Plant Based U

Fat-Free and Low Fat Vegan Plant Based Recipes

low fat vegan

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

by 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

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!

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

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!

BakedFlatBreadPhoto

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. 

Vegan Chickpea Quinoa Burgers with Lemon and Thyme (Gluten Free)

by 22 Comments

Summer is here and it’s the perfect time to be enjoying outdoor barbecues and picnics. Everyone wants to enjoy a freshly grilled hamburger or veggie burger. But making your own is quite easy and insanely tasty without using oils or refined soy products. My chickpea quinoa burgers are soy-free, nut-free and gluten-free so they will work for everyone no matter how they eat. If you’ve ever made homemade hamburgers or wanted to, you can make these.

A simple food processor is such a versatile tool for making your own chickpea quinoa burgers. Mine isn’t anything fancy, just a basic mid sized one and it’s perfect for pulsing various ingredients to use in veggie burgers.

I like to top my veggie burgers with some fresh hummus (see my chickpea hummus here or my yam/sweet potato hummus here), sautéed mushrooms and onions (I use a little soy sauce and maple syrup to flavor them), lettuce, tomatoes and pickles. Cucumbers also work well in place of tomatoes for this chickpea quinoa burger as well as spicy mustard.

Find a nice whole grain bun or roll, toast the insides and top your veggie burger with all your favorite toppings. I also highly recommend some of my Summer salad recipes to go along with it such as Avocado Dill Potato Salad, Strawberry Spinach Salad, Shaved Asparagus Salad, Costa Rican Cabbage Salad, Sweet and Savory Asian Salad, or Rock my Broccoli Salad. So now that your head is spinning with delicious Summer recipes let’s get grillin’! Mmm hmm.

Vegan Chickpea Quinoa Burgers with Lemon and Thyme

 
Makes 10-12 patties (depending on size)

Ingredients:

1 cup mashed yam/sweet potato, cooled (1 medium yam, cooked)
4 cloves garlic
3/4 cup chopped red onion
2 cans chickpeas, drained and patted dry
2 tbsp fresh thyme leaves (stems removed)
2 tbsp lemon zest
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 cup cooked quinoa, cooled (I used 1/2 cup dry mix of white and red)
1 tsp white pepper
1 tsp Herbamare or salt *or to taste

Directions:

1. Poke holes in your yam and bake at 400 F for an hour or until tender inside. Set aside until cool.

2. Cook quinoa with a 1:1 ratio of vegetable broth or water in a pressure cooker or on the stove. (See my directions here)

3. In a food processor, add the garlic and onion and pulse until chopped finely. Add the chickpeas, thyme, lemon zest and juice and pulse until chopped and well combined. Scoop out flesh from yam (discard peel) and to food processor along with quinoa, pepper and salt. Pulse until well combined.

4. Form into equal sized balls and place on a non stick sheet or plate lined with parchment paper. Refrigerate until needed.

5. Pre heat a pan or barbecue and press patties gently until slightly flatted and cook for 4-5 minutes per side, flipping once. Be careful to move gently so they don’t fall apart.

6. Serve on buns or lettuce wraps. (I find using a bun slightly bigger than the patty works best as they will squish a bit when eaten.

7. Store any patties in an air tight container and refrigerate or freeze until needed. (Leaving them uncooked is best).

Variations:

You can also use fresh dill instead of thyme if you wish for variety.

Also check out my Smoky Yam Black Bean Burger Recipe.

Have you ever made your own veggie burgers? What do you like to top your burgers with?

Plant Based Swiss Chard and Mushroom Tofu Scramble (Vegan Breakfast Scramble)

by 21 Comments


FTC Notice: This blog post contains affiliate links that go to support the blog. 

Psst… I have a secret to tell you…

Sometimes I like to make breakfast for dinner. 🙂 I don’t eat large or heavy breakfast, maybe only occasionally on the weekend as a brunch, but I prefer fruit, smoothies or fresh juice in the morning. So when I am writing breakfast/brunch recipes I sometimes make them for dinner! I have a favorite tofu scramble as my staple (see the recipe here), but I wanted some more variety with my greens. There was some beautiful Swiss chard at the grocery store, so I grabbed it and decided to create a new recipe for it.



