Category Archives: Vegan Recipes

Seriously Sloppy Lennys

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As I had a couple of pounds of (ugh) ground beef yesterday, I decided to make sloppy joes for the omnis. In the past, I  have made a vegan version using lightlife crumbles, boca, or tempeh, but I didn’t have enough of any of those to make it work, so I decided to give lentils a try. I fakes a lot of the amounts below, because I cook very randomly most of the time, but for whatever it’s worth, here it is.

1 onion, diced small
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/4 cup tomato puree (can or make your own)
2 T molasses
2 t soy sauce
1 t hot sauce
2 cups lentils

Mix all ingredients but lentils and simmer. Your goal is that the onions become soft and that all of the flavors really meld together. It will also thicken somewhat as it cooks. You have a couple of choices with the lentils. You can add a bit of water to the above and cook them in the sauce or you can precook and then add. It’s not a lot of liquid to cook the lentils in, so if you pick this method, you’ll need to keep a close eye and stir often and gently. If you precook, make them al dente and be sure to drain really well. If (as I did yesterday), you don’t drain well enough, you can add a bit of grain (couscous or quinoa work fine) to absorb some of the liquid without changing the taste.

I’m sure there is a better recipe for these on the net, so…
Good luck!

Nutty Chili Bowl

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I don’t usually make dinner on Thursdays, because it’s a yoga night for me.  But, due to a little head injury, I’ve been off my mat this week.  So, I got home tonight having had no thoughts about what to make for dinner, but with the task staring me in the face.  I whipped up this dish in about 30 minutes and it was very well received by the fam.  I have given 1/2 amounts from what I made below, as I assume most people aren’t cooking for 7 (including multiple teens).

1 medium onion diced
2 stalks celery diced
1 large can (40 oz) kidney beans
1 small can diced tomatoes
2 cups frozen corn
1 cup Texmati rice
2 T. olive oil
1 t. hot sauce
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
1 T. cumin
1/2 t. sea salt
2 T. peanut butter (smooth)
shredded vegan cheese (optional)
vegan sour cream

Place 1 T olive oil, onions, celery, cumin, salt, and red pepper flakes in large pan on medium heat and saute until onions and celery are soft.  Drain beans and add beans and tomatoes to pan.  Simmer.  While that is cooking, put 1 3/4 cups water, 1 cup Texmati rice, and 1 T olive oil in a separate pan.  Bring to a boil.  Stir once, cover tightly, and reduce heat to a simmer.  That will cook for about 15 minutes.  After bean mixture has simmered for a few minutes, add corn, hot sauce, and peanut butter.  Stir and continue to cook over medium heat until corn is heated through.  By this time, rice should be done.  Add rice to bean mixture, stir, and allow to cook on low for 5-10 minutes or until you are ready to serve.  Serve in a bowl with optional vegan (or regular) shredded cheese and sour cream.  Filling, hearty, and pretty good for you.

Vegan “Refried” Beans and Whole Wheat Tortilla Chips

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We are big fans of nachos around The VeganAsana household.  We have them pretty much once a week on average.  Sometimes, I just open a can of beans and heat and then go from there, but sometimes we get a little more “fancy” about it (and also cost saving) and start from dried beans.  It’s easy and you end up with a huge batch of beans for nachos or burritos or whatever.

The night before – Sort and rinse 1 lb of dried pinto beans.  You can also use kidney beans, but I find them really unpredictable for cooking well, so I rarely do.  In my house of 7-8 people, I do two bags of beans in each batch, but most households should find one to be plenty.  Place beans in a pot and add water to 3x the level of the beans.

The next day, early afternoon, begin cooking.  Drain the soak water and add fresh for the cooking.  Heat on high until they reach a boil and then back the temp down to a strong simmer.  I like to add some chopped onion (1 per bag) and jalapenos (1-2 per bag depending upon size and heat level) for this step, but you can also do that later after the blending.

Once the beans are cooked tender, cool, drain, and food process them in small batches to a paste.  During the food processing, I typically add a bit of veggie broth or the cooking liquid back.  Return to pan, add a small amount of olive oil (helps them not get dry as they cool), cumin, and salt and pepper to taste while heating.  This is also a chance to adjust the heat level by adding some hot sauce, or make alterations like putting in some salsa or chopped tomato.  And, that’s it!

My kids also really like home baked tortilla chips.  This can be done with any flour tortilla, but I like whole wheat.  Simply mist tortillas with h2o, olive oil, or cooking spray, then cut tortillas into large pie piece shapes, place in a single layer on a baking stone, and sprinkle liberally with sea salt.  These are just amazing straight out of the oven served with the beans, maybe some cheese or faux cheese, salsa, guacamole, and whatever other nacho toppings you like.

As usual, this will be a featured dish for our New Year’s Eve Eat Yourself Sick family party.  And then we’ll burn a lot of candles the next day! 😉

Happy New Year,

L