Lasagna, Plant Based

Going plant base was hard. But as with any new diet, the motivation was there along with the excitement of what might be the end result. We all desire weight loss but I also had a long list of medical things that were looming in the future for me that I wanted to turn around. Strokes run in my family and there were indicators of pre diabetes, rosaesa, leg cramps, sleep and private issues. I wanted to be healthy.

My first months of plant base diet (no salt, no oil) was very simple…potatoes, potatoes and more potatoes. Soup made with vegetables and potatoes, boiled beans and potatoes and salads with balsamic vinegar for dressing with every meal. Oatmeal for breakfast but no fruit. The purpose was to make food boring! The weight came off very fast and my medical issues quickly went away. Blood pressure, triglycerides and resting heart rate dropped right from the beginning. I was thrilled.

But now comes the hard part, finding recipes to replace our favorites that were not good for me. I needed 4 or 5 everyday recipes and a few recipes for entertaining guests. Typically this phase is called “maintenance” and it is the point when you gain back the weight because your mind says “you’re thin, let’s party!” Nope, you have just transitioned to phase two…time to revamp your favorites.

This is when Lasagna happened. I love pasta, husband only tolerates it but that’s ok. I am putting this lasagna recipe under “entertaining guests”. We will only eat it occasionally. It does freeze well so I cut the lasagna in 2 serving potions and wrap it up for the freezer. When I need some comfort food, the lasagna is ready at a moments notice after a quick thaw.

This recipe comes from “Nora Cooks”. She is one of my favorite bloggers. Fantastic recipe, Nora!

Plant Based Lasagna

Sauce:

1 cup red lentles cook in 3 cups water for 20 minutes, drain

1 jar spaghetti sauce

Mix cooked lentils and sauce together and set aside.

Cashew Tofu Ricotta

1 cup raw cashews, processed fine

1 pkg firm tofu, pressed

1/2 cup nutritional yeast

3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tsp Lite Salt

1 tsp dry basil

1 tsp dry oregano

1/2 tsp garlic powder

Pulse all ingredients until well combined and pretty smooth. Set aside.

Vegan Mozzarella Cheese

1/2 cup cashews, soaked 10 minutes in hot water

1/3 cup water

1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp Lite Salt

4 Tablespoon tapioca starch…or cornstarch

Put all ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth. Heat the mixture in a saucepan over medium heat until it has thickened. Set aside.

Additional ingredients needed for assembly

1 jar spaghetti sauce ( lowest fat and sodium I can find)

1 pkg of frozen chopped spinach (sqweezed dry) or a bag of fresh baby. .

spinach

15 dry lasagna noodles (not plant based but I use it occasionally)

Shredded vegan cheese of your choice, optional

Assembly

In a lasagna pan or deep 9 x 13 sprayed with a little bit of oil, add 1 cup of spaghetti sauce in the bottom of the pan. Spread evenly in the bottom. Begin layers as follows:

5 dry lasagna noodles

1/2 of the tofu ricotta filling

1/2 spinach

1/2 of the lentil sauce

1/2 Mozzarella cheese, spreading the best you can

5 lasagna noodles

Rest of the tofu ricotta filling

Rest of the spinach

Rest of lentil sauce

Rest of Mozzarella cheese

5 noodles

Top with rest of spaghetti sauce

Top with foil. Bake 1 hour at 350 degrees. Remove foil top and sprinkle lightly with vegan cheese and bake until melted on top.

Nuteena

I love Nuteena. The picture above shows my favorite combo…Nuteena and Lettuce Sandwich!

Mom always kept a can or two around the house and it was used for quick sandwich filling during a time crunch or when it was picnic time. I think it was the peanut butter taste that hooked me and I still love that taste to this day.

The company that made it has discontinued it so the desire to have some has been most unbearable! Imagine my excitement in discovering this recipe. I can’t remember where I found it but it was published by Nora Lehman. I am forever grateful!

Nuteena

2 3/4 cup water

1 cup of peanut butter

1/2 cup soy flour (I omit this because I didn’t have any…turned out fine)

1/4 cup yellow corn meal

1/2 cup + 3 Tablespoons Chickpea Flour (Red Bob)

3 Tablesoons White Rice Flour

2 Tablespoons onion powder

2 Tablespoons Nutritional Yeast

4 Tablespoons Braggs Liquid Aminos

Small pinch of poultry seasoning

1/2 teaspoon sugar

Blend all ingredients until smooth and pour into clean and oiled cans (personally I use a 6 inch springfirm pan). It is recommended to line containers with parchment paper. Leave an inch of headroom then cover with foil and put a rubber band around it to keep it on while cooking.

