need meal planning help-low fat vegan

[hopeforchange]

hey ladies, we eat mostly low fat vegan and i definitely cook that way. i'm always cooking the same recipes though and i need some new ones. the easier the better! i don't really feel like (or have the time, at the moment, lol) to go searching through tons of recipes online, so will you share your favorites with me?

it seems like a lot of recipes i find are very ethnic, which is fine, we love indian/thai/mexican food, but a lot of the indian and thai recipes call for a ton of ingredients that i don't have and then it ends up being really expensive to make after i buy all the spices/oils/vinegars that i don't have.

so any quick, low fat vegan recipes would be great!

thanks!

[Llee]

Do you like mashed potatoes?

Peel potatoes (Yukon Gold are great because they have the yellow to them that looks like butter) and slice into quarters. Cover with water and boil. When potatoes are soft, drain the water off and save the potato water.

Mash up potatoes (we use a hand-held mixer) and add in Tofutti sour cream--we like the Garden Herbs the best--and some potato water. Let it sit for 10 minutes to 'set' and enjoy!

[Can'tTurnLeft]

black bean soup

2 cans blackbeans drained
1 jar salsa.

Heat and blend till smooth

[Cat]

have you ever looked at the fatfreevegan blog? she has some good easy recipes....

[Serafine]

Pinto Beans:
Soak Beans overnight.
Drain/Rinse Beans.
Place beans in crockpot, cover with 1 inch of water.
Add oil (if you want) and salt (~1/2 tsp. per lb. of beans)
Cook on High for 5 hours or low for 10 hours.
Serve with whatever toppings you like (or not...they are wonderful plain).

Black Beans and Rice:
Sautee onion and garlic in pan (or not)
Add 2 cans of black beans (with liquid), 1/2 cu. red wine vinegar (and garlic/onion powder if you didn't saute in step one)
Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes
Stir 3-5 cups. cooked rice in (saffron rice is EXCELLENT or cilantro/lime rice - see below).

Cilantro/lime rice (ala chipotle style):
brown or white basmati rice
lime juice
salt
water
place all in rice cooker (or saute the lime juice/rice for a couple of minutes, and then add salt/water in a pot).
cook until done (or bring to boil on stove, cover, simmer for 25 minutes)
stir in fresh, snipped cilantro

Thai stir fry:
Buy the small jar of Thai Kitchen Red Curry paste (less than 3 dollars, and it lasts 3-4 meals).
Buy Frozen stir fry veggies (beans, peppers, mushrooms, onions, carrots, etc.)
Coconut milk (optional...sometimes we use, sometimes we don;t) in the CAN.

Dry saute (or in a little oil) the curry paste (OR mix into the coconut milk and simmer for 5 minutes)
Add a couple TBS. tamari (or braggs amino acids), some brown sugar (optional, but essential, IMO), the bags of frozen veggies, and a little water. COok until veggies are crisp tender.
Add in soaked rice noodles or rice if wanted.

Quinoa Salad:
Cooked quinoa
bean (chickpeas, black beans, whatever)
slightly sauteed greens (spinach, kale, whatever)
roasted beets or butternut squash or sweet potato
dried cranberries (optional)
nuts (pecans, cashews, etc.)
avocado (optional).

If you haven't seen it before...glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com is great. She has a LOT of vegan recipes there.

[hopeforchange]

serafine, i've made thai curry for a long time, but slightly different than your recipe. i'll have to try it your way. i also got so used to using fresh veggies in it that i forgot that i could just buy a bag of frozen veggies. chopping a ton of veggies is something that's almost impossible to get accomplished with my boys right now.

i'm curious...have you found that the curry paste has changed over the years? i've been making thai curry with that curry paste for at least 6 years now and they curry paste (both the red and green) used to be HOT; i would always use 1T per 1 can of coconut milk and that would make is pretty spicy. in the last couple of years i've noticed that the paste isn't hot at all anymore and it makes me sad.

oh and how much brown sugar would you say you add per 1 can of coconut oil?

we have pinto beans, but i should make them more often. my MIL makes excellent pintos!

the black beans sound delish! i've heard of saffron rice before, but never made it. is there a special way to make it?

and i'll check out the blog you recommended.

cat, yes i do go to fatfreevegan.com. i do like that site and the blog and have used several of her recipes.

CTL, black bean soup sounds so good and so easy. i'll definitely try that.

thanks for all the recipes ladies! i can't wait to try them!

[Serafine]

Yes, I think the thai curry isn't nearly as spicy anymore.
For one can of coconut MILK (not oil...I think that was a typo, but wanted to clarify, JIC), I think I use maybe 2 TBS. (more if I can afford it...I PREFER about 1/2 to 2/3 of the jar) of the curry paste, 2 TBS. brown sugar (but I also use fish sauce...which cuts the sweet...so you would probably want to use less ).

Also, for one can of coconut milk...I usually use 1 box of rice noodles and maybe 3-4 bags of the frozen veggies...so it makes a LOT of food...not super saucy, but very filling.

---------- Post added at 11:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:08 AM ----------

About the saffron rice...I have yet to find a good recipe that mimics the packets you can buy in the store, so I haven't eaten it in several years. (the packets all have MSG, at least they did back then). That is why I started using the cilantro/lime rice.

This recipe, though, looks promising (replacing the chicken broth w/veggie broth). Saffron threads are VERY, VERY expensive...but you use them very sparingly, so perhaps it would be a worthy investment.

http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/rec...ice73696.shtml

---------- Post added at 11:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:14 AM ----------

Ooh...here is another recipe. We LOVE falafel (served as patties over greens and w/ hummus and/or garlic tahine dressing).

