Easy Vegan Minestrone

Here's a good soup I threw together the other night, just using regular things we almost always have around. Use what you have. It will work.

The ingredients are pretty basic, and as with my other un-recipes, amounts are not important. The pasta is optional, but we're big noodleheads.

Easy Vegan Minestrone

small pasta, like elbows or little shells
1 onion, chopped
lots of fresh garlic, chopped
1 can diced tomatoes
herbs to taste - 1 or more tsp. each:
oregano
thyme
basil
1 box vegetable broth
nutritional yeast, about 1/4 cup, or more to taste
3 cans of beans, drained and rinsed - I used kidney, cannellini, and garbanzo
greens, like spinach, kale, or chard - about 3 big handfuls, chopped
pepper
tamari (or salt)

If you're going to use noodles, cook them first in your soup pot, then drain them and set them aside.

Back to the soup pot, cook the onion over medium heat, until it's soft. You don't need oil - add a little water if they start to dry out or burn.

Add the garlic and tomatoes when the onions are almost done. Simmer until the tomatoes turn a little bit orange.

Add the herbs and broth, then the nutritional yeast, and cook for a few minutes, till it's all hot again.

Add the beans and greens, and cook until the greens are softened.

Season with pepper and tamari to taste.

If you'll be serving enough people to finish off the soup (I'd say 4-6), you can add as many noodles as you like to the pot. If you'll be saving some soup for another day, just put the noodles in the soup bowls, so they don't get soggy in overnight storage.

We ate this soup for three days, adding the pasta as we went, and it just kept getting better.

Zucchini with Chickpeas

I don't know why I'm not a gardener. I'm just not. But people often bring me good things from their own gardens, which I really enjoy. I was gifted with an enormous zucchini the other day, and my first reaction was, Oh crap, what am I going to do with this monster? After pondering my options for a while, I decided to cut it in half, and make a simple dinner of zucchini and chickpeas. (The other half is slowly making its way into our morning smoothies. Who knew zucchini and bananas could be friends?)

I'm big on beans, and you're going to see a lot of them around here. High in protein and fiber, and zero in cholesterol (as are all plant based foods), beans are a satisfying, versatile, inexpensive alternative to meat. A simple bowl of vegetables becomes a meal rather than a side dish when you add beans to it. Try different beans with all sorts of things. You'll see.

This is an "un-recipe," meaning the measurements, and even some of the ingredients, are not important. Just use what you have and season to taste.

Zucchini with Chickpeas

fresh chopped garlic
1 can diced tomatoes
dry or fresh basil, oregano, and thyme
red pepper flakes (or black pepper)
vegetable broth
3-4 cups chopped zucchini
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 T nutritional yeast
squeeze of lemon

Cook the tomatoes, garlic, herbs, and red pepper flakes in a skillet, over medium heat, until the tomatoes soften and start to turn orange. Add broth a little at a time if needed to keep it from getting too thick.

Add the zucchini and cook a few minutes, until it starts to soften. Add more broth if needed, but wait to see of the zucchini will put off a lot of water first.

Add the chickpeas and nutritional yeast, and maybe a little more broth.

Check the seasoning, and stir in a squeeze of lemon just before serving.

