Easy Bean Soup

Growing up in West Virginia, everything had meat in it.  Green beans for a side:  put ham in for flavor.  Pancakes:  use a little bacon grease to oil up your skillet.  Vegetable soup:  add cubes of beef.  So, it's no wonder that as an adult vegetarian I try recreate these home cooked country style dished without meat.  The easiest has to be bean soup.  Traditionally, bean soup has at least a ham hock or bits of bacon in it.  But I discovered a way to "cheat" and make a bean soup that keeps that same flavor.  It really is a cheat because I use a bean soup mix that happens to have a "ham flavor" packet included that is accidentally vegetarian!  Several companies make this bean soup mix.  I just use whatever is at the store and check the ingredients list.  Throw it in a crockpot with a little salt, pepper and liquid smoke (for that extra ham-y flavor).  EASY!  Here's the low-down:

2 bags bean soup mix (get the ones with ham flavor packets included)
salt and pepper to taste
liquid smoke to taste (I generally use about a teaspoon)

Add bean soup mix, ham flavor packets, salt, pepper and liquid smoke to 5 quart crockpot.  Add water so that beans are covered with at least 3 inches of water (I fill up the crockpot almost to the top, leaving head room for the beans to expand).  Cook on high for 4 to 6 hours.  Using a blender or food processor, puree about 1/3 of the soup and add back to crockpot (this gives it that creamy, thick bean soup texture).  Cook on low for 1 to 2 hours.  Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Heirloom Tomato Tart

We planted 50 tomato plants in our garden this year.  50!  So needless to say we've been chowing down on tomatoes A LOT lately.  We grew 4 different types of heirloom tomatoes--Cherokee Purple, Peg's Round Orange, Mortgage Lifter and Mountain Princess.  They each have unique and different characteristics and absolutely none of them is anything close to a store bought tomato.  The flavors are amazing.  So I went online to find recipes or recipe ideas to utilize our bounty.  I ended up making tomato jam (which I should probably blog about) and this, Heirloom Tomato Tart.  This tart is like a grown-up pizza.  Here's the recipe:

1 whole wheat pizza crust (here's my recipe)
8 ounces ricotta
1 cup shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup basil leaves, shredded and torn
4 to 6 heirloom tomatoes

Slice the tomatoes.  Salt and place on a cookie sheet lined with paper towels.  Leave sit for a few hours so the water is drawn out of the tomatoes.

Bake crust at 425 degrees for 10 minutes.  Then top with ricotta, mozzarella, basil and tomatoes (in that order).  Bake another 10 minutes.

Lentil Stuffed Pepper Soup

I once mentioned how we do Soup Sundays here at Joy Orchard Farm.  It is so easy to throw a soup together in the crockpot and eat on it for at least 2 meals.  So, here's another staple from Soup Sundays that I am throwing together today to use up some peppers from our garden!  It's such an easy meal:

1 cups dried lentils
1 cup brown rice or quinoa
5 bell peppers, diced
1 onion, diced
1 Tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
2 teaspoon minced garlic
4 cups vegetable broth or water
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 cup spaghetti sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Put everything in the crockpot and cook on low 6 to 8 hours.

Butternut Squash and Spinach Baked Ziti

Sometimes when you combine recipes, it creates a recipe for deliciousness!  I had found several recipes using butternut squash in lasagna and decided to take my own twist on things.  This was dinner tonight, and it was beyond amazing.

4 cups cubed butternut squash, roasted or boiled (you want to mash it)
1 block firm tofu
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 Tablespoon dried Italian seasoning
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 can spinach, drained
1/2 jar spaghetti sauce
1 cup mozzarella cheese, plus more on top
salt, pepper to taste
12 ounce box pasta (ziti, penne or rottini), cooked (I used veggie penne)

Combine squash, tofu, nutritional yeast, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, spinach, spaghetti sauce and mozzarella in large bowl.  Stir in cooked pasta and place everything in a 9X13 baking dish.  Top with additional mozzarella.  Cover the dish with foil.  Bake 350 degrees for 45 minutes.  Remove foil and bake an additional 15 minutes.  Makes 8 servings.

