Dinner

Vegan Butternut Squash Shepherd’s Pie

December 1, 2016 By julia

Colourful, flavourful, subtly spicy and a crowd-pleaser.

This shepherd’s pie ain’t yo mama’s!

(Unless you’re lucky enough to have a Mom like mine who gives me a run for my money at this whole plant-based chef thing)….

Unusual and SUPER healthy, this new and improved version features lentils instead of beef, and bright butternut squash instead of potatoes (not that there’s anything wrong with taters, but squash is mega-abundant right now and needs to be gobbled up).

And of course, it just gets better by the day as the ingredients infuse each other to enhance each flavour in the mix. Leftovers for the win.

Have fun with this one, and serve it at your next dinner party to get a reaction. Let me know how it goes!

Here’s to comforting fall dishes and dinner parties.

Benefits:

–Butternut Squash is packed with vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium and fibre. The bright orange colour of this squash means it’s packed with beta-carotene, an antioxidant that will combat cancer, asthma and help strengthen your immunity. The potassium will help lower blood pressure, and the vitamin A will help your skin and nails!

–Lentils are nutrient-dense, fibre rich, low in fat, and give you digestible and usable plant protein. We should all be eating some type of legume or bean daily. So, here’s your fix.

–Kale. Can I get a kale yeah!!? A super-green packed with vitamins and minerals galore. Fibre, vitamin C, vitamin A and vitamin K are also packed in there. Here’s a good run-down of 10 benefits!

Vegan Butternut Squash Sheperd’s Pie

Serves: 10

Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

For squash topping:

1 large butternut squash, peeled, cored and chopped
1-2 tbsp vegan butter (Earth Balance from Spud Vancouver is what I use. You can use my code for a discount at check-out ‘CRVAN-MURJUB’)
1-2 tsp oregano

For lentil filling:

3 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, minced
3 carrots, diced
1 large onion, diced
2-3 celery stalks, diced
3 tbsp curry paste
1 tbsp fresh thyme
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups green, brown, or French lentils, rinsed
4 kale leaves, stemmed and torn
3-4 cups of vegetable broth
1 cup frozen peas

Directions:

Steam butternut squash until tender. Pour over a strainer and let sit until all liquid is gone.
Heat large pot over medium heat. Add some water and the onions, carrots, and celery (no need for oil!)
Let sweat for 10 minutes, adding more water if it’s sticking. Then add in garlic and shallot. Let sweat for another 3-4 minutes.
Add curry paste, thyme, cumin and salt. Stir to coat.
Add pre-rinsed lentils and enough vegetable broth to just cover. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until lentils are just tender.
Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
While this is simmering, place butternut squash, vegan butter, oregano, salt and pepper into a bowl and use potato masher or fork to mash until almost smooth.
Mix frozen green peas and torn kale in the lentil mixture, then pour into oven dish (about 12″ by 8″ and 2-3″ deep (there shouldn’t be extra water in the mixture, if so, drain it out).
Spread mashed butternut squash evenly over top off the lentil mixture.
Bake for 10-15 minutes.
Broil on low for 2 minutes to brown that colourful squash.
Let sit a few minutes before serving!
Let cool completely before storing in the fridge.

Oil-Free Curry Roasted Chickpeas

November 17, 2016 By julia

Sometimes you just need something savoury to crunch away at.

Chips are usually what we all turn to for that crunchy, salty, savoury craving cure. But, chips come with saturated fat, usually too much salt, and sometimes some pretty bad additives. Your body doesn’t thank you after downing a whole bag of chippies.

These little morsels, on the other hand, will cure that craving, and your body will sing hallelujah!

Oil-free, cholesterol-free, nutrient-dense and delicious!

A perfect road tripping snack too. I’ll be making a couple batches of these for my trip to Sin City this week.

Las Vegas Baby! I’ve never been. We aren’t the type to vacation to cities… we usually are the ones planning adventure mountain bike, paddle board or tropical trips. But it’s been raining, there were cheap tickets, and there’s a first time for everything! I’ll let you know about it when I return… Or follow @juliamurrayski on Instagram for updates, and @hookedonplants for the vegan eats I find.

Just a few days of hot weather and good people watching before the winter season. Why not right?

Do you have any Vegas recommendations for me???

OK, back to the crispy snacks.

Benefits:

Chickpeas have been used to treat high blood pressure, lower cholesterol, and pack that easily digestible plant-protein. Adding these or other legumes and beans to your diet with help you live longer with more energy!

Himalayan salt is the most pure salt you can use and is packed with minerals and vitamins (it even trumps sea salt, which also may have trace chemicals depending on the water source). Table salt, on the other hand, is stripped of it’s minerals and vitamins to a substance that is 95% sodium chloride and synthetic chemicals that will lead to high blood pressure, kidney damage, water retention and a whole lot more.

