Carrot Juice Waffles, West African Jollof Rice & Mini Broccoli Quiches

Breakfast: Carrot Juice Waffles
adapted from Fork & Beans

(Recipe makes 4 waffles in waffle maker)

1c carrot juice (store bought works, but not as good)
1c carrot pulp (or grated carrots if you don't have a juicer)
1c rice milk
1/4 c coconut oil
1 1/4 c Bob's pancake mix
1 1/4 c white rice flour
1/2 tbsp nutmeg
1/2 tbsp cinnamon

I made these almost a month ago & never blogged about it, but I remade them because we loved the recipe so much. They also make a great snack & I froze a couple too :) These sugar free waffles are naturally sweet & even got MJ's omnivore cousin's seal of approval [without ANY syrup!] MJ's been sick the past week or so and this was such a low-key easy food for him to feed himself at his own pace.

• Combine wet ingredients [juice, pulp, oil, milk]
• Pour flours & spices on top and fold [do not mix] the flour into the carrot mix
• Mixture should be smooth & stores nicely for later usage.

Batter

With a delicious natural orange color!

Lunch: West African Jollof Rice

1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
2 cans kidney beans
2-4 c vegetable broth
1/2 green pepper
1 c frozen peas
1/2 onion
1 c brown rice
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 inch peeled & grated ginger
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp thyme
pinch of crushed red pepper
pinch of salt
olive oil

It feels like 10 different people were talking about Jollof rice last week & you know what? I had never even heard of it! So, I decided to try my hand at a vegan version. Not sure if it is true to the taste of traditional West African Jollof Rice since I've never had it, but I did like the combination of cinnamon & ginger in the mix. MJ was a little iffy about it, some days he devoured it and some days he refused to even take a bite. Not sure if that has to do with him being sick or not generally liking the meal. Anyway, I invite any of my West African friends (or Jollof Rice connoisseurs) to come try my rice and see if it is anyway authentic to true West African Jollof Rice :)

• Saute onions & herbs in olive oil until onions are soft.
• Add chopped green peppers & diced tomatoes cook for 2-3 minutes
• Stir in rice, tomato paste and vegetable broth and bring to a boil
• Simmer for 45 minutes or until rice is fully cooked (adding vegetable broth as needed to keep rice from sticking 1c at a time)

Dinner: Mini Broccoli Quiches 
(makes 24 mini muffin quiches)
adapted from Including Cake

½ tsp garlic powder
½ cup chickpea flour (make your own by sticking dry chickpeas into the food processor)
1 tbs potato starch

3 tsp nutritional yeast

1 tsp mustard
pinch paprika

Large pinch baking powder
1 tbs olive oil

1 cup water

1 grated head of broccoli florets

 

 I'm going to have to add this to my regular recipe list. Easily takes less than 10 minutes to make this recipe and they were delicious. I actually didn't completely follow the recipe correctly and combined my vegetables in, aesthetically they probably aren't as nice, but the taste was still awesome. I listed the recipe as I made it, but included the original suggestions as well.

• Combine all ingredients (mixture will be thin)
• Dish into mini cupcake tin
• Bake for 30 minutes at 350 degrees
• For a more quiche-like appearance combine ingredients (minus vegetables), spoon into mini muffin pans filling halfway, THEN add vegetables on top. This gives more of a crust look.

In the mini muffin pan

Delicious cheesy broccoli bites

Yum!

Strawberry Puree Pancakes, Curried Zucchini & Carrots with Ancient Grains Mix, Mango BBQ Beans

Breakfast: Strawberry Puree Pancakes
(recipe makes six 3" pancakes)

1 c strawberries
1/2 tbsp of ground flaxseed + 1 1/2 tbsp water
1/4 c rice milk
1/2 tbsp coconut oil
1 1/2 c Bob's GF pancake mix

Strawberry season!!! Sweet, sweet strawberry season!!!!! I need to find a way that we can go strawberry picking--not sure a 1 year old is capable to pick fruit nicely, but I think it'd be a fun weekend activity anyway. Perhaps next week--the farmer's market strawberries will do for this week :) I was inspired to make a pancake combination of my own after making carrot-juice waffles a few weeks ago (I didn't post about it yet, I will do a post later this week though because they were amazing and I'm planning on making some in bulk to freeze.) I didn't want to juice the strawberries though, but I thought adding a puree to pancakes would work really well---and it did! These need NO sugar they are sweet and delicious, but still light and fluffy. This is a gluten-free recipe, but I'm sure replacing the GF pancake mix with a wheat flour mix (packaged or homemade) would be just as tasty.

