Vegan Recipes and Plant Based Cooking

I have achieved new heights in vegetarian laziness. Canned beans are already my go to food. Just rinse and eat. So convenient. I'm not gonna sit there cooking dry beans for hours. That's just madness. To hell with BPAs. Been eating them all this time. Still, normally I will cook lentils. They only take a mere 20 minutes to cook. And dry beans are less expensive. So lentils are definitely worth buying dry and cooking. They're especially nice cooked in broth or in with a rice mix that requires roughly the same cooking time. I quite like lentils cooked with yellow saffron rice mix. But during the winter soup can be really super cheap. Progresso brand sells two vegetarian lentil soups which are very good. They're basically just a big pile of lentils in a little bit of  tasty broth. One's more spinachy and one's more tomatoey. Both are good, if you don't mind the sodium content. I'm sure there are other great lentil soups one might choose. But this the ...

Sometimes when I have a few potatoes left over after having roasted off most of the 5 lb bag I'll try out new things on the remainder. Finely diced potatoes slowly cooked in a saute pan are easy and pretty good. I've mentioned them in other posts. Once or twice I've given matchstick potatoes a try. I've learned the trick is to cook them to almost burnt. You'll get a texture and flavor similar to a french fry, but without the added fat of deep frying. Cut your raw potatoes into 1/4 thick by 2-4 inch long matchsticks. Heat a very large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Lubricate it with a teaspoon of your favorite oil. Make sure the oil is pretty hot before adding your potatoes. Heat the oil at least 1-2 minutes. Add potatoes to loosely fill the pan. Sprinkle with a 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Cover and cook for about 7 minutes. Then turn as best you can to make sure the other sides get browned the same. Season with fresh ground black pepper. Try a pot...

I recently added a new addition to my usual salad fare. Shoprite has been selling green cabbage for $0.49 per pound. So roughly $1.00 per whole head. So I decided to try that to augment the romaine I usually use as that has increased in price to $1.69 per pound. It tastes great and adds a better texture and crunch factor to the overall salad. I just use a mix of romaine and the cabbage. I use both raw. Cabbage is great in that it's so much easier to prep. I just discard the outermost leaves in the store. Don't wanna buy what I'm not gonna eat. Then at home I can use a knife to chop the cabbage. It's much heartier than lettuce. So it doesn't wilt from chopping even after 5 or 6 days stored in the fridge. A lot of people see cabbage and automatically think of cole slaw. To that I say phooey. Cabbage deserves better than to drown in an bowl of mayonaisse. It can stand quite nicely on its own merits. Nutrionally it's similar to its darker leafy cousins. Boat...

Here's something I've enjoyed on several occasions that's all easy and replete with simple variations. The base is yellow saffron rice. I get mine for $0.95 for 5 ounces. However, instead of just cooking the rice as directed I like to change things up a bit. I'll start with an onion broth. I'll save my onion skins, roots and left over pieces. I'll simmer them in 2 cups water for 15-20 minutes. Then remove the onion bits so only the broth is left. Add dried lentils and the rice packet. Continue cooking untils lentils and rice are tender. Making sure to add more water as needed. During the last 5 minutes of cooking add some frozen or fresh spinach and minced garlic. The rest is even easier. Spoon your yellow lentil/rice mix onto a plate.. Top with a small handful of shredded raw red cabbage. Then a spoonful of rinsed canned kidney beans. Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette if desired. This is also great inverted. Where you have a big bunch of red cabba...

Here's a sexy salad for everyone to lust after. Most people probably don't think of salad as being very sexy, but I disagree. It's one of the best dishes there are. A salad can be pretty much any combination of ingredients. The one stipulation is that they need to be fresh and bright. Can't go wrong there. Salads demand texture and acidity. They are light, yet filling. This salad in particular is a great one. You have to click on the pic to see it full sized. It will leave you drooling. There's a base of freshly torn romaine lettuce. That's topped with minced red cabbage. The next layer is oven fresh roasted chopped broccoli. Then sliced white onions. Garnished with a few spoonfuls of black beans. Finished with a few cloves of roasted garlic. Everything is moistening with white vinegar, balsamic vinaigrette and Louisiana hot sauce. Very light, Very nutritious. Very tasty. Yet extremely light on calories. 100% vegetarian. 100% vegan. Great for breakfast...