Vegetarian/Vegan Monster Mash

This green and orange mash-up certainly doesn't look as good as it tastes.  It could be made vegan by substituting oil for butter.  It is also a magnificent side dish for bratwurst (for the carnivores in the audience).

It has two superfoods:  sweet potatoes and lentils!  This low-fat, tasty mashed dish provides a ton of fiber, vitamins A and C, and beta-carotene, as well as a bunch of things I don't really understand but I know are healthy like manganese and folate.

Monster Mash Ingredients:

1 cup green lentils, rinsed

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

2 1/2 to 3 cups water

2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1/8 to 1/4 cup white wine

1 Tbsp butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Veggie Soup Preparation:

Add lentils, garlic, potatoes and water to a pot.  (remember you can always add more, but you can't take the water out.  I used three cups, so I think that's safe.)

Cover and simmer 30 mins or until the lentils are cooked through.  (potatoes will be mushy).

Add the remaining ingredients.  Stirring gently should reduce the potatoes to mush without damaging the beans.  The lentils will be about half-mashed.

DON'T skip the butter.  Besides adding slightly more richness, it apparently helps with the absorption of beta-carotene.  Or so I've heard.  

Vegan Hearty chili stew

I started to make chili before realizing I didn't have all of the ingredients at hand.  This was the creation that came out.  It got rave reviews from my favorite critic.

Hearty chili stew Ingredients:

1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 can diced tomatoes, not drained

1 small can of corn, drained

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium summer squash, halved lengthwise and chopped roughly into 1/2" pieces

1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and chopped roughly into 1/2" pieces

1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
1/2 orange bell pepper, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 package chili seasoning
1 package Badia sazon.
2 cups of cooked brown rice

Hearty chili stew Preparation:

1. Combine all ingredients except rice in a large pot
2. Add a water to barely cover.
3. Simmer until squash starts to be tender.
4. Add rice. Continue to simmer just until rice is heated through.

Crock-Pot veggie soup - veganized

I know that this sounds like the most boring thing I have ever posted.  But honestly, this soup is spectacular.

My partner likes to have vegetable soup when she's sick.  My someday-mother-in-law told me the secret is to use beef bouillon.  Obviously this requires some modification.

Be forewarned: Cut out sodium wherever you can.  The bouillon makes this dish a bit salty.  Low sodium ingredients help.

Veggie Soup Ingredients:

1 small can corn
1 small can sweet or baby peas
1 can navy beans
1 can low sodium diced tomatoes (trust me, the bouillon adds enough salt)
1 can green beans (low sodium if you can find them)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 to 2 stalks of celery, chopped up.
Black pepper to taste

1/2 diced sweet onion

2-3 cubes of fake beef bouillon (like "Not-Beef" by Edwards and Sons)
1 cube of fake chicken bouilon (like "Not-Chick'n" by Edwards and Son)
1 cup peeled and chopped winter squash (butternut, buttercup, acorn, etc.)
1 cup peeled and chopped sweet potato and/or yukon gold potatoes
Enough water to cover all ingredients.

Veggie Soup Preparation:
So easy.  Put all ingredients into a crock pot.  Simmer for 4-6 hours.
Note:  the squash and potatoes fall apart, so you could add those later if you plan to stick around while it's cooking.  If you add them at the beginning, they still taste great but lose their texture.

Serving suggestion for leftovers:
For the non-vegans, you can liven up the leftovers by adding some spinach cheese tortellini.