Dinner Archives - Lauren Kretzer

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Moroccan Vegetable Tagine

Dinner

Moroccan Vegetable Tagine

Butternut Squash Shells and Cheese

Dinner

Butternut Squash Shells and Cheese

Chickpea and Chard Shakshuka

Dinner

Chickpea and Chard Shakshuka

Campanelle with Spinach Macadamia Pesto

Dinner

Campanelle with Spinach Macadamia Pesto

I’m often asked what I cook for my family when I

I’m often asked what I cook for my family when I’m short on time and tacos are always at the top of the list! The ingredients vary, but I almost always have black beans and avocado involved, because it makes the tacos substantial and satisfying...plus I know my girls will always eat beans and avocado even when the rest of the ingredients are unceremoniously rejected.
Here are two of my best taco tips:
1. As much as I like making beans from scratch, I don’t always have the time. So I take a regular can, rinse and drain. In a small pot, sauté 1-2 cloves minced garlic in oil. Add the drained beans. Add maybe 1/2-3/4 c water and season with some bouillon (or not, that’s fine). Salt, bay leaf, oregano, coriander. Let it simmer for 10 minutes. Add a splash of red wine vinegar. Boom, best black beans ever.
2. You are doing your taco experience a major disservice if you aren’t toasting your tortillas, especially if you have a gas range. Light a burner and take a tortilla, throw it directly on the grate, let it bubble and char for a few seconds, flip with tongs, repeat. You will never stand for another non-toasted tortilla again! If you have induction/electric, throw that tortilla into a hot cast iron pan for a minute or two, flip, repeat.
#tacotuesday #familydinner #feedingafamily #easyvegandinner #blackbeans #tortillas #taconight #feedfeedvegan #f52grams

Just your daily reminder to eat your greens! The

Just your daily reminder to eat your greens!
The more I eat them, the more I crave them. To me, it’s not a meal without them 😋
The health benefits of greens are literally too long to list here - if you’ve got a health condition, minor to life threatening, greens can help prevent, improve or even reverse what ails you. I wilt them into soups, eat them raw in salads and slaws, toss them into pastas, stir fries and curries, top sandwiches with them, blend them into smoothies... eat them from morning til night and your body will thank you. 🥬 🥗 🌱
#eatyourgreens #darkleafygreens #eattolive #hownottodie #diseaseprevention

French Breakfast Radishes, harvested this afternoo

Asparagus Risotto with Meyer Lemon 🍋 Now that

Creamy Carrot & White Bean Soup (recipe below👇🏻)
When I need to get food on the table and don’t have a dinner plan in place, I almost always turn to soup. Soup is majorly flexible and THE best way to dip your toe in the world of cooking without recipes because it’s so forgiving and adaptable. I almost always start out by sautéing a chopped onion, 3-4 minced cloves of garlic, 1-2 chopped carrots, 1-2 chopped stalks of celery in some olive oil for 5-6 minutes. Then I’ll add in any other vegetables (cauliflower, diced butternut squash) or legumes/beans (dried lentils or canned beans) that I feel like using up. Cover it up with 4-6 cups of vegetable stock or water (if you use water, feel free to throw in a bouillon cube), salt & pepper, spices (depending on the soup, I often use turmeric, ground cumin, ground coriander, curry powder, Italian seasoning, sweet or smoked paprika) and herbs (dried bay leaf and oregano are favorites, and I also love fresh parsley). Bring it to a boil and then lower to simmer - usually 30 minutes, but sometimes longer depending on how big your vegetable cuts are and/or the type of legumes you’re using (split peas usually take 45-50 minutes). The end is when you want to wilt in some greens (if that’s your thing) and a squeeze of lemon/lime to take it next level. Sometimes a dash of tamari is nice, too.
The other day, I picked up a grocery order and unfortunately the shopper gave me carrots that were on their last legs - so instead of composting them, I peeled and and chopped them and turned them into this glorious carrot soup! In olive oil, sauté 1 small bunch of carrots (peeled & chopped), 1 yellow onion, 4 cloves garlic, 1 stalk celery. Add (drained) can of white beans, pinch sweet paprika, pinch turmeric, S&P, bay leaf, 5 cups water/stock. Boil, then immediately simmer for 30 min or until carrots are tender. Stir in splash of rice vinegar, about 3/4 c. coconut milk. Test for seasoning and add more salt if needed. Remove bay & puree with an immersion blender (I use a $40 @cuisinart one from Target). Serve hot (mine is topped w homemade sourdough croutons and Calabrian chiles 🌶)
#carrotsoup #feedfeedvegan #goopmake #veganchef

