Hearty Mexican Stew with Seitan Sausage

This past weekend brought my second attempt at homemade seitan. This time I chose a recipe by the famous Vegan cookbook author Isa Chandra Moskowitz. The recipe is called Simple Italian Sausages and my results were, well, just okay. Nothing to write home about, or really blog about for that matter. The texture was fine, but I think I was expecting to be "wowed" by incredible sausagey flavors. It didn't happen for me.

But on Sunday afternoon I felt like making a stew. And I knew that almost any seitan, even this one, would be great in a stew. Cut into chunks, it gives a vegetable/bean stew that meaty texture that is so rare in Vegan cooking.

I had just gotten some huge sweet potatoes in my vegetable share that I was itching to use, and along with black beans and some Mexican seasonings, I prepared a quick Mexican Stew that was totally delicious. This recipe makes quite a lot, so it's great for a crowd or sharing with your friends.

Coincidentally, Debby over at happyhealthylonglife.com was just talking about a fabulous new faux sausage product that she discovered when travelling. It's made by Upton's Naturals and it's called Chorizo Seitan.

photo courtesy uptonsnaturals.com

If you have access to this product, I highly recommend making this stew and using Upton's Chorizo. You can find out if it is sold near you by visiting their website. Unfortunately, it's not sold in Cleveland yet. Yet. I'll have to work on that!

Hearty Mexican Stew with Seitan Sausage
serves 10

Print me!

3 cups diced yellow onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
8 1/2 cups vegetable broth, divided
8 cups peeled and diced sweet potato (3 large sweet potatoes)
1 Tbsp ground cumin
up to 1 Tbsp ground chipotle chili power
3 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 can fat free refried black beans
1 recipe Seitan Sausage, cubed OR 2 packages Uptons Naturals Chorizo-style Seitan
1 large bunch kale, sliced into ribbons about 1/2" thick
juice of 1 large lime
1 Tbsp salt (or not)
optional: cilantro to garnish

Prepare seitan sausages according to recipe if you do not have packages of Upton's Seitan Chorizo.

Coat to base of a large soup pot with 1/4 cup of vegetable broth. Turn heat to medium high. When vegetable broth begins to bubble, add onion. Cook onion, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes.

Turn heat to medium low and add garlic. Stir and cook for 3 minutes.

Add sweet potato and 1/4 cup of vegetable broth. Stir. Add cumin and chipotle chili powder. Add less chili powder if you like your food less spicy (the full 1 Tbsp of chipotle chili powder will make this quite spicy). Stir to coat onions and potatoes. Cover, turn heat to medium high, and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occassionally.

Add 8 cups of vegetable broth, all of the black beans, and the refried black beans. Bring to a boil, stirring gently until the refried beans have dissolved.

Add kale and stir. Lower heat to low and cook for about 2 minutes, until kale softens.

Add lime juice and season to taste with salt. Serve immediately or keep over very low heat until ready to serve. Garnish with chopped cilantro.

Have you tried any of the Upton's Naturals Seitan products?


Have you ever made a homemade Chorizo Seitan? If you know of a kick a$# recipe for that, please let me know!

Jill's Hit It Out of the Ballpark Recipe

I don't know about you, but I had an energetic weekend full of cooking, organizing, and socializing. Until my head hit the pillow each night, I don't think I sat down on Saturday or Sunday for a minute! Except for when I was blogging and responding to comments on this post, I guess I sat down then.


An when I was on Facebook. I sat down then too. In fact, someone on FB this weekend asked me if I knew of any real entrees that didn't include tofu. I immediately thought of this recipe that I knew I would be posting soon. It comes from HGK contributor Jill, and here's what she has to say about it:


"I was looking to make a hearty dish for a cold winter night. Since Shepard's Pie is typically lamb  (hence the name  Shepard) I thought it was more appropriate to call it Farmer's Pie. Chock full of lentils and veggies and topped with sweet potatoes, it  blends savory and sweet in a perfectly delicious way. I made it for a group of people (all foodies) who devoured it. My  husband loved it too. He said that it was absolutely his favorite dinner ever! It's now officially  in my regular rotation. Very easy to make!"


