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Vegetable Shopping

Simply By Cynthia

THE WHOLE KIT AND KABOODLE OF BLOG POSTS

Scroll through the page or click on a category. You can also click on the magnifying glass icon to sear for something that way. May these posts give you new ideas and inspire you to live a simpler, easier and more delicious life!

Quick and easy glazed root vegetables!

Jan 25, 2021
4 min

Quick and easy glazed root vegetables!

Are you still wondering what to do with those less common root vegetables? I'm talking about parsnips, turnips and, gasp! rutabagas. I sorta covered one of rutabaga's talents in a previous post, but wanted to go further with the wonderful panoply of what roots can do. The root vegetables are, obviously, the underground parts of plants. They can include bulbs, tubers, corms and rhizomes. To keep it simple, let's call 'em roots. Many are familiar: carrots, potatoes, onions and

Just call 'em Swedes. Mashed Rutabagas might be your new favorite, ahem, potato.

Jan 14, 2021
3 min

Just call 'em Swedes. Mashed Rutabagas might be your new favorite, ahem, potato.

My grandmother, Ruth Valborg Isakson - and the whole big clan - was from Sweden. They came over in the first decade of the 20th c. and I got a thorough grounding in all foods Swedish while growing up. Smörgåsbord. Svenska Kottbuller. Leverpastej. Smogåsgurka. The whole nine yards. It was pretty funny, considering that I grew up in South Florida (walking distance from Little Havana), instead of Minnesota. I was as fond of a good Cortadito and a Medianoche, as Swedish meatballs

This vegan, no-oil Spinach Sauce brings star-quality to soups, pasta and more

Jan 14, 2021
3 min

This vegan, no-oil Spinach Sauce brings star-quality to soups, pasta and more

While cleaning out and reorganizing the freezer - I'm on a mission to make everything more visually accessible - I found a half-full/half-empty bag (depending on your point of view) of frozen spinach. Frozen greens can be the deal-breaker when it comes to my belief that frozen vegetables can be every bit as good as fresh. Frozen greens - spinach, collards, kale - are always in danger of being generally unappealing cooked and served from frozen. If they're whipped into a smoot

Sautéed mushrooms without a drop of added oil are simply delicious

Jan 12, 2021
4 min

Sautéed mushrooms without a drop of added oil are simply delicious

If you're following the Whole-food, Plant-based, no-added-oil lifestyle recommended by Forks Over Knives, then you may be wondering - as I did - how you're supposed to sauté without oil. I was dubious until I took the Rouxbe online Ultimate Plant-Based Culinary Course, sponsored by Forks Over Knives. I whole-heartedly recommend either the Essentials course to get started, or the Ultimate for more accomplished cooks. These courses will open up new culinary worlds, and give yo

Richly satisfying vegan Cream of Broccoli soup

Jan 10, 2021
2 min

Richly satisfying vegan Cream of Broccoli soup

This soup is so beautifully simple, and can make use of leftover potatoes. With several stalks of fresh broccoli in the produce bin, and some leftover, steamed new potatoes from last night's dinner, this soup is just the thing for cold winter days! If you don't have fresh broccoli, then frozen will work every bit as well. This soup could be the way to get more cruciferous vegetables - with all their fiber and anti-oxidant power - into your family's diet. If you're on the WFPB

Water Sautéed greens are so easy, so delicious!

Jan 6, 2021
2 min

Water Sautéed greens are so easy, so delicious!

I've seen so many people - new to the Whole-food, Plant-based, No added oil lifestyle - asking how to sauté without oil. It was a 'given' that we needed oil to sauté. Anything less was unimaginable. I was one of those cooks. I must have gone through gallons of every kind of oil. Then, I took the Forks Over Knives Plant-based cooking course offered in partnership with Rouxbe, the online professional culinary school. It was a game changer. This professionally designed course no

This No-Tuna Salad beats all the others! Hands down.

Dec 29, 2020
4 min

This No-Tuna Salad beats all the others! Hands down.

