Veg Sandwich with Sprouts and Hummus

These yummy sandwiches are one my favorite things to have for lunch! Every bite is fresh and crispy and filled with flavor. You can use any veggies you like, but I usually just use cucumber, red pepper and a green, such as spinach, baby kale or lettuce. For me the red pepper is a must. The sweet flavor is the perfect contrast for a nice garlicky, sesame hummus.

Sprout sandwich

I need to blog my hummus recipe sometime because it deserves a post of its own, but it's actually pretty basic and typical anyway, other than skipping the extra oil. The only oil in this one is from the tahini, and you could reduce it from 2 tbsp to 1 if you wanted to; would just have a bit less sesame flavor.

Hummus
1 can chickpeas (drained)
2/3 cup water
1 bulb garlic (peeled)
2 Tbsp tahini
Juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt

Throw it all in the food processor and whiz on high a minute or two until creamy.

The Sprouts

We've been sprouting on and off for about four years. Sprouting is easy to do and sprouts are extremely packed full of nutrition. We've sprouted broccoli, fenugreek, mung beans and red clover. We buy our seeds and sprouting lids from Mumm's Sprouting Seeds and we're still using some seeds that we bought four years ago, although the germination rate isn't quite as high.

Sprouting lids on mason jars

Greening up in the window

Drying on paper towel

There are a lot of benefits of eating sprouts. They help with digestion, reduce acidity, they help build immune system, increase protein content, and they are highly nutritious.

Red pepper, kale and sprouts on flatbread with hummus

Super Grain Porridge

Super Grain Breakfast

This is an incredibly hearty and filling breakfast that is totally worth the time it takes to make. It takes about 30 minutes altogether, and 25 of that is cooking time as there is very little prep.

Another great thing about this recipe is that you can add whatever fruits, berries, nuts, or flavors you like to the cooked grain base. I've made it with blackberries and vanilla, apples and cinnamon and simply maple syrup, and there are so many other variations.

Porridge ingredients

One other thing before I get to the recipe: I chose these grains because they are what I had on hand the first time I made this. The amount of water and cooking time was calculated based on the grain types and amounts. If you decide to go with another grain or add more of or omit one of these you may need to research how much water you'll need and how long to cook.

Recipe

Cook covered for 25 minutes:
1/4 cup quinoa
1/4 cup millet
1/4 cup pearl barley
1 Tbsp chia seeds
4 1/2 cups water



Add 3/4 cups rolled oats.

Replace lid and turn off heat. Let set 5 minutes then serve.

Cooked grains

Make it Apple Cinnamon

Sauté 3 or 4 minutes while the grains are cooking:
1 Tbsp butter
1 apple, diced

Sautéing apples

Add:
1Tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Caramelizing apples

Stir while flavors meld for about another minute then turn off heat. Add to cooked grains.

Caramelized apples

Stir the apple mixture into the cooked grains and serve with the milk or cream of your choice. We use unsweetened almond milk.

Hearty porridge

Make it Berry Good

Add to the cooked grains when you add the oats:
1/2 cup (or as much as you want) frozen or fresh berries
1 Tbsp maple syrup or honey
1/2 tsp vanilla

Honey Peanut Butter

Mix in at the end after oatmeal has been added and set
3 Tbsp peanut butter
3 Tbsp honey

Chocolate Raspberry

1/2 cup raspberries
1/4 cup coconut
1/4 cup cocoa
1/8 cup honey

Other Ideas

Mix and match according to preference and:

• cook with the grains
• cook separately and add to cooked grains
• add raw ingredients after grains have cooked

Toasted almonds or other nuts
Diced peaches
Dried fruit (dates, apricots, raisins, currants, goji berries, etc)
Almond or soy beverage
Almond nut butter
Hemp hearts
Flax seed

Sweeteners:
I would generally add 1 or 2 Tbsp of one of these for the whole pot of grains, but most people probably prefer sweeter versions.
Diced dates
Brown sugar
Maple syrup
Honey
Cane sugar

Vegan Split Pea Soup

When I gave up eating ham it occurred to me I would never again have one of my all-time favorite meals: split pea soup. What a happy day the first time I made the vegan version and discovered that it is just as amazing, and much easier on the conscience.

