White Bean, Potatoes, and Cabbage Skillet

Being home for the holidays is challenging as I come from a family of meat eaters. The easiest way to avoid temptation while still being a part of family meals is to make a side for the group which can serve as a meal in itself for me.

Last night my family was making a pork roast so I immediately thought of cabbage as a good side option. I had just received Swanson's book, "Super Natural Every Day" for Christmas and decided to give a recipe she had in there a shot. With potatoes, cabbage, and white beans it was very much a meal in and of itself. And my family enjoyed it as as side as well...even my two year old niece!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 small red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into tiny dice
1 shallot, minced
1 15-ounce can white beans, rinsed and drained
3 cups (8 ounces) very finely shredded green cabbage
coarse and fine-grain sea salt

Directions:

1. Pour the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the potatoes and spread them evenly in the pan. Add sprinkle of coarse salt. Cook the potatoes for 5 minutes or so, make sure you scrape and toss the potatoes during cooking so that you can get each side browned and cooked through.
2. Add in the shallot and the white beans and spread all around the skillet. Let cook, undisturbed for 2 minutes to brown just a bit, then scrape and toss again. Cook until the beans are nicely browned on both sides.
3. Stir in the cabbage and cook for another minute. Sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Stir and toss again. (I added more olive oil here to soften the cabbage - you might find you need some sort of liquid). Once the cabbage has wilted down, the dish is ready.

*For my non vegan family members, I added some Parmesan cheese to the mix.

 

 

 

Baked Tofu over Edamame, Corn, & White Bean Salad

I got this tofu marinade from Caitlin, over at her Healthy Tipping Point blog.  

I paired the tofu with a salad of white beans, edamame, and corn - dressed in a equal ratio of olive oil, soy sauce, and red wine vinegar. ( I used 1 tbsp each).

This is going on my list of my favorite baked tofu recipes!

 

Ingredients:

• 2/3 block extra firm tofu
• 2 tablespoons EVOO
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/2 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
• Press excess liquid from tofu. Wrap several paper towels around tofu, and place tofu in between two plates. Let stand for 15 minutes.
• Cut tofu in 1 inch by 1 inch pieces.
• In a small, microwave-safe bowl, mix EVOO, honey, chili powder, black pepper, and paprika.
• Microwave marinade for 35 seconds and stir thoroughly.
• Spray cooking sheet.
• Coat each piece of tofu in marinade and place on cooking sheet.
• Sprinkle sesame seeds on top of tofu.
• Cook at 375 for 30 minutes, turning once.

Harissa Spaghetti with Kale & White Beans

I love browsing the recipes on Heidi Swanson's blog, 101 Cookbooks. Her food is all healthy and pretty vegan friendly. I came across her recipe for Harissa Spaghettini and immeadiately got a craving to make something with harissa. Suprisingly I had a hard time finding harissa paste....I have the spice blend at home already but I wanted to use the actual paste. I managed to find some at Sofra on Saturay and was all set Sunday night to make my own version of Swanson's recipe.




Ingredients:
3 medium cloves garlic, peeled and minced
a big pinch of fine grain sea salt
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons harissa (paste)
8 ounces (1/2 pound) whole wheat spaghetti
1 bag of pre-cut, pre-washed kale
1 can of white beans (garbanzo beans would also be great here!)
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 tablepsoon of lemon juice

Directions:

Bring a big pot of water to a boil.
In a small bowl whisk together the garlic paste, harissa, and olive oil. Set aside.

Generously salt the boiling water, add the pasta, and cook per package instructions. Just before the pasta is done add the kale to the pasta water for two minutes, drain and set aside.

Heat half of the harissa dressing in the now empty pasta pot. Add the pasta and kale, white beans, pine nuts, and lemon juice. Stir over the heat for a minute or so, then turn everything out onto a platter and drizzle with the remaining harissa olive oil. Serve with a good french bread.