We are so excited to finally post this winter meal plan! If you’re anything like us, February can feel a little gloomy, and inspiration levels tend to be low, whether with cooking or with anything else. This meal plan is here to prove all of that wrong and to show us that plant-based winter food can be just as exciting and tasty as any other season’s. I can definitely say that creating recipes for this plan got me out of a mini cooking rut.
So we’ve got vegan and gluten-free breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert recipes that will feed you for a week. Everything starts with roasting up a bunch of root vegetables (the darlings of winter cooking), cooking beans (we are focusing on mung beans and black beans this time), and making a pot of rice. We’ll then mix and match those foundations to make delicious, nourishing meals. We’ve got you covered with the shopping list, as well as all the prep and planning. As usual, we are splitting this meal plan into two parts. This first part will focus on weekend prep, as well as breakfast and lunch recipes. Part 2 is here, and it’s all about dinner and dessert recipes. Ready? Let’s do this.
Menu
(Check out Part 2 for dinner and dessert recipes)
Breakfast
Savory Dahl-Style Steel Cut Oats
Super Creamy Steel Cut Oats with Dried Fruit
Lunch
Wild Rice Bowl with Roasted Root Vegetables, Marinated Mung Beans and Beet Caviar
Tempeh and Cabbage Chili over Wild Rice
Dinner
One Pan Root Vegetable, Swiss Chard and Mung Bean Bake in Coconut Curry
Tempeh and Kale Enchiladas
Dessert
Brolied Grapefruit
*all recipes are vegan and gluten-free/gf option and will make enough for a work week (5 days), for 2 people
Shopping List
(Print)
Bring this list with you when you go food shopping, it’s got all the ingredients you’ll need for the recipes in this meal plan. All the items are separated by category, to make the shopping easier and more efficient. Take the time to look over this list beforehand and cross out any items you already have. The hope here is that you own some of the pantry staples, spices, and maybe even some of the produce required, which will help minimize the list.
Produce
- 4 medium sweet potatoes
- 2 large parsnips
- 5 medium carrots
- 4 medium yukon gold potatoes
- 4-5 medium beets
- 1 small green cabbage
- 1 lb crimini mushrooms
- 1 large bunch Swiss chard
- 1 large bunch kale
- baby spinach (4-5 packed cups)
- 1 jalapeño
- 3 1/2 cups dried mung beans
- 1 cup black beans
- 1 1/2 cup steel cut oats
- 3 cups wild rice or other rice/grain of choice
- 1/2 cup walnuts or pecans
- 3 medjool dates
- 7-9 prunes
- 3-4 dried apricots
- handful raisins
- hemp hearts for garnishes (optional)
- 1/4 cup pine nuts or other nuts for garnishes (optional)
- cacao nibs (optional)
- 1 13.5 oz can unsweetened light Thai coconut milk
- 2 28 oz cans or boxes crushed tomatoes
- tomato paste (3 tablespoons)
- 8 oz of tempeh
- 8-12 tortillas of your choice (gf if needed)
- almond milk (2 cups) or make your own, or see ‘tip’ under Super Creamy Steel Cut Oats w/Dried Fruit for a quick nut milk hack
- vanilla ice cream or plain yogurt to serve with the broiled grapefruits (optional)
- black peppercorns
- whole cumin seeds
- whole coriander seeds
- green cardamom pods
- turmeric powder
- pepper flakes
- smoked paprika
- chili powder
- curry powder
- chipotle flakes or powder
- cinnamon (optional)
- neutral coconut oil or ghee
- olive oil
- sea salt
- coconut sugar
- balsamic vinegar
- bay leaves (optional)
- kombu (optional)
Day by Day Prep List
Saturday Night (Night Before Main Prep Day):
These are just quick tasks that need to be done the day before your main prep day. Soaking grains and beans helps rid them of phytic acid, which makes them easier to digest. Adding an acidic medium like apple cider vinegar or lemon juice to the soaking water helps break down the phytic acid. Soaking also kickstarts the germination process, making the grains and beans more nutritious.
- Soak 3 1/2 cups of dried mung beans overnight in plenty of purified water, with a splash of apple cider vinegar/lemon juice.
- Soak 1 cup of black beans overnight in plenty of purified water, with a splash of apple cider vinegar/lemon juice.
