Our pantry is teeming with lentils, chickpeas, quinoa, beans…you name it. We have oodles of healthy vegan protein, but 1) almost no time to cook and 2) a dearth of recipes. So I’m asking you: what are your favorite healthy, gluten-free, vegan recipes that will help me use up all this good stuff. (Pardon the mess…and summertime stash of Country Time Lemonade for Arnold Palmers.)

Here’s our pantry-cum-shoe-closet:

Oatmeal, chia seeds, chickpeas, adzuki beans, oh boy!

And one of our cupboards:

Quinoa, cornmeal, and oodles of spices.

Project numero uno:

Chickpeas galore simmering for a giant batch of delicious hummus.

And per the brilliant Voracious Vegan‘s suggestion, this will be happening soon, too:

Mediterranean Black Bean Quinoa Burgers with Red Onion Basil Aioli by the Voracious Vegan

(Of course, no bread for me.)

So, what say you? What recipes should make my must-cook list for these next seven weeks? I’m looking for healthy eats that will keep me going for these 75+ hour weeks, and can easily be made ahead in big batches as Sundays are the only time I really have to cook.

Can’t wait to see what you come up with!

It’s hard to believe, but in exactly one week, I’ll be on a plane home to see my family. WAHOO! This is the longest I’ve gone without seeing them, so I’m looking forward to almost a month Stateside to reconnect with my nearest and dearest.

The one part I’m not psyched about? Over 24 hours of travel time. Specifically, the food and yoga part. So I’m calling on the collective wisdom of you wonderful folks.

I hate airport security restrictions–namely the 3 oz. liquid rule. As a girl who chugs roughly fifteen times that amount in green smoothie goodness daily (ok, ok, on days that I’m doing the green smoothie thing), I’m a little nervous about all the stress on my body without all the jam packed green monster nutrition. In lieu of that, I’m thinking trail mix, homemade granola, and, of course, chopped fruits and veggies. Do you have any other suggestions for gluten-free, vegan, low- or no-sugar plane-friendly food? Favorite trail mix or granola recipes would be greatly appreciated, too! The two current leaders are Averie’s and Jamie’s. Any to add?

The yoga part might be a bit more difficult. With that much time sitting in uber-compact spaces, I’m going to be eager to stretch and twist every chance I get. Of course, planes aren’t exactly asana friendly, and I’m not about to put my hands down or stretch out on an airport floor. What poses or sequences would you suggest for heavy travel? Do you have any podcasts or websites to recommend?

1. Sunitha Krishnan Fights Against Sex Slavery

2. Mallika Sarabhai: Dance to Change the World

3. Shashi Tharoor: Why Nations Should Pursue “Soft” Power

4. Kiran Bir Sethi Teaches Kids to Take Charge

As is to be expected, some of these talks spoke to me more than others. We had some really interesting discussions about the usefulness and practicality of the ideas presented in the first two videos, and all seemed to enjoy (to varying degrees) the latter two.

If I had to choose, I think the message in the final video resonated the most with me–on both philosophical and practical levels. We wound up having great talks about the essential value of play in education. This is something my sister explores in her inspiring blog, Grow Me a Playground. (She’s a super busy momma and grad student, so it isn’t updated often, but well-worth a spot on your Google Reader so you don’t miss any posts.) It also reminded me of this NYT article about an amazing Forest Kindergarten, which is precisely the type of school the man and I would like to send our little ones to…far far far far in the future when we decide it’s time to enter that phase. (FAR in the future.) And, finally, this great op-ed piece by Susan Engel, director of the teaching program at Williams College, entitled “Playing to Learn“.

Which is what I’m off to do–it’s time for me to sit down for a few hours and play with my poetry homework, which I might finally post about this week. Maybe.

In the meantime, I’d love to hear what you think about the videos above, the articles I’ve linked to, the importance of play in education, and, of course, any gluten-free vegan Indian recipes you care to share.

I am just over halfway through this Spent program, and I couldn’t be happier that I did this. I mean–WOW! But that’s for another post. One thing I’ve really been surprised by is how much delicious food I can still eat. At the moment, I’m sugar-free, booze-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free, corn-free, fake-food-free. So it’s oodles of fruits, veggies, whole grains, nuts, and seeds for me. I think these mushroom-quinoa stuffed bell peppers are one of the most satisfying and tasty meals I’ve had while doing this program. Because I live for leftovers, the recipe below yields about 10 servings. We ate them over the course of a week, and sometimes I just ate the stuffing by itself. As always, I don’t measure, so measurements are best guesses/general guidelines.

Ingredients

• 1.5 c. dry quinoa, cooked according to package directions
• 3 c. water (for quinoa)
• 1 pint mushrooms (I used baby king oyster, among others), diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• bell peppers, halved lengthwise, deveined and seeded*
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil

Procedure

1. Rinse quinoa thoroughly under cool water. Combine 1 part quinoa with 2 parts water in a saucepan. Bring to boil, cover and simmer until water is absorbed. (Essentially, if you can cook rice, you can cook quinoa.) Set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in a skillet, then sautee onion until translucent, about 5-7 minutes.
3. Add mushrooms to skillet over low heat, stirring frequently until they start to release some juices.
4. Fold onion and mushroom mix into the quinoa.
5. Stuff mixture into bell peppers and bake at 350F until the top browns slightly and the peppers begin to soften, approximately 25 minutes. (Please note–my oven is wonky, so cooking times tend to be off. Sorry guys!)

