Greek Pasta Salad

Posted by AmandaCMcNeil

Here’s a yummy recipe that’s quick & easy to assemble. I made it in less than 30 minutes, and that was while taking pictures, switching the laundry, and cleaning the kitchen. No, I’m not Superwoman, but I bet your time would beat mine. This is a great dish for a picnic, potluck, or quick, healthy lunch.

Look at it. It screams “GOOD JOB!!! YOU’RE EATING HEALTHY!!!” This, like most recipes I make, comes from creativity with the ingredients I had. For a more authentic Mediterranean flavor profile, I would have used cucumber, but I had just used my last cucumber on another recipe that day, so I used zucchini instead. If I hadn’t let my parsley plant die, I would have added fresh parsley as well. You could also add vegan feta cheese or, for a vegetarian option, real feta cheese. You’ll never hurt my feelings experimenting with my recipes. So, here’s what I used:

Greek Pasta Salad serves 3-4

8 ounces whole wheat rotini pasta

1/4 Cup extra virgin olive oil

Juice from 1 lemon

1T dried oregano

1T dried parsley

1 medium zucchini

2 Roma tomatoes

2 large scallions

1 small 2.29oz can sliced black olives, drained

salt & pepper to taste

I got a pot of water up to a rolling pasta and cooked it al dente for 9 minutes uncovered. Meanwhile, I chopped all the washed veggies. In no particular order:

scallions,

zucchini (or cucumber if you’d rather,)

and tomato.

Then I made the yummy, tangy dressing. 1/4 cup olive oil,

lemon juice,

salt & pepper,

and oregano & parsley.

Whisk it all together until it’s a creamy yellow color. Taste and adjust the seasonings as you’d like.

Once I drained the pasta, I let it cool just a few moments before adding it to the dressing. The pasta was still steamy.

Gently toss the pasta to evenly coat. Then add all the veggies and the olives. Toss away.

Then you get this. It’s ready to serve warm, room temperature, or chilled. It’s so simple and delicious!

I packed it up for the next day’s lunch. Yummo as usual. Enjoy!

Black Bean Soup

Posted by AmandaCMcNeil

A couple of years ago, I was so intimidated by the thought of homemade soup. I had no clue what I could possibly make the base out of and how to get everything diced so fine and perfectly and the list went on. I started making black bean soup about a year ago, and that’s a miracle because my husband is not a soup lover – yet, he really, really likes this! I learned it doesn’t have to be like canned soup. That’s basically the beauty of homemade soup. It can have whatever vegetables and spices you have on hand, and be whatever texture or thickness you want.

This week is a bigger win because when I opened my pantry to make the soup, I had run out of my most crucial ingredient: vegetable stock. After giving up the soup making idea for a nanosecond, I realized I’ll just have to get creative. And it turns out my soup recipe got even better!

You’ll need:

1T olive oil

1 can of black beans – I used the spicy organic 365 Wholefoods brand

8oz of tomato sauce

3/4 bell pepper, chopped

1/2 yellow onion, chopped

1/2 zucchini, chopped

3/4 Cup of carrots, chopped

1/2 jalapeño, diced

1-3 cloves of garlic

handful of cilantro, chopped

salt & pepper to taste

This version turned out way spicier than any black bean soup I’ve made before. It was mild tasting at first, but then once it lingered on the taste buds a few moments, the spiciness raged. My husband was delighted! If you don’t want it as spicy, use regular black beans and remove the seeds from the jalapeño or omit the jalapeño all together. However, the jalapeño, salt and pepper are really the only seasonings in this soup, so I do recommend it.

After washing and chopping all the produce, heat the oil in a soup pot or dutch oven on medium to high heat. Add the onion and saute until it is fragrant and slightly translucent. Add the garlic and saute for a few more moments before adding the carrots.

Then the bell pepper.

And the jalapeño.

After everything has sauteed, add the tomato sauce. If you want a less intense tomato flavor, only use half the amount of sauce. But, since we’re not using vegetable stock in this soup, this is the main component to the soup base. You don’t want it too watery.

Add enough water to thin out the tomato sauce. I added 1/2 cup at a time until it was a thin, soupy consistency. Add the black beans, zucchini, salt, and pepper, and simmer over medium heat for 30 minutes. After about twenty minutes, it had become very thick, so I added more water at that point.

When it’s almost finished, add the cilantro and simmer for 5-10 more minutes.

And there you have it! Spicy black bean soup. I think it’s my hispanic roots (the ones in my heart, not my bloodline) that make me want to automatically pair black beans with cilantro, but I knew this soup needed a cooling agent of some sort, so cilantro was a nice touch.

After it had cooled a bit, I jarred and refrigerated the soup to take for lunch the next day. Just as delicious on the second day!

Sweet Potato Fries with Nutayo (Vegan Mayo)

Posted by AmandaCMcNeil

So first, you can’t steal my word, nutayo. Ok, you can. But I just made it up and I’m super proud of myself. And aside from the oober cool name, they are amazing! This is the perfect celebration of the coming end of winter vegetables.

You’ll need:

Sweet potatoes (I only used 1 huge one and it served 4 side item portions)

1 cup pine nuts

Olive oil

1 lime

½ clove of garlic

¼ cup water or coconut water

½ cup fresh coconut flesh

Chili powder

Sea salt

If you have a dehydrator, you could try that, (it would take hours) or if you’re using an oven, preheat it to 375. Cut the potatoes into whatever shape you’d like, cover in olive oil, and sprinkle with sea salt and just a bit of chili powder. Cook for about 15-20 minutes, depending on your oven.

