Two for Tuesday - Chili in Bread Bowls, Taco Salad & Cheesy Potato Skins

I know, I know . . . these don't sound like healthy meals - but they are! Easy, nutritious and very kid-friendly. Plus, once you cook the chili you have three nights worth of meals from it. I love shortcuts in the kitchen!

Chili in Bread Bowls

 I had to adjust this recipe afterward because my original made way too much. After getting through all three meals, I still had a full Pyrex dish that I put in the freezer. I'll thaw it in the next week or so for another chili dinner. The leftovers from that will star in Little Sprout's newest dish - she had the idea last night that the chili would be great as taco filling. Oh, and the bread bowls are optional, of course, but the Sprouts really thought they were fun!

Ingredients:

4 bread bowls

1 onion, chopped

3 tablespoons garlic, chopped

3 cans beans, rinsed & drained (or 4-5 cups cooked) - I used kidney, black and cannellini

1 6-oz. can of tomato paste (can sub ketchup if needed)

3 14.5-oz. cans diced tomatoes

2 cups water

1 small package frozen corn

3 tablespoons chili powder

2 teaspoons salt

2 tablespoons molasses

Preparation:

In a large pot, saute onion and garlic in a little water until onion is tender. Add beans, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, water and frozen corn. Stir until combined, then bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low, and add the chili powder, salt and molasses. Simmer for 35-40 minutes.

Sprout Ratings:  
Big Sprout - 5 sprouts
Little Sprout - 5 sprouts
Mama Sprout - 5 sprouts
Daddy Sprout - 5 sprouts

*  *  *

Simple Taco Salad

Dinner doesn't really get any easier than this. I was going for something resembling my favorite dish at Dandelion Communitea (the Giddy-up). It was close, but I didn't quite get there. Not sure what was missing - the vegan queso they use or the luxury of having it made and served to me. In either case, it was still a good dinner and a hit with the Sprouts.

Ingredients:

4 cups leftover chili

8-10 cups lettuce, washed and chopped

4 plum tomatoes, chopped

1 avocado, chopped

4 cups baked corn chips

4 tablespoons vegan sour cream

Preparation:

Reheat the chili while you wash and chop the veggies, Arrange lettuce onto four plates, and top each plate with about 1 cup of chili. Divide tomatoes and avocado between the four plates. Garnish each plate with corn chips and top with a dollop of sour cream.

Sprout Ratings:
Big Sprout - 5 sprouts
Little Sprout - 4 sprouts
Mama Sprout - 4 sprouts
Daddy Sprout - 3 sprouts

*  *  *

Cheesy Potato Skins

And finally, the Cheesy Potato Skins. The Sprouts have never had potato skins before, but for me, they are a distant but yummy memory from my less-healthy eating days. This version brought me a taste of flavor from my past in a much healthier way! I saved the potato that I scooped out from the skins to use in a shepherd's pie this week. 

Ingredients:

6 small/medium potatoes

2-3 cups leftover chili

1 package vegan cheddar cheese, shredded (I used Daiya)

Salt

Preparation:

Bake potatoes at 350 degrees for one hour or until tender. Remove from oven, and slice each potato in half lengthwise. Scoop out most of the potato, leaving only a thin layer inside the skin. Place potato skins on a baking sheet, give them a quick shot of cooking spray and a sprinkle of salt and broil for five minutes. Remove potato skins from oven, fill with chili and top with cheese. Broil for an additional 5-10 minutes (watch them closely!) until the cheese melts.

Sprout Ratings:
Big Sprout - 5 sprouts
Little Sprout - 5 sprouts
Mama Sprout - 5 sprouts
Daddy Sprout - 5 sprouts

Two for Tuesday - Pasta Primavera, Very Veggie Burgers & Tamari Rice with Veggies & Tempeh

This week's Two for Tuesday is actually a Three for Tuesday - three meals made from the same base ingredients to save tons of time in the kitchen. We started off with a mix of veggies - broccoli, carrots, zucchini and peas - then cooked them once and made three meals out of them. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

We started the week with Pasta Primavera, which I made with a whole wheat angel hair. It was delicious, but in hindsight, I should have used a heartier pasta like a fettucine to stand up to the cream sauce - next time. The picture isn't very inspiring, but it was way yummier than it looks!

Pasta Primavera

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons chopped garlic

2 large bunches of broccoli, finely chopped

8 carrots, finely chopped

3 zucchini

1 small bag of frozen peas

16 oz. box of whole wheat pasta

1 recipe Cashew Cream Sauce

Preparation:

1. Put a large pot of water on to boil for the pasta. Pour a little water into the bottom of a large pan for the veggies, and warm to medium heat. 

2. Starting with the carrots (since they have the longest cooking time), finely chop all the veggies, tossing them into the pan as you go. Add the peas in at the end, and cook until all veggies are slightly tender.

