California Chipotle Chopped Salad

With the summer weather we've had the past two weeks, I've been in the mood for summer veggies. Of course, by the time I bought the stuff to make this California Chipotle Chopped Salad, the weather turned cooler. Still...this salad is amazing! I'm usually not one to gush over salads, but this one is a winner.

The chipotle-seasoned black beans, cilantro, and avocado complement each other perfectly; the dressing is lime-y, tangy, sweet, and refreshing; the romaine, tomatoes, and red onion round are a good base; and super-nutritious quinoa is always a welcome addition. I predict this will be my go-to summer salad that I'll bring to potlucks and serve to guests on lazy summer evenings on my patio.

California Chipotle Chopped Salad
Recipe from April 2012 Fitness Magazine
Servings: 4

• 4 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons agave nectar
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 head romaine lettuce, cut or torn into bite-sized pieces
• 1 large tomato chopped or cherry tomatoes cut in half
• 1/4 red onion, finely chopped
• 1 avocado, pitted and diced
• 1/2 cup quinoa
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro

1. To make dressing: Puree 3 tablespoons oil, vinegar, agave nectar, and lime juice in a blender.
2. In a small saucepan, heat remaining oil over medium heat. Saute black beans, garlic, chile powder, and salt for 5 minutes. Let cool.
3. In a large bowl, combine lettuce, tomato, onion, avocado, quinoa, black bean mixture, and cilantro. Toss gently with dressing to coat.

Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Caramelized Onions & Sage Crumb Topping

I loved Thanksgiving this year, despite having dreaded the turkey-centric day. My family hid the turkey on a side table around the corner from the table, so I was shielded from the sad view of a dead turkey. They made me vegan versions of mashed potatoes, stuffing, and veggies, so it was great having the comfort food I grew up with. But the highlight was the dish I brought: Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Caramelized Onions and Sage Crumb Topping from Veganomicon. I absolutely loved it and plan to make it for my in-laws for Christmas. I also made Roasted Brussels Sprouts, which everyone loves.

The base of this recipe is the Cashew Ricotta. I've made this ricotta before and love it. It's not only a great ricotta substitute, but it's also great dolloped onto veggie pizza, or even just slathered on crackers. I added pumpkin puree, brown sugar, and seasonings for the creamy, part-cheesy, part-pumpkiny filling.

When I asked on Twitter whether anyone had made this recipe, one person said she thought it was just okay. She said she thought it was missing something, but didn't know what. The recipe calls for two onions to be caramelized. I figured any dish will be better with more caramelized onions, so I added a third onion. Then I mixed the pumpkin filling, onions, and ziti together.

Last I made the Sage Crumb Topping from fresh baguette bread. Mmm. It looked so delicious out of the oven, I couldn't wait to eat it.

The final dish was creamy, rich, sweet, and cheesy, with the sage, pumpkin, and onion flavors perfectly complementing each other.

The only bad thing is this ziti is not a light dish. It's very rich and heavy, so save this dish for special occasions or when you have a lot of people to help eat it (or if you don't really care if a dish is light!). I haven't posted many recipes from Veganomicon, but I'll post this one because not only is it phenomenal, but it's a great advertisement for what a great cookbook Veganomicon is. Enjoy!

Pumpkin Baked Ziti with Caramelized Onions and Sage Crumb Topping from Veganomicon
Serves 6-8

• 3/4 pound uncooked ziti or penne pasta
• 3 onions, sliced very thinly (original recipe calls for 2)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 recipe Cashew Ricotta (see below)
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• white pepper and cayenne (the recipe didn't say how much; I used a dash of each)
• 1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
• 1/4 cup vegetable broth

Sage Bread Crumbs

• 2 1/2 cups bread crumbs, preferably fresh and homemade (made from about half a baguette or four dinner rolls)
• 1/3 cup walnut pieces, chopped in a food processor until resembling course crumbs
• 1/4 cup nonhydrogenated vegan margarine
• 2 teaspoons dried, rubbed sage
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground paprika
• salt and pepper

Cashew Ricotta

• 1/2 cup raw cashew pieces, soaked in water for at least an hour
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 pound firm tofu, drained and crumbled
• 1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
• 1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons salt

To make the Cashew Ricotta:
In a food processor, blend together the cashews, lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic until a thick, creamy paste forms. Add the crumbled tofu in batches and process until the mixture is thick and well blended. Blend in the basil and salt. Taste before adding all the salt; I find that it needs a little less than the recipe calls for.

1. Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease a 9X11 baking pan. 
2. Cook the ziti according to the package directions. Drain, rinse with cold water, and set aside.
3. Preheat a large, heavy-bottomed pan over medium heat. Saute the onions in oil until onion is very brown and caramelized, 15 to 20 minutes. Set aside.
4. Place Cashew Ricotta in a large bowl and fold in the pumpkin puree, brown sugar, nutmeg, white paper, cayenne, veg broth, and mix. Add the cooked ziti and caramelized onions, stirring to coat the pasta. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking pan and press lightly with a rubber spatula to level it.
5. For the bread crumbs, melt the margarine in a large, heavy-bottomed skillet over medium heat. Stir in the bread crumbs, walnuts, dried herbs, and paprika, and season with salt and pepper. Stir constantly until the mixture is lightly coated, 3 to 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and sprinkle evenly over the ziti.
6. Bake for 30 minutes, until the top of the ziti is golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Creamy Tomato Barley Risotto

In my world of vegan eating, grains are the ho-hum part of my meals. Whole grains have a ton of health benefits (they lower the risk of chronic diseases, such as coronary heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, and also contribute to body weight management and gastrointestinal health), but I just don't get very excited about them. My go-to grains are oat bran and oatmeal, brown rice, and homemade whole-wheat bread (which is a stretch). Sometimes I decide to be super healthy and make quinoa, and sometimes I go crazy and have white rice.

In the spirit of needing to diversify my grain eating, I made the Creamy Tomato Barley Risotto from Vegan Yum Yum...and fell in love! If this is what whole-grain eating can be about, I'm totally in.


I've never had barley before and was so surprised by how chewy it was, I cooked it 10 minutes longer than the recipe called for. It was still chewy, but wonderfully so. The final dish was super creamy, tomato-y, and just plain yummy. This would be a great side dish to bring to a potluck, and omnivores will have no clue that the creaminess comes from soymilk and nutritional yeast instead of butter and milk.

Creamy Tomato Barley Risotto

• 1 cup pearl barley
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 1.5 cups canned pureed/diced tomatoes (14.5-oz can), pureed a bit in a blender or mashed
• 1 cup soymilk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
• 3 tbsp miso, mixed with 3 tbsp water
• 1/4-1/2 tsp kosher salt, to taste

1. Put the barley olive oil, basil, and oregano in a cold medium-sized pot that has a lid. Turn the heat to medium-high and stir well until barley is coated with oil. 
2. Once the barley sizzles (about a minute), add the minced garlic and cook for another minute then add the tomatoes, milk, water, nutritional yeast, miso, and salt. Cover and reduce heat to low.
3. Cook, covered, for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, stir well, re-cover, and cook for another 15 minutes, or until it's as chewy as you like.The mixture should be creamy, but not soupy, and the barley should be very chewy and not mushy.

Appetite for Reduction: Arabian Lentil & Rice Soup

Don't be fooled by the boring looks of this soup--it's bursting with flavor! The smoky cumin is wonderfully enhanced by lemon zest and juice. Red lentils and brown basmati rice combine to make it almost creamy (so substituting another type of lentil probably won't get the same great results).

The prep work for this dish is minimal--about 10 or 15 minutes--followed by a fairly long cooking time, so it's done in about an hour. I made it last night and ate it for lunch today, which I think is the way to go so the flavors really have time to mesh. Omnivore husband tried it and liked it too. Try it for yourself--someone posted the recipe here.

