FOOD | HEALTH | SPIRITUALITY - Page 2 of 12

Recipes Tags: Gluten-Free Pasta, Shiitake mushrooms, Spinach, vegan

By Lisa, May 23, 2023 Posted in Easy Vegan Meals, Entrees, Gluten-Free Pasta, Quinoa, Shiitake Mushrooms, Summer, Vegan Entrees

Easy Meals for Holiday Weekends

As spring eases into summer with frequently warmer days and delightfully cool nights, you will enjoy this delicious gluten-free, vegan Spinach and Mushroom Pasta. (And if you don’t like mushrooms, leave them out for a simple yet satisfying meal.)

I occasionally make a dish with shiitake mushrooms because I love that umami flavor and because their well-documented health benefits include immune support and anti-inflammatory defense. Many vegans and vegetarians see mushrooms as a meat replacement. Although I personally don’t think of them as an instead-of-meat choice, they do add texture, volume, and another layer of flavor to this dish that will be welcome to any mushroom lover.

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By Lisa, April 18, 2023 Posted in Asparagus, Legumes, Salads, Side Dishes

Easy Spring Salads that Transition to Summer

Honoring the abundance of asparagus with a new recipe each spring is a Sacred & Delicious blog tradition—and today I offer you a flavorful and colorful White Bean and Asparagus Salad. As with many of my recent recipes, this recipe is open to variation. (See my postscript below if you’re looking for more asparagus recipes.)

Here are some easy variations you can make to this recipe:

For readers who shy away from beans, you can switch out the beans with quinoa or rice and still have a tempting dish.
Serve it as a side dish with a bowl of soup for a complete meal, or just eat lots of bean salad! I suggest either my recent recipe for Sweet Potato and Spinach Soup or my favorite summer Carrot Soup, which you can find in Sacred & Delicious: A Modern Ayurvedic Cookbook.
If you don’t like cilantro, the salad will be equally delicious with fresh basil or dill.
Adding mint made the dish sing for me but the recipe still works well without it.
If you avoid garlic, substitute fresh ginger.
Serve it warm or cooled, whatever suits your taste—though I think it’s best when just a little warm or room temperature.

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Recipes Tags: Always gluten-free, Entrees, Potpie, Vegan Comfort Food

By Lisa, April 6, 2023 Posted in Entrees, Gluten-Free Recipes, Green Beans, Sweet potato recipes, Vegan Entrees

Healthy Comfort Food 2023 Spring Edition: Gluten-Free Vegan Pot Pie

With family coming home this week for holidays and spring breaks, it’s a perfect time to make a delicious—if perfectly imperfect— Vegan Gluten-Free Pot Pie. No doubt, this dish is a project if you make your own crust, so working folks will want to save it for the weekend unless you make the crust the day before and refrigerate it.

I call it perfectly imperfect because I am not a pie crust aficionado. Although my mother was an excellent (and revered) math teacher, she was not a baker, so I never learned to make pie crusts by her side. My friend and baking mentor, Martina Straub, helped me perfect a spelt crust many years ago when I was hoping that low-gluten goodies were good enough to support my health. But alas! I needed to go 100 percent gluten-free to heal my gut and related inflammatory conditions.

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By Lisa, March 9, 2023 Posted in Easy Vegan Meals, Soups, Sweet potato recipes, Vegan Recipes

The Last of Winter Soups

Wouldn’t you love some Sweet Potato and Spinach Soup to help you stay warm during these last frigid winter nights! Despite an early spring color extravaganza in the Carolinas since the first of February, we’ve been thrust back into the mid 30s every night—which means that hot soup is definitely on the menu!

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Recipes Tags: Always gluten-free, Broccoli, Carrots, Casseroles, Fennel, Side dishes, vegan

By Lisa, February 21, 2023 Posted in Casseroles, Easy Vegan Meals, Easy Vegetable Side Dishes, Side Dishes, Vegan Recipes

Healthy Comfort Food: Creamy Vegan Casseroles

Today’s multi-use recipe for a Broccoli, Carrot, and Fennel Casserole got oohs and aahs at our table recently, so I promise you won’t want to miss this one! If casseroles aren’t your thing, you can serve it as a veggie side dish or make it a one-dish meal and serve the vegetables with rice or quinoa.

Loyal readers, have you noticed that I enjoy creating dishes that lend themselves to slightly different approaches? You could even turn this into a soup by adding some delicious homemade stock. All these options give you greater flexibility if you’re comfortable enough in cooking to adapt the directions ever-so-slightly to suit your preferences.

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By Lisa, February 7, 2023 Posted in Chocolate, Holiday Recipes, Uncategorized, Vegan Recipes

A Chocolate Valentine’s Menu

In the spirit of my periodic tribute to the 2000 movie Chocolat, today I offer readers this divine recipe for Roasted Root Vegetables with Chocolate Glaze. It’s just one in a series of dishes I’ve been developing over the years to imitate the chocolate-themed meal in one of movie history’s great food scenes!

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Recipes Tags: Always gluten-free, Carrots, Parsnips, root vegetables, Vegan Soups

By Lisa, January 17, 2023 Posted in Soups, Vegan Recipes

Root Vegetables, Deliciously!

If you can’t get enough soup during the winter months, I have a delicious new recipe for you—Root Vegetable Soup, made two ways.

Readers following my blog for a long time know that sweet potatoes are my favorite root. Being somewhat of a habitual eater, I never tire of them. But even I need a change of pace from time to time, which is what inspired this recipe focused on parsnips and carrots.

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Recipes Tags: Always gluten-free, Black-Eyed Peas, Greens, Sweet potatoes, vegan

By Lisa, December 26, 2022 Posted in Black-Eyed Peas, Greens, Holiday Recipes, Soups, Stews, Vegan Recipes

Black-Eyed Peas Fives Ways for a Lucky 2023

As we turn our attention from Christmas to welcoming the new year, it seems fitting to offer yet another recipe for lucky black-eyed peas. Drumroll please… for African Black-Eyed Pea Stew!

It’s the rich peanut butter and spices that make this African style of cooking black-eyed peas so delicious—though that doesn’t mean spicy hot, at least not when I make it.

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By Lisa, December 19, 2022 Posted in Shiitake Mushrooms, Soups, Sweet potato recipes, Vegan Recipes, Vegetarian Entrees

One-Pot Meals to Simplify Holiday Time

When your life is especially busy—like during the holidays—it’s great to have some one-pot meals that are filling and delicious. I recommend this Savory Sweet Potato Soup with English Peas. As you plan different meals for the week your kids return from college or bring their carloads of grandchildren to visit, this hearty soup can make menu planning a lot easier.

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Recipes Tags: Always gluten-free, Casseroles, Squash, vegan

By Lisa, December 13, 2022 Posted in Casseroles, Easy Recipes, Easy Vegan Meals, Side Dishes, Vegan Recipes

Delicious Vegan Casseroles for the Holidays

I rarely make a casserole for the two of us, but when it comes to convenience, there’s nothing quite so simple as this Easy Vegan Squash Casserole. It’s the kind of dish that you can make the day before and pop into the oven while you’re cooking other parts of your holiday menu. It’s a perfect addition to any potluck and a delicious way to balance all the season’s sugary meals!

Of course, every recipe on my blog is always gluten-free. (This Reimagined Green Bean Casserole is also awesome and worthy of your Hanukkah, Christmas, or New Year’s table.)

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