January 2010

This is chilled soup is made by pureeing canned black beans with strained salsa, cherry tomatoes and cumin.

"I used to LOVE going to Boston Market for their beans but they were loaded with butter and fat. You really don't need a lot of olive oil in this recipe so it's much healthier and good for the waste line. I also love the texture of the beans- very fresh."

Versatile baked tofu recipe to use in endless vegetarian ways.

What To Do With Your Baked Tofu

* Serve with pasta and steamed veggies, with a little tomato sauce and parmesan cheese

* Serve with rice or quinoa and steamed veggies

* Add to a salad for a meal in a bowl

* Combine with sauteed veggies and salsa in a wrap

* Add to a veggie casserole or stew

* Serve on a bun with fixin's and fries

* Store in a covered container for sandwiches

Vegan Tofu Rice Salad, with veggies, fresh herbs, and baked tofu, serve warm or chilled This vegan tofu salad recipe can easily be doubled, and makes a satisfying vegetarian meal served with crusty french bread, steamed greens or green salad, and baked acorn or butternut squash. You'll need some time for soaking the brown rice, and marinating the tofu - that can happen overnight, or while you're gone for the day. After that, it comes together pretty easily.

Delicious vegan combo of fried tofu, pasta and veggies, makes enough for four hungry teens or 6 people of mixed ages. Serve a variety of sauces, like pesto, or tomato sauce, or herbs & olive oil with the pasta, and vary the veggies, and you can get away with this for several vegetarian meals a week.

This delicious quinoa salad recipe has a mexican flavor, with black beans, lime, cilantro and jalapeno. Quinoa black bean salad can be served warm or chilled, and keeps well. This recipe is similar to Tabouleh, but quinoa is both heartier and sturdier than couscous. Quinoa black bean salad is a great one dish meal, and also goes well with crusty artisan bread or tortillas chips with salsa, quacamole etc.

This vegan soup recipe is great served with corn bread or muffins, and is delicious sprinkled with dairy or non-dairy parmesan cheese.

The beans and barley can be soaked overnight or while you work, to save cooking time, and the soup can go in the slow cooker or crockpot, once the veggies are salted. If you use canned beans, drain and rinse them first.

A friend from Mozambique made this dish for us one night - he never follows a recipe, or makes the same thing twice, but we figured it out together and I wrote it down for Savvy Veg visitors to enjoy. Our Mozambiquan friend is vegan and doesn't believe in overcooking food. So it's quick to make - the secret is to chop the veggies small. If you like your veggies uncrunchy, just cook until it seems right to you - this recipe is highly improvisational! The result is rich, spicy, and excellent over rice or quinoa, or with any bread.