Month: March 2021

I’m working on building a repertoire of recipes that my more junk-food-vegan leaning husband loves and that fit in with my unprocessed preferences. They tend to take a little more effort, but are as delicious as junk food while also being healthy.

This recipe is our favorite hybrid so far. (In case you can’t tell, I generally only share my favorite recipes with y’all!)

It’s a southern-inspired feast that has 3 parts, and they go SO well together. It takes me about two hours to make, which isn’t bad given it results in 5 nights’ worth of dinner for two–and given it tastes as good as our favorite restaurant food and is packed full of veggies & beans. It also happens to be low fat, with the only overt fat being some cashews in the sauce.

Want to make it fat-free, and skip the macaroni? Try the baked beans + kale over a baked potato. That was actually the original version of this recipe for us!

(This recipe is for a bulk amount because feeding my 6’6″ bodybuilding husband with low-calorie-density food requires a LOT of food.)

Serves 8-12

Baked beans

Ingredients:

• 1 medium-large yellow onion, chopped
• 4 cloves minced garlic
• 3/4 cup ketchup
• 1/2 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
• 2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• Pinch of allspice
• 4 cans navy beans, rinsed

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Add onion to a pot over medium-high heat, and saute for a few minutes until they start to get translucent. Add garlic and saute for a few more minutes.
2. Turn off the heat, and add the rest of the ingredients to the pot and stir until well combined. Pour mixture into a 13×9″ pan, cover with tinfoil, and bake for 45 minutes.

Cheese sauce

Ingredients:

• 2 cups roughly chopped gold potatoes
• 1/2 cup chopped carrots
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup raw cashews
• 1/2 cup unsweetened nondairy milk (I use soy)
• 1 cup water
• 2 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1.5 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• Dash of cayenne (optional)

Directions:

1. Boil the potatoes, carrots, and onion until tender.
2. Combine all the ingredients in a blender, and blend until smooth. Add more salt and lemon to taste.

Pasta & Kale

Ingredients:

• 24oz dry macaroni, cooked according to package directions
• 32oz frozen kale (or use raw kale that is about 32oz when cooked)
• 5 large cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tsp salt, to taste

Directions:

1. Add the kale and garlic to a pot over medium heat. Saute, stirring regularly, until the kale is tender. Add lemon juice and salt to taste.
2. Make the final bowl: put the macaroni in a bowl, top with cheese sauce, then baked beans, then kale, and enjoy! (And, possibly, become as addicted to it as we are)