Chili-Con-Queso on a baked potato

Talk about a quick and simple recipe, this is a baked potato cut in half and covered with Quinoa chili and WFPBNO cheese sauce. I had batch cooked the chili and cheese sauce last week. The potato is a Russet that I washed, wrapped in paper towel and microwaved for 7 minutes, let it cool for 10 minutes. Cut it in half and covered with the chili and cheese sauce. Stir them together if you want and it becomes Chili Con Queso on a baked potato. I sprinkled it was dried parsley. 

Here are my recipes for the chili and for the cheese sauce. You can leave out the dates if you are on the Esselstyn Reverse Heart Disease Diet.  If you are PLANT STRONG, salt to taste

Butternut Squash Chili:

3 carrots, 4 stalks celery, 1 onion, 6 cloves garlic, 4 stalks kale, 2 generous handfuls baby spinach, 2 lbs cubed butternut squash, 28 oz diced tomatoes, 28 oz tomato sauce, 6 oz tomato paste,  2 TBS chili powder, 1 TBS cumin,  1 TBS cayenne pepper, 2 TBS smoked paprika, 1 chopped jalapeno minus the seeds, 6 pitted dates, 1/4 cup white or apple cider vinegar, 6 cups water, 1 TBS basil, 1 cup of dry red quinoa. 

Put all the veggies and the pepper into a food processor or blender and grind them up to a course texture.

In a large pot bring 4 cups of water to a boil, add the tomato sauce, paste and diced tomatoes and everything else. Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat to let it simmer covered for 2 hours, stirring it occasionally.  If its too spicy, and you are not on the Reverse Heart Disease Diet, try adding maple syrup, more ground up dates or agave nectar. Sweet things counter the hot peppers.

This is a TON of chili. I wash out and boil Mason jars. Store it in mason jars when it is still very hot from the stove and the jars will seal as it cools. I love to hear the lids "POP!"  

You can also freeze it.

Vegan Cheese Sauce:

2 fist sized Yukon gold potatoes peeled cubed boiled with 4 stalks of celery (save 2 cups of the water), 6 level TBSPs each of nutritional yeast and tapioca flour, 1 level TBSP each of garlic and onion powder, 1/3rd cup white vinegar, 1TBSP lemon juice, 1/4 tsp smoked paprika, 1/4 tsp turmeric, 1/4 tsp tabasco sauce. 

Mix the dry ingredients together to prevent clumping.  

Put the dry ingredients into the blender 1st, followed by the potatoes and celery with 1 and 3\4 cups of the saved potato water and the remaining wet ingredients. Blend thoroughly. Pour it into a pot and heat it gently (don't boil it) while stirring until it thickens. Let it cool a little which thickens it more.  Put some on the potato. 

Store the rest for another recipe. 

If it is in the fridge over night, add about 3 TBSP  of water, stir it in and microwave it for 20 to 30 sec.

Sweet and Sour Low Mein Noodle Soup. No added salt or sweetener needed

It was late and I had not eaten since breakfast. So I chopped up 2 big leaves of kale, a handful of parsley, 4 Portobello mushrooms and a peeled carrot sliced very thin. It went into a pot with 2 cups of water,  a sprinkling of garlic and onion powder and the juice of 1/3rd of a lemon with the skin. It simmered on medium heat for 30 minutes. I had a can of Great Northern white bean packed in water, no salt.  I added the beans with another cup of water and let it simmer, covered for about 20 min until the stock was thickening. The stock was strained into another pot, saving the cooked veggies.  The stock was brought back to a boil and the low mein noodles were added. The heat was reduced to a simmer and the noodles were cooked until plump and tender (about 20 min). 

The veggies were plated with a ring of whole grain Matzo crackers and a dollup of wfpbno cheezy sauce.

The noodle soup was garnished with some of the cooked veggies.

All the flavors blended well together deliciously!

Water Sautéd Chopped veggies with Coconut Ginger Basmati Brown Rice

DINNER TIME!!

It's almost the end of the week. Time for a refrigerator dump!!! We have carrots, celery, colored peppers, onions, kale, fresh parsley and ginger, Portobello mushrooms, 2 mandarin oranges, coconut water and a non-stick titanium pan next to 1 cup of Lundberg brown rice.

Boil 1 cup of rice in 2.5 cups of fresh coconut water. Grate in a small thumb of ginger. Reduce thw heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 45 min or until the water is absorbed. Set aside.

Chop up all the veggies, fruit and mushrooms. Over medium heat in a non-stick pan, add 1/3rd cup of water and cook all the veggies, stirring occationally to prevent burning. When the veggies are tender and have released their water, uncover the pan and stir until the water is absorbed. (About 20 min on medium heat)  Stir in 1 TBS of nutritional yeast.

