Veg Chef Eric

Eating Veggies with Ease and Fun

Indian inspired Gobi Aloo (Meal Planning Edition)

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I love cooking with Indian spices since it’s so easy to make something delicious and as mild or spicy as you like it. Today I made something similar to Gobi Aloo (http://allrecipes.com/recipe/55641/gobi-aloo-indian-style-cauliflower-with-potatoes/) but since was making it in huge portions adjusted things a little.
 
I used the instant pot(electric pressure cooker) on sauté mode and had the potatoes cooked and cooled beforehand since that is typically what takes the longest. In the instant pot, I sautéed the onions and garlic, then added the tomatoes and spices. Then added the cauliflower and let it cook just until starting to become tender. I added tofu and frozen green peas(not required for this recipe) and stirred only a couple more minutes. Then I poured everything into a huge bowl with the cooked potatoes to stir.
 
This made 6 HUGE double portions and filled up way more food than an entire instant pot which is why the potatoes were separate. The gigantic bowl came in handy.
 
Meal prep glass freezer containers at https://www.amazon.com/2-Compartment-Container-Snap-Locking-Leakproof-Dishwasher/dp/B01L9Z57L6. Don’t bother with the cheaper ones.
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 Indian inspired Gobi Aloo (Meal Planning Edition)
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Spicy Chana Masala (Meal Planning Edition)

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I’ve posted this one (http://www.vegcheferic.com/2016/07/02/spicy-chana-masala/) before however today it’s Meal Planning Edition style. Cooked in bulk with 6 huge meals. One to eat, and the other five were frozen for work. This was a snap in the instant pot (electric pressure cooker) even with cooking the beans from dry this time.
 
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5 Minute Chia Pudding

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Not counting cooling time, this method only takes 5 minutes to make some of the most delicious Chocolate pudding and it’s actually good for you (shhh don’t tell anyone).

Cooking Tips: I use a high speed blender and Blender Ball shaker for ease

Ingredients:
2 cups water
2 Tablespoons Almond Butter
1 Tablespoon Cacao Powder
4 Medjool Dates
1/2 cup Chia Seeds

Directions:
1) Place water, almond butter, cacao powder, and dates in high speed blender. Blend on high for 1 minute
2) Pour mixture into Blender Ball Shaker. Add Chia Seeds.
3) Shake occasionally for 3 minutes
4) Pour into serving dishes
5) Chill for as long as you can stand it since once you taste, you probably won’t be able to stop yourself

Runner Tip: This is a great recovery pudding. Just add some frozen cherries and enjoy.


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 5 Minute Chia Pudding
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Smoky Creole Beans & Rice (Meal Planning Edition)

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This is stupid easy and only 5 minutes effort if you have already cooked the beans and rice.  I used an instant pot(electric pressure cooker) to cook the beans and rice in advance.

Ingredients:
Brown Rice, cooked
Black beans, cooked
Diced tomatoes, drained (2 cans)
Garlic, diced
Onion powder
Garlic powder
Chipotle powder
Smoked Paprika

Directions:
1) Pour tomatoes, raw garlic, and spices into black beans.  Mix well.  Add more spices to taste
2) Enjoy with tortillas or freeze in meal prep containers to enjoy later

This recipe was inspired from the PlantPure Frozen Meals https://www.plantpurenation.com/pages/frozen-entrees-ingredient-and-nutrition-information


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Meal Prep Containers Review

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No usual recipe today but instead I wanted to share a recent review I did of meal prep containers.  Also don’t worry since more meal prep recipes are coming
your way soon since my previous posts have been a hit.  Links below are non-affiliated and 100% bias-free so just sharing in case you find the information useful too.

==What is Meal Prep?==
This is simply cooking in bulk ahead of time and freezing the homemade meals.  They are super convenient for work since I can just grab one from the freezer
and run.  I place this in the Hot Logic (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00EC7XJ28) when get to work so never have to use a microwave.  Creating your own
meals is great because it’s easy, cheaper, better quality, and you know exactly what is going in them.

==The Faceoff==
Judging by the overwhelmingly positive Amazon reviews, the meal prep containers I tried out were plastic and glass.
1) Plastic – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0128YT76S.  These cost ($11 for 7 containers).  While freezer safe, reusable, and microwave safe, they aren’t
all that sturdy especially after one use.  I don’t see these lasting more than a few uses judging by the quality.
2) Glass – 2-compartment(5 cups) – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01L9Z57L6 and 1-compartment(3.5 cups) – https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0175EUOL8 at
$30 for 3 and $22 for 3 respectively.  These are hands down outstanding quality.  The only drawback I could possibly give them is they are a little heavier than the plastic kind. Other than that though, they seem well worth the investment to get the glass containers instead.  Also I prefer the larger size because although .5 cups doesn’t sound like much, there is a noticeable difference in how much food can fit while both take up about the same space.

Final Verdict: Glass containers by MealPrep

I got the inspiration for these meal prep adventures from the non-profit meal prep frozen meals at PlantPure https://www.plantpurenation.com/collections/foods but wanted to make my own to customize them even more.  Don’t be surprised if you see some similar recipes on future posts.

In the meantime, if you have any questions, just let me know.

