Easy-Peasy Butterbean-y Soup

There are rules in our kitchen, folks. Since I started this blog, the number one rule is we don't eat anything unless it's been photographed step-by-step. That way, if we make a winner, I have the blog post halfway done before we even eat.

My ex-husband didn't always follow this rule. When he cooked, he was cooking to eat, not document all the steps along the way for Vegerrific. In his defense, before we "vegged" out, he usually cooked more than I did. Since our change to a vegetarian lifestyle, however, he was often relegated to the taster role. He never complained, but I know he still loves to cook, and he's really good at it.

One of the things I always admired about his cooking skills is his ability to whip up a soup from any old thing in the pantry. On this particular day, he stuck his head in the pantry, pulled out 3 cans, and had this soup on the table 30 minutes later. Obviously, fresh carrots and potatoes would've been ideal, but this was simple, fast, and delicious. He honestly had a fragrant, bubbling soup pot going in the time it took me to do a load of laundry. If I had known what he was up to in the kitchen, I would have been taking pictures along the way. But he was very sneaky about it! 

Easy-Peasy Butterbean-y Soup

1 carton Imagine Low-Sodium Vegetable Broth1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh garlic, minced
3 tablespoons fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon Earth's Balance3 tablespoons unbleached white flour1 can (15 ounces) butterbeans, drained and rinsed
1 can (15 ounces) sliced carrots, drained and rinsed
1 can (15 ounces) potatoes, drained, rinsed and cubed
4 bay leaves
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes, optional
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat oil in a soup pot over medium-low heat. Add onions and garlic, cooking until transluscent. Add the parsley and cook until soft.
2. Add the Earth's Balance and stir until melted. Add the flour to the mixture and cook about 5 minutes, until the flour begin to brown up and become fragrant.
3. Add beans, carrots, and potatoes. Stir and cook a minute or so. Season mixture with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Add the broth, stirring gently. When it reaches a boil, reduce heat to simmer.
5. Add bay leaves. Add nutritional yeast (if using. He didn't use it when he made the soup, but I added it to the leftovers). Cover and let soup simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Stir occasionally. Taste soup as it's simmering and adjust seasoning if needed.
6. Remove soup from heat and let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

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Tossed Tempeh Salad with "Creamy" Italian Dressing

Truth is, I could live on tempeh. That's not quite an exaggeration. I love the darn stuff, and I never would have tried it had I not given up meat. When I first started cooking tempeh I followed the advice of many food bloggers to steam or simmer it to remove its "bitterness." I still occasionally go through the steaming or simmering, but I've grown to love the way it tastes as is. My taste buds truly have changed.

I have also found that tempeh does help me lose weight. When I eat plain old tempeh a few times a week, the scale always stays the same or goes down. This is my experience, and I'm basing it on nothing other than my scale.

It’s also one of the least expensive protein sources out there, at my grocery store, anyway. Here’s why: no one where I live knows what to do with the stuff! It is most always on sale because it’s nearing the expiration date. I just check to see if they have stock ready to get pitched then buy all they have. I usually pick it up for $1.49 a package and throw them in the freezer. Depending on what I’m making, 1 package of tempeh is a minimum of 2 servings (usually it’s 4). That’s .37 cents a serving! (Or free- since I often find coupons on eBay for Lightlife tempeh, and when they're doubled my tempeh score is all free free free) Beat that, chicken wings!

Speaking of chicken brings me to my favorite way to prepare tempeh. When I fry it in oil like this, I swear it tastes like chicken to me. Often I fry up a batch and throw it in the refrigerator; I love it cold when it’s prepared this way.

Tempeh is an acquired taste, though. My husband will not eat it. He has eaten every one of my experiments, but draws the line at these soybean cakes. He says it’s not the taste of it, but rather the texture (tempeh is essentially a brick of compressed soybeans, and it falls apart when you chew it). No matter how I try to tempt him, no matter the marinade or the magic in the preparation, my husband will take a polite bite, grimace, and say “No, thank you. Sorry.” Oh- he is missing out. My gain (or loss- since I made the fantastical claim of effortless weight loss above).

Tonight felt like a salad night. Since I’ve started a 30-day vegan challenge, I was looking for a dressing that suited me. The ready-made dressings in my refrigerator door were all either cheese or dairy-based (even the Italian dressing had Romano cheese in it!). So, happily, I had another chance to eat the cashew cream I made the other day. With a few additions I had a creamy Italian dressing that made me happy happy happy!

