lime

Quick and Easy Plant-Based Mexican Black Bean Corn Soup (Vegan)

January 6, 2014 by Veronica Grace 17 Comments

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and happy new year! I cannot believe it’s 2014 now and it’s a new year here at Low Fat Vegan Chef. When the weather is cold and chilly I often like to make quick one pot meals as it’s not only warm and satisfying and makes for fewer dishes for me when all I really want to do is crawl under a blanket. This vegan black bean and corn soup recipe is SIMILAR to the one on my Comfort Soups To Keep You Warm ebook, but it is simpler and thus faster to make. Even if you have NEVER made soup before or feel like you are a novice in the kitchen (or even a terrible cook) I promise you can make this recipe.

I find it imperative to have simple hearty recipes like this on hand when I am low on ingredients or simply pressed for time and can’t make something more complicated from scratch.

Have you ever bought a store bought boxed or canned soup? Maybe now you choose those “organic” and “healthy” looking ones. Now have you ever tried them? I have to say unfortunately I have! While they may LOOK GOOD on the package, what’s inside is often so thin, watery, bland and boring it’s impossible to enjoy. In fact I usually end up tossing half of it because it’s so unappetizing.

My soup recipes are different! They have spices! Depth of flavor! Are heartier! And are actually something you’d want to make again and again. So that’s why I want to share this recipe with you, that even if you don’t have a lot of time, or money or know how to cook from scratch you CAN make something quickly that is infinitely better than what you’ll find at the store and it won’t cost you much to do so.

So check it out:

Quick and Easy Vegan Mexican Black Bean Corn Soup

This delicious soup is ready in no time and is packed full of flavour!

Serves 2

Ingredients:

1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 14.5 oz. can roasted diced tomatoes (I use Muir Glen Organics)
1 15 oz. can black beans, low sodium or 1 2/3 cup fresh cooked (I use Eden Organics)
1 11 oz. can whole corn (low sodium AND sugar free or 1 cup frozen corn)
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth (low sodium or homemade)
1 tsp roasted cumin
1/4 tsp chipotle chili powder
1 tsp Herbamare or sea salt
2 tsp lime juice (1/2 small lime)
Fresh ground pepper to taste
Fresh cilantro or coriander to garnish

Directions:

1. In a large non stick wok, sauté the onions for 6-7 minutes until soft. Add the garlic and sauté another minute or two. Add a little water if needed to prevent sticking.

2. Add the vegetable broth, canned tomatoes, drained corn and black beans and stir. Add the seasonings except the lime juice and taste test. Adjust seasonings if desired.

3. Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

4. Add lime juice and stir.

5. Garnish with cilantro if desired and serve.

What’s your favorite pairing for plant-based black bean soup?

20 Min To The Table: Rainbow Black Beans and Rice with Garlicky Citrus Kale

August 18, 2013 by Veronica Grace 16 Comments

Beans and rice are and eaten throughout the Caribbean and Latin America and it’s easy to see why! Beans are so easy and versatile to use in many dishes and can absorb all kinds of delicious flavors when seasoned with delicious spices and herbs. It’s also an extremely affordable and satisfying dish that pretty much anyone can make!

This Rainbow Black Beans and Rice is my take on an old staple, but it will also work for pinto beans or kidney beans so feel free to get creative and use what you have.

And aren’t you cooking fresh beans weekly by now with your EZ Bean Cooker or Digital Pressure Cooker? Aren’t you? I hope so. With weekly fresh beans you have to put them to use and start incorporating them in new recipes! Hopefully 🙂

Also 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 use it for this recipe.

Video below:

For more delicious recipes please check out my cookbook Vegan Comfort Foods From Around The World here (and pick up an apron while you’re at it 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! The recipe follows below.

Vegan Rainbow Black Beans and Rice

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 onion chopped
4 cloves of garlic minced or pressed
1 tomato, diced
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
2 15 oz can black beans or 3 1/2 cups fresh cooked in a little bean liquid
2 1/2 tsp cumin
1 1/2 tsp Trader Joe’s 21 Seasoning Salute or Mrs. Dash (salt free seasoning)
1 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder
1/2-3/4 tsp Herbamare or salt *or to taste
Fresh ground pepper to taste
handful cilantro, chopped
3 cups pre cooked brown rice (about 1 1/2 bags)
8 Corn tortillas *optional

Garlicky Citrus Kale

Ingredients:

1 large bunch of kale, stems removed
4 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
1/4-1/2 lime juiced
Pinch of salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Add the onions, tomatoes and garlic to a pan over medium high heat and cook for 2-3 minutes.

2. Add the bell pepper and celery and cook for about 5-7 minutes just until the celery is just tender.

3. Add the beans, a little bean liquid and the seasonings and let cook 2-3 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, gently steam the kale and minced garlic in a little boiling water for 2-3 minutes just until cooked and set aside.

5. Add the cooked brown rice to the beans and veggies. Stir gently and heat for a minute. Taste test and adjust seasonings if desired.

6. Drain the kale and season with lime juice, salt and pepper.

7. Quickly heat the tortillas in a microwave (30 seconds) or in a flat pan just until warm and pliable.

8. Serve and Enjoy!

Have you ever made rice and beans? What are your favorite seasonings to add?

