Whole Wheat Pasta with Navy Beans, Leeks and Walnuts

3 medium leeks, white and light green parts chopped

1 Tbs. olive oil

1 medium yellow bell pepper, chopped

¼ tsp. red pepper flakes

1 cup navy beans soaked overnight, then cooked

 1 cup of grape tomatos

11/2 cup vegetable broth

3 cloves garlic, minced

12 oz. whole-wheat spaghetti

⅓ cup chopped toasted walnuts

1. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add leeks, bell pepper, and red pepper flakes; sauté 10 minutes, or until vegetables begin to brown. Stir in beans, tomatos, vegetable broth, and garlic. Reduce heat to low, and simmer 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, if desired.

2. Meanwhile, cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain.

3. Mix sauce and spaghetti, top with toasted walnuts before serving.

Modified from original recipe in Vegetarian Times

Asian Sprouted Quinoa Salad

1 c of sprouted quinoa (see previous post)

1 red pepper finely diced

1 c. cabbage finely sliced

2 grated carrots

1/4 finely chopped green onions

 asian dressing (see below)

1/4 cup of toasted sliced almonds

Toss all ingredients, except almonds, together. Store in refrigerator until ready to serve, top with almonds. 

This made 2 lunch servings for me.

Asian Dressing

2 T. rice wine vinegar

2 T. sesame oil

2 T. honey

2 T. tamari or low sodium soy sauce

Mix/whisk together. 

I use a small plastic container with screw lid and shake until combined.

This dressing is quite versatile, used on salads, recipe above, marinades, etc.

Coconut Pancakes

1 c whole wheat pastry flour

3/4 c water

1/4 c light organic coconut milk
 (you can add more water or coconut milk for thinner pancakes) 

1/2 t cinnamon

3 T evaporated cane juice (or sugar)

2 t baking powder

1/2 c unsweetened coconut flakes

1 banana

maple syrup

peanut butter (opt)

Mix all ingredients together, except banana, syrup and peanut butter.
Heat skillet to med. 

Make pancakes to desired size.

I made 2 large pancakes from this recipe.

Top with banana, extra coconut flakes, maple syrup

and peanut butter (opt)

For a single serving I cut everything in half, except I use a whole banana. I like using peanut butter too because it adds protein and really makes this a well round meal. One pancake with toppings fills me up. This is super fast and easy to mix up and make 5-10mins.

White Bean Salad (another new creation)

1 1/2 c. dry navy beans

1 pint grape tomatoes

1 zucchini, quartered and sliced

1/2 cup finely diced red onion

1/2 cup black olives pitted and cut into large pieced (not canned)

1/2 c. fresh chopped parsley

juice of 1 lemon

2 T. red wine vinegar

1 T. olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1.  soak navy beans overnight (8hrs), rinse, add to saucepan with water, 

bring to boil, then cover and simmer until beans cooked ~45min, 

rinse with cool water, add to large bowl

2. add tomatoes, zucchini, red onion, black olives and

parsley to large bowl with beans

3. in small bowl mix lemon juice, vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper,

then toss salad with dressing

Sweet potato, Avocado, Apple Salad

One thing I am always looking for is healthy salads that I can make ahead on Sunday/Monday morning and have ready for lunches for the week. One website that I frequent for recipe searches is Vegetarian Times often times I find ideas for recipes and tweek them just a bit to adjust to my liking. This is a great one for on-the-go lunch.

Sweet Potato, Avocado, Apple Salad

2 yams (not sweet potatoes but used interchangeably in recipes for some reason, yams are dark and orange, sweet potatoes are lighter in color and resemble more of a potato) peeled and cut into 1in cubes

1 1/2 c. frozen corn

1/4 cup hulled pumpkin seeds/pepitas

2 red apples diced

1/2 red onion finely chopped

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1/3 cup fresh squeezed lime juice

1 TBS olive oil

Sea salt and pepper to taste

1-2 avocado

1. Cover yams with water in large saucepan and bring to boil for 3 minutes, add corn and cook until yams are tender, drain, and rinse under cold water.

2. Toast pumpkin seeds in dry skillet, med-high heat, careful not to burn, cool, set aside.

3.  Combine apple, onion, cilantro, yam, and corn in large bowl.

4.  Mix lime juice, olive oil and salt and pepper in small bowl, toss salad with dressing once combined, portion into serving size dishes and refrigerate.

5.  Add 1/2 diced avocado and sprinkle with pumpkin seeds, before serving (or in the morning of if you are taking your lunch with you).

Spiced Vegan Ginger Cookies

There were a few things I wanted to tweek to my recipe before posting it. I finally had time to make them again last night and they were delicious. Brought them to a lunch meeting today and everyone seemed to like them, and none of my co-workers are vegan. Needless to say they've all been eaten (I ate the last few cookies on my way home from work.)

Spiced Vegan Ginger Cookies 

2 1/2 c. whole wheat flour

2 T. ground ginger (yes 2 tablespoons)

1/2 t. baking soda

1/2 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. ground cloves

1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce

1/4 c. molasses

fresh grated ginger (1-2 t.)

1/4 c. oat milk

(i'm sure you could use almond milk or rice milk as well)

1 c. evaporated cane juice (organic sugar)

1 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix applesauce, molasses, fresh ginger, oat milk, sugar and vanilla.

Once blended add baking soda, ground ginger, cloves and cinnamon, stir until combined.

Last add flour, 1 cup at a time, stir till flour all mixed in.

Bake 10 min.

And Enjoy!!!