Tag Archives: carrots

Slow Roasted Carrot Ginger Soup

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This is for all my friends living in colder climates. A little liquid sunshine just for you. A little spice to warm you up on those chilly nights. A little comfort food to let you know that you are going to be okay. And a little reminder that Spring is just around the corner.

Carrots are perfect for a pureed soup. They have just the right texture, sweetness, taste and the most beautiful color. Slow roasting the carrots brings out even more depth of flavor. I love this technique, one that I borrowed from the New York Times’ Mark Bittman.

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Easy Noodle Stir Fry

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I love eating vegetables. I love drinking vegetable juice. I love smoothies with vegetables. I love shopping for vegetables at the farmers market. I love growing vegetables. I FRIGGIN’ LOVE VEGETABLES! And…I’m a mom of two teenage boys who until relatively recently hated most vegetables. This seemed really unfair to me. I took it personally. And felt like I had somehow failed as a mom.

I mean, come on, this is a big part of my life and I was unable to share it with my kids. Over the years, I would talk to other moms whose kids ate vegetables and pretty much whatever was served for dinner. I’d hear things like: “I’m not a short-order cook,” or “They have to at least try a tasting portion.” Well, this never, I mean never, worked in my house. It always lead to drama at the dinner table which took all of the fun out of our family dinner. I want that time to be one where we share and laugh and connect…not a time to argue, fight or negotiate.

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Black-Eyed Pea Stew + GF Vegan Biscuits

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I almost never eat black-eyed peas (except for good luck on New Year’s day) and now I am wondering why. Because they are SO flipping awesome. Like other beans, there are a great source of protein for a vegan or vegetarian diet. And they have a mild almost sweet flavor.

The inspiration for this recipe came from Chloe’s Kitchen, one of my all time favorite vegan cookbooks. Her recipe is called Southern Skillet Black-Eyed Peas with Quick Buttery Biscuits. It’s a winner of a recipe. I played with it a bit. Changed some of the veggies and spices. Added butternut squash, carrots and turnips. The result is the perfect fall stew with a little twist.

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Vegan Caesar Pasta Salad

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I’ve been making variations of this salad forever. It’s so great to take to a potluck because it can feed a lot of people. When the weather warms up (it’s pretty much summer here in Houston now), this salad is just what I’m in the mood to eat.

Traditional Caesar salads include parmesan cheese and anchovies. To make it vegan, I include nutritional yeast to get the cheesy taste and kelp powder to mimic the fish flavor. You should be able to find kelp powder at Whole Foods and maybe even your local grocery store in the organic spice section. (Houston peeps, I got mine at HEB.)  Most Caesar salads also include croutons which I skipped this time, but if you like that, make a batch using day old bread cut into cubes and sauteed with olive oil, salt and pepper.

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