Rice and Beans Plate

"My name is Sarah and I am a gluten-free vegan. I have two blogs: VaVaVegan, which is my daily blog, and This Is What I Eat, which is a photo journal of delicious vegan food that I eat and make for others. Recently I've been really focusing on living a whole foods-based lifestyle, enjoying clean, nutritious foods that fuel me for whatever activities I'm doing (which include running, training with my trainer and even just working long days on my feet). I want to show people that vegan food is not only delicious, but can provide a well-balanced and nutrition-packed diet.

"The photo I wanted to submit is a Rice and Beans plate I've been enjoying regularly lately. It is 1/2 cup cooked rice, 1/2 cup cooked kidney beans, a handful of spinach, a handful of steamed broccoli topped with a half of an avocado. It looks beautiful and tastes as good as it looks!"

Vegan Tacos

Marissa writes, "Here's a picture of my dinner today. Vegan tacos with pinto beans, greens, spicy homemade salsa, and fruit salad with pear, pineapple, and apricot."

Yumm! Bowl

Brown rice, black beans, zucchini, spinach, tomatoes, salsa, cilantro, and a little scoop of Original Yumm! Sauce, from my favorite Cafe Yumm!

Zesty Three Bean and Sweet Potato Chili

Recipe at Elise's Kitchen.

Sushi Rice Bowl

This Sushi Rice Bowl from "So Many Veggies, So Little Time" (I know the feeling!) is made with brown sushi rice, chickpeas, avocado, veggies, and a homemade mustard wasabi dressing. It's garnished with pickled ginger and herbs. "It has all sorts of good ingredients that taste good, and make me feel good, too!"

Quinoa Pasta

Gluten-free quinoa pasta with sundried tomatoes, asparagus and lima beans.

Submitted by Lauren from Ginger is the New Pink.

Sweet Potato Black Bean Tacos

Spicy black bean & sweet potato filling wrapped in a corn tortilla.

From Full of Beans.

Roasted Chickpeas

Jackie wanted to share a quick, easy, yummy snack food with you, readers: Roasted Chickpeas!

"They are a great substitute for salty snacks!" she says.

Basil Mung Bean Salad

Iris sent in this photo of a beautiful Basil Mung Bean Salad she made. "It's simple to make, but tastes delicious!"

Find the recipe at The Daily Dietribe.

Roasted Veggie Salad

From Kate: "Roasted bell peppers, parsnips, rutabagas, carrots, garlic, purple potatoes, and tofu on a bed of black beans, garlic hummus, and organic spring mix. Even more delicious than it looked!"

Chickpea Lettuce Wraps

Erin at Ventures With Veggies sent in a chickpea salad wrapped in romaine leaves. "It's so easy, delicious, filling and healthy. I just love it." Here is the recipe!

Curried Sweet Potatoes with Chickpeas and Spinach

Ling Ling writes, "I made this dish from the Vegetarian times cookbook. It was delicious and very healthy!"

Rockin' Moroccan Stew

This lovely image sent in by Michelle at Michelle Ellis Photography. She was kind enough to also send us the recipe:

Moroccan Stew

2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped onions
½ cup each diced celery and chopped green bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced or sliced thinly
3 cups vegetable broth
3 cups peeled, cubed sweet potatoes
1 can 15oz diced tomatoes

1 can 15 oz chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 tsp grated gingerroot
1 tsp each ground cumin, curry powder, ground coriander, and chili powder.
½ tsp ground pepper
¼ cup raisins (as a raisin hater I hesitated, but they really do add delicious to this recipe)

2 Tbsp each natural peanut butter or almond butter and chopped, fresh cilantro

Directions:

This recipe is super easy, don't get bogged down on exact measurements. I usually add more veggies than it calls for. This dish is even better the 2nd and 3rd day after it's made.(:

-Heat olive oil in a large, non-stick saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onions, celery, green pepper, and garlic. Cook and stir until vegetables begin to soften, about 3 minutes.

-Add all remaining ingredients, except raisins, peanut butter, and cilantro. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes.

-Stir in raisins, peanut butter, and cilantro. Mix well. Simmer for 5 minutes. Serve hot over rice or grain of choice.

Lettuce Wrapped Black Bean Burger

Jenn Blumberg, Head Cabbage at Hello Veggie writes, "It's so important to get legumes in your daily diet. This lettuce-wrapped Spicy Black Bean Burger makes it easy, I could eat it every day! And if you have your beans and rice precooked the day before, this meal comes together in less than 20 minutes!"

Tofu and Roasted Chickpea Salad

Iris from the Daily Dietribe blog submitted this Roasted Chickpea and Crumbled Tofu Salad -- follow the link for the recipe!

Pocket Pie

Sweet Karoline sent this picture in: "I made a white bean, mushroom, spinach, and broccoli pocket pie. Not only was it a lot of fun to make, it helped me use up a ton of random containers of veggies and beans that I always have hanging out in my fridge!"

Okra and Lima Bean Masala

Okra and Lima Bean Masala is one of my favorite dishes from SusanV's FatFree Vegan Kitchen. I've made this several times for a fast, healthy supper -- it's so easy using frozen chopped okra and canned tomatoes. Susan tells me, "I think you may be the first person to mention that they've tried the lima bean masala! I'm so glad you like it. I'm a big fan of lima beans and like to put them to non-traditional uses."

Thanks for a wonderful blog, SusanV!

Something Quick and Easy

Short on time? Here's a great dinner suggestion from Suzi: "Here is my healthy dinner from last night -- we needed something that was quick and easy! It's baby portabella mushrooms, garlic, fresh tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, cannellini beans, toasted pine nuts, spinach and oregano all sauteed in broth and served on a bed of brown rice spiral pasta. I topped mine with a little nutritional yeast."

Chard Ragout

"I'm a member of a local CSA and we received chard, potatoes, and onions in our box this week. I'd never used chard in anything before, but decided a recipe for Chard Ragout was too good to pass up. It's got white beans, potatoes, onions, chard, and various herbs in it. No broth--just the water the beans were cooked in. Tastes delicious too!"

Bean Salad Heaven

Heather from Richmond Virginia sends us this recipe: "This is a most delicious bean salad with kidney beans, chick peas, avocado, Ro Tel (a canned mix of tomatoes and chilies), cilantro & feta cheese. I couldn't stop eating it!!! I didn't create this salad, but found it on a blog by MckMama called my charming kids." (Note that this is a link to the original recipe, which does not contain feta and is vegan if your Italian dressing is).