Category Archives for Lunch
Creamy Low Fat Potato Soup
My recipes are starting points for your own creations. There is often one or two main ingredients that are required or have that special uniqueness that people like about my recipes. In this case, the key discovery is that blending a potato with water or milk makes a really creamy soup (or base for my cheeze sauce recipe or thickening a curry sauce). Using various plant foods for texture is one of the amazing things about a plant-based diet!
Ingredients:
-2 large potatoes (I use yellow-fleshed, Yukon gold type potatoes)
-1 cup of non-dairy milk such as unsweetened almond milk
-1/2 cup of water
-2 vegan chicken-style bouillon cubes Try to find lower sodium, no oil versions or use this spice combo from Fat Free vegan.
-1 cup of cooked corn (from frozen, I use “peaches and cream” corn by Green Giant)
-1/2 tsp garlic powder
-1/2 tsp onion powder
-2 tbsp dried chives
–ground black pepper (optional)
Instructions:
Cook potatoes until soft using your favourite method. Then remove the skins. Add potatoes and milk to blender and blend until smooth. In a pot bring the water to boil and add the bouillon cubes so that the cubes dissolve, the reduce heat. Meanwhile cook the corn. Once the bouillon is dissolved add the potato mixture and corn. Bring soup to a boil then put on low heat for a few minutes. Add the garlic, onion powder and chives. If the soup is too thick for you stir in some more water (depends on size of potatoes you use). Serve in a bowl with some added black pepper if desired.
You could use vegetable broth instead of the bouillon cubes (about a cup of broth) or 2 cups if you eliminate the milk. The exact liquid amounts depends on the size of potatoes you use so I usually just wing it each time!
Cauliflower Wings/Bites
As you know I tend to eat the same things now that I’ve developed a number of tasty recipes. But every once in a while I like to try something new. My latest discovery is these cauliflower wings (or bites) – I was blown away by the texture. This could easily replace some of the soy chicken products if you happen to use them, and make many meat eaters pretty happy as well. See my video recipe as well at the end of this post.
Ingredients:
-1 head of cauliflower
-1 cup flour (I used whole wheat, others use chickpea flour, etc)
-1 cup water (or unsweetened almond milk)
-spices (optional such as onion/garlic powder, nutritional yeast, salt – I didn’t add)
-1 cup of breadcrumbs (I made them with 5 pieces of whole wheat bread baked in oven until dried out, blended with dashes of onion/garlic powder). Enough to coat your cauliflower florets, you may need more. UPDATE: I used corn flake crumbs today, omg so crispy! Note: they have some added sodium and sugar.
-1/2 cup barbecue sauce (I used a no oil regular or garlic sauce, whatever you prefer such as buffalo sauce)
–Tabasco sauce (add to sauce to taste for desired heat tolerance, lots of hot sauce options that you may prefer)
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450F. Wash and cut cauliflower into florets (bite sized pieces). Mix the flour, non-dairy milk and optional spices and whisk to combine in a large bowl. Put the florets into the flour mixture and mix to coat each floret. Then dip each floret into a bowl of bread crumbs and lay onto a baking sheet lined with silpat non-stick sheet (or parchment paper). Repeat until all florets are coated, breaded and put onto sheet.
Bake the florets until they are crispy and browned, about 15-20 minutes. You can eat them like that dipping them in your favorite bbq sauce or ranch dip. But we usually do a second bake so while the wings are baking, mix the bbq sauce and tabasco (if using) and put into a large bowl. Then take the florets out of the oven when browned and crispy, use spatula to scrape off the florets into a bowl that contains the bbq sauce mixture. Coat each floret in bbq sauce then re-bake for another 20 minutes. it takes a while for the florets to crisp up again.
Options:
You can avoid re-baking and just dip the baked breaded florets in bbq/hot sauce. You can also bake them without breading them. Add some celery sticks and this amazing ranch dip.
Potato Salad
This is great tasting potato salad with no tofu taste. The highlight for me is the crunch of the celery, pickles and red pepper in the ‘mayo’. Since people like all sorts of variations, use this as a basis for your own and modify as desired!
