From Scratch: Delicious Vegetable Stock

Some things just taste better when they're made from scratch. Stock is definitely one of those things! Whether its a hearty chicken or beef stock, a delicate seafood stock or a delicious veggie stock, it always tastes better when its home made. The reason is that you control how much salt goes in it (the storebought versions are usually full of sodium) and you get to control the layering of flavours and tailor them to suit your tastes. The other beautiful thing about stock is that you can make it using up scraps you would have otherwise thrown out! This stock recipe can be changed up based on what you have on hand! The only things to avoid tossing in are:

• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Cauliflower
• Beets
• Peppers
• Asparagus

These will either colour your stock with an odd colour or they will give it an overwhelming flavour that won't be suitable for a multi-purpose use that a stock usually is.

 

Apologies for the iPhone photos... The last few things I've made I haven't had a chance to photograph them with my good camera, but they turned out so delicious I still wanted to share them with you.

 

Here's how to make this delicious stock:

 

Vegetable Stock

Recipe minimally adapted from Rebar

 

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 yellow onion
• 2 leeks, greens only
• 1 garlic bulb
• 4 carrots
• 2 celery sticks
• 1 apple
• 4 bay leaves
• 1/2 tbsp whole black peppercorns
• 1 tbsp cumin seeds
• 1 tbsp coarse salt
• A few sprigs of fresh thyme & sage
• 16 cups cold water

Method:

1. Peel and roughly chop the onions, leeks, carrots and celery. Separate the garlic bulb and smash the cloves with the flat of your knife. Quarter the apple.
2. Heat oil in a large stock pot and add onions, leeks, carrots, celery, salt and bay leaves. Saute for five minutes, stirring often.
3. Add all of the remaining ingredients, including the water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer gently for 45 minutes. Strain and cool if not using immediately. Store in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months.

 

Don't you love how easy that is? You can have fresh, flavorful and delicious stock in under an hour! Better tasting and way healthier for you than store bought. Give it a try and let me know what you think!

Happy Cooking my Friends!

Lentil & Chickpea Curry

 

Happy Monday friends! I hope you had a fantastic weekend. I sure did! It was filled with yoga, spa time, and relaxation in the sun with a great book. And lets not forget some awesome time spent with some really good friends. All in all such a great weekend.

 

Today I've got such a great recipe to share with you! It makes a huge batch (for super cheap) but its so good you won't mind eating it all week like I did last week. The leftovers are almost better than the night you make it.

 



I found the recipe for Lentil & Chickpea Curry on this great blog called Sweet Sugar Bean written by a sweet gal from Saskatchewan. Since Saskatchewan is one of the world's largest producers of lentils, I figured Renee must know a thing or two about how to prepare them in a delicious, healthful way. I made a couple modifications to the original recipe, but by and large I stayed pretty true to the original.

 Lentil & Chickpea Curry
Minimally adapted from Sweet Sugar Bean

Ingredients:

• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp. fresh ginger, grated
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 3 tbsp. medium indian curry paste
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1 540ml can diced tomatoes
• 1 540ml can coconut milk
• 1 cup red lentils, rinsed thoroughly and picked through
• 1 540ml can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 3 tbsp. honey
• 2 cups cauliflower florets
• 1 cup frozen peas
• vegetable stock
• handful of cilantro, chopped
• plain yogurt
• hot sauce

(Seems like a long ingredient list right? I know, I know... but the great thing about this recipe is a) you likely have more than half of this on hand already and b) the above listed ingredients are super cheap to buy and this recipe makes about a billion servings...)

Method:

1. In a large pot, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook til soft, about 5-8 minutes. Add garlic and ginger and stir til fragrant. Add the curry paste, carrots, spices and salt. Stir well and cook for a couple of minutes.
2. Stir in tomatoes, coconut milk, lentils, chickpeas and honey. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low to maintain an active simmer. Stir every ten minutes or so until lentils are cooked through (this takes approximately 40 minutes).
3. Once lentils are cooked, stir in cauliflower and peas. Cook til cauliflower is tender. If curry is too thick, add some veggie stock or water to thin it out. Stir in cilantro and adjust seasonings if necessary.
4. Serve topped with a dallop of yogurt and a few drops of hot sauce if you like it spicy. Some home made naan takes this meal over the top.

 

Happy Cooking my Friends! Hope you enjoy this one.

