Tag Archives: Vegan

Apple Pumpkin Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Posted by Lindsey @ Baking Bytes in Entrée, Side dishes and tagged with , , ,

Perhaps after the overwhelming feasting of Super Bowl Sunday and Valentine’s Day you are ready for something a bit more on the healthy side. Or maybe you wisely skipped all that but are always on the lookout for new recipes. Look no further! Today I have a wonderful healthy and vegetarian (optionally vegan) recipe to share with you all.

Apple Pumpkin Roasted Butternut Squash Soup {{Baking Bytes}}

I’d been eyeing soups like these for a while but only a few weeks ago bit the bullet and bought an immersion blender. Turns out they are awesome and you should absolutely get one. If it’s not in the budget or cupboard space doesn’t allow, you can make do with a food processor or high-end blender, but for real an immersion blender is the way to go. I ordered mine from Amazon (no I’m not getting paid for this, I just love it) and it is fantastic. I’m sure I’ll be using it often, which is good because I haven’t quite found a cupboard to store it in.

Regardless, soup. Butternut squash is always rampant in the winter but until this year I’d never actually cooked with it. Turns out that like spaghetti squash, it’s an incredibly easy option. After roasting, it’s delicious simply mashed with a little butter and salt and pepper, and even more amazing in more complex recipes like this soup.

Apple Pumpkin Roasted Butternut Squash Soup {{Baking Bytes}}

Squash and pumpkin bolstered slightly with the sweetness of apples are mixed with vegetable stock and spices for a wonderful savory entrée. An optional addition of heavy cream makes it an extra amazing experience but it’s also delicious without. Either way, the slightly sweet vegetables with a little spiciness is an excellent combination. With everything puréed together, the flavors are perfectly blended into a simple course that easy to pair with many sides.

Apple Pumpkin Roasted Butternut Squash Soup {{Baking Bytes}}

This recipe is vegetarian as is, and can be made vegan by omitting the cream or substituting your favorite non-dairy option. If you’re neither of those things, serve with some crumbled bacon for extra flair, or just to appease the carnivores in the family.

Since the oven will already be hot from roasting the squash, a batch of roasted Brussels sprouts makes a perfect side dish to round out a very colorful meal. Even better, this soup reheats nicely either on the stove or in the microwave, which is great for the abundant leftovers I hope you have.

Apple Pumpkin Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

Adapted from Smile Sandwich
Makes about 2 quarts

Ingredients

1 medium to large butternut squash

1 medium onion
2 apples
3 cloves garlic
olive oil

32 oz vegetable (or chicken) stock
1  cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Thyme
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/2 cup cream (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking sheets with foil or a silicon mat.
  2. Cut squash in half (the long way) and remove the seeds. Coat lightly with olive oil and place on baking sheet.
  3. Roast for 40-50 minutes, or until squash is easily pierced with a fork.
  4. Meanwhile, dice onion, apples, and garlic. (I also like to pre-measure my spices into a small cup and then clean up the kitchen at this time, but that’s totally up to you.)
  5. When the squash has about 15 minutes left, heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large pot over medium heat.
  6. Add onion, apple, and garlic and saute until they are softened, about 10 minutes.
  7. Stir in spices, pumpkin puree, and vegetable stock and continue cooking while you finish the squash. (If you pre-cooked your squash, you can just skip straight to step 9.)
  8. When the squash is cooked, remove from oven and carefully scoop out the flesh from the skin. (You may want to wait about ten minutes for them to cool down a little, and/or use a heat-proof glove).
  9. Add squash to the pot, bring soup to a boil, and simmer for about 20 minutes.
  10. Remove from heat and add the cream, if desired. Use an immersion blender to completely puree the soup. Taste and up the spices a little, if desired.
  11. Serve hot with freshly ground pepper on top. Refrigerate leftovers.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Posted by Lindsey @ Baking Bytes in Baking, Side dishes and tagged with ,

And we’re back on schedule! …for now. No promises but I’ll do my best to maintain the bi-weekly posts. I certainly have enough planned it’s just a matter of having enough daylight to work with; it’s a bit of a struggle when I get home from work and it’s already dark.