No Cheese Quesadillas
No fat refried beans are very creamy. No need for cheese or sour cream anymore as these are so tasty.
1 can of no oil refried pinto beans (I use President’s Choice Refried Pinto Beans)
1 green pepper (chopped)
1 red pepper (chopped)
1 yellow onion (chopped)
10 yellow no oil corn tortillas (makes 5 quesadillas)
Extra Chunky Salsa (as much as desired – I use President’s Choice Hot)
Instructions
Put about 1/4 of a can on a no fat corn tortillas, add chopped raw onion and green/red pepper. Add another corn tortilla and fry in frying pan dry (no oil) until crispy, flipping half way through. Add extra chunky hot salsa or whatever salsa you prefer. Mix in chili powder with the beans if desired.
Calories for 2.5 quesadillas cut into 10 quarters and using 1/2 can of refried beans is about 500 calories if you count that sort of thing. Very filling!
Quick, Easy, Cheap Plant-Based Meal Recipes from Jeff Novick
I scored this amazing page browsing Facebook one day so I thought I’d share. Jeff Novick, RD has a great set of recipes that are simple, often take less than 5 minutes and have less than 5 ingredients and cost less than 5 dollars. Click on each image to see the recipe.
These meals are very low in calorie density and very high in nutrient density so you can eat all you want till you are comfortably full without having to worry about portions size or going hungry.
They are all based on his lecture and DVD Calorie Density: How To Eat more, Weigh Less & Live Longer!
Plant-Based Diet – Spicy Asian Soup
I winged this but:
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen broccoli
4 baby bok choy chop off the bottom
1 cup chopped Chinese cabbage
1/2 red pepper sliced
1 medium onion
1 cup or more of beans sprouts
2 tbsp vegetable stock powder
1/2 package of vermicelli noodles (depending on how many people are eating enough for bottom of bowl for each person)
Hot sriracha sauce to taste as you eat the soup
(the amounts above are rough estimates, feel free to adjust to your tastes)
I just throw in some frozen peas and broccoli with a cup of water and heat in a big skillet. Then I added chopped onions, the cabbage, bok choy and over time some more water (1 cup or more) and vegetable stock powder to taste. Then I added chopped red pepper and bean sprouts near the end. During this time I’m cooking the vermicelli noodles which only take a few minutes. Put the noodles in a bowl and top with veggies and pour in some of the broth. So yummy! Top with Sriracha hot sauce as you eat the soup for an extra kick!
Burger and Fries
Who doesn’t love burgers and fries? Isn’t it great to be able to eat these guilt free? Just made these and they were yummy!
Ingredients:
– 1 can black beans (drained and rinsed). Optionally use red kidney beans.
– 1/3 cup rolled oats
– 1 tsp onion powder
– 1 tsp garlic powder
– 1/2 shredded carrot
– 2 tbsp ketchup
– 1 tbsp mustard
– 1/4 tsp sriracha sauce (optional: caution hot and spicy!)
Instructions:
Pre-heat oven to 400F. Put beans in a bowl and mash with a fork, add the oats and other ingredients and mix. Press mixture into 4 patties and put on a baking tray lined with parchment paper or Silpat baking sheet. These burgers tend to break apart so be careful. Bake for 10 minutes then carefully flip and bake for another 10. I use a spatula. Make sure they’re cooked to your liking and getting crispy as oven times can vary. I put them on Ezekiel whole grain sprouted bread with lots of toppings (pickles, tomatoes, onion, mustard, ketchup)
The fries are my crispy herb fries
If you’d like to learn more and try different burgers check out Jeff Novick’s Burger and Fries DVD.
Plant-Based Diet – Organic Blue Corn Tortillas
I order from http://www.latortilleria.ca They ship to many countries.
Huge No Fat Salads For Weight Loss
Here’s a balsamic vinegar from Amazon. Leafy greens can help prevent and reverse heart disease which is a book by Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn.