so what do vegetarians eat anyway?

Arabian Squash Casserole

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 17:06:00 +0000

http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/special/2000/katzen/casserole.html#axzz16EEdSIr2

Good served with Tabouli Salad or with warmed pita bread and Spinach Salad with ripe tomatoes.

4 cups cooked squash or pumpkin,
   mashed or puréed
1 Tbs. olive oil
1-1/2 cups chopped onion
1 tsp. salt
2 small bell peppers
   (one red and one green, if possible) minced
4 or 5 medium cloves garlic, minced
Black pepper and cayenne, to taste
1/2 cup firm yogurt
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
Optional: Sunflower seeds and/or
   minced walnuts, for the top

Preliminary: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

1. Place the mashed or puréed squash in a large bowl.

2. Heat the olive oil in a medium-sized skillet. Add onion, and sauté over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add salt and bell peppers. Sauté about 5 minutes, or until the peppers begin to get soft.

3. Add garlic, black pepper, and cayenne, and sauté a few more minutes.

4. Add the sauté, along with yogurt and feta, to the squash, and mix well. Spread into an ungreased 9-inch square baking pan, sprinkle the top lightly with sunflower seeds and/or minced walnuts.

5. Bake uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes, or until bubbly.

Buy the Book: The New Moosewood Cookbook

Lemon Oatmeal Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 17:06:00 +0000

Lemon Oatmeal Cookies
1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoons grated lemon peel
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1 egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar
1 cup oats, regular or quick-cooking
Preheat oven to 350°F.
With an electric mixer, cream the butter and gradually add the sugar,
beating at medium speed until well blended. Add the lemon peel, lemon
juice, salt and allspice. Beat in the egg, and mix well.
Combine the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Gradually add to
the creamed mixture, beating well. Add the oats, and mix well.
Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets coated with
cooking spray. Bake at 350°F for 12 minutes.
Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Whole Beet Borscht

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 17:04:00 +0000

Whole Beet Borscht -this is really good.

1 small onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons flour

3 ½ cups vegetable stock

2 ½ cups water

6 small or 3 large beets

2-3 small potatoes

2 carrots

1 stalk celery, finely chopped

1/2 small cabbage

2 bay leaves

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1 teaspoon honey, or more to taste

½ can tomato paste or 2 fresh tomatoes, chopped

sour cream and chopped dill, for garnish

Chop onion and saute with garlic clove in oil. Mash garlic clove when onion is translucent and browning. Stir in flour and cook gently for a minute. Add stock and/or water and bring to a boil. (Add to crockpot)

Meantime, grate beets, potato, and carrot, or slice them thin. Slice celery thin. Add these and simmer 10 minutes while you shred the cabbage. Add these and bay leaves, salt, pepper, honey and tomato to the vegetable mixture. Simmer until all vegetables are tender. Remove bay leaf.

Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a sprinkle of chopped dill.

Freeze the leftovers in large margarine containers and reheat in 2.5Q crockpot.

"The New Laurel's Kitchen" by Laurel Robertson, Carol Flinders, and Brian Ruppenthal

Vegetarian Tourtiere

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 16:58:00 +0000

Vegetarian Tourtiere
I adapted this recipe from the Canadian Living website.

"Tourtiere is the creme de la creme of pies. Lightly spiced and herbed, this pork pie is especially anticipated for Christmas Eve celebrations, but it's equally tasty throughout the holidays and winter months. Tourtiere is completely make-ahead, delicious when turkey or chicken take over for pork and perfectly complemented by a tangy relish such as chili sauce."

1 tbsp vegetable oil 1 1tbsp tbspvegetable oil
1 pkg Yves Veggie Ground Chicken

2 lb ground pork 111 1 cup TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein)

1-1/2 cups beef stock 22222-1/2 1-1/2cups vegetarian beef stock (made from bouillon) v

3 onions , finely chopped3 3oniononions, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic , minced3 3cloves garlic, minced

2 cups sliced mushrooms 2 2cups cupssliced mushroommushrooms

1 cup finely chopped celery 1 1cup cupfinely chopped celery

3/4 tsp salt 3/4 3/4tsp tspsalt

1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/2 1/2tsp tspcinnamon

1/2 tsp pepper 1/2 1/2tsp tsppepper

1/2 tsp dried summer savory 1/2 1/2tsp tspdried summer savory

1/4 tsp cloves 1/4 1/4tsp tspclovecloves

1 cup chopped fresh bread crumbs 1 1cup cupchopped fresh bread crumbs

1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley 1/2 1/2cup cupchopped fresh parsley

Pastry for 10-inch double-crust pie Pastry for 10-inch double-crust pie or Pastry for 9-inch double-crust pie

1 egg , beaten1 1eggeggs, beaten

1 tsp water 1 1tsp tspwater

Preparation

Follow the preparation instructions on the Canadian Living website.