Excuses aside, this week I have a fantastic and easy side dish you’re sure to love. With a 2-pound bag of Brussels sprouts all to myself,  I knew I needed to eat them right quick. I remembered Pinning a recipe for a roasted version a few weeks ago and thought I would finally give it a try. My main aversion to roasting vegetables is that they often require upwards of half an hour in the oven and I rarely want to wait that long to eat things, but this recipe called for just twenty minutes which seemed like something I could handle.

Garlic Roasted Brussels Sprouts {{Baking Bytes}}

For making these sprouts, the most time-consuming part was trimming and halving them, mainly because I’d already had them a week and they were starting to brown, and also because produce from Costco tends to be gigantic and this batch was no exception. In any case, I tossed them in the oil concoction and put them in the oven, and 25 minutes later had a delicious, healthy, and easy side dish. As a bonus it made enough to last me several days.

IMG_0552

Roasted veggies are much less likely to be bitter and the added seasonings give these a little something extra. Garlic and salt go with pretty much anything and some red pepper flakes add a slight kick. If you’re bigger into the spicy thing, add some more flakes or a dash of cayenne pepper to suit your preferences.

IMG_0556

I enjoyed this recipe even more than anticipated and I hope you do too. An easy recipe that feeds the whole family and even reheats well if you have extras. These went great with the scalloped potatoes from last week and are definitely something I’ll be adding to the dinner rotation. I look forward to trying it with broccoli also – I’m sure it’ll be fantastic.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

Adapted from South Your Mouth
Makes 4-6 servings

Ingredients

2 lbs Brussels sprouts, washed and dry

1/4 cup olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a large baking sheets with a silicon mat or parchment paper. (Not strictly necessary but easier to clean up later.)
  2. Trim sprouts and cut in half if they are larger than about one inch in diameter.
  3. In a large bowl, combine sprouts, oil, garlic, salt, and red pepper flakes. Stir with a rubber spatula until sprouts are well coated with the oil mixture. (This is why the sprouts should be dry.)
  4. Spread in one layer on prepared baking sheet, and bake for 18-25 minutes, until sprouts are tender with some light charring, as desired. The time will vary depending on the size of your sprouts and how you lined your pan, so check every few minutes until you like what you see.
  5. Serve immediately and refrigerate any leftovers.

Veggie Soup

Posted by Lindsey @ Baking Bytes in Entrée and tagged with , , ,

Now that I’ve been back about a week, I’m finally starting to feel back to normal. Three weeks of travel and socializing was pretty rough on this introvert and some peace and quiet over the weekend did a world of good. I got back to baking with pumpkin pie and pumpkin bread, and then figured I should make something for dinner also. With snow in the forecast this week (!) a batch of soup was definitely in order.

Veggie Soup {{Baking Bytes}}

While traveling I ate a ton of delicious but not exactly healthy things, so now that I’m back I’m trying to do a little better in the eating department. While skimming Pinterest (like ya do) I whizzed passed a vegetable soup recipe that looked great. I didn’t really follow it so much as use it as a guideline, but I always appreciate the inspiration. Vegetable stock and spaghetti sauce make a yummy broth filled with whatever veggies suit your fancy. I threw in potatoes, celery (since we had some around), carrots, zucchini, bell pepper, green beans, corn, and peas, but you can easily tailor it to your preferences or to your supplies on hand. Pretty hard to go wrong here so just chop some fresh or throw in some canned/frozen options and you’re good to go.

Veggie Soup {{Baking Bytes}}

I didn’t spice mine a ton, but I did throw in a few. I put some guideline measurements for the beginners but if you’re a practiced soup chef feel free to change them up. Don’t be intimidated by the long ingredients list, it’s a super easy recipe.

