black bean, rice & veggies bowl

a hearty dish made from random things in my pantry. it turned into a hodge-podge meal that's part mexican, part veggie medley. i used westpac asparagus stir fry veggies. fresh would be better, of course, but frozen is what i had.

• 1 cup brown rice, cooked
• 1/8 cup cilantro, finely minced
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 bag of frozen veggies (about 6oz)
• 1 cup black beans, cooked
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin powder
• 1/3-1/2 cup salsa

cook rice, beans and frozen veggies. then mix all ingredients except salsa in a large bowl. add salsa last, adding in enough to coat the ingredients like a dressing.

make about 3 or 4 medium-size bowls.

kraut potato medley

i'm going to hermann, missouri at the end of this month for octoberfest, and it has been putting me in mind of my favourite german food: sauerkraut. i made this the other morning when i was craving some sort of breakfast scramble, and the leftover sauerkraut from my pizza was calling my name.

• 1 can whole potatoes, drained
  
• 1/2 cup (or more!) sauerkraut, drained well
• 1½ tablespoons onion powder
• salt & pepper
• 2 tablespoons vegan bacon bits

slice up the potatoes into round coins about 1/4 inch thick. cook on high in a non-stick skillet until they start to brown a little on the edges. i don't use oil or butter as i try to keep things healthy when i can, but that might speed up the browning process if you don't care about that stuff.
add everything else to the skillet and continue to cook - about 5-10 minutes until everything starts to get crispy. in this picture, i used tastefully simple's bacon bacon... but i've also grown quite fond of j&d's hickory bacon salt (be careful - the original and natural flavours aren't vegan). it's 0 calories - woot!

white bean and veggies in asian peanut sauce

i have been in love with PB2 - a healthier powdered peanut butter - for about the last 4 or 5 months. in the midwest, it can be found at most hy-vee stores with a nature section, but check out their website for other places to purchase it. it's about 53 calories per serving - compared to about 190 for regular peanut butter. it also has about 85% less fat. recently i came across a blog called megan's munchies where readers were challenged to come up with creative recipes using the powdery goodness.

thanks to megan who chose my recipe as one of the winners!

for the peanut sauce:

• 1/4 cup water
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 3 tablespoons nama shoyu or braggs (less for braggs)
• 1/3 cup pb2
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 teaspoon agave nectar
• 1-2 teaspoons siriacha sauce (based on heat preference)

for the base:

• cook 10 oz northern white beans (according to package)
• marinate northern white beans overnight in peanut sauce
• steam your favourite stir-fry medley (i used birds eye - asparagus stir fry mix)
• marinate veggies with beans at least 4 hours

after marinating, heat up the bean and veggie mix (i microwaved mine for about a minute on medium heat - you could also gently heat on the stove). then serve with rice or over a bed of zucchini pasta (see the pics above).