Portobellos are such a versatile fungi.

They make great burgers, a main stir-fry ingredient, and of course, an ideal vessel for other veggies. I wanted to make something wheat and soy-free, which is tough as a vegan, but these really fit the bill. But what to have with them? Before, I would have served bread, but since I that’s out, I decided to steam some bok choy. By the way, you’ll be seeing more wheat and soy-free recipes (although I may use miso from time to time) on my blog, as I am working on eliminating these from my diet. Why? Well . . . you see, I have endometriosis, something I’ve had to deal with for the last seven years, and I’ve now opted to treat it with diet, herbs and acupuncture. Endo is an inflammatory disease, so processed flour aggravates it. It’s also said that estrogen feeds the disease, so there goes soy with its natural estrogen!

TMI? Sorry. I won’t go on about it, but I wanted to explain my reasoning for my decision and to also let other women know that it’s possible to live with endo and not rely on drugs and/or  surgery (at least, that’s my plan). Otherwise, I want to make clear that I have nothing against soy. In fact, it’s worth pointing out that Dr. Neal Barnard has determined that soy consumption is not only safe, but highly encouraged.

So, on to the recipes!

INGREDIENTS:

4 portobello caps, washed and stems and gills removed

1 box Near East Long Grain & Wild Rice mix

1 small red onion, diced

1 small zucchini, diced

1/2 C fresh parsley, chopped

2 tsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt and pepper, to taste

Daiya cheese

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350. Prepare the rice mix according to the package instructions. This will need to cook for 30 minutes. When the rice has about 6 minutes of cooking time left, heat the olive oil and garlic. Add the red onion and cook for about 3 minutes. Then add the zucchini and cook another 3 minutes or so.

Stir in the cooked rice and parsley; season with salt and pepper.

Place the portobellos upside down in a large baking dish. Sprinkle some Daiya cheese on the bottom and fill each mushroom cap evenly with the rice mixture, piling it high.

Pour a little water into the bottom of the pan. This will help steam the mushroom caps. Bake for about 15 minutes, then top with a little Daiya cheese and bake another couple of minutes.

While these are baking, I got started on the bok choy.

I think this veggie is so underrated. Low in calories, this lightly sweet and crispy veggie is loaded with vitamins C and A as well as calcium. I cut up some mushrooms and together, steamed the veggies with some (soy-free) Earth Balance for about 7-9 minutes.

Enjoy!

Ok, this is probably my favorite dressing I’ve made so far. Love it! It has just a hint of lemon and with the ginger, goes fabulous with the almond butter. There’s some prep work involved here, but if can, make this the night before and you won’t be able to wait for lunch!

INGREDIENTS:

Salad:

2 large bunches of kale, stems removed and chopped

1/4 of a red/purple cabbage, diced

1 bell pepper (red, orange or yellow), diced

1 C carrot, shredded or finely chopped

3 stalks celery, chopped

1 small red onion, diced small

1/3 C sunflower seeds

Dressing:

1/4 C tahini

1/3 C + 1 Tbs almond butter

1″ piece of ginger, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 Tbs lemon juice

1 Tbs miso (light, yellow or red)

1/4 C nutritional yeast

1/8 C water

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, combine all of the salad ingredients.

Combine all of the dressing ingredients in the blender—except the water—just start with a little and add more as you blend it to reach the consistency you want. You may need more than the 1/8 cup. It also depends on how lemony you want it—you can thin it out with more lemon juice if you’d like. Blend until smooth.

You can pour the dressing over the salad, just a little at time to coat the salad, or serve on the side and mix into individual servings. Yields about 1-1/2 cups. Enjoy!

This is a delicious and very flavorful soup from Color Me Vegan. I’m not typically a big fan of dill, but it tastes great combined with the basil and spinach. It’s also very simple to make. Even during the summer, I think this soup would be ideal to make because of the abundance of fresh herbs.

INGREDIENTS:

3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced

2 medium onions, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

6 C vegetable stock (I used 4 and added 2 cup of water)

1 tsp salt

1-1/2 lbs fresh spinach, chopped

1/2 C fresh dill

8 fresh basil leaves, minced

1/2 C nondairy milk

1-3 Tbs agave

Juice from one lemon

Pepper

Tofutti sour cream, optional

DIRECTIONS:

In a large soup pot, combine the onions, potatoes, garlic, broth, and salt and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

In a food processor or blender, puree the soup with the spinach, dill, and basil. I had to do this in two batches. Blend until smooth. Return it to the soup pot and add the milk, agave, and 1/2 the lemon (add more if needed).

