Chickenless Vegetarian Pot Pie

Dec 31, 2017 • food

A family favourite. This has much of the flavour of a traditional Chicken Pot Pie, but it is vegetarian.

Ingredients

• 1 cup thinly sliced carrots
• 1 cup frozen green peas
• 1 cup small diced potatoes (if red or gold leave peels)
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced celery
• 3/4 cup water
• 1/3 cup finely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
• 1/3 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper (I am a little more liberal on this)
• 1/4 teaspoon parsley flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 3/4 cups vegetable broth
• 2/3 cup milk (whole)
• 1 15oz can of Great Northern Beans (drained and rinsed)

• Two 9-inch pie crusts (my recipe excluded sugar to maintain a savory flavour)

Instructions

Note: I found that doing the prep work the night before is really beneficial e.g. (the chopping, combining flour and seasonings, and crust preparation).

1. Prepare pie crusts
2. In a medium sized pot on medium-high, add carrots, potatoes, celery, peas, and water. Cook till vegetables are tender (about 15 minutes). You can decide to drain the water or let it absorb, I favour the latter since draining takes some of the nutrients away.
3. In a large skillet/fry pan, on medium add butter.
4. When butter has melted, add onions, cook till translucent (about 5 minutes).
5. Add flour, salt, pepper, parsley flakes and garlic. Cook for about 2 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 425 degrees fahrenheit.
7. Slowly add vegetable broth and milk. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cook till thickens (about 5 minutes).
8. When sauce is thickened add vegetables and beans.
9. In a deep-round casserolle dish (you can use a pie plate, but I found doing so often had overflow), fit the bottom pie crust. Add the pie filling, then fit the top pie crust. Add a few slits on top. Place in oven for 30-35 minutes.

Inspired by

This was in majority borrowed from the following recipe. I substituted a few ingredients and added beans (I have used chickpeas in the past but I prefer the former) as a protein.

Closing

This meal has become a comfort food favourite during the holidays. Its rich flavour is absolutely delicious and it keeps well in the fridge for leftovers. So try (even though it may be hard) not to eat too much in one sitting and it may just last you a few days!

Edited 2019-12-01 to consolidate the crust recipe

Vegan Split Pea Soup

Dec 24, 2017 • food

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion (chopped)
• 5 garlic cloves (minsed)
• 1 teaspoon dried bay leaves
• 8 1/2 cups of water
• 2 cups split peas
• 1/2 cup barley
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 carrots (chopped)
• 3 celery stalks (chopped)
• 3 potatoes (diced)
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme

Instructions

1. In a large pot add oil. Heat on medium-high. When warm add the onion, garlic and bay leaves. Cook till tranlucent (roughly 5 minutes).
2. Add water, peas, barley and salt bring to boil and then reduce to low.
3. When at a simmer add carrots, celery, potatoes, basil, pepper and thyme. Let cook 2 hours or until vegetables are tender.

Inspired by

I would like to give some credit where credit is due! I started off with this link for inspiration. I made slight variations with the bay leaf and by adding the vegetables sooner with an additional cup of water since I felt it was light in that regard.

Closing

I love all of the textures in this soup, the barley adds a nice touch. Also another neat facet about this recipe, there is no call for any vegetable broth base as it is very flavourful in its own right. There is enough in this batch that you can store some in the freezer and it keeps very, very well. I have to say, I had some leftover split pea soup last night, which was frozen (then reheated!), it was fantastic!