I've tried the rest. This is the best. A couple years ago, I tried the Good Catch vegan tuna and although tasty and convenient, one certainly pays for that convenience. After that, I started making the time-tested garbanzo bean avatar for tuna salad. It's good. Very good, in fact, but lacked the familiar qualities of the tuna salad I grew up with. What every mom and old-school corner diner served. A sorta, kinda paté of tuna, celery and onion that plays well between two slice

This vegan no-oil mayonnaise will be your new favorite everything.

Dec 29, 2020
3 min

This vegan no-oil mayonnaise will be your new favorite everything.

I've tried so many different vegan, no added oil concoctions as stand-ins for mayonnaise, once I tossed out the last of a jar of Vegenaise. The grocery store product isn't bad, it's just not great, and has a lot of added oil. That doesn't work well within the guidelines of a WFPBNO (Whole food, plant-based, no added oil) way of eating. And, it 'separates' after a while. The internet abounds with different versions of vegan mayo ... many are quite good, but I wanted to develop

Christmas dinner was pretty tasty!

Dec 26, 2020
3 min

Christmas dinner was pretty tasty!

Before Thanksgiving, I'd loaded up the freezer with the fancy, limited time plant-based holiday roasts. I served the Field Roast Hazelnut and Cranberry Roast en Croute for Thanksgiving, but saved the 365 Meatless Plant-based Roast for Christmas dinner. You've got to buy these when you see them, because once they're gone.... like we have no desire to have a special dinner any other time of the year. Sheesh. We were pretty happy with the overall quality of the 365 Meatless Plan

Carrot, Parsnip and Maple Soup from the Instant Pot

Dec 20, 2020
4 min

Carrot, Parsnip and Maple Soup from the Instant Pot

If you intend to spend much time in France, be sure that you like carrots. A lot. The French love their carrots! I've hauled many pounds of great huge, often dirt-covered carrots out the grocery store home, in eager anticipation of what I'd be using them for. The French know better than those silly little 'baby carrots' - made by cutting away the larger part of the flavorful root. That's wasteful. Go big or go home. And, really, they very often look as though they've just bee

Delicious, slice-able Seitan is simpler than you might think!

Dec 13, 2020
4 min

Delicious, slice-able Seitan is simpler than you might think!

My first bites of seitan - the meat-like food made from vital wheat gluten - were the commercially made plant-based protein products by Sweet Earth and Uptons Naturals. They were really tasty, and the texture appealed to us. It is a perfectly good avatar for meat. If you're headed in the WFPB direction and haven't tried them, you should remedy that. Soon. The only problem here? We liked them so much that, well, it was getting a little expensive. And, me being me, I says to se

French Accent: Instant Pot Provençal Vegetable Soup

Dec 12, 2020
2 min

French Accent: Instant Pot Provençal Vegetable Soup

This classic French soup satisfies on so many levels with its' delicate broth and colorful vegetables. And, if you're looking for something to lift your spirits during the darkest days of winter (and the pandemic!) this soup could be just what you need. This soup scores in that it's made with readily available vegetables, quick and simple preparation in the Instant Pot. You can substitute any pasta that you prefer. What you need (besides an Instant Pot): 1 medium sized zucchi

This Lentil-Mushroom Loaf will satisfy your entire family

Dec 11, 2020
5 min

This Lentil-Mushroom Loaf will satisfy your entire family

I've been looking for a decent, basic lentil loaf recipe for some time, and finally decided that I needed to develop one myself. The other contenders seemed: too dry, too crumbly, too dense (like Seitan). The lightbulb went on when I happened to review my own Vegan 'Meatloaf' recipe. Duh! Riff off of that, just replacing the Beyond Beef with brown lentils (and a couple of tweaks)! Mushrooms are one of your best friends - if you can be friends with fungi ... interesting concep

