Category Archives for Dinner

Baked Nacho Chips No Oil

Preheat oven to 350F and lay down a number of no oil corn tortillas right on the track. When I make my bean dip I use quite a few like 15 or more for 2 people, but for just a plate of rice and beans you can bake 2 or 3 tortillas. Bake until crispy which could be 10 minutes or more/less depending on your oven. Watch carefully. Before getting crispy they will be a little bendy which is not ideal. And too much they can get burned. Then break them up into pieces. I used to cut them beforehand using a pizza cutter into 6 pie shaped pieces, which you could also do and put on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Lentil “Meat” Sauce for Pasta

You can adjust your favourite meat sauce to remove the ground beef/oil and add a can of rinsed lentils, but here’s what I do (leave out anything you don’t like and adjust ingredients to taste):

Ingredients:
1 medium onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, diced
1/2 large green pepper, chopped
1/2 large red pepper, chopped
1 can of red lentils, drained and rinsed
1 packed cup of spinach (or just a big handful or two I don’t measure)
1 can of no/low fat zesty tomato sauce (with no or minimal oil/sugar added) – Note: I now use a can of crushed tomatoes to avoid oil.
1 sprinkle red pepper flakes (as much as you like to make it hot or not)
1 package of whole wheat linguine noodles

Instruction:
Boil the noodles as per instructions
While the water is boiling, saute the chopped red/green pepper in water in a frying pan to soften under medium heat. As it softens add the onion. As the onion softens add the garlic and spinach. The spinach will shrivel up a lot so don’t be shy.

When the ingredients are pretty soft add a can of zesty tomato sauce. Rinse lentils in strainer until the starchy foam is gone. Add the can of rinsed lentils and heat. Turn down heat if it starts to bubble, stirring regularly.

Drain noodles when done. Put noodles on a plate and pour sauce on top. If you like more sauce add a can of tomato paste and water to dilute the lentils/veggies.

Cabbage Soup

Bonnie’s recipe.

We make a huge pot of soup. Put all this in a pot and cook on high until it boils and let simmer for at least half an hour until potatoes/turnip are soft.

(Calories) Ingredients:
(156) 1/2 green cabbage
(100) 4 carrots
(410) 1 can 540 ml black beans
(600) 6 red potatoes
(108) 1 can 540 ml diced tomatoes
(40) 1 onion
(40) seasonings (1 tsp each garlic/onion powder, 1 tbsp vegetable stock powder)
(100) 1 turnip
(0) 4+ cups of water (fill up large pot to almost the top after adding other ingredients)
(54) 1 leek (great flavour and a recent addition)

Total 1608 calories

Per serving 130 calories it make about 12 one cup servings.

Super Quick and Easy No Fry Chick Pea Curry on Basmati Rice

A lot of vegan recipes have a number of ingredients that I usually don’t have, or require all sorts of frying and pots and pans. Or they say quick and easy but it’s really not!

This recipe is quick when you want to get some veggies but don’t feel like cooking. I find regular stir fries to be pretty bland and I don’t like soy sauce that much, so when I want some rice this tomato based recipe does the trick. As usual feel free to tweak with other spices, and add/remove veggies (peas, etc), etc. If you have leftover quartered potatoes and rice this is when to make this recipe!

Ingredients:
1 can chick peas (aka garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
1 can tomato paste
1-2 cups of water (depending on thickness desired)
1/2 tbsp curry powder
1 cup diced cooked potatoes (leftovers or microwave 2 potatoes). Amounts are totally up to you.
1 cup of cauliflower (frozen) – microwave as per directions

Directions

Put tomato paste, water, curry powder, chick peas and potatoes (if leftover) in a microwaveable bowl and mix together.  I just kept adding water until it was more of a sauce, so I didn’t measure but it was at least a cup.

Microwave as long as required to be hot. For me it was at least 4 minutes.