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:54:00 +0000

Sorry I haven't been keeping up with my blog but I have been feeling rather exhausted all summer. I just recently started thyroid medication so hopefully this will help with my energy level.

I recently tried the Chile Lime Tofu from Appetite For Reduction it's easy, fast and tasty so I will be making this one again. I highly recommend this one for a speedy dinner. I haven't had the energy to cook much lately so this recipe is really about the extent of my cooking at the moment. I hope to make a few more slowcooker recipes now that it's getting cooler. Check out my veggie slowcooker blog for more recipes. I have been really leaning on convenience foods and heating them in the slowcooker when I can. Amy's makes some great canned products, but there's also an Indian canned food that I like called Jyoti. I have tried a few of them but the Jyoti Jaipur Karhi (Potato Dumplings in a Buttermilk-Based Sauce) is my favourite one. Serve over basmati rice.

End of summer food.

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Tue, 20 Sep 2011 15:34:00 +0000

Crockpot tomato soup and Zoglos veggie weiners what a way to end the summer.
We finally find a decent veggie hot dog and the summer is over.

What happened to the Au Naturel and PC veggie dogs?

If anyone else is looking for veggie dogs the Zoglos are excellent, I was afraid that I was actually eating the 'real' thing they were so close.

Scheherazade Casserole

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 19:36:00 +0000

This is one of my all-time favourite recipes. Moosewood's Scheherazade Casserole.

Do not use canned soybeans it will affect the taste and texture. I always add some sauteed cubed mushrooms. The feta is what makes this dish.

Lazy Baked Greek 'Chicken'

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 01:51:00 +0000

Lazy Baked Greek Chicken

I made this recipe from the Rachel Ray show yesterday for dinner. It turned out really well, this is an excellent recipe. Just thaw 2-4 PC 'chicken' breasts and butterfly like her recipe says. Also, I had to cover the 'chicken' with some tinfoil while baking so the panko breadcrumbs wouldn't burn. Keep in mind it will take a bit longer because of this too. I was thrilled that this recipe worked without real chicken, you really can do alot with these new 'chicken' breasts from PC. I even made Chinese breaded 'chicken' balls with these, just cut them into cubes; batter as if they were real chicken then deep-fry. Store some extra in the freezer to go with a Chinese dinner.

2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
3 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
One 10-ounce box organic chopped spinach, thawed and drained well
Salt and pepper
Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
3 tablespoons butter
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4 pieces PC 'chicken' breasts
1/2 cup crumbled Greek feta cheese

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 turn of the pan, in a small skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and 2/3 of the garlic and cook until softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a bowl to cool, then add the spinach and season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Melt the butter in the same pan, turn off the heat and add the panko, oregano and remaining garlic; toss.

Drizzle a baking dish with the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil. Split each chicken breast across (but not all the way through) and open like a book. Stuff with the spinach and feta, letting the stuffing overflow at the edges. Place the chicken pieces in the baking dish and top with the breadcrumbs. Bake until heated through about 30-40 minutes. Keep checking on it until it is steaming.

Introducing my new boy...

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 22:41:00 +0000

I got a new cat, here are my 2 cats finally sleeping together. So happy to see this yesterday.

Yes, he is a big cat. I think that's why he was stuck at the Humane Society for so long ( about 6 mo's). He's young and very kitten-y. He gets into everything, a real troublemaker, but he's also such a love.

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 20:28:00 +0000

I ordered Isa's new cookbook for Christmas. Appetite For Reduction.

This recipe for OMG Oven Baked Onion Rings looks amazing, to be able to bake onion rings instead of frying them, if someone can make them taste just as good it would be her. I cannot wait to try these!!

new slowcooker recipes and holiday food.

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 19:52:00 +0000

I've posted some new recipes on my Veggie Slowcooker blog you may want to take a look at.

