• several varieties of whole grain pasta noodles or brown rice/quinoa noodles if gluten free
• several jars of marinara sauce (look for ones with short ingredient lists)
• whole grain flour
• white whole wheat flour
• Bob's Red Mill all-purpose gluten-free flour
• raw unsalted almond butter, all natural peanut butter
• tahini (for making hummus and sauces)
• olives
• nutritional yeast flakes
• Nori
• oatmeal
• Bob's Red Mill Muesli (my fave)
• evaporated cane juice sugar
• Grade B maple syrup
• soy sauce or Tamari
• apple cider vinegar
• Ezekiel or whole grain bread
• canned beans for quick meals
• potatoes and sweet potatoes

For the fridge:

• unsweetened almond milk
• unsweetened applesauce
• Earth Balance vegan butter (I liked the whipped original)
• Veganaise (vegan mayo) I like the one made from Grapeseed oil
• Hummus
• Salsa
• Tempeh and tempeh bacon (lifhtlife brand is so good)
• Tofu
• 1-2 fresh herbs at a time
• a few different varieties of fresh fruit (aside from avocados and bananas)
• 4-5 varieties of vegetables for one week, depending on meals (aside from carrots, spinach and kale)
• spinach and/or Kale
• carrots
• bananas
• avocados

Other items:

• extra virgin olive oil, grape seed oil, and coconut oil
• raw cacao powder
• vegan chocolate chips (most semi-sweet and dark chocolate is vegan)
• chia seed powder (great vegan source of calcium)
• raw maca root powder (full of amazing vitamins)
• probiotic capsules (keep in refrigerator)
• raw unflavored hemp protein powder

For the Freezer:

• frozen mixed vegetable
• frozen strawberries and berries for smoothies
• frozen ripe bananas
• several varieties of raw nuts kept in the freezer for freshness. I always have almonds, pine nuts walnuts and cashews
• ground flaxseeds

Spices I Use the Most:

• cumin
• coriander
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• paprika
• cayenne pepper
• smoked paprika
• dried oregano
• dried dill
• curry
• turmeric
• dried red pepper flakes
• favorite salt-free, all-purpose seasoning (such as Spike seasoning)

Tempeh and black bean enchiladas with tofu cheese and red sauce

Hello hello foodies and bloggies! Happy "mid week" to you.  So one of the questions I get asked all the time is, "where do you get inspiration from when coming up with new recipes?" and my answer to that is, simply out of my own cravings I am having.  So as you can see, last week I was craving something Mexican inspired and covered in enchilada sauce.  This turned out so awesome, and totally has a "cheesy" feel to it. Its very kid friendly. If you love Chile Verde sauce (green sauce), go ahead and use that, but make sure it doesn't contain milk in it, as many do. This makes for some incredible leftovers too! Enjoy my friends!

Tempeh and black bean enchiladas with tofu cheese and red sauce 

makes about 12 large enchiladas

printable recipe

What you need:

2  8-ounce  packages of tempeh

 2  15-ounce  cans of black beans, drained and rinsed

5 cups of water with a splash of soy sauce

3/4 of an 8-ounce container of Tofutti vegan cream cheese

1  4-ounce can of fire roasted green chilies

 1 recipe for tofu cheese (below)

16-ounces vegan red enchilada sauce or green sauce
Whole grain tortillas

Pico de Gallo for topping

avocado for topping

cilantro for garnish

Tofu Cheese: 

1 12-ounce container extra firm tofu, drained

juice of 1 lemon

1 clove garlic

1/2 tsp salt

crack of fresh pepper

1 heaping cup of cilantro

Mix in the blender until smooth. set aside.

Making the enchiladas:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. While the oven heats, start by making the tempeh.  In a soup pot bring the 5 cups of water to a boil. Add in about 1/2  cup of soy sauce to gently season the water. Cut the tempeh in half so that you have 4 large pieces and simmer int he water/soy sauce mixture for about 20 minutes. Take out and cool slightly. Then cut up into a small dice. 

In a bowl, mix the tempeh, black beans, tofutti cream cheese, 1/2 of the tofu cheese mixture, green chilies, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Toss to coat everything well.

Using whole grain wraps (look for ones with minimal ingredients) start filling your tortillas with about 1/3 cup of the mixture. Roll up (no need to close the ends) and place in a large rectangular glass Pyrex baking dish. You will need two of these dishes to fit all your enchiladas. Spread the rest of the tofu cheese mixture over the top of the rolled tortillas, and then cover generously with red enchilada (or green) sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove the foil for an extra 5-10 minutes until heated through. Serve with tons of fresh pico piled on top, a few sprigs of cilantro, and sliced avocado.