Late Night Snack - Creamy Veggie Dip (Vegan)

Yesterday I did not eat enough. Wait, did I really just say that? It was a busy day for me and I guess I kinda forgot to eat. It's such a novel concept for me, I thought it might be not be such a bad thing. I got home at about 9pm and logged onto the website I used to track my calories and exercise. When I finished entering my food for the day, I discovered that I had only eaten about 1000 calories. Yes, I was hungry (and getting hungrier by the minute) and apparently that's not good. According to www.myfitnesspal.com:

"Based on your total calories consumed for today, you are eating too few calories. Not only is it difficult to receive adequate nutrition at these calorie levels, but you could also be putting your body into starvation mode. Starvation mode lowers your metabolism and makes weight loss more difficult. We suggest increasing your calorie consumption to 1,200 calories per day minimum."

 

On an intellectual level I already knew this, but seeing it in black, white and red was quite alarming. Aside from being ravenous and cranky, I was actually doing more harm than good! Now for the hard part: find something to nosh on that would satisfy my hunger, but not sabotage my diet. Pretzels? No, they are just salty, empty calories. Tortilla chips? Very tempting, but no again (if we had salsa I might not have been able to resist.) I thought yogurt dip & raw veggies should do the trick. Unfortunately we were out of yogurt, but not willing to give up so easily, it was time to get creative. Instead I found a box of shelf-stable silken tofu in the pantry - I know, not my first choice either, but hey, I was desperate. Bingo! The result was creamy, crunchy, and flavorful with a spicy little kick but also nice and light, and totally satisfying. Now I could go to bed with a clear conscience, and not worry about dreaming of eating giant marshmallows only to wake up and find my pillow gone!

 

 

 

 

Creamy Veggie Dip (Vegan)

(makes about 8oz)

 

4oz. silken tofu

1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

1 clove garlic

1" piece of carrot

1/2 of a mushroom

1/4 of a green bell pepper

1/2 of a serrano pepper, seeded

dash of cayenne

salt and freshly ground black pepper

celery sticks

 

Very finely mince all veggies except celery. Mash tofu and lemon juice with a fork in a medium bowl, and add minced veggies, cayenne, salt and pepper. Mix until very well combined and tofu is completely broken down and creamy. Serve with celery sticks for dipping.

About 90 calories for 1/2 cup serving.

Middle Eastern Red Lentil Soup

 

 

About 10 years ago, when my younger two kids were pre-schoolers we belonged to The Moms & Kids Club. It was a large group of women living in Lancaster, Pennsylvania with kids of various ages who would get together & do all sorts of stuff: from playdates, outings and arts & crafts with the kids to grown-up discussion groups, Halloween costume swaps, craft projects and recipe exchanges while other moms cared for the kids in a play room. If someone had a baby, a death in the family, an illness or surgery, they could count on dinner being brought over a few nights a week for as long as you needed it. One of my favorite events was a soup exchange - six of us each made multiple batches of our favorite soup in the biggest stock pot we had. We chatted and exchanged recipes, then filled up our own plastic containers with the other five soups. We served one for dinner that night & chilled the rest for later in the week - Brilliant! It was a magical time and I really miss that group. Some of us still get together and rent a beach house on the east coast every fall (just the moms, no kids!) for a long weekend of shopping, eating, drinking and laughing. The recipe for this soup came from my friend Margaretta from this group. Her husband was from Egypt & I think it was a family recipe. We didn't keep in touch when we both moved out of state, but I'm sure she wouldn't mind sharing.