While the potatoes are baking, have some fun cracking open a fresh coconut. I say fun because my husband took it outside with a hammer, then so graciously scooped out the flesh for me.

Combine the coconut flesh, water, garlic, 2 T olive oil, and pine nuts in a food processor or vitamix. Squeeze half the lime juice into the mix and process until smooth.

After the baking process, if you want the fries a bit crispier, either heat a dry saucepan and cook the fries a little longer or turn up the broiler for a few minutes on the oven. Proceed with caution on the broiler, though. You don’t want to burn the fries! When you’re finished crisping, lay the fries on a paper towel to dry it a bit, and serve!

Mango Pesto

Posted by AmandaCMcNeil

Here’s an easy freebie. I whipped this up as an accompaniment to some fresh nectarines. This sauce is incredible and surprisingly yummy. It goes well with fruit, and I could totally see it as a topping to some vegan ice cream, as a spread on a sandwich, or as a dip for fruit and crackers.

So, technically it’s not a “pesto” since it not crushed with nuts and herbs by a mortar and pestle, but that was the closest thing I could come up with. Come to think of it, some almonds or walnuts would thicken it up a bit and I bet some parsley wouldn’t taste bad with it either. Feel free to experiment!

All you need is:

1/4 cup of ice

1 ripe mango

1 1/2 cups fresh spinach

(You can also substitute the ice and fresh mango for a cup of frozen mango.)

Cut up the mango into chunks. And make sure its a soft, fresh mango. You should be able to smell the sweetness before you even cut it.

Throw it all into a blender or food processor and process!

Viola! Sweet, mango pesto. Eat liberally.

Tabouli Wraps

Posted by AmandaCMcNeil

Tabouli. Tabouleh. Tabule. It is crazy how many spellings there are to this dish. There are equally as many various forms of ingredients. Feel free to add or subtract any of the veggies.

This is a Mediterranean classic and can be enjoyed on its own, or put in a wrap or sandwich. Speaking of Mediterranean…this is legit. One of my favorite seasons in life was when I was privileged to live in Israel my last semester of undergrad. This is the real deal folks. It’s healthy, light yet filling, vegan, and delicious! I wouldn’t steer you wrong!

Ok, so the recipe. You’ll need:

2 cups bulgur wheat

2 cups water

1 seedless cucumber (or you can take the seeds out yourself)

1 tomato, chopped

1 bunch green onions, chopped (about 8 stalks)

1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped

2 cups fresh parsley, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1t pepper

2t salt, or to taste

And I used whole wheat wraps to wrap it all up!

Look at this beautiful spearmint plant! I bought this little guy from Whole Foods Market that day.

First, bring the water almost to a boil. Let it sit for about a minute to slightly cool, then add the bulgur to the water. It should sit about 30 minutes so all the water is completely absorbed.

Meanwhile, chop all your veggies and herbs, and combine together in a large salad bowl. (The cucumber went into fine bits after the picture was taken.)

To ensure the salt and pepper is distributed evenly, combine the last four ingredients in a separate bowl. Once the wheat is ready, add to the veggie-herb bowl. Add the liquid mixture and stir well. This lovely salad can be served chilled or at room temperature. This makes A LOT – about 12 servings, so scale it down if it’s a recipe for one or two people.

To give our wraps some kick, we covered them in hummus. Forgive the mess…when you’re hungry, you’re hungry.

Add the tabouli and wrap it up! Yeah!

Garlic Hummus

Posted by AmandaCMcNeil

Hummus. It’s so delicious and in my mind it’s so healthy. That’s probably why my husband and I will eat the whole batch within a day or two of it being made. Yes, stores sell hummus, but you can make your own just as good and totally fresh so you know everything that’s in it. And it’s super easy!

This recipe is one that I actually created by accident. Back in my early days of cooking, I didn’t know if “cloves” of garlic meant the individual pieces or if a whole bulb of garlic was considered a clove. This misunderstanding led me to put a TON of garlic cloves (now I know better) into my first hummus recipe and it was so garlicky that it was spicy. And surprisingly delicious. In my own mind this recipe is legend. So legend a friend has asked for it during her last two pregnancies. What?! Craving my crazy garlic hummus?! So garlic haters be ware. This is only for the brave…and maybe the pregnant.

You’ll need:

1 can chickpeas (or garbanzo beans, same thing)

3 T tahini paste (ground sesame seeds, found near peanut butter)

4-6 T extra virgin olive oil

1-5 garlic cloves (your preference)

1 lemon

½ t ground cumin

salt & pepper

paprika for garnish

Drain and rinse the chickpeas

and put in a food processor along with the garlic and tahini paste. I didn’t have a big enough food processor, so I used a blender. It worked perfectly. Blend until it is very smooth. Add the salt, pepper, juice from the lemon, and cumin.

Be careful with the cumin! I let a little too much fall in, and it was way too kickin’! I had to mellow it with more tahini since I didn’t have any more chickpeas. So, don’t do that. Blend the mixture for another 2-3 minutes.

Taste to see if it needs more salt. Mine did, so we threw a bit more in, then blended once again. And if you like it a little thinner, add 1T water at a time until it’s a good consistency for you.

Plate and garnish with the paprika. We used blue corn chips, but you could also eat it with vegetables, or crackers – or use it as a spread! However you eat it, enjoy!