Navy Bean-Lentil-Kale Stew

Here's my meal plan from last week:

Sunday - salmon, quinoa, steamed broccoli

Monday - apricot chickpeas on rice

Tuesday - out

Wednesday - Bean Stew and salad

Thursday - Fennel Potatoes, Marinated Tofu Steaks, Salad

Friday - Spaghetti

Saturday - leftovers

And this week:

Tuesday - cheesy "beef" noodles (from my freezer)

Wednesday - going to an event :)

Thursday - roasted squash, steamed broccoli, nut-loaf

Friday - Black bean burgers, roasted potato wedges ("fries")

Saturday - pasta...not sure what kind of sauce yet

This is the bean stew recipe from last week.  This stew was hearty and flavourful.  It's about 200 calories per serving, but very filling, and the protein from the beans gave me energy for HOURS.  Also, I don't usually love kale, but it tastes great in this stew, and doesn't get too wilted, which adds a nice texture.

I adapted the original recipe, which I got from the Healthy in a Hurry cookbook.  Instead of two cans of navy beans, I only used one and then added a 1/2 C of red lentils.  Red lentils are an awesome legume to store dry in your pantry.  It doesn't need to be soaked at all, so you can just throw it into a soup or a stew, and it will get nice and soft quickly, which makes for a quick and easy way to add protein to anything that is somewhat "liquidy" (think spaghetti sauce, for example).  And, it's CHEAP CHEAP CHEAP!  Can't go wrong there, right?

Here's a pic and a recipe:

Navy Bean, Lentil and Kale Stew

Ingredients:

2 tsp olive oil

1 1/2 C chopped onion

1 1/2 C chopped red pepper

1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary (or 3/4 tsp dried)

1/2 tsp dried crushed chillies

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 can navy beans (or white kidney beans...or really whatever kind of beans you want)

14 oz can diced tomatoes (with juice)

1 C water

1 bay leaf

6 C coarsely chopped kale leaves (centre ribs removed) (lightly packed)

Directions:

1) Heat oil in large deep frying pan, or sauce pan, on medium.  Add onion and red pepper.  Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onion starts to soften.

2) Add next 3 ingredients.  Heat and stir for 1 minute, until fragrant.

3) Add next 4 ingredients.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium-low.  Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes to blend flavours.

4) Add kale.  Stir.  Simmer, covered, for about 3 minutes until kale is wilted.  Discard bay leaf.

ENJOY!

Apricot Chickpeas

This is my favourite cookbook at the moment: Company's Coming Healthy in a Hurry

It is awesome because the meals really are healthy, and they are also easy, which is great since I have returned to work and it's nice to have something that I can whip up quickly at the end of a day.  Some of the recipes use shortcuts to save on time (such as canned sweet potatoes...yuck), but I figure that if I want to make one of those recipes, I can just plan to have it on a night that I have more time (and I can cook the potatoes myself...yum).

Anyway, I recently tried the "Polynesian Apricot Chicken" recipe, but since I don't eat chicken, I made it with CHICKpeas instead, and I served it over couscous (but rice, quinoa, pasta, barley, etc would also be great).

I admit that I was a little skeptical about soaking the dried apricots, but I was REALLY pleased with how it turned out, and I will definitely be making this again.

Apricot-Chickpea sauce, simmering away

So, here it is...

Apricot Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans)

Ingredients:

3/4 C dried apricots, quartered

1 tbsp Olive Oil

1 can chickpeas (I prefer to use No Salt Added, or use dried chickpeas that I have soaked and cooked myself)

1 1/2 C chopped onion

1 C chopped green pepper

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tsp finely grated ginger root

1/2 tsp chili powder (or, if you have it, Epicure's Louisana Hot n Spicy)

1/2 tsp ground cumin

14 oz can diced tomatoes (with juice)

Directions:

1) Put apricot into small heatproof bowl.  Cover with boiling water.  Stir.  Cover.  Set aside.

2) Heat olive oil in large frying pan on medium.  Add next 7 ingredients to the frying pan.  Stir.  Cook, covered, for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until green pepper is tender crisp.

3) Drain apricot.  Add to green pepper mixture.  Add tomatoes (with juice).  Stir.  Increase heat to medium-high.  Boil gently, uncovered, for about 10 minutes until sauce is slightly thickened.  Serves 4.