 

 

 

 

 

Middle Eastern Red Lentil Soup

(serves 6-8)

1 large onion, chopped

 

3 Tbsp olive oil

 

3 cloves garlic, chopped

 

1½ tsp cumin

 

1½ tsp ground coriander

pinch of ground cayenne

1¾ cups split red lentils

 

bunch of celery leaves, chopped

 

1 carrot, chopped

 

2 quarts vegetable stock

 

salt & pepper to taste

 

juice of one lemon

 

sour cream (optional)

 

finely minced carrot (optional)

 

seeded and finely minced serrano pepper (optional)

 

In a large soup pot, soften onion in oil over medium heat for 2-3 minutes then add garlic, cumin, coriander and cayenne. Stir and toast the spices for a minute or two. Stir in the lentils, celery leaves and carrot. Cover with stock and bring to a gentle boil, stirring occasionally and scraping the bottom of the pot to release any spices that may have stuck. Reduce heat and simmer 35-45 minutes or until lentils are soft. Add salt and pepper to taste. Puree soup in batches in a blender, or use a stick blender directly in the pot. Stir in lemon juice and adjust consistency of soup with water or additional stock if necessary - it shouldn't be too thick. Garnish with about 1 tsp each of the sour cream carrots & serrano peppers, if desired. About 100 calories per 8oz serving.

 

 

Almost as an afterthought, I served this with a broiled romaine lettuce wedge topped with some Lemony Tahini Dressing leftover from yesterday. If you've never tried this, give it a shot! The lettuce gets a little warm & slightly wilted, but stays crunchy and the cut edges caramelize a little. 

 

Just slice a head of romaine lettuce in half along the whole length from the core up, then brush it with olive oil or some of the dressing on the cut side. Place it on a sheet pan cut side up, and into the broiler on high. After 3-4 minutes top with tomatoes and feta, drizzle with a little more dressing and put it back in the broiler for a minute or two just until the feta starts to melt. 

 

 

My Big Skinny Greek Salad

 

It's Day 2 and so far, so good. I am not feeling very hungry between meals and

I'm not craving anything since I can eat whatever I want as long as

I log it and don't go over my calorie budget.

 

When I realized that I didn't have all of the toppings left for my last

Chickpea & Spinach Burger, I was a little sad. But then I though about

how great the burger itself would be crumbled on top of a Greek Salad

for lunch... and as a good friend says, "Oh, my Goddess!"

Sprinkled with the diced chickpea burger like healthy baby falafel morsels,

this salad was deliciously filling and satisfying!

And the dressing was so good I really wanted to lick the plate

(Okay, I'm not gonna lie, I did a little - with my finger!)

 

 

 

Skinny Greek Salad

(serves 1 or 2)

 

2 cups fresh baby spinach

1/2 small ripe tomato

1/4 avocado

1 large hard boiled egg, quartered

1/2 roasted red bell pepper, sliced

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms

2 thin slices red onion

1 Chickpea & Spinach Burger, diced

4 kalamata olives, halved

2 Tbsp crumbled feta cheese

 

Lemony Tahini Dressing

 

4 Tbsp well-mixed tahini

juice from a large lemon

1 clove garlic, minced

1/4 cup water

sea salt & freshly crushed black pepper, to taste

 

Place spinach on a dinner plate and arrange vegetables and egg on top as desired.

Heat the chickpea burger in the microwave for 30 seconds,

then scatter over salad and top with olives & feta.

Mix dressing ingredients in a small bowl with a whisk and serve 2 Tbsp on the side.

Save the remaining dressing for another salad or use to make hummus!

This recipe makes one large dinner salad, or enough for two to share for lunch.

 

473 calories for one salad, 237 each if you share

 

 

 

Day one: My vegetarian weight loss adventure

I have woken up so many mornings over the last several weeks months years (let's be honest...)  saying to myself, "Today I am going to start to eat healthier and exercise...". Most times I start out great with a sensible breakfast, but by lunchtime I have already fallen off the wagon. I'd open up the fridge and pantry & despite all the really healthy ingredients I keep stocked, I would manage to come up with something decidedly unhealthy to eat for lunch. And no matter what I made, I would just plain eat too much of it.