Vegan Split Pea Soup

Spice It How You Like It

I'm sure I've made this from a few different recipes now but I've made it enough that I no longer need a recipe and I often make variations depending on how I want to spice it. Sometimes cumin, sometimes not. It's great with a bay leaf or two as well. If you really like an Indian flavor, you can also skip the thyme and marjoram and add ground coriander, turmeric and cinnamon to your cumin. Becomes more like a curry, but it's all good.

*A lot of recipes call for basil which sounds weird to me so I've never tried it. Thought I should mention it though, in case it's an integral or common split pea flavor. I can't imagine but go for it and let me know if it's worth trying.

Split pea soup ingredients

Ingredients

1 cup yellow split peas
1 box vegetable broth
1 small onion
2 carrots
1 potato
2 stalks celery
2 cloves garlic
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp cumin or 2 bay leaves (depending on your version)
1/2 tsp salt
cracked black pepper

Directions

Chop all your veggies into soup-sized pieces (about 1/2" square) and mince the garlic. 90% of your work is now complete. Add the onion and a bit of veggie broth to the Instant Pot and set to "Sauté". Cook about a minute, stirring once or twice then add the potatoes, carrots, celery and garlic.

Veggies sautéing

Sauté another minute while stirring around then add the rest of the ingredients. Give it a final stir and put the lid on the Instant Pot.

Soup ingredients ready to cook

Close the steam valve and use Manual setting and cook 15 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally (takes about 20 - 25 minutes).

I Love Our Instant Pot!

I've made this on stove top many times, but now that we have the Instant Pot, I probably won't again.  Turns out the same either way, but in the Instant Pot it's so easy - set the time and leave it. No stirring, no watching. I love that!

PS: Laura hates split pea soup. More for me! :)

Mock Tuna Salad (No Oil)

I've posted a recipe for Mock Tuna Salad before, but as I am currently avoiding oil I have had to modify the recipe a bit, and I thought I would re-post my new, improved, modified recipe.

Oil-free Mock Tuna Wrap

I was hesitant to even try this recipe without the mayo, and I admit, I just made it without looking at the original recipe, so it's a bit different, but it was fantastic! Filling and very satisfying. Satisfies that "I need a sammich" thing we get...

Side Note: I've been following the Engine 2 Diet since May 21, 2017 and it's been an amazing journey. I have lost 12 lbs in 3 weeks and I feel more energetic and motivated to keep going. The founder, Rip Esselstyn says, "The fat you eat is the fat you wear." Of course, plant fats such as those found in nuts, seeds and avocados are fine in moderation.

Recipe:

1/2 can chickpeas drained
Roast on baking sheet at 300 for 15 minutes then toss them into a food processor.

Add to chickpeas:
1 1/2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp ACV (with mother)
Pinch of freshy ground black pepper

Pulse a few times until chickpeas are about halfway mashed but not pureed. There should be lots of big pieces. Pour into a salad bowl and add:

1/2 carrot grated fine
3 tbsp minced red onion
1 apple chopped fine
15 green olives, minced

Stir and serve on a bed of fresh spinach in a tortilla.

Make it Gluten-Free

I am also eating gluten-free so I had mine on a gluten-free tortilla (made from rice).

Gluten-free Tortillas

I don't have an allergy to gluten, but perhaps a bit of intolerance or sensitivity and I find I feel better when I eat gluten-free. I tend to have symptoms such as bloating and gas, brain fog and lack of energy when I fall off that particular wagon, and that's no fun. Eating gluten-free is also no fun sometimes, but there are more and more options available now, and it's still worth it to keep feeling my best.

Minestrone Soup

Good any time of year, minestrone soup is especially good on a cold winter's day. I love it because it's hearty and filling and most of all, delicious. So good I always go for a second bowl.

Minestrone Soup

There is always so much soup in the batch that it feeds us a good two or three days, and that's having it for lunch and dinner both. When we make minestrone soup we cook the pasta separately and add it just before heating it so it doesn't get mushy.

Minestrone Soup Recipe

Minestrone is a pretty versatile soup in that you can pretty much use whatever kind of bean and whatever kind of pasta you want. You can use whatever type of vegetables you fancy too, for that matter: carrots, onions, potatoes, green or yellow beans, peas, celery, corn or cauliflower.

