Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup with Lemon and Cilantro

Posted on April 7, 2013 by Sarina @ Earthgiven Kitchen

If you’ve been following my blog, you know I love to throw sweet potatoes into everything from burgers to burritos to blondies. I recently took my favourite lemony lentil soup recipe, added sweet potatoes, altered a few other ingredients, and came up with what I think is the most delicious soup ever!

It’s perfect to make in large batches as per the recipe below and either feed a whole crowd or make and freeze some for later. I almost always have a container of this lentil sweet potato soup in the freezer. Whenever I know I’ll have a hectic schedule the next day, I’ll move the soup from the freezer to the fridge and by the next day it’s defrosted and ready to take a few minutes to warm on the stove for a quick and easy dinner.

This recipe is adapted from A Quiet Soup from Orangette blog who in turn adapted it from “In the Kitchen with a Good Appetite” by Melissa Clark.

Lentil and Sweet Potato Soup with Lemon and Cilantro

4 Tbsp olive oil
2 large yellow onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 Tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp sea salt (or more to taste)
a few grinds of black pepper
pinch of cayenne or chipotle pepper, optional
6 cups vegetable broth (learn how to make your own here) or water
2 cups red lentils, washed and picked through for stones
1 large sweet potato, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
Juice of 1 lemon, or more to taste
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro (save a few sprigs for garnish)

In a large pot, warm the olive oil over medium-high. Add the onions and garlic and cook a few minutes until soft and golden. Stir in the tomato paste, cumin, salt, pepper and cayenne/chipotle if using and cook another few minutes.

In a large pot, warm the oil over medium-high heat until hot and shimmering. Add the onions and garlic and cook until golden, about 4 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, cumin, salt, pepper, and cayenne/chipotle if using, and cook for 2 minutes longer. Add the broth, the lentils, sweet potato and carrot and stir. Lower to the heat to a low simmer and partially cover pot. Continue to cook until the vegetables are soft, about 30 minutes. Taste, and add more seasonings if desired. If it looks too thick, add some more broth or water, stir and heat through. I like Orangette’s idea to use an immersion blender to puree until about half is smooth, so it’s just a bit chunky. Stir in the lemon juice and cilantro. I garnish the soup with a sprig of cilantro, drizzle it with olive oil and serve with crusty bread.

Makes about 16 cups (8 large servings or 12 – 14 smaller servings).

This recipe has been shared with Wellness Weekends and Healthy Vegan Fridays blog linkups.

Creamy Red Pepper and Hemp Heart Hummus

Posted on February 23, 2013 by Sarina @ Earthgiven Kitchen

I wasn’t a fan of red pepper until it became obvious when my daughter was a toddler that it was one of her favourite foods. I then looked for new ways to incorporate the healthy veggie into more recipes and grew to like it more myself. She loves red peppers so much she’ll eat them raw like an apple. (Only red ones though, don’t even think about offering her a green one). Despite not being the biggest red pepper fan myself, I LOVE the addition of red pepper to my usual hummus and lately I’ve been making it more than my traditional hummus (recipe here). I’ve also added in the olive oil to the puree instead of drizzling on top as per tradition, which makes for a creamier, more decadent hummus. In the summer, I love making this hummus with peppers freshly picked from my garden.

Red Pepper Hummus
One 540 ml can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
half of a red pepper, cored and roughly chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup tahini
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed is best)
1/3 cup hemp hearts
1/3 cup filtered water
1/2 – 1 tsp cumin (to taste)
Herbamare seasoning or sea salt to taste
about 1 tbsp hemp hearts and about 1/2 tbsp chopped parsley for garnish (optional)

Combine all ingredients except garnishes in a food processor until well blended and creamy. Taste and adjust seasonings. For serving as a dip, sprinkle with hemp hearts and garnish with chopped parsley.

It’s wonderful as a dip with veggies and crackers or on a sandwich with your favourite fixings!

This recipe has been shared on Healthy Vegan Fridays and Gluten Free Fridays.

Vegan Brunch: Savory Scrambles and Sweet Parfaits

Posted on September 6, 2012 by Sarina @ Earthgiven Kitchen

Shortly after I became vegan, I learned a little tidbit I’ll share with you: Brunch is a big deal to vegans. Waffles, pancakes, scrambles, muffins, lattes, even bacon and omelets….. we can do it all vegan, deliciously!
My primary brunch staple for about a year was Oh She Glows’ Sweet Potato Oatmeal Breakfast Casserole. It’s excellent, like everything Angela creates. Then Tofu Scramble with Coconut Bacon took over as my main go-to. Click the link for the recipe.

