20 Minutes To The Table

20 Minutes To The Table Episode 5: Zucchini Rotini Marinara with Vegetables

August 25, 2013 by Veronica Grace 14 Comments

It’s been a long day, you’re tired, you’re hungry and you have no imagination for what to make for dinner. – I know this feeling and what to make for dinner when I have no inspiration. This vegan Zucchini Rotini Marinara is something that I make quite often because it’s easy to throw together and it’s great for using up vegetables in the fridge. Sometimes I’ll add in some mushrooms, broccoli, or carrots, but I really love this version with zucchini, bell peppers and peas. I use whole grain rotini and I like this style of noodle because it holds onto the sauce well, has a nice texture and looks really pretty on the plate. I got a giant box of this at Costco for a good deal. It lasted me forever and made quick meals really easy.

I actually prefer a spiral type of noodle compared to spaghetti or fettucini as well. This way I can add more veggies and have a little less pasta. Most of the time I make my own pasta sauce each time with just canned tomatoes and season it and blend it up, but I wanted to show you a quick version of this recipe. I know most of you are probably used to buying pasta sauce in a jar.

When I went shopping in Canada there weren’t too many brands of pasta sauce available that didn’t contain olive oil, canola oil or soy bean oil, but I did find 2 different brands. Just look for one that has a low fat, or light description on the front and then check the back to see if it has any oil. I really try to make sure everything I buy is oil-free, it just doesn’t need the extra calories and I don’t enjoy eating slick or greasy food anymore.

Vegan pasta marinara is one of the easiest dishes you can make, but you can make it delicious and special by jazzing it up with some fresh veggies, cooking them perfectly and seasoning your sauce to your liking. I always like to add some fresh chopped onions for more flavor. The recipe video is below.

If you enjoy my video please click on it to view it in youtube so you can click the like icon and subscribe to my channel so you can get more recipe videos. Thank you for the support!

Recipe follows below.

20 Minutes to The Table Episode 5: Zucchini Rotini Marinara with Vegetables

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Serves 6

Pasta Ingredients:

1 onion, diced
2 zucchinis sliced
1 red bell pepper, sliced
1 cup frozen peas
300g/4 cups dried whole wheat rotini (or GF)
1 700 ml/ 24 oz. jar of pasta sauce (look for oil free and low in sodium)
1 tbsp. fresh parsley
Salt to taste
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add salt if desired.

2. When water is boiling add the pasta, bring it back to a boil and then begin timing it as per the directions on the package.

3. Saute onion in a non-stick pan, dry for 4-5 minutes.

4. Add the zucchini and bell peppers. Cook until just tender.

5. Add the tomato sauce and stir to combine, when hot add the frozen peas.

6. Test the pasta for desired doneness. Drain in a colander.

7. Add drained pasta to pasta sauce in a large saute pan (or a pot if you don’t have one large enough).

8. Marry the flavors together for a minute or two to help the pasta absorb the sauce.

9. Add the fresh parsley and salt and pepper to taste.

10. Serve!

Cranberry Walnut Salad

Ingredients:

4 cups Spring Mix salad
2 tbsp dried cranberries
2 tbsp walnuts, chopped
Balsamic vinegar to drizzle

Directions:

1. Assemble salad in a bowl or on plates.

2. Drizzle with dressing and serve along with pasta.

What is your favorite type of pasta and vegetables to cook together?

20 Min To The Table: Asian Vegetable Tofu Stir Fry with Chinese Garlic Ginger Sauce

August 11, 2013 by Veronica Grace 14 Comments

Stir fry may be something many of you have made before, but I guarantee you’ve never made it with my homemade Chinese Garlic Ginger Sauce recipe. I’m going to show you how to make stir fry without any oil, but with tons of flavour. With fresh garlic, fresh ginger and a little soy sauce you can make your own delicious stir fry sauce so there’s no need to rely on store bought ones with MSG and high fructose corn syrup. You can also make it in advance to use later on and just store it in the fridge.

I’m not a fan of store bought dressings or bottled sauces because of the questionable ingredients they often contain so hopefully with my video you’ll see you can make your own and have them be just as tasty too!

To subscribe to my Youtube channel please click on the video to open it in a new browser and hit the subscribe button beside LowFatVeganChef just under the video. Likes are always appreciated as well!

What I do to save money buying pre cooked brown or white rice (for fast meals) is to cook up a big batch in my Zojirushi 5 1/2 cup rice cooker and then I have enough for that night’s meal plus extra to store in bags or tupperware in the fridge or freezer for later. Just a note, cooked rice holds a lot of moisture and must be eaten within 3 days if left in the fridge due to bacteria growth. So please use it within this time or freeze it for food safety. Also you must let it cool before placing it in the fridge or freezer to minimize the bacteria growth as well.

Additionally if you’d prefer to just buy pre cooked brown rice to always have on hand you can check out Uncle Ben’s Ready Rice Pouch or Steamed Brown Rice Bowls and microwave it shortly before your dish is ready.

