Ingredients (use vegan versions):

• 3 cups tomato juice, V-8 or Hot & Spicy V-8
• 2 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 small red onion
• 3 small tomatoes
• 2 tomatillos
• 1 bell pepper
• 1 small jicama
• 1/2 cup corn kernels
• 1 can or 1 cup cooked black beans, rinsed & drained
• Juice of 2 limes
• 1/2 – 1 fresh jalapeno, finely minced
• 2 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1 chipotle jalapeno, finely minced
• 1 – 3 teaspoon adobo sauce from chipotle can (or 1 – 3 teaspoon Pickapeppa sauce or vegan Worcestershire sauce)
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vegan sugar

Directions:

Chop all vegetables and mix all
ingredients in a large non-metallic
bowl. Chill at least 24 hours before
serving. Serve chilled with additional
cilantro, diced avocado, and tortilla chips.

An alternate method is to puree part or
all of the soup in a blender before
adding the jicama, corn, and beans.
This gives a thicker, smoother, more
sophisticated texture.

The oregano and cilantro stand in for
the Mexican herb epazote, which can be
hard to find fresh. If you have access
to fresh epazote, feel free to use it
instead.

Serves: 8-10

Preparation time: 1 hour

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

• soup base (see list)
• 1 protein ingredient (see list)
• 1 starch ingredient (see list)
• 2-3 vegetable ingredients (see list)
• boiling water

Directions:

Select your soup base (1/2 cup):
-Pumpkin soup/broth
-Tomato soup/broth
-Vegetable broth

2. Select your protein (1/4 cup):
- Canned or cooked chickpeas
- Baked beans in tomato sauce
- Canned or cooked black beans
- Canned or cooked lentils
- Raw textured soy protein chunks or bits
- Veggie ground round
- Diced veggie hot dogs
- Very finely diced tofu

3. Select your starch (as indicated):
- 1/2 cooked potato, diced
- 1/2 raw potato, grated
- 1/4 cup cooked rice
- 5 large spoonfuls raw couscous
- 1/4 cup cooked barley
- 1/4 cup corn or peas

4. Select 1 or two vegetables:
- 1 carrot, diced or grated
- 1 parsnip, diced or grated
- 1/4 cup frozen mixed vegetables
- 1/4 cup shredded cabbage or slaw mix
- 1/4 cup cooked or frozen green beans
- 1/2 red or green pepper, diced
- 1/2 tomato, diced
- 1/4 cup cauliflower, finely diced
- 1/4 cup broccoli, finely diced
- 1/4 cup chopped spinach

5. Layer your selections in food
thermos (not a flask, but rather one
of the wide mouthed food thermoses).

6. Fill remaining space with boiling
water and seal lids tightly.

Several hours later, enjoy for lunch,
no micro waving or reheating necessary.

Here are some of my favorite combos:
a) The No Prep Instant Lunch: instant
bouillon power, textured soy protein, frozen chopped
spinach, couscous.
b) A Grate Soup Lunch: instant
bouillon powder, grated carrot,
grated potato, slaw mix, chickpeas.
c) Leftovers Made Good: leftover
cooked lentils, leftover cooked
barley, frozen spinach, grated parsnip.

Serves: 1

Preparation time: 5

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

• 1 onion
• 1 green pepper
• ½-1 tablespoon veg. oil
• 1 veg. bouillon cube
• 1 small can of mushrooms (120 g)
• 1 can of chopped tomatoes (400 g)
• 1 can of babycorn, cut in 2 or 3 pieces each
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1-1½ tablespoons tomato paste
• oregano
• bazil
• chili powder
• cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon vegan sugar

Directions:

Chop the onion and cut the pepper in pieces. Fry the onion and pepper in oil for a couple of minutes. Add bouillon cube, mushrooms, tomatoes, crushed garlic, tomato paste and the babycorn. Add seasoning to taste and cook, covered, on low heat for about 20 minutes. Serve with pasta. (Without vegan sugar the chopped tomatoes easily make the dish too sour.)

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 30-35 min

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

• 2 cups black beans ( not cooked)
• 2 avocados (very soft)
• 1/4 of a large onion
• 6 cloves of garlic
• salt
• salsa fresca (recipe below)
• vegan cheese (follow your heart brand “vegan gourmet”. It melts! )
• vegan sour cream
• 1 package medium package of corn tortillas
• tapatio hot sauce
• 1 lemon
• 1 lime
• 2 jalapenos

Directions:

1. soak beans and boil in pot of lightly
salted water for 2 hours, or until
soft.

2. heat up about 1.5 inches of veggie
oil in a pan.

3. mash avocado( I use a pastry cutter
to mash it to get all the chunks out).
FINELY (and I mean very fine) chop the
onion, the jalapenos and the garlic.
Add it to mashed avocado. Add tapatio
hot sauce ( like 4 or 5 good dashes)
and mix well. Add salt to taste and
then squeeze lemon juice on top. put in
fridge.

4. chop tortillas into triangles. fry
in enough oil to cover until they are
golden (they tend to cook a bit after
removing them from pan, so do not
overcook). Put them on a paper towel to
drain and sprinkle with salt. set aside.

5. When beans are tender, add them to a
frying pan with heated oil and mash
adding cooking water from beans and
salt to desired consistency.

6. melt vegan cheese in micro.

7. Place chips in a large bowl. top
with mashed black beans, guacamole,
vegan cheese, vegan sour cream, more vegan cheese
and salsa.

eat and be merry.

**Salsa Fresca: you can either use
store bought (yuck) or make your own.

by hand finely chop 2 or three large
tomatoes, 3 jalapenos, 1/2 onion and
some cilantro. Mix all together and
sprinkle with lime juice and salt to
taste. best if refrigerated for a few
hours.

Serves: 4+

Preparation time: 2 hours

Ingredients (use vegan versions):

• 1 garlic clove, coarsely chopped
• 2 coriander roots, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 teaspoon whole black pepper
• 2 tablespoon oil

• 8 fl oz coconut milk
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 4 oz potato, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
• 8 fl oz chickpeas (garbanzos) soaked overnight (can use tinned)
• 2 tomatoes sliced into wedges
• 10 sweet bazil leaves
• 2 tablespoon light soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon vegan sugar

Directions:

In a mortar, pound the garlic, coriander roots and peppercorns to form
a paste. Heat the oil and briefly fry the paste, then add the coconut
milk, stirring well. Stir in the remaining ingredients in order,
bring to the boil and simmer until the potatoes and chickpeas are
cooked al dente.

Serve with rice. Can be prepared in advance and reheated.

Serves: