Tomato Lentil Soup and Grilled Panini

It's raining today, which is certainly better than SNOW. I can't think of anything more comforting on a cold and rainy Saturday than a hot bowl of soup and a grilled panini. 

Soup is one of my favorite recipe to make. It's simple, inexpensive, and makes a completely satisfying and hearty vegan meal.

Tomato Lentil Soup

(Inspired by this recipe from the fantastic blog: Running on Real Food)

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, diced

3 carrots, diced

4 stalks celery, diced

6 cups homemade vegetable stock

1 cup uncooked red lentils

1 28-oz can diced tomatoes, with juice 

  8oz frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry

½ tsp pepper

¼ tsp chili powder

¼ tsp red pepper flakes

2 bay leaves

¼ tsp dried Italian Seasoning

salt to taste

Directions

• Heat the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium heat
• Add the garlic, onion and carrots, season with some salt and pepper, and cook
• for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add the celery, stock, lentils, tomatoes, spinach and all the spices and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer until lentils are tender and cooked through,
• approximately 30 minutes.
• And as an added bonus, this soup tastes even better the next day, which is
• perfect for work lunches!

And now, for the Panini:  For this comforting grilled sandwich, I decided to try

out the melting power of one of the new vegan cheese products on the

market: Chao Slices by FieldRoast, a vegan coconut cheese seasoned with a

traditionally fermented soybean curd called CHAO by the Vietnamese. 

I already know that Field Roast Chao slices make a mean cold
deli sandwich with some Tofurky Deli Slices, lettuce, tomato, mustard and
mayo on a roll, and they taste utterly fantastic raw, straight from the
package, but how would they melt? 

Since I had a lovely loaf of Tuscan Wheat Bread, I thought I'd try my hand
at a grilled cheese and hickory smoked Tofurky sandwich to go along with
our soup! Oooey gooey Coconut Cheese, melted perfectly between two
slices of crisp, grilled bread? Yes, please!

Smoked Tofurky and Chao Cheese Panini  (serves 2)

Ingredients

4 slices Whole Wheat Tuscan Bread
6 slices Tofurky Hickory Smoked Turkey
4 slices Chao
Earth Balance, for buttering bread

Directions

• Preheat a large non stick pan on medium heat.
• Lightly butter the four slices of bread.
• Place bread, butter side down, in the pre-heated pan, then add 1 cheese slice, turkey slices, final cheese slice, and top with bread.
• Cook the panini until the outside is crisp and the cheese is melted, about 3-4 minutes on each side.
• Cut in half, and serve with soup!

The verdict: Field Roast Chao slices melt like a DREAM when grilled between two sliced of bread. And, they have that creamy, tangy goodness of the grilled cheeses of my childhood, a memory long gone since going vegan. I think these definitely give Daiya slices a run for their money!

I have a package of the Chao Coconut Herb with Black Pepper in my fridge right now, so I must come up with something fantastic to make with that as well. Suggestions are welcome! ^_^

Everyday Chickpea-Quinoa Salad

Cookbook Challenge Week 1 - Appetite for Reduction





I cannot tell you how excited I am to own this cookbook.  I've been skimming through the recipes, and I have to say, I can see myself making ALL of them.  They are all quick and simple, which is great for me, especially on busy weeknights when I get home from work after 6.

And... there are TONS of recipe ideas that are great for work lunches. One of my (silent) New Year's resolutions was to start packing more interesting, healthy lunches.  I was quite pleasantly surprised as I flipped through the book and was met with tons of great ideas for lunch, like in Chapter 1, for example: 

FULL ON SALADS 

"THERE WAS A TIME -- A LONELY, LONELY TIME -- WHEN SALADS were a pale and limp affair, relegated to the side of your plate, practically weeping.  I think those dark days were also know as the '80s.  Then all of a sudden, salads came alive... the line between salad and entree was blurred. The walls came down, and arugula came up".

Reading Isa's introduction MAKES me want to make and eat salad! Even in the cold, dead of winter, when the thought of a crisp and cool green salad makes me shiver...

So why not start at recipe numero uno?  (I had all the stuff on hand too)  

I give you: Everyday Chickpea-Quinoa Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette:

Delicious! This is going to be my go-to salad for work for a while.  I decided to keep the quinoa and chickpeas in a separate container in my fridge, and then mixed them in with the greens and dressing each morning.  The quinoa and chickpea combo really adds nice bulk to the greens, which made me feel full the rest of the day.

Appetite for Reduction really has some wonderful homemade salad dressing too, great to keep mixed up in the fridge for salad variety anytime.  The Balsamic Vinaigrette that follows this recipe in the book uses soaked cashews instead of oil, to give a creamy body to the dressing. L O V E! Cannot wait to make more...