Vegan Cooking Spree

I went on a bit of a vegan cooking spree when I got home from work today. I think I was excited to be back in my large, well-stocked kitchen.

I needed some healthy foods to get me through the week and to help me fight off this cold and/or flu that is trying to take me down. I also needed to use up the red chard from last Friday’s CSA box. Impending cold + veggies on their last leg = soup. Hearty, healthy, veggie-packed soup. Order up!

Red Chard and Brown Rice Soup

• 1 red onion, diced
• 3 carrots, chopped
• 1 head cauliflower florets, coarsely chopped
• 1 quart low sodium vegetable stock
• 1/2 tsp. dried basil
• 1 cup cooked brown rice
• 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 bunch red chard, washed and chopped
• salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Saute the onion and carrot in olive oil until tender, about 10 minutes. Add cauliflower, sauteing a few minutes longer until slightly browned. Add stock, dried basil, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, add beans and rice and let simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in chard, cooking briefly until tender but still colorful. Serve.

Bring the onions, carrots, cauliflower, and stock to a boil.

Beautiful red chard!

Just an aside: This spoon holder is probably my favorite kitchen tool.

It's just so dang handy!

Dinner is served!

The picture of health 🙂

It was delicious and filling and just what I needed to get back on top! Hopefully I wake up feeling better tomorrow because of it. That would be lovely.

Next on the menu are Garbanzo Veggie Burgers. I haven’t made these in months and I don’t know why!! They are so good and so easy! I always make a double batch and freeze most of them between layers of parchment so that I can pop one into the microwave when I need a quick snack, lunch, or dinner. The recipe reflects the doubled amounts, so if you don’t want as many, cut it in half.

Garbanzo Veggie Burgers

-adapted from Oh She Glows

• 1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 small carrots, peeled and chopped into large pieces
• 1 small sweet onion, peeled and chopped up into large pieces
• 1 red pepper, chopped into large pieces
• 1/2 cup spinach
• 1 t dried dill
• 1 t dried basil
• 1/2 t fine grain sea salt
• tiny dash of cayenne
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1/4 cup cauliflower florets
• 1/4 cup sunflower seeds (so amazing in this burger!)
• 1 T chia seeds
• 1 cup garbanzo bean flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

Directions: Preheat oven to 375F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a Silpat. Put all ingredients except for seeds and flour into your food processor and process until combined but still containing some texture.  Once processed, transfer to a bowl, stir in seeds, and then stir in flour. You may need more or less flour to make your patties hold together. Form mixture into patties and bake 15 minutes, flip, and continue baking for 10-15 more minutes until firm.

 

Easy peasy, lemon-squeezy.

 

 

Process until your veggies reach desired consistency. 

Something like this… 

Transfer it to a bowl and sprinkle in the chia seeds and sunflower seeds. Chia seeds are the richest plant-source of Omega-3 fatty acids.  By weight, chia seeds contain more omega 3 than salmon and they don’t impart any funky flavors on your food!

Chia seeds and Sunflower Seeds -- Don't leave these out!

After adding the flours, form into patties and place on your baking sheet. 

I got about 16 small-ish patties and 4 bite-sized balls out of this recipes. I rolled the balls in sesame seeds for an extra crunch! 

These are so good served open-faced on a piece of whole-grain bread spread with tomato paste and hummus! You cannot omit the seeds though! They give the patties an excellent flavor and texture!

If you don’t have garbanzo bean flour, you can use all whole-wheat flour or even another type of flour like spelt. I like the garbanzo bean flour because it’s higher in protein and lower in carbohydrates than whole wheat.

To round out the vegan cooking frenzy, I made a double batch of the vegan banana walnut cookies, this time adding in about a 1/4 cup of dark chocolate chips just for good measure. 😉

Now don’t those look delightful?

With all these veggies, whole grains, nuts, seeds, and dark chocolate (it has antioxidants, ok?!), I should be back to 100% in no time!

Happy Groundhog Day! Spring is just around the corner!!

-Lou