I was one of the so-called-foodies that tasted the Farmer's Pie and I can vouch for Jill's enthusiasm about it. It's a winner! Of course, I would double all of the ingredients (except for the maple syrup) and bake it into a 9"x13" casserole.


Jill's Shepherd's Farmer's Pie
serves 6

Printable Recipe

Top layer:

2 12.75 ounce cans sweet potatoes (vacuum packed such as Taylor�s brand)

1/4 cup almond milk

3 T maple syrup

Bottom layer:

Frozen apple juice concentrate for saut�ing

1 cup diced onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

8 ounces mushrooms, sliced

10 ounces peas, fresh or thawed

1 package Trader Joes pre-cooked vacuum sealed lentils (or about 2 � cups cooked lentils)

* If using canned lentils, drain and rinse before cooking

� cup red wine

2 T low sodium tamari

� tsp thyme

1 tsp oregano

8-10 ounces baby spinach

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Using a hand mixer, blend sweet potatoes, almond milk and maple syrup until smooth. Set aside.

Saut� onion on medium heat in a little frozen apple juice concentrate until soft, about 8 minutes. Add garlic and mushrooms and saut� another 5 minutes.

Add peas, lentils, wine, tamari, thyme and oregano. Mix well. Simmer about 8 minutes.

Add spinach in batches until it is wilted.

Spray the bottom of an 11 x 7 or 8 x 8 Pyrex dish.  Pour lentil mixture into pan. Spread sweet potatoes on top of lentils. Bake 35 minutes.

Links for Latkas

For all of us celebrating Hannukah, and even for those of us who just have a love of potato pancakes, the internet is buzzing right now with healtier/veganized recipes of latkas. I thought I would provide you with a few links to get you started, in case you were wondering what the heck you were going to do this year while your family was chowing down on those greasy mofos.

And speaking of those greasy potato pancakes, I've got a sad story to tell you. Chris-anna, my friend, business partner and frequent contributor to HGK, decided to partake in 3 of said greasy mofos last year at a Hannukah party after having eaten mostly no-oil, vegan, nutritarian food for over a year. And this is a chick who loves her french fries.

Within 15 minutes she was laid up in her bed for the rest of the day with what we now affectionately call "the latka induced migraine."

Don't go there folks. Make these instead:

Carrot Parsnip Pancakes

Melody Pakow's Healthy Latkas

Ann Parkin's No-oil Latkas

The Shannon's Baked Latkas

Scallion Ginger Latkas

I know what you are thinking. The whole purpose of eating fried latkas on Hanukkah is to commemorate the miracle of the burning of the OIL in the temple for eight days. But you know what, I can celebrate in other ways, and I'll feel a whole lot better for it.

Traditional latkas are made with potatoes and onions, but I love a pancake made with any root vegetable and there are lots of creative combinations out there. Do you have another vegan, baked latka recipe to contribute to the list? Please leave any ideas in the comments section. Thanks!

For a complete listing of ideas for a vegan Hannukah menu, see this post from Marla Rose.

Quinny's Sri Lankan Kale with Black Beans and Sweet Potatoes

Amazing response to the last post on the hyper flavoring of processed food. I love it when we get all riled up! I've got another zinger ready to post, but before I did that I wanted to tell you about our dinner this evening.

It all stared with Susan Voisin of Fat Free Vegan's release of her Sri Lankan Kale recipe. My friend and Plant-strong buddy Quinn and I made it and liked it. A lot. But a few short weeks later, Quinn came prancing into my house talking about how she made some key additions to Susan's recipe and really hit it out of the ballpark.

And this is coming from a woman who, 5 years ago when I first met her, considered a bowl of cold cereal dinner and never cooked. Ever. At least that's the story she told.

Based on how she reworked this recipe, I think she was lying.

Holy mother of all good things. This is a keeper.

I decided to double the recipe, 'cause that's how I roll. My husband, daughter and I finished off the entire huge pot in one dinner.

