Stacks of Veggies!

I found a really cute little round zucchini at the farmers' market and couldn't resist buying it. I also bough eggplant and tomatoes. I thought it would be fun to stack them, lasagna style. 

I made batches of cashew ricotta and spinach pesto. 

I stacked slices of the zucchini, eggplant and tomato and layered the ricotta and pesto in between.

The stacks ended up being much higher than I expected! I cooked them at 400 degrees for about an hour. They were really delicious, but I think I've had the oven on way too much lately and it has been horribly hot all week. Back to raw meals next week!

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Stuffed Peppers

I had a lot of quinoa and veggie mixture leftover from the stuffed squash I made, so I decided to stuff peppers with them. This was a super simple meal, and since I already had most of the meal prepared, it didn't take very long to prepare. I simply cut the peppers in half and cleaned out the insides, stuffed them, and then cooked them at 400 degrees for about 45 minutes.

Bell peppers are part of the Capsicum family, but they are the only member that doesn't actually contain  capsaicin, which is why they taste sweet, rather than hot. Studies show that red bell peppers contain higher levels of nutrients than green ones. Red peppers contain lycopene, which is know to protect against cancer and heart disease. They are also a good source of folic acid, vitamin C, vitamin B6, thiamine, riboflavin, magnesium, potassium and beta carotene.



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Stuffed Summer Squash

It's squash season! I saw these really great summer squashes at the farmers' market over the weekend and just had to get them. They have many names - flyer saucer squash, pattypan squash, scallop squash, etc. Whatever you call them, they're really gorgeous and really delicious!

Despite the heat, I decided to turn the oven on and make stuffed squash. 

I scooped out the insides of the squash, and saved what I scooped out.

I sautéed together some garlic, onion, habanero pepper, tomatoes, the insides of the squash and black beans, and then added the veggies to cooked quinoa. I then placed the mixture inside the hollowed out squashes. 

I cooked them at 400 degrees for about about 30 minutes, until the squash was tender. I then sprinkled some Daiya cheese on top and popped them back in the oven for about 10 more minutes.

I served the stuffed squash over beds of sautéed kale. This was a really delicious meal! I'm looking forward going back to the farmers' market next weekend to get more squash to experiment with!

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Farmers' Market Salad

I was able to make it to the Farmers' Market again this weekend! When it's open, I do the bulk of my grocery shopping there since I eat so many veggies. After shopping, I love coming home and making a giant salad!

This salad has two types of lettuce, red cabbage, cucumbers and tomatoes. I also added some chickpeas, avocado, sprouts and olives, which weren't from the farmers' market. I made a simple dressing using olive oil, lemon juice, a tiny amount of stone ground mustard and dried dill. The veggies are so flavorful that they don't really need much dressing.

Remember to make sure you get at least four colors of plant foods on your plate at every meal! Since the nutrients are actually in the plant's color, you can be sure you're getting all of the nutrients you need if your meals are colorful.

I could have gotten some more color in this salad if I had added some carrots, but sadly I put them in the fridge when I got home and forgot to put them in my salad!

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Picnic in the Park

The weather has cooled down a little bit here (meaning it's now in the 90s instead of the 110s), so Dennis and I decided to get out of the house and go for a picnic in the park.

I bought these pretty little purple potatoes from the farmers' market, and was itching to do something with them. I chose potato salad since we were going for a picnic. I love potato salad but don't make it often. The purple potatoes were looked like little geodes once I cut them. It almost seemed like a shame to cook them!

I added peas, chopped onion, and red bell pepper.

And then mixed in Vegenaise, mustard, salt, pepper, sesame seeds and a little dill.

I also made a quick quinoa salad with cherry tomatoes, cucumbers and chickpeas. I added some olive oil, lemon juice and apple cider vinegar.

And I made a garden salad using tomatoes, carrots and olives. Most of the produce I used to make this lunch was bought at the farmers' market.

This was such a delicious lunch, and seemed to taste even better eaten outside in the park under the sun! And of course, we need to get time out in the sun in order to get our vitamin D!

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Quinoa and Veggies

I've been making a lot of raw foods lately, so it's been a while since I've made a quinoa stir-fry, and I figured I was over due for one. This was a quick dish for a busy week night.

