Stuffed Shells (WFPBNO)

These shells are amazing. I've made these at least 3 times in the last 4 weeks. They reheat easily in the toaster oven. This makes more than fit in my casserole that fits into the toaster oven. I just store the extra shells in a container of water and the extra filling in a separate container. You can make some of the components in advance so that you don't have everything to do at the last minute. These are so good they are worth every bit of effort. 

• 1 box jumbo shells, I used 25 shells, not the entire box
• 1 sweet potato, peeled cut into 3/4 inch cubes

Cashew Cream

• 1 1/2 cups raw cashews soaked at least 4 hours or boiled for 15 minutes
• 1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic (I bought pre-minced)
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 cup room temperature water (or more until it's the consistency you want)

Prep your sweet potato and get it on a parchment covered sheet pan in a 350F preheated oven. Cook sweet potato for about 25 minutes until it's tender. Set aside. Also, get your water on to boil the pasta. Then add the cashew cream ingredients to a high speed blender.

Blend adding more water if needed and scraping down the sides of the blender so you have a nice cream to add to the filling.

Tofu Ricotta

• 16 ounce package extra firm tofu, pressed
• 2 cups chopped spinach
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried minced onion
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder

To a large bowl add all the ingredients for the tofu ricotta including the tofu that has been crumbled.

Stir this mixture well.

Add the cashew cream and cooked sweet potatoes. Give it a good stir.

Cook pasta according to package directions minus 1 minute. They are going to be baked so don't overcook them. Once they are done run under cold water to stop the cooking process and lay on a kitchen towel to slightly dry.

In the bottom of a 2 quart baking dish add enough marinara to coat the bottom so the pasta doesn't stick.

Stuff the shells with the mixture you've created with the cashew cream, tofu ricotta and potato. Place the shells face up and cover with the remainder of the marinara. Cover the dish with parchment paper and then foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Once they are ready serve up with a side salad and/or your favorite vegan garlic bread.

Enjoy!!!!

Roasted Vegetable Quinoa Bowls (WFPBNO)

We love having bowls for dinner and I'm not sure why I don't do it more often. All the delicious components in one bowl with a yummy dressing. I had lots of fall vegetables in the frig and decided to throw these in the oven to bake, while the quinoa cooked and made a quick lemon tahini dressing. So delicious. You should take a look in your frig and see what you have lurking in there that needs to be used. You can use whatever veggies you have on hand. If you don't have quinoa use rice, millet, farro or whatever grain is in the pantry.

For the vegetables:

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 cups broccoli florets
• 2 cups cauliflower florets
• 1/2 red onion, chunked
• 2 tablespoons aquafaba
• 2-3 cups fresh spinach

Prepare all the vegetables while the oven preheats to 400F.

For the Lemon Tahini Dressing:

• 1/3 cup tahini
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/3 cup warm water
• salt and pepper to taste

Add all of the dressing ingredients to a small blender and blend until totally combined. Refrigerate until bowls are ready.

Cook quinoa, according to the package directions, while veggies roast. Cover baking sheets in parchment paper. Toss chopped veggies with aquafaba and sprinkle with seasoning of your choice. I used a spice blend with a little heat to it.

Cook vegetables about 35 minutes until tender. 

To assemble the bowls, add quinoa, then some of each of the roasted vegetables and fresh spinach. Drizzle with the dressing.

Enjoy!!!

Lentil Sweet Potato Taco Bowl (WFPBNO)

 Y'all I have discovered canned lentils. One of my local stores has them on a regular basis; the other never has them. They make preparing dishes with lentil SO fast and easy. If you have the time by all means use dried lentils and prepare them. But, this is the quickest way to get some yummy lentils in a dish. If you want to try this dish be sure to have some cheese sauce on hand or make it first. For this recipe I used the Fork Over Knives Queso Sauce (it's amazing and a link is below). Serves 2

• 1 can lentils, rinsed and drained
• 1 medium/large sweet potato, baked until cooked through and cut in half
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/2 tablespoons cumin
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon chipotle pepper
• 2 tablespoons of your favorite salsa
• 2 cups organic romaine lettuce, chopped
• 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• 1 avocado, sliced
• Forks Over Knives Queso Sauce
• Salsa, jalapenos, scallions to garnish

Before you begin be sure you have a cheese sauce you enjoy and get that sweet potato in the oven to bake. Add lentils (rinsed and drained) to a saute pan with all the spices and salsa.

Stir and cook 5-7 minutes until heated through. Stir occasionally.

Once everything is ready assemble your bowl (all of my bowls were in the dishwasher) or plate. Add chopped romaine lettuce to one side. Then around the edge add the lentils, halved sweet potato, avocado, tomatoes, extra salsa and your cheese sauce. Garnish with whatever other 'taco' things you like.

Enjoy!!!!

Split Pea Soup (WFPBNO)

I have quite a few mason jars filled with dried beans and peas. Some of them have passed their best used by date and I decided it was time to get out the InstaPot and use the split green peas. I have never made a pressure cooked soup before but knew that the peas were sure to get soft using this method. This turned out so tasty in such a quick time. I will probably begin using the InstaPot more often for these types of dishes, especially ones using dried beans.

• 4 cups water
• 1 medium  sweet potato, diced
• 1 cup split green peas
• 1/2 cup dried split yellow peas
• 1/2 sweet onion, chopped
• 2 stalks celery, chopped
• 1 carrot, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons dried parsley flakes
• 1 teaspoon dried mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Add all of the ingredients except the nutritional yeast to the InstaPot. Stir well to mix. Cook on high pressure for 25 minutes. All pressure to release naturally.