Guess I'll have to make this again next week.

Quinny's Sri Lankan Kale with Black Beans and Sweet Potatoes
serves 2

Printable Recipe

1 med (red or white or yellow) onion, chopped

1-2 hot chili peppers, seeded and chopped OR hot chili flakes to taste

12 oz kale (or other greens), stems removed and thinly sliced

2 med-lg sweet potatoes, cut into approximately 1"cubes

1/4 tsp ground cumin

generous grating black pepper

1/2 cup shredded coconut (I used the partially defatted version)

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

juice of 1 lime

salt to taste

In low sodium vegetable broth or water, saute onions and chili peppers/chili pepper flakes until soft. Add cumin and stir.

Add sweet potatoes and cook, stirring frequently, on med high heat until the potatoes begin to soften some, but not turn to mush, approximately 10 minutes.

Add kale and splash of broth, along with black pepper. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until kale is wilted but bright green, approx 5 minutes.

Add coconut, black beans, lime juice and about 1/4 cup of vegetable broth if mix is dry. Heat through. Add salt to taste. Serve immediately and wish you had made more.

Winner Announced and Sweet Potato and Kale Quesadillas

Thanks to all 136 of you who entered the Super Immunity Giveaway--a record number of entries for an HGK contest. My new friend, the random number generator, says that

#47 is the winner. Congratulations to Trish who answered "Flax and/or chia seeds. I can't start my day without one of them - in a smoothie or on top of my oatmeal." Please contact me at healthygirlskitchen@gmail.com with your full name and address.

Contests are really fun for me. I get to hear from a ton of readers who normally stay behind the scenes. Almost as much fun as making dinner with items commonly found in my pantry, freezer and fridge. No trip to the supermarket necessary! Here's what was going on at HGK for the past two nights:

HGK's Sweet Potato and Kale Quesadillas
serves 6

Printable Recipe

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and large diced
vegetable broth for sauteing
1 large yellow onion, diced small
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 cup frozen corn, optional: fire roasted corn
1/2 cup of your favorite salsa (the spice level you like)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1 15 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed
4 packed cups (or more) chopped kale
hot sauce (or not)
salt (or not) or salt free seasoning
12 small whole wheat tortillas
optional: Daiya or other vegan cheddar cheese

Place diced sweet potato in a small pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about 15 minutes. Check if potatoes are tender. When cooked, drain sweet potatoes.

While potatoes are cooking, heat about 1/4 cup vegetable broth in a large pan over medium heat. When broth begins to bubble, add onions and cook, stirring frequently, for eight minutes or until onions are translucent. Lower heat and add more broth if onions begin to burn. Add garlic and stir.

Add corn and cook for another 5 minutes. Add salsa, cinnamon, cumin and chili powder. Stir. Add kale and stir. Cover pot and cook for 8 minutes, stirring frequently. Kale should be tender.

Add black beans and stir.

Drain potatoes and throw into the pot. Using a potato masher or the back of a large fork, mash potatoes. Stir with kale and bean mixture to incorporate everything. Taste and add salt if you must! Remove from heat.

Place a separate large saute pan over medium heat. Place one tortilla in pan. Dollop kale/bean/potato mixture onto the middle of the tortilla and mash down, covering all but the outer edge of the tortilla. Optional: Sprinkle with vegan cheddar cheese. Place a second tortilla on top and, with the back of a spatula, compress the quesadilla. After a few minutes, flip the quesadilla and crisp the second side. Remove from the pan and slice into 6 triangles (a pizza cutter works well for this step).

Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. Just like a quesadilla should be, only without all that fat! Plus the added bonus of kale. How perfect is that?

Super Immunity Sneak Preview #2: Swiss Chard and Sweet Potato Gratin, Raw Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad

I'm going to let you in on a little secret that I learned while working my way through Dr. Fuhrman's Super Immunity:

"All vegetables contain protective micronutrients and phytochemicals, but cruciferous vegetables have a unique chemical composition: they have sulfur-containing compounds that are responsible for their pungent or bitter flavors. When their cell walls are broken by blending or chopping, a chemical reaction occurs that converts these sulfur-containing compounds into isothiocyanates (ITCs)--an array of compounds with proven and powerful immune-boosting effects and anticancer activity."

