Category Archives: Vegetarian

Vegetarian Breakfast Burritos

Vegetarian Breakfast Burritos

Could these be breakfast? Yes. But I like to eat them for dinner.

Before Nate and I lived together, I prepared a lot fewer meals. Dinner was often Thai takeout or a “salad” (a.k.a. a big pile of raw veggies, no dressing, that I ate with my fingers). I’m not entirely ruling that out as a dinner option as the weather gets warmer, but things are a bit more civilized around here these days. However, there is one of my “single” dinners I’ve been missing lately: Scrambled eggs.

Scrambled eggs with goat cheese, avocado and salsa was my favorite weeknight dinner for a while last year. It eventually slipped off my radar – there was the vegan thing, and then the fact that Nate expresses zero enthusiasm for scrambled eggs – and before a few weeks ago, I hadn’t made it in quite some time. I’ve since welcomed it back into my life, however – this time for good. And in my efforts to make it into more of a cohesive meal (one that I could actually serve to others rather than just eat by myself standing up at the counter), I turned it into a burrito.

And Nate, who I thought wasn’t a fan of scrambled eggs, always goes back for seconds of this. That is saying a lot!

This meal is super simple and is ready in 10 minutes flat, so it would be great for any time of day. The flavors are awesome together, especially with the peppery arugula, zesty salsa, and creamy cheese. Single people food for the win!

In other news, Nate and I are off to Mexico tomorrow! I’m super excited for our trip, but I’m also a little bummed because it means I am missing Blend. The Mexico trip is for work (although I don’t have to do any work while I’m there, yay), so I couldn’t really skip it for a blogging retreat. Sad face. I’m hoping to attend Blend next year, or maybe a different retreat or conference? Let me know if you have suggestions. And everyone who is attending Blend, have a BLAST and enjoy Utah!

Vegetarian Breakfast Burritos

5.0 from 1 reviews

Vegetarian Breakfast Burritos
 
Hands-on time

Cook time

Total time

 

These egg and bean burritos are great for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Author:
Serves: 2 (2 small burritos each)

Ingredients
  • 1 cup cooked black beans
  • juice of 1/2 lime (or 1/4 lemon, in a pinch)
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 tsp paprika
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 Tbsp milk
  • sprinkle of salt and pepper
  • 1/2 tsp olive oil
  • 4 medium-sized tortillas
  • arugula
  • 1/2 avocado, sliced
  • goat cheese or cotija cheese, crumbled
  • salsa

Instructions
  1. First, get your beans ready. Sprinkle beans with lime juice, cumin, and paprika and stir to combine. Set aside.
  2. Next, scramble your eggs. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk with a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Heat a non-stick pan or skillet over medium heat, add olive oil, and pour in egg mixture. Cook, stirring frequently, until no longer runny, 2-4 minutes.
  3. While the eggs are cooking, heat tortillas, either in a microwave or toaster. Keep covered until ready to serve.
  4. Just before serving, heat beans for 30 seconds to a minute in the microwave.
  5. To assemble the burritos, layer tortillas with arugula, bean mixture, scrambled eggs, avocado, cheese, and salsa. I like to have each person assemble their own burrito. Enjoy immediately!

 

13 Comments

Filed under Breakfast, Main Dishes, Vegetarian

Warm Lentil Salad with Roasted Red Peppers and Spinach

  Warm Lentil Salad with Roasted Red Peppers and Spinach

At first, I wasn’t going to post about this meal. I started out following Grab a Plate’s lentil salad recipe for dinner one night, but turned it into something slightly different when I didn’t feel like making yet another roasted red pepper dressing. It came out amazing, but I still thought maybe I didn’t need to blog about it.

Then Nate went back for seconds. And in case you didn’t know, that is rare enough to qualify a recipe as blog-worthy 100% of the time.

Warm Lentil Salad with Roasted Red Peppers and Spinach

So here we are with this weeknight lentil salad. It fits the mold for what I’ve been making so often this spring (grain or green + roasted vegetables + sauce or dressing), but with one thing that sets it apart: To me this feels very much like a recipe rather than a loose set of suggestions (the opposite of my usual salad posts)… because I wouldn’t change a single thing.

The sweet roasted peppers, the acidic dressing, the way the creamy goat cheese melts into the lentils… nope, it’s perfect exactly the way it is.

Warm Lentil Salad with Roasted Red Peppers and Spinach

I love using red lentils here because of their quick cooking time. Dinner can be on the table in just over half an hour, start to finish! And even that time is reduced significantly if you buy jarred roasted red peppers or have the foresight to roast them ahead of time, which clearly I never do.

I can’t decide whether I prefer this salad hot or cold, so I’ve been compromising by eating it hot for dinner, and then cold for lunch the next day. I recommend you do the same!

