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White Bean Shiitake Bisque

Theresa — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 17:10:30 +0000

Calista is really into soups lately. Also, she is loving shiitake mushrooms. She vacillate’s between loving and hating mushrooms. Her current favorite is shiitake’s. Of course, she couldn’t be in love with the cheaper crimini’s! Anyhoo, she likes the nutty flavor of the shiitake’s. You could certainly substitute a different mushroom. This is a really filling soup and the pureed beans give a creamy bisque texture with no soy creamer or soaked nuts so it is soy and nut free for those watching out for these allergens.

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White Bean Shiitake Bisque

Author: Theresa

Recipe type: Soup

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 50 mins

Total time: 1 hour

Serves: 3-4

This quick and easy soup is delicious with some hearty bread, yum!

Ingredients

1 pint shiitake mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
3 small red potatoes, rinsed and chopped
1 shallot, peeled and cut in half
2 leeks, cleaned and roughly chopped
1 head garlic (cut top off, drizzled with a little olive oil and loosely wrapped in foil)
olive oil
3 cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 32 oz container of mushroom broth (you could use vegetable broth too)
1 T dried italian seasoning
2 t crushed red pepper
1 t cayenne
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

Roast potatoes, shallot, leeks, and garlic in a little olive oil at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.
Check vegetables, add mushrooms to the pan, roast for another 10 – 20 minutes until vegetables are starting to brown, and potatoes and garlic are tender.
You may need to take your mushrooms out after 10 minutes.
Save a few potato chunks and mushrooms for garnish.
Put vegetables in a large pot, squeeze garlic into pot.
Add beans, spices, and broth to pot.
Bring mixture to a boil.
Puree mixture with an immersion blender.
You can also use a high speed blender, be careful blending hot liquids in a blender, don’t overfill the blender!
Taste, and adjust seasonings if necessary.
Serve in big bowls with your favorite bread.

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Dan

This doesn't sound like a complicated recipe. It sounds more like something that my mother would like to prepare over the weekend. I will present this to her soon. Cheers.

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Sweet Red Juice

Theresa — Thu, 11 Apr 2013 19:48:22 +0000

I think this makes up for the venti iced soy toffee nut latte I had for breakfast, don’t you? I have to confess, I am not a juice girl, never have been. Those rows of refrigerated juices with fancy combinations at the grocery store, I am not even tempted. However, I actually like the juices I make at home, who would have thought? Juicing is a commitment, it can be expensive and it is messy. In a perfect world, I would not be seeking out fresh organic fruit and veggies, rinsing, peeling, chopping, juicing, and then spending 5 minutes cleaning out every nook and cranny of my juicer.

In this perfect world, my freshly squeezed juice would be brought to me on alternate days by, I don’t know, Ian Sommerhalder, Adam Levine, or Ryan Gosling, while I sit on the couch reading one of the many books calling my name. If you are new to juicing, and you want to get some veg with your fruit, you really can’t go wrong with carrots and beets as a base, they are really sweet (and from someone who doesn’t like cooked carrots, or really raw carrots for that matter) they are great in juice, they add this awesome sweetness, and beets (again, I NEVER eat beets, but, I love them juiced, besides being sweet and a perfect combo with the carrots, they give your juice this beautiful color). Experiment and enjoy!

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Sweet Red Juice

Author: Theresa

Recipe type: Juice

Prep time: 10 mins

Total time: 10 mins

Serves: 1

Delicious, loaded with healthy fruit and veggies, this sweet juice is delish!

Ingredients

1 apple
3 carrots
1 chunk of fresh ginger (use less if you aren’t a ginger lover)
2 small beets
handful of strawberries (you could use another berry too)
handful of grapes
2 small oranges

Instructions

Rinse, and cut fruit and vegetables small enough to fit through your juicer chute.
Make sure to peel beets, ginger and oranges.
Drink immediately, feel the health!

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Citrus Smash

[...] Sweet Red Juice from Theresa at Zesty Vegan [...]

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Orecchiette with Roasted Tomato Garlic Pesto

Theresa — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 04:46:25 +0000

Orecchiette with Roasted Tomato Garlic Pesto – quick, and delicious, this is a super healthy take on pesto, no oil and no cheese, but full of flavor!