- If you are using wild rice for your grain bowls and chili, it doesn’t need to be soaked. But if you are using any other kind of grain, soak it overnight in plenty of purified water, with a splash of apple cider vinegar/lemon juice.
Sunday (Main Prep Day):
This is your main prep day, which you can also split into multiple days, depending on your schedule. You will find all the recipes for this prep day in this post, which includes two breakfast options and two lunch options for the whole week, as well as some simple prep for the dinners for the coming week.
- Cook the steel cut oat porridge base to use in the Savory Dahl-Style Steel Cut Oats and Super Creamy Steel Cut Oats with Dried Fruit.
- Cook the mung beans to use in the Savory Dahl-Style Steel Cut Oats, Wild Rice Bowl, Tempeh and Cabbage Chili, One Pan Root Vegetable, Swiss Chard and Mung Bean Bake, and the Tempeh and Kale Enchiladas. Cook the black beans to use in the Tempeh and Cabbage Chili.
- Cook the wild rice to use in the Wild Rice Lunch Bowl and to serve with the Tempeh and Cabbage Chili, if that’s your grain of choice. If you chose another grain instead of wild rice, cook it now instead.
- Roast the root vegetables to use in the Wild Rice Bowl, One Pan Root Vegetable, Swiss Chard and Mung Bean Bake, and Beet Caviar.
- Marinate a portion of the cooked mung beans to use in the Wild Rice Bowl.
- Make the Beet Caviar to use in the Wild Rice Grain Bowl and on crackers/bread as a snack throughout the week.
- Make the sauce for the Tempeh and Kale Enchiladas now to save time during the week, or you can also make it right when you make the enchiladas for dinner.
- Make the filling for the Tempeh and Kale Enchiladas now to save time during the week, or you can also make it right when you make the enchiladas for dinner.
- Make the Tempeh and Cabbage Chili now to save time during the week, or you can also make it right before you have it for lunch on another day, depending on your schedule.
Monday:
Make the Savory Dahl-Style Steel Cut Oats to have for breakfast Monday, Tuesday, and possibly Wednesday nights. In the evening, make the One Pan Root Vegetable, Swiss Chard and Mung Bean Bake to have for dinner on Monday, Tuesday, and possibly Wednesday nights. This will be fairly quick, since you’ve already roasted the root vegetables and cooked the mung beans during prep day. Broil the grapefruits for dessert on Monday or Tuesday night, it’s quick and you will have enough for dessert for the rest of the week. The recipes for the One Pan Root Vegetable Bake and Broiled Grapefruit will be in Part 2.
- Make the Savory Dahl-Style Steel Cut Oats for breakfast in the morning. This should take you 10-15 minutes max, since you’ve already prepped all the ingredients. Eat the leftovers for breakfast for the next 1-2 days.
- Make the One Pan Root Vegetable, Swiss Chard and Mung Bean Bake in the evening, for dinner, eat the leftovers for dinner for the next 1-2 days.
- Broil the grapefruits, eat the leftovers for dessert for the rest of the week.
Wednesday/Thursday:
Once you’ve finished the Savory Dahl-Style Steel Cut Oats, make the Super Creamy Steel Cut Oats with Dried Fruit to have for breakfast for the rest of the week. Once you’re done with the One Pan Root Vegetable, Swiss Chard and Mung Bean Bake, prepare the Tempeh and Kale Enchiladas for dinner starting Wednesday or Thursday night and until the end of the week. The recipe for the Enchiladas will be in Part 2.
- Make the Super Creamy Steel Cut Oats with Dried Fruit to eat for breakfast during the rest of the week.
- Make the Tempeh and Kale Enchiladas to have for dinner for the rest of the week.
Prep
1.
I absolutely love starting my day off with a bowl of cozy steel cut oats in the winter. When cooked well, they are incredibly creamy, but still have a pleasant bite to them, almost like risotto. Basically, they are superior to rolled oats in every way, except for their longer cooking time. It takes steel cut oats about 25-30 minutes to cook, which I know is just too long for most people’s busy mornings. What I like to do is cook up a big pot of plain steel cut oats on the weekend / during my prep day. That way, they are all ready for me in the mornings – I just take whatever amount I need and reheat them with whichever sweet or savory flavorings I feel like eating that morning. In this meal plan, we’ll be preparing half of the oats savory (Dahl-Style Steel Cut Oats) and the other half – subtly sweet (Super Creamy Steel Cut Oats with Dried Fruit). If you cannot tolerate gluten, make sure you get gluten-free steel cut oats.
