My beautiful tree lined street

Fall has officially arrived, and what a beautiful Fall it is. Some of my favorite parts of Fall include the cool crisp Autumn mornings, hoodies, all things pumpkin, soups, stew, and chilis, freshly baked breads, opened windows, bonfires, the leaves changing colors and the sound of the crunching leaves when you’re on a walk. However, as I am writing this we are having more of an Indian Summer than a cool Fall, all week long the temperatures have been in the 80s. Just glorious.

Now, I am not complaining but this warm weather is totally throwing off my cravings of soups and stews. A couple weeks ago we got a break in the warm weather so I quickly whipped up a delicious lentil soup (inspired by a whole foods/plant based diet). I LOVE lentils and it wasn’t until a few years ago that I actually gave them a fair shot (lentils really didn’t fall into the meat and potatoes diet I grew up with). One thing I really liked about this soup was that the longer it sat the thicker it became. Allowing the thickened leftovers to become a different meal if served over some basmati rice. This is a soup you could serve to meat loving family members and they won’t even realize it is vegan. NO meat or animal products are needed for a hearty soup.

I looked at this lentil soup with sweet potatoes recipe from Two Peas and Their Pod making changes with what I had on hand.

Stay tuned for some exciting soup news! Early this summer I was busy in the kitchen making six crock pot soups for a Diabetic Bookzine to be released in December. I want to share some of the soup recipes with you since they were healthy and delicious. I will update you with the details of the cookbook as it gets closer.  If you’re looking for some diabetic friendly or just healthy recipes check out Diabetic Living’s site.

SWEET POTATO AND LENTIL SOUP
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
1 carrot, diced
1 celery stalk, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
2 cups brown lentils (they were actually green in color)
8 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon dried thyme
2-3 tablespoon curry powder
Salt and pepper, to taste

*I think a seeded and chopped chili or jalapeno would be delicious in this soup. I was wishing it was spicier when I ate it, but I kept it mild for the kiddos. 

In a large soup pot, over medium-high heat add the olive oil, onions, carrots, and celery. Sautee until soft about 5 minutes. Add garlic and sweet potatoes. Sautee until garlic is fragrant about 2-3 minutes, being mindful not to burn the garlic.

Stir in lentils, broth, water, bay leaf, thyme and curry powder. Cover pot with lid. Turn heat down to medium low and cook for 40-45 minutes. I like my lentils soft so I cooked the soup a little longer until the lentils were my desired texture.

Season with salt & pepper if needed.

*If you add the chili or jalapeno sautee it with the other veggies. 

What are some of your favorite things about Fall?

Falafel is a tasty, fried bean ball. I made mine with ground chickpeas (garbanzo beans), but they are also known to be made from ground fava beans or a combination of both. Falafel is a popular street food in the Middle East, and I believe it is the national dish of Israel. (Edit: Falafel actually originated in Egypt, and Israel likes to claim it as their national snack.) The great thing is chickpeas are high in fiber, and are a good source of iron and protein –much need nutrients in a meat-free diet. If you use canned chickpeas this meal comes together pretty fast, with down time during refrigeration. Traditionally falafel are served in a pita, with pickled vegetables or lettuce and tomato. I served mine on a piece of naan smeared in a homemade hummus, topped with shredded red cabbage, and tomato. It was truly delicious.

FALAFEL
1 can chickpeas (drained and rinsed), reserve 1/4 c liquid
1/2 yellow onion, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 T cumin
2 T flour
small handful of fresh parsley
salt & pepper
oil for frying

Place chickpeas in your food processor and pulse until it becomes grainy. Add rest of the ingredients, combine while slowly adding in reserved liquid until mixture is gritty and well combined. Place mixture in fridge for 30 minutes (it helps them hold together when frying). Preheat oil to 350 degrees F. Roll mixture into 6-8 balls. Fry in batches for a couple minutes until golden brown. These are delicious warm. ENJOY!

As part of my New Year’s resolutions, I wanted to cook one vegan/vegetarian meal a week. This resolution has been so much easier to keep than I thought, thanks to my friend Denise. She was so kind and gave me a copy of one of her favorite cookbooks: Veganomicon. I flipped through this book at least three times when I first got it. The more I familiarized myself with the recipes, the more excited I became. The recipes sound so good, and use real ingredients. Of course some of the recipes have tofu or seitan in them, but many do not contain either. This excited me. I have decided to share our meatless meals with all of you.  Every Monday I will post a meatless recipe. I hope you will give them a try.

The first recipe I tried was the Chickpea Cutlets. Mainly because I had all the ingredients on hand (or so I thought), and because I thought I would serve them covered in gravy (everything is better with gravy, right?) like a chicken-fried steak. For starters, the recipe calls for vital wheat gluten, I misread it and thought I needed wheat germ. I am sure the texture of my cutlets were different than what the recipe would have produced. I just doubled the breadcrumbs instead of adding wheat gluten. I will try this recipe again, once I get some vital wheat gluten. I served these with a baked potato and blanched broccoli. We did such a good job of having a vegetarian dinner until we slammed that glass of ice cold milk. OOPS!

CHICKPEA CUTLETS
from Veganomicon

1 c cooked chickpeas (garbanzo beans)
2 T Olive Oil (plus more for the pan)
1/2 c vital wheat gluten
1/2 c plain bread crumbs
1/4 c vegetable broth or water
2 T soy sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp lemon zest
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp Hungarian paprika
1/4 tsp dried rubbed sage

*I thought these were a little bland, so I would increase the seasonings next time

Mash together chickpeas and olive oil, until there are no whole peas. Put in mixing bowl, add all the other ingredients and knead for 3 minutes, until strings of gluten have formed. (I don’t know what this looks like, since I did not have the vital wheat gluten.)

Preheat cast iron skillet over medium heat. Divide dough into four equal parts, knead each cutlet in your hand for a few minutes and flatten to a 6 x 4 rectangular cutlet shape. Add a thin layer of olive oil to skillet, cooking cutlets about 6 minutes on each side. Add more oil if needed when you flip them. They should have a nice golden brown color and firm to the touch.

The authors say you can bake these in a 375 degree oven for 20 minutes, turning once after 10 minutes. Make sure to lightly oil each side of the cutlet.

GRAVY:

2-3 T corn starch
2 c cold vegetable broth

Stir corn starch into the broth. Add broth to skillet, scraping up any cutlet bits stuck to the bottom of the pan (I had some). Whisk gravy until it had thickened. Serve over cutlets. ENJOY!