Category: gluten free

Quick Vegetable Stir Fry

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This quick and easy dish taken from “SmartintheKitchen.com” can be served alone or over rice or noodles. I added baked tofu (using the Easiest Crispy Tofu Recipe) but you could serve it with your favorite protein substitute (like seitan, etc.). Use fresh vegetables if you have then (like peppers, mushrooms, carrots, asparagus, etc) – but frozen stir fry mix is just as good and faster. This recipe takes about 20 minutes – but add another 25 – 30 minutes if making the crispy tofu too. Serves 4 – 6

Quick Vegetable Stir Fry with Crispy Tofu

Ingredients:

  • 1 Tbsp coconut oil or avocado oil
  • 1 package frozen stir fry mix, without sauce
  • 1 package frozen broccoli, without sauce
  • 5 green onions, cut on diagonally into then slices
  • 1-inch piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated (I use ginger paste from a tube – available at Aldi)
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced (about 1 Tbsp)
  • 1/3 cup tamari (gluten-free soy sauce), soy sauce or coconut aminos (or more to taste)
  • Sesame seeds, cilantro leaves or green onion (optional garnish)

Crispy Tofu Ingredients:

  • 1 14 oz block of Extra Firm Tofu (if using)
  • 2 Tbsp of Nutritional Yeast
  • 1 Tbsp Reduced-sodium Soy Sauce or Tamari

Instructions:

  1. If using crispy tofu – follow directions below (takes 45+ minutes – but can be baking while you make the vegetable stir fry).
  2. In a large fry pan over medium-high heat, add 2 Tbsp coconut oil or avocado oil.
  3. Add green onions, ginger and garlic and sauce until fragrant, about 2 minutes.
  4. Add both bags of frozen vegetables and cook until tender. Don’t worry about defrosting them, just add them frozen and let the pan do the work.
  5. Once vegetables have softened and thawed, add the tamari or soy sauce and taste for seasoning.
  6. Add crispy tofu if it is ready (see recipe below).
  7. Garnish with sesame seeds, fresh green onion slices or cilantro if you’d like.

Instructions for “the Easiest Crispy Tofu Recipe” (taken from “FrommyBowl.com“)

I don’t often make tofu to be perfectly honest (it tends to be mushy). The good news is – I finally found a very easy and fool-proof way to make crispy tofu that actually tastes good!

  1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees
  2. Cut tofu into 16 cubes (about 1″)
  3. Add tofu to a large bowl and add 1 Tbsp of Soy Sauce or Tamari toss with spatula.
  4. Add Nutritional Yeast and gently mix until coated (add more Nutritional Yeast or extra seasoning to taste.
  5. Transfer coated tofu cubes to a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat, leaving space between the cubes. Bake on the top rack to the oven for 20 minutes, then carefully flip the cubes. Bake for another 20 – 30 minutes, depending on how crispy you like your tofu. Leftovers will last in the fridge for up to one week.

Quinoa-Avocado Salad with Black Beans and Salsa

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This is my new summer favorite vegan dish! It is simple and quick to make – and it uses some of my favorite ingredients: avocado, quinoa and black beans. It is perfect for hot summer nights when you don’t want to cook over a hot stove. It is great for left-overs too (in fact, I like it cold). Again, all these ingredients can be found at Aldi which makes this a reasonably priced and quick vegan meal that your whole family will enjoy!

This dish can be found on page 44 of “One Dish Vegan” and it serves about 4. It usually takes me about 20 minutes or less. For mine I like to substitute black beans for the pinto beans. Enjoy!

Quinoa-Avocado Salad with Black Beans and Salsa

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups of water
  • salt
  • 1 cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed and drained
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked pinto or black beans or 1 (15.5 oz) can of pinto or black beans – rinsed and drained
  • 1 cup tomato salsa (our favorite is Newman’s Own Peach Salsa)
  • 2 ripe Hass avocados, pitted, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice
  • 3 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro (opt)
  • 2 scallions, minced (opt)
  • Juice and zest of 1 lime (about 2 Tbsp. lime juice)
  • Freshly ground black pepper
  • Torn mixed salad greens for serving (opt)

Directions:

  1. Place water in a saucepan, add 1/2 tsp salt, and bring to a boil. Add the quinoa, return to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook until the quinoa is tender and the water is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a large bowl to cool. (I like to pop the bowl into the refrigerator until the other ingredients are ready to add).
  2. Add the beans and salsa to the the bowl, and toss to combine. Add the avocados, cilantro, scallions, lime juice and zest, and salt and pepper to taste. Toss gently to combine. Taste and adjust the seasonings if needed.
  3. If serving as a salad: arrange the salad greens on plates, top with the quinoa-bean mixture and serve.

Green Bean and Mango Salad

It’s the middle of summer and the past few weeks have been HOT and muggy – definitely too hot to cook! So I found this great salad that we made last summer that earned a rare a 5 star rating. It uses fresh ingredients that are easy to find at my local Aldi store (for you cost conscious people like me out there). This recipe is Thai inspired and found on the Forks Over Knives website and was created by Jessica Nadel. It is super easy (takes 15 minutes) and serves 4 – 6 people. It is gluten free (depending on what you serve it over) and full of color and fresh crunchy flavor! Give it a try and let me know how you like it.