- 2 tablespoons neutral coconut oil or ghee (not vegan)
- 1½ cups steel cut oats
- 5 cups of purified water, plus more if needed
- sea salt
- Warm the coconut oil/ghee in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the oats and toast them for a few minutes, until fragrant. Add the water and a pinch of salt, and bring to a boil. Low the heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for 25-30 minutes, until creamy. Stir periodically to prevent the oats from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Keep refrigerated until ready to use.
2.
I always think of the act of making a pot of flavorful beans on the weekend as preparation for success during the week. Beans are incredibly versatile, and perfect for completing so many plant-based meals. In this meal plan, the main focus is on mung beans. These beautiful, green-colored beans are very nutritious and highly regarded as one of the most cherished foods in the Ayurvedic tradition. From my experience, they are very affordable and easy to find in most stores. In this meal plan, we’ll be using mung beans in the Savory Dahl-Style Steel Cut Oats, Wild Rice Bowl, Tempeh and Cabbage Chili, One Pan Root Vegetable, Swiss Chard and Mung Bean Bake in Coconut Curry, and the Tempeh and Kale Enchiladas! They are very versatile and taste different in every one of these dishes.
We will also be cooking some black beans to use in the Tempeh and Cabbage Chili, because what is chili without some buttery black beans?
- 3½ cups mung beans - soaked overnight in purified water with a splash of acv
- 2-inch piece of kombu (optional)
- 2-3 bay leaves (optional)
- 2-3 garlic cloves - crushed with a knife and peeled (optional)
- sea salt
- 1 cup black beans - soaked overnight in purified water with a splash of acv
- 2-inch piece kombu (optional)
- 2-3 bay leaves (optional)
- 2-3 garlic cloves - crushed with a knife and peeled (optional)
- sea salt
- Drain and rinse the mung beans. Place them in a large soup pot with at least 12 cups of purified water. Add the kombu, bay leaves and garlic, if using, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for 10-15 minutes, until the beans are soft, but still intact. Start checking at 8 minutes, since some mung beans cook very quickly. Add salt at the end.
- Drain the beans over a colander placed over a bowl or pot, saving the bean cooking liquid for later (we'll be using it as a veggie broth in a bunch of dishes in this meal plan). Compost or discard the kombu and bay leaves. You should end up with about 9 cups of cooked mung beans. Separate out 3½ cups of the beans and proceed to marinate them (recipe below). Store the rest of the beans refrigerated in an air-tight container until ready to use for the other dishes.
- Drain and rinse the black beans. Place them in a large soup pot and cover with plenty of purified water. Add kombu, bay leaves and garlic, if using, and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for 20 minutes. Check the beans for doneness at this point. If the beans are not done yet, continue cooking them until they are soft and buttery, but still intact. This can take up to an hour. Add salt at the end. Drain the beans and compost or discard the kombu and bay leaves. Store the beans refrigerated in an air-tight container, until ready to use in the chili.
3.
Similarly to beans, a pot of rice prepared on the weekend can really assist you in getting your meals prepared quickly. I chose to use wild rice in this meal plan, but you are of course welcome to cook a pot of whichever kind of rice you like or have on hand. Use the rice for the Wild Rice Lunch Bowl and to serve with the Tempeh and Cabbage Chili. Some cool facts about wild rice: it’s technically an aquatic grass, not a grain, and it’s native to North America.
- 3 cups wild rice
- 12 cups purified water
- sea salt
- Combine the rice with the water in a soup pot, salt well. Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer and cook, covered for 40 minutes. Check the rice, you'll know it's done when some of the grains have bursted open and the rice is pleasantly chewy but not too hard. Simmer longer if needed. Once cooked, drain out any remaining liquid, if there is any, and store the rice refrigerated in an airtight container until ready to use.
4.
