My Favorite Soup: Cauliflower Leek

This is bar none my favorite soup.  It’s yummy, healthy and really easy to make.  And what’s even more fantastic about is that my mom and I just made up the recipe on the fly.

Ingredients:

– 1 head cauliflower, chopped up

– 1 container soft tofu

– 1/2 cup soy milk (make sure you’re using unsweetened) (Note: used 1 cup – too much)

– 4 cups vegetable stock (Note: used 5 cups – too much)

– 2 leeks, white parts only, or one whole leek, chopped

– 1 tablespoon olive oil

– 2 cloves garlic

– Dash cayenne pepper

– Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

– Heat olive oil in the bottom of a large soup pot.  Add leeks and saute until soft.  Add garlic.

– Add vegetable stock and cauliflower

– Simmer until cauliflower is soft

– In a separate bowl, combine tofu and soy milk and mix with stick blender until smooth, then add to soup

– Use stick blender to mix everything until creamy

– Add salt, pepper and cayenne to taste

Variations:  added 1/3 cup  frozen peas before blending and cooked wild rice after.  Yummy.  Or add a chopped potato in with the cauliflower.

Wow! Delicious Vegan Fettucini Alfredo.. and Super Healthy too!

I just made cupcakes and kale’s  high protein cauliflower alfredo sauce recipe that I found on Diet Dessert and Dog’s Wellness Weekend.  I love this new carnival that Ricki has implemented – with her healthy guidelines, it makes it easy to find recipes that fit into my “No Food Diet.”  Anyway, I am so glad I found this Fettucini Alfredo recipe because it is PHENOMENAL! I was shocked and amazed by how good this is, not to mention how easy to make it is. I have made many a “fake” alfredo and they are almost always awful, but not this one! It is fantastic! I can’t recommend it highly enough – it is delicious and extremely healthy.

“Meaty” Gluten-Free Vegan Lasagna

Another phenomenal recipe from Ricki at Diet, Dessert and Dogs! My midwife wanted me to choose a special meal as my first “celebration meal” after giving birth. I chose this recipe and I’m so glad I did. Not only is it delicious, but it is complex and time-consuming, making it perfect for ultra-special occasions. This easily gets a 5 out of 5 happy monkeys. My everything-eating husband said it was just as good as traditional lasagna, and coming from him, that’s saying a lot.

Yummy Broiled Tofu

This recipe isn’t very hard to make but it tastes best when you let it marinate overnight, so it takes a while.  It is super yummy though when you take the time to make the effort.  I like to have it with sauteed greens on the side. I give this recipe a 4/5 happy monkeys.

Raw Mushroom “Loaf” Stuffed Tomatoes

Mmmm…. this was absolutely delicious, as well as super easy.  I scooped out the inside of a plump, juicy heirloom tomato and stuffed it with the mushroom “loaf” recipe from Alissa Cohen.  Then I threw the scooped out tomato bits in the vita mix with some basil, salt, olive oil, cayenne and garlic to make a quick sauce.  I poured the sauce on top and voila – delish!

I give these a strong 4/5 happy monkeys because they’re super easy and yummy.  Unfortunately, I didn’t take a pic because I was hungry and tired, and, quite honestly, it didn’t look so beautiful with the sauce over it.  My heirloom tomato was pretty yellow so once mixed in the vita mix, the sauce was fairly gray looking. If you want to serve these to company, I recommend serving the sauce on the side for aesthetic purposes.

This particular version was blended into oblivion by my vita mix. I prefer it to be more chunky and less of a smooth pate or dip. I definitely don’t recommend the vita mix for this one, but I had broken my food processor so I didn’t have a lot of options. Unfortunately, with the vita mix, this is no longer a “quick and easy” recipe, but instead a descent into frustration. When I first bought the vita mix, I thought it was the be all and end all of kitchen implements and that it would make all other equipment obsolete, but that is in fact not the case. A food processor is still very, very necessary.

Note: This makes a lot more mushroom loaf than is needed just for one tomato.  You can stuff more tomatoes or keep the leftover “loaf” for use in wraps, salads, etc.  It is delicious on its own as well.

Ingredients:

Mushroom “Loaf”

3 cups mushrooms (portabello or crimini)
2 cups walnuts
2 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove
1/4 tsp marjoram (italian seasoning or oregano works great too)
1/4 tbsp fresh rosemary
1/4 tbsp sea salt

Tomato & Sauce

1 largish tomato
Basil, olive oil, garlic, sea salt, cayenne to taste

Directions:

Blend everything but the tomato in a food processor.

Scoop out the inside of a tomato and stuff it with the mushroom “loaf.” Throw the scooped out part in the vita mix with some basil, salt, olive oil, cayenne and garlic to make a quick sauce.

Serve the stuffed tomato with the sauce on the side. Enjoy!