I always like to add mushrooms and onions to my tofu scrambles for extra flavor as well but you can feel free to omit those or add tomatoes, zucchini or broccoli etc. This plant based tofu scramble is such a vibrant recipe it’s sure to be a crowd-pleaser whenever you serve it. I also roasted some baby potatoes dry in the oven and sprinkled some salt and smoked paprika on them for a little flavor. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did!





Plant Based Swiss Chard and Mushroom Tofu Scramble

Serves 2 or 4 smaller side servings

Ingredients:

14 oz package firm organic tofu
1/2 medium onion, chopped
8 oz mushrooms, sliced
1-2 tsp low sodium soy sauce
1 bell pepper, diced
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1-2 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp Herbamare or sea salt
Fresh ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup almond milk or soy milk (unsweetened original) or you can blend a tbsp of hemp seeds/raw cashews with 1/4 cup of water
1 bunch chard, stems removed and chopped



Directions:

1. Drain, dry and crumble the tofu. (Try to squeeze out as much water as possible so it absorbs more flavour. I like to press it between clean tea towels or a tofu press!)

2. Heat a large non-stick pan and sauté onions and mushrooms in soy sauce for 5 minutes until soft. Add garlic and bell pepper and cook for 2 minutes.

3. While the vegetables are cooking add the tofu to a bowl and season with nutritional yeast, smoked paprika, Herbamare or salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine.

4. Add tofu to vegetables and heat through and cook for about 5-8 minutes.

5. Add the chopped Swiss chard or other greens and almond or soy milk. Cover and steam for 1-2 minutes. (Longer if you use kale, less if you use spinach.)

6. Stir and check seasonings.

7. Serve with toast or roasted or steamed potatoes. (I made oil-free roasted baby potatoes with it. I like to add rosemary or thyme along with garlic and onion powder and a little salt. )


Have you ever made plant based tofu scramble before? What do you put in it?



Jeff Novick On The Myth of Moderation Pt 2: The Impact of “Just A Little Oil!”

by 3 Comments

If you missed out on The Myth of Moderation Pt 1: check it out here.

As humans we tend to be fairly curious and like to test the limits of what we can and can’t do. Often when people opt for a new diet or eating plan they try to stretch the boundaries of what they are “supposed to do” and try to do what they perceive is acceptable, normal or even healthy. In the case of a low fat vegan diet, many people still believe just a “little bit” of oil can’t hurt anything, and in fact is good for you.

While I won’t argue that a healthy individual with no ailments would be harmed by a little bit of oil in one recipe eaten only once, a little bit of oil here or there does add up and it counts. I like to strive for a whole foods based diet as much as possible, and the fact is oil is a refined food and just isn’t included in the optimal diet.

We have plenty of opportunities to get omega 3’s from chia seeds, flax seeds and walnuts, and omega 6’s from other nuts and avocados. Adding olive oil or coconut oil is not necessary for health, and you will benefit from more nutrients and antioxidants if you just ate the whole food instead.

Jeff Novick, MS, RD talks about the concept of adding just a little bit of oil to your salads or veggies and how that actually makes more of a difference than you think.

For more information, I also highly recommend Jeff Novick’s lecture From Oil To Nuts: The Essential Facts About Fat Oils. You can watch a free section of it on YouTube, but it’s definitely worth getting the whole lecture on DVD. He also has a short excerpt from Going Nuts Over Nuts his 2012 lecture on YouTube.

The Myth of Moderation Pt 2: The Impact of “Just A Little Oil!”

So now you’ve got Jeff’s take on adding “healthy” oils to your salads and vegetables. If you’re cooking veggies you have a few oil free options.  You can steam them on the stove, microwave them, or saute them in a non stick pan.

