Taco Soup/Salad

I found a quick and easy recipe for a taco soup...which ended up being more like a chili. So in our family we made it into a taco salad with Soy Flax corn chips and a bed of salad greens, sliced cherry tomatoes, salsa, guacamole, sour cream and shredded cheese, green onions.

Ingredients of the "Soup"

• 1 lb ground tofu crumbles (I can;t believe how close this resembles ground beef)
  
• 1 to 2 diced onions
• 1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1 (10-ounce) can RO*TEL® diced tomatoes and green chilies
• 2 (15-ounce) cans black beans
• 1 (16-ounce) can pinto beans
• 1 (15 1/4-ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 2 (4 1/2-ounce) cans chopped green chiles
• 1 (1-ounce) envelope taco seasoning
• 1 (1-ounce) envelope ranch salad dressing and seasoning mix
• Garnishes: Corn chips, cheese, sour cream, green onions

1. In a large skillet, cook beef and onions over medium heat until beef is no longer pink. Drain, using a slotted spoon, as you transfer browned beef and onions to a Dutch oven, stockpot or slow cooker.
2. Add tomatoes, black beans, pinto beans, corn and green chiles. Stir in the taco seasoning and ranch salad dressing mix.
3. If you’re cooking on the stovetop, cover the pot and simmer soup over low heat for 30 minutes up to 1 hour, stirring occasionally. If you’re using a slow cooker, cook on low heat for 6 to 8 hours.
4. Garnish individual servings with corn chips, cheese, sour cream and green onions, if desired

Honey Seseme Tofu with Stir fried Vegetables

recipe ...coming soon.

Roasted Tomato Bean Soup

I attempted to make a chick pea veggie patty, but they weren't very flavorful or moist, so I came up with this soup with ingredients I had in my pantry and fridge. If you like Cilantro it is great. If you are like me, and do not, just leave it out and it will be like a tomato basil soup with beans.

Ingredients:

4 Medium tomatoes halved

1 tsp basil

3 cloves garlic

salt and pepper

16 oz "Organic Imagine Creamy Tomato Soup" (1/2 the box)

 

2 cans black beans

1 can pinto beans

1/4 cup cilantro chopped

1/2 roasted red pepper diced

Directions:

put the tomatoes on a cookie sheet cut-side up. Sprinkle with basil, garlic, salt and pepper. Put under a hot broiler for 10 min, until tomatoes are softened. Remove tomatoes and let cool slightly so they can be handled. Peel of the skins and discard. Put the tomatos in a food processor until smooth. Add 1 can of black beans and process for a few seconds, just to break the beans down slightly.

Trasnfer mixture to a pot. Add creamy tomato soup, the rest of the beans, cilantro and raosted red pepper.

Garnish with sliced avocado or guacamole.

A Canadian's Vegetarian Chili

I love a chunky chili with lots of vegetables, even when I make a meat chili. I never follow recipe's for chili or speghetti sauce. I just use what I have or am in the mood for...so it's hard to ever re-do it. But for you, I wrote down what I did this time. Growing up, my mom cooked with TVP (textured vegetable protein) and I never knew the difference between it and ground beef. I wanted to give it a try but couldn't find quite what I was looking for at HEB. But, I found something even easier! Lightlife Smart Ground Original Veggie Protein Crumbles.

Ingredients:
1 Onion diced
1 Stock of Celery chopped
2 cloves Garlic minced
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1 pkg Veggie Protein Crumbles
2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
green chilis (depends on how spicy you want it)
2 TBSP Chili powder
2 TBSP Oregano
1 tsp cumin (if you like cumin use more)
pepper
1 Green Pepper chopped
1 Red Pepper chopped
1 medium zuchini chopped
1 14.5 oz can pinto beans
2 14.5 oz can kidney beans
1 14.5 oz can sweet corn
2 TBSP Worchestershire sauce
1 tsp red pepper flakes
(tomato paste wouldbe good too but i didn't have any)

Directions:
The longer it cooks the better. Left overs are even better. I slow cooked this pot from 10am until dinner. It also helps thicken the sauce since I didn't have tomato pasts at home.

