Chickpea Shawarma

Chickpea Shawarma 

Serves 4

To make dinner with ease, choose chickpeas!

Equipment 

Sharp chef's knife

Cutting board 

Measuring spoons

Measuring cups 

Large bowl

Potato masher

Ingredients

3 Cups cooked chickpeas, smashed

1 Small red onion, small dice

1 Tablespoon curry powder

1/2 Tablespoon cumin

1/2 Teaspoon chilli powder

1/2 Cup vegan mayo

1/2 Teaspoon lemon juice

Salt and pepper to taste

Agave nectar to taste

Instructions

- In a large bowl, smash the chickpeas with a potato masher or your hands

- Prepare all other ingredients and add them to the large bowl. Mix well to evenly combine.

- Taste the mixture. Add extra seasonings, agave  or mayo if necessary

- Serve in a wrap, in a sandwich or with salad greens

Notes

- For maximum flavor, allow the mixture to sit in the fridge for a few hours before serving 

- Adapted from Chef Lauren Marshall (https://www.facebook.com/HealthyChefLauren?ref=br_tf)

Sweet Potaotes for Smoothies

Sweet Potatoes for Smoothies

Sweet potato rounds

I  love my daily smoothie! I am always looking for new recipes and hacks to make the smoothie process go smooth (ha!). When I first started having a smoothie everyday, I was always going for banana as my thickening substance. I started to think of other tasty ideas so I could have some variety. I began to incorporate sweet potatoes as they are cheap and quite nutritious.  The issue with sweet potatoes became properly storing them. As a puree in the fridge,  they go bad quite fast and freezing them whole  or even in halves was not a good idea, as they took forever to blend. I then came across an article that sliced up the bananas and froze them on a sheet pan, and the little light bulb appeared above my head!! This has become the perfect way to store sweet potatoes and enjoy them in my smooties!!

What to do:

Choose smaller sweet potatoes for smoothies. Preheat the oven to 350F. Wash the sweet potato skins and set them on a baking sheet. Bake the sweet potatoes in the oven for 20 minutes. Check them and see how cooked they are. If they are still hard leave them in for another 10 minutes. If they are starting to become soft ,   flip them and cook them for another 20 minutes.  Check them again, if they are not cooked yet keep going in intervals of 10 minutes. Once they are soft, but not mushy  remove them from the oven. Sweet potatoes may take up to an hour to cook. Allow them to cool for about an hour. Once cooled,  carefully peel them with a paring knife. Carefully slice the potatoes into rounds and set them on a baking sheet. Freeze them overnight. When the sweet potatoes are frozen they are still somewhat wet feeling, that it okay, you can still freeze them in a zip lock bag. If they get somewhat stuck together, they are easy to separate. Add a couple of sweet potato rounds to your smoothie  to make it delicious, filling and slow-burning!

Sweet potato nutrition facts: -High in fiber-Lower in carbohydrates then white potatoes-High in beta-carotene-Slow burning-Good source of potassium-Good source of magnesium-Source of iron- High in B6- Source for vitamin D, C, E, folate and calcium.

Fun Fact: Sweet potatoes are high in carbohydrates that initiate production of the brain chemical serotonin . Serotonin helps fight depression.

Peeling Sweet Potatoes

Frozen sweet potato round

Stored in Zip Lock

Nutrition facts source: Balch, Phyllis A. Prescription for dietary wellness. New York: Avery, 2003. Book.

Mediterranean Salad with Sprouted Quinoa

Mediterranean Salad with Sprouted Quinoa

 Yield: 6 servings

 Eat Mediterranean to be a healthy Canadian!

Equipment
Chef’s knife
Cutting board
Large bowl/container
Box grater
Carrot Peeler
Wooden Spoon
Dry measuring cups
Liquid measuring cup
Measuring spoons
Medium sized pot
Large baking sheet


Ingredients
For Mediterranean Salad:
1 English cucumber, medium dice
1 Red pepper, small dice
1 Pint cherry tomatoes, halved
2 Carrots, peeled and shredded
1/2 Red onion, small dice
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 Cup olive oil
1/4 Cup balsamic vinegar
1 Teaspoon celery salt (or to taste) 
Salt and pepper to taste

For Sprouted Quinoa:
2 Cups organic quinoa, soaked for 4 hours or until sprouted
2 Cups vegetable stock
2 Bay leaves
1 Tablespoon vegan margarine


