Hearty breakfasts

I hate to admit it, but sometimes on the weekends, I miss big breakfasts of eggs and bacon. They still look good to me, but I know if I eat them, I certainly won't feel good. These days, I've been treating myself to my own versions of hearty breakfasts, ETL-style:

It's a big plate of scrambled tofu, tomatoes with basil, steamed broccoli and beans.

Christmas Dinner

As mentioned previously, food is always the center of most of my family gatherings. The host was providing an almost entirely non-ETL menu (everyone seems to think my "weird eating" is just a fad) so of course I brought my own food.

A slice of Thanksgiving non-meat loaf, bean-creamed spinach, and some steamed broccoli:

Thanksgiving Non-Meat Loaf
(Dr. Fuhrman)
6 servings

1 1/2 cups cooked brown rice
2 tablespoons arrowroot powder
4 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons Bragg Liquid Aminos
1 box soft tofu, drained and patted dry with paper towel
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 1/4 cups chopped onions
1/2 cup chopped organic celery
2 cups chopped portobello mushrooms
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon Dr. Fuhrman's VegiZest
2 teaspoons Spike (no salt)
1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
1 1/2 teaspoons basil
1/2 teaspoon sage
3/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
Instructions:

Cook rice according to package directions.

Meanwhile, mix arrowroot powder, water, aminos, and tofu together in a high-powered blender.

Add walnuts & blend until smooth.

Saute onions, celery, and mushrooms in water with seasonings and herbs until vegetables are soft, stirring occasionally.

Mix tofu mixture, vegetables, bread crumbs and rice together in a bowl. With a paper towel, spread a small amount of olive oil in a loaf pan.

Bake at 350 degress for 1 hour and 15 minutes. Let cool 30 minutes. Turn loaf out and slice.

Note: May be served with low sodium ketchup.

I pretty much followed the recipe, substituting oats for the whole wheat bread crumbs. I didn't have VegiZest so I used an organic no-salt seasoning blend I bought from Costco. I also couldn't find arrowroot so I used tapioca flour instead.

I enjoyed this! It was much better than the Quinoa Loaf I had made for Thanksgiving. It actually did form a firm loaf which was great! I ate it plain (without ketchup) but it probably would be good with mushroom gravy too.

Bean-Creamed Spinach
(Lorna Sass, Short-Cut Vegan)
4 servings

1 tablespoon olive oil [omitted]
1 cup coarsely chopped onions
1 3/4 cups cooked navy or cannellini beans or 1 (15-ounce) can navy or cannellini beans, drained (rinsed if nonorganic)
1 (10-ounce) package frozen spinach
1 cup water
1 tablespoon instant vegetable stock powder
2 teaspoons dried dill or 1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (optional)
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan. Sauté the onions for 1 minute, stirring frequently. Add the beans, spinach, water, stock powder, dill, and salt and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.

Break up the block of spinach with a fork and stir well. Cook until the spinach is tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Puree the mixture with an immersion blender (or transfer in small batches to a food processor or blender and puree until smooth).

If the creamed spinach seems too thick, thin slightly with lemon juice, which will sharpen the flavors, or with water. Season with pepper to taste. Depending upon the consistency, serve either in small bowls or on plates.

This was a winner too. It doesn't tasted exactly like real creamed spinach (yuck) but that's okay because I detest creamed spinach anyway. I wanted a dish I could take to the family gathering that didn't look too strange - especially since I already brought my loaf! Heh. I told everyone it was "creamed spinach" (leaving off the "bean") part and no one said anything to me. I'm sure they weren't fooled but they probably didn't guess that it was beans that provided the creaminess.

Toor Dal with Tahini and Parsley

I found some toor dal the other day at the market at a discounted price. $1.19 for a 2 lb bag. Since dry beans are generally around $1/lb this seemed like a deal! I picked up a bag but had no idea what to do with it. The internet is my friend though and I found this lovely recipe from a blog that looks like it has some fun recipes.

Toor Dal with Tahini and Parsley

I followed the recipe mostly, except I didn't add any salt, pepper, oil (just water-sauteed the onion). I'm not sure what I did wrong, but my dal never thickened to the point of looking like the picture. Oh well, it was still tasty.

Garbanzo Bean Salad with Lemon Dressing

This recipe was printed in the paper recently and when I read it, I realized I had all the ingredients. How often does that happen? I made the salad this past weekend.  I ate it during the week, on top of a big pile of lettuce. Here it is with my changes:

Garbanzo Bean Salad With Lemon Dressing
Modified from a Sunkist recipe
4 servings

SALAD
3 (14-ounce) cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
5 to 6 garlic cloves, minced
1 bunch green onions, chopped
Zest of 1 lemon
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
1 jalapeño, seeded and minced
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 red bell pepper, chopped,
1 (28-ounce) can green beans, drained and rinsed
Chopped fenne

DRESSING
1 shallot, minced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
Juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon cumin
1/4 cup red wine or cider vinegar
Pepper to taste

In a large bowl, combine the salad ingredients. In a small bowl, whisk together all the dressing ingredients. Toss dressing with salad.

It was good, but I felt like it was missing something (probably salt!) - maybe more lemon or vinegar next time?

Also, it says it makes 4 servings but with that many beans and since I added extras, it was more like 8!