Tag: Green beans

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Chickpea & Vegetable Tagine

We are all adjusting to the COVID-19 pandemic and for most of us that means staying home and cooking at home. For those of you who are interested in fixing healthy meals for you and your family without meat – you’ve come to the right place! It’s been a while since I’ve posted – but I’ve been trying a bunch of new recipes that I’m anxious to share with others. We’ve been eating vegan for going on 3 years now – and have enjoyed many health benefits including a stronger immune system.

This delicious recipe from The How Not to Die Cookbook with recipes by Robin Robertson, uses 5 fresh vegetables, but you could use canned or frozen if you don’t have fresh. I served it over warm quinoa in bowls – but you could use brown, red or black rice. Just make sure to start cooking your grains before starting on the main entree. You could also substitute any veggies that you don’t have with some of your favorites.

  • Chickpea & Vegetable Tangine

Ingredients:

  • 1 red onion (I used a white onion)
  • 1 carrot, chopped (you could use canned)
  • 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
  • 1 garlic clove, minced (1/2 tsp)
  • 1 1/2 tsp minced fresh ginger (I use ginger paste in a tube – found at Aldi)
  • 2 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 1/4 inch pie fresh turmeric, grated (or 1/4 tsp ground turmeric)
  • 1/8 to 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste
  • 2 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 cup green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 2 cups diced mushrooms
  • 1 1/2 cups cooked or 1 15.5 oz chickpeas (or garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
  • 2 Tbsp minced fresh cilantro or parsley (I used 2 tsp dried parsley)
  • 2 tsp blended peeled lemon (I used lemon juice)
  • 1 Tbsp raisins or minced dried apricot (optional – I did not use)

Directions:

  1. Begin preparing quinoa, rice, or pasta (make enough for 4 servings)
  2. Heat 1/4 cup of water in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, and bell pepper. Cover and cook for 5 minutes – string often.
  3. Stir in the garlic, ginger, tomato paste, cinnamon, cumin, paprika, turmeric and cayenne.
  4. Add the broth, green beans, mushrooms and chickpeas and bring to a boil.
  5. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes (stir often).
  6. Stir in the cilantro, lemon and raisins (if using) and cook 5 minutes longer. Taste to adjust the seasonings and serve hot.

I will try my best to post more “Healthy at Home” recipes while we are in quarantine.

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