Veggie Staples

dairy free, gluten free, refined sugar free, plant based recipes

Perfect Summer Salad

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Summer is officially here! (well, it has been for a while). What is your favorite summer activity? It’s never officially ‘summer’ for me until we’ve headed to the cape at the end of June, and we stay the entire month of July. It’s been cool, but we’re having a great time so far!

Also FYI for anyone living around Marylou’s, they now carry stevia and almond milk!! Yahoo! Anyways….

This is the perfect summer salad - and my go to when I’m hosting dinner, or I need to bring something over to a party! Easy, simple, and a very light dressing to accompany it. You can make it this way, or make it your perfect summer salad by adding (or subtracting) whatever ingredients you like. Mine incorporates red onion, tomatoes, cucumber, peppers, avocado and carrots. Sometimes it’s nice to have a lettuce free salad! What is your favorite salad ingredient?

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Perfect Summer Salad
Author: 
Recipe type: salad
Prep time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 1 avocado, sliced and cubed
  • 2 large tomatoes, washed and cubed
  • 1 cucumber, washed and cubed
  • ½ cup shredded carrots
  • 1 peppers, washed and cubed
  • ½ cup red onion, washed and chopped
for the dressing
  • 2 lemons, juiced
  • 2 tablespoons organic italian seasoning
Instructions
  1. Wash and chop all vegetables as needed or desired
  2. Place all ingredients in a bowl and toss with lemon juice and italian seasoning
  3. Serve immediately

perfect summer salad

Inspiralized Cookbook & Coupons Giveaway

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I think one of my favorite cooking items that has come into kitchens in the past few years has been the spiralizer. Have you ever heard of one? If not, get to it! They are the best! You can make almost any vegetable into noodles, which is much healthier than pasta and you can have lots more for the same amount of calories! My personal favorite is sweet potato, but you can use zucchini, white potato, carrots. Pretty much anything. They really are just awesome. They can also turn a salad into something a little more fancy, because you can spiralize cucumbers!

Ali Maffuci has teamed up with TuttoRosso Tomatoes and they are giving away lots of great prizes every week! You can enter for your chance to win a copy of Ali’s new book Inspiralized, and then head over to TuttoRosso’s website to win one of her Spiralizers, aprons & other awesome kitchen gadgets! Enter to win your copy of the new Inspiralized Cookbook & Free Product Coupons for Tuttorosso Tomato products below the recipe! Good luck! (and if you don’t win, I highly suggest buying the book anyways!)

Today I am sharing an amazing recipe for Al Fresco Zucchini Pasta Salad! Really delicious & super easy to make! I’ll also bet that no one would ever believe that this isn’t pasta!!


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Inspiralized Cookbook & Coupons Giveaway
Author: 
Recipe type: Entree
Cuisine: Pasta Salad
 
Ingredients
  • 1 28 ounce can tuttorosso dice tomatoes, drained
  • 1 medium yellow bell pepper
  • 3 medium zucchini, blade B, noodles trimmed
  • 1½ cups fresh broccoli florets
  • 1 large carrot, peeled, blade C, noodles trimmed
  • ¼ cup white wine vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon italian seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
  • ⅛ teaspoon garlic powder
  • salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Bring a large saucepan filled halfway with water and a pinch of salt to boil
  2. Add broccoli and carrots and cook for 3 minutes
  3. Drain and rinse broccoli and carrots with cold water to stop cooking
  4. Combine vinegar, olive oil, italian seasoning, mustard, salt, black pepper, and garlic powder to a screw top jar
  5. Cover mixture and shake well
  6. In a large bowl, combine zucchini noodles, broccoli, carrots, diced tomatoes and yellow bell pepper
  7. Shake dressing and pour over zucchini pasta mixture
  8. Toss gently to coat
Nutrition Information
Calories: 111 Fat: 5g Trans fat: 0 Carbohydrates: 14g Sodium: 254mg Fiber: 4g Protein: 4g Cholesterol: 0mg

 

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Vegan Lentil & Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

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IMG_2694Do you meal prep? I try my best to every Sunday. It just makes life easier. Lunches & Snacks! I always have a smoothie for breakfast and dinners are always planned on Saturday for the week, so I know I have all the ingredients on hand to make any one of the meals I’ve chosen for the week. Sometimes this poses an issue just because Jake eats meat and I don’t (i.e. I’m making him pot roast tonight and I’ll probably just end up making myself a green smoothie).

I made these last week and ate them every day for lunch. It was a good change to my normal go to salad, even though every week I add different mix in’s. I don’t think you can really go wrong with stuffed anything, stuffed peppers, stuffed mushrooms…. double stuffed oreos… (kidding, unless they are homemade)! These are really easy to make, and can be quick to make if you buy the pre cooked quinoa, quick rice, and beans. These stuffed pepper are vegan, gluten free, full of flavor and full of protein and fiber from all those beans! They also last the week in the fridge, are easy to freeze and the variations of beans/grains can be mixed up! Does it get better than this?!