Warm the soup up, but don’t bring it to a boil. Season with salt and pepper and serve with a dollop of sour cream on top! Enjoy!

It all started with a Pampered Chef party I went to through Fort Vegan, my local vegetarian/vegan group. The hostess and rep prepared all-vegan samples, including this amazing bread—made of course, in their covered baking dish. Yes, I ended up buying it, but not just for the bread! It’s great for vegetable stews, casseroles, and even cake. Yes, cake. (Oh and in the microwave). Sounds bizarre, but really delicious! (and it was a gluten-free cake). Anyway . . . my bread didn’t puff up and fill the entire baker like the one at the party, so I’m going to have to try again and see what happens. The recipe calls for only 1/4 tsp of yeast and I wonder if that was a typo since my version was denser. Dense or not, however, it was incredible! I’m guessing you can make this bread without the covered baker, so if you do, let me know how it turns out. Oh and did I mention the dough has to rise for at least 12 hours? Then another 2? Believe me, it’s worth it.

INGREDIENTS:

3 C flour

1/4 tsp instant yeast

1-1/2 tsp salt

1-1/2 C tap water

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, and salt. Stir in the water until well blended. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 12-18 hours. When it’s ready, it will have bubbles on the top. The recipe then has you flour a Pampered Chef Pastry Mat and cover the dough with it for another two hours. This, I didn’t have, so I improvised, using a cutting board and dish towel.

1-1/2 hours into this second round of rising, preheat the oven to 450. Place the empty baker in the oven for 30 minutes to get it good and hot. Sounds crazy, but I did as I was told. Then dump the dough into the baker . . .

. . . cover and bake for 30 minutes. The recipe says to uncover and bake another 8-15 minutes, but my bread came out gorgeous after the 30 minutes.

It may not have been light and fluffy like the original, but it was mighty delicious just the same. If you give it a try, let me know how you made it and if you tweaked anything—I’d love to hear from you! Enjoy!

I really love a warm breakfast of veggies. I used two Chipotle-flavored Field Roast sausages, but I think just one would have been enough. You can also choose one of their other varieties. I like that spicy kick of the chipotle ones. This can be enjoyed on it’s own, or wrapped in a tortilla.

INGREDIENTS:

1 medium potato, peeled and diced small

4 large Swiss chard leaves, stem removed and chopped

1 C mushrooms, diced

1-2 Field Roast sausages, crumbled

3 green onions, sliced

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

DIRECTIONS:

In about 2 tsp of olive oil, saute the potatoes over medium heat for about 10-12 minutes, or until they begin to brown and are tender.

Add the Field Roast and cook another 5 minutes.

Stir in the chard, mushrooms, and green onions. Slowly stir to let the chard cook down, about 3-4 minutes.

Enjoy!

Michelle also does beautiful embossed cards and sent them out to lucky readers of her blog—with a challenge. Decorate them, send her a photo of it, and enter to win an Amazon gift card! I got my card in too late for the drawing (because I procrastinate really well), but be sure to check out the amazing cards other readers made.

I really liked the simplicity of the alphabet card, so I just added some cut out hearts from some handmade paper.

To see more of Michelle’s wonderful jewelry, stop by her Etsy shop and have a look!

My second crafty endeavor of the weekend was a DIY bulletin board. I really needed one for my office because I kept losing my Post-It notes among all the other junk on my desk. I have to send props out to my mom who gave me this idea.

Materials:

An artist canvas (found in craft stores)

Fabric

Staple gun

Basically, wrap the fabric around the canvas, pulling tight on the edges, as you staple it to back of the wooden frame of the canvas.

It really is that simple.

The sky’s the limit when it comes to fabrics and there are a so many different sizes of canvases that you’re bound to find one that will fit your needs.

Barb at That Was Vegan? posted this recipe, but used Israeli couscous and kale. YUM! I didn’t have any couscous and of course, I had eaten all the kale, but . . . I really wanted to make this dish. I added some mushrooms, too and it was delicious! You could also use wild rice or barley—just keep in mind they both take up to an hour to cook. Otherwise, this is quick and satisfying meal.

