Pro-Power Bowls with Roasted Peppers & Herb Vinaigrette

14 oz can kidney beans

8 oz precooked brown rice

1 lemon

1 shallot

1 oz fresh parsley

4 oz roasted red peppers

1 tsp maple syrup

2 tsp Dijon mustard

Drain and rinse kidney beans. Halve and juice lemon. Peel and mince shallot. Pick and roughly chop parsley. Drain red peppers. Whisk lemon juice, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, 1 tbsp water and a pinch of salt and pepper in a small bowl.

Add the beans, shallots, parsley, peppers and vinaigrette to the cooked brown rice and toss to combine. Makes 2 servings. 

Street Corn Bowls with Black Beans & Fiery Lime Sauce

 8.8 oz precooked brown rice

14 oz can black beans

1 ear of corn

2 mini sweet peppers

1/4 oz fresh cilantro

1 lime

2 tbsp Vegenaise

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Drain & rinse black beans. Cut kernels off the cob. Thinly slice peppers. Pick cilantro leaves from stems. Halve and juice the lime. Add lime juice, Vegenaise, a pinch of cayenne and a pinch of salt to a small bowl. Whisk the fiery lime juice until combined.

Divide the brown rice between 2 bowls. Add beans, corn, peppers & cilantro. Drizzle with lime sauce. 

Brown Rice Pesto Bowls

16 oz brown rice (can use precooked)

1 14 oz can artichoke hearts

1/4 c vegan basil pesto

1/4 c kalamata olives sliced

2 tbsp vegan parmesan

Drain artichoke hearts. Divide brown rice into 2 servings. Add basil pesto and stir to combine. Add artichoke hearts, olives & parmesan. 

Slow Cooker Sweet Potatoes

Cooking spray for crockpot

4 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

1/4 c melted butter

2 c brown sugar

1/4 c water

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp vanilla

Pinch kosher salt

1 1/2 c marshmallows

1/2 c pecans roughly chopped

Spray crockpot with cooking spray. Place sweet potatoes in slow cooker. In a medium bowl, combine butter, sugar, water, cinnamon, vanilla and pinch of salt. Whisk to combine. Pour over potatoes and toss until they are fully coated. Cook on high for 4 hours. Remove top and top with marshmallows and pecans. Reduce heat to low and cover until marshmallows are melted. Serve. 

Make Ahead Gravy for Thanksgiving

I do not like to make gravy after the turkey is done. There is too much going on with guests & getting other things ready. So I started making my gravy prior to the big day & freezing it. Then, on the day of, I can freshen it up with fresh turkey drippings & just warm through.

Courtesy of All Recipes:

6 turkey wings

2 medium onions

Salt, pepper, salt free garlic & herb seasoning 

1 c water

8 c chicken broth

1 cup chopped carrot

1 tsp thyme

3/4 c all purpose flour

2 tbsp butter

Gravy Master

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Arrange a single layer of turkey wings in a large roasting pan. Scatter the onions over the top of the wings. Season with salt, pepper & salt free garlic & herb seasoning or whatever you'd like. Roast in the preheated oven for 1-1/4 hours or until wings are browned.

Place browned wings & onions in a 5 quart stockpot. Add water to roasting pan and stir, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Pour the water from the pan into the stockpot. Stir in 6 cups broth, carrot and thyme. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer uncovered for 1-1/2 hours.

Remove wings from the pot and place on a cutting board. When the wings are cool, pull off the skin and meat. Discard the skin and save the meat for another use. Strain contents of stockpot through a large strainer into a 3 quart saucepan. Press on the vegetables to extract any remaining liquid. Discard the vegetables and skim the fat off the liquid. Bring the contents of the pot to a gentle boil.