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5.0 from 1 reviews
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Vegan Lentil & Quinoa Stuffed Peppers
Author: 
Recipe type: Vegan Stuffed Peppers
Cuisine: Entree
Serves: 8 servings
 
Ingredients
  • 8 peppers (any colors) washed, and cut in half (top to bottom)
  • 1 cup of quinoa, cooked
  • 1 cup lentils, cooked
  • 1 cup black beans, cooked
  • 1 yellow onion
  • 2 medium tomatoes, washed and chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 2-3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • 1 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  • handful of cilantro (or more) washed and chopped + more for garnish
Instructions
  1. Make the lentils, quinoa and black beans as directed (or use precooked items)
  2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
  3. Wash and chop yellow onion, and saute until clear in 1 tablespoon coconut oil
  4. Add tomatoes and cook until soft
  5. Remove from heat and add in all other ingredients
  6. Stuff peppers with bean & quinoa mixture, ¼ to ½ cup fit into my peppers each time
  7. Place peppers in a deep enough baking dish to place ½ inch of water into as well
  8. Add ½ inch of water to the baking dish, making sure not to add the water into the peppers
  9. Cover dish(es) with tin foil and place peppers into the oven for 30-35 minutes or until soft
  10. Serve Immediately & Enjoy!

Nutrition per 2 pepper halves:

calories: 198 fat: 1.6g  sodium: 132g  carbs: 36g  fiber: 11g  protein: 11g

veganglutenfreestuffedpeppers

Butternut Squash Kale Soup

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Soup season is definitely upon us! It was 75 degrees on Saturday, and yesterday it was only 47! Talk about temperature change! Soup is on the menu multiple times this week! I made this one last week, and I’m really kind of regretting not making a lot more of this at the same time to freeze for later! A friend gave me an abundance of butternut squash that probably would have cost me a small fortune at the store, I really need to get on that garden thing next summer!! Squash is one of my favorite fall foods, and I love that with any variety you always have those awesome seeds to roast!

This is soup is really awesome because after boiling the squash, you throw everything in a blender and heat it back up in a pot, easy peasy! It has a lot of cilantro, which helps remove heavy metals in the body, and of course all those awesome greens from the kale! And maybe you could talk your kids into eating it by telling them the color is for Halloween? Either way, make a big batch of this, you’ll end up regretting it if you don’t!!

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Butternut Squash Cilantro Soup

Ingredients

  • 1 butternut squash, washed, peeled and chopped
  • 1 bunch of kale (or an entire box of prewashed, boxed kale)
  • 1 whole bunch of cilantro, washed
  • 1 onion, peeled and chopped
  • 1 can of coconut milk
  • 2 tablespoons of minced garlic
  • 2-3 tablespoons curry powder (to taste)
  • salt & pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Wash, peel and chop butternut squash
  2. Place squash in large pot and fill pot with enough water to just barely cover the squash, heat on medium/high heat until the squash can be easily pierced with a fork
  3. Once the squash is cooked until it is soft, drain squash and place the squash in a blender
  4. Place all other ingredients in the blender with the squash
  5. Blend soup ingredients until smooth
  6. Add the blended soup back in the pot the squash was cooked in
  7. Heat soup until the desired temperature is reached
  8. Enjoy!
http://veggiestaples.com/butternut-squash-kale-soup/

 

butternutsquashandkalesoup

Vegan Stuffed Squash

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I’ve done quite a few dessert posts, something I should probably stay away from for a while, given I’m trying to lose a little bit of weight. So I decided to try my hand at some stuffed squash, a dish my friend Lynne suggested. I’m not sure why I’ve never made this before - so good, you can put just about anything in it, and it makes your house smell like Thanksgiving dinner!! Who doesn’t like Thanksgiving dinner?

The great thing about stuffed squash (even though mine is vegan) is that you can put almost anything in it. You could add grains like quinoa or rice, meat like sausage or beef. You can definitely please the whole family with an entree like this one! I added mushrooms, butternut squash, kale and brussel sprouts in mine, just because that’s what I had for veggies in the refrigerator. You can easily add anything else you might have - peppers, onions, even apples! And one of the best things, you have left over seeds to roast for a snack (try my perfect pumpkin seed recipe, good for any squash seed)!

