Basic Coleslaw Recipe

This colorful salad is much lighter that your traditional mayo-filled affair. It is also extremely easy to make!

Ingredients
1 small head of green cabbage
1/2 medium red onion, chopped finely
1 large carrot, grated
1/2 cup of fresh or roasted red pepper, chopped finely
1/2 lemon, juiced
3-4 Tbs balsamic vinaigrette (Any homemade or store bought that you like will do, I like to be lazy and use Newman's Own light balsamic vinaigrette.)

Mix vegetables thoroughly in a medium sized bowl. Add lemon juice and stir so that evenly coated. Add a little vinaigrette at a time, stirring so that salad is fully coated but not soggy. Cover and place in fridge for 30 mins to overnight to allow flavors to absorb and cabbage to wilt.

Serves 6-8 as a side dish.

Kale and Lentil Soup

I know it's summer, but this week I came down with a cold and so it's time for soup anyway!

Ingredients-
2 Tbs butter
1/2 red onion, chopped
4-5 cloves garlic, minced
1 large carrot, halved and sliced
1 pound (more or less) of red or white potatoes, cut into small cubes
1 cup Puy (green) lentils
8 cups of rich vegetable stock (more or less)
Approx one pound of kale (any kind), chopped
1/2 cup roasted red peppers, chopped
fresh cheese to melt on top
salt and pepper to taste (I used smoked salt because it is so tasty!)
Braggs amino acids, to taste

In a heavy soup pot, heat butter and add onions. Stir on high for 3-4 minutes until onions begin to turn translucent. Add garlic and carrot and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Add potatoes and lentils and stir until fully coated in butter mixture. Add stock and turn down to simmer. Cover pot and cook for about 30 minutes, until lentils and potatoes are fully cooked but not mushy. Add more stock if needed to keep a goody soup (not stew) consistency.

Remove lid and add kale and roasted peppers. Cook, uncovered, for another 5-10 minutes on low heat until kale is fulled wilted.

Season to taste with salt, pepper, and Braggs. Serve with a couple of slices of melty stinky cheese on tip and some hearty whole grain bread on the side.

This should serve 4-6.

Goat Cheese and Fig Summer Salad

This tasty summer salad gets four stars! We threw it together tonight with a few random ingredients that needed to be used up and turned out delicious! The spinach in this salad came from our garden.

Ingredients:
fresh young spinach (or other sweet leafy greens)
purple or Italian kale, cut into small pieces
fresh goat cheese, crumbled into chunks
fresh ripe figs, sliced
courgette, sliced thinly
good balsamic vinegar

Mix ingredients together gently in a bowl and drizzle with vinegar and enjoy!

Spicy Vegan Bean Burgers

Now that the summer weather has finally arrived here in Portland it is a perfect time to break out the BBQ. These vegan bean burgers are just the ticket!

Ingredients:
4 cups of kidney and black beans, cooked (2 cans, beans rinsed will do).
1/2 cup of red onion, chopped
4-5 cloves of garlic, crushed
1-2 tbs of of Braggs aminos liquids
1 tbs of mesquite seasoning mix
1 tsp of chili flakes (or more or less to taste)
1/2 cup of bread crumbs
1/4 cup of textured vegetable protein (TVP)

Take 2/3 of beans and puree in food processor until smooth, adding the Braggs slowly. In a bowl, mix pureed beans with whole beans. Add onions, garlic and seasonings and mix together thoroughly. Add bread crumbs and TVP as needed, mixing together gently until you can form a ball. With a little whole wheat flour on your hands, gently form patties and place on a cookie sheet. If you cannot get the mix to form into patties that will hold together, you can add a little egg/egg replacer to help make it more sticky. To cook, throw on a barbeque or under a broiler until fully cooked through.

These burgers are really delicious in any sort of sandwich. I personally recommend serving with avocado, chipotle mayo and fresh basil.

Serves 4-6.