Main Dishes

Vegetable-filled Quiche

karenwpullen Breakfast, Main Dishes, Recipes
Vegetable-filled Quiche

Traditionally, quiche is made from eggs, eggs, more eggs, and cheese.

This version has a lot of vegetables, and some creamy tofu. It’s a keeper!

Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time35 minutes
Print Recipe

Spinach-mushroom-tomato quiche

A lovely filling for any kind of pie crust
Course: Breakfast, Main Course
Servings: 8

Equipment

  • food processor

Ingredients

  • 1 pie crust pre-baked
  • 1 15-oz block firm tofu pressed
  • 1 leek or yellow onion thinly sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 8 oz. cremini mushrooms sliced
  • 2 tsp dried basil
  • 1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes cut in half
  • 3 cups baby spinach
  • 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne to taste
  • 1/2 tsp black salt
  • Black pepper to taste

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
  • Break apart the tofu block into 4 pieces and add into food processor. Process the tofu until smooth and creamy. If it doesn't get creamy, add a tiny splash of almond milk to help it along.
  • In a skillet, sauté the leek (or onion) and garlic over medium heat for a few minutes. Add a little broth if it starts to stick. Stir in the mushrooms and tomatoes, season with salt, and cook on medium-high heat until most of the water cooks off the mushrooms, about 10-12 minutes.
  • Stir in the herbs, spinach, nutritional yeast, sea salt, cayenne, black salt, and pepper until combined. Cook until the spinach is wilted.
  • Remove from heat and stir in the creamy tofu until thoroughly combined. Adjust seasoning to taste if desired. Spoon mixture into baked crust and smooth out with a spoon until even.
  • Bake quiche, uncovered, at 375F for 30 minutes, until the quiche is firm to the touch. For best results, cool the quiche for 20 minutes on a cooling rack before attempting to slice.

Notes

Wrap up leftovers and refrigerate for 3-4 days. Leftover quiche can be reheated in the oven on a baking sheet for about 15-20 minutes at 350F.

Pizza, homemade & healthy

karenwpullen Main Dishes, Recipes, Snacks, Dips, and Smoothies , ,
Pizza, homemade & healthy

Most pizza, whether from a restaurant or grocery story freezer, is neither healthy nor very tasty, IMHO. It fills a caloric need, a hungry stomach, plus it’s something usually everyone will eat. But the oil and fat and salt aren’t appealing; the cheese turns off anyone plant-based. So let’s make our own! Much better, with a whole wheat crust, quick homemade sauce, lots of veggies, and a mozzarella-like pourable cheese that browns right up.

Here’re the recipes for the crust, the sauce, and the cheez. The crust recipes includes the directions for assembling it all into a pizza.

Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time5 minutes
Print Recipe

“Mozzarella”

This cheez will taste like mozzarella, and brown in the oven. It's ooey and gooey, perfect for pizza.
Course: Sauces and dressings, Snack
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 0

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup cashews
  • 4 Tbs tapioca flour
  • 1 Tbs nutritional yeast
  • 1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 lemon juiced
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 1/3 cup water

Instructions

  • Cover the cashews with hot water and soak for 10 minutes.
  • Drain the cashews and place in a blender. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend on high until it becomes a completely smooth liquid, about 2 minutes.
  • Pour into a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Continually stir. The cheese will start forming clumps; keep stirring and it will continue clumping until the mixture turns from watery to a thicker melty cheese sauce. This takes about 5 minutes.
  • Serve hot or allow to cool. The cheese will get thicker as it cools but will stay in a melty state.

Notes

Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for 2 – 3 days
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Print Recipe

Pizza!

Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Snack
Servings: 0

Equipment

  • 1 pizza stone optional

Ingredients

  • 1 cup warm water 105 degrees F
  • 1 Tbs sugar
  • 1 Tbs active dry yeast
  • 1 Tbs olive oil
  • 2 – 2 1/2 cups flour I like white whole wheat
  • 1 tsp salt

Instructions

  • Instructions
  • Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Put a pizza stone in the oven while it preheats for at least 10 minutes.
  • Combine warm water, yeast and sugar in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Let sit for 5 minutes, or until it becomes frothy and bubbles form.
  • Gently stir in olive oil.
  • Add 2 cups of flour and salt and mix with a spatula until a ball begins to form (dough will still be slightly sticky). Add more flour as needed to form a dough ball.
  • Transfer to a floured surface and knead into a smooth dough for about five minutes, adding up to ½ cup extra flour if needed.
  • On a piece of parchment paper, roll the dough flat into a 12-inch circle.
  • Spread pizza sauce on the crust. Add desired vegetables: red onion, mushrooms, green pepper, artichokes. Top with pourable or sliced mozzarella cheez and a sprinkling of herbs like oregano and basil.
  • Transfer the pizza to the preheated pizza stone in the oven.
  • Bake on the preheated pizza stone for 12-15 minutes, or until the bottom of the crust is golden brown. If the cheez isn't browned, turn on the broiler for a couple of minutes. Watch it carefully!
  • Take the stone out of the oven and remove the pizza to a wire rack to cool for 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Notes

If you don’t have a pizza stone, a baking pan will be fine.
Use jarred pizza sauce or make your own with this recipe below.
Prep Time2 minutes
Cook Time3 minutes
Print Recipe

Pizza Sauce

Whisk this up from ingredients in your pantry.
Course: Sauces and dressings
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 0

Ingredients

  • 6 oz tomato paste
  • 15 oz tomato sauce
  • 1 Tbs dried oregano
  • 1 Tbs Italian seasoning
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp garlic salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp sugar

Instructions

  • Whisk all ingredients together until smooth.

Cold & Crunchy Thai Noodle Salad

karenwpullen Main Dishes, Pasta, Recipes, Salads, Sauces and dressings
Cold & Crunchy Thai Noodle Salad

This salad has it all–lots of POW from the Thai flavors, noodles (my favorite food group), peanut crunch, and a slightly spicy sauce.

There’s not a lot of cooking – just the noodles. I buy edamame already cooked. Packaged slaw and pre-cut matchstick carrots also reduce chopping time.

It’s a great dish for meal prep – think lunch for a week! Also makes a great potluck dish.

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time5 minutes
Print Recipe

Cold & Crunchy Thai Noodle Salad

All the flavors. Plus noodles. This is one of my favorite dishes.
Course: Main Course, Pasta, Salad, Sauces and dressings
Cuisine: Thai
Keyword: lunch, meal prep
Servings: 0

Equipment

  • 1 immersion blender optional

Ingredients

Peanut Sauce

  • 1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
  • 2 Tbs rice wine vinegar
  • 2 Tbs sesame oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp grated ginger
  • 1 tsp Sriracha or more
  • 2 Tbs maple syrup
  • 2-4 Tbs warm water *optional

Noodle Salad

  • 8 ounces noodles thin spaghetti, lo mein, pad thai style or soba noodles
  • 1 bell pepper red or orange, julienne cut
  • 1/2 cup carrots matchstick
  • 1 Persian cucumber julienne cut
  • 1 16-oz bag coleslaw
  • 3 green onions chopped
  • 1/2 cup peanuts chopped
  • 1/3 cup cilantro about half a bunch, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds toasted
  • 1 1/2 cups edamame cooked. About 8 oz.

Instructions

Noodle Salad

  • Cook the noodles per the package instructions until al dente. Drain and immediately rinse in cold water for a few minutes.
  • If the edamame aren't cooked, cook them per package directions. Drain and rinse under cold water.
  • In a large bowl, add the cold noodles, all of the vegetables and gently toss to combine. Add 3/4 cup of the peanut sauce and toss to coat the noodles and vegetables.
  • Add the peanuts, cilantro, and sesame seeds. Toss again.
  • Cover and chill in the fridge for one hour. Right before serving, toss and add additional peanut sauce if needed. (If you can't wait to eat it, that's OK too!)

Peanut Sauce

  • Put all of the ingredients, except the water, into a bowl and blend. If the mixture needs to be thinned, add 2-4 tablespoons of warm water.
  • The sauce can also be whisked until smooth.