If you’ve wondered if you can still (easily) mee

If you’ve wondered if you can still (easily) meet your nutritional needs without meat and dairy, the answer is a resounding “YES”!

Human beings don’t need meat from a nutritional or biological perspective. Everything we need to thrive can be found in abundance in the plant kingdom, with the exception of vitamin B12. B12 is an essential nutrient (for maintenance of our nervous system and formation of red blood cells), and is most often found in meat, dairy and eggs. So, wait, is this evidence that maybe we SHOULD be consuming animal products after all?

Definitely not. B12 isn’t produced by the animal itself. It originates in bacteria. So, the B12 found in animal products is there because the animal is living in and around manure (where plenty of bacteria exists), and in some cases, is being fed manure (the FDA has reported that most meat is contaminated with fecal bacteria - bon appetit!). They’re also frequently supplemented with B12.

Plant foods used to be rich in B12, but our current modern hygienic practices sanitize and clean produce effectively enough to wipe out most bacteria. Our soil has also been exposed to increasingly high levels of antibiotics and pesticides, eradicating lots of the healthy bacteria that used to exist in the dirt itself. Some B12 does exist in mushrooms and seaweed, and lots of cereals, plant milks and nutritional yeast are fortified with B12, as well.

Everyone - not just vegans! - should supplement with B12. Optimal daily dosage is 50 mcg daily or 2000 mcg weekly for adults under 65 and breastfeeding women, 25 mcg daily for children ages 4-10, and 5 mcg daily for weaned infants. #b12 #nutrition #healthyvegandiet #behealthy #plantbasedhealth #nutritionfacts #forksoverknives #essentialnutrition

If you want your family to eat more vegetables, se

If you want your family to eat more vegetables, serve more vegetables! Exposure is key when it comes to getting kids (and some adults!) to stop turning their nose up at veggies. Some studies have shown that it might take 20-30 tries before a child willingly eats a certain food. Parents typically offer foods only 3-5 times before giving up.
I am intimately familiar with the frustrations and power struggles that occur when a child won’t eat what you’ve prepared for dinner, especially when you’re concerned about them meeting their nutritional needs. In my experience, the more I’ve loosened my grip on trying to control what they eat, the more peaceful mealtimes have become - and they’re trying more new foods, too!
Ellyn Satter’s Division of Responsibility in Feeding has been an absolute game changer for me. She says that the primary caregiver is responsible for choosing what and when we eat, and the child (or picky adult 😏) decides how much he/she will consume. It was a scary prospect at first, but it’s been so freeing! Dinner has gone from something I dreaded every day (preparing multiple meals to suit everyone’s individual palates, only to have a lot of the food rejected/go uneaten) to an enjoyable, mostly calm experience. Keep trying. Serve vegetables every day. Even if they go untouched, it doesn’t mean it will stay that way forever!
I also find that putting a colorful, fresh dish of cut up raw veggies with a yummy dip (hummus, baba ghanouj, tahini dressing, etc) is appealing to just about everyone as I’m preparing dinner. I find my kids - who normally don’t touch most raw veggies with a ten foot pole - reaching to grab a snap pea or cherry tomato when I set the dish out on the table. If no one eats it, then atleast you’ve done some meal prep and have veggies ready to go for lunch salads 😂😋🥗
#divisionofresponsibilityinfeeding #ellynsatter #feedinglittles #plantpoweredkids #pickyeaters #plantbasedkids #veggietray #eattherainbow

One of my very favorite things to cook and eat are

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