​Chili Spaghetti

​Added 1/31/17

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:
1/2 a sweet or yellow onion, chopped
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 c veggie broth used to sauté
2 tbsp chili powder (or 1 tbsp of chili powder and 1 dried ancho pepper, ground. Deseeded if you don't want it spicy. Once ground, it looks like chili flakes)
1 tsp Salt or to taste
1/4 tsp black pepper or to taste
1/8 tsp chili flakes (optional)
1 c of tomato sauce

4 chopped sun dried tomatoes (optional)

1 c sliced mushrooms (optional)
1 c veggie broth
1/2 c cashews or walnuts (soaked or unsoaked)
1 average package fresh baby spinach
1 can of beans, drained (I used pinto beans) but navy beans (white beans) or kidney beans would also work (you can add 2 cans if you really like a lot of beans)
1 box of your favorite pasta

1 tbsp Corn starch or Arrowroot or Xanthan Gum or Agar Agar with 2 tbsp of cold water (if needed)

Instructions:

Cook your favorite pasta using the directions on the pasta box. Our favorite pasta is Jovial's fusilli pasta, but harder to find these days. Sometimes we can find it at Whole Foods.

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​In blender, add 1 cup veggie broth and 1/4 cup cashew or walnuts, blend until smooth. Set aside. (note: I used cashews, but have not used walnuts yet. If you try walnuts, please let me know how it turned out!)

On medium high heat, sauté onions, sun dried tomatoes, and mushrooms in 1/2 cup veggie broth until translucent. About 7 min. Add more veggie broth if needed.
Lower heat to medium. Add garlic sauté about 1 min.
Add tomato sauce, chili powder, salt, pepper, chili flakes and stir.

Now add the veggie broth cashew mixture, beans, and stir constantly for a few minutes until thick.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5 min. Then stir in spinach until wilted. Note: If the sauce is too thick for your liking, add more veggie broth. If it is too thin, add 1 tbsp corn starch to 2 tbsp of cold water, stir until dissolved then pour into the sauce and stir until thick. Adding corn starch to a hot liquid will cause the corn starch to clump, therefore why you need to dissolve it in cold water before adding it to something hot.

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Turn off heat. Grab a bowl, fill it with pasta (1 cup of cooked pasta) and pour the chili sauce over the pasta (1/2 to 1 cup of sauce).

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Vegan French Onion Soup

Added 1/26/17

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(modified from Blog.EatPlant-Based.com) - Original recipe found here: https://blog.eatplant-based.com/recipe/vegan-french-onion-soup/

 

Servings - 3 - 6 servings depending how large and how much you put in each bowl

 

Note: If you don't have soup crocks, any bowl that is oven safe will work. They may be larger bowls, so you determine how much you want in each bowl.

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Ingredients:

 

French Onion Soup

3 large yellow onions

1/2 cup veggie broth to saute' with

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup red wine of any kind

3 cups water

1 cup veggie broth

2 Tbsp soy sauce

2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 bay leaf

2 tsp ground or fresh thyme

2 tsp salt, or to taste

1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

Sourdough bread - oil free if you can find it

 

Vegan Mozzarella Topping

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup UNSOAKED raw cashews

1 Tbsp white wine vinegar

1 Tbsp nutritional yeast

1 Tbsp arrowroot powder or cornstarch or tapioca flour

1 tsp salt

 

Instructions:

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French Onion Soup

1. Slice onions into thin crescents.

2. In a large pot that can hold a lot of fresh cut onions, saute' the onions in 1/2 cup of water until onions begin to heavily brown. May need more water as you cook to avoid burning.

3. Add half of the red wine (1/4 cup) and minced garlic. Continue to brown the onions for about 3-5 minutes on low heat. Add a little more water if needed. Scrape down the the bottom of pan to release all of the flavor of caramelizing onions.

4. Add other half of red wine and continue cooking for approximately 3-5 minutes. Onions should be thickly browning, but not sticking to the bottom.

5. Add remaining ingredients to pot–3 cups water, 1 cup of veggie broth, soy sauce, balsamic, bay leaf, thyme, salt, and pepper. Cover and cook on low for approximately 15-20 minutes. While this is cooking, begin making Vegan Mozzarella Topping.

 

Vegan Mozzarella Topping

1. Make mozzarella topping by adding all ingredients to a blender and blend on high until smooth, approximately 2-3 minutes. No need to soak the cashews. Soaked cashews will create more of a thick gravy than a gooey cheeze.

2. Pour mixture into a sauce pan over medium heat and whisk continuously while cooking.

3. It will become thick and gooey in 3-5 minutes.

 

Soup Assembly

1. Turn soup off and remove bay leaf.

2. Ladle soup into oven-safe soup crocks. Top with pieces of sourdough bread to cover top. Then finish off with a large dollop of mozzarella topping.

3. Move rack to the highest shelf in your oven that will allow you to comfortably place soup crocks, then turn broiler to high.

4. Place the soup crocks on a baking sheet and broil in oven for approximately 3 minutes, or until tops are brown and bubbly. Watch closely or they will burn quickly.

5. Serve immediately.

 

 

 

Spicy Ethiopian Lentil Stew

Added 1/26/17

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(Modified from Connoisseurus Veg recipe) - Original Recipe found here:  http://www.connoisseurusveg.com/spicy-ethiopian-lentil-stew/

 

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp. freshly grated ginger

2 tbsp. Berbere spice which is spicy (can find at Whole Foods or Amazon)

1/4 cup of water to sauté onions, garlic ginger & Berbere

4 cups vegetable broth (1 carton)

1 1/2 cups dried red lentils

1 can diced tomatoes

3 medium potatoes of your choice, diced

3 cups fresh baby spinach, lightly packed (1 average bag or 1 average container size)

2 tsp. salt (or to taste) - add last

1/2 tsp. pepper (or to taste) - add last

 

Instructions:

1. Add onion and sauté in water 1/4 cup water until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, ginger, Berbere spice and sauté 1 minute more.

2. Add broth, lentils, tomatoes and potatoes. Stir a few times, raise heat and bring to a simmer. Lower heat and allow to cook until lentils are very soft and potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes. May need to add water if potatoes aren't cooked yet vegetable broth has cooked down. Stir in spinach and continue to cook just until wilted, about 2 minutes.

3. Remove from heat and season with salt and pepper.

4. Serve.