Taco Salad and Banana Cookies

Hey there!  I haven’t disappeared – I’m just not very good at keeping up with this blogging thing.  I am still doing the “real food”, though I am struggling with the no sugar thing, and I have slipped up more than once.  I’m doing pretty well otherwise though.

Last night we had taco salad for dinner.  Usually when I make taco salad, I use a can of beans in tomato sauce and put some taco seasoning in that (I use Epicure brand…no weird stuff in that).  However, I realized yesterday that we didn’t have any baked beans, so I decided to go with some black beans.  I soaked them for a few hours, then cooked them for 1 hour, and they were ready to go.

Here it is:

Black Bean and Corn Vegetarian Taco Salad

Ingredients:

1 whole wheat tortilla

1-2 tbsp olive oil

½ yellow onion

4 mushrooms

1C black beans (about ½ C dried, then soaked and cooked)

A few tbsp of water

Taco seasoning

Romaine Lettuce (about 1 head)

1 tomato, chopped

1 pepper (whatever colour you like – I used ½ orange and ½ yellow)

½ C corn kernels (cooked)

½ C plain Greek yogurt (I used 2%)

½ C salsa

½ C – 1 C grated cheese

Directions:

1)      Cut up the tortilla and bake it in the oven to make “crisps” – about 15 minutes at 350

2)      Meanwhile, sautee the onion and mushroom in the oil, until soft.  Add the beans, water, and taco seasoning, and cook on medium-low for about 10-15 minutes.  Most or all of the water should be cooked off, but if it’s not, drain it.

3)      Layer the ingredients in a large bowl: lettuce, tomato, pepper, tortilla crisps, corn, bean mixture, yogurt, salsa, cheese.  Enjoy!  Tastes great the next day too!

I took a picture of the original salad, but it just looked like cheese in a bowl.  Here are my leftovers the next day...not going to win any food photography awards, but I still think it looks yummy :)

I also decided to make these cookies:

Banana Cookies

Take 2 very ripe bananas and mash them up with a sprinkle of coconut (unsweetened), a small handful of chocolate chips and raisins, and 1 C of oatmeal.  Put on baking sheet in spoonfuls, and bake at 350F for 15 minutes.  THE END.

I saw the recipe on Pinterest, and I was a little skeptical, so I decided to give it a try.  Here's the original recipe (only 2 ingredients in the original)

The verdict?  They worked out GREAT!  So yummy!  And pretty much "guilt-free".

Here's a picture:

Yummy banana oat cookies

Real Food Day 24 - Vegetable Pot Pie

I wrote this post a while ago, but saved it as a draft, then forgot to publish it....

I love me some comfort food, and one of my favourites is pot pie!  I am terrible at making crust, so I like this recipe, which uses phyllo dough.  Now, the phyllo dough has some "no-no" ingredients, but the crust just wasn't going to happen for me.  If you wanted to make this with a homemade crust, go for it :)

Unfortunately, this picture does not do the meal justice - it was delicious!

Vegetable Pot Pie
Ingredients:
1 potato (cubed)
1/2 of 1 butternut squash (peeled and cubed)
1 large carrot (cubed)
1 onion (coarsely chopped)
1 red pepper (coarsely chopped)
1 (small) head of broccoli (coarsely chopped)
1 tbsp oil
3 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour (I used whole wheat)
1 1/2 C milk (I used soy milk)
1 C grated cheddar (use white cheddar...orange cheddar has food colouring!)
2 egg yolks
cayenne pepper, to taste
salt to taste
Phyllo dough - about 3 or 4 sheets per pie
1-2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 415°F.  Grease the serving dishes.  Steam the potato, squash, carrot and broccoli until just tender (about 15 min).  Drain well and place in a large bowl.  Heat the first portion of oil in a frying pan and cook the onion and red pepper over medium heat for 2 minutes until soft.  Add to the bowl.

Heat the butter in a saucepan and add the flour.  Stir over low heat for 2 minutes, or until lightly golden.  Add the milk gradually, stirring until smooth.  Stir over medium heat for 3 minutes, or until the mixture boils and thickens.  Boil for another minute, then remove from the heat and cool slightly.  Add the cheese and egg yolks to the sauce and stir to combine.  Season to taste with cayenne pepper and salt.

Add the sauce to the vegetables and stir to combine.  Divide between the ramekins.  Cut off layers of the phyllo dough one, and brush one layer at a time with olive oil, then lay it over the ramekins (read the instructions on the box).  Trim off the edges with kitchen scissors.  Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown.