Plant-Based Meals

We've been eating a lot of plant-based meals lately.  One of the easiest ones, and a new favourite, is this satisfying meal of artichoke melts and tahini spinach.

Artichoke Melts

(Makes 4 bun-halves)

• 2 buns, sliced
• 1 can artichokes (14 oz/398 ml), drained
• 1-1.5 T mayo
• 1 T minced onion
• 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp smokey paprika
• 1/4 tsp to 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne 
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• salt and pepper to taste
• grated cheese to top them with (to taste)

Chop up the artichokes well (I like to chop them similar to flaked tuna).  Add the mayo, onion, and spices (or whatever you like really).  Top the four bun halves with the mixture, top with cheese, and broil on high 3-5 minutes until the cheese is melted and golden.  Watch! 

Tahini Spinach

(Makes 2 portions)

• 1 T tahini
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 large pack of baby spinach (312 g/11 oz)
• 1 tsp sesame oil

Mix the tahini, soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sugar in a small bowl. Put the spinach into a dry, large pot, and stir and let it wilt over medium heat.  It will give off its water.  Keep stirring for 1-3 minutes until all is wilted. Remove from heat and squeeze all liquid out of the spinach. (We use a clean silicon oven mitt to really give it a good squeeze.  You want all liquid drained off, so squeeze it well.) You can let it cool if you need to, then squeeeeeeeze.  Drizzle the drained spinach with sesame oil, and toss it with the tahini sauce. Serve warm or cold.

We have the tahini spinach as a side dish multiple times per week.

On the side with daal and rice:

With a baked potato and beans:

With kimchi potatoes and roasted broccoli:

Other plant-based meals we've been enjoying include tempeh stir fry:

Borscht perogies with saurkraut:

Vegan alfredo pasta:

Tofu and veggie, rice bowls with peanut sauce:

Bean and sweet potato burritos:

So many vegetarian dishes from Caraway:

Panang vegetable curry, with Thai sticky rice:

Falafel pitas with homemade super-green falafels, and alllllll the pickled turnips:

Sushi rolls on the day we were supposed to leave for Japan 😢:

Grilled veggies with halloumi cheese:

Nachos!

And burgers made with smoked portobellos instead of beef patties:

(Note the tahini spinach on the side again.  We're hooked.)

And we even had plant-based dessert recently - mango with sticky rice.

Have you had any good plant-based meals lately?

Do you try to incorporate plant-based meals into your diet?

Yves Veggie Cuisine

We love to eat plant-based meals, as we know the health benefits of a plant-heavy diet, and we haven't met a vegetable that we don't like.  I recently received some products from the people at Yves, and was excited to try them (I think Christopher might have been even more excited.  He will always choose a veggie burger or veggie dog etc. over the meat alternatives).

This week we tried the Kale and Quinoa Bites.

These appetizer bites are vegan, free from gluten, cholesterol, artificial preservatives, artificial flavours and colours.  They are a good source of fiber, packed with vegetables, and are non-GMO.

They're a breeze for a snack, as you just toss them in the oven for 10-11 minutes until heated through.  We enjoyed them dipped in tzatziki sauce.

They have delicious little flecks of kale and carrot throughout them, as well as potatoes, onion, quinoa, chickpea flour, spices, and ginger - mmm!

This week we also tried Yves Veggie Ground Round.

Ground round is a great vegan alternative to ground beef.  I recently found out that my mother-in-law always uses it in her lasagna, which I didn't realize, even though I've had her lasagna a few times.  It's got the same look and texture as ground beef, and is clearly quite indistinguishable from the meat when used in a dish.  I've used ground round many times in spaghetti sauce, lasagna, and chili. 

It's a good source of protein (9 grams per 1/3 cup), a source of fiber, non-GMO, cholesterol-free, artificial preservative/flavour/colour free, and has 90% less fat than regular ground beef. 

We used it to make spaghetti sauce for dinner.

The third Yves product we tried were the Falafel Balls.

These Middle-Eastern vegan bites are filled with chickpeas, onions, carrots, herbs and spices.  They are great on their own (just heat and serve), or in a pita, sandwich or wrap.  They are a good source of fiber and iron, and are free from gluten, cholesterol and trans fat.  They, like the other products we tried, are also non-GMO.

