Great Baba Ganoush

I really enjoy good Baba Ganoush and one awesome thing it is even healthy. I can easily eat about a half of this in one sitting. Here is the recipe so everyone else can enjoy also.

Ingredients

  • 1 large eggplant
  • 3 large cloves of garlic cut in half
  • 1/4 cup of good tahini
  • 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp of cumin
  • 1 teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt

Directions

Take eggplant and cut slits in it and insert the half cloves of garlic. You can either grill the eggplant till charred all over or if you have a gas stove using a pair of metal tongs char over the burner. Next put into a pan and bake at 350 degrees till completely cook and soft and mushy. Remove outer skin and stem, then put into a food processor along with all the other ingredients and pulse until smooth. I didn’t have naan (Indian bread) so I just served it with toast. Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do

High Protein Vegetarian/Vegan Burger Patties

These came out great and go well in a bun as a vegan burger. They are easy to make and high in protein.

Ingredients

  • 3/4 cup of mung beans (soaked at least 6 hours or overnight in water)
  • 1/4 cup of dried black beans (cooked) or 1/2 cup of cooked black beans
  • 3 tablespoons of corn starch
  • 1 teaspoon Chili powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon of cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon of Vegetarian Beef Broth (if omitted use 1/4 teaspoon salt)
  • 1/2 teaspoon of Salt (Add more if desired)
  • Olive oil

Directions

In a food processor grind up mung beans into a paste. Add in all the other ingredients except the onions and black beans and pulse a few times to mix them in. Add in the black beans and pulse a couple of times, but keep the black beans mostly in tact. Pour into a bowl and mix in the onions. Heat a frying pan and add in the oil and spoon in the mixture and fry till nicely browned and the middle of the patty is firm when pressed on. Serve and enjoy.

Indian Vegetable Cakes Recipe

This is a healthy, great tasting vegan recipe that meat eaters will love also. The moong dal have a lot of protein and will really give you a satisfying fullness. You can eat this with an Indian pickle (It goes good with lemon pickle).

  • ¾ cup split moong dal or whole green mung beans
  • 3 tablespoons corn flour (corn starch)
  • 1 medium onion,chopped fine
  • 1 small carrot,peeled and grated
  • ½ green bell pepper,chopped fine
  • Optional 2 green chillies,chopped fine (you can substitue 1/2 to 1 tsp of cayenne pepper or leave out all together)
  • ½ teaspoon grated ginger
  • 1/2 cup of water
  • Salt about 1 tsp. You can sprinkle more on top while you are cooking if you’d like
  • Olive Oil or Canola oil  (Add a tablespoon or two to the pan before cooking)
  • Optional for more flavor (1/2 tsp of ground fenugreek seed, 1/2 tsp ground cumin)

Directions

Soak Moong dal or Mung beans overnight in water. Drain and in a food processor grind to a paste. now add the rest of the ingredients (except oil) and stir till well mixed. Add water and mix again. Add some oil to a nonstick pan and cook till it is nicely browned flip and brown other side. These are best when eaten hot. Enjoy!

Spicy Korean Tofu Stew

This is a great hearty soup/stew and is one of the more filling vegetarian/vegan recipes that I have come across. I like to eat it in the colder weather the most, but it is good enough that I even eat it in the summer also.

  •  Ingredients
    • 3-4 cups Vegetable broth
    • 1 package Soft Silken Tofu broken up as desired
    • 1 6-8 oz package sliced mushrooms (Fresh or canned)
    • 4 strips of dried seaweed (sold as snack comes in paper like sheets)
    • 1 Tablespoon olive oil
    • 2 teaspoons course ground Korean pepper
    • 3-4 cloves garlic minced fine
    • 3-4 green onions chopped
    • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
    • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
    • Salt to taste
  • Directions
    • Add olive oil to preheated pan on medium heat along with garlic. Fry about 2 minuites
    • Add vegetable broth, tofu, pepper, soy sauce, seaweed, sesame oil and mushrooms
    • Cook on medium heat for 20 – 30 minutes
    • Serve in bowls topped with chopped onions if using green onions and serve with rice to eat with or scoop into soup

Incredible Garlic Dill Pickles

I like fresh, crunchy pickles and with a little less salt, so I made them myself and they came out great. These are balanced in flavor, if you want a stronger garlic flavor add more garlic.