The recipe I make calls for eggs and we fry ours, but I know you don't like a lot of oil, so this recipe is almost identical to ours except baked and no eggs.

http://chowvegan.com/2009/01/06/baked-falafel/

[hopeforchange]

Originally Posted by Serafine

Yes, I think the thai curry isn't nearly as spicy anymore.
For one can of coconut MILK (not oil...I think that was a typo, but wanted to clarify, JIC), I think I use maybe 2 TBS. (more if I can afford it...I PREFER about 1/2 to 2/3 of the jar) of the curry paste, 2 TBS. brown sugar (but I also use fish sauce...which cuts the sweet...so you would probably want to use less ).

Also, for one can of coconut milk...I usually use 1 box of rice noodles and maybe 3-4 bags of the frozen veggies...so it makes a LOT of food...not super saucy, but very filling.

---------- Post added at 11:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:08 AM ----------

About the saffron rice...I have yet to find a good recipe that mimics the packets you can buy in the store, so I haven't eaten it in several years. (the packets all have MSG, at least they did back then). That is why I started using the cilantro/lime rice.

This recipe, though, looks promising (replacing the chicken broth w/veggie broth). Saffron threads are VERY, VERY expensive...but you use them very sparingly, so perhaps it would be a worthy investment.

http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/rec...ice73696.shtml

---------- Post added at 11:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:14 AM ----------

Ooh...here is another recipe. We LOVE falafel (served as patties over greens and w/ hummus and/or garlic tahine dressing).

The recipe I make calls for eggs and we fry ours, but I know you don't like a lot of oil, so this recipe is almost identical to ours except baked and no eggs.

http://chowvegan.com/2009/01/06/baked-falafel/

haha, yeah i meant coconut milk. i've used fish sauce in mine before too, but when i don't have it or want to use it, i just add extra soy sauce to replace the fish sauce.

we always made our curry with less veggies so it was way more saucy, but i think i'll try it with more veggies. and we always ate it with rice, but i can try rice noodles too. the kids might like that. i've never cooked with rice noodles; is there a particular type i should get? i guess they have cooking directions on them?

i might have to skip the saffron rice, lol. i remember that i tried to make that once a long time ago and it turned out awful. i do like spicy rice though and i haven't made that in a long time. we used to eat it with thai curry; just saute a tsp each of cumin, coriander and yellow mustard seed in a little oil until the mustard seeds are done popping, add your rice and water and cook. i need to make that again!

i've also never eaten or made falafel so i'll have to try that too. thanks!

[Serafine]

I use Annie Chun's rice noodles (they are usually in the organic section)...for stir fry, you just soak them in a bowl of hot water (not boiling), and then drain and add to the stir-fry. My kids prefer that to the rice.

I typically just put it in the bowl to soak, while I cook the rest, and they are done by the time I am supposed to add them in. And, yes, the directions are on the box.

ETA: Your "spicy rice" sounds great.

Oh, and if you keep garam masala, ground coriander, ground turmeric, mustard seeds, whole and ground cumin around...that is almost every spice you need for a large percentage of Indian food. It is expensive the first time you buy it, but then you have it for the next...oh...100 dishes or so.

[hopeforchange]

Originally Posted by Serafine

I use Annie Chun's rice noodles (they are usually in the organic section)...for stir fry, you just soak them in a bowl of hot water (not boiling), and then drain and add to the stir-fry. My kids prefer that to the rice.

I typically just put it in the bowl to soak, while I cook the rest, and they are done by the time I am supposed to add them in. And, yes, the directions are on the box.

ETA: Your "spicy rice" sounds great.

Oh, and if you keep garam masala, ground coriander, ground turmeric, mustard seeds, whole and ground cumin around...that is almost every spice you need for a large percentage of Indian food. It is expensive the first time you buy it, but then you have it for the next...oh...100 dishes or so.

yeah i have all those spices. maybe i just look at the wrong recipes, lol. seems like they need rice vinegar or some specialized curry powder, etc. got any website recommendations for good Indian food? cause we LOVE Indian food.

OT, but we have couple of fantastic Indian restaurants around here. one is a kosher, vegetarian Indian restaurant and the other one is run by a Hari Krishna temple and is mostly vegan with all wheat and dairy dishes clearly marked. too bad both of them are 45-50 minutes away or we'd eat at them all the time. oh and they're both buffets!

do you have a good recipe for sambar (don't know if i'm spelling that right)? i ADORE sambar (at both those restaurants and pretty much any Indian restaurant i've ever eaten at) and i'd love to be able to make that at home.

[Serafine]

http://www.indianfoodforever.com/
http://food.sulekha.com/indian-recipes.htm
http://simpleindianrecipes.com/default.aspx
http://www.indiasnacks.com/

I have used multiple recipes from these sites, with great success (and I am clearly picky, since I am Indian, and all. )

I would give you some of my personal ones, but they are all very, very, very dairy heavy.

[hopeforchange]

thanks!! i am so excited!

i grew up with close family friends that were missionaries in India and they would make the best food when they were home. so i grew up eating Indian food, but only got a handful of recipes from them. so some of the stuff i ate when i was younger, i don't know how to make. so i've been slowly trying to look for the recipes; but first i have to remember what the name of the different things i liked is.

[Serafine]

Originally Posted by hopeforchange

but first i have to remember what the name of the different things i liked is.

And it is tricky, b/c depending on the region/family...the names can be spelled differently or TOTALLY different. Wild.

I forget which one, but at least one of those sites lets you search by ingredient...which is SO nice when you are looking around the house and going "what to do with some kale and chickpeas?"

And then, you go.. INDIAN FOOD!!!!!!

There are tons of recipes on this site:

http://fatfreevegan.com/

Many are ethnic recipes and I've never used a one that wasn't tasty