I stir-fried shiitake mushrooms, asparagus, onion and garlic together in olive oil until tender, I then added kale (it's rare that kale makes it to the cooking stage in my house, because I've become so addicted to kale chips!) and chickpeas. And of course, I served the veggie mix over quinoa. This meal was super fast to make - it took only about 15 or 20 minutes - and is packed with protein, vitamins and minerals. So next time you think you don't have time to cook and are tempted to stop for fast food, stop yourself and consider making a quick stirfry with quinoa!

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Farmer's Market Pasta

Because of the heat, I haven't felt like cooking much lately, and I've felt uninspired in the kitchen. But visiting the farmer's market on Saturday changed that! All of the beautiful produce inspired me, and I couldn't wait to start making dishes with all of the food we brought home.

I really didn't know what I was doing when I started cooking this dish, but I just started throwing stuff together and had faith that it would taste good. And it did! It resembled ratatouille and was quite delicious.

To make the dish, I cut up eggplant, squash, fennel and tomato, and then added garlic and onions and sautéed them in olive oil. I also added a little water and some vinegar. After the veggies started to cook down, I added half a can of white beans and a little red wine, I covered it and then let it simmer until the veggies were tender. I served the veggies over brown rice pasta and topped them with nutritional yeast and chopped olives.

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Farmers' Market

My local farmers' market started last month. It's on Saturday mornings, and unfortunately, I haven't had any free Saturdays until this past Saturday. It's a decent sized market, and there's so much good produce that I feel like a kid in a candy store walking through it. I always try to buy as much food as possible there so I can support the local farmers, and so I know that my food is fresh and hasn't traveled very far to get to me. 

When we buy produce from other areas, they have to be trucked, or even flown, to us often from great distances. Not only does that mean our produce is actually producing emissions, it means that it's not really fresh. Often produce is sprayed with chemicals in order to keep it fresh - even if it's been organically grown.  So not only does buying from local farmers support your local community and guarantee freshness, but chances are that less chemicals were used on your food. If you have to chose between organic or local, it's always best to chose local.

It's difficult to get organic certification, so chances are that local produce is organic, it's just not certified. And I also think food from the farmer's market tastes better than it does when I buy it at the grocery story. It's also much prettier! I just couldn't help but to take photos of some of the veggies I bought!

Pretty Purple Cabbage

It's summer squash season and the farmers market had many different varieties. I had to stop myself from buying more. They all looked so good but I didn't think I'd be able to eat them all!

This eggplant is so pretty that it looks like a sculpture.

Red spring onions. I've never bought these before, so I'm not sure what to do with them, but I'm sure I'll figure it out.

Lettuce! I'm not sure what kind this is, but it looks so good!

Fresh fennel.

Yummy little carrots.

Lots of pretty peppers.

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Hash Browns and Veggies

Here's another dish that proves that not all wheat and soy-free dishes need to be elaborate. This is one of my favorite breakfast dishes - hashbrowns and veggies. It's perfect for brinner too!

I start off with a bag of shredded hashbrowns, and I add chopped red onion, red and green bell peppers and mushrooms. I cook them all for quite a white - until the potatoes brown and get a little crunch in places. This dish is delicious and really simple and fits my four-colors-per-meal-rule!


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Wild Mushroom Socca

I woke up with tummy troubles this morning. It was as if I ate wheat encrusted soy cakes served on a corn tortilla. I'm not sure what caused it. Was it the spelt pasta I ate for dinner yesterday? The gluten free pancakes? All of that hummus I had at my friend's birthday party last night?

So I decided to stay away from most floury kinds of food today. Except chickpea flour. Chickpea flour is good. I made Wild Mushroom Socca Stacks from the last issue of Vegetarian Times for dinner tonight. Socca is a flat bread made from chickpea flour and is slightly reminiscent of polenta.

I doubled the recipe so that I could have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. I'm not sure if I should have used a larger pan for the socca or not, but I had to cook it for close to half an hour before it firmed up nicely. I got lazy and used premade sauce instead of making my own. I also used a lot less onion than the recipe called for, which I always do because I don't like when my food is too oniony. I served the socca stacks on a bed of sautéed kale. Not only do sautéed greens make for a pretty presenation, they are crammed full of essential nutrients. Leafy greens are a good source of dietary fiber, protein, calcium, folate, iron, magnesium, zinc, phosphorus, and vitamins A, C, E and K. Green vegetables are the foods that most missing from modern diets.

This recipe was pretty easy to make and was really tasty. Dennis said it was like "restaurant food" and went back for seconds. I'm already looking forward to lunchtime tomorrow so I can have another serving. Yum!