• Combine ground flaxseed and water, stir and let sit
• Puree strawberries
• Combine pureed strawberries, flaxseed mix, rice milk and coconut oil
• Stir in pancake mix adding more if necessary to get the batter to the right consistency.
• Spoon onto heated, oiled skillet (or griddle if you are so lucky) flip once to brown both sides
• Top with fresh strawberries (maple syrup, coconut whipped cream, etc.)

Batter

Cooking in my new/old cast iron skillet

They aren't quite so pink once cooked, but still sweet and strawberry flavored!

Lunch: Curried Zucchini & Carrots with Ancient Grains Mix

5 zucchini
2 carrots
olive oil
1 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tbsp curry paste
2 c dry ancient grains mix [red and gold quinoa, amaranth, brown rice, and wild rice]

I saw an ancient grains mix at Harris Teeter probably over a month ago and I picked it up thinking it'd be a super nutritious grain mix to incorporate into MJ's diet. Somehow I just never using it. Well after being gone for a week and quickly exhausted by the DC heat I thought this was the week to pair it up to the curried vegetables. It was a pretty good mix, but I think that it'd probably be a better investment to make your own mix. I had intended on mixing the zucchini & carrots with a nut-free Spinach Pesto recipe I found, but I completely forgot and added curry to the veggies while they cooked.

Sidenote: I made the pesto anyway and it was AMAZING! Seriously---I think I like it better than "classic" pesto. I have been adding it to sandwiches like a mad man. (Sorry MJ!)

My Chop't salad "The Melrose" (minus feta) has made 5 sandwiches. On a whole wheat sandwich thin with pesto!

• Bring ancient grains mix and water to a boil and let simmer for 45 minutes
• Peel and chop zucchini and carrots
• Steam carrots for 3-4 minutes
• Toss steamed carrots and zucchini with olive oil and put in skillet on low and add curry powder
• Cook for 2-3 minutes
• When ancient grains mix is soft or water has evaporated add curry paste.
• Combine vegetables and grains.

Cooked & curried vegetables

Lunch!

Dinner: Mango BBQ Beans

olive oil
1 onion
4 garlic cloves (minced)
1 mango (about a cup)
1- 16 oz can of tomato sauce
1/2 c vegetable broth
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (less if you can't handle the heat!)
2-16 oz cans of kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1 tsp liquid smoke
salt and pepper to taste

Whoa! MJ & I both love spicy food and this was a perfect one to fit the bill. I would definitely consider this one of my (can't speak for him) favorite dishes I have cooked for him. It has a sweet & spicy mix that is dead on perfect. I know, mangoes sound weird with beans right? But somehow they work really well flavor-wise and texturally. If possible I recommend everyone run out and make this recipe. It is so good I'm not sure if I can keep myself for devouring it all (definitely will have to remake this and double the recipe.) I got this recipe from Appetite for Reduction, a truly great vegan cookbook by one of the author's of Veganomicon (which is also a cookbook I have recommended to a lot of people and cooked from before on this blog.) Seriously can't recommend either book enough!

• Chop onions, mango and mince garlic
• Preheat pot with a little olive oil, add garlic and onions and saute until translucent.
• Add kidney beans, tomato sauce, mango, veg. broth and red pepper flakes
• Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 45 minutes partially covered with room for steam to escape stirring frequently
• Turn heat off. Sauce should have thickened and mangoes should be cooked down.
• Add liquid smoke and let beans sit for 5 minutes (honestly it tasted great even before adding liquid smoke, so if you don't have it don't fret- it won't kill the dish BUT it does add a nice BBQ flavor which was perfect for this Memorial Day weekend. I think this is definitely a dish you could bring to a cookout and no one would know/care that it was vegan).
• Salt & pepper to taste

MJ's dinner, paired with some rice milk to cool down his mouth