Chunky Guacamole

I know it's not Meatless Monday.  However, due to the holiday weekend, I thought I would post one of my favorite party or even every day dips.  I struggle with whether I like guacamole or hummus more.  Both are delicious and nutritional powerhouses.  Don't worry, though as I am still planning on my recipe for Coleslaw with Crushed Pineapple on Monday as it will go perfectly with our sweet potato faux bbq sandwiches.


Ingredients:

2 avocados
1/2 red onion or a sweet onion like a Vidalia in a pinch
3 roma tomatoes
1 tbs minced garlic
1 lime
1/2 a bunch of cilantro
salt to taste

1. Cut your avocados in half.  Remove the seed and peel.

2. Roughly mash the avocados with a fork being sure to leave occasional chunks of avocado.  Sometimes, I like the chunks the best.

3. Dice your onion and tomatoes and onion adding them to the avocado.

4. Juice the lime and add it to your mix.

5. Using kitchen shears, roughly cut the cilantro and add it in as well.

6. Add the garlic and as much a salt as you prefer.

7.  Stir everything up to mix thoroughly.

This recipe serves 2-4 depending on the appetite.  You can always double as needed.  I gave a recipe instructions for a small batch as this is more than enough for our family of 3.  Guacamole browns easily, so I usually only make as much as we will eat in a sitting and usually prefer to make it as close as possible to serving.

We like to use this as a dip for tortilla chips or veggies as well as on sandwiches and homemade tacos.

Tangy Honey Mustard Marinated Brussel Sprouts

Meatless Monday

Sadly, the first time my daughter had brussel sprouts. I was not the one who cooked them.  She was offered some by a relative and rejected them.  My daughter had never turned down trying a new food, so I was a bit concerned.  As a kid, I refused brussel sprouts after having some at a holiday dinner prepared by my aunt.  My mother tried to convince me my disdain was due to my aunt's poor cooking skills.  I refused to believe my mother on the topic and spent years avoiding brussel sprouts.  However, after my aunt made mashed potatoes one fateful Thanksgiving that had a consistency closer to wallpaper glue, I, thankfully, began to reconsider my position on brussel sprouts.  Now, they are one of my favorite veggies.  I try to make sure they are at all holiday meals myself now to ensure they are not ruined.  So, I decided to taste the offending brussel sprouts my own daughter was rejecting.  Well, no wonder she was having none of it.  They were freezer burnt.

I was a bit nervous reintroducing brussel sprouts to my daughter after she had a negative experience.  So, I decided to use two ingredients in my preparation I knew are universally popular with toddlers; lemon juice and honey.  Not only did she eat all of her's the first time I prepared them, she began stealing ones off my plate.

Ingredients:
1 lb brussel sprouts
1 tbs brown mustard
1 tbs honey
2 tbs lemon juice
1/2 tbs minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil

1. Combine the honey, mustard, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper to make the marinade.

2. Cut each of the brussel sprouts into quarters.

3. Toss the brussel sprouts in the marinade and place in the fridge for a minimum of an hour though overnight is best.  If necessary, you can cook just a portion of the brussel sprouts at a time and keep the remainder in the fridge for up to 3 days.

4.  Saute the brussel sprouts in olive oil until they are slightly crisp

Root Vegetable Hash with Amy's Kitchen Veggie Sausages

Meatless Monday

I almost never post a recipe with a specific product in the ingredients.  However, up until these links, I hadn't come across a particular faux sausage link that I particularly cared for.  While I like Amy's Kitchen products in general, I had never tried their Veggie Sausages just because of my aversion to faux sausage links I cared as well as breakfast being the meal I least worried about getting additional protein since I often have yogurt or eggs.  Target was recently resetting their grocery department and eliminating tons of products to make room for new products.  I was quite sad over this reset since they no longer carry some of my favorite products including the Amy's Kitchen Veggie Meatballs.  While I was stocking up on the Veggie Meatballs, I decided to try their Veggie Sausages since they were also being discontinued at Target.  After trying the Veggie Sausages, I was pleasantly surprised that they tasted almost exactly like the Veggie Meatballs I already liked with a nice smoky flavor and lots of fennel seeds.

I immediately know, I needed to come up with a hearty recipe to compliment the robust flavor of these tasty links instead of relegating to just being an accompaniment to eggs and toast.  With this year's late frosts, we have yet to get into much local spring or summer produce.  However, root vegetables are still in abundance.  Since I like the combination of sweet and smoky, I thought a slightly nontraditional hash might be the perfect vehicle for these links.  I decided to use a red pepper and yellow pepper continuing the red pepper already in the links but also to pump up the color.

I chose to boil the potatoes and turnips first to ensure that they were fully cooked and would have a crisp exterior for the hash.  This is a great trick whenever making hash or homefries to not only make your saute time quicker but also ensure a nice crisp exterior to your potatoes.

So, here's the recipe:

3 white potatoes
3 turnips
1 sweet potato
2 carrots
2 parsnips
1 package Amy's Veggie Sausage
1 yellow pepper
1 red pepper
1 tbs minced garlic
1 tsp garlic seasoning
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1. Dice the white potatoes and turnips into 1 to 2 inch cubes.

2. Boil the potato and turnips until soft.

3. Dice the remaining veggies into 1/2 to 1 inch cubes.

4. Cook the veggie sausage in a pan according to the package instructions.

5. Saute the peppers, garlic, and spices with olive oil until the peppers are soft.

6.  Saute the root vegetables with olive oil until the potatoes are nice and crisp on the outside.

7. Cut up the sausages into 1 inch segments.

8. Combine all the ingredients in a pan and cook until combined usually less than 3-5 minutes.

Serve the hash by itself or as I prefer it topped with an over easy egg.  I love the contrast of the creamy yolk over the hash.  I prefer to accompany this hash with sauteed greens.

