Vegan Veggie Pita Pockets

Kids will eat just about anything if you hide it in a pita pocket! For even more fun, let them fill the pocket after you have put the ingredients together. Here are some ideas: 1. Hummus (my recipe is on another post) with fresh bean or alfalfa sprouts. 2. Pleasing Purple Pockets: purple cabbage-shredded, grated carrots, finely chopped walnuts, raisins (drizzle a small amount of low fat poppy seed dressing on it) 3. Almond butter mixed with a small amount of honey 4. White beans cooked with grated carrots and seasoned with parsley, basil, sage. Skim off the liquid and put just the beans and carrots in.

Vegetarian Matzo Ball Soup

This is vegetarian but not vegan, because the matzo balls won't hold together using an egg replacer, this recipe has eggs. Put distilled water into a pan that you would normally use for soup, or a bigger one if you are bringing to it to a Passover Seder. Bring the water to a boil. Add some parsley, enough to have it spread over the top of the water. Add some McKay's non-chicken broth powder and stir. Taste it after the broth has mixed with the parsley. Add more until it tastes like chicken soup (yes, it will taste like chicken soup even though it's only herbs!) Make matzo balls according to the recipe on the box. I used half as much oil to cut down on my oil consumption. Let the matzo sit in the fridge for about 20 minutes then form into 1" balls and drop into boiling (be sure it's boiling) non-chicken soup. Let the matzo balls cook for a while, depends on how big your pan is. Take out one and taste to see if the center is kind of rubbery and the outside is soft. When it's like that, it's done. See how much tasting you get to do?

Vegan Red Beans and Brown Rice

I had some red beans left from my chili making day, and I used them along with brown basmati to make this adaptation of red beans and rice. When I served it, I added some salsa for more zing! Adapted from Alex Caspero INGREDIENTS • 2 15 oz. cans red beans, drained and rinsed, or 2 cups rehydrated dry red beans • 1 cup finely chopped onion • 1 cup chopped green pepper • 1 cup chopped celery • 2 tsp. dried thyme • 3 cloves garlic, minced • 2⅓ cups McKay’s non-chicken broth • 1 bay leaf • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper • 1 cup cooked brown basmati rice INSTRUCTIONS 1. Place the red beans, onion, green pepper, celery, thyme, garlic, McKay’s broth, bay leaf, smoked paprika and cayenne pepper in a slow cooker and cook on low for 4-5 hours. 2. Stir in the rice, pinch of salt and pepper, and increase heat to high and cook for 1-2 hours depending on the rice you use (see notes). NOTES Depending on the type of rice you use, it should cook in 1-2 hours on high. I used a brown basmati and precooked it in my rice cooker. Brown rice should take roughly 2 hours in the slow cooker. If you decide that you don't want to add the rice into the slow cooker, reduce the liquid to 1 cup and cook rice on its own.