Wild Rice and Mushroom Soup

This is a very hearty and filling soup. It's great for a cold winter night with some sourdough bread.

2-3 Tablespoons olive oil or vegan butter (I used Miyokos brand European style butter)
1 red onion, finely diced
2 celery stalks, finely diced
2-3 carrots, finely diced
2 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 package of mushrooms, wiped clean w/ a damp cloth and finely diced (portobello or baby bello)
1/3-1/2 cup sherry or cooking wine
2 quarts veggie stock or water w/ veggie bouillon
1/4 cup fresh thyme leaves
1 large kale leaf thinly sliced and chopped
3/4 cup of dry wild rice (cooked according to package directions). Cook this ahead of time as it takes quite a while to cook.
3/4 cup of dry white or brown rice (cooked according to directions)
1/3 cup cornstarch mixed with 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup cashew cream (soak 1/4 cup raw cashews in water overnight, rinse & drain & mix with 1/2 cup fresh water in high speed blender until creamy and smooth. If you don't soak overnight you can boil the cashews to soften them)
salt & pepper to taste

Sauté onion, celery & carrot in butter or oil until tender. Add garlic and mushrooms and continue to sauté until mushrooms have softened. Deglaze pan w/ sherry. Add stock or bouillon and water and thyme leaves and kale. Simmer for a couple of minutes. Briskly stir while pouring in cornstarch mixture. Simmer until thickened. Add cashew cream and cooked rice.  Stir through & add salt & pepper to taste.

Broccoli Casserole

This was one of my very favorite meals as a kid and I still love it. I just changed a few things to make it plant-based. It makes me so happy that this has become a favorite of my daughter's too.

1 head of broccoli thinly sliced and chopped into small pieces

1 small package of mushrooms chopped into small pieces

1 half of a large onion, finely diced

Sautee the above ingredients in a little olive oil just until heated through. Salt & pepper to taste. Pour into a baking dish and set aside. Stir together the following ingredients for the sauce: 

1 recipe of cream sauce

1 cup tofutti sour cream or any vegan sour cream 

1 tablespoon yellow curry powder

Pour sauce over veggies in baking dish and mix through. Cover pan with foil and bake at 375 degrees for about 25-30 minutes or until broccoli is tender. Serve over cooked rice.

Optional Toppings:

Bread crumbs: Toast minced garlic with panko crumbs in a pan until lightly brown. Sprinkle crumbs over each serving. (I don't like to put them over the entire pan as they can become soggy when reheated).

Crispy Shallots: These are so delicious on just about everything. You can find them on the shelf at just about any Asian market. Again - we just sprinkle these on each individual serving so they don't get soggy when reheated.

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta

When we have leftover red peppers I will roast them in the oven, peel off the skin and then freeze them. This recipe is a great use for these peppers. Serve over your favorite pasta or a baked potato.

3/4 cup raw cashews

1-1/2 cups water

one roasted red bell pepper (skin removed)

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon minced dry onion or 1/4 of a fresh onion

salt to taste

Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend on high until smooth. At this point you could keep it in the blender until it heats through or pour into a saucepan and heat on medium until heated through. Toss with your favorite cooked pasta.

Whole Wheat Blender Pancakes

This is a recipe that my mom used to make when I was a kid. It's great because you can use whole wheat berries and everything gets ground up with the liquids in the blender. I have modified the recipe my mom used to be all plant-based. This recipe makes about 6-7 medium-sized pancakes.

(shown with chocolate chips and berry syrup)

1-1/2 cups plant-based milk
1-1/2 cups whole wheat berries
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 tablespoons honey or agave
2 tablespoons vinegar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional)

Blend all ingredients in a high speed blender for about 2 minutes. Let batter sit. If the batter is too thick you can add a little milk or water to thin it out. For waffles, increase wheat by 1-2 tablespoons.

Black Bean Soup

This makes a huge batch of soup so if you don't need a lot it would be wise to cut it in half. You could still use a full can of black beans and a full potato. This recipe is delicious served with cornbread.


2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
4 carrots, diced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 potato, diced
2 bell peppers, diced (can be red or green or one of each)
2 quarts veggie broth (or bouillon & water combined)
1 15 oz. can black beans
2 cups frozen corn
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (more or less to alter spiciness)
cilantro, chopped
1 avocado, chopped

Sautee all veggies in olive oil until slightly tender. Add broth & seasonings. Simmer for about 20-30 minutes. Serve topped with a little lime juice, chopped cilantro & avocado.

Best Zucchini Bread or Muffins

Yield: 1 loaf or 12 muffins

This is not necessarily "good for you" but I would consider it "less bad" for you than other zucchini bread recipes. It does have sugar in it but I cut out most of the fat and replaced it with nut cream instead. Every once in a while we indulge in a little sugar, but not all the time.

I've found that one large zucchini can produce anywhere from 4 to 6 cups of shredded zucchini. I like to double or triple this recipe to make more loaves as this recipe will yield one loaf. Any leftover shredded zucchini can be frozen and added to soups in the fall.

Dry Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour (or you can do half white flour if desired)
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon (or more)
1 teaspoon allspice

Other Ingredients:

2 egg replacers (For each egg I used 1 tablespoon ground flax meal + 3 tablespoons water, blended & placed in refrigerator for 15 minutes to set up. I have also just mixed flax seed and water with the rest of the wet ingredients and it turns out just fine)
1/4 cup pecans or walnuts
1/3 cup water
1-1/2 cups shredded fresh zucchini
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar)
3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 cup chocolate chunks (or chips)

Preheat oven to 350 for bread loaf or 375 for muffins. Place dry ingredients into a large bowl and mix together with a wire whisk. Set aside.

In high speed blender place the egg replacers, nuts, water, zucchini, sugar, lemon juice, coconut oil & vanilla. Blend until smooth. Pour into bowl with dry ingredients and mix in the chocolate chunks.

Pour into loaf pans lined with parchment paper or greased with coconut oil or lined muffin pans and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes for bread loaf or 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes for muffins. Cool and then remove from pans. This bread freezes well and can be placed in freezer bags after completely cooled.

Variations:
Lemon Poppyseed - eliminate the cinnamon, allspice & chocolate chips and add the zest of 1 lemon and the juice of one lemon, change the vanilla to almond extract and add 2 tablespoons of poppyseeds after mixing the dry & wet ingredients.

Lemon Strawberry - eliminate the cinnamon, allspice & chocolate chips and add the zest of 1 lemon and the juice of one lemon, add one small package of freeze dried strawberries smashed up a bit.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip - substitute one 15 oz. can of canned pumpkin or 1-1/2 cups of butternut or other cooked winter squash for the zucchini.

Chocolate Pots de Crème

Okay, so this isn't exactly "good" for you, but it's a great, fast, super delicious dairy-free dessert that will make your head spin - in a good way.

1 can full fat coconut milk or coconut cream
1 cup dark chocolate chips or chopped chocolate bar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Empty contents of coconut milk/cream into a small saucepan. Heat on the stove on medium low until warmed through. Place chocolate chips, vanilla and salt into high speed blender. Pour warmed coconut milk over ingredients and mix in blender until all the chocolate is melted and mixed through. Pour into small cups or dishes and refrigerate 3-4 hours or overnight. Serve with whipped coconut cream and fresh fruit.