This post was in no way sponsored by Amy's Kitchen.  

Vegetable Ragout with Greens and Bulgur

Meatless Monday 

This recipe was born out of my desire to use up last bits of produce, but it turned out so well, that it will definitely be added to our rotation of dinner entrees.  I had 1 red brick sweet potato and half a bag of mixed greens(turnip greens, collard greens, and kale) and felt like doing something different but hearty as we seemed to be having the last blast of winter.

1-8.8 ounce package of quick cook bulgur

2 cups of greens

1 quart of tomato sauce(I used some I had canned last summer that already had onions, garlic, and basil.  If you use store bought, I would recommend adding onions while cooking the greens.)

approx 3-4 lbs root veggies I used enough to fill a half sheet pan or the equivalent of 2 potatoes, 1 white sweet potato, 2 carrots, 1 red brick sweet potato, 1/2 a rutabaga.  parsnips, turnips, celery root, etc would also work well.

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 cup of water

1 tablespoon minced garlic

salt and pepper to taste

1 tsp paprika

olive oil

1 tsp garlic and herb seasoning

1. Cut all the veggies into 1-2 inch cubes.

2, Roast the veggies in the oven at 425 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

3, Add oil to a pot, and saute the greens with the garlic.

4. Add the tomato sauce, spices, lemon juice, water, and bulgur to the pot.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer for ten minutes.

5. Add your root veggies once they are done roasting.

Kale, Sweet Potato, Kidney Beans, and Quinoa

Meatless Monday

This is one of my favorite recipes currently due to its versatility.  I originally created this a filling for enchiladas and as a vehicle to introduce quinoa to my little one.  Since I've used it as a side, entree, or as a filling for burritos.  I am planning on serving it as a side at Thanksgiving this year since its ingredients scream autumn to me.

2-4 regular size sweet potatoes(less if you get some really large ones)
1 cup red quinoa
1 onion
1/2 bag of greens
2 cans of kidney beans
dash of cinnamon
 a dash and 1/2 tbs cumin
 1 tsp paprika
salt and pepper to taste
1 jalapeno pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic
olive oil

1. Cut up your sweet potatoes into 1 inch cubes.

2. Toss in olive oil and a dash of cinnamon and cumin.

3. Place on a parchment paper lined pan and roast in a preheated 375 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.

4. Cook the quinoa according to the package directions.

5. Dice the onion and jalapeno pepper.

6. Saute the onion and jalapeno pepper with the olive oil, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, and garlic.

7. Once the onions are translucent, add the greens and cook them until wilted.

8.  Drain and rinse the kidney beans.

9.  Add the kidney beans, sweet potato, and quinoa.

You can serve as is for an entree with some fruit.  Since my little one is lactose intolerant, I served this as is for her and melted some queso fresco onto a tortilla and used this as filling to make burritos for her father and I.  To make enchiladas, I crumbled queso fresco onto tortillas and filled them with the above mixture.  Then, I liberally topped them with salsa verde and more queso fresco.  I baked them at 375 degrees until the cheese melted about 8-10 minutes.  Once they were done cooking, I added chopped cilantro on top.

Toddler Friendly Vegan Butternut Squash Chili

Meatless Monday

Toddler Friendly Vegan Butternut Squash Chili

Since yesterday was Superbowl Sunday, I felt it appropriate to make some chili.  I know the title is bit wordy, but I wanted to reflect that this chili is toddler friendly unlike my normal 5 alarm chili.  While my child likes spicy food, I felt it necessary to tone this down.  Additionally, since toddlers have sodium restrictions, I made this without salt and added it to our dishes individually.  Frankly, I think my little one preferred the natural sweetness of the chili as is.  She had two ladlefuls along with a piece of pumpkin cornbread after eating a clementine and some frozen peas.

Last fall, I started adding butternut squash to chili because I wanted to add more veggies to my chili and felt the texture somewhat simulates ground beef.  Even DB who is definitely a meat eater loved the chili.

You could easily make this with just one type of beans instead of 5, but I prefer the differences in the size and colors of the beans.

1 butternut squash
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can dark red kidney beans
1 can light red kidney beans
1 can white kidney beans (cannelli beans)
1 can small red beans
1 can pinto beans
1 green pepper
1 white onion
3 cups tomato juice
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp oregano
olive oil
salt to taste
optional: 1 bag of vegan meat crumbles

1. Prep the squash for peeling by cutting the ends of the squash then poking holes in the squash all over with a fork.  Place the squash in the microwave for 3 1/2 minutes.  Once the squash cools, you will be able to peel the squash much more easily.

2. Once you've peeled the squash, remove the seeds, and cut the squash into 1 inch cubes.

3. Roast the squash on a parchment lined pan for 25-30 mins until golden.

4. While the squash is roasting, dice the onion and pepper.

5.  Place enough olive oil in the bottom of a pot to coat it.

6. Saute the diced onions, peppers, and minced garlic.

7. Drain and rinse all of the beans.  I prefer to do this in a colander.

4. Add the beans, tomatoes, spices, and meat crumbles if you are using them to the pot.

5. Puree the squash with as much tomato juice as is necessary to allow for a thorough puree.

6. Add the puree and any remaining juice to the pot.

7. Bring the chili to a boil, and then, turn it down to low to simmer for about 20-30 minutes.