This is a great vegetarian option for a cool fall day, and maybe the rest of the week since it makes a ton. If you’re wanting to make it more carnivore-friendly, brown up a pound (more or less) of your favorite ground or diced meat and throw it in when you add the broth. Enjoy!

Veggie Soup {{Baking Bytes}}

Veggie Soup

Inspired by Cooking Classy

Makes a lot (4-5 quarts)

Ingredients

3 Tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
4 stalks celery, chopped
6 medium carrots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced

5 medium potatoes, diced
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 medium zucchini, chopped
2 cans diced tomatoes
24 oz spaghetti sauce
32 oz vegetable stock (low sodium)

2 tsp thyme
2 tsp Italian seasonings
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp chili powder
salt and pepper, to taste

1 cup/can green beans
2 cups frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn
1-2 handfuls fresh spinach

Directions

  1. In a large pot over medium heat, add oil, onion, celery, carrots, and garlic. Saute for 3-4 minutes.
  2. Add potatoes, bell peppers, zucchini, tomatoes (no need to drain), and spaghetti sauce. Gently pour in vegetable stock, add spices, and stir to combine.
  3. Bring to a boil then cover and reduce heat to a simmer and allow to cook until potatoes are soft, about 30 minutes.
  4. Add green beans (drained, if using canned), peas, corn, and spinach, then simmer for another 5 minutes or until ready to eat.
  5. Serve hot, goes great with corn bread!

Zucchini Boats

Posted by Lindsey @ Baking Bytes in Baking, Entrée and tagged with , ,

Hello my lovely readers, hope your August is off to a splendid start. I am heading for a trip home to Alaska on Friday but I wanted to make sure and share with you this fantastic entrée. Perhaps, like me, you’re a bit sugared-out after five straight weeks of ice cream and are looking to “detox” with something sans sugar completely. Well, look no further! A couple of weeks ago I saw a recipe for lasagna zucchini boats on Pinterest, which I thought sounded delicious but also like way too much work. If you’re new here, I am pretty lazy when it comes to making things that don’t qualify as dessert or occasionally breakfast. In any case, I liked the idea of a zucchini base but otherwise similar to my stuffed peppers that I have made previously. I threw together some filling and filled up my zucchini, topping them with cheese of course, and ended up with a pretty fabulous meal.

Zucchini Boats {{Baking Bytes}}

Wild rice, onion, peppers, zucchini, Italian sausage and various spices come together in a lovely blend, complemented perfectly by a zucchini base. The filling is cooked beforehand, so baking them is mainly to soften the zucchini and melt the cheese, if you add it. This recipe is superbly easy to tailor, so you can pump up the heat with more red pepper flakes, or go a completely different route depending on what you have in your cupboard. It also has the pleasant attribute of being able to taste the filling before you finish up the entrée, so you can play with the flavors as you make them.

Zucchini Boats {{Baking Bytes}}

Furthermore, you can easily make them vegetarian by leaving out the meat, and vegan by also ditching the cheese. If you’re a mushroom person (gross), they would also go well in addition to or in lieu of the sausage. And, of course, any other ground meat could be substituted just fine, although you may want to add some additional spices.

Zucchini Boats {{Baking Bytes}}

They also reheat splendidly in the microwave, so it makes for great leftovers if you don’t eat them all the first night, so go buy some zucchini and make these for dinner.

Zucchini Boats
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked rice (I used a wild rice blend)

3 large uniform zucchini
1 bell pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced

1/2 lb Italian sausage (optional)

1 Tbsp Oregano, to taste
1 tsp red pepper flakes, to taste
1 tsp garlic powder, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 cup grated cheese (optional, I used cheddar)

Directions

  1. Cook rice according to directions, set aside.
  2. Trim zucchini to fit in a 9×13″ baking dish (if necessary), then cut lengthwise in half. Hollow out the inside leaving about 1/4″ of zucchini as an edge. (An ice cream scoop works well for this.) Place zucchini in the baking dish and set aside.
  3. Dice zucchini guts, set aside.
  4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  5. In a large frying pan or wok, cook sausage over medium heat until almost done.
  6. Add diced zucchini, bell pepper and onion, and cook an additional few minutes or until the veggies are warmed and a bit softened.
  7. Add spices and stir to combine.
  8. In a large bowl, combine cooked rice and veggies.
  9. Spoon filling into hollowed zucchini (you will likely have leftover filling), then bake for 25 minutes, or until zucchini are easily pierced with a fork.1
  10. Top with grated cheese, if desired, and bake for an addition 3-5 minutes until the cheese is melted, then serve hot.

