Tag: vegetarian

Healthy French Fries (Vegan)

Melissa King 33 Comments

My daughters just love french fries.  What little kid doesn’t like french fries, right?  Time to make her some healthy french fries.

We hadn’t had french fries in quite some since we switched to a whole food diet.  One day, we got a bag of russet potatoes in our co-op basket, so we decided to make a healthy french fry recipe for her.

I think these french fries came out pretty good.  There was no talking when the french fries were being eaten, and there were no leftovers as they were being inhaled.  In our world, that spells success.

 

healthy french fries

Most store bought frozen french fries are laden with saturated fat and too much sodium, but not these.  These are fries you can feel good about giving to your kids.

This recipe would also work well with sweet potatoes.

Healthy French Fries

Healthy French Fries

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Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 1 hr Serves 5 servings     adjust servings

Ingredients

  • 5-6 russet potatoes julienned
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp garlic
  • 2 T coconut oil

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 400.
  2. Pan fry the potatoes in the oil for about 5 minutes on medium-high heat.
  3. Transfer them onto a greased or lined baking sheet and bake for about an hour. Shake the pan every 15 minutes or so to get them to cook evenly.

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Recipe Notes

Feel free to add extra salt and garlic at the end to suit your taste. We went a little easy on them since we fed them to our daughter. These would go great with my Black Bean Veggie Burgers or my Sweet Potato Veggie Burgers.

Strawberry Banana Baked Oatmeal

Melissa King 145 Comments

Strawberry Banana Baked Oatmeal. If you have been reading this blog for a while, you have probably realized that I love oats.

That is why I have so many granola recipes on the blog.  I also love to bake, much more than I like to cook.

This strawberry banana baked oatmeal is just one thing I made the other day.  It’s so good and a great way to eat oatmeal on the go.

I love making big batches of baked oatmeal that I can pull out of the freezer for quick breakfasts.  The strawberries and banana go so well in this baked oatmeal recipe.

 

Strawberry Banana Baked Oatmeal

 

This dish was inspired by my Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal.  It came out even better than I imagined it would.  These would be great for those breakfasts on the go.  They taste especially good warm and right out of the oven.

Strawberry Banana Baked Oatmeal

Strawberry Banana Baked Oatmeal

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Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 20 min

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Mix all the dry ingredients in one bowl . 
  3. Mix wet into another.
  4. Add wet to dry and spoon batter into greased muffin pans and bake in the oven for around 20 minutes.

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Recipe Notes

I used jumbo muffin pans and filled them about halfway. I got about 6 single serving baked oatmeals out of my batch. You may want to double it if you would like more to stick in the freezer.

Lentil Kofte

Melissa King 3 Comments

For those of you that may not know, my mother-in-law is Turkish.  In Turkish, kofte means, “a little patty.”  This is another one of her family’s recipes.  It is very good!  If you have been wanting to try different foods, I highly suggest giving this a go.  This recipe calls for bulgur, but I was out of it so I subbed quinoa and it came out great.  Might be an option for those looking for a gluten free recipe. 🙂

Lentil Kofte

Lentil Kofte

Lentil Kofte

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Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 30 min

Ingredients

  • 2 cups red lentils
  • 1 cup fine bulgur
  • 1 medium to small onion, chopped
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 tablespoon hot pepper sauce
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 bunch green onion chopped
  • 1/2 bunch parsley chopped
  • 1 lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. Cook 2 cups of red lentil in 6 cups of water until soft.
  2. Take it off the fire, add 1 cup of fine bulgur and teaspoon salt , cover the pan with a lid and let it sit until all the water absorbed and forms a soft doughy consistency. About 20-30 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, saute the chopped onion with olive oil.
  4. Then add tomato paste, pepper paste, cumin and paprika, mix them all and cook for just few minutes more. Take off fire.
  5. Now add lemon juice mix well. (sometimes I use only half a lemon juice and add pomegranate juice or molasses/sauce for the other half)
  6. Now add this mixture into lentil and bulgur mixture as well as chopped green onions and chopped parsley.
  7. Mix all well, place in a serving dish with green salad leaves. (I use romaine lettuce) and use them as a vegetable wrap to serve with lentil koftes.