4.5 from 4 reviews

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Orecchiette with Roasted Tomato Garlic Pesto

Author: Theresa

Recipe type: Entree

Cuisine: Italian

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 50 mins

Total time: 1 hour

Serves: 2-3

Fast and delicious, this super easy dish is easy to put together

Ingredients

4 medium tomatoes, rinsed and cut in half
1 garlic bulb
olive oil
⅓ c sliced almonds, toasted
½ c chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 t crushed red pepper
1 t cayenne
1 t sea salt
1 t freshly ground black pepper
1 c loosely packed fresh basil leaves
few tablespoons of vegetable broth
3 c dry orichette (or your favorite pasta), cooked al dente

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Place tomatoes on lightly oiled cookie sheet.
Cut a little bit of the garlic bulb off to expose the cloves wrap garlic in foil, drizzle with a little olive oil, place on cookie sheet.
Roast tomatoes and garlic for about 40 minutes until tomatoes are starting to wrinkle and brown slightly and garlic is soft and starting to brown.
Cool tomatoes and garlic, until they are cool enough to handle.
In a food processor, place tomatoes, garlic (turn the bulb upside down and squeeze the cloves out of their papery skins), almonds, chickpeas, spices and basil.
Process to combine ingredients.
Add a little vegetable broth if needed.
Process to incorporate ingredients but, don’t overprocess, you don’t want the sauce perfectly smooth.
Taste, add more seasoning if necessary.
Toss pesto with cooked and drained pasta.
You may have a little extra pesto (perfect with toasted baguette slices!)
Serve immediately.

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Theresa

Hope you try it and like it!

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Barley Quinoa Bowl with Roasted Tomato Herb Pesto

Theresa — Sat, 16 Mar 2013 17:17:38 +0000

This simple to put together bowl is filled with hearty, healthy grains and tossed with a delicious, flavorful herb pesto.

5.0 from 1 reviews

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Barley Quinoa Bowl with Roasted Tomato Herb Pesto

Author: Theresa

Recipe type: Entree

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 1 hour

Total time: 1 hour 15 mins

Serves: 3-4

Delicious, loaded with heart healthy grains with loads of flavor from roasted tomatoes and herb pesto

Ingredients

This is one of those recipes with some passive cooking time. Roast the tomatoes before you are ready to make the rest of the meal. I suggest roasting the tomatoes about 45 minutes before you are ready to start dinner. Note your barley will take longer to cook then the quinoa too. You could easily use a different grain or just one, you could also just use basil for the pesto, but I liked the added flavor of the cilantro and parsley.
7 medium tomatoes, cut in half
olive oil
½ c dry barley, cooked according to package directions, keep warm
½ c dry quinoa, cooked according to package directions, keep warm
1 c fresh basil (plus 3 leaves sliced into chiffonade, take leaves roll up and slice into thin strips)
½ c fresh cilantro
¼ c fresh italian parsley
2 cloves peeled garlic
½ c slivered almonds, toasted, seperated, and cooled
1 – 2 T olive oil
crushed red pepper
salt & pepper
if desired, ½ head broccoli and ½ head cauliflower, roasted in a 400 degree oven with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and crushed red pepper, roasted for about 20 minutes until starting to brown and tender.

Instructions

Place tomatoes on lightly oiled cookie sheet, drizzle with a little oil and roast for 30-45 minutes
You want the tomatoes to start to shrivel and brown
Once tomatoes cook, cool slightly
Place tomatoes, herbs, garlic, ¼ cup almonds, with 1 tablespoon of oil in a food processor and process until smooth
Add additional oil if needed
Taste, and add salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper if needed
Toss barley and quinoa with pesto, tope with basil chiffonade and remaining almonds
If using broccoli and cauliflower, place around bowl

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Kale

This is perfect for my kale shake every morning. I wish i can have all the ingredients available.

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Quinoa Chickpea Bowl with Citrus Sauce

Theresa — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 20:58:47 +0000

Quinoa Chickpea Bowl with Citrus Sauce – Delicious, healthy, protein power bowl, add this to your repertoire!

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Quinoa Chickpea Bowl with Citrus Sauce

Author: Theresa

Recipe type: Main Dish

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 2 – 3

Quick, filling, full of protein and flavor, yum!

Ingredients

1 leek, cleaned and thinly sliced
1 red pepper, minced
1½ c broccoli florets
1½ c cauliflower florets
olive oil
1 c chickpeas, rinsed and drained
¼ c minced fresh parsley
½ c dry quinoa, cooked according to package directions
¼ c water
1 shallot, chopped
1 clove garlic, peeled and chopped
2 mandarin oranges, juiced
1 t crushed red pepper
salt & pepper
1 t cayenne
1 t coriander
1 T soy sauce (or Tamari)
2 T white miso
2 T tahini
1 T agave

Instructions

Saute leek and red pepper in a little oil for 5 minutes.
Add broccoli and cauliflower and saute until desired doneness.
While vegetables are cooking, add water through agave to high powered blender.
Process until smooth, taste and adjust seasoning and/or water if necessary.
Add quinoa to vegetables.
Add sauce to pan.
Add parsley to pan.
Toss everything together until evenly coated with sauce, serve immediately.
I served with pita, lightly brushed with olive oil and spices and baked until firm.

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Theresa

Hope you make it and everyone likes it!

