Hearty White Bean Stew

(Finally got my camera fixed, so hopefully no more cameraphone pics!)
With the weather getting colder by the day, I am finding my mind and body to be drawn towards warm, hearty meals….soups, chilis, etc. Yesterday, I had about half of our “turkey” loaf left from Thanksgiving, so I decided to make a nice stew with it. Now, if you have ever read anything on this blog, you know that I’m a lazy cook. I like to put things together, but I like for something else to do the hard work for me. Which is why I’m so in love with my crock pot. Seriously. I can throw a bunch of stuff in it before work, pop that sucker on low, and when I come home not only does the house smell amazing, but dinner is already ready! Which, on a night like last night (I had a hysteroscopic resection of two fibroids so needless to say I was sore and a little out of it) it was nice to come home to dinner already made so I could eat and go straight to bed. The only prep on this meal is soaking some beans the night before.

Hearty “Turk’y” Stew

1 cup of dry navy beans
5 cups strong vegetable stock
2 tablespoons basil
1 tablespoon marjoram
2 tablespoons garlic powder
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper (or less if you don’t like spicy)
1 onion, diced and caramelized
½ “turk’y” loaf or one package of seitan, chopped into bite-sized pieces


The night before making this, take your one cup of navy beans and soak them overnight.

Rinse the soaked beans, and add them, the stock, basil, marjoram, garlic powder and cayenne to your crock pot. Place on low for about 7 hours or high for about 4 hours.

When you have about 30 minutes of cooking time left, add your caramelized onion and seitan/loaf.

Salt and pepper to your liking (don’t add salt while it’s cooking, as this makes the beans harden and crumble), garnish with some chopped basil, and enjoy on its own or poured over brown rice. Yummy!


Seriously folks, it doesn’t get much easier than that!

Happy Herbivore's Chickpea Noodle Soup...Yes!

Sometimes, no matter how hard you wish for something, it just isn’t possible. Take this week, for example. I have wanted nothing more than to come home from work each night, grab a towel, and lay poolside through the sunset. Well, we’re supposed to get snow today, so like I said, sometimes your wishes just aren’t possible. ANYWAY, the cooler weather, if you haven’t noticed from my last couple recipes, puts me in serious soups, chilis, and desserts-mode. Last night, I was on a super tight schedule, since both the man and I were hungry, and we only had an hour from the time that we both got home until when he had to leave again, and I didn’t want him going to rehearsal on a cold night with nothing but a pb&j in his belly!

So, we looked through the pantry, and I realized that we had all the ingredients for one of my favorite soups by one of my favorite food bloggers, Happy Herbivore!! Not only that, but it’s one of the QUICKEST soups you can possibly put together, it’s super hearty and filling, and it just plain warms the soul! I took the recipe and added a bag of frozen mixed veggies to it since we didn’t have any mushrooms (the frozen mixed veggies were totally our lizard’s food, but he didn’t mind! [and yes, I do realize it’s absurd to feed a lizard organic Trader Joes frozen veggies, but he’s spoiled…don’t judge me!]). The best thing about big pots of soup like this is that you can jar it up and have it for lunches the rest of the week…yummy! Now, on to the recipe!

Chickpea Noodle Soup by Happy Herbivore
1 whole carrot, skinned
2 whole celery stalks, sliced
1 small onion, diced
10 whole cremini (brown) mushrooms (we subbed the frozen mixed veggies)
8 cups vegetable broth
1 tsp yellow miso paste
1 tsp tamari
2 whole bay leaf
4 ounces whole wheat pasta, uncooked
15 ounces chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Instructions:
Line a large soup pot with broth, about 1/4 cup. Add carrots, celery and onion and saute over high heat until onions are translucent, about 3 minutes.

Add mushrooms and more broth if necessary. Continue to cook over high heat until the mushrooms are soft, about 3 minutes. Add remaining broth, bay leaves, miso and tamari. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add pasta and reduce heat to medium. Cook for another 6 minutes, or until pasta is al dente (adjust time accordingly). Stir in chickpeas and taste test. Add more miso or salt if necessary or desired. Allow soup to thorougly heat the chickpeas. Fish out bay leaves and serve.