Fat Free Raw Vegan Cabbage Slaw – Costa Rican Style

January 20, 2012 by Veronica Grace 23 Comments

Fat Free Oil Free Raw Vegan Costa Rican Cabbage Slaw Salad

Raw Vegan Cabbage Slaw Costa Rican Style

This is a really easy and fast recipe that happens to be oil free, fat free and raw vegan. When we lived in Costa Rica we would eat this salad a lot and it’s a staple dish because cabbage is so abundant there. Most of the tender lettuces don’t last very long in the humidity down there even in the fridge, but cabbage never had a problem. So we ate a lot of cabbage while we were there. The Costa Ricans use VERY SIMPLE seasonings to flavour their dishes, this one only has a balance of lime juice and salt. You don’t have to add the salt, but it’s used to help wilt the cabbage and to cut the acidity of the lime and make it tangy. The tomato adds some juiciness to the recipe as well, so make sure you use a good tomato.

If you get store bought coleslaw mix you can have this salad ready in minutes and then put it in the fridge while you prep your main dish.

I’ve served this to raw foodies and non raw eaters and both love it as a tangy topping to latin style dishes. Typically this Costa Rican cabbage salad would be eaten with seasoned rice and black beans which is also called gallo pinto.

Cabbage has a very nice flavour and does not require any oil. Please don’t drown your healthy cabbage in olive oil or creamy dressing! Oil free coleslaw recipes are delicious.

Fat Free Raw Vegan Cabbage Slaw Costa Rican Style

Serves 4 as a side dish

Ingredients:

5 cups green cabbage, sliced (or slaw mix)
1 medium ripe tomato, diced
1/3 cup white onion, diced
1 -1 1/2 large limes, juiced
1/2 tsp herbamare or salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper or to taste

Directions:

1. Place cabbage or slaw mix into a bowl. Add tomatoes and onions and seasonings. Roughly squeeze and massage the cabbage to wilt it and make the tomatoes release their juices.

2. Taste test and add more lime or salt if desired.

3. Let sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to soften before serving.

4. Serve with raw entrees or as a topping for vegan tacos or rice and beans.

Variations:

You can also add some chopped raw cilantro (coriander) or parsley if desired. Julienned carrot or celery, red cabbage, or jicama can be used to mix it up as well for more raw salad creations.

What do you think of this recipe? What did you serve it with?

Creamy Raw Vegan Mexican Cilantro Corn Soup

November 24, 2011 by Veronica Grace 13 Comments

FTC Notice: This post contains affiliate links which go towards supporting the blog. This recipe is featured in my BRAND NEW 2 part Savory Raw Dinner Recipes DVD set. It is super easy and very delicious!

When I was thinking up raw soups to make, that would look great and I would enjoy eating, I got the idea of packing in more and more veg into it instead of having it be all heavy from nuts or lots of avocados. The solution was to add some fresh yellow bell pepper, for flavour, bulk, and colour. It really adds to this simple combination of corn and avocado and took it to a whole new level. Whenever I show people pictures of this soup, they can’t believe it’s raw and think it looks so great. Well, it tastes even better too. You can also get very creative with the garnishing. I went for a very simple look to display the solid soup ingredients and garnishes. Of course, if you make the recipe you can add as much as you like. You can also make this a little spicier by adding more chili powder.

The beauty of raw soups is that they are quite fast to make (aside from cutting fresh corn off a cobb, you can use frozen if you must) and you can blend them until they are the temperature you want in the Vitamix. So they can be room temperature, warm or quite warm. Just blend for 30-60 seconds for room temperature 1-2 minutes for warm, and then once you get past 2 minutes you are essentially really heating the soup and can cook it a little. So keep this in mind, depending on whether you want a room temperature raw soup, or a transitional warm “raw” soup. This recipe will please even the most skeptical people of raw soups. Just blend it a little longer so it’s warm and not cold if you’re using corn and bell peppers straight from the fridge. Please let me know what you think! I love your feedback. For more delicious recipes check out my Savory Raw Dinner Recipes

Creamy Raw Vegan Mexican Cilantro Corn Soup

from my recipe program: Savory Raw Dinner Recipes

Ingredients:

3 cobs of corn 2 yellow peppers, cut into chunks
1 small onion, cut into chunks 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 small avocado or 1/2 large
1/2 cup cilantro diced
2 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp Herbamere or sea salt
1 1/2 large limes juiced
1/2 red pepper, diced
diced chili peppers or chili pepper powder to garnish green onions to garnish

Directions:
1. Cut the corn off the cob. (Make sure you have a sharp knife, a bowl or plate to catch the corn, and a towel. It’s messy!)
2. Put half of the corn, both yellow peppers, avocado, onion, garlic, half of the cilantro, cumin, lime, and salt into the Vitamix or food processor. 3. Use the Vitamix tamper to push ingredients down into the blade and blend until creamy. (If you don’t have a Vitamix and need to add a little water to make it blend, do so)
4. Pour into 2 bowls. Add remaining corn and red peppers. If you like it spicy add diced chili peppers.
5. Garnish with cilantro, red pepper, green onions and a sprinkle of chili pepper powder. Serve!

How did you like this soup? Did you know you can use the base of this as a raw salad dressing too?