Broccoli and Apple Spiced Soup

This recipe happened by accident, as I first attempted to make the “Curried Apple Soup” from Tanya Barnard and Sarah Kramer’s cookbook How It All Vegan. However the soup took on a life of its own and I decided to scrap the recipe and do my own thing, and it sure tasted great. This is a very hearty soup, perfect for gloomy winter days when all you want is a nice comforting-yet very filling soup. I enjoyed a slice of zucchini loaf with this soup, but it would go great with a winter green salad or simply on its own. Eat up!

What You’ll Need:
(Makes 6 servings)

2 medium Spanish onions
2 Macintosh apples
2 tbsp curry powder
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp black pepper
4 cups veggie stock
1 cup yellow and green beans
1 cup broccoli
½ cup brown rice (if you do not want a stew-like soup that is thick and hearty, add ¼ cup)

Directions:
On medium heart in a soup pot, sauté onions and apples until onions are translucent. Then stir in curry powder, add the soy sauce, cayenne and black pepper. Add your veggie stock and veggies and let simmer for ten minutes or until it comes to a strong boil. Add your brown rice, cover and let simmer on medium heat for half an hour. Add half of the mixture to your food processor and return back to pot, stir it in and serve!

Zucchini Loaf!

Who can resist a zucchini loaf? Rhetorical question!

This loaf is easy to whip up, and can be put together while your favorite homemade soup is cooking on the stove. Zucchini is part of the squash family and is jam-packed with radical fighting vitamins making it a perfect way to enrich your bread with nutrients.

What You’ll Need
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp salt

1 ½ tsp cinnamon

3 tbsp unsweetened apple sauce

½ cup raw cane sugar

½ cup light olive oil

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp organic vanilla extract

1 zucchini, grated

½ cup raisins

¼-1/2 cup of water (I used close to ½ cup of water, my mixture was really dry. You be the judge of your own dough!)

Instructions

- Preheat oven to 350*F-

Using a large baking bowl, combine the first four dry ingredients. Add the apple sauce, raw cane sugar, oil, vinegar and vanilla- mix it all together. GENTLEY stir in your grated zucchini and raisins, DO NOT OVER MIX, just blend it together enough so that the raisins and zucchini are nicely mingled into the dough. At this point you will want to judge the dryness of your dough, add your water. Spoon mixture into a lightly coated bread pan and let bake for 45-50 minutes. Let it cool down for 20 minutes (yes, seriously-20 minutes!) before serving.

Oh-My! Sin-Free Shepard's Pie!!!

I really love Shepard's Pie!

Growing up as a child, nothing was more of a comfort food than my Dad's homecooked French Canadian Shepard's Pie. I would come home from a long day of elementry school seeing the kitchen in a fog and my Pops looking rather exhausted. This meant one thing: HOME COOKED SHEPARD'S PIE! OH MY! This food is so high among my favorites that it is the exact dish that had converted me back to the dark side two years ago, when my ex's Mother brought out her homestyle French Canadian Shepard's Pie..I could not resist!

Luckily for us all, I have veganized this wonderful comfort food and I promise that it is still jam-packed with flavor and love. AS A MATTER OF FACT, this dish is popular amongst omnivores. It has the Pops seal of approval, and Ma has been known to savor the taste of this dish as well. If you're having to prepare dinner for some omnivores and have no idea what to make for the skeptic meat eater- think about making this dish because it is a crowd pleaser.
You really don't have to be a French Canadian to enjoy making and eating this dish, but it makes the cooking process a bit more fun if you talk to yourself in French while in the kitchen!

MmMM BONJOUR!

What You'll Need: (Serves four hearty portions, and up to six with a side dish)

1 large white onion
2-3 carrots
1 cup corn niblets
1 cup green peas
1/2 package ground soy (St. Yves or PC makes some nice tasty ground soy.)
2-3 tbsp basil
Soy sauce (to taste. I don't measure the amount I use anymore. Start with 3tbsp and see how you feel.)
3 white potatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup plain soy milk
2 tbsp Earth Balance
Directions:

- Preheat oven to 350-
1) Peel and put your potatoes on the stove to boil. Ever made mashed potatoes before? This is going to be the topping of our pie. Nothing is worse then undercooked mashed potatoes so it's best to start the boil now.
2) Dice your carrots and onion, in a large skillet add the olive oil with the onion and carrots. Let the mixture cook until onions are translucent and carrots are tender&soft.
3) Add in the corn, peas, basil and soy sauce. Let it cook for no more than 5 minutes, keep stiring mixture to avoiding sticking. Once the mixture is almost done, add in the ground soy and cook for an additional 4 minutes.

4) Once the mixture is ready transfer it to a casserole dish and pack it in tight.

5) Time to mash those potatoes! Add the soymilk and Earth Balance and MASH!MASH!MASH! The ideal here is a lump-free mixture, soft and fluffy like clouds.

6) Add potatoes on top of mixture, pack it neat and compact. Stick in the oven for 15-20 minutes.

Everything Zen Salad with "Honey" Mustard Dressing.

There are some nights when we come home from work or school and our daily demands are not yet done. I whipped this sucker up in no time flat, on a Tuesday night when I had hardly enough time to get dressed and head out the door before my 7:30pm yoga class-and my tummy was demanding to be fed THAT MOMENT.

