Lentil Cakes!

I've been meaning to do a whole write up with our measurements and modifications but until there here is the original recipe for my new favorite dinner!

Martha's Lentil Cakes.

Spaghetti Squash with Kale and Walnuts {Easily Vegan and Anti-Candida}

1 Roasted Spaghetti Squash gutted
Bunch of Kale
Organic 8 oz Chickpeas
LOTS of Garlic
1 Onion
Splash of Evoo
Salt and Pepper to taste
Chili pepper flakes
Coriander
Walnuts as many as you like
optional; top with Pecorino Romano or Feta

* Thank to my friend Alex for sharing this awesome recipe!

Lentil Leftover Coconut Soup {VEGAN}

I recently made Lentil tacos and ended up with a bit too many lentils left over, so after googling a few lentil coconut soup recipes I came up with this one...

A few blurry ingredients.

What You'll Need:

1 ball jar of cooked Lentils {buy them in the bulk section at the grocery store and cook at home}
1 {bpa free if possible} can of ORGANIC coconut milk
1 cup {and more if desired} of organic vegetable stock
1 organic red onion, chopped
3 organic carrots, chopped
1/2 bunch of organic celery, chopped
2 cloves organic garlic chopped
2 cups {and more if desired} water
pinch of coriander
pinch of paprika
pinch of Himalayan salt
pinch of curry seasoning
dash of red pepper flakes

and anything else you've got left over in the fridge, throw it in {I'm talking about veggies not take out}!

Combine into large crock pot and simmer for a few hours.

Serve with french bread, pita or tortillas for dipping.

Kale Lemon Quinoa

My friend Katie whipped up something like this {or exactly like this} on a play date with our babes, I attempted to recreate it and I have to say, it's good.

Here's what you'll need:

Kale

Yellow Squash

2 lemons

Measuring Cup

2 cups uncooked Quinoa

Feta Cheese Crumbles {if not vegan}

not pictured:

salt and pepper {to taste}

oil for cooking

Start quinoa right away, cook to directions on box {or 2 cups water to 1 cup quinoa}

First, cut the squash long ways, in half and again a few times.

Now, long ways again, this time vertically...

Finally, cube the squash.

Add to preheated skillet with oil.

Shred, tear, chop the kale and add it to the skillet.

add any extra seasonings you might like now.

Cut open lemons to squeeze on top.

Notice the seeds?!  we only eat fruits and veggies with seeds in my house.  

No seeds? Not food.

Plate quinoa, top with skillet mixture and salt and pepper to taste.

Squeeze lemon on top.

Vegan Finished Version above.

If Vegetarian, do above steps, then add Feta Crumbles.

So, good. Either way.

Enjoy!

Kale Salad

What you'll need:

2 bunches of organic kale (from farmer's market for freshness)

handful of bread crumbs (optional)

1 clove garlic

pinch of salt

1/2 cup thinly shredded pecorino cheese for garnish

6 table spoons organic extra virgin olive oil

2 fresh squeezed lemons

dash of chili flakes (more or less to taste)

black pepper to taste

What you'll do with it:

Slice kale.

Mush garlic to a paste using mortar and pestel

Add olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper and pepper flakes.  If no vegans add cheese otherwise set aside for any cheese eaters.

Toss kale with dressing and let sit for about 5 minutes. Add breadcrumbs as garnish.

Enjoy.

This recipe is from a friend who found it on google, sorry I don't have the original source.

Quiche

I literally lived off of this while in France.  Granted it was only for 4 days, but it was all I ate for 4 days.
Here's how we make it:

Start with farm fresh eggs available at your local farmer's market

Shred a cup or 2 of cheese

Pour over sauteed spinach and onions

add egg and milk mixture, top with cheese

bake

eat.