Nature is really good at providing us with what our bodies need at any given time of the year. In the fall and winter, when we require that extra energy to keep warm, there’s densely nutritious, carb-rich root vegetables. It’s always a great idea to roast up a variety of vegetables on the weekend, so that you have them ready to go into all kinds of meals throughout the week. In this meal plan, we’ll be roasting up sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, carrots, parsnips, and some red onion (for juiciness) to use in the Wild Rice Bowl and the One Pan Root Vegetable, Swiss Chard and Mung Bean Bake. We’ll also be roasting some beets together with all the other veggies, to use in the Beet Caviar.
- 4 medium sweet potatoes - peeled and cubed
- 4 medium Yukon gold potatoes - peeled and cubed
- 2 medium carrots - peeled and sliced or cubed
- 2 large parsnips - peeled and sliced or cubed
- 1 large red onion - sliced into about 8 wedges
- 4-5 medium beets - sliced into wedges
- neutral coconut oil - melted
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- Preheat the oven to 400° F (200° C). Prepare 2-3 baking trays by covering them with parchment paper.
- Distribute all the vegetables, with the exception of the beets, between 1 or 2 baking trays, depending on the size of your trays. You don't want your vegetables to be over-crowded on the tray, or they'll steam instead of caramelizing in the oven. Drizzle the vegetables with the coconut oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and mix. Place the beet wedges on the second/third tray on their own, drizzle them with the oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and mix to coat.
- Place all the trays in the oven and roast the vegetables for 30 minutes. Check the vegetables for doneness and roast longer if needed, until soft throughout. The beets might take longer to cook than the other veg. Once cooked, remove the vegetables from the oven, let them cool, and store refrigerated in an air-tight container until ready to use.
5.
Whenever I cook a pot of beans, I pretty much always make sure to marinate some of them with herbs, lemon juice, olive oil, and sometimes garlic. This way, I have a flavorful component for salads and bowls that only gets better with time. These marinated mung beans will be used as a component of the Wild Rice Lunch Bowl in this meal plan. If you’ll be eating these marinated mung beans at work/in social settings, be conscious of the garlic, the beans will still be very good with less garlic or without any at all.
- 3½ cups cooked mung beans (from above)
- 3-5 garlic cloves - minced
- ¼ - ½ cups finely chopped herbs - dill and/or parsley
- juice from 1 large or 2 small lemons
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Combine the beans, garlic, herbs, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste in a large bowl. Toss well and store refrigerated in an air-tight container.
6.
I can’t say enough about this beet caviar. My mom used to make something similar, and as a child, eating it on bread was the only way I would ever touch beets. In this recipe, beets are mixed with herbs, spices, a bit of olive oil, and toasted walnuts into a chunky, colorful spread. And the great news is, you’ll already have the beets cooked for this recipe, since you roasted them together with all the other veggies. Scoop this caviar into the Wild Rice Lunch Bowl or eat it on bread or crackers as a snack.
- 4-5 medium roasted beets (from above)
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds - toasted and preferably freshly ground
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds - toasted and preferably freshly ground
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1 garlic clove - minced
- about ¼ cup chopped dill and/or parsley
- ½ cup walnuts of pecans - toasted and roughly chopped
- Peel and roughly chop the beets. Add them to the food processor together with the spices, balsamic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Pulse until chopped into small pieces. Add the garlic, herbs and nuts, and pulse everything to combine. Taste for salt and pepper, adjust if needed. Transfer the caviar to an air-tight container and store refrigerated until ready to use.
7.
You can make this enchilada sauce on the same day you make the Tempeh and Kale Enchiladas for dinner, or you can prepare it on prep day. Preparing the sauce ahead of time will make putting together the enchiladas a total breeze.
- 1 tablespoon neutral coconut oil
- 1 small yellow onion - chopped
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 3 garlic cloves - sliced
- 1 jalapeño - seeded and minced
- 28 oz box or can crushed tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 cup mung bean broth (from above)
- Warm the coconut oil in a deep saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, cumin and a pinch of salt and sauté for 5 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic and jalapeño and sauté for another 2 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes, smoked paprika and mung bean broth and simmer for another 10 minutes, or until the sauce is thickened. Let cool and store refrigerated in an airtight container, until ready to use.
8.
Similarly to the enchilada sauce, you can make this enchilada filling on the same day you make the Tempeh and Kale Enchiladas for dinner, or you can prepare it on prep day, which will save you lots of time when it comes to assembling the enchiladas for dinner.