3. When the water in the pot boils, cook pasta according to package directions.

4. Once the veggies are cooking and pasta is boiling, blend up and cook the sauce.

5. When the veggies are done, transfer 2/3 of them to a storage container for the other two recipes. Drain the pasta, and toss it into the pan with the remaining veggies. Add the cream sauce, and toss gently until well combined.

Sprout Ratings:
Big Sprout - 5 sprouts
Little Sprout - 5 sprouts
Mama Sprout - 5 sprouts
Daddy Sprout - 5 sprouts

*  *  *

The next night, we took more of the mixed veggies and made them into veggie burgers. I've always been slightly annoyed by veggie burgers that seem to lack any actual veggies, so for several months now, I've been dreaming up my own. The inspiration came from the oddest of places - a little diner in the town of Celebration. It's not the place you'd think to go for great veg food, but their veggie burger is delicious. What I remember most is the little chunks of broccoli and carrots mixed into a base of chickpeas - so that's what I attempted to recreate.

I think I came pretty close, but I will do some tweaking on this one next time. The veggies didn't stand out to me as much as the diner burger, so next time I'll use fewer chickpeas to up the veggie-chickpea ratio. But, this recipe earned a unanimous five sprout rating so it's safe to say it's also good as is.

Just so you can't say I didn't warn you, this recipe makes a lot - we got nine burgers out of it. We ate five that night with roasted potato wedges and four the following night with salad. If you don't like the same meal two nights in a row, you could probably toss the leftovers in the freezer to enjoy another week.

Very Veggie Burgers

Ingredients:

3 cups chickpeas

1/2 remaining veggie mixture (about 2 cups)

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

2 tablespoons Bragg's or tamari

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup vital wheat gluten

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place chickpeas in a large bowl and mash so that no whole chickpeas remain. 

2. Mix in remaining ingredients and stir until combined. Knead the mixture with your hands until it starts to hold together. 

3. Scooping out 3/4 cup of the mixture at a time, form into a small ball then flatten into a patty.

4. Place patties on a baking sheet, and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, then flip and bake for another 5 minutes. If you prefer a slightly crispier burger, you can cook them in a non-stick skillet coated with cooking spray instead.

Sprout Ratings:
Big Sprout - 5 sprouts
Little Sprout - 5 sprouts
Mama Sprout - 5 sprouts
Daddy Sprout - 5 sprouts

*  *  *

The final night of our very veggie journey found Big Sprout in the kitchen cooking up a no-fry stir fry. I'll have to add in the pictures of this one later since Jim took the camera I needed today!

Tamari Rice with Veggies & Tempeh

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice

Remaining veggies (about 1/2 cup)

1/2 medium onion, chopped

2 tablespoons chopped garlic

3 tablespoons tamari or Bragg's

1 package seasoned tempeh (I used the Turtle Island Sesame Garlic tempeh strips)

Preparation

1. Cook the rice according to package directions.

2. While the rice is cooking, saute the onion and garlic in a little bit of water until tender. Add the veggies, stirring often until heated through.

3. When the rice is done, add it to the veggie mixture and mix in the tamari.

4. Chop the tempeh strips, and add into the rice mixture. Enjoy!

Sprout Ratings:
Big Sprout - 5 sprouts
Little Sprout - 4 sprouts
Mama Sprout - 5 sprouts
Daddy Sprout - 4 sprouts

Two for Tuesday - Roasted Veggie Sandwiches & Antipasto Salad

Today's Two for Tuesday feature was a huge hit in our house - good for two awesome meals with the potential for four!!! I'll give you the recipes for the Roasted Veggie Sandwiches and Antipasto Salad first, with the ideas for the additional two meals added in at the end.

Roasted Veggie Sandwiches

Ingredients:
1 recipe Cashew Cheese Log
1 large or two small baguettes (from bakery or made from this bread recipe)
3 zucchini
2 yellow squash
1 lb. asparagus
1 large tomato
1 12-oz. jar roasted red peppers
1 6-oz. jar marinated artichokes
Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.Scrub the zucchini and squash, and cut lengthwise into long strips. Wash and trim asparagus, and place it on baking sheets with zucchini and squash. Give a quick spray of cooking spray (optional), then sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Roast for 10 minutes.

2. While the veggies are roasting, slice the baguette in half lengthwise (producing the top and bottom of the sandwich). Spread each side lightly (or not so lightly - your choice!) with the cashew cheese. Cut the tomato into thin slices, and spread them on one side of the baguette. Top with roasted red peppers and artichokes (I used about 1/2 a jar of each - you'll want to leave plenty for the salad).

3. When the veggies have roasted for 10 minutes, place the baguette slices in the oven and roast for an additional 10 minutes.

4. Remove everything from the oven, and layer half the zucchini, squash and asparagus onto the baguette slice on top of the tomatoes, peppers and artichokes (save the other half of the veggies for the next night's salad). Top with the other baguette slice, cut into four pieces and serve.