When I hosted a brunch a few weekends ago, I wanted to create a special dish for a friend with severe allergies. Not only is she vegan, she also needs to avoid soy and gluten. Before cutting out soy, she adored tofu scramble. I wondered if I could possibly make a tofu scramble without tofu and still be delicious and full of protein? I decided to try swapping the tofu in my scramble with white beans and potatoes and I think it turned out wonderfully! All the flavours of my Tofu Scramble with potato and white beans substituting the tofu. Perfect for anyone wanting to change up their scramble or just wanting to reduce their soy intake.

White Bean and Potato Breakfast Scramble
1 cup onion, chopped
coconut or olive oil
2 medium potatoes, chopped into bite sized chunks
14 oz cooked white beans, drained and rinsed if using a can
1 heaping tbsp of spice mix (below)
3 tbsp Bragg’s all-purpose seasoning, nama shoyu or soy sauce
2 1/2 cups chopped veggies (we like red pepper, massaged kale, mushrooms and spinach)
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 tomato, chopped
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, minced

Scramble Spice Mix
2 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp dried thyme
1 tbsp turmeric
1 tbsp Herbamare seasoning or sea salt
1 tbsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder
1/2 tsp sage

Mix the spices together and keep in a glass jar. Makes enough for 6 servings of the scramble.

Sautée the onion in a bit of oil over medium heat in a large pan and cook for about five minutes. Add the potatoes and white beans to the pan with the onion and continue cooking, stirring frequently. Add 1 tbsp of the spice mix to 3 tbsp of water, stir, then add to pan and stir well. Add the Bragg’s, veggies and nutritional yeast to the pan and cook for another several minutes, until the potatoes are fork-tender and veggies are soft. Use a metal spatula to scrape the bottom if the beans start to stick. Taste and add more Bragg’s, spice mixture or nutritional yeast if desired. Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper to taste. Serve warm topped with chopped tomatoes and cilantro.
The scramble also makes a great entrée.

I also served my traditional Tofu Scramble with avocado, fresh fruit, raw almonds (brought by a friend from California where nuts are unpasteurized and truly raw), and cherry coconut parfaits! The parfaits can be nearly sugar free if you choose no-sugar added jam and granola, making it a not-too-decadent treat for breakfast, brunch or dessert.
Cherry Coconut Parfaits

cultured coconut milk (also called coconut yogurt. I used So Delicious brand)
your favourite jam (I used homemade chia-berry jam)
granola (I used homemade raw coconut granola, recipe coming soon)
one cherry per parfait to top

Spoon about a two tablespoons of cultured coconut into the bottom of a glass cup or wine glass. Top with two tablespoons of jam followed by enough granola to cover the jam. Repeat the layers of coconut, jam and granola, then top with a cherry. Serve immediately.

I am submitting my White Bean and Potato Breakfast Scramble to the Allergy Friendly Fridays, Gluten Free Fridays, Healthy Vegan Fridays, Foodtastic Fridays, Wellness Weekends and Meatless Mondays blog hops. I’m sharing the Parfaits with the Slightly Indulgent blog hop.
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The secret to great hummus

Posted on August 28, 2012 by Sarina @ Earthgiven Kitchen

Here’s your fun fact for the day: hummus is Arabic for “chickpea”. I know you were always wondering, so you’re welcome.

As you may have guessed from my previous posts, I adore Middle Eastern and Mediterranean cuisine. My mother’s roots are Middle Eastern, so dishes like hummus, tabouleh and stuffed vine leaves have been staples in my diet all my life. Hummus is traditionally made with tahini which is sesame seed butter but I find that too much tahini makes hummus taste bitter. The secret to great hummus, in my humble opinion, is adding… hemp hearts! And lots of cumin. Hemp hearts (shelled hemp seeds) have a delicious nutty and slightly sweet taste that goes great in hummus.

The combination of chickpeas plus sesame (tahini) makes hummus a complete protein and hemp hearts (a complete protein on their own) adds important Omega 3 fatty acids as well as other health benefits. While hemp hearts are my “secret” hummus ingredient, I’d say that the real secret to great hummus is experimenting with the ingredient amounts, since it contains many strong flavours, to see what makes a great hummus for your taste: Lots of garlic? Lots of lemon? No cumin at all? Try and see.

I can’t take credit for the idea of adding hemp hearts to hummus, the tip came from my mother, though the recipe below is my own after lots of tweaking.

I’ve provided two measurements: one for using an entire can of chickpeas (for when you’re making dip for a party) and one that uses 1 cup of cooked chickpeas (for when you’re making a few sandwiches).

