Month: December 2013

Vegan Kale Soup

On By Taylor MavingIn Dinner, Lunch, Soup, VegetarianLeave a comment

I went to Trader Joe’s for the first time on Sunday and fell in love! For some reason I thought it would be more expensive than other grocery stores, but to my surprise it was significantly cheaper. I loved the market feel of it and was truly impressed with their product selection. This vegan soup took about 40 minutes to make and was bursting with flavor! My fiance and I ate this up in two days. Nom Nom, hope ya’ll enjoy 🙂

Ingredients:unnamed (1) unnamed (2)

  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 1 medium yellow onion
  • 1 leek diced
  • 4 bay leaves
  • knob of coconut oil
  • sea salt
  • cracked black pepper
  • 1 49.5 oz can of veggie broth
  • 2 cans of organic canellini beans
  • 1 bag of fresh kale, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons pesto
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • 3 large carrots peeled and chopped
  • 2 stalks celery finely diced
  • 4 small red potatoes peeled and quartered
  • 1 rosemary stalk-taken off the vine

Steps: 

  1. Start by taking the coconut oil into a medium to large skillet and turn heat on medium/high. Add the onions and let simmer down for about 3-5 minutes, then add the leeks, rosemary, paprika, chili powder, salt, bay leaves, pepper, pesto and garlic, turn the heat down to medium and cook for another 3-5 minutes.
  2. Add 2 cups of the vegetable broth into the skillet. Add the potatoes and carrots, reduce heat to medium low, cover and simmer for 10 minutes or so.unnamed
  3. In the meantime take a large pot and add a dollop of coconut oil, heat at medium/high. Add the diced celery and cook for about 5 minutes or until tender, then add the remaining broth and the beans (make sure to rinse thoroughly!)
  4. Take the skillet and pour the ingredients into the large pot. Add the kale, cover and simmer for 20 minutes and let all of the flavors blend together!photo

Chipotle Bean Burritos

On By Taylor MavingIn Dinner, Lunch, VegetarianLeave a comment

This dish was seriously delicious, the beans made it so incredibly filling to the point we were stuffed (in a good way.) Also this dish can be vegan friendly if you just add two little modifications 1.) switch out the cheese and 2.) make sure the tortillas you use are vegan!

Ingredients:
photo(2)

    • 4 garlic clove, minced
    • 1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
    • 1/4 teaspoon salt
    • 1/3 cup water
    • 1 15-ouncecan organic black beans, drained
    • 1 13.5-ounce organic box re-fried pinto beans
    • 3 tablespoons refrigerated fresh salsa
    • 4 whole wheat-fat flour tortillas
    • 1 tablespoon canola oil
    • 1 cup (4 ounces) pre-shredded reduced-fat 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese (*Quick way to make this vegan is use daiya cheese!)
    • 1/2 avocado-chopped

1 cup thinly sliced green onions

  1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add garlic to pan; cook 1 minute, stirring frequently, add the green onions cook for 5 min on low. Add the peppers and cook for 3 more min>
  2. Add 1/3 cup water and beans, stir in chile powder and salt,  water and beans; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes.
  3. Heat up the re-fried beans in the microwave according to the directions (or stove if you prefer.)
  4. Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spread the re-fried beans onto the tortilla with a spatula like you would a mayonnaise. Spoon about 1/3 cup bean mixture into center of each tortilla.
  5. Top each serving with cheese, salsa and avocado and roll up.
  6. Place in the oven under high broil for roughly 3-5 minutes, or until cheese has melted and tortillas have turned to a light brown.taco

Greek pork with fresh salad

On By Taylor MavingIn Dinner, LunchLeave a comment

This dinner was super easy to make and had a lot of flavor! I also had leftovers the next day of the tomato mixture so I put that into a whole wheat pita and it was such a delicious lunch.

Ingredients:unnamed

  • 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar, divided
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 4 (4-ounce) boneless center-cut loin pork chops or
  • 3/4 cup plain fat-free Greek-style yogurt
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh dill (I love dill so I used a lot, up to you!)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
  • 1 1/2 cups diced plum tomatoes (about 2 medium)
  • 1 cup diced seeded cucumber
  • 1/3 cup diced red onion
  • Cooking spray

Steps:

  1. Combine 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar, oregano, 1 teaspoon olive oil, and garlic in a zip-top plastic bag. Add pork to bag, and seal. Marinate for 20 minutes at room temperature, turning after 10 minutes.
  2. Combine tomatoes, cucumber, and onion. Sprinkle tomato mixture with 1/8 teaspoon salt; toss to combine. Add remaining 1 tablespoon vinegar, remaining 1 teaspoon oil, yogurt, 1 tablespoon dill, and 1/8 teaspoon salt, stirring into the vegetables and set aside.
  3. Heat a medium sized pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Remove pork from bag, and discard marinade. Sprinkle both sides of pork evenly with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add pork to pan, and cook for 4 minutes on each side.  Remove pork from pan, and let stand for 2 minutes. Plate with tomato mixture!

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Slow Cooked Comfort Chicken

On By Taylor MavingIn Dinner, Lunch1 Comment

This has been such a snowy and windy winter. All I want to do is eat warm comfort food and drink red wine. This recipe was inspired from chicken pot pie, I just decided to serve it over couscous instead of using a pie. I put all of the ingredients into the slow cooker in the morning and put it on low and by the time I got home dinner was ready! LOVE THAT!

Ingredients:

  • 1 medium white onion- diced
  • 3 stalks celery- diced (add the leaves as well)
  • 8 oz. baby carrots
  • 4 fresh garlic cloves-minced
  • 26 oz box of organic cream of chicken soup
  • 8 baby red potatoes
  • 3 large organic chicken breast
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 tablespoon fresh pepper
  • 1 tablespoon dried Italian herbs
  • Brown rice OR couscous (as needed)
  • 1 cup frozen peasphoto 1

Steps:

1.) Place all of the ingredients (except peas and spinach ) in the slow cooker. Cook on low for 7 hours.

2.) Add the frozen peas, cook for 15-20 to let the peas soften

3.) Cook the brown rice or couscous according to package directions and serve the mixture over. chicken