Black Bean Quesadillas

Topped with homemade guacamole and salsa, these vege quesadillas are a hit at our house, and since they're so easy to make, I've been whipping these up weekly since becoming a vegetarian. 

Ingredients:
whole wheat organic tortillas (we buy ours at Basic Foods)
Daiya vegan shredded cheddar cheese 
canned organic black beans or black eyed peas (rinsed and drained)
chopped green organic onion
chopped cherry or grape organic tomatoes (I remove the seeds)

Directions:
On medium heat, place one tortilla in a non-stick skillet. Sprinkle vegan cheese, peas or beans, onion and tomatoes on the tortilla, and then place another tortilla on top (or you can use one tortilla and fold it over like an omelet). Allow the cheese to begin melting before you flip the quesadilla over....otherwise all of the ingredients will fall out everywhere when you flip it over.  Better yet, bake them in a 350 degree oven for about 15 minutes; I'm usually in a hurry when I make these though, so I quickly cook them in a non-stick skillet without oil. When the tortillas are lightly browned on both sides and the cheese is melted, remove from pan. Slice into triangles, and serve warm with salsa and guacamole. Sour cream would also be good, but we're trying to avoid dairy products.

Homemade Salsa Recipe:

1 can Rotel tomatoes (I use mild and don't drain them.)
1 28 oz. can diced organic tomatoes (drained)
2 (or more) cloves fresh organic garlic (You could also use garlic powder.)
Optional: 1 small handful of organic cilantro (stems removed)
1/2  purple or white organic onion
dash of cumin
juice of half a lime
salt and black pepper to taste

Pulse all ingredients in a food processor or hand blender for a few seconds.

Asian Tempeh Sandwiches

The sauce from  Kung Pao Sliders in the Vegetarian Times inspired me to create these sandwiches.

RECIPE:
Meat Substitute
1 pkg. 3 grain tempeh (sliced both horizontally and vertically into 4 thin pieces)
2 Tbs. low-sodium soy sauce or tamari
1 packet stevia (or other natural sweetener)
2 tsp. refined almond oil

Slaw
3 Tbs. low-sodium soy sauce or organic tamari
2 Tbs. Vegenaise
2 Tbs. organic tahini (we buy ours at Basic Foods)
1 packet Stevia or other natural sweetener
2 Tbs. rice vinegar
1 clove fresh garlic, minced
1/8 tsp. ground black pepper
1 pinch cayenne pepper
4 medium carrots, julienned (8 oz.)
1/4 of a head of thinly shredded green and/or purple cabbage (I roughed chopped ours in the above photo since I was in a hurry to feed the family after work)
2 green onions, julienned

DIRECTIONS:
1.  Cut tempeh horizontally and vertically into thin square pieces. Transfer to a shallow dish. Whisk together soy sauce, sweetener, oil in bowl. Pour over tempeh, cover, and chill while making slaw.

2. To make Slaw: Whisk together soy sauce, Vegenaise, Tahini, sweetner, vinegar, garlic, pepper, and cayenne in bowl. Stir in carrots, cabbage, and onions.

3. Drizzle a small amount of refined almond or grapeseed oil to non-stick pan. Fry tempeh in oil about 4 minutes on each side (we like ours fairly crispy).
4. While the tempeh is frying, toast 8 pieces of sprouted grain bread , whole grain bread, or slider buns.
5.  Fill bread with 1 tempeh slice and 1/4 of the slaw mixture....drizzle the extra sauce from the slaw over the bread.

This recipe turned out great....at least with the 3 of 5 of us at our house that actually tried it. I still haven't convinced my two high school kids to taste tempeh quite yet.

UPDATE: It works better to steam tempeh about 10 minutes before pan frying. 

Organic Cancer-Fighting Vegetable Soup

Now that my husband and I have approached our mid/late 40's, we've become more health conscious (especially when it comes to cancer prevention.) In addition to cutting out meat (hubby hasn't gone 100% vegetarian quite yet), we've started eating only fruits and vegetables in Sundays.  For lunch  today, I made my version of a Cancer-Fighting Vege Soup. All of the ingredients in this recipe are organic.

 RECIPE:

1 can Muir fire roasted crushed tomatoes
1 box organic vegetable broth
1 bunch torn kale (stems removed)
1/2 head cabbage (chopped)
4 baby portobello mushrooms (sliced)
1/2 bag frozen Shiitake mushrooms
1/2 bag frozen, shelled edamame
1 sliced red pepper
3-4 ribs sliced celery
2 leeks (Sliced thin- below the dark green part)
Enough water to barely cover the vegetables

Season to taste
4-5 minced fresh garlic
turmeric
red pepper flakes
black pepper
Pink Himalayan salt
dried basil (could also use fresh)
dried oregano

I don't like to overcook our vegetables, so I bring all of the ingredients to a boil and then take the pot off of the heat for about 15 minutes to allow the vegetables to soften before serving. I add chopped fresh parsley and sprinkle with nutritional yeast just before serving.  Bon Appetit!

