• Home
  • About Me
  • Recipes
    • breakfast
    • lunch
    • Salads
    • dinner
    • soups
    • side dishes
    • dessert
    • Sauces
  • Contact
  • Category: lunch

    • Picadillo Empanadas

      Posted at 4:28 pm by natisvegankitchen
      Oct 27th

      Some of you might be wondering what in the world is “picadillo?” Well, my friends, picadillo is a common meat dish in Puerto Rico, where you cook the meat with some olives, onions, garlic, red bell pepper or pimientos, some potato and other yummy spices. So, here, I’ve adapted the recipe to make it vegan and rather than serve it with a side of rice as it’s typically eaten, we’re using the picadillo as the delicious filling to create these savory empanadas.

      Just like the breakfast empanadas found in my blog, these picadillo empanadas are a great idea for meal prep, if you have some time on the week/weekend to assemble them. You can store them in the fridge for 3-4 days unbaked and bake them as you go OR you can freeze them for a month or two, thaw and bake when you’re ready. I find them to be a nice lunch option and most popularly, a big hit as a dinner party appetizer!

      My recommendation is to serve these empanadas with a side of chimichurri sauce. You can find my recipe for easy homemade chimichurri sauce under the “sauces” section if you’re interested. Another option which you just can’t go wrong with is to serve them with some guacamole. Your choice!

      Picadillo Empanadas

      Serving Size: 8-10 empanadas

      Cook Time: 60 minutes

      INGREDIENTS:

      • 1 pack of frozen (vegan) puff pastry
      • 2 tbsp olive oil
      • 1 cup any vegan ground beef
      • 1/4 chopped purple onion
      • 1 tbsp minced garlic
      • 1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
      • 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes
      • 1/2 cup green olives
      • 2 small golden potatoes
      • dash of red cayenne pepper
      • dash of salt
      • 1/2 fresh lime (juice)

      Optional: serve with homemade chimichurri sauce (find recipe under “sauces”).

      INSTRUCTIONS

      1. Take out puff pastry from freezer and thaw for at least 25-30 min (until soft). You can do this while you are cutting up all the chopped ingredients and cook the picadillo.
      2. Chop up your onion, bell pepper, green olives and potatoes.
      3. Preheat oven at 375 degrees.
      4. Next, in a saute pan, add your olive oil, onion and minced garlic. Saute for 1-2 mins.
      5. Add your bell pepper and potato to the pan and saute for 5 min.
      6. Add in your vegan ground beef , green olives, sun-dried tomatoes, fresh lime juice, dash of red cayenne pepper and dash of salt. Saute another 3-4 min. Just be sure your potatoes are soft! Set aside your picadillo.
      7. Lay out your puff pastry sheets and cut out med circles 2-3 inches in width. (I use the “med” sized round pastry cutter from my set of 3).
      8. Take each circle pastry and add 1-2 tbsp full of the picadillo.
      9. With a fork, press the edges to make closed ridges.
      10. With coconut oil spray (or whichever you prefer for baking) spray the non-stick baking pan. I like to use Trader Joe’s easy spray coconut oil.
      11. Transfer all your assembled empanadas to the baking pan and spray them all as well with a little coconut oil on top.
      12. Bake empanadas for 25-30 min until golden flaky brown color achieved.
      13. Buen Provecho!
      Posted in lunch | Tagged baked, easy lunch, empanadas, lunch, meat empanada, picadillo, puerto rican
    • Stuffed Zucchini Boats

      Posted at 11:35 pm by natisvegankitchen
      Oct 22nd

      If you’re looking for a light, quick to make and satisfying meal, this is definitely a recipe for you! These raw stuffed zucchini boats are so simple to make you wouldn’t believe it.

      So what’s in the boat, you ask!? A super tasty fresh chickpea salad. I like to think of this meal like the vegan version of a tuna salad. This recipe calls for some jicama. If you’re not familiar with Jicama, you’re in for a crunchy treat. Jicama is pretty light in flavor, has a nice crunch and has quite a few vitamins and minerals, including vitamin C, folate, potassium and magnesium. Even better, it’s also low in calories and high in fiber & water. I love me some jicama sticks with some powdered chili and lime, yum!!!