For Serving:
1 can of Mixed beans, drained and rinsed (optional)
1 Tablespoon black olives per plate
Nutritional yeast to taste
Hemp hearts to taste
Fresh black pepper to taste


Instructions
For Mediterranean Salad:
- Prepare all vegetables into a large bowl or container
- Stir in the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and season with celery salt and salt/pepper. Combine well.
- Set in fridge to marinate for a few hours for best flavor

For Sprouted Quinoa:
- While the salad is marinating, begin soaking your quinoa in filtered water. Let it soak for about 4 hours or until you can see it has sprouted (see image below)
- To cook sprouted quinoa, bring  2 cups of vegetable stock  with the 2 bay leaves to a boil. Drain and rinse the quinoa and add to the boiling water.  Reduce heat and cover. Sprouted quinoa  requires a lot less liquid and time to cook, so you want to keep an eye on it and cook it on low heat until it is soft and most of the liquid has absorbed (about 10 minutes). If there is any leftover liquid drain it. Once cooked, remove the pot from heat and stir in margarine.
- Spread out the quinoa onto a large baking sheet for faster cooling

For Serving:
- Serve by placing quinoa on bottom of plate, then a handful of mixed beans (optional), then the salad mix, then olives, hemp hearts, nutritional yeast and fresh black pepper.

                                            Sprouted Quinoa                  Prepared Vegetables

Slow Cooked Lentil Bolognese

Hey Everyone !!

So it has been a very long time since I have posted a recipe and I apologize for that!! I hope to keep up with blogging as I am now a RHN- Holistic Nutritional Consultant and will be helping people achieve healthy plant based lifestyles.
This recipe I am sharing today is a great to cook for guests that are meat eaters and weary on trying plant-based food. This sauce provides all the flavors and textures  of a meat sauce but it is 100% vegan!
Hope this recipe makes up for the long while of not posting!!

Slow Cooked Lentil Bolognese

Yield: 8-10 servings

If it’s meat you choose to resemble, go for lentils! 

Equipment:

4 qt slow cooker

Sharp chef’s knife

Cutting board

Dry measuring cups

Liquid measuring cups

Measuring spoons

Wooden spoon

Large sauce pan

Can opener

Rubber spatula

Cheesecloth

Butchers string

Scissors

Ingredients:

In large pan:

Cooking oil

1 medium cooking onion, small dice

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 stalks of celery, small dice

3 carrots, small dice
1/4 red pepper, small dice
1/4 green pepper, small dice

8-10 button mushrooms, thinly sliced

1/2 Teaspoon salt

1/8 Teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 Cup  wine (red or white, see notes)

In Crock Pot:

1 1/2 Cups brown lentils, picked and rinsed

1 5.5 Oz.  can of tomato paste

1 28 Oz. can diced tomatoes

Up to 3 cups vegetable broth

Sachet:

2 bay leaves

1 Teaspoon Italian seasonings (basil, oregano , thyme, rosemary)

To Finish Sauce:

Salt and Pepper to taste (start with 1Tsp salt 1/2 Tsp pepper)

Agave nectar to taste (1-2 Tbs Max)

Nutritional yeast to taste (start with about 1/4 Cup)

6-8 leaves fresh basil, chopped

Instructions:

- Prepare all vegetables to be cooked in the large pan. Heat some cooking oil in the pan and saute the onion until translucent. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant. Add the rest of the ingredients except the wine. Saute until mushrooms are Cooked down and somewhat golden. Add the wine and simmer until most of the liquid has absorbed. Transfer this mixture to the crock pot .

- Add the lentils, tomato paste and canned tomatoes to the crock pot, stir well. Stir in vegetable stock until the crock pot is max filled. Turn the crock pot on low.

- To make the sachet, cut a square of cheesecloth and place the bay leaves and dry herbs in the center. ball and tie up the cheesecloth with another piece of cheesecloth or butchers string so the herbs can’t escape. This will give the sauce herby flavor but not leave the small herby bits in the sauce. Add to the sauce (see notes)

- Cook on low for 6-8 hours or until  lentils are soft. Once cooked, add to taste the seasonings and stir in some freshly chopped basil

- Serve with choice pasta or vegetable noodle. Enjoy! 

Notes:

- The original recipe called for red wine, and I only had white wine on hand, sauce was still amazing!

-For more info on how to make a sachet see the following link: 

http://easteuropeanfood.about.com/od/recipestepbystep/ss/StockSachet.htm

-Recipe adapted from Begin with Nutrition