French Bean & Spelt Berry Salad ~ The Perfect Vegan Meal

I've made it a habit to shop the liquidation stores in town.  We have about four or five in the area and often there are many items I use to cook with that are marked down considerably.  Sometimes the packaging is damaged or the original price was just too high and the items didn't sell well in the local markets.  That is a big deterrent when people are just beginning to incorporate plant based cooking in their diet.  Organic fruits, vegetables, and many products are more expensive in the grocery stores.  It doesn't have to be that way though.

Yes, if you shop in the conventional grocery stores, it will be more expensive to eat whole foods. But, shopping the local farmer's markets and buying what's in season, getting to know the local gardeners and farmers, shopping the discount stores like the liquidation stores, and growing your own veggies, are good ways to keep the cost low.  Many items seem to be more expensive at first glance.  For example, Celtic Sea Salt usually costs about $6-$8 a pound.  But, that pound lasts me for months and months.  I use coconut milk quite often, the only thing I use from a can, and the brand I like is usually $2.29 a can.  I can find it now & then at the liquidation store for sometimes as low as $1 a can.  I usually buy all they have and stock up. I use pre-made organic, low sodium vegetable broth for cooking my beans.  I used to be happy when it was two for $5.  I've found it in the liquidation store as low as ten for $1.

Recently there were a lot of Bob's Red Mill products on the shelf.  I picked up some French beans I'd never seen before, Flageolet Beans, and there was a great recipe right on the back of the bag.  It's the perfect vegan meal, "protein, greens, & grains". The original recipe calls for Kamut berries, but I used some spelt berries I have already.  Any whole grain or combination of grains can be substituted for the Kamut berries such as:  whole oat groats, hull-less whole barley, wheat berries, long grain brown rice, or spelt berries.  I substituted fresh beet greens for the spinach and a fresh white onion from the garden for the green onion.

French Bean & Kamut Berries Salad

2 cups cooked Kamut berries or other whole grains
2 cups cooked Flageolet Beans
1 cup green onions, chopped
1 cup fresh tomatoes, chopped
2 cups spinach or other fresh greens, chopped

Vinaigrette

1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
2 TB white wine vinegar (I used organic apple cider vinegar.)
2 TB Dijon mustard
1/4 cup shallots, minced
1 tsp Thyme
1 tsp Tarragon (I used fresh rosemary)
1 TB fresh parsley, minced
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper.

Soak beans, about 1 cup, overnight.  Drain water and rinse off beans.  Place beans in a pot covered with plenty of water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer placing lid on pot.  cook beans until beans are soft, about 1 hour.

Place Kamut or other Spelt berries, about 11/2 cups in a pot and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to a simmer and place lid on pot.  Cook until berries are soft, about 1 hour.

While the beans and berries are cooking, mix vinaigrette ingredients together in a large bowl.  Chop veggies and place in bowl.

Drain beans and berries and rinse in cold water. Measure out 2 cups of both the beans and berries and add them to the other ingredients in the bowl.

Blend together  all ingredients and chill for a few hours or overnight.  Serves about 10.

~~Enjoy~~

African Stew - Vegan

I made a spanikopita for the potluck and I use chickpeas in that recipe. I cooked up a whole pound, so I had some left over beans to use. I made some veggie burgers with them and some African stew.

African Stew

From Becoming Vegetarian,
by Brenda Davis, RD and Vesanto Melina, MS, RD

4 cups vegetable stock or water
1 onion, chopped
2 cups peeled, diced yams or sweet potatoes
1 cup cooked or canned chickpeas
1 cup brown rice
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 cups chopped collards or kale
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon tamari or Bragg Liquid Aminos
chili sauce to taste

Heat 2 tablespoons of the stock in a large pot. Add the onion and saute over medium heat for 5 minutes, adding more stock if necessary. Add the remaining stock, yams, chickpeas, rice, and salt; simmer for 45 minutes. In a small bowl, blend the peanut butter with 1/2 cup of liquid from the stew to make a smooth paste. Stir into the stew along with the collards and cook for 5 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice, pepper, and tamari; add chili sauce to taste.

New Year's Eve ~ Black Eyed Peas & Greens

 Nice to have a Friday off for the holiday.  I got my shopping done and some cooking done that I would usually do on Saturday, so I don't try cram so much into the weekend.  It's like getting an extra Saturday or extra Sunday, however I look at it .  I enjoyed having today.  I wandered out to the garden to peek at the sleeping plants this morning.  It's somewhere in the 20's and very icy, but a beautiful sunny day.  The garlic is still growing and so are the brussels sprouts.  Most of the plants seem a little sleepy or dead, but under some of the ice, I found some green, healthy plants.

Frosty Sage

Brussels Sprouts

The seed catalogs started coming last week, I'm now deciding what to plant soon.  I feel like a kid looking through the Sears catalog making a Christmas list. Late January and early February are when I can start my seedlings downstairs, that adds some sunshine to my heart.

My sweetie and I had a lovely New Year's Eve together.  We stayed close to home and enjoyed each other's company. We took a long walk along the Cowlitz River in the afternoon and played with our cameras.  The sun was out and it was an absolutely gorgeous afternoon.  If it weren't for the temperature being in the 20's the sky and air looks as if we could take a drive in a convertible with tank tops.

Walking on the Cowlitz

Before we left I cooked a pot of black eyed peas.  I just simmered them in water and sea salt so they could be used in other recipes this week. I just wanted the flavor of the peas.

When we returned from our walk. I sauteed a carrot, a thinly sliced onion, about a TB minced ginger, 2 tsp thyme, 2 tsp oregano, and a TB garlic. When they were tender I added six cups chopped beet greens and some dark green kale, 1/2 cup vegetable broth and let that simmer on low heat about 10 minutes.  To that I added about 2 cups of the cooked black eyed peas, 2 TB Shoyu, 1/4 tsp liquid smoke, 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce, a dash of sea salt and a smaller dash of cayenne pepper. Let it cook for about 5 more minutes.

 Black eyed peas, greens, and carrots, A great warm meal for a cold winter night.

I WISH YOU PEACE, GOOD HEALTH,AND HAPPINESS IN THE COMING YEAR!