Sun-Dried Tomato, Sweet Potato, Kale and White Bean Soup

This is a power packed super dinner!! And delicious!

Ingredients:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp fennel seeds, ground if you can find them that way
1 medium onion chopped,
1 medium sweet potato, cubed
16-20 oz. fresh tomatoes, diced or 2 cans
6 cups vegetable stock
2 bay leaves
1 Tbsp fresh, chopped oregano or 1 tsp if dried
3-4 cups of kale leaves, chopped
1 can white beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes
sea salt
ground pepper

Note:  I chopped the onion, the tomatoes, the carrots, and the kale (separately) in my Ninja. Saved me a ton of time!!!

Heat a few tablespoons of stock in a pot over medium heat.  Add the garlic and fennel seeds.  Cook, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes. Add onion, potato and carrot, stirring for 5 minutes more. 

Add the tomatoes, stock, bay leaves and oregano.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then immediately reduce the heat so that it continues at a simmer.

Add the kale, beans and sun-dried tomatoes.  Simmer until the vegetables are tender, 15-20 minutes or however long you want to leave it on low.  Salt and pepper to taste.

This is also a great crock-pot soup, if you would prefer to do it that way!

Serves 8.

Nutrition Facts:
Calories-153
Fat-0.9g
Carbs-30g
Fiber-6g
Sugars-10g
Protein-6g

Meatless March Day #18: Black Bean Veggie Burgers

These turned out really good! We topped with salsa and ate with a salad for the side, but anything would be good really.



Black Bean Veggie Burgers 

4 cups black beans (we use dried, but if you canned, it would be about 2 cans)
1 sweet onion diced (we used a food processor)
2 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 and 1/4 cup frozen organic corn
1 cup milk of choice (I used almond)
1/4 cup whole wheat
1/4 cup whole wheat panko breadcrumbs
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp smoked paprika (optional)

Preheat oven to 400. Dice or food process the onion.  Saute the onions in the oil on medium heat until they are caramelized.  In a food processor, mix the beans and milk until the beans are mostly smooth.  Put the bean mixture, the onions and the remaining ingredients in a bowl to combine.

To finish lightly oil a baking pan, grab a quarter cup of the mixture at a time, flatten in a nice round patty and place on the pan.  Continue until the mixture is gone.  Bake in oven for about 45-60 minutes turning over once about half way through.  They go well with avocado or salsa!

Original recipe from: www.mywholefoodlife.com

Friend me on Facebood:  www.facebook.com/NicoleEvansFitness

Meatless March Day #13: Mexicali Burritos

We made a new "vegan" Mexicali Burrito recipe Saturday and were SO not impressed, so I am giving you the recipe for how we typically make them, minus the meat & cheese and amp up the veggies, because that is how we will be having them from now on.  Sometimes change doesn't really need to be so drastic! :)

Ingredieants:
1 can refried beans (oil free)
2 cups of frozen corn kernels (organic recommended)
1 cup salsa (homemade or carefully chosen otherwise)
1 small onion
1/2 cup veggie broth (water will also work)
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
2 cups cooked whole grain brown rice (organic recommended)
whole grain totillas
shredded lettuce
guacamole & hot sauce optional

Directions:
1. In a large saucepan over medium heat, saute the onion in the veggie broth for 5 minutes or until translucent.
2. Add the chilli powder, cumin, turmeric, and cayenne and saute for 1 additional minute.
3. Add beans and corn and cook, stirring until heated and smooth, about 5 minutes.
4. Stir in flour and rice and cook another few minutes, until flavors are well blended and mixture has thickened enough to put on your tortilla.
5. Warm tortillas in a pan or the microwave for a few seconds.
6. Spoon mixture onto half of tortilla and top with shredded lettuce, if desired add guacamole, then fold into your burrito.


Note:  I have been using the veggie broth some to saute stuff, in the place of EVOO and it works great!

Meatless March Day #12: Shamrock Pizza

Since, it was Friday night and almost St. Patrick's Day we decided for dinner to make it kind of fun for the kids (and us!).  So, Nate made these Shamrock pizzas with our typical spinach pizza crust that you may have seen us use before and we just switched up the toppings.  We don't really want to be eating much of the pre-made vegan products, such as this daiya cheese, but we did want to try a few vegan products to see how they stacked up and it was treat for the kids. Which, by the way, they noticed no difference at all!   This crust makes about 3 large pizzas or 2 large and some crackers, which is what we typically do.  In this case we made 8 shamrocks and had some left to make crackers with.

Crust:
6 c. whole wheat flour
2 Packs or 4 1/2 tsps. of Active Dry Yeast 
3 tsp Salt
4 Tbsp Sugar
16 oz. Bag Frozen Chopped Spinach, thawed - if you use fresh spinach, add more water
3/4 c. Warm Water
6 Tbsp Olive Oil
More Water if Needed

Pesto:
1 c fresh basil
1 c fresh parsley
1/2 c almonds or pine nuts
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 Tbsp nutritional yeast
1/4 c. olive oil

Toppings:
20-30 cherry tomatoes, sliced
1 c mushrooms, sliced




can add fresh spinach also
8 oz. daiya cheese

Directions:
1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast and water and let sit for five minutes or until foaming.
2. Using a food processor, pulse the thawed spinach until half-way pureed.
3. In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, salt, sugar.
4. Add pureed spinach and olive oil followed with the yeast/water mixture. Stir until fully incorporated and proceed to knead until mixture is elastic-about 10 minutes. You may need to add a couple Tbsp of water. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cover dough and let sit for 20 minutes.
5. Grind almonds up a bit in the food processor.  Then add the basil, parsley, nutritional yeast and garlic.  As you process those, drizzle the oil until everything is will mixed.
6. Roll dough out as thin as possible! About 1/8” is good. Use 4 glasses and paring knife to make Shamrock shapes. Be careful not to push the glasses down.
7. Top with pesto, cheese and toppings..
8. Bake for 20-30 minutes in 400 degree oven.