Plant Based U

Fat-Free and Low Fat Vegan Plant Based Recipes

Veronica Grace

Sweet and Savory Asian Salad with Orange Sesame Dressing

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Often when I make salads at home I toss whatever I have in the fridge into a bowl and make a homemade dressing for it. This is a giant salad I made one night for dinner and it was so filling I didn’t need anything else! But I kept it lower fat by not adding anymore nuts or avocado to it and added chickpeas instead for calories and protein.

I also like to add apples and dried fruit to salads to give them more flavor and calories as opposed to lots of nuts or seeds. Salads can be much more appetizing when you make a fresh homemade dressing. Store bought dressings often contain a lot of junk and it’s super easy to make your own at home. I usually make my dressing recipes up as I go along and season them to taste. This one is no exception and I think you’ll like it!

Sweet and Savory Salad Ingredients:

6-8 cups of salad greens like spring mix, or baby greens
2 apples, peeled and diced
1 15 oz. can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup of sugar snap peas
1/2 English cucumber, sliced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced *optional
2 tbsp dried cranberries

Orange Sesame Dressing Ingredients:

4 tbsp tahini (sesame seed butter)
2 tbsp orange vinegar (or other fruit vinegar)
8 dates, pitted and chopped
1/3-1/2 cup water (as needed for consistency)
Dash of salt

Directions:

1. Arrange salad ingredients into a large bowl.
2. Combine dressing ingredients in a blender or VitaMix and blend until smooth.
3. Serve and drizzle with dressing.

Additional Tips:

Use dressing within 3-4 days and store any leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge.

Mix up your dressings by purchasing a few different types of fruit vinegars. Trader Joe’s makes a few varieties and so does Dr. Fuhrman (sold on his website). Having a little variety makes creating different tasting dressings so easy.

What’s your favorite salad dressing recipe?

Seitan Makhani (Vegan “Unbutter Chicken”) Recipe

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Ok I have to admit something to you.

I’ve never actually had buttered chicken, but it’s because once upon a time I was a little afraid of spicy food and afraid I would not like Indian food… (Hah funny I know right.) I also stopped eating butter and dairy a long time ago and also did not eat foods with dairy products. So I will not try to argue that I know this is an “authentic” recipe or anything like that.

Just because you eat plant based now doesn’t mean you have to miss out on delicious Indian curries!

BUT I will tell you that this vegan version of “Buttered” Chicken is oil-free, butter free and cream free, so you can feel a little less guilty about indulging in a creamy Indian curry. Since I don’t like to use fake meat products often, I made my own “wheat meat” also known as seitan. (Seitan is not gluten free, so if you are allergic you can sub tofu or chickpeas).

This was a fun experiment as I’d never made “wheat meat” before but it was actually pretty easy.  See my instructions for seitan here.

This curry sauce can be used for any item really, if you want to cook tofu, vegan chicken, chickpeas, potatoes, cauliflower etc. instead of the seitan you can do that as well. It goes really well on top of rice or Indian bread such as roti or chapati (more vegan friendly than naan bread.)

Indian curries can be a little complicated to make if you make fresh curry pastes, but this recipe is very easy and uses readily available dried spices. Plus it’s also much healthier than using jarred curry sauces from the store and you can adjust the spiciness to your liking.

I hope you have fun making it!

Seitan Makhani (Vegan “Unbuttered Chicken) Recipe

Serves 6

Curry Ingredients:

1 onion, finely chopped
4 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup water
2 tsp ground ginger
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 tsp curry powder
1 1/2 – 2 tsp chili powder
4 tsp ground cumin
3 bay leaves
2 cups tomato puree (you can puree canned tomatoes)
2 cups almond or soy milk (original unsweetened)
1/2 cup plain vegan yogurt (I used So Delicious coconut – plain)
2-4 teaspoon garam masala
Cayenne pepper to taste
1/2 tsp Herbamare or salt or to taste
Black pepper to taste

Vegan Chicken:

1 (16 oz) package chicken-style seitan, cut into cubes (See my recipe here) Or sub tofu or chickpeas
1-2 teaspoon garam masala

Roti/chapati or basmati rice to serve with

Directions:

1. Heat a large non-stick  saucepan or wok over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add lemon juice, water, ginger, garlic, curry powder, chili powder, cumin, and bay leaves. Cook and stir for 1 minute. Stir in the tomato puree and cook for 3-4 minutes more. *Note I used canned tomatoes and just pureed them in the blender beforehand.