Homemade Lavender & Peppermint Shampoo and No Poo

 I love our chemical free homemade shampoo! In just five months, our hair feels thicker and softer than ever.

Lavender & Peppermint Shampoo
1 part Dr. Bronner's Hemp Peppermint Castile Soap
1 part filtered water
a couple drops grapeseed, almond, olive, or jojoba oil (optional depending on your hair type)
1 vitamin E capsule 
a few drops of lavender essential oil

Use a funnel to slowly pour castile soap and filtered water into a rinsed out shampoo bottle (We use one with a pump.) Snip off the end of a vitamin E capsule and add to the shampoo. Add a couple drops of your choice of oils (if desired) and a few drops of lavender essential oil.  Shake gently before each use. Please note: this shampoo will be watery compared to store bought shampoo, but lathers and works great on our hair.

5/21/11 UPDATE: Since I originally posted this, I've made two other shampoos with castile soap that I like equally well:

Almond Shampoo
Mix the following in a reused shampoo bottle: equal parts almond castile oil and water, a couple drops of almond oil, and 1 vitamin E capsule.

Eucalyptus Shampoo
Eucalyptus has a medicinal odor, but is supposed to be beneficial in helping prevent hair loss and dandruff.
Mix the following: equal parts Dr. Bronner's eucalyptus castile soap and water with 1 vitamin E capsule.

Check out "Sorta Poo" (from the Crunchy Betty Blog)

No Poo
My husband uses the "no poo" method of washing his hair. (I haven't been brave enough to try this method yet!)

In a squirt bottle, add
1 part aluminum free baking soda (Red Mill)
3 parts filtered water
optional: several drops essential oil (such as lavender, orange, etc.)

 *You can also just mix the baking soda and water up as you use it in a jar or  glass. Some people simply wet their hair first and then make a paste of baking soda in the palm of their hand that they rub into their scalps.

A couple times a week, we also rinse our hair in raw apple cider vinegar diluted with water. The vinegar makes our shiny and is supposed to condition it.

We found the video below helpful in using the no shampoo method.

Vegetable Enchiladas with Pumpkin Sauce

While on Spring Break this week, I was excited to see a segment on The Early Show on meat substitutions. Because my husband is highly allergic to beans, I tweaked their black bean enchiladas with pumpkin sauce for our family. And since everything is bigger in Texas, of course I had to "super size" them.

For the sauce: (use organic ingredients if possible)
* 1 (15 ounce) can pure pumpkin
* 2 cups filtered water
* 4 cloves garlic
* 1 jalapeno (I didn't have any jalapenos, so I used 1 tsp. red pepper flakes instead)
* 1 tablespoon chili powder
* 1 teaspoon sea salt
* 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

For the enchiladas (Use organic):
* 1 (15 ounce) can black beans (I used black eye peas instead) - drained and rinsed
* 1 (10 ounce) bag frozen corn, thawed
* 1 (10 ounce) box frozen spinach, cooked and squeezed of excess water (I used fresh spinach)
* 2 cups shredded Daiya cheddar cheese (plus extra to sprinkle on top of enchiladas)
* 6 scallions, chopped, white parts only (or chopped white onion)
* 1 minced jalapeno (I used a couple shakes of red pepper flakes)
* 2 teaspoons chili powder
* 1 teaspoon garlic salt (if you use garlic powder, add a little salt)
* 1 teaspoon cumin
* 16 corn (I used whole wheat) tortillas. Use less tortillas if you "super size" them like I did.
* fresh cilantro

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a blender, combine pumpkin, water, garlic, jalapeno, chili powder, salt and pepper, and puree until smooth.

Pour about 3/4 cup of pumpkin sauce in a 9 x 13 baking dish. In a large bowl, mix beans or peas, corn, spinach, 2 cups cheese, scallions, jalapenos, chili powder, cumin, and garlic salt. Place tortillas between two damp paper towels and microwave for 45 seconds (I rarely use my microwave, so I heated the tortillas in a nonstick pan on the stove.) Put a mound of bean mixture on each tortilla, roll up like a burrito, and place seam side down in the baking dish. Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas and top with additional Daiya cheese. Bake until the cheese is bubbly and melted, about 20 - 25 minutes. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

This was my first time to try this recipe. I didn't end up using all of the pumpkin sauce because I was a little leery of what it would taste like. The sauce ended up being delicious (I wouldn't have known there was pumpkin in it if I hadn't of made it myself.) Next time, I'll include all of the sauce on the enchiladas. I also didn't sprinkle the enchiladas with an entire cup of Daiya cheese since there was already 2 cups in the filling. The next time I make these enchiladas, I'll probably sprinkle some sliced black olives on top with the vegan cheese. I can't wait to eat the leftovers for lunch today!