Sweet Potato, Lentils & Rice Soup

Yeah, yeah no picture. Sorry guys. Go to this website and look at his, they are better than I could do anyway: http://www.versesfrommykitchen.com/2012/03/life-and-rainy-day-soup.html


Sweet Potato, Lentils & Rice Soup
Ingredients:

• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1″ cubes
• 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into thick slices
• 1 small onion, peeled and diced
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 cup red lentils
• 1/4 cup rice
• 4 cups vegetable stock
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 2 tsp. cumin
• 4 tbsp. grated Parmesan, garnish

Prep:

1. In a large saucepan, heat the oil over medium heat. Saute the onions with the cinnamon and cumin for five minutes, or until softened.
2. Add the stock, sweet potatoes, carrots and lentils and cover and simmer until the sweet potato is tender, about 20 minutes.
3. Stir in the coconut milk and rice and increase the heat to a medium-high, cover and cook until the rice is cooked through, about 25 minutes.
4. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle Parmesan over top. Serves 4-6.

This is how it is posted on his blog and exactly how I prepared it. It smelled so sweet while it was cooking that I thought it might taste kind of weird but it was really good. The sweet potatoes just melted in your mouth which was perfect because Kyle is so sick right now that he can't swallow whole food. I am not sure if it is vegan appropriate--there is coconut milk in it--does that count as milk? Not sure. Anyway, it was pretty good and healthy to boot (well, I think it is...) Not sure if Mark would like it or not, but I bet Tyler would.

Totally Amazingly Delicious Vegetable Lasagna

Sorry...this is not a vegan recipe but Elaina I HIGHLY recommend it once you can have cheese (that and eggs ...oh yeah.. and cottage cheese are the only things in it a vegan couldn't have). Heather.. if you ever have a break, this is DELICIOUS! Or Melissa.... you should try it... now!!

http://collectingmemoriess.blogspot.com/2012/02/veggie-lasagna.html

This is the website. I'm sorry I'm lazy and not posting the recipe itself...but just go to this website. I think the lady who made it must be from Europe because she measures stuff in grams... but just guesstimate. I was thinking 200 g (cottage cheese) was relatively close to 1 c but I just kind of made it a good consistency with the cheese, spinach and eggs. The vegetables cooked up nicely. I didn't have carrots or a red bell pepper so I just used a green bell pepper and put in some more broccoli. Kyle loved it and so did I. Honestly, you didn't miss the meat at all. It was so nicely flavored and just really delicious. It is definitely a favorite lasagna for me. I felt healthy while I was eating it (despite the mass amount of cheese....) but healthier than regular lasagna which is mostly just sauce, cheese, noodles, and meat. It was a good way to get a ton of veggies in that tasted delicious. 7 cloves of garlic seems like a lot but the seasoning was seriously perfect. I also loved getting the noodles that I didn't have to boil (HUGE time saver and they tasted great!!) and the ones I got at Sunflower Market (do you guys have one of those?) were only 2$ for a pack. Okay.. sorry..this was REALLY GOOD!! Highly recommend.

Also... we made a quinoa recipe that all you vegans could have and even took a picture. I will get that on here soon. Love you guys!

Pasta Fagioli

Pasta Fagioli (Pasta and Beans)
From Skinny Taste

(I made this last night and it was yummy! Tyler ate it and Mark said it was good for a soup. It is very versatile - you can add basically whatever veggies you want. I served it with warmed up hard rolls - double yum!)


Ingredients: 

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 onion
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 carrot, finely chopped
• ( I added about 1/3 zucchini, chopped)
• 1 15 oz can cannellini beans
• 15 oz can tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes
• 1 large bay leaf
• 1 tbsp basil
• 1 tbsp parsley
• 1 tsp oregano
• 2 (14 oz each) cans fat free chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarians)
• 2 cups water (1 cup of water is used to blend the beans if you choose to do so , the other is for the broth.  I only used 1/4 cup of water for the broth)
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1-1/2 cups (6 oz) dry Ditalini pasta or other small pasta
• grated parmesan or Romano cheese (optional) (Or unparmesan)

Directions:

In a deep pot, saute onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat.

Blend the can of beans with one cup water in electric blender until almost smooth. (You don't have to do this. I did because she said it was a way to hide the beans from little kids.  I thought that was a great idea, because Tyler won't eat whole beans, but he ate this soup without even noticing he was eating beans...hahaha I win!) 

Add blended beans to pan then add the can of tomato sauce, celery, carrots, chicken broth, basil, bay leaf, parsley, oregano, salt and pepper. Add 1 cup water (or however much you want) and bring to slow boil. Let simmer for 20 minutes stirring occasionally (I did about 5 min more). Add pasta and cook uncovered until pasta is al dente, according to pasta directions.