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Roasted Vegetable Lentil Basmati Bowl

Theresa — Tue, 12 Feb 2013 19:22:36 +0000

Roasted Vegetable Lentil Basmati Bowl – We love our bowls, this one is no exception, the roasted veggies with the lentils and basmati topped with the spicy tahini dressing has so much flavor!

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Roasted Vegetable Lentil Basmati Bowl

Author: Theresa

Recipe type: Entree

Cuisine: Mediterranean

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Total time: 35 mins

Serves: 3-4

Delicious, healthy, and packed with flavor

Ingredients

1 c cauliflower florets
2 c broccoli florets
olive oil
crushed red pepper
salt and pepper
1 medium onion, sliced thin
1 c split red lentils
1 c basmati rice
3½ c vegetable broth
1 bay leaf
1 garlic clove, peeled, and chopped in half
1 lemon, juiced
3 T tahini
1 T white miso
1 T Cholulu
1 t crushed red pepper
1 T cumin
1 t cayenne
salt & pepper
2 T – ¼ c water
kale (optional)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Put rice, lentils, vegetable broth, and bay leaf in a pot, bring to a boil, cover with a lid and turn heat to low.
Cook for about 20 minutes until rice and lentils are cooked.
Carmelize onion in a little olive oil in a skillet, start temperature at medium high and then turn to medium low, you want them to brown and get sweet but, not burn!
Toss cauliflower and broccoli with a little salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper, in a little oil, place on cookie sheet and roast for about 20 minutes until they are tender and starting to brown slightly.
Combine garlic, lemon, tahini, miso, Cholulu, red pepper, cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper and 2 tablespoons of water in a high-powered blender, blend until smooth. Add additional water if needed.
Taste and adjust seasoning if neccessary.
To assemble your bowl, Mike and I started with a little kale in the bottom of the bowl, tossed with a little sauce. Calista doesn’t like kale and skipped this part.
Top with rice and lentils (remove bay leaf), a little roasted veggie, some onions, and finally, sauce.
Toss to your heart’s content and enjoy!

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Theresa

Awesome, lentils and rice are a classic. I have some black lentils in the pantry, I need to make something with those next.

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Fruity Kale Salad

Theresa — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 19:52:18 +0000

Fruity Kale Salad – Saturday’s lunch, healthy, sweet, tangy, a great way to eat your greens!

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Fruity Kale Salad

Author: Theresa

Recipe type: Salad

Cuisine: Healthy

Prep time: 25 mins

Total time: 25 mins

Serves: 2-3

Quick, simple, light, salad loaded with flavor, this is eating healthy?!

Ingredients

1 bunch of kale, rinsed and torn into large pieces, (don’t use the stems)
⅓ c slived almonds, toasted
¼ c dried cranberries
1 mandarin orange, peeled and sectioned (I would use 2 of these next time)
1 medium sized green apple, rinced and sliced
1 green onion, minced
⅓ c tahini sauce
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
1 t lemon zest
1 large lemon, juiced
few grinds black pepper
2 T – ¼ c water
2 T pure maple syrup

Instructions

For dressing, combine dressing ingredients in high powered blender (start with 2 tablespoons of water) process until smooth, taste, and adjust seasoning if necessary or thin with more water.
In large bowl toss dressing with kale, get your hands in there and make sure everything is nice and coated.
Set salad aside for about 15 minutes for dressing to soften the kale.
Add the rest of the salad ingredients, toss and serve immediately.

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Theresa

The fruit with the hearty kale and tahini dressing is a great combo. I think fruit and nuts are such a great pairing in a salad too.

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“To live in hearts we leave behind is not to die.” By Thomas Campbell

Theresa — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 19:23:09 +0000

My daughter, mom, and dad.

It has been a busy, stressful, and heartbreaking past 6 months for me. We moved from Phoenix, Arizona to Bend, Oregon on June 1, 2012. We were all so excited about our move back to the Northwest, and especially, the beauty and possibilities of Bend. It really is such a beautiful, laid back kind of place.

My parent’s were awesome and met with the property manager for our rental house, and when our movers fell through (that is a long, angry story that I won’t elaborate on) even helped us move in.

All was looking good, my parent’s and my in-laws came to our house for Father’s Day, I made a vegan spread with appetizers through dessert and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. My Dad was having problems with his hip and was using his walking stick, but, we all thought he had maybe just pulled a muscle or something not too serious.

On Wednesday, June 20th, my life shattered. My Mom called from the hospital, she had taken my Dad to the emergency room for excruciating neck pain, and they diagnosed him with stage 4, bone cancer. They said he would only live 6 months without treatment.

The doctor’s immediately started radiation, he had to wear a neck brace and could barely move his head. I will not expound on all the details, but, along with bone cancer in his neck, he was also diagnosed with lung cancer, and a fractured hip, which they could not operate on. Our postive thoughts were dashed in October when the doctor’s indicated that the cancer had spread and there was nothing else they could do.