Green Smoothie {Healthy, gluten-free and Vegan}

 Many of us are becoming more conscious of what we're putting in our bodies every day. With all of the genetically modified foods, chemical treatments and other scary things out there, I'm not surprised. But, it can be hard to find the time and energy to make sure we're purchasing healthy ingredients and making healthy food. That's where this green smoothie comes in - its a great way to start your day and you can feel good knowing that everything that goes into it is good for you and will give you that kick of energy to start the day. Its quick and easy and you can pre portion out the fruit and veggies a few days in advance so all you do is dump in blender and go! Plus, you won't have to worry about getting enough fruit and veggie servings for the day, this one's packed full of whole fruits and veggies!!

The reason I'm sharing this recipe with you is because of my mom. My mom has been struggling with some serious health issues for the past few years and nothing seems to help her much... not the most expensive medicine, expensive doctors or expensive supplements. But a friend of hers recommended that she try going vegan for a while and see if it helps. She thought "what do I have to lose". She has been drinking variations of this smoothie as part of a vegan diet for the past few months and over those month's we've seen a huge transformation in her. No, she's not cured, but she is feeling much better and most days she can get up and walk around and has way more energy than she did before. She asked if I would share this recipe on my blog for anyone out there looking for a healthy and delicious (if you can get over the colour!!) breakfast or snack.  So of course I agreed to share with you. Hope you enjoy!

Green Smoothie {Healthy, gluten-free and Vegan}

Recipe from my Mom

Ingredients:

• 1 organic banana (make sure its ripe, because you need the sweetness and flavour)
• 1 organic ambrosia apple, cored and roughly chopped
• juice of one organic lemon
• 2 cups roughly torn organic greens (kale, lettuce, swiss chard, or any combination of them)
• 2 cups cold water

Method:

1. Combine all ingredients in blender (vita-mix is best, but any blender will do). Blend all ingredients until smooth and vibrant green (colour will vary depending on mixture of greens used in smoothie). Makes two large servings. Store leftovers in the fridge for later.



 You can mix it up a number of different ways to give yourself some variety - vary the type of greens you use (for some crazy colour try some organic purple kale!!), you can put pear in instead of apple, or any other fruit you want! If you find this isn't quite sweet enough for you, try sweetening it with a couple teaspoons of agave syrup. And a little trick to get over the green colour of the smoothie - drink it out of a travel mug through a straw!

Do you have a favorite vegan recipe? Would you like it featured on my blog? Send me an email with the recipe (don't forget to include the source of the recipe) and a photo from last time you made it and I will most definitely feature it on my blog. Can't wait to hear from you.

Happy Cooking my Friends! Stay healthy!

Thrifty Veggie Mama's Quinoa & Black Bean Chili for SRC

 Woohoo!! Its time for Secret Recipe Club again (in my opinion, one of the highlights of my month). I get to check out a new blog and sometimes experience a new way of cooking. That was the case this month when I was assigned Thrifty Veggie Mama's blog. She has so much healthy stuff on there... definitely a new style for me. :) Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed this month's assignment and had the opportunity to try out a new vegan recipe for my mom who is a newly converted vegan. Perfect timing I guess!

Thrifty Veggie Mama is written by Jamie. Jamie is a busy, mother of three kids (all under the age of five!!) who has been vegetarian for a few years now. I loved the various flavours in her blog and how healthy and wholesome the recipes are. Oh, and I did notice that a lot of the recipes are very easy to put together! What more could you want?

For my selection I made the Quinoa and Black Bean Chili. Oh it was amazing and received rave reviews from my mom!! To be honest, I didn't change much. I added a bit more water because my quinoa seemed to absorb the entire cup and a half of water in the recipe, so I ended up using more like 1 3/4 -2 cups of water. And I also used about 4 tbsp chili powder and 1 1/2 tbsp cumin. Other than that, it was alllll the same. You could mix up the veggies if you want and don't be shy about the jalepeno - it just rounds out the flavour without being ridiculous spicy!

So I'm going to send you on over to Jamie's blog to check out the recipe. Stop by and give her blog some love. I guarantee you'll be bookmarking it for later! I know I'll be back.

Happy Cooking my friends! And thanks for stopping by. I can't wait to hop around and check out what all of my fellow group C-er's made from their assigned blogs. :D