Delicious Fat Free (Vegan) Greek Chickpea & Olive Soup

I haven't made this in years but boy was it worth the wait!  In fact, so worthwhile I had to share.  The flavors are complex and tangy and besides, when do you ever have olives... in a soup?  Try it!  
It's so easy to make and with minimal ingredients which is necessary for our busy lives, no?   

The original, non-vegan, recipe was from April 2004 Food & Wine magazine which I used to LOVE, but since it is nothing close to vegetarian (organ meats anyone? No THANKS.)  I have let the subscription lapse:-(  

TANGY GREEK CHICKPEA & OLIVE SOUP
1 Chopped large Onion
Pinch of Crushed Red Pepper
4C. Vegan Chicken Stock or Bouillon
2 - 15oz cans of Chickpeas or 1 can Chickpea and 1 can Large Butterbeans (as shown here)
4T. Lemon Juice
2t. Dijon Mustard
3/4C. Chopped Parsley

Serve with Green & Kalamata (or whichever you prefer) Olives on top!

Directions:  Saute the onion in the juice of one of the cans of beans - {ha! a fat-free sautéing trick I bet you didn't know?} for about 7 minutes until soft.    Stir in the Red Pepper, stock and canned beans  (drain the second can first).  Simmer for 20 minutes and then add the last three ingredients and serve with the olives.  Fantastic!  

(NOTES:  I like the can of butterbeans because they are sweeter and very starchy - good comfort food.  I have used both the mix of green & black olives, and just kalamata olives as shown here and it's spectacular both ways.  This is a great summer soup too because it's good even when just barely warm)

Organic Food Really IS Better 4 U

HA!  Finally the organic farmers of the world - backyard variety on up - are vindicated!  It is now proven that organic food is considerably higher in antioxidants & flavanones and MUCH lower in pesticide residues.

BUY ORGANIC.

(I don't know why the eggplants - they're just cool I guess:-)

Green Goddess-y Zucchini Hummus

Most novice gardeners make the mistake of planting too much zucchini and are so SICK of zucchini everything by August they never want to plant the stuff again.  Has this ever happened to you?  Guilty!  If you need to use up some zucchini, or even not - here's a fabulous recipe I swiped from the only truly evolved, health-aware grocer here in southern Houston - Erma's - whom placed it out for sampling one day a while back.  Even my 10-yr-old son, whom won't touch hummus with a 10 foot pole, declared it delicious!  Go figure. 

 One note - in my trademark haste I neglected to "drain excess water" and ended up with a "dressing", or cold soup.  I poured some over salad the 2nd time I ate it and decided it's my new staple dressing:-)  Who needs bottled stuff w/ MSG and god-knows what other additives?  The addition of 1/2 an avocado would transform it into a spectacular raw Green Goddess-y concoction, don't you think?  Gonna try it....

Zucchini Hummus

2 chopped zucchinis
1/3 c. tahini
4Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 minced clove garlic (I used 2 - yum!)
Handful fresh parsley
1 tsp. sea salt
(optional as mentioned above - 1/2 peeled avocado)

Blend only zucchini in a high speed blender.  For hummus - drain off excess water before adding the remaining ingredients and blending again.  For dressing - omit the draining phase and blend everything at once.

Nutrition Info:  2TBS. = 1 serving
calories - 44.1
fat - 3.8gr
carbs - 1.9g
protein - 1.3g
(recipe courtesy of Carolward99 - a SparkPeople user)

Enjoy in health!

The (UN)Sugar Coated Truth

The Hungry for Change website posted an article recently cautioning against sugar consumption for mental health reasons and it's very sobering.  A lot of us are sugar addicts aren't we?  Ugh.  Apparently it's no coincidence white sugar and cocaine are doppelgangers, eh?  Double ugh. 

New Year's Resolution ahead of schedule - Avoid Dessert.  Eat more fruit!

 Check the link for a larger version of this graphic, thank you.

GivingThanks Day Recipes - Take 1

We don't have an entirely vegetarian Thanksgiving at our house, but we do come close. The carnivores revolt and we have ham or roast beef typically since Turkey isn't popular.  Not exactly traditional, but really it's about GivingTHANKS more than food, so who cares?!

I'll be making this!  Winter vegetables are the best.  I never met a squash I didn't like.  VegNews Publisher Joseph Connelly provides this one on their website:

Joe’s Roasted Winter Vegetables

Serves 6

What You Need:

2 large carrots
2 sweet potatoes
2 yams
2 parsnips
1 medium red onion, quartered
1 acorn squash
1/2 large butternut squash
12 Brussels sprouts
4 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
Fresh rosemary, to taste
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

What You Do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse all vegetables and cut into 1/3-inch pieces** (the Brussels sprouts can be left whole). In large mixing bowl, add vegetables, garlic, oil, rosemary, salt, and pepper.
2. Place vegetables in large, flat roasting pan and bake 45 to 60 minutes, stirring every 20 minutes, until tender. Serve immediately.    

** I think I'm going to leave my veggies whole like the Shutterstock photo above - beautiful!

1.