Hospice took over his care, and in the beginning things, weren’t too bad, he could get around with a walker, he was in pain but, still able to to sit in his recliner and visit with everyone.

Things went from good to bad rather quickly. I have never known anyone with cancer. It is a cruel, horrific illness. My strong, capable Dad who never sat still and was constantly working on a home improvement project or planning his next outdoor trip with my Mom became a shell of himself. This was the hardest thing I have ever witnessed. The insurmountable pain he had to endure was awful. I, in my guarded life, did not realize the progressive way cancer can spread, to tumors on the outside of his body to losing his sight.

My Dad passed away at home on December 28. He was 64 years old.

His pain and suffering have been at the forefront of my mind for the last 6 months. I haven’t felt like doing much of anything. Christmas was hard. I didn’t feel like working on the website even though I have so many different ideas floating around in my head.

It seemed disingenuine to ignore the reality of what was going on. “You don’t get over it, you just get through it. You don’t get by it, because you can’t get around it. It doesn’t ‘get better’; it just gets different. Everyday… Grief puts on a new face….” By Wendy Feireisen

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Cameron

Hi,

I'm so sorry for your loss. I have a quick question about your blog, would you mind emailing me when you get a chance?

Thanks,

Cameron

cameronvsj(at)gmail.com

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Spicy Coconut Quinoa Bowl

Theresa — Fri, 14 Dec 2012 18:12:10 +0000

Spicy Coconut Quinoa Bowl – this was awesome, I used red quinoa, feel free to use regular quinoa or brown rice, you could also vary the vegetables, kale and chickpeas would be good too.

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Spicy Coconut Quinoa Bowl

Author: Theresa

Recipe type: Entree

Prep time: 15 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 45 mins

Serves: 4

I am really into throwing a bunch of ingredients in a pan for a quick dinner in a bowl. This one is loaded with flavor and very healthy, how often do those two things go together?!

Ingredients

¾ c uncooked red quinoa, cooked according to package directions, and set aside to cool
1 c cooked black beans, drained and rinsed
1½ c cleaned and sliced mushrooms
6 c raw baby spinach
1 sweet potato, cooked and cubed
⅓ c dried cranberries
oil or cooking spray
⅔ cup canned coconut milk
1 T Sriarcha (use more if you like really spicy, less if not so much)
1 clove garlic, peeled and cut in half
½ inch fresh ginger
1 t cumin
1 t coriander
1 t salt
1 t fresh ground black pepper
1 t cayenne

Instructions

Cook mushrooms in a little oil in saute pan.
While mushrooms are cooking, combine coconut milk, garlic, ginger and spices in high powered blender, taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, set aside.
Add quinoa, beans, and spinach to pan, and a little more oil if necessary.
Turn heat to low medium.
Add sweet potato, cranberries, and coconut sauce to pan, cover with a lid for a few minutes until spinach wilts.
Serve immediately

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Theresa

I looove coconut curry too. The combination of sweet and spicy is delicious! I try to use quinoa quite a bit for the nutritional profile.

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Black Bean Pumpkin Soup

Theresa — Fri, 16 Nov 2012 19:30:22 +0000

Black Bean Pumpkin Soup – delicious, warm, comforting fall flavors in a bowl

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Black Bean Pumpkin Soup

Author: Theresa

Recipe type: Soup

Cuisine: Southwest

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Total time: 35 mins

Serves: 4-5

Quick, Healthy, Filling Black Bean Pumpkin Soup, yum!

Ingredients

1 T vegetable oil
1 T Earth Balance
3 c cooked black beans (I used homemade but, canned will work too)
1 can fire roasted tomates (undrained)
1 medium onion, roughly chopped
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and roughly chopped
2-4 c vegetable broth
1 can pure pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie blend!)
1 T applie cider vinegar
1 t cayenne pepper
1 t crushed red pepper
2 t cumin
salt & pepper
toasted pepitas (toast at 350 degrees until lightly browned)

Instructions

Saute onion and garlic in oil and EB until softened.
Puree onion mixture along with tomatoes, 2½ cups black beans, and seasonings in a high powered blender.
Transfer pureed mixture to pot, add pumpkin and 2 cups broth, and vinegar, bring mixture to a low boil.
Turn burner to low, add remaining beans, additional seasoning if needed and more broth if you want a thinner consistency.
Cook until all ingredients are incorporated.
Top with pepitas
I served mine with pita chips (cut pita in triangles, brush with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and cumin and bake at
degrees until crispy).

Black Bean Pumpkin Soup – Spicy, healthy, black beans and pumpkin – great flavor combination

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TracyAnn0312

I think that Blackbean soup was good these Christmas because of the weather. Thanks for sharing the recipe you have, my family will totally love it.

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