Tag Archives: beans

Mediterranean Lentil Stew

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Delicious and comforting stew for fall days!

Ingredients

  • 1 lb dried lentils (your choice of black, brown, or green)
  • ½ lb dried cannellini beans
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1 medium red bell pepper, diced
  • 3 celery stalks, sliced
  • 2 cans tomato paste
  • 4 tbsp Better than Bouillon vegetarian chicken concentrate (or ~6 TBSP vegan broth powder)
  • ⅔ cup sun-dried tomatoes in oil, chopped
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tbsp dill
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • optional ⅔ cup texturized vegetable protein

Process

Add cannellini beans, onion, celery, to Instant Pot with enough water to cover them by about two inches. Cook on high pressure for 12 minutes and then vent to release.

Add lentils, tomatoes, bouillon, spices, along with enough water to again cover cover by about two inches. Cook on high pressure for 9 minutes and then vent to release.

Put the instant pot on sauté. Add tomato paste and stir in. If you would like to add some TVP for the extra chew, add it here. Then allow to cook, stirring often but gently, until the beans and lentils are as soft as you would like. This only took 5 minutes for me today, but that varies with age of the beans and other factors.

Serve with rice or just some nice crusty bread. We had it with pearl couscous, avocado, sour cream, and hot sauce.

Vegan Chili That is Amazing – Pressure Cooker or Instapot

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bowl of chili with vegan sour cream and pickled jalapeño slice

I got this recipe from my mother, who was not a vegan or vegetarian, but was an excellent cook. Her version contained some beef. I’ve adapted it over the years to suit my veggie tastes. It’s very popular in my house and some version is made at least every couple of weeks. This week, VeganAsanaSon4 requested it so his girlfriend could try it, so it was our anniversary dinner. HA!

We typically have it the first day as chili and then the leftovers show up as nachos, burritos, and taco salad.

Ingredients

2 lbs pinto, kidney, black beans or a mix (use canned if you prefer but cooking them from dry makes better chili)
1-2 medium onions diced
4 stalks celery sliced thin
2 cups carrots shredded or chopped (sometimes I leave this out)
1 large can crushed tomato
2 large cans diced tomato drained
4-6 cups veg broth
2-3 jalapenos diced or sliced
3 T olive oil
6 T cumin
6 T cocoa powder
3 T smooth peanut butter
sea salt
pepper

Process

Sort and rinse beans and dice veggies. Put everything except the peanut butter and cocoa in your pressure cooker, using only 4 cups of broth to start. Seal and increase to high pressure, cooking for 25-30 minutes. Turn off heat and allow pressure to come back down. Unseal, add cocoa powder and taste test for seasoning. You may need to add more of the veggie broth. At that point, you continue to cook on a low simmer until everything is at the level you enjoy. More cooking will break down the texture of the beans and thicken the soup into a more creamy consistency – which some people like.  Less cooking will result in a chunkier chili.  When you are close to finished (within an hour of completion), add the peanut butter and stir in.

Each time you make this, it comes out differently based on how much of each thing you add, but it accommodates a lot of variation.  Increase the PB & C for a richer taste.  Add more diced tomato for a chunkier chili.  Put in extra veggies (bell peppers, zucchini, and eggplant are excellent, and squash adds a different flavor) for a little veggie boost. If you don’t have any fresh jalapenos in the house, this can be done with jarred peppers or chili powder.  You can even add browned beef, chicken, or pork (blarf) or tofu (yay) if you want even more protein than the beans provide.

Serve with sour cream and grated cheese (vegan or non) and crackers.  This and a side salad makes a full and delicious high fiber meal!

Vegan Mexican Lasagna – Oh, Yes, You Want This!

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If I was doing my job, there would be avocado and lime slices on this plate!

If I was doing my job, there would be avocado and lime slices on this plate!

Once in a while, I make lasagna. Typically, it’s the standard veggie lasagna (with crumbled tofu instead of ricotta), but I often have leftover noodles that I really must use. Well, not must, but I want to. When that happens, I turn to Mexican Lasagna, because of its ease and deliciousness.

Right now, because I’m working on freezer meals and we recently had regular lasagna, it occurred to me to just make a few Mexican lasagnas and store some for later and have one now. I made one that was vegetarian and one that was vegan. The only difference is the type of cheese used, so modify at will.

Ingredients

½ lb dried pinto beans, soaked and cooked or 3-4 cans of pinto beans, drained
1 jalapeño or ¼ cup of pickled slices
1 onion diced
1 stalk celery diced
2 teaspoons cumin
½ teaspoon chili powder
⅓ teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon salt
9-12 lasagna noodles, cooked al dente
1 large can diced tomatoes
2-3 cups of chunky salsa
Faux or cheddar cheese

Process

Cook beans with onions, celery, peppers, and spices. Mix salsa and tomatoes and set aside to chill. When vegetables in beans are soft, blend until fairly smooth.

In a baking pan, place one layer of noodles (usually 3). Smooth a layer of beans over noodles. Add dollops of tomato/salsa mix. Sprinkle on your cheese of choice. Repeat 2-3 more times for a total of 3-4 layers. End with your last layer of cheese.

Bake at 350* for 35 minutes. Set aside for 10 minutes and serve with avocado slices and vegan/reg sour cream.