Vegan Mexican Stir Fry

Vegan Mexican Stir Fry PinThis Vegan Mexican Stir Fry is a great weeknight meal since it’s quick to make and amazingly delicious. Since this recipe only has about 89 calories per serving, you really need to eat it with something else. You can prepare some brown rice and refried beans ahead of time and heat them up to save time.

It takes only a few minutes to chop up some peppers and onions, and since most of the flavor comes from the salsa, you can easily have this ready to eat in under 10 minutes.

We make ours with my Grandpa’s Vegan Dipping Hot Sauce and Amelia’s Vegan Refried Beans, but you can just as easily use store-bought refried beans and salsa. Just make sure they’re oil-free and lard-free. A lot of canned refried beans have lard. Yuck!

This is one of our go-to recipes. We eat this one almost every week, especially on nights when Amelia has her belly dancing class at The Tribal Fusion House here in Cuenca, Ecuador. If you’d like to see her belly dancing, here’s a video. She’s in front on the right.

If you make this recipe, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And please share with your friends to help spread the word about healthy plant based eating.

Summer Black Bean Salad

Summer Black Bean Salad PinThis Oil-Free Summer Black Bean Salad recipe was inspired by a recipe from Amelia’s Aunt Marie. It’s easy to make and full of color and flavor. It tastes great all by itself as a side dish, or over a leafy green salad.

Last time we were back in Atlanta visiting Amelia’s family, her mom Jane made us this dish and everyone loved it! Aunt Marie included olive oil and cheese in her recipe, so we just removed those and didn’t notice them missing. In fact, I’m guessing the cheese would overpower the mild flavors of the other veggies.

A friend of ours told us this recipe is similar to Cowboy Caviar. However, real Cowboy Caviar also has black-eyed peas, diced tomatoes, and several other seasonings. Aunt Marie’s recipe is certainly a lot easier to make with its fewer ingredients and most of the flavor coming from the salsa.

Amelia’s mom inspired us to make more dishes with salsa as the flavor enhancer. It’s a lot easier and faster to make a delicious dish when all you have to do is open a jar of salsa and pour it in. We generally use my Grandpa’s Vegan Dipping Hot Sauce instead of store-bought salsa because we think it tastes better and it also saves us about $3/jar.

This recipe makes a great side salad for your favorite Mexican dishes, like Vegan Tortilla Soup or Mexican Lasagna.

If you choose to eat this Summer Black Bean Salad over leafy greens, you may want to add some fresh lime juice and/or vinegar to the greens beforehand to give them more flavor.

If you make this recipe, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And please share with your friends to help spread the word about healthy plant based eating.

Vegan Black Bean Soup

Vegan Black Bean Soup PinThis Vegan Black Bean Soup recipe is like a party in your mouth! It’s loaded with savory flavors and lots of protein. Top it with a little diced avocado for some extra deliciousness and you’ve got one delicious bowl of soup!

Beans are a great source of protein, calcium and fiber. That’s why they’re such an important part of a plant-based diet. It can take your body a few weeks (or months) to adjust to the flatulence caused by beans in some people, but the short-term discomfort is well-worth the long-term health benefits.

Before we transitioned to a whole-food plant-based (WFPB) diet, I never ate beans because of the horrible stomach and intestinal discomfort. Within a few months of switching our diet, I slowly started adding beans into the mix. Now we eat them every day and only occasionally do they cause gas. I’ve found that red beans still seem to be the worst offenders, while black beans, chickpeas and lentils are now fine.

According to the Harvard Health Letter, “A little bit of extra flatulence could be an indication that you’re eating the way you should!” So if you accidentally let one slip while waiting in line at the bank, just smile and say “Hey. I’m plant-based.”

This Vegan Black Bean Soup pairs well with a salad or cornbread.

If you make this recipe, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And please share with your friends to help spread the word about healthy plant based eating.

Vegan Burrito Bowl

Vegan Burrito Bowl PinThis Vegan Burrito Bowl is another quick lunch that you can assemble ahead of time so you can take it to work or school.

Canned refried beans are pre-cooked so you just need to warm them up and add some salt and pepper to make them taste delicious. You can stir in the seasonings straight out of the can and heat the beans on the stove or in the microwave.

Or if you’re more ambitious and have time, try making our Vegan Refried Beans from either dry soaked beans, or canned pinto beans. These taste delicious and don’t have oil or any mystery ingredients.