Carefully removed lid and add the nutritional yeast and black pepper. Give it a good stir; if it's too chunky for you use an immersion blender to puree some of the veggies. 

Ladle up and serve with a side salad, bread, cracker, cornbread, etc.

Enjoy!!

Sweet Potato Buddha Bowl (WFPBNO)

I've been inspired by the bowls I've seen in the Forks Over Knives magazine and some I've come across online. I decided to use up some of the produce we had in the house and created this bowl. You can substitute with the things  you have in your frig and pantry. Choose a different bean for protein, kale or spinach instead of romaine, etc. This was so good and simple to prepare. The peanut balsamic dressing was delicious and will be part of our salad dressings from now on. This made 2 bowls with leftover rice and chickpeas.

Dressing:

• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter (find one that is just peanuts)
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

Mix all the ingredients in a pint sized mason jar and shake, shake, shake it.

Per Bowl:

• 2 lettuce leaves, torn
• 1 cup brown rice, cooked
• 1/2 baked sweet potato
• 1/2 can chickpeas, rinsed & drained 
• 1/4 cup Pampered Chef Pineapple Rum Sauce
• 1/4 cup Spicy BBQ Sauce
• 3 cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 avocado, sliced or cubed

Scrub your sweet potatoes and dry it. Slice in half and sprinkle with garlic seasoning (or whatever  you like). Place cut side down and cook in a preheated toaster oven at 350 until done. Mine took about 40 minutes.

Add rinsed and drained chickpeas to a small pan. I added equal parts of Pampered Chef Pineapple Rum Sauce and Spicy BBQ Sauce. Cook until heat and sauce thickens on chickpeas.

Cook rice according to package directions. You may need to start this first depending on how long it needs to cook.

To build your bowl add a cup of rice to the center of your bowl.

Place remaining ingredients around the edges. Garnish with dressing (not shown).

Enjoy!!!

Sweet Potato Burrito Bowl

This simple and easy burrito bowl is full of wonderful flavors. The hands-on time is very short but you do have to plan ahead to cook the sweet potato and make the rice. I prefer to bake my potatoes in the toaster oven in the warm weather and not use the big oven. I also don't care for microwave cooked food. This bowl is easy to customize with the produce you have on hand and the foods you enjoy. 

If you don't have a zucchini, use broccoli, asparagus, green beans, etc. If you aren't a fan of heat, leave out the jalapenos and be sure your salsa is mild, not medium or hot.

• 1 medium sized sweet potato baked, slightly cooled, sliced
• 1 can (15 ounce) no salt added black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 1 box Zatarin's yellow rice
• 1 package low-sodium taco seasoning
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced into coins
• 1 small avocado, sliced
• 1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup salsa
• Garnish: pickled jalapenos, cheese sauce, cilantro

Scrub your sweet potato and bake it at 350F. for an hour or until tender. (I cooked some russets with it so I'd have some ready to eat during the week.)

Cook your rice according to the package directions, set aside.

To make the black beans: warm them in a medium saucepan with a little water if needed. Add nutritional yeast and taco seasoning. Stir well and heat over low covered with a lid. Stir occasionally.

Leave on low heat until ready to use.

Saute zucchini with a little black pepper in a non-stick skillet until they get a little color on them.

Assemble your bowl, I like to out the ingredients around the edge so you can see some of the rice in the bowl. Add the rice, black beans, sweet potato, zucchini and sprinkle cilantro over it all. I added cheese sauce over my black beans and pickled jalapenos to the middle. Then used salsa as a dressing. Don't forget to garnish with your avocado. I almost forgot mine.

Enjoy!!!

Burrito Bowl

This burrito bowl was amazing and I don't know why I haven't thought to add sweet potato to a dish like this before. We really enjoy sweet potatoes but usually just bake them and stuff with BBQ chickpeas (or seitan on occasion). Obviously you can sub for whatever veggies you have on hand but be sure to have your starches and green veggies.

• 1 medium sweet potato, baked, peeled and sliced
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1 cup wild rice
• 1 package, reduced sodium, taco seasoning (be sure it's vegan)
• 1/2 avocado, peeled and cubed
• 1 cup broccoli florets, microwaved until tender but not mushy
• 1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
• salsa
• pickled jalapenos
• fresh sprouts

First start your rice. Cook according to package directions. I only used 1/2 cup dry rice but you can make as much as you want. Add Taco seasoning. Cook according to package directions. Just before serving, fluff with a fork. Mine had to cook for 45 minutes and then sit for 5-10.

As soon as you get your rice on get your sweet potato cooking. I washed, dried and wrapped in foil. Added to my toaster oven set at Bake @ 375F. I baked for 30 minutes then flipped it and baked until the rice was done.

I only had frozen broccoli florets. So I set them out to thaw while the potato and rice cooked. Right before assembling the bowls I popped the broccoli in the microwave and cooked on reheat for about 3-4 minutes.

Once rice is done, fluff and set aside.

I added the beans and nutritional yeast to a microwave safe bowl, give it a good stir. Cook in microwave until heated through.

To make your bowl add the fluffed rice, warm black beans, sweet potato slices, broccoli, sprinkle with cilantro. Top with avocado and salsa, finally add the sprouts. I wish I'd taken the pic before I added the sprouts so you could see all the individual ingredients. Oh well! Serve with pickled jalapenos on the side.

Enjoy!!