Fluff up the rice. Make a ring of rice on a plate. Scoop the veggies into the center of the ring. Garnish with a light sprinkle of more nutritional yeast and serve. 

Creamy Strawberry Vinaigrette Salad Dressing

Tonight's Dinner!!

Half a baked potato smothered with wfpbno spicy chili topped with nutitional yeast, an ear of corn with no salt or butter and a mixed salad with homemade, creamy green goddess style, strawberrry vinaigrette dressing with half an avocado, a slice of lemon with the peel, 1/2 cup of homemade oat milk (any plant based milk will do), 1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar, 2 peeled mandarin oranges, 1 stalk of celery, 6 strawberries, 1TBS each of dried onion flakes, basil, dill and parsley and 2TBS of maple syrup. Blend until creamy.

HAVE AT IT, FOOD POLICE🤪

Carrot Dogs!! #VeganCarrotConeyDogs

     Carrot Coney Dogs !!!!!Detroit Style!!!!

Father's day is almost here!! Time to BBQ some carrot dogs! Normally significant salt is involved in these recipes. But I think I found a way around that. 

Usually they are marinated in soy sauce or tamari which are very high in sodium along with garlic salt. 

I used reduced sodium miso paste, which contains 390mg of sodium per tablespoon. Then I did the math. The sodium is equal to 1/6th of a teaspoon of table salt. That's just a pinch!! Plus- that's the marinade!  You don't eat most of the marinade. You only eat that which the carrots absorb! Your blood pressure won't notice😄.

RECIPE

4 Carrots unpeeled, cut to bun size.

4 Garlic cloves, finely chopped.

1 Thumb of fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped.

2 TBSPs of maple syrup.

1/2  tsp of liquid smoke.

1/4 tsp of smoked paprika.

1 slice of lemon including the peel.

4 stalks of cellery, chopped.

1 TBSP of reduced sodium miso paste.

1/2 tsp ground fennel seeds.

4 Cups of water.

Trim the ends of the carrots to round them like hotdogs and set aside.

Put everything else in the pot and simmer covered for about 30 min to create the marinade. Add the carrots and if necessary,  more water to cover the carrots. Give it a stir and cover to simmer for another 30 min, adding water as needed to keep the carrots covered.

Put the carrots and marinade into a ziplock bag or container 😁with a lid over night.

When ready, wipe off the carrots and place them on the grill for grill marks and to heat them through.

Place them on a whole grain bun. The chips are 1/2 a recommened serving of Baked Lays. The beans are from my pressure cooker. Whole Foods has whole wheat and gluten free buns. Add veggie chili, chopped onions and mustard for some Detroit Style!

Check out my quinoa, butternut squash chili recipe also on my blog!  Here's the link:   https://01reluctantvegan.blogspot.com/2014/11/butternut-squash-chili-or-how-i-learned.html

Purple Sweet Potato Parfait

Purple Sweet Potato Custard #dairyfree #bananafree #WFPBNO

One more hot, humid day in Michigan with storms predicted again. Some of my friends were asking if I could make a frozen dessert out of sweet potato. It happens that there is a small roasted purple sweet potato in my fridge. So lets do it! 

1 Small Roasted and peeled purple sweet potato.  (130 cal)

4 Dates.  (80 cal)

1/2 cup Silk soy milk.  (55cal)

1 thumb of peeled ginger.  (8 cal)

1 tsp Allspice.  (5 cal)

1 cup of frozen blueberries. (84 cal)

1 TBSP Maple syrup. (55 cal)

1 tsp vanilla extract  (12 cal) 

1 TBSP Lemon juice

Total Calories = 429

215 cal per serving

Directions:

Wash the sweet potato. Make an aluminum foil boat for the sweet potato, add 1/4 cup of water and seal the potato inside. Put it in the oven, 400°F for 1 hour.  Let it cool for at least 30 min before opening the foil. Peel the cooked potato, slice it up and put it into a blender or food processor with the other ingredients. Blend until creamy, like custard. Divide into 2 serving containers and chill for 1 hour. 

Pineapple Ginger Frozen Treat #WFPBNO

 It's almost officially summer already! The weather is not waiting for the calender and has arrived at mid-summer temperatures in the mid to upper 80's. 

What a great time to get out the blender to whip up something frostry for the family!

It's a simple recipe with only 5 ingredients.

Recipe:

20 oz of frozen pineapple.

3 frozen ripe bananas.

1 thumb of fresh peeled ginger.

1 cup of plant based milk (I used Silk Soy Milk).

1/2 tsp of cinammon to sprinkle on top.

Put everything except the cinammon in the blender and blend until smooth. Pour it into 4 Ramekins and sprinkle with cinammon. Put them in the freezer for 4 hours. If they are too solid, microwave for 15 seconds.

Hand out the spoons and enjoy!!!