Sprout Ratings:
Big Sprout - 5 sprouts
Little Sprout - 5 sprouts
Mama Sprout - 5 sprouts
Daddy Sprout - 5 sprouts

The veggie sandwich was delicious, and the antipasto salad the next night went together in a snap.You can serve it with any dressing you like - a balsamic vinaigrette would be nice but all I had on hand was the agave mustard. Feel free to add any other toppings you may like. I put olives on Little Sprout's (she's the only one that likes them), but onions, peppers and vegan feta would also go well.

Antipasto Salad

Ingredients:
Leftover zucchini, squash and asparagus from sandwich recipe
Leftover red peppers and artichokes from sandwich recipe
Lettuce of your choice (about 6 cups)
Dressing of your choice

Preparation:
Wash and chop the lettuce, then top with zucchini, squash, asparagus, red peppers, artichokes and any other toppings you like. Serve with desired dressing. Yep, it's really that easy!

Sprout Ratings:
Big Sprout - 5 sprouts
Little Sprout - 4 sprouts
Mama Sprout - 5 sprouts
Daddy Sprout - 5 sprouts

So yummy! And is if that wasn't enough, here are two more meal options you can pull together in a snap . . .

Option #3: Double the cashew cheese recipe and make two logs. On the third night, serve a light dinner of the cashew cheese log with lots of raw veggies and crackers for dipping.

Option #4: Buy or make an extra baguette, and add an extra zucchini and squash when roasted veggies for the sandwich. On the fourth night, slice the extra baguette, top with pizza sauce, roasted veggies and shredded vegan cheese for an easy French bread pizza. Serve with an easy green salad.

Two for Tuesday - Lentil Tacos & Lentil Loaf

Because I only have so many "top tips" in me, I'll be mixing up Top Tip Tuesdays with a new feature - Two for Tuesdays - which will provide two recipes made from the same base ingredient(s) to save on prep time and make meal planning even easier. I'm trying to incorporate more of these meals in my menus, so I thought many of you would be interested as well.

First in the lineup are lentils, which were made into Lentil Tacos and Lentil Loaf last week.

Don't be scared off by the long list of ingredients in the taco recipe - they're mostly spices for the quick, easy seasoning mix and ingredients for the toppings.

Lentil Tacos

 












Ingredients:
3 cups dried lentils
1 onion, chopped
3 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon sea salt
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1 package of natural taco shells (we like Garden of Eatin)
1 cup chopped lettuce
1 cup chopped tomato
Other taco toppings (avocado, olives, etc.), optional
Salsa and/or vegan sour cream

Preparation:

1. Place lentils in a large pot, and add 6-8 cups of water (enough to cover the lentils by a few inches). Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 25-30 minutes (until tender). Drain lentils if needed, and set aside.

2. While the lentils are cooking, prepare the spice mix (chili powder, sea salt, garlic powder, paprika and cumin) and saute the onion in a little water. When the onions are tender, add the cooked lentils, spice mix and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil, stirring often, then reduce heat and simmer until the liquid is absorbed. Using a potato masher, mash lentils well until few whole ones are left. Alternately, you could probably run them through a food processor or pulse them in the blender (just be careful - you want mashed, not pureed).

3. Scoop lentil mixture into the taco shells (make sure to reserve at least two cups for the other recipe), and top with lettuce, tomato, salsa, sour cream and other toppings as desired.

Sprout Ratings:
Big Sprout - 5 sprouts
Little Sprout - 5 sprouts
Mama Sprout - 5 sprouts
Daddy Sprout - 5 sprouts

On to the Lentil Loaf . . .

Lentil Loaf is one of Big Sprout's favorite dishes, and I've tried several recipes over the years. He's loved them all, but they've been hit or miss for the rest of us. This post inspired me to come up with my own recipe, and I was thrilled when everyone declared it the best lentil loaf yet. Best of all, it went together very quickly since the lentils were already cooked and seasoned.

Lentil Loaf

Ingredients:
2 cups cooked, seasoned lentils (left over from Lentil Taco recipe)
2 carrots, peeled and diced
3 stalks of celery, diced
1 cup oats, coarsely ground
1 tablespoon corn starch or arrowroot powder

2 tablespoons tamari, Bragg's or soy sauce, divided
1/2 cup ketchup1 teaspoon garlic powder

Preparation:

1. In a medium pan, saute the carrots and celery in a little water until tender. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In a large bowl, combine carrots/celery mixture, lentils, oats, cornstarch and 1 tablespoon of the tamari and mix thoroughly. Place on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, and form into a loaf shape.

3. Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl (ketchup, garlic powder and remaining 1 tablespoon tamari) and spread over top of the lentil loaf.

4. Lightly cover the loaf with the aluminum foil, and bake for 30 minutes.

5. Unwrap, and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Remove from oven, and let stand for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Sprout Ratings:
Big Sprout - 5 sprouts
Little Sprout - 5 sprouts
Mama Sprout - 4.5 sprouts
Daddy Sprout - 5 sprouts