Veggie Recipes

A few people have asked for some suggestions for recipes, so here are a few things we do around here. They also fulfill gluten-free and anti-inflammatory requirements. We eat organic and all natural most of the time. Tastes better and you feel better. It's more money, but so is poor function/poor health. I'd rather feel good. :)

Breakfast- usually either eggs and fruit or yogurt and fruit (blueberries in yogurt is yummy and easy. no cutting involved.) Sometimes, we'll have gluten free rice cereal, but usually only if we're in a rush.

Lunch- We usually have some combination of the following:
1. leafy green salad with a variety of vegetables, sometimes shredded cheese, chick peas/garbanzo beans or walnuts. Angelo likes a lot of raw veggies, so I'll set them on a plate for him to munch on. He'll even eat the lettuce sometimes. Annie's Naturals makes really yummy dressings. They make a delicious Sesame and shitaki dressing that even converted my salad-fearing husband into a salad eater. They also have a yummy low-fat Ginger vinaigrette and my current favorite is the Goddess dressing (has tahini in it! mmmm... )
2. Hummas (Giant Eagle makes an all natural selection in their deli) and brown rice chips/crackers (can't think of the brand, but Kroger sells the chips and they and Giant Eagle both sell brown rice crackers. the crackers come in plain, chedder and vegetable.) We also like baby carrots, cucumbers, raw bell peppers and celary with hummas.
3. Peanut butter and celery. this one's just for me. haven't given Angelo any peanuts yet.
4. cheese and brown rice crackers or sometimes we eat "Gluteno" crackers, but not too often since the potato starch is inflammatory. But it's such a small amount, I don't worry too much.
5. Today I mixed some almond butter with a little raw honey. Delicious! Just ate it out of a bowl like dessert.
6. Quorn makes some breaded Chicken substitute nuggets (meat and soy free) that are yummy and we used to have more often (though still in moderation). But, now that I'm cutting out more and more gluten, I've not had them in a while.

Dinner is more involved since there's another person here to either cook it or watch Angelo while I cook. Keep in mind that I'm still searching for variety since we are limited by what I can eat, my husband can or will eat and what we can easily serve or modify for a toddler. You may not have all these limitations. I don't follow any written recipes, but have usually gotten my original inspiration from one. Here are some of the things we eat for dinner (amounts are for two adults and a toddler plus sometimes a little left for next day's lunch) (you can add a salad to any of these):

1. Red beans and rice-
1 can red beans, undrained (you can also substitute black beans)
rice (4-6 servings)
1/2 small - medium onion
1/2 each red and green pepper, sometimes orange too
1/2 small spoonful of minced garlic
*dried
*oregano (about 4-5 shakes)
*thymes (about 3 shakes)
*rubbed sage (2-3 shakes)
*1 bay leaf
*cayanne/red pepper (1 1/2 shakes)
*white pepper (dash)
*black pepper
1-2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
optional- Quorn ground meat substitue
(we like spicy/well seasoned food; if you don't or can't eat it, try this with oregano, thyme and sage only.)

pour olive oil into wok or large pan, set heat to medium
after a minute or so, add garlic. Saute for 30 seconds
add chopped onions and saute until clear or nearly so
add chopped bell peppers and saute until almost tender
add meat substitute if you're going to
add beans and seasonings, stir often until meat substitute and beans are heated through

Chick Peas and Quinoa (or could sub brown rice) stir fry
1 can chick peas/garbanzo beans, undrained
1/2 small to medium onion
1 medium tomato
1 medium yellow squash
1 medium zucchini
1/2 small spoonful of minced garlic
*few shakes each of oregano, thyme and black pepper
4 servings of rice/Quinoa

If using Quinoa and it isn't pre-washed, "wash" it. I put it in a bowl, pour enough water to cover plus a little more and then swish around. Hold your hand at the edge of the bowl and gently pour water out through fingers, which catch most of the Quinoa. I don't know if this is how you're "supposed" to do this, but it's what I do and seems to work. If you don't wash it (or get the pre-washed kind) the Quinoa will be overly crunchy. yuck.

pour olive oil into wok or large pan, set heat to medium
after a minute or so, add garlic. Saute for 30 seconds
add chopped onions and saute until clear or nearly so
add sliced squash and zucchini and saute until almost tender
add chopped tomato and stir about 1 minute
add garbanzo beans/chick peas
add seasonings and stir often until all is heated through
serve over Quinoa or rice

Pasta with sauce
Use brown rice pasta (penne gets less mushy) or Ancient Harvest's Quinoa and Corn blend pasta
Choose your favorite pasta sauce (we like Natural Choice, Muier Glens, and Annie's naturals. I have lofty ideas of some day making my own sauce. Until then... )
add garlic, onions, bell peppers, oregano, thyme, rosemary as mentioned above. You can also add Quorn brand ground meat substitute (if you are a family of meat eaters, try this and see if they notice. I'm betting they won't, but I haven't had meat in a really long time.)

or, you can add onion, garlic, spinach (frozen works great and is probably fresher than what you buy in the store) oregano, thyme, rosemary and Quorn brand chick'n (chicken substitute) tenders.

Chinese stir fry
rice
Canola oil
veggies of choice - shredded carrots, zucchini, yellow squash, bell peppers, etc.
onions and garlic as mentioned above
*ginger
Quorn brand chick'n (chicken substitute) tenders.

Saute garlic and veggies as mentioned above, add Quorn chk'n tenders and cook for a while. add plenty of ginger (it is anti-inflammitory!) and a little extra oil if it is dry.

Hummas with pasta
use pasta suggestions above
Pre-made hummas- original or roasted garlic (large tub or two regular tubs)
saute garlic, onions, various veggies (squash, zucchini, bell peppers, shredded carrots all work well)
add cumin, corriander, black pepper, a dash of red pepper, a little salt
add a little water to thin out the hummas sauce

We also occasionally use the Garden of Eatin' taco kits and use the Quorn brand ground meat substitute, chopped tomatoes, guacamole, lettuce

A Taste of India makes some yummy all natural pre-made dinners. Just make rice and pour over the heated sauce and veggies for those lazy nights.

I'm sure there's more, but I gotta run. going to a movie tonight!!!

drink ginger tea