Think cold viruses. Think flu viruses. Think bacterial infections. Think resistance.

Think "a 20 percent increase in cruciferous vegetable intake corresponds to a 40 percent decrease in cancer rates."

So now you are probably wondering exactly which vegetables are the cruciferous vegetables? Lucky for us, Dr. F lists them out:

arugula
bok choy
broccoli
broccoli rabe
broccolini
Brussels sprouts
cabbage
cauliflower
collards
horseradish
kale
kohlrabi
mustard greens
radishes
red cabbage
turnip greens
watercress

But to get the incredible benefits, it's not enough just to eat these cruciferous vegetables. You've got to eat them RAW. And either well chewed, chopped or blended. For an explanation of why, well, you're just going to have to get a copy of Super Immunity and find out for yourself.

But am I the only one who has a hard time chewing all of those raw cruciferous vegetables?

That's why when I saw that Gena at Choosing Raw had featured a raw chopped broccoli and cauliflower salad with a creamy asian dressing, I jumped on it. The original Creamy Asian Dressing called for one cup of olive oil. I figured I'd give it a shot by substituting almonds and increasing the amount of water. The results were stupendous. A sweet, creamy, and satisfying salad dressing. This would be great served at a pot luck.

Printable Recipe

Creamy Asian Dressing Redux

makes 2 1/4 cups

1 inch fresh ginger, peeled

1/2 cup raw almonds

2 tsp toasted sesame oil

juice of one lime (2+ Tbsp, and you could even use more)

4 Tbsp mellow white miso

6 dates pitted or 1/4 cup maple syrup

2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce or Tamari or Nama Shoyu

1 cup water

Place all ingredients into a blender or food processor and blend until creamy.

Raw Broccoli and Cauliflower Salad with Creamy Asian Dressing Redux

serves 4

3 heaping cups broccoli florets

3 heaping cups cauliflower florets
1 small or 1/2 large red bell pepper, finely diced
1/3 cup currants, raisins or goji berries

Finely chop broccoli and cauliflower florets (using a chef's knife makes this really easy and fun). Transfer to a large bowl.

Add chopped bell pepper and currants, raisins or goji berries.

Dress to taste with creamy Asian dressing. (I used 1/2 of the 2 1/4 cups from the recipe. Save the rest for a Hugh Jass green salad!) Finish with a squeeze of lime.

And because I couldn't resist the Swiss Chard and Sweet Potato Gratin recipe from Super Immunity, here it is. It was fantastic, my husband and 11-year-old daughter agreed.

Swiss Chard and Sweet Potato Gratin

based on a recipe from Dr. Fuhrman and Super Immunity

Serves: 6

Printable Recipe

1 teaspoon chopped or grated fresh ginger

1 medium onion, finely chopped

8 cups Swiss chard, stems removed, finely chopped

3 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled, sliced on the diagonal, 1/8 inch thick

8 ounces tempeh, completely crumbled

2 cups unsweetened hemp, soy or almond milk

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 cup non-dairy mozzarella cheese

2 tablespoons flax or hemp seeds, toasted

Preheat oven to 400 F. Spray a 9 X 13 baking dish with cooking spray.

Heat 1/8 cup low sodium vegetable broth in a large pan and "water saute" ginger and onion until softened. Add Swiss chard and cook until just tender (do not overcook chard).

Arrange one third sliced sweet potatoes on bottom of prepared baking dish. Place one half of Swiss chard mixture and then one half of crumbled tempeh on top. Arrange another one third sweet potato slices and Swiss chard and tempeh, followed by remaining sweet potato. 

Combine milk, nutmeg and black pepper. Pour over dish. Cover with foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove foil, top with non-dairy mozzarella cheese and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Sprinkle with toasted flax or hemp seeds.