Sarina’s Hummus

Small serving
1 cup cooked chickpeas (if using chickpeas from a can, rinse and drain)
1-2 cloves garlic minced
1/8 cup tahini
1/8 cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed is best)
1/8 cup hemp hearts
1/8 cup filtered water
1/4-1/2 tsp cumin (to taste)
Herbamare seasoning or sea salt to taste
olive oil and about 1 tbsp of chopped parsley for garnish (optional)

Large serving (using one large can of chickpeas)
One 540 ml can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1/3 cup tahini
1/3 cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed is best)
1/3 cup hemp hearts
1/3 cup filtered water
1/2 – 1 tsp cumin (to taste)
Herbamare seasoning or sea salt to taste
olive oil and about 1/2 tbsp of chopped parsley for garnish (optional)

Combine all ingredients except garnishes in a food processor until well blended and creamy. Taste and adjust seasonings. For serving as a dip, drizzle with olive oil and garnish with chopped parsley. Many hummus recipes blend the olive oil into the dressing; I like using the oil the traditional way, drizzled on top. You could also garnish with some toasted pine nuts or chopped olives. Serve with pita chips or crackers. I love hummus with my Nacho Crackers; click here for the recipe.
A cute way to serve hummus as a party appetizer or to kids is a dollop in a shot glass with veggie sticks. The credit for the preparation of these in the photo go to my sister.

There is no sandwich I love better in summer than hummus with fresh tomatoes and other veggies fresh from the garden. Not like you really need a recipe to figure out how to put it together, but here it is anyway:

Hummus Summer Sandwich
two slices of your favourite bread
Sarina’s Hummus (recipe above)
fresh tomatoes slices
your favourite fresh greens– I like to use basil, baby spinach, cucumber and sprouts
sweet onion slices
a few sprinkles of black pepper on the tomato

Assemble and enjoy immediately!
Update: I am submitting my hummus to the blog hops Wellness Weekends, Allergy-Friendly Fridays, Healthy Vegan Fridays & Gluten Free Fridays Check out the link up party for a collection of delicious recipes.

Nacho crackers

Posted on July 29, 2012 by Sarina @ Earthgiven Kitchen

Hi, friends! I’ve been post-less for a week, having been on holidays, soaking up some sun and family time at a cottage in Muskoka. It was a wonderful time. We brought our own food with us, but there wasn’t room to bring my favourite food equipment like juicer, food processor and dehydrator, so I made as much food as I could ahead of time, like raw granola, and packed it with us.

I’ve only had my dehydrator for a few months so I’m still amazed at the variety of healthy food I can easily make with it and the taste quality. I’m enjoying making raw crackers in my dehydrator lately. Here’s my favourite so far: nacho crackers!

The idea came from my nacho kale chips recipe, which I selected as my entry for the first Healthy Vegan Fridays blog party this week. Every week there will be a new list of delicious recipes featuring whole ingredients to peruse, so now I know where to head the next I’m looking for inspiration. Check it out!

I also loved these crackers enough to send them to my vegan food swap partner Gabby @ The Veggie Nook this month. Hope she likes them as much as I do! I used to love store-bought crackers, now I can’t believe I ate all that sodium, sugar and preservatives, thinking they were a “healthy” snack. These nacho crackers are about as healthy as you can get, plus they are raw, sugar-free and gluten-free.

Raw Nacho Crackers
2/3 cup raw nuts (I used a mix of Brazil nuts and almonds)
1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 cup ground flax
1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped red pepper
1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes
1/2 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp Spicy Herbamare seasoning
1 tsp agave syrup
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper

Soak the nuts and seeds in 2 cups of filtered water for at least an hour and preferably several hours. Empty the nuts and seeds including the soaking water into a food processor and combine. Add the celery, red pepper and sun-dried tomatoes and combine again. Mix the nutritional yeast, Herbamare and spices together in a separate bowl, then add the spice mixture and combine again until uniformly mixed. Note: to be truly raw, you will want to choose sun or dehydrator-dried tomatoes and raw spices where possible.

Pour onto Paraflexx sheets and smooth out with a spatula so they are uniformly thin, like giant crepes. Dehydrate at 105 degrees for several hours, until crispy. After about five hours, when they are starting to firm up, flip them by placing another Paraflexx sheet and tray on top of the crackers, flipping upside down, peeling off the top sheet and returning them to the dehydrator on the new tray. You can either pull the crackers out when they are nearly done but not crisp and slice them into rectangles with a knife and return to the dehydrator to finish crisping up, or wait until they are as firm and dry as you like and break them into small pieces, like the ones shown in my photos.

They were great on their own and awesome topped with Tofutti cream cheese and cucumber and olive slices and a dash of black pepper! A perfect summer appetizer.