Ingredients:

2 cups pre-soaked and cooked chickpeas (or 1 large can drained and rinsed)
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp himalayan salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
Pat down chickpeas with paper towel or tea towel until most of their moisture is off.
Mix chickpeas in a bowl with lemon, spices and salt
Spread evenly on parchment covered baking pan/cookie sheet
Roast for 30-45 minutes (until crunchy), taking them out to shake around every 10 minutes.
Watch close near the end so they don’t burn!
Eat as a snack, or add them to soups, salads, or stews! (Like the spicy cabbage one below)

Easy Vegan Pizza

November 3, 2016 By julia

Going plant-based doesn’t mean you have to miss out on pizza parties. No way. You can make that pizza and eat it too.

Vegan pizza can be just as delish, yet way more nourishing than your usual suspects on the pizzeria menu.

Homemade roasted tomato sauce, thinly sliced potatoes, a truck load of veggies, and you’re on your way to a pizza party packed with pizzaz. There will be more than enough satisfying tastes and textures so that you can call it comfort food.

The thinly sliced potatoes first up on the layering order, give the pizza a decadent texture when you bite into it. These spuds laying on top of the italian roasted, roma tomato pizza sauce will sky-rocket your taste buds to pizza heaven.

I like mine without the vegan cheese, but Davey still doesn’t get how pizza can be pizza without some kind of cheese 😉 I’m sure lots of you are in the same boat.

So, we used Follow Your Heart mozzarella shreds for his, and a healthy sprinkle of nutritional yeast for mine.

Benefits:

-Roasting tomatoes actually increases the availability of their phytochemicals. Eating plants in their raw form is usually the way to make sure you receive all the nutrients they are carrying, but tomatoes are one of the very few that actually become more beneficial to your body when you cook them.

–Red Peppers bring you some of the highest amounts of vitamin C (for immunity), vitamin A (for eye health), antioxidants, and folate (to help prevent anemia). Green peppers are actually just unripe red peppers with half the vitamin C, and a bitter taste! Go for the most colourful red option.

–Nutritional yeast (I wish there was a better name for this!) is packed with B Vitamins! B vitamins are vital for your nervous system and energy. It’s also antiviral, anti-bacterial and immune-boosting. Plus it’s a great source of protein and B12 (great for vegans).

Serves 6 (great for left overs)

Takes 1 hour

Ingredients:

Tomato Sauce:

8 roma tomatoes
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp basil
Pinch of Himalayan rock salt

Pizza:

Pizza dough for 3 pizzas- use your favourite store-bought, or here is a good recipe
5 new potatoes, thinly sliced with mandolin (or by hand)
1 red onion, diced
2 red peppers, chopped
5 white or crimini mushrooms, sliced
zucchini, diced
a few handfuls of spinach
1/2 cup coconut flour, or your flour of choice (for rolling dough out)
1 tbsp coconut oil (to spread on pan for non-stickyness) ALTERNATIVELY just use parchment paper
Follow your Heart mozzarella vegan cheese
OR….
1/4 cup nutritional yeast

Directions:

Make tomato sauce: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F, slice roma tomatoes length-wise and place cut-side up, single layered on parchment paper covered pan and sprinkle with salt. Roast for 25 minutes (you will see caramelization in action). Blend tomatoes in high speed blender with spices until smooth.
Lightly oil pizza pans with coconut oil, or just use parchment paper. I often use my cookie sheets, and make square pizzas.
Sprinkle coconut flour (this is gluten free, but you can use any flour) on clean counter and roll out pizza dough as best you can! I’m no expert here.
Spread dough onto pan. Cover with pizza sauce.
Layer the thinly sliced potatoes all over the pizza.
Layer the rest of vegetables on the pizza.
Sprinkle with cheese (or don’t).
Bake in 425F oven on the middle rack for 18-20 minutes, or until golden brown crust.
With one minute remaining, sprinkle the spinach across your pizza.
Sprinkle on nutritional yeast when served.

Turmeric Butternut Squash Chickpea Stew

October 20, 2016 By julia

Stew, Soup and Chili ~ 3 of the many reasons I love Fall.

Add in some torn rustic bread plus cashew ‘parmesan’, and you have yourself Fall in food-form.

This stew features my favourite squash. Butternut. Just saying the name makes me drool.

This week has been all about moving house. So cooking up a batch of this comforting, nourishing, warming pot of goodness that will last for a week was much needed. Who has time to cook every night when you’ve got walls to paint, boxes to unpack, bed frames to build, lights to put in, house tours to do and clothes to get rid of? So yes, this stew is perfect for a busy week.

And be prepared to have a kitchen that smells better than your mom’s cookin’.

You could make a big batch and have a dinner party, or keep it for yourself as left overs in the fridge. The flavours will become better buds by the day as they chill together in the fridge.

The one, two, three, fours of cutting up your butternut squash. Cut, empty, peel, chop.

Benefits:

Butternut Squash is low in fat and high in fibre. This is the perfect combination for longevity and heart health. It’s also packed with potassium (bone health), and vitamin B6 (nervous system functioning). Now is the time to eat squash and pumpkins! Eating local and seasonal is the most nutrient-dense way to go.