This took me about 20 minutes to throw this together. You could serve it with brown rice or quinoa if you like, and I think the addition of black olives would have made it even better. Cannellini beans would be good in this in place of chickpeas. You could also wilt in some spinach or other greens near the end of the cooking process.

~~~~~~~~~
Want to know more about protein, how much we really need, and the best places to get it? Check out this article, Five Protein Myths, from PCRM. Smart folks over there.

SaveSave

What The Health

Over the last few weeks, several people have surprised me with emails telling me they're going vegan as a result of watching the movie, What The Health. What? Really? I mean, great! But I've never seen so many people so strongly influenced by a food film before. So I watched it for myself, and now I get it.

Have you seen it yet? You can watch it on Netflix, or on the film's own website. And I really think you should. 

I've been vegan for over seven years now, and I thought I knew a lot about the whole thing. Well, I do know a lot. But I also learned a lot from What The Health. In fact, I'll be watching it again, and recommending it to everyone I know, especially those who are struggling with health issues. 

This film features many of the key experts in the plant-based food field, confirms all of what I already knew about diet and health, and goes on to explain why the organizations we trust to help us be healthy are actually doing just the opposite. The short answer is "money," but settle in and enjoy the show to get the long answer.

Here's how strongly I feel about this:

After watching What The Health, and because a dear young relative has been recently diagnosed with heart issues, (and because I just turned 60 and need to step up my own health game a bit), I'm going to restart this blog, focusing on easy, tasty, healthy food.

There are still a lot of recipes archived in these blog pages, and many of them are still favorites around here. But in my vegan beginnings, I was much more interested in cooking than I am now, and my recipes tended to be a little bit labor intensive. What I need now are delicious meals that are easy to make, while still being as absolutely healthy as possible. 

We've moved to the beach this year, to Seaside, Oregon, where we're running a brisk little business renting half of our pretty duplex to vacation rental guests. Our focus is on Mermaid's Nest and our guests (and of course, going to the beach), not on spending endless hours in the kitchen. Cooking and eating have become something different for us now, and the balance of our lives is actually better for it. 

And so, if you're looking to make some changes in your own health, or need some fresh inspiration in the kitchen, check back here about once a week or so and see what I've got for you. It's time I put all my training and certifications with PCRM and Vegan Fusion back to work, for all of us.

Now go watch the movie, please.

Black Bean Soup

This one is very different from the White Bean Soup I shared the other day. It's a little bit spicy and chili-like, and goes well with corn bread or corny chips of some sort. I love beans. Grab a spoon and make a big pot of this to get you through some of these last rainy spring days.

Black Bean Soup

Sauté 1/2 an onion, chopped, for 2-3 minutes, in a little oil, over medium heat.

Add and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes:
1 red bell pepper, chopped small
chili powder (2-3 teaspoons)
cumin (1-2 teaspoons)
cinnamon (about 1/2 teaspoon)

Stir in:
1 can diced tomatoes
about 2 cups vegetable broth

Season with:
black pepper
tamari
garlic powder

Add:
black beans (3 cans, drained and rinsed)
frozen corn (1-2 cups)
more broth if needed

Once the corn and beans are heated through, adjust seasonings and serve.

White Bean Soup

Making an occasional exception to the general ending of this blog, I'll continue to post new recipes now and then. It's purely for selfish reasons, so I'll be able to recreate new favorite dishes without having to dig through stacks of scribbled notes. Of course you're more than welcome to try these for yourself.

I think it's kind of funny - keeping track of my own good recipes was the original reason for starting the blog way back when. Back to basics. Here's a nice soup for you. This one is ridiculously easy and fast to make. It's the sort of recipe I like to make when friends are over, because I can cook and visit at the same time with zero kitchen stress. It's a meal in a bowl, and goes great with a nice crusty bread and some wine. Enjoy.

White Bean Soup

Over medium heat, sauté for a few minutes:
olive oil
diced tomatoes (1 can)
chopped garlic (about 6-8 cloves)

Add and cook for a few minutes:
vegetable broth (about 2 cups)
fresh rosemary, finely chopped (about 2-3 teaspoons)
fresh oregano, chopped (about 1-2 teaspoons)
fresh ground pepper

Add and blend with immersion blender:
canned cannellini beans (2 cans, drained and rinsed)

