Minestrone with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and White Beans & Roasted Tomato Bean Dip

 

Ok this might ba a long post. 1^st off I ate so bad this weekend but it was oh so good. It started out Friday night at Chico’s in Hialeah for two of my closest friends birthday dinner I had what I always have there Mariquitas de Platano with lots of Mojo then Churrasco with black beans and rice and then a piece of the oh so yummy flan…

I ate my leftovers the next day b4 my show at the Poor House.

On Sunday after spending the day at the Boat show with my Dad and Luke we went to B&B (Burger & Beer Joint) I had Fried green beans yum, the Thunder Road with skinny fries… And of course a Beer… 

So that brings us today since I ate horribly over the weekend so for lunch today I had a side garden salad, green beans and baked chicken at the Piccadilly. I so love that place. 

Once I got home I decided to make some soup for the weeks lunch and some tomato roasted garlic hummus to eat with various veggies and brown rice cakes as snacks while at work.

 Here are the recipes for both the soup and hummus.

Minestrone with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and White Beans

From Vegetarian times

 Serves 8

1 Tbs. olive oil  

1/2 tsp. dried oregano  

1/2 tsp. dried basil  

1 medium onion, diced (1 1/2 cups)  

1 large or 2 medium carrots, sliced into rounds (1 cup)  

3 stalks celery, sliced (1 cup)  

6 cloves garlic, minced (2 Tbs.) 

1/2 cup sliced sun-dried tomatoes  

1 15-oz. can white beans, rinsed and drained (I used some chick-peas I had sitting in the fridge too)  

1 cup fresh or frozen peas or green beans, cut into 1-inch lengths  

2 Tbs. white wine vinegar (Didn't have any so I used a mixture of cooking wine and white vinegar) 

I was drinking woodchuck pear cider as I was cooking lol...

Directions

1. Heat oil in 3-qt. saucepan over medium heat. Add oregano and basil, and stir 30 seconds. Add onion, carrots, celery, and garlic. Cover, and cook 5 minutes, or until onion is translucent.

2. Add sun-dried tomatoes, and cook 5 minutes more. Add white beans and 4 cups water, and season with salt and pepper, if desired. Bring soup to a boil; reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 10 minutes. Add peas, and simmer 3 to 5 minutes more. Stir in vinegar, and season with salt and pepper, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Per 1-cup serving: Calories: 113, Protein: 5g, Total fat: 2g, Saturated fat: 1g, Carbs: 19g, Cholesterol: mg, Sodium: 359mg, Fiber: 4g, Sugars: 4g 

Roasted Tomato Bean Dip
from Fatfree Vegan

2 medium-large tomatoes (I only had cherry tomatoes so I used 6 of them)
4 cloves garlic, minced (divided)
freshly ground black pepper, dried oregano, and salt (optional)

1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas, drained
2 tsp. white balsamic vinegar (or lemon juice)
10-12 large leaves fresh basil
salt, to taste (optional)

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Slice the tomatoes into 1/2-inch slices and place them in a large, oiled baking dish in a single layer. Sprinkle each slice with garlic, using only half of the garlic. Add a sprinkling of black pepper, oregano, and salt to the top of each slice. 

Place in the oven for about 30 minutes, until tomatoes are totally cooked but are not burning. Remove from oven to cool (or use warm and then chill the dip after preparing).

Place the remaining garlic into the food processor along with the chickpeas, vinegar, and roasted tomatoes. Blend well. Add the basil leaves and salt, if you like, and blend again. Serve chilled with vegetables or crackers for dipping. Also makes a good sandwich spread or salad dressing.

I didn't take a pic of the finished product but I did have some on a rice cake... OMG Delish! Kinda really garlicky, but I really love garlic so that's ok with me... I just wont be talking to anyone after I eat some lol...

Tamarind BBQ Tempeh & Sweet Potatoes

So I was looking through one of my friend’s blog (cameraphonevegan) yesterday and I saw she made a recipe from a book I actually got for Christmas, Appetite for reduction by Isa Chandra Moskowitz… I had it on my Amazon wish list. So I thought I would try it.

I went to Nutrition S’mart  after work and couldn’t for the life of me find Tamarind so I asked one of the guys that worked there and they didn’t have it :/ so knowing I needed it for the BBQ sauce and knowing most of the ingredients that was in the sauce I went and searched the BBQ sauce they had. I just happened to find one that had most of the same ingredients missing a few but close enough. 

 I also made the recipe smaller because it’s only Luke and I and we still have leftovers.

So the recipe is as follows with my changes:

1 package of tempeh cut up in ¾-inch squares

1 large sweet potato peeled and cut up in ¾-inch squares

Preheat over to 400 degrees

Put the Tempeh and sweet potatoes in a 9 by 13 inch casserole pan that I sprayed with a little non stick cooking spray.