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20 Minutes To The Table Recipe for Episode 3

Asian Vegetable Stir Fry with Tofu

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 package firm or pressed organic tofu, sliced into cubes
1 small onion, peeled and quartered
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced
1/4 green cabbage sliced
3-4 cups broccoli, cauliflower, carrot mix (or stir fry mix)
1 bag of pre cooked brown rice or 3-4 cups fresh cooked (I used homemade)

Chinese Garlic Ginger Stir Fry Sauce

Ingredients:

1/2 cup water
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup vegetable broth low sodium
2 tbsp rice vinegar
3-4 tbsp maple syrup or sugar (as needed to balance the spice/acidity)
3 cloves of garlic
1 inch ginger, minced
1/2 tsp granulated onion powder
1/4 tsp white pepper
2-3 tbsp cornstarch (depending how thick you want it)

Directions:

1. Prepare the sauce. You have two options you can either blend it all together and gently heat it until thickened (this does produce some foam from the ginger/garlic fibre so I scooped that off) or you can just mince the ginger and garlic and put everything together in a pan and heat until thickened. Set aside.

2. Prepare the tofu and heat over medium high heat in a non stick pan. Add a little ginger garlic sauce to cook it in. Let it cook for a few minutes while you prepare your veggies.

3. Add the vegetables and stir well. Place a lid over the vegetables and cook 4-6 minutes (depending how big your vegetables are). Taste test, stopping when crisp tender. Heat your rice (if using bagged pre cooked rice) in the microwave for 60-90 seconds.

4. Drizzle in some more sauce and toss to combine.

5. Serve stir fry over rice and drizzle with more sauce as desired.

Enjoy!

What are your favorite stir fry ingredients? What sauce do you usually pair them with?

What is 20 Minutes To The Table About?

July 29, 2013 by Veronica Grace 1 Comment

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I started a little video series called 20 minutes to the table, and I wanted to let you know what it’s about and how it’s different from my regular recipe creations.

Check out my video here:

Let me know what you think and be sure to pick up a copy of my book Vegan Comfort Foods From Around The World.

20 Minutes To The Table: Baked Flatbread with Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Artichokes and Basil

July 28, 2013 by Veronica Grace 10 Comments

So the other day I was craving something pizza-like, but knew I wanted to put a healthy twist on it. Although you may think I’m apt to put hummus on just about anything (I might! lol) I actually don’t eat hummus all that often. But when I do, I love to make my own from scratch as it’s super simple. In this recipe I wanted to use the creamy hummus to sub for the sauce and cheese of traditional pizza and then top with some delicious veggies. Although you can use store bought hummus, I don’t like that it contains a lot of oil and isn’t as tasty as making your own. In fact there is a world of difference between fresh made roasted red pepper hummus versus the store bought kind.

In this episode of 20 minutes to the Table I’m going to show you how you can make your own roasted red pepper hummus, baked flat bread and a fresh salad with maple dijon dressing all in less than 20 minutes for an easy midweek meal

Some other toppings for your baked flatbread could be sautéed mushrooms, black olives, pineapple, arugula, tempeh or smoked tofu. Use your imagination! Recipes below:

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Oil-Free Roasted Red Pepper Hummus Recipe

This is half the recipe from my version in Vegan Comfort Foods From Around The World

Ingredients:

15 oz. / 425 g can chickpeas (no-salt), drained (reserve a few tbsp of liquid) *OR 1 3/4 cup fresh cooked chickpeas
1 Tbsp. tahini (sesame seed butter)
6 oz. / 170 g (half a jar) roasted red peppers, drained *OR about 1 small fresh roasted red pepper
1/2 large lemon, juiced
2 cloves of garlic
1/8 tsp. fresh ground pepper
1/8 tsp. Herbamare or salt, or to taste

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Taste test and adjust seasonings if desired and blend again. Don’t worry if it’s a little thin, when it baked it will become creamy and thick!
3. Enjoy!

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Recipe photo

Vegan Baked Flatbread with Roasted Red Pepper Hummus, Artichoke Hearts and Basil

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

Roasted Red Pepper Hummus (recipe above)
1 package of thin burger/sandwich buns or other flatbread
1 15 oz. can artichoke hearts in water (not oil) *OR 400g of frozen artichoke hearts
1 small Vidalia (sweet) onion, sliced
1 handful of fresh basil

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Sauté onion over medium heat for 5-7 minutes in a little bit of water.
2. Slice artichoke hearts and basil into strips.
3. Assemble flatbread by spreading a thick layer of hummus on each piece of bread and topping with cooked onion, artichoke pieces and basil.
4. Bake for 8-10 until crispy and brown on the bottom. (I baked mine for 10 minutes)

Spinach Arugula Salad with Maple Dijon Dressing

Serves 3-4

Salad Ingredients:

1 5 oz package baby spinach & arugula mix
1/2 English cucumber, sliced
1/2 ripe tomato, sliced
1/3 cup chickpeas

Dressing Ingredients:

4 tbsp Dijon mustard
5-6 tbsp maple syrup (or honey if desired)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Pinch of salt
Pinch of pepper

Directions:

1. Assemble salad ingredients into a bowl.
2. Whisk dressing ingredients together in a bowl.
3. Drizzle over salad and store any leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge.

