The Main Meal

SunButter Ramen Noodle Bowls

Cozy SunButter Ramen Noodle Bowls made with rice noodles and stir-fried vegetables in a delicious SunButter sauce. Serve with optional tofu!

Hi friends!

Amidst all of the holiday sides and festive cookies and cakes, I’d like to share with you a cozy dinner to break up the sameness.

I think it’s important to have a few easy cozy dishes on repeat during this season when things can be so joyous yet so hectic.

This recipe was born on a Friday evening; the best time to get a party started.

Usually on Friday nights we have either A. pizza, or B. something new and elevated that we make together.

This recipe is obviously not pizza, so it fell in the later category of Friday night dinners.

We didn’t have a lot to work with that evening, but we managed to turn that ancient package of Ramen from the cupboard into something amazing.

These SunButter Ramen Noodle Bowls are made with rice noodles and stir-fried vegetables in a delicious SunButter sauce.

Serve them with optional tofu and enjoy this meal any time you’re craving noodles.

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Vegetable Quinoa Stew

By Flora & Vino 1 Comment

Hearty Vegetable Quinoa Stew made in 1-pot with diced rainbow vegetables, dry quinoa, and lots of leafy greens. Perfect to meal prep for a cozy soup!

It’s soup season and I’m super excited to share my first soup of the season with you.

When the weather starts getting chilly, I love to create a big soup on Sunday that ensures leftovers for the week ahead.

It’s the perfect way to use old vegetables and make them new in a soothing broth-based bath.

Call it meal prep, call it call-out-the-fridge, call it leftovers, call it whatever you want.

…I call it delicious!

This Vegetable Quinoa Stew is made in 1-pot with diced rainbow vegetables, dry quinoa, and lots of leafy greens.

I love it because you actually cook the dry quinoa INTO the soup, which is what gives the soup its thick “stew”-like texture without any thickeners.

It’s the perfect vegan stew to meal prep and reheat for cozy cold weather lunch or dinner.

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Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie

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Cozy sweet potato shepherd’s pie with cooked lentils and garden vegetables topped with mashed sweet potatoes and served with vegan mushroom gravy.

It’s officially casserole season, which means it’s time for foods to turn beautiful beiges and browns.

I’m all about edible hugs from stews, soups, and casseroles, but monochromatic food, while delicious, is a little less than photogenic.

Which is why I love this Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie, because it manages to be both cozy and vibrant.

This sweet potato shepherd’s pie is made with cooked lentils and garden vegetables topped with mashed sweet potatoes and served with vegan mushroom gravy.

This recipe is for my outside the box thinkers, because it’s creative in every layer.

The filling, instead of traditional meats, is made with green lentils, frozen vegetables, and seasonings.

For the mashed potato layer, I decided to make mine sweet potato mashed potatoes, because, why not?!

When I have a choice, I always choose sweet potatoes over regular potatoes.

The sauce is made from dried mushrooms and is super easy to whip up on the stovetop to dress your winter eats.

This recipe makes a LOT of food, so it’s perfect for sharing with family and friends this winter season!

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No-Boil Spaghetti Bake

By Flora & Vino 2 Comments

No-Boil Spaghetti Bake made in the oven with chickpea pasta, your favorite marinara sauce, and simple seasonings. Perfect for a hands free dinner.

I just got a shiny new casserole dish this season because my former one was so loved that it showed it’s age in chipped and cracked edges.

So I’m currently baking all things in 9×13 and 8×8 sizes (the two sizes I got).

M groans when he sees the casserole dishes when he’s on dish duty for the evening.

It’s true, they’re not the easiest to clean, but it’s OH so easy to throw everything into them for a 1-pan dinner.

And that’s exactly what this recipe is; a dinner recipe that you can dump into a casserole dish and forget while it bakes.

With most pasta dishes, I feel like I’m scurrying around the kitchen without much time to relax from dinner beginning to end.

When I make this No-Boil Baked Spaghetti, I can actually sit down and drink my entire kombucha before the oven beep reminds me that dinner is ready.

Or when the smell of baking pasta and tomato sauce hits your nose.

This No-Boil Spaghetti Bake is made entirely in the oven with spaghetti noodles, your favorite marinara sauce, and Italian seasonings.

Grab a casserole dish and let’s fill it with delicious spaghetti without pots or boiling!

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Collard Green Enchiladas

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Collard green enchiladas made with rice and beans wrapped in collard greens and smothered in enchilada sauce and topped with vegan cheese.

“Do you get a lot of free stuff?” people asked when they find out that I’m a food blogger.

“So much!” I always respond, not to brag, but to be totally transparent.

And it’s true, being a food blogger has its most definite perks.

It’s fun being the first try try healthy products and getting restocked on my favorite brands.

But what people don’t ever think about is…what do *do* with all of it?!

Or maybe you do think about that, I’m not sure.

My friends aren’t strangers to the “care packages” I gift them when we meet.

And I’m definitely a favorite at M’s work, where he takes boxes of goodies to share upon my request.

But sometimes I like to keep things for myself, particularly if it’s fresh delivered produce.

Some of the best recipes come from forced creativity, and I was definitely pressed to be creative 2 giant bundles of collard greens arrived on my doorstep.

These Collard Green Enchiladas are made with rice and beans wrapped in…collard greens!!!

Afterwards, they’re smothered in enchilada sauce and topped with vegan cheese.

How’s that for creativity, hmm?

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Vegan Chili Cornbread Casserole

By Flora & Vino 1 Comment

Vegan Chili Cornbread Casserole made with Eden Foods Black Bean & Quinoa Chili baked with vegan cornbread on top for a cozy plant-based 1-pan dinner.

