Category Archives: dairy-free

Lenten Meal Plan Monday Linkup: Roasted Tomato Soup

This week, we are learning about Afghanistan and while I found some great Afghani non-meat recipes, I threw this together for dinner last night and it was a hit!

 

Roasted Tomato Soup

You will need:

8 medium tomatoes

1 green bell pepper, sliced

1 medium onion, sliced

6 cloves of garlic, whole (we love garlic, so scale it back if needed)

3/4 cup balsamic vingear (or balsamic vinegarette dressing)

1/2 cup EVOO

1 tbs kosher salt

1/2 tbs black pepper

1 T oregano

1 T basil

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Place all ingredients in a shallow GLASS baking dish, pouring the oil and vinegar over the tops of the veg.

3. Roast for 45-60 minutes.

4. Pour roasted everything into a blender and puree soup in batches, or move roasted everything into a deep glass bowl and puree with an immersion blender.

5. Serve with salad and crusty bread.

What was great about this soup is that there was no heating needed as the veg were all piping hot from the roasting. Nor is there is need to add additional broth or cream as the soup takes on a creamy texture with the pureeing.

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Go see Beth Anne for more Lenten meal ideas!

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Lenten Meals: Nina’s Black Bean Patties

OK. I know it’s not Friday and technically I owe you two Lenten recipes because I didn’t post one last week but cut me some slack, hey?

This recipe was inspired by my friend, Nina. She made black bean patties for her family one night from a blogger recipe. Her family wasn’t too keen on them, so she brought them to my house to make sure that they tasted OK and that it was just her family and not the actually patties. We loved them. I kept asking her for the recipe and so one Friday, decided to Frankenstein up some black bean patties of my own, based on what she told me was in the ones she made. I did eventally ask Nina for the recipe which you can find here.

Nina’s Black Bean Patties

Ingredients:

1 medium sweet potato, shredded

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 small onion, chopped

1 handful cilantro

1/4 cup walnuts

1 egg

4 garlic cloves, chopped

1 T cumin

1 T coriander

2 t cinnamon

1/4 t cayenne pepper

1 t salt

1 t pepper

breadcrumbs (amount will vary, use enough for your patties to hold shape.)

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper

2. Add all ingredients, except breadcrumbs, to a food processor with blade attachment. Pulse until a uniform paste develops.

3. Remove bowl from your food pro and transfer paste to another bowl if you’d like (remove the blade.)

4. Slowly add in breadcrumbs until the mixture comes together and can hold a shape.

5. Take a palmful of mixture and pat into a patty shape, about 1/2 inch thick. Place on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining mixture. (mine made about 6 patties)

6. Bake at 350 deg until the tops look dried and a little cracked, about 15 minutes.

7. Top with Mango Salsa or Salsa Verde and serve with a  delicious side of your choice. (I served with a Quinoa Pilaf.)

 

Quinoa Pilaf

1 T EVOO

1/2 c chopped onion

2 carrots, chopped

1 c quinoa, rinsed

2 c veg broth

2/3 c walnuts

1/4 c parsley (or cilantro)

Heat oil in saucepan over med-high heat. Cook onion in oil for until translucent. Add carrot and cook 3 minutes. Add quinoa and veg broth, bring to boil. Reduce to simmer, cover and cook 15-20 minutes, or until quinoa is tender and fluffy. In a bowl toss together with walnuts and parsley (or cilantro.) Serve hot or at room temp.

 

Mango Salsa

1 mango, peeled and diced

1/2 red onion, diced

1/2 jalepeno, seeded and diced

1 T lime juice

1/4 cup cilantro leaves

Salt and pepper to taste

 

Add all ingredients to a bowl. Mix well. Cover and chill until use.

 
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It is the season of Lent. I’ll be including the meat-free recipes for your enjoyment and don’t forget, if you have one to share, email it to caffeinatedcatholicmama (at) gmail (dot) com. Include your first name for the props!

Pax Christi!

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Lenten Meals: Falafel

I adapted this recipe from the blog “CrockPot 365.” The major difference is that I bake my falafel rather than cook them in the CrockPot, I might have monkeyed with the spices a bit as well. Falafel are traditionally fried and I am sure that someone used to traditional falafel would just roll their eyes at this version, but my family LOVES them.

Falafel are usually served with Tahini based sauces, but we love Tzaziki and that is our go-to dipping sauce for this dish. I’ve included that recipe, along with a recipe for Tabbouleh Salad as well. I am planning on making this for dinner this coming Friday (March 11) so I will get a photo up not long after then.

Falafel

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 medium onion, rough chopped
1 T dried parsley
3 cloves garlic
1t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 T ground cumin
1 T ground coriander
1/4 t cayenne pepper (or more to taste)
juice from one lemon
1 egg
1/2-3/4 cup breadcrumbs

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray with non-stick spray

2. Add all ingredients, except breadcrumbs, to a food processor with the blade attachment. (If you don’t have a food processor, you can use a blender in a pinch. If no blender/ food pro, smash the beans with a fork and mince the onion before stirring in the other ingredients.) Process until it has a paste-like consistency.

3. Gradually add breadcrumbs, stirring between, until the mixture begins to come together and can hold shape. For me, it usually takes closer to 3/4 of a cup but it depends on how wet your mixture is. If you’ve added too many breadcrumbs, add water by tablespoons until it softens.

4. Using your hands or a #30 scoop (1 T volume) shape the mixture into balls about the size of a golf ball. Place each ball on the parchment lined or sprayed baking sheet. Repeat until the baking sheet is full.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until the falafel balls look dried and are slightly brown on the outside.

6. Serve with cucumber slices, tomato slices, lettuce slices, red onion slices, tzaziki and pita bread. Couscous, Brown Rice or Tabbouleh Salad make great side dishes.
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Tzaziki Sauce

2 cups plain greek yogurt
1/2 cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced
1 clove garlic, minced or pressed (if you love garlic, as we do, add more cloves to taste.)

Combine all three ingredients. Chill until serving time.
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Tabbouleh Salad

2 bunches parsley
1 head romaine lettuce
2 tomatoes
2 peeled cucumbers
1/2 bunch green onion
1/2 c. bulgur, rinsed (If you can’t find bulgur, quinona makes for a great gluten-free substitute!)
juice and grated rind of 1 lemon
1/2 c. olive oil
salt and pepper
dried mint (to taste)

1. Wash parsley 3 times, discard stems. Wash lettuce. Drain parsley and lettuce in colander in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

2. Chop parsley, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber and green onion until very fine

3. Combine with bulgur, lemon juice, rind, olive oil, salt and pepper. add mint to taste.

4. Chill until serving time.

Enjoy!!
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Lent begins this Wednesday! I’ll be including the meat-free recipes for your enjoyment and don’t forget, if you have one to share, email it to caffeinatedcatholicmama (at) gmail (dot) com. Include your first name for the props!

Pax Christi!

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