Instant Pot Moong Dal: A healthier alternative to boring tomato soup

Dec 8, 2020
4 min

Instant Pot Moong Dal: A healthier alternative to boring tomato soup

When the weather gets colder, and the days shorter, we start looking for comforting foods. Soups are right up at the top of the list at our house, and I always have at least one in the fridge, and a couple in the freezer. Although we both like good old tomato soup, it just seems like a missed opportunity to not 'amp' it up with more fiber and nutrition. Moong (or Mung) Dal, which is simply the 'split' version of the Mung bean, is a nutritional powerhouse. It provides nearly 6

Butternut squash Mac 'n' Cheez with broccoli and tomatoes

Dec 5, 2020
4 min

Butternut squash Mac 'n' Cheez with broccoli and tomatoes

There must be dozens of ways to make vegan cheese sauce on the internet. And, I've tried several. Most are pretty good but too time-intensive for me. I like things that are simple. That's what appealed to me with this recipe. It's easy, these days, to find butternut squash - even Kabocha squash - bagged and in freezer sections of today's grocery stores. I keep both in my freezer. But, then I get seduced by those gorgeous fat, long-necked Butternut squash, piled high outside t

Simply the best vegan, oil-free meatloaf recipe

Dec 4, 2020
3 min

Simply the best vegan, oil-free meatloaf recipe

Here it is! The vegan meatloaf recipe that everybody keeps asking me for. Seriously. Friends, relatives, people on the WFPB social media groups. I've posted it so many times that I'm putting it here out of self-defense. We love meatloaf, but a truly 'meaty', 'beefy' tasting vegan meatloaf seemed impossible until the Beyond products came on the market. It looks like meat. Handles and cooks like meat. Best of all, it tastes and smells like meat. Here's another tip: Rather than

Simply the easiest, creamiest pumpkin soup

Dec 3, 2020
3 min

Simply the easiest, creamiest pumpkin soup

There are many versions of squash soups out there on the great wide web, but few easier than this one. I'd seen a recipe for a curried butternut squash soup, however I lacked the butternut squash, and wasn't going to make a dash to the grocery store just for that. Hmmmm. The "a-ha!" moment happened as a can of pureed pumpkin caught my eye in the pantry. That could work. It certainly did work, producing a simple, savory soup for the run-up to Thanksgiving. I'll be including it

Simply delicious 'No Beef' Salisbury Steak

Dec 2, 2020
2 min

Simply delicious 'No Beef' Salisbury Steak

Normally, I use the ground Beyond Beef product for meatloaf. I make a killer no-meatloaf. Really. It gets rave reviews. But, it seemed like I should venture further afield. Like patties. Not hamburgers. Something different. More. That comforts you right to the core on a December night. I'd been caramelizing onions and sweet peppers all afternoon in the oven. If you haven't tried this method, it's super simple. Almost completely hands-off. Slice up onions and put them in a cov

How to simply 'vegan-ize' just about any recipe

Dec 1, 2020
6 min

How to simply 'vegan-ize' just about any recipe

When we began the journey to a whole-food, plant-based, no added oil way of eating, my first instinct was to grab for all the new alternative 'meat' products that are now in the grocery stores. It's okay to do that, and I'm certainly thrilled to see those products. It was much harder, back in the day, which is why I 'gave up' on going vegetarian (not to mention, gasp! "vegan"!) then. I could only take just so many 'steamed veggie plates' and spaghetti Marinara. Sigh. The 'mea

"Turk'y-ish" Gumbo for the day after. And, the day after that.

Nov 24, 2020
3 min

"Turk'y-ish" Gumbo for the day after. And, the day after that.

We all know that Thanksgiving leftovers are one of the best things ever invented. It doesn't matter what it is. "Leftover dressing? Sure! Can I have some gravy on that?" Even if you're plant-based, like us, you might have something that closely resembles leftover poultry, and another sandwich isn't quite cutting it. Um, maybe soup? That's where Gumbo shines so brightly. Growing up in the South, I became aware of Gumbo, sorta. It wasn't until I had occasion to spend time with

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