Warm Lentil Salad with Roasted Red Peppers and Spinach

5.0 from 1 reviews

Warm Lentil Salad with Roasted Red Peppers and Spinach
 
Hands-on time

Cook time

Total time

 

Author:
Serves: 3

Ingredients
For the salad:
  • 3 red bell peppers, quartered (or jarred roasted red peppers)
  • 1 cup dried red lentils
  • 3 cups loosely packed spinach
  • 3 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
For the dressing:
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1 tsp prepared mustard
  • 1 tsp honey
  • 2 small cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • pepper to taste

Instructions
  1. First, roast the peppers. (If you are using jarred roasted red peppers, skip to the next step!) Preheat your broiler. Lay quartered peppers, skin up, on a baking sheet. (I like to cover my baking sheet with foil for easier clean-up.) Broil until skin of peppers is completely charred, which will depend on your broiler, probably about 6-8 minutes. You want the skins to be totally black! Remove from oven and immediately place peppers in a large ziploc bag and seal. Set aside for 10 minutes to steam. (This can also be done ahead of time.)
  2. Add lentils and 1 1/2 cups water to a small pot. Bring to a boil and simmer until tender but not mushy, 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat, drain any excess water, and stir in spinach. Cover and set aside.
  3. Meanwhile, prepare the dressing by blending all ingredients together.
  4. After peppers have steamed for 10 minutes, remove from bag. Peel the charred skins off and discard. It’s OK if some charred bits remain – we’re not going for perfection! Chop into bite-sized pieces and stir into the spinach and lentils.
  5. To serve, top spinach/lentil/pepper mixture with goat cheese and dressing. Enjoy hot! This also makes awesome cold leftovers.

Notes
For a heartier option, serve over short pasta such as fusilli. Adapted from Grab A Plate.

 

7 Comments

Filed under Main Dishes, Salads, Vegetarian

Massaged Kale and Veggie Salad with Toasted Ramen

Massaged Kale and Veggie Salad with Toasted Ramen

This was originally supposed to be a soba noodle salad.

The other day at work, I got really fixated on making one. I just knew it would be perfect with the various leftover veggies lurking in my crisper. I wouldn’t even have to go to the store! Major success.

Then I got home and found we had no soba noodles. Major failure.

Massaged Kale Salad with Veggies and Toasted Ramen

So I went to the grocery store. AND THEY ALSO HAD NO SOBA NOODLES.

What. The. Hell.

So back home I went, dug wayyyy to the back of my (very deep) cabinet, and pulled out some ramen noodles. Cha-ching! Salads with ramen noodles are totally a thing. I know because my mom and grandma make one, and that makes them official. And also delicious. A few minutes later, I was digging into this!

Massaged Kale and Veggie Salad with Toasted Ramen

So now that I’ve taken you on the little journey of how this salad came to be, let me tell you about it! Ramen noodles, obviously. Toasted to crunchy perfection! And I officially massaged my kale for the second time ever, woo hoo! Getting to be a pro at this. Then some crunchy and colorful veggies to really make you feel like you got your nutrients for the day.

And the dressing I had actually made for the roasted carrot and chickpea salad last week, but didn’t end up using it. I regretted the soy sauce as soon as I added it – it wasn’t at all what I was going for with the carrots and chickpeas. But it was perfect with these veggies! And that, my friends, is how I came to post two salads with miso dressing on consecutive weeks.

Fascinating, I know.

Anyway, this salad was so crunchy, flavorful, and fun. I know you’ll love it!

Massaged Kale Salad with Veggies and Toasted Ramen

And finally, because I’m so happy it’s Friday, here’s what’s in store for the weekend: Tonight is a costume party (lifeguard/surfer themed – not sure what I’m wearing!), and tomorrow night is a wedding. I’m excited to kick off the 2013 wedding season (and thankful that this one involves no travel)! I’m also looking forward to the wedding because it’s my excuse to get my first pedicure since September, if you can believe that. I’ve been au naturale in the toe department all winter!

Anyway, in between parties and pedicures, I’m running a 5K race on Saturday morning. We’ll see how that goes! It’s my first race of the season and the first 5K road race I’ve run in a LONG time. (I did a 5K last summer, but it was a trail race – this should be easier!) I’ve been running 3 to 4 miles, 3 times a week, but no speed workouts or anything. If I can run the whole thing at about an 8:15 pace, I’ll be pretty happy. Wish me luck!

Massaged Kale and Veggie Salad with Toasted Ramen

5.0 from 2 reviews

Massaged Kale and Veggie Salad with Toasted Ramen
 
Hands-on time

Cook time

Total time

 

Author:
Serves: 3-4

Ingredients
For the dressing:
  • 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
  • 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
  • 3 Tbsp white miso paste
  • 1/4 cup rice wine vinegar
  • 2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
  • 2 tsp toasted sesame oil
  • 1/4 cup water
For the salad:
  • 1 bunch curly kale, washed and torn into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced
  • 1 large carrot, peeled and thinly sliced
  • 1 cup shredded red cabbage
  • 3-4 green onions, sliced
  • 1 cup frozen edamame, thawed
  • 2 3-oz packets ramen noodles, flavoring packet discarded
  • 1 avocado, sliced
  • sesame seeds

Instructions
  1. Prepare the dressing by blending all ingredients together.
  2. In a large salad bowl, pour half of the dressing over the kale. With your hands, toss the kale leaves and massage the dressing into them for about 30 seconds. Set aside while you prepare the rest of the salad.
  3. Break up the ramen noodles into chunks. Preheat a toaster oven or regular oven to 350. Spread crumbled ramen on a baking sheet and toast until golden, several minutes.
  4. Toss veggies (pepper through edamame) with kale. Top with toasted ramen, avocado, and sesame seeds and serve alongside extra dressing. (You may have some dressing leftover.)
  5. Enjoy!

Notes
Dressing adapted from Food52.

 

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...

11 Comments

Filed under Salads, Vegan, Vegetarian