Spinach Salad with Pears

I love making fabulous, good-for-you foods.  I also love being able to cook for family.  So, when I get to create amazing foods to share with family, I always feel so warm and happy.  This weekend Scott's family was up for Forest Festival.  They arrived Friday evening, and because I had the day off, I was blessed with time to create an awesome dinner and delicious dessert for Friday night.  Dinner was homemade pizzas using my 100% Whole Wheat Pizza Crust recipe, this Spinach Salad with Pears and chocolate bread pudding for dessert.  We had 4 different pizzas: a plain cheese pizza (for my 4 year old niece), a tofu-mushroom-ricotta pizza, a roasted broccoli and red onion pizza and a butternut squash-parsnip-leek-feta pizza.  I wanted a simple salad that could stand out next to these pizzas.  We were given pears from a friend down the road who has a beautiful little pear tree that's really producing right now.  So I thought a salad featuring these local pears would be awesome.  I found several different recipes online and pulled ideas from the all.  Here is what I came up with:

Dressing:
1/4 cup olive oil
4 Tablespoons gold balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon brown mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1 to 2 Tablespoons agave
water

Put ingredients in a mason jar.  Shake well.  If dressing tastes oily, add more water.  If you want it more tart, add more vinegar.  If you want it more sweet, add more agave.  It's a very flexible dressing recipe and can be made a day ahead of time.

Salad:
12 ounce bag of baby spinach (you can also use a mix of baby spinach and baby kale)
1 thinly sliced red onion
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pecans
3 firm, but ripe pears

Mix all ingredients in large salad bowl.  If making ahead, leave out pecans and pear until right before serving.  I prefer to serve this salad with dressing on the side so everything stays fresh and crisp.

Healthy Pumpkin Oat Muffins

Well, it's officially fall in Appalachia.  Up here that means gorgeously colored trees, Forest Festival and very unpredictable weather.  Yesterday in fact was Forest Festival Saturday and the weather was quite bizarre.  It was cold and windy and alternated between periods of beautiful blue sky with bright sun and miserable raininess.  At one point during the big parade, it sleeted!  But having family with us, enjoying the festival, made it a beautiful day, despite the crazy weather.

I love being able to cook for family.  I don't get to do it very often, so when I do, I try to go all out.  I was lucky to have a day off to prepare a wonderful dinner with fabulous dessert for when they arrived Friday night and make easy, grab-and-go breakfast items for us to munch on as we headed out early for all the festivities on Saturday.  Since most people associate fall with all things pumpkin spice, I wanted to make pumpkin muffins.  Hi, I'm Hilary and I am also a pumpkin spice addict.

I found this recipe on Taste of Home and modified it to make it healthier.  Just in general, the recipes from Taste of Home are fabulous and so was this one!  Scott declared it the best thing I've ever baked (which says a lot, because I am not a baker).  In fact, they were so good, that it was after we had eaten literally the last muffin, I thought about blogging the recipe and realized I hadn't taken a picture.  Oh well...

Muffin Mix:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup maple syrup or brown sugar
1/4 cup Splenda or Stevia
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 heaping teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 flax egg (1 tablespoon flax meal mixed with 3 tablespoons water)
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup vanilla almond milk
1/4 cup applesauce
1 cup oats (I used quick oats, but you could use old fashioned ones)

Crumb Topping:
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1 Tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In a large mixing bowl, combine the first 7 ingredients.  In a smaller mixing bowl, combine the wet ingredients.  Then, mix the wet into the dry until all is combined.  Then, add in the oats (adding them in last keeps them from getting soggy and lets them keep some of their texture).  Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full with batter.  In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour and pumpkin pie spice and then cut in the butter until crumbly.  Sprinkle 1 rounded teaspoon full of the crumb topping on each muffin.  Then, bake for 15-20 minutes.

Makes 12 muffins.

Healthy Zucchini Muffins

I recently read a memoir about life in a rural small town in Wisconsin.  In the book, the author recounted how crime is very low in his little village and the only time that people need to lock their car doors is during zucchini season, otherwise they may return to find several large squash sitting on their seats.  Zucchini is one of those plants that is such a prolific producer that every gardener grows them as an insurance policy.  Even if your tomatoes failed this year, you got plenty of squash!  We chose not to grow zucchini this year because Scott is not a big fan of them.  But as gardening tends to go, I swapped some hot peppers for a large zucchini from a friend's garden.  I hunted online for a healthy zucchini bread/muffin recipe, found this one, modified it and baked these AMAZING muffins.  It's an easy recipe and you probably have zucchini hanging around, so take it for a spin!

1 2/3 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 cup stevia (you can use Splenda or sugar)

1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

2 cups shredded zucchini

3/4 cups vanilla almond milk (you can use any kind of milk)

2 Tablespoons olive oil

2 Tablespoons maple syrup (can use honey or agave)

1 egg 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.  Mix in rest of ingredients and pour batter into muffin tins.  Bake for 15 minutes.  Makes 12 muffins. 

