2 Bean Salad

Summer has started rolling out her heatwaves in most places and we're looking for the best way to avoid turning on the oven, while still maintaining a healthy lifestyle and eating delicious refreshing foods! In comes this 2 bean salad.  It's a little bit of a deceiving name, because it also has a ton of veggies and is topped off with an oil free dressing.  This salad is full or protein and 21 Day Fix approved, without stealing any added oil.  It's also super flexible, so feel free to swap out some of the veggies, add some additional items like parsley or basil, or just keep it as it is. 

It's a great addition to any dinner as a side or main meal.  I served this on romaine, but you could just as easily serve it on top of some brown or wild rice.

21 Day Fix 2 Bean Salad

Makes 5 servings (2 Cups = 1 serving)

Fix Portions: Vegan Plan: 1 Green 1.5 Red  || 
Vegetarian or Regular Plan: 1 Green 2 Yellows

Ingredients: 
For Salad:

1 medium Cucumber, seeded and diced (peeled if not using english)*
1 medium red onion, chopped into small dice*
1 large green bell pepper, diced (same size as cucumber)*
1.5 cups grape or cherry tomatoes, diced after measuring
1 15oz Can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

2 15oz cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed

For Dressing:

1/2 cup Silken Tofu

1/4 Cup Balsamic Vinegar

3 garlic cloves, crushed

Juice of 1 small lemon

Salt to taste

Directions:
1. Chop cucumber, pepper and tomato into medium sized dice (about 1/4 of an inch) and combine in large bow.  Chop onion into small dice and add onion, along with the chickpeas and kidney beans to the bowl.

2. Make the dressing by blending all ingredients together.

3. Toss all ingredients well to combine.  This can be made ahead of time and enjoyed the next day  

****Recipe Notes****

*If you're trying to be super specific you can measure your veggies. They should come out to 1.5 cups of each vegetable

21 Day Fix Simple Chili

Weeknights can be HECTIC!! Who wants to cook all night after coming home from work or having a busy day.  This recipe is perfect because you can prep all of the ingredients ahead of time by chopping up your veggies, or you can also buy pre-cut vegetables in your grocers produce section.  This also doesn't have a million ingredients, which makes it a lot easier to deal with.

I love serving this with a dollop of our Soy Cream for Anything and some Daiya shredded cheese (or nutritional yeast) on top, but feel free to garnish with whatever you like on your chili.

21 Day Fix Simple Chili

Makes 6 servings (2 Cups = 1 serving)

Fix Portions: Vegan Plan: 1 Green 1.25 Red  || 
Vegetarian or Regular Plan: 1 Green .5 Red 1 Yellow

Ingredients: 
3 Tblsp water or Aquafaba*
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 large red bell pepper, diced (same size as onion)
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained
3 cups low sodium veggie broth
1 6oz can tomato paste
5 Tablespoons Chili powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 cups vegetarian burger crumbles (I use TVP or TSP for this)**
2 15oz cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed

Directions:
1. Heat water over medium heat in large pot
2. Add onions and bell peppers. Sautee until soft (about 5 minutes)
3. Add diced tomatoes with juice, tomato paste, chili powder, salt, pepper and veggie broth. Bring to a boil, then lower heat.  Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
4. Add burger crumbles (if using TVP or TSP, add dry), cover and simmer covered for an additional 15 minutes.  If the chili looks dry during any point of the process, just add more water or veggie broth to get it to your desired consistency.

****Recipe Notes****

* Aquafaba is the water from the can of chickpeas. I no added salt chickpeas and save the water from the can for all of my sauteeing.  It works wonders and allows you to brown your veggies. You to need to use more of this than oil, but it’s great for those who want to cook oil free

** Check your local health food store for this as well. I have found this at Whole Foods. You can also use Beyond Meat Beef Crumbles, which can be found more widely but is a little more expensive.
Alternate Options: You can also use lentils instead of vegetarian beef crumbles, however it would change the Non-Vegan Fix Plan portions to be as follows: 1 Green, 1.5 Yellow.  Vegan portions would be the same.

Soy Cream for Anything

So one of the things I've missed a lot since going vegan is the ease of just grabbing some yogurt as a quick protein source and mixing it with anything.  Especially with my current food plan, as well as the many dairy intolerances out there, it's just nice to have a great, healthy and low fat alternative.  Yes, you can buy a bunch of non-dairy yogurt, but not only is it expensive, but also laden with added sugar.  