As always, these are gluten-free and vegan. If you have cheese-eating friends and family, I admit they taste delicious with some muenster melted on top, but I’m afraid that’s no longer an option for me. I’m eager to make my own nutritional yeast cheeze sauce for these sometime. If you try it, let me know what you think, and please put any suggestions in the comments.

*When I made the stuffing, I think it yielded about 10 servings, or 5 bell peppers’ worth. Again, if you run out of peppers, this is awesome on its own or as a side.

There were more, but we ate them too quickly before I remembered to snap them. Once again, here is a very rough recipe for how to create your own. I suggest you take it more as inspiration than as a strict procedure.

Ingredients

• 3-4 (at least) large kale leaves, cut or torn into bite sized pieces (2″ x 2″ is a good size, but don’t be precious about it)
• light drizzle of olive oil
• seasonings of your choice (sea salt, cracked pepper, paprika, dried oregano, and curry powder have all been successful, but play with it.)

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Toss kale pieces with a light drizzle of olive oil in a bowl. (If you use too much olive oil, your chips won’t crisp, but a bit is really helpful to make the seasonings stick.)
3. Lay pieces on a baking sheet in a single layer, then sprinkle with seasonings of your choice. I add salt to all of them, and think dried oregano is the winner. A heavy sprinkle of paprika tastes great.
4. Bake for 7-10 minutes, or until just crisp. I make mine in a glorified toaster oven, so my timing might be different.
5. Eat! These are best straight out of the oven. If you’re going to eat them later, I would put them on cooling racks so they don’t get soggy.

Because our little teeny oven can only do one tray at a time, the more batches I do, the more flavors make their way onto the chips (from leftover sprinkles on the tray). I consider this a good thing. Let me know what other flavors you come up with–I think I might tray blacken seasoning kale chips soon.

Enjoy!

Don’t forget to enter my very first giveaway if you haven’t already done so! You can enter to win a copy of The China Study, Eating Animals, or Spent (which comes with a complimentary email session with the author, Dr. Frank Lipman, a special offer for The View From There readers!). Click here for details and to enter.

What? Very very white me might be able to make the greatest Korean soup of all time?

Fine, but they were going to have to tell me how to do it. Below is my extremely rough recipe. I am a notoriously lax when it comes to measuring, and I usually make this is giant batches, filling my soup pot to the brim. If you have any questions or need clarification, please leave a comment and I’ll do my best to help. If you get it right, you get to enjoy a great big bowl of awesome that looks something like this:

(Please note, this picture is from my first batch of soup, which used ddok (rice dumplings), pork, and inferior kimchi. The recipe below will look just about the same, but be healthier and more delicious. Win-win.)

Ingredients (all measurements are best guesses!)

• 1 bag moogeun kimchi* (It’s really hard to go wrong with the amount of kimchi you use, but I like a lot in mine. The bags I buy contain two medium sized heads of cabbage that have been fermented, which works well for a giant batch.)
• 1 tbsp diced ginger
• 1 onion, cut into quarters, then thin strips
• 5 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 package of firm tofu, cubed
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1-2 bunches fresh Enoki mushrooms (but any mushroom will do)
• red pepper powder, to taste
• water (to cover)

Procedure (as best I can remember)

1. Lightly coat bottom of large soup pot with olive oil, then add garlic, onions, and ginger. Saute until onions become translucent.
2. Add mushrooms, and cook about 10 minutes, stirring frequently, until they start to release some juice
3. Add kimchi, sliced into strips (I just dump mine in and cut it with kitchen shears), and tofu
4. Cover with water and bring to a simmer. Add more water if you like more broth, less if you like a more stew-like soup. I usually cover with water until just about the top of my soup pot because I love the broth.
5. If you like extra spicy soup, add a bit of red pepper powder. Taste your kimchi before you do this, though, so you don’t have any unpleasant surprises. Kimchi can range from relatively mild to really stinkin’ spicy.
6. Cover soup and allow to simmer for at least an hour and a half.

Though this can be eaten right away, it’s best the next day after the flavors have really come together. Serve with a side of brown rice. This recipe is vegan and gluten free. (Celiacs, be sure to check your kimchi ingredients to make sure they didn’t cheat and use soy sauce. I’ve never had a problem, but it bears mentioning.)

Variations

• If you’re a pork-eater, add some squares of bacon or other sliced pork when you add the mushrooms. I admit, it adds some flavor, but the vegan version above leaves me perfectly satisified.
• For some really nice texture and as a nice counter to the spice, add a handful of ddok, sliced rice dumplings. (They’re the white oval things in the picture.) I love ddok, but it’s refined rice, so it’s a no-go for me these days.

*Moogeun kimchi is the really old fermented kimchi, and it’s by far the preferred type for this soup. Just ask for old kimchi or fermented kimchi at your Asian market.

(This is post #99, which means next post will introduce my very first giveaway! Be sure to check back for details!)