Veg Chef Eric

Eating Veggies with Ease and Fun

Dinner

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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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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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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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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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

Meal Planning Edition – Yakisoba

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This is the third installment of my meal planning edition recipe ideas. The idea is to make extra food in bulk, seal/freeze it, and enjoy it at a later time. So far the results have been amazing. In fact just today I ate my Raise the Roof Lasagna which was sealed three weeks ago and it tasted just as fresh as day one.
 
Why Yakisoba?
I purchase these convenient frozen packages from Costco but my pet peeve with them is 1) they are covered in oil, 2) there isn’t very many veggies, and 3) the portions are pretty small. So today I gave an attempt at making something similar but with no oil, more veggies, and larger portions. Overall it made 6 huge portions and was delicious.
 
Just for fun, the pic here is my Yakisoba on the left and Costco’s on the right.
 
How I Made Yakisoba?
There is a recipe at http://www.food.com/recipe/vegetarian-yakisoba-187655 but truth be told, I only used that as a reference to get the tamari (soy sauce) and vegan Worcestershire sauce ratio correct and an idea of how to cook the noodles (only boil them two minutes!). The main thing to remember is NOT to overcook anything. It’s better to have it underdone than over done. As a result of this, I simply put the veggies in to sauté (I used the instant pot) in the order from longest cooking time to shortest.
 
Veggies Used (and order of cooking):
Onions + Veggie broth
Mushrooms
Carrots
Broccoli (Frozen)
Red Pepper
Cabbage
Garlic Cloves
Medjool Date, chopped (I use this instead of sugar)
Hearts of Palm
Edamame (not pictured)
 
Sauces:
Vegan Worcestershire sauce (1T ratio)
Tamari Soy Sauce (¼ cup ratio)
Hot Chili Powder (optional, use sparingly)
 
Overall a very easy recipe to make. Give it a try and make extra to enjoy later.
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Meal Planning Edition – Bean Burritos

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This is another edition of my attempt at making meals in bulk. This only takes about 15 minutes and yielded three full meals (10 burritos).  Ate one meal and sealed/froze the other two for a later date.

Ingredients: Black beans, brown rice, onions, garlic, mushrooms, Chipotle Powder, Tortillas

Toppings(optional): pepperoncini, olives, frank’s hot sauce, Just Mayo

Side Tip #1: When using canned beans, always rinse thoroughly until the white foam disappears. This will cut down on the issues of gas that beans can sometimes cause

Side Tip #2: Garlic tends to get more mild as you cook it. If you enjoy a stronger garlic flavor, try adding this later in the cooking process. The less you cook it, the stronger the flavor will be. Mushrooms and onions however are the opposite and you can almost cook them forever.

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Meal Planning Edition – Raise the Roof Lasagna

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This is the first in my series of meal planning. The idea here is yummy and healthy foods can be prepared well in advance in bulk. If you prepare ahead of time, you can avoid those terrible excuses of “I don’t have time to cook”.

Here I made my favorite Lasagna recipe http://www.vegcheferic.com/2016/05/25/raise-the-roof-lasagna/ and used the FoodSaver to lock in freshness. I’ve found this method keeps the food fresh almost as great as when you pull it out of the oven. A tip I used was to cut the lasagna, then freeze it till it’s almost solid before you seal it. This prevents it from getting crushed.

Let me know if you like these Meal Planning Edition posts and I’ll continue to add them. Next ones I have planned are likely Yakisoba and Bean Burritos. I’ll only post what works and share as I learn more

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Maryland-Style Crab(free) Soup

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Had a craving and this one did the trick. I followed the recipe at https://crunchyvegangal.wordpress.com/2016/08/ for the most part. The main thing I did in the interest of time was a used my instant pot (electric pressure cooker) to saute the hard veggies for about 10 minutes in a little veggie broth before adding everything together. This cuts the cooking time in half. Also I cheated because I already had fully cooked baked potatoes so I just cubed those up.

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