Food Prep Sundays! Get fresh.

I love food prep Sundays. They make me feel so healthy, in control and organized. This week I took a different approach. I'm really big into smoothies and salads right now. I pretty much always have at least one smoothie a day but lately I've been having more. With the weather getting warmer and the sun shining, I feel like I need more raw foods. So this week I bought lots of lettuce and salad fixin's.

Instead of rice and quinoa, I made cauliflower rice. You can get that recipe here. This time I didn't add the onion, but only because I was lazy to chop it. lol But I also added garlic instead cuz I wanted to test out my new garlic mincer thing. I'll tell yah about it later.

I cooked up 2 cups of dried chickpeas and baked some tofu for added bites of protein and fiber for my salads. To 'beef' them up, if you will.  I also peeled 2 oranges and a grapefruit, washed an apple and made my morning smoothie in advance (So I could go for a run before I leave for the day). On Saturday I made a big crockpot full of refried beans as well.

Woot woot! I'm all set to take on this week. :)

My salad is SO good! I made 2 HUGE ones and ate one on Sunday.

Spinach Tornado Salad

Ingredients

2 cups packed spinach

1 cup sliced mushrooms

1 1/2  cup chopped celery

1 carrot, sliced

1 green onion

1 cup chickpeas (see recipe below)

1/2 cucumber, chopped

Baked tofu

1/4 avocado

Dressing:

half a lemon, juiced

3 tbsp mustard

sriracha

Directions:

Combine all salad dressing ingredients together and mix until smooth. Pour over salad and toss. :)

This was the biggest salad EVER! I ate half for lunch and half for dinner. It sure was amazing though.

You can't even see all the goodness that is in there. It is jam packed full of variety so that this salad is NOT boring and would fill up anyone. :)

I was cooking a bunch of chickpeas to just have on hand and maybe whip up a chickpea spinach curry but that didn't feel right. I knew I needed another protein source for my salad so what better way than to throw on some chickpeas! I didn't want just plain ones so I jazzed them up a bit.

Spiced Chickpeas
Ingredients
3.5 cups chickpeas
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili flakes
Sprinkle garlic powder
1/2 lemon, juiced
1 tsp Vega EFA Oil

Directions:
Toss all ingredients together until well combined. Add to salads for protein and fibre.

I also sliced up a package of tofu, sprinkled garlic powder and lemon-pepper seasoning and baked at 375 for 25 minutes. I then chopped this tofu up and added it to my salads. I also snacked on a couple slices. Mmmmmm. :)

Its kinda nice to have beans and tofu like this all ready to go. Makes it easier to snack on healthy food. I like to just throw these onto salads or just eating them on their own.

Do you do Food Prep Sunday's as well?

Peace

xoxo

K

Let's get Vegucated! Cauliflower edition: Creamy cauliflower soup

Cauliflower was on sale the other day at my local No Frills so I picked one up. Usually I roast it and add that to salads or just keep it on hand to munch on for a snack but this time I thought a soup would be nice. If you’re new to the blog you might not know that I’m a big lover of soups. I make them pretty often. I think they are a great way to get a lot of nutrient dense food in one bowl with little effort. If you don’t have a crockpot (slow cooker) then I suggest that you get one. I use mine a lot. Its a great addition to any kitchen but particularly if you are short on time.  You can prep everything the night before (like I do) then pop it in the crockpot in the morning and turn it on. When you get home....voila! Dinner is ready. Just like a good wifey.

 Cauliflower is kind of an underrated vegetable because of its white colour. We are always taught that we should eat colourful veggies, which is completely true. But just because cauliflower isn’t colourful doesn’t mean it’s not full of nutrients. Here is a quick summary of the nutrient profile of cauliflower:

In 100 grams:

·         25 calories

·         0 grams fat

·         0 cholesterol

·         30 mg sodium

·         3 grams fiber

·         2 grams sugar

·         2 grams protein’

·         77% RDI Vitamin C

·         2% RDI Calcium

·         2% RDI Iron

 Pretty good right? So throw in some cauliflower once in a while. I prefer to eat it cooked. Raw cauliflower is not my fave. Cauliflower curry, roasted with lemon and paprika, mashed, in soup, blended, made into a “rice” are some great ways to utilize this veggie. J  Here’s an easy recipe to get you started:

 Creamy Cauliflower Soup with split peas

Ingredients
1 head cauliflower
1 ½ cups yellow split peas
4 celery stalks, chopped
6 garlic cloves
5 cups water
3 cups veggie stock
2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili flakes
2 bay leaves
1 160ml can low fat coconut milk

Directions:

Put all ingredients except for coconut milk into a crockpot and cook for 6 hours.  Remove bay leaves, add coconut milk and blend with a hand blender or once the soup has cooled down put into a blender and puree until smooth.

If you don’t have a crockpot, follow the same directions but cook on medium heat until split peas and cauliflower is soft. Remove bay leaves, add coconut milk and blend.

Serve with brown rice or a side salad. J

Hope you enjoyed a little bit of vegucation over here at Vegucated in Vancouver.

Peace

Xoxo

K

Cauliflower Curry (Gobi Masala)

I LOVE Indian food. I am no expert at preparing it, but I think I do a pretty good job. I usually just grab recipes from online or use a book that a friend got me for my birthday a couple years back. Its not an authentic cookbook by any means. And personally I find that there are not enough spices. Not spicy spices, but not enough seasonings. So I always double that part.

Its called Easy Everyday: Indian by Das Sreedharan. Its not vegan or vegetarian so if I'm making a recipe that's not vegan I just veganize it. Which is what I did for the following recipe:

Note: You don't need to adjust the spices, I have already done so. And I added chili flakes cuz I like it hot.

Cauliflower Curry (Gobi Masala)
2 tsp fennel seeds
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp coriander powder
5 tsp tomato paste
1 head cauliflower, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
4 tomatoes, quartered
1 pint almond milk
1 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp chili flakes

1. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in wok or large pan. Add the fennel seeds and cook for 1 minute or until golden brown. Stirring constantly.
2. Add onion and cook for 10 minutes until golden.
3. Add turmeric and chili powder and stir fry for 2 minutes then stir in tomato paste. Toss until onions are coated.
4. Add cauliflower, green pepper, tomato quarters, almond milk, 8 oz water and salt. Cook on medium heat for 5-8 minute, stirring to prevent milk from splitting.
5. Add coriander powder and cook until cauliflower is soft.
6. Serve over brown rice.

The recipe actually calls for some chopped cilantro on top but I'm not a fan. But it would make it look quite pretty. This recipe makes a lot. Its even better the next day!

Its full of protein from the brown rice and the cauliflower, and is loaded with tons of vitamins and minerals. DO IT

Peace

xoxo

K