We enjoyed the falafel balls in whole wheat pitas, with tzatziki sauce, Greek salad, and mustard. 

We're huge fans of falafel, and have made falafel pitas a few times before.  Falafel is traditionally served with tzatziki, which is traditionally made with Greek yogurt.  However, if you don't have Greek yogurt on hand, you could also make it with sour cream.

Sour Cream Tzatziki Sauce

- 3/4 cup sour cream (Greek Yogurt for traditional Tzatziki)
- 1/2 an English cucumber, grated, and liquid squeezed out
- 1 T dill
- 1 1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 T lemon juice
- sea salt to taste

Mix together and enjoy with Yves Falafal Balls, or Yves Quinoa and Kale Bites, in your pitas, etc.

Have you tried any Yves Veggie Cuisine products?  

Do you try to incorporate plant-based meals into your diet?

For recipes, meal ideas, and other information follow:

@YvesVeggiePage on Facebook   
@YvesVeggie on Instagram

* The Yves products in this post were provided to me free of charge.  All opinions are my own. 
* High-resolution images of the products provided to me by Yves.  Other photos are my own.

Vegetarian Meal #8 of 10

Okay ... after reading your comments to yesterday's post, I totally feel boring in the popcorn department! You guys put some crazy, yet interesting things on your popcorn! What I am wondering is, what made you want to try new flavourings for the first time?? Are you really that adventurous!? I am a chicken, and never venture beyond the butter or margarine world. Hence, my boring popcorn last night:

You know how a few weeks ago I woke up to snow ...
Well that is all gone now. It was nearly hot last weekend.
And this morning I woke up to pouring rain! This is Saskatchewan weather for ya!

So when it is pouring rain, and cool, and dark, breakfast can only be one thing ...
OATS!



(1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond breeze, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup oats, homemade pumpkin butter, and pumpkin seeds)

I had a mid-morning glo-bar snack:



Then for lunch I had perogies:



And the terrible two:


(old Cheddar and pears go fabulously together).

I have had more of an appetite than usual today, and by 3:30 I was haaaaaangry!
I had my 2nd LARA Bar:



This one was even more delicious than the last. I am so happy I finally tried these bars.
They are a little on the sweet side, and since I don't have a sweet tooth, I can only eat about 1/2 at a time - but I do love 'em.

Dinner was Vegetarian Meal #8 of 10

Red Tofu and Bean Chili

Ingredients:

- 2 t olive oil
- 3 cups chopped onion
- 1/4 cup chili powder
- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 3 cups veggie stock
- 1 can kidney beans, drained
- 1 can black beans, drained
- 1 can chopped tomatoes, drained
- 1 can mushrooms
- 1/2 block extra firm tofu
- Cheddar cheese to sprinkle on before serving

Directions:

• Heat oil, add onion, saute 5 min.
• Add spices, and saute 30 seconds
• Add stock, beans, tomatoes, bring to a boil
• Add tofu and mushrooms
• Simmer about 45 min. or 1 hr.
• Sprinkle shredded cheese on top before serving

I just realized that I didn't eat very many fruits/ veggies today. Guess that means I should have a GM tomorrow morning.

I really try to get my veggies in everyday, but some days (like today) I realize that it just didn't happen. No sweat. I will just have more tomorrow :-)

How do you maintain balance in your diet? Do you strive for a certain # of servings of the different food groups, or just eat what you feel like eating?

Vegetarian Meal #7 of 10, and a LARA bar!!

Good evening! I hope everyone had a good Monday, back at the daily grind! Mine was pretty good - it was nice outside, so that was something to smile about.

Before I forget, last night I ate 2 scrambled eggs with hot sauce on them. I was craving eggs for some reason, so I think it meant I needed protein:

Here are my eats from today ...