However, this morning felt different somehow. I didn't even think about what I wanted to eat for breakfast, I just made a nice, healthy smoothie with frozen mango and blueberries, fat free yogurt and a splash of OJ along with two slices of whole wheat toast with a very thin schmear of butter (I just couldn't do it dry). And then I sat down at my computer and joined an online calorie and fitness tracking website. As painful as it was to type in my weight, the rest was quick and easy and I chose a fairly aggressive 2 pounds-per-week weight loss goal. The site recommends 1#/week, but I know how I am wired - I'd rather strive to meet a lofty goal than set the bar too low. No, I am not willing to share my weight with the world yet, but I will say that I get a little more than 1600 calories to work with each day, and any exercise I do burns calories so I can add that much back into my daily budget. The site is great. I easily found everything I had eaten for breakfast in their extensive database, and it even lets me upload my own recipes and photos. After introducing myself to the "community" I immediately received several encouraging messages and friend requests from people on the site - how nice!

I just finished lunch and I'm so excited to post my recipe for these veggie burgers. Eaten right off the grill they were quite tender and delicious, but honestly they were even better as leftovers. They firmed up a bit more & had a great texture so next time I will make a double batch and freeze half.

 

 

Please don't criticise my photography, I know I should not have taken the picture into the light! I'm hoping to get help from a friend with future pics, but this was so yummy I wanted to share it right away. I will probably not be one to post a bunch of pictures of all the ingredients, processes, cooking methods, etc. etc. 'cuz when I read a blog or look up a recipe I really just want to see the money shot (although one site I visited had a two photo GIF that made it look like her food processor was pulsing - too cute!) Besides, while in the midst of cooking I wouldn't want you to see the state of my kitchen in the background of a photo - 

I'm not the "clean up as you go" kind of cook.

 

In case you're wondering, for dinner I made a big pot of Minestrone soup with all kinds of veggies, chick peas, and whole wheat elbow mac. This is one of my standard clean-out-the-fridge-and-pantry meals. Summer is coming and sadly, I completely lose my taste for soup & stew when the temperature of the air outside rises above 98.6°F. Instead I will transform the semi-limp veggies and leftover grains from the back of the fridge into a salad, stir-fry or grilled veggie sandwich.

 

All in all I consumed about 1700 calories today, but I burned about 300 walking, so I was under my daily allotment by almost 200 calories. Not bad for my first day!

 

 

Chick Pea & Spinach Veggie Burger

makes 10

 

 2 -15oz cans garbanzo beans (chick peas) low sodium, rinsed and drained

1- 10oz pkg frozen chopped spinach thawed and squeezed dry

1 cup old fashioned dry oats

1.5 cups brown rice, cooked 

 2 large eggs, lightly beaten

2 medium scallions, minced

1 medium shallot, minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp fresh oregano, minced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup dry seasoned bread crumbs

1/2 cup panko

 

Mix panko and bread crumbs together in a medium bowl, set aside. Pulse all ingredients except crumb mixture in a large food processor until well combined. Scrape down sides of bowl and add a small amount of water if needed to process completely. Using a 1/2 c measuring cup or scoop, make 10 patties, dredge in crumb mixture and place on a sheet pan lined with foil. Mixture will be very soft. Chill 30 minutes. Carefully slide foil off sheet pan onto a hot grill. Grill patties on foil sheet over medium heat until browned and heated through about 7 minutes per side. They can also be cooked indoors without the foil on a griddle or pre-heated grill pan sprayed liberally with cooking spray.

 

Optional Toppings

 

 2 Tbsp jarred olive tapenade or chopped olives

1 Tbsp feta cheese crumbles mixed with 1 Tbsp plain yogurt to make a sauce

 halved cherry tomatoes tossed with minced garlic and a splash of olive oil & red wine vinegar

 half of a roasted red pepper

a few leaves of raw baby spinach 

Serve with or without a toasted whole wheat bun

 

Plain patty: 160 calories, with bun & the works: 476 calories

 

I've polished off most of the lovely toppings now, so tomorrow for lunch I think I will make a big spinach salad with red onion, green pepper and mushrooms with a lemony tahini dressing & I'll crumble a patty and some feta cheese on top. Yum!