Making dinner healthier, one slow cooker at a time.
My favorite last minute meal is a few baked tortilla chips served up with a cup of queso from my newest book, The Great Vegan Bean Book. The base recipe is mild, but you can spice it up to suit your taste. It’s perfect for a lazy spring lunch! [Read more...]
I feel like I should start this post with it was a dark and stormy night due to yesterday’s cold rain that put me into a bit of a funk. It’s those chilly times of despair that the best soups spring from. As they say, it’s always darkest before there’s a steaming bowl of tasty soup in front of you! If the soup alone is not enough to bring up your spirits, the cheezy garlic croutons on top will do the job.
This is a quick and easy slow cooker soup that’s soy and oil free (without the croutons or by making the croutons oil free as well). I threw in some turnips I had in the fridge, but you can use potatoes, carrots, or even sweet potatoes if that’s what you have. [Read more...]
These dessert-like pancakes have a secret weapon in the batter – white beans! The beans add extra fiber, protein and all keeps them moist without very much (or even no) oil. Even better the beans do not effect the flavor at all!
I got the idea when I was writing The Great Vegan Bean Book last year. I started using beans in muffins, pancakes and waffles and all of the recipes worked really well. I like using any kind of white beans because the flavor is mild and no one will suspect that they are eating beans!
Snowmageddon disappointed me. It was a few hours of light snow mixed with some sleet, but it didn’t stick here in Durham like I hoped. That means that I’m at work today instead of conducting slow cooker bread experiments and sitting in front of the fire while it’s cooking. I even had my green owl fleece pajamas set out in hopes of a snowy day in.
Oh well, maybe I’ll get a snow day before winter is over. At least I have a hot mug of sugar cookie tea with homemade nut milk. A good cup of tea can be almost as wonderful as sitting in front of the fireplace.
Today I have a soup recipe for you that’s perfect for a snowy day. You can use less water and make it a full on stew or just serve it with a hunk of whole grain bread to make it a heartier meal. I served mine with a couple of sides – an arugula salad and a pile of steamed broccoli in a nooch sauce. (Water, nutritional yeast, salt and pepper mixed together and then tossed with the cooked broccoli.) Cheryl even liked the broccoli! [Read more...]
Today I have a few more things that can make your weekend even more special! This time I’ve remade some syrups that will make your Sunday morning coffee awesome! [Read more...]
Vaquero Bean Tempeh Chili is one of the recipes in my upcoming book. This chili and the new book are both packed full of heirloom beans. In this recipe the heirloom star is vaquero beans. They are black and white and a relative to the anasazi bean and they are very tasty.
The lovely photo above was taken by my friend, and incredibly talented photographer, Renée Comet. Make sure to head over to her website and look at some of her other beautiful photos. I’m so lucky that she took all the photos for this book, and I had a blast doing the food styling for her!
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My friend Gail Davis from So Delicious reminded me that today is oatmeal day. I can’t believe it almost past me by!
Since we’re so close to Halloween I selected 13 of my favorites for you to warm up with. So stay toasty and dry, and eat your oatmeal! [Read more...]
Whole grain apple walnut bars with a little apple brandy to help you celebrate fall! So grab an apple bar, a sweater and sit on the deck awhile. You can even bring out a hot spiked tea in case you get chilly while you watch the leaves fall. [Read more...]
I met Jill Nussinow this year when I was working on my second book, The Great Vegan Bean Book. I was working on instructions on various ways to cook dry beans. I had methods for the slow cooker, stove top, and even in the oven, but something was still lacking – pressure cooking.
I emailed Jill and she was kind enough to help me out and wrote a how to on pressure cooking beans. Since she did such an amazing job, I asked her if she would share some of her pressure cooking information and gear it to you.
The Vegan Pressure Cooker for Slow Cooker Users – Is it Time to Get PC?
By Jill Nussinow, MS, RD, The Veggie Queen™
It’s the end of the tomato season, but there is still time for you to stash some organic heirloom tomatoes away for a chilly winter day. [Read more...]
Great Vegan Bean Book: 
The Vegan Slow Cooker:
The Vegan Slow Cooker:
