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

Mexican Lentil Soup with Black Beans

I have majah love for soups. I make them pretty often and in huge batches. My freezer is always stocked full of them and chili. Even though I'm not 100% gluten free, especially after wine fest, I do try to live as gluten free as possible. I was really in the mood for some Mexican style black bean dish and came up with this delish soup. It is so full of flavour that I cannot even being to describe how amazing it was. I'm usually not wow'ed by my cooking but this one really wow'ed me! Try it!

Mexican Lentil Soup with Black Beans

Ingredients

1 cup red lentils

1 can black beans

2 carrots, diced

2 celery stalks, diced

1 onion, diced

2 garlic, minced

1 inch piece of ginger, minced

2 jalapeno, minced

2 large tomatoes, diced

1 cup frozen corn

1/2 bunch cilantro, finely chopped

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp cumin

2 cups veggie stock (Vegeta)

5 cups water

Directions:

1. Cook the lentils in 3 cups of water for 10-15 minutes alone. Then add the black beans and the remaining water. Cook for 10 minutes.

2. Add all remaining ingredients except for the spices and cilantro. Cook for 20 minutes and medium heat.

3. Add spices and cilantro and simmer on low-medium heat for 10-15 minutes. The longer you cook, the better it tastes. The lentils get integrated with the soup and the spices take over.

I was pretty much drooling at this point.

My friend Jimmy was a little bit late but not much, and I was SO hungry. So I steamed a head of broccoli, tossed it in some fresh lemon juice and scarfed that down to prevent myself from eating the soup too early. lol Another bonus of this meal is that its a one pot meal! It can totally stand on its own because of the lentils and beans. AND there is no fat in there. Well just a tad, whatever minuscule amount is in the legumes. But I didn't fry anything in oil. Yah!

So there you have it folks!!! This soup was so good! It even satisfied a meat eater. And I mean a meat eater who is a butcher. LOL Now that's saying something! Right? I served it with some brown rice and buckwheat I had left over. And we covered it in sriracha. I couldn't remember if Jimmy likes spicy food so I kept it on the milder side. Well, what I consider mild. Lol that's been proven not to be so mild sometimes. Ooops.

Its International Women's Day today. I hope you are giving the women in your life some loving. Extra special attention I hope. Thanks for stopping by for a read. Maybe make this soup for a lovely lady in your life? She would love a home cooked meal. I can just tell. lol

Peace

xoxo

K

One pot meal: Rice Cooker Pilaf

Sometimes simplicity is a luxury. I make a lot of food and sometimes the recipes can get pretty long and complicated so making something as easy as a one pot meal is glorious. I'm not in the habit of picking up take out on my way home when I'm too lazy. That's what a freezer full of soups and chili's is for. 

One pot meals are awesome, but a rice cooker meal is even better! This was my first one and it turned out DELICIOUS!! I didn't have much confidence that it would all work out but it was so damn tasty. It also needed no attention whatsoever. This was by far the easiest, healthy, tasty, homemade meal I've ever had.

Rice Cooker Pilaf

Ingredients

2 cups brown rice

4.5 cups water

1/2 lemon

1 1/2 cups frozen mixed veggies

1 cup frozen green beans

1 can chickpeas (540 ml)

2 tsp tomato paste

1 tsp garlic powder

2 tsp Vegeta (or veggie stock powder)

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1 tsp chili flakes

Directions:

Put all ingredients into your rice cooker. Cook until rice cooker turns off. Stir and enjoy!

Set it and Forget it!

I'm pretty sure it only took me 5 minutes to prepare it. Maybe not even. There was no chopping involved here at all. :)

YUMMMMMMMMMMY

It was seriously tasty. The only thing extra I did to it was soak it in hot sauce. The usge for me. lol

I'm really quite proud of this recipe. The ease of it has won me over. I'm a HUGE fan of the crockpot (slow cooker) but the rice cooker is coming up as a new fave. I gotta make more rice cooker recipes.

Peace

xoxo

K

One pot meals: Quinoa chickpea Vindaloo

I get lazy like anyone else and don't want to cook. Sometimes so lazy I don't want to order in or leave the apartment. SO in order not to starve I cook up a one pot meal to at least feed and nourish myself and use the least amount of dishes. Lol

I always keep some curry pastes or other cheats like that around for when I'm not feeling making sauces from scratch. I have this Vindaloo Paste from Patak's sitting in my fridge so I thought I'd utilize it for a tasty meal.

One pot quinoa chickpea vindaloo

Ingredients:

1 cup dry quinoa

1/2 can chickpeas

1 stalk kale, leaves removed

1 handful spinach, ripped

2 cups water

1 tsp vindaloo paste

1/2 lemon

hot sauce

Directions:

Put all ingredients except hot sauce and vindaloo paste into a pot and cook for 20 minutes. Ensure that quinoa is cooked, once cooked add the lemon, paste and hot sauce (to taste). Add 1/4 cup water if you want it saucier (which I did). Enjoy!

You could do so much more with this meal, but I just wasn't in the mood. Sometimes quick and easy is the way to go. Haha, that sounded.......funny. ;)

Peace

xoxo

K