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Recipe Notes

Feel free to add extra cumin, salt or red pepper paste if needed.  I really like the taste of cumin, so I added another extra teaspoon.  This also makes a good size batch that should last a few days.

I have a few other recipes that are Turkish as well.  My White Bean Salad and Red Lentil Soup are two others.

 

Maple Cinnamon Roasted Chickpeas

Melissa King 178 Comments

Maple Cinnamon Roasted Chickpeas. Nut free, gluten free and vegan.  This may be the easiest snack you ever make.  Seriously.  You need to try them asap!

 

maple cinnamon roasted chickpeas

 

First, I found Kale Chips, and I thought I was in love.  Then it was Cauliflower Popcorn.  But this snack beats them all hands down.

It will satisfy your sweet craving without adding the pounds.  Even my daughter, Meadow, who claims to hate all beans, ate them.

In fact, she grabbed the bowl away and took off with it!  Man, she is a sneaky one sometimes! It was gone pretty darn fast.  I am roasting another batch as I type this.

Here is a little video of how to make them.  For more videos, you can subscribe to my You Tube Channel.

 

Looking for more roasted chickpea recipes?

Maple Cinnamon Roasted Chickpeas

Maple Cinnamon Roasted Chickpeas

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Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 45 min

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Mix everything well in a bowl.
  3. Pour the mixture onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
  4. Roast in the oven for about 45 minutes, shaking every 10 minutes to keep them from burning. That’s it. Easy peasy!

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High Protein Breakfast Cookies

Melissa King 72 Comments

These High Protein Breakfast Cookies are a must make! I am always trying to think of new ideas for quick breakfasts on the go.  That is where these breakfast cookies come in.

These high protein breakfast cookies are packed with good stuff like rolled oats, hemp seeds, coconut and sunflower seeds.

My daughter and husband loved these breakfast cookies too.  In fact, my daughter loves saying that she gets to eat cookies for breakfast!  This breakfast cookie recipe is also very versatile.  You can really make it your own.

 

high protein breakfast cookies

These would be a great little snack to eat before or even after a workout.  They would be great to take on a hike too.  I spent the better part of my twenties backpacking around the country and loved to munch on healthy treats like this one.

High Protein Breakfast Cookies

High Protein Breakfast Cookies

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Prep Time 15 min Cook Time 15 min Serves 18 Cookies     adjust servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350.
  2. Mix all the dry ingredients, except the dates, in one bowl. 
  3. Mix all wet in another.
  4. Add wet to dry.
  5. Fold in dates.
  6. Spoon batter onto a lined baking sheet
  7. Bake for about 15 minutes.

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Recipe Notes

For a gluten free option, use gluten free oat flour and add an extra egg,

For more quick breakfast ideas, click here, here and here.

Coconut Date Bars

Melissa King 20 Comments

I have been having a love affair lately with all things coconut.  It is just so yummy!  So, I am sharing another delicious coconut creation that was inspired by my Coconut Strawberry Muffins.  These are my Coconut Date Bars!

date bars

For these I used chickpea flour again.  After I made my Strawberry Coconut Muffins, I thought the dense texture that the chickpea flour produces was much more suited for a brownie/bar type recipe.  So here goes.

Coconut Date Bars

Coconut Date Bars

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Prep Time 10 min Cook Time 20 min Serves 9 squares     adjust servings

Ingredients

    For the bars

    For the filling

    Instructions

    1. In a small food processor or magic bullet , mix the dates and water until you get a paste-like consistency.
    2. Set aside.
    3. Preheat oven to 350.
    4. Mix all the dry ingredients for the bars in a large bowl.
    5. Mix all the wet into a medium bowl.
    6. Add wet to dry.
    7. Line an 8X8 pan with parchment leaving enough room for a bit of parchment to come out the sides. This will make the bars easier to remove when cooled.
    8. Spread a thin amount of batter so the whole bottom of the pan is covered. The batter will be a bit sticky.
    9. Once the bottom is covered, spread the date paste on top.
    10. Finish with the remaining amount of batter and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes.
    11. Let the bars cool completely before removing from the pan and cutting.
    12. Once they are cooled, grab the ends of the parchment paper and lift the whole thing out.
    13. Cut with a pizza cutter into squares.

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