Appetite for Reduction: Unfried Fried Rice & Hoison Mustard Tofu

My cooked brown basmati rice was begging to be used before it went bad. Appetite for Reduction to the rescue! Because the rice was already cooked, the Unfried Fried Rice took five whole minutes to make. It's simple--the rice is sauteed in a little sesame oil with minced shallot, garlic, fresh ginger, and soy sauce--but really delicious. I added steamed broccoli to it, tossed it with sliced green onions, and served it with the Appetite for Reduction Hoison Mustard Tofu, which is probably my all-time favorite tofu dish. Wonderful!

My husband omnivore-ized this dish by mixing in some grilled shrimp in a separate pan. He really liked it too.

Appetite for Reduction: 40-Clove Broccoli & Chickpeas

This is one of my favorite kinds of recipes: simple, few ingredients, and just works. Garlic cloves (despite the title, it calls for 10 but I used 15), chickpeas, and broccoli spears are roasted with a little olive oil and a smattering of simple spices (salt, freshly ground pepper, lemon zest, and oregano). It's good, hearty vegan comfort food that I think omnivores would enjoy too. And it took all of five minutes to put together. I had a salad and toast and cleaned up the kitchen while it was cooking. What a bonus to have the kitchen cleaned before I'm done with dinner!

Next time I'll skip adding the chopped up broccoli stalks (too tough and not very flavorful) and add even more garlic.

Another love story from Appetite for Reduction!

Happy Herbivore Red Lentil Dal

I love lentils so have high expectations for lentil dishes. This one didn't disappoint. As promised, it was extremely quick and easy to make. It was ready in about a half-hour, including prep time and the time to cook the rice. The sauce was thick and full of flavor. (I used tomato sauce because tomatoes aren't in season, per the cookbook's suggestion.) It was a little spicy even without the dashes of cayenne I added at the end; the cayenne made it just spicy enough. This is a perfect after-work meal that I'll be making often. Omnivore husband liked it too. And it's only 3 WeightWatchers PointsPlus!

The recipe came from The Happy Herbivore Cookbook, but she's also posted it on her website.

And good news! The cookbook's author, Lindsay Nixon, is coming to Pittsburgh for a book signing! It will be at Right by Nature (what a perfect place!) on February 13 from 2 to 4. I'll be there!

Red Beans and Rice

Yesterday I made Red Beans and Rice from 125 Best Vegetarian Slow Cooker Recipes by Judith Finlayson. I'm not a big OMGer, but OMG--it was out of this world! My omnivore husband loved it too. This would be a great dish to take to a potluck--it will knock the socks off of people. I'm sure I'll go back to this recipe a lot. I served it with Easy Whole Grain Flatbread.

Red Beans and Rice
Serves 6

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry red beans, such as kidney, pinto, cranberry or romano (I used pinto)
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 4 stalks celery, diced
• 6 cloves garlice, minced
• 1 tsp dried oregano leaves
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cracked black peppercorns
• 3 cups vegetable stock (I used a flavorful stock I made using roasted veggies)
• 1 to 2 jalapeno peppers, finely chopped (I used 1 jalapeno and 2 chipotle chilis in adobo sauce, plus a few teaspoons of the sauce to give it a smoky flavor)
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped (I don't like bell peppers so didn't use them)
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, optional (I had no idea what the difference in taste would be with the vinegar; I used about 3/4 tbsp)
• 1 cup long-grain rice, cooked
• Finely chopped green onion, parsley, or cilantro (I didn't use)
• Hot pepper sauce (original was very spicy; I didn't use)

Instructions

1. Soak the beans at least six hours; I soaked them overnight. Drain and rinse and set aside.
2. In a skilled, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and celery and cook, stirring, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, salt, and peppercorns and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add beans and stir to coat. Transfer to slow cooker stoneware. Add vegetable stock and stir well.
3. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours, until beans are tender. (My beans were tender in just 5 hours, perhaps because of my longer soak.) Add jalapeno peppers, chipotle chili in adobo sauce if using, green pepper and vinegar if using. Cover and cook on High for 20 minutes, until pepper is tender. Stir in rice. Garnish with green onion and serve with hot pepper sauce, if desired.

Weight Watchers PointsPlus (I calculate points using the Recipe Builder tool on WeightWatchers.com): 4