 

Quinoa Butternut Squash Salad

1 butternut squash, peeled and diced
1 red onion, peeled and diced
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 cup quinoa
2 cups vegetable broth (or water)
2 cups chopped spinach
2/3 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup pecans

Dressing:
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon honey
salt and pepper to taste

Put squash and onion in a large mixing bowl.  Toss with oil and season with salt and pepper.  Place on a large baking sheet and roast for 20 to 30 minutes at 400 degrees.

Meanwhile, combine quinoa and vegetable broth in sauce pan.  Bring to a boil and then lower heat to simmer.  Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Combine cooled squash, onion and quinoa.  Combine in large bowl with spinach, cranberries and pecans.

In a mason jar, combine dressing ingredients and shake.  Pour on salad and mix well a few hours before serving.  (This is a salad best served at room temperature in my humble opinion.)

Tomato Basil Soup

If you've had the Tomato Basil Soup that Bob Evans offers, this is a very-close vegetarian version (I'm pretty sure they put chicken broth in theirs).  It's so yummy and easy to fix for a quick weeknight meal.  I "stole" and modified a copycat recipe of the Bob Evans Tomato Basil Soup from here.  Here's my Tomato Basil Soup recipe:

1 onion, diced
1/2 stick butter or non-dairy margarine
1/3 cup flour
2 Tablespoons Italian seasoning
1 can (or 2 cups) vegetable broth
1 small can tomato paste
2 large cans crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon sugar (optional-cuts down the acidity a bit)
croutons (optional garnish)
shredded mozzarella cheese (optional garnish)

In Dutch-oven, cook onion in butter over medium heat until onion is tender.  Then, add flour and stir for about a minute.  Add in rest ingredients, stir well and let lower heat.  Allow to simmer for 30 minutes.  Serve with garnish of croutons and shredded cheese.  Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Cooking with Dried Beans

About a year ago, I made the switch to using dried beans instead of canned.  I made this change because dried beans are a bit cheaper and because BPA is used to line cans.  I always thought that using dried beans would mean more work and longer cooking times.  However, I found out (thanks to the wonders of the Internet) that you can use your crockpot to make beans and then freeze them!  Talk about easy!  So here's what I do:

1.  Grab a bag of dried beans
2.  Pour the beans into the crockpot.
3.  Pour water into the crockpot until there is about 2 to 3 inches of water over the beans.
4.  Cook on high for 6 hours.
5.  Drain and rinse beans.
6.  Put beans in freezer container and freeze.

Now whenever you need beans for a recipe, just take the beans out of the freezer and thaw in the microwave.  You an take out however much you need that day and then re-freeze the rest.

Chickpea Quinoa Soup

This soup is reminiscent of that good old chicken noodle (or Rice) soup we all grew up on.  We all had it for lunch on a snow day or our moms fixed it for us when we were feeling sick.  Before I became a vegetarian, I made chicken noodle soup all the time.  Since then, I have used and modified this recipe.  Currently it is sitting in my crockpot cooking up for Soup Sunday!  But the cool thing about this recipe is its versatility.  You can make it on the stovetop.  You can replace the quinoa for some sort of noodles.  You can use whatever veggies you have on hand.  It still turns out delicious.  Here's my Chickpea Quinoa Recipe:

1 onion, diced
1 Tablespoon powdered vegetable broth
4 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
2 carrots, sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
1 cup quinoa
2 cups chickpeas

If you have time, saute up the onion in a skillet.  If not, oh well!  No biggie :)  Just throw everything in the crockpot and stir.  Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 6 hours.  Makes 4 to 6 servings.

Sonny Maye's Famous Apple Cake

About 10 years ago, my dad found a recipe for an apple cake in an old church cookbook from the 1960s.  He tweaked it and created a masterpiece!  This cake has been requested for birthdays and is famous in Charles Town.  (okay maybe not famous but...)  This cake is moist, delicious and all around goodness on a plate!  It's my dad's culinary legacy.  And I love that I can carry on the legacy and share this amazing cake with my friends!

Cake:
4 cups diced raw apples
2 cups sugar
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
2 eggs (or equivalent of egg replacer)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup oil

 Combine apples and sugar and let stand for one hour.  Mix dry ingredients together.  Beat eggs, oil and vanilla.  Mix half of the dry ingredients and all the apples.  Add oil and egg mixture and rest of dry ingredients.  Mix well by hand.  Pour into 9X13 pan and bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.

