It can never hurt to experiment with new, healthy recipes. For the past month, that has what I’ve been up to due to my recent goal of consuming more natural, vegan foods. Since the beginning of my experimentation, I’ve adopted some staple recipes that I tend to always remake. The cool thing about these recipes are that they last for multiple days and perfect for the college student with little time and money. The result of consuming healthier food? I’ve been looking and feeling like a new person. Here are a few of my recipes with the attached links to the directions:
3 Bean Chili
With the fact I eat chili year-round, I had to find a healthier recipe. The cool thing about this chili is that I’m normally not a bean fan. However, this chili is amazing with all the flavors and textures in it. Any college student can stock up on multiple cans of beans and throw this together in the crock pot before they head to classes. By the time they come back for dinner, their meal is ready. I normally like to put this chili together real quick during my lunch break, then eat it for dinner and prep it for future meals.
Eggplant Parmigiana Burgers
These burgers take a tad longer to make because you can’t just let it sit in a crock pot while you’re at school. However, you can make multiple patties at once when you have some spare time, and I swear you won’t be disappointed. All you have to do is fry up some breaded eggplant slices while sauteing some mushrooms and jalapenos. You put a couple of those eggplant slices and a scoop of the sauteed veggies on your favorite burger bun, smother the eggplant in marinara, add a slice of vegan cheese, and I promise you will crave more in your tummy. Tip: If you slice the eggplant thin enough, you should have enough leftovers to freeze for many days.
Cauliflower Masala
If you’ve become as much of an Indian food fan as I have, you should definitely try out this recipe. This too can easily be thrown in a crock pot while you’re in classes. All that is required is putting cauliflower florets in the crock pot with multiple cans of sauces and spices, and your meal will be ready in no time. In addition, it is delicious served over a bed of brown rice.
Black Bean Burgers
With all the veggie burgers I’ve tried from the store and at restaurants, this is yet my favorite (although, not better than the eggplant burger). This recipe requires a bit of time and attention just like the prior burgers, but can be designed with a little more creativity. I prefer to hand toss the ingredients, put them over the stove top, then freeze majority of them. When it comes time to eat the burgers, I put them over the stove top again, but add some onion, lettuce, and barbeque sauce to the burger. Delicious!
Thai Lettuce Wraps with Peanut Sauce
This would be the most spring recipe on the list. On a semi-warm day, the lettuce will keep you cool while the peanut sauce gives you just enough warmth. As long as you put just enough peanut butter in for the sauce, you won’t be disappointed. This peanut sauce tastes great on a butter leaf lettuce wrap, or on my favorite aquaponic butter leaf lettuce from the local farm of Floating Gardens, which you can find in your local grocery store too. Don’t miss out on trying this magnificent recipe!