Garden Salad- A complete meal!

We got creative the other night! Part of eating vegan is using plants for all your nutrition- otherwise referred to as the "plant based diet." To achieve proper nutrition, you need to be cognizant of nutrient sources (I have a book I use: Idiot's Guide to Plant Based Nutrition), probably keep track of what you're bringing in to ensure that you're getting all the nutrients you need, and as a failsafe; eat every color veggie out there all the time, and ensure that your meals are more than 50% greens and/or fresh veggies. This is a simple concept, but can be somewhat difficult in this convenience food era of American society; you're gonna have to chop some veggies!!

My other favorite book taught me, in a very blunt fashion, that I should be spending about 15 minutes a day chopping veggies. There's no reason why I can't (I have time..), and by doing this I'm making sure that what I'm eating is the freshest and best option available to me from the store- fresher than pre-chopped veggies, for sure! This book also taught me that a chopped veggie doesn't lose nutrients any quicker than a non-chopped one- and you're more likely to use a vegetable if it's already chopped for you! So- when you're preparing something with a new veggie, chop the whole thing up, save what you're not using, and use it later! Veggies (chopped or not) do start to lose their nutrients after 4 or 5 days, so be sure to eat them up quickly!!

So, going off the advice of the book mentioned above, I had a bunch of chopped veggies at my disposal. When contemplating dinner, I pulled all my prepared vegetables out of the fridge and onto the counter to see what I could build... and this was the result:

Garden Salad with a baked sweet potato (and a glass of merlot, of course!) on the side

And here's how I made it!


Easy Garden Salad
Prep time: 10-20 minutes (chopped vs. not yet chopped)
Cook time: None!
Serves: 2


Ingredients:
3-4 cups of dark green, leafy stuff (I used spinach, spring mix, and fresh kale) {vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein}
1 cup of "crumbles" or other meat replacement (I used our Apple Sage Sausage crumbles) {protein, fiber, healthy fats}
1/2 cup of fresh chickpeas {protein, fiber, minerals}
1/4 cup pecan pieces {protein, fiber, healthy fats}
1/8 cup (=2 Tbsp) Panera Poppyseed Dressing
A generous sprinkle of Bragg's Nutritional Yeast {B vitamins, fiber, yumminess}
As many veggies as you can find! {vitamins, minerals, fiber, protein} I used:
-red, green, and yellow peppers
-tomatoes
-avocado
You could add:
-onion
-carrots
-celery
-ginger zest
-etc, etc- use your imagination (and what you have in your fridge!)

Directions:
Couldn't be easier- mix it all together and serve! Here are some step by step pics I took:

All chopped up and ready to go!

There you go.. Simple, beautiful, and nutritious! I added the sweet potato to our meal for added satiety and nutrients {vitamins, protein, fiber} with a teaspoon or so of Earth Balance Soy Garden butter- an excellent vegan butter! 

This was one of my favorite meals so far, and definitely the easiest!! 

Happy Eating!

<3

Courtney

Kale Chips! (Who needs potato chips?? These have VITAMINS and PROTEIN and MINERALS (oh my!))

These are quickly becoming a favorite in our household. We bought a huge bunch of Kale last weekend (or so we thought!!); we have never been able to get through an entire bunch of kale before we tried this recipe. Now that we know how to make the best superfood in the world into the most delicious, amazingly awesome (and healthy- better than potatoes!) snack, that kale bunch all but disappeared in about 3 days! I've also tried kale in green smoothies... more on that after we get a better blender...

So good! They don't look like potato chips, but they have the salty and "greasy" (olive oil) goin on- Delish!!

SO- if you're thinking these are worth a shot (and they are!!), here how to make these lil green noms:


"Potato"(Kale) Chips
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 10-15 minutes
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:
1 bunch of Kale (found in the produce section, look by the greens)
1 tsp Olive Oil
Salt, to taste
Nutritional Yeast, to taste/preference (optional!) (Bragg's brand is great! We use this for supplement and flavor purposes. It's kinda cheesy tasting!)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F. Meanwhile....

Tear kale into bite size pieces (think chips) and place in colander as you go. Rinse kale REALLY well (don't skip this step- kale is very "curly" and can hide dirt, bugs, etc from you amazingly well!) with veggie wash if you have it, just water if you don't.

Place a pad of paper towels on the counter (2 wide, 2 thick should do the trick) and lay your rinsed kale out-- blot with another paper towel until kale is mostly dry. Transfer to a LARGE mixing bowl.

Add the oil, salt, and any other seasonings you like (feel free to experiment here- garlic would be fantastic, as would chili powder, cilantro, paprika, etc) to the bowl. Mix very well with a spoon or your hands- kale should be completely coated in oil when you're finished. Lay prepared kale out, single layer, on a cookie sheet (you may need two!). Throw in the oven!

I can almost smell the yummy!!

Bake for about 10-15 minutes. Keep an eye on them and check if you think they're close to done. Chips should be crispy, but not burnt. You're essentially dehydrating the kale by baking it... keep that in mind and you'll get these perfectly crisply baked!

FYI- the oil will keep your chips from sticking to the pan... Let the chips cool a bit before removing- store in a bag, a bowl, or your tummy. Enjoy!!

p.s.- let me know how this went if you tried it!

Happy Eating!!

<3
Courtney

Lunchtime Yumminess! (a quickie post! more yums to follow...)

Well, who knew that vegans can enjoy sandwiches? A little known fact, perhaps, but with all the alternative food that can be found in many stores, we too can enjoy the best of the sandwiching world.

Here's a quickie sandwich I threw together this morning for our lunches.. super easy, very low in calories (around 210-300), and very vegan! Enjoy :)

A perfect lunch for the career woman! If you have a napkin handy, anyway... it can get a bit messy!

Peppered "Meat" Sandwich
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: none! :)
Serves: 1

Ingredients:

It's REALLY good!!

2 slices of Natural Ovens 100% Whole Wheat bread

3 slices of Peppered Tofurkey Deli Slices

1 slice Galaxy Rice Cheese (Cheddar flavor)

1 tsp Nasoya Nayonaise

1 tsp fresh avocado

spinach; a handful will do

one small tomato, sliced

 Directions:
Assemble as desired and enjoy! Feel free to add or subtract any condiment or veggie- it's a mix and match kind of food-- love it!!

I personally like to layer my tomato and spinach close to the mayo layer so they stick a bit better.. I really really dislike sandwiches that slip and slide all over my lap!

As always, Happy eating!

<3
Courtney