In comes....silken tofu!! I know soy gets a bad rep and there are people who are soy intolerant, however I also believe that organic non-gmo soy is totally ok for you when consumed in moderation - just like anything else. Silken tofu is amazingly versatile and can be thinned out to use in cream sauces, as well as thickened up to use as a chocolate dip or cupcake topping.  But on to our 'something healthy'.

I was really craving some Greek yogurt and, although this isn't 100% the same, it really fills my craving.  This recipe is super versatile.  Some of the things you can do with it is:

* Replace the non-dairy milk with a flavored liquor and use it instead of whipped cream on desserts

* Add more Apple Cider Vinegar and a little salt for more of a 'sour cream' effect

* Blend in frozen fruit and sweetener for a dessert

* Add it to your smoothie for extra protein

* Add cocoa powder

* Do whatever you want!!

I like to top it with fruit, cinnamon and some chopped nuts (and then stir in some sweetener) for an afternoon snack 

So here is the recipe for the Soy Yogurt. Or as I like to also call it, Soy Cream for Anything :) 

Soy 'Yogurt'

Makes about 2 1 Cup Servings

Fix Portions: 3/4 Cup = 1 Red

1 12.3oz package of Extra Firm Silken Tofu
2 Tblsp Raw Unfiltered Apple Cider Vinegar 
1/4 Cup unsweetened non-dairy milk (I use soy or almond)
Optional: 1/2 tsp sweetener of choice

Directions: Blend everything together until it's smooth. That's it

21 Day Fix Tofu Stuffed Peppers

The 21 Day Fix is an awesome way to discover some great new recipes.  Unfortunately, there just aren't a lot of ones that offer vegan varieties.  The other thing is that, if you're in one of the upper brackets, you need a lot of protein! Having some meat free options can be a really great way to ensure you don't get tired of eating the same things over and over!

This recipe is based off of the Fixate Cookbook Chicken Stuffed Peppers. We upped the spice content and added a few other things, as well as left out the corn.  We just didn't feel like wasting that extra yellow (you know what I mean!!).

So here it is - the recipe for Tofu Stuffed Peppers.  Don't be intimidated by the amount of ingredients.  From start to finish, this is a really simple recipe that doesn't take a ton of active time to prep. Part of the magic of cutting the peppers length-wise is you don't have to blanch them before hand and they're easier to eat this way :) 

Tofu Stuffed Peppers

Makes 6 servings (Each ½ pepper = 1 serving) 

Fix portions (vegan plan) = 1 1/4 Red, 3/4 Green, 3/4 Yellow, 1/4 Blue

Ingredients: 

2 tsp Olive Oil or aquafaba* 
1 Medium Onion, chopped
3 Garlic Cloves, minced
1 16 oz Block Super Firm Tofu**
3 Tbsp Braggs Amino Acids
2 tsp Cumin
2 tsp Chili Powder
1 tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp paprika (preferably smoked, but regular is fine too)
½ tsp onion powder
½ tsp black pepper
½ tsp salt
1 Cup low sodium tomato sauce
2 cups cooked quinoa or brown rice (I use brown rice)
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
¼ cup lime juice (or just the juice of 1 lime)
¼ cup cilantro (optional)
½ cup Monterey jack cheese (I used Dayia block and shredded it)
4 Bell Peppers

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375
2. Cut bell peppers in half, length wise, take out seeds and place in baking dish
3. Break up tofu into bite sized pieces (about ¼ to ½ inch)
4. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat and add onion. Add onions and sautee until translucent (for about 4-5 minutes). If it starts sticking, add a little water
5. Add garlic and sautee for an additional minute
6. Add tofu and spices and stir to coat the tofu. Sautee for about 3-4 minutes and add the amino acids. Sautee for an additional 3-4 minutes until liquid is absorbed
7. Add tomato sauce, rice, beans, lime juice and cilantro (if using) and heat through
8. Add 2/3 cups of mixture to each bell pepper and cover lightly with foil
9. Bake for 35 minutes, remove foil and top each pepper with 1 heaped Tblsp cheese, then bake for an additional 3 minutes or until cheese is melted

****Recipe Notes****

* Aquafaba is the water from the can of chickpeas. I no added salt chickpeas and save the water from the can for all of my sauteeing.  It works wonders and allows you to brown your veggies. You to need to use more of this than oil, but it’s great for those who want to cook oil free

** Trader Joe’s has amazing Super Firm Tofu, however if you can’t find that, using Extra Firm is ok too.  It will change the texture a bit but will still taste good