Here's the recipe I used for this one:

Ingredients:
1 cup dried lima beans
2 cups cooked pasta (gluten-free if preferred)
1 large onion, chopped
4 carrots, diced
3 medium potatoes, diced
1 cup frozen green beans, chopped
1 cup frozen peas
1 can diced tomatoes
1.5 or 2 boxes vegetable broth
2 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt (or 2 tbsp tamari)

Cook the beans separately:
Rinse the lima beans under cold water, then bring to a boil in 3 or 4 cups of water in a medium saucepan. Turn down the heat, cover the beans and simmer them for about 45 minutes or until soft.

Healthy sauté onion and carrots in veggie broth until carrots begin to soften. Add potatoes and cook another 5 minutes. Add herbs, can of tomatoes and the rest of the vegetable broth and simmer until all the vegetables are cooked. Add cooked beans and pasta.

Bowl of minestrone soup

Lentil Curry on Rice

This is the most amazing thing I've eaten in awhile. I've had curries before but this one is the keeper, so I need to blog it before I forget it. lol

Lentil Curry on White Rice

Ingredients

3 small or 1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots (I wanted to put one in but I didn't have one, but next time I will and it will be even better, if that's even possible.
2 tbsp olive oil
4 cloves minced garlic
1 can diced tomatoes
1 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp dry ginger
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
3 cups veggie broth
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup brown lentils
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup green beans, 1/2" lengths
1 large package of fresh spinach

Directions

1. Cook onions and carrots in oil until soft, not brown. 
2. Add garlic and cook one minute. 
3. Drain the tomatoes then add to veggies and bring to a simmer then add all the spices. 
4. Take 2 cups of this mixture and puree it in a food processor or blender then add it back to the pan. 
5. Add the veggie broth, coconut milk, water and the cup of lentils. 
6. Cover and simmer on a low boil for 35 minutes until lentils are tender but still hold their form. 
7. Add the green beans and spinach and stir until it wilts. 

Serve over your favorite rice.

If you don't love this I don't even know what to tell you. I am looking forward to work tomorrow because I am having it for lunch. THAT'S how good it is. Seriously, make this.

How healthy is this?

First of all look at how healthy one cup of brown lentils is:
 molybdenum 330%
 folate 90%
 fiber 63%
 copper 56%
 phosphorus 51%
 manganese 49%
 iron 37%
 protein 36%
 vitamin B1 28%
 pantothenic acid 25%
 zinc 23%
 vitamin B6 21%
 potassium 21%

Secondly, look at the nutrition in one cup of cooked spinach:
 vitamin K 987%
 vitamin A 105%
 manganese 84%
 folate 66%
 magnesium 39%
 iron 36%
 copper 34%
 vitamin B2 32%
 vitamin B6 26%
 vitamin E 25%
 calcium 24%
 vitamin C 24%
 potassium 24%
 fiber 17%
 vitamin B1 14%
 phosphorus 14%
 zinc 12%
 protein 11%
 choline 8%
 omega-3 fats 7%
 vitamin B3 6%
pantothenic acid 5%

In fact, besides the oil and salt, everything in this recipe is beneficial in some way. I love that I am getting stuff my body needs in such a delicious meal. Not only that, but it came together quickly and was simple to make. You should try making it! :)

Bean & Lentil Salad

I made this bean salad to take with me to Sheephouse Falls tomorrow and it's very good so I wanted to document the recipe so we can make it again. It was inspired by our homegrown green beans along with the fact that we already had the other ingredients on hand.

Bean & Lentil Salad

Bean Mixture

3 cups cooked lentils
1 1/2 cups cooked black turtle beans
1 1/2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 1/2 cups fresh green beans cut in 1" lengths, and cooked until tender
1/2  cup chopped scallions
1/3 cup white onion, chopped fine

Vinaigrette

10 sprigs of fresh parsley, stemmed and chopped
5 tbsp white vinegar
5 tbsp vegetable or olive oil
5 tsp white sugar
2 tsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt or to taste

Mix the vinaigrette in with the bean mixture until everything is coated. Refrigerate overnight.

Protein

You may notice I use lentils in a lot of our dishes. A lot of people ask us where we get our protein and honestly, I get a lot of mine from lentils. We throw them into everything; gravies, sauces, soups, roasted veggies, salads, burgers...pretty much anything. We also eat beans quite a bit, especially in our Mexican food, which we have quite often.

Here is a breakdown of the protein in this salad. Mind you, this in in the entire salad, but even a 1-cup serving would have a substantial amount of protein.