Place filled cans in pressure cooker with 1 inch water. I place them on a trivit or several canning rings inside my pressure cooker then pressure cook for 35 minutes at 15 pounds. Remove from burner and let sit to allow pressure to return to normal before opening or do a quick release method.

Also you can place them in a large kettle, on a trivel or in my case canning rings, with a couple of inches of water and steam them 3 hours….adding more water as needed. Ms Lehman said you could bake them in the oven too. I have not tried that. I steam mine.

This makes a nice amount……maybe 2-3 cans worth? which for me lasts about a week. I have not tried freezing it.

Enjoy!

Plant Based, No Oil Mayo

I really miss mayo!  I don’t know if it’s the taste or if it’s the glue that holds my sandwich together that makes it an important ingredient in all sandwiches.  Both are really important to me. There is nothing to choose from at the grocery store so I began my search through the blogs and I ended up trying numerous recipes that would satisfy my need.

The one that I settled on does not taste like mayo but it checked the skid factor box at keeping my fresh veggies in the sandwich.  It also has a pleasing taste and complimented my sandwich filling nicely. I found that by adding black salt (Kala Namak, which I found on Amazon), which provides that egg taste, it also makes a great potato salad dressing. The black salt taste does not last long so make your potato salad just before eating.

You will note that the recipe has a can of diced green chilies but it is not hot.  Just a good flavor for the mayo.

Original Recipe by Nora Cooks: Vegan Green Chilie Sour Cream

My favorite sandwich: Nuteena and Lettuce…yum!

Pat’s Mayo

1 cup Raw Cashews

Hot Water

Cover the Cashews with hot water to cover. Soak 30 minutes.

In a blender (high speed blender is best) Add the following:

2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

2 tsp fresh squeezed Lemon Juice

1/2 tsp. Salt

1/2 tsp Red Wine Vinegar

1 small can diced Green Chilie

Add drained cashews plus 1/4 water

Blend until very smooth. I blend up to 2 minutes.

Store in a jar or container and refrigerate. I have kept it in the refrigerator for several weeks.

Eating Plant Based Food

Plant Based Supper

A New class of beginners are looking for a new healthy way of eating and living. What ever pushed you toward making this change, it’s exciting to look towards a healthier future. So here’s to a new beginning.

I read so many blogs and watched all the you tube and movies at the beginning. I wondered how sick do I need to be in order to really do this. So I wrote a list of things I wanted out of this experiment. Yes, that is how I viewed it. I made a list of food items I thought I needed and jumped in. I have not looked back.

So here is my beginners meal. It’s simple but that is what I needed.

Breakfast: 1 1/2 handfuls of oatmeal in a bowl, add water. Microwave it until bubbly. Top with unsweetened almond milk.

Lunch: 2 pieces of toast from my loaf of Ezekiel Bread. I grew up on pinto beans so I spread my toast with beans and topped with a skiff of ketchup. 1 piece of fruit to round out the meal.

Supper: cut up potatoes, onion, squash and other veggies that you like to roast. I did a couple of sweet potatoes with skin on, 2 russet potatoes with skin on and crookneck squash. Toss the veggies with a fat free dressing (check Natural Foods) and seasonings you like. I prefer Montreal Steak Seasoning along with onion and garlic powder. Into the oven for 45 minutes. I added a bagged salad mix using very little of the dressing packet. Add a tsp or two and mix with your hands, rubbing the dressing into the salad greens, a little goes a long way.

Day one is complete.

I make plant based entrees occasionally but most of the time it’s simple like this. When I make something special, I will post it here with a link to the recipe I found.

Send comments if you have questions.

Lentil and Rice Stuffed Pablano Peppers with BBQ Sauce: wfpbsos

Just because I choose to eat healthy does not make me accept boring looking foods. When I began this journey, I thought my food would be awful but I jumped in because the alternative issues of health was not very attractive. I just needed to accept it.

What I learned has surprised me. As the rich food was pushed over the hill, I saw with new eyes how beautiful our God given food was; full of colors, so vibrant, flavors so exquisite and sweetness beyond expectation.

I have always said that we eat with our eyes and this truth has not changed. Now I want my healthy foods served in their beauty, not just plopped on the plate and served but presented attractively.

This Pablano recipe is one of my favorites. Not only tasty but beautiful! I hope you enjoy it as well.