Ingredients

  • 3 regular cucumbers sliced or cut into spears.
  • 1 3/4 cups white vinegar
  • 1 3/4 cups water
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons pickling salt
  • 3 teaspoons dill seeds
  • 4 – 6 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tsp whole mustard seed
  • 4 cayenne peppers stems removed and sliced in half
  • 1/2 tsp sugar

Directions

Put vinegar, water, dill seed, sugar and salt into pan and heat till steaming and heat till starting to steam and salt and sugar are dissolved. Remove from heat and add garlic, mustard, and peppers. Let cool slightly for about 10 minutes, then pour over cucumbers stuffed into jars evenly dividing the non liquid contents. Put lids on and let cool till room temp, then let it set in the refridgerator for at least 1 day.

Spicy BBQ sauce

I occasionally make BBQ sauce, this time I was going to make a batch of BBQ beans. I like a spicy,  vinegary sauce and that’s what this sauce is. Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup of water
  • 2 tablespoons of tomato paste
  • 2 teaspoons of white vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp prepared mustard
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Directions

Add water to pan on low heat, then add tomato paste and mustard and stir till combined. Add in rest of ingredients and and leave on heat for about 15 minutes. Adjust by adding any additional salt at end if needed.

 

Hearty Roasted Eggplant Soup

I have two eggplant plants and they are loaded with eggplants. I am looking for different ways to use them. This is one recipe that turned out great.

Ingredients

  • 4 large asian eggplants
  • 1/2 onion sliced
  • 2 ripe tomatoes pealed and chopped
  • 1 8 oz can of tomato sauce
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 head of roasted garlic
  • 1/2 tsp italian seasoning
  • 32 oz of vegetable stock (Can substitute Chicken stock)
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp lemon juice
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro

Directions

Spray eggplants and garlic head with oil and roast at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. When cool, remove inside of roasted eggplant and garlic chop and add into a pan along with the rest of the ingredients (except cilantro) a pan and simmer for 30-45 minutes. Stir in cilantro just before serving. Serve and enjoy.

Healthy Spicy Chicken Chili

Ingredients

  • 1 lb gound Chicken
  • 1/2 onion chopped finely (chop a little more for topping if desired)
  • 1 ripe tomato chopped finely
  • 1/2 cup of cooked black beans
  • 1/2 cup cooked kidney beans
  • 3 tablespoons of chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon of cumin powder
  • 3 large galic cloves chopped finely
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 2 tablespoons of hot roasted hatch chilis
  • 1 8 oz can of tomato sauce
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • Shredded Cheese, and chopped cilantro for topping if desired.

Directions

Add olive oil to pan along with garlic and onions and lightly fry for about 5 minutes, don’t brown. Add in ground chicken and chili powder and cook and crumble with a spoon.  Add in rest of ingredients and cook for about 45 minutes till flavors blend. Top with cheese, onion, and cilantro.

For Vegetarian or vegan, use meat substitute and leave cheese out.

Italian Dressing Mix

I wanted to make some fresh Italian Dressing, but don’t like that the Good Seasonings mix packets cost around $1 – $1.50 per packet so I decided to make my own. It came out great, and tastes almost exactly like the packet. It takes spices that you most likely already have setting around and takes less than 5 minutes to make. Here is the recipe for the mix and for the dressing if you want to make it right away.

Ingredients for Mix

  • 1 tsp of granulated garlic (garlic powder)
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp parsley flakes (crushed)
  • 1/8 tsp sugar

Ingredients to make Dressing

  • 1/4 cup white vinegar
  • 1/8 cup water
  • 1/2 cup of canola oil

Directions

Mix all the ingredients for the Mix together and store till ready to use. When ready, add the mix into a bottle with a lid along with all the ingredients for the Dressing and shake well.

Tunaless Tuna Salad Recipe Where You Don’t Miss the Tuna.

This is a simple recipe that is as easy to make as tuna salad and it tastes very similar and is just as filling.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 can of garbanzo beans drained and rised.
  • 3 tablespoons of mayonnaise of Vegan mayonnaise.
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Dijon or regular mustard.
  • 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic.
  • 1 stalk of finely chopped celery (optional).
  • 1/2 small onion finely copped (optional).
  • 1 heaping tablespoon of finely chopped pick (sweet or dill) (0ptional).
  • Salt to taste

Directions

Put garbanzo beans into a food processor and pulse several times till chopped finely but you don’t want to have a paste that way you still have a little bite to the garbanzos. Mix all other ingredients in and stir till combined.  You can either eat on top of lettuce or put in a sandwich with lettuce and tomato, or however you would use tuna.