roasted cauliflower | lemon cream with blackberries | polenta pizza | white bean and vegetable stew | tofu bay cakes | roasted cabbage

this week’s dinners were full of local flavors and hearty warm dishes. they are few ‘oldy favorites’ that you might recognize, but several newbies as well. and don’t forget, if it wasn’t delicious and totally hubby approved, it doesn’t make the list!

monday: potato quesadillas with roasted cauliflower
tuesday: white bean and vegetable stew
wednesday: tofu bay cakes (image via vegan dad) served with seasonal veggies and lemon cream with blackberries
thursday: potato cakes with roasted cabbage served with my new favorite carrot salad
friday: polenta pizza served with a seasonal salad

what was on your plate this week? any favorite recipes you’d like to share?

we follow a whole foods, plant based diet. the dinner ideas posts are a way for me to log our dinners, how we make eating this way easy, and hopefully inspire you to try some new things as well. they are always meat free, dairy free and often gluten free. you can follow the posts here, and i encourage you to share your favorite recipes with us as well!

wrap up: {dairy free} {dinner ideas} {gluten free} {hearty} {seasonal} {vegan} {winter}

white bean and vegetable stew | thai green curry | sweetpotato cannelloni | tomato and fennel soup

happy friday friends! now that the holidays are over and we’re back on a normal routine, i’m so excited to start back the dinner ideas posts! wholesome, seasonal and always vegan (though you’d never know it!), here are this weeks meals:

monday: tomato and fennel soup served with grilled polenta
tuesday: sweet potato cannelloni* served with a seasonal salad
wednesday: polenta served with roasted veggies and sauteed kale (a comfort food favorite!)
thursday: simple thai green curry served with this amazing carrot salad
friday: white bean and vegetable stew

*update! forgot to let you know how i made the sweet potato cannelloni vegan- it was a cinch! instead of the cottage cheese i used silken tofu, and instead of topping it with parmesan, i used cashew cream suace and sprinkled it with nutritional yeast. yum yum!

what was on your plate this week? any favorite recipes you’d like to share?

wrap up: {dinner ideas} {january} {recipes} {seasonal} {soup} {vegan}

to be honest, this week has been incredibly hectic, so our menu consisted heavily of comfort food and easy recipes that would keep well and make for good leftovers. we did discover one new recipe that will be a keeper for sure (see below) and squeezed in as many seasonal veggies as we could in the other meals. what have you been cookin’ this week?

butternut squash and red onion pasta

monday: polenta bean bake*
tuesday: butternut squash and red onion pasta with seasonal salad
wednesday: vegetarian chili with sliced avocado and homemade bread
thursday: leftovers! chili is always better the 2nd night anyways, right?
friday: stuffed patty pan squash with grilled eggplant and strawberry salad

*polenta bean bake (adapted from color me vegan‘s hot tamale pie):

ingredients:

- 1 onion; diced
- 3 red bell peppers, chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 3 medium sized tomatoes
- 1 can each of white beans, kidney beans and black beans
- 2 tbs chili powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 cup of dry polenta
- salt and pepper to taste

directions:

preheat oven to 350°. saute peppers, onion and garlic in olive oil until the onion is translucent (about 7 minutes). stir in 1/2 cup of water and add the beans, tomatoes, chili powder, cumin and 1 tsp of salt. cover and cook on low for about 10 minutes.

meanwhile, prepare the polenta. add 1 cup of dry polenta to 2 cups of water in a saucepan over medium heat. stir until mixture thickens, about 5 minutes.

poor bean mixture into a 9×13 inch baking pan and spread the polenta over top (using the back of a greased spoon helps!). bake for 30 minutes and serve hot.

wrap up: {chili} {dinner ideas} {fall} {november} {pasta} {polenta} {recipes} {seasonal}

clockwise: autumn gazpacho soup, pan seared brussel sprouts, butternut squash pasta, corn medallions, cashew, coconut and pumpkin curry, fig pizza*

this week’s meals were hearty, wholesome and (as always) inspired by our local produce. our favorites for this week were most certainly the fig pizza and pumpkin coconut curry. yum!

what have been some of your favorite meals this week? please share with us in the comment section!

