The Green Spork

Fat Free Vegan Spanish Rice

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Spanish Rice

This rice is a tex-mex classic that any mexican food lover like me needs to know how to make. Rice is a tasty, filling and affordable addition to any meal and this version offers great flavor with no added fat. Traditional spanish rice uses quite a lot of oil to toast the rice which isn't needed, especially in a non-stick skillet such as my favorite ceramic one pictured above. Spanish rice also traditionally uses chicken broth, so swapping it for a vegetable broth makes this classic easily plant based....

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{Almost} Oil-Free Flour Tortillas

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Flour Tortillas

At this house we love tortillas. When we made the switch to a plant-based diet a few years back I started reading the label of everything I put in my shopping cart so I could learn what didn't have animal products included. But I also couldn't help but learn how many weird chemicals, preservatives and coloring was added to some of my favorite foods. Tortillas  surprisingly topped that list.

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Easy Tuscan Vegetable Noodle Soup

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Tuscan Veg Soup

Ready or not, fall is upon us. Rather than cringe  and long for summer as it slips away, I chose to embrace each day as the unique day it is, whether it's summer, fall or wacky weather somewhere in between.

This time of year is magical. I love to get up each day and open the back door to see what surprises are on the other side. Some mornings it's strikingly cooler, some are just humid, others are foggy and dewy. Whatever the weather I enjoy watching the constant stream of squirrels that gather in my yard to pack out as many fallen pecans as they can. My dog, Henery, is especially fond of watching this from the window as well. When he isn't napping he's patrolling for squirrels.

In Texas the weather has cooled off a lot, but isn't what most would call cool. We are down from the 100- 90 degree days to a much more tolerable 80 degree high. I just love it and to me it is cool. It may not be cold and crisp just yet, but it's refreshing all the same. It puts me in the fall mood.

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Salsa on Everything

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Salsa

Maybe it's because this is Texas, or maybe its because it has so many of my favorite ingredients in one recipe, but I LOVE salsa.

It's my go-to condiment and I've eaten it on everything from the obvious latin style foods to stir fry and sushi. Well, it was avocado and jalapeño sushi rolls so it was practically begging for a salsa drizzle. It was delicious! In fact I can't remember a single time when salsa didn't make the meal tastier.

Because I'm sort of salsa loco, I like to make all kinds  including smokey chipotle versions  and tangy verde salsas. Basically I will try any recipe variation I hear about or can dream up, and since the husband and I like 'em really hot this broadens our scale of options to including blazing ghost chili salsas and cooling mango cucumber pico de gallo.

Variety and variations aside, this is our standard 'everyday' salsa since I always have the ingredients on hand and whipping it up is as simple as a whirl in the Vitamix.

Feel free to use this recipe as merely a guideline for you to expand upon and make your own special variety. Obviously add peppers to your liking and heat tolerance.

If your not much for heat, then I don't understand you, but you shouldn't omit the peppers altogether. Stick to a jalapeño and be sure to carefully cut it in half and remove the seeds and white membrane inside. Then you can add the remaining pepper to the mix and get the lovely bright flavor in your salsa without the heat.

The Green Spork Salsa
Prep time:
Total time:
Ingredients
  • 1 28 oz. can of diced Fire Roasted tomatoes (I use Muir Glen Organic)
  • 1/2 cup Cilantro leaves
  • 1 jalapeño pepper, or peppers of your choice
  • 1/2 white onion, rough chopped
  • juice of 1 lime
  • 1 garlic clove
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
Instructions
  1. Pulse all of the ingredients in a blender, for a smooth salsa, or in a large capacity food processor if you prefer a chunkier salsa. If you are using a Vitamix blender, only a few seconds on low will do it.
  2. Taste the blended salsa and add salt, another pepper if you would like it spicier, or cayenne pepper if you don't have any more jalapeños.
  3. Store into a jar with a snug lid and refrigerate.