Breakfast:

• Blueberry/ Banana smoothie (1/2 cup frozen blueberries, 1 banana, 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond breeze).
• Glo-bar

I didn't have any thing to pack for lunch, so I had to run out. I went to Extreme Pita, and got a pita pizza with black olives, bruschetta mix, mushrooms, and mozzarella:

I also had about 4 pita chips with hummus:

After work I had to run to the university to do some work. I ate my VERY FIRST Lara bar on the way!! I tried the pecan pie flavour:

Now, I am not one to eat a lot of store bought bars ... typically because the ingredient list scares me. I always read the labels of products, and I try to find foods that have the least amount of ingredients with most, if not all of them, recognizable to me. The ingredient list on the back of this Lara Bar blew-my-mind in 1 millions ways. Check this out:

In case you can't read that ... it says "Ingredients - Dates, Pecans, Almonds."
That is insane. And amazing. LOVE it! Now that is a "whole food" bar. I am officially a fan!

It tasted great too :-)

Dinner today was Vegetarian Recipe #7 of 10.

Indian Curry with Chickpeas and Mango

This is seriously the easiest curry dish I have ever made. And it was delicious.

Ingredients:
1 - 14 oz can of chickpeas, drained
2 fresh tomatoes, chopped (or 1 - 14 oz can)
1/2 cucumber, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup coconut milk
2 T red curry paste (Patak's mild curry)
1 mango, chopped
1 T oil



Directions:

• Heat the oil in a large, deep pan
• Add the onions and simmer until translucent

• Add the curry paste and simmer for 1 minute

• Add the coconut milk and chickpeas and simmer for a couple minutes

• Then add the cucumber and tomatoes and simmer another couple minutes

• Add the mango and let simmer until the mango is warm

Serve over rice and enjoy!

My portion:

I cannot remember where I found this recipe - it might have been a blog ... if this is from your blog, please let me know and I will give you credit! I printed it, and now I don't know where I got it. The paper says vegweb.com, so it must have originally come from there.

The hubby is nagging me to come watch TV with him ... he wants to try out my new popcorn maker that I won, and I told him he was to wait for me so that he can share with me :-) I think we will make a small batch with some yummy butter!!!

What do you put on your popcorn?

Vegetarian Meal #6 of 10 and Introducing ...

For the first time on EverydayFoodie ... Oats in a Jar!

This is definitely a favourite in the blogosphere ... and I finally tried it for breakfast today! I used what was left of my almond butter, and threw in 1 T unsweetened coconut, and 1 tsp mini chocolate chips. It was excellent.

Lunch was leftover Pad Thai of course:

And also the perfect pair:

No pun intended :-)

After a great day at work, and coaching a v-ball game, I came home famished! I snacked on the 2nd fresh roll from last night while whipping up Vegetarian Meal #6 of 10.

Zucchini Lasagna (sans noodles):

In this dish, the zucchini takes the place of the noodles. I found this recipe in a book, but altered it a bit to make it more protein rich, and awesome.

Ingredients:
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- 1 1/2 lbs zucchini, cut into thin strips lengthwise
- 1 3/4 cups bread crumbs
- 2 T butter
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 5 shallots, chopped coarsely
- 2 carrots, diced
- 8 oz chopped asparagus
- 3/4 cup cream
- sprinkle of Parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup or more of hemp seeds (for protein)

Directions:

- Put some oil in a pan and sautee the zucchini for a couple minutes, then set aside
- Heat 1 T of butter and brown the garlic and then add the bread crumbs and brown a bit, then set aside

- Saute the shallots and carrots in the remaining oil until lightly browned. Add the asparagus and cream and cook for 10 minutes. Season with salt. Dump in 1/2 cup hemp seeds and stir.

- Line the baking dish with 1 layer of zucchini, then a layer of the asparagus mixture, then some bread crumbs. Repeat, ending with breadcrumbs. Toss a little parm on top.

- Bake for 15 - 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

- Gobble down

After dinner I made a run to the post office to pick this up!

A FREE popcorn maker! I won this in a contest on Gareth's blog: Stumptown Savoury. Sawwweeeet!

I also made a run to Wal-Mart to buy a bunch of big tupperware for organizing our basement!
It is almost done. Before and after pictures will be within the next couple weeks.

I am headed to bed peeps.
G'night!