To start, let me say that I make a lot of BBQ Lentil Loaves. I use it for sandwiches as well as ingredients for various recipes, this being one of them. The recipe came from nutmegnotebook.com and have added my twist to it.

BBQ Lentil Loaf

2 cups of water
1 cup lentils

Cook until done, draining any water if left in the pan

1 T ground flax seed
1/4 cup water

Mix and let sit

1 onion, diced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup of oats
1 cup tomato sauce
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dry basil
No Salt to taste…1 tsp for me
Ground pepper, if desired
1 T yellow mustard
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley

Mix all ingredients including the lentils and flax egg mixture, well. Some of the lentils will mash up a bit and that is great.

Line bread pan with foil and do a tiny bit of spray. Pour in the loaf mixture.

Mix equal parts ketchup and bbq sauce to put on top of your loaf before baking.

Bake 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes. When done, lift the edges of the foil to remove from pan to cool.

Great as is or in sandwiches with additional bbq sauce.

Stuffed Pablanos with Lentils and Rice

Filling:
Cook 1 cup of Rice, white or brown, according to package directions.

Add 1 or 2 cups of baked lentil loaf mixture to the rice plus a bit of BBQ/ketchup sauce to lightly flavor the filling. Mix well and stuff the roasted, peeled and seeded Pablano Peppers. Arrange the peppers in a baking dish and cover with foil. Bake until hot. Place peppers on a platter with a spoonful or two of the bbq sauce/ketchup mixture on top of each pepper before serving.

How to roast pablano peppers:

Wash and dry pablanos and place under the broiler set on “high”.  I use the top shelf close to the broiler.  The outsides will darken and blister but keep turning them until all sides are brown or blistered.  Quickly place them in a plastic bag and let them sweat until they cool enough to handle.  Strip off the loosened skins and make a slice in the pepper so you can reach in and remove most of the seeds.  This is not a hot pepper so leaving the veins are ok.  Use the slit to stuff the filling in. 

Chickpea “Tuna” Sandwich WFPBSOS

I’m a sandwich person.  Lunch is not lunch unless it involves a sandwich.  So when I began this journey, it was a real concern for me.

Once I finished losing weight and medical issues were in remission, I felt I could go forward in my search for an acceptable “Tuna” Sandwich filling.  I am rather picky in the taste department but I finally found something I could look forward to.  I started with the no fat version and carefully transitioned to the full fat version.   I won’t eat it often but it hits the spot when I want that creamy tuna feeling in my mouth.

WFPBSOS Mayo Recipes

Fat Free Mayo (@vegan8 on Instagram)

4 T artichoke brine from a can of water brined artichokes (personally I liked 2 T pickle juice instead)

4 fresh Lemon Juice

4 T water

2 T yellow or Dijon mustard

1 cup canned Cannellini Beans, drained and rinsed 

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/4-1/2 tsp fine sea salt or “no salt”

Add all ingredients to a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.  Store in refrigerator.

Low Fat Mayo

Use the same recipe as above but substitute soaked raw cashews for the cannellini beans.  The cashews have fat.

Full Fat Mayo (@shaneandsimple on Instagram)……. 2 T has 2.7 grams fat

1/4 cup raw cashews soaked overnight

1 12.3 ounce box of silken tofu

1 T lemon juice

1 T apple cider vinegar

2 tsp yellow mustard or Dijon if you wish

1 T minced garlic or 1 garlic clove roughly chopped

2 tsp maple syrup

1 tsp onion powder

Salt to taste

3 T sriracha sauce if you want a kick of hotness and flavor…I like mine plain.

Tuna Sandwich Filling

1 can garbanzos, drained and rinsed

3 T finely diced red onion

Salt or “no salt” to taste

1 T sweet or dill pickle relish, I prefer sweet

Mayo from above recipes to your desired creamy-ness.

Place garbanzos in food processor and chop to your desired consistency then place in a bowl.  Add rest of the ingredients and adjust to your liking.

Great on a sandwich or to top a salad.

Garlic Mushroom Alfredo with Linguini – WFPB,SOS

One of my favorite bloggers for whole food/plant base, no oil or sugar recipes is Brandi Doming at Vegan8. What a concept, 8 ingredient recipes! Her recipe called “The Best Garlic Alfredo Sauce” is exactly that!

So this is what I created with her yummy sauce for a small dinner party at my home.

Sauce Ingredients

1 medium white onion, diced. It must measure 1 1/2 cups.

