I heart Happy Herbivore and here's why! Plus, ode to the chickpea.

If you're trying to figure out how to eat a healthful vegan way and keep it simple (and affordable), may I heartily recommend checking out the Happy Herbivore, a.k.a. Lindsey Nixon.  As she says, it's all "plant-based, low-fat and easy to make."  I can TESTIFY that this is true, but she undersells the YUM part.

She has several excellent cookbooks, a blog, and a 7-day meal planning tool you can buy online.  The planners have been seriously saving my tempeh bacon, I tell you.  I just download the PDF file each week and there are all the possible meals for the week, plus a shopping list for everything I'd need to make it all.  She offers plans for individuals or families of four.  I'm sure if you are cooking for two, you could easily just double everything on the individual plan.  It's seriously logical - the day after cooking up a dish, she often includes the leftovers in the next day's lunch.  She's thought it all through for you, including giving you tips on what items can be done in a "cook ahead of time" way, which I love to do on a Sunday so that my workdays are easier.

It's got me cooking up new dishes because they don't look daunting - and then once I've mastered them, it's easy to improvise my own changes.  I'm so relieved to be getting the hang of it with Lindsey's help. Someday I hope to meet her and give her a big old hug from my skinnier healthier arms.

Today's lunch is my riff on her Fat-Free Salsa Chickpea Lettuce Wraps.  I made the chickpea and salsa mixture a day ago and the flavors have mingled nicely.  I added avocado slices and lime and snapped this before I wrapped them, since it really looked a mess once wrapped!  But TASTY and filling.

And chickpeas!!  Also called garbanzo beans, these meaty little dudes are a saving grace when I want something solid and hearty.  They hold up to cooking and don't get soggy.  If you used to like to cook chicken or fish with a particular veggie or sauce, try that on your friend the chickpea and see what happens.

When I'm feeling highly lazy, I toss rice, water, vegan soup (Amy's makes some good ones) and chickpeas in the rice cooker.  This trick also works well with frozen or fresh spinach, chickpeas, rice and marinara sauce.  Yes, you probably will get a little brown, almost burnt area right at the bottom of the pot.  Some of us think that's the tastiest of all.

And since summer hasn't quite left the building (perhaps I'm in denial), don't forget good old-fashioned three-bean salad too.