Thai Red Curry Stew

4 cups vegetable broth
3 stalks lemon grass, outer leaves removed, lower part only chopped into 2-inch pieces (discard grassy top)
2 Tbs Thai red curry paste
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
15oz can red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

1) In a large saucepan, combine broth, lemon grass, curry paste and sweet potatoes. Bring to a boil. Cover and cook over medium heat for 7 minutes.
2) Stir in beans and salt to taste. Cover and cook until sweet potatoes are tender, about 3 more minutes. Remove pieces of lemon grass and serve.

Review: I had a jar of Thai red curry paste in the fridge that I needed to use. This recipe was a great way to use up some of it (half the jar!). This didn't taste spicy, but instead actually tastes really sweet. The lemon grass and curry and a little bit of exotic flavor, but it's not prominent. This is a great alternative to soup and is really filling.

Adapted from:
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/thai-inspired-red-bean-and-sweet-potato-stew/

Miso Roasted Brussels Sprouts

3 tsp toasted sesame oil
3 tsp rice vinegar
2 Tbs miso
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp sriracha chile sauce
1 lb Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
3 tsp toasted sesame seeds

1) Preheat oven to 450F. In a large bowl, whisk together the sesame oil, rice vinegar, miso, garlic and sriracha chile sauce. Add Brussels sprouts and toss to coat.
2) Spread Brussels sprouts on a baking sheet, and roast 20 minutes, or until coating looks dry, tossing every 10 minutes. Sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Review: I love roasted Brussels sprouts and I love miso, so I thought this would be AMAZING. However, the coating tended to stick more to the sheet than the sprouts, and it liked to burn. So, I didn't find much benefit to the sauce. It did add a little flavor, but I think it might be better to simply roast Brussels sprouts and then toss it with the sauce. Mmmm

Adapted from:
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/miso-roasted-brussels-sprouts/

Quinoa Bowl with Miso Cheeze Sauce

1 cup quinoa
1 sweet potato, diced
1/4 cup frozen chopped onions
2 cups frozen chopped broccoli
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 cup nutritional yeast
1 Tbs turmeric
1/4 cup gluten free flour
2 1/2 cups almond milk
2 Tbs yellow miso
2/3 cup salsa

1) Combine quinoa, sweet potatoes and 2 1/2 cups of water in a medium pot. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to low-medium, cover and cook for 15 minutes. The water should be fully absorbed and the sweet potatoes tender.
2) In another medium pot, combine onion, bell pepper, broccoli and 1/2 cup of water. Cover and heat over medium heat. Steam the veggies until broccoli is tender, about 10 minutes.
3) In a smaller pot, combine nutritional yeast, turmeric and flour. Pour in almond milk and stir to combine. Whisk in the miso. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens - about 10 minutes. Stir in salsa.
4) To serve, bottom layer is quinoa mixture, topped with steamed veggies, pour on cheeze sauce.

Review: I attempted this recipe last week and discovered my almond milk was chunky - after I poured it in! The recipe sounded too good to not try again, so I scheduled it again for this week. I'm glad I did. The recipe I found made a ton of food last week, without the cheeze sauce, so I scaled back the ingredients. This made four large servings. In typing this, I also corrected a few things. I found the cheeze sauce to be too heavy on the turmeric and recommend using 1 Tbs (I used 2). I also used 3 cups of almond milk and it was just a little too runny. The 2 1/2 cups I recommend here should create a thicker sauce. Now, this definitely isn't a cheese substitute, but it's about as close as I'll get and it was tasty. The miso really adds a savory flavor that's not found in other sauce recipes I've found. Of course, I wish I could add miso to everything, it's one of my all time favorite things!!

Adapted from:
http://www.platesforplants.com/blog/meatless-mondays-cheezy-miso-quinoa-bowl/

Vegetables with Miso Sauce

1 small red kuri or kabocha squash, peeled/seeded/diced
1 large bok choy, stems removed and leaves chopped
coconut oil spray
2 Tbs yellow miso
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp light brown sugar
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp rice vinegar
3 Tbs toasted sesame seeds

1) Preheat oven to 375F. In a roasting pan, spray squash with coconut oil spray and toss evenly to coast. Roast for 30 minutes, or until tender.
2) Meanwhile, spray a medium sized skillet with coconut oil spray. Saute bok choy until wilted, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
3) In a small saucepan, combine miso, garlic, brown sugar and 1/4 cup water. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Cook 1 minute, or until miso dissolves and begins to bloom. Remove from het; stir in oil, vinegar and sesame seeds.
4) Drizzle miso sauce over vegetables and serve.

