Fruits & Veggies Monday {Bowls, Bowls and More Vegan Bowls!}

Of course it wouldn't be a Monday without joining in on @lenasveganliving's #fruitsandveggiesmonday challenge! Last week was a little crazy with things going down for the day on here, so hopefully today Lena will have all of the usual folks back in action to celebrate all the beautiful fruits and veggies around the world.

Since I was in the hot seat last week as guest judge, I didn't get a chance to share all of my bowls of goodness from my meal prep. I would hate for you to miss out on all of the yummy stuff I whipped up, so I hope you don't mind some leftovers. I think just about everything I made last week was served up in a bowl. That is never a problem for me as it makes it that much easier to dig right in for the perfect bite.

That last weekend was also fairly busy, so I decided not to worry about trying to come up with and document any new recipes and instead opted for a few re-makes of some of my favorite ones I have shared before or popped open one of my many cookbooks. Sunday started out with @dksart's birthday and a meal fit for his tastes. He enjoys Tex-Mex and had requested homemade re-fried beans some time in the last month. I found a recipe for a vegan version from Jill Nussinow's "Vegan Under Pressure" cookbook that turned out truly fantastic. The final meal was a bowl of the black beans from her cookbook, quinoa cooked with spices, sauteed fajita-style veggies, and of course some greens for good measure. One of my choices for that week was more garden cress from the hydroponic stand since it is spicy and vibrant.

It was a pretty simple meal to toss together, but the pressure cooker really imparts such deep flavor to the beans. I will absolutely be making them again. The texture may not look that appealing, but we can both attest to them being the perfect accompaniment to any meal like this. It was almost like warm and cozy hummus, haha!

For dessert I pulled back out one of my first recipes that I shared, a vegan and sugar-free apple crumble with date caramel. Apples are back in season here, so it is the perfect time for this treat. Although it is super healthy, it still makes for a delicious dessert. @dksart doesn't love overly sweet treats either so dates make the perfect natural sweetener.

I also pulled out another standard bowl that I make variations of all the time. This week was just roasted sweet potatoes, steamed broccoli, and lima beans over mustard greens. The dressing was a sunflower seed butter based one with garlic, ginger, and organic rice wine vinegar (another staple). The sweet potatoes were cooked with Chinese Five Spice for some extra flavor.

I'll finish out with another meal from my archives that is hitting the spot on my menu this week as we transition into fall--butternut squash and cauliflower soup with a variation of my black bean flour muffins. Since pumpkin-everything is happening all around the USA, I added plain canned pumpkin to my muffins for a little moisture. They came out great! A perfect compliment to my soup.

@dksart helped me out this week with the Saturday farmers market trip to get my goodies for meals since I had a 5k in another part of town. I still had the butternut squash from a few weeks ago, but it was nice to get the cauliflower fresh.

It is always fun to start working with different seasonal produce as the weather starts to change. Though I am sure in a few months I will be missing all of the summer bounty! A happy and healthy week to you all!

Banners by @woman-onthe-wing, @dksart and @bearone for @steemusa