Topping:
1 cup brown sugar
1 stick margarine
1/4 cup milk (can use non-dairy or dairy milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix all ingredients together in saucepan.  Cook over medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes.   Pour over cake while hot.

Rainbow Skillet

Next to my Butternut Squash Soup, Rainbow Skillet is my favorite recipe to use some butternut squash from our garden.  It's a very easy and very yummy dish.  I made some modifications to this recipe from Taste of Home (seriously, how awesome are their recipes?!).  Here's my version:

1 medium butternut squash, peeled and chunked

1/4 cup melted butter

2 Tablespoons Splenda

1 Tablespoon chili powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

2 bell peppers, diced into large chunks

1 medium onion, diced into large chunks

2 cups grape or cherry tomatoes

Place butternut squash chunks in large bowl.  Fill bowl with water and place in microwave.  Microwave squash until it is tender (about 12 minutes).  Meanwhile, saute peppers and onions in Dutch oven.  Add squash when it's finished in microwave.  Combine in small bowl melted butter, chili powder, salt, pepper and cinnamon and add to Dutch oven.  Heat through and add in tomatoes before serving.  Makes 4 to 6 servings.  

Pumpkin Pasta

This recipe was one of those risk-takers.  You know the recipe that sounds sort of strange but maybe has some potential?  I mean, whoever would have thought to combine pumpkin and pasta?  Well, apparently The Vegan Stoner did.  I was intrigued with the idea of using winter squash or pumpkin to create a creamy pasta dish.  From the reviews/comments, it sounded like a healthier alternative to macaroni and cheese.  And I was very surprised!  My version of Pumpkin Pasta is pretty yummy, fairly healthy, quick to make and a great comfort food dish!  It makes a great weeknight supper when you're tired and don't want to put a lot of effort into dinner.  Which pretty much sums up this evening for me :)

1 box whole wheat penne pasta (about 13 ounces)
1 1/2 cups canned pumpkin
2 Tablespoons vegan margarine (I use Blue Bonnet Light)
1/8 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoon paprika
salt to taste

Cook pasta and drain.  Then, combine pasta and rest of ingredients in large skillet or Dutch oven.  Cook for 10 to 15 minutes.  Makes 4 servings.

Spinach Bean Soup

Every Sunday in our house is "Soup Sunday."  Basically I make a crockpot soup that we will eat for dinner Sunday and again on Monday.  It really helps me out because I'm always exhausted on Monday evenings after a full day of work and grocery shopping after school.  There's no way I feel like cooking.  So I'm always on the lookout for soup recipes to add to the repertoire.  This recipe is loosely based on one out of Taste of Home magazine.  It's a warm, healthy, light soup that surprises you with how flavorful it is.  Try it out for yourself!

1 cup dried pinto or great northern beans
1 can vegetable broth plus 3 cans of water
2 cans fire roasted tomatoes
1 can spinach
1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
1 onion, diced

Combine all ingredients in large crockpot.  Cook on high for 8 hours.  Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Hilary's Sloppy Joes

Yes, I realize that there's a sloppy joe recipe already on this blog, but this one is just as good, I promise!  I created this recipe one evening when we did not have internet and thus I didn't have access to my recipe for Sloppy Veg Head Joes.  I had some burger-style crumbles on hand and threw them together with some other pantry items, and voila!, yummy vegetarian sloppy joes!  Here's my creation:

1 onion, finely diced
1 bell pepper, finely diced
1 bag vegetarian burger-style crumbles
14 ounce can tomato sauce
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
several good splashes of hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon Splenda

In a cast-iron skillet or Dutch oven, saute onion and pepper for about 5 minutes.  Then add rest of ingredients and cook everything for 15 to 20 minutes.  Makes 6 servings.

"Hamburger" Helper

I developed this recipe a year or so ago.  It's a vegan mock-up of a childhood classic:  Hamburger Helper.  I've made it a few times and every time I am reminded just how tasty it is.  Tonight I measured everything out so I could share it here.  It's a yummy, delectable dish that I really recommend you try!  Now excuse me while I go chow down!

