7 More Gluten-Free Vegan Dinners!

Hey everyone, I hope you had a fun, relaxing, and enjoyable Christmas! B and I sure did, it was pretty low-key and we basically just got a ton of fun stuff for Avery! We are super-excited for next year when she will be here with us! Anyways, awhile back I posted 7 Gluten-Free Vegan Dinners that I have in my "cooking rotation" and now it's time for 7 more! These are some of my tried and true classics, and many of them are vegan versions of traditional comfort food (sloppy joes, meatballs, and meatloaf just to name a few). And as I mentioned before in the other post, I am not able to post the exact recipe for some of these (since that would be breaking the author's copyright) but I can at least tell you where you can find the recipe (most often in vegan/gluten-free cookbooks). If you want to learn more about how I balance my food for the day, be sure to check out that original post. Time to move on to the recipes!

Bean and Quinoa Chili
Bean & Quinoa Chili
So this is one of my favorite meals, not only because it tastes good, but because of how good it is for you! Quinoa is a super-grain in how it is one of the highest protein grains, so it's perfect for vegetarians and vegans. I talk more about it on this post from awhile back. Either way, this is a perfect chili for those cold wintery nights! It also makes a great item to take to family get-togethers as many of our meat-loving extended family enjoyed snacking on it this Christmas! I got the recipe from the book: Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Cooking by Susan O'Brien on page 132. How you make it is saute a variety of peppers, onions, carrots, and tomatoes, add some beans, then quinoa…done! Here’s my modifications to the recipe (sorry I couldn't find it online, so you will have to check the book out from the library): -only do 1 can of black beans (or if you’re using dry beans…the “green” way to go… then all you need is a ½ cup dry), the recipe calls for 2 cans, and that was just a little too much beans for us! One of our favorite ways to eat this is to dip corn tortilla chips in it, like a bean dip. You could also put it on a tortilla shell. Delicious!

So good with corn tortilla chips!

Meatless Meatloaf and Mashed Sweet Potatoes
I discovered this recipe around Thanksgiving and it served as a great alternative for us when everyone else was eating carcass (I mean turkey…hehe!) No really, it hit the spot of “warming-comfort food” that is truly appreciated during the holiday season. The recipe originally came from Susan O’Brien’s The Gluten-Free Vegan and it was called, “No-Meat Meatballs”. I found it on this website and I modified it just a tiny bit more. Ask my husband or brother (a recently converted vegetarian...go Andrew!), and it’s best with mashed potatoes (as the author on the website mentions).
Click here for step-by-step pictures of the recipe.



Sloppy Joes
This next recipe comes from a book that really got the "vegan" ball rolling for me...Skinny Bitch by Kim Barnioun and Rory Freedman. This recipe actually comes from their book Skinny Bitch in the Kitch: Kick-Ass Recipes for Girls Who Want to Stop Cooking Crap (and Start Looking Hot!) which gives some spunk to any boring vegan meals you've had in the past. Granted, this cookbook tends to rely a lot on soy-based meat and cheese alternatives, but nonetheless, there are still some creative and yummy recipes in here that are great in moderation. Now despite much Googling, I was unable to find any info on it online, so I'm afraid you will have to check the book out from the library. Basically the "meat" is made up of green peppers, celery, onions, mushrooms, tomato sauce, Bragg's Liquid Aminos, ketchup, and textured vegetable protein (or TVP as most people call it). To make this gluten I put my sloppy joe on Rudi's Multi-Grain Gluten-Free bread, and I love having it with these delicious Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Chips! Yum!

Potato, Corn and Black Bean Stew
This awesome wintery-soup comes from the book Vegan with Venegenance by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and was originally called, "Chipotle, Corn, and Black Bean Stew" and I changed it because when I first made it I couldn't find any chipolte peppers, so I switched it out for a roasted red pepper and tweaked the name...because I love the potato chunks in it!  Luckily I was able to to find it for you online at this website. A tip I've found is that sometimes it may seem a little bland tasting and instead of pouring tons of salt on it, you could try using lime juice...I've found it gives it a nice spunk in flavor that salt usually helps with. Lately I've tried adding some powdered chipotle powder in it now to give it a nice little kick .Enjoy this on a cold winter night...and with some organic tortilla chips (can you tell I like to have these chips with a lot of my Mexican soups?!).

Chickpea and Sweet Potato Stew
So this is one delicious soup that was originally printed in my local newspaper and although it seems like an odd combo of ingredients...they combine really well! Who would have thought...cinnamon, cumin, sweet potatoes, and chickpeas, but trust me, it's great! I was lucky enough to find the recipe here on this website as created by Beverly Mills.

Chickpea & Sweet Potato Stew


 
Spaghetti and Beanballs 
Spaghetti is one of my favorite meals and when I first saw this recipe in the book The Vegetarian Mother's Cookbook by Cathe Olson, I was taken back by the title: "Beanballs". It sounds a little strange, but it tastes great and it gives you some good protein (without having to have a Mexican meal). Luckily, I was able to find a copy of this recipe posted on this blog. But I have made my own tweaks to it to make it gluten-free and Italian-style. So instead of 1 slice of whole grain bread I use 2 gluten-free (plain/natural flavor) waffles. I will toast them and tear them into bread crumbs. Here is the brand I like to use. Another modification I make is that I sometimes omit the parsley as it can be a bit strong if you're not careful...so add it to suit your own taste. To make them more Italian, I follow the recipes recommendation of adding the following: 1 Tbs. dried oregano, 1 Tbs. dried basil, 1 Tbs. garlic salt, and 2 Tbs. spaghetti sauce. I then blend all of these ingredients together in the food processor and then roll into 1 inch balls (you could go bigger or smaller) and place them on a baking sheet. Here's my cooking times (different from the recipe): Cook for 15-20 minutes at 375 degrees, then rotate and cook for another 10-15 minutes. Next take them out of the oven and add more spaghetti sauce on top of them. You can vary the cooking time depending upon if you like them softer or more crispy...it's up to you. I then made up a batch of Tinkyada pasta (my favorite gluten-free pasta) and some organic spaghetti sauce and topped it with these awesome beanballs. ( :


So I hope that has given you some yummy gluten-free, vegan dinner ideas that you could try out. Feel free to modify or change any of the ingredients to suit your taste or dietary needs, I know I like to treat recipes as a starting point and from there I get to be creative, so have fun! If you try one of the recipes, leave me some feedback below I'd love to hear what you thought! ( :