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Vegan Stuffed Squash

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Ingredients

  • 1 cup mushrooms, washed and chopped
  • 1 cup butternut squash, washed and chopped
  • 1 cup kale, washed and chopped
  • 1 cup brussel sprouts, washed and chopped
  • 1 squash (delicate or acorn)
  • 1-2 tablespoons coconut oil
  • 1 heaping tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1/4 teaspoon sage
  • 1/4 teaspoon thyme
  • 1/4 teaspoon rosemary

Instructions

  1. Cut squash in half, emptying flesh and seeds
  2. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
  3. Place squash on a Silpat or aluminum foil in the oven for 20 minutes (hollow side down)
  4. Wash and chop all veggies
  5. Saute chopped veggies in a pan on medium heat
  6. Add garlic, sage, thyme and rosemary to pan
  7. Once squash is done (you should be able to pierce it with a fork) fill emptied space with sauteed veggies
  8. Place squash back in the oven for 10 minutes (at 400 degrees)
  9. Serve immediately & enjoy!
http://veggiestaples.com/vegan-stuffed-squash/

veganstuffedsquash

Black Bean Gluten Free Pasta Salad with Avocado Cilantro Dressing

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vegan pasta salad

I told you guys here how much I’ve had a craving for pasta salad lately! Call it a pregnancy kick or just a warm weather thing, I’m not really sure! This black bean pasta salad (completely gluten free and vegan) with avocado cilantro dressing is perfectly light and great for the warm weather! The best thing about pasta salad is you can put anything in it you have sitting in the fridge; veggies, fruit, etc.

I’ve also become quite obsessed with tolerant pasta, a pasta made entirely out of black beans (16 grams of fiber per serving!) or red lentils (I did a mixture of both here). Great texture and taste, now if only I could actually figure out how to make this on my own?! They don’t make too many pasta molds out there to make your own pasta other than ravioli!

And lastly, one of my biggest hot spots is salad dressing. Have you ever looked at the back of any salad dressings? It gets me really worked up when I’m short on time and I have to try to find something to use for salad dressing. Most of the time I end up going back home just to make it anyways. 99% of salad dressing are full of corn syrup, sugar, etc. Not to mention the huge list of ingredients that are completely unnecessary… And it’s so easy to whip up your own dressing! You can make them just as good or better! (you can also try my tahini dressing from my veggie summer rolls) What is your favorite flavor of dressing?

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Black Bean Gluten Free Pasta Salad with Avocado Cilantro Dressing

Ingredients

  • for the salad
  • 1/2 cup tolerant black bean pasta
  • 1/2 cup tolerant red lentil pasta
  • 4 cups organic spring mix lettuce
  • 2 red peppers, washed, sliced and chopped
  • 1 cucumber, washed, peeled and chopped
  • 2 large heirloom tomatoes, washed and chopped
  • for the dressing
  • 1/2 cup plain coconut milk yogurt
  • 1/4 cup coconut milk
  • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 avocado, peeled and pitted
  • 1 handful of cilantro, washed

Instructions

  1. for the salad
  2. Cook pasta as directed on box
  3. Run under cold water when done
  4. Mix in a bowl with remaining salad ingredients, set aside
  5. for the dressing
  6. Blend all ingredients in a blender or food processor
  7. Pour dressing over salad and toss well (best if served chilled)
http://veggiestaples.com/black-bean-pasta-salad-avocado-cilantro-dressing/

 

Crunchy Vegan Salad with Sesame Seed Dressing

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I don’t know if anything can beat a crisp, cold salad when the weather starts to get warm. I have been eating tons of cold salads for lunch since Memorial Day and I don’t see any signs of stopping. I go back and forth between brown rice or quinoa noodles or just making zoodles (zucchini noodles with my spiralizer - and if you don’t know what a spiralizer is, you need one! It makes anything into noodles! Find it here on Amazon!), so this recipe is GREAT for someone who eats both Vegan or Paleo.

And have you ever heard of coconut aminos? It’s a great alternative to soy sauce with loads less sodium than regular soy sauce. I used this as part of the dressing and it just gives it such a wonderful, nutty flavor - the sesame seeds and raw veggies give the pasta salad a little bit of crunch! Add in all those veggies and you just can’t go wrong! I would bet once you make this once, you’ll make it over and over again all summer, just like I will be doing!

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Crunchy Vegan Salad with Sesame Seed Dressing

Ingredients

  • for the salad:
  • 2 servings brown rice or quinoa pasta OR 1 cup zoodles (zucchini noodles)
  • 1 cup cucumber, washed, peeled and juilenned (or made into zoodles)
  • 1 cup carrots, washed, peeled and julienned (or made into zoodles) + a 1/2 cup more chopped for some extra crunch
  • 8 sweet mini peppers, washed and thinly sliced
  • 1/4 cup scallions, washed and chopped
  • 1/4 cup sesame seeds (black or white)
  • for the dressing:
  • 1/4 cup coconut aminos
  • 1/4 cup rice vinegar
  • 2 tablespoons garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon sriracha

Instructions

  1. Cook pasta as directed or make zoodles out of veggies
  2. Wash and cut all other veggies
  3. Place all vegetables in a bowl and set aside
  4. Combine all dressing ingredients and mix well (I just used a fork)
  5. Drizzle dressing over salad and top with scallions and sesame seeds!
http://veggiestaples.com/crunchy-vegan-salad-sesame-seed-dressing/

 

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