Tossed Tempeh Salad with "Creamy" Italian Dressing

1 package tempeh
Salad fixings I used lettuce, artichoke hearts, olives, and tri-colored bell peppers
1 tablespoon cashew cream
½ teaspoon nutritional yeast flakes
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Unsweetened almond milk, for thinning your dressing
Olive oil for frying
Sea salt to taste



1. Cut tempeh cake in half, then take each piece and cut it in half again, so you have 4 thin pieces about the size of a deck of cards.
2. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the tempeh on both sides until it is browned up and beginning to carmelize a bit. Season it with sea salt while it cooks.
3. Drain tempeh on paper towels while you prepare the dressing.
4. In a small bowl, combine the cashew cream with the yeast flakes, garlic and Italian seasoning. Stir to combine. Slowly add almond milk, little bits at a time, and stir mixture until it's thinned to your liking.
5. Add dressing to your salad fixings and toss lightly. Cut the tempeh into bite-sized chunks and add to your salad.

Note: You can easily make this dressing taste like ranch by switching out the Italian seasoning and adding chives and parsley with a tiny bit of lime juice.

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Gardein Cutlets with Roasted Asparagus, Savory Amaranth and Cashew Cream

It is going to take longer to type this post than it took to cook this meal!

When I was originally stocking my pantry for my venture into vegetarianism, I dedicated an entire shelf to grains of all kinds. Most of my collection has been used multiple times in the past year (even teff, which I had never even heard of and now use often). I've had one package of amaranth sitting on that shelf, and had only used it once or twice for bread. Amaranth seems to be used quite often as a hot cereal. It cooks up a lot like Cream of Wheat, with a very similar texture.

Problem is, I'm not much of a "cereal for breakfast" kind of gal. So- there the amaranth sat, waiting patiently for it's turn in the bread-making rotation.

This recipe started out centered on the amaranth. I wanted to make something that was savory and creamy and warm in the belly. Start to finish was about 30 minutes, or the time it took for the amaranth to cook.

Cashew Cream
Typically, cashew cream is made after soaking the cashews in water overnight. I hadn't thought of making it, though, until I had already started dinner. I made it in less than 5 minutes, with no prior soaking, and it was still creamy and delicious. This keeps in the refrigerator for 3 days. You can also freeze it (but may need to re-blend when it thaws). It's a beautiful and easy way to "cream up" a dish, from soup to sweets, whether you use it plain or add flavor like nutmeg and vanilla.

2 cups raw cashews, whole
Purified water (enough to just cover the cashews when they're in the food processor or blender)



1. Put cashews into a food processor or a really good blender (Vita-Mix seems to be the brand of choice on the foodie blogs I visit)
2. Do a quick pulse to break up the nuts a little bit prior to adding water. Most recipes I've read have you add the water and whole nuts together then blend them both. I tried that and the water sprayed out of my food processor and doused my t-shirt. (Sounds sexy, but it wasn't!)
3. Add only enough water to just cover the nuts. Thicker cream calls for less water.
4. Blend until smooth and creamy, adding little bits of water as necessary. If you're patient, it will get nice and smooth. I was mostly patient, so I had some teeny-tiny texture going in mine; it worked really well for this particular recipe, though.
5. Chill cream in the fridge until ready to serve.


Simply Savory Amaranth

1 cup Amaranth Grain
3 cups Imagine No-Chicken Broth
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1 dollop Earth's Balance
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste



1. Add amaranth, broth, and seasonings to pot and bring to boil. Reduce heat to low simmer and cook for about 30 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed and the grain has thickened.
2. Stir in dollop of Earth's Balance prior to serving up if desired.

Roasted Asparagus
This is a no-frills, easy-peasy way to cook asparagus.

1 bunch of fresh aparagus, cleaned and trimmed
1 tablespoon olive oil
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste



1. Preheat oven to 425° (I make this in my toaster oven at the same temperature)
2. Pour the oil and spices on the baking sheet and, using your hands, roll the asparagus around in the mixture until they're coated with yumminess.
3. Spread the asparagus out evenly, and roast in pre-heated oven for about 10 minutes.
4. When done, trim stalks into 1" segments.

Gardein Cutlets

1. Cook frozen Gardein cutlets in skillet on medium-high in some olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
2. Cook cutlets until they are heated through and begin to turn brown on each side.
3. Let cutlets rest about a minute prior to cutting them and serving.

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Tofu Scramble (with Saffron, Because I'm Worth It!)