Pour about 1 cup of the BBQ sauce over everything with ¼ a cup of water.

Mixed everything up and covered with foil.

Bake for 25 min

For the sides I roasted some green beans in a little bit of olive oil and Cajun seasoning (which I put way to much on them…They were a little to Spicy!!!!) Roasted in the oven for 15 min at 400 degrees… We also had the rest of the brown rice and vegan red beans from last nights dinner… 

Yum!!!! 

 If I find Tamarind next time I will try to make the real recipe…

Oh and to drink with my dinner:

Gluten Free Pizza

I have to say I do love Pizza and I do not have a horrible reaction to Gluten but I do have a very small reaction from it. So when I can I try to eat Gluten Free, plus when I did the Fat Smash Diet you were not suppose to eat gluten so I got use to eating that way.

Bisquick has a Gluten free baking mix now!!! I used
1 1/3 cup of the mix
2 eggs
1 tablespoon of Mrs Dash Italian blend seasoning
1/3 veggie oil
1/2 of water
Mixed and spread on a pizza pan covered in parchment paper
baked at 425 for 15 min put toppings on and baked for another 15 min

Let is cool a few mins before cutting into it.

If you are a vegan use a non-dairy cheese like Daiya

When the hubby is away...

I get to eat one of my favorite things Portabella Mushrooms... Luke has yet to really enjoy the texture of mushrooms but is getting better at it. He will eat them if they are mixed up in something, but I do not think I will ever get him to eat just a portabella for dinner. So since I had 3 large portabellas in the fridge I decided to make one of them for dinner last night with a side of vegan red beans and rice (recipe from fat free vegan, but changed it a bit).

The recipes is as follows:

Portabella Mushroom

1 portabella mushroom gills removed

Marinated for 10 min or so in:

Some balsamic vinegar

soy sauce

and a little liquid smoke

Broiled mushroom 5 min on each side

in the meantime sauté some onions in very little olive oil

once they are almost done add a hand full of spinach

take mushroom out of broiler and top with onions and spinach

Red Beans and Rice

1 can of low sodium red kidney beans drain and rinsed well

4 cloves garlic

1/2 very large onion

3 ribs celery

1/2 large bell pepper

1 teaspoons thyme

1 teaspoon oregano

1-2 (depending on how spicy you like it) teaspoons chopped chipotle pepper, in adobo (this is not traditional but lends a smoky taste or you can substitute another tsp. of Liquid Smoke seasoning if you prefer)

1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke

Cooked brown rice, to serve

Put the beans a pot and cover them with water 1 inch above level of beans. Put over med-heat to begin cooking while you prepare the other ingredients.

You're going to want to chop the garlic, onion, celery, and bell pepper very finely, and the fastest and best way to do this is in a food processor. I throw the 4 peeled cloves of garlic in first, and then add the onion, quartered, and pulse until finely chopped. Add this to the pot on the stove, and then do the same thing with the celery and bell peppers, adding each to the beans. Add the remaining ingredients, except the rice.

When the beans reach a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook, stirring every now and then, about 30min. put everything in the food processor in batches if you do not have a large one like I do and puree the beans and veggies...Check the seasonings. Add any additional spices you want, and cook for at least 10 more minutes, it should be a little thick then serve over the brown rice... Yum...

Taco's My Way

See I do eat meat on occasion lol... I love this recipe and think I will have to make it again soon. I don't have a picture of them right now but when I make it again I will for take a pic or two.

Tacos My Way...(this makes a lot)

1 lb of ground round (drained and rinsed with hot water once cooked)
2 small sweet potatoes
1 can of low sodium or no sodium black beans (drained and rinsed with hot water)
1 package of taco seasoning (i used Nueva Cocina Taco Fresco it has less sodium then most taco seasoning)
1 4.5oz can of Old el Paso Green Chiles
1 Package of white or yellow corn tortillas
1 Table spoon of Mrs. Dash extra spicy seasoning (optional)

Peel and cut Sweet potatoes put in a pot with enough water to cover them and cook till soft.
Brown meat in a good size frying pan, once the meat is brown drain in a colander that has small holes and run hot water over the meat to get out as much fat and grease that u can. Wipe out your frying pan with a paper towel then return meat to pan... Drain and rinse the black beans add to meat. Add the chilies and the taco seasoning. Stir... Drain the sweet potatoes and then mash them. Add the mashed sweet potatoes to the meat and bean mixture and mix.. U can add the spicy Mrs. Dash now if you like I like mine spicy...
Heat a the corn tortilla in a non stick frying pan to make soft, put some of the meat and sweet potato mixture in the center and fold like a taco...

You can add Salsa if you like or I like to use non fat PLAIN yogurt in place of Sour cream and a little bit of Salsa.. We also sprinkled a little bit of soy cheese on top of ours...

I usually have enough left over that I can make Enchiladas with later in the week .