1-2 cups low sodium vegetable broth, divided

1/2 tsp salt or “no salt” for lower sodium content

1/4-1/2 tsp ground black pepper, I use garlic pepper

4 extra large garlic cloves, minced

1/2 heaping cup raw unsalted cashews then soaked overnight in water

1-2 Tbsp lemon juice but start with 1 tbsp then add according to your taste

2-4 Tbsp nutritional yeast, start with 2 T then depending on taste

Instructions

1. Add the onion and only 1 cup of broth to a large pan over medium to medium high heat. Cook for 8 minutes until onion is very tender. Add a little more broth if dry. After 8 minutes, add the minced garlic and cook a couple of minutes, stirring often. All broth should be gone!
2. Add cook veggies to a blender. Add 1/2 cup more of the remaining broth and also the remaining ingredients (salt, pepper, drained cashews, 1 T lemon juice, nutritional yeast) Blend on high until very creamy and smooth. Add more broth to reach desired consistency. Adjust seasonings…salt, pepper, lemon if desired.
3. Refrigerated or freeze in zip lock bag for a quick entree for a party down the road.

Serving

I cooked a pound of whole wheat linguini noodles for my dinner. My sauce thickened up in the refrigerator overnight so I thinned it out with some unsweetened almond milk while heating.

I dry sauteed 1 package of sliced baby portabella mushrooms with thinly sliced sweet onions. Choose your amount to taste. Once caramelized, I seasoned them with my no-salt and finally a dash of balsamic vinegar.

Toss the cooked pasta, warmed sauce and mushrooms and onions together in a serving bowl. Chiffonade fresh spinach or basil to garnish your dishes for serving.

I really loved this!

Snack Attack

I’m a big time snacker  There is nothing like the crunch of chips each afternoon.  I swear, the bag of chips start shaking their booty about 3 p.m. and I hear the faint seductive clicks of the castanets beckoning me through the pantry door.  I’m a goner!

One of the goals I made going into the Whole Foods way of life was to find healthy favorites to replace the lovely but horrible habits I enjoyed.  It took me awhile to acquire a taste for healthy foods but I persisted and now I find whole plant foods delightful.  That doesn’t mean that I don’t look back and wish for the old ways but those look-backs are getting to be fewer and fewer.

But let’s look forward.  Here is one I rather enjoy.  It’s not an everyday snack but one in a line of several so I don’t get bored.  

This recipe I adjusted from a recipe called Enchilada Skillet from one of my favorite bloggers “Monkey and Me”.  Great plant based recipes which can be easily adjusted to remove salt.  Check her out if you want great recipes that always hit the mark.

Enchilanda Skillet Dip with Chips

In a skillet stir and toast the following for about 3 minutes   

1 1/2 T flour   

1 T chili powder   

1/2 tsp cumin 

1/2 tsp garlic powder   

1/2 tsp onion powder   

1 tsp smoked paprika   

1/2 tsp Mexican oregano

Remove from skillet and set aside. Heat skillet until a droplet of water skips across the pan, then add   

1/2 onion, diced finely   

3/4 c bell pepper, small dice

Stir and fry a minute or two adding a bit of water if needed. Stir in the toasted spice mixture then add the following   

1 1/2 c water   

1/2 tsp salt or “no salt”   

4 oz tomato sauce   

1/2  T tomato paste   

1 tsp Better Than Bullion–seasoned vegetables flavor   

1 pitted date that has been finely chopped

Stir well and simmer for about 10 minutes. Add the following   

1 can sweet corn, drained (frozen works just as well)   

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed   

1 can (4oz) diced mild chilies

Simmer together 5-8 minutes

Adjust salt if needed.

Garnish with sliced green onion and avocado.

Tortillia Chips:  I love my air fryer.  I slice my corn tortillas up and place them into the air fryer until browned and crispy.  It sounds like they are flying around in the unit so no need to turn the over half way through.  It take only about 10 or so minutes.

There you go….serve hot or cold!I also use the dip on my fresh baked sweet potatoes for dinner.

Caramel Sticky Rolls

Joe’s Caramel Sticky Rolls

I’m a big fan of easy to use products that are excellent straight out of box. Pillsbury Hot Roll Mix is one of those items. I use it often to make Runzas, dinner rolls and pizza. Very versatile as you can see.

One day I thought I would make a bunch of Runzas so off to the store for cabbage and a few boxes of hot roll mix. Shockingly, there was nothing to be found to make my dough. So I headed to another store with no luck. I was crushed. What to do.

No Runzas that day but I knew for the future I needed to find a recipe that was convenient and tasty enough to rival Pillsbury’s hot roll mix should I run into this problem again.

I found it! This recipe comes from the Taste of Home magazine and is titled Swedish Coffee Twists which, by the way, are fabulous on their own!

The Caramel Sauce comes from bonappetite magazine. These two recipes come together to make the best caramel rolls, much like those made by the Dakota cooks that I admire so much.

Swedish Coffee Twists aka Sticky Roll Dough

Dough: makes 24 rolls or two 9×13 pans
2 pkg. active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water (110°-115°)     

2 cups buttermilk                 

1/2 cup butter, softened
6 Tbsp sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
4 1/2-6 cups all-purpose flour

Filling:
1/4 cup butter, melted….hmmmm, I use more or I even use sour cream at times.
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon plus more if you like…love heavy cinnamon!

In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Heat buttermilk and butter to 110° before pouring into yeast mixture. Add eggs, salt, baking soda and 4 cups of flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in as little flour as possible to form a very soft dough. The more flour you add the less tender the sweet rolls will be.

Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6 minutes.  I use just enough flour to keep it from sticking to my hands.

Place in a greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double, about 1 1/2 hours.

While the dough is rising, make the Caramel Sauce

Caramel Sauce makes enough for 12 rolls or 1-9×13 pan
1 3/4 cups chopped pecans lightly toasted
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/3 cup honey
1/4 tsp salt

Melt butter in a heavy sauce pan over medium heat. Stir in brown sugar, cream, honey and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium, and simmer until glaze is golden brown and glossy, 3-4 minutes. Pour 1 cup into 9×13 glass baking dish and set aside remaining glaze to art to the top after baking. Sprinkle the pecans to the pan. It is now ready for the shaped sweet rolls.

Punch down dough and turn onto a floured surface; divide in half. Roll each piece into 16 in x 9 in. rectangle; brush with butter. Combine brown sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over dough.

Loosly roll from the long side and cut into 12 rolls. Place in prepared baking dishes. Cover with a towel and let rise in a warm location until doubled, about 30 minutes.

Bake at 375° for 12-15 minutes. Immediately cover with a cookie sheet and flip upside down and remove the baking dish. Pour the remaining caramel glaze on top.

Pasta is Always a Winner!

Joe and I grew up eating “something special” on Friday Nights. My “something special” was  coming home from school and being greeted at the front door by my Mom’s fresh bread baking in the oven. Later Joe and I both remember Sweet Rolls at boarding academy.  Joe often recounts his memories of slathering butter on top of his sweet roll, wrapping it in foil and placing it on the steam heater in his dorm room.  The school boiler room came alive in the early morning and the hot steam fed heater would warm his sweet roll to perfection.

Today, the memories all came back and pecan sticky rolls made in the classic North Dakota way,  magically appeared in my baking routine.  Although my pasta cannot hold a candle to Joe’s sweet rolls and his memories, it is my favorite.  So we are having both today!  Lucky us!!

This pasta is creamy and so flavorful.  I no longer eat much salt and sugar and certainly no oil but even so this has all the flavor and goodness that pasta should have.  If you must, go ahead and add a little salt if you like.  I won’t tell!

 

Penne Pasta with Creamy Sun Dried Tomatoes and Spinach

Tuscan Penne Pasta with Creamy Smoked Sun Dried Tomatoes and Spinach Sauce (WFPB)

Serves 6

Cream Sauce:

1 cup Raw Cashews, soaked in water overnight (or use 1 can drained Cannellini Beans if you don’t want the fat)

1/2 cup Vegetable Broth

2 Tbsp. Nutritional Yeast

1 Tbsp Lemon Juice

Drain the cashews and place in blender or food processor with the rest of the ingredients.  Process until creamy.  May take several minutes.  Reserve for later.

In a skillet, add the following:

5 cloves of minced garlic

1 cup chopped Smoked, dry, Sun Dried Tomatoes or regular ones if you can’t find the smoked ones

2 Tbsp. Olive Oil (I use Vegetable Broth instead)

Stir fry for about 1 minute.

Add:

4 cups fresh Spinach Leaves

1/2 cup Vegetable Broth

1 tsp. Better Than Bullion, Vegetable Seasoning

Cover and let steam until the spinach is wilted and he sun dried tomatoes are soft.

Add the Cashew Cream Sauce.  Stir well and heat.  Season as desired with salt and pepper.

Cook in boiling water, 1 pound whole wheat penne pasta until done.  Drain, saving the water.

Mix the pasta and the sauce together.  Add the pasta water to thin the sauce as needed.  If you use all the water, you may add unsweetened almond milk.

Adjust seasonings as needed.