Notes

1 I had about 2 cups of filling left over. It is great reheated in a tortilla like a burrito, or on its own. Or use it to stuff a couple additional bell peppers.

Tortellini Tomato Soup

Posted by Lindsey @ Baking Bytes in Entrée and tagged with , , , , ,

Guys. Guys. It’s not summer anymore! I need gloves and a hat for my bike ride to work! It’s a miracle! And very convenient because I happened across this soup recipe and it sounded so delightful I made it the next day. I would have made it that same day but I had a Halloween party to attend. I went as two-eyed Leela from Futurama this year.

Leela

Aaaand it’s winter. I wrote this last week and then left for my 6th and final half marathon of the year in Nevada. I got back last night and this morning I woke up to snow. A far cry from the 84 degrees at the finish line. But I got first in my age group! First time ever placing, so that’s fun.

In any case, soup. This one has a chunky tomato base with a hearty dose of tortellini and spinach to switch it up a bit from your average tomato soup recipe. Don’t get me wrong, Pacific Food Roasted Red Pepper & Tomato soup with a side of grilled cheese is one of my go to meals any time of year, but it’s nice to have a homemade option to add to the mix. Even better, this soup has great flavor, is very filling, and is easy to make vegetarian so long as you pick a package of tortellini without meat.

Tortellini Tomato Soup {{Baking Bytes}}

Spaghetti sauce is a key ingredient and flavor in this soup so make sure you pick one you like (or make your own if you’re into that sort of thing.) Adding diced tomatoes, onion, and garlic step it up a notch while the vegetable broth takes it into soup territory. I added a diced red bell pepper as well but that is totally optional. Add several big handfuls of baby spinach and a package of tortellini and you’ve got a quick healthy meal to add to your repertoire.

Tortellini Tomato Soup {{Baking Bytes}}

If you’re in need of a nice warm meal, this one is perfect. Serve with a side of bread (like whole wheat beer bread) or grilled cheese sandwiches for an extra hearty meal. It would also be great topped with a little shredded cheese.

Tortellini Tomato Soup {{Baking Bytes}}

Tortellini Tomato Soup

Adapted from DietHood
Makes about 3.5 quarts

Ingredients

2 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp butter
1 small-medium yellow onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced

2 (14.5oz) cans Italian Diced Tomatoes
4 cups spaghetti sauce

4 cups vegetable broth
salt and pepper, to taste

1 package frozen tortellini1
10 oz fresh baby spinach2

Directions

  1. Over medium heat, heat oil and butter in a large pot until butter is melted.
  2. Add onions, garlic, and bell pepper, and cook for a few minutes, or until onions are soft.
  3. Increase heat to medium-high and add tomatoes and sauce. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally.
  4. Stir in vegetable broth and return to a boil.
  5. Add salt and pepper to taste, if desired.
  6. Add tortellini and spinach and continue cooking until tortellini is done (check your package instructions), about 10 minutes.
  7. Serve hot and refrigerate or freeze any leftovers.3

Notes

1 The original recipe called for 10 oz of tortellini, but I like a lot of pasta and the package I on hand was 20 oz so that’s what I used. Anything in that range would be great.

2 I buy spinach at Costco in the giant containers so I just added several large handfuls. Add more or less to suit your tastes.

3 It reheats great but it’s definitely thicker the next day (especially if you put in lots of pasta like I did because that is what soaks up the liquid.) If it doesn’t seem soupy enough, add a little water when you microwave it.