monday:

grilled veggie kabobs, autumn gazpacho soup, pan seared brussel sprouts and corn medallions

tuesday:

butternut squash pasta served with a garden salad

wednesday:

cashew, coconut and pumpkin curry with sauteed kale

thursday:

fig pizza*, garbanzo bean and veggie mashed potatoes*, stuffed poblanos (stuffed with last night’s leftovers!) and grilled squash

friday:

need ideas! what are you cookin’?

fig pizza

brush 1 tablespoon of olive oil over your pizza crust, then layer with spinach and slices of fresh fig. sprink with salt and top with fresh thyme or sage. bake at 400 degrees until crust is slightly brown, about 25 minutes. drizzle with honey and serve!

garbanzo bean and veggie mashed potatoes

saute in olive oil 1 onion, 1 carrot and 1 celery stick (all chopped) until translucent (about 6 minutes). add 2 pounds of potatoes cut into thick chunks and 1 can of garbanzo beans. add enough water to cover slightly. let simmer until potatoes are soft to the touch. pour out liquid and transfer to mixing bowl and mix until a mashed potato consistency is formed (optional: add vegan butter and milk!).

wrap up: {autumn} {butternut squash} {dinner ideas} {fall} {fig} {menu} {pumpkin}

in case you missed our first dinner ideas post, this weekly column is to help inspire your weekly meals. inspired by local produce, each meal will help you gather ideas for easy dinners that can be made with seasonal produce. i encourage each of you to share your favorite dinner ideas from the week in the comment sections and hope to create a place we can meet each week to help each other eat more delightfully yummifed meals!

berry crumble | shepherds pie | farmer’s market chowder | curried udon noodle stir fry

this week’s csa box came loaded with all sorts of delicious veggies! currently in season are cool weather lettuces, spinach, broccoli, carrots, strawberries, tomatoes, sweet peppers and corn. you’ll find that this weeks menu boasts lots of fall veggies and hearty warm meals.

monday: roasted veggies, creamed corn and homemade bread

tuesday: farmer’s market chowder and strawberry crumble

wednesday: curried udon noodle stir fry and miso soup

thursday: shepherd’s pie with purple potatoes, local salad and homemade bread

friday: veggie burritos with corn on the cob

what were some of your favorite meals this week?

wrap up: {dinner ideas} {fall} {farmer's market chowder} {october} {shepherd's pie} {strawberry crumble} {udon noodle stir fry}

can you believe september is almost over already? october is always the the first month where i really begin feeling like it’s fall. it makes me think of picking apples, canning summer veggies and visiting the pumpkin patch. this weeks meals were inspired both by the last of summer veggies and the beginning of fall flavors. i hope they inspire you!

monday: summer veggie burritos with avocado

tuesday: more burritos with lentil cakes* (nothing like leftovers!)

wednesday: summer veggie pasta*

thursday: stuffed patty pan squash* with roasted tomatoes and an apple braided dessert*

friday: tonight i’m planning to make this mushroom cream sauce (veganized, of course with veggie stock and dairy free cream!).

*lentil cakes:

i made lentil cakes in much the same way as you would make potato cakes with leftover mashed potatoes. i had (accidentally) cooked my lentils a little too long making them a little mushy (oops!), but am glad i did so that i could discover lentil cakes! press a spoonful of cooked lentils together in your hands to make patties, then pan fry with a little olive oil, salt and pepper on both sides. these were delicious!

*summer veggie pasta

toss broccoli, carrots and cherry tomatoes with olive oil and 1 tbs fennel seed. roast at 450 degrees. toss with fresh basil, spinach and pasta with a little olive oil and garlic. yum.

*stuffed patty pan squash

scoop out the inside of your squash. saute a a bit of onion, celery, veggie sausage and leftover ‘scooped out’ squash with olive oil, salt and pepper. stuff the squash (see picture above) and bake at 450 degrees until tender, about 25 minutes.

*apple braided dessert

i’m sad i don’t have a good picture of this one! however, i used the same method and bread recipe that i used for this pumpkin pizza. instead of using those ingredients, i decided to add fresh cut apples, 2/3 cup of brown sugar, 1 tbs cinnamon, 1tsp of clove and a sprinkling of nutmeg. braid the dough over the toppings and top with a little butter and sprinkling of sugar. bake at 350 until bread is slightly golden, about 25 minutes. serve with ice cream for dessert or eat plain for breakfast!

wrap up: {dinner ideas} {fall} {inspiration} {recipes}