Turmeric is incredibly anti-inflammatory. Inflammation is the precursor of disease, so keep this at bay by eating your turmeric! It’s also known to help depression and ward off cancer. It’s bright orange colour is packed with vitamin C. If you can get your hands on the turmeric root, do it! Fresh is best. Make sure you add in the pepper to help your body absorb the turmeric and experience all of the amazing benefits of this little orange root.

Chickpeas like all legumes and beans are packed with easily-digestible plant protein, low in fat, and high in complex carbs. They’ve got antioxidants like selenium to enhance the immune system and they’re high in manganese, magnesium, vitamin K, and calcium to help with bone health.

Serves 6-8

Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
2 medium carrots, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 cm long thumb of fresh turmeric, grated (or 2 tsp turmeric powder)
1 tbsp curry spice (or curry paste)
1/2 tsp salt (himalayan is best)
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp cinnamon
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces (about 5 cups)
1.5 cups vegetable broth
3 cups coconut milk (out of a carton, not a full fat can)
1 small can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4-5 kale leaves, stemmed and roughly chopped

Cashew Parmesan:

1/2 cup cashews (or pumpkin seeds for a nut-free version)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

Sweat the onions, carrot and celery with a splash of water in a deep pot for a few minutes (until onions are translucent).
Add in garlic, spices, salt and turmeric. Saute for 2-3 minutes.
Add in butternut squash, stir for a minute to coat.
Pour in vegetable broth and coconut milk, then bring to a boil.
Stir, then simmer for 15 minutes, or until you can poke through the squash with a fork.
Make cashew parmesan while you wait. Blend all ingredients together in food processor (mini processor is best) or high-speed blender until a parmesan consistency is achieved. If it gets stuck at the bottom of your machine, just double the recipe! You can store in a fridge for a few weeks.
Ladle half of the stew into a blender and blend until smooth.
Pour blended stew back into pot, then add chickpeas and kale.
Let simmer another 2 minutes, et voila!
Serve in your favourite bowl with warm bread on the side and cashew parmesan on top.
YUM IN THE TUM

Crunchy Quinoa, Sweet Potato Salad with Lemon Maple Tahini Dressing

September 28, 2016 By julia

It’s always good to have a batch of quinoa salad kickin’ around. It’s especially good to have one packed with raw veggies and sweet potatoes, drizzled with a glorious dressing.

Impress your friends and the next potluck, or just impress yourself on your next camping trip.

This passed weekend was filled with quinoa salad and the Best Soba Noodle Salad as we Stand Up Paddled the Thompson River on our Kahuna Paddle Boards for 3 days, finding beautiful camping spots along with way. These salads pack away in the cooler easily in a big zip lock bag (so gourmet, I know).

These salads plus a couple heads of crispy romaine…What more do you need for dinner on the river?

I don’t know about you, but I thoroughly enjoy wrapping everything in romaine leaves. Lettuce wraps all the way.

Benefits:

Quinoa, AKA the ‘Mother Grain’ contains all essential amino acids (what does essential mean? Well, in this case it means that the only way you can get these amino acids- the building blocks of protein- is to eat them. This is because your body can’t produce them on it’s own. These building blocks are great for hair and nail growth and tissue healing).

Sweet potatoes are the staple of the ‘centenarians’ (people who live passed the age of 100) of Okinawa. Include lots of these in your diet to get beneficial, complex carbohydrates, plus a magnitude of vitamins and minerals. Another benefit? So delicious.

Celery not only adds a nice crunch to this salad, but it also brings a natural salty taste. Any time you want to avoid the salt in recipes (to minimize water retention and puffiness), just throw in some celery. It’s also packed with fibre, water content, antioxidants, potassium, folate, and vitamins C, K, and B6. Your liver will thank you, and so will your skin.

Makes 6 servings

Prep time: 1 hour (unless you pre-make your sweet potatoes!)

Ingredients:

For Salad:

1 cup quinoa, rinsed
2 cups water
2 large sweet potatoes, diced into bite sized squares
1 tsp garlic powder
2 stalks of celery, minced
2 red bell peppers, chopped
1 cup black beans (either use a can, or pre-make your own by soaking 2-3 hours or overnight in water, rinsing, then bring to a boil and simmer for 2 hours)
1/2 red onion, diced
Sprouts (your choice – I used mung bean sprouts)
1/2 cup parsley, roughly chopped

For Dressing:

1 tbsp tahini
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/2 tsp cumin
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
Juice of 1/2 lemon

Directions:

Roast sweet potatoes: pre-heat oven to 400 F. Toss the diced sweet potatoes with garlic powder. Lay out on parchment paper covered roasting pan (or use a non-stick re-usable cooking sheet on your pan). Roast for 45 minutes.
Cook the quinoa: throw the quinoa and water into a pot, bring to a boil, give it a stir, then simmer it for 15 minutes. Fluff with your fork.
Make dressing: blend all ingredients together in a blender or mini food processor. OR use your hand power – just whisk tahini and lemon together, then mix in the rest of the ingredients.
Mix all salad ingredients with dressing together in your favourite bowl! Garnish with extra sprouts and parsley.