Teriyaki Rice and Quinoa with Vegetables

Dec 17, 2017 • food

Ingredients

• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 cup quinoa
• 4 carrots (cut into narrow shape)
• 4 celery stalks (cut into narrow shape)
• 1.5 cups frozen broccoli (steamed/microwaved)

• Favourite teriyaki sauce (recipe below)
  • 1⁄4 cup soy sauce
  • 1 cup water
  • 1⁄2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1⁄4 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 5 tablespoons packed brown sugar
  • 1 -2 tablespoon honey
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1⁄4 cup cold water

Instructions

1. Start cooking brown rice (1 cup rice with 2 cups water, I add a little olive oil).
2. Start cooking quinoa (1 cup quinoa 2 cups water, I added a little vegetable stock, it is not likely necessary).
3. The sauce: In a small sauce pan add all ingredients minus the 2 tablespoons cornstarch and the 1/4 cup cold water. I cooked on medium heat until it started to boil.
4. In a separate small bowl, mix cornstarch and 1/4 cup water until is entirely disolved. Then add to the sauce pan. It will thicken up pretty quickly and you will want to stir it. If it's too think add more water. Turn heat to low or turn it off.
5. Prepare vegetables to your liking. I used the above because that is all I had in the fridge, get creative! This recipe, does not require you to cook your vegetables, so do not feel the need to stir fry them.
6. When rice and quinoa are complete, add to your bowl, then add vegetables and lastly spoon some teriyaki sauce on top. I found that a little went a long way!

Inspired by

If you have ever had a meal from FRESHII, I would recommend it. The first time I was there, I picked up their menu and I have been using it for ideas ever since. They use, predominately, fresh ingredients. This recipe, for the most part (except for the sauce), is original, but I would not be telling the truth if there was not inspiration from else where. The sauce came from the following link.

Closing

The dish was a fun one to make. It is pretty quick except for preparing the rice, and that is not too bad if you plan ahead of time. I cut the vegetables a little larger than I would the next time. Also, the sauce recipe above I was able to freeze into two dishes after the meal was over. A little forewarning that the sauce jellies a little after being frozen, but still tastes really good!

Cabbage Vegetable Soup

Dec 10, 2017 • food

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion (sliced)
• 5 carrots (chopped)
• 4 celery stalks (chopped)
• 1 green bell pepper (chopped)
• 12 cups water
• 2 cups cabbage (chopped)
• ¼ dried splitpeas
• 1 15oz can of chickpeas (undrained)
• Vegetable broth base powder
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Salt, if necessary

Instructions

1. In a large soup pot heat olive oil on medium high
2. When oil is warm, sauté onions for 5 minutes. Then add carrots, followed by celery and bell pepper. Continue cooking until the onions are golden brown.
3. Add water, cabbage, dried splitpeas, and chickpeas. Bring to a boil.
4. Reduce heat to medium low. Add vegetable broth powder as specified for 6-8 cups water (I did not need to add the full allotment)
5. I did not measure, but I liberally applied black pepper and salted a little bit.
6. Let cook for about an hour and a half to two hours, then feel free to serve!

Closing

The soup has a mild flavor I found quite enjoyable. I would like to include, this is a different soup than I traditionally prepare. With that said, most of my vegetable soups consist of what I have on hand. The next time I make this, I would substitute the chickpeas with a bean. Give it a shot!

Vegan Pasta Puttenasca

Dec 4, 2017 • food

Ingredients

• 5 Roma Tomatoes (diced)
• ½ an onion (chopped)
• ⅓ cup chopped black olives
• 1 15oz can of chickpeas (drained)
• 1 tablespoon black olive brine (from your can/jar of olives)
• 3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon Dried parsley
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Salt, if necessary

Instructions

1. In a medium saucepan, heat oil at medium high. When oil is warm saute onion for about 3 minutes.
2. Add the tomato sauce, olives, chickpeas, olive brine, garlic and red pepper flakes. Over medium-high heat bring to simmer, then reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring often, for 20 minutes.
3. Remove the sauce from heat and add parsley. Season to taste with freshly ground black pepper and salt.
4. Use sauce on desired pasta of choice.

Inspired by

I would like to give some credit where credit is due! I started off with this link for inspiration, but overall the recipe I ended up with is a bit different.

Closing

The sauce is a bit on the spicey side, but not heavy and with chickpeas leaves you with some protein, which I feel is really hard with vegetarian dishes if you are not accustomed to relying on beans and lagumes in your dishes.