Microwave the cauliflower from frozen as per directions if using. Microwave frozen peas if using. Microwave potatoes if you don’t have leftovers.

Microwave the leftover basmati rice or make a new batch while you’re doing this. Basmati cooks in about 15 minutes.

Put microwaved veggies together with curry mixture, pour on rice and eat!

Cajun Sweet Potato Fries

Bonnie’s recipe.

OMG these are so amazing, I am hooked and will be eating them quite often now!

1/2 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 large sweet potatoes (for 2 people)

Directions

Bake at 450 degrees F on a 11″x17″ non-stick silpat sheet on top of a baking sheet for half an hour and then optionally broil on high for a few minutes watching carefully until brown. Your oven may take longer but do a test to make sure they’re cooked through before starting to broil. Add a little thyme and rosemary if you wish. Make these with other potatoes as well, we often make them with red potatoes.

No Fat Vegan Chili

Bonnie’s recipe.

This is soooo good especially on cold days. A little hot and spicy with the chili mix.

Ingredients
1 540 mL (18 oz) can of tomato sauce
1 can of red kidney beans
1 can of tomato paste
1 package chili mix
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 large yellow onion
1 drained/rinsed can of red lentils (can use soy ground round if transitioning from Standard American diet)

1. Dice up your onion peppers
2. Add chopped peppers to large sauce pan (a wok works great) with ¼ cup water instead of oil Let the peppers heat medium high until they are soft add in you onions until they are soft. Add more water if needed. (I use water instead of oil to make if low fat.)
3. Add in your beans, tomato sauce, tomato paste and chili package and stir well.
4. Add the lentils.
5. Serve with some toasted whole grain bread (no margarine).
6. Heat until it bubbles (you must stir often)
7. Use a medium heat to low once all ingredients are added.
Serves 4-6

Crispy No Fat Potato Fries

This is an easy one. Wash 4-5 medium potatoes and cut into wedges or thinner fry shapes, enough to cover a long baking tray. Bake at 450 degrees on a non-stick baking tray no oil or spray for half an hour and then broil on high for a few minutes watching carefully until brown. You can put down a layer of parchment paper as well. Cut the potatoes thinner for more crisp fries. It’s possible to get crispier fries by boiling the potatoes a bit first, but who has the time? 🙂

Eat with ketchup and/or no fat brown gravy. Veggie burger not included or necessary 🙂

Easy Low Fat Vegan Tacos With Crunchy Corn Taco Shells

How I make my quick low fat tacos including baked taco shells. I order the non-GMO corn tortillas from here http://www.latortilleria.ca/products/tortillas-1kg They ship worldwide and make them fresh, in case you can find any locally.

Ingredients:

* 1 19 oz can of diced tomatoes, drain most liquid into another container
* Burrito spice package or 2 tbsp chili powder and 1 tbsp cumin (or less if preferred)
* 1 onion, diced
* 1 can of pinto beans (or black beans, etc)
* 2 cups frozen corn (I use sweet peaches and cream corn)
* 2 cups cooked rice
* 5 baked taco shells, or as many as desired
* 2 tbsp salsa or more as topping for each taco

Instructions:

Put frozen corn and onions in skillet with a little bit of the drained tomato liquid on medium heat. When onions are soft add the diced tomatoes, black beans and cooked rice with the spices. Make sure tomatoes are drained well and add any liquid as needed. Cook for about 15 minutes until everything is hot then add to the baked taco shells. Alternatively steam a couple corn tortillas and make burritos/wraps!

