Green Yum Yum Soup

Once again, I found an easy and fun way to incorporate vegetables in a smooth, tasty creamy soup without milk. It takes a little prep and when finished you can eat hot or cold, serve with home made crackers or with a light salad on the side! 

Green Yum Yum Soup 

1/2 zucchini
2-4 green collard green leaves, washed
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 tsp of garlic powder, dried oregano and basil, sea salt
1 packet of coconut milk
2/3 cups of water (check your consistency while mixing)
1 small potato boiled
1/4 cup of chicken or veggie broth
1 small onion, chopped

Instructions

1. Wash all vegetables and set aside. 
2. Boil potato for ten minutes, then add to the blender or food processor. 
3. Chop green collard leaves, garlic clove, zucchini and onion. Use spiralizer to garnish a little bit of the zucchini for top of the soup.
4. Add everything to the blender/food processor and mix well for a few minutes. 
5. Add water gradually until you get the thickness you desire. 
6. Pour contents into a pot and cook for an additional 5-7 minutes. 
7. Serve and enjoy! 

(c) 2013 by Pam Osbey 

Collard Green Salad with Pickled Apples

Every now and again I find a recipe that I like to adapt to use. Knowing that it will be a new one is exciting. If you would have asked me a few days ago about using collard greens in a salad format I would have laughed but it turned to be pretty good and fulfilling. It also pairs nicely with steamed fish or baked chicken if you don't want to eat it as a vegetarian meal. 

If you have some collard greens, apple cider and apples at home, that is all you really need. What will you get with this is a good way to include iron and fiber in your diet. 

Ingredients 

• 4 collard green leaves 
• 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar 
• chopped almonds 
• 1 red or gala apple sliced 
• 1/2 cup of sugar 
• 1 teaspoon of sea salt 
• 1/2 cup of water

Directions

1. Wash collard green leaves and cut them length wise. Set aside on a plate or bowl. 
2. In a pot, mix water, sugar, sea salt and apple cider. Boil for 5-7 minutes. Let cool off and pour in a bowl over the sliced apples. Let it marinate for 30-45 minutes. 
3. Arrange collard green leaves with sliced apples. Toss almonds on it. 
4. Dressing is not needed but I used a 'cherry vinegrette' that went well with it. 

(c) 2013 by Pam Osbey
All Rights Reserved 

Low Carb PIzza with Veggies

Ahhhh, who doesn't like pizza. Over the years I've experimented with crust but never making a full home made pizza with my own crust. So today I took a lot of risk and time to make an easy and tasty (and fulfilling)  healthy pizza filled with tasty vegetables including broccoli, red bell peppers, onions and gouda cheese.

Not only is it easy but it's a filling pizza that you will love.

Flaxseed Crust:

• 1 and 1/2 cup of flaxseed meal 
• 1/2 cup of water 
• 1 tablespoon of oil 
• 2-3 eggs 
• 1 tsp of oregano, basil, and garlic seasonings 
• 1 tsp of baking powder 

Pizza toppings:

• Saute 1 teaspoon of fresh garlic clove and onions
• Saute 1 tablespoon of red bell peppers 
• Freshly grated 1 teaspoon of gouda cheese 
• 1 teaspoon of shredded american cheese

Pizza Sauce:

• 1 teaspoon of oil 
• 1 teaspoon of basil and oregano 
• 1 teaspoon of fresh thyme  
• Fresh tomatoes or collard greens (i used collard greens in my pizza)
• 1/4 cup of water (or less for thicker sauce consistency)

Directions 

1. Mix all dry ingredients to make the pizza crust. Mix in a bowl and let sit for 5 minutes then spread on greased wax paper (take some oil and place on the wax paper before you set the 'dough') on it. 
2. Bake at 425 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Check at 15 minutes to see how the dough is rising/cooking. 
3. When crust is finished spread the pizza sauce then arrange all vegetables. 
4. You can either saute veggies while the crust is cooking or place on the crust fresh and let it bake. 
5. Place cheeses and arrange over vegetables. 
6. Cook at 425 degrees for 8-10 minutes.

Enjoy the pizza and eat knowing you are eating a lot of fiberous vegetables. Flaxseed Meal has 8 grams of fiber in it. You can make your own flaxseed meal by grinding whole flaxseeds (use at least one cup) or you can purchase ground flaxseeds at your local health food store (Trader Joes, Whole Foods and other stores carry the Red Mill brand).

(c) 2013 by Pam Osbey
All Rights Reserved 

Best of the Week Recipes

Sometimes it is the simpliest things that really are delicious and easy to make. Earlier this week, I tried out a few different things and this is one of them. It's fall and I'm looking for ways to continue to eat plant based with some jazz to it. I love to adapt recipes and this one was so easy that I had to share. Imagine grilled collard greens with some sweet pears that are baked to a nice glaze. Later in the week I also made a collard green salad with pickled apples. I will post that recipe soon. You will love both. 