Intrigued? You can pre-order Super Immunity on Amazon. Here's the link:


Do you eat raw cruciferous vegetables daily? How do you do it? What are your favorite ways?

If not, will you consider it now?

I'm "Cookin' with Gas!" and a Recipe

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Sweet Potato, Black Bean and Kale Enchiladas with Green Tomatillo Salsa
"They're not good, they're GREAT!"
-Marv Solganik

?My kitchen renovation is finished (well, almost, but it's nothing that's stopping me from cooking like mad and having parties). Thank you to all of the wonderful HGK readers who stuck with me through my recipe dry spell. You won't be disappointed! I am on the warpath.
I love the sound of  gas igniting a burner. That's probably because I have been cooking with electric for the past 4 years. And most of the 7 years before that. So it's been mostly electric for over a decade. Why? Control. With electric, you have little control over the heat. With gas, you have a lot. Plus, a roasted marshmallow every now and then couldn't hurt anyone, could it?

I have been spending every spare minute I have in my kitchen. I almost feel like I have to give it a nickname. It's definitely a "she." She is very feminine, really. Classic. Retro. Large. With an industrial element. So I need a name that reflects all of those qualities. Got any ideas?

I'm loving it that I can spread out and still have my kids and neighbors hanging out with me and having dinner. What an incredible luxury! I feel very blessed.

So what was the first thing that I whipped up in Bessie (if that's what we are going to call her . . . I'm not sure)? A recipe inspired by Gena Hamshaw at Choosing Raw, of course! As many of you know, it is rare that I create an original recipe. What I am really good at is tweaking recipes to fit within the Nutritarian framework, or at least be as Nutritarian as I can get them to be. I love the brilliance of adding Blackstrap Mollasses to vegan enchiladas in Gena's recipe. It's a great source of iron and as all of us Nutritarian's know, iron is something we should keep an eye on. And vegan enchiladas are hearty, crowd pleasing dishes. You really can't go wrong with that.

Sweet Potato, Black Bean and Kale Enchiladas with Green Tomatillo Salsa
Inspired by this recipe by Gena Hamshaw
Serves 8-16, depending on how much other food you are serving!

Printable Recipe

2 jars green tomatillo salsa (at least 20 oz. total)
5 large sweet potatoes (or 8 regular ones), peeled and cut into large cubes
1 large yellow onion
2 8 oz. packages sliced mushrooms
4 packed cups chopped kale (you could even use more)
2 cans black beans, or 4 cups freshly cooked
6 tbsp blackstrap molasses
2 tbsp tahini or almond butter (optional, but makes the filling nice and creamy)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
4 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp salt (to taste)
2 tsp cumin
4 tsp chili powder
Black pepper to taste
8 large whole grain tortillas (with sides trimmed off) or 12 small corn tortillas
1 cup or so Daiya pepperjack or cheddar cheese (optional)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil a large pot of salted water, and add the sweet potatoes. Cook till they�re fork tender, and drain. Transfer to a very large bowl.

Saute onion with a few tablespoons of vegetable broth. Add broth as needed during saute process. When they�re tender and light brown, add the mushrooms and kale and stir. Cook, stirring frequently, until kale is tender.

Mash sweet potatoes, but leave them a little chunky.  Add cilantro, black beans, molasses, tahini or almond butter (if using), lime juice, salt, cumin, chili powder, and black pepper, and stir.

Coat the bottom of a 9x13 casserole dish with tomatillo salsa.

Assemble your enchiladas by rolling about 1/8 of the filling into each of your large tortillas (adjust proportions if using small corn tortillas) and laying them side by side into the baking dish. Cover them with the rest of the the tomatillo salsa (they�s supposed to be smothered).

Bake for about 30 minutes. Remove from oven and sprinkle with cheese. Return to oven and bake until cheese has melted and enchiladas are hot (if you make the enchiladas ahead and refrigerate them before baking, you�ll need to bake them for at least 45-60 minutes before the cheese step).

So what do you think would be a good name for my kitchen?