I'm in love with my new Tofu Presser, and to celebrate I made a tofu scramble just for little old me. It was my first time making one on my own. Now, to all the experienced vegans out there that's about the equivalent of saying to a non-veg that you scrambled an egg for the first time. It's not exactly the hardest dish to prepare.

Even so, I decided to make a scramble that I thought was blog-worthy. As I opened my spice cabinet to grab the tumeric, I noticed my bottle of saffron right next to it. "A bottle of saffron" is an inaccurate description. What I had was an empty bottle save one wee little pinch of incredibly-expensive red filaments. I pushed the tumeric aside and decided to splurge- it was the first day of my 30-Day Vegan Challenge, after all (I'm trying it on my own, without following a set program. Wish me luck!).

Tofu Scramble with Saffron, Spinach and Hashbrowns
¼ block extra-firm tofu, pressed and cut into chunks
1 cup Imagine Low-Sodium Vegetable Broth
½ tablespoon minced (packed in oil) garlic
1 pinch saffron
1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
1 handful fresh baby spinach
1 (individual size) prepared hash brown (optional)

I’ve started relying a lot on vegetable broth in place of oil or other fats when sautéing. I love the flavor it adds, and when it reduces down it’s really a nice complement to whatever is in the pan. Using it for this recipe made the tofu somewhat creamy, and very much like the texture of well-made scrambled eggs.



1. Heat the broth, garlic and saffron over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until it reduces by about half.
2. Add the nutritional yeast, stirring to mix well.
3. Add the tofu, breaking some of the chunks up to get to a “scrambled” consistency, stirring to coat with the broth mixture.
4. When tofu is almost heated through, add fresh spinach to pan, gently mixing it in as it wilts down.
5. Break up the hash brown and add to scrambled tofu. Salt and pepper to taste (taste it first- you may not need the salt). Serve with homemade bread slathered with Earth’s Balance.

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Among the Things I'd Grab in a Fire: My New Tofu Presser

People- my laziness knows no bounds. For instance, I love tofu, but rarely ate it because I didn't feel like doing the whole pressing-between-two-plates business. I'd make my husband press it, then secretly think mean thoughts if it wasn't "wrung out" to my liking (lazy AND passive-aggressive: that's me!). So soon into the veg transformation, I went looking for a press that satisfied my needs and let my poor man off the hook. Enter the Tofu Xpress Gourmet Food Press. It was my first post-veg gadget purchase, and I loved it.

And, like many first loves, I fell quickly and passionately. Also like many first loves (mine, at least), it left me in despair. About 6 months into the relationship it broke on me. After some research I found how to get a refund, but the company wanted the press shipped back with all the broken pieces (some of which I didn't keep), and I needed to pay shipping (which I didn't want to do).

So my response was to stop eating tofu. Lame, right? Every time I felt a hankering for the stuff, I'd think about the busted remains of the press still lurking in my heart and I'd make something else out of spite.

When I finally felt ready to love again, I sought out a different design, one that might hold up better under the pressure of my tofu-loving ways. Enter the Tofu Presser!!!

Yes, I loved him as soon as I opened the box (I've named him Ryan Reynolds). You might think me fickle, but I assure you, I am not. I'm a one-press-woman, and I am a loyal customer. When I first held Ryan (Tofu Presser) I was amazed how simple and sturdy the design was.




It was very easy to use and pressed the tofu so it was firm but still a little moist (just like Mama likes it).



As you can see, it pressed about a cup of water out. It only took about 10 minutes or so, and I was very pleased with the results.

I will say that the box design of the Tofu Xpress Gourmet Food Press makes it easier to press your tofu into a thinner, denser block, but for my money, the Tofu Presser is the better overall purchase. It is less expensive, seemingly indestructible, and gets the job done. Just like Ryan Renyolds!

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On the Shore of Lake Michigan with Collene's Summer Salsa

Recently I had the pleasure of spending a weekend at the home of my very close friends, Collene and Jeff. They live on the west side of the state, and we spent the days lazing away in Lake Michigan, riding the waves and soaking up the sun. One night after the beach, Collene threw together some salsa for the quesadillas she had on the menu. Their quesadillas included chicken and cheese, but she made a veganized one for me, filled and topped with her beautiful salsa.

I took pictures as she whipped up dinner and planned to write out the recipe, though with the colors of the ingredients and Collene's delicate hands, I felt the pictures were lovely enough to speak for themselves.


1 large tomato, 1 large onion


1 red bell pepper


Jalapeños to taste




Salt and pepper to taste


Garlic powder


Fresh cilantro








Juice of 2 small limes








Assembling my veganized quesadilla!

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