Chickpea Bolognese

This is based on a Forks Over Knives recipe I saw. I wasn't sure how we were going to like it, but man oh man, it was delicious!!

• 1 medium sweet onion
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained, slightly chopped
• 1 medium carrot, diced
• 1 cup baby bella mushrooms, diced
• a couple of handfuls of fresh spinach, roughly chopped
• 1 can no salt added diced tomatoes
• 15 ounces tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons Italian Seasoning 
• 1 (16 ounce) package Brown Rice Pasta (I used spaghetti shape)

Toss the chickpeas in the food processor and give it a couple of buzzes. You don't want hummus, you just want to break up the chickpeas.

To a large pot add onion, garlic, chickpeas, carrots and a couple tablespoons of water. Saute the veggies for about 6 minutes, or until onions are translucent. Add water as needed to keep it from sticking or burning.

Add the mushrooms and spinach and cook until mushrooms begin to soften.

Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and Italian seasoning. Stir well and reduce heat to a simmer. Cover and let simmer about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, to let the flavors marry.

While the sauce is simmering cook the pasta according to the package directions. Serve sauce over cooked pasta. I had some homemade mozzarella that I used as a garnish.

Enjoy!!

Bean & Farro Soup

The weather cooled off a little yesterday and I decided a soup was in order. This soup will use many of your fresh and/or frozen items. It's also very forgiving so if you don't have a sack of frozen spinach, use fresh, or try kale instead. If you prefer a different bean go for it.You could also use barely instead of farro. Serves 6.

• 1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 smallish sweet onion, diced
• 1 stalk celery, chopped
• 1 can (14.5 ounce) diced tomatoes, with juice
• 2 small carrots, diced
• 1 large waxy potato, cut into 1/2" cubes
• 1 cup pearled farro, rinsed
• 1 cup frozen chopped spinach
• scallions for garnish

Heat the water and add onion and celery. Saute until onions become translucent.

Stir in tomatoes, carrot, potatoes, farro and 4 cups water. Bring to a boil and then turn heat to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally until farro is done 25-30 minutes. If needed you can add some more water.

Mash half of the beans and add both mashed and whole to the soup. Stir in spinach and cook until everything is hot.

Serve topped with scallions. We also added a shot of Frank's hot sauce to this. We put that shit on everything!

 Enjoy!

BBQ Stuffed Sweet Potatoes

I love sweet potatoes stuffed with BBQ anything. Although we have gone 99% whole foods plant based no oil, I do have a few stray packages in the big freezer of vegan meats. I had never tried the No Evil Pit Boss (it was delicious). So maybe once a month I'll break out a package of faux meat and we do enjoy it. I know it's processed, has too much oil and sodium. But this was delicious. It's gone and I won't be buying anymore. So without further apology and blabbing here is the recipe. If you don't eat faux meat, I would suggest you try this with chopped tempeh or sliced mushrooms or garbanzo beans.

That was the sorriest piece of corn EVER!

• 2 large sweet potatoes
• 1 package No Evil Pit Boss
• sliced scallions, for garnish

Wrap the sweet potatoes in foil and Bake at 350 for 2 hours in my toaster oven. If you use a regular oven or even a newer toaster oven may cook 1 1/2 hours. At the half way mark I flip them over, front to back and left to right so that they cook all the way through. When the potatoes are almost done add the Pit Boss to a skillet and hit through. Follow the directions on the box.

While the potatoes were cooking I grilled the corn. Place corn in husks on hot grill and cook for 8 minutes, roll a third of the way over and cook another 8 minutes. Finally, roll to the uncooked side and cook a final 8 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool slightly.

Once the sweet potatoes are done, remove the foil. Split down the middle and loosen up the inside.

Top with the hot Pit Boss BBQ.

Add scallions for garnish and flavor.

Enjoy!!!

Chickpea of the Sea Salad

I loved tuna salad and this is the best replication I have. I like to make a sandwich with a thin slice of tomato and vegan mayo on homemade rye bread, YUMMM. This is also good as a snack on a cracker or as lunch on a salad. I can't believe I've not put this on the blog before since I've been making it for years. Anyway, enjoy!! Also let me state there is no way to make this look attractive in photos.

Ingredients:

• 1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 tablespoon dill pickle relish, drained
• 2 tablespoon sweet relish, drained
• 3 tablespoons sweet onion, minced
• 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
• 4 tablespoons vegan mayo (more if needed)
• 1/2 tablespoon yellow mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon kelp flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning

Put chickpeas in food processor.

Pulse until they are small crumbs, but be careful you don't want hummus.

Dump chickpeas into large bowl.

Add the remaining ingredients and stir well.

Eat in any of the recommended methods above and enjoy!!