Lentil Stuffed Pepper Soup

The perfect easy-to-make soup to warm you up on a cold winter’s day! For this recipe, we’ve included directions for making this on either the stovetop or with the Instant Pot!

This recipe was adapted from Oh My Veggies:

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup uncooked brown lentils, rinsed
  • 1 yellow onion, diced
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • 1 green bell pepper, diced
  • 1 15-oz can diced tomatoes
  • 1-15 oz can tomato sauce
  • 4 cups vegetable broth
  • 1 tsp dried thyme
  • 1 tsp dried oregano

Stove Top Directions:

  1. Add the diced onions to a large pot with a splash of water and sauté for about 3 minutes.
  2. Add the bell peppers, garlic, and herbs and sauté another 5 minutes. (Add more water if the pot gets dry).
  3. Add the entire can of diced tomatoes, the tomato sauce, vegetable broth, and lentils, and stir everything together.
  4. Turn the heat to high to bring to a boil, then reduce it to medium and cook for about 35 minutes, or until the lentils are tender.
  5. Serve over rice and add any toppings desired. Sriracha and hummus go great stirred into this dish!

Instant Pot Directions:

  1. Add the diced onions to the instant pot with a splash of water and sauté for about 3 minutes.
  2. Add the bell peppers, garlic, and herbs and sauté another 5 minutes. (Add more water if the pot gets dry).
  3. Add all other ingredients to the instant pot.
  4. Cover and set for manual for 17 minutes with natural release.
  5. Serve over rice and add any toppings desired. Sriracha and hummus go great stirred into this dish!

Enjoy 🙂

Lentil Loaf

This has been a favorite dish to make this holiday season. It is easy to make and very tasty!

This recipe is from Simnett Nutrition:

Ingredients:

Lentil Mix:

  • 2 cups cooked lentils (you can buy these already cooked at Trader Joe’s or make your own from dry – cover the lentils with water in the instant pot and cook on high pressure for 17 minutes)
  • 1 cup rolled oats, ground into flour
  • 1/2 cup walnuts, ground
  • 2 tbsp ground flax seed

Veggie Mix:

  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 2 stalks of celery, chopped
  • 1/2 red onion, chopped

Sauce Mix:

  • 1 tbsp tahini
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1/2 cup vegan BBQ sauce (any brand will work!)
  • 2 tsp vegan worchestershire sauce

Spice Mix:

  • 1/2 tbsp thyme
  • 1/2 tbsp cumin
  • 1/2 tbsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tbsp garlic powder

Frozen:

  • 1/2 cup peas

Directions:

  1. Combine all lentil mix ingredients into a large bowl.
  2. Saute together the veggie mix. While this is sauteing, in a small bowl make the sauce mix then set aside, and in another small bowl make the spice mix and set aside.
  3. Once the onion is translucent from sauteing, transfer to bowl with the lentil mix.
  4. Add the sauce and spice mixes to the bowl and the frozen peas. Mix together well with your hands.
  5. Once mixed, place in a large loaf tin lined with parchment paper.
  6. Bake 35-40 minutes at 350F. After done baking, top with BBQ sauce or ketchup and bake for another 5-10 minutes.
  7. Remove and let cool before cutting.

African Sweet Potato and Peanut Stew

Easy and delicious! The original recipe is made on the stove top but last time we made this we used the Instant Pot. Directions for both are below!

This recipe is from Fresh Off the Grid:

Ingredients:

  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 medium sweet potato, chopped into ¼ inch cubes
  • 2 cups broth
  • 1 (14.5oz) can diced tomatoes
  • ¼ cup peanut butter
  • 2 teaspoons New Mexico chili powder
  • 1 (14.5 oz) can chickpeas, drained
  • 2 cups tuscan (aka lacinato or dino) kale, destemmed and chopped
  • brown rice

Stove Top Directions:

  1. Saute the onion in water for about 5 minutes, until translucent and just starting to brown in spots. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
  2. Add the sweet potato, broth, tomatoes & their juices, peanut butter, and chili powder. Stir well to ensure the peanut butter is thoroughly mixed in and there’s no clumps remaining. Simmer, uncovered, for about 15-20 minutes, or until the sweet potatoes are tender.
  3. Once the sweet potatoes are tender, add the chickpeas and the kale. Stir to combine and heat until the chickpeas have warmed through and the kale has wilted.
  4. Serve over brown rice.

Instant Pot Directions:

  1. Use the saute feature on the instant pot to saute the onion in water for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
  2. Add all other ingredients, EXCEPT the kale and rice.
  3. Set to manual, high pressure for 10 minutes.
  4. Let it release naturally.
  5. Once the pressure comes down naturally, stir in the kale.
  6. Serve over brown rice.

Bean Burgers

These bean burgers are simple, tasty, and store well for lunches.

Ingredients:

  •  2 cups brown rice
  • 2 cups cooked black beans
  • 1/2 cup oats
  • 1/2 red onion
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 1 juice of a lemon
  • 1 heaping tbsp chili powder
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • Red pepper flakes (optional for some spice) … combine in food processor then bake 375 for 30 minutes

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375F.
  2. Put all ingredients in a food processor and pulse until everything is combined. We recommend not mixing too much so that there are some whole pieces for texture. (You may need to do this in batches depending on the size of your food processor).
  3. Shape into patties (recipe makes about 8 depending on size of your patties).
  4. Bake for 30 minutes.
  5. Serve on a whole wheat or sprouted bun with your favorite burger toppings, like lettuce, tomatoes, red onion, and mustard.

