Veggie Yogi

Food, health and prosperity for the body

Peanut and Tomato Stew

I’ve had a hankering for tomatoes lately and couldn’t stop thinking about this peanut and tomato stew that I found some time ago on Allrecipes.com. It can be eaten on its own, but it is also a great sauce to put on top of things like nut burgers and lentil loaf, which I will post about soon.  I have adapted the recipe a little from the original.

So here are the ingredients you’ll need:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup diced onion (I buy the handy frozen chopped onions in the grocery store because it’s easier and creates less tears, but fresh is always best if you’re so inclined)
3 cloves garlic (or minced garlic)
2 green bell peppers, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2/3 cup crushed peanuts
1 1/2 cups finely chopped or shredded carrot
1 1/2 cups mushrooms, chopped
4 large tomatoes, diced
3/4 cup apple juice
3/4 cup water
Onion powder to taste
Pinch of cayenne and/or red pepper flakes to taste

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Begin by placing olive oil, onion, garlic, peppers and peanuts in a pot and cook on medium for 5 minutes.

Add carrots and mushrooms and cook for another 2 minutes.

Add tomatoes, apple juice, water, onion powder, cayenne and red pepper flakes and cook for another 2 minutes.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and then simmer for 30 minutes to 1 1/2 hours. I simmered mine for about 1 hour.

Serve on its own or as a sauce for nut burgers, lentil loaf or other awesome vegetarian dishes.

Baked Polenta Casserole

Delicious and nutritious! Here’s a nice vegetarian dish made with polenta.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter. This weekend my husband and I decided that we’d make something kind of special. So this recipe takes a little more effort than my usual recipes–but it is well worth it!  Thanks to Dwayne for doing much of the cooking. 🙂 It was delish! Had it for dinner last night and lunch again today! The rest went into the freezer in individual servings for later consumption. 😉 If you want to save yourself some time you can also buy cooked polenta in the grocery store and save the step of cooking the polenta.

Be sure to look for cheeses that are not made with animal rennet. I typically find them at Whole Foods because they carry products that are clearly marked as being vegetarian. Most cheeses in regular grocery stores are not really vegetarian because they are made with animal rennet, but if you look carefully you can find them without.

Here’s what you’ll need
For the polenta:
4 1/2 cups water
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cups cornmeal (regular or instant)
For the tomato sauce:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 chopped onion
2 cloves of finely chopped garlic (or minced)
Pinch hot red pepper flakes
2 – 28 oz tins plum tomatoes with juices (I found some Italian tomatoes that had only 20 mg of sodium which is very low compared to other brands)
1/2 tsp pepper
Salt to taste
1/2 lb light ricotta cheese
1/4 cup pesto sauce
3/4 cup grated part-skim mozzarella cheese
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
3 roma tomatoes diced
4 oz sliced mushrooms
1 red bell pepper diced
Handful of spinach (or more)

Makes approx 8-10 servings

I adapted the recipe from Bonnie Stern’s recipe in Simply HeartSmart Cooking adding some veggies. I think if I made it again I’d try increasing the amount of veggies, but the way I made it was pretty good. 🙂

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Add canned tomatoes, roma tomatoes, mushrooms, and bell pepper and cook for approximately 30 minutes until thick.

Puree the sauce using a hand blender. Add salt and pepper if desired.

Mix in Spinach.

Spread 1 cup of sauce over the bottom of a 13 x 9 inch baking dish.

Slice the polenta.

Top with mozzarella and parmesan cheese and bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes.

Wait 5 to 10 minutes before serving.

Curry Quinoa

April 1, 2012Leave a comment

Quinoa is a seed that is not only delicious to eat, it is also a superfood. It provides many of the benefits of whole grains, it is a complete source of protein, and it is high in magnesium which is good for cardiovascular health. It is also gluten-free. You can buy it in most health food stores such as Whole Foods.

I have to admit I tried this recipe last weekend and made it in a crockpot. Not a good idea! Quinoa doesn’t need to cook very long, and although it tasted great, the consistency was a bit like glue. So this version is quick and easy to prepare and the texture is much better! Total cooking time 20 minutes, total prep time only about 10 minutes!

Here is what you’ll need:
5 cups water
2 cups quinoa
1-1/2 cups diced carrots
1-1/2 cups diced celery
1 diced onion
4 tsp curry powder
2 tsp each cumin, garham masala, tumeric, ginger
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 28 oz can diced tomatoes (or fresh diced is always better)
1 15 oz can chickpeas

Recipe adapted from Curry Quinoa Recipe in Stir-Well to Heaven.

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Place Water in pot and add spices, onion, carrots, celery and quinoa.

Mix together and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes add the diced tomato and chickpeas and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.

Serve and enjoy!