3 cups lentils 54 g
1 1/2 cups black turtle beans 58.5 g
1 1/2 cups chickpeas 58.5 g
1 1/2 cups green beans 3 g

8 cups of food containing 174 g of protein. That amounts to 21.75 g per cup.

How much protein is enough?
They say you should have 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight daily. That means that most adults would need between 70-100 g of protein per day. Getting 1/5 to 1/4 in just one cup of bean salad is a great start to meeting the requirement.

Cabbage Rolls

Since cabbage rolls have always been one of my favorite dishes, I am really happy to discover that I can still enjoy them despite having given up eating meat. My aunt Emeline used to made cabbage rolls; they were kind of her thing. She used to steam the cabbage leaves in the dishwasher! I boiled mine in a big pot of water and they were easy to work with.

Vegan Cabbage Rolls

Sub the Meat for Lentils

Obviously there is no ground beef in these cabbage rolls. They're made with lentils instead, and they're actually pretty amazing. I've eaten them for supper twice and for lunch twice and I clean my plate every time.

Recipe Tweaking

Original recipe here
I stayed true to the original recipe with the exception of leaving the raisins out of the sauce. I think I would have liked the raisins, but Laura wasn't feeling it, so we decided to skip them. If I made them again, I would use less black pepper and a tiny bit more allspice.

Other things you could do would be to use other types of spices, or your favorite marinara instead of the sauce in the recipe. You could also use any kind of rice or other grain you want for the filling, or even add some veggies, like chopped spinach or kale.

Cabbage Rolls in Roast Pan

Takes Foreffingever

I have two complaints about making cabbage rolls. The first is that they are friggy and time-consuming. I don't think these can be made in an hour. The cabbage has to be cored, boiled and cooled. The rice and lentils both need to be cooked for the filling. There is chopping for both the sauce and the filling. For this first time, everything was measured. Then there is the wrapping, which can be a bit of an exercise in trial and error, especially at first. Then, finally, there is the cooking, which I think was about 45 minutes to an hour. You can't just come home from work and say, "Let's have cabbage rolls for supper!" and expect to eat before 9:00 pm. Not happening. No, these are a Sunday afternoon endeavor. But, worth it.

Makes a Huge Mess

The very worst part (my second and loudest complaint) about making cabbage rolls is that it creates a lot of dirty dishes - definitely not a one-pot meal. I think I dirtied a mixing bowl, a pot for the rice, a pot for the lentils, a pot for the sauce, 2 baking dishes (because I don't have a large one and had to use the small roast pan and a covered casserole dish), the grater, all the measuring cups and spoons, a wine glass and a big pile of utensils. Besides that, there was sauce splattered all over the stove, and bits of filling all over my work space and torn and shredded pieces of cooked cabbage all over the counter. And dishes everywhere. Not my ideal work environment, since I'm a "clean as you go" kind of kitchen bitch, but that doesn't seem to be entirely possible with these since there are too many things on the go at once. Wish I'd gotten a picture of it.

But again, it's worth it. And makes about 18 rolls.

Mock Tuna Salad Sandwich

We've had this a few times now, so I guess you could call it a favorite. I mean, tuna salad, come on. Only not tuna! It doesn't really taste the same as tuna either, but it has a similar texture and flavor. You could always add nori to make it taste fishier, but the chickpeas already have a somewhat briny taste.

Mock tuna sandwich

Chickpeas Roasted & Whizzed

The lovely lady who tipped us off about the existence of this delightful sandwich also recommended we roast the chickpeas, although the recipe doesn't say to do that. It gives them a chewier texture. Another thing I do with the chickpeas is toss them into the food processor an pulse it a couple times after they've been roasted and whiz them up a little so they don't roll out of your sandwich.

Mock Tuna Salad Recipe

Original recipe
1 can of chickpeas, drained and roasted (350 for 15 mins)
2 tbsp vegenaise
2 tsp dijon
1 tbsp relish
2 green onions
Salt & pepper

We like to serve it on a bed of lettuce on a toasted bun.

Make it Your Own

You can also tweak the recipe to your own taste or according to what's on hand. For instance, we didn't have relish so we diced a garlic dill. We snipped a pile of chives instead of using green onions. And, we've also added fresh dill weed and diced Granny Smith apple.

