Mediterranean Orzo Salad (WFPBNO)

The weather has been so stinking hot here I've not really wanted to cook. I decided on another cold pasta salad for lunches over the weekend. I had everything I wanted to put into this salad with the exception of the baby spinach. So, off to the grocery I went and then I grabbed all the "Mediterranean" flavors in the frig and pantry and made this delicious salad. The leftovers were delicious, I did add a splash of red wine vinegar and a squeeze of lime. After a quick toss, it was ready to serve. I would consider this very friendly as far using the ingredients you have on hand.  Get your water on to boil before prepping the veggies and dressing.

Salad:

• 8 ounces orzo
• 5-6 cups baby spinach, tear larger leaves
• 1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained - SAVE that aquafaba water
• 1 cup diced tomato or halved cherry tomatoes, I used a combo of both
• 1 cup mini cucumbers, sliced
• 1 bell pepper, sliced and cut into bite-sized pieces, I used red
• 1/4 cup red onion, diced
• 1/4 cup kalamata olives, sliced
• 1/4 cup green olives, sliced
• 1/4 cup vegan feta, crumbled (you can omit this)

Be sure that water is on to boil. You will cook your orzo according to the package directions. Meanwhile add all the other salad ingredients to a large bowl. The spinach is on the very bottom.

Dressing:

• 1/4 cup aquafaba
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano, use fresh if you have it
• 1 clove garlic, grated
• salt and pepper to taste

Once the orzo is cooked, drain and rinse in cool water. Let cool before adding it to the veggies in your bowl. Then give it all a good toss.

Mix all of the dressing ingredients while the orzo is cooling. Give the dressing a good whisk. Give this a taste before adding it to the salad to see if you prefer to a add a little bit more of anything.

Once the salad is ready add the dressing and give it a final toss.

We ate this immediately and had leftovers the next day. I did add a few splashes of red wine vinegar and a squeeze of lime before serving the leftovers. It was delicious at room temp but even better cold from the frig.

Enjoy!!!

Creamy Tuscan White Bean Soup

This is a very filling, easy to make soup. You probably have the ingredients in your pantry and fridge to make this delicious bowl of comfort. I served it as is but you could add some croutons, a side salad or 1/2 a sandwich with a smaller bowl of soup. I love one-pot meals with leftovers that are easy to reheat. If you made a cashew cream instead of using coconut milk this would be WFPBNO, but the oil in the coconut milk kicks it out of that category. Makes 6 large servings.

• 1/4 cup water
• 1 large sweet onion, about 1 1/2 cups, diced
• 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced (about 3/4 cup)
• 2 large stalks celery, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 3 tablespoons minced garlic (I buy already minced in jar)
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 4 cups vegetable broth
• 2 (15-oz) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed (or your fav white bean)
• 1 (15-oz) can diced tomatoes
• 4 cups chopped baby spinach
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 3/4 cup full-fat coconut milk (or sub cashew cream or puree a can of white beans)

Heat the water in a large Dutch oven. Add the onion, carrots, celery and black pepper. Cook about 5 minutes stirring occasionally.

Add tomato paste, garlic, red pepper flakes, thyme and basil and cook about 1 minute, stirring.

Add the broth, beans and tomatoes. Scape up any bits from the bottom of the pan and bring to a simmer. 

Reduce heat and cook about 15 minutes until the veggies are tender. If you want a really creamy soup use an immersion blender and blend about 1/2 of the soup. You want some veggie pieces in there though.

Add the spinach and cover pot for about 5 minutes until it is good and wilted.

Add the vinegar and coconut milk. Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed, add more red pepper for heat, coconut milk for creaminess or spices.

Serve while nice and hot. You can garnish with croutons, a sprinkle of nutritional yeast or fresh herbs.

Enjoy!!!

Smothered Green Chili Burritos

These were really good but I used a little too much spinach so I'm going to adjust the amount in the following recipe for you. Lots of nice flavors going on here, wish I had a slightly larger burrito but hey, you gotta use what you have! These had a really nice flavor and the sauce was spot on. I had some frozen roasted Hatch chilies in the freezer that I used but you can sub a can of diced green chilies. This filling would also make a delicious quesadilla or taco. 

Filling:

• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 potato, diced (I used a russet, but a Yukon gold would be delicious)
• 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
• 2 cups frozen spinach
• 1 15-ounce can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 2 teaspoons Braggs liquid aminos
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth

Sauce:

• 1 small onion, diced
• 1 ice cubed roasted Hatch chilies (or sub 1 4-ounce can diced green chilis)
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon Braggs liquid aminos
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  
  
• Flour tortillas

Saute onion in a splash of water until translucent .

Add the onions to a blender. Add remaining sauce ingredients (not the tortillas) to blender.

Blend until smooth.

Cook the other small onion in a large skillet with a splash of water until translucent.

Add the remaining filling ingredients to the skillet and cook over medium until the potatoes are soft, 10-15 minutes. Add more vegetable broth or water if the pan starts to dry out.

Once potatoes are soft remove from heat and create an assembly line to fill the tortillas.

Place burritos in a cast iron pan and brown on all sides.

Place burrito on a plate and top with cheese sauce and a generous amount of the chili sauce.

These can be garnished with whatever you enjoy. Sliced jalapenos, guac, extra cheese sauce, etc.

Enjoy!!

Pasta Puttanesca (WFPBNO)

This delicious pasta dish uses a store-bought Marinara sauce and then adds capers, olives, etc to amp up the flavors. I found this Marinara sauce at Aldi's with 0 fat added and no added sugars. It is inexpensive and tasty and complies with the WFPBNO way of eating. If you don't like olives you can leave them out and maybe use a few more capers. 

• 1 sweet onion, chopped
• 1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons red wine (I use Pinto Noir)
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1 jar fat-free Marinara sauce (mine was 23 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
• 1/3 cup capers
• 1/2 cup kalamata olives, pitted (I used whole but halves would work too)
• 1 can hearts of palm drained and chopped
• 2 handfuls fresh baby spinach, roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 box pasta (I used spaghetti noodles)

Start a large pot of water to cook your pasta in. In a medium saucepan add onion, garlic, red wine and vinegar. Cook, stirring frequently for about 5 minutes. 

Add the Marinara sauce and Italian seasoning. Cook for 5 more minutes.

Add the remaining ingredients, except the pasta, heat through. I covered and simmer on medium low while the pasta cooked.

Drain the pasta and serve with the sauce over it. I garnished with nutritional yeast.

Enjoy!!!

Mushroom & Spinach Pasta Salad (WFPBNO)

The weather has really started to heat up here in Florida. I wanted something lighter for dinner and haven't made pasta salad in a while. I had all of the ingredients to throw this pasta salad together. If you don't have fresh spinach try using a sliced zucchini. I used the mayo recipe from Dr. McDougall's Starch Solution cookbook. If you don't have vegan mayo you should make it first or while the vegetables roast. If you don't have grape tomatoes you can chop a large regular tomato. I think this recipe is very forgiving so just use the veggies you have on hand that you enjoy eating. 

                                        

Dressing:

• 1/2 cup tofu mayo
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon white balsamic vinegar
• 1 tablesoon dried dill

Mix all dressing ingredients in a mason jar. Stir well. Put in frig until needed.

Pasta Salad:

• 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms, sliced
• 1 container grape tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
• 1/4 red onion, sliced thin
• 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 2 tablespoons aquafaba
• 6 ounces (almost 3 cups) Farfalle pasta
• 1 15-ounce can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 5 ounce bag fresh spinach, lightly chopped
• Garnish: salt, pepper, nutritional yeast

Preheat toaster oven to 400F. Cover baking sheet with parchment paper. Add vegetables, garlic, Italian seasoning a couple tablespoons aquafaba to a large bowl. Toss well. Add vegetables to the baking hseet and roast 25-30 minutes.

When they are done return to your large bowl.

While the veggies roast cook pasta according to package directions. Once it's done rinse with cold water and then toss in the spinach and give it a good stir.

Add beans to the vegetables and toss. This should be cool before you add the pasta.

Add cooled pasta and spinach to the veggies and toss well.

Add the dressing you made earlier and combine well.

Garnish and serve.

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!!!