There's a bunch of Nigella Lawson recipes at the Syle at Home website this month. They always look so gorgeous, I wonder if they taste just as good. The problem with her recipes; they are all in grams, so Nigella, can you please translate your recipes into cups for us North Americans?

I have several holiday recipes; I can't wait to try this new one from Jamie Oliver:

apple and cranberry sauce

• 500g fresh cranberries or frozen ones, thawed
• 2 bramley apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
• 150g golden caster sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick

Preheat your oven to 190ºC/375ºF/gas 5. Place all the ingredients in a wide saucepan and add a splash of water. Put the pan on the heat and bring to the boil. Simmer gently until the cranberries have burst and the apple has softened. Boil down until the mixture thickens slightly, then take off the heat and leave to cool.

Divide between air-tight sterilised jars and give out to all your friends. Once opened store in the fridge.
Notes:

There are 0.66 cups in 150g white sugar----> 2/3 cup
and 0.75 cups in 150g brown sugar----> 3/4 cup

Caster Sugar Vs White SugarThe basic difference between castor sugar and white sugar is that the caster sugar is more fine than the white sugar. White sugar is the sugar that is used in daily culinary activities.

Golden Caster Sugar
Light golden castor sugar is fine and free flowing raw cane sugar. There is a slight presence of molasses in the sugar, that renders a delicious flavor and aroma. This golden caster sugar is ideal for baking cakes. To store this caster sugar, keep it in cool and dry place to prevent lumping.

holiday season mulled wine

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 19:47:00 +0000

jamie's mulled wine

• 2 clementines
• peel of 1 lemon
• peel of 1 lime
• 250g caster sugar
• 6 whole cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 3 fresh bay leaves
• 1 whole nutmeg
• 1 whole vanilla pod, halved
• 2 star anise
• 2 bottles of Chianti, or other Italian red wine

Peel large sections of peel from your clementines, lemon and lime using a speed peeler. Put the sugar in a large saucepan over a medium heat, add the pieces of peel and squeeze in the clementine juice. Add the cloves, cinnamon stick, bay leaves and about 10 to 12 gratings of nutmeg. Throw in your halved vanilla pod and stir in just enough red wine to cover the sugar. Let this simmer until the sugar has completely dissolved into the red wine and then bring to the boil. Keep on a rolling boil for about 4 to 5 minutes, or until you’ve got a beautiful thick syrup. The reason I’m doing this first is to create a wonderful flavour base by really getting the sugar and spices to infuse and blend well with the wine. It’s important to do make a syrup base first because it needs to be quite hot, and if you do this with both bottles of wine in there you’ll burn off the alcohol.

When your syrup is ready turn the heat down to low and add your star anise and both bottles of wine. Gently heat the wine and after around 5 minutes, when it’s warm and delicious, ladle it into glasses and serve.

We made this with a bottle of Malbec (we had left over from the spring or summertime when we bought a few to try); the best way to use up less than satisfactory wine. I put 1/2 of the syrup in the freezer for a later time. I didn't have any clementines; so I had to make do with oranges.

Turtle Foods' Tempeh Bacon

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 23:36:00 +0000

Have you tried this new Tempeh Bacon yet?

It's versatile too. I've tried it with perogies, spaghetti carbonara, and it's awesome smokiness is perfect in a BLT sandwich. These would be a nice addition to a homemade caesar salad or a cobb type salad. That's something I have been thinking about since I tried these. The PC vegetarian chicken breasts would be great along with these in a cobb salad.

The smell of these cooking in the morning, is just so so good. These could not get any closer to real bacon!
This is so addictive I would like to eat these everyday. Yum!

Today is the first day of Chanukkah!

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 22:31:00 +0000

We are having these Potato Latkes for dinner tonight. Yum!

4 cups peeled and shredded potatoes

2 tablespoons grated onion

3 eggs, beaten

4 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Place the potatoes in a cheesecloth and wring, extracting as much moisture as possible.
In a medium bowl stir the potatoes, onion, eggs, flour and salt together.
In a large heavy-bottomed skillet over medium-high heat, heat the oil until hot. Place large spoonfuls of the potato mixture into the hot oil, pressing down on them to form 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick patties. Brown on one side, turn and brown on the other. Let drain on paper towels. Serve hot!

We tried to buy a couple of jelly donuts to go with it but the bakery was all out.

Chicken Bombay

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 18:42:00 +0000

Made this easy recipe from Campbell's for dinner last night. It was tasty enough.