- 2 tablespoons neutral coconut oil
- 1 large yellow onion - chopped
- 1 medium carrot - peeled and sliced
- ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
- sea salt
- 3 garlic cloves - sliced
- 4 oz tempeh (half of an 8 oz package) - crumbled
- 1½ cup cooked mung beans (from above)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon chipotle powder or flakes
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 3-4 packed cups kale - roughly chopped
- 1 cup mung bean broth (from above)
- Warm the coconut oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, cumin and a pinch of sea salt, and sauté for 5 minutes, until the onion is translucent.
- Add the garlic and sauté for 2 more minutes. Add the tempeh, mung beans, tomato paste, chipotle, and smoked paprika. Stir to coat. Add the kale and the mung bean broth and cook for about 5 minutes, or until the kale is wilted. At this point, it might help to cover the pan with the lid, so that the kale steams and wilts, making the mixture more manageable for stirring. Let cool and keep refrigerated in an airtight container until ready to make the enchiladas.
Recipes
1.
Dahl (or dal, or daal) is an Indian spiced split lentil/mung bean dish. Here, we’ll be taking half of the plain oats we made on prep day, and preparing them with dahl in mind. We’ll doctor the oats up with toasted healing spices, some of our cooked mung beans, and spinach. If you are unsure about having a savory breakfast, just give this one a try. I think you’ll really like it. It’s gentle on digestion, and you’ll be getting a dose of greens and invigorating spices right at the start of your day.
- 2 tablespoons neutral coconut oil or ghee
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds - freshly ground
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds - freshly ground
- 3-5 green cardamom pods - green shells removed, seeds freshly ground
- 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
- dash of cinnamon (optional)
- freshly ground black pepper
- half of the steel cut oat porridge base (from above)
- 1 cup cooked mung beans
- 1½ cups mung bean broth (reserved from cooking mung beans), or more if needed
- about 4 packed cups spinach leaves
- Warm the oil/ghee in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add all the spices and stir them around for about a minute, until fragrant.
- Add the oats, mung beans and mung bean broth, stir to mix. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for about 10 minutes. Stir periodically to prevent any sticking. Add more broth if needed. Check for salt, adjust if needed. Remove from heat, add spinach and stir it in to wilt. Serve as is or sprinkled with sesame seeds or hemp hearts.
- Store porridge leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat as much porridge as you need every morning by heating it up in a small saucepan with more broth or water, stirring, until warm and creamy.
2.
We’ll prepare the other half of our plain steel cut oats in a more traditional way, to be subtly sweet and incredibly creamy. I know that for many people, it’s difficult to find good fruit in the winter, which is why dried fruits are a great solution here. The dried fruit re-hydrates in the porridge and becomes soft and plump, and yields some of its natural sweetness to the porridge.
Tip: If you don’t have almond milk and don’t want to buy/make it, but do have some almond butter on hand, you can make quick almond milk. Just combine 2 cups of water with 2 tablespoons of almond butter in a blender and blend everything until smooth. Voila, you now have almond milk. You can also do this with tahini for quick sesame milk.
- half of the steel cut oat porridge base (from above)
- 2 cups almond milk/other plant milk of choice, plus more if needed
- about 3 dates - pitted and chopped
- 4-5 prunes - chopped
- 3-4 dried apricots - chopped
- handful of raisins
- dash of cinnamon (optional)
- 1 tablespoon neutral coconut oil/ghee (optional)
- ¼ cup toasted pine nuts or other chopped nuts of choice (optional)
- hemp hearts (optional)
- Combine the plain steel cut oats porridge base, almond milk and all the dried fruits in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer and cook, covered, for 10 minutes. Stir periodically to prevent the porridge from sticking to the bottom. Add more almond milk or water, if the porridge becomes too dry. Add the cinnamon and mix in the oil or ghee, if using. Serve the porridge sprinkled with pine nuts and/or hemp hearts, if using.
- Store porridge leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat as much porridge as you need every morning by heating it up in a small saucepan with more almond milk or water, stirring, until warm and creamy.
3.