You can serve this over romaine lettuce or your favorite leafy green if you feel like it, but this recipe serves it over brown rice. You can get creative with this recipe by adding onions, peppers, corn, fresh cilantro, black olives, tofu, pico de gallo, jalapeños or your other favorite veggies.

If you make this recipe, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And please share with your friends to help spread the word about healthy plant based eating.

Vegan Nachos

Vegan Nachos PinThese Vegan Nachos are loaded with goodies. Vegan Refried Beans, Potato Cheese Sauce, Vegan Cashew Sour Cream, jalapeños, black olives, avocado and salsa make this one yummy party dish!

Nachos are one of those treats that most people expect to give up when they go vegan, but there’s no need to make such a supreme sacrifice. The potato cheese sauce tastes better than the nasty cheese you find on most non-vegan nachos, and the cashew sour cream is absolutely delicious!

We used the toppings that we like the most, but you can be as creative as you want to be. These vegan nachos would be great with some sautéed onions or mushrooms, seasoned tofu, Tex-Mex jackfruit, vegan chorizo or anything else you can think of.

We bought some yellow and blue corn chips for this recipe, but you can easily make this with some Corn Tortilla Corn Chips.

Just promise me you’ll serve these at your next gathering of non-vegan friends so they can see how good veganized food can taste!

Vegan Nachos Instructional Video

If you make this recipe, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And please share with your friends to help spread the word about healthy plant based eating.

Vegan Huevos Rancheros

Vegan Huevos Rancheros PinThis delicious and easy Vegan Huevos Rancheros recipe will have you looking forward to breakfast. It’s loaded with protein and healthy carbs, but it’s oil free and gluten free.

You can use regular refried beans or mash up some pinto beans, but we prefer the refried black beans for a little extra flavor. Use organic corn tortillas instead of flour to keep it gluten free, but also because organic corn has more fiber than flour.

If you’re concerned about the carbs, you can use one tortilla instead of two, but it won’t have as much fiber and won’t be as filling. That means you’ll probably be hungry sooner and feel the need to snack.

You might also enjoy our Tofu Scramble.

Vegan Huevos Rancheros Instructional Video

If you make this recipe, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And please share with your friends to help spread the word about healthy plant based eating.

Cauliflower Couscous Tex-Mex Tacos

Cauliflower Couscous Tex-Mex TacosThese Cauliflower Couscous Tex-Mex Tacos are a favorite in our household. They’re not only super fast and easy to prepare, but their also filling and nutritious with 10 grams of fiber and 8 grams of protein.

You can eat the cauliflower couscous mixture as a side dish without the corn tortilla. It would pair well with a Mexican Salad, Roasted Green Beans or Roasted Asparagus.

Some diced avocado would also be a delicious topping for these tacos. We were trying to shed a few pounds when we made this recipe so we skipped the avocados to reduce the fat calories.

If you make this recipe, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And please share with your friends to help spread the word about healthy plant based eating.

Vegan Tacos with Acorn Squash and Black Beans

Vegan Tacos Acorn Squash and Black BeansVegan tacos acorn squash and black beans might seem like an odd combination, but this recipe has just the right mixture of sweet, salt and spice. Your tastebuds will thank you.

Thanks to the squash and black beans, this recipe packs a nutrient punch. It has 15 grams of fiber and 11 grams of protein with only 353 calories for two tacos. You can reduce the calories and fat by cutting out the avocado and reducing the olive oil to 1/2 tbsp.

You could add some vegan shredded cheese to the tacos, but we didn’t feel it was necessary. They have so much flavor without it.

If you make this recipe, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And please share with your friends to help spread the word about healthy plant based eating.

Vegan Tostadas

Vegan TostadasThis is a super quick and easy vegan tostadas recipe that’s full of flavor, color and a variety of nutrients. It’s one of my favorite lunch recipes because I can throw it together in a few minutes and there’s virtually no cleanup.

Most tostada recipes call for the tortillas to be deep fried in oil, but we all know how unhealthy that is for us. Baking them not only removes the calories and fat from the oil, it makes cleanup a breeze since you won’t have oil splatters everywhere.

This recipe makes two vegan tostadas, but the serving size is only one tostada. You can eat both, but realize that’s over 500 calories. You can reduce the calories and fat even more by skipping the cheese and avocados. Removing the cheese also makes this recipe oil free if that’s important to you.

If you make this recipe, please let us know your thoughts in the comments below. And please share with your friends to help spread the word about healthy plant based eating.