Legumes, Beans, Pulses

Three Sisters Savory Pie

Three Sisters Savory Pie

The idea and inspiration for this pie arrived on Thanksgiving morning, just in time! It was ready by noon and served for dinner. I love the Three Sisters of Indigenous American Agriculture, the intercropping method of planting corn, beans, and squash together and I make sure to have a corn, bean and squash dish at…

Okuna Okara Salad

Okara is the soy pulp that consists of the insoluble parts of the soybean that remain after cooked, pureed soybeans are filtered in the production of soy milk and tofu. If you like to make your own soy milk and don’t know what to do with the okara, try our Okuna Salad. Ingredients 3 cups…

Lentil Crêpes and Waffles – vegan, gluten-free

  We love pancakes, crêpes and waffles and we have lots of recipes for them here at REAL. Recently after interviewing Chef Ramses Bravo about his cookbook Bravo Express, I learned that crêpes can be made with just lentils and water. We make crêpes from raw Buckwheat and water, as well as with Garbanzo Bean…

Magic Beans Omelet Bread

  Garbanzo Beans and Soy Beans are magical to me. There are so many things you can make with both of them. To make this recipe you need Aquafaba from Garbanzo Beans and Okara from Soy Beans. These are “leftover” or waste products. Aquafaba, is the bean water leftover from cooking beans. You can get…

Leek and Potato Plus Soup

You can find lots of leek and potato recipes online and they are all very similar with leeks, potatoes, water, maybe some cream and herbs and spices. This recipes has two pluses! First I use all of the leek. Many recipes tell you to use the white part and remove the more fibrous green part.…

We Need a Little Christmas Lima Bean Soup

Rancho Gordo Christmas Lima Beans are beautiful. The dry bean is splashed with a deep maroon color. During this Coronavirus pandemic with all of us nonessential workers staying at home, I found myself staring at a jar of dried Christmas Lima Beans on the shelf. I thought of the song from the musical Mame, “We…

Baked Red Lentil “Salmon” Cakes

I was inspired to create this dish when I saw someone served a plate of grilled salmon. The color looked just like the red lentils I had cooked. Salmon is known to be rich in omega-3 fatty acids as are hemp seeds which gave me the idea to add them to this recipe. The result…

Breakfast Black Beans

The World Cancer Research Fund and the American Institute for Cancer Research published the most comprehensive study of diet and cancer called Food, Nutrition, Physical Activity and the Prevention of Cancer: A Global Perspective in 2007. They have numerous recommendations including eating mostly foods of plant origin and eating relatively unprocessed cereals (grains) and/or pulses…

Mushroom Ginger Congee

I was craving Mushroom Congee but I didn’t want to use rice. Congee or conjee is a type of rice porridge or gruel popular in many Asian countries, especially East Asia. I made it with tempeh instead and loved it. I imagine this dish will work with rice Cauliflower or a small cooked white bean…

Pumpkin Seed Encrusted Tofu Steaks

This is an amazing dish. It is not difficult to make and it doesn’t take a lot of time. I can’t believe how good it is. You can use this pumpkin seed “breading” with Tempeh, Portabella Mushrooms, Seitan, Gardein, Beyond Meat Chicken Strips or any veggie meat. Ingredients: 3/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds 1 teaspoon…

Tempeh Tikka Masala

Sweet And Savory For a rich and delicious stew that is creamy, sweet and hot, try this recipe from REAL co-founder Gary De Mattei. When naming it we realized it was a lot like many of the Chicken Tikka Masala recipes available, only without the tomato purée. Maybe next time we make this dish we…

Sweet Potato Black Bean Soup

We had made a version of this soup while traveling using a store bought low-sodium vegetable broth. Once at home, instead of a packaged broth, I used herbs and spices to flavor the water instead. The sweet potatoes give the soup a nice flavor.   Ingredients: 6 cups water Spice/Herb mix: 2 Tablespoons onion powder…

Sweet Potato Bean Salad

We put this salad together in minutes when invited to a potluck event while traveling. These were the ingredients we had with us and they came together beautifully. 1/4 red onion, diced 4 small cooked sweet potatoes or 3 medium, cut in small cubes 1 can or brick of garbanzo beans, no salt added, rinsed…

Mung Bean Chili Con Barley

Just in time for Autumn. When you feel a chill in the air, warm up with this hearty stew. 4 cups dry mung beans 5 to 6 quarts of water (approximately) 1 cup of barley 1 jar/can of tomato paste (7oz) 3 large carrots (diced) 3 large celery stalks (diced) 1 large onion (chopped) 2…

Mung Bean Dal

I get the strangest cravings. After watching an episode of Sense8, Season 2 on Netflix where a family is arguing at dinner and releasing the tension by passing around the dal, I knew I had to have some soon. So I made this recipe. Ingredients: 2 cups mung beans 1 red onion, chopped 2 teaspoons…

West African Peanut Stew

This is a vegan version of the classic West African Peanut Stew that is traditionally made with chicken. The first vegan version I made of this dish was all raw, using raw almonds instead of peanuts. While I was being treated for advanced ovarian cancer and going for chemotherapy, Gary and I went on our…

Caryn’s Eggs

Here’s a new scramble recipe. I’m naming it after me! Ingredients 1/2 red onion, chopped 8 ounces firm tofu, mashed 1/4 cup garbanzo bean flour 1 teaspoon onion powder 1/2 teaspoon turmeric 2 Tablespoons nutritional yeast 1/4 cup water, plus more if needed Directions In a heavy frying pan or skillet, dry sauté the chopped…

Tasty Tempeh Taco Tuesday “Meat”

Our Tasty Tempeh Taco “Meat” is delicious on Tuesdays and every day of the week. Ingredients: 1 Tablespoon sage 2 teaspoons chili powder 2 teaspoons smokey paprika 1 teaspoons onion powder 1 teaspoons garlic powder 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional) 1/2 teaspoon pepper 8 ounces tempeh 1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar 1…

Roasted Garbanzo Beans

Roasted chickpeas make a great snack or easy food to bring along while on the go. We’ve got four flavors to season them with: Savory, Lemon Herb, Spicy-Smoky and Pumpkin Spice, but you can make them anyway you like. Ingredients 1 cup cooked chickpeas for each flavor mix, rinsed and drained Optional: 1 1/2 teaspoons…