Flavourful Vegetable Soup

Weary travellers arriving need simple and delicious fare that won't keep them up. This definitely fit the bill with a fresh loaf of spelt bread fresh from the oven.

ingredients:

2 tbsp coconut oil

1 onion finely diced
1 cup  purple cabbage finely chopped
1/4 cup dried mushrooms, finely crumbled

3 cups split chickpeas, soaked but not cooked
3 cups green peas

1/4 cup amaranth
1/4 cup buckwheat groats
1/4 cup milllet

1 kohlrabi, peeled and diced (approx 2 cups)

1 large carrot finely diced (approx 1 1/2 cup)
3/4 cup celery finely  diced

2 cups zucchini diced
4 cups sweet potato diced

4 tsp sea salt
8 cups boiling water


directions:

1. layer all the ingredients in the crockpot and let it cook. Pour the water on after you've added the sea salt btw.
2. stir, and season to taste

Delicious served with fresh baked bread ...

Delicious Black Lentil and Sweet Potato Crockpot

Beluga lentils -- unlike their piscine homonym in caviar -- are vegan. They are tiny and black whilst uncooked, and become a little bigger and dark mahogany brown when cooked. They can also turn the ingredients they are cooked with darker in colour. They tend to keep their integrity even in sketchy situations such as over cooking. They have a lentil taste that is all their own. This dish is deletable, and I highly recommend it for lentil lovers and the lentil curious alike.


ingredients:

2 tbsp avocado oil

2 cups black lentils (caviar lentils)
1/4 cup amaranth
3 cups frozen green peas
1/4 cup dried sliced mushrooms crumbled up

1 1/2 cups diced carrot
2 1/2 cups diced celery
4 cups diced sweet potato

4 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp marjoram

6 cups boiling water


directions:

1. layer the ingredients in the order listed into your crockpot. Sprinkle the sea salt and marjoram before pouring the water all over
2. cook
3. stir and season to taste

Lentils and Quinoa with Coconut Milk -- quick, vegan, down and dirty

This is one of those quicky meals that gets ready in a hurry and tastes great. Additionally, it's amazing for you. And at the rate at which my 4 year old shovelled it in, I would say is kid-friendly. The coconut milk makes it sweet, me thinks. Anyway, my handsome husband went back for more, and a good time was had by all. Unfortunately not in the quicky sense. Although this can definitely be a meal by itself, I would be wont to pair it with sautéed broccoli or some such staple. We're kinda brassica addicts  in this household.

ingredients:

1/2 cup amaranth
1 cup quinoa
1 cup dupuis lentils

2 tbsp coconut oil
1 onion
1 carrot

1 tsp sea salt
3/4 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric

1 can 400 ml coconut milk
1 can boiling water

300 g package frozen spinach


directions:
1. put in a pot
2. cook for 45 minutes
3. eat

Quinoa Polenta -- Nut free, gluten free, savoury, and great for you

A new twist on quinoa. Instead of cooking it the usual way, just in a pot with some water, I decided to cook it a la polenta, jazzing it up with some other ingredients, then baking it in the oven. The resulting polenta can be sliced and topped with something savoury such as the yummy Vegetables with Green Peas and Chickpeas we topped ours with, or eaten as a side to whatever you wish. Or by itself as a quick meal. My previous polenta was mostly cornmeal, jazzed up with a little almond meal and flax meal. Gluten free, but not nut free. This one is nut free as well as gluten free. I think it's possible to experiment and add whatever strikes your fancy. I'll often saute some tomato and garlic with the onion, and use that as a base for my cornmeal polenta. Wanting to go simple this time, I just used a little onion. However, I think this sort of dish is open to endless possibilities, depending on what sort of flavours you are in the mood for. Your imagination (and pantry) are your only limitations.

ingredients:

2 tbsp extra virgin coconut oil
1 small onion, finely chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1 1/2 tsp sea salt

3 cups water
1/2 tbsp herbe de provence
black pepper

1/4 cup (organic) corn meal
1/4 cup flax meal
2 tbsp chia seeds

1/2 cup amaranth
1/2 cup quinoa


directions:

1. saute the onion in coconut oil with sea salt until translucent and well cooked
2. add the boiling water and herbe de provence
3. stir in the corn meal
4. stir in the flax and chia
5. add the quinoa and amaranth
6. cook for 30 minutes at a very low simmer until thickened, and the quinoa is fully cooked
7. scoop into a greased baking dish (this would fit a square), and bake on 345 for 1 hour
8. allow to cool before cutting
9. serve as a side, or as a base for such dishes as vegetables with chickpeas and green peas

This dish won't be quite as 'cohesive' as polenta with more corn meal in it, however it will cut into pieces when cool.

I specify to use organic cornmeal because, along with soy, corn is one of the more polluted options in its non-organic form, according to my research.