INGREDIENTS:

1 C arborio (risotto) rice

1-1/2 C water

1 vegetable bouillon cube

2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced

1 to 2 C mushrooms, sliced

1 C fresh spinach, chopped

Salt, pepper, and cumin, to taste

2-3 Tbs lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray, or drizzle with olive oil. Add the potatoes. I sprinkled on some salt and pepper, too.

Bake 15-20 minutes until they start to brown—but be sure to turn once. While the potatoes bake, bring the water and bouillon cube to a boil, then add the rice. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 10-15 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms, spinach, salt, pepper, cumin, and lemon juice. Cover until the veggies soften and wilt.

Stir in the sweet potatoes and enjoy!

Occasionally, there are nights I don’t cook dinner for the fam. Either we have lots of leftovers, or everyone is doing their own thing, so we fend for ourselves. Tonight was one such night. But when The Husband saw what I made, he kindly asked if I’d share. He said this was one of his favorites dishes—we both loved it. And so easy! Throw this together in 20 minutes and you have a healthy, protein-packed meal.

INGREDIENTS:

1 C quinoa

2 C water

1 vegan vegetable bouillon cube

3 C fresh spinach

3 C fresh mushrooms, sliced

Salt, pepper, and garlic powder, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

In a medium saucepan, bring the water with the bouillon cube to a boil. Stir it around so the cube dissolves completely. Stir in the quinoa, reduce heat to low, and cover for about 15 minutes. When the quinoa is almost done—just a tiny bit of water left—add the spinach, mushrooms and seasonings; combine well.

Turn the heat off, cover, and let the spinach and mushrooms steam a bit—5-7 minutes. You may need to drizzle with some water if there isn’t enough moisture left. Once the spinach is wilted and the mushrooms are tender, serve and enjoy!

Like many of you, I received the latest issue of Vegetarian Times yesterday . . . when I saw this recipe on the cover, I had to make it. I didn’t have all the same ingredients, so I improvised, plus I added some other seasonings. It came out delicious! Next time, I think I’ll try using barley instead of rice and maybe use zucchini instead of broccoli. It helps to have all of your ingredients chopped and ready to go first. Despite some prep work, this dish came together quickly and I liked that I only needed one pan.

Adapted from Vegetarian Times

INGREDIENTS:

1 Tbs olive oil

2 C broccoli florets

1 red bell pepper, chopped

6 green onion, sliced

3 C low-sodium vegetable broth

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 C white rice

1 C corn kernels

12 pitted green olives, halved

12 pitted black olives, halved

1/4 C fresh parsley, chopped

Salt, pepper, and cumin, to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the broccoli, bell pepper, and green onion. Cook about 5-6 minutes.

Stir in the broth and garlic; bring to a boil. Stir in the rice, reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Stir in the corn and olives; cover and cook another 8 minutes.

Season with salt, pepper, and cumin and serve with a pinch or two of fresh parsley. Enjoy!

Ouch! Well of course that wasn’t my intention and I apologize if I did that, but is that the new excuse for not helping out a fellow human? “Oh, I might embarrass them.” If that’s true, what a depressing state of mankind. I told the woman this and she shrugged. If it wasn’t my turn in line, I would have found a box to stand on, grab the intercom and said, “Can I get a reality check at register 12?” I said I wouldn’t ever apologize for offering to help someone out and that perhaps by seeing me extend a hand, someone else will offer help to a person in need.

This woman had a small child with her and I found it sad that she’d rather teach her child to be apathetic, than show him the importance of paying it forward.

Not a day goes by that I’m not grateful for what I have. I live a pretty comfortable life that allows me to stay at home, write, cook, buy my kid nice clothes, etc. I don’t offer to help people because I want a pat on the back. I do it because it’s the right thing to do. Plain and simple. When I was 21, I stood in the Medicaid/Welfare line carrying my newborn son in a car carrier. I was a single parent and I know how difficult, if not impossible it is to get ahead when you don’t have money. I was lucky that my parents could help, but if I didn’t have their support, I would hope someone would at least offer to help—whether I was willing to take it or not.

This incident reminds me of a documentary I saw a few weeks ago called “I Am.” It asks the questions, What is wrong with the world and how can we fix it?

It is a powerful movie with an incredible message that I think we all need to hear.

Maybe I overstepped my societal boundaries at the store today—I don’t know. I hope not. And I hope we haven’t come to that as a community, as a society, or as a race.

What do you think?