2. Reduce the heat to low and mix in the almond milk. *For a creamier curry, transfer contents to a blender or food process and process until smooth. Return to pan and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in the vegan yogurt and season to taste with garam masala, cayenne, salt, and black pepper. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. Heat a separate medium sized non-stick pan over medium heat. Add the seitan and cook, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and season the seitan with teaspoons garam masala. Stir in about a 1/4 cup of the tomato-yogurt sauce and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes so it can absorb some of the flavours.

4. Transfer the seitan mixture to the saucepan and heat through.

5. Serve. (Curry will be really saucy and goes well on rice.)

Variations:

Sub the seitan for sliced tofu, chickpeas, potatoes or cauliflower for variety.

You can also double the amount of seitan or add vegetables to make a chunkier curry.

Have you ever had butter chicken before? Have you ever made your own Indian curry at home?

Farms2Forks Engine 2 Forks Over Knives Event!

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Hey everyone!

I’m going to be attending the Farms2Forks event in LA April 12-14 this year (not as a presenter) but I’m very excited. Why? Because live events are awesome. You get to fully immerse yourself with great information, great food and meet so many inspiring people to get you jazzed up about a low fat vegan and plant based lifestyle.

Last year I attended one of Dr. McDougall’s 3 Day Advanced Study Weekends and it was such a positive experience for me I want to try to attend more of these types of events.

This year it’s Farms 2 Forks because I have yet to meet the Esselstyn’s and Jeff Novick who are offering great lectures I haven’t attended before. I also get to listen to Dr. Matthew Lederman (featured in Forks Over Knives) and Dr. Doug Lisle (author of The Pleasure Trap) who I’ve previously met and were a pleasure to learn from as well.

It’s wonderful to get all these plant based experts and doctors in one place because they have so much knowledge and experience we can learn from.

Dates:

Los Angeles, CA April 12-14 – Farms 2 Forks

Chicago, IL May 24-26 – Farms 2 Forks

Atlanta, GA June 28-30 Farms 2 Forks

Claverack, NY Aug 17-18 – Plant Stock @ Esselstyn Family Farm

Full details HERE

These events will cover breakfast, lunch and dinner throughout the weekend, and provide plenty of refreshments and snacks during the breaks.

You’ll hear important information from Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn (author of Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease), Dr. Matthew Lederman, (featured in Forks Over Knives), Rip Esselstyn (author of the The Engine2 Diet), Jeff Novick, RD. (featured on Vegsource.com and in the McDougall Program) and Doug Lisle (author of The Pleasure Trap).

You’ll also learn tips on shopping and preparing healthy meals at home and have a wide variety of oil free low fat plant based meals to choose from at each meal. (Endless delicious healthy food? Who DOESN’T love that?)

So if you’re looking for a way to immerse yourself in a healthier diet and get an insider look at the “how’s” and “why’s” of a plant strong diet this is the perfect opportunity for you.

And who knows you may even see me at the LA event and get to meet me and say hi in person!

For full details go HERE.

And feel free to share this page with anyone you think might be interested.

Raw Vegan Recipe: Rock My Broccoli Salad with Orange Hemp Dressing

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*Contest is over! I’ve chosen Tina’s name “Rock My Broccoli Salad” for the title!

Hey everyone. So I kind of need your help.

You see, I made a delicious salad the other day and I absolutely loved it, but because it has so many ingredients I couldn’t really decide on what to call it. So I want hear some suggestions from you.

In fact, I’ll even give a little prize to the person who comes up with the best name for this salad recipe. (I’m going to put it in my next salad recipe ebook you see so it needs a catchy title.)

So please let me know what name you think suits this salad and it’s ingredients that make it sound delicious and appetizing. I’ll announce the winner later this week. And since it’s open to everyone (and some of you may have already purchased one or two of my recipe ebooks) I want to offer the winner a copy of any one of my ebooks they don’t already have. So if you’ve been dying for a particular ebook, please don’t miss out on this chance to enter! Plus it’s a fun way for me to get feedback from you.

I usually stick to all raw ingredients when I make my salads and dressings, but not always. This one however is pretty much all raw and super fresh (depending on the cranberries, but you can use something else instead if you wish.)

Once this salad is tossed together with the orange hemp dressing and the avocado chunks get all broken up and creamy, it’s a super tasty and decadent salad, but it’s jam packed full of vegetables and still light. I never use any oil in my salads and try to keep them zesty and flavorful but lower fat at the same time.

