Vegan lifestyle tip: Lunch using left overs

left oversWhen I’m working from home at lunch, I often have a lot of time to make lunch. That’s why I’m a big fan of left overs. I always make large enough quantities with other recipes so that I have left overs ready to go for quick lunches.

Today’s lunch was a bean burger patty reheated with a slice of pepper jack veggie cheese. Scoop of guacamole to top it off! (Eating vegan rocks, doesn’t it?!) A cup of diced tomatoes and 1/2 cup of diced cucumbers topped with a sprinkle of No-salt Seasoning and I’m good to go!

I really think that life is much easier when I have a bunch of quick go-to foods in the fridge. So, make extra when you’re cooking and you’ll find that putting together a fast and healthy lunch is a snap!

How are you using left overs to make your life easier in the kitchen?

Restaurant Review: Oasis Cafe – Utah

One thing I love about friends who live in another county, is the exposure to new restaurants.

Marilyn suggested that we meet at Oasis Cafe in Salt Lake for our dinner date. Yeah! An organic, vegetarian, local spot. We sat in their patio area, enjoying the mild night breeze and giggled like school girls. I love girls-night-out.

We started off with the zucchini wrapped baked tofu in marinara sauce. Holy cow was this good! I would’ve had two of them, but need to remember to order without the parmesan cheese next time. You gotta try it!

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Marilyn had the famous Mediterranean Salad with grilled salmon. I snagged one of her grilled potato slices. This vegetarian salad could easily be vegan with omitting the meat and vinaigrette dressing. Looked amazing though and Marilyn says it’s her favorite.

 

I enjoyed the Udon Noodles with tofu. This vegan dish was really tasty with fresh crisp veggies (gave Marilyn the mushrooms). The peanut sauce was amazing! I think peanuts are God’s way of telling us He loves us. I wish the noodles were whole wheat, or preferably rice, but were quite yummy.oasis2a

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Thanks, Oasis for a great dinner! I’ll be back… maybe try the Med salad vegan style.

 

 

 

Recipe: Apple Pecan Quinoa

apple quinaServes 8

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups red quinoa
1 apple small dice
1/2 cup chopped pecan
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup currants
1 avocado cubed

DIRECTIONS:
Prepare quinoa using directions on the package. Allow to cool on the counter top for 1-2 hours. Mix together all the other ingredients and add in the cooled quinoa. Serve as a stand alone dish, or on bed of lettuce with drizzle of your favorite dressing. We served on red leaf lettuce and Walnut Cinnamon Dressing.

Restaurant Review: The Wild Grape

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Business lunch in downtown Salt Lake area, so I invited my guest to join me at The Wild Grape. She hadn’t been before, so that was a nice bonus!

Pamela enjoyed the Beet Salad with side of grilled salmon. Love how the yellow beets are so bright and springy! She really liked the meal.

I enjoyed theGrape Salad. Their signature salad normally has an awesome honey vinaigrette, but to keep it vegan, I requested lemons instead. They provided me with steamed asparagus and broccoli rabe with garlic. This was a great vegan meal – hooray for another business lunch spot that meets my vegan preferences!


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British folk love their chips, so Pamela tried a side of fries. I had a few… the salt and oil just about caused a coughing fit, but soooo good.

 

Recipe: Eat To Live: Dijon date dressing dip

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Our first crack at an Eat To Live dressing and we LOVE it!

Serves 4

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup water [we added an extra 2 tablespoons after blending because was too thick to pour]
1/3 cup raw cashew butter or 2/3 cup raw cashews [we used cashew pieces]
4 tablespoons Dr. Fuhrman’s Riesling Raisin Vinegar or balsamic vinegar [we used balsamic vinegar]
2 tablespoons Dr. Fuhrman’s VegiZest or other no-salt seasoning
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
4-6 dates, pitted
1-2 cloves garlic, minced

DIRECTIONS:
Blend all the ingredients in a food processor or high-powered blender until smooth and creamy.

