Zucchini & Tomato "Ricotta" Pie with Quinoa Crust

Quinoa crust is a new thing i'm into these days...it's the easiest crust in the world to make and it's so much healthier for you than traditional flour pie crust. This pie is creamy and full of great flavor. Paired with a nice green salad, it's a really delicious, light and satisfying meal!

RECIPE:

For the Crust: 

3/4 cup cooked and cooled quinoa

2 flax eggs (2T ground flaxseed mixed with 6T warm water. whisk until gelatinous)

pinch of salt 

-Pre-heat oven to 375*

-Spray a 9" round pie pan with non-stick spray

-Mix ingredients together and press into the pie pan. Press it out all along the bottom and up the sides of the pan. 

-Bake in over for 10 min. and then let cool a bit before adding pie filling.

For the veggies on top:

1 med-large zucchini

6-7 small tomatoes

-Increase oven temp to 400*

-Using a mandolin at 1/8" slicing width, slice up zucchini into circles. (or just use knife and cut the thinnest slices you can)

-Toss the zucchini slices in a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and spread them out on a baking sheet. Roast at 400* for about 10 min. or until they just begin to brown. Take out of oven and set aside.

-Meanwhile, slice up the tomatoes into very thin slices and spread slices on a tea towel (or blot them with a paper towel) to get some of the water off. Set aside while you make Ricotta filling.

-decrease oven temp back down to 375*

For the Ricotta Filling:

(this is an adaptation from the Whole Foods recipe)

1 package extra firm tofu

1 1/2 T tahini

2 cloves garlic

3 T nutritional yeast

pinch of nutmeg

1 1/2 teasp. white miso

juice of half a lemon

pinch of pepper

2T shallot

-Crumble tofu into high powered blender, then add the rest of the ingredients. Blend until combined but don't over process. 

To Assemble the Pie: 

-Spread ricotta filling into the quinoa crust evenly using a spatula. 

-Arrange the zucchini and tomato slices on top however you wish

-Bake at 375* for 30 minutes and enjoy!

 

Superfood Chili

College Football Game Day is coming up (Go GA Bulldawgs) and our house has game-day food on the brain. It is game day food...but with this chili recipe, you'll actually be eating a giant bowl of disease-fighting protein-power goodness...so it's game-day food you can feel GREAT about! Dip chips in it, add some vegan sour cream, fresh cilantro...go crazy! It's SO GOOD!

Beans Beans Beans!!! I cannot say enough good things about beans. Lentils, black beans, kidney beans...this chili has it all plus tons of veggies. There is a hidden eggplant in here too although you would never know it. Eggplants are in season and I have them coming out of my ears with our CSA right now.....BUT the eggplant completely breaks down and adds to the meatiness of the chili and I promise you, you can't taste it, see it or feel it (my husband hates eggplant).

The spices are mild but delicious so this is one recipe that my 2 year old looooves as well. like...lick-the-bowl loves!

Recipe: 

1-2 T olive oil

1 large eggplant chopped into 1/2 in cubes

1 medium onion chopped

1 large clove garlic minced

 1 red pepper chopped

2-3 large carrots chopped

2 celery stalks chopped

1 cup brown or green dry lentils

4 cups water

1 28 oz can diced tomato

1 can kidney beans

1 can black beans

2 cups sweet yellow corn

2 T chili powder

1 T cumin

1 T blackstrap molasses

 - Heat oil in large pot over medium heat. 

-Add chopped eggplant and cook for about 5 minutes while stirring. 

-Add onion, garlic, carrots, celery, red pepper and cook an additional 5 minutes or until onion looks just a bit translucent. (If it starts to stick to the bottom a little, that's ok, it adds to the flavor. But just make sure it's not burning to the bottom. If it starts to burn a little, add a touch of water or a touch of olive oil and stir it up off the bottom.)

-Add the cumin, chili powder and molasses and stir for 1 minute. 

-Add the lentils, water and tomato and bring to a boil, then reduce to simmer for 25 min or until lentils are tender. (could take up to 45 minutes... I've actually had them take over 90 min before (and I never bought lentils from that place again!). It all depends on the age of the lentils and how they were stored.)

-When lentils are tender, add the black beans, kidney beans and corn and cook until just heated through. 

-Take chili off the heat and let sit for 10-20 min or so...then enjoy! It's SO freaking good!

Scratch-Made Tomato Sauce with Breaded and Baked Eggplant Rounds

 

Homemade tomato sauce with these crunchy, chewy eggplant rounds is every bit as satisfying as classic Eggplant Parmesan! Making your own tomato sauce is definitely not as easy as going into your pantry and pulling out a jar of the store-bought stuff...but if you have never attempted your own tomato sauce, this is the season to do it because you will not believe how delicious a tomato sauce made from fresh garden tomatoes tastes!! For the tomato sauce, you have to peel the tomatoes before you make the sauce and the easiest way to do that is to boil them for just a minute and them submerge in ice-water. The skin will start to peel right off on its own. I explain in the recipe below.

If you're not all that familiar with cooking with eggplant, it's really not as intimidating (or tasteless and spongy) as it seems!! The trick to cooking eggplant is letting it sweat out its moisture before you start to cook it. This insures that you'll get a nice chewy, crisp roasted finished produce rather than a soggy one. I explain in the recipe below.

Scratch-Made Tomato Sauce

what you'll need:

10 tomatoes

1t italian seasoning (basil, oregano, parsley)

1 clove garlic

pinch sugar (I used coconut sugar)

pinch salt and pepper

-Get a big pot of water boiling on the stove. 

-Fill up a large bowl with ice water and set aside. 

-Slice a shallow "X" with a sharp knife on the bottom of each tomato. This helps the skin begin to peel off the tomatoes after the boiling process. 

-Submerge all the tomatoes into boiling water for 1 minute then transfer to ice-water bowl. Let the tomatoes sit in there until they are cool enough to handle (a few minutes) and then peel off the skin from the tomatoes. It will come off very easily. 

-Transfer peeled tomatoes to blender and pulse until they are the consistency you're going for. I like it a little chunky so I pulse just a few times. 

-Empty out the pot in which you boiled the tomatoes, return to stove and pour in the tomatoes. 

-Grate your garlic right into the pot

-Add your italian seasoning and the sugar

-Bring the tomatoes to a boil and then reduce to medium-high heat and cook uncovered until it reduces by half, stirring frequently. It will take about an hour. 

-you're done! Sauce is ready to eat!!

Breaded and Baked Eggplant Rounds

What you'll need:

1 large eggplant (long and skinny is great for this but any size will do)

1 cup of bread crumbs (I used fresh whole wheat bread that I buzzed in the food processor)

2 flax eggs (2T flaxmeal in 6T water) (Or 1 egg if you eat eggs....)

salt and pepper

sea salt

-Slice your eggplant into 1/2 inch rounds

-Place the rounds into a colander and sprinkle generously with sea salt. Turn the rounds a couple times to ensure that both sides are covered with the salt. 

-Let the rounds sit in the colander for 15 minutes. 

-Rinse the rounds under water, then place between two towels and press down to dry them.

-Pre-heat oven to 400*

-Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray and set aside

-Whisk up your flax eggs in a bowl 

-Pour bread crumbs onto a plate and add a pinch of salt and pepper. Mix around.

-Dip the eggplant rounds one at a time, first into the flax mixture to coat, and then into the breadcrumbs, then onto baking sheet.

-Once all the rounds are coated and on the baking sheet, bake at 400* for 20 min on one side, then flip and continue to cook 20 minutes on the other side. 

Carrot Molasses Muffins

These muffins are staples in our house. I had a link to the recipe in a past post but I noticed recently that the blog where I found this recipe is no longer active. sad. It was a great blog with some really great vegan/GF recipes. For the Love of Leaves was the name of the blog... Luckily, I have committed her recipe for these muffins to memory, so I can resurrect it here! Huge hit of iron in these because of all the molasses, and they are loaded with carrots! so so delicious! They freeze like a dream, so make a batch and freeze half. Pull one or two out at a time and defrost at room temp or overnight in the fridge and then toast them! mmmmmmmm!!

Recipe:

(makes 12 big muffins)

2 cups spelt flour

1t baking soda

1/2t salt

1t cinnamon

2T ground flax mixed with 6T warm water

1/3 cup coconut oil, melted

1/2 cup Black Strap Molasses

1/2 cup almond milk

1T vanilla

1T apple cider vinager

1.5 cup shredded carrot

1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

pre-heat oven to 350*

-prepare muffin tins by either spraying or lining with paper liners.

-combine flax and water and set aside.

-mix together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nuts in a large bowl.

-whisk the flax/water mixture up until gelatinous (30 seconds or so), add coconut oil, vanilla, molasses, milk, vinegar and carrots. mix.

-add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and mix until combined.  

-fill each muffin tin just to top of tin. 

-bake for 30 min. cool and enjoy!

Baked Summer Ratatouille

 My favorite summer dish, inspired by an old recipe Whole Living magazine. I'm still in mourning due to this magazine going out of print. It was and still is my all time favorite.

Baked Summer Ratatouille
The juices that form in this dish after it's baked are irresistible! It's great on its own, or put it over a grain like rice or farro or quinoa or even a thick slice of toasted bread! The juices will run down and soak up into the grains or bread. soooo yummy!!

Recipe:

1 large purple onion

2-3 large tomatoes

2 zucchini

2 yellow squash

1T thyme

1T nutritional yeast (optional)

1-2T olive oil

 pre-heat oven to 375*

Cut onion in half and then thinly slice into rainbow-shaped slices. Cook the onion up in a little olive oil over medium heat on the stove for 6-8 minutes until onion turns translucent and a little brown. Spray your 9x13in baking pan with non-stick spray. spread onions out on bottom of pan. Slice up your tomato, zucchini and squash into 1/4 inch slices and arrange them in the pan similar to what you see in the picture above. You want them to be alternating and overlapping...whatever looks pretty to you! Drizzle over the olive oil, sprinkle on the thyme and nutritional yeast and a little salt and pepper. Cover with tinfoil and bake for 30 min. Uncover and bake an additional 30 minutes. Let cool a few minutes (because it is HOT when it come out!!) and then dig in!

Chickpea tortillas with spinach

Tell me if this sounds familiar: 

You've planned this great soft taco dinner night and you've prepared all these great bowls filled with tomatoes, lettuce, corn, beans....all these ingredients for each member of your family to create their own beautiful taco. After everyone has prepared their tacos and sat down, you look around and realize that your kids have plain tortillas (probably filled with just cheese if your a non-vegan family) and skipped all the other nutritious ingredients.

The tortilla itself seems like a big opportunity to jam some nutrition! That's where this recipe comes in.

Think of a cross between a pancake and a tortilla. That's what we have here. A savory pancake-like tortilla with loads of protein, iron, vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium...!! It's a winner!!

So easy to make. Just 3 ingredients:

Chickpea (Garbanzo Bean Flour), garlic powder, spinach (chopped up).

Recipe: 

(makes 4 tortillas)

1 cup Chickpea flour

1 cup water plus 3T water

1/4 t garlic powder

big handful spinach chopped up

a little salt and pepper

mix all ingredients together.

Heat up a skillet to med-high on the stove and add a bit of coconut oil to coat the pan (or spray with cooking spray). Pour in enough batter to make a small tortilla sized pancakes. when it starts to bubble a little (like a pancake) flip it and cook a bit longer on the other side. Repeat until enough tortillas are made. Let the tortillas cool on a rack as they are done. 

The tortillas alone taste great! 

Try with beans, corn, coleslaw OR roasted sweet potato with sauteed onions and green pepper! Anything that sounds good to you!

Cooking in Season - Baked Fennel & Onion

Fennel is definitely something that is passed over at farmers markets. My sister calls it the "funky onion" because it has an onion-like bulb with long stalks covered in greens that look a lot like Dill, and it smells like licorice! Fennel is actually a member of the celery family and is a great source of Vitamin C. It is also a very good source of dietary fiber, potassium, calcium, iron and folate. 

But how do you fit something that smells like licorice into a meal for your family??! 
I know, right?! But stick with me here, I've got a great recipe for you to try and it only takes about 25 min to pull together!

Baked Fennel & Onion

(adapted from an old Better Homes and Gardens recipe)

4-5 Fennel bulbs

1 medium yellow onion

2 large cloves garlic

1/2 cup unsweetened Almond milk

1/8 cup vegan Parmesan (store bought or make recipe here)

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1 T vegan butter

pinch nutmeg

bit of salt

pinch of pepper

pre-heat oven to 425*

 get a big pot boiling on the stove and add a pinch of salt. 

spray a shallow baking dish with non-stick spray.

slice up onion and fennel into big-ish slices. boil them for about 5-6 min. 

drain onion and fennel and spread out on bottom of baking dish.

grate the garlic cloves over top, sprinkle pinch of salt and pepper and nutmeg. 

pour almond milk all around on top.

sprinkle vegan parmisan all over on top. 

dot the 1T vegan butter around on top.

bake for 15-20 minutes (until milk is bubbling and edges a slightly browned)

sprinkle chopped walnuts over  top and serve!

**This dish is great over a grain or a pasta. My favorite with it is Farro! **

Helpful tip-How to chop up Fennel:

cut off the stalks on top of the bulb. slice bulb in half and then cut out the core (the core is the small hard area in the bottom-center of the bulb). Then slice up similar to how you would slice up an onion into long strips.