Ingredients:
bunch of fresh ORGANIC spinach
1 white organic onion
1 1/2 cup organic cheese (your choice) we used cheddar and pecorino
1 tomato
2 pie organic crusts
dozen organic, free range, vegetarian fed, farm fresh eggs
Organic creme or whole milk
Avocado oil

Directions:
Saute chopped onion and spinach in a splash of avocado oil. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.  In medium mixing bowl, mix 5 eggs and a splash of creme.  Bake pie crusts for 5 minutes.  Slice tomato, shred cheese.  Remove pie crusts from oven, split spinach mixture between 2 pie crusts pour egg an milk mixture into ONE (1!) pie crust, mix another batch of the 5 eggs, splash of milk combo, and pour into OTHER pie crust.  Top both with cheese. Bake for 30 minutes.  Add tomato slice, bake for 10 more minutes or until cheese is brown.  Remove from oven, allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.  Devour.

Seriously, I ate 3/4 of the quiche pie last night, and I almost ate the last 1/4 but I had SOME self control.  I know breastfeeding burns calories, but I seriously  haven't eaten that much ever!

Pasta Soup

What you'll Need:

*Slow cooker
*1 medium onion
*2/3 cup chopped celery (or a little more)
*2 cloves garlic, minced
*Handful of fresh oregano chopped or 1tsp dried oregano
*Rosemary or dried rosemary
*28oz can diced tomatoes or the equivalent of fresh ones (look for BPA-FREE cans)
*"10 bean soup mix" available in Sprouts' bulk section (about 1 cup)
If you don't find this exactly, get creative. Most grocery stores have a bulk section with various beans/soup mixes. You'll want about 1 cup or a little less of DRIED beans.
*4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
*Pinch of salt to taste
*Pepper to taste
*1 cup or 8 oz orzo pasta
*fresh or dried parsley
*2 cups water

You'll want to start this about 4 hours before you plan on eating it.
Start by adding 4 cups veggie stock/broth and 2 cups water to slow cooker. Add the 1 cup of beans or soup mix from bulk section. add any dried seasonings at this time and the Tomatoes. Set cooker to high heat for 2-3 hours. Stir sometimes.

When you check back make sure your beans aren't over cooking and it shouldn't be boiling if it is turn to low heat. After 3 hours I sautéed the chopped onion, garlic and celery. And added it to the mix. Set to low heat now if not already set there.

Around 4 hours I added the Orzo Pasta and let soak with the mix on low heat for about 20 minutes. If you have fresh seasonings now's the time to add them.

After 4 hours and 20 minutes, the beans should be cooked along with the pasta, the seasonings should be well flavored in the soup. If your soup looks more like pasta and veggies with some sauce, you can add water and more veggie stock to get a more liquid-y texture. (I added about 1 cup broth and 1 cup water at the end and allowed it to heat thoroughly).

In the end it should look something like this:


we ate ours with grilled cheese and it was delish., your could too, to keep the meal vegan just use sliced soy cheese. enjoy!

p.s. I should mention this makes a lot. The 3 of us each had a good size bowl and I saved 4 1/2 ball jars (about 2 cups each) of soup/pasta, We'll probably finish it for lunches. But, I actually froze some for when baby get's here, too. That way we won't have to cook... for at least one night.

Sweet Potato Fries!

If you're sick of regular fries, mix it up with some sweet and spicy fries.
I made this lunch yesterday just from things we already had. super simple.
Grilled cheese (whole wheat bread with American and mozzarella cheese) and sweet potato fries.



Grilled cheese is classic so I won't bore you with directions, but for the sweet potatoes I cut them in half LONG ways. then cut those in 1/2 short ways. so I had 4 pieces, then I sliced those into about 1/4 or 1/2 inch strips. put some sesame oil on medium heat and added the fries. sauteed for about 10 minutes, until cooked through and a bit crispy, every once and a while adding a pinch of cinnamon, salt, pepper and some cayenne pepper (the more the spicier).

SO YUMMY! Fries are Vegan obviously the Grilled CHEESE is not :)