In a medium bowl, whisk flour into the remaining 2 cups chicken broth until smooth. Gradually whisk the flour mixture into the simmering turkey broth; simmer 3-4 minutes or until the gravy has thickened. I also like to add Gravy Master to darken the gravy to a nice deeper brown. Stir in the butter and pepper. This is where I keep tasting and make any adjustments needed. I like to let it cool down and taste again to see if the flavors are melding. Serve immediately or pour into containers and refrigerate or freeze until the big day. Defrost in fridge night before Thanksgiving. 

Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookies

Found this recipe in a cookbook I had for over 15 years but never used. My son said he was craving something sweet lately so I thought I would try these. They were perfect to him. We don't like overly sweet things so these were just right. 

3/4 c butter, softened

1/4 c shortening

3/4 c sugar

3/4 c firmly packed brown sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

 2 1/4 c all purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 12oz pkg semi sweet chocolate morsels

Beat butter and shortening at medium speed until fluffy. Gradually add sugars, beating well. Adds eggs and vanilla, beating well.

Combine flour, soda and salt. Add to creamed mixture, mixing well. Stir in chocolate morsels. Drop dough by heaping teaspoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake at 375 for 9-11 minutes.  Remove to wire racks to cool completely. Makes 6 1/2 dozen. 

Food for Thought: I did not have patience to make 6 or so batches so I made mine a little bigger and had to carefully monitor the time. 

Taco Tofu Chili

I met my friend Kacey through the blogging world back in the day when Pioneer Woman actually visited my blog, before she became famous and was on Food Network. Kacey & I became good friends & I even visited her in TN. She gave me this awesome recipe on a beautiful card. I never made it. Funny enough, my husband and I became whole food plant based eaters in 1/2019. I was looking through recipes & found her sweet recipe card. I thought to myself, why not sub the beef with tofu. And what came out of that was sweet victory. Hubs loves it & when it's done, a new batch gets made. It couldn't be easier because you just dump everything in except for the corn, which gets drained. 

1 pkg extra firm tofu

2 tblsp taco seasoning

Vegetable broth for cooking

1 onion, diced

1 can kidney beans, UNdrained

2 cans pinto beans, UNdrained

1 tblsp Ranch seasoning

1 can white corn

1 can Hot Rotel 

1 can original Rotel

1 4oz can diced green chiles

Drain tofu, crumble & lay out on paper towel to rid of excess water. Or use tofu press. Add to air fryer & sprinkle with taco seasoning. Air fry for about 15 minutes, tossing & breaking up a few times since the tofu will stick tpgether. 

Saute onion in vegetable broth until brown. Mix in beans (undrained), Rotel, corn, chiles, Ranch seasoning. Let simmer & cover until tofu is ready. 

When tofu is nice & brown, add it to the chili. 

I like to air fry oil free corn tortillas to go with this. Hubs still eats cheese so he adds some shredded. 

Beet Burgers with Smoky Tomato Aioli

1/4 c quinoa

1/2 c peas

1/2 c panko breadcrumbs

2 oz beets (canned works!)

Pretzel Buns

2/3 c Vegenaise

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 shallot, thinly sliced

Spinach or pea shoots

For the aioli, mix the Vegenaise, tomato paste, garlic, lemon juice & smoked paprika. Put in fridge until ready to use. This will make enough for 4-5 burgers. 

Cook quinoa according to package directions, along with a pinch of salt. Add cooked quinoa, peas, breadcrumbs, beets and 1/2 tsp salt to processor. Blend until well combined (about 10 pulses). Divide the beet mixture into 2-3 patties, depending on your size preference. Air fry, bake or pan fry until crisp.

To assemble sandwich, toast pretzel buns lightly. Spread each side with a little aioli. Top with beet burger, sliced shallots & spinach. 

Alternatively for the aioli: this recipe came from Purple Carrot. Their ingredients were 3 tblsp Vegenaise, 2 tsp tomato powder, 1/8 tsp liquid smoke & 1 tbsp water. Since I cannot find tomato powder, I resorted to a Googled recipe for this aioli. It comes quite close. 

Food for Thought: I just made these this evening. Doubled the recipe for just the burgers and made 5 patties.