Have you ever made a vegan flatbread or pizza? What’s your favorite toppings? Let me know what you think of these recipes by posting below.

20 Minutes To The Table: Mexican Black Bean Corn Tacos & Costa Rican Cabbage Salad

Hi everyone! I had an idea the other day of putting together quick delicious meals for those of you short on time. This recipe is a great midweek recipe, if you can open a can and use a knife you can make this recipe very easily! I’ll start off by showing you how to make the raw Costa Rican Cabbage Salad recipe, and then the Mexican Black Bean Corn Tacos (this is a variation on my recipe in Vegan Comfort Foods From Around The World.)

If you’d like order one of my cooking aprons or my cookbook my store is here: http://lowfatveganchef.storenvy.com

I’d like to point out that I used canned ingredients in my first video to show how anyone, no matter where you are, can make this recipe. You can also use home cooked beans and fresh corn (or frozen) if desired and using organic foods is your choice as well. This new series is going to show easy plant based recipes that absolutely everyone can make with ease, when pressed for time. That’s why I list the short cuts. Most of the time I cook from scratch, but I know this is not feasible for everyone, especially on a week night after work. Please of course feel free to use fresh cooked beans, organic fresh corn and your own homemade corn tortillas if you are a scratch cooker, but of course this will add to the prep time and take much longer than 20 minutes. Enjoy 🙂

Recipes follow below.

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Raw Vegan Costa Rican Cabbage Salad

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1/2 green cabbage shredded (or 5 cups bagged slaw mix)
1 medium (ripe) tomato, diced
1/2 white onion, chopped
1 glove garlic, pressed or minced
1 handful fresh cilantro/coriander roughly chopped (or to taste)
1 – 1 1/2 large limes juiced (use your discretion to balance with salt)
1/4-1/2 tsp Herbamare or salt (use your discretion to balance with the lime)
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper (or to taste)

Directions:

1. Toss ingredients into a large salad bowl (mine was a little small but I used it as it was clear to show you) and massage well for a minute or two, scrunching the cabbage to help soften it.

2. Adjust lime, salt and pepper to your tastes. If it’s perfectly seasoned it should taste neither of just salt or lime, but a nice mix between the two.

3. Place in refrigerate to marinate until needed.

To spice things up: Add a sliced fresh jalapeno or chili pepper.

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Based on my recipe in Vegan Comfort Foods From Around The World

Vegan Mexican Black Bean & Corn Tacos

Serves 2-4 (depending how ravenous you are!)

Ingredients:

19 oz. can no sodium black beans or pinto beans (or 2 1/3 cups cooked fresh)
12 oz. can no sodium/no sugar corn or 1.5 cups frozen or fresh cut
4 cloves of garlic, pressed or minced
3/4 tbsp maple syrup, maple sugar or honey – I don’t use agave (*optional to add flavor to the unsalted beans)
1.5 tsp roasted cumin (or regular, but roasted is much more flavorful)
1/4-1/2 tsp Herbamare or salt (or to taste)
Pinch of fresh ground pepper
1/4-1/2 lime juiced (or to taste)
8-12 corn tortillas (depends how full you load your tacos)
Salsa of choice (I always look for the lowest sodium on the shelves, you’d be surprised how much sodium is in salsa)

Directions:

1. Heat a pot over medium heat. Drain the corn (if applicable), add some black bean juice to the pot and the garlic and cook for 3-4 minutes.

2. Add the black beans, corn and seasonings (leave the lime juice until the end) and heat for 5-7 minutes to let the flavors meld together.

3. Meanwhile heat your corn tortillas over medium heat in a crepe pan, griddle or frying pan just until warm and place in a tortilla warmer, tinfoil or tea towel to insulate. Alternatively you can heat them over a gas flame until slightly charred or microwave just at the end all together for 30 seconds. (Any longer and it won’t be good…)

4. Add the lime juice to the beans and corn and taste test. Adjust seasonings to taste.

5. Assemble tacos, starting with a layer of black beans and corn, some salsa and then top with your marinated Costa Rican Cabbage Salad. Sometimes I like to add some fresh guacamole for variety as well.

6. Enjoy!

Make it spicy: add some chipotle chili powder, cayenne or a sliced jalapeno to the black bean and corns. Use your discretion.

Corn tortillas are fairly common in the USA and easy to find at most grocery stores and health food stores. I use corn tortillas because they usually have only 3-4 ingredients (but read the label to make sure there is no oil or lard) and are lower calorie than wheat tortillas. Wheat tortillas are more for burritos. If you’re in Canada check your health food store or google mexican/latin groceries in your area. I found several in my city of Calgary that had homemade corn tortillas. I will post a video later on show you how to make your own corn tortillas with masa (corn flour).

This makes a fairly light meal, if you’re family or dinner guests are ravenous I would recommend serving some fresh seasoned rice on the side to round it out, or double wrapping your tacos (use 2 tortillas) and load them up with beans and corn. 🙂

I hope you enjoyed my first episode of 20 minutes To The Table. I filmed this in my kitchen with a camera, a tripod and a lot of books lol. Let me know what you think by posting below!