I didn't get to feel the sun on my face lying poolside, but I did get to enjoy the warmth and goodness of this soup deep in my soul!



Have you checked out Vegan MoFo yet?!

The Spanish Diet

In front of one of many beautiful castles in the Spanish Countryside (I'm in the green zip-up...haha)




In 2005, I studied for a semester in Madrid, Spain. To say it was one of the greatest times of my entire life would be an understatement, to say the least! Anyway, when I was there, I came to a very quick realization – there was not a single overweight person. Seriously! And ironically (and sadly) enough, when I saw an overweight family (after about three weeks of living there) it turned out that they were American (or Canadian…they spoke English w/o a British Accent) tourists…and not really from there. I hate to say this, but I couldn’t help but stare. It had been so long since I had seen anyone that was even slightly overweight that I realized how much it really stood out. Now, I’m not saying that I’m perfect by any means, or that there is no such thing as an overweight vegan, but I did realize a lot of things about their culture that I’m certain had a lot of influence on their physiques and overall health.

1. The Spaniards (at least in the city) literally walk everywhere! I can honestly say that I’ve never walked that much in my entire life as I did when I was living there! The walk to school each day was a little over a mile, and I would walk to school, home for lunch/siesta, back to school, and home again five days a week. Not to mention the walking I’d also do going to different shops and just generally exploring. A few miles a day really add up!

2. Meal portions. The first few times that I went out to eat with fellow students (as well as eating what my host “mom” would cook), I felt like I was getting ripped off. Turns out, they just don’t eat out of control portions like we do here! Yes, even vegetarians and vegans are culprit to over-eating at times. This was probably one of the most important dietary lessons I learned there, which was HOW to eat:
•Small breakfast, just enough to get your system started (apple and slice of bread/toast)
•Lunch: soup, small sandwich on fresh bread
•Dinner: soup, grains and vegetables
Now, I discovered a common denominator between eating at home, eating out, and what everyone else was being served at their host homes…soup! These people ate soup at least two times a day, and would eat it before their main meal. Not only is it super yummy and simple, but it fills you up, leaving less room in that growling tummy to be filled up by huge portions and such. This past week, as soon as I began incorporating soup back into my diet 2x/day, I ended up losing 4 pounds. Coincidence? I don’t think so!

3. Rest. It may seem simple enough, but I truly believe that Americans just don’t sleep enough! Every day, the entire city of Madrid literally seemed to shut down between noon and 3:00pm. Stores would close, schools closed, everything closed! People would go home, eat, and “siesta” for a few hours before returning to work! At first, my roommate and I tried to do this, but felt absolutely absurd taking a ‘nap’ in the middle of the day when we could be out exploring! Well, after a few days of finding nothing to do (since everything was closed) we really began enjoying our siesta time. Not only that, but people really value their sleep at night…you won’t find a television in anyone’s bedroom in Spain! And getting enough rest is absolutely imperative in maintaining a healthy weight!


So anyway, these were just a few keys that I discovered while living there that I really try to value each and every day, especially being back in America. Not only this, but these should really be keys to anyone’s life, vegan, vegetarian, or not! These small changes in how we do things can really make huge impacts on our lives!

And, if anyone was wondering what kind of delicious soup I’d made this week, well, here ya go!

Navy Bean Soup

2 cups Navy Beans, soaked overnight
6 cups water
2 cups vegetable stock
1 cup V8 vegetable juice
8 oz. frozen green beans
1 cup shredded carrots
4 tblsp. Minced garlic
½ onion, chopped
½ tsp. sea salt
Seasonings/herbs to taste

Pop all these ingredients into a slow cooker for 8 hours on low. Enjoy!



Can be kept in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, and can also be frozen! I like to keep some out to have at lunch and dinner before my meal, or even as my main meal, and when I run out, I’ll thaw a batch out to have for the next 2 days or so! It’s super simple, super delicious, and your digestive system will LOVE you!