Calories

Mixture (enough for 2 days x 2 people)
19 oz can of diced tomatoes – 150 cals
1 can of black beans – 400 cals
2 cups corn – 200 cals (could use less corn and rice eg 1 cup)
2 cups rice – 400 cals
total = 1150 cals / 2 people / 2 days = 288 cals

5 taco shells – 5 x 50 cals = 250 cals
2 tbsp salsa x 5 tacos x 10 cals = 100 cals (conservative)

Grand total for one person eating 5 tacos = 350 + 288 = 638 cals

Low Fat Lentil Meatballs

1/4 tsp basil
2 tbsp breadcrumbs (I use 2 dried out or baked pieces of whole wheat bread, then blend in Vitamix with onion/garlic powder)
2 tsp prepared mustard
2 tsp ketchup
1/4 tsp thyme
1 can brown lentils, drained, rinsed and mashed with handmasher or fork. You can try other types of lentils, or use your own cooked lentils (about 1.5 cups)
1/4 tsp oregano
1 tbsp milled flaxseed and 2 tbsp water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix milled flaxseed with water in a glass so it can thicken
3. In a bowl, mix lentils, breadcrumbs, mustard, basil, thyme, oregano and salt then add the milled flaxseed mixture until ingredients are well mixed. If you don’t have fresh basic/thyme/oregano try the dried versions, or an Italian spice mix.
4. Place 2 tbsp of mixture into palm of hand and roll to form round ball. Place ball on a Silpat non-stick baking sheet. Continue rolling until mixture is used up.
5. Bake for 30 minutes on metal tray lines with parchment paper (for easier cleaning) or right on the tray. Broil on high for 5 minutes to make crispy but watch closely during broil phase to avoid burning.

Eat this with my marinara sauce and whole wheat pasta.

Nacho Chips and Bean Dip with Salsa

Similar to the baked taco shells recipe, we can bake the no fat yellow corn tortillas (that I now make myself ) into nacho chips. Take a pile of of about 6 tortillas and cut them into 6 or 8 pieces. I use a long knife that spans across the tortillas and press down vertically on the tortillas with the knife like you would cut a pizza with a pizza knife. I cut around 20 tortillas so this gives you 120 chips for two people. This is a fairly high calorie meal so don’t make this a daily habit!

I put the chips on 3 metal trays that are covered with parchment paper. Try to keep the chips in one layer and not overlapped as much as possible. Pre-heat the oven to 400 and then bake until crispy. Make sure they get to the true crispy stage, if you take them out too soon they will have a partially crispy, chewy texture which isn’t as good.

Okay new rule: bake the yellow corn tortillas right on the oven racks and break them up into rough sized chips instead of cutting and baking on a tray with parchment paper. #crispier #easier #fun

Dip

1 package of guacamole (Wholly Guacamole) or make your own guacamole (see below). Leave out if wanting lower fat meal.
1 can of pinto beans or no oil refried pinto beans
Burrito/chili mix package (optional)
1 small onion (chopped, enough to cover layer or less if that’s too much onion for you. Optionally use green onion instead).
1/2 green pepper (chopped, enough to cover layer or less if that’s too much for your taste)
1/2 jar of hot extra chunky salsa (enough to cover layer, use your favourite salsa – I use President’s choice Extra Chunky Hot Salsa)

For the dip,
If using guacamole lay down a layer of it using a spoon. If using canned pinto beans, drain the can and rinse the beans. Mash them first using a hand masher. Mix in a little salsa which softens it up and add the burrito mix or some chili powder and cumin. Or use a good quality canned refried beans that is soft (I use President’s Choice medium refried beans). Add that layer on topic of the guacamole (if using).
Add a layer of chopped green peppers and onions. Then layer on the salsa. We like this dip to be cold so put it in the fridge if you make it before the chips.

To take this up a notch in taste but with added fat you can put a layer of homemade guacamole on the bottom as I mentioned. This would be one ripe avocado mashed, one diced clove of garlic and a little lime/lemon juice. I generally avoid fats but once in a while I like to indulge. It can be a slippery slope so be careful! If you’re at a healthy body fat percentage and are monitoring it you can introduce a little fat from whole foods but make sure it doesn’t become a daily habit!

People have their own preferences and I love to improvise, so you could add chopped jalapenos for example, but my salsa is really hot enough.