National Cucumber Day

Today is National Cucumber Day. I like cucumbers. I find them refreshing and summery. They are a common feature of tea sandwiches. You can find a couple of nice cucumber tea sandwiches here and here. Heck, you can even use them on your face, like this very lovely rinse for the face. My son likes to add cucumber slices to water during the hot summer months.

Some people just can't abide them, though. Makes them gassy. Those poor, unfortunate souls!

If you aren't a fan, but don't hate cucumbers, here's a nice little finger food to enjoy them.

Tortilla Bites with Sesame Soy Sauce

One container vegan cream cheese
One package whole wheat flour tortillas
1-3 c. cold, cooked long grain brown rice
1 cucumber, peeled and cut into strips
1 avocado, thinly sliced
One bunch organic spinach leaves
1 carrot, cut into strips
One can vegan tuna
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/2 t. crushed red pepper
1/4 t. ground ginger
1 T. sesame oil

Spread the cream cheese over one tortilla. I lightly sprinkled granulated garlic on top of this, but you can leave out if you want. Close to one edge of the tortilla, layer some rice, cucumber, avocado, carrot, spinach, and tuna. Roll up and tightly as possible, then slice the tortilla into one inch or so rounds.

Mix the soy sauce, red pepper, ginger, and sesame oil in a bowl. Serve this alongside the tortilla bites to dip in. Enjoy!

What Do You Do With Leftover Beans? Wraps!

Typically in my house, leftover beans and rice get gobbled up by the next day for lunch. IF there are any left over! I had a couple of servings left from the black beans and rice from the night before, and I decided to mix them with some other ingredients and roll them into wraps for dinner. They didn't look pretty, but they sure tasted good!

Black Beans and Friends Wraps

One onion, chopped
One green bell pepper, chopped
One package sliced mushrooms
One container roasted red pepper hummus
Large whole grain tortillas
Fresh organic spinach

Saute the onion, bell pepper and mushrooms until softened. Add the leftover black beans. We had mixed the black beans, corn, green onions, bell pepper and cilantro from the night before all together, and this is what we used. Spread the hummus on a tortilla. Layer the spinach on top, then add the black bean/mushroom mixture. Roll up and place seam side down on a baking sheet. Bake at 450 for about 10 minutes. Serve with guacamole and salsa, if desired. Enjoy!

Black Bean Burritos

We all have them, those days where we wind up being much busier than we had planned or expected, but still have to feed everyone. We're tired, but fast food just does not appeal. That's when these burritos come in oh-so-handy.

Black Bean Burritos

2 cans of black beans
Salsa
Flour tortillas
Shredded lettuce
Chopped tomatoes
Cooked brown rice

Heat the black beans in a pot. Add beans and remaining ingredients to a flour tortilla, roll up and eat. Really, can it be any simpler or quicker?

Feel free to add anything else you've got around you like in your burritos: vegan sour cream, vegan shredded cheese, sliced or chopped avocados, sliced or chopped black olives. These burritos are so versatile and you can do what you want with the ingredients you have on hand.

Enjoy!

Crunchy Wraps

My kids and I went to the Vegfest earlier this month. It was the first time for us, and only the second year for the festival. We loved it! Seeing so many veg-friendly people gathered in one place was very exciting! There were numerous booths and displays to check out, and several places offered samples. We watched a demonstration on making kale chips. Note to self - make those chips tonight! Afterward we tried a new-for-us vegan restaurant and then hit a grocery store to pick up healthy goodies!

Getting home late I wanted to make something quick and easy. This definitely fit the bill!

Crunchy Wraps

Vegan cream cheese
Flour tortillas (we used spinach)
Shredded spinach
Shredded red cabbage
Sliced avocados
Chopped tomatoes
Diced cucumbers
Diced red onion

Spread the cream cheese on the tortilla and top with a sprinkle of the each vegetable. Roll up the tortilla and enjoy!

Even my non-vegan hubby loved these! Win!

Veggie Fajitas

I think if I had to pick, Mexican food would top the list of favorites. My favorite, of course, is Tex Mex, but I'll try almost any Mexican food restaurant. My favorite is my neighborhood restaurant, Los Caporales. The owner knows us, is always friendly and they have the BEST salsa EVER.

The biggest problem with any Mexican restaurant, though, is finding something vegan. Oh, vegetarian is easy, but vegan? Not so much? Just about everything has cheese on it or in it. And some serve cheese enchiladas with a meat gravy! Yuck and double yuck!

We like to cook Mexican often at home. There is always something different - tacos, burritos, enchiladas, nachos, fajitas. I swear, I never get tired of it.

Veggie Fajitas

Olive oil
One onion, sliced
1 T. chili powder
1 T. paprika
1/4 t. salt
Black pepper to taste
2 zucchini, sliced lengthwise and into half moons
1 green pepper, sliced
4 Portobello mushroom caps, sliced
1 t. tamari
1 can black beans, drained
Whole wheat flour tortillas
Daiya mozzarella style shreds

Saute onions, chili powder, paprika, salt and pepper in olive oil, until onions are soft. Add zucchini, green pepper, mushrooms and tamari, cook until veggies are heated but not soft. Stir in the beans and heat through. Spoon some in a line down a flour tortilla, sprinkle on some Daiya, roll up and enjoy!

Feel free to add sliced avocados or salsa or anything to your liking!