Recipe: Eat To Live: Triple Treat Cabbage Salad

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We found this recipe on Dr. Fuhrman’s website. The crunch and snap of the cabbage is really refreshing and fresh. We added a little extra red wine vinegar because we like slaw that is a little on the tart side. Really great recipe!
Serves: 4
Preparation Time: 15 minutes
INGREDIENTS:

SALAD

  • 2 cups green cabbage, grated
  • 1 cup red cabbage, grated
  • 1 cup savoy cabbage, grated
  • 1 carrot, peeled and grated
  • 1 red pepper, thinly sliced
  • 4 tablespoons currants
  • 2 tablespoons raw pumpkin seeds
  • 2 tablespoons raw sunflower seeds
  • 1 tablespoon unhulled sesame seeds

DRESSING

  • 1/3 cup soy, almond or hemp milk
  • 1 apple, peeled and sliced
  • 1/2 cup raw cashews or 1/4 cup raw cashew butter
  • 1 tablespoon Dr. Fuhrman’s Spicy Pecan Vinegar [we used red wine vinegar]
  • 1 tablespoon currants
  • 1 tablespoon unhulled sesame seeds, lightly toasted*
INSTRUCTIONS:
Mix all salad ingredients together.
In a high-powered blender, blend soy milk, apple, cashews and vinegar and toss with salad.
Garnish with currants and lightly toasted sesame seeds.

Recipe: Quinoa and black bean salad

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This lovely salad found on food.com, originally called for couscous, but I wanted to use the high protein option of quinoa instead. Super flavorful and we’ll definitely make again!

Quinoa and black bean salad

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked couscous (we used quinoa)
1 3/4 cups chicken broth (water)
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (none)
2 tablespoons lime juice (4 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar (1 tablespoon)
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
8 green onions, chopped (3 onions)
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped (variety of yellow, red and orange)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained (1 can)
Salt and pepper to taste (very little salt)

Additional ingredients:
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 roma tomatoes, small dice

Directions… what we actually did:
Bring 2 cups of water and 1 cup of quinoa to boil. Cover and simmer until water gone – about 11 minutes. Uncover, fluff with fork and remove from heat for 5 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together lime juice, vinegar, cayenne and cumin.

Add green onions, peppers, cilantro, corn and beans, tomatoesand toss to coat.

Add the quinoa to vegetables and mix well.

Add salt and black pepper to taste. Eat immediately, or refrigerate until ready to serve.

Serving size:
We didn’t have any other dish with this, so we ate it all. By the end of dish, we felt really full but satisfied with taste and full stomachs!

Next time:

  • Add other veggies, like blanched green beans, chopped snow peas.
  • Try other beans, like kidney, pinto, or garbonzo beans.
  • Remove onion and add diced mango for sweetness with the spice.
  • Serve in lettuce wrap style.

Recipe: Family Italian dinner

My mother-in-law hosts family dinner nearly every Sunday. That’s a lot of effort! To take the pressure off her, we hosted Sunday dinner… Italian style!

Easy-peezy chicken parmesan. Instead of breading the chicken breasts, we put two layers of croutons and cheese on top of the chicken. Surprisingly good!

Klint tried a new recipe of cheese tortellini, brocoli, bacon, raisins, and sunflower seeds.

No dinner is complete without my signature green salad. Roasted walnuts, tomatoes and blue cheese.

Klint even made some crème Brule from scratch. I usually don’t eat sugar, so I had him just put cinnamon on the top instead of the customary sugar. I really liked it with only the cinnamon. Give it a try some time!

It’s a lot of fun preparing and cooking with Klint. It’s a labor of love, but we enjoy it! OK, family, manga-manga!

Restaurant Review: Blue Skies Cafe – San Rafael

blue skiesSoup and salad… one of my favorite lunch meals.

Sunny fall afternoons on the patio… my favorite way to consume lunch.

If you find yourself in San Rafael, CA and are looking for a peaceful, yummy lunch, check out Blue Skies Cafe.

Lunch today was Lentil soup and Cobb Chop Salad. Perfect serving sizes. The seasonings in the Lentil soup were really earthy and Mediterranean. I love that they have local products in their food offerings. I’m all for supporting local.

Another bonus about Blue Skies Cafe is that they hire and train people who have disabilities. This program helps these employees gain useful job skills so that they’ll be able to work in other eating establishments – of which, Marin County has many! This is a great example of tax dollars put to good use (at least from what I can tell!).

When you stop by, ask for Laura Lee. She’s my Mom. Tell her that I sent you!