Review: Eek! It was a crazy night where I had a ton of chores to do along with making dinner. While my mind was scattered around the house, I missed the part of the directions that said to serve this over rice. Oops. I don't think it's necessary, however. This was tasty and filling. I loved the miso flavor and made the sauce a little thinner than I would have preferred. However, it wasn't super runny and seemed to cling to the vegetables. This was the first time I've tried kobacha squash. The flavor was very mild. It was quite a chore to get into it, however. The skin is very thick and plentiful. I feared I wouldn't have any squash left as I peeled away the dark green skin! I'd like to try this again with a red kuri squash (which I've also never tried).

Adapted from:
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/grilled-vegetables-with-miso-sauce/

Smokey Tempeh Hash

8oz tempeh, cubed
1 Tbs olive oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 potato, diced
2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp ground chipotle pepper
salt to taste

1) Spread tempeh in bottom of large nonstick skillet. Add 1/2 cup water, cover, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer 5 minutes. Drain in colander and wipe out skillet.
2) Add olive oil to skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Return tempeh to pan along with onion, green bell pepper and potato. Saute 5 to 7 minutes, or until beginning to brown.
3) Sprinkle with paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and chipotle pepper. Saute 7 to 8 minutes, or until potatoes are browned and tender.

Review: Not sure how this dish was supposed to end with the potatoes browning, as my tempeh was nearly burned and my potatoes were still a little raw! However, a little time in the microwave and my dish was edible! This was tasty and pretty easy to make. I made this dish smoky with the smoked paprika and chipotle, instead of regular paprika and cayenne as the recipe originally called for, but that's my preference.

Adapted from:
http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/spicy-tempeh-hash/

Rosemary Berry Punch

1 bunch rosemary
1 pint blackberries
1 bottle merlot
raspberry or blackberry liquor

1) Drop 5 blackberries and 1 sprig of rosemary (broken in half) into each of 6 rocks glasses; muddle.
2) Add ice, if desired, then fill each glass with 4oz merlot; stir.
3) Top with a splash of berry liquor.

Review: This recipe originally called for raspberry liquor, such as Chambord. However, I hate raspberries. So, I figured I would try to hunt down blackberry liquor instead. I put it off, as I still had all of my booze in my in-laws' basement as it didn't fit in our cars for the move. Last weekend, we brought the booze (and the rest of the misc crap we stored away in their basement) back from CT. Oddly, I didn't have a single bottle of merlot, but had a little bottle of blackberry liquor! I guess it was a stocking stuffer from last Christmas. Pretty random, but it totally worked out. I looooved this drink! It has a strong rosemary flavor, with the merlot perked up by blackberries. It'd make a great party drink, but will just be my drink du jour for the week.

Adapted from:
http://www.womenshealthmag.com/nutrition/berry-punch

Pan Roasted Vegetables & Beans

3 Tbs olive oil
20oz baby bella mushrooms, quartered
salt and black pepper
2 zucchini, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 15.5oz can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

1) Heat 1 Tbs of the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add the mushrooms and 1/4 tsp salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until some liquid is released, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer the mushrooms and liquid to a medium bowl; reserve the skillet.
2) Add 1 Tbs of the remaining oil to the skillet. Add the zucchini and 1/4 tsp salt and cook, tossing once, until brown and crisp-tender, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the mushrooms; reserve the skillet.
3) Add the remaining Tbs of oil to the skillet. Add the onion, reduce heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds.
4) Add the beans, crushed red pepper, mushrooms, zucchini, 1/2 tsp salt and 1/4 black pepper to the skillet and cook, stirring, until the beans are warm, 1 to 2 minutes.

Review: This was tasty, but not very filling. I have a lot of food, but am still hungry. Argh. This is a great side dish - not a main dish.

Adapted from:
http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/roasted-vegetables-beans