Hotdogs

OK. I am not sure if I said this or not, but I am not a vegetarian. I love red meat! This blog is dedicated to my vegetarian cooking experience for a friend of mine (and we reap the reward of having it for dinner too).

At a recent church primary activity we were serving the kids hotdogs and I mentioned to a friend of mine who has seen my blog that when I was young, growing up in a family of 6 girls, when we would have hotdogs my mom would make 2 dozen. The rest of my family would have 1 or 2 hotdogs each and I would eat the other dozen. The first 2 or so in buns and the rest on their own...usually hollowing them out and eating the skins last. Makes me feel a combination of disgust, embarrassment and a very little pride now. "Is that why you became a vegetarian?" "No, I am not a vegetarian. I just can't eat that many hotdogs anymore."

But, the very best hotdog I ever had was a veggie dog down town Toronto from a street vender.

Red-Cooked Tofu Stir Fry with Rice Noodles

Let me just say, I love stir-fry. You can add any vegetable you like and should be called clean-out-your-fridge-dishes since I seem to buy produce in excess.

I have never actually cooked tofu before. I had this blubbery/slimy/and other texture phobia growing up and actually didn't like quite a few things that I do now. Yogurt, cottage cheese, slimy sandwich meat, barley, oatmeal, pudding, beans,... I am glad I got over those. So now I can safely add tofu to the list.

My friend loaned me a beautiful Chinese cookbook (which I think should really be called an Asian cookbook) and I married 2 recipes from in there :
Red-Cooked Tofu with Chinese Mushrooms
Spiced Tofu Stir-fry

Ingredients and Directions:

8 Oz pkg Firm tofu
2 TBSP Soy sauce
1 TBSP Chinese rice wine (which i did not have so used rice vinegar)
2 tsp brown sugar
1 crushed garlic clove
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

 Drain the tofu and cut into 1" cubes. Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl and add cubed tofu. Let set 30 min and then drain, reserving the marinade for later use. Add 2 Tbsp of cornstarch to the marinade.

Fry the tofu in 2 tbsp of olive oil for about 5 min. Remove tofu and set aside.

Add to pan:

4 sliced scallions
2 cloves garlic
1 red bell pepper seeded and sliced
1 yellow bell pepper seeded and sliced
1 8oz pkg button mushrooms halved
1 large zuchinni sliced
2 cups bean sprout (last few mintues)

Return tofu to the pan and pour marinade over and continue cooking until thickens.
Add :

1 TBSP Honey
2 TBSP Lime juice
salt and pepper

(serve over rice noodles, or rice)

Pumpkin Black Bean Soup

I know, way too long since I made this. Last week at my mother-in-law's I came across this recipe in a magazine and thought I'd try it since it sounded Autumny. I was surprised by how good the flavors actually were together. Beware of the unattractiveness of the actual soup. Garnishing helps. :)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cloves minced garlic
4 TBSP Olive oil
4 Cups Vegetable broth
1 TSP Salt
1 TSP Cinnamon
I TBSP Cumin (yes, i am trying cumin again and liked it better)
2 TBSP Chili Powder
1/2 tsp pepper
2 Cans Black beans, drained and rinsed
1 14 oz Can diced tomatoes (I may try crushed if i make this again)
1 Can packed pumpkin (the recipe actually called for 2, but after reading reviews I used 1)

3 TBSP Balsamic Vinegar (I used an excellent bottle I got as a gift for Christmas last year).

Directions:

Place oil, onion, garlic and seasonings in a large pot. Cook on low-medium heat till onions begin to brown.
Puree 1 can of beans with the tomatoes and 1/2 the vegetable stock. Add to pot along with remaining stock and pumpkin.
Simmer uncovered until thick, about 45 min. Before serving, stir in the balsamic vinegar. Garnish with a spoon of sour cream and serve with Corn bread.

I actually read one similar recipe that called for cream instead of some of the stock, but i don't think that is necessary. I found the soup really creamy on it's own.