My super amazing friend MR is an even more amazing cook! She has introduced me to healthy ways of eating by drumming up these super delicious vegetarian meals! Before I met MR and her food, I would've never looked twice at veggie meals but now I do! Plus, she always manages to include some sort of secret ingredient to make us all regular (like chia seeds, quinoa, fibre). You gotta love that. Above is a personal favorite of mine - her plentiful, fibre boosting, vegetable and bean crazy delicious chili!
Now, a saucy meal always needs some bread for dippin'! MR's Pumpernickel Garlic Bread is a recipe for success! Flavorful, healthy and a perfect dipping tool!
PreparationSlice the bread into small slices but thick slices.
Dice or press 2 cloves or garlic and simmer in a little bit of water for 5 mins.
Drain the water and mix the garlic with a few tablespoons of olive oil and a teaspoon of melted margarine. Spread onto the slices as desired and broil in the oven until lightly toasted.
Served over quinoa and topped off with yogurt (to replace sour cream) and a sprinkle of cheddar cheese, this recipe is perfect for that -rainy-day-bachelorette-watching-and-bashing-girls-night-in. Here's her recipe below, give it a whirl and let me know how it goes!
Ingredients
1 can – Kidney beans
1 can – Chick peas
1 can – Corn
1 can – Diced tomatoes (either unsalted or low Sodium)
1 jar – Tomato sauce
1 cup – Frozen peas (cooked in microwave)
1 cup – Carrots (slightly steamed in the microwave)
1-2 Cloves garlic (pressed or diced)
2 tablespoons Oregano (dried )
Chili seasoning (as desired)
Lime juice (just a dash)
Honey or Agave syrup (tablespoon)
Veggie ground (half a pack)
½ Large onion – diced
Pinch of Cayenne
2 Cups of cooked quinoa
Plain fat free yogurt
Shredded cheese
Preparation
In a large pot, simmer onion and garlic until onion becomes translucent.
Add veggie ground and simmer for few more minutes.
Add tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, chili seasoning, honey, lime juice, cayenne and oregano. Stir until well combined.
15 mins later, add kidney beans, corn, peas, chickpeas and the steamed carrots.
Simmer on medium/low heat for an hour or so to desired consistency.
Serve the Chili on top of some cooked quinoa, topping each with a spoonful of plain yogurt and a bit of grated cheese . Serve with Pumpernickel Garlic Toast.
*Should easily serve 5
Let's have a round of applause for my healthy eating friend KL, (who does not cook too often but should because she makes a killer tofu) for providing us with this delicious AND nutritious salad! Boasting savory tofu made with sweet Thai chili sauce, soya sauce and a dash of honey, this choice of protein complimented the salad perfectly. Other tasty components included feta cheese, cranberries, and almonds. I have been requesting her to make this again and she is going to make my wish come true for next week (perhaps this complimentary blog post helped?)!
My other vegetarian gal pal MR, who dreams up the tastiest dishes made an amazing cold quinoa salad mixed with red pepper, cherry tomato, parsley, mint, cucumber, kale and toasted sunflower seeds. I usually love to eat lots of meat and the unhealthiest foods but these girls are the best at trying to slowly convert me and disguise the healthy foods with irresistable flavors. This is the best way to pig out and feel good about it after. :)
