Lentils for Breakfast, 25

Thursday (-5): Leftover Miso Kale. Here's the recipe!

Slow-Cooked Miso Kale with Turnips and White Beans Recipe

2 bunches of kale (or your choice of greens)

2 turnips, cut into cubes

1 small red onion, sliced

1/2 small cabbage, sliced

1 large can (28oz) or 2 small cans (15oz) small white beans

2-3 tablespoons miso paste

Put all the vegetables into your slow-cooker. Mix the miso paste with about 1/4 cup of water and pour over the top. Cook on low for 3.5-4 hours. Serve over brown rice or quinoa.

Lentils for Breakfast, 23-24

Tuesday (-7) Tonight's dinner was Slow-cooked Miso Kale with Turnips and White Beans:

You can find the recipe here.

Wednesday (-6), we had take out: Miso Soup and Vegetable Noodles

Lentils for Breakfast, 16-22

We've been eating some delicious meals since my last post. We had a lot of leftovers, so in some cases we posted other, more interesting meals. Let's see if I can remember them all!

Tuesday (-14): Takeout Chinese in honor of the snow storm!  We ordered Bean Curd with Vegetables and Vegetable Chow Mai Fun

Wednesday (-13): Leftovers for dinner, veggie pasta for lunch:

Thursday (-12): Lunchtime in Atlanta = Ethiopian and vegan delights:

Friday (-11): While Carlos was away trying to find vegetarian food in Alabama (we figured vegan was pushing it), ;-) I had a vegan Boca burger (not gluten-free) with veggies on the side.

Saturday (-10): We had friends over and treated them to a delicious vegan lasagna with sauteed tempeh, tofu "ricotta" and vegan mozzarella. We were all too hungry to take a picture!

Sunday (-9): Brunch at Organic Grill. Here are the Huevos con Chorizo that I had with tofu:

Dinner
Vegan Pizza Night! The pizza was also gluten-free, naturally, and was topped with broccoli, spinach, red and yellow peppers, onions and almond mozzarella cheese:

Monday (-8): Ethiopian at Bati before the Nets game:

Lentils for Breakfast, 12-15

Take out weekend!!

Friday (-18): Country-Style Noodles at Cafetasia (with no egg and vegetarian duck)

Saturday (-17): (night in for Sisters & Friends Weekend) Homemade "Taco Pie" -- with polenta, black beans, sweet potato, corn, red and yellow peppers and sauteed onions.

Sunday (-16): Veggie wrap.

Monday (-15): A delicious falafel platter from Pahal Zan

We are now half-way through our 30-day vegan challenge! :-)

Lentils for Breakfast, 9-11

This week flew by! A couple of nights we were too hungry to take photos, so you'll just have to trust us. ;-)

Tuesday (-21)
Pasta with fresh tomato sauce (made by Carlos) and vegan cheese with salad"

Wednesday (-20)
Leftovers from day 8 (homemade vegan sausages, veggies and rice/quinoa blend)

Thursday (-19)
Slow cooked vegetable biryani over brown rice. We have plenty of leftovers, so I'll post a picture later!

Lentils for Breakfast 8

Monday night (-22) yielded some comfort foods: slow-cooked kale and turnips, over Three Continent Blend with homemade vegan sausages (recipe below):

Whit's Vegan "Sausages"

I used the recipe here for inspiration, but wanted to make one that was free of mushrooms and yeast
1 can black olives (minced)
2 cans black-eyed peas
1 tomato
1/2 small onion (chopped)
olive oil (about 2T, plus 1T for pan)
1-2t Liquid Smoke
1T soy sauce (optional)
gluten-free flour (I used brown rice, but I imagine oat would be a hearty choice as well)
seasonings of your choice
salt and pepper to taste

• Heat 1T of olive oil in a small skillet.
• Pulse olives, onions and tomato in food processor to a chunky mix (salsa consistency).
• Sautee mix in pan until soft and well-blended. Add salt and/or pepper to taste. Remove from heat and let cool.
• Put olive mix in a bowl and mx together with the remaining ingredients. *Since this recipe doesn't include any raw ingredients like egg or meat, feel free to taste as often as you like and play around with the flavors!
• Divide mixture into portions (for as many "sausages" as you'd like -- this made four large "sausages" for me) 
• Roll up each portion in foil and shape into a log/sausage.
• Steam for 15-20 minutes.
• Leave the "sausages" in fridge overnight to firm up.

When we were ready to eat ours, I pan fried them in a skillet. You could also try baking or grilling them (as the original recipe does). Enjoy!

Lentils for Breakfast, 7

Sunday's (-23) meal was Vegan Shepherd's Pie!

I made ours with three layers:

- tempeh and sauteed onions
- carrots and celery
- organic mashed potatoes (sprinkled with sunflower seeds and shredded almond cheese)

The finished product is below:

Lentils for Breakfast, 5 & 6

Friday (-25) and Saturday (-24) were take out nights for us!

Falafel over rice on Friday and Thai food on Saturday. Tofu pad thai (no egg, no peanuts) and pad see ew with vegetarian duck!

Lentils for Breakfast, Day 4

Thursday (-26): Curried Almonds 
with spinach, peppers, raisins and chickpeas served over brown rice

This dish would also work well for a delicious and healthy lunch. Like most curries, it tastes better the days after when the flavors really get to meld together!

Lentils for Breakfast, Days 2-3

Just because I've been lax in posting, doesn't mean that we haven't been continuing with our challenge! Read on for our meals from Tuesday and Wednesday...

Tuesday (-29): Tamale Pie Twist
A layer of black beans, sauteed onions and tempeh, topped with a layer of sweet corn and red peppers, covered in circles of polenta and topped with almond cheese. We ate this with a side of cabbage, avocado slaw:

Wednesday (-28): Pasta with Vegan Alfredo Sauce and Veggies
We used Victoria Vegan brand pasta sauce which is made with cashews and frankly, delicious. I mixed in spinach, red and yellow bell peppers and green peas to make it a hearty and veggie-ful dish!

Lentils for Breakfast, Day 1

I welcome you to a new segment of the health challenge blog that I am calling "Lentils for Breakfast."  The title is not a metaphor, it's what I actually had for breakfast this morning. Why you ask? Well here in the Bates-Gómez home, today marks the kick-off to a month-long vegan challenge. We can't think of a better way to start the new year than by making more mindful food choices. Each day, we'll present our dinner selections for the challenge. We'll be eating vegan all day, but blogging every meal choice may start to get a bit tedious.

Which brings me back to the title. Turns out that breakfast on the vegan challenge requires a little more thought and planning that I'm used to. When I arrived at work hungry and with the cafeteria being several very (very) cold steps away, I decided to have my lunch (lentils) for breakfast -- hence the name. :-)

Vegan Challenge: Day -30
With yesterday being both the start of our challenge and our 6-month wedding anniversary, we went out for Thai food!

To start we had summer spring rolls with vegetables, tofu and rice vermicelli:

For our main meal we shared tofu pad thai with no egg (or peanuts) and a sauteed green vegetable mix with brown rice:

 Dessert at home was Almond Dream ice cream and baked apples. I think we can consider day 1 a success. :-)