Vegetable Rice & Barley Soup

I made this soup today because I crave soup sometimes. It was inspired by spotting the aging carrots in the fridge which reminded me they needed to be used soon. After some debate about whether to use turnip and potato and turn it into a stew, I decided to keep it as a soup and use white onions, mushrooms, rice, lentils and barley. After serving it twice, I was told by Laura and Missy that the recipe needed to be documented for future reference.

Vegetable Rice & Barley Soup

Recipe

1 white onion, chopped

4 carrots, chopped

4 oz mushroom, sliced

1 tbsp sunflower oil

1 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp dried rosemary

1/2 tsp dried sage

1/2 cup long grain rice

1 cup red lentils

1/4 cup pearl barley

900 ml box of vegetable broth

2 cups garden vegetable cocktail (like V8)

2 cups water

2 vegetable boullion cubes

3 or 4 sprigs fresh thyme

4 sprigs fresh parsley

Sauté the onion, carrot and mushrooms in the oil then add the dried herbs. Add the grains, boullion and liquids, give it a stir and let simmer for 40 minutes until rice is cooked. The lentils will dissolve into the broth and the rice and barley will absorb most of the liquid. Keep an eye on it in case more liquid is needed and then add as necessary water, vegetable broth or vegetable cocktail, whichever you prefer. I prefer to add vegetable broth so as not to dilute the flavors. Add the fresh herbs near the end of cooking. Taste while cooking and season accordingly with more salt or herbs you like.

Soup and roll

We had this with rolls spread with vegan butter and it was fantastic!

Lentil Salad

Lentil Salad

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup green, brown or black lentils
3 cups water
4 or 5 green onions
1 lemon
6 tbsp olive oil (psst: sometimes I only use 2 - 3)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried thyme
sea salt

Garlic, scallions, lentils, lemon

Directions

Cook lentils in the water about 20 minutes, then drain. Set aside to cool. Add the green onions and garlic and stir.

Squeeze the lemon. Mix the lemon, oil and thyme and add to lentil mixture. Salt with the sea salt to taste.

Cold plate featuring lentil salad

Homemade Perogies

Week nine of our vegan diet and so far it's going pretty well. I mean, I love the food I eat (a bit too much, maybe, but all my dietary choices have been like that), but it can be challenging to keep up in the kitchen. I don't feel like cooking every night, and neither does Laura. We really try not to eat a lot of highly processed food, so meal prep can be a time suck. I'm sure we'll learn lots of tricks and find recipes that are quick to make. But, this weekend I made these Smashed Bean Burgers and man, they took awhile. Partly because we don't use canned beans, though. A can of canned beans would make this recipe a cinch. More about the making of them below.

Smashed Bean Burger with Perogies

Sometimes You Just Want a Good Sandwich

Choices seem limited in these early days. You have to really switch gears because your old favorites probably need some serious tweaking. Sandwich? Brain comes up with: peanut butter, toasted tomato or cucumber and....umm...maybe...?...jam. Molasses? PB and molasses? I don't know. However, there are a lot of great sandwiches that look very appealing to me. A lot of them have sprouts on them so I think it's time we grew some more sprouts. I want to try this Smashed White Bean & Avocado Club sandwich - looks delish to me. This Mashed Chickpea Salad sandwich looks awesome too - just looks a bit on the time consuming side. A Sunday endeavor...

Kitchen Time

It's the weekend, so we're in the kitchen cooking. Today the menu is perogies and bean burgers. The burgers aren't the same as our beloved Butter Bean Burgers, but they're still awesome, with a similar flavor and texture to falafel. We're also going to be making corn chowder and biscuits. There should be enough food to freeze a couple meals to have for lunch and enjoy later in the week as well.

Preparing food at home rather than relying on ready made items allows you to:

• Make food that you really like, the way you like it best
• Skip or substitute ingredients you don't enjoy
• Avoid preservatives
• Eat fresher food
• Make way more for less money (usually)

Laura's Perogies

Laura made the perogies and they turned out fantastic - definitely worth documenting the recipe since she made it up so there's no record of it.