Last weekend I did my annual Fall-ification.

That means I lugged all of my sweaters out of the spare closet, hung the fall wreath on the front door, and put my pumpkin decor front and center.

Oh, and I bought 4 planters of Mums for the front steps, in beautiful burnt sienna and crimson red.

I know that green things won’t last beyond the first big frost, but I will thoroughly enjoy them while they’re here.

Do you know what else is here to stay?

Cozy casseroles and comforting meals to fill you up this fall and winter.

Chili and cornbread is a classic pairing, right?

My mom used to serve them together so it always feels nostalgic when I make them separate or together.

But what if we made them, like, together together?!

Recently, leafing through cookbooks for inspiration, I stumbled upon a Chili Cornbread Casserole that did just that.

I knew I had to create my own version made with Eden Foods Black Bean & Quinoa Chili and vegan cornbread baked right on top!

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Roasted Carrot Tofu Tacos

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Roasted Carrot Tofu Tacos served with cilantro yogurt sauce and taco toppings in almond flour tortillas. Perfect for a legume-free plant-based taco!

Last year on the way home from a day trip to visit friends, M and I decided to try a taco place in downtown Bethesda.

It was a hip little taco place with plant-based taco combinations that you wouldn’t find at Chipotle.

M and I decided to divide and conquer the menu, our order almost spanning the entire taco selection.

This was Spring of 2022, and fresh flavors were on everyone’s plate!

They had a seasonal carrot taco with chili-tofu on the menu that I absolutely LOVED.

After one bite I immediately wished I’d ordered 2 or 3 more!

The combination of roasted sweet carrots and spicy tofu with an herbed green sauce wrapped in a soft shell is delicious.

It’s kind of an unexpected flavor combination, and friends, it works.

Since then, I’ve been making carrot and tofu tacos at home to keep the goodness going.

This recipe is too good to hoard, so let me indulge you with this fresh take on tacos.

These Roasted Carrot Tofu Tacos are served with cilantro yogurt sauce and your favorite toppings in almond flour tortillas.

They’re perfect for a legume-free plant-based taco!

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BBQ Tofu Pizza

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BBQ Tofu Pizza with Roasted Broccoli, Sriracha Tofu, and cooked corn. It’s packed with plant-based protein and made gluten-free with a chickpea crust.

I haven’t always made my own pizza.

It took me *years* to prefer my own over delivery and even longer to start branching into different flavor profiles.

My latest obsession is adding BBQ sauce to pizza for a bit of tang and intrigue.

Top it with spicy tofu, sweet corn, and roast-y broccoli and I might just melt like dairy-free mozzarella.

M is a bit of a purist when it comes to pizza, so he would argue that this isn’t even pizza at all.

But, because this is my little (pizza) slice of the internet, won’t you agree with me that it’s pizza if I say it’s pizza?

This BBQ Tofu Pizza is the loaded plant-based pizza of your dreams!

It’s packed with plant-based protein and made gluten-free with a chickpea crust loaded with BBQ sauce, roasted broccoli, sriracha tofu, and cooked corn.

I feel like there’s a lot to celebrate right now, so let’s throw a pizza party!

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Vegan Vegetable Korma

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Vegan Vegetable Korma made with garden vegetables in a rich almond butter-based sauce. Serve over grains for a flavorful and cozy plant-based dinner!

So, do you like Indian food?

The only time I ever tried it pre-M was an Indian buffet in college that ended with me in the library bathroom, like, all afternoon.

(Note to self and to you: When trying new cuisines, DON’T go for the buffet option.)

So, naturally, I was super apprehensive when, after meeting M, he told me that Indian was his favorite cuisine.

I gulped with the realization that if this relationship was going to work, I wouldn’t get away without at least *trying* it again.

Since then, (our 3-year anniversary is this fall!) I’ve been cautiously dabbling in Indian food.

As M likes to say, he loves how “in your face” it is, by which he means, it has so many flavors, spices, colors, textures…

In other words, it’s a lot.

I started with chana masala, worked my ways into creamy curries, and recently fell in love with korma.

Well, I fell in love with the *idea* of Vegetable Korma.

My usual complaint with Indian takeout isn’t about the spice or flavor, it’s about the sodium content.

I’m pretty sensitive when it comes to salt, so after a few bites of any given dish, I feel sodium satisfied for the rest of the day.

My second complaint is, as you probably already guessed; I wish there were more vegetables.

So, I set out to create a veg-forward rendition of korma that’s teeming with fresh vegetables, the perfect level of spice, and a lower sodium-content.

This might not be traditional Indian, but it’s Indian you can make at home and feel good about eating.

You’re going to LOVE cozying up to this Vegan Vegetable Korma as the weather starts to get colder this year!

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Best Black Bean Burgers

By Flora & Vino 1 Comment

Best black bean burgers made with Black Beans, almond flour, and oats. Enjoy with your favorite toppings for plant-based burger night!

So, are you on Threads yet?

I finally joined last week just to see what all of the fuss was about.

If you’re curious, it feels reminiscent of Twitter with a mix of circa ~2013 Instagram thrown in.

It’s funny that I first heard about this trending new social media network via M, who really doesn’t use social media at all.

I wanted to hop on to see if it might be a nice way to connect with the F&V community in a more conversational way.

As social media platforms pop up and change, I’m super grateful that I have a forever home in this website.

And all of you, friends, are my forever family!

And since we’re family, we should really sit down this summer to a meal together, don’t you think?

These Best Black Bean Burgers are super easy to make with Eden Foods Organic Black Beans, almond flour, and oats.

Enjoy them with your favorite toppings for a plant-based burger night!

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The Main Meal

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