This salad is quick and easy to prepare, it is by no means "gourmet" for you food snots out there-but dang it tastes GOOD. You can use whatever dressing you can think of, but I was in a hurry and flipping through my cookbooks when I stumbled upon Dreena Burton's (eat,drink & be vegan pg 81)recipe for "Honey" Mustard Dressing. I'll include the recipe for that in this post, as I had never tried to before until this salad and must report that it is very tasty-and I made a few of my own alterations, so my posted version will be that of my change.

Everything Zen Salad

What You'll Need:
1 veggie pattie (I used PC Blue Menue Bean&Lentil pattie. Yummy and full of protein!)

3-4 roman lettuce leaves
Zen Veggies: onions, red peppers, yellow peppers, carrots. (Look for this mixture in the frozen foods section of your grocery store!)

Handful of mushrooms

Prepare your Zen Veggies! For me, this meant that I stuck them in the microwave for three minutes while I let my veggie pattie cook. Prepare your veggie pattie. I fried mine up in a teaspoon of Earth Balance until it was cooked. Do I need to tell you to wash your lettuce and make sure your mushrooms aren't covered in cack? Add Zen mixture to lettuce, crumble veggie pattie and top with mushrooms.

" Honey" Mustard Dressing

What You'll Need:

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 tbsp red wine vinegar

4 tbsp Agave Nectar

2 tbsp Dijon mustard

dash of sea salt

1 clove of garlic
4 tbsp light olive oil

Stick all of the ingredients starting first with the garlic clove and minus the olive oil in your food processor (or in my case, my Magic Bullet! LOVE that thing) Blend, and then add in your oil, blend some more.

How Do You Morning? Ready-When-You-Are Berry Oatmeal.

Breakfast. Yes, we all know how important a good sturdy breakfast is upon awakening. Our first meal of the day can set the entire tone of how our bodies will feel and flourish. A lot of our mornings are wasted on the SNOOZE button, as we rush to brush our teeth, get into some clean panties and head out the door. I dare you to try this quick and easy recipe-it is one that I make the time to enjoy almost every busy weekday morning. Don’t forget to add your favorite tea to the mix. Give yourself the ten minutes it will take to prepare, consume and enjoy this tasty filling way to start your day!

What You’ll Need:
1 package plain oatmeal
½ cup frozen mixed berries

½ cup-1 cup soy milk
1 tbsp agave nectar

Directions:

In this order add oatmeal, mixed berries, soy milk-give is a wee stir and drizzle your agave nectar on top. Microwave for 3 minutes. Eat, enjoy and feel nourished!

Eggplant and Red Pepper Bake

Bonjourno!

Oh, the wonderful world of blogging. I am so excited to share this blog with all of you. Before we get onto the tasty eggplant bake-I'd like to do somewhat of an introduction of my journey to vegetarianism.
It all started in grade four with a science video presented to us by a substitute teacher, the video was about eco systems or biology..something of the sort. There was a brief but very graphically honest 20 second clip of where and how our hamburgers were made. My relationship with meat changed forever. Flash forward to two years ago when I was introduced to the cooking of my ex's Mother. Homestyle Country cooking ya'll! After six months of smelling and craving the foods placed in front of me during Sunday dinners (and looking down in boredom at my crackers and cream cheese severed to me on my plate) I could not resist, and enjoyed my fair share of meaty foods. Five months ago I started upon my journey of self-cleansing and reflection (*ahem* naturally brought on by a break-up.) and this meant the first thing to go was my consumption of meat. After a week of cooking and eating healthy vegetarian meals again, my body instantly felt at peace-I was home again.
So here I am in the present starting my first ever blog, and I could not be happier to share my cooking and learning experiences with you all. There is so much satisfaction in cooking your own healthy meals. This is a huge learning process for me, as I was not born with a natural knack for gracefully applying myself in the kitchen. However I've got a creative mind and some sensational taste buds, which really-are the two most important things when it comes having a way with food.
Now onto the bake!

Eggplant and Red Pepper Bake (Serves 4)

What You'll Need:

1 eggplant cut into slices. About 1/4-inch thick, but it really depends on your casserole dish.
1 large white onion diced
2 garlic cloves minced
1 red pepper diced

1 zucchinni grated, cut in half lengthwise and diced
4 oz mushrooms. Pre-cut triple washed mushrooms help keep this bake simple
1 cup nutritional yeast
8 oz tomato sauce
3 tbsp Italian Seasoning
*1 cup spelt bread crumbs
* I didn't use any when I cooked this and it still turned out tasty. Bread crumbs are an option if you want to soak up more of the moisture, which will help hold the bake together. If you use bread crumbs, layer them in between the veggies and the tomato sauce.

Directions:
1) Preheat broiler, set oven at 375.
2) Arrange eggplant slices on a baking sheet lightly coated with coconut oil/olive oil. Broil each side for six minutes, turn over and broil for another six minutes.Eggplant is tricky to bake and you really want it to be nice and soft. Perhaps you'll keep it in a few minutes longer depending on your oven.

3) Heat large stir-fry pan coated with coconut oil over medium heat. Add in your onion,mushrooms, garlic and Italian seasoning. Do not move onto step four until your onions are translucent.

4) Add in zucchini and red peppers, stir into the mixture and let cook for about two minutes.

5) Add veggie mixture to the bottom of your casserole dish,spread tomato sauce on top,spoon out the nutritional yeast and arrange eggplant slices on top. Continue this layering process until all your ingredients are in the casserole dish, with the tomato sauce being on the top visable layer. Sprinkle remaining nutritional yeast to the top of your bake, cover and bake for an hour.

ENJOY!