If you’re going to make this salad and not use it all in one meal, it’s best to portion it out and keep the remaining dressing separate so it doesn’t wilt the lettuce. Use the dressing within 3 days as it is fresh.

Rock My Broccoli Salad

Serves 2 dinner salads or 4 side salads

Salad Ingredients:

1 small head of broccoli cut into small florets
3 cups baby spinach or spring mix
2 cups romaine lettuce
1 8 oz. package sugar snap peas
1 apple peeled and sliced into match sticks
2 small seedless cucumbers (Persian or Iranian), sliced
1 8 oz. package plum tomatoes, sliced
2 small or 1 large avocado, seeded and sliced into chunks
2 green onions, chopped
3 tbsp pomegranate seeds or dried cranberries

Orange Hemp Dressing:

1 cup fresh squeezed clementine or mandarin orange juice (please don’t use store bought it’s too sour)
2 tbsp hemp seeds
2-4 dates, pitted and chopped
dash of kelp flakes *optional
dash of salt
dash of pepper

Directions:

  1. Arrange salad ingredients into a very large salad bowl as desired.
  2. Combine salad dressing ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.
  3. Serve salad and top with dressing as desired.

Additional Tips:

Store leftovers in separate containers and consume within 3 days.

**Contest Over**

Name this salad and get a chance to win a copy of any of my recipe ebooks!

Winner: Tina with “Rock My Broccoli Salad” Congratulations Tina!

How To Make Seitan or Vegan “Wheat Meat”

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Seitan or “wheat meat” is made from wheat gluten, the protein that makes wheat flour stick together and makes bread spongey. Seitan is often used to make mock meats and is frequently used in vegetarian Chinese cuisine. It’s also used in Tofurkey products along with tofu to help it stick together.

I was a little apprehensive about making my own seiten as I had never made it before, but it turns out to be VERY easy. To make seitan quickly it is faster to just buy vital wheat gluten “flour” (which is essentially just wheat protein with all of the starch removed). You can still make seitan using regular flour, but you have to soak it overnight and wash away all the starch and you don’t end up with as much gluten left compared to the flour you started with.

And just a note if you have celiac disease or gluten intolerance, please don’t make this recipe! I don’t have any problem consuming wheat or gluten containing products, so I use them occasionally as part of a low fat plant based diet.

Let’s get started.

How To Make Seitan From Vital Wheat Gluten

Makes 4-6 seitan cutlets

Ingredients:

1 cup vital wheat gluten (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ginger powder
3/4 cup vegetable broth (low sodium) or water
1-2 tbsp light soy sauce or tamari
6 cups vegetable broth (for cooking)

Directions:

1. In a medium to large sized bowl, combine vital wheat gluten and dry spices.

2. In another bowl, mix the soy sauce and 3/4 cup of vegetable broth or water.

3. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and stir together. It should become very sticky. Use your hands to form it into a ball.

4. Knead the seitan a dozen times to ensure it’s spongey and allow it to rest for 5 minutes.

5. Separate the ball of seitan into four or five smaller chunks. Stretch each piece of seitan into a thin cutlet as best you can to around 3/4″.

 6. Add seitan to 6 cups of vegetable broth in a large pot and bring to a low boil and then reduce to a simmer for 1 hour. Depending what you are using the seitan for you can add additional seasonings or vegetables for flavor as well.  Make sure you have enough liquid to cover the seitan. It will expand a lot while cooking and puff up.

7. Drain seitan and chop up to use in a recipe, or dry it off and store in a ziplock bag or a tupperware container in the freezer. You can double the recipe and make two batches to make this more cost effective if using vegetable broth.

Check out my Seitan Makhani (“Unbuttered Chicken”) recipe here.

What do you think? How did you seitan turn out?

Product Review: Amy’s Bowls Brown Rice Black Eyed Peas and Veggies

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I’m reviewing another Amy’s product. Amy’s Bowls with brown rice, black eyed peas and veggies. I have to admit I don’t really eat black eyed peas, but that’s only because I don’t see them for sale much in Canada. So I was curious to try this. I had previously tried Amy’s Brown Rice and Vegetables Bowl which was ok, and I wanted to compare them. This one I actually like better!

Here’s the ingredients, all vegan.

Nutritional information, a little high in fat and sodium as many Amy’s products tend to be. (For the portion size.)

Taken out of the package.

This meal actually looks pretty nice once it’s reheated. The veggies get a little overcooked in the microwave, but once you mix everything together it’s pretty good. I like the combination of black eyed peas and brown rice and it has a nice flavor. I’m definitely going to seek some out to cook myself.