Enjoy 🙂

Ratatouille

Ingredients:
  • 3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 large red onion, diced
  • 1/2 cup pine nuts (The pine nuts make this meals so do not leave them out!)
  • 1 medium eggplant, diced
  • 2 large, ripe tomatoes
  • 2 small zucchini, diced
  • 2 small yellow squash, diced
  • 2/3 cup vegetable broth
  • 1.5 tsp dried oregano

Directions:

  1. Heat a heavy-bottomed sauce pain over medium heat for a minute and add some water for sautéing.
  2. Add onion, garlic, and pine nuts and sauté for 3 minutes or until onion slightly soft.
  3. Add broth and eggplant and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes or until eggplant tender.
  4. Add tomatoes, zucchini and yellow squash and cook for about 10 more minutes or until zucchini and squash tender but still firm to the bite and brightly colored.
  5. Stir in oregano about a minute before cooking is finished.

We like to serve this over some quinoa.
Enjoy!!!

Easy Vegetable Soup

Whenever we are in the mood for soup but do not feel like spending too much time cooking, this is the soup we turn to.

This recipe is from The Fat Free Vegan

Ingredients:

  • 12 ounces frozen California vegetables*
  • 12 ounces frozen Italian vegetables*
  • 1 15- ounce can fire roasted diced tomatoes
  • 1 15- ounce can no salt cannellini beans or other white beans (rinsed and drained)
  • 1 15- ounce can no salt pinto beans, kidney beans, or your favorite beans (rinsed and drained)
  • 1/4 cup quinoa, rinsed
  • 1 tablespoon dried basil
  • 1 tablespoon garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon hot sauce
  • 1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 3.5 cups boiling water

*Any kind of frozen mixed vegetables will work for this recipe.

Directions:

  1. Add all ingredients to the Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker. Stir.
  2. Set to manual, high pressure for 2 minutes.
  3. Quick release pressure.
  4. Stir the soup. If you’d like it to be thinner, you can add water or vegetable broth. Check the flavor and add more seasoning as necessary.

Bean Jambalaya

This jambalaya uses beans instead of vegan sausage and is still so flavorful. This recipe can be made in an Instant Pot or on the stove!

This recipe is from Cilantro and Citronella.

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups total cooked mixed beans (like 1/3 each: pinto, kidney, garbanzo)
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 bell pepper, diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 3 tbsp Italian seasoning
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
  • 4 cups low sodium vegetable broth
  • 1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes
  • 2 cups dry brown rice
  • 1/4 cup chopped parsley (optional for garnish)

Instant Pot Directions: 

  1. Add all ingredients to the instant pot.
  2. Set to manual, high pressure for 22 minutes.
  3. Let it release naturally.
  4. Enjoy with fresh parsley on top, if desired.

Stove Top Directions: 

  1. Heat a large pan over medium-high heat and add a splash of water. Add the onion, and garlic and sauté until soft. Add the peppers, and another splash of water if necessary, and sauté until just beginning to soften.
  2. Add all other ingredients EXCEPT for the beans. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to low and cover the pan. Simmer gently until the rice is cooked and the liquid is absorbed – 30 to 40 minutes. Keep an eye on it near the end of the cooking time and stir from time to time to prevent the rice from sticking.
  3. Once the rice is tender, stir in the beans and taste. Give it a minute for the beans to heat then serve and garnish with fresh parsley, if desired.

Fluffy Pancakes

These are our favorite pancake recipe! The pancakes are easy to make and very fluffy!

This recipe is from Feasting on Fruit

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1 1/4 cup oat flour (can grind rolled oats in a blender)
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened almond or soy milk
  • 2 tsps lemon juice
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

  1. Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend till combined. Don’t over blend.
  2. Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.
  3. Pour about 1/3 cup of batter into the pan and smooth it into a circle.
  4. Cook for 2-3 minutes on the first side until small bubbles form on the outer edges and in the centers. When you can easily slide a spatula under, flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
  5. Repeat until all the batter is gone.
  6. Add your favorite toppings and enjoy!

Slow Cooker Veggie Pasta Sauce

This is our favorite super simple, very tasty pasta sauce recipe.

Ingredients:
  • Two 28-ounce cans crushed tomatoes
  • One 14-ounce can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
  • One 6-ounce can tomato paste
  • One bag of frozen veggies
  • One or two handfuls of frozen pearl onions
  • Whatever spices you like such as oregano, basil, and garlic powder.

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a slow cooker on high for 3-4 hours.

Smoky Corn Chowder

This corn chowder has the best flavor thanks to the smoked paprika and liquid smoke. We also use frozen roasted corn from Trader Joes to give it even more of a smoky roasted flavor.

There are directions on how to make this corn chowder for both the instant pot and stove top below.

This recipe is based off High Carb Hannah

Ingredients:

  • 2 large russet potatoes (about 1 pound), cut into chunks
  • 1 red pepper, cut into chunks
  • white onion (about 8 oz.), cut into chunks
  • 1 cup red lentils
  • 3 tablespoons smoked paprika
  • 1 tablespoon garlic powder
  • Curry paste to taste (optional)
  • 1 tablespoon Better Than Bouillon (vegetable) or 1 tablespoon of miso, add to taste
  • 1 can coconut milk
  • 2 one pound bags of frozen corn (use roasted frozen corn if you can find it)
  • 4 cups water
  • 1 tablespoon or more of liquid smoke (add after cooking), to taste

Directions:

To make in the Instant Pot: Throw everything into the Instant Pot and cook 15 minutes with natural release. Use an immersion blender to blend to desired consistency. Add in liquid smoke. Serve over rice and garnish with extra smoked paprika if desired. Enjoy!

To make on the stove top: Add all ingredients to a large pot and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for about an hour. Use and immersion blender to blend to desired consistency. Add in liquid smoke. Serve over rice and garnish with extra smoked paprika if desired. Enjoy!