Here's the recipe:

1 can condensed cream of broccoli soup
2 tbsp mayonnaise
1 tbsp curry powder
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 1/2 cups TVP chunks, rehydrated*
1 cup frozen broccoli or mixed vegetables
1/2 cup cheddar, grated
3 cups of hot cooked rice

1. Combine soup, mayonnaise, curry powder and lemon juice in medium bowl.

2. Drain TVP. Pour soup mixture in with the TVP and broccoli; combine. Spread evenly in bottom of shallow 2 qt (2 L) baking dish. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.

3. Bake, covered, at 375°F (190°C) until top is melted and toasty – about 30 minutes. (If the middle is not cooked turn the heat up to 425F and cook for 5-10 minutes more.)
Serve over cooked rice.

*To rehydrate TVP; In a large bowl, pour 3 cups of boiling water over TVP, sprinkle in some vegetarian chicken boullion. Let stand for about 10-15 minutes.

Articoke Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 18:29:00 +0000

artichokes
havarti or feta
1/2 garlic clove, minced
red onion
yellow bell pepper
splash cider vinegar
pepper and salt
sliced sundried tomatoes
olives

Spread on that nice olive bread that you can find at Metro grocery store.

Carrot Pancakes

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 23:11:00 +0000

I can't remember if this was the recipe I used. It was so long ago that I made these, but I know for sure I didn't put raisins in them.

There are many other interesting pancake variations on this site you might like to try.

Alcoholic Cherry Shake

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 21:27:00 +0000

I had something like this several years ago when I went to Disney World. It was so incredibly good that I have had a craving for it ever since. I finally decided to try and make it myself- or at least something similar - and this definately comes close.

Brandied Cherry Shake

1 cup frozen cherries
2 shots cherry brandy

Blend the cherries and brandy together.
Then add the following;

Vanilla ice cream (or soy cream)
Soymilk, as needed to make a creamy consistency

Blend again.

Fantastic Foods Chili Mix

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 21:13:00 +0000

Fantastic Foods makes this great dry chili mix. Just add a can of tomatoes and water and cook for 10 minutes. A fast vegetarian meal when you just don't have the time to make a meal.

Directions

1. In a large pot, bring 2 1/2 cups of water to a boil. Add 1 1/3 cups Fantastic World Foods Vegetarian Chili mix and stir well.
2. Add 1 (15oz) can of your choice of whole beans (kidney, pinto, or black), drained and rinsed.
3. Add 1-14.5oz can of diced tomatoes.
4. Reduce heat and simmer on low for 10 minutes with lid off.

I buy it at the bulk store, they also have a tabouli mix that I love.

Curry Poutine

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 20:48:00 +0000

Since I discovered this great little British shop near my house and I have been purchasing neat British foods such as mushy peas and this incredibly yummy chip shop curry sauce.

I also discovered that it is really delicious in place of gravy on Poutine. If you do try this at home make sure you use fresh cheese curds and that you heat the sauce to boiling and pour it quickly over the curds so they melt.

Keep curry sauce warm in your Gravy-Mate (or crockette) while you deep-fry or bake the french fries.

My baby is gone.

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 21:13:00 +0000

I took a few food pictures over the summer but I haven't posted them yet, I was a little preoccupied with my sick cat. He passed on about a month ago but the sadness I feel has continued. The empty feeling in my home.

The Homemade Shamrock Shake

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Sun, 03 Oct 2010 20:44:00 +0000

Remember those Shamrock shakes McDonald's used to have in the 80's? Well, I had been thinking about those so I decided to try and make my own.

Homemade Shamrock Shake

2 cups Chapman's Peppermint Stick ice cream
milk until proper milkshake consistency
1 tsp vanilla extract
green food colouring, add until desired colour is reached (optional)

Blend.

Notes: If you don't have peppermint stick ice cream; grind up a few peppermint candies or candy canes in the bottom of your blender. Then add vanilla ice cream. Do not add the vanilla.

Sun Tea on a hot summer day.

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Sat, 31 Jul 2010 14:56:00 +0000

This is something I make alot in the summertime.

Sun Tea

1. Sun tea is so easy to make, find a glass pitcher or large mason jar, with a lid or use a small plastic container turned upside down (to keep the bugs, etc out of your tea).

2. Add 2-3 tea bags.

3. Fill with filtered water.

4. Leave in the sun for a few hours on a hot summer day.

5. Remove bags. Chill and serve over plenty of ice.

6. Garnish with lemon slices and fresh mint, if desired.

Alternatively, this can be made in the fridge.