Here’s my review breakdown.

Basic Nutritional Info: 290 calories 11g of fat, 580 mg of sodium, 11 g of protein

Price: $3.74 USD on sale ($4.99 reg) In Canada about $6.29

Taste: 4/5

Texture: 3/5

Healthfulness: 3/5

Looks: 4/5

Low fat: No

Vegan: Yes

Gluten Free: Yes

Soy Free: No

Nut Free: Yes

GMO Free: Yes

Would I eat it again? I would if it was a good price.

What could be improved? Reduce the amount of sodium and olive oil in the recipe.

 

Have you ever tried Amy’s Brown Rice, Black Eyed Peas and Vegetables Bowl? What did you think?

This is not a sponsored post. Low Fat Vegan Chef received no compensation for reviewing this product. It’s just a popular brand in the vegetarian community.

Vegan Southwest Sweet Potato Quinoa Breakfast Hash

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FTC Notice: This post contains affiliate links that go towards supporting the blog. 

While I was driving back through the states (on my trip back to Canada from Texas) and luckily I got to try a few vegan breakfast options along the way. (Which I use for inspiration!) I got this breakfast hash (picture below)  at the Flying Star Cafe in Albuquerque New Mexico. It’s normally served with eggs, but I asked for tofu instead for mine. This wasn’t bad, but I knew I wanted to make something similar at home, without using fried potatoes and fried tofu. I also thought the addition of black beans, bell peppers, salsa and avocado would improve the flavor as quinoa can tend to be pretty bland if not seasoned. I added some additional greens in there for good measure too. 🙂

I have to say that I am totally in love with this new Southwest Vegan Breakfast Hash recipe and I’m definitely going to make it a regular breakfast/brunch item. Hey you can even make it for dinner if you want to and serve it with corn tortillas, or roll into a burrito. To save time with this vegan breakfast hash you can use leftover quinoa (or cook it the day before) and use cooked leftover yams. Either prebake a bunch of them to use in recipes, or peel them and steam them. I find using steamed potatoes a much easier way to ensure they cook quickly and are moist while staying oil-free instead of roasting in the oven.

This also makes for great leftovers the next day, just keep the avocado separate when reheating.

Southwest Vegan Breakfast Hash

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1/2 red onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 bell pepper, diced
1 16 oz can low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
3 cups cooked red quinoa (cook 1 cup dry, directions here)
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
2 green onions, sliced
2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
2 tsp roasted ground cumin
2 tsp smoked paprika
4 tsp low sodium soy sauce or GF tamari
1-2 large leaves of Swiss chard or kale chopped
1 large yam, baked or sliced and steamed
Chilli powder to taste
Herbamare or salt to taste
Fresh ground pepper to taste
1 small Avocado, chopped
Salsa *optional

Directions:

1. Cook quinoa. (see my directions here) Or just put in a rice cooker with a 1:1 ratio of water.
2. Cook or reheat cooked yams. (I peeled and sliced mine and steamed them for 16-20 min, just until fork tender)
3. When quinoa and yams are almost done, sauté onions dry in a non-stick pan for 4-5 minutes until soft.
4. Add in garlic and bell peppers and sauté for another 2 minutes.
5. Add in black beans and quinoa and stir to heat through for 2-3 minutes.
6. Add in seasonings and Swiss chard and stir to wilt.
7. Add in green onions and cilantro and stir.
8. Cut up yams into cubes and gently toss with hash to combine..
9. Season to taste with chili powder, Herbamare or salt and pepper.
10. Spoon into bowls and top with chunks of avocado and salsa if desired.

Have you ever made a breakfast hash? What do you put in it?

The Importance of Reading Labels. Organic Doesn’t Always = Best

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Shopping for healthy foods can be somewhat challenging and confusing these days. Most people purchase products based on what the package looks like and health claims put on the front. They don’t always read the ingredient list or check out the nutritional information.

One thing I find particularly confusing and frustrating is the label “organic”. Especially when it comes to processed foods. Organic is only one criteria to determine whether a food is “healthy” and a good choice. Often foods labeled organic can have lots of oil and salt which can make them unhealthy regardless of being organic.

Let’s take a look at some of the organic and conventional canned beans that can be purchased at a regular grocery store. (Please bear in mind I am in Canada and there’s only about 4 choices of brands for each product and there will be more in the USA)

Black Beans

1 cup of organic black beans is 210 calories with 890 mg of sodium. This is shocking! You want to look for foods with around a 1:1 ratio of calories per serving and mg of sodium. This is far too much sodium for a packaged food for me to ever put in my shopping cart. It doesn’t even matter that it’s organic so I just leave it on the shelf.

