Recipes | Straight Up Food

This hearty stew includes large chunks of potato, carrot, celery, and onion, and portabella mushrooms stand in for the beef. Garlic, paprika, and fresh rosemary provide excellent flavor. This is one of my most popular recipes--especially with husbands!

Hash browns are typically fried in oil, but eliminating the oil is easy when you use a quality nonstick pan and know the best way to cut the potatoes. You can grate the potatoes, as is traditional, but using a spiral vegetable cutter (see Note) is the best way to go. This recipe yields two...Read More

Welcome to Straight Up Food! My passion is creating recipes without animal foods, salt, oil or sugar, and very few processed foods.

Pizza is the ultimate comfort food, and this pizza delivers! The herbed polenta crust is topped with easy-to-make sauce, as well as onions, mushrooms, zucchini, tomatoes, garlic, and rosemary. Now you can have your pizza and feel good, too! I hesitate to say that this pizza is “easy,” since you need to prepare three recipes:...Read More

This hearty casserole is easier to make than enchiladas since you don’t need to roll tortillas or make a separate sauce. Corn tortillas are added in with the beans and vegetables to thicken the casserole; a dish that everyone at the table will enjoy! Above: Left, before baking and right, after baking. The tortilla pieces...Read More

Tomatoes and rice are a famous combination, and are complemented in this Tomato Rice Soup by white beans, greens, and fresh basil. (Plant-based, SOS-free.)

This easy pasta dish, traditionally made with cheese, milk, butter and oil, has been given a healthy makeover, using cashews and white beans to create the creamy white sauce. The cashews add richness while the white beans help keep the calories down.

Finding commercial granola that does not contain oil is nearly impossible. This is a food that can be perfectly delicious, and still crunchy, without added oil. Making your own homemade granola is easy, and you don't even need a food dehydrator. Serve over hot cereal or with fruit. Above: I use a baking sheet lined...Read More

This festive and hearty cake is not only delicious, but very fragrant. Its few ingredients and steps make for easy preparation, and it may be served plain or with Vanilla or Lemon Frosting. It uses no oil, and still bakes up moist without being greasy. I have received some questions about millet, as it's a...Read More

There’s nothing like a soft, homemade, oatmeal-raisin cookie! Dates and almond butter stand in for the more traditional ingredients of butter, eggs, and refined sugar. These cookies are rich and sweet, but without being heavy and greasy.

This gravy is delicious over Mashed Potatoes and Lentil & Rice Loaf. It’s rich and flavorful even without the overly processed ingredients found in many plant-based gravies, mainly salt, soy sauce, nondairy butter, and cornstarch.

This soup has a lot going for it: It's easy to make, it has a minimum of ingredients, it's creamy without added fat, and it has great flavor even without added salt. Above: With a little ground black pepper on top. Swiss chard, naturally high in sodium, gives this soup a salted taste without the...Read More

Baked Oatmeal is delicious for breakfast or as a snack bar when cooled. Baking oatmeal results in a spongy texture, much like bread pudding. It's easy to make and customize with your favorite fruits and spices. Traditional baked oatmeal, an Amish creation, usually calls for eggs, butter, cow's milk, salt and sugar. My recipe uses...Read More

Welcome to Straight Up Food! My passion is creating recipes without animal foods, salt, oil or sugar, and very few processed foods.

This chunky, satisfying stew is full of beans, greens, corn, mushrooms, bell pepper, and plenty of herbs and spices to please your taste buds and fill your belly. This recipe makes 12 cups of stew, perfect for leftovers throughout the week!

Black beans, yams, and quinoa come together beautifully in this filling and colorful salad.