Cold Brewed Iced Tea

This easy, cold-water method, gives a crystal clear tea with no cloudiness. Also, brewing tea in cold water reduces caffeine by 50% to 75%.

4 cups filtered water
6 tea bags

Combine water and tea bags in glass pitcher; let stand in fridge overnight.
Remove bags and serve over plenty of ice.

Garnish with lemon slices and fresh mint, if desired.

TEMPEH SOUVLAKI

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Sun, 18 Jul 2010 18:07:00 +0000

I really miss real Souvlaki, it's the last meaty food item I gave up before I went veggie. This recipe is absolutely the best replacement I have found, it's even better than Yves veggie Chicken Souvlaki.

TEMPEH SOUVLAKI
WITH VEGAN TZATZIKI (These are amazing!!)
serves four
adapted from a recipe on RecipeZaar

For the Tempeh:
1 pkg. Henry's Tempeh, sliced into 1/4 inch strips
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. each sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1/2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves, minced
4 Tbs. olive oil, plus a little extra for cooking
1 tsp. lemon juice

For the vegan Tzatziki (or buy premade):
1/2 cucumber, seeded, peeled and finely grated
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 cup plain Tofutti sour cream
1/8 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. sea salt, or more to taste
freshly ground white pepper, to taste

Accompaniments:
Greek Pitas
Sliced tomatoes
Sliced red onion
Oregano

For the Tempeh: In a tupperware container with a tight fitting lid, combine all of the ingredients. Shake it around and place it in the fridge. Let the tempeh marinate at least a few hours or overnight. This step is very important, do not skip.

For the Tzatziki:
Drain grated cucumbers, if desired. Mix together. Place the sauce in the fridge and allow the flavours to marinate for a few hours.

Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Saute the tempeh strips in 2-3 Tbs. of olive oil for about 3 minutes on either side until they are a nice golden brown.

While the tempeh is cooking, place the pitas in the oven to warm, then wrap in a clean kitchen towel.

To Serve:
Serve these with the Tzatziki as a dipping sauce and rice on the side or in a pita with Tzatziki, sliced red onion, tomato and a good sprinkling of oregano.

Good night! And thanks for visiting my blog.

Happy Passover!

noreply@blogger.com (Veggie) — Mon, 29 Mar 2010 19:38:00 +0000

Here's a great article about celebrating a Vegan Passover Seder. I plan to make Matzo Ball soup and Matzoh Meal Apple Cake along with a Kosher Passover wine.

The Seder Plate (from the VegNews article)

Matzoh (unleavened flat bread)
This traditional cracker is the centerpiece of the Passover holiday. It symbolizes how quickly the Jews had to flee Egypt. In their haste to get the heck out of Cairo, they didn't have time for their bread rise before baking it. Thus, crunchy matzoh was born. No other breads or leavened grains may be consumed during Passover (a boon for you gluten-free folks). Be sure to snag egg-free matzoh.

Charoset (mixture of chopped nuts and apples, agave, spices, and wine)
Substitute agave for the traditional honey, and you have yourself some vegan charoset. Its texture resembles the mortar used to layer bricks, symbolizing the backbreaking work performed by the enslaved Israelites. Also, remind us—why are we only eating this delicious, succulent sweet at Passover?

Zeroa (fresh beet)
Although tradition calls for use of a shankbone to honor the sacrificial lamb, a red beet is scripturally permitted on the Seder plate—in fact, it's common for even omnivores to use this substitution instead.

Maror (bitter herbs)
Horseradish is typically used to symbolize the bitterness and anguish of slavery. (Matzoh slathered with maror—delicious!)

Beitzah (avocado or eggplant)
While the beitzah actually calls for a hard-boiled egg to symbolize fertility, try a silky avocado or a small, de-stemmed white eggplant.

Karpas (vegetable dipped into salt water)
Springtime parsley is dipped in salt water to represent the tears that the Jewish people shed during captivity under the pharaoh's rule.

The Haggadah also calls for four—yes, four—cups of wine to be consumed over the course of the Passover Seder ceremony. In Judaism, wine and religious observances go hand-in-hand. Be sure to find a vegan wine that's specifically marked with a P, denoting that it's Kosher-for-Passover.

Isa`s Vegan Matzoh Ball Soup