So what about a non-organic brand of black beans such as this popular brand? Well this label is deceiving. They have changed the serving size to only 1/2 cup. For 1 cup of these black beans it contains 260 calories and 860 mg of sodium. This brand has more calories and only slightly less sodium in it. This wouldn’t make it into my shopping cart either.

There’s lots of different brands so let’s check out another one. This one is 190 calories per 1 cup and only 280 mg of sodium. This leads me to believe there is less oil and sodium used in the recipe, and while the sodium isn’t quite at the 1:1 ratio it seems to be the best option for non-organic black beans at a fair price. For conventional, yes this could go into my shopping cart if there wasn’t any sodium free variety available.

Chickpeas/Garbanzo Beans

Chickpeas are another product frequently bought by vegetarians and health seekers so let’s take a look at some of these labels.

Organic chickpeas, looks good on the front, but check out the nutritional information on the back. 1 cup has 220 calories and 770 mg of sodium. This is far too high and it would not make it into my shopping cart.

This label is again playing the little trick of changing the serving size. For a 1 cup portion of chickpeas it has 340 calories and 940 mg of sodium. This is shocking! This product would never ever make it into my shopping cart. That is more salt than in a frozen dinner or a pizza.

Here’s a more acceptable nutritional label. 210 calories and 390 mg of sodium. It’s not low sodium, but it seems to be one of the “better” choices for the price at the grocery store. If there were no low sodium/sodium free varieties at the store, I would choose this one.

When comparing organic to traditional products there are definitely some clear winners and losers. Overall there is one brand of organic beans that you can always count on to be healthy and good for you. I don’t need to compare any more types of beans, I think you get the message that even products that should be essentially the same are not and it’s important to always read the labels.

Eden Organics uses no added salt and uses seaweed instead to add some additional flavor to the beans. The great news is that they are also oil free and contain no other preservatives. They also come in a BPA free can, so all around they are the best choice for canned beans. You can find them at regular and health food stores. The only downside is that they are often more expensive than their competitors, but their product is better.

The good thing is, once you find out what brand is the healthiest you don’t have to spend time reading labels anymore for that product, just repurchase it every time. Even if the other brands that are high sodium and are on sale, I still don’t buy them. Sometimes they are in BPA lined cans and have salt and oil in them and there’s no point in buying unhealthy plant foods just because it’s on sale. The other ones are only a few cents more each.

Alternatively you can cook your own beans and control the amount of sodium and reduce the cost of using beans in your cuisine at home.

I detail this in my Comfort Soups To Keep You Warm recipe ebook. You’ll learn how to cook dried beans from scratch, make your own vegetable broth (that is more flavorful than store bought and low sodium)

Cook dried chickpeas at home

homemade vegetable stock

Tuscan Roasted Tomato Chickpea Soup made from scratch

All this and more is can be found in Comfort Soups To Keep You Warm

Are you surprised by any of these labels? Do you read the nutritional labels of everything you purchase at the store? Any other products you’d like me to investigate at the grocery store?

Product Review: Amy’s Kitchen Vegetable Pot Pie (Non Dairy)

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I used to love chicken pot pies growing up (easy for kids to cook themselves naturally) and probably ate them too frequently. I loved how crispy and tasty the crust was on them. I was surprised to find a vegan version of this traditional pot pie and thought I’d try it out.

Honestly it’s not my favorite from Amy’s Kitchen, but I do commend them for trying to make this vegan pot pie lower in fat and healthier than the original. However the crust is a little hard and dry when you bake it up and not very delicious. Inside the tofu has a chicken-like flavour but there seems to be more crust than filling. I think I’ll skip trying to make vegan pot pies myself and opt for a hearty veggie stew instead when I get a craving for something like this.

Ingredients and directions.

Nutritional Information

Taking it out of the package

I tried to get a picture of the insides so I broke into the crust with my fork, but you can tell it’s got a lot of empty space in there. For around the same calories I’d pick Amy’s Bean & Rice burrito as it’s a little more filling and satisfying. If you have a craving for a vegan version of chicken pot pie, this may do it for you though.