 

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Spaghetti and Veggie “Meat” Balls – Meal Prep Edition + Review

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I plan to experiment more with meal prep. The idea here is I can make tasty and healthy meals in batch, freeze them, and then later enjoy them at work. I’m trying out these (https://www.amazon.com/Certified-BPA-Free-Reusable-Microwavable-Containers/dp/B0128YT76S) and while they are reuseable and sturdy, I’m switching over to the glass kind (https://www.amazon.com/Container-Leakproof-Microwave-Dishwasher-Rectangle/dp/B0175EUOL8). At work, I use a Hot Logic heating plate (https://www.amazon.com/HotLogic-Mini-Personal-Portable-Black/dp/B00EC7XJ00) so don’t have to bother with a microwave.

So today I created meal prep for Spaghetti and Veggie “Meat” Balls. My recipe for the plant-based “meat” balls is at http://www.vegcheferic.com/recipe/veggie-meat-balls-draft-edition/. Other than that I just cooked the pasta, added some spaghetti sauce, frozen peas, and some brazil nuts for good measure. This is very similar to the PlantPure frozen meal version they have.


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 Spaghetti and Veggie “Meat” Balls – Meal Prep Edition + Review
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Veggie “Meat” Balls (Draft Edition)

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This is my first attempt at making plant based “meat” balls.  My goal was to make something healthy but also tasted good.  They turned out wayyyy better than
I thought and must say I’m hooked since they are delicious.  Also I’ve been toying with meal prep so the idea is I can make big batches, freeze them, and th
en enjoy them later at work.  I may post my progress for different recipe ideas on this if others are interested too.

NOTE: This is a draft release so I don’t have exact measurements yet but I will let you know roughly how I did it.  I wasn’t specifically trying to make them
Gluten-Free too, but turns out these are.

Ingredients:
Red Onion, chopped finely
Carrots, chopped finely
Garlic cloves, chopped finely
Chia Seeds, Soaked
Sesame Seeds
Multi-Grain 5-Seed Baked Crackers (I get these at Costco)
Cashews, unsalted
Nutritional Yeast
Benson’s Table Tasty
Italian Seasoning
Celery Seed
Chipotle Powder
Tofu, Extra Firm, Pressed

Directions:
1) Sauté Onions and Carrots
2) Blend Cashews and Crackers in dry Vitamix attachment until fine powder
3) Crush Tofu into tiny bits.  Add Chia seeds, spices, garlic, and onion/carrot mixture.  Mix well.
4) Add enough of the Cashew and Crackers powder till have firm mixture
5) Mold into balls and coat lightly with powder mixture
6) Bake at 400 degrees for 50 minutes

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Brownie Energy Bites (Easy Blender Method)

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Okay this recipe I completely changed to make it a healthy energy brownie.  Also used my famous blender method to make things simple.  NOTE: you will need a
high speed blender like a Vitamix or Blendtec.

You can test your own substitutions to see if you have good luck too.  Substitutions from the original recipe included:
Eggs → Replaced with → Chickpea flour
Sugar → Replaced with → Dates + Maple Syrup
Oil → Replaced with → Peanut Butter
Chocolate Chips → Replaced with → 100% unsweetened Baker’s Chocolate

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Ingredients:
½ Cup Peanut Butter
1 Cup Water (+ more as needed)
¾ Cup Pitted Dates
½ Cup Maple Syrup
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
2 Cups Purple Sweet Potatoes (cooked)
1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/3 Cup Chickpea Flour
1/3 Cup Cacao Powder
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Cinnamon
100% unsweetened Baker’s Chocolate (optional)

Directions:
1) In high speed Blender, mix Water, Peanut Butter, Dates, Maple Syrup.  Blend till smooth
2) Add sweet potatoes.  Blend till smooth
3) In separate mixing bowl, mix flours, cacao, baking powder, and cinnamon
4) Add blender mixture to dry ingredients.  Mix well and add water in small amounts as needed till batter is consistency of brownie mix (ie. little bit thicker than pancake batter).
5) Scoop into baking pan.  Cover with shaved chocolate bits(optional)
6) Bake for 50 minutes at 375 degrees.  NOTE: These will be a little gooey inside but will firm up when chilled.

5-Minute Cashew “Cheesy” Sauce

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Normally I do a marinara sauce over pasta however today was feeling in an Alfredo mood. Looking for ease, I slightly modified the recipe at http://pinchofyum.com/five-minute-cashew-sauce. It’s a perfect base and can be easily made faster than you can even boil water. NOTE: if you use a Vitamix, this will also heat the sauce which is quite handy.
 
Ingredients:
-2 cups cashews (unsalted)
-1 1/4 cup veggie broth
-2-3 cloves garlic
-dash Coconut Aminos (I used this instead of salt)
 
Directions:
1) Soak cashews in water beforehand and drain. 2 hours desired but not required
2) Blend veggie broth, garlic, coconut aminos, and cashews in high-speed blender
3) Add water sparingly as needed until reach desired consistency.
 
Optional Toppings:
This is an Alfredo base so you can top it with anything however in this case I chose green peas, chipotle powder, basil, and fresh ground pepper.

Quick Artichoke & Tomato Goodness

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Okay truth be told this wasn’t supposed to be a recipe I was going to post since was something I just threw together while having some extra baked potatoes to use up. It turned out so delicious but the kicker was it only took 5 minutes to make from start to finish so had to share it in case others wanted to try it too.
 
There are many ways this could be modified but in the interest of time, here is exactly how I did it:
 
Ingredients:
1 can diced tomatoes
1 jar artichoke hearts(in water), drained, stalk cut off
frozen peas
frozen kale
dash Tamari (or soy sauce)
1 teaspoon Vegan Worcestershire Sauce
pinch Chipotle powder
pinch garlic powder
 
Directions:
1) Heat all ingredients on medium heat for about 3 minutes
2) Pour over potatoes