      Alright let’s get to the recipe!

      Stuffed Zucchini Boats

      Serving Size: 4 servings

      Cook Time: 15-20 minutes

      INGREDIENTS:

      • 2 zucchinis
      • 1 can of garbanzo beans
      • 1/2 shallot
      • 1/2 fresh tomato
      • 1/2 fresh mango
      • 5-7 sticks of jicama (usually sold in sticks)
      • 1/2 fresh bell pepper (any color, your choice)
      • 1/4 fresh lemon
      • 1 5-finger pinch of fresh cilantro (little extra for garnishing too*)
      • 1 tbsp minced garlic
      • 1/4 cup vegan mayo
      • dash of salt
      • dash of red cayenne pepper
      Optional: *vegan bacon bits – I love the Frontier Co-Op Bac’Uns and sprinkle them on top of the zucchini boats. Perfect extra touch and crunch! 

      INSTRUCTIONS

      1. Chop up all the chickpea salad ingredients: shallot, tomato, bell pepper, mango, jicama and cilantro.
      2. In a large mixing bowl, add your garbanzo beans (rinsed) and mash them all up. It’s okay if there’s a few whole beans in there left.
      3. Add in your lemon juice and vegan mayo to the mashed garbanzo. Mix it all up.
      4. Add in all the rest of the chopped ingredients and mix. Add the minced garlic, dash of salt and red cayenne pepper. Careful with the cayenne, it’s spicy!
      5. Give it all a final mix. Set aside.
      6. Wash up your zucchinis and slice them in half vertically.
      7. With a small knife, make two cuts basically framing where you are going to scoop out the inside of the zucchini. Then, take a spoon and carve out the inside soft parts of the zucchini.
      8. Fill up your boats with the salad mix.
      9. Garnish with some optional bacon bits* and cilantro. Another yummy option could be hemp seed or pomegranate.
      10. Buen Provecho!
      Posted in lunch | Tagged chickpea, dinner, light, lunch, raw, salad
    • BBQ Tempeh

      Posted at 10:36 pm by natisvegankitchen
      Oct 22nd

      You’ve probably heard (or read hehe) me say this somewhere already…I LOVE hosting dinners, lunches, brunch, all the meals. Normally, when you think of a BBQ you probably don’t think of many vegan options. But let me tell you, there are soooo many! My favorite vegan protein to bbq is tempeh. I love the nutty flavor it has and it’s kind of addicting when cooked in bbq sauce.

      This is a super easy, quick dish. You do have to steam your tempeh first which takes about 20 min but once that’s done you’ll cook the tempeh in no time. Let’s cook!

      BBQ Tempeh

      Serving Size – 4 -6 servings

      Cook Time – 35 minutes

      INGREDIENTS:

      • 8 oz tempeh
      • 2 tbsp olive oil
      • 1 tbsp minced garlic
      • 1/2 cup BBQ Sauce

      INSTRUCTIONS

      1. Chop up your tempeh into cubes.
      2. Steam tempeh for 20 min. You’ll get a golden color and tempeh will look fluffed and nutty.
      3. In a saute pan on med heat, add the olive oil and steamed tempeh. Saute for 2-3 min.
      4. Add the minced garlic and saute for another 2-3 minutes. Cover and let the tempeh achieve a golden brown color.
      5. Add in the BBQ Sauce and saute for 2-3 minutes. You’ll want to BBQ sauce to become a glaze on the tempeh.
      6. Buen Provecho!
      Posted in dinner, lunch | Tagged bbq, dinner, lunch, savory, tempeh
    • Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

      Join 7 other followers

    • Follow Nati’s Vegan Kitchen

      • Instagram
      • YouTube
      • Pinterest
      • Facebook
  • Follow Nati’s Vegan Kitchen

    • Instagram
    • Facebook
    • YouTube
    • Pinterest

Powered by WordPress.com.

Cancel