Laura's Perogies

Filling
Sauté:
1/2 small onion, finely diced
Once softened, add in:
4 oz white mushrooms, diced fine
4 oz portobello, diced fine
1-1/2 tsp salt

Mix sautéed mixture with:
5 potatoes, cooked and mashed
4 scallions, green parts, snipped
1 tbsp dried parsley
1 tbsp vegan butter (Earth Balance)
3 heaping tsp nootch
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
2 - 3 splashes almond milk

Perogie Filling

Reminder for next time: The filling could have used twice as many mushrooms.

Dough

Recipe here for Perogie Dough. We substituted the vegetable oil with olive oil. 

After the perogies were wrapped, Laura rolled about 18 of them and popped them into the freezer, leaving the rest of the filling in the fridge to wrap later. The dough is wrapped and resting in a bowl on the counter.  We cooked a dozen of the frozen ones for lunch. First you boil them for two minutes, then fry them for four or five minutes on each side until brown and crispy and heated through. I fried them on medium low heat. They were fantastic, and completely dairy free! 

Smashed Bean Burgers

This recipe came from the Thug Kitchen cookbook. I am not going to post the recipe here, but if you happen to have it and find the burgers aren't forming and are falling apart I'll share with you a tip I learned in this frustrating process. As stated above, we don't usually use canned beans, which are nice and mushy. I cooked mine from scratch and probably should have overcooked them, because they were difficult to mash and there were still a lot of whole beans in there. When I went to make the patties, they just kept falling apart. Here's what to do if you have the same problem: take at least half of your mixture and put it in the food processor for half a minute. It will make a formed ball of nice sticky dough. Then mix it in with the rest of the mixture and it will make beautiful patties that hold together very well. 

Bean Burger Patties

I had tried to cook three of the patties before we came up with the amazing solution and when I flipped them they all just crumbled. But...they were still delicious. So, that mixture will be used in wraps tomorrow night, probably with some chopped cucumber, tomato, onion and tahini sauce. Looking forward to it...

Cooked Crumbled Bean Burger Mixture

Update: So, we totally had the wraps on Monday with a tahini sauce, and they were fabulous!

Bean Wraps

Freezer to Oven

On a good note, we now have 5 burgers to freeze and grab next time we don't feel like cooking. And, the perogies mixture will make about 4 dozen to freeze as well. This is the key to being able to eat freezer to oven, and still eat healthy whole foods. It requires a few hours of time on the weekend, but it is worth it to not have to cook every day during the week.

Mushroom Stroganoff on Red Quinoa

Our wonderful friend, Lisa Lyon Coloma, posted this awesome vegan stroganoff recipe (well, it was a vegetarian recipe but we replaced the sour cream with Tofutti vegan sour cream) and we thought it sounded good so we tried it tonight. And, since we had pasta only last night, we opted to serve it over a grain tonight. Red quinoa was the winner.

Mushroom Stroganoff on Red Quinoa

Thank You Lisa!

The mushroom stroganoff sauce is really fantastic and I am soooo glad there is enough left over to take for lunch tomorrow. I will probably think about it all morning...on the drive to work...while I eat a comparatively boring breakfast...while I try to focus on work. But, I digress. The recipe for it comes in the form of a video which showcases how simple it is to make. And it really is a no-brainer. I didn't make it, however, Laura did, while my part was simply the shopping, washing the mushrooms and cooking the quinoa.

Mushroom Stroganoff Recipe

How to Cook Quinoa

To cook the quinoa, it first had to be rinsed under running water, then simmered in two parts water to one part quinoa for about 18 minutes on medium-low heat until the water was absorbed.

Roasted Veggies with Butter Beans, Barley & Lentils

This is a meal I make a lot, only now with a vegan diet, it's even more important to include some high-protein items. So, tonight I threw some pot barley, red and green lentils and butter beans in with my roasted veggies.

Lentils, barley, onions & dried herbs

I pre-soaked and rinsed the butter beans, then added them to the barley, lentils and onions, and about 3 cups of veggie broth for absorption. Potatoes, carrots and parsnips were placed on top with some dried herbs tossed over them. (oregano, bay, thyme, sage, parsley & rosemary from last summer's garden)

It was cooked in a 300 degree F oven for an hour (to give plenty of time for the broth to be absorbed), and then for an additional 30 minutes at 400 degrees. Nearly all of the liquid was absorbed by the barley and lentils.

Roasted veggies with butter beans, barley & lentils

This was one of the best-tasting roasted veggie dishes I've ever made. It was also substantially high in protein, magnesium, Vitamin A and iron.