Add:
2 more cans of cannellini beans
fresh greens, any kind (about 2 large handfuls, chopped)

Stir over med-low heat until the greens are wilted and the soup is heated through.
Adjust seasonings.
Share with friends.

Toaster Pancakes

I always make too much food. Always. It's not like I'm trying to cook ahead and stock up for the week. I just can't scale back my old habit of cooking for five or more people, learned first from my mom, and carried over to my own family later. Now it's just Rick and me most of the time, but I still make enough for house full of kids.

It's OK. It would be even more OK if we had something bigger than a "Barbie Refrigerator" to store leftovers in. If you've ever spent time in an RV of any kind, you know the fridge. Little. I suppose it's nice that it forces us to shop more often, so our veggies are always fresh. It just doesn't lend itself well to stocking up, storing anything extra, or freezing much more than a few ice cubes, a pint of ice cream, and a few bags of whatever else goes in a freezer. There isn't even room for vodka.

When I make pancakes, I overdo it same as I do with a pot of soup. But because I make sturdy, real food pancakes, they hold up well in a zip-bag in the fridge, which doesn't take up much more room than a bag of tortillas does. We like flat food! And we've discovered that they're great the next day, heated up in the toaster.

If you're comfortable with basic pancake construction, just throw the basics in a bowl, like I did this morning. For vegan pancakes, I use whatever flour I have around, sometimes gluten free, sometimes not, usually a blend of several different flours. I add a tablespoon or so of ground flax seed per cup of flour, about a tablespoon of baking powder, a little salt, and water. Sometimes I stir in rolled oats, chopped nuts, raisins, fruit, spices... you get it. Pancakes aren't as scientific as cupcakes. But if you want a recipe, I have some good ones for you in past posts: Peachy Pancakes, Apple Pie Pancakes, Carrot Pancakes.

Another topping option, which you see here, is an easy pear compote. Cut up two ripe pears (or more, because more is good), put them in a small saucepan with a little water. Bring it to a boil, and cook until the pears are soft. Along the way, add raisins, spices (I used pumpkin pie spice), and maple syrup or a little sugar. After it's cooked down a bit, add arrowroot to thicken.

On Pancake Day, make a big batch of batter, cook it all up, eat what you want, and then let the leftovers cool completely before putting them away in the fridge. Next day, give them a quick trip through the toaster, and you have Pancake Day II, with a lot less mess than the day before!

More food, less mess. Always good!

Learn to Speak Chinese

We have a newly opened Chinese restaurant in our neighborhood. Our meat eating friends have had good things to say about it, so we gave it a try the other night. It was Rick's choice for his birthday dinner.

Veggie Chow Mein

Duck House Chinese Restaurant doesn't appear to have a website, but I did find this page on Eater. We wandered in on a Monday night, and were greeted warmly and seated right away. I'm not sure if there's a cultural thing we don't know about, but we eventually had to flag someone down to take our order. No problem. Just something to know.

There was not a lot of English spoken, which was a good sign we'd get real Chinese food, rather than an Americanized version. And because of that, it seemed like one of those situations where it would be best to ask for "vegetarian" rather than "vegan," to avoid having to explain too much, or being misunderstood.

The word "vegetarian" worked perfectly, and our server pointed out several things on the menu that were already veggie, or could have tofu or vegetables subbed for the meat. Perfect. We ordered mixed vegetables in garlic sauce, kung pao tofu, and veggie chow mein. We also ordered rice, which we didn't need, but we like it. It was all way too much food, but when that happens, we just take it home and think of it as "grocery shopping."

Mixed Vegetable in Garlic Sauce

Everything was delicious, and I'm fairly confident it was all vegan. As I talked about in my last post, making a big ol' stinky deal over ever tiny ingredient can actually be counterproductive to the number one vegan objective of helping our animal friends. So stop it already. Be a little bit imperfect. Do your best. It's good enough.

Kung Pao Tofu

And wouldn't you know it, when it came time for the fortune cookies, the kind with a fortune on one side and a Chinese lesson on the other, I got the one that taught me how to say "vegetable!" I asked our server to tell me how to say it properly, and it turns out I would have mangled it terribly if I'd just read it phonetically.

Good Chinese food just steps from our door is going to be a great thing. Welcome to the neighborhood, Duck House. I won't be ordering the duck, but I do plan to do a lot of "vegetarian" grocery shopping there!