Green Bean and Mango Salad

Ingredients:

For Salad:

  • 3 cups of fresh green beans or Asian long beans (I like to cut them into 1 – 2″ pieces before cooking)
  • 2 slightly underripe mangos
  • 1 cup cherry, grape or calamari tomatoes, halved
  • 1/4 cup fresh cilantro – trimmed (opt. – my husband hates cilantro so I left it off)
  • 3 creen onions, sliced
  • 1/4 peanuts, crushed
  • Optional: Cooked rice (we used Simply Nature Seven Grains which warms up in 90 seconds in the microwave)

For Dressing:

  • 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
  • 1 Tbsp gluten-free tamari
  • 1/2 tsp unrefined cane sugar (I used Sugar in the Raw)
  • 1 fresh Thai Chili, minced (optional
  • Optional: 1 Tbsp Pad Thai Sauce

Instructions:

  1. Bring a 3 qt pan of water to a boil. Add the green beans and cook for up to 2 minutes, until bright green and tender-crisp. Drain, then plunge them into a bowl of ice water to halt the cooking process. Drain again. (Optional: trim the ends and slice the beans in half lengthwise). Place them in a large bowl and set aside.
  2. See and peel the mango and slice into long, thin strips. Add Mano to the green beans, along with the tomatoes, cilantro, onion and peanuts.
  3. Wish together the lim juice, Tamara, cane sugar, and chili in a small bowl. Pour over the salad, toss and serve. The salad can be made and dressed ahead of time and left to chill and marinate in the fridge for up to 3 hours.

Quick Tip: This salad can be served alone or on a bed of rice, quinoa or other grains. We used the Simply Nature Organic Seven Grains from Aldi which adds 8 grams of protein to this meal.

Green Bean and Mango Salad

Tunisian chickpeas with sweet potatoes and greens

Tunisian chickpeas with sweet potatoes and greens

I prepared this delicious and colorful dish for supper last night and served it over quinoa. This easy to prepare dish is from “One-Dish Vegan” by Robin Robertson and is packed full of antioxidants and protein from all veggies! It is soy and gluten-free depending on what you serve it over (couscous, rice, pasta, quinoa, or warm flatbread). It took me about 30 minutes to prepare and it serves approximately 4.

Ingredients:

  • 1 Tbsp olive oil or 1/4 cup water
  • 1 medium (or half large) yellow onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced (2 tsp)
  • 1 large or 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice
  • 1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1/2 tsp dried thyme
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 (14.5 oz) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas or 1 (15.5 oz) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
  • 1/2 cup vegetable broth or water
  • 6 t0 8 cups chopped stemmed kale, spinach or chard
  • Lemon wedges, for serving
  • 2 cups of cooked quinoa, couscous, rice or pasta (enough for 4 servings)

Instructions:

  1. Cut up the onion, sweet potato and spinach (spinach needed last).
  2. Follow directions for cooking about 2 cups of couscous, rice, pasta or quinoa.
  3. In the meantime, heat the oil or water in a large pot over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook for 3 to 5 minutes to soften, stirring occasionally, Add the sweet potato, coriander, paprika, thyme, cumin, red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Add the tomatoes with their juices, chickpeas, and broth and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for 10 minutes.
  5. Add the kale (or spinach/chard), stirring to wilt. Simmer until all the vegetables are tender – about another 10-15 minutes. Serve hot over couscous, quinoa, pasta or flatbread and top with a squeeze of lemon.
  • Tunisian chickpeas with sweet potatoes and greens

Today’s Bonus Tip:

Eating a plant-based diet is great for your health – but we need to be mindful of toxins from the environment (chemical pesticides and fertilizers) found on our fruits and vegetables.

I found this newly updated list of the “Dirty Dozen” and the “Clean 15” for 2019 taken from: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-nutrition/a26873412/dirty-dozen-foods-2019-list/. I don’t have this list memorized – but I do keep a copy of it in my purse so I can refer to it while I shop.

Every year, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) publishes a list of the “Dirty Dozen,” or the fruits and vegetables the nonprofit claims have the highest amount of pesticides when grown conventionally versus organically. 

The EWG has compiled the list annually since 2004 based on internal data that’s not peer-reviewed. Using 40,900 samples for 47 different types of produce, the EWG found these twelve had the most pesticide residue:

The 2019 Dirty Dozen Foods List:

  1. Strawberries 
  2. Spinach
  3. Kale
  4. Nectarines
  5. Apples
  6. Grapes
  7. Peaches
  8. Cherries 
  9. Pears
  10. Tomatoes
  11. Celery
  12. Potatoes

Strawberries rank number one for the fourth year in a row, and the rest of the list looks similar to years past with one exception: Kale made the top 12 for the first time in a decade.

If you’re concerned about pesticides, the EWG also publishes a list of the “Clean 15,” a.k.a. the produce from conventional growers that generally had less residue in the group’s tests. This year they are:

The 2019 Clean 15 Foods List:

  1. Avocados
  2. Sweet corn
  3. Pineapples
  4. Frozen sweet peas
  5. Onions
  6. Papayas
  7. Eggplants
  8. Asparagus
  9. Kiwis
  10. Cabbages
  11. Cauliflower
  12. Cantaloupes
  13. Broccoli
  14. Mushrooms
  15. Honeydew melons