5 Secrets For Making Quick And Healthy Vegan Meals At Home

by 21 Comments

I want to share with you some more helpful hints on how cooking low fat vegan and plant based meals at home can fit into your schedule and help you on your way to losing weight without too much fuss. If you’re new to the lifestyle and want to reach your goals faster, check out my Low Fat Vegan Starter Kit which covers meals for breakfast, lunch AND dinner!

image credit: thesurvivorsclub.org

 

5 Secrets For Making Quick Healthy Meals At Home

 
1. Plan in advance what you will be eating (at least 5 days a week) breakfast and lunch and then 4 or 5 nights for dinner if you like.
Take a few minutes to write down some ideas for what you enjoy eating (that is healthy and nutritious) and what you think you can manage preparing for the week. It is very hard to stick to a healthy diet if you don’t do this crucial first step in figuring out your meal options. 
 
2. Shop once a week on a weekend for all the food you will be eating throughout the week. 
Know how many fruits, veggies and bags of salad you will need for the week and keep it on hand. If you have healthy items in the fridge you are more likely to eat them than if you have nothing around when you’re short on time and having hunger pangs. Also cleaning out your fridge regularly and keeping it organized will help you see not only what you have to work with but also prevent you from letting food go to waste by spoiling or freezing if it’s stuck at the back of the fridge. 
 
3. Eat the same (or very similar) thing for breakfast and lunch during the week to keep things simple. 
Studies have shown those who eat the same healthy breakfast or lunch every day have an easier time sticking to their diet plans and reaching their goal weight. Control temptation for eating on the go and grabbing takeout by planning in advance and eating meals you love every day during the week. 
 

Breakfast ideas during the week: large fruit smoothie, large green smoothie, steel cut oats with dried fruit and nuts, fruit salad with toast and jam and/or peanut butter, fruit salad with coconut or almond yogurt (available at the health food store), fruit salad and a whole grain muffin etc. See my ‘Simply Decadent Smoothies’ recipe ebook for delicious ideas.  

Lunch ideas during the week: large salad with fruit, vegetables and homemade nut based dressing (oil-free of course), steamed vegetables and/or lentils and rice with a homemade or low fat store bought sauce, baked potato with hummus and a side salad, homemade soup, stew or chili, roasted vegetable sandwich on whole grain bread with fruit, etc. See my ‘Comfort Soups To Keep YouWarm’ recipe ebook for hot lunch ideas. 
 
4. For hot meals (or salads) do your cooking (or prepping) once or twice a week. 
Make a big batch or double batch of soup, stew, casserole, curry etc. that you can easily pair with a whole grain such as rice or quinoa and a salad or veggies. For salads use large tupperware containers and portion out your lettuce and assorted veggies, dried fruit and toppings. Make a homemade dressing or find a tasty oil-free dressing you enjoy and have little containers to take with your salad each day. For delicious dinner recipes the whole family will enjoy I recommend my “Vegan Comfort Foods From Around The World” recipe ebook. 
 
5. Use cooking devices such as slow cookers or pressure cookers to save active cooking time in the kitchen.
 
With a slow cooker you can prep everything on a Sunday morning or afternoon and then by dinner time you will have a hot meal ready to eat and you can save any leftovers for meals throughout the rest of the week. With a pressure cooker you can easily make homemade vegetable broth, soup, or fresh beans in only a fraction of the time so you don’t have to hang around watching the stove for an hour while things cook. 
 
The most important aspect to sticking to a healthy diet and lifestyle is planning ahead. Life can get hectic at times and we can feel rushed and make a lot of excuses for eating unhealthy snacks and meals on the go, but if you master the art of shopping in advance and learn how to make a few healthy recipes you like to eat every week you will be well on your way to success. 
 
Just schedule yourself some time every week for shopping and preparing a few healthy recipes, a little effort in these areas can make a big difference to your health and not to mention your waistline…
 
I hope I’ve inspired you to take the next step and get back into the kitchen. 
 
You can do it, I believe in you!