Your Wild Rice Lunch Bowl should come together quite effortlessly, since you’ve already prepared all the components during prep day. Try switching up how you combine the components from day to day: you can serve everything together with greens as a salad, drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil, or heat up the rice, root veggies, and mung beans in a pan into a sort of fried rice, eat the beet caviar on bread on the side, etc. Here are some optional add-in ideas, if you happen to have them on hand: quick pickled onions, your favorite sauce or dressing, toasted nuts or seeds.
- handful of spinach leaves or other greens of choice (optional)
- cooked wild rice (from above)
- roasted root vegetables (from above)
- marinated mung beans (from above)
- beet caviar (from above)
- toasted seeds/nuts for garnish (optional)
- olive oil
- freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Distribute all the ingredients between bowls and serve. Try switching up how you combine the components from day to day: you can serve everything together with greens as a salad, drizzled with lemon juice and olive oil, or heat up the rice, root veggies, and mung beans in a pan into a sort of fried rice, eat the beet caviar on bread on the side, etc. Here are some optional add-in ideas, if you happen to have them on hand: quick pickled onions, your favorite sauce or dressing, toasted nuts or seeds.
4.
I know what you might be thinking. Cabbage in chili? Let me explain. I think cabbage is an under-appreciated vegetable, but yet it’s incredibly nutritious, sturdy, perfect for winter fare, and so affordable. This stew has all the flavors of classic chili, as well as a richness and meaty textures from the beans, tempeh, and mushrooms, with a whole head of cabbage snuck in there for extra nutrition. When cooked together with all the other ingredients, the cabbage becomes soft and silky and takes on all the spicy chili flavors. Gotta pack those veggies in wherever we can :)
This chili definitely requires some of your time as far as chopping up the ingredients, but you’ve already got your beans prepared, and then it’s just going to simmer away on the stove. This is a hefty portion, so if you find yourself with leftovers that you don’t want to eat now, it freezes very well and only gets better with time.
- 5 small or 3 large prunes
- 1 tablespoon neutral coconut oil
- 1 large yellow onion - chopped
- 2 medium carrots - sliced
- 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- sea salt
- 5 garlic cloves - sliced
- 1 lb crimini mushrooms - cut into quarters or eighths for bigger mushrooms
- freshly ground black pepper
- 4 oz tempeh (half of an 8 oz package - the remaining half to be used for enchilada filling) - crumbled
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1-2 tablespoons chili powder (depending on how spicy it is)
- pinch of red pepper flakes
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- juice from 1 lime, divided
- 1 cup cooked mung beans (from above)
- 3 cups cooked black beans
- 1 small green cabbage - cored, sliced into wedges and then into bite-sized chunks
- 4-5 cups mung bean broth (reserved from cooking mung beans)
- 28 oz box or can crushed tomatoes
- cilantro - for garnish
- avocado - for serving
- Put the prunes in a small bowl and pour hot water over them to cover. Let them soak and soften until ready to use.
- Warm the oil in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, cumin and salt and sauté for 10 minutes, until the onion is translucent and the carrots soften. Add the garlic and stir it around for 30 seconds, until fragrant.
- Drain the prunes and cut them into small pieces. Add the mushrooms and prunes to the pot, along with a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper, and sauté for about 8-10 minutes, until all the liquid, released by the mushrooms, evaporates.
- Add the tempeh, tomato paste, the rest of spices and half of the lime juice, and sauté for 2 more minutes. Add the mung beans and black beans, cabbage, another pinch of salt and the mung bean broth. At this point, the broth will not be covering all the ingredients, but the cabbage should release plenty of water when cooking, making the mixture more soupy. Stir everything to coat, bring to a boil, lower the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 30 minutes. Check the cabbage, it should be soft at this point, if not, cook it for another 10-15 minutes, or until soft and completely cooked through.
- Mix in the crushed tomatoes, bring everything back up to a simmer and cook for another 10 minutes, until all the flavors are well-combined. Stir in the remaining juice of half a lime. Taste for salt, adjust if needed and remove from heat. Serve the chili over rice, garnished with avocado and cilantro.
JOANNA MANLEY says
This looks amazing! I will definately give it a try!
I hope I will manage as I am not a great cook!
Anya says
Thank you Joanna! You can do it! Hope you enjoy the recipes.
Hannah says
Are the measurements for the steel-cut oats correct, 1.5c oats to 5 c water?
Anya says
Hi Hannah,
Yes, that’s correct.