1 box whole wheat penne pasta

1 pack firm tofu

14 ounce can crushed tomatoes

1 1/2 Tablespoons minced garlic

2 teaspoons chili powder

2 teaspoons cumin

1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

1 bag vegetarian burger-style crumbles

1 cup sliced mushrooms (optional)

1 onion, chopped

Cook the pasta until it is almost done.  Drain and set aside.  In food processor, combine tofu, crushed tomatoes, garlic, chili powder, cumin and hot sauce.  Process until smooth.  In Dutch oven, saute onions, mushrooms and crumbles for 5 minutes.  Add pasta and sauce from food processor.  Combine and let cook over low heat for 20 minutes.  

Awesome Cookies

Hubby plays chess at the library every other Thursday evening.  I usually just stay home, relax and do whatever I want to do.  It's my ME time.  Tonight I was in a rather Betty Crocker mood and felt like baking cookies.  But not just any cookies...healthy cookies!  Much to hubby's dismay, I just can't bring myself to bake anything unhealthy and most of the time the results are "eh...I think this needs some tweaking."  But tonight, the healthy cookies I baked were AWESOME!  Hence the name, Awesome Cookies.  They are adapted from this recipe.

3 ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup natural peanut butter

3 Tablespoons maple syrup

2 cups quick oats

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine bananas, peanut butter and maple syrup in large mixing bowl.  Mix dry ingredients and add to wet.  Fold in chocolate chips.  Drop by tablespoon full onto baking sheet.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.  Makes around 15 to 20 cookies.   

Revamped Broccoli "Cheese" Casserole

I posted on Facebook a few weeks ago that I am in the process of bulking up my blog.  I'm going back and tweaking recipes and posting pictures.  Tonight I tackled an ancient recipe from my blog.  All the way back in September 2010, I veganized one of my favorite potluck dishes--Broccoli Cheese Casserole.  Traditionally it is a dish made with lots of processed foods like Velveeta and cream of chicken soup.  Definitely not healthy and definitely not vegan!  My original vegan version wasn't bad.  In fact, I blogged about it, and Scott was a big enough fan of it that he took it to a Christmas potluck.  However, I always felt I could do better; that this dish could be made more delicious.   Lately, I've been trying out quinoa, substituting it for brown rice in my dishes.  So I thought this was a great time to rework this recipe replacing the rice for quinoa.  I must tell you that I'm really becoming a fan of this super food!  For those of you unfamiliar with quinoa, it's sort of like a whole grain, but it's more a seed than a grain.  It has a similar texture to couscous.  What makes it a super food is that it's full of amino acids and is a great source of protein!  You can get it at WalMart or Kroger, so I recommend you check it out!  I wanted to keep this dish vegan so I stuck with the original plan of making a "cheese" sauce from tofu.   That means that there are 2 awesome sources of protein in this dish: quinoa and tofu.  And it's FULL of veggies too!  So here you have it folks, a healthy Broccoli "Cheese" Casserole!

"Cheese" Sauce:

1 block firm tofu
3/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 Tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 Tablespoon paprika
1 Tablespoon spicy brown mustard
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
plain soy milk

Crumble up tofu in food processor and add seasoning.  Start food processor and pour in soy milk until you created have a nice creamy sauce.


1 onion, chopped
2 cups carrots, chopped
6 cups broccoli, chopped
4 cups mushrooms, sliced
4 cups cooked quinoa


Combine all the veggies in a dutch oven and saute for 10 minutes or until broccoli is mostly cooked.  Then, add in the cooked quinoa and "cheese" sauce.  Mix well.  Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes.  Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Granola Baked Oatmeal

For a few Christmas gifts this past year, I gave my homemade granola in quart size Mason jars.  The granola was a HUGE, MONSTROUS hit.  Everyone kept asking me for the recipe.  Unfortunately my granola is like my spaghetti sauce, my fajitas and my vegetable soup--all made by sense of taste and smell, meaning I eyeball every measurement and taste as I go.  What I attempted today was to recreate the taste of my granola in one of my famous baked oatmeals.  I made sure to measure out all my ingredients just so I could post the recipe.  It came out perfect!  It has a similar taste to my granola and will make great breakfasts this week for me.  Maybe one of these days, I'll try to measure out the ingredients for my granola so I can post that recipe.  One of these days when I have 2 hours to spare to make granola.  In the meantime, try this recipe and enjoy yet another awesome baked oatmeal!

4 cups oats (as always, personal preference on type of oats you use)
1 1/2 cups coconut flakes
1/4 cup flax seeds
1/4 cup maple syrup
3/4 cup Splenda
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups vanilla soy milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl and then spread out in 9X13 baking dish.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Makes 10 servings.  Remember baked oatmeal is best enjoyed warm with a bit of milk on top.  YUM YUM!