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Vegan Recipes
for Special Occasions

Mediterranean Red Lentil Soup
Mediterranean Red Lentil Soup
Curried Chickpeas
Curried Chickpeas and Broccoli (Chana Masala)
Black Bean and Fennel Salad
Fennel and Black Bean Salad
Veggie Chicken with Tomato Cream Sauce
Veggie Chicken with Tomato Cream Sauce
Crazy Vegan Black Bean Pizza
Crazy Vegan Black Bean Pizza
Garlic Lover's Tomato Penne
Garlic Lover's Tomato Penne
Chinese Burritos
Chinese Burritos
Tomato Rice Tart
Tomato Rice Tart

Tomato Rice Casserole
Tomato Rice Casserole

Orange Ginger Duck
Orange Ginger Duck

Savory Roasted Potatoes
Savory Roasted Potatoes

Spicy Roasted Portabellas
Spicy Roasted Portabellas

How to Cook Legumes

Cooking legumes from scratch rather than using canned beans is cheaper and better for the environment because there is less packaging. I also find they taste better, and that making a large batch to store in the freezer is very convenient.

There are so many things you can do with cooked legumes, from making soups, stews, and curries, to dips, pates, and burgers.

Variety of Legumes

There are many varieties of legumes. Above is just a sampling. From the top center going clockwise, I have Black Turtle Beans, also know as Blackbeans, Brown Lentils, Red Lentils, White Beans, and Chickpeas.

Cooking legumes is a very simple process but it is most efficient to set aside some time on the weekend and cook a couple of different batches at once.

The first step is to thoroughly wash your beans to remove any debris. Put them in a large colander or rice strainer and rinse under cold water.

Rinsing Chickpeas

Put the rinsed beans in a large stock pot and cover them with cold water to about three inches above the beans. You can let them soak over night if you wish and cook them the next day. A quicker method is to bring them to a boil, let them simmer for five minutes, remove them from the heat, and let them sit for at least one hour. This will allow them to absorb most of the water and lesson the cooking time.

After the beans have soaked you need to rinse them one more time. Return them to the pot and add more cold water to cover them to at least three inches above the beans. Make sure to allow enough room in the pot that it won't boil over. If you are going to add salt, do not do it until the end of the cooking process, or your beans will be tough.

Soaking Blackbeans

Bring the water to a boil and simmer with the lid on until your beans are tender. The time will vary depending on the size of the bean. I find that chickpeas take about 45 minutes to an hour. You do not have to pre-soak lentils.

When tender, remove your legumes from the heat and let them cool in their broth. Otherwise they will dry out when you store them in the freezer.

When they are cool, drain well and put them in conveniently sized containers in the freezer. Two cup servings work well for the two of us. Then you can thaw them briefly in the microwave. They will be handy for salads, stews, dips, or whatever you need.

Cooking Chickpeas

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Vegan Recipes for Special Occasions is available as a handy ebook with added recipes!

Vegan Recipes for Special Occasions Ebook

See descriptions of my two novels below.

Ping

A beautiful young woman recovering from a terrible plague fears she is the only person left alive on earth.

Stranded alone until spring with no means of communication, she begins to believe a child is contacting her telepathically.

In a traumatic search to find him she runs into an attractive man with a dark and secretive past.

Swayed by his insistence that her telepathy is imagined and that they must begin to repopulate the earth immediately, Kate is torn between Jack and her gut feeling the voices are real.

The second book in the series is now available.

Ping

The few survivors—preoccupied with their struggles to raise healthy children and preserve what they can of civilization—are unaware that eight-year-old Travis has a dangerous plan that will ultimately change their world in ways they could never have imagined.

About Me

About Me


Crazy Vegan Black Bean Pizza
Crazy Vegan Black Bean Pizza

Valentine Cake
Valentine Cake

Chocolate Nanaimo Bars
Chocolate Nanaimo Bars

Chocolate Coconut Balls
Chocolate Coconut Balls