Marinated Collard Greens

This recipe was inspired by one of my favorite salads at Whole Foods hot/cold bar. Recently, I decided to start eating healthier and adding more unprocessed, whole foods into my diet. This is an amazing, delicious and pretty healthy raw salad. It is addictive :-)

Marinated Collard Greens

1 bunch of collard greens (about 8 large leaves), tough stems removed

1/2 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 large red bell pepper, cut into thin strips

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 Tbs olive oil

2 Tbs Tamari sauce

salt and black pepper to taste

Cut collard greens into 1 inch thick, long strips. Place into a large bowl. Add red bell pepper and onion, and mix well.

In a small bowl combine lemon juice, olive oil, Tamari sauce, and minced garlic. Pour over the collard greens and veggies. Using your hands massage the dressing into the veggies well.

Refrigerate at least an hour before serving, or overnight.

Vegan Paella

I wanted to create a paella recipe for a long time. As a child I visited Spain numerous times and liked this beautiful dish. Sophie's Kitchen, plant-based vegan seafood company, sent me a few coupons for their vegan products just in time for my Paella recipe :-) I used their vegan Prawns, but you can use their vegan Shrimp, or leave the vegan seafood out. The dish looks really cool with the vegan seafood garnish, even my family was freaking out asking me if I started to eat meat again because those prawns look very realistic. The sausages that I used for this recipe were Field Roast Frankfurters which are their newest creation. So far they are my FAVORITE vegan sausages! Nothing beats it! I am seriously in love with these sausages, they are awesome cold (they are fully cooked, ready to eat), or warm in recipes or in hot dogs. They remind me of my favorite Czech salami-sausage. Very flavorful, juicy, a bit smokey, but not too spicy. I can eat these everyday and would not get tired of them. By the way, Field Roast Classic Meatloaf is pretty awesome, too! I eat that stuff cold in sandwiches or hot with mashed potatoes and gravy :-)

Saffron is a very expensive spice that gives paella recipes beautiful yellow color, but you can use turmeric if you don't have saffron. Turmeric will give it a nice yellow color for much cheaper (or free if you have some at home already).

Vegan Paella

1 cup white rice, uncooked

3 cups vegetable broth

1/2 cup white wine (or extra vegetable broth)

2 bay leaves

pinch of saffron or 1/2 tsp turmeric

1 Tbs olive oil

1 small red onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 Field Roast Frankfurters (or other vegan sausages), cut into 1/2 thick rounds

1 medium red bell pepper, thinly sliced

1 14-oz can diced tomatoes, drained

1 6-oz jar marinated artichoke hearts, drained and quartered (about 1/2 cup)

1 cup frozen green peas

2 tsp paprika

Sophie's Kitchen Vegan Prawns or Vegan Shrimp (optional)

1 lemon, cut into wedges for garnish

salt and black pepper to taste

Combine rice, 2 cups vegetable broth, saffron (or turmeric) and bay leaves in a medium saucepan with a tight fitting lid. Bring to boil. Turn heat to low, cover with a lid and simmer 15 minutes. Remove from heat. Discard bay leaves and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat oil in a large skillet or paella pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook 5 minutes. Add garlic, sausages, paprika, red bell pepper and cook 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and cook 3 minutes. Add rice, 1 cup vegetable broth and white wine (or more broth), artichoke hearts, frozen peas and vegan prawns (if using). Cook 5 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper to taste. Garnish with lemon wedges.

NEWS! I won a recipe contest with this dish recently :-) I won a Kindle :-)