Grilled Collard Greens & Pears

1 -2 pears washed and sliced
5-8 collard green leaves
1/2 tsp of onions (or more to taste)
1 tablespoon of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

In oven:
Bake pears with a dash of the following: turmeric, oregano with the pears.
Add 1 teaspoon of oil
Bake @ 350 degrees for 10-12 minutes

On grill: 
After washing the leaves, grill them with EVOO for 5 minutes.
Once finished arrange on a plate, add the pears.

Goes great with steamed fish or baked chicken. I used tilapia with mines!

(c) 2013 by Pam Osbey
All Rights Reserved  

Pam’s Tex Mex Pizza (as adapted from Vegetarian Times)

Sometimes the most simpliest thing is the most yummiest!Recently I saw a Tex Mex Pizza posted online with the Vegetarian Times website and at first glance I wasn’t sure if I would like portobello mushrooms with salsa, cheese, and other veggies. Although the recipe asked for black beans and sour cream. I only used what I had on hand. Not only was this very nice to eat, it was easy to make. Assembling after prep wasn’t that long and I loved the flavors that came together in odd ways.

Ingredients

4 corn tortillas

1 portobello mushroom

½ cup of grilled green and red bell peppers

½ cup of frozen corn

1 tablespoon of taco seasonings

1 cup of prepared salsa

½ cup of shredded cheese

½ of fresh avocado

Directions

1) Microwave the four corn tortillas, set aside in a pizza pan

2) Boil the frozen corn for 5 - 8 minutes. Drain the corn and set aside for use.

3) Grill the portobello mushroom and bell peppers for 5 minutes.

4) Spread the salsa on the bottom of the corn tortillas (as crust of the recipe), then add the mushroom, corn, and peppers.

5) Slice the avocado and add to the pizza

6)  Sprinkle the taco seasonings on top of the pizza and add the shredded cheese on top

7) Bake @ 400 degrees for 10 minutes

8) Enjoy and serve

Original recipe calls for black beans, sour cream and shredded lettuce which I did not have on hand. It was good!

Enjoy.

© 2013 by Pam Osbey

Simple Vegan Sausage

Although I do not claim to be a vegan I do find value in meatless meals. The last year and a half, I have drawn down on eating a lot of meat and find protein sources in legumes and nuts. With this in mind, I was delighted to find a recipe by Vegan Dad on a vegan version of a ‘sausage’ link. Now, you know I can see myself salivating over this link with some sauteed onions and other condiments. With my sausages, I will either make some sweet potato fries or grilled veggies and rice on the side. What I like is that you can also stretch beans by adding a few ingredients. You will find this very simple. I did not use all ingredients as this recipe is very adaptable so feel free to use what you have in your cabinet.

Ingredients

• ½ cups of canned pinto beans or home cooked pinto beans (rinsed and drained)
• ½ tsp of fennel seeds
• 1 tsp of sea salt
• 1 tsp of black beans
• 1 cup of vital gluten flour
• ⅓ cup of water
• 1 tsp of garlic powder or finely chopped garlic cloves
• ½ cup of olive oil
• ½ cup of red pepper flakes
• ¼ cup of nutritional yeast  

Directions

1) Take the drained pinto beans, mash them with a fork then add all other ingredients.

2) Form the ingredients into four ‘sausages’

3) Use four sections of ‘foil” to act as a steaming apparatus and add the ‘sausages’ into a pot of boiling water.

4) Steam for 1 hour then bake for an additional 20 minutes.

5) Baking them will bring a color to the ‘sausages”

6) Place in container for future use.

7) Serve on a bun, with your own condiments. I sauteed onions and placed on them with some ketchup and mustard (with home made french fries).

Black Bean Brownies

So today while roaming around the house, I adapted a vegan brownie recipe I saw online, not entirely original however I did not use all ingredients they listed. Instead I used what I had on hand. Now, I will tell you I have always loved brownies. I have not ever had a brownie that did not have flour or eggs in it. Although I had eggs on hand, I felt ambitious and felt that trying a veganized version would be great. While making this recipe, I also adapted a recipe by Vegan Dad for a "vegan sausage" but that will be a seperate blog entry. 

Anyway, I must say these brownies are so good and moist. The fat that I only  used a few items, was very enjoyable and easy. These are very good. I would say make them with your loved ones or even kids! I used my magic bullet so it made the batter very smooth and you really couldn't tell that I had black beans in them. I would add the cocoa powder for addition next time. Since I did not have that on hand, I did not add to my recipe. 

To do this without the chocolate chips is not recommended. 

Enjoy 

Ingredients:

• 1 Can of Black Beans
• ½ cup of rolled oats
• ⅓ cup of agave nectar
• ½ cup of water (or as desired)
• ½ or ⅔ cup of chocolate chips
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• ½ cup of olive oil
• ½ cup of baking powder

Directions

1. Drain a can of black beans, wash them, and place aside.

2. Add black beans, rolled oats, waer, agave nectar, vanilla extract in a blender until smooth. Set Aside in a bowl

3. Add rolled oats, baking powder to the batch.

4. Add EVOO before you add chocolate chips. Stir chips in the batch and some on the top of the batch

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Bake longer if necessary.

6. Cut bars and serve.