Cucumber & Radish Salad

You need:

-1 english cucumber, de-seeded and cut into thin half moons
-1 small bunch radishes, cut into thin half moons

Dressing:

-The juice of 1 lemon
-1 clove garlic, minced
-2 tablespoons olive oil
-2-3 pinches of salt
-1 tsp red wine vinegar
-Several shakes of dried dillweed

Pork Tacos (Slow Cooker)

So easy!

Directions:
In the slow cooker, combine 1 small len pork tenderloin, 1 Dos Exxis beer, 1 pack taco seasonings.

I cooked mine all day while I was at work, about 8 hours, on low.

I drained out most of the beer/juices, shredded the pork, then put it back in with some juice.

Black Bean Salad with Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette

Mix together:

-1 can black beans

-1 can mexicorn

-1/2 diced red bell pepper

-several cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half 

In a food processor, blend the following for the dressing:

-juice of 1 lemon 

-juice of 1 lime

-2 cloves garlic

-1 handful fresh cilantro leaves

-2-3 tbsp olive oil

-salt, pepper, paprika, garlic powder (a sprinkling of each)

Pour dressing over bean mix, toss, and refrigerate. 

Chickpea Salad

 Toss the following together in a bowl:
-1 can chickpeas, drained
-1 small can black olives, drained
-1/2 red bell pepper, diced
-1-2 cloves garlic, minced
-salt & pepper to taste

 Whisk together:
-juice of 1 fresh lemon
-3 tbspn tahini
-1 tbspn sesame oil

 Pour dressing over chickpea mix, top with fresh chopped parsley.

Vegetarian Poblano & White Bean Chili

You need:
-1 bag dry great northern beans (these need to be soaked for at least 2 hours, or overnight)
-1 onion, finely chopped
-1 poblano pepper, chopped
-1 red bell pepper, chopped
-4 cloves garlic, minced
-3 tablespoons olive oil
-1 package white chili seasoning (i used mccormick's white chicken chili seasoning)
-1 carton (32 oz) vegetable stock
***my additions that were non-vegetarian included adding extra chicken bouillon powder and ham base/bouillon (probably about 2 tablespoons of each)


Directions:
1. Soak beans for 2 hours or more under water, drain, and reserve about 1.5 cup for pureeing, which will thicken your soup base
2. Sautee onion, poblano & red peppers, and garlic in olive oil. Add white chicken seasoning, and continue to sautee until all veggies are soft
3. Drain beans and add to crockpot. Add veg stock and sauteed veggies. Cook in crockpot on high for about 3-4 hours until reaches a boil, then reduce heat to low and cook several hours (I cooked mine from 9 pm until I went to bed, and cooked on low overnight...until 12:00 when I woke up the next day)
4. At any point while soup is cooking in the crock pot, bring the 1 cup of beans to a boil in a separate pot until they are softened. Once they have cooled, pour out most of the water in the pot and puree until smooth with an immersion blender. Add to soup in crockpot.

Guac Style Black Bean Salad

You need:
-1 can black beans, drained (use 1/2 cup per serving)
-fresh cloves of garlic, chopped (1 clove per serving)
-1 container cherry (or any small) tomatoes (about 4-5 cut in half per serving)
-avocado (1/2 avocado cubed, per serving)
-1 lime (1 big squeeze of juice per serving)
-1 jalapeno (as much or as little depending on how much heat you want - I used about 1/4 of the jalapeno per serving)
-fresh cilantro (about 1-2 tablespoons per serving)
-salt

Directions:
1. Heat 1/2 cup black beans in microwave for 30 seconds
2. Chop all ingredients and mix together in a bowl.
3. Sprinkle with salt, cilantro, and fresh squeeze of lime. Add black beans to bowl and mix.

Avocado, Black Bean, Grilled Corn and Roasted Tomato Salad

You need:
1 avocado, cubed
1/2 can black beans, rinsed
1/2 cup roasted tomatoes, chopped
1 ear corn, grilled and cut
1 small squeeze lemon juice (to reduce browning on avocado)
salt, pepper, and chili powder (I probably used 1-2 teaspoons, because I didn't make a lot

Mix everything together gently

Roasted Tomatoes (my new obsession)

You need:
1 package small tomatoes (cherry, roma, whatever...)
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil
dried oregano*
dried rosemary*
salt and pepper

Directions:
Slice all tomatoes in half, placing skin side down on a foil-lined baking dish
Top tomatoes with minced garlic, and drizzle lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with oregano, rosemary, salt, and pepper (a pinch of each)

Roast in the oven at 225 for 3 hours.

Grilled mushrooms with lemon-herb marinade

The marinade (you can add more or less of each, I don't ever measure it I just eye-ball it)

In a jar with a lid add:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup white wine (I use riesling)
2-3 cloves minced garlic
A generous squeeze (about 2 inches) of the "italian herb blend" (comes in a tube in the produce section near the salad...this marinade doesn't taste right unless you add this specific ingredient!)
The juice of 1-2 fresh lemons
salt and pepper

SHAKE !!!

Pour over mushrooms, marinate however long you want to....

Get your grill pan super hot. Add the mushrooms and cook on high until they are somewhat blackened, turn down the heat to medium, and cook until soft

Broccoli and pepper stir fry with edamame

You need:
1 head broccoli, with the florets trimmed off
1-2 carrots, julienned
1 red bell pepper, julienned
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bag frozen edamame beans (I found these in the freezer in the organic section)
Kikkoman stir fry sauce (actually is pretty low cal and fat free)
low sodium soy sauce

Heat up a sautee pan or wok over high heat. Add 1-2 tables spoons of olive oil or sesame oil if you have it. Add the broccoli, red pepper strips, and garlic. Add 2 table spoons of water and 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and cover (this allows the vegetables to steam). Once everything is softened (about 4 minutes), reduce heat and add a good drizzle of stir fry sauce to cover everything ( about 1/2 a cup?)

While the vegetables are cooking, microwave your edamame beans according to the package directions. Add into the stir fry when they are done.

Vegan Chili (Crockpot)

You need:

1 onion
1 green bell pepper
2 carrots
3-4 cloves garlic
Chili seasoning (I used 1/2 packet of McCormick brand)
1 bag Morning Star Farm brand "Grillers" (these are like crumbled up veggie burgers and are in the frozen section)
1 large jar or can of stewed tomatoes, do not drain
1 can pinto beans (make sure they are vegetarian, and don't drain)
1 can kidney beans do not drain
1 and a half cans of tomato paste
1/2 large carton of vegetable stock
salt and pepper
*you could also add corn and even hot sauce to this recipe, but I didn't want the extra carbs from the corn and I don't like spicy food.


Dice your onion, bell pepper, carrots, and garlic. Sautee in 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat for about 10 minutes until all vegetables are soft. Add the chili seasoning and grillers, and heat until they are no longer frozen.

Transfer the veg mixture to the crockpot, and add everything else. You can either cook this on high for about 3 hours and low for a while afterwards, or set on low if you're going to let it cook while you're at work all day.