Basic Nutritional Info: 320 calories 19 grams of fat 53% fat by calories 22 g of protein

Price: $3.74 USD on sale ($4.99 reg) In Canada about $6-$7

Taste: Dry crust, tofu not bad, missing more vegetables

Healthfulness: 2/5 (high in fat and sodium)

Looks: 2/5

Low fat: No, high fat recipe

Vegan: Yes

Gluten Free: No

Soy Free: No

Nut Free: Yes

GMO Free: Yes

Would I eat it again? Probably not. It’s mostly dough and hardly any filling. The gravy is supposed to be the best part and it’s very dry overall.

What could be improved? More sauce, more filling!

Disclosure, I’m doing this review of my own accord, I was not given any free product nor was I paid to do this review.

Have you ever had Amy’s Vegetable Pot Pie? What did you think?

This is not a sponsored post. PlantBasedU received no compensation for reviewing this product. It’s just a popular brand in the vegetarian community.

Ninja Cooking System Recipe: Vegan French Yellow Split Pea Soup (Slow Cooker)

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Back in August I attended the International Food Blogger Conference and attendees were able to secure a brand new Ninja Cooking System for free should they choose to try it. I was very interested because it’s not just a slow cooker, but you can use it for baking or stovetop cooking as well. So if you like to start off some of your soups, stews or roasts by sautéing and then turning on the slow cooker, you will love this kitchen gadget. It comes with a little cookbook in the box, but naturally none of the recipes are vegan. There is one “can be made vegetarian” lentil soup recipe in the book, but I tried it and was not impressed. (It uses chicken stock and cheese and I used vegetable stock and it was rather bland, naturally.)

So I decided to pull it out and make a vegan split pea soup. It is rather chilly in Calgary, Canada where I am and it sure makes the house smell delicious with soup cooking away all day. What’s nice about the Ninja Cooking System is that it has a non stick lightweight pan. So there’s no fear of food getting stuck to it making it hard to clean, or it being so heavy you might accidentally drop it and break it. It also has a handy digital timer for the low/high/buffet (keep warm) setting, and simply an on/off setting for the low/medium/high stovetop section.

Since I will be using it only for bean, lentil and soup recipes (and not roasts or meat stews) I will be playing around with it. But for my purposes it works just like a slow cooker so it’s very easy to use. Don’t be intimidated! Just select the setting you want by using the dial. Although I still have my regular slow cooker, I suppose I don’t need it anymore as the Ninja is quite convenient to use AND clean too. It also comes with a little metal pan for roasting/steaming/baking and a metal roasting rack.

If you’re interested in getting a Ninja Cooking System you can get it on Amazon here. I suspect it would also make a nice gift for that family member pressed on time, who likes to toss ingredients into the pot and “set it and forget it” until they come home from work for fast meals.

Although I’m not skilled in the art of French cooking (as they use butter, cream and meat predominantly) I still enjoy using some French ingredients and especially French herbs. Here’s my version of a simple and hearty Vegan French Split Pea Soup.

Vegan French Yellow Split Pea Soup (Slow Cooker)

Serves 8

Ingredients:

2 cups yellow split peas (rinsed and picked over)
8 cups vegetable broth (low sodium or homemade)
1 large sweet onion, or 2 small, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
3 celery ribs, diced
3 medium carrots, peeled and diced
3 tsp Herbs de Provence (or a mix of rosemary, thyme, savory and/or basil)
3 small bay leaves
1 tsp Dijon mustard (do not use yellow mustard or spicy mustard)
Fresh ground pepper to taste
1/2 tsp Herbamare or salt (or to taste)

Directions:

Place ingredients into a slow cooker such as the Ninja or a pressure cooker.

Cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 8-10 hours. Alternately you can cook it in a pressure cooker for about 7 minutes.

When split peas are at desired tenderness, mash or blend part of the soup for a creamier texture.

Add dijon mustard and stir and season to taste with Herbamare or salt and pepper.

Serve with whole wheat bread or over rice.

Additional Tips:

Make sure to use fresh split peas (meaning not ones sitting in your cupboard for the past year, and preferably not from a bulk bin). Using “old” split peas that have been through various temperatures and humidity can leave them hard and difficult to break down. You’ll know you had old peas if at the end of cooking time they are still rather hard and intact. No amount of cooking will soften them, you’ll just end up burning the bottom of the soup to the pot. (I have had this happen many times from bulk split peas) Pick up a fresh set of split peas for your soup recipe instead.

Because I cooked this in the Ninja some of the moisture escaped from the hole in the lid at the top, so my soup is really thick. If this happens to you, you can add a little more broth or water as needed for desired consistency and then season to taste.

Additionally you can add diced potatoes or other seasonings to this soup to mix it up.

Have you ever made split pea soup? What ingredients do you like to add?