One-Pot Cheesy Taco Pasta

I saw this non-vegan dish and it sounded so good and seemed fairly simple. So, I made it vegan by using Impossible meat, that was thawed, veggie broth instead of chicken broth, vegan cheese and left out the oil. It was delicious!!! It's not WFPBNO, but you could use crumbled soy curls or crumbled tofu and make your own cheese sauce and it would be WFPBNO. It is definitely a make again and next time I'll try making it whole food. It think either the soy curls or the super firm tofu crumbled would work fine.  Try this for Taco Tuesday this week.

• 1 cup chopped sweet onion
• 1 12-ounce package Impossible Beef Lite, thawed
• 1 tablespoon taco seasoning
• 1 heaping teaspoon garlic, minced
• 1 15-ounce can, black beans, drained and rinsed
• 3 cups of your favorite salsa
• 8 ounces dry elbow macaroni
• 2 1/2 cup veggie broth
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels (not in pic, sorry)
• 2 cups Colby Jack shreds
• Garnish: diced avocado, sour cream, pickled jalapeno slices

Heat a couple of tablespoons water in a Dutch oven. Add onion and cook until it is translucent. Stirring occasionally.

                                        

Add the Impossible beef, taco seasoning and garlic. Cook, breaking up the beef into smaller pieces using a wooden spoon. Cook until no pink remains.

Add the beans, salsa and macaroni. Stir well to combine. Add the broth and cover, bringing the pot to a boil. Uncover, cook, stirring occasionally, the pasta will try to stick to the bottom of the pan. Be sure to scrape the bottom often. Cook until pasta is done, about 12-15 minutes. Again, be sure to stir.

Add the corn and 1-1/2 cups cheese. Stir well.

Sprinkle the remaining cheese on the top and add the lid. Turn the heat off. Leave for 2-3 minutes until cheese is melty.

Add your garnishes, you could also use chopped cilantro, more salsa, hot sauce, crushed tortilla chips.

Enjoy!!!

Nachos

These would be whole food plant based if I had made my own tortilla chips. But, I bought these at a local grocery and they were amazing. They were made with organic blue corn and were so light and crispy. These nachos were a nice change from soups and/or an entrée with sides for lunch. Obviously, use the ingredients you have on hand and enjoy. 

• tortilla chips, I used enough for a nice layer on my serving platter
• Queso cheese sauce, use however much you want
• 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 avocado (guac, steps below)
• Salsa 
• pickled jalapenos, to taste
• 3 tablespoons red onion, diced small

Make the queso if you haven't already. Heat the black beans in a small saucepan with garlic powder, cumin and chili powder. I used about 1 teaspoon of each. I also had a small amount of tempeh taco 'meat' in the frig that I added so I could get rid of it. But it's not necessary. Stir frequently and turn heat to low to keep the beans warm.

Mash your avocado in a small bowl and add the juice from 1/2 a lime, a tablespoon of diced tomato, a tablespoon diced red onion, a sprinkle of salt. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking. Set aside.

Arrange your chips on a serving platter and cover with bean mixture.

Drizzle with the warm queso.

Top with salsa; if your salsa is thin use a fork to get the salsa and leave the juice behind.

 

Add the amount of guac you would like.

Garnish with pickled jalapenos and diced red onion. I place all the topping by the platter so we could add more if we wanted to. I actually used a large spatula and served the nachos on individual saucers.

This was so good and there will be lots of leftover cheese sauce. You can use that sauce to pour over a baked potato, to make mac 'n cheese, to pour over broccoli and/or cauliflower, etc.

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!!!!

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!!!

Chickpea Taco Bowl

This easily made bowl has lots of flavors and textures. This made 2 big bowls for our lunch. You can always substitute my ingredients for what you have at home, brown or white rice instead of yellow, green cabbage or kale instead of red cabbage, etc. These chickpeas are so good I think they would be great in a burrito or on any salad to add a little extra protein. 

For the chickpea taco filling:

• 1/2 small sweet onion, chopped
• 1/4 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup water mixed with 1 teaspoon vegetable base
• 1 package low-sodium taco seasoning
• 2 tablespoons of your favorite salsa
• 2 tablespoon cilantro leaves

For bowl:

• 1 small head organic romaine lettuce
• 1 cup cooked yellow rice
• 1 avocado, diced
• a handful of cherry tomatoes
• 1/2 cup red cabbage, sliced into thin strips
• 1 ear grilled corn on the cob
• Cilantro Lime Avocado dressing

In a large nonstick skillet heat a couple tablespoons of water. Add onion, bell pepper and garlic. Sauté until onion is translucent.

Add chickpeas, vegetable broth, taco seasoning and salsa. Stir and bring to a boil. Lower heat to simmer and cook uncovered while you prep the other ingredients.

Prep the vegetables needed for the bowl.

Stir chickpeas occasionally and continue to cook until most of the liquid is gone. Once done add the cilantro and stir.

To make a bowl divide lettuce between 2 bowls. top with chickpea taco filling, rice and veggies.

Garnish with sliced limes and chips if you want.

Enjoy!!

Polenta Breakfast Bowls

 I don't cook polenta often enough. I love it and it's super easy. I got this idea from a Forks Over Knives recipe I saw online. This is super easy and tasty and filling. It serves four so we had breakfast for two days.

• 1 cup polenta
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1 15-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 cup prepared salsa
• 1 ripe avocado, cut in half
• Garnish: finely chopped red onion and hot sauce

Cook the polenta according to package directions. When done add nutritional yeast. Stir and set aside.

Combine black beans, chili powder and 1/4 cup of water to a small saucepan. Heat over medium-low heat until warmed thorough.

Divide the polenta into 4 bowls. Top each with 1/4 of the beans, 1/4 cup salsa and 1/4 of the sliced avocado. Garnish with cilantro leaves, onions and hot sauce.

I assembled the extra bowls in Tupperware and stored in the frig. Reheated them on 'reheat' in the microwave for about a minute and a half.

Enjoy!!!

Cheesy Taco Pasta (WFPBNO)

This is a quick, filling and delicious pasta dish. The leftovers reheated well and I would say this is 6 servings. I'm sure you have all of these ingredients in your kitchen. This would go well with a side salad or some chips and guac. You decide.

• 8 ounces shell pasta, I had chickpea pasta and added a few rotini to it 
• 8 ounces vegan burger meat, I had leftover homemade meatballs, quartered
• 2 cups salsa (I had Roasted Chipotle)
• 1 + cups vegan cheese (I used Brand New Vegan's Cheese Sauce)
• 1 package low-sodium taco seasoning
• 1 cup water (reserved from cooking pasta)
• sea salt and pepper to serve

Get your water going first, cook pasta according to package directions. Remove from heat, drain and set aside.

I quartered homemade vegan meatballs into a non-stick skillet and added the taco seasoning with a splash of water. Cook until the meatballs are heated all the way through. You may need to add another tablespoon or so of water. 

Lower heat and add the pasta water, pasta, salsa and cheese. Stir to combine and cook until everything is hot. 

I don't cook with salt, but I do taste my food and if needed add a tiny amount. You can really taste it if it's not cooked into the dish. Garnish with chopped cilantro and enjoy!