Marvelously Comforting and Creamy Mushroom Soup

This is a great soup for the winter and it has been extra wintery this week with the ice storm and then the snow this week. Both husband and child approved. I don't think it is filling enough to count as an entire meal on it's own but pairs well with a fresh bred or grainy toast. Makes a little more than 2 servings.

What You Need:

• a pack of cremini mushrooms, sliced or chopped
• 1-2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 bay leafs
• 1/2 tsp thyme
• 1/2 a sweet onion, minced or chopped all small like
• 1 vegetable bullion cube with no monosodium glutamate, check the ingredients :) 
• 1 tbsp of flour
• 2 cups of soy milk
• 1 cup of water
• 1/2 tsp salt, pepper to taste
• optional: 1 tbsp of cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp of water

What To Do:

1. Add olive oil, mushrooms and onion to a regular sized pot on medium heat. Fry while stirring until the mushrooms look cooked and the onion translucent, taking care not to burn the onion.
2. Add bay leaf and thyme. Add bullion cube, and squish it up with the back of the spoon to help it dissolve when the water is added. Add the flour and stir the whole thing well. 
3. Add soy milk and water, bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. If the soup thickens to your liking, you are done. If not, mix the cornstarch with the water then add to the soup while stirring to thicken it up. Enjoy your awesome soup :)

Easy Vegan Fried Rice with Hoisin Smothered Soy Balls

I needed something easy and healthy that would fill our tummies. This one is a bit soy heavy, there are soy nuggets and tofu involved, but why not load up on protein once in a while. There are lots of veggies to balance it out. My husband really liked the hoisin smothered soy nuggets. It's a great recipe to use up left over rice which we always seem to have kicking around. Soy chunks are cheap and full of protein so I have been looking for a chance to experiment with them. I am averse to dishes so I just used the one wok but you can fry the rice and the soy chunks in separate pans if  you like.

What You Need:

• About 1 cup of Dried Defatted Soy Chunks, soaked for 15 minutes and squeezed out. 
• 5 sliced mushrooms, cremini was used here
• 1 sliced zucchini
• 1 cup of snap peas, tips and strings removed
• 1/2 a package (about 200 grams) firm tofu, mashed with a potato masher
• 1 cup of cooked brown rice
• 2 tbsp tamari or real soy sauce (MSG free)
• 1-2 tbsp hoisin sauce
• cooking oil as needed

What To Do: 

1. Add some oil to the wok and set it on medium heat. Fry the soy chunks until golden then transfer to a bowl and set aside. 
2. Add a bit more oil to the wok then add the peas, mushroom, tofu and zucchini. Fry on medium to high heat until the tofu begins to dry out and the veggies cook a bit. Then add the rice and soy sauce and continue to cook until the vegetables are cooked to your liking and everything is well mixed together. Transfer fried rice to plates. 
3. Add soy chunks back to frying pan to warm up, add hoisin sauce to taste and stir well. Serve on the side of the rice and enjoy.  

Cremini Mushroom Caps Stuffed with Garlic Cilantro Pesto.

This recipe packs a flavor punch. It's pretty easy to put together and since my son loves mushrooms he actually eats this too.

What you need:
2/3 cup hulled sunflower seeds
3 cloves of garlic
1/3 cup cilantro leaves washed, stems removed
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp soy sauce or tamari
1 tomato, roughly chopped
1 large container of Cremini mushrooms

What to do:
1. Turn on oven to 450 degrees. Place the sunflower seed in a food processor and run until the seeds become a powdery meal.
2. Add garlic cloves and run food processor until the garlic is combined and the mix looks like a more course meal.
3. Turn off machine, add cilantro, lemon juice, soy sauce and tomato. Process until the ingredients are well mixed.
4. Wash mushrooms and remove the stems. Fill each mushroom with the pesto and place in an oven safe baking dish. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes watching closely for the last 5 minutes. I sample one of the larger mushrooms to make sure that the pesto is fully cooked (my son gets upset if the garlic is too spicy).
5. That's it. Enjoy. If there is left over pesto, you can use it in wraps or sandwiches.

Easy Vegan Pasta Salad

This is an easy, weeknight meal. I also served corn on the cob that night because corn was on sale so we had this a more of a side dish I suppose. I also had it for lunch the next 2 days. If made 4-5 servings as a side dish, probably 2-3 servings as a dinner.

What You Need:

• 2 cups of dried pasta. Most shapes will work for this, I use noodles made of durum semolina because they are vegan and cheep. 
• 1/4- 1/2 cup of vegan mayonnaise. I would recommend Earth Indian (green lid) or homemade mayo because they are good and most vegan mayonnaise is gross. Very gross. 
• 1 small carrot, chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, chopped
• salt and pepper to taste

Vegan French Onion Soup the Easy Way

This is an easy recipe but it is not terribly filling so be warned, this will not suffice as a whole meal on its own. It's good though. I don't have the right kind of oven friendly bowls for this so the recipe is modified to not require them. Makes 2 big bowls.

What you need:

• 2-3 onions chopped up
• 1-2 tbsp oil
• 3 cups of water
• 1 vegetable broth cube
• 2 bay leaves
• salt and pepper to taste
• cooking wine (optional)
• stale or toasted baguette, broken into 4 pieces
• Daiya