cooked recipes

I’m excited to announce that I’ll have a BRAND NEW recipe ebook coming out soon. This one has been a long time in the making, because I was forever adding recipes and expanding the tutorials included in it. My ebook Vegan Comfort Foods From Around The World has ballooned to over 60 new delicious recipes and includes how to cook every low fat vegan side dish from scratch as well.

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This is the one recipe book you’re going to want to dive in and start making recipes from right away. I’ve taken classic rich and decadent (and typically unhealthy) comfort foods and stripped the fat and processed ingredients from it and created a delicious and whole foods based version. There is absolutely NO processed fake meat, NO store bought fake vegan cheese or anything like that in these recipes. These dishes are nutritious and focus on calories from whole carbohydrates and lean vegan proteins such as lentils and beans. It’s also extremely gluten free friendly, and most recipes are soy free and nut free as well. There are a few recipes that use tofu (for tofu ricotta “cheese”), but the majority of the recipes are based on vegetables and whole grains and legumes.

Right now we’re just finishing up some final edits for the ebook and it will be available shortly. But I wanted to kick off with a contest! To enter to win a copy of my new ebook Comfort Foods From Around The World just comment below and tell me what 1 or 2 recipes you are MOST looking forward to trying and why. You can also share what your favorite comfort food was growing up too. I wanted to cover a wide variety of comfort foods, so half of them are American and the other half are European and Asian.

BTW there were just way too many photos to post, so this only HALF of all the recipes that are in the ebook to give you an idea of what I have in store for you. And every single recipe in this book comes with a photo unlike most recipe books, so you can let your eyes decide exactly what you want to make!

Pin It: Baked Artichoke Risotto

Pin It: Yam Black Bean Enchiladas

Pin It: Baked Butternut Squash Mac And Cheezy (contains no fake cheese)

Pin It: Quinoa Veggie Slow Cooker Chili

Pin It: Baked Ziti And Greens

Pin It: Better Than Boston Baked Beans

Pin It: Black Bean And Corn Tacos

Pin It: Cauliflower Potato Tofu Frittata

Pin It: Deluxe Spinach Mushroom Lasagna

Pin It: Easy Cheezy Shells And Broccoli

Pin It: Fettuccini Alfredo With Mushrooms And Spinach

Pin It: Gourmet Chanterelle Mushroom Risotto

Pin It: Greek Rice Stuffed Peppers

Pin It: Herbed Lentil Loaf

Pin It: Holiday Stuffed Acorn Squash

Pin It: Indian Chickpea Curry (Chana Masala)

Pin It: Meatless Sloppy Joe’s

Pin It: Rainbow Nachos with Queso Sauce

Pin It: Indian Roasted Eggplant Curry (Baingan Bharta)

Pin It: Pulled Jackfruit Carnitas (faux pulled pork)

Pin It: Marinated Portobello Bean Burritos

Pin It: Mashed Potatoes With Gravy

Pin It: Ratatouille

Pin It: Costa Rican Rice and Beans (Gallo Pinto)

Pin It: Rotini Marinara With Chanterelle Mushrooms

Pin It: Saucy Eggplant Fajitas

Pin It: Yam And French Lentil Shepherd’s Pie

Pin It: Spicy Mexican Black Bean Burgers

Pin It: The Best Cabbage Rolls

Pin It: Yam Chickpea Spinach Curry

How To Win a Copy: What 1 or 2 dishes are you MOST excited to try and why? Comment below and you’ll be entered to win a copy when Comfort Foods From Around The World is launched. The winner will be randomly selected from all entries. You have until Wednesday Oct 10 at 11:59 pm EST to enter.

Good luck everyone! I know you’re going to love eating these recipes as much as I did making them. Make sure you sign up for my newsletter (the pink box on the right) to make sure you’re notified when my ebook is for sale.

How To Cook The Perfect Brown Rice

Brown rice takes much longer to cook than white rice and sometimes it can be confusing why your brown rice didn’t turn out if you have never cooked it before. Brown rice is a whole grain and still contains the outer layer of bran. White rice has just been de-hulled and reveals the white endosperm inside. Any rice that contains the outer layer of bran will look brown and can be called brown “rice”.

So let me show you how to cook brown rice in 2 easy ways, on the stovetop or in a rice cooker.

Stove Top Directions For Cooking Brown Rice:

Measure out rice using a measuring cup. Usually it’s 1/3 cup for a small single serving and 1 cup for several servings. You can always make a big batch in advance and reheat it later or use to make rice salad.

Place rice in a mesh strainer or a bowl and rinse with cool water to remove any debris and excess starch. Drain.

Add rinsed rice to a pot and add 1 ½ times the amount of rice you have in fresh water. For 1 cup of rice, add 1 ½ cups of water.

Put the pot on the stove uncovered and turn the heat to high and bring it to a boil.

Once your water is boiling, turn the heat to a simmer and cover with a lid. If your lid has a hole or steam valve cover it with a little cloth. Let the rice cook at a simmer for about 20 minutes.

Turn off the heat and let the rice sit and steam for another 10 minutes.

Fluff with a fork and serve.

My favorite rice cooker is the Zojirushi 5 1/2 cup (dry amount) rice cooker. It’s designed in Japan and is like the Mercedez of rice cookers. You can program it to cook rice at any hour of the day, but I personally enjoy being able to set it the night before to cook steel cut oats for whole grain oatmeal in the morning. It also has settings for brown rice, white rice, mixed rice, sweet rice, porridge, cake and steaming vegetables. So if you’re looking for an awesome all in 1 grain cooker I recommend this one. If you’re just a single or looker for a cheaper one there’s also the Zojirushi 3 cup (dry amount) rice cooker.

Rice Cooker Directions For Cooking Brown Rice:

Measure out rice using the measuring cup that comes with rice cooker. Usually it’s 1/3 cup for a small serving and 1 cup for several servings. You can always make a big batch in advance and reheat it later or use to make rice salad.

Place rice in a mesh strainer or in rice cooker pan and rinse with cool water to remove any debris and excess starch. Drain.

Add rinsed rice back to rice cooker pan and add water to the corresponding water level for brown rice. If your rice cooker pan does not have a brown rice and white rice water line, use 1 ½ times the amount of rice for water. For example: 1 cup of dried brown rice will need 1½ cups of water.

Turn rice cooker on and select brown rice setting. If your rice cooker does not have a brown rice setting, select white rice or just press on/start.

Once cooking is complete and the rice cooker turns to the keep warm setting, let the rice sit and steam for 5-10 minutes before opening. (This helps your grains stay separated and not stick together when you scoop it out.)

Fluff with a fork and serve.

I suggest setting your rice cooker to cook 1 to 2 hours before your main dish is ready to ensure that it is ready on time